Corbett budget: “A paltry handout
Last week Governor Tom Corbett unveiled his proposal for the PA state budget. The proposal claims to put in close to $400 million into education. However on closer scrutiny, none of that money supports the basic education budget, the amount of money going without strings attached to school districts. After years of deprivation under Governor Corbett, Philadelphia schools – and Pennsylvania’s schools for that matter – don’t need to prove that our kids need basic support. Instead we need the state to live up to its constitutional duty to provide a “thorough and efficient education” to every child in the Commonwealth. Parents United supports the increase of $20 million toward special education funding, however that money is not based on need. If it were, it would be many times more than that amount. Below is our statement on the Governor’s budget.
“Too Little, Too Late”
Parents United for Public Education statement on Governor Corbett’s budget address
Parents United for Public Education called Governor Corbett’s education funding plan “too little, too late” especially for Philadelphia’s public schools. While Philadelphia’s schools lose hundreds of millions a year under the Governor’s budget, the Governor put almost no money toward improving the basic education subsidy and instead diverted most of the money into selective measures which fail to guarantee equity in basic resources, standards and programming for Pennsylvania schools.
“The Governor’s paltry handout to Philadelphia ensures that our children will live yet another year without adequate librarians, counselors, nurses, and teaching staff,” said Helen Gym,a co-founder and mother of three children in the public schools. “It’s another year of parents scrambling for resources, paying for basic services in schools, and seeking charitable handouts to sustain even the best as well as the most basic of programs.”
Philadelphia parents have filed more than 800 complaints from over 90 schools in the city against the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The complaints allege that programs and services – such as basic access to counselors, gifted programming, special needs services, health care, and adequate materials in