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Sunday, November 24, 2013

What the next Pennsylvania governor must say about education | Parents United for Public Education

What the next Pennsylvania governor must say about education | Parents United for Public Education:

What the next Pennsylvania governor must say about education



Governor's collage
Five of the eight candidates for Pennsylvania governor. From top left, clockwise: Katie McGinty, RobMcCord, John Hanger, Allyson Schwartz, and Tom Wolf.
Yesterday, a lively crowd kicked off the Pennsylvania governor’s race in proud Philadelphia style. The first governor’s forum featured five of eight candidates for governor: John Hanger, Allyson Schwartz, Rob McCord, Katie McGinty, and Tom Wolf. It was hosted by the Working Families Party and PCAPs among others, and touched on core areas such as education, health care, and jobs/pension. Rob McCord and John Hanger drew the largest enthusiasm from the crowd with a mix of energy, clear politics, and good old-fashioned Corbett bashing. Katie McGinty also had a good showing. As the front runner, Allyson Schwartz felt strangely lackluster, especially given the depth of her education platform.
But the race is just getting started, and as parents, there’s no question that education remains the top issue of the day. We worked with Shippensburg Education Matters parent leader Susan Spicka and Pittsburgh Yinzercation’s Jessie Ramey to craft a parents’ platform on “What the next Pennsylvania governor must say about education.” We’d love to know what you think.
You can also watch the entire forum below courtesy of Media Mobilizing Project.
What the next Pennsylvania Governor should be saying about education
Public Education Funding
  • I believe that public education is a public good. Public education is an investment that we as taxpayers make together to benefit students, parents, and communities. Public schools play a vital role in building strong communities throughout the Commonwealth.
  • Adequate, equitable, and sustainable funding of public education will be a top priority of my administration.
  • I will reverse the more than $1 billion in state funding cuts to public K-12 schools and public higher