Education

By Gregg Kravitz

The state must do its part to address problems of costs, resources, programs, and personnel in public education. The solution is to ensure that education funding is being spent wisely, and that we are benchmarking from programs and policies that are working in other states and bringing them to our commonwealth.

1. Increase funding for early childhood education in Philadelphia to fully prepare students for future success in schools.

2. Ensure that there is enough state funding for education in Philadelphia, so the school district can implement Imagine 2014, the five-year plan for the School District of Philadelphia. The vision for 2014 is broken down into five goals: Student Success, Quality Choices, Great Staff, Accountable Adults, World-Class Operations. I believe we can meet every goal of the Imagine 2014 plan.

3. According to Pennsylvania-Costing Out Study, on average, the School District should be spending $14,131 per student - currently it spends around $11000 per pupil. The School District needs to work together with the State and the City to find additional revenue to fill this gap.

4. I will work to ensure that Philadelphia gets its fair share of Race to the Top Funding from the state. Pennsylvania applied for $400 million of Race to the Top money, which is awarded to states that have a charter school law. Disbursement is based on access to the Charter School system. PA has been rated a "B," losing points for not having a sufficient number of authorizing institutions.

I believe the recently introduced, bipartisan, Senate Bill 1156 represents a good first step toward positive reform of the Pennsylvania Charter School system. S.B. 1156 will improve Pennsylvania's Charter School rating and increase our Race to the Top funding. Allowing universities to authorize Pennsylvania charter schools expands access to educational opportunities for PA students while providing an appropriate oversight. Moreover, the bill's proposed extension of Charters from 5 to 10 years, and the removal of enrollment caps, will expand access to Charter Schools for Pennsylvania's youth. I will work to draft legislation for the House that incorporates these key elements of the Senate plan.

5. I am concerned with the prevalence of violence and truancy in Philadelphia schools. This school year, 18,243 of the district's 161,000 students have been suspended and in the last 18 months, 274 students have been expelled. About 12,000 students are truant each day. I will draft legislation to create funding for goal-based incentive programs that will provide partial scholarships to Pennsylvania's public universities for students that meet grade and attendance benchmarks during highschool. I will also seek to support legislation that encourages enforcement of existing truancy laws to ensure that those students that continue to avoid school receive the appropriate punishment, and not a state sanctioned vacation.