| REAL CHOICE REQUIRES REAL INVESTMENT
State lawmakers have a choice to make. Choice 1: dedicate tax dollars to building an effective public education system where every student who walks through the doors graduates with real world skills. Choice 2: divert education dollars to private schools that can select who they want to educate, and who they don’t.
To be sure, not every school is able to meet that mark because the state has short-changed education for decades. But the tide is starting to shift. For the last few years, state lawmakers have made significant investments to close that gap. In doing so they’ve given parents more sound educational choices without the risk of discrimination.
And the results are promising. The School District of Philadelphia (SDP), for instance, was ranked among the fastest-improving large urban school districts in the country. State lawmakers would be wise to look at the evidence and continue down the path that is proven to give children the quality of education they need and deserve.
Without a doubt, we need to do more – but one solution that does not move the needle for PA students is state funds for vouchers to attend private schools.
Some lawmakers, keen to pass a taxpayer-funded scholarship program (i.e., public dollars going to private schools), argue that parents deserve a choice when deciding what’s best for their children. Again, look at Philadelphia with a breadth of choices: 81 charter schools, more than 200 traditional public schools, and an SDP cyber academy.
If a parent wants their child to go to the traditional public school that’s around the corner, fair education funding will ensure that child gets a great education.
If a parent feels their child would benefit from a different instructional approach at a brick-and-mortar charter school, fair education funding will ensure that child gets a great education. Governor Shapiro’s budget plan is that should be backed by any advocate of school choice. In Philadelphia alone it will boost resources for brick-and-mortar charter schools by $34 million.
If a parent finds that remote learning is best for their child, school districts that offer cyber options can use fair education funding to ensure that child gets a great education. Case in point, the SDP Virtual Academy graduated its largest class this month – 263 students. That may not sound like a lot, but it’s big enough to rank in the top 25% largest graduating classes of the states’ 655 public school districts and charters.
In this state budget there are two choices. Choice 1 supports the 90% of students who attend public schools in rural, suburban, or city communities. Choice 2, supported by billionaire Jeffrey Yazz and his ilk, diverts resources from public schools to selective private schools notorious for violating the civil rights of children who don’t share their religious doctrine or have special needs.
For those who argue that school choice is the core policy solution to what ails public education, the proposed budget is a certain way to deliver on that goal. It delivers the needed funds for a vast array of schools to choose from, each of which must respect the civil rights of every student and offers them the special education services to which they are entitled. Simply put, vouchers do not.
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