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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 biggest strengths are what I see in my sister (a special needs teacher in Central Bucks Count) and her colleagues who provide a high return on investment with limited budgets. One of the biggest weaknesses I see with Pennsylvania's system of education funding is the disparity in financial and educational resources among the school districts. Policy leaders need to find the resources to adequately fund our public schools and make that a top legislative priority. 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) In order to assist our schools in meeting the requirements of the federal NCLB mandate, Pennsylvania must ensure that there is appropriate funding and resources available to every child in each of our public schools. This starts with legislators who make education a top priority by providing the appropriate resources for success. 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) The Legislature must provide the necessary funding levels to give every child in Pennsylvania access to pre-school, full-day kindergarten, smaller class size in early education, tutoring programs and increased teacher training. 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) Again, as mentioned above, the way to make sure that each child gets the maximum amount of assistance in order to achieve acceptable and increased performance levels, is to make a commitment to adequately provide state funding. This will enable our schools and our children to have greater access to books, computers, qualified teachers and to provide more assistance to special needs children. 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) We need to provide a sound statewide education financial system that reduces the burden on the taxpayers and shifts more of the burden to state financing. We need to make significant state funding investments and to promote more equal and more sufficient funding for all of our school districts. 6. Is there anything else that you will do to strengthen Pennsylvania's public education system? (75 words or less) I will support education initiatives that increase student achievement, such as full day kindergarten, pre-school programs, smaller class sizes, tutoring programs, and special needs programs.
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