School choice bill opposition grows

100-plus school boards pass resolutions against Senate 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

“Too many Pennsylvania children are consigned to chronically under-performing schools that fail to prepare students for college or careers.” John DiSanto, state Sen., R-15th Dist.