Tom Corbett, Governor   pa.gov

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett
Governor Corbett talking to school children

REBUILDING PENNSYLVANIA



Education: Returning Focus to our Children



When it comes to Pennsylvania’s education system, Governor Corbett believes our priorities must be the child, parent and teacher - in that order. That is why the Corbett Administration crafted a proposal that puts students first. The Corbett Education Reform proposal offers better evaluation and accountability, supports parents by providing them with more options, and most importantly, helps students by giving them more opportunities. An excellent education and effective schools are the building blocks to a superior quality of life, and this proposal paves the way to attaining the opportunity for success that all our children deserve.

The proposed 2012-13 budget focuses on infusing accountability, quality and transparency into Pennsylvania's education system. It proposes a Pennsylvania School Report Card, which provides a straightforward and easily understandable system to evaluate the quality of Pennsylvania’s schools and education system including career and technical centers, charter schools and cyber charter schools.  It invests in evaluation tools by  implementing the second phase of the new Teacher Evaluation tool and beginning a new Principal Evaluation tool. ” This ensures taxpayers have a true measurement of teacher effectiveness and that educators have access to resources needed to improve or continue great performance. The budget also works to build real-time data reporting to improve data collection and reporting to move the commonwealth towards a more student-centered system of education.

As a former teacher, Governor Corbett understands the importance of providing a quality education to each and every child in Pennsylvania. Despite the toughest of times, the 2011-2012 Pennsylvania budget preserved more than $380 million in Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) grants providing students with access to higher education opportunities. The budget also protected important initiatives such as Special Education, Head Start and Early Intervention programs.

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