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For Immediate Release
May 20, 2009
 

Senator Lloyd Smucker
Bridge Educational Foundation
Resurrection Catholic School

With the economy and the state budget having more problems than a math book, it is nice to be part of an event that is purely uplifting.  Since I am seeing the process from the inside for the first time, it is especially encouraging to have a state government-designed program working as it was intended.  Some people find it amazing.

Across the state, there are abundant debates and arguments about education policy and funding.  Fortunately, there is widespread agreement when it comes to our goals.  We want students to be excited about learning.  We want parents to be comfortable with the learning environment.  We want to secure substantial student achievement.  These are positive outcomes the EITC program produces.

Given years of experience, we have learned important things:

*When students like the school they are attending, they participate more and achieve more.

*When parents are able to decide where to send their kids, they tend to be more involved in the school and in school-supporting activities.

*When businesses want to be involved in education, they prefer to direct their money and see the real result.

Here, and in other places in the area, we can see positive proof that this kind of partnership makes for better schools and an improved climate for learning.

We commend Associated Wholesalers/Shurfine Supermarkets for their contributions.  We are proud of the good local schools – Resurrection Catholic, Lancaster Catholic, Mt. Calvary Christian – whose participation we acknowledge and celebrate today.  We are impressed by the capable administrators and the motivated teachers who make these schools an attractive option.  We are pleased that so many kids are getting a fresh opportunity to learn and to achieve.

The headlines may be filled with accounts of where government fails, but the EITC is one program we can grade as an "A+."