School choice bill robs from the poor and gives to the rich
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Posted: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 8:50 pm, Thu Dec 1, 2011.
As a teacher in the Council Rock School District, I have seen the effects first hand from the $860 million in state budget cuts. Speaking with my colleagues in Pennsylvania, I continuously hear how these cuts have forced school districts to increase class sizes, cut courses, and eliminate tutoring programs that help our students learn. I am certainly not against parochial or non-sacred private schools, as they provide options for families that want a specialized education. I have family members who sent their children to elite private schools and are very successful. Of course, they paid for the choice and option to send their children to private schools. A recent public opinion poll shows that 65 percent of Pennsylvanians oppose tuition voucher initiatives and that 69 percent oppose the public school funding cuts.
Instead of passing unaccountable, unproven initiatives that drain even more funding from our public schools — like tuition vouchers — please encourage our legislators and governor to support programs that provide more individualized instruction, reduce class sizes, and offer pre-kindergarten and full-day kindergarten. Pennsylvania’s public schools are among the best in the nation. Our students’ performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is among the nation’s best and seven of 10 public school students go on to college or higher education.
I feel this is a slippery slope, and if Senate Bill 1 passes, public schools will be forced to make further cuts, such as remove kindergarten courses, and further curtailment of arts courses. Class sizes will continue to increase,
