Investing in Education

By Charles G. "Chuck" Hadley

As the son, brother and uncle of educators, Chuck knows exactly how vital and powerful a good education can be. One of Chuck's top priorities is to reverse the devastating Corbett-Adolph budget cuts that have resulted in overcrowded, understaffed schools, rising local property taxes, and a decline in the overall quality of education within the Commonwealth.

One of Chuck's top priorities is to reverse the devastating Corbett-Adolph budget cuts that have resulted in overcrowded, understaffed schools, rising local property taxes, and a decline in the overall quality of education within the Commonwealth. These budgets cut $1 billion dollars from education in Pennsylvania, including $20 million from Delaware County, in order to protect tax breaks for big corporations. Republicans in Harrisburg repeatedly bragged about these education cuts when they passed in 2011 despite their devastating effects.

These education cuts have forced our local governments to make up the deficiency by increasing local property taxes. The education cuts have also led directly to an increase in the average class size by more than 70%, the elimination of student tutoring programs in 35% of districts, and to layoffs of tens of thousands of educators in less than 3 years. In fact, Chuck's niece was a teacher in the Chester Upland school district before she was laid off as a result of the cuts. Losing talented, dedicated young educators has a devastating impact on kids across Pennsylvania.

In order to restore the $1 billion dollars to education in Pennsylvania, Chuck will fight to close corporate tax loopholes and to ensure corporate special interests such as the natural gas companies pay their fair share. Chuck supports a reasonable severance tax to the gas drillers, just as every other state imposes, which will raise hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools and bring our teachers back into our classrooms. It's important to elect someone who won't just say they're for a severance tax, but will actually vote for one.