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“Freindly Fire Zone”A Fiercely Independent News Bureau
Thursday, 10 November 2011 10:45
PA Poll: Dump Low Income Vouchers, Increase Tax Credit(Poll Questions and Results below) There is an age-old adage: if you’re going to do something, do it right --- or don’t do it at all. Based on poll results exclusively obtained first by Freindly Fire, nowhere is that more applicable than in the fight for school vouchers in Pennsylvania. According to the Pulse Opinion Research poll conducted on behalf of UNITE PA, which surveyed 500 likely voters across the state, the majority of Pennsylvanians prefer that any school choice program be open to all students (or at least most of the middle class), as opposed to just low income, predominantly inner city students. This result is not surprising on any level, and, undeniably, leads to five rock solid conclusions: 1) The middle class realizes that ALL schools need improvement, and competition through choice is the best way to achieve that objective; 2) Pennsylvanians, by a whopping 78 to 9 margin, favor a broad-based choice program; 3) If a comprehensive choice program isn’t offered, citizens would prefer an expansion of the EITC educational tax credit --- by a 3 to 1 ratio; 4) The reason voucher legislation failed in the Spring, and in all likelihood won’t pass now, isn’t due to opposition to school choice, but because the senate refuses to consider a broader, more inclusive bill, and therefore: 5) If a suburban or rural legislator supports vouchers only for low income families, while their constituents would be left out in the cold without receiving a penny, they do so at their own peril. A full 40 percent of likely voters stated that they will be “less likely” to support that lawmaker in his or her next election based on that vote. The message of this poll is clear: do vouchers the right way, or don’t do them at all. And since the senate has already passed a low income version by the slimmest of margins, with its leaders stating that’s all they will do, expect the voucher bill to die what may be its final political death, and look for the EITC expansion to pass as a stand-alone bill (which it did in the Spring by a virtually unanimous 190-7 bipartisan vote on Rep. Tom Quigley’s House Bill 1330). Failure to act responsibly will leave the GOP politically vulnerable, and, infinitely more important, abandon yet another generation of Pennsylvania’s future. ***** Since last January, Republican Senator Jeff Piccola has been trying to pass legislation offering school vouchers only to students in underperforming schools who meet low income requirements. Despite crafting Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) during the Rendell Administration (when there was a Democratic State House and an anti-choice governor), Piccola never bothered to broaden the bill to reflect the new ten-seat Republican majority in the House, and pro-school choice Governor Tom Corbett. Piccola, along with Democratic co-sponsor Senator Tony Williams, ran the bus over anyone who dared question why SB 1 was being treated as hallowed legislation, scoffing at --- but not answering --- queries as to why no attempt was made to broaden the bill, given the favorable legislative climate. In the process, many SB 1 proponents demonized long-time political allies for their “brazen” attempt to improve a badly flawed education reform bill that would neither educate nor reform. That intransigence directly led to vouchers dying on the vine in June. Despite repeated assurances that it would pass the Senate, it was never brought to the floor for a vote. Piccola’s excuse for not running the bill was that the House wasn’t embracing SB 1 with the same fervor, yet the truth is that he didn’t even have the votes in his own chamber. Last month, a watered-down version of SB 1 finally passed the senate after much arm-twisting, but as the poll shows, it’s back to Square One, meaning that SB 1 faces a tough road ahead. Many folks in Pennsylvania view vouchers favorably, but when they learn that the only voucher bill being considered is one that will never impact them, their support plummets. Many traditional supporters of school choice have had SB 1 sold to them as the be-all-and-end-all. But the huge irony is that these people in turn become the biggest detractors of SB 1 upon learning what the legislation does, and, more importantly, doesn’t do. From Catholic school advocates to Tea Partiers to everyday parents, the majority of those who favor school choice become irritated, if not downright angry, after discovering that in SB 1, a full seven years after enactment, middle income students would still be excluded. Because of this, many look at SB 1 as nothing more than yet another targeted entitlement program for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The results of the Pulse Opinion Poll are so clear cut that it’s a good bet many House members on the fence will now be moved to oppose the voucher aspect, instead calling for other educational reform measures to be considered individually rather than part of an SB 1 package. Charter school reforms, teacher evaluations, and the EITC should be debated on their merits and not held hostage by certain senators hell-bent on ramming an ineffectual voucher bill down the House’s throat --- or all-else be damned. And if the House decides to eliminate the voucher and significantly expand the EITC, what then? Will Piccola once again call that legislation “dead on arrival” and kill it upon its return to the senate? And if so, will the House leaders do the right thing and relegate Piccola to the dustbin of irrelevancy by simply mandating that the EITC expansion be part of the 2012 budget? It’s time to stop playing games. Pennsylvania students are 42nd in SAT scores, ranking low in literacy, graduation rates and those attending college. Their performance on the National Assessment of Education Progress exam has not improved. And most startling, nearly HALF of all 11th graders are not proficient in math and reading. This cannot be attributed to just the poor-performing urban schools pulling down scores, but is testament to an across-the-board educational failure. Advocating school choice for only low-income students results in the default perception that education is adequate everywhere else, which is not remotely accurate. We cannot afford to waste another decade, forsaking our children --- our future --- because some choose to ignore the widespread failure occurring on a daily basis. The poll clearly shows what common sense already dictates: only competition can begin to reverse decades of educational failure. Comprehensive school choice provides that free-market solution, and, if passed, would be a model for the nation. But since stubbornness, personal agendas and lack of political will are still prevalent in the Senate, let’s hope the House of Representatives acts responsibly and does the right thing for our children. As Voltaire said, “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” And jettisoning a bad voucher program while passing other meaningful reforms is a very good start. Chris Freind is an independent columnist, television/radio commentator, and investigative reporter who operates his own news bureau, www.FreindlyFireZone.com His self-syndicated model has earned him the largest cumulative media voice in Pennsylvania. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Poll Results Pennsylvania Survey of 500 Likely Voters 1* A proposal is currently before the Pennsylvania General Assembly that would give tax-payer funded vouchers to students of low income households. These vouchers would allow students to attend a private school. Do you favor or oppose this proposal? 41% Favor 53% Favor 32% The voucher system 20% The voucher system 27% More likely 9% A school choice program should only be available to low income, mostly inner city students NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 4.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence
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Tuesday, 24 May 2011 11:56
Why Is PA’s GOP So Obstructionist?Sen. Piccola Can’t Pass His School Choice Bill, So He’s Killing Other Reforms Spring is here, and that means water ice. As the man at the counter placed his order, the total came to $4.30. The clerk --- a suburban high school-aged girl --- mistakenly rang it up as forty three cents. No problem. Mistakes happen. All she had to do was subtract 43 cents from $4.30 and ring up the difference, and we’d be that much closer to our Italian ice. Life would be good. Except that the line stood still. Turns out the girl was having a major problem --- not with the cash register, but the math. After conferring with her colleagues (and presumably a manager), it was determined that such a complex mathematical equation was just too difficult to mentally solve, so she just rang it up as a flat $2.00 and called it a final sale. Hey, no one’s saying it’s easy to do calculations in your head with a long line of impatient gelati-crazed kids (and adults), but we’re also not talking about the complex mathematical equations Will solved in Good Will Hunting. This situation is normally is blown off by a public that buries its head in the sand simply as an aberration, not reflective of America’s educational achievement. Wrong. Our water ice clerk’s performance is not the exception, but the norm. The United States ranks near the bottom of all educational categories against its industrialized competitors, and Pennsylvania is even worse: almost half of ALL eleventh graders cannot pass the state’s proficiency tests in reading and math. That’s not just an inner city problem, but a statewide one. So with education reform being such an integral part of last year’s GOP campaigns, and the Republicans sweeping to power by winning control of the Governor’s office and both state legislative chambers, it was a foregone conclusion that such reforms would be passed, with school choice leading the way. But that didn’t happen, as that effort has been derailed --- deliberately. Not by the teachers’ unions mind you, but by the biggest political whiner of them all, Mr. School Choice himself --- Republican Senator Jeff Piccola. ***** Pop quiz: name the politicians who said the following diametrically-opposed statements about the EITC (Educational Improvement Tax Credit), a successful decade-old program that gives tax credits to businesses that contribute to school choice scholarships.
A) "I have always been a stalwart supporter of the EITC program and that’s why I recently introduced a measure to (upwardly) adjust the allowable household income for eligible families.” Answers: Jeff Piccola and…Jeff Piccola. You see, Piccola, Chairman of the Education Committee, has been leading the charge on Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), which is weak school choice legislation written last year while Rendell and the Democrats were in control and not reworked to reflect a school choice governor (Tom Corbett) and the new GOP-controlled House. Despite untold millions spent by deep-pocketed SB 1 supporters --- many of whom demonized the majority of conservatives (their allies, no less) who simply wanted a better, more inclusive bill rather than settling for one that only affected very low-income students --- SB 1 died this spring. And the reasons for its death could fill a book on what NOT to do in politics. It never dawned on these Harrisburg know-it-alls to actually count votes before they shot off their mouths about SB 1’s virtually guaranteed passage. So when a number of GOP senators announced they were not on board with the bill as it was written, jeopardizing its chances of success, it would have made good political sense to ask them what their concerns were, in a genuine attempt to understand their issues, and if possible, win their support. But that didn’t happen. Instead, the SB 1 forces, now desperate to keep the issue alive since their wealthy friends might soon be turning off the money spigot, launched a series of brazenly stupid PR campaigns ostensibly designed to win over the wayward Republican senators. Their strategy? Produce misleading (and anonymous) phone calls, newspaper ads, radio commercials and deceitful direct mail pieces plastered with messages like “Shame on You, Senator.” Not exactly the way to endear the targeted pol to your side. The result? Scratch even more Republicans. So with the prospects of SB 1 going the way of the dodo, it was left to the House to do the heavy education reform lifting, which it did with its near-unanimous vote to expand the EITC. Given that the EITC was clearly the only bill with life, why would Piccola kill a concept he supports (EITC expansion is also in his SB 1) by declaring the House bill “DOA?” Especially when it would be absolutely guaranteed to pass the full senate and be signed into law by the Governor? Selfishness. If Piccola can’t have it his way, with his name on the bill he wants, he’ll settle for nothing. Curiously, that is exactly the charge leveled by SB 1 zealots against those trying to craft a more inclusive bill. So much for education reform being all about “the kids.” Piccola’s ineptitude has directly led to three things: 1) The Republican Party is now viewed --- correctly --- as obstructionist. Abandoning its campaign promise of reforming education, and turning its back on parents and their children who would benefit from the House bill does not benefit the GOP heading into an election year where Democrats will be much more competitive.
3) The perception that all politicians are greedy, self-interested hacks has been further reinforced in the minds of Pennsylvanians. That’s a shame, because there really are many elected officials who put in an honest day’s work, fighting for the right reasons, not to satisfy their personal agendas --- like Rep. Quigley and Chester County Rep. Curt Schroder, another educational reform leader fighting for ALL Pennsylvania students. What happens now? Maybe SB 1, if amended to truly include the middle class, has a shot in the fall. Or possibly, if enough pressure can be brought upon Piccola and the hypocrites who staunchly support the EITC but are noticeably silent on Piccola’s DOA strategy, the EITC will be voted upon by the senate this spring. But that window is closing fast. Neither may occur, in which case meaningful education reform will not take place for a minimum of two years, as nothing controversial will be initiated during the 2012 election cycle. Above all, one thing is certain. If education reform --- be it school choice, EITC, teacher strikes or a host of other issues --- hinges on Jeff Piccola’s political prowess, the prospects for success are about as great as the water ice clerk winning a Fields Medal in Math.
Readers of his column, “Freindly Fire,” hail from six continents, thirty countries Freind, whose column appears regularly in Philadelphia Magazine and nationally in
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