Pa.’s GOP-controlled Senate advances $100 million plan for school vouchers, with Gov. Shapiro’s (conditional) backing

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Senate advanced on Thursday a $103 million school voucher program to allow students from the state’s lowest-performing public schools to pay for private education using state dollars.

The GOP-controlled Senate voted 29-21 to approve the new student voucher program, called the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success. The issue has become a quagmire for Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, as he negotiates his first budget deal with a split General Assembly, with one chamber held by Democrats and the other held by Republicans.

But the tension isn’t with Republicans. Shapiro will need to appease members of the Democratic House, who hold a one-seat majority and many of whom support the state’s teachers unions and public education. House Majority Leader Matt Bradford (D., Montgomery) already called the latest school voucher proposal “a distraction” and said it does not have the support to pass his caucus.

Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman (R., Indiana)said in his floor remarks on Thursday that the bill was written with Shapiro’s input. The proposal included new income limits and accountability measures that weren’t in earlier drafts.

Shapiro’s office said the governor remains open to the concept of school vouchers, as long as a budget deal includes historic investments in public education, special education, student mental health, universal free breakfast, and other school needs.

Shapiro and top leaders have been negotiating the budget from the governor’s gated residence, about a mile from the state Capitol building. Leaders from the House Democrats and Senate Republicans are at the table for the closed-door meetings.

The $100 million investment is a drop in the bucket of the state’s annual education spending. Shapiro proposed a nearly $800 million increase over last year’s basic education allocation, totaling more than $8.4 billion.

But public education advocates say any dollar steered away from public education hurts the students who still attend those schools. What’s more: a state appellate court ruled earlier this year that the state’s public education system is unconstitutional and must be redesigned.

“It is incumbent upon the House and Governor Shapiro to unequivocally reject any and all voucher schemes and get to work on their court-ordered and moral obligation to fully fund public education,” said Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

The Senate incorporated the proposed school voucher program into another bill that passed the state House about ambulance reimbursement rates. The state House will still need to approve it, though Bradford’s comments signal he won’t allow the House to vote on it.

After news broke last week that Shapiro would support a school voucher program, unions representing one million Pennsylvanians immediately condemned it. But Shapiro doubled down and appeared on Fox News, where he said he believes “every child of God deserves a shot here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Since then, Shapiro has been encouraged by conservative groups and personalities, from the Wall Street Journal editorial board to former Trump secretary of education Betsy DeVos. Even Philly’s own rapper Meek Mill sent Shapiro words of encouragement.

The issue remains complicated for some Philadelphia Democrats, who understand that the city’s public schools struggle to educate their students and student achievement ranks near the bottom of all urban districts nationally.

One Democrat — Sen. Anthony Williams (D., Philadelphia) — voted with Republicans in support of the school voucher program. He said that students deserve other options when the current public school system is failing them, and the system shouldn’t be propped up by forcing students to stay because of economic necessity.

Rep. Martina White (R., Philadelphia) said school vouchers will help students in Philly schools and otherlow-performing districts across the state. But she blamed House Democrats for holding up the opportunity.

“The fact that the progressives in the Democratic caucus are holding hostage the budget and trying to basically kill this opportunity for these children is really sad,” she added.

Sen. Scott Martin (R., Lancaster), who chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, said waiting lists for similar programs show that parents want to be able to choose a better school for their children.

“How long do we wait in a child’s development for a school to better itself along the way?” Martin asked. “This really, truly is a lifeline to those families who are begging for their child to have a better opportunity, a better future. And we owe all of them.”

Earlier in the day, Shapiro said in a statement that the budget deal, due Friday before midnight, will require both sides to compromise.

“After a dozen years of total Republican control of the legislature, Senate Republicans need to give more than they’re used to — and after a dozen years in the minority, House Democrats can’t expect to get everything they’ve wanted over the last decade in one budget,” Shapiro said.