Public Education Reform
November 21, 2011

Hi, I’m Gene Barr, president of the Pennsylvania Chamber. Welcome to this month’s Pennsylvania Chamber Minute.

The business community has a vested interest in the state’s ability to provide an affordable, quality public education system. After all, today’s students are tomorrow’s workforce.

A solid academic foundation now will give young people skills they can build on for career success later in life – skills employers value and need.

But the reality is that academic achievement has not matched taxpayer money spent on education in recent decades.

More money has not proven to be the solution. It’s time to infuse fresh thinking into public education in our state.

That’s why the Pennsylvania Chamber is engaged in the reform debate taking place in Harrisburg, and is working to enact two bills that would improve education by spending smarter and infusing competition and choice into the equation.

Senate Bill 1, which already passed in that chamber, encompasses many of the governor’s education reform priorities; including the creation of an opportunity scholarship program for low-income students in the Commonwealth’s poorest performing school districts.

Children shouldn’t be trapped in a school that is failing their ability to learn because of economics. Choice gives options to more young people and would serve as a catalyst for struggling schools to improve.

Senate Bill 1 also contains an expansion of the successful Educational Improvement Tax Credit program, which provides tax credits to businesses that donate to scholarship and alternative public education programs.

A second bill, House Bill 1980, would change the state’s inadequate teacher evaluation system to hold educators more accountable for student achievement, while at the same time, providing teachers with feedback necessary to enhance their skills. Improving the teacher evaluation system is also a component of the governor’s reform plan.

Public education is an essential function of state government. It’s just time for a new and smarter approach.

These concepts will enhance public education in the Commonwealth by putting students first, and ensuring that the system works for everyone, including Pennsylvania employers that want and need skilled Pennsylvania workers.

Thank you for your support, and for spending a minute of your time with the Pennsylvania Chamber, the Statewide Voice of Business.