Tartaglione Statement on School Funding

PHILADELPHIA,  Aug. 18, 2013 – The following statement was offered today by Senator Christine M. Tartaglione, Democratic Chair of the Senate Labor and Industry Committee, in support of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools rally advocating for Full, Fair Funding for our Schools:

 

“It has been said that ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’

I truly believe that.

 

Our village is our parents, our community and most importantly the teachers in our schools.

Children deserve the best teachers we can give them, and an equal opportunity at a bright future

It is unfair to children, parents and teachers to balance the school budget on the backs of the teachers.

 

These teachers are the ones that have the most daily contact with our children – we should want to offer the most competitive salaries and benefits, in order to attract the most talented teachers.

 

We should want the smartest, brightest, and best teachers to stay in Philadelphia.

Funding education properly now will create a stronger city and Commonwealth, and will save our community money in the future.

 

Our funding system is broken and in need of serious repair. Concessions from employees will not fix this, finding various things to tax at various times will not fix this. It needs a major overhaul and that is where the attention and effort needs to be focused

 

These children are our job creators for our future.

 

They will start businesses, dream up new ideas, cure our illnesses when we are old and aging, and move us toward reaching our full potential as a community.

We sabotage our own futures if we do not provide proper education for our children now.”

Tartaglione Rejects Republican Budget Plan

HARRISBURG, June 30, 2013 — State Sen. Christine M. Tartaglione today voted against a Republican-backed budget plan that continues more than two years of economic backsliding and education failure.

“Pennsylvania has been sitting in the ditch watching the rest of the country drive past and the administration’s plan to get us moving is simply more of the same,” she said. “We’ve heard the same trite sound bites for two years but the facts are hard to ignore.  This cynical and political approach to budgeting is not working.”

Two years after cutting $1 billion from Pennsylvania’s schools, the budget passed by the Senate today restores a meager $130 million, while dozens of schools teeter on the brink of bankruptcy.

“The plan to help Philadelphia schools will only serve to make sure that the schools will continue to operate on a razor’s edge for the foreseeable future,” Tartaglione said.  “We need real leadership to resolve crises, not preserve them,”

Tartaglione was among the supporters of an alternate budget plan that included $212 million more for education, $125 million more for job creation along with support for small cities facing economic distress.

When they offered the plan several weeks ago, Senate Democrats said it would use funds generated from liquor modernization, savings created by expanding Medicaid, and a one-year hold on the phase-out of the Capital Stock and Franchise Tax to produce the revenue needed to invest in the state’s economy.

Some senators have seen the wisdom of that plan and Medicaid expansion passed the Senate on Saturday, while the budget plan that passed also contains a freeze on the Capitol Stock and Franchise Tax.

At Tartaglione’s request, the plan nearly doubles funding for assistive technology devices that help get Pennsylvanians with disabilities back into the workforce.

Tartaglione said the plan also includes funding for three new classes of state troopers and increases for the state court system.

“As long as we keep ignoring our failing education system, we have to make sure we train new police and expand our court system,” Tartaglione said. “That’s the bottom line with this budget.”