If the scholarship program makes it into the state budget, it will be because Democratic governor Josh Shapiro has broken ranks with teachers’ unions.
If the scholarship program makes it into the state budget, it will be because Democratic governor Josh Shapiro has broken ranks with teachers’ unions.
T here has been lots of good news on the school-choice front this year. A series of red-state legislatures — from Iowa to Utah to Florida — have expanded post-Covid options for parents who are convinced their children are being shortchanged.
But now it looks like choice could be getting a foot in the door of a big blue state — Pennsylvania, which has voted Republican for president only once after 1988.
The state is on the verge of adopting a Lifeline Scholarship program. For failing schools in the bottom 15 percent of achievement, one-third of per-student public funding would be placed in a spending account that would go to the student (about $7,000) to cover tuition and other expenses at a private school, leaving behind two-thirds for the school district. The initial program is limited to only about 5,000 families, but similar laws in states such as Wisconsin and Ohio have grown dramatically from a low base.
If the scholarships make it into the state budget that must be passed by June 30, it will be because Democratic governor Josh Shapiro has broken ranks with teachers’ unions.
The scholarship campaign is being led by Troy Carter of California, who grew up in west Philadelphia and has been a talent manager for stars such as Lady Gaga and John Legend as well as an adviser to Spotify. “Educated kids don’t want to go to jail,” he said. “Educated kids don’t want to commit crimes. And if we want to get at root causes, we have to educate kids.”
Democrats control the state house (the GOP has a majority in the senate), but choice advocates are optimistic they can win. First they have to win over ten Republicans who voted against the scholarships last year and pick off some house Democrats.
Representative Donna Bullock, chairwoman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, tells reporters she is “undecided” on Lifeline Scholarships. House speaker Joanna McClinton of Philadelphia could also prove crucial. She has previously supported charter-school expansions and tax breaks for corporations that fund choice scholarships. A big reason is that six out of ten Philadelphia public schools are in the bottom 15 percent of schools and would be eligible for the new state scholarships.
The existing scholarship program funded by companies is a proven success: While 71 percent of Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia recipients are from low-income families, a full 98 percent graduate from high school on time with significantly higher test results than students in the public schools they left.
But critics say any program that attempts to expand choice is a danger to the public-education system. Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, calls the scholarship program a “scheme” that will prevent the state from adopting “a true investment agenda that meets this moment with the urgency it demands.” Apparently, the success of public education is to be measured by the amount of resources poured into it rather than by the results.
Troy Carter says the “give us more money” argument of teachers’ unions and public-school officials has been used many times. He calls it bogus because even though Philadelphia now spends more than $25,000 per public-school student, “these kids are continuously falling behind.”
If Pennsylvania passes Lifeline Scholarships into law, it will be a huge symbolic victory for school choice and one that can be taken to other blue states.