In 2007, Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak testified before the Pennsylvania House Education Committee regarding full day kindergarten. He claimed that districts which offered the program would see a significant decrease in special education students due to early identification and early intervention. He asserted the high cost of full day kindergarten would be recouped by Districts in lower special education costs. Gettysburg Area School District has provided full day kindergarten since 2003. The district has seen a slight decrease in the percentage of special education students it serves, yielding no savings. In fact, the school board has appealed for permission to raise its property taxes higher than the Act I index permitted in order to pay for rising special education costs.