What it is

Few things are as important in our society as a strong public education. It is the backbone of our democracy and has made our nation a leader in the world. In the infancy of our country, leaders developed a novel idea that would revolutionize how we as a nation thought about education and our citizens — it's called public education.Just as the Gutenberg Press opened up the affordability of books to the common man, the uniquely American idea of public education ensured that knowledge and advancement in society were not just reserved for those with financial means. It has since developed into the education choice of 90% of Pennsylvania students.

PSBAs outreach campaign "Stand Up for Public Education" is our opportunity to share the good news of public education — the successes, the triumphs, the academic gains our students are making. It will require everyone involved with public education standing together in the face of unwarranted criticism by those individuals and organizations that would prefer public education just go away. PSBA will share statewide successes but it is imperative for you to share your local story.

Why it is needed

Public education has never been under such attack as it is now. We face huge budget cuts, inaccurate claims that public education is failing across the board, and efforts to direct resources away from students. The problem is that public education's huge number of success stories are being overshadowed by the isolated problems that exist. The public perceptions are skewed by these examples and critics are reveling in public education's inabil¬ity to set the record straight. Now is the time we all must stand up for public education and make our voices heard.

Fast Facts

The success story of Pennsylvania public education

Pennsylvania has made eight straight years of improvements in student achievement in math and reading. More than three quarters of Pennsylvania students are now on grade level based on the PSSA scores in math and nearly three quarters in reading.

Pennsylvania was ranked seventh among states for K-12 student achievement and ninth overall, according to a new national report released byEducation Weekmagazine titled Quality Counts 2011:Uncertain Forecast – Education Adjusts to a New Economic Reality.

Pennsylvania was recognized by the non-partisan Center on Education Policy as the only one in the nation to make significant progress boosting achievement in all subjects and grade levels between 2002 and 2008.

The number of Pennsylvania public high school students taking and testing in an Advanced Placement course continues to increase each year.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education's 2008-09 School Safety Report, an overwhelming majority of Pennsylvania^'s students attend safe schools, and schools overall are becoming safer.

Fully 94% of all school districts, and 75% of all schools in Pennsylvania achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the 2010-11 school year.

180 schools that failed to achieve AYP for the 2008-09 school year, as well as five school districts, advanced to Making Progress status for 2009-10.

Pennsylvania public schools are credited with a 90% graduation rate for 2009-10.

75% of all students in the state scored at a proficient or advanced level in math on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test for that year, while 72% of all students performed at a proficient or advanced level in reading. These numbers are well ahead of the goals of 56% and 63% respectively for math and reading that were in place for the 2010 school year.

72.6% of PA graduates are college bound for 2009-10 (95,380 students).

68.1% of PA graduates were headed to two- or four- year college or university for 2009-10.