Pennsylvania’s Governor has insisted on massive increases in education spending, much to the delight of his close allies in the teachers union, hikes that are a major factor in the state’s current fiscal crisis. But now we learn there is no money for a cadet class of state police troopers. How derelict in the state’s duty to its citizens.
The state police are a key and important core function of government. There can be no excuse for the underfunding of these police when more spending is being squeezed out for teacher funding. Teachers have paid no price during the recession and fiscal crisis across Pennsylvania. Raises have continued, health care benefits paid, few if any layoffs have occurred, and the right to strike remains in place.
And what have we got in return for the big jumps in education spending in recent years? Flat to lower SAT scores-the gold standard when it comes to measuring educational attainment. Since Rendell became Governor Pennsylvania’s SAT scores have actually declined slightly. North Carolina, where average spending per student is thousands of dollars less per year than Pennsylvania, has marginally higher SAT scores. And the union argument that Pennsylvania has a greater percentage of students taking the test does not hold water. The percentages in North Carolina and Pennsylvania are close (in 2003, 74% in PA, 70% in NC).
All this points to an unfortunate reality: to wit, the political power of the unions and the education establishment, who together can so distort government policy to their wants, is nothing short of breathtaking.
