Pennsylvania is both the birth-place of our Republic and of public education. It should be a national leader in providing quality public education for all children in our Commonwealth, but unfortunately that is not the case.
School districts across Pennsylvania are chronically under-funded forcing them to choose between cutting important programs or raising local taxes. The state’s funding inequities, among the worst in the nation, means that where you live determines the quality of the education your child receives, the access they have to new technology, and the after-school programs in which they can participate.
Pennsylvania is one of the few states that does not provide full-day kindergarten for all students or supplement federal ‘Head Start’ funds to expand the program. These omissions mean our children are less prepared for school than they should be.
Democrat Gubernatorial candidate Ed Rendell’s plan to ensure an equal and fair education for all Pennsylvania students will assist in reforming the current PA educational system. If elected, Rendell will re-focus the priorities of the state budget to ensure that PA children receive the education they deserve.
Rendell will uncouple education funding from local property taxes by dramatically increasing state funding for education while maintaining local curriculum control. He will propose and work for enactment of an Amendment to our state Constitution to ensure that education funding is no longer subject to the politics of the moment. He will end the passing of unfunded mandates onto local school districts that devastate their finances.
If elected, Rendell will increase the financial and educational accountability of cyber schools. He will expand full-day kindergarten so all Pennsylvania children benefit from early learning. He will strengthen our early childhood development by moving to implement universal pre-K for all four year olds, vastly improving the operations of the state’s ‘Child Care Works’ program, and begin reducing class sizes in kindergarten to the third grade to an eventual goal of 14 students per class.
Rendell will work with communities to improve school safety and develop and implement constructive after-school programs to keep Pennsylvania kids learning and out of trouble after classes end.
In short, the ‘Rendell Plan for Reforming Pennsylvania’s Education System’ is a fundamentally different way for state government to work with local communities to improve the education of all Pennsylvania children. This degree of change will require leadership, determination and political courage.
Rendell believes that Pennsylvania must make these changes now for the future of our children and the future of our state. There is no greater challenge facing PA schools than reform of our education funding system. Pennsylvania has one of the most inequitable funding systems in the country and per pupil spending in the wealthiest school districts is more than triple per pupil spending in the poorest districts.
A child in a poor community who attends a school with far fewer resources ultimately has less opportunity to succeed than his or her peer in a wealthier district. Rendell states that is totally unacceptable, and under his Administration, he will ensure that changes are made to provide the best education for all of Pennsylvania’s children.
As Pennsylvania Attorney General, Republican Gubernatorial candidate Mike Fisher addressed every parent’s top educational priority, making sure his or her children are safe in school. By implementing innovative programs such as ‘Team Up Against Drugs’ and holding the first ever ‘School Safety Summit,’ these efforts have been highly successful in removing drugs and violence from our PA schools.
As Governor, Fisher plans to set high standards for Pennsylvania schools, and will implement a plan to make sure PA government will reach them. A plan that says instead of spending more, his Administration is going to spend smarter. A plan that says in addition to testing students, Fisher will require accountability from teachers and students.
Running mate Jane Earll and Fisher stress they are passionate in their belief that all students can learn, and if elected, his Administration must do everything in their means to meet the expectations they have for Pennsylvania’s children. The Fisher/Earll Administration must make sure that every child can read at grade level by the third grade.
Fisher and Earll plan to ensure that students in every district perform well on standardized tests that truly measure student abilities, and they will reward schools and teachers who improve learning and help the Fisher Administration meet or exceed high standards of learning.
If elected, the Fisher Administration will also make sure that Pennsylvania has the very best teachers in its schools and provide new opportunities for their professional development. Fisher will partner with educators to see that they all share a common commitment to a better future for PA children and that they work together to provide the best education foundation possible in Pennsylvania homes and schools.
Fisher’s wife Carol is an educator by profession, and under Fisher’s plan, she will play a key role in some of the new reading programs outlined in his plan.
Earll and Fisher state they understand the importance of an open dialogue with the Pennsylvania education community on the challenges facing PA school districts and believe that PA government must continue to provide school districts with the flexibility they seek through fewer mandates from Harrisburg and more local control.
Fisher’s plan believes that a good educational system is one where educators, government, parents and community leaders work toward the same goal. Fisher and Earll, if elected, will include local leaders in planning and implementing their agenda. By working together, Fisher says he can ensure that Pennsylvania’s education system is the best in the nation.
‘The Fisher/Earll Plan for Educational Opportunity’ starts with the premise that learning begins at birth, and that from birth through eight years of age the foundation for literacy is developed. Reading readiness is the most important indicator of a child’s success in school. Pre-school experiences provide much of the readiness that enables our children to become proficient readers.
The Fisher/Earll plan makes certain that no Pennsylvania child ever fails to achieve his or her potential because they fell behind before they were old enough to make their own choices.
Both Rendell and Fisher have plans to improve and reform the Pennsylvania education system, but both differ in their ways to approach these changes and/or adjustments. It will be up to the people of Pennsylvania to decide which candidate’s plan will climb toward reality come Election Day tomorrow.
