School Boards Oppose Voucher Plan (PA)
January 21, 2011
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association went on the offensive Thursday against state Senate plans to use tax money for tuition vouchers that allow low income students to attend any school of their choosing.
"You’ll have public money going to a private school," Tim Allwein, PSBA’s assistant executive director, said in a conference call with reporters.
He called it a "publicizing" of private schools, without the "requirements that come with public funding."
Allwein said the plan is not school choice, "it’s really the choice of the school," he said.
A bill introduced last week by Philadelphia Democrat Anthony Williams and Republican Jeff Piccola of Dauphin and York would allow low income parents a state subsidy – possibly $9,000 – to enroll their child in a school , public or private, without regard to neighborhood.
Williams, who ran for the Democratic nomination to governor on the school choice mantle, described it as "the civil rights movement of this century" last week when he unveiled Senate Bill 1.
"Our education system is the last public monopoly in America," he said. "Taxpayers can no longer subsidize, support or ignore failure.
"Too many children are trapped by their ZIP code in schools that are not making the grade. We are robbing our kids of a fundamental right."
The plan calls for a three-year phase-in, according to a Senate press release. In the first year, low-income students attending "persistently failing schools" would be eligible for a grant. In the second year, low-income students residing within the attendance boundary of those schools, but currently attending private schools, would be eligible. In the third year, all low-income students regardless of school district would be eligible.
"Low-income" is defined as families whose income is at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level; a family of four would qualify at $28,665.
Gov. Tom Corbett, during his campaign, advocated making public money available to pay for tuition at parochial and other private schools.
He said schools "have a monopoly and, if they’re not competitive, they’re going to continue to lose that money," he said. "They’re either going to downsize or they’re going to get competitive and vie for the student."
Allwein said his organization is trying to develop a coali tion to defeat the measure, as they did about 15 years ago when the Ridge administration made a similar attempt.
"This will be a tougher fight than 15 years ago," he said. "There are a lot more people committed who want vouchers. Some organizations that are on the advocacy side weren’t there 15 years ago and they’re certainly better funded and a lot more organized."
He might have been describing the Doylestown-based Kitchen Table Patriots, a tea party group that advocates vouchers.
Ana Puig, KTP’s co-chairwoman, is a member of Corbett’s transition committee on education. And Anastasiz Przybylski, KTP’s co-founder, has spent several months researching the topic.
"Fundamentally we’ve tried everything we can, thrown good money after bad and it’s time to try a different approach," she said. "Competition works. It’ll make schools clean up their act.
"I’m looking at the future of our country. America will lose its status if we don’t fix this problem."
Tuesday, as part of National School Choice Week, KTP will be rallying at the Capitol in Harrisburg for school choice.
Allwein said he’d like to see lawmakers "start addressing some of the other societal things that are keeping children from becoming better learners."
He also said there’s a big difference in Corbett’s push for vouchers as compared to Ridge’s.
"Fifteen years ago the state was doing far better off financially," he said, referring to the estimated $4 billion to $5 billion budget hole the state is facing. " This funding will definitely be coming out of the school district’s pocket."