Despite our country’s many virtues, many truths of our past are lamentable – slavery, Indigenous displacement, etc. But one virtue of America’s past that deserves our persistent praise and admiration is the tradition of public education that began in the early 1800s. You may have heard of Horace Mann, a leading figure in the Common School movement – a movement inspired by the ideals of democracy as well as the work of Benjamin Franklin. Mann argued successfully that a strong democracy demanded vital education fortified by a standardized curriculum, well-trained teachers, and adequate funding. Over the years, common schools became known as public schools. Eventually, these schools were available to all citizens irrespective of their learning capabilities, their physical disabilities, the color of their skin, or their gender. Unfortunately, PA legislators devised a system to undermine this tradition to the sum of $2 billion. Not only has their scheme thwarted critical social values, but it was undertaken with a sleight of hand to fulfill questionable goals. These legislators duped the public into believing their work was more noble than the tradition they sought to undermine. What is this all about?
It’s about vouchers. Irrespective of how they are funded, states, particularly conservative states, make funds available to parents to remove their children from a failing public school and use them for tuition and related expenses at a private school. The current incarnation of the voucher movement began with a well-known economist, Milton Friedman. Once Friedman’s ideas were accepted, educators, particularly those with a libertarian bent, began applying his free market concepts. Religious conservatives got on the bandwagon as well. They saw Friedman’s thinking as a way of protecting their religious values. Today, a voucher scheme has been eagerly adopted in twenty states. While the notion of saving children from failing schools sounds noble, it is undertaken without consideration for consequences, and that’s why, ashamedly, PA’s voucher program lacks total accountability. So how is this possible?
PA’s program began in 2001 with the PA Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC). Then, in 2012, the program was augmented with the PA Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) and, most recently, with the PA Award for Student Success (PASS), which has yet to be implemented. The provisions of the law are based upon a handsome tax credit incentive for businesses. These businesses donate to an approved private educational organization to obtain a tax credit. In turn, the organization supplies scholarships. These scholarships are then used to enable students to attend private or non-public schools of their /parents’ choice.
PA’s law was constructed to preclude any possibility of accountability. No one, including the PA Dept. of Education, can supply empirical or much less anecdotal information about these programs’ benefits or lack thereof. The construction of language shows legislative intent. The authors’ goal was not educational but ideological. Their purpose was not to improve education but to promote a cause like public schools failing, parents need greater control, and competition is essential. If the authors wanted goals with educational merit, they would have written legislation to determine its benefits through authorized information collection and periodic evaluative studies. And so, what happens when there is no accountability?
Education Voters of PA released the first study that tells the tragic story of political ideology gone awry. The Report speaks for itself. “A survey of one in four of the private or religious schools listed on the Pennsylvania Department of Education website … found that policies allowing for discrimination based on religion, LGBTQ+ status, disability, and more are widespread in schools currently funded by Pennsylvania’s current taxpayer-funded school voucher programs.” Here are just a few of the Report’s findings:
100% of the schools have policies that could be used to discriminate against students.
1 in 5 have explicit statements discriminating against LGBTQ+ students.
More than half allow them to discriminate against students’ academic ability.
The Report moves from one incrimination to another, showing how students are allowed, indeed, encouraged with $10,000 scholarships to attend schools that explicitly discriminate.
Most non-public schools can refuse to admit a student because she is ‘not the right fit.’ We need to inform Mr. Moul and other GOP legislators that this program is not the right fit for the people of PA who abhor discrimination of any kind. Stop this madness; stop this deception. If we have failing schools, then let’s fix them. Let us create a vision that makes PA schools the best in the country and place a smile on Benjamin Franklin’s face.
Tony McNevin is a member of the DFA Education Task Force