Philadelphia Mock Bake Sale for Public Education

Don't forget, this Thursday (4/12) is the Philadelphia Mock Bake Sale for Public Education.  Several state legislators have already agreed to attend the 4PM rally and this is an excellent opportunity to show our policymakers that we support public schools!  Below you'll find the email we sent out last week with all of the details on this important event.  We hope to see you there!

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On April 12th, Education Voters is partnering with Philadelphia parents, students and community members to hold a mock bake sale to protest state budget cuts and insufficient funding for public schools.  The message we are sending is that we can't possibly sell enough cookies to cover the budget gaps caused by systemic underfunding of public schools.  Elected officials at all levels need to come up with the necessary resources to provide an opportunity to learn for every student!

This event will be held at City Hall.  At 2pm, there will be a cookie delivery to members of City Council.  Then at 4pm there will be a rally and cookie event outside, with parents and students.
RSVP to our Facebook event HERE.

Please join us for this event--plan to attend and help spread the word.  Parent groups from across the city will be meeting for either one or both of the events to show our strength and our voices.  AND, this is only part of a statewide effort to create these types of events throughout the Commonwealth during the week of April 9th, so feel free to share this with people in other areas.

When:  April 12th, 2 pm and/or 4 pm.
Where:  City Hall, meet of the sidewalk on the North side (at N. Broad Street )
What you can do:  Plan to attend and bring a friend. Bring a few baggies with cookies for distribution too.
We hope to see you at this important event, however if you are unable to attend, please consider hosting your own event OR delivering cookies to your state legislator's office any time the week of April 9th.  Check out the Facebook page with more information HERE.

Harrisburg Mock Bake Sale for Public Education

On April 9th, Education Voters is partnering with Harrisburg parents, students and community members to hold a mock bake sale to protest state budget cuts and insufficient funding for public schools.  The message we are sending is that we can't possibly sell enough cookies to cover the budget gaps caused by systemic underfunding of public schools.  Elected officials at all levels need to come up with the necessary resources to provide an opportunity to learn for every student! This event will be held at 12PM in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg on Monday, April 9th. Please join us for this event--plan to attend and help spread the word.  AND, this is only part of a statewide effort to create these types of events across the Commonwealth throughout next week, so feel free to share this with people in other areas. When:  April 9th, 12:00pm (Noon) Where:  State Capitol Rotunda, Harrisburg, PA What you can do:  Plan to attend and bring a friend. Bring a few baggies with cookies for distribution too. We hope to see you at this important event, however if you are unable, please consider hosting your own event OR delivering cookies to your state legislator's office any time the week of April 9th.  Check out the Facebook page with more information HERE.

Education Voters Statement on Proposed Education Budget

HARRISBURG,PA (February 7, 2012) – Today, the Governor  outlined his funding priorities in his 2012-2013 budget speech.  In this proposal, the Governor continues to reduce funding to public education.  For basic education, Corbett carries forward last year’s drastic $900 million cut and then  proposes combining four separate lines items into a single line.  Unfortunately the total funding of what these four items would have added up to if they were not combined means basic education will receive an additional cut, a cut local school districts cannot handle.  In addition, PASSHE schools will receive a 20% cut, state-related schools will receive a 30% cut and Pre-K Counts and Head Start will each get a 5% cut.


“There was one right thing to do for public education in this year’s budget and that was to restore the funds that were cut from our students and our communities last year and it didn’t happen.  They said we were forced to make cuts last year because of tough times – if that were true, we would be getting back on track with both the funding formula and funding levels this year.  The cuts to early education are disturbing and the cuts to higher education are shocking. This is ideological. I really have to question a Governor’s priorities if he isn’t willing to take care of children and provide an opportunity for them to learn, as well as think long term and help prepare our workforce for tomorrow, “ said Susan Gobreski, Executive Director of Education Voters of Pennsylvania.


Last year, the Governor proposed and passed a historic cut to education funding of about $900 million dollars, which is carried forward in this year’s budget.  Class size went up in almost every community, and important programs that affect student achievement were cut, like Kindergarten, early education, arts, science, and technology.  Pennsylvania had been showing steady gains in academic achievement, and the districts that had been historically the most underfunded showed the greatest gains, demonstrating the impact of targeted increases and investments in programs that produce outcomes.  Gobreski said, “That is the funny thing about education, it’s really as simple as giving our students a quality opportunity – when we provide it, they learn.”


Legislators from both parties, as well as community, business and civic leaders, have been calling for the state budget to restore funding or, at minimum, stop cutting the support for education.  Many legislators are scrambling to position themselves as a friend of public education, given the trend. With state cuts being so drastic, many communities have been forced to cut programs, increase class sizes or raise local taxes, the worst way to fund education.  For the last couple of decades, communities have had to take care of what the state has sloughed off, which is a neat political trick for state elected officials, but communities are tired of having their local economies being played.


The Governor’s political spin has been that this is the fault of the temporary stimulus money, but in reality, the stimulus money was supposed to be used to help prevent harmful state cuts during the worst of the downturn– they paid our bills and: “After that money was gone, the Commonwealth was supposed to resume their role in properly funding the state basic education formula.”  Gobreski said, “The political tricks and fuzzy math abound: they reduce overall spending, combined several line items into one and called it an increase, knowing that the average person isn’t going to read the line by line version of the budget. It would be like doing this to your kids; last week your allowance was $10, plus I gave you $8 for lunch money and then $2 for your scout dues.  But from now on, instead, I am going to give you $15 in allowance (total) as your money for the week.  There, I increased your allowance.  Aren’t you happy?”


Education Voters is a non-partisan non-profit advocacy organization that works with parents and community leaders throughout the Commonwealth, engaging voters in advocating for strong public education policy.

Education Voters Video Project

Gov. Corbett and the state legislature recently passed a budget containing nearly $1 BILLION in cuts to our public schools! This is already having a negative impact on students and communities throughout the state. We need to tell our (or the) story of how these cuts are hurting our communities and why publiceducation is so critical to the success of the entire state.

Education Voters Institute of Pennsylvania (EVI) is conducting a video project to highlight both the impact of cuts to critical programs that serve kids, and the importance of education to our communities and our economy. Tell us about how a program has affected you, or what the schools are like in your community, or who was the first person in your family to go to college. It can be a video short, or just a personal story told directed into the camera. Across Pennsylvania, students, parents, community leaders are speaking up about how we are affected by these choices.

What happened with this year’s budget was a travesty, and it didn’t need to happen. If we’re going to overcome the same obstacles next year we need make our voices heard and start laying the groundwork for change NOW!

CLICK HERE for full details: http://www.educationvoterspa.org/index.php/video-contest/

Deadline October 30th

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