Letters: An ever-changing monument proposal; Lifeline Scholarships would empower students
An ever-changing monument proposal
I have a modest proposal prompted by the recent shooting of 19 innocent schoolchildren in Uvalde, Texas. I would like to advocate for a new national monument in Washington, D.C. that would be similar to other monuments we have erected for veterans of foreign wars. But this monument would be uniquely designed to honor the victims of gun violence, whose numbers greatly exceed those of all U.S. soldiers killed in foreign wars combined. It would be a monument to those whom the Republican Party sacrificed so the country can remain free from sensible, common sense gun regulations. (After all, elected Republicans refuse to consider any gun regulations.) The monument would celebrate the constitutional rights of mass murderers whose right to bear arms are fully supported by Republicans while they completely ignore the rights of victims in their pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The monument would have to be updated by the minute as more people are killed daily by mentally unbalanced people using unregulated guns. Our national Republican leaders could periodically visit the monument to offer meaningless platitudes about offering their “hopes and prayers” as they pretend to care about killings. Here’s a thought: perhaps the gun manufacturers could financially support the monument rather than saddling taxpayers with the cost. Imagine gun advertisements on the monument to the dead victims! That should thrill those supporting the Second Amendment.
Lifeline Scholarships would empower students
Students don’t choose to attend failing schools — their ZIP codes choose for them. Of students that attend the bottom 15% of underperforming public schools in Pennsylvania, 80% are minority and economically disadvantaged. In a recent op-ed, Jackie Huff writes from the perspective of a top-ranked school district that spends over $24,000 per student. However, too many students are trapped in a one-size-fits-all school that isn’t meeting their needs. Lifeline Scholarships (HB 2169) would empower these students with crucial educational freedom while benefiting school districts financially.
Lifeline Scholarships give students a modest portion of education funding. School districts would retain the vast majority of per pupil funding spent on public schools, even though they no longer pay to educate students that leave on scholarships. This is a tremendous cost savings for school districts and taxpayers — and several empirical studies confirm that.
In Pa., we’ve increased state education spending more than 40% in the last decade — and have not much to show for it. New state test results reveal that 78% of Pennsylvania 8th graders are not proficient in math and 47% are not proficient in language arts — with pandemic learning loss being even more severe for low-income students.
While tax credit scholarship programs are both successful and popular, they aren’t enough. Over 75,000 student applications are waitlisted due to arbitrary state caps.
True accountability comes by empowering parents to direct their children’s education. It’s time for a new model that allows education funding to follow students to the school of their choice.
GOP platform
From their own ads running up to the May 17 primary election, it appears that all Republican candidates endorse a “platform” that consists of the following:
• More guns
• Defunding public education
• Lower taxes on millionaires
• More restrictions on voting
• Fewer regulations on toxic chemicals and pollutants in our water, land and air.
• Attacking science
• More Trump
It should be no surprise that not one of these planks of the Republican “platform” will advance the well-being of the people of Pennsylvania.
Unfortunately, the once-legitimate Grand Old Party has been hijacked by its power-hungry leaders who have no ideas on how to serve the people.