Political Quotes

“I would like to indicate that all of us agree with many of the issues raised by the gentleman from New York. Al Shanker would love to have properly certified, highly qualified teachers in all New York City schools. He cannot do that. We cannot do that with any kind of mandate. We would love to have the books, the library equipment, and other materials in those schools. The Chapter II Program that some would like to eliminate helps them to do just that, as a matter of fact. But we cannot guarantee it unless we send money, and that is the focus of this debate. Local citizens and the courts must deal with the issue of school finance equalization. Local citizens and the courts--not the Federal Government. In Pennsylvania, we have an ideal equalization formula and it works well by setting a base for every student. If somebody is able to do more than that in the local area, fine, but States provide the base to make sure that everyone has equal opportunity. So, this argument is not about school resources. The argument is that if we do not send any money, we send unfunded mandates, and a golden opportunity for all sorts of litigation. So, the little bit of money that they would have to spend to improve their education system instead is spent in court. That helps the lawyers. That does not help the youngsters that we are trying to educate or their parents.”