HARRISBURG — Senator Ryan P. Aument (R-36) today applauded the Pennsylvania Department of Education for creating a new online tool designed to provide greater transparency of school district spending.
The new SchoolWATCH webpage will include detailed financial information of public schools, cyber and charter schools and career and technology centers. The data is available on the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s School Performance Profile website at www.paschoolperformance.org.
Aument authored the law that created the School Performance Profile when he was serving in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2013.
“One of the critical components of this new system is the ability to review school performance in comparison to the resources the district has available. It’s not just about how much money we spend on education, it’s about the quality of the services we are providing,” Aument said. “Additionally, offering more access to school district financial information will not only encourage school boards to explore every avenue for savings and efficiency, but also help taxpayers, families, parents and everyone involved in our schools serve as better advocates for an efficient and effective public education system.”
SchoolWATCH was modeled after the PennWATCH program, which was launched in 2012 to offer the public easy access to information regarding appropriations and expenditures for state agencies.
“Over the past several years, there has been a strong shift in favor of transparency and accountability at all levels of government, and school districts are no exception,” Aument said. “Collectively, Pennsylvania schools manage billions of taxpayer dollars. Taxpayers absolutely have a right to know where and how those dollars and being spent, and I am thankful the Department of Education has taken this important step to make this information readily available to the public.”
CONTACT: Zachary Peirson (717) 627-0036