By State Senator Anthony Hardy Williams“It’s time to admit that public education operates like a planned economy, a bureaucratic system in which everybody’s role is spelled out in advance and there are few incentives for innovation and productivity. It’s no surprise that our school system doesn’t improve.”
These are not my words or those of my colleague, Sen. Jeff Piccola, but those of Albert Shanker, former union president of the American Federation of Teachers, who said them in 1989.
School choice will bring those necessary incentives for innovation and productivity.
As one such incentive, Sen. Piccola and I have introduced Senate Bill 1, the Opportunity Scholarship and Education Improvement Tax Credit Act. This landmark legislation will expand school choice in Pennsylvania.
School choice is not an alternative to public education. It is a vital part of an innovative and productive public education system.
Parents who are financially able to, make choices by moving into good school districts or by sending their children to private school. SB1 would allow low-income families to take the state tax dollars devoted to their child and apply them to the public or nonpublic school of their choice.
It would allow more middle class and working families across Pennsylvania to choose the best schools for their children by expanding the popular Education Improvement Tax Credit, which provides tax credits to companies that donate money for scholarships or educational improvement.
The time for school choice, and yes, school vouchers, has come.
When asked, most Pennsylvanians say they support school choice. Gov. Tom Corbett supports school choice. School vouchers are overwhelmingly supported by public school parents wanting more and better choices for their children.
Parents, the ultimate arbiters of what works, are voting with their feet, moving and taking their children out of failing schools and enrolling them in charter, private and parochial schools. In fact, there are close to 25,000 students on charter school waiting lists in Pennsylvania.
SB1 has earned the support of a broad coalition from across the state, including Democrats and Republicans, large unions and grassroots organizations.
It deserves your support as well. An educated workforce makes Pennsylvania more competitive, attracts jobs and reduces expenditures on social services.
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association and Pennsylvania State Education Association are the primary opponents of school choice.
These political organizations employ highly paid lobbyists to “stand in the doorway” of progress while protecting the status quo.
Opponents of school choice will argue that parental involvement is key to a child’s success then spend millions to deny parental involvement in choosing the school that best fits their child’s needs. They recommend more money, which we cannot afford and want more time, which our children don’t have.
It’s been 15 years since Gov. Tom Ridge first proposed school vouchers, and I argued on the floor of the House — I was a member of that chamber then — in support of parental school choice.
We heard the same arguments from our opponents.
They simply needed more money and more time. Well, they got both. Since 1996, public school spending has doubled to $26 billion annually. Pennsylvania taxpayers spend more than $13,000 per student — $2,000 more than the national average and more than 39 other states.
In some of our persistently lowest-achieving public schools, we spend nearly $20,000 per student — a poor return on investment while you are demanding a more efficient use of your tax dollars. More time and more money was not the answer then and it is not the answer now.
Our opponents seem more concerned with propping up a system than educating children. They cling to the antiquated belief that existing public school systems have the right of first refusal when it comes to educating our children. An innovative and productive public education system can include home schooling, parochial schools, private schools, cyber schools, public charter schools and, yes, traditional public schools — all of which I support.
Forcing children to remain in a system that fails to provide them with a quality education is not an acceptable outcome when proven options could be made available.
In all of their talking points, the opposition never provides a viable answer to one basic question: What should involved but financially trapped parents do with a child in a persistently failing neighborhood school?
Their reply is the same as it has been for nearly two decades: “Wait. Leave your children here until the school is fixed. More money, more time is all that is needed.”
Sadly, these are the same answers they heard when they were students in these same schools more than 15 years ago. And the beat goes on, the cycle continues and another generation is lost.
The time for school choice is now. Contact your legislators. Tell them you support Senate Bill 1. The future of our commonwealth — our children — depends on it.
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