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for 2004 Pennsylvania General 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) Weakness: Too great a reliance on local property taxes; this exacerbates inequity in funding and adequacy. Strengths: Since the subsidy formula at the State level is frozen against the prior year, the Administration and GA attempt to focus any new funding towards meeting current and specific needs of school districts. The subsidy formula does need addressed. With the passage of the gaming bill and the Homeowner Tax Relief Act, a first step was taken to replace local property tax revenues with revenue from gaming. This is a first step and additional discussions on additional state-level revenue sources for education and modification of the existing subsidy formula and other state formulae will be continued in 2005. 2. How should the Pennsylvania Legislature assist school districts to meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act 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" toward that goal? (75 words or less) The Accountability Block Grants are a good start. The flexibility provided by the enabling legislation allows districts to determine what programs or initiatives will assist them in attaining or maintaining adequate yearly progress. The GA must continue to seek adequate funding from the Federal government for NCLB and work with the PA Congressional delegation to remedy implementation problems. 3. How should the Pennsylvania Legislature assist school districts to close the academic achievement gap that exists among groups of students in schools and school districts across the Commonwealth? (75 words or less) The Accountability Block Grants are helping in this area. According to PDE, many districts have used the funding for pre-K and full-day kindergarten programs. Each school district is unique in its needs to close academic achievement gaps between subgroups of students. The Block Grants allow for this uniqueness. Modification by the Federal government in relation to English Language Learners is a step in the right direction. It is hoped that the US Department of Education will also address the issue of special education students with modifications or further accommodations for testing purposes. 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 noted above the Accountability Block Grants are helping to expand access to pre-K programs and full-day kindergarten programs. I will continue to support requiring full-day kindergarten. I also support the State financial assistance to Head Start Programs provided in the 04-05 budget. I support providing additional financial assistance for public schools to provide quality pre-K programs. 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) The PA Constitution places the responsibility of providing a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth with the General Assembly. I believe this responsibility extends beyond 12th grade and includes higher education whether certificate programs, associate degrees or bachelor degrees. PA has in place public higher education institutions: community colleges and the PA State System of Higher Education. Next session I will fight to assure that Pennsylvania's children have access to these institutions at a fair price and that the graduates of our public school districts are prepared to enter institutions of higher education. The future economic success of Pennsylvania is tied closely to the education success of its students. It is time for public higher education institutions and workforce development programs to work together to secure PA's economic future.
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