Call them “lifeline scholarships” or “PASS scholarships.”
Voucher-style scholarships are back for consideration in Harrisburg.
The Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee advanced legislation on Tuesday to establish Pennsylvania Award for Student Success (PASS) Scholarships. Similar to the popular Lifeline Scholarship proposal, PASS would provide educational options to students in chronically failing schools.
The bill is now headed to the House where it is expected to find choppy waters.
Senate Bill 10, sponsored by Sen. Judy Ward (R-Blair/Fulton/ Huntingdon/Juniata/Mifflin), aims to offer scholarships to students from the state’s lowest-performing schools that they can use to apply toward tuition at a school that best fits their needs. She claimed that there are 18 Pennsylvania schools where “there is not a single student in the entire school proficient in either reading or math.”
“I am proud to join with my colleagues to stand up for children and their future by passing the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success scholarship program out of the Senate Education Committee,” said Ward. “This program will empower parents to make the decisions that are best for their child and ensure all children in the commonwealth have the chance at a quality education that fits their needs.”
The bill advanced by an 8-3 count with Sen. Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia) crossing the aisle to join the seven GOP committee members.
Williams said he would no longer let the issue be framed in for-or-against public school context, and that politicians had turned it into a “political football” far removed from the main point of educating children.
“America is declining primarily because we have not addressed this issue,” Williams said. He said the people who are forming charter schools often are “former public school educators” and that he was fine with both funding the scholarship program and funding public schools.
Scholarships would range in value based on a student’s grade level and needs:
Eligible students must live within the attendance boundary of one of the lowest performing 15% of public schools and come from households earning less than 250% of the federal poverty level. Funds in a student’s PASS account could be used for tuition, school-related fees or special education services at a nonpublic school.
Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny) called it as a slap in the face to public education, saying she would never vote for “vouchers by whatever name we call them.”
“Pennsylvania’s education crisis is worsening. Student achievement is stagnant,” said Andrew Lewis, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation. “More than 200,000 of our most vulnerable students are left in failing schools with no recourse. Every child in Pennsylvania deserves access to an excellent education, regardless of their zip code. Lifeline/PASS provides a long-overdue solution for students and parents who have longed for meaningful educational alternatives. It’s time to stop funding failure and start funding our students’ futures – they have waited long enough.”
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