Locals Head to Harrisburg to Protest Budget

On Tuesday, April 26, over 200 area adults and students waited in front of Cook Wissahickon Elementary School to board buses headed to Harrisburg for a rally protesting Governor Tom Corbett’s proposed budget cuts to public education. Though buses arrived over an hour late and temperatures reached the 80s, the crowd was not deterred. 

But why all the hubbub? Essentially, the problem is that Corbett’s proposed budget slashes $1.2 billion from the Pennsylvania education budget. There is already a qualitative discrepancy between urban and suburban public schooling due to the per-capita income of the tax base, and losing state funding only widens the gaps between the rich and the middle class/poor. 

Cook Wissahickon School is consistently ranked among the top 25 elementary schools out of 171 in the Philadelphia school district. Parents are nevertheless worried though, as four Cook-Wiss teachers have received lay-off notices due to the budget cuts, and rumors persist that their well-liked principal, Karen Thomas, may be replaced due to lack of seniority.

If the cuts aren't reversed, class sizes will increase, special-ed and gifted education programs will nearly disappear, and what little there is by way of arts and science labs will be wiped out as well.

It is no wonder that this working class group of parents and teachers gathered to protest. “Both me and my husband work full time jobs, but can’t afford private school,” one woman stated. 

“I have no desire to move to the suburbs, even if I could afford it,” another mom explained. “Why should we have to move to Lower Merion to get a decent education for our kids? Or pay for private school? American kids deserve equal education opportunities no matter where they live. It’s just wrong.”

After a long bus ride to Harrisburg, the group joined a group of over 1,000 people on the steps of the Capitol Building.  

The NAACP-sponsored event drew mixed reviews though. 

Some wondered why “whites” were involved. Let me take a moment to answer that: because the NAACP represents ALL people who are being discriminated against—all shades of skin; male and female; poor and rich. Any time someone is being discriminated against due to race, gender, disability, or socio-economic status, the NAACP will step up and advocate. 

So yes, a Philadelphia school that is nearly 50 percent white showed up for the fight. Again, the fact is that all schools—urban, suburban, and rural—will be affected if these proposed budget cuts go through. 

A white senior citizen at the rally stated, “I have no kids of my own, but I am here for two reasons. First, if the state cuts funding, then my local taxes will probably go up to counter balance it, and I can’t afford that. Second, I don’t want to live in a society of rotten delinquents who drop out of school from boredom or neglect.”

This brings up a good point: Corbett proposed $1.2 billion in cuts to public education, but proposed to SPEND approximately half a billion to build new prisons for 6,000 inmates—each one of whom would cost $35,000 annually to incarcerate. “Educate! Don’t incarcerate!” was the cry heard over and over at the rally.

The argument supporting the budget sounds something like this: “If we want a balanced budget, we either have to tax the public, or cut public education.” However, there is a large industry that goes untaxed here in Pennsylvania. “There will be no extraction tax on the fast growing and thriving natural gas industry (companies), which were major contributors to Corbett’s election campaign.”  

So Corbett’s idea is to:

• Create jobs in the prison industry, but lay off educators.
• Overcrowd our schools… which may lead to the overcrowding of our prisons.
• Place the burden of education on the counties instead of the state—which may result in higher county taxes—while letting the natural gas industry come in and pump for “free.”

Personally, I’m not sure I like his agenda. 

But your opinion is valid too. One way or another, make YOUR voice heard by writing to your elected officials. This website has contact information (email, USPS, and phone) for every single one of them. Tell them what you think.