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Why state Republicans should rethink their education-spending stance

While Pennsylvania’s legislators argue over the state budget, the federal government is putting pressure on Republicans to reconsider cuts that they have up until now insisted on making.

Republican state legislators have chosen to trim the state budget instead of increase the income tax. They should probably be putting their foots in their mouths: The Obama administration has threatened to withhold stimulus money intended as aid for schools from states that cut their education budgets.

According to Bloomberg News, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said on Thursday that he was disappointed with a budget approved by Pennsylvania’s Republican-led Senate. The bill would cut education spending by $728 million, instead of tapping into a $750 million “rainy-day” fund that the state saves for emergency spending.

In his letter to Gov. Ed Rendell, Duncan argues that it is each state’s responsibility to play its part in “spurring today’s economy” and “protecting our children’s education.”

“One such tool that Pennsylvania and other States have at their disposal is the rainy-day fund, which can be used to both support education jobs and advance much-needed reforms,” writes Duncan in his letter. “To cut State appropriation for primary education by $728 million (14%) while leaving a $750 million rainy-day surplus completely intact is a disservice to our children.”

Despite Duncan’s strong words, some Pennsylvania Republicans apparently didn’t get the memo. On Friday, the House Finance Chairman Sam Rohrer charged Rendell with fiscal irresponsibility, saying “we need to act now to make sure that we reduce state spending to match actual revenue being collected.” On Thursday, state Rep. Curt Schroder issued a press release saying that “we don’t have a revenue crisis in Pennsylvania. We have a spending crisis and it’s time we acknowledge it and begin dealing with it responsibly.”

These are understandable reactions to Rendell’s suggestion of an increased income tax, particularly at a time when tax increases are not suffered lightly.

But Republicans will cower in shame if Pennsylvania is overlooked when Duncan begins to dole out $5 billion in federal stimulus money for state education programs. Choosing not to touch the rainy-day fund when the state is weathering an economic monsoon would be considered foolish and unreasonable.

It seems that this budget debate should be a clear political suicide for those Republicans who have chosen to make bold accusations about State spending while public rhetoric seems to so often advocate increased spending in a time of deep recession. While Republican candidates for 2010 are clearly trying to paint the Democratic party as fiscally irresponsible they only risk presenting themselves as fiscally incompetent.

Duncan’s words suggest a clear course of action: “Discreationary award applications, including Race to the Top funds, will be available in the coming months and will ask, among other things, to what extent has a State increased/decreased its education budget (as a percentage of revenue) and what has a State done with the dollars it has received to date. If a state has disproportionately reduced its education budget and/or if a State has done nothing more than backfill budget holes with these dollars when the state had other resources available to it, such as a rainy-day fund, the State’s competitive position to receive Race to the Top funds and/or other competitive grants may be negatively impacted.”

Candidates for 2010 who are not prioritizing education spending after reading Duncan’s letter should seriously reconsider their stance on the educational portion of Pennsylvania’s budget. It would be unreasonable and unfair to Pennsylvania to cut education spending when federal stimulus money is at stake.

June 22, 2009 at 3:30 pm

--Kenneth Elder

Tags: Arne Duncan, Curt Schroder, Ed Rendell, pennsylvania education budget

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