Picture This! The Real Cost of Prison Expansion at a speak-out against the school-to-prison pipeline in Malcolm X Park.

Over the past two years, Governor Corbett and the Pennsylvania legislature have slashed state funding for basic and higher education. Last year, a total of $860 million was taken from K-12 education statewide. At the same time, Corbett has moved rapidly ahead with a $685 million expansion of the state’s prison system that involves building three new prisons and expanding nine existing facilities.

When the state decides to prioritize building new prisons over supporting quality education for our children, they are perpetuating the school-to-prison pipeline. When young people don’t get the resources they need in school - high quality teachers, small classrooms, up-to-date materials, counselors to help them talk through problems, nurses to help them stay healthy - it increases the chances that they will be pushed out of school and down a path that all too often leads to incarceration. By choosing to invest in prison cells instead of classrooms, Governor Corbett is telling our young people that prison is his vision for their future.

We demand that Governor Corbett and Pennsylvania legislators fix their broken priorities and invest in education, not incarceration. Join us in demanding a brighter future for Pennsylvania’s children. Tweet @GovernorCorbett, @PAHouseDems, @PAHouseGOP, @PASenateDems or @PASenateGOP and tell them to take the funding for unnecessary new prisons out of this year’s budget and reinvest it in education, healthcare & social services. You can also call Governor Corbett at 717-787-2500.

For more information on how Governor Corbett’s education cuts have impacted your local school district, visit: www.psea.org/apps/budget/budgetimpact.aspx

For more on Decarcerate PA’s campaign for a prison construction moratorium, visit: www.decarceratepa.info

Picture This! the Real Cost of Prison Expansion visits Perkiomen Valley Middle School in Montgomery County.

Counties across the state of Pennsylvania are hit hard by Corbett’s budget cuts. Since the 2010-2011 budget, funding for Montgomery County school districts was slashed by over $18 million. This year, Corbett’s proposed 20% cut to the Human Services budget threatens PA’s most vulnerable residents and could impact programs that assist seniors, children, people with disabilities, and low income families. These cuts also threaten the jobs of people who work for these programs. In Montgomery County alone, 40,000 residents work in the human services field and could be negatively affected.

Less than two miles away from the Perkiomen Valley Middle School, Construction is just beginning on SCI Phoenix I and II, the controversial 4,100-bed prisons being built on the grounds of SCI Graterford. These new prisons are just part of the $685 million prison expansion plan being pushed forward by Governor Corbett. The $18 million cut from Montgomery County Schools is equal to the cost of building 180 new prison beds. Cancelling these expensive and unnecessary prison projects would free up money that could instead go to fund schools, healthcare, and essential services.

For more on Decarcerate PA’s campaign for a moratorium on prison construction, visit: www.decarceratepa.info, or find us on facebook at www.facebook.com/decarceratePA

For a county-by-county breakdown of school district cuts see: www.psea.org/apps/budget/budgetimpact.aspx).

Picture This! The Real Cost of Prison Expansion highlights the many ways that Governor Corbett’s broken funding priorities are hurting children across Pennsylvania.

Governor Corbett’s proposed 2012-2013 budget would cut an additional $21 million from Philly schools, on top of the $276 million he slashed from the Philadelphia School District last year. As a result of funding cuts, the school district has sent layoff notices to 2,700 school bus drivers, support staff, and men and women who keep our schools clean and safe. This past week, 270 more Philadelphia School District employees received layoff notices, including 39 counselors and 97 support services assistants.

The almost $300 million that’s been cut from Philadelphia schools over the past two years is equal to the cost of about 3,000 of the 5,000-plus unnecessary new prison beds that Governor Corbett is currently building.

As a result of Governor Corbett’s massive cuts to education funding last year, Pennsylvania has shed over 14,000 education jobs. In Philadelphia, last year’s cuts led the school district to lay off more than 1200 teachers, as well as nurses, counselors, and other vital school staff. These layoffs have pushed children into more crowded classrooms and into schools with less ability to provide supportive and healthy learning environments.

For more on the loss of education jobs across Pennsylvania, see: articles.mcall.com/2011-09-15/news/mc-pa-teacher-job-cuts...

For more information on how Governor Corbett’s funding cuts are impacting your local school district, visit: www.psea.org/apps/budget/budgetimpact.aspx

For more on Decarcerate PA’s campaign for Pennsylvania to fund communities, not prisons, see: www.decarceratepa.info

Picture This! The Real Cost of Prison Expansion in front of Harrison Elementary School.

Due to an $186 million budget gap for the coming year, the Philadelphia School District is closing Harrison Elementary and seven other schools. Last year, Governor Corbett’s massive cuts to basic education slashed state funding for Philadelphia public schools by more than $276 million, resulting in teacher layoffs, increased class size, fewer counselors and nurses, and reductions in arts, sports, and other extracurricular activities.

Governor Corbett’s proposed budget for 2012-2013 would cut an additional $21 million from the already-strained district. Due to this continued underfunding, the School Reform Commission, led by Corbett-appointee Pedro Ramos, has proposed closing 64 schools over the next five years and handing off control of many of public schools to private management companies.

For more information on how Governor Corbett’s cuts to basic education funding are impacting your local school district, visit: www.psea.org/apps/budget/budgetimpact.aspx

Picture This! The Real Cost of Prison Expansion in front of Philadelphia High School for Business and Technology.

The HS for Business and Technology is one of eight schools that the Philadelphia School District is closing this year due to a $186 million budget gap. Last year, Governor Corbett slashed more than $276 million from Philadelphia schools - and $860 million from K-12 education statewide. This year, his proposed budget would take another $21 million from Philadelphia’s already strained schools.

In response to Governor Corbett’s continued de-funding of public education, Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission, led by Corbett-appointee Pedro Ramos, has proposed closing 64 schools over the next five years and handing control of many public schools to private management companies.

Today, students, teachers, parents and community members will rally in Harrisburg to demand that the state legislature adequately fund our schools. To join the call to Save Our Schools, tweet @GovernorCorbett, @PAHouseDems, @PAHouseGOP, @PaSenateDems & @PASenateGOP and demand that they fund schools, not prisons! Or call Governor Corbett’s office at 717-787-2500.

For more information on how Governor Corbett’s cuts to basic education funding are impacting your local school district, visit: www.psea.org/apps/budget/budgetimpact.aspx

For more on Decarcerate PA’s campaign, visit www.decarceratepa.info

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