this specific article is for PA, but I'm positive it's happening elsewhere as well.

"The FY2009-2010 budget cuts or eliminates funding across 89 percent of the line items in the budget. Specifically, I propose to cut $395 million in spending by completely eliminating 20 percent of the 500 line items under the control of the Executive Branch. As I said, in some cases we are cutting terrific programs that we can perhaps restore when the economy recovers, but we just cannot afford them today. One such example is one of my favorite programs, the Governor's Schools of Excellence, a terrific week-long series of academic enrichment forums offered by the Department of Education to students from all over Pennsylvania. Great, great program, but we simply cannot afford to fund it this summer."


For those who are not familiar with the Governor’s Schools of Excellence, the top juniors and seniors from high schools around the state are selected to attend class and work on an Independent Study Project for five weeks. Areas of study include: the school of Arts, Sciences, Global Entrepreneurship, Health Care, Information Society and Technology, International Studies, Teaching, and Agricultural Sciences.

Governor Rendell has recently announced that due to budget cuts, these eight schools of excellence may have to be terminated.


I made lifetime friends in those five weeks. I connected deeply with the students of PGSA. I've met fifteen year old pianist prodigies, actors who could befriend anyone and dancers who have incredible physical endurance. Ask a poet a simple question and there will be an evening of conversation. Scribbling sketch pads would be the warning of a visual artist around the corner. As different as we were from each other we had the common talent which was to create. I could, and still can, walk up to any of them and strike a conversation. I learned more about people, The Arts, and myself than I had in any situation I had ever been in.


Whether it be education, medicine, technology, business, science or arts, the alumni of Pennsylvania Governor’s Schools of Excellence contribute greatly to the world. For it is the ambitious and the talented, and the curious that attend Governor's School.




My single mother works six days a week to make ends meet. My family would never have been able to afford such an education for me. Now that I have PGSA on my resume I am able to get scholarships to schools that otherwise I could not have afforded.


However much money is saved by the cutting of Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence, it will never amount to the accomplishments of the alumnus. To cut such a successful, unique program not only hurts ambitious students, but also the societies of the future. This is an experience that can not be substituted by money.




Basically, I’ve written one letter, and pretty much daily I’m going to spend about 5 minutes emailing it to each of the links below. Think about what kind of an impact we could make if each of us was sending a letter to each of these links DAILY.


CNN: This is the link to send them a story idea: [link] cnn. com/feedback/forms/form11b. html?1

THE NEW YORK TIMES: This link goes directly to the editorial page editor: editorial@nytimes.com This is the Arts section: thearts@nytimes.com This goes to Clark Hoyt, who “represents the readers”: public@nytimes.com And this is the Publisher’s email: publisher@nytimes.com And last but not least, this is their President’s email: president@nytimes.com.


I know if we stay persistent we have a chance at changing this.

it's horrible news. if you know of budget cuts going on in your state, check out your PGSE program(there's one in every state), and help put a stop to this.

-Becki.