DN Editorial: Corbett's education proposals need more details, work

GOV. CORBETT made some of his educational positions clear yesterday in an announcement at a York, Pa., charter school, but if this were a test - and there's no reason not to consider it one - he gets an incomplete at best.

Corbett singled out four main areas as his top priorities in education reform. They include vouchers (which he calls opportunity scholarships); expansion of the Educational Improvement Tax Credit, which gives tax credits to businesses that provide scholarships and other educational support; the placement of charter schools under state oversight and authorization; and teacher evaluations.

What is less clear is what, exactly, Corbett is proposing, how the programs would work and how much they would cost. For example, a voucher bill that came out of the Senate earlier this year, SB1, would start with low-income students in low-performing schools, but ultimately extend vouchers to all students, even those already in private schools. That obviously would cost far more than a more limited program.

The Corbett voucher "plan" offered few specifics, including whether he would ultimately expand vouchers. Right now, he wants vouchers to be limited to students who are in the worst-performing 5 percent of schools and whose families earn 130 percent to 185 percent of the federal poverty level. That would affect 140 schools in the state, many in Philadelphia.

Corbett also mentioned assessment tests for voucher students, which could potentially be a new wrinkle in the voucher idea, suggesting that public-school students wishing to attend a private school take an admissions test. The state Education Department would administer the program. But Corbett did not say how much all this may cost.

The lack of specifics in Corbett's announcement is all the more striking because it comes months after much legislative activity on all these points. Besides SB 1, which also covered educational tax credits, for example, bills proposed or pushed by Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin, include one on teacher evaluations and another on charter governance. Some of these stalled this past spring; others are pending.

It's unclear whether Corbett didn't mention the existing bills because he's proposing something different, or he's supporting only some of them. State Education Secretary Ron Tomalis was at the news conference; Piccola was not.

We suppose it's good news that the governor is making public statements about his education platform and may have his own ideas about improving public education. But the full public debate that should surround all of these ideas - from whether the public supports vouchers to the best model for charter-school oversight - won't have much substance if there are no details to debate.