AN EPIC BATTLE FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION: A FRONTLINE VIEW
Governor Tom Wolf is battling for fair funding for Public Education. It’s an epic battle in Pennsylvania and part of the war on Public Education across America. It involves us all.
In spite of the facts that legislators have failed to propose an acceptable budget, and that the budget is 7 months overdue, Governor Wolf is standing strong against politicians’ attempts to further slash public education.
It’s not just about the money. It’s also about how the budget is allocated to districts. It’s also about politicians trying to link requirements for their increasing micromanagement of individual schools.
Politicians have failed in Philadelphia Schools. So…close schools?
State-level politicians have a clear, 15-year track record since they took over the School District of Philadelphia. Their record is one of stunningly consistent academic starvation with simultaneous fiscal disaster.
Fifteen long years ago, the State established the ‘School Reform Commission’ (SRC) to eliminate local control in Philadelphia. The State appoints the majority of SRC members. The SRC has also hired multiple “outsider” CEOs with multiple organizational structures. CEOs have come. CEOs have gone. Teaching staff is at all-time lows. Vacant positions remain unfilled. Substitute teachers decline to work here. Class sizes increase. Course offerings only decrease. Teachers have been working without a contract since 2013. Building conditions are atrocious, even dangerous. Charter school approvals mushroomed to one third of total schools, draining public funds disproportionatly, without public consent. School District bonds are now junk. Equal access for children is ignored. Politicians’ persistent, precise underfunding of Public Education, in Philadelphia in particular, is a prime cause of our condition. A contrived disaster.
Now, part of the Senate’s latest “solution” is to amend the State An Epic Battle for Public Education: A Frontline View | LucidWitness.com: