HARRISBURG, Penn. – Pennsylvania’s largest teacher union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA), made it clear to members in a Dec. 19 online newsletter that the defeat of Republican Gov. Tom Corbett is its top priority for 2014.

“Next year, we will face one of our biggest challenges as an Association. We’ve been preparing for this fight for the past three years. It’s time to go All In. It’s time to vote Gov. Tom Corbett out of office,” wrote PSEA President Michael J. Crossey to his membership across the state [emphasis in the original].

Then, Crossey asked members to make a political contribution to PSEA-PACE, the union’s political action committee, which spent $2.3 million in state campaigns during the 2010 mid-term election year. It was, and usually is, the largest spending public employee PAC in the state.

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The hostility between Corbett and the PSEA boils down to money. Despite the fact the state is spending more on public education now than it ever has, PSEA believes it is not enough.

The teacher union has, somewhat successfully, been spreading the blatant lie the Corbett Administration cut $1 billion in education funding when he took office in 2011. The $1 billion in question was from federal stimulus funds that were not renewed by the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama.

The newsletter points readers to an online video that “tells the stories behind the governor’s funding cuts…” but never addresses the fact the $1 billion were federal tax dollars. It is a collage of students and teachers saying local district funding cuts are impairing their educational efforts.

Crossey also praised his members for their efforts to thwart further expansion of charter schools, which he claimed “would drain money from school districts.” Charter schools in Pennsylvania are non-union public schools which operate at about 80 percent of the cost of traditional public schools.

Teachers were also warned by Crossey that while “no votes are scheduled on proposed legislation to attack our pensions…the state Senate or House could still try…” The state has an unfunded $47 billion pension liability for teachers and state workers, which Corbett has been trying to diminish by having new public employees hired under a 401(k) type plan, rather than the defined benefit plan enjoyed by current taxpayer-funded public employees.

The PSEA president also warned that the House Education Committee has also approved a measure requiring school boards to publicly post any collective bargaining agreements at least 48 hours prior to voting on them. The PSEA opposes the measure because it would inform and allow taxpayers time to rally against unpopular agreements.

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“The fact is Governor Corbett has increased state funding for basic education to historic levels.  The PSEA union bosses are clearly more concerned with playing politics and bleeding the taxpayers out of more of their hard-earned money as they continue to lie about education funding. Pennsylvania would be far better served if the PSEA union bosses began concentrating their efforts on ways to provide the best education for our children to ensure they are prepared for the jobs of the 21st century,” Corbett campaign spokesman Billy Pittman replied to the PSEA attack.