There’s an important panel discussion planned tonight as part of the Annual Program of the League of Women Voters of Indiana County. The free program is titled, “How to Best Finance Public Education in Rural Pennsylvania”, and it features four panelists who bring a variety of perspectives to a problem that has stymied Pennsylvania’s education system for decades.
The panelists will be ARIN Intermediate Unite 28 Executive Director James Wagner; Susan Spicka, the Executive Director of Education Voters of PA; State House Education Committee member Kristin Phillips-Hill; and House Majority Leader Dave Reed. County Commissioner Sherene Hess will serve as moderator.
Anne Simmons of the League of Women Voters says funding education is a complicated issue. Factors to be considered in rural areas such as ours include declining population, a small tax base, and minimum local revenue for charter schools, high student poverty, the cost of transportation, and the difficulty of consolidating schools because of the distance between districts.
The League’s Susan Wheatley says local residents, especially older people who live on a fixed income, feel property taxes are already too high, and they can’t afford to give more.
Audience members will be able to ask questions of the panelists following the discussion. The event gets underway with a potluck dinner at 5:30, and the program begins at 7. For more information, visit lwvindianacounty@gmail.com.
