Pa. House debates economic furloughs at schools

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania public schools would have wider latitude to furlough employees during tough economic times and would not have to start with the least senior workers under proposals that were debated today in the state Capitol.

The House Education Committee gathered input from the school boards’ association, the state’s largest teacher union and others about three legislative proposals. A committee vote could occur as early as next month.

Carolyn Dumaresq, Gov. Tom Corbett’s acting secretary of education, told lawmakers the administration supports allowing economic furloughs as well as replacing seniority rules with a system that protects from furloughs those teachers who are ranked as the most effective in the classroom.

“If we are truly committed to graduating students who are college and workforce ready, then we need to ensure that we have a strong teaching staff, teachers whose performance reflect a focus on student achievement,” Dumaresq said.