When schools close, families deserve real choices
When schools close, students who have already faced instability pay the highest price. Families deserve more than reassignment letters and uncertainty. They deserve options, writes Janine Yass.
The announcement that the School District of Philadelphia will close additional schools because of budget shortfalls is devastating, but sadly not surprising.
For years, many Philadelphia parents have watched neighborhood schools struggle with declining enrollment, financial strain, safety concerns, and disappointing academic outcomes. Now, families are told their children must move again, often with little say in where they go.
We can — and must — do better.
When schools close, students who have already faced instability pay the highest price. Parents scramble to rearrange transportation and childcare. Children lose trusted teachers and friendships. Communities lose institutions that once anchored them. Families deserve more than reassignment letters and uncertainty. They deserve meaningful options.
Two solutions are within reach: Lifeline Scholarships for Pennsylvania and the federal program, the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA). These programs would allow funding to follow Pennsylvanian students to schools that meet their needs. These scholarships would give parents — not bureaucracies — the ability to choose a safe, effective learning environment, whether that is a public charter school, private school, faith-based school, or specialized program tailored to a child’s needs.
Gov. Josh Shapiro has the opportunity to act, and he needs to opt in now. By supporting Lifeline Scholarships and opting Pennsylvania into federal education choice programs like ECCA, the state could help families immediately. These are education dollars intended for children. Allowing them to follow students would give parents real leverage and real hope.
Other states are already moving forward. In Texas and Florida, tens of thousands of families are applying for scholarships that open doors to schools better suited to their children. Reports from Texas show more than 80,000 applications from families seeking alternatives. These parents are not abandoning public education; they are seeking opportunity where it exists.
When families have options, schools must improve to keep students.
Critics argue that school choice harms public schools. But forcing families to remain in schools that are unsafe or chronically underperforming harms children. Choice introduces accountability. When families have options, schools must improve to keep students. Competition can spark innovation, encourage responsiveness, and reward excellence.
This is not about politics or ideology. It is about fairness.
Every parent wants the same basic things: a safe school, strong teachers, and a chance for their child to succeed. For too many Philadelphia families, those expectations remain unmet. School closures make that reality even more urgent. Lifeline Scholarships and federal education choice programs like ECCA could offer stability in a time of upheaval.
Philadelphia parents and community leaders should make their voices heard. Contact your legislators. Write to Gov. Shapiro. Ask Pennsylvania to adopt policies that put students first and give families the freedom to choose schools that work for their children.
Our children cannot wait another decade for incremental change. When schools close, families need solutions — not promises. These solutions are already working for families in many states across the country; why not in Pennsylvania?
Janine Yass is an education philanthopist and founder of the Yass Prize for Sustainable, Transformational, Outstanding and Permissionless Education.