Phil. Inquirer: Rendell's increased investments in public education showed major results

[JPZenger]

http://articles.philly.com/2011-06-20/news/29680179_1_level-on-state-tests-fourth-grade-reading-pennsylvania

Article is well worth a click.

Excerpt:

"Over the past eight years, the share of Pennsylvania students performing at or above grade level on state tests has risen at the same rate as state funding for public schools. The proportion of students with especially high scores doubled in that period, while the share scoring as years behind was cut nearly in half. And in the 50 school districts where the majority of students didn't pass the tests in 2002 - and where state investments increased the most - the number of students performing at or above grade level grew by a stunning 41 percent on average.

The Center for Education Policy, a moderate Washington think tank, found that Pennsylvania was the only state in the nation to make significant progress in reading and math skills in every grade tested between 2002 and 2008. And Education Week, the nation's most respected education periodical, which ranks states' performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, found that Pennsylvania made remarkable strides last year - even in middle school, where it's hardest to get results."
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Meanwhile, 10,000 public school teachers are being "Corbetted" this year in Pennsylvania, even after almost every school district is increasing their property taxes.
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http://articles.philly.com/2011-05-24/news/29578046_1_education-budget-state-cuts-alternative-education-programs

Column: That Rainy Day? Its Pouring Right Now for Schools

Excerpt:

"Four years after the Legislature used the findings of the landmark "Costing Out" study to increase state funding to disadvantaged children, Corbett's proposal slashes $1,406 per student from Philadelphia's state subsidy. With no independent taxing authority, the city school district has only one way to make up the deficit - gut programs and staff that helped raise student achievement and graduation rates.

As a result, the district plans to increase class sizes next year, and cut just about everything else: early-childhood education, student transportation, school nurses, libraries, art, music, sports, counseling services and vocational- and alternative-education programs. Nearly 4,000 Philadelphia school employees will be laid off: teachers, counselors, nurses and support staff - all needed in our classrooms, not the unemployment lines.

Vital preschool programs, which provide the foundation for learning, are slated to disappear next year, as will vocational programs that prepare youngsters for good jobs and alternative-education programs designed to keep schools safe and give struggling students a second chance.

PA. residents don't have to accept these shortsighted cuts. With the state on track to end the current fiscal year with a tax-revenue surplus of $506 million or more, we can afford to restore basic education subsidies. In addition, legislators can defer $320 million in corporate tax breaks that Corbett wrote into his budget and use that money to support public and higher education."