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Scarnati supports Blair senator

Eichelberger will remain Education Committee chairman

Pennsylvania Senate Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati’s support ensures Sen. John H. Eichelberger Jr. will remain chairman of the Senate Education Committee, despite efforts of a Democratic colleague to drum up support to remove him.

Senate chairs are chosen solely by the Senate president pro tempore, and Scarnati’s tweet Thursday morning clearly states that he supports Eichelberger, R-Blair.

“Sen. Eichelberger understands that all students deserve quality educational opportunities & I will not remove him from his chairmanship,” Scarnati, R-Cameron, tweeted.

Eichelberger drew the ire of detractors with comments reported by the Carlisle Sentinel Feb. 16.

At a recent town hall meeting in Carlisle, Eichelberger spoke about a broad range of educational topics.

When he critiqued Pennsylvania’s inner-city education programs, the Sentinel reported that he posited that money was being misspent on pushing minority students from high school into college instead of into vocational programs.

The story quoted Eichelberger as saying: “They’re pushing them toward college, and they’re dropping out. They fall back and don’t succeed, whereas if there was a less intensive track, they would.”

Eichelberger said the Sentinel misquoted him.

“They took quotes from different segments of the town hall and blended them into their story line,” he said.

“I spoke about getting the high school students better guidance counseling so that they could navigate a university track that meets their needs. If they enter an environment that is too difficult, they fail or drop out,” Eichelberger said.

However, Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, was unconvinced by Eichelberger’s blame on the Sentinel.

Hughes told the Mirror on Wednesday that he would like to remove Eichelberger from his chairman position and said there could be enough support for it.

However, on Thursday in light of Scarnati’s tweet and the GOP’s outpouring of support for Eichelberger, Hughes’ staff essentially said Scarnati’s word is final.

Nonetheless, it’s opened up a conversation about education and Democratic senators are scheduling meetings to discuss educational issues, Hughes’ staff said.

Mirror Staff Writer Russ O’Reilly is at 946-7435.

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