IS THE POPE’S MESSAGE FALLING ON DEAF EARS?
Pope Francis is delivering a message of tolerance and love in his visit to America, but you have to wonder, are our lawmakers getting the message? In his speech to Congress, the Pope called for a greater acceptance of Central and South American immigrants who “travel north in search of a better life for themselves and for their loved ones, in search of greater opportunities. Is that not what we want for our own children?” However, thousands of undocumented children, including 7,600 in Southeastern Pennsylvania are denied the same opportunities for public healthcare that other children have.
Undocumented children have very few places to turn to for medical care and, as PCCY found, their parents often put off care for their children because they do not have health insurance. PCCY will host a series of forums on children’s health insurance in November. Stay tuned for details. In the meantime, PCCY is teaming up with the Eagles Youth Partnership, Wills Eye Hospital, Visionworks, Thomas Jefferson University and the First Hospital Foundation to provide free eye care and glasses at Give Kids Sight Day on Saturday, October 4th. Spread the word to your networks so we can help as many families as possible. Click here to download a shareable flyer that is available in 10 different languages.
SETTING THE STAGE FOR FAIR FUNDING FOR PENNSYLVANIA SCHOOLS
The drama of Pennsylvania’s broken system for funding education is playing out on stages both large and small in the coming weeks, and the stakes could not be any higher.
Late last week, parents, school districts, the Education Law Center and the Public Interest Law Center filed a petition with the highest court in the state, asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to hear their case that funding for education is “a function of community wealth rather than a constitutional guarantee.” The petition rightfully argues that the current school funding system violates the state constitution which calls for “a thorough and efficient public education” for all students.
At the same time, School Play, the live theatre production that uses the voices of more than 100 Pennsylvanians to portray the real drama that students, parents and teachers face every day as a result of inadequate state funding for schools, is getting ready to hit the road. Starting on October 2nd in Elkins Park, School Play will hit stages in schools and community theatres in 10 towns across the state. Click here to see the full list of performances. The production aims to build a collective statewide call for a fair and adequate funding for all Pennsylvania schools. Given the current budget stalemate in Harrisburg, the timing could not be more critical.
WHY RAISING PERSONAL INCOME TAX IS A NO-BRAINER FOR PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS
We’re not being flip. We know that hard-working families are stressed by taxes and other necessities that they often feel are out of control. The recession hit middle-class families hard in our region and many have not recovered. Wages are stagnant nationwide and many young families are still paying student loans when they get hit with the high cost of child care.
When we make individual families shoulder the cost of care for young children, we perpetuate inequality. Children who attended low quality child care start kindergarten, on average, 18 months behind their more affluent peers, and that has an impact on the classroom, the school and the whole community. Right now, 6 in 10 Pennsylvania 3- and 4-year olds are income-eligible for our state’s Pre-K Counts program — but fewer than 1 in 10 get a spot in a classroom, because state funding is so inadequate. Poor children are eligible for Head Start, but that program serves only half of eligible children. That’s why taking a community approach to providing pre-k for all low- to moderate-income families makes sense.
The Governor has proposed an increase in personal income tax from 3.07 to 3.7% (to raise about $2.37 billion, enough to cover pre-k, restore K-12 education cuts and put some back into property tax relief). The table above shows what the typical earner would pay in additional taxes under that plan. We picked $38,000 because that’s the median income of Philadelphia families with children under age 6; the statewide median is closer to $50,000. As you can see, working families lucky enough to have a child care subsidy already pay a significant amount towards child care.
The question is, are we ALL willing to dig deeper to guarantee quality early childhood education and fix our broken school funding situation?