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Location : Ether-Sphere Job/hobbies : Irrationality Exterminator Humor : Über Serious
| Subject: GOP Leaders Want To Pilot Private School Vouchers In Pennsylvania Tue Nov 19, 2019 9:49 pm | |
| KEYSTONE CROSSROADS — Najmiah Roberson could be the poster mom for school choice in Pennsylvania. The Harrisburg mother of three has children in three different schools — a Catholic school, a cyber charter school, and a non-denominational private school. And Roberson doesn’t pay a cent out of pocket, she says, thanks to scholarship money — some of it backed by state subsidies. She’s the beneficiary of a system that has made Pennsylvania a leader in expanding school choice. Still, she knows other parents who want to ditch their local public schools and can’t — either because they don’t qualify for existing state help or are stuck waiting in line for the limited supply of available assistance. “I have been that parent before,” said Roberson. “It was frustrating and scary.”
A bill introduced this fall by Speaker of the House Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, would add a new branch to Pennsylvania’s school-choice tree — school vouchers. Turzai’s bill is narrow in scope. It would allow parents living in the city of Harrisburg to use as much as $8,200 in taxpayer money toward private school tuition or the cost of attending another public school district. Half of that money would come out of the state’s annual subsidy to the Harrisburg City School District. The other half would be taken from local coffers. The Harrisburg City School District would still receive some state aid for students who opt to leave — about $4,000. Turzai described the bill as a “pilot tuition grant program” upon introducing it in September, hinting at the possibility that it could be expanded to other parts of the state. The idea is scheduled for a vote Monday in the House Education Committee. Proponents see the measure as a matter of basic fairness — one that makes good fiscal sense. Parents, they argue, should be able to use tax dollars at the schools of their choice — instead of paying out of pocket.
https://wskg.org/news/gop-leaders-want-to-pilot-private-school-vouchers-in-pennsylvania/ |
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