This article is shared with LebTown by content partner Spotlight PA.
By Katie Meyer of Spotlight PA
HARRISBURG โ A coalition with wealthy backers is pushing Pennsylvania lawmakers to use public dollars to create tuition vouchers so K-12 students can attend private schools, an idea Gov. Josh Shapiroโs administration has reiterated that heโs on board with, to the dismay of many of his fellow Democrats.
Private school voucher proposals have proliferated in legislatures across the country in recent years, and as Pennsylvaniaโs June 30 budget deadline approaches, supporters in the commonwealth hope to wrap the measure into the budget deal.
The issue has extra weight this budget cycle thanks to a February Commonwealth Court ruling that found Pennsylvaniaโs school funding system is inequitable and must be overhauled.
Many Republicans, and some Democrats who represent districts with lots of low-achieving public schools, have argued that vouchers should be part of that fix, and have championed them as a way to give parents more control over their kidsโ education.
Many Democrats oppose vouchers completely, arguing that the approach weakens public schools by diverting funding and undermines the goal of creating a system that can serve all students. Shapiro and several other key Democratic state House leaders are notable exceptions.
Two of the organizations that successfully sued over the way Pennsylvaniaโs education system is funded have publicly maintained that any overhaul that includes vouchers would not pass constitutional muster.
โFunding private schools will not move the Commonwealth a single dollar closer to its constitutional mandate, because that mandate is clear: The General Assembly must support and maintain a contemporary, effective public education system that is available to every child in the Commonwealth, regardless of their school districtโs local wealth,โ the Education Law Center and Public Interest Law Center wrote in a joint memo addressed to โinterested parties.โ
In Pennsylvania, one prominent voucher scheme is known as the lifeline scholarship program.
First introduced in the last legislative session and re-introduced last week, the bill would require districts with schools categorized as โlow-achievingโ to annually notify families that their kids qualify for lifeline scholarships.
These scholarships would be financed with state money and awarded on a first-come-first-served basis to eligible students who apply. If a family opted to use one, the Pennsylvania Treasury would put money into an account for the student to use on nonpublic school tuition, associated fees, or special education fees.
The bill does not specify how much money would be available annually, but it does state that a student could get between $2,500 and $15,000 per year, depending on grade and whether the student needs special education services.
This is the program that a well-heeled coalition is now trying to promote to lawmakers.
The newly formed group, One Way Out, launched a series of TV and digital ads this month that urge viewers to contact lawmakers and register their support for lifeline scholarships, arguing that many Pennsylvania students are โtrappedโ in underperforming schools. It plans to keep running ads through the June 30 budget deadline.
One Way Out is backed by several groups that have championed public school alternatives like state-funded vouchers.
They include organizations that offer financial assistance so children can attend Catholic and Jewish day schools, an organization that coordinates with businesses to provide Jewish day school scholarships in exchange for state tax breaks, and a PAC that gets most of its funding from billionaire Jeff Yass, one of the commonwealthโs most prominent donors and a staunch advocate for the state to fund alternatives to public schools.
California-based talent manager Troy Carter, who grew up in West Philadelphia, spearheaded the formation of the coalition and oversaw its advertising efforts.
Carter told Spotlight PA that he heard about lifeline scholarships several months ago, and found them appealing because if the commonwealth appropriates extra money for schools, he believes the scholarships wouldnโt necessarily take money away from public education.
Opponents of the scholarships disagree with that understanding and note that state budgeting priorities could change year over year.
Carter, who said he has been meeting with state lawmakers on both sides of the issue, described himself as agnostic about public versus private education, but said he bases his support for lifeline scholarships on the experiences he and family members have had in low-achieving Philadelphia schools.
โEducated kids donโt want to go to jail,โ he said. โEducated kids donโt want to commit crimes. And if we want to get at root causes, we have to educate kids.โ
Lifeline scholarships wonโt get into this yearโs budget without Democratic support, and so far Shapiro and state House Democrats โ who have a one-seat majority in their chamber โ have both proposed budgets that did not include them.
However, Shapiro supported lifeline scholarships on the campaign trail, and his nominee for education secretary, Khalid Mumin, said this week that the governorโs position hasnโt shifted.
In a Q&A Mumin submitted to the state Senate Education Committee ahead of his confirmation hearing, he wrote that Shapiro โfavors adding choices for parents and education opportunity for students and funding lifeline scholarships as long as those choices do not impact school district funding.โ
In the document, which Spotlight PA obtained a copy of, Mumin added, โAs Secretary of Education, I will be focused on ensuring that parent choice, student voice, and community needs are reflected in Pennsylvaniaโs education system.โ
A broad group of unions that represent teachers, state workers. and building trades quickly pushed back, sending a letter to Shapiroโs administration Wednesday expressing โdeep concern and complete opposition to the idea of implementing any school voucher program in Pennsylvania.โ
โTuition vouchers in any form redirect taxpayer resources that could be used to support public schools and the students they serve to private and religious schools,โ they wrote. โPennsylvania has a moral and constitutional responsibility to fund its existing system of public education.โ
A bill that would create a lifeline scholarship program in Pennsylvania is awaiting consideration in the Senate Education Committee.
Asked Wednesday about plans for the bill, state Sen. Dave Argall (R., Schuylkill), who chairs the committee, said the measure is โstill under discussion.โ
That same day, the chamber tweeted that its highest-ranking member, state Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland), โis ready to make Lifeline Scholarships โ and increasing current tax credit programs โ her top priority.โ
The commonwealthโs influential teachersโ unions have been particularly active in pushing back against lifeline scholarships.
In a statement, Pennsylvania State Education Association President Rich Askey said the union โdisagree[s] with Gov. Shapiro and Secretary Mumin on lifeline scholarships, and weโve made that clear to them.โ
Askey added, โWe are incredibly disappointed that Secretary Mumin has suggested that Gov. Shapiro could be the first governor in Pennsylvaniaโs history to sign a school voucher bill.โ
Pennsylvaniaโs chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, a union that represents a range of school workers, sent an email to all of its members in the commonwealth Wednesday urging them to publicly oppose lifeline scholarships.
โSeveral Pennsylvania Senators are fast-tracking a bill, backed by Governor Shapiro, to drastically expand vouchers in Pennsylvania in an attempt to further dismantle the public education system,โ said the email signed by AFT Pennsylvania President Arthur Steinberg.
โWrite Governor Shapiro and your state senator now and tell them that taxpayer money should only be spent on fully funding public schools and should never be used as a corporate handout to private school operators or to religious institutions,โ the message encouraged.
In a statement to Spotlight PA, Steinburg added, โSo-called lifeline scholarships are vouchers packaged up to make elected officials feel better about taking money away from public schools.โ
A spokesperson for Shapiro did not return a request for comment.
The office of state House Speaker Joanna McClinton (D., Philadelphia) also declined to comment on whether she would support a budget that includes lifeline scholarships. Instead, it shared a statement from state House Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) that said the chamber is โfocused on adequately funding our public schools by putting forth a budget that makes meaningful investments in public education.โ
In the past, McClinton has supported similar public school alternatives such as charter school expansion and tax breaks to companies that provide private school scholarships.
State Rep. Pete Schweyer (D., Lehigh), who chairs his chamberโs Education Committee, told Spotlight PA that he โfundamentallyโ opposes lifeline scholarships and believes it would be a mistake to route state money into public school alternatives when the courts have said the public school system itself needs funding.
โThis bill will not be considered in my committee,โ he said.
But he acknowledged that he might not be able to stop lifeline scholarships from making it into a larger budget deal.
โIโve been around long enough to know that all kinds of weird stuff happens during budget season,โ he said.
Spotlight PAโs Stephen Caruso contributed reporting.
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