Education

By Kelly Lynn Devine

"By investing in our higher education system, we are investing in our continued economic development. With an increasingly competitive job market, people need the opportunity to train and learn different skills. By bringing back state dollars to local school districts and state universities, we can continue to provide that chance to get a degree. When the state lowers its financial commitment to our public schools, your local taxes are increased to compensate."

• When Federal Stimulus dollars ran out in 2011, Harrisburg lawmakers sacrificed funding for schools to cover the shortfall. Our incumbent Representative led the charge for Harrisburg lawmakers to cut our school funding by over $5.5 Million. To make matters worse, there has been no effort to restore these drastic cuts.

• Beginning with the 2010-11 budget, Pennsylvania's top Auditor has warned the Legislature the law governing cyber-charter schools wastes $365 Million is wasted each year.

• Because homeowners fund the costs of cyber-charter schools through property taxes, the savings will stay within the home school district.

• Teacher pension contributions are also tied to the current amount paid per student. By adjusting these costs in line with cyber charter actually spend, taxpayers will save even more in local assessments and fees.