Issue Position: K-12 Education

Issue Position

Every child in Pennsylvania deserves an outstanding education. Some get it. Some don't. For far too many, a subpar education is not only the norm, but an accepted norm. No one can reasonably believe that we should not invest in our children's success. What's troubling is paying for failure, with no measurable return on the investment. There can be a better way.

Tony believes in funding a full menu of options so parents can decide the environment that is best for their child -- be it a traditional public school, a magnet school, a charter school, a faith-based school or a home school. Parents should be able to direct their tax dollars to the program that makes sense for their families. They should have a choice, just as they do when they send their child to college.

As governor, Tony would introduce measures to direct funding back to parents so that they can apply their tax dollars to the school setting that works best. Introducing that level of competition will increase quality across the board and decrease overall spending, diverting funds from costly systems to well-run buildings. It would allow for more dollars to boost the salaries of good teachers and allow for greater flexibility to weed out ineffective ones. Finally, it would responsibly lower property taxes and allow real reform to occur across the Commonwealth and assure residents that their investment is yielding data-based results.

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