PHILADELPHIA — Dozens of public school board members across the commonwealth have signed an open letter addressed to Pennsylvania voters and families cautioning against the threat they say Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano poses to public education funding.
The letter — which as of Friday morning had amassed 70 signatures from both Democrat and Republican elected public school board members in 26 districts — calls Mastriano’s financial plan “dangerously out of touch with the majority of Pennsylvania families” and asserts that the state senator, if elected, has pledged to cut more than 50% of state funding for schools.
That number comes from a March radio interview with WRTA in Blair County, where Mastriano proposed cutting per-pupil funding in the state from $19,000 to around $9,000 per student, telling the host the money would also be diverted: “Instead of funding a school system, the money should go to students.”
