Oct 5, 2022 2 min read

State Sen. Doug Mastriano has a radical idea. During his campaign for governor, he has voiced support for cutting public school funding by $9,000 to $10,000 per student.

State funding at that level, along with his plan to completely eliminate local school property taxes, would add up to a loss of more than $12 billion for public schools across Pennsylvania, according to an analysis by the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA).

That funding loss would force public schools to cut nearly 119,000 jobs, more than doubling teacher-to-student ratios.

Just imagine what our public schools would be like with a fraction of the teachers, school counselors, nurses, custodians, bus drivers, and aides? What would it mean for the education and well-being of Pennsylvania’s students?

Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is running against Mastriano, will fight for continued investments in our public schools, ensuring that students have access to high-quality educators, nurses, counselors, tutoring programs, sports, and extracurricular activities.

How we fund our public schools is one of the most important functions of state government. Mastriano’s dismissive notion that we can cut public school funding by more than $12 billion proves that he is unfit to lead.

Rich Askey

President, Pennsylvania State Education Association

Harrisburg