Legislator questions administration’s creation of ‘school closing checklist’
HARRISBURG – State Rep. Matt Gabler (R-Clearfield/Elk) is expressing outrage upon learning that Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration has sent administrators of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts a checklist detailing the process by which a district should close due to insufficient funding.
The checklist was disseminated by the Department of Education, and follows the governor’s Dec. 29 line-item vetoes, which included more than $3 billion in cuts to public schools.
Gabler issued the following statement in response to the administration’s distribution of the school closure “how to” list:
“Disagreements in Harrisburg should never interrupt the education of our children. That is why I have taken every action in my power to ensure that our schools have the resources they need to stay open and teach our kids.
“All we needed from Gov. Tom Wolf was one signature that would have stopped any possibility of school closings in Pennsylvania. Instead, he used his veto pen to cut over $3 billion in school funding that is desperately needed to finish the school year.
“As we approach the month of March, I am increasingly concerned that the consequences of Gov. Wolf’s $3 billion education funding veto will fall squarely on Pennsylvania’s students.
“Now the governor has his staff focusing on ‘school closure checklists’ for schools rather than working on solutions to the crisis he himself created. He rejected the balanced budget we passed that included over $400 million in increases for public schools because he continues to demand unnecessary and irresponsible tax increases on working Pennsylvanians.
“Let me be clear – school closings do not need to happen. I call on Gov. Wolf to stop this irresponsible game of ‘chicken’ in which he continues to hold school funding hostage. It is past time for Gov. Wolf to agree to release the funds that taxpayers have placed in our state treasury that are necessary to keep schools open. In the name of our children, I call on him to do so before it is too late.”