Pennsylvania's public schools have focused too much on teacher contracts and not enough on curriculum, Gov. Corbett said yesterday, telling supporters of public-school alternatives that competition with private, religious or charter schools will improve the quality of education and help society erase class divisions.
Corbett linked teachers' unions to poorly performing schools and said that giving students the ability to take taxpayer-provided tuition money to the school of their choice would open up a "mansion of opportunities" for kids who want to learn.
"There is no way to separate funding from the reform, not when competition is the agent of change," Corbett told the American Federation for Children's second annual national policy summit in Washington. "And after decades of watching our leaders try everything else, the only effective change-maker I can name is competition."
Children in bad public schools need an escape, and the poor will have that opportunity only when their schools have to compete for them, he said. He contrasted child-centered, values-oriented education at private and religious schools to a labor-management model at public schools.
Competition can help failing public schools find new ways to improve, he said.
Both chambers of the Legislature are considering bills that would expand taxpayer support for children to attend private schools, though the approach by competing House and Senate bills are substantially different. Both are sponsored by Republicans.
Critics of school choice or school vouchers, including Democrats and labor unions, say that school choice diverts badly needed money from the public schools that need it. If the state really wants to help all children in struggling schools, it should force those districts to extend school days, hold summer school and reduce class sizes, Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, has said.
Corbett's speech also singled out teachers' unions.
Corbett said he was not blaming teachers for wanting a living salary or for wanting protection against capricious dismissal. But he also said that since teachers unionized years ago, districts have focused too much on contracts and too little on curriculum.
He criticized systems that reward teachers for longevity and not for effectiveness.
