Rally seeks to restore education funding
Rebecca Gartley, an art teacher at Uniontown Area High School, offered a stark assessment of how budget cuts affect education at a rally Tuesday in Uniontown. The General Assembly is in the midst of budget negotiations with Governor Tom Corbett seeking reduced education funding.
“I feel that a pattern of disdain for the arts is insidiously infiltrating our state government,” Gartley said to a crowd of about 20 people gathered at Storey Square. “Ultimately, it is our children who are suffering the consequences. I am very aware that our state has money troubles and finances are definitely an issue for all districts. If no one speaks up for the arts, related arts and foreign languages, I fear they will disappear from our state’s educational system, thus depriving our children of the rich learning experiences provided in visual art, music, library, industrial arts, family and consumer sciences and foreign languages.”
Fayette County has seen $10.5 million less from Harrisburg than they received in 2010 according to Service Employees International Union 32BJ, which hosted rallies across the state lamenting looming budget reductions. SEIU 32BJ is the largest property service union in the country made up of janitors, food service workers, school bus drivers and other support staff.
“We have to get out and get this point across,” said Joe Volpe, a custodian at Albert Gallatin High School. “We all have to stick together on this and keep our legislators accountable.”
Since 2011, Fayette County schools have endured millions in cuts, including $2.5 million from Albert Gallatin School District and $2.1 million from Laurel Highlands, according to the SEIU 32BJ. Brownsville School District School District lost $1.4 million and $1.5 million was cut Uniontown School District, the union said.
“We’re here today to get the governor and legislature to reconsider these ridiculous cuts,” said Matt Edgell, a representative from the Pennsylvania State Educators Association.”
Prior to the rally, Jennifer Rapach, political coordinator for SEIU 32BJ, explained how President Obama’s stimulus dollars from 2009 aimed at education were used to fill budget holes. When that money disappeared, it appeared cuts were being made, but funding problems that existed prior to stimulus funding endured, she said.
“The stimulus money was supposed to be extra money used for capital projects and more things like that to put people to work,” she said. “What the state decided to do with it in 2009 was fill holes in the state budget so they wouldn’t have to eliminate corporate tax loopholes. There was not enough revenue coming in, so they just used the money to plug holes, not for the stimulus.”
Rapach said cash-strapped districts were still struggling when this federal money didn’t pour forth in subsequent years.
“When that money went away, what Governor Corbett did, instead of filling holes in the budget, was to slash education funding,” she said. “Everything for the past two years has been flat funded. We’re still living with those cuts. We took $10.5 million in cuts in Fayette County and then the following year, funding stayed the same so we’re still living with $10.5 million that we are used to have – each year.”
Rapach said those cuts force school districts to make tough choices.
“What ends up happening is that schools can sometimes live with cuts for a year or two by dipping into the reserves, but what we’re finding is that because this is sustained over and over year after year that class sizes have increased and teaching positions are not being filled,” she said.
Eric Pringle, a history teacher at Laurel Highlands High School, said some school districts more than others are having a harder time dealing with budget reductions.
“Districts that don’t feel the pinch are the rich ones that are not as reliant on state funding,” he said.
Volpe said he does not blame local school boards for making cuts to fill budget shortfalls.
“Everyone wants to point the finger at their school boards,” he said. “They try to do the best they can, but you can only do so much.”