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Religious leaders press for educational reform
Thursday, June 28, 2001 By Jeremy R. Cooke
HARRISBURG -- They prayed. They repented for not acting sooner. They vowed to be political activists for educational reform.
They are religious leaders, who say they have lost faith in the way the state chooses to pay for its schools.
"We have a morally indefensible -- I would go as far as to say morally reprehensible -- funding system," said the Rev. K. Joy Kaufmann, director of public advocacy for the Pennsylvania Council of Churches. "Personally, I am angry."
Protestant pastors and a Jewish rabbi gathered at the state Capitol yesterday to demand change in a school funding system they view as unjust, immoral and outrageous.
They promised to organize their congregations and communities into a grass-roots campaign to "target" lawmakers in the next election and work to put a friendly ear in the governor's mansion in 2002.
They lamented the disparity between rich and poor school districts around the state, noting that some districts spend more than $13,000 per pupil while others can afford only about $4,000. A few of the religious leaders suggested that local property taxes create a sort of "caste system" that prevents struggling communities from getting the funding they need.
"This is an injustice like unto slavery, like unto Jim Crow," said the Rev. Gerald Simmons, pastor of Faith Tabernacle in Lancaster. "But this is more subtle."
The coalition representing hundreds of congregations calls itself Good Schools Pennsylvania. It aims to add moral and spiritual voices to a 30-year-old battle over how to finance public education and what essential elements should be offered to every student, said Shiela Ballen, the group's spokeswoman.
Schools are primarily funded through local property taxes. The state contributes about one-third of the funding, on average.
That means richer school districts can afford to spend more on each student through property tax revenues.
Politicians have tried to change the system for decades, to no avail.
In 1989, then-Gov. Robert P. Casey pushed hard for property tax reform, calling the school funding system inequitable. The issue was put to a ballot referendum, but voters overwhelmingly shot it down. The matter has languished in Harrisburg ever since.
Religious leaders say they now will force the issue.
"This is an urgent issue and we are here to beg the people in this building to move forward," said the Rev. Charles Bennison, an Episcopal bishop from the Philadelphia area, as he stood in the state Capitol Rotunda.
He outlined some of the other education reforms the group wants -- prekindergarten, full-day kindergarten, continuing teacher education, smaller classes, well-maintained buildings and adequate materials.
Jeremy R. Cooke is an intern for the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents .
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