#PA13: Leach endorsed by PSEA and NEA

State Senator Daylin Leach, a hopeful in the 13th congressional race, received the official support of two organizations that don’t have the greatest respect for his opponent, Representative Brendan Boyle: the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA), but also the National Education Association (NEA). Of the PSEA endorsement, its president, Michael Crossey, said:

“We are proud to recommend Daylin Leach for Congress, and we are confident that Daylin will be a true leader in Washington on issues that impact public education and working families. Since joining the Pennsylvania Legislature in 2002, Daylin has stood out as a tireless advocate for public education, and we know that he will continue fighting for our schools, our students, and our profession as a member of Congress.”

Leach released a statement about the endorsement, saying “I am thrilled to have the endorsement of PSEA. For years, we have worked together to stand against Gov. Corbett’s draconian cuts to public education, and to fight people like Koch brothers to make sure that valuable tax dollars stay in our public schools. I look forward to continuing these fights in Congress.” 

During the PA -13′s most recent debate, moderator Dave Davies and candidate Marjorie Margolies both questioned Boyle’s support of policies that are inherently about individual children at the expense of the overwhelming student populace. On education and reproductive issues, two areas of weakness in this liberal district for Boyle, he tends to deflect to the actions of Republicans instead of actually defending some of the positions he has taken as a lawmaker.

During the Abington-Rockledge debate at PSU Abington, Boyle’s answer to education questions was conspicuous – instead of discussing his support of the proliferation of charter schools and votes for a school voucher system, an idea that is quite unpopular in the district, he chose to only discuss early childhood education and higher education. A large plurality of Boyle’s campaign funding as a state legislator has been from groups like Students First, an organization largely funded by three hedge fund managers.

This same group spent millions of dollars targeting key legislators in the fight against school vouchers, most notably State Senator Daylin Leach. Here’s a piece of literature from 2012 that was showered all over Senator Leach’s district, purely for defending the public and young students from corporate education reform policies funded by the super-rich.

Leach Mailer by jmicek

Maybe at the debate being held tomorrow, Representative Boyle will have a more complete answer to education policy questions.