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Group writing state to alter school funds
Thursday, November 22, 2001 By Eleanor Chute, Post-Gazette Education Writer
Good Schools Pennsylvania, a grass-roots coalition, wants to send Harrisburg a message that the way public schools are funded needs to be reformed, so it's writing the governor.
The Allegheny County arm of the group this week kicked off a campaign to send letters to Gov. Mark Schweiker, detailing how spending varies by thousands of dollars among districts, and calling for "comprehensive school reform."
The formation of the nonprofit group was announced in the spring and has the $4.1 million in foundation support it needs to operate for three years. Its founders include former Philadelphia Superintendent David Hornbeck and leaders of religious and other organizations.
The group is not endorsing a particular piece of legislation or a particular solution, but it is trying to educate residents to lobby for fair distribution of adequate funds, improved standards and accountability. Its campaign is aimed at showing that "every kid counts."
The group's strategy is to form 1,000 groups of 10 people each throughout the state. The next training session locally is set for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Pittsburgh Friends Meeting House in Shadyside.
The group also is conducting monthly interfaith prayer vigils. Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund, and the Rev. Robert W. Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, will participate in the next vigil at 11 a.m. Dec. 12 at the state Capitol in Harrisburg.
For this week's campaign kickoff, nine speakers endorsed Good Schools Pennsylvania. The list included former state Rep. Ron Cowell as well as representatives of the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh, the state Parent-Teacher Association, the Pittsburgh Interfaith Impact Network, the Pittsburgh Council on Public Education, the state Parent-Teacher Association, the Pennsylvania School Reform Network and the local chapter of Stand for Children.
The Rev. Jack O'Malley, labor chaplain for the state AFL-CIO, said that education is a way for people to get out of poverty and the inequity in opportunities for children is a moral issue.
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