The latest outlandish statement came from Harrisburg School District Superintendent Lucian Yates, who said on WGAL-TV last night that school choice would create "Hitlerian regimes."

"First, we're accused of creating an ethnic cleansing like the war in Kosovo," Gov. Ridge said. "Then, we're following in the footsteps of a brutal Third World dictator. Then, we're told that school-choice grants would be used to defend pedophiles. Now, we are told that school choice would replicate Nazi Germany.

"The opponents of school choice will do anything to conceal the fact that they are fighting tooth and nail to keep kids trapped in failing schools. School choice represents opportunity for children trapped in failing schools. It's as simple as that.

"And it's an opportunity that parents and children in those districts dearly want. That's why poll after poll shows that the residents of communities with failing schools overwhelmingly WANT school choice, so they can have additional options to do right by their kids. And the education establishment is trying to keep them from getting that choice.

"In the meantime, Superintendent Yates, charged with overseeing the education of more than 8,000 of our children, should explain to all of us -- but particularly to Jewish Pennsylvanians who support school choice, such as members of the Agudath Israel of America -- why exactly he believes that those who support school choice are tantamount to the regime that perpetrated the Holocaust. And while he's at it, he should explain why more than half the children entrusted to his care are failing reading and math, when he spends more taxpayer money per pupil -- nearly $9,000 per pupil -- than 89 percent of the school districts in Pennsylvania, and more than every district in Dauphin County.

"The opponents of choice in Pennsylvania are making national news. Today, The Wall Street Journal felt the need to comment on the recklessness of their debate -- and that was even before we heard the latest hate from Superintendent Yates. "The simple fact is that the education establishment is fighting for its own interests, not for our kids."

For more information about Gov. Ridge's education-reform initiatives, visit the state website at www.state.pa.us and click on "Education Reform." or contact Tim Reeves, Press Secretary of the Pennsylvania Office of the Governor, 717-783-1116