Rob Mercuri: As Pennsylvania kids go back to school, the future of education is on the line
It’s that time of year once again: our students are going back to school and expectations are high for another year of achievement. This fall is different, as a consequential election looms on the horizon for all of us, young and old. Given the state of the world and current economy, families across western Pennsylvania are feeling the stress of political chaos and the pocketbook pain of back-to-school supplies. Meanwhile, we face structural challenges in our education system, which urgently need to be addressed. This year is a crucial one for our children and their futures given what’s at stake.
As your state representative, I have made education a major focus of my tenure. I have sponsored bills to expand advanced placement courses and professional development training for teachers to level the playing field and expand opportunity. I backed legislation to make our college campuses safer and more tolerant for our Jewish neighbors and students as they go to class amid widespread anti-Semitism on college campuses. I also co-authored a bill to create the Grow PA Merit Scholarship Program to ensure our best and brightest students have the opportunity to further their education while growing our economy, and I have worked to better our state’s higher education system as a whole.
In Congress, meanwhile, common sense is devoid as Congressman Chris Deluzio, a leader in the Congressional Progressive Caucus, votes against the values of the families and students in our region. Warped priorities and political pressure to conform led him to vote against a resolution disapproving the Biden-Harris administration’s radical rewrite of Title IX, he also sponsored a Bernie Sanders-approved costly bill to nationalize tuition at public colleges that would crater our economy.
We need a robust dialogue in America about the future of education and in western Pennsylvania we should lead the discussion. But I’m more than just a lawmaker when it comes to education: I have skin in the game as a devoted dad to three kids in public school. What happens in our schools directly affects my home and the future of my family and yours.
There is an important fight in Congress right now over the direction of our country and our children’s education is a significant battlefront. The lines of this battle are drawn, sadly, along ideological lines. Liberals like Chris Deluzio would rather the federal government dictate how we and our children should think, and they’re not afraid to use the long arm of the government to accomplish that goal. I’m running for Congress to represent you and so many families like yours who would like less interference and more common sense from Washington. For too long, we have been subject to this political struggle, and Chris Deluzio would rather follow his party’s marching orders than fight for our children’s education. When I’m elected, our western Pennsylvania values, and all of our children, come first.
Washington can do better. But we have to be better too when it comes to fighting for a quality education for our children.
Rep. Rob Mercuri represents the 28th District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. He is the Republican nominee for Congress from Pennsylvania’s 17th district.
