Tom Corbett’s Education Reform Plan

Last year when Tom Corbett won election with a promise to not raise taxes, I wrote that I thought he had a tremendous opportunity to take a step back, evaluate the core mission of state government, and perhaps redefine the state’s role in public education. Six months ago the governor released his first education budget and school districts across the Commonwealth scrambled to replace the millions of dollars which were no longer available for public education. Some districts cut programs, some cut staff, some froze wages, many did a combination of these but all eventually realized that there just wasn’t much more money coming from Harrisburg.

While many of our neighbors decried the reduction in education, the facts clearly show that money alone isn’t the only or even the best solution to improving our public education. According to the Commonwealth Foundation, public school spending in Pennsylvania had rapidly increased despite declining enrollment, with little growth in academic achievement to show for it. Since 2000, public school spending in Pennsylvania rose 68 percent, from $15.3 billion to $25.8 billion in 2009-10, while enrollment in public schools declined by 26,960 students, and schools hired an additional 32,937 employees. Despite spending more than $14,000 per student, only 40 percent of Pennsylvania's 8th-grade students scored at or above proficiency levels on standardized reading and mathematics exams. In the bottom 5% of high schools, only 53 percent of 11th graders scored above proficiency in reading and math. 53%!
Pennsylvania Corbett unveiled a four-part education reform proposal Tuesday morning that has since received mixed reactions. At a news conference Tuesday Corbett said acting on an education reform agenda is a state priority. The announced agenda focuses on improvements to the charter school system by creating a statewide entity to administer charter schools and makes it easier to convert buildings to charter educational facilities. The Governor’s plan also offers vouchers that assist low-income students attending the lowest-performing 5 percent of schools in Pennsylvania, expands the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program for businesses and overhauls the teacher evaluation process to a more comprehensive method that incorporates classroom observations with student achievement. "When we have failing schools, we know we have failing students," Corbett told The Delaware County Daily Times. "We can't continue down this same path and think we're going to get a different result."

Public education is successful when schools, parents and the community all work together. There are a lot of important decisions being made. Get involved in your school district and make your voice heard. Your kid’s future depends on it!