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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) Federal & state government should be out of education. Schools should be locally controlled and teachers accountable to parents not unions or the state education bureaucracy. PA residents should have school choice: charter schools, private schools & those parents that send their children to non-government schools should be exempted from paying a school tax. 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) Providing this act remains in effect, what is needed is dedicated teachers to drill, drill, drill until the students achieve mastery of the task. Repitition works. 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) See answer #2. 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) Recent studies have proven that Head Start for 3-4 year olds have no impact on academic achievement and/or performance and should be eliminated. Full day kindergarten without naptime are effective. Many privately owned schools offer such programs at very reasonable costs which are in effect a consumer choice and the decision should be left to the parent, not the government. 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) For the past 100 years the experiment of government run schools is not impressive. Privately funded schools (church schools, homeschooling, private schools) do a much superior job at educating children. The opportunity for competition to the government school system should be encouraged. Church run school do a better job with only 1/4-1/3 of the resources (money), no big unions, no bureaurcracy.
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