Under fire from critics across the state for slashing hundreds of millions of public education’s funding from the state budget, Governor Tom Corbett suggested Wednesday that the school districts are to blame for their own financial crisis.
According to the Associated Press, the governor said on his latest appearance on the “Dom Giordano Program” that “excessively small class sizes and overly generous contracts with teachers’ unions” have both played a role in putting public education into the current budget crunch it faces.
Fielding questions from callers, Corbett did not shy away from spreading the blame for rising school taxes to the school boards themselves.
“I would love to see the taxpayers speaking up at the school board meetings” Corbett is quoted as saying.
Corbett also mentioned the cost of teachers’ pension as an unappreciated factor in the state’s contribution to public education, saying that pension costs will shoot up to “$4 billion in the next four years.”
The governor’s radio appearance drew plenty of criticism from both the state’s education representatives as well as Pa democratic officials.
Democratic party spokesman Mark Nicastre is quoted by the AP as saying, “Tom Corbett’s massive budget cuts will raise taxes for middle-class Pennsylvanians while eliminating important school programs that help Pennsylvania students get the education they need to enter the workforce.”
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“Everyone has to deal with cuts and make it work, schools are just behind everyone else because teachers feel as though they are better than everyone else and deserve more.”
Schools have made significant cuts already; budget-wise, staff-wise, and curricular-wise:http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/breaking/s_791023.html Pittsburgh City Schools will furlough roughly 400 teachers this year. Have you spoken to actual teachers, or are you just referencing your memories of teachers from high school? When our country is currently striving to boost industry, production, and technological innovation, why do teachers who are supposed to train future communicators, administrators, and technicians get saddled with the blame for the current situation of Unions? You said, “School budgets are out of control”, but you do not give any evidence to make that claim. Whose school budget is out of control? What specific changes would you like to see?
Isn’t it true that the State Government contributions to public school pensions were cut/drastically reduced in the 90’s because of the surplus? Aren’t teachers/schools currently the only contributors to the pension fund?
Mr. Potts it really took guts for you and your Board to fight off spending reductions and to pretend that stimulus funding was permanent. I know that a lot of other SB’s bravely made the same decision. How dare Governor Corbett blame you and yours for these budget shortfalls.Outrageous!
The facts are simple. Teachers Unions have ruined it, they overextend, demand too much, and strike if they dont get what they want. School budgets are out of control and must be taken back to realistic levels. The days of spending every dollar you can get your hands on are over, get used to it. Everyone has to deal with cuts and make it work, schools are just behind everyone else because teachers feel as though they are better than everyone else and deserve more.
Speaking as a school board member fin the Carlisle Area School District, I’d like to make a few points. First, school districts didn’t have a choice whether to take federal funds or state funds in the last Rendell budget. We had to take the federal funds or impose immediate and drastic cuts to programs after the fiscal year had already begun. Nor does Rendell shoulder all of the blame. The last time I checked, a majority of members of the legislature had to vote for that budget.
Second, the money the state provides for pensions is reimbursement for expenses school districts already have made. Since when does a reimbursement count as new money?
I would love for Gov. Corbett to show up at one of our school board meetings, but since Secretary Tomalis declined our invitation, I doubt Corbett would have the guts to do it, either.
Defund the corrupt Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RCAP) that is like 4B / year. Should be some $$$ there for the teachers and return the rest to the people in the form of lower taxes. This is just crony capitalism at it’s worst and is corrupting PA politics.
Rendell cut the state’s contribution for ed so that he could spend it elsewhere and because he knew it would be backfilled w/ federal stimulus $s through his term. School districts were told this was 1-time money, but they didn’t prepare for reality, using it for operations or even expanding their future programatic obligations. Corbett inherited this mess.