Pa. public school advocates are furious at Gov. Josh Shapiro for supporting school choice vouchers

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has indicated he supports school vouchers ahead of a state budget deal, a reversal from his predecessor that could foreshadow a blow to the state’s public education funding.

The vouchers — which give taxpayer dollars to families for private school tuition and associated costs — have long been a top priority for Republican lawmakers in Harrisburg. Since Shapiro took the governor’s office, school choice proponents have re-upped their advocacy for a form of these vouchers called “lifeline scholarships.”

The lifeline scholarship proposal gained an unprecedented level of momentum this week as budget talks heat up ahead of the June 30 deadline. Shapiro was elected under a promise to work across the aisle, and his concession to Republicans could give him a leg up in budget negotiations.

Ahead of his final confirmation hearing next week before the state Senate education committee, acting Secretary of Education Khalid Mumin said in a letter that Shapiro “favors adding choices for parents” and “funding lifeline scholarships, as long as those choices do not impact school district funding.”

His comments, sent Tuesday night, drew intense and immediate backlash from teachers unions and public education advocates who say the scholarships would cost public schools needed funding. They said they hoped their support of Democrats like Shapiro — and those in the state House, who control the chamber with a one-seat majority — would keep proposed school vouchers at bay.

“We are incredibly disappointed that Secretary Mumin has suggested that Gov. Shapiro could be the first governor in Pennsylvania’s history to sign a school voucher bill,” said Rich Askey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association. The association, in partnership with unions representing one million Pennsylvanians, also on Thursday sent a letter to Shapiro and Mumin “in complete opposition” to the proposal.

Askey noted the Commonwealth Court ruling earlier this year finding Pennsylvania’s school funding unconstitutional and said that “anything that distracts lawmakers from finding ways to meet their constitutional obligation is something that 1.7 million public school students can’t afford and PSEA won’t tolerate.”

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Jerry Jordan also blasted the proposal, calling it “outrageous that a bill that would siphon millions of dollars from public schools is even under consideration” in the wake of the landmark school funding ruling, which found schools didn’t have enough money to provide an adequate education to students and directed lawmakers to find a solution.

On the campaign trail, Shapiro expressed interest in voucher programs when asked. But it was not part of his platform, and it was unclear until now whether his administration would support their creation. Shapiro’s initial budget plan included increased education funding and he said he won’t propose broader changes to the funding system until at least next year. The administration declined to comment for this story.

Pennsylvania currently grants businesses tax credits for donating to private school scholarships. Backed by Republicans, these programs were expanded under former Gov. Tom Wolf in exchange for increases to public school funding. (Last year’s $125 million increase to the tax credit programs was the largest in their history.)

But the state has never before directly given families money to pay for private school.

“It creates a whole different dynamic,” said Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters PA, a pro-public-education advocacy group. “Once you start handing cash to families like this, you create a different type of demand.”

Spicka noted that there would be no income limits to access the proposed scholarships. The only requirement is that a student lives in a school district that scores in the bottom 15% on state testing.

The proposal could “truly just subsidize very expensive, high-end private education for wealthy families,” Spicka said. It is “incomprehensible that we have a governor who would not first focus and ensure that we have a constitutional system of school funding before going off to create some school voucher program,” she added.

School vouchers are a more complex issue for Philadelphia’s elected officials, where city students’ achievement ranks near the bottom of all urban districts nationally.

Rep. Donna Bullock (D., Philadelphia), who chairs the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, said she’s still undecided on the lifeline scholarships program.

“We need to consider the educational options for Black and brown families that can support both public schools and other options within the educational ecosystem, especially in Philadelphia,” Bullock said.

Several other Philly Democrats in Harrisburg declined to comment on the proposal.

Sen. Lindsey Williams (D., Allegheny), who is the Democratic education chair in the GOP-controlled Senate, said she is “vehemently opposed” to the voucher program.

”Any voucher program is part of a long-term plan by conservative groups to destabilize, defund, and destroy public education,” she said.

House Republicans praised the proposal, expected to pass a state Senate committee next week, as potentially life-changing for students in struggling districts.

Rep. Martina White (R., Philadelphia) said the lifeline scholarship program, if passed, would be “one of the most incredible things we have done in Pennsylvania.”

“We have found common ground with [Shapiro],” White said. “We need to just push this thing over the finish line and get it done so these children can get the support that they need and the education they deserve.”

But it will take work to get House Democrats — and their slim majority — on board.

House education chair Rep. Peter Schweyer (D., Lehigh) said he would not allow his committee to vote on a standalone proposal for lifeline scholarships “under any circumstances whatsoever.”

“Lifeline scholarships take no responsibility for the fact that the courts have told us that we have to absolutely change the way we’re funding education,” Schweyer said.

Harrisburg Republicans have made no secret of their drive to get the scholarships funded in the state’s next budget.

The Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative advocacy group, is located across the street from the state Capitol building. The building’s front windows are covered in decals with Shapiro’s past comments on school choice, and the group has spent millions over the years lobbying for vouchers. Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward (R., Westmoreland) has said securing these scholarships is her main goal.

Pennsylvania’s budget is codified in several bills that set the state’s spending and policy for the next fiscal year. If the scholarships make it into the budget, they would likely be rolled into an omnibus education bill.

DaniRae Renno is an intern with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association.