Central Pennsylvania Public School Coalition

Public education leaders from Clinton, Clearfield and Centre counties have joined ranks to launch a public campaign aimed at educating and mobilizing the public about the successes of public education. The new coalition, which represents administrators, teachers, parents and union leaders in Central Intermediate Unit 10, kicked off in March, and includes a media campaign and grassroots campaign in the 10 school districts in the IU’s area.

“The goal of the campaign is to get our community members thinking about and talking about the great contributions of our local public schools to our communities. Our public schools are the heart and souls of our communities and we need to mobilize to get our citizens involved in the fight to preserve and protect our public schools from the politics of Harrisburg,” said State College Area School District Superintendent Mike Hardy.

The theme for the campaign is “My Choice Is My Public School.”  “We all recognize that the state is facing a budget deficit and every district has been working to try to trim their budgets to deal with cuts. But there is only so much that can be cut before it starts to negatively impact the education of the students,” said Brad Siegfried, a teacher leader in Philipsburg-Osceola School District.  “We are willing to do our part, but the Governor and the legislature have to be accountable to the people who elected them.”

An important component of the campaign is a website where public education advocates can get the positive facts about public education and learn how Governor Corbett’s education funding cuts will impact programs and hurt students.  For example, many of the districts in the IU are considering cutting non-mandated programs, such as art, music, full day kindergarten and sports.  The state cuts in IU 10 range from a low of 13 percent to a high of 24 percent of the district budget.

“One of the goals is to get the public motivated to call and email their legislators and let them know that they need to adequately fund public education. If we don’t get this message to Harrisburg our students can expect larger class sizes, diminished courses and more pay for play activities,” said Sue Lemmo, a parent in the Clearfield Area School District and teacher leader in the Curwensville Area School District.

The coalition is also concerned about how the proposed voucher bill and reduced subsidy to school districts for the costs of charter and cyber schools will further erode school districts ability to fund local education budgets.
“There is a misconception in the public that charter and cyber schools are free, when in fact that money is being drained from the local public school budget.  Taxpayers are footing the bill and now the state is cutting their end of the cost, leaving local taxpayers to pay it all,” said Penns Valley Superintendent Brian Griffith. “The cost to all of IU school districts for charter and cyber schools last year was over $10 million. That’s money that could be funding arts, music, advanced curriculum and sports programs in our public schools.”

Another important element to the campaign is to highlight the successes of local public schools and to spread the word about the positive programs that are going on in our classrooms.  “Our public schools are among the best in the state. Many have been recognized statewide for their academic achievements. Our students are getting a great education in Central Pennsylvania. Public polls consistently tell us that the public supports their local public education. Now we want them to send that message to Harrisburg,” said Shaun McMurtie, Vice President of the Bellefonte Area Education Association.