Vouchers aren’t Free.

For those of you in Pennsylvania that support Senate Bill 1, I hope you clearly understand that if you do not have children or your children are out of school you will still be paying taxes. In fact, your tax bill may increase with the passage of Senate Bill 1. Senate Bill 1 is a voucher bill. Easily explained, this bill would allow school children in any local public school system to take “their” state and local allotment of tax dollars and use it to pay for a private education. That’s it. No reduction in taxes is part of Senate Bill 1.

The reality of this legislation is that if you live in Williamsburg and pay taxes, you will continue to pay taxes. However, if a child in Williamsburg decides to leave the public school system and take “their” allotment of tax dollars to a private school, you (a taxpayer of Williamsburg) continue to pay taxes. Voucher programs are not funded by some magical pot of money. Taxpayers pay for them! Now though, you will be paying taxes for other people’s children to go to private schools. Your tax dollars will leave your community school system and be used to finance private schools. Your community school loses money that would be used to support educational and extra-curricular activities (field-trips, books, technology, athletics, etc.).

On top of the fact that community public schools will lose per-pupil funding is the fact that voucher programs have been researched extensively. Do voucher programs increase student achievement? No. Do voucher programs inspire healthy competition? No. Do voucher programs help alleviate the tax burden on property owners? No. Do voucher programs damage community public schools? Yes!

This is why we all need to stop playing for our political team (Democrat or Republican). Both parties are supportive of destructive policies aimed at gutting public education. It is now time to be a citizen of your community first. And as citizens of local communities we need to stop the dismantling of our community based public schools.

My Huffington Posts.

If Not Now, When? If Not You, Who?
Teachers, 'If Not Now, When? If Not You, Who?'

How to Boycott NCLB in 90 Seconds
How to Boycott NCLB in 90 Seconds

Teachers, This One Is for You
Teachers, This One Is for You

It's All My Fault?
It's All My Fault?

The Night the Lights Went Out on Friday
The Night the Lights Went Out on Friday

Do Not Judge, Do Not Condemn
Do Not Judge, Do Not Condemn

Good Teacher Gone Bad
Good Teacher Gone Bad

Rejecting Standardized Testing With The Bartleby Project
Rejecting Standardized Testing With The Bartleby Project

Education DEFORM and Media Hearing Loss
Education DEFORM and Media Hearing Loss

The Honest 'Public Education Crisis' Narrative
The Honest 'Public Education Crisis' Narrative

Value-Added Measures vs. the Love for Learning
Value-Added Measures vs. the Love for Learning

Educators and communities should say no to Corbett education cuts.

State Department of Education spokesman Steve Weitzman was quoted as saying, “The presumption of steady, unbroken revenue increases year after year no longer is feasible. The day of reckoning has come.” What exactly does he mean by the day of reckoning?

Well it has nothing to do with actually spending less on education. Yes, the Corbett administration plans on cutting $589 million dollars from public school appropriations. And these cuts are going to devastate local school budgets. However, between maintaining the worthless PSSA system and implementing a set of new initiatives, the Corbett administration may end up actually spending close to $1 billion dollars.

The Corbett administration supports funding a voucher system that has been demonstrated (across the country) to not raise achievement test scores and ends up costing taxpayers more money, developing a grading system for public schools that may decrease property values, implementing the Keystone exams that national research has shown adds nothing to a child’s education, and creating a merit pay system for teachers that will end up narrowing the curriculum and ending teacher collaboration. Therefore Corbett’s plans for public schools will end up costing taxpayers more than the $589 million dollar cut.

Schools and communities need to speak up. Local schools are making significant cuts to programs that benefit children and the communities they serve. But why should they if the Corbett administration plans on actually spending more on it’s own politically driven initiatives that are specifically designed to destroy the public school system? I guess the “day of reckoning” is really facing the fact that this administration is going forward with a market-driven reform strategy that will destroy local community schools.