LETTER: School choice is the way of the future for education

Could Dr. Myra Forrest have been more transparent in her analysis of available state funding for education? A piece by John L. Micek at Penncapital-star.com sheds detailed light on the subject.

Micek informs that the approximate $13 billion state budget surplus about which Dr. Forrest wrote is largely the product of remaining federal stimulus money related to the pandemic, a $5 billion “rainy day” fund and flat funding of numerous programs during the 2020-2021 budget year.

Generally not appreciated is that the federal stimulus, a de facto slush fun, was designed in such a fashion that a steady stream of “goodies,” including those for illegal aliens, would be delivered through the 2024 election cycle. Given the one-time nature of this revenue source, the obvious question is where funding will come from in future years to accommodate higher budgetary baselines.

Micek goes on to inform that Pennsylvania’s financial cupboard, per the progressive Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, is soon likely to be bare. Without new sources of revenue, e.g. higher taxes, cumulative budget shortfalls from the 2023-2024 fiscal year through that of 2027-2028 are projected to approximate $13 billion.

Contributing to this dismal financial picture will be the relatively recent reduction in the corporate tax rate, intended to make a state known for litigation, labor unions and ESG wokism more attractive to business investment. Are cost savings to be found from the dismantling of fundamentally Marxist DEI initiatives? Undoubtedly. Could Artificial Intelligence be a game-changer? Only if there is the political will to cut personnel from a public sector ripe for such efficiencies.

Those with the interests of students and taxpayers at heart have long known that school choice is far and away the best path forward. It has become a standardized practice in education systems around the developed world because the inherent competition for the education tax dollar does not tolerate mediocrity and reduces cost.

Mark Furlong,
North Coventry