House Democrats discuss GOP threats to education
During a House Democratic Policy Committee hearing, Chairman Mike Sturla (Lancaster) argued for the importance of basic education. “Education is the foundation on which our commonwealth builds the rest of its priorities,” said Sturla. “However, for two years Governor Corbett has demonstrated his lack of understanding that without adequate and equitable tools, our students are fighting an uphill battle to succeed. Our state will not fully recover economically if we continue to underfund education.”
The Governor’s proposed education cuts for the 2012-2013 fiscal year total $100 million. If these cuts were to take effect, it would mean that public education has lost close to $1 billion in funding since Governor Corbett has taken office.
Co-Chair Rep. Jim Roebuck, (Phila) strongly felt that the proposed budget, “… would not prepare our young people to succeed – it would cut off access to higher education for many families and burden others with more debt due to the steep tuition increases that will result if state funding is cut again. Ironically, the governor also said in his budget speech that businesses need well-trained workers, which is true -- but to achieve that goal, we need a good education system that is funded properly, not a second round of cuts."
Reader Comments
Comments are moderated. It may take some time for your comment to appear.
There are no comments yet. Be the first to create one!
Leave a Comment