Guv could use budget partners

POLITICAL COLUMNIST John Baer's Monday missive, "Tom Wolf's paradise lost," laments that Gov. Wolf lost a chance to cakewalk in a political paradise instead of floundering in a pit of partisan intransigence while seeking a 2015-16 state budget.

I would remind readers and the writer that Republican Gov. Tom Corbett couldn't advance measures on public pensions and the liquor system - which became two GOP must-haves only after a Democrat took the governorship - despite enjoying ample Republican majorities in the House and Senate.

I hold Wolf's political acumen and persuasion skills in the highest regard. However, a budget compromise also requires leadership on the other side - leadership that realizes that the "art of the deal" requires a similar tack toward the center.

It can be done, just not in a vacuum. Corbett's signature $2.4 billion transportation bill, which is rebuilding the state's transportation infrastructure, required heavy lifting that was not shirked by former Republican leaders, namely House Speaker Sam Smith and Senate Majority Leader Dom Pileggi - and Democrats willing to put up tough votes for the betterment of the commonwealth.

The writer notes that Wolf has compromised on liquor, on pensions. He's also waved an olive branch on expanding the sales tax and on a severance tax. But facts are stubborn things, and Pennsylvania must move beyond budget gimmickry and boilerplate with recurring revenues to support education, programs crucial to families and a budget that's truly balanced.

It's time for the Republican negotiators to take control of their party's crazy-train contingent and recognize the realities needed to reach a budget agreement, namely leadership.

Rep. Dwight Evans

Pennsylvania 203rd District

In yesterday's op-ed "Rushed Reforms Fail Our Schools," Lisa Haver recalls her days as a teacher at Roosevelt Middle School - when, in her words, things were good because the principal respected teachers and there were full-time librarians, nurses and counselors. At roughly the same time, data show that only 1 in 20 Roosevelt students was doing math on grade level and only 1 in 6 was reading on grade level. So yes, maybe things were good for the adults in the building. But not for the families in the neighborhood.

Mike Wang

Executive Director

Philadelphia School Advocacy Partners

I couldn't disagree more with Lisa Haver's op-ed about the need for reforms in Philadelphia schools, particular the Renaissance program. I have my two children in Mastery Mann, a Renaissance school, and I saw firsthand how the school and community have transformed in a positive way. Before Renaissance, the school simply wasn't teaching its students well and was unsafe and chaotic. But today, it's a completely different place. Superintendent William Hite is right to expand the program and give more students the chance my children have.

Last week, an overnight cashier at the Walmart located on Byberry Road was stabbed when he confronted a knife-wielding thief attempting to steal a flat-screen TV.

Although the media stopped short of calling the cashier a "hero," they failed to emphasize the fact that he risked his life over a television.

Common sense dictates that you don't jeopardize your personal safety over a piece of electronic equipment. And presumably, Walmart's corporate policy dictates that its store associates never confront shoplifters who brandish a weapon.

Luckily the cashier suffered only minor injuries, as this incident could easily have escalated to homicide.

Rob Boyden

Drexel Hill, Pa.

How do some schools in the Philadelphia public-school system continue to be labeled "functional" or "adequate" when the physical welfare of children is jeopardized? Are laws being broken? There has to be a way to fix the problem. In some schools in Florida, for instance, nurses in school are funded by the county health department. The city can lobby for the Democratic National Convention and succeed. The city can put itself on the world stage with the pope visit and get global attention, but when it comes to caring for its children, it only offers worn-out rhetoric and a vicious circle of incompetence. Having good health care for our children while they are in school is their right, not an extravagant privilege.

Peter Tobia

Philadelphia