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for 2006 Pennsylvania Primary Election Legislative Candidates
1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Pennsylvania's system of funding public education? What should the Pennsylvania Legislature do, if anything, to improve the system of funding public education? (75 words or less) The current education budget is not based on actual need, but rather, on what legislators are willing to invest in our public schools. The Pennsylvania Legislature must establish a five-year budget cycle that is based on the real costs of general and special education. I would structure the system so that the local property tax burden is drastically reduced and the tax burden is more equitably distributed across the state. 2. How should the Pennsylvania Legislature assist school districts to meet the requirements of Pennsylvania's regulations for academic standards and graduation requirements as well as the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) that expects every student to demonstrate proficiencies on state assessments in reading, math and science by 2014, and for all schools to demonstrate "adequate yearly progress" (required by NCLB) toward that goal? (75 words or less) The state legislature should mandate curriculum, resources and staffing audits of every school that does not meet the PSSA standards of proficiency. Each failing school should receive targeted funding to provide textbooks, teacher training, coaching staff, smaller class sizes, and psychological support services that may not have been available because of long-term financial neglect. We must also target funding to retrain teachers and to coach parents to be comfortable with current knowledge standards. 3. How should the Pennsylvania Legislature assist school districts to close the academic achievement gaps that exist among groups of students in schools and school districts across the Commonwealth? (75 words or less) It is in the Commonwealth’s best interest for the legislature to fund programs that provide extra support to children who have limited English proficiency, children who have exceptionalities, and children who have low socioeconomic status. State funding should be targeted to provide math and reading coaches, violence-prevention curriculum, smaller class sizes, current text books, and pay incentives to recruit best qualified teachers to work in failing school districts. 4. What, if anything, should the Pennsylvania Legislature do to increase access for young children in Pennsylvania to high-quality pre-K programs and full-day kindergarten programs? (75 words or less) As an educator who operated a child development program for military pre-school children, I am a strong advocate of universal early childhood programs and mandatory annual screenings of children for visual, hearing, emotional or physical impairments that must be remedied. I believe that full-day kindergarten should be mandatory and subsidized by the state. We will never be competitive in the global economy so long as we neglect to fund early childhood education. 5. What is your vision of the public education opportunity that should be available to every child in Pennsylvania and what will you do to accomplish that goal? (75 words or less) I will legislate education budgets that provide every child the opportunity to develop literacy, quantitative and scientific thinking skills. But, children must also learn problem solving through hands-on classes in the industrial arts, physical education, music and the arts, and technical workshops. I will advocate for state funding of these hands-on classes to provide every child the opportunity to develop capacities that contribute to productive lives. 6. Is there anything else that you will do to strengthen Pennsylvania's public education system? (75 words or less) I will champion public education as the most practical institution for preparing our children to flourish in society and in the workplace. I will promote studies by state-funded universities to monitor the needs of our schools and best practices that should be replicated throughout the state. I will foster a constructive partnership between the legislature, parents and children, teachers and administrators. Most importantly, I will put the needs of our children first.
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