The Republican-controlled Legislature in Pennsylvania passed a bill to expand vouchers for religious schools. Governor Tom Wolf, a Democrat, announced that he would veto the bill.
This is good news for public schools in the Keystone State!
Here is a roundup of stories from the Keystone State Education Coalition:
HB800: Gov. Wolf to veto $100M private and religious schools bill in Pennsylvania
Post Gazette by ASSOCIATED PRESS JUN 12, 2019 3:38 PM
HARRISBURG — Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf plans to veto legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature to substantially expand taxpayer support by $100 million for private and religious schools in Pennsylvania. Wednesday’s statement from Wolf’s office comes a day after the Senate approved the bill on a party-line basis. The bill was sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai and just four Democrats voted for it in the House. Wolf ran for office pledging to boost aid for public schools. He has said that public schools remain underfunded and that the tax-credit bill is at odds with the need for accessible public education. It would nearly double the Educational Improvement Tax Credit to $210 million annually. The program lets corporations direct tens of millions in tax dollars to favored private and religious schools.
HB800: Wolf says he will veto bill to expand tax credits for private, religious school scholarships
PA Capital Star By Sarah Anne Hughes| John L. Micek June 12, 2019
Gov. Tom Wolf will veto a bill to expand a tax credit program that funds private and religious school scholarships, he told the Capital-Star on Wednesday. “I’ve seen enough to know that this is not something I think is good for Pennsylvania,” Wolf said after an event in Philadelphia. The legislation, sponsored by House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, would increase the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program budget from $110 million to $210 million immediately after passage — the largest single-year increase since the program was created in 2001. Under the bill, the program cap would also increase by 10 percent in years where 90 percent of the credits are claimed. “It distracts from what we ought to be focusing on, which is educating every child through our public school system,” Wolf said Wednesday. The House passed the legislation 111-85 in May, while the Senate voted 28-21 to approve the bill on Tuesday. Currently, there is not enough support in either chamber to override a veto from Wolf.
“As the governor knows, we are preparing to increase our funding for public education in the forthcoming budget, and the increase in EITC funding is an appropriate complement to that investment in our public schools,” Turzai said in a statement after the bill’s passage in the upper chamber.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
are these stories ever sort of a way to deflect attention away from the effects of charter schools? Especially for democrats.
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Take them one at a time.
Penn has the worst charter law in the nation, according to the State Auditor
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Incarceration vs. education: America spends more on its prison system than it does on public schools | Daily Mail Online
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6317783/Incarceration-vs-education-America-spends-prison-does-public-schools.html?fbclid=IwAR3VExOaP-rm6_IcfrXr27SwFtwl7H238FFAFGpacHzAaaPmXISoF10Fj0o
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I am thankful that Gov. Wolf put the brakes on this brazen money grab that would cost Pennsylvanians dearly and provide very little value. I do hope the commonwealth fixes gerrymandering so Pennsylvania can get rid of complicit profiteers in the senate.
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There’s a lesson here for those who claim there’s no difference between Republicans and Democrats.
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The PA charter law was put in place by a Republican governor.
“Fresh off a failed attempt to create a statewide school vouchers program, Gov. Tom Ridge and fellow supporters of school choice turned to charter schools as a backup plan for education reform. After months of meetings and rigorous lobbying, the state Legislature approved the Pennsylvania Charter School Law in June 1997.”
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“It would nearly double the Educational Improvement Tax Credit to $210 million annually. The program lets corporations direct tens of millions in tax dollars to favored private and religious schools.”
Nothing for public schools out of the ed reform faction in a statehouse. As usual. Nada.
Ed reform politicians take public school students and families for granted. We’re the “default” voters they aren’t interested in until it comes time to re-elect them. That has to change. Demand more than a throw-away line at the end of legislation intended to benefit the 5% of students they prefer. It’s possible to hire people who actually support public schools and public school students. Those people exist. Demand an actual, positive contribution to public schools and public school students.
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“In January, teachers at Summit Public Schools, a group of charter schools in the Bay Area, formed a union, Unite Summit, in order to promote teacher retention, improve student support services, and increase teacher voice in important decisions.
On June 7, the last day of the school year, three Summit teachers and union leaders were fired without cause. We believe this action is unlawful, unethical, and harmful to our students.”
How can Democrats support this and still claim to support collective bargaining and labor rights, let alone the malarkey about “teacher empowerment”?
https://www.change.org/p/summit-public-schools-leadership-overturn-wrongful-termination?recruiter=1824582&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_abi&recruited_by_id=72ae4b10-c1c6-0130-9de1-3c764e0480c1&share_bandit_exp=abi-16028048-en-US&share_bandit_var=v2
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Good news for all of us.
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