Bill Aims to Restore Funds for Education

State Rep. Matt Bradford (D-District 70), noted that his office received a number of telephone calls about the issue after a cover story detailing the loss of state dollars appeared in the Spring/ Summer issue of Inside magazine, a sister publication of the Jewish Exponent.

"Holocaust education is not simply about educating Pennsylvania's children about the Holocaust itself, but is also about the greater issues of diversity, tolerance and human rights," said Bradford, who is not Jewish.

He added that, so far, 12 other lawmakers have offered to co-sponsor the House bill.

For 10 years, the Pennsylvania Department of Education provided $60,000 annually to the Pennsylvania Holocaust Educational Council.

That money was used to distribute Holocaust-related curriculum materials to Pennsylvania schools. It also subsidized bringing guest speakers to public schools, as well as class trips to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

The dollars were initially cut in the previous 2009-10 budget, which proved to be one of the most politically contentious in recent memory; the final agreement was reached more than 100 days after the June deadline. This year, the budget shortfall is expected to once again surpass $1 billion.

When Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell unveiled his proposed budget for 2010-11 in January, the $60,000 Holocaust-education funding wasn't restored. That has left some to wonder whether the state dollars will ever materialize again.

Gary Tuma, Rendell's press secretary, told Inside that the governor has had to make difficult choices in an era of budget scarcity.

"The governor cut $2 billion out of the budget, and we made up the rest with other revenue streams. These were enormous and painful cuts to a lot of programs that Gov. Rendell supports," said Tuma.

'Going for It'
Hank Butler, executive director of the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition -- which lobbies on behalf of the state's 10 Jewish federations, as well as other agencies -- explained that the funding largely benefited rural school districts.

Even in smaller cities, such as York, explained Butler, local Jews and other groups might push for Holocaust awareness through other avenues, but that's often not the case in more rural environs.

"I'm ecstatic that Bradford is taking it and going for it," he said.

Bradford acknowledged, however, that getting his bill passed into law would be a tough task, and might not be the most practical option. Instead, he hopes that the measure will draw attention to the cause, and that ultimately, lawmakers would push to have the funding restored without requiring passage of a new law.

Unlike New Jersey, Pennsylvania does not require schools to teach the Holocaust, and does not mandate that dollars be set aside for the purpose.

But, Bradford noted, getting the money back into the budget could be the first step in a larger effort to change the rules in the Keystone State.