HARRISBURG, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Two days after testifying for more than four hours before the state House Appropriations Committee, Pennsylvania’s acting secretary of education was back before lawmakers — this time before the Republican-controlled state Senate.
In four hours of testimony before the Senate committee, Acting Secretary Carrie Rowe touched on a wide range of issues regarding Gov. Josh Shapiro’s $18 billion education budget proposal. However, much of her testimony focused on the current funding formula designed to funnel money to historically underfunded schools.
Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman opened the questioning by quoting Rowe’s comments during Monday’s testimony before the House, when she called the issue “more complicated … than simply adding additional funding.”
“I am very glad you said that to the House. That is exactly what we as a caucus have been saying for years,” Pitman said.
“I can certainly say that spending less on education isn't going to get you to your goals either,” Rowe replied, “so I think it's a holistic approach that we need to take and understand that it is the entire community.”
Rowe deflected several questions on the administration’s stance on private school vouchers, noting they aren’t in this year’s budget proposal, despite Gov. Josh Shapiro voicing support for them.
“I think what the budget proposal does is to focus on what current public schools need right now and how we can provide adequate funding, and where there hasn't been adequate funding,” she said.
Rowe was also asked to expand on her testimony on Monday, regarding possible changes at the federal level. She said eliminating the U.S. Department of Education would have a major negative impact.
“To shutter the Department of Education by closing it down, or to functionally neuter it by having enough people, enough employees leave that it can't perform its functions, would be catastrophic … to the state education agencies and then to the school districts themselves,” she said.
However, she added that while there are still too many unknowns for her department to issue definitive guidance to Pennsylvania school districts, few people would disagree that the Department of Education has changed the country’s mindset over the past 80 years.
“The intricacies, the interconnectedness of what they provide to us, is something that has been created over many decades,” she said. “It won't take that long to dismantle, and I'm not sure it can ever be put back together quite the same way again.”