2 THE HOME NEWS October 13-19, 2011
Office Location: 4685 Lehigh Drive (Rte. 248), Walnutport, PA 18088 Post Office Box 39, Bath, PA 18014 Phone: 610-923-0382 • fax: 610-923-0383 e-mail: Askus@HomeNewsPA.com Paul & Lisa Prass - Publishers William J. Halbfoerster, Jr. - Editor Alice Wanamaker - Associate Publisher Tammy De Long - Operations Manager Candi Moyer - Account Executive Elaine Leer, Alyse Moyer, Tony Pisco, Melissa Rose, Quynh Vo - Graphic Designers Kelsey Plate - Graphic Intern Wes Loch - Delivery Driver
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Largest percentages favor Public school over private For the third time in a year, the public has been surveyed on its desire to spend tax dollars to send children to private or parochial schools and for the third time, the response has been overwhelmingly “no.” In a recent public opinion poll, Pennsylvanians were asked “Would you favor or oppose giving state tax dollars to parents so they can send their children to a private school of their own choosing instead of to their local public school?” Sixty five (65%) percent said they strongly oppose (43%) or somewhat oppose (22%) this use of tax dollars. The poll presents the findings of a survey of 801 Pennsylvania adults designed by Terry Madonna Opinion Research and conducted September 2011. The sample error for the total sample is plus or minus 3.5%. Percentages may not equal 100 due to rounding. Terry Madonna Opinion Research asked this question in fall 2010 (67% opposed);
spring 2011 (61% opposed); and now this most recent poll. These results mirror those of a recent Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll which surveyed about 1,000 Americans 18 years and older. In this survey, “vouchers received the lowest approval rating in the past 10 years – only one in three Americans favor allowing students and parents to choose a private school to attend with public dollars.” “The results remain consistent with the public saying it doesn’t want vouchers,” said PSBA Executive Director Thomas J. Gentzel. “There are many more pressing issues facing the state, including adequate school funding, current pension crisis, unfunded state mandates, Marcellus Shale drilling impact fees and charter school funding. The governor and General Assembly should focus their attention on these issues before pushing through a widely unpopular, unproven, unaccountable,unaffordable
and unconstitutional voucher plan.” In the same survey, respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction with their community schools. Two-thirds or 67% said they were either very satisfied (16%) or somewhat satisfied (51%) with their local schools. Only 9% said they were very dissatisfied. The satisfaction rate (69%) was even higher among households with children under 18 living at home, and cut across party lines with 73% of Republicans and 69% of Democrats being satisfied. “Overall, Pennsylvanians are pleased with the performance of their local school districts,” Gentzel said. “This satisfaction is another reason Pennsylvania should not be pulling millions of tax dollars out of public education and diverting it to religious or parochial institutions or into the hands of private entrepreneurs who may only see education as a money making opportunity.” For more detailed results of the poll findings, one-pagers are available at www.psba. org/issues-advocacy/issuesresearch/vouchers/index.asp. PSBA is a nonprofit statewide association of public school boards, pledged to the highest ideals of local lay leadership for the public schools of the commonwealth. Founded in 1895, PSBA was the first school boards association established in the United States.
Opinion Keep Clean Air Rules on Track By Greg Vitali On Sept. 23, the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation that would greatly limit government’s ability to curb air pollution.
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The so called "Transparency in Regulatory Analysis of Impacts on the Nation" would among other things derail two important sets of regulations crucial to protecting the health of Pennsylvanians: The Air Toxics Rule and The Air Transport Rule. These two rules were supported by such diverse groups as Exelon and PennFuture. The bill would ostensibly require President Obama to set up a committee of Cabinet-level officials to evaluate the effect of a dozen-plus EPA regulations on jobs, electricity, gasoline prices and competitiveness. A key opponent of the bill, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, DOregon, stated: "Under the guise of asking for more information, the (bill) delays two of the most crucial clean air protections of the last decade. It is a blatant giveaway to polluters that will cost thousands of American lives and hundreds of billions of dollars in preventable health care needs." The Air Transport Rule would limit power-plant
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emissions of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate matter in 28 states that pollute other states. (About one third of Pennsylvania’s air pollution comes from states west and south of us.) This rule, according to the EPA, would avert 13,000 to 34,000 premature deaths, 400,000 cases of asthma and 19,000 cases of acute bronchitis each year nationwide. This rule was recently finalized and scheduled to go into effect Jan. 1, 2012. The Air Toxics Rule would limit the discharge of mercury, arsenic, chromium, nickel and other air toxics from coaland oil-fired power plants. According to the EPA, this rule will prevent up to 17,000 premature deaths per year. This rule is expected to be finalized in November and to go into effect Jan. 1, 2015. According to former Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger, about a third of this country’s coal-fired power plants are 40 years or older with little or no pollution control devices. If the Air Toxics Rule is derailed, these coal plants would continue to pollute. Conversely, if the Air Toxics and Air Transport rules are enacted thousands of jobs would be created in the installation of pollution control devices and the construction of new natural gas-fired power plants to replace old coal plants. A new PennEnvironment study found that Pennsylvania has the sixth most smogridden air in the nation and Philadelphia ranks fifth among large metropolitan areas as having the most smog days with 29. Congress needs to derail this TRAIN and keep these important air regulations on track. Greg Vitali is a Democratic state representative from Delaware County and serves on the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee. He can be reached at greg@gregvitali. com