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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) * Strength(s) - Many major funding decisions are made at the local level by school boards rather than by state govt. * Weakness - Local property taxes are not a fair way to apportion burden for funding schools. * Improve - Fund schools evenly across state through either sales or income tax. 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) 1) Ensure schools are fairly & adequately funded. 2) Do away with unfunded mandates. 3) Assist rather than punish failing districts. 4) Communicate "best practices". 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) 1) Identify problem groups & districts. 2) Provide those groups & districts with the assets & tools to remedy identified gaps. 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) * Provide districts with funding. * Should not be mandatory. * Definitely should not be an unfunded mandate. 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) * Public education needs to break the paradigm of 9 months of school per year in classrooms with teachers in front of a class which progresses at the same rate & moves from grade to grade together. * Students need programs which engage them and, to the maximum extent possible, allow them to progress independently. Strong students should not be held back nor should slower learners be promoted until they are ready. 6. Is there anything else that you will do to strengthen Pennsylvania's public education system? (75 words or less) I will support programs that will prepare our kids for today's marketplace & world. We need to be innovative & engage in constant assessment & process improvement. We need to fund programs & encourage teaching methods which work rather than continuing to throw money & just hope that things get better.
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