Recall that we continue to seek answers to the following question: What options exist for those citizens whose elected officials, aided by their political appointees, choose to ignore the law as written, to the detriment of those citizens?
Thus far, we have looked at legislative impeachment and censure of sitting governors, and at requested intervention from the Office of General Counsel and the Office of Inspector General. And while we continue to await responses to our request for intervention from the Offices of Auditor General and Attorney General, we will now move on to another possible answer to the above question which has been tried several times in the last five decades with regard to the “liberation” of PASSHE universities:
Direct Appeals to
Legislators & Governors to Amend the Law in Regard to PASSHE Universities
To my knowledge, the history of how the State Normal Schools evolved into State Teachers’ Colleges, then State Colleges, and now the PASSHE State Universities of today, has yet to be written. But the essence of that transition, which took place roughly between the years 1850 and the present, may be reconstructed by studying the various Pennsylvania laws passed during that time span which made major changes to the nature of those institutions in terms of their funding, mission and governance.
The trend in the
transition was toward more institutional autonomy and less political
control.
Through the years, there have been at least two successful appeals made directly to legislators and governors regarding changes beneficial to the institutions. The most well-known appeal involved the effort resulting in passage of Act 188 of 1982. The other involved the gubernatorial election of 1966.
The existence of public education in Pennsylvania today—from pre-school to higher education—stems from the Commonwealth’s 1790 Constitution with its implied promise of publicly supported education.
All of Pennsylvania’s “Normal Schools,” which would eventually become the 14 PASSHE universities of today, began as private institutions created in response to passage of the Common School Act of 1834.
A brief history of education in America that includes the fourteen PASSHE Universities is available.¹
However, not included in the above brief history is anecdotal information from individuals who were involved in a successful direct appeal to legislators and two candidates for governor some 50 years ago.
During the 1966 gubernatorial campaign between Raymond Shaffer and Milton Shapp, an organization known as the Association of State College Organizations (ASCO) met with both candidates and offered support to those candidates in exchange for their support of ASCO’s goals.
According to a document entitled A Brief History
of PASCU, ² “Mr. Shapp was dismissive of ASCO’s goals and aspirations, while Mr. Shafer
was both respectful and accommodating. Shortly
after ASCO’s outreach to both candidates, Mr. Shafer won election by nearly
250,000 votes (53%).”
After his 1966 election Governor Shafer, apparently a man of his word, signed into law a bill which, among other things, created the Board of State College & University Directors, a.k.a., “SCUD Board” which, despite its unfortunate acronym, gave a desperately-needed voice to representatives of the fourteen “institutions,” i.e., the 13 State Colleges and one State University (Indiana) while, at the same time, reducing the power of the Secretary of Education.
The Quest for “State-Related” Status
Changes in the law to benefit all fourteen PASSHE institutions have been attempted over the years, but there have only been two official attempts by individual PASSHE universities to become “State-Related.”
A recent and well-publicized attempt to secede from PASSHE and achieve State-Related status involved West Chester University last year; a similar but much less well known attempt at State-Related status involved Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) fifty years ago in the mid-sixties.
Both of those attempts reportedly failed due to massive political opposition from numerous and powerful opponents to the idea of individual PASSHE universities becoming State-Related.
On March 12, 2014 Pennsylvania State Senators Tomlinson and Dinniman announced Senate Bill 1275 which would have allowed West Chester University, and other qualified PASSHE universities, to leave the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) to become State-Related universities.
The initiative on behalf of West Chester was well organized and included a professional public relations campaign featuring the statements of both State Senators, one a Democrat the other a Republican, as to why Senate Bill 1275 should be passed.
Fifty years ago—while the fourteen institutions that now constitute PASSHE included Indiana University of Pennsylvania and thirteen State Colleges—Patrick Stapleton, an IUP alumnus and powerful State Senator, reportedly tried to achieve State-Related status for IUP. And while that effort in the mid-sixties ultimately failed, IUP subsequently became part of PASSHE with the passage of Act 188 of 1982.
The attempts at both West Chester and IUP to become State-Related universities were similar in that they were both led by powerful State Senators with ties to their respective universities. Sen. Tomlinson is a West Chester alumnus, and Senator Diniman is a former West Chester faculty member.
To be continued.
¹ https://www.keepandshare.com/doc/7580126/pascu-a-brief-history-of-education-in-america-and-pennsylvania-march-22-2014-pdf-105k.
² https://www.keepandshare.com/doc/6759613/pascu-pam-1-a-brief-history-of-pascu-march-16-2013-pdf-400k.
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