The pro-public education Save the Upper Darby Arts Political Action Committee (SUDA PAC) proudly endorses Erin Molchany, whose district was gerrymandered with Conservative Fossilized Democrat Harry Readshaw’s district. The political action committee is the first community-based Pennsylvania political action committee, made up of students, parents, teachers, alumni, and taxpayers, that is devoted to equitably funding public schools through the use of a fair funding formula. According to SUDA PAC:
47 states distribute education funding on the basis of an impartial, need-based formula; Pennsylvania is one of only three states that do not. In 2006 the Pennsylvania legislature commissioned a “Costing Out Study,” which demonstrated how a funding formula could be adopted to model other states’ policies, and the results are clear. They also support funding and accountability reforms to charter schools, that have run rampant despite evidence that many achieve worse results than their underfunded traditional public school counterparts
Colleen Kennedy, founding SUDA PAC founder, stated:
“Equal opportunity begins with equal access to quality education, but Representative Readshaw has cast votes and aligned himself with groups that do not believe in this principle. Readshaw spent many years as a member legislator of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a group the promotes “school choice” instead of making equitably funded education system a top priority. Public pressure intensified until he left the group, but voters cannot continue to trust someone who would associate their legislative agenda with ALEC, even for a few years. He also voted in favor of the charter school provision of the Pennsylvania School Code back in 1997. This law has wreaked havoc communities, and Readshaw has not taken suitable action to rectify the trajectory of our education policies.
When speaking about Representative Molchany, Kennedy stated:
“Representative Erin Molchany has proven that she fights for the most vulnerable no matter what the policy area or region of the Commonwealth, and public education is no exception. As an active member of the State House Education Committee, Molchany has fought for accountability to our youngest Pennsylvanians, supporting efforts to hold charter and online schools to the same standard as public schools. “
State Representative Erin Molchany is grateful for SUDA PAC endorsement and said, “I have been a tireless advocate for our students, schools, and teachers and I am honored to be rewarded for my work with this endorsement.”
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