Letters to the Editor | Dec. 12, 2025

Sen. David McCormick is right that many students struggle in low-performing public schools. He is wrong that school choice is the cure. He wants Pennsylvania to opt into a tax credit scheme for wealthy donors to assist not just “those who can afford it” to go to private school. He wants you to think this will fix the problem of struggling public school students. It can’t. It’s not only affordability that allows some parents to pay for private school tuition. It is access to information, time to complete application processes, access to a reliable car, and time to drive the child to school every day. It’s not simply affordability.

What school choice does is take one or two students out of many classrooms in a school, city, or township, those with parents with information, time, and a working car, and remove them from their public school community. The public school network loses a few children from each local school, but not enough to close classrooms or reduce staff. The loss of active families and funding, which follows slowly, bleeds schools of support and leaves the budget short for operations, maintenance, and improvements. The problem compounds because private schools and charter schools do not serve all students with special needs, as public schools must.

Opting in to McCormick’s tax credit for wealthy donors will short public schools and worsen the problems for all students. No more schemes to “fix” schools while making problems worse. Instead of incentivizing wealthy donors to subsidize some students’ private school tuition, incentivize donors to give to public schools to benefit all children. Fix our public schools now by providing all the resources our children deserve.

Ann Burruss, Newark, Del.

When U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick published his recent op-ed attempting to rebrand Donald Trump’s unpopular “One Big Bad Bill” and advocating for school vouchers and tax credits, he painted a bleak picture of Pennsylvania’s public schools and offered privatization as the cure. As a lifelong advocate for our children, I cannot let his Wall Street talking points go unchallenged — because the health of our commonwealth is at stake.

Sen. McCormick, a hedge fund executive turned politician, claims his plan would give every family “school choice.” But let’s be clear: His proposal isn’t about empowering working Pennsylvanians. It’s about siphoning public dollars away from our neighborhood schools and funneling them into private institutions — many unaccountable to taxpayers and selective about whom they serve. This is the same playbook we’ve seen from billionaires and wealthy conservative donors who routinely privatize public goods for profit, leaving real Pennsylvanians to foot the bill.

Sen. McCormick’s plan would drain hundreds of millions from public education annually. In 2024-2025 alone, Pennsylvania’s tax credit programs diverted over $525 million in potential state support away from public schools—money that could have repaired buildings, reduced class sizes, and hired more counselors. That’s not fiscal responsibility — that’s fiscal sabotage.

Sen. McCormick and his allies love to talk about “waste, fraud, and abuse” in government — until it’s their donors cashing in. Voucher schemes across the country have led to exactly the kind of corruption and inflated spending they claim to oppose. States like Florida and Ohio have seen voucher programs riddled with scandals and declining student performance.

Sen. McCormick’s allegiance is clear: He stands with the donor class and private interests who profit from dismantling public education. The real choice isn’t between “failing schools” and privatization. It’s between investing in the public good or selling it off to the highest bidder. Let’s choose to strengthen the health of our public schools — because the health of our children, our communities, and our democracy depends on it.

Maria Collett, Pennsylvania state senator, 12th Senatorial District

A free-market system is grounded in the idea that consumers making informed choices spur competition, which, in turn, leads to improved goods and services. Dave McCormick, however, turns that idea on its head by telling us in his recent op-ed that “School choice offers accountability through competition.” He explains his position by writing that “It lets parents choose what’s best for their children.” But how do parents choose a school for their child without any information on how students perform at that school?

Public school performance data is readily available for various school districts, as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Education. If Sen. McCormick believes school choice is such a great idea, then he should be advocating for private schools making their data available to the public, too, rather than trying to make us believe competition will somehow make schools more accountable.

Coleman Poses, Philadelphia

Sen. Dave McCormick’s recent op-ed is little more than a self-promotional puff piece with a glaring omission. What McCormick does not mention is the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program. It is basically a huge handout from Pennsylvania’s taxpayers to rich private schools. Wealthy individuals form limited liability corporations, and then get a significant tax break on up to $750,000 per year that they donate to a private school.

The EITC program has been a windfall for schools with wealthy parents. Take the Episcopal Academy in Newtown Square, one of Pennsylvania’s richest and most prestigious private schools. Every year, several million dollars are donated through EITC. This is an educational institution in which the head of school got $961,451 in total compensation in 2024, according to ProPublica.

The Working Families Tax Cut Act that McCormick praises is just one more shot at undermining the quality of our public schools. The more money they take away, the worse schools perform, and the more Republicans blame schools and teachers for that failure. In truth, it is the Republican Party that is responsible for the deterioration of our public school system.

Alex Pearson, Merion Station

Pennsylvania Sen. David McCormick did a fine job of showing his bona fides as a blind follower of the Trump regime.

His first mistake is being on the wrong side of history and constituent well-being in his mindless pursuit of Donald Trump’s favor.

His second is using Florida as an example of success with “busting the education monopoly.” I’ve now lived in Florida for 25 years, and watched as a Republican-dominated state legislature added ever more money to school choice vouchers.

Yet, Florida, too, has an abysmal rate of 12th graders who could not succeed on basic math and reading exams. Plus, charters and other private schools that receive vouchers are not held to the same high standards as public schools for teacher accreditation, testing, and core curriculum. They’re also permitted to cherry-pick their students instead of accepting everyone. Many have closed because of either poor performance or poor financial management while using tax dollars.

I’ve seen it firsthand: Pennsylvania shouldn’t let vouchers make a mess of its public schools the way Florida has.

Terri Benincasa, Palm Harbor, Fla.

The term school choice is a euphemism for taking funds away from those who need it and giving it to those who don’t. Public education in the wealthy suburbs and private schools is doing just fine. It’s public schools in the cities that are failing. They’re failing due to a critical lack of financial resources, low tax bases, and the relentless cycle of poverty that our country is unable/unwilling to resolve.

I am a product of private, Catholic schools where my faith was taught every day. I don’t think taxpayer dollars (which are what school vouchers are) should support this type of school. If certain groups wish to provide education based upon their specific beliefs or principles, they must fund it for themselves. Taxpayers include Jews, Muslims, atheists, all faiths. Why should their dollars go to Catholic schools?

I live in a city and have no children, yet I am willing to have my tax dollars support urban public schools. All kids need the basic skills to support themselves in meaningful, productive jobs, which is important, especially to Republicans.

Let’s all say no to school vouchers.

Patricia Clarke, Pittsburgh

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