I kind of expected that yesterday’s column on education funding was going to get a reaction.
I wasn’t disappointed.
I got several phone calls and emails, as well as a slew of comments posted on the piece on DelcoTimes.com taking me to task for playing “the race card.”
Actually, it wasn’t me who played it, although I’m not sure I agree.
The column noted the problems faced by school districts with eroding tax bases, such as Upper Darby and William Penn, as compared with more well-to-do districts with a solid tax base.
It led one person who is pretty close to the situation to compare it to the old ‘Jim Crow’ laws in the South, which were used to preserve segregation and keep “separate but equal” as the rule.
One caller said that instead of taking up the cause of Upper Darby and William Penn, I actually should be comparing them.
He pointed out that while Upper Darby parents took action and turned up considerable heat on their state representatives, resulting in more funding for their district, no such effort seemed to take place in William Penn.
I would point out here that William Penn got increased state funding in years past.
There were a couple of people who said they thought the piece was right on the money.
Not surprisingly, one was a teacher in William Penn.
“As a teacher at William Penn, I just wanted to say thank you, thank you, thank you,” the woman wrote in an email. “Our governor seems compelled to shut down schools such as ours … Lots of our students deal with unusual circumstances, but many of them rise above them. Yes, good things do happen at our schools.”
Another voiced concern for what lies down the road.
“What keeps me up at night?” she said. “We are moving toward 3rd world country status, an ever-shrinking middle class, lots of poor and minimally educated people and an ever more isolated, entitled 1 percent. Is that what ade us great? I don’t think so!”
I wrote the column to point out the problems that school districts in less well-to-do areas have when it comes to the “uneven playing field” that is education funding in Pennsylvania.
I didn’t necessarily want it to turn into a discussion on race. But it’s pretty clear to me that is part of what is at play here.
Most of all I wanted to encourage discussion. There really is no more important issue in our state. I believe the more we talk about it, the closer we’ll be to some kind of solution.
Thanks for taking part in the conversation.
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