It's time for school choice
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Shortly after doctors performed a high-risk heart-liver transplant on Pennsylvania Gov. Robert Casey at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the governor reflected on his career in the Philadelphia Inquirer: "I would run for a third term if I could because I would like to work on some issues that I have been unable to accomplish, such as tax reform and school choice."
That was 1993, yet school choice is once again a hot topic in Harrisburg.
Earlier in Casey's tenure, the state Senate passed a voucher bill that would have provided up to $900 a year per student so parents could send children to a nonpublic school if they so chose. The Wall Street Journal wrote the next day that "Pennsylvania may become the first state in the nation to enact a true educational choice program."
The bill, however, was defeated in the House by 114-89. The opposition ran a radio campaign that stated, "Dec. 7, 1941 ... Remember Pearl Harbor ... A sneak attack that shocked our country ... Now another sneak attack is about to be launched -- this time in Harrisburg. State legislators are planning to raise your taxes ... again."
The ad was sponsored by a group supporting public education, for which spending had risen from $4 billion in 1980 to $9 billion in 1993. That figure is now approximately $26 billion.
AFL-CIO President William George called the voucher plan "un-American." Yet voucher supporters did not give up.
School choice bills were introduced in 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1998. Finally, after years of fighting for an educational voucher, the Pennsylvania General Assembly went part way and passed the first corporate tax credit for education in the nation in 2001. It was proudly signed by Gov. Tom Ridge and for the past decade has garnered support from both sides of the political aisle.
The tax credit allows businesses to divert some of their state taxes to both public and nonpublic schools. The former for enrichment programs and the latter to provide tuition assistance. The program is widely popular.
The problem with tax credits, though, is that not enough students can be helped. In the Diocese of Pittsburgh Catholic schools, we have identified, through an evaluation process, that families who would like to send their children to our schools need $11 million in assistance to do so. We can provide only half that total through the tax-credit program and various donations.
Too many poor parents are unable to "sculpt the souls of their children," as Prof. John Coons of the University of California Berkeley put it, referring to those who have little or no control over their children's education. Parents with resources can choose any public, private or parochial school. That's why former President Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama and recently Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago could select private schools for their children despite their public opposition to school choice.
First Published September 20, 2011 12:00 am
