Dear
Friends,
Good Morning. When I wrote to you about the
Pennridge and Quakertown school superintendents’ observations about fairness in
public school funding, Francis Barnes was still Pennsylvania’s Secretary of
Education. Now that he’s returned to his superintendent post at Palisades, I
asked him for his views as well.
If you had a magic wand, how would you insure that
every child received an equal, quality education in Pennsylvania and would you
abandon the property tax for public school support, I wondered?
“First, it’s great to be home,” he began. “You
always feel like you’re in some one else’s home [speaking about his Harrisburg
assignment]. As Secretary of Education, there was absolutely no magic wand that
I could wave. Only the legislature can make those changes.”
“The diversity of
Wouldn’t a tax on income or sales be better than
depending on the property tax, I inquired?
“Speaking about the Palisades school district, many
of the residents are property rich but cash poor,” Barnes replied. “Look at the
plight of the senior citizen…so many are living on fixed incomes. We need to
balance the use of property and income taxes. But the legislature is not
willing to give up control. Local [school] districts know the difference
between its property rich but cash poor citizens,” he reasoned. Barnes implied
that residents with stronger incomes should pay more.
Watching the state legislature for nearly 50 years
hasn’t been pretty for many reasons, I observed. Barnes gave an interesting
reaction. “The last chance is the greatest treason to do the right thing for
the wrong reason,” he mused. “We need to agree on the right reason.”
I asked him about his positive and frustrating
moments as Secretary of Education. “The most positive thing is that
Pennsylvania is filled with caring people, not only in Harrisburg but in the
501 [school] districts,” Barnes replied. “We always agreed on the goal…but not
how to get there.
“And the frustration…coming from being a [Palisades]
superintendent with support from its school board, I could move ahead with
confidence,” he said, “But as Secretary of Education, there are so many checks
and balances. There’s a sea of interest groups, like professional associations,
teachers, superintendents, and school boards, plus the legislature, and the
governor. They remind you how you’re affecting their interests. It takes so
much time to move ahead. Bureaucracies don’t move quickly.”
It didn’t seem like fun.
Barnes was interested in the Pennridge school
initiative. There, Superintendent Robert Kish invited state representative Paul
Clymer (R-145) to begin legislation, allowing school districts to determine
their own tax support methods. There will be more meetings and, like Quakertown
superintendent James Scanlon, Barnes indicated that he would want to
participate in the discussions.
Finally, I asked him about Scanlon. Scanlon’s father
had been the Secretary of Education a generation ago. What do you think about
Scanlon replacing you now that the position is open, I asked?
“I want for Jim what Jim wants for himself,” Barnes
responded. “I have the highest respect for him.
Now is that a perfect answer or what?
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith