Why Pennsylvania Needs Education Reform

Pennsylvania schools should teach students, keep classrooms safe, support teachers, respect parents, and prepare young people for life after graduation.

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My plan establishes enforceable statewide academic and graduation standards, strengthens reading and math, restores honest grading and diploma requirements, limits social promotion, expands skilled trades and career pathways, restricts cellphones and excessive screen use, and holds schools accountable for results and spending.

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It also establishes strong Bills of Rights for parents, students, and teachers.

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College is one path. Trades, apprenticeships, technical education, military service, public service, entrepreneurship, and direct employment are legitimate paths too.

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Students should leave school with more than a diploma. They should leave prepared for life.

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THE PLAN AT A GLANCE

 

STRONG ACADEMICS

Mandatory statewide standards in reading, writing, mathematics, science, history, civics, government, reasoning, financial literacy, digital responsibility, and practical life skills.

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HONEST GRADES & DIPLOMAS

Four nine-week grading periods, no grade floors that hide failure, limits on social promotion, meaningful intervention and credit recovery, and restored class rank, valedictorian, and salutatorian recognition.

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SAFE SCHOOLS & STRONG TEACHERS

Clear discipline standards, stronger action against violence and chronic disruption, better emergency communication, and meaningful classroom authority for teachers.

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PARENTS, STUDENTS & TEACHERS HAVE RIGHTS

Formal Parents’, Students’, and Teachers’ Bills of Rights would establish clear protections, responsibilities, due process, transparency, safety, and accountability.

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READY FOR LIFE

Students would have stronger pathways into college, skilled trades, apprenticeships, industry credentials, technical education, military or public service, entrepreneurship, and the workforce.

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TAXPAYER ACCOUNTABILITY

Education funding would be coordinated with Property Tax Reform, with stronger audits, spending controls, shared services, public reporting, and protections against rebuilding reduced property taxes through backdoor costs.

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HOW WE GET THERE

 

This is not about Harrisburg running every classroom. It is about setting clear statewide standards while preserving reasonable local flexibility.

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FIRST: SET CLEAR EXPECTATIONS

Pennsylvania would establish enforceable academic, promotion, graduation, safety, and accountability standards so a diploma means something regardless of ZIP code.

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SECOND: INTERVENE BEFORE STUDENTS FAIL

Schools would identify academic problems early, notify parents, provide real intervention, and stop moving students forward simply to protect graduation statistics.

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THIRD: REFORM GOVERNANCE

School districts would remain, but elected county education boards with equal district representation and local district councils would provide clearer oversight, stronger shared services, and greater financial accountability.

 

A newly hired superintendent would normally receive an initial three-year performance contract, giving new leadership time to identify inherited problems, establish a baseline, and implement reforms. After that, contracts would generally renew one year at a time based on performance.

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FOURTH: RESTORE ORDER AND SUPPORT TEACHERS

Teachers would have clearer authority to address serious or repeated disruption through fair procedures. Schools would be required to deal honestly with violence, bullying, threats, weapons, drugs, and serious misconduct instead of hiding problems to protect statistics.

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FIFTH: MEASURE THE RESULTS

Academic performance, graduation, safety, spending, staffing, discipline, special education, facilities, contracts, and other major results would be publicly reported and subject to audit.

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If something is failing, fix it.

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WHAT THE PLAN DELIVERS

 

FOR STUDENTS

Students would receive stronger academics, honest grades, safer classrooms, earlier intervention, meaningful graduation requirements, practical life preparation, and more pathways after high school.

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A formal Students’ Bill of Rights would protect access to a safe learning environment, fair treatment, appropriate due process, legitimate privacy, needed academic and disability services, honest records, and protection from bullying, violence, retaliation, and discrimination prohibited by law.

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FOR PARENTS

Parents would have stronger rights involving records, curriculum information, academic problems, discipline, safety, special education, major accommodations, complaints, appeals, and significant decisions involving their minor children.

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School officials generally could not conduct a formal investigative, disciplinary, behavioral, or other significant interview of a minor without reasonable notice to a parent or guardian and an opportunity for that parent or guardian to be present.

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Exceptions would be narrow, including an immediate safety threat, legally required child-protection action, court order, or another specific legal exception. Schools could not use informal labels or procedural workarounds to evade this protection.

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Formal preferred-name, pronoun, or gender-identity accommodations involving a minor would require parent notice and consent, subject to narrow lawful safety exceptions.

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FOR TEACHERS

A Teachers’ Bill of Rights would provide stronger protection for classroom safety, professional due process, reasonable administrative support, protection from retaliation, and the right to refuse pressure to falsify grades, attendance, discipline, or student achievement.

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Teachers would have meaningful authority to maintain classroom order while remaining responsible for fair treatment, lawful policies, professional conduct, accurate grading, and student rights.

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FOR SCHOOL SAFETY & COMMUNICATION

Every instructional classroom should have access to a reliable fixed communication phone or equivalent system for contacting the office, authorized school personnel, and emergency services when necessary.

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The system could also be used for appropriate office-to-student communication and supervised student-parent communication when reasonably needed.

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This provides a practical communication option without requiring students to have unrestricted cellphone access throughout the school day.

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FOR TECHNOLOGY

Student cellphone use would be restricted bell-to-bell, with appropriate emergency, medical, and disability exceptions.

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K-6 students would not rely on Chromebooks or similar devices as a routine daily instructional platform. Older students could use technology more extensively as they advance, while preserving direct teaching, handwriting, printed materials, discussion, and hands-on learning.

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FOR PRIVACY

Multi-user bathrooms, locker rooms, showers, and changing areas would be separated by biological sex identified at birth.

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Private single-user or other appropriate accommodations would remain available for legitimate privacy, disability, medical, safety, or hardship needs.

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FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

IEPs and Section 504 plans must be followed honestly.

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Inclusion should remain available where appropriate, but separate classrooms, specialized programs, or other settings should also remain available when they better serve a student's legitimate educational, behavioral, safety, or disability needs.

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FOR CAREER PREPARATION

Pennsylvania would expand CTE, skilled trades, apprenticeships, employer partnerships, industry credentials, community-college opportunities, work-based learning, and workforce preparation.

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The voluntary Pennsylvania Civilian Ranger Corps would also remain available as a paid, civilian Ready-for-Life pathway.

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FOR ATHLETICS & EXTRACURRICULARS

Students would generally need at least a 2.0 GPA to remain academically eligible.

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Students failing core academic courses would face intervention and probation rules rather than simply remaining automatically eligible.

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FOR COMMUNITIES

Schools could expand vetted community mentorship programs involving qualified adults, businesses, civic organizations, tradespeople, veterans, colleges, and other community partners.

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These programs would supplement teachers and professional staff, not replace them.

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FOR TAXPAYERS

Education spending would face stronger audits, procurement controls, debt oversight, shared-service requirements, public dashboards, anti-nepotism protections, and enforcement against fraud, manipulation, or deliberate concealment.

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Education funding would be directly coordinated with Property Tax Reform so taxpayers are not promised relief and then handed the same burden under another name.

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BOTTOM LINE

Pennsylvania does not need another education slogan.

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We need schools where students learn the basics, teachers can teach, parents know what is happening with their children, and diplomas represent real achievement.

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My plan strengthens academics, restores honest grading, limits social promotion, improves discipline and school safety, protects parents, students, and teachers, reduces cellphone and screen dependence, expands real-world career pathways, and holds the system accountable for both results and taxpayer money.

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Not every successful student needs a four-year college degree.

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College. Trades. Apprenticeships. Technical education. Military service. Public service. Entrepreneurship. Direct employment.

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Every pathway should lead somewhere.

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Teach the basics. Restore order. Protect rights. Strengthen teachers. Prepare students for life. Track the money. Hold the system accountable.

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WANT THE FULL DETAILS?

This page gives the voter-facing summary of my Pennsylvania Education & Ready-for-Life Reform.

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The complete policy package includes the detailed academic standards, graduation requirements, governance reforms, Parents’, Students’, and Teachers’ Bills of Rights, school-safety provisions, special-education protections, technology standards, workforce pathways, athletics requirements, funding safeguards, audit requirements, enforcement provisions, and implementation details behind the plan.

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