The Education Machine Is Failing Our Kids: How the Teachers' Union Is Driving Decline in Governor Mifflin

Governor Mifflin School District ranks 444th out of 606 in Pennsylvania with 32% math proficiency and 15% at the high school level. A $177K superintendent. A 4.8% property tax hike covering a $500K deficit. Zero students at the regional science fair. PSEA funnels dues into candidates like Manny Guzman who protect the same failing system. The data is in — and it is an indictment.

There's no polite way to say this anymore: the system is broken — and it's not by accident. The teachers' union, led by the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) and its local affiliates, has engineered a machine that prioritizes adults over students, politics over performance, and money over results. Nowhere is this more exposed than in the Governor Mifflin School District. The Reality — By the Numbers 48% reading proficiency districtwide 32% math proficiency districtwide 15% math proficiency at the high school level Ranked 444th out of 606 Pennsylvania school districts — bottom third 1 out of 5 stars on SchoolDigger Governor Mifflin Senior High: #9,307 nationally, #367 in Pennsylvania Middle school ranks in the bottom 50% statewide Grade-equivalent losses of 0.74 years in math and 0.57 years in reading since 2019 — recovery anemic vs. peer districts Zero students represented at the regional science fair Sources: SchoolDigger, U.S. News & World Report, Education Recovery Scorecard (educationrecoveryscorecard.org) Academic Collapse: The Data Is Damning Let's be direct about what these numbers mean. A 93% graduation rate sounds acceptable — until you understand that students are being socially promoted with skill gaps that will doom them to remediation in college or dead-end jobs. The diploma is being handed out. The education is not. Since 2019, students have lost the equivalent of nearly a full academic year in math and more than half a year in reading. Recovery compared to peer districts has been described by independent researchers as "anemic." This is not a COVID aberration — it is a systemic, ongoing failure ( Education Recovery Scorecard ) . When a district cannot send a single student to a regional science fair, that is not a funding problem. That is a culture problem — a culture that does not cultivate academic excellence because it was never incentivized to do so. Pennsylvania pours billions into schools. Governor Mifflin is not underfunded. It is mismanaged — by a union stranglehold that places adult interests above student outcomes every single time. Follow the Money: Bureaucracy Grows While Students Fall Behind Here is what your property taxes are actually funding: Administrative Army 17–22+ administrators for approximately 4,085 students 514 total personnel — with only 254–271 classroom teachers Student-teacher ratio of 15–16:1, but the real scandal is the army of HR directors, curriculum coordinators, and central office staff who never set foot in a classroom Superintendent compensation: approximately $177,000+ annually — to oversee failure Administrative raises budgeted at 3% , local union (GMEA) raises at 3.9% Sources: PA Auditor General ( paauditor.gov ), GovSalaries ( govsalaries.com ) HR departments have expanded — not to serve students, but to manage compliance with union rules. Curriculum directors multiply — not because the curriculum is getting better, as 32% math proficiency confirms. The machine grows because the union's contracts require it to grow ( PA Auditor General ) . The 2024–25 Budget: A Master Class in Institutional Failure The district's 2024–25 budget tells you everything you need to know about priorities: Property taxes hiked 4.8% — to 31.55 mills (+1.45 mills) Total spending: $83.6 million Eight new professional (union-covered) positions added Nineteen new support staff added A $500,000 budget deficit papered over entirely with tax increases — no mention of cutting central office fat Not a single line item in the budget prioritized cutting administrative bloat. Not one proposal to eliminate non-performing programs. The answer was always the same: raise taxes ( WFMZ ) . The Cycle Spend → Expand → Raise Taxes → Repeat Year after year. Results never improve. Taxes always go up. Construction Spending: Where Accountability Goes to Die Now layer in the facilities spending — and the pattern becomes impossible to ignore. Projects are approved at one number. They never finish at that number. Because once construction begins: Scope changes Costs escalate Change orders arrive — often in the six-figure range, approved in a single board meeting vote Taxpayers cover it without a public vote The board approves these change orders as routine line items. No rollback. No competitive rebid. No accountability. The contractor is already on-site, the district is locked in, and the only option the board is presented with is: approve or delay . They always approve. The $20,000 Feasibility Study: The First Domino A $20,000 feasibility study tied to an athletic complex has been approved. It sounds modest. It is not modest. It is a trigger. Feasibility studies are not neutral assessments. They are designed to justify what the district already wants to build. Once the feasibility study returns a favorable conclusion — and it will — the district will move forward with a larger construction commitment, a long-term bond, and an obligation that will follow taxpayers for 20 to 30 years. All while 15% of high school students are proficient in math. This is not a district investing in children's futures. This is a district investing in concrete and steel — because that's where the contracts go, and that's where the influence flows. PSEA's Iron Grip: Protect the System, Punish Reform The PSEA and its local affiliate, GMEA, are not bystanders in this failure — they are architects of it. Through ironclad contracts, they enforce: Automatic raises regardless of student outcomes — GMEA locked in 3.9% this cycle Tenure protections that make it nearly impossible to remove chronically underperforming teachers Resistance to performance-based pay — the union fights any metric that might expose mediocrity Mandatory program expansion — more "equity initiatives," "social-emotional learning," and "teacher development" that justify more staff, more overhead, and more union members Programs are introduced under branding like "instructional improvement models" and "learning experience initiatives." They sound like progress. They check administrative boxes. They justify budget increases. And when the results come back — 32% math proficiency, zero students at the science fair — the answer is always more programming, never accountability ( PA House records ) . The Political Machine: Your Tax Dollars Funding Their Candidates This is where the picture becomes fully clear. Nationally and statewide, over 90% of NEA/PSEA political spending flows to Democratic candidates and causes — candidates who promise more school funding, oppose school choice, and protect union power in collective bargaining (NEA/PSEA disclosed political expenditure data) . Locally, that means backing candidates like Manny Guzman — candidates who support increased district spending, oppose structural reform, and will never vote to cut a central office position or demand performance accountability from the union. On the state level, it means backing Governor Josh Shapiro and others whose education agenda consists of: more funding, more programs, and more deference to the union that funded their campaigns. The feedback loop is closed. The union funds the campaigns. The candidates protect the contracts. The contracts protect the jobs. The jobs deliver the dues. The dues fund the next round of campaigns. Students are not part of this equation — except as the justification for asking taxpayers for more money. What Union Political Power Guarantees More funding requests — justified with the same failing outcomes Less structural reform — protected by the same elected officials Continued status quo — managed by people who profit from it Higher taxes — paid by people who have no way out The Kids in This District Deserve Better Than This Let's be clear about what is not in dispute: there are great kids in Governor Mifflin. There are students who work hard, families that sacrifice, and individuals who succeed despite the institutional rot around them. This piece is not an indictment of them. It is an indictment of the adults who have collected paychecks, cashed in on automatic raises, and produced a district where 85% of high school students cannot demonstrate math proficiency . Too many students are struggling. Not because they lack ability. Not because their families don't care. But because they are enrolled in a system that is structurally designed to protect the adults running it — not the children passing through it. When a district produces zero participants in an academic enrichment program like a regional science fair, it says everything about what this system values. Academic excellence is not being cultivated. Curiosity is not being rewarded. The goal is compliance, not achievement. The Bottom Line Strip everything away. Here is what is true: The district spends $83.6 million annually and produces 32% math proficiency A superintendent earns $177,000+ to oversee a district ranked in the bottom third of Pennsylvania Property taxes have been hiked 4.8% with a $500K deficit covered entirely by raising taxes Administrative staff outnumber classroom teachers at a ratio that defies any serious claim of educational purpose Construction projects expand, change orders multiply, and taxpayers are told nothing until after the vote The union backs candidates who will protect every dollar of this arrangement and oppose every reform Students pay the price If Nothing Changes More studies. More construction. More change orders. More taxes. And the same results. The data is clear. The outcomes are clear. The failure is clear. The only question left: How long will taxpayers and parents in Governor Mifflin accept a system that takes their money, raises their taxes, backs its own political candidates — and fails their children? Sources SchoolDigger District Rankings: schooldigger.com — Governor Mifflin ranked 444th/606 in PA, 1/5 stars U.S. News & World Report School Rankings: usnews.com — Senior High #9,307 nationally, #367 in PA Education Recovery Scorecard: educationrecoveryscorecard.org — grade-equivalent losses since 2019 PA Auditor General Office: paauditor.gov — administrative staffing ratios, personnel data GovSalaries: govsalaries.com — superintendent and administrative compensation WFMZ News: wfmz.com — 2024–25 budget, 4.8% tax hike, $83.6M spending, $500K deficit Pennsylvania House Records: pahouse.com — PSEA legislative activity and contract mandates NEA/PSEA Political Expenditure Data — 90%+ of political spending directed to Democratic candidates