Issues
Education reform will help ensure system meets needs of all students
The public education debate taking place in the Pennsylvania General Assembly is centered on making sure all students have educational options that best meet their needs and ability to learn, while fostering overall student achievement and ensuring that Commonwealth taxpayers receive a good return on investment for money spent on education. This mission is especially critical when you consider that today’s students are tomorrow’s workforce, and that a key component of economic and job growth is ensuring the availability of a workforce that has the skills employers require.
Citizens to Protect PA Jobs supports efforts to improve Pennsylvania’s public education system, and is backing a number of reforms advanced by Gov. Tom Corbett and many state lawmakers that will accomplish this goal.
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The case for education reform
Pennsylvania has consistently received poor marks for its return on investment for education spending. Over the past two decades, the cost to educate Pennsylvania’s children has risen by double the rate of inflation, while the most recent PSSA results reported that nearly 30 percent of students are testing at or below basic levels in reading and math. At the same time, 99.4 percent of public school teachers were given a ‘satisfactory’ performance rating. Compounding concerns is that too many students are stuck in poor performing school districts (there are 143 “failing” school districts in Pennsylvania, as defined by the Department of Education), which can prevent them from realizing their full academic potential.
Four ways to help improve Pa.’s education system
Action is necessary to make sure that Pennsylvania’s public education system works for all students. Citizens to Protect PA Jobs believes that the answer won’t be found by continuing to spend more, but to spend more wisely and to bring competition and choice into the equation. Fortunately, the governor thinks so too and has introduced a number of initiatives that offer realistic solutions to fix the problems with Pennsylvania’s public education system:
- Improve the teacher evaluation process. Teachers need to be held accountable for the academic progress of students in their classroom. The governor’s plan would replace the inadequate “satisfactory” or “unsatisfactory” evaluation system with one using four rating categories that focus on student performance and traditional observation of classroom practices. The plan also would better match teacher training with skill needs so that teachers have the tools to improve.
- Expansion of charter schools. The governor’s plan also calls for the expansion of charter schools by creating a second track for charter school authorization. Right now, only school districts themselves can create charter schools. Charter schools have proven to be a viable alternative to public schooling in Pennsylvania since their emergence 10 years ago. Creating a marketplace where students have enrollment options gives them the drive to succeed by knowing that they control their own academic future. Competition is also a catalyst for helping struggling public schools recognize the need for improvement.
- Opportunity Scholarships. In his reform package, the governor suggested the creation of an opportunity scholarship program. Phased in over time, the program would provide tuition assistance to low-income students to attend a public or nonpublic school of their choice if they reside within the lowest performing 5 percent of schools in the Commonwealth.
- Expansion of Educational Improvement Tax Credit program. The hugely popular Educational Improvement Tax Credit program, which provides tax credits to businesses that donate to K-12 tuition assistance programs and other public school education programs, would be expanded to allow more participation by job creators to benefit more students.
Citizens to Protect PA Jobs embraces the concept of infusing fresh new ideas into an education system that has produced lackluster results for too many students. For true change to occur within the education system, policies like those offered by the governor and lawmakers need to be enacted to help improve test scores, decrease drop-out rates, and inspire a new generation of students to enhance their individual skills and be prepared for a vibrant career.
