Peter Greene writes here about the latest news from Pennsylvania, where he lives. The Republican-dominated state senate passed a voucher bill. Newly elected Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro has said he supports vouchers. He’s getting lots of kudos from Rightwingers. Is this why we was elected? It’s now up to House Democrats, who have a sliver majority, to stop this giveaway to private and religious schools.
Peter Greene writes:
Choicers in Pennsylvania are so close they can taste it, and everyone has come off the bench to help push this newest bill past a governor who has said he likes vouchers just fine—under certain condition. This is from my piece from Forbes.com this morning.
Democrat Josh Shapiro made no secret of his support for school vouchers when he was campaigning for the Pennsylvania governor’s seat. Now conservatives are pushing him to put that support to work.
The Senate passed the newest school voucher bill Thursday night; House Democrats say that it will not advance. Supporters are still hoping that it can be saved in the budget process.
The Lifeline Scholarship Program has been kicking around Harrisburg in a variety of bills that presented a variety of school voucher formats as voucher supporters looked for a version that would garner enough support to pass. The current iteration is a traditional school voucher, essentially a taxpayer funded tuition subsidy for students attending private schools.
Under this bill, students in the lowest 15% of schools in the commonwealth (as determined by standardized test scores) would be eligible.
The vouchers, named a top priority by Pennsylvania’s GOP, have become a key part of the current budget negotiations in the state that is already under a court order to fix its funding system for public schools.
The voucher system would be a chance for school voucher proponents to get their foot in the door, an especially tasty victory in a state with a Democratic governor. To add to the pressure to pass, a coalition of right wing voucher fans has sent Shapiro a letter arguing for the voucher program.
Open the link to the article to find the link to the entire article in Forbes.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I’ll be pulling for Michigan or Michigan State against Penn State every time from now on. Not that it will matter.
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Taxpayers that feel that public money should not go to religious schools should also send letters to the governor. It would be a bad precedent, if enacted, since once vouchers are accepted, the radical right pushes for universal vouchers. It is unfortunate that Shapiro thinks it is acceptable to transfer funds from working families to affluent families that can afford private education for their children. Working families that depend on well-funded public schools should let Shapiro know that this proposal would hurt working families and their children’s education. Working families should not be subsidizing the education of children from the luxury car class.
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Where is the logic in providing vouchers to the lowest performing districts rather than funding their public schools? Taking more from them is not going to do anything to save their chance at a free, quality public education.
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