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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) Pennsylvania relies heavily on local revenue sources to fund public education. This reliance creates inequity in revenue available to school districts that in turn creates inequity in programs & services available to students. A start was made by the GA this session to begin the process of replacing local property tax revenue with gaming revenue. Further discussions are needed to determine additional state-level revenue sources for education funding; and development of formulae to assure equitable distribution of revenue from these sources. 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) With the enactment of the language for Governor Rendell's Accountability Block Grants, the GA recognized the need for additional funds for school districts "to attain or maintain adequate yearly progress." Further, the GA needs to support the PA Department of Education attempts to resolve implementation problems with the US Department of Education. The PA GA needs to continue to make the PA Congressional Delegation aware of the shortcoming of NCLB. Two areas of concern are the reduction of Federal funding levels (estimated @ $27 billion less than authorized) and the issue of special education students being required to take tests that do not reflect the provisions of their IEP with minimal accommodations. 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) When the Rendell Accountability Block Grants (ABG) were enacted, I believed it was necessary to allow school districts to determine how they would utilize these funds. Many districts have used the funds for pre-K and full-day Kindergarten. The language contains a list of allowable uses and they are broad enough to allow a district to use the funds to help level the playing field among groups of students within the district. The formula for the ABG reflects the attempts to aid those districts failing to meet AYP by sending 75% of the appropriation to them. As we continue with these grants, I foresee the future increases in the ABG to address more specific issues within 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) PA needs a longitudinal study to track students who have had the benefit of pre-K programs and full-day kindergarten to show whether or not these programs make a difference in student academic success in later grades. To me, the evidence is there, but many of my colleagues want to see definitive results from PA. I support and have supported in the past additional funding for full-day kindergarten and 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) Every child in PA must have access to a quality and free public education. I believe we are beginning to achieve this goal. As in the past, the issues of equity and adequacy continue to be the priorities. Every child in PA must have access to continuing higher education, whether a training program, community college program or four-year institution of higher education. PA invests considerable State dollars in the operation of community colleges and the SSHE. These higher education institutions all require ongoing review and modification to achieve this goal. During the next legislative session, I will support a review and, as necessary, legislation to assure that these publicly-owned institutions of higher education are utilizing their funding efficiently and judiciously in order to provide quality programs at reasonable costs to PA's children. These institutions are critical to the economic development of Pennsylvania.
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