Current, former governors face off at state Capitol on Tuesday
HARRISBURG — The current and most recent former governors of Pennsylvania have different views on education.
If that was not abundantly clear before Tuesday afternoon, there was no doubt remaining after Gov. Tom Corbett and former Gov. Ed Rendell held back-to-back events in the Capitol Rotunda.
Corbett, who cut about $850 million from public education — mostly the result of federal stimulus funds coming to an end — in his first state budget this year, used the occasion to call for the passage of a public school voucher bill targeted at the state’s 144 worst-performing schools.
“We need school choice, and we need it now,” Corbett said, pounding his fist on the podium.
The message was different from Rendell, who presided over eight state budgets from 2003 to 2010 and continually pressed for increased public education funding. During his term in office, state-level spending for basic education climbed from $7 billion to $9.1 billion to more than $8.9 billion.
“I believe we have a moral obligation to give every child an education that will allow him or her to reach their full potential,” Rendell said.
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