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Democrats urge governor to make public education a priority

Chester Upland School District crisis highlights need to fix chronic underfunding of public schools

HARRISBURG, Jan. 24 – House and Senate Democrats today stood in solidarity with the parents and children of Chester Upland School District – and all 500 school districts across Pennsylvania – to urge Gov. Tom Corbett to make public education a top priority and to rescind his nearly $1 billion in cuts to public schools.

"Governor Corbett and the Republican-controlled General Assembly caused the crisis at Chester Upland by severely underfunding public schools and disproportionately hurting students in Pennsylvania’s poorest communities," said House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny. "This was a preventable crisis, but the governor failed to make our children a priority. Today, we urge him to put children first."

Dozens of House Democrats today filed a “friend of the court” brief in support of a lawsuit filed on behalf of students enrolled in the Chester Upland School District. The lawsuit alleges that the Corbett administration’s Department of Education and the school district violated the Pennsylvania Constitution and the law by not sufficiently providing for the education of the students in Chester Upland. 

"Corbett’s unprecedented funding cuts to public schools in this year’s budget – with a disproportionate share of those cuts borne by the poorest districts – forced school districts to make dramatic program cuts, lay off tens of thousands employees, and raise property taxes en masse," the House Democrats wrote in their court filing. "Corbett’s disdain for public education, along with his desire to advance his own privatization agenda at the expense of children in public schools, has forced the District to the brink of closure. 

"For the most financially strapped school districts in Pennsylvania, the governor’s and the Republican-controlled General Assembly’s decision to not sufficiently fund public education has left hundreds of thousands of children in severely under-funded, under-staffed and overcrowded schools."

There are conflicting news reports about whether the Corbett administration made a commitment yesterday to fund Chester Upland’s basic operations through the end of this school year. In any case, legislative Democrats said more must be done.

"We should fully fund Chester Upland to ensure the districts’ 3,600 students can remain in their schools through the end of the school year," said Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland, D-Delaware, who represents the Chester Upland School District. "But the education crisis hasn’t been averted in Pennsylvania. The threat of financial collapse still looms large in districts across the Commonwealth."

Democratic lawmakers noted that Chester Upland is only the first of several districts on the brink of financial disaster. Other districts in precarious financial positions are: Allentown City, Duquesne City, Erie City, Harrisburg City, Lancaster, Reading, Steel Valley, Steelton-Highspire, Sto-Rox and York City school districts.

As Corbett prepares to unveil his proposed 2012-13 state budget, Democrats urged him to learn from the mistakes he made last year and recognize that Pennsylvania’s public schools must be a top priority for the development of children and the future economic success of our Commonwealth.

They called on the governor to restore the cuts sustained by public schools in this year’s budget – including cuts to Basic Education, Accountability Block Grants, Charter School Reimbursements, Educational Assistance Program funding, and School Improvement Grants.

The Democratic lawmakers also urged Corbett to return to Pennsylvania’s commitments made in the State Board of Education Costing-Out Study, which was intended to put the Commonwealth on a path toward correcting the large inequities and historic inadequacies of Pennsylvania’s public school funding formula.

Dermody and Kirkland joined with Democratic House Education Committee Chairman James R. Roebuck, D-Phila., in a letter to the governor, urging him to recognize the funding crisis that exists in Pennsylvania’s public schools.

"It is clear that your administration is on the wrong course as it relates to Pennsylvania’s education policy," the Democratic lawmakers wrote to Corbett. "For that reason, we are urging you to immediately make a course correction and reset your policy agenda so that it is truly child-centered and children-first."

Roebuck said Corbett’s continued resistance to properly funding public schools is hurting not just thousands of children but also the state’s economy.

"A strong, competitive public education system is the cornerstone of a vibrant and thriving economy," Roebuck said. "By starving public schools of critical state resources, Governor Corbett is hurting our youngest minds and making Pennsylvania less competitive in the global economy. That would be a terrible legacy to leave behind."