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Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski wants free community college, pre-K on the ballot for city students By Emily Opilo and Jacqueline Palochko of The Morning Call March 10, 2016, 4:29 PM Allentown voters may be asked to fund universal pre-Kindergarten and a long-awaited scholarship program for all city students if a ballot question from Mayor Ed Pawlowski makes it on the ballot this fall. Pawlowski announced plans Thursday at the annual mayor's breakfast hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce for a ballot question that would ask taxpayers if they want to ante up 30 cents per day or $109.50 annually to pay for the two initiatives. The mayor estimated that $13 million could be raised each year by the fee. He intends to put the measure on the ballot during the presidential election in November, he said. "Sixty percent of the jobs in the Lehigh Valley are looking for a post-secondary education," Pawlowski said. "There's too many Allentown folks that don't have that … education." Known as the Allentown Promise, the proposed scholarship program for Allentown students was first introduced in 2011 by Pawlowski and then Allentown School District Superintendent Gerald Zahorchak. The Allentown Promise was originally designed as an endowment to assist with tuition for students based on their individual financial needs. Officials said at the time that they would need to raise $50 million for the endowment before the program could begin to pay out. That money was never raised, said Sue Williams, executive director of the Allentown School District Foundation, which assisted with the effort. The financial climate was just too difficult, she said. Pawlowski's latest proposal would fund the program annually instead. All Allentown students who graduate from a city high school — including Central Catholic High School and charter high schools — would be eligible for two years of free community college education, Pawlowski said. Students would have to maintain a certain grade point average, yet to be established, to prove that they're committed to school, Pawlowski said. The $13 million that Pawlowski hopes to raise annually would also cover universal pre-K for the thousands of children ages 3 and 4 in Allentown, he said. "It gives them an opportunity for a lifetime," Pawlowski said. "And it's going to be less of a burden the city for their entire lifetimes." Offering universal pre-K education for Allentown children would be a boon for a school district that only recently committed to offering universal kindergarten to students. In January, the Allentown School Board approved hiring five additional kindergarten teachers to manage full-day kindergarten district-wide, but there were concerns about where the classes would be located. There is not enough room in the district's elementary schools, Superintendent Russ Mayo said at the time, and board members rejected a plan to make space by moving Newcomer Academy, a school for students who are learning English, out of Midway Manor. Pawlowski said Thursday that he intends to fund groups such as Community Service for Children that already provide pre-K in Allentown but cannot afford to make the instruction universal. Community Service for Children already offers pre-K to about 800 Allentown children, he said. Pawlowski said he didn't know yet whether other money would be distributed through the Allentown School District which is independent of the city and has its own authority to tax city residents. Representatives from the Allentown School District said they were not consulted. Kim Golden Benner, spokeswoman for the Allentown School District, said Mayo was never informed of Pawlowski's plan. Williams said the school foundation was also not contacted by Pawlowski, but the group stands willing to help if needed, she said. "It's an idea that has a lot of merit," Williams said of the Allentown Promise. "It costs a lot of money to go to college, and almost 90 percent of our kids are low income." Pawlowski would also have to get enough signatures to get a fee question on the ballot. Allentown's Home Rule Charter has provisions for ballot initiatives and referendums. Initiatives adopt new legislation while referendums repeal existing legislation. Pawlowski's plan would need a ballot initiative, which requires at least 2,000 signatures from registered Allentown voters collected within 65 days. The charter gives Allentown City Council a chance to review initiatives. It council fails to adopt the proposal, it would automatically be put on the ballot during the next election. Under state law, Lehigh County's election board must also approve initiatives before they appear on the ballot. An initiative requiring stricter emissions standards for a proposed waste-to-energy plant in Allentown was tossed by the elections board in 2013 and never appeared on the ballot. Original Article from The Morning Call.
Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski wants free community college, pre-K on the ballot for city students
By Emily Opilo and Jacqueline Palochko of The Morning Call
March 10, 2016, 4:29 PM
Allentown voters may be asked to fund universal pre-Kindergarten and a long-awaited scholarship program for all city students if a ballot question from Mayor Ed Pawlowski makes it on the ballot this fall.
Pawlowski announced plans Thursday at the annual mayor's breakfast hosted by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce for a ballot question that would ask taxpayers if they want to ante up 30 cents per day or $109.50 annually to pay for the two initiatives.
The mayor estimated that $13 million could be raised each year by the fee. He intends to put the measure on the ballot during the presidential election in November, he said.
"Sixty percent of the jobs in the Lehigh Valley are looking for a post-secondary education," Pawlowski said. "There's too many Allentown folks that don't have that … education."
Known as the Allentown Promise, the proposed scholarship program for Allentown students was first introduced in 2011 by Pawlowski and then Allentown School District Superintendent Gerald Zahorchak.
The Allentown Promise was originally designed as an endowment to assist with tuition for students based on their individual financial needs. Officials said at the time that they would need to raise $50 million for the endowment before the program could begin to pay out.
That money was never raised, said Sue Williams, executive director of the Allentown School District Foundation, which assisted with the effort. The financial climate was just too difficult, she said.
Pawlowski's latest proposal would fund the program annually instead. All Allentown students who graduate from a city high school — including Central Catholic High School and charter high schools — would be eligible for two years of free community college education, Pawlowski said. Students would have to maintain a certain grade point average, yet to be established, to prove that they're committed to school, Pawlowski said.
The $13 million that Pawlowski hopes to raise annually would also cover universal pre-K for the thousands of children ages 3 and 4 in Allentown, he said.
"It gives them an opportunity for a lifetime," Pawlowski said. "And it's going to be less of a burden the city for their entire lifetimes."
Offering universal pre-K education for Allentown children would be a boon for a school district that only recently committed to offering universal kindergarten to students. In January, the Allentown School Board approved hiring five additional kindergarten teachers to manage full-day kindergarten district-wide, but there were concerns about where the classes would be located.
There is not enough room in the district's elementary schools, Superintendent Russ Mayo said at the time, and board members rejected a plan to make space by moving Newcomer Academy, a school for students who are learning English, out of Midway Manor.
Pawlowski said Thursday that he intends to fund groups such as Community Service for Children that already provide pre-K in Allentown but cannot afford to make the instruction universal. Community Service for Children already offers pre-K to about 800 Allentown children, he said.
Pawlowski said he didn't know yet whether other money would be distributed through the Allentown School District which is independent of the city and has its own authority to tax city residents.
Representatives from the Allentown School District said they were not consulted. Kim Golden Benner, spokeswoman for the Allentown School District, said Mayo was never informed of Pawlowski's plan. Williams said the school foundation was also not contacted by Pawlowski, but the group stands willing to help if needed, she said.
"It's an idea that has a lot of merit," Williams said of the Allentown Promise. "It costs a lot of money to go to college, and almost 90 percent of our kids are low income."
Pawlowski would also have to get enough signatures to get a fee question on the ballot.
Allentown's Home Rule Charter has provisions for ballot initiatives and referendums. Initiatives adopt new legislation while referendums repeal existing legislation. Pawlowski's plan would need a ballot initiative, which requires at least 2,000 signatures from registered Allentown voters collected within 65 days.
The charter gives Allentown City Council a chance to review initiatives. It council fails to adopt the proposal, it would automatically be put on the ballot during the next election.
Under state law, Lehigh County's election board must also approve initiatives before they appear on the ballot. An initiative requiring stricter emissions standards for a proposed waste-to-energy plant in Allentown was tossed by the elections board in 2013 and never appeared on the ballot. Original Article from The Morning Call.