Saturday, November 7, 2015

My letter in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the PA budget impasse

The following is a letter to the editor that I wrote, which appeared in the November 2, 2015 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer, in which I discussed how the Pennsylvania budget impasse is hurting non-public schools:

ISSUE - BUDGET IMPASSE

Schools in jeopardy

As the longest budget impasse in Pennsylvania history drags on, the reverberations of the gridlock are widely felt. The stalemate has been devastating for the quarter-million children in nonpublic schools.

If the budget is not passed soon, nonpublic schools will lose an entire year of Educational Improvement Tax Credit and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit funding, which provides scholarships for low- and middle-income families. Losing this critical funding would be catastrophic. Schools may be forced to close their doors, and our students will be yet another casualty of the budget standoff.

Our children have become collateral damage in a partisan budget battle, and the impact on Pennsylvania’s nonpublic schools is tangible and terrifying. Our schools and students cannot afford to be deprived of these essential education dollars.

The time for talk is over; it is time for action. Let’s pass a budget, and quickly. Our children’s futures depend on it.

N. Aaron Troodler, Bala Cynwyd

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