Ecker Quizzes State Education Officials on Student Performance Metrics
HARRISBURG – A recent Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) report found there is a lack of correlation between education spending and student proficiency. During the House Appropriations Committee’s budget hearing this morning, Rep. Torren Ecker (R-Adams/Cumberland) asked Department of Education officials about the findings in the report.
Due to an unusual tabling of the report during a Performance-Based Budgeting hearing in January, members of the panel were unable to ask Department of Education officials about the report at a recent hearing. However, Ecker took the opportunity to quiz them during the first leg of today’s budget hearing. To watch Ecker’s questioning,
click here. To download the link for distribution, click the three dots in the lower right corner and click “download.”
Ecker noted page 15 of the IFO report states, “The data suggest there is little or no correlation between the current expenditures spent per student and the share of students that score proficient or above on standardized tests.” The full report
can be read here.
The Department of Education will be back before the committee this afternoon at 1 p.m. for a second round of questions. It can be viewed at
PaHouseGop.com.