The Pennsylvania State Legislature, led by a Republican Party majority, over the last several years has imposed and passed a myriad of reckless educational policies that do not fit or meet the needs of students and educators in Pennsylvania.
Since the Administration of Governor Tom Corbett, the Republican-dominated Legislature has been empowered to continue their hack job on public education in our Commonwealth. We have weakened seniority and layoff protections for teachers, eliminated charter school reimbursements for districts, and nearly eliminated property taxes that are public school districts’ largest revenue streams.
Now our Legislature is considering two new bills that will continue the recklessness of the Republicans and their unconscionable and misguided efforts to “reform” public education.
One such misguided policy is PA Senate Bill 383, which will allow local school boards to adopt a policy that will provide school personnel access to firearms on school grounds to “enhance school safety.” We have all been rocked by the high level of gun violence we have seen in our schools, and in our streets. The killing of students in our schools and educational campuses must be addressed, but arming educators and the use of armed guards in our schools is not the answer. We need to implement reforms and increase accountability for gun control in the Commonwealth, as well as invest in strategies that will tighten security in our schools without providing school personnel firearms.
Equally misguided is PA Senate Bill 2, which will take funding from public schools to provide parents funds in the form of ESA’s that will allow students from the lowest performing 15 percent of public schools to attend private and religious schools. The distribution of these vouchers will not ensure equity on behalf of disadvantaged and impoverished students and will greatly benefit the families of students already with the financial means to pay for a private education. By diverting state subsidies, we are reducing the resources, supports, and access for students who remain in the school district. Not to mention the passage of this bill will disproportionately affect students with disabilities by weakening the protections they have under PA School Code that apply to public schools, but not to private schools.
It is time for the people of Pennsylvania to demand greater accountability for public education and gun control from their elected representation. The time has come for us to end our pay-for-play political system and unseat those backing the NRA’s anti-gun control agenda and ludicrous policies to arm our teachers and school staff.
We are at a critical juncture in history that requires legislators to implement common sense reforms that will equitably fund our schools, expand early childhood learning, increase the accountability of private and parochial schools, and ensure the safety of our students and educators. For far too long now, our legislators in Harrisburg have been poor stewards of our public education system and, unfortunately, the young people in our great Commonwealth have been and still are the victims. This must, for the good of all in this Commonwealth, change.
(Kevin L. Carter is a member of the Pittsburgh Public School Board, 8th District. He is also CEO of the Adonai Center Inc.)
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