 It's just this simple. Our state is never going to get stronger as long as we make our schools weaker. And that is why the very first thing my budget does is to restore the $1 billion in cuts to public education that occurred under the previous administration. It's not just the right thing to do. We actually owe it to our fellow citizens to make sure that each of our children, grandchildren have a good education, but it's really smart. We need these children, we need our fellow citizens to have the skills they need to take good jobs in a 21st century economy. This budget increases our investment in public schools at every grade level. It also recognizes that our responsibility to provide a great education does not begin at kindergarten, nor does it end with high school. We need to have a robust system, early childhood education, so that children come to our schools, our kids' gardens, primary and secondary schools ready to learn. And we need a good higher education system to make sure that it's affordable, accessible, and that it's providing skills and knowledge relevant to the needs of students in the 21st century economy. Furthermore, Pennsylvania is one of only three states that does not use a funding formula to distribute education dollars to local districts. I live in New York County. I depend on good education for kids in Philadelphia, Elk County, Worfordsburg, Pittsburgh, Erie, because if they get a good education, my life is made richer. And I benefit from a stronger economy. In order to have that happen, we need to make sure that every school has the resources they need to provide a good education. By shifting the cost of public education away from local districts, we're also going to drastically reduce property tax. We're going to see real reductions in property taxes for hundreds of thousands of taxpayers throughout the Commonwealth. In fact, over 270,000 homeowners will see their property taxes eliminated altogether. If we can do that, we'll make the system for funding public education fair, we'll make our education system better. Pennsylvania is going to be one of the best places to live and work. It's got to have one of the best education systems. And that's why I'm making historically high commitment, investment in our public schools.