In Pottsgrove, students debate proposed school cuts

With charts and statistics, the two sides parried over teacher pay and state aid to schools, eliciting loud cheers from the audience when they hit their points.

"Government funding does not affect educational performance," a debater declared.

"The economy cannot function without a well-educated workforce," countered another.

The spirited back-and-forth wasn't taking place in the Wisconsin statehouse or the marbled halls of Harrisburg, but in the poorly lit auditorium at Pottsgrove High School in Montgomery County.

The debate last week was organized by seniors Tyler Jacobs and Matt Zarley - neither of whom plans to attend a state college, by the way. But that doesn't mean they don't worry about the impact of state funding cuts on their friends and on middle-class Pennsylvania students in general.

"We want people to get both sides and let them make their own opinion," said Jacobs, 18, an athlete headed for the Marine Corps after graduation.

With an audience of 11th and 12th graders, the debate pitted four students on each side of the issue, followed by a Q&A with their state representative, Republican Tom Quigley.

They even invited Gov. Corbett, but were told he was booked for the day.

The friends originally wanted to stage a walkout over Corbett's proposed cuts in aid to schools. But when assistant principal Yolanda Williams got wind of the plan, she met with them and suggested an alternative.

"If you want to make a statement, you have to think big," she said she told them. She also noted that "walking out of school to protest cuts to education is not a good idea."

So the two got the ball rolling by sending out a text chain message, and within 90 minutes "everybody knew about it," said Zarley, who plans to attend Ohio University as a theater major and who last week played the lead in Pottsgrove's production of Aida.

Theirs is not a wealthy school district. Many students go on to community or state colleges. That's why Zarley and Jacobs wanted to send a message - both feel it's important that higher education remain as accessible and inexpensive as possible.

"People say, 'You're the next generation. You have to solve all our problems.' How can we do that if we aren't able to go to college? It's going to be so expensive, how can people afford it?" asked Jacobs, who said he might go to college after the Marines because the government would foot the bill.