Leach: Haverford School District May Lose $1.3 Million

State Senator Daylin Leach (D-17) told the school board at its recent meeting at the Haverford Middle School that the Haverford School District would lose $1.3 million in state aid if the proposed state budget passes.

That was the startling revelation that Leach told the Haverford School District board members at their Thursday, May 19, meeting.

While addressing the school board, Leach said the proposed $27.3 billion state budget disproportionately affects the poorer schools in the state, as well as other schools such as those in Haverford Township.

“I think Haverford (Township) would lose $1.3 million in state aid under that budget if it were passed,” he stated.

He also said that the proposed school choice bill, or Senate Bill 1 (SB1), would be paid for in the first couple of years entirely by taking money from poorer school districts in the state.

"What the goal is, is called 'universal choice,' where everyone who wants to leave public school will leave and take the state aid that comes with them to the new school, private school they go to. The problem, of course, is that if a school loses $10,000 because the child leaves the school, that school does not save $10,000," Leach said.

He explained that most school district costs are fixed, such as hiring principals and security, and the kids who are left behind have to do more and more with less and less.

Some of the poor school districts and even Haverford, which Leach called an “excellent” school district, may lose up to 45 percent of the state funding, he stated.

“If they lost 45 percent of their class funding, we're looking at class sizes of 45 kids,” Leach said, adding that it also means one text book per classroom, no field trips, no gym class and no computers, among other things.

“A very bare-bones education, and in my view, a third-world education,” he added.

While not naming names, he said that some state politicians have allegedly told him “because they are quite open about it” that they want to take funding away from failing schools and thus, eliminate public schools.

After he was done speaking with the school board, Leach quickly left and could not be reached for further comment.

On Thursday, May 26, co-creator of the SB1 state Sen. Anthony Williams, (D-8) returned Patch's email seeking comment about the bill.

"We need to take a broad based view of education and SB1 is just one of a series of measures we will take to increase quality educational options for all children. Haverford Township does not currently have any persistently failing schools, therefore SB1 will have no immediate impact on the district," he exclaimed in a statement. "If parents and students in Haverford are happy with the education they are receiving, then SB1 will have little or no impact on them in the future."

In a previous story, Williams explained how some programs are not helping failing schools.

“We spent $26 billion in education last year,” Williams said in a . “We spent a lot of money in programs and (failing schools) are still failing.”

The school board urged residents to speak to their elected state leaders about the proposed state budgets and the proposed SB1.

Board of School Directors President Denis Gray said the school board would hold off on approving its own budget until the state budget has been finalized and the board can act accordingly.