FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Monday, July 10, 2023
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
AFT PA PRESIDENT ARTHUR STEINBERG STATEMENT ON PENNSYLVANIA’S FAILURE TO FUND STATE-RELATED COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Plymouth Meeting, PA– Arthur Steinberg, President of AFT Pennsylvania, issued the following statement on behalf of the union representing more than 36,000 educators, paraprofessionals, school staff, higher education faculty, and state workers after the Pennsylvania General Assembly, specifically the House, failed to fund state-related universities Lincoln, Penn State, Pittsburgh, and Temple:
“It is beyond outrageous that the Pennsylvania House could not reach its two-thirds threshold to fund these state-related institutions. At a time when Republicans in Congress and the right-wing-controlled U.S. Supreme Court are making college less and less attainable for middle-and-working-class families, legislatures should be stepping up.
“Instead, an extreme minority has invoked right-wing conspiracies and attacks on educational subjects that make these so-called adults uncomfortable. And on top of that, this same minority could be heard applauding and laughing at the funding bill’s failure to pass. Shame on them.
“Penn State, Pitt, and Temple are already among the nation’s most expensive public universities for in-state students and Republicans in the state legislature have just voted to make them cost even more. To keep our best and brightest students, who will become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, job creators, business and political leaders, we must invest in our young people.
“We implore legislative leaders to come back to the table and vote to ensure higher education remains even remotely affordable to the families of Pennsylvania.”
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