PA Goverers Reply to my Sisters Email

PA is cutting school funding completely, and my little sister, being a student, sent him an email, she sent this to me and I think it has some "fiscal" purpose. More evidence of the government shutting down, and politicians talking out their ###, however the situation is out of the PA Governors hands.

So I sent out an e-mail to our state Governor stating the issue about him slashing school funding and the students' struggle, and this is what he said back.... -------------------- Dear Friend, Thank you for your recent email regarding the proposed funding allocation for higher education in the Commonwealth’s budget for Fiscal Year 2011-2012. I certainly appreciate your thoughts concerning this important issue and always value the input of Pennsylvania residents. When I came into office in January, Pennsylvania was facing a dire economic situation and a budget deficit of over $4 billion. As I prepared to address these concerns, my Administration conducted a comprehensive review of all government programs to develop a balanced budget built upon fiscal discipline, free enterprise, public health and safety, and transparent government. Following this careful examination, we discovered a need for the Commonwealth to reevaluate how taxpayer dollars are spent on higher education. Despite state subsidies over the past decades, tuition at our state universities has increased dramatically. If the intent were to keep tuition rates down, it has failed. We need to find a new model focused upon fiscal responsibility and efficiency. When it comes to higher education, I believe that money should be invested in our students. Our higher education system must confront the hard economic reality that it is in financial trouble. We cannot save it by individual efforts. The sacrifice must be collective, but I am confident that the result will enable our education system to flourish by focusing on essential budget priorities. To learn more about the specific line-items included in my budget proposal, I invite you to visit our online budget dashboard at www.pa.gov/open. Thanks again for your insights. Sincerely, TOM CORBETT Governor ---------------------- lol whut? ESU always had low tuition, not sure where he's getting his facts from.

Political word play generic response letters, got to love them. Filled with things like "I believe" and "we should" and I'm dedicated to...", but they never really do or say anything with meat on it. All politicians know this game and it happens to work. Nothing is getting solved, only passed along to the next guy in charge.

I am in PA and decided some months back to pull my kids out of the system in favor of home based education. Seems it wasnt a moment too soon. I am deeply saddened by this as it will only make a bad situation worse.