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State Sen. Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia) said representatives of the teachers’ unions and school boards are nothing more than “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” in their opposition to educational reforms.

Mr. Williams’ comments came during Tuesday morning’s briefing on S.B. 1, which aims to increase educational options in Pennsylvania by providing opportunity grants to the poorest students in the state’s worst performing public schools. The legislation is co-sponsored by Mr. Williams and Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-Dauphin).

Last week, representatives of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) said they opposed the school choice legislation because charter schools and Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) have done enough to increase public school options.

Mr. Williams pointed out the PSBA opposed charter schools before they were legalized in the 1990s. He said the organization would continue to fight against expanded school choice.

“They opposed the charters, they opposed the EITC, so of course they are going to be opposed to choice,” said Mr. Williams. “I don’t see them as anything other than a wolf in sheep’s clothing on this issue. The moment this fails is the moment they start attacking charter schools again.”

The Piccola/Williams legislation would cost $50 million to implement the first year, when vouchers would be available only to families earning less than $30,000 with students enrolled in any of Pennsylvania’s 144 lowest-achieving public schools. The bill would cost $100 million in the second year when all low-income students within the boundaries of the same 144 school districts. In the third year, the program will open up to all low-income students regardless of school district.

“If we cannot find $50 million in this education budget, shame on us,” said Mr. Piccola. “We’ve programmed in plenty of time to accommodate those costs.”

In the current budget year, the state is spending more than $9 billion on education, with more than $5.1 billion on basic education alone. This year the state is spending more than $14,000 per student in the public school system, though the amount per student fluctuates from district to district.

Per student spending has increased by 40 percent in the last decade, but growth in achievement has been “modest at best,” said Mr. Piccola.

Of the 144 schools identified by the state as the lowest-achieving, 101 of them are located in either Philadelphia or Delaware counties, said Mr. Williams. Harrisburg has 10 schools on the list, Mr. Piccola pointed out.

The PSBA also claims the legislation violates Article III of the Pennsylvania constitution because it allows families to use state tax money towards tuition at private or religious schools in addition to other public schools.

Timothy Allwein, executive director of PSBA, told reporters during a conference call last week the constitution would have to be amended before S.B. 1 could pass a legal challenge.

Dick Komer, a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice, a Washington D.C.-based civil liberties law firm, said the bill meets the standards set by the U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions.

In a 2002 case, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a similar voucher program in Cleveland, Ohio, because parents were ultimately responsible for directing tax dollars to private institutions, not the state government, said Mr. Komer.

“There is a big difference between providing scholarships – vouchers if you will – to families to empower them to choose private education and providing direct grants to private schools,” said Mr. Komer. “The Supreme Court recognized the difference between a program that provides funding to parents to chose schools as opposed to providing funding directly to schools as institutions.”

If the Pennsylvania legislation meets the standards set by the court in that case, there would be no grounds for constitutional opposition, said Mr. Komer.

Tuesday’s event is part of National School Choice Week, which education reformers hope will deliver much-needed changes to Pennsylvania’s public school system. Proponents of school choice also held a rally in the capitol rotunda Tuesday afternoon.