Area school boards join opposition to school choice bill

Area school districts are steadily joining the ranks of those statewide passing resolutions opposing a proposed bill in the Pennsylvania Senate that they argue would drain resources from public schools and are akin to school vouchers.

So far 13 school boards in Berks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties have adopted the resolution and are among more than 100 to do so across Pennsylvania.

State Sen. John Rafferty, R-44th Dist., is listed as a co-sponsor of the bill, but did not return several phone messages to his various offices seeking comment.

First proposed last summer by Harrisburg-area state Sen. John DiSanto, R-15th Dist., Senate Bill 2 would create what DiSanto calls Education Savings Accounts.

Under the bill, parents whose children would attend a low-performing school determined to be among the lowest 15 percent in the state could access those accounts to pay for “qualified” education expenses.

The money would be the equivalent of the average Pennsylvania subsidy per student — between $5,000 and $6,000 — and that amount would be deducted from the state subsidy provided to the district for that student.

The money could be used to pay tuition to private schools, parochial schools or even for extra tutoring, or college, according to DiSanto’s announcement.

“Too many Pennsylvania children are consigned to chronically under-performing schools that fail to prepare students for college or careers. Families without the means or good fortune face significantly limited educational opportunities,” DiSanto said in August when he introduced the legislations.

“Wait lists for charter schools and tax credit scholarships are in the tens of thousands. ESAs significantly expand opportunities for students seeking a better education,” he said.

But the resolution penned by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and adopted by one in five districts across the Commonwealth, notes that the ESAs in the bill could be used to benefit students “never having attended the target school” and could be provided to “benefit families regardless of income or need, including

Under the bill, parents whose children would attend a lowperforming school determined to be among the lowest 15 percent in the state could access those accounts to pay for “qualified” education expenses.

students already enrolled in public schools.”

DiSanto told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Monday that opposition to his bill is part of “knee-jerk opposition to any proposals that increase competition and begin to bring accountability to education continues to hold back Pennsylvania students trying to achieve their potential.”

However, the PSBA resolution points out that it is the private and parochial schools which are not held to the “strict accountability standards that measure student achievement and academic progress” to which public schools are held.

“Provisions under Senate Bill 2 would not require participating private schools to use the same standardized assessments, making comparison and evaluation of academic progress unachieveable” there, the resolution states.

“By targeting the lowest-achieving 15 percent of schools in the commonwealth, Senate Bill 2 has been estimated to siphon more than $500 million dollars from the most under-resourced schools that desperately need the funding,” PSBA wrote in a recent release.

As of March 9, school boards which have adopted the resolution include Pottstown, Methacton, Cheltenham and Upper Moreland in Montgomery County; Phoenixville, Tredyffrin/ Easttown and Avon Grove in Chester County; Garnet Valley, Southeast Delco, Haverford and Upper Darby in Delaware County; and Exeter and Schuylkill Valley in Berks County.

The Spring-Ford School Board discussed the matter at a recent meeting and is considering writing its own resolution, rather than use the boilerplate language provided by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

Pottstown Schools Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez called the bill “a blatant attempt to defund public schools by shifting tax dollars to non-regulated private schools.” He said it is “terrible for taxpayers and students alike.”

Phoenixville School Board member Blake Emmanuel said while the legislation would be unlikely to affect Phoenixville directly — given that the district is not in the lowest 15 percent in terms of academic performance — it “opens doors to vouchers” like the November statewide referendum vote opened door to property tax reform.

She said although there were rumors the bill would come up for a vote soon, there has been no voting so far.