More than 2,000 parents, students, educators, clergy, and community and labor leaders from across Pennsylvania came to the State Capitol on Tuesday, June 25, to demand that the Corbett Administration and the General Assembly make education funding a top priority in the 2013-14 state budget.
The Corbett Administration has cut $1 billion in funding for public education over the previous two budgets, forcing School Districts to cut programs, layoff approximately 25,000 teachers, nurses, and guidance counselors, and raise property taxes in School Districts across Pennsylvania. Approximately two-thirds of Pennsylvania’s School Districts are seeking waivers from the PA Department of Education for permission to increase property taxes.
Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, criticized the Governor for stressing th
e importance of pursuing a college education while his budget cuts have resulted in the layoffs of guidance counselors who help thousands of students to prepare for and enroll in college.
Before the afternoon rally, participants visited virtually every legislator in the General Assembly, from both sides of the aisle, with a single message: Fund public schools, colleges and universities; close tax loopholes and delay the phasing out the Capitol Stock and Franchise Tax.
At the end of the rally, participants formed a human chain that encircled the State Capitol to show their commitment to making full funding of public education a top priority for this state budget.
The Day of Action was organized by PCAPS (Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools) and GPS Pittsburgh (Great Public Schools Coalition), along with parent groups, student organizations and unions.
Dr. Kevin Johnson, Pastor of the Bright Hope Baptist Church, called on Gov. Tom Corbett to place more funding into public education. “We have come today because there is a great injustice being inflicted on our children,” he stated. “The guilty party of this injustice is not a career criminal with a lengthy rap sheet. The guilty party is not the usual suspect we see on the nightly television. The guilty party is not confined in some correction facility; rather the guilty party has an office in the Capitol. Yes Mr. Governor you are guilty of failing to create educational equity in a funding formula that would be equitable for all children…when we see our public education system being gutted by the wealthy instead of being funded by them we say enough is enough. When we see that you are a friend to business but not a friend to public education we say enough is enough. When we see that you are standing with Marcellus Shale instead of standing with the children of Pennsylvania we say enough is enough.”
Eileen Duffy, School Nurse, spoke in support of more funding for public education. “We nurses stand in solidarity with our counselors, our teachers, our school safety teams, and our school support teams to call for fair funding for public schools so they can regain positions to allow our schools to function fully,” she stated. “We keep hearing there is no money. To say there is no money is a lie. Any lack of funds is a result of very clear and intentional choices that Gov. Corbett has made. The governor made the choice not to tax natural gas companies. The governor made a choice to lower taxes for corporations. The governor made a choice to build three prisons. The governor made a choice to cut school funding by almost $1 billion.”
Jerry Jordan, President of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, said the state has failed to live up to the constitutional requirement of providing a “thorough and efficient” system of public education. “The governor has cut $1 billion from education in this state and yet educators are being held accountable, children are being held hostage because of the cut in services to them,” he stated. “The future of this country rests with our children. We have a responsibility, the elected officials have a responsibility, the governor has a responsibility to make sure our children get what they deserve.”
Henry Nicholas, President of District 1199C, discussed the funding shortage in Philadelphia. “They want to remove all the support staff in the schools; they want teachers to give up 15 percent of their wages; they want the teachers to work an extra hour a day; they want to them to work four years without a wage increase,” he stated. “We want Pennsylvania to know that unless there’s a change the schools can’t open in September under these conditions. They won’t open in September under these conditions. We are prepared to go all the way.”
Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers, called on governor to provide more money for public education. “On a day the Supreme Court has thrown out voting rights, you have a governor who would rather find fault with the people who work closest to God’s children than actually stand up and do his responsibility of ensuring that the next generation gets a shot a life,” she stated. “How is it governor that you say our kids should be healthy and well when you take away every nurse in the city of Philadelphia? How is it sir that you say we should have a well-rounded education when you take away art and music? How is it that you can find money to build prisons and find money for corporate tax breaks but not find money for children in this state?”
Michael Crossey, President of the Public Education State Association, spoke against cuts to public education. “Tell this governor no more cuts to funding, no more cuts to our schools; this governor, some legislators are out to destroy our school system, we say no more,” he stated. “This governor and his allies have taken Pennsylvania down the wrong road. On the governor’s path we have found closed buildings, furloughed educators, lack of resources, students in crowded classrooms, and fewer opportunities for our children. We need to take a different road.”
Rep. Erin Molchany (D-Allegheny) thanked the crowd for coming to Harrisburg and called on them to reach out to their lawmakers. “The governor’s $1 billion funding cuts is failing our kids, failing our teachers, and they are failing our communities,” she stated. “Public education is the most important workforce development tool we have and make no mistake these cuts will impact our ability to compete in a 21st century economy. For every dollar that Gov. Corbett and House Republicans slashed from education they are now offering to give back ten cents. Apparently when it comes to investing in our children’s future the Republicans can only spare a dime.”
Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia) spoke against the policies of Gov. Corbett. “Over the last two years the governor gave $1 billion in tax giveaways to the largest corporations in Pennsylvania,” he stated. “He also provided for the lowest tax rate for Marcellus Shale drillers in the country. He’s got friends, those are his friends. While he was giving them a $1 billion tax break he took $1 billion out of public education for our children. The fat cats got $1 billion in their pockets. Teachers, students, bus drivers, classroom aides, cafeteria workers, hall monitors, everybody else lost $ 1 billion out of our schools. The people with the money got hooked up and the people without the money didn’t.”
Sen. Hughes argued that expanding Medicaid, postponing the phase out of the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax, and modernizing the state liquor system would provide more money for public education. “There’s money in these walls,” he stated. “Let’s put our children first, don’t put them last. Let’s do the right thing.”
Alissa Weinraub, a furloughed teacher’s aide from Philadelphia, called for more money for public education and discussed the funding shortages in Philadelphia. “This didn’t just happen; the crisis was created for us by deliberate decisions made by these so-called leaders who don’t give us the resources we need,” she stated. “Today is the first step for us. It’s a day when we decide that we are going to wrestle back control of the future of our profession, our schools and our communities. It is a deciding moment in our collective history. We are not going to allow our lawmakers anymore to abandon us, to keep their stranglehold on us, to steal away the right of a quality education for millions of children across this state.”
Rick Bloomingdale, President of the AFL-CIO, spoke in favor of more money for basic education and urged the crowd to vote on Election Day. “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being here today but if we had showed up to the polls in November we wouldn’t be here today,” he stated. “If you don’t vote this is what you end up with. These folks won with the lowest percentage turnout we have ever seen in this state because we stayed home. We are paying for staying home. We need to make sure every election, not just Presidential election, every election we vote. If we vote we win.”
Bloomingdale told the people that the entire labor movement across Pennsylvania is united in their support for full funding of public education. Jack Shea, President of the Allegheny County Labor Council, AFL-CIO and Elizabeth McElroy, Secretary-Treasurer of the Philadelphia Council, AFL-CIO stood with President Bloomingdale as he spoke.
Rep. Ed Gainey (D-Allegheny) thanked the crowd for coming to Harrisburg and spoke against funding cuts to public education. “We have a crisis because we have a war on kids,” he stated. “We have a war on kids when we continue to cut funding for education when we know education is the key to their future.”
The crowd then began to form a ring around the Capitol to show solitude for more money for public education.
Rosemary Boland, President of the Scranton Federation of Teachers, spoke against Gov. Corbett. “We just have one message to give to the governor and his lovely wife: this is your notice that public housing will no longer be available to you,” she stated. “Gov. Corbett find a house to live in but make it out of Pennsylvania. From all of us in northeast Pennsylvania Gov. Corbett: frack you.”
Earlene Bly, representing Unite Here, said she was one of the people who took part in the fast for safe schools in Philadelphia and explained that she is the mother of a ninth grade student and grandmother of a first grader. “We feel that the student safety staff plays a pivotal role in our schools,” she stated. “The student safety staff are there to protect our children and that’s what we are most concerned with.”
Ted Kirsch, Vice President of the American Federation of Teachers, thanked the crowd for attending and informed them that they circled the entire Capitol building. “This is not the end, this is a new beginning,” he stated. “There are many people presently employed in this building. In the next election we are going to have to do whatever we can do to put them in the unemployment line. We shouldn’t be laying off school employees who are providing services. What we should be doing is laying off elected officials who don’t have the guts to do the right thing.”
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale told the people that the entire labor movement across Pennsylvania is united in their support for full funding of public education. Jack Shea, President of the Allegheny County Labor Council, AFL-CIO and Elizabeth McElroy, Secretary-Treasurer of the Philadelphia Council, AFL-CIO stood with President Bloomingdale as he spoke.
PA AFL-CIO and PLS contributed to this report.