Students to governor: 'Budget is breaking our hearts'
by Dale Mezzacappa on Feb 14 2012 Posted in Latest news
Protesters gather on the inside steps of the State Capitol.
About 400 students, parents, and teachers from mostly low-income school districts around Pennsylvania traveled to Harrisburg on Valentine's Day to tell Gov. Corbett how his budget cuts are hurting their opportunities for a quality education.
The cuts disproportionately affected poorer districts, which rely more heavily on state aid. Philadelphia faced a gap of more than $700 million and is still trying to cut nearly $40 million from its budget this year. Chester-Upland had to go to court to get enough funds just to stay open.
"This is not just happening to us. There are going to be more Chesters," said Chester senior Mori Hitchcock.
The rally was sponsored by Philadelphia Student Union, JUNTOS, and the Campaign for Nonviolent Schools from Philadelphia; Project Peace from Reading, and TeenBloc from Pittsburgh.
Comments (16)
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 18:49.
Way to go! It's especially impressive that there are students from different parts of PA and not just Philadelphia.
Submitted by Theresa Trauger (not verified) on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 19:16.
I was there!!!!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 19:19.
Corbett is laughing at you---He needs to go.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 21:05.
I was there today and it was truly inspiring. These young people were so on point with their speeches. I don't think there has been a rally like this before, with students from all over the state and I hope it keeps going. Keep going with the momentum! Great Job!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 22:02.
Money talks with Corbett--Big Money; Momentum walks.
Submitted by Theresa Trauger (not verified) on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 22:43.
It doesn't help though that one of the schools, who have budget issues and are from Philly, got driven to the rally by charter busses. How bad does that look? I'm from reading and we took a yellow school bus there.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/15/2012 - 14:26.
The money for these buses was donated. It might not "look" good in your opinion, but it's not easy at all to get yellow buses service because they are all used during the day to get students back and forth to school in our huge district. Often the only option for an event like this is charter buses.
Submitted by Theresa Trauger (not verified) on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 22:43.
It doesn't help though that one of the schools, who have budget issues and are from Philly, got driven to the rally by charter busses. How bad does that look? I'm from reading and we took a yellow school bus there.
Submitted by Megan Williamson (not verified) on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 23:11.
The buses that transported students and parents from Philadelphia to the rally were not funded by the Philadelphia School District in any way. These buses were paid for by financially independent organizations that do not receive funding from the School District or the state. These buses were paid for largely by individual donors who answered an online appeal in support of this rally.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 23:06.
Oh Theresa please...don't be so petty. Clearly, you are upset that you had to ride on a yellow. Bus. I donated money for that chartered bus. Stay focused...those were private dollars. We need to focusing the public ones.
Submitted by Ron Whitehorne on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 23:09.
The School District did not charter the buses. The Philadelphia Student Union did and called on those who could afford it to contribute.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/15/2012 - 00:49.
Public demonstrations, especially ones as well done and well timed as this are an important component of an overall strategy that helps elected officials point to constituents who clearly want to shift the state's priorities. Well done!
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/15/2012 - 14:14.
Remember Governor Corbett,
The thousands of Junior and Senior High School students affected by your draconian cuts this year, will soon turn 18 years or older, applying for or attending Colleges and/or Universities, or job hunting, when it comes time for you to run for re-election next year.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 02/15/2012 - 14:36.
I applaud the efforts of these young people and the adults who supported them. There has to be a consistent drive to demonstrate to Harrisburg that education should be of topmost priority. Presently, it is not. The possibility of huge districts, like Philly, failing is rooted in the misconception that charters are the answer to school reform. Charters sap resources from traditional schools and yet produce, on average, no better academic results. This lack of performance occurs even with a hand-picked student population which is devoid of English language learners and special needs students. At the root level, the charter school represents a money grab. It's not about choice, it's not even about reform...it's about money. Harrisburg is complicit in this rich man's money-grab and it is SHAMEFUL! So young people, keep your protests coming. You're on the right track!!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 17:36.
I am proud of the students, parents and teachers.
We need more rallies in Harrisburg.
I have never seen our schools and districts suffer as they are now.
The budget cuts continue to cripple our system!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 03/09/2012 - 16:33.
Divide and conquer! How easy it has been for the politicians to pit charter schools and private schools against public schools, when the truth is, we do not have to starve any schools of funding in order to provide excellent education for all students. If school systems are going to be funded according to a per pupil formula, then All schools - public, private, and parochial - should get the same amount or funding, period. Testing should not be for the purpose of punishing low performing schools, but for the purpose of determining what additional instructional resources low performing students need in order to raise their level of achievement to state standards.
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