Let me preface this post by saying that I voted for Ed Rendell, both in the Democratic primaries and in the general election. I'm very glad he won, because I think he can do the good job for Pennsylvania that he did for Philadelphia.
And Pennsylvania needs it, let me tell you. Right now that chowderheads in the legislature are balking at Governor Rendell's plan to increase state funding for education. I guess the honorable representatives and senators feel that Pennsylvania's place as 47th in terms of state contribution to education is a mark of honor, or that as long as Mississippi remains in the union we don't look so bad. That sucks for a number of reasons. First, the inequalities bred by the current funding of public schools (i.e. through property tax) are just unacceptable. Why should a kid in Lower Merion have access to far superior facilities and smaller class sizes than a kid from North Philadelphia? Hell, the kid from the city arguably needs the extra attention much more than his suburban counterpart. Second, if we want to make Pennsylvania an attractive place for people to live (and I'm assuming we do), then we have to make our educational system as strong as possible. People with children who are looking to relocate are strongly influenced by the quality of the schools in the area, and we're fools not to recognize that.
Evidently, the legislature likes the current inequality and stagnancy of the property-tax-funded system. Bully for them. However, I don't want to hear them complaining that Pennsylvania is an area in decline, because they are directly to blame. If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got.
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