Lawrence A. Feinberg leads a valuable organization called the Keystone State Education Coalition, which reports on education issues in Pennsylvania.
The big issue today is whether Democratic Governor Tom Wolf will veto a bill to expand the state’s voucher program by $100 million, a bill passed almost entirely by Republicans in the Legislature. He certainly should veto the measure because it will drain resources from the state’s public schools and send students to religious schools whose teachers and curriculum are not as good as those of the public schools.
HB800: Bill that nearly doubles size of tax credit program for private school scholarships heading to Wolf’s desk
PA Capital Star By Elizabeth Hardison June 11, 2019
Legislation that would nearly double the size of an educational tax credit program that funds private and religious school scholarships was approved Tuesday by Senate Republicans, whose unanimous support for the proposal overpowered the negative consensus among Democrats.
The bill to expand the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program now goes to Gov. Tom Wolf’s desk for final approval. House lawmakers approved the legislation 111-85 in May. Wolf, a Democrat, has not said whether or not he will veto the expansion, which was sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny. He told reporters Tuesday he doesn’t understand how the expansion will be paid for. “I’m trying to fund public education,” Wolf told reporters. “I’m trying to make sure that we have an accountable system in place that I think is underfunded. I have done everything in my power, and I’ve worked across the aisle to get more money for public education. This seems to me — again, I’ll take a look at it — this seems to me to be at odds with that need of a government and a democracy like ours to support broad-based, accessible public education.”
Pennsylvania budget season fight opens over $100 million increase in taxpayer support for private schools
Morning Call By MARC LEVY | ASSOCIATED PRESS | JUN 11, 2019 | 6:16 PM
Legislation to substantially expand taxpayer support for private and religious schools in Pennsylvania won passage Tuesday in the Republican-controlled Legislature, although Gov. Tom Wolf is signaling that he will block it. The public dust-up ramps up a fight between supporters of public and private schools in the thick of negotiations between Republican lawmakers and the Democratic governor over a roughly $34 billion budget package. The bill passed the state Senate on a party-line basis Tuesday, a month after it passed the Republican-controlled House on near-party lines. Wolf said he would look at the legislation, but not whether he will veto it. “What I’ve heard doesn’t sound real good,” Wolf told reporters after an unrelated news conference in his Capitol offices. Republicans, Wolf said, haven’t explained how they would finance the $100 million cost of the bill, and he criticized tax credits programs as lacking control or accountability. Wolf, who campaigned for office on raising support for public schools, said he is still working to increase aid for a public education system in Pennsylvania he called underfunded. “It seems to me to be at odds with that need of a government in a democracy like ours to support broad-based, accessible public education,” Wolf said. The bill is sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny.
Republicans look to boost private school tax credit. Wolf says he doesn’t get it.
WITF Written by Katie Meyer, Capitol Bureau Chief | Jun 11, 2019 7:35 PM
(Harrisburg) — Lawmakers have approved a bill that would nearly double a tax break for people and businesses who contribute to private school scholarships and similar public school alternatives. They did so with almost no support from Democrats. And now, Democratic Governor Tom Wolf is saying he doesn’t understand why the expansion is necessary. Republicans argue the Educational Improvement Tax Credit helps low-income students who are stuck in bad public schools. Many Democrats say it unfairly routes money away from those struggling schools. The EITC program has grown incrementally and substantially since it started in 2001–often with bipartisan support. But even the Democrats who generally favor the credit say this particular increase is too high. Along with almost doubling it, the bill–sponsored by GOP House Speaker Mike Turzai–adds an automatic 10 percent escalation every year, as long as the credit stays popular. And it raises the income cap for eligible families from $85,000 to $95,000.
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
Amusing that ed reform is pushing vouchers in every state now. It’s all they do. Nothing for public school students at all. Zilch. They don’t even pretend to offer public school students and families anything of value. Our kids and schools are the dead-last priority.
Pennsylvania should expend some time and effort on the public school students in their state, who have been shamefully neglected and ignored during the 20 year ed reform political campaign to expand charter and private schools. Try that. Try serving the 90% of students in the unfashionable and ideologically incorrect “government schools”.
Do your jobs.
Remember when ed reform started and we were told they would “improve” public schools?
Remember when we were told we had to rubberstamp charters or they would voucherize the whole system?
So sorry, suckers. They played you. Public school students got nothing and they’re pushing vouchers all over the country. They don’t lift a finger for kids in public schools and they’re all on the public payroll, firmly embedded in government.
You’re exactly right. We’ve created a many headed hydra monster that is choking the common good. In Philly they are carving up turfs for charter schools. It is a disgusting use of tax dollars while public schools crumble.
Doubling tax credits for companies will cut taxes for businesses while shifting a greater tax burden on to residential properties. Either taxes will have to be raised, or services will have to be cut. Wolf would be wise to veto this bad idea. If approved, it will result in leaving the commonwealth with a larger deficit. It is Wolf that will bear the responsibility for the failure or increased taxes. Wolf needs to check the out of control greed of the Pennsylvania legislature. It is so clear that this bill is not about improving education. This is about reducing taxes for favored businesses, charter lobby trap that Wolf needs to stop.
Ed reform will end up with low value vouchers for every student. There’s no other way the ideological demands can be aligned.
I think it was always the end game. You’ll take your low value public voucher and purchase educational services. If you’re in a position to add to that with family funds, you will, but lower middle and lower income students will be left with much less funding than they had when funding was district or school level, because there won’t be economies of scale or funding transfers. It’s a disaster for low income kids. The inequity we see now will skyrocket. It’s also a disaster for kids with disabilities. The only reason they can get the services they get is because there’s a mass of kids funding the system who don’t use those services. It’s a transfer. The only way it works is with a critical mass of kids who don’t use additional services. Like how health insurance pools work.
We will profoundly regret the decision to turn our public education system(s) over to ideologically-bound zealots with a belief system rather than any other practical appreciation of how this works.
That is why public schools can meet diverse needs efficiently. Some districts even pool resources for expensive special education or vocational services. No private schools can duplicate this level of addressing students’ needs with such expertise and efficiency. It is socialism that works. It is the public trust that is being looted by grifters and opportunistic amateurs. Charters have been used to normalize vouchers, which are the worst because they generally have little to no value.
What a difference five miles can make. My high school (located in Upstate New York) is just a quick ride to the bridge into PA. In fact, the beautiful spot where I played tennis for years was, well, if I hit the ball hard in a wrong direction it could have gone over the Delaware River and bounced into a very different land.
It’s always amazing how huge the differences can be between the states. Good and, in the case some of the malarkey that goes on in PA schools, quite bad.
I’ve always felt bad for students who transfer from one state to another then find themselves caught in the maw of a different set of ridiculous state testing requirements. It’s another good reason to just throw out most of the standardized tests we inflict upon kids. (And, no, the answer is not some national exam or standards etc….)
Just let public school teachers everywhere…teach.
caught in the maw: exact language