2010 Gubernatorial Candidates Address Afterschool Issues
| Question #1 |
PSAYDN: A 2009 poll conducted by the Afterschool Alliance found that just 9 percent of Pennsylvania’s K-12 children participate in afterschool programs and that 87 percent of Pennsylvania adults surveyed believe there should be some type of organized activity for young people after school. How can the demand for afterschool programs be met? |
Tom Corbett: Education funding overall must be tailored according to an individual district’s need. The tailoring process should include a comprehensive assessment of the profile of the served community, considering economic indicators and where state dollars can have the greatest impact in terms of creating opportunities for at-risk students. Some existing programs, such as the Communities That Care initiative, already employ an analysis of community risk factors in order to prioritize available resources.
Considering that Pennsylvania will likely continue to face significant budgetary pressures, all sources of public funding should employ similar research-based targeting of investments.
Leveraging greater participation from private donors, businesses and grants from nonprofit organizations will be crucial to make significant enhancements in program availability. The next administration can be an advocate in communicating to nonpublic entities that every participant in the community has a direct interest in improving educational opportunities. Encouraging direct investments and supporting incentives such as the EITC program will be necessary to provide long-term sustainability.
Dan Onorato: After-school programs are extremely valuable, and we should support them by providing school districts with adequate resources to invest in proven programs like these as well as by encouraging the business community and non-profit sector to work with schools in forming school-community partnerships.
Jack Wagner: As a preliminary matter, let me say that I wholeheartedly agree with your organization’s slogan that afterschool programs “keep kids safe, inspire learning and help working families.” I am particularly interested in the use of afterschool programs to reduce Pennsylvania’s high school drop-out rate, which is one of my priorities as Governor. I believe that one of the best things that we can do for our young people is to make sure that they stay in school. It also benefits our state as a whole. Studies have shown that states with higher graduation rates have lower crime rates and lower expenditures for corrections, social services, and welfare programs.
As both a public official and a parent, I have always placed a priority on education. As a State Senator for ten years, I fought to increase the Commonwealth’s share of education costs and distribute those resources more fairly among the state’s school districts. As a member of the Senate Democratic leadership and the Senate Appropriations Committee, I helped pass Governor Rendell’s education plan, which provided significant increases for basic and special education and funded reforms such as early childhood education, full-day kindergarten, tutoring, and lower class sizes.
As Auditor General, my cyclical audits of school districts and other public school entities have determined whether state and local tax dollars are spent wisely and identified waste, fraud, or abuse of funds, resulting in more funds being available to be redirected to the classroom. My audits of state government programs and agencies in general have identified hundreds of millions of dollars that could be saved in the state budget by improving the management of various programs and services.
As Governor, I will implement my audit recommendations and other ideas in order to generate significant savings that could be used to provide funding for priorities such as afterschool programs. I would also encourage the private and charitable sectors to support afterschool programs in their communities. A focus on the benefits of quality afterschool programs for the students involved and for the Commonwealth as a whole – in terms of an educated workforce, lower crime, reduced social services cost, etc. – would strengthen public support for such programs and, in turn, enable a greater number of Pennsylvania families to participate.
