Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with PennLive/The Patriot-News, TribLIVE/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and WITF Public Media. Sign up for our free newsletters.
HARRISBURG — 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 Shapiro’s administration has reiterated that he’s 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 Pennsylvania’s 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 Pennsylvania’s 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 kids’ 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 Pennsylvania’s education system is funded have publicly maintained that any overhaul that includes vouchers would not pass constitutional muster.
“Funding 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 district’s local wealth,” the Education Law Center and Public Interest Law Center wrote in a joint memo addressed to “interested parties.”
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 “low-achieving” 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 “trapped” 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 commonwealth’s 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.
