Speaking on the Michael Smerconish Show on SiriusXM on Thursday, state Sen. Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia) says that children in Pennsylvania are falling farther and farther behind in the classroom and changes need to be made.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to change how we educate our children,\u201d said Williams. \u201cThat means you have to have educational choice which means the tax dollars which we are currently all pay should be spent in a different kind of way than currently we spend them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania presently pays for its public schooling through a combination of local property taxes, state government funds, and federal grants. More than half (52%) comes from local governments, primarily through local property taxes, while a little more than one-third (37%) is provided by the Commonwealth through legislative budget appropriations, state block grants and basic education funding formulas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have sent a lot of money to school districts across Pennsylvania,\u201d said Williams. \u201cEven in those struggling communities that don\u2019t necessarily tax base. The state takes up more responsibility. You can always fight that debate that you can use more financial resources in a certain area. The question is, what are we doing with the financial resources we actually have\u201d?<\/p>\n
The six-term senator believes that the allocation of funding is not commensurate with ways that make the greatest impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have flexibility. We don\u2019t have bonuses in Philadelphia,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are high schools in Philadelphia that don\u2019t have science teachers. If I can find one and pay you a $5,000 bonus, we\u2019re going to be able to find teachers. But for whatever reason, we\u2019re not doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He calls the public school model antiquated.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is one hundred years old,\u201d said Williams. \u201cIt\u2019s antiquated. Period. I don\u2019t care what public school system you\u2019re talking about. Now, that doesn\u2019t mean it doesn\u2019t work, but it needs to be redesigned. I talk with educators every day. The fundamental part is, third-world countries are beating us. Their children are speaking three languages. We speak one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re doing mathematics with less resources than we. How does that possibly happening when we\u2019re spending all this money in that space\u201d?<\/p>\n
Williams disagrees with the belief that charter schools and private school vouchers draw from traditional public schools and leave them with fewer resources, calling the phrase, \u201cdistorted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe money doesn\u2019t just leave. It leaves them with fewer students,\u201d he says. \u201cThe people who say they\u2019re in opposition don\u2019t live in those communities. They represent the system. They don\u2019t represent the people who are trapped in those communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
He wants to see the money follow the child, whether that is in public schools, charter schools, parochial schools or homeschooled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should not be rewarding failure in institutions that have not been working for 30 or 40 years,\u201d said Williams. \u201cAnd you cannot keep falling upon, it\u2019s the money.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is championing the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) or federally funded tax credit where families can get a deduction for a certain amount of money that you send and it applies no matter what state you reside in. But Pennsylvania has to adopt it first, like 31 states already have,<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means the person in Pennsylvania can write this off and the money stays (here). It does not come out of the general fund. It doesn\u2019t affect the amount of money that we take in in terms of revenue. It doesn\u2019t do anything that hurts the money for public education.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what it does do is provide an additional pot of revenue for students who may need tutoring, who may be in a public school, who want to stay in a public school, but they may need after-school support, they may need a laptop, or if they choose to use it for some other educational experience, they can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He hopes that Gov. Josh Shapiro will sign on and hopes that commonsense will prevail.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is blessed enough to have a family who made sure he got a quality education,\u201d said Williams. \u201cHe went to a Jewish day school, so he knows the value of options and choice in his own life experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think prudence here makes the most sense,\u201d Shapiro said during his October debate with Republican challenger Stacy Garrity. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at it carefully, and in the next few weeks, we\u2019ll make our announcement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams is one of the first Senate Democrats to speak out on the issue. Public school advocates and many in his party in Pennsylvania oppose joining, expressing concern that the program lacks transparency and could funnel support away from public education systems.<\/p>\n