EITC would receive boost in funding instead
Attempting to address concerns of the teachers’ unions and other groups opposed to school voucher legislation, state Sen. Andrew Dinniman (D-Chester) is preparing a pair of amendments to address the cost and accountability of the proposed program.
Under one of the amendments, the third year of the voucher program – when “opportunity scholarships” would be extended to all students in the state regardless of income levels or the performance of their public schools – would be eliminated. In its place, the state’s existing Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program would expand from $100 million to $150 million in fiscal year 2013-2014.
With the changes, the impacts of S.B. 1 would be limited to students from the lowest income households in the state, since the current income restrictions on the EITC program would remain in place and the voucher proposal contained in S.B. 1 would never expand to cover all students, according to Eileen Flinn, Mr. Dinniman’s executive director.
The EITC program is funded by contributions made by businesses. In return, they receive a 70 percent state tax credit.
In Mr. Dinniman’s proposal, the tax credit would be reduced to 65 percent because the senator believes more donors will be available as the EITC becomes available to more students.
The changes are an attempt to reduce the potentially high cost of opening the voucher programs to all Pennsylvania public school students in the third year. Projections on the cost range from $500 million to $1 billion, depending on how many students take advantage of the program in the third year and beyond.
Michael Crossey, vice president of the PSEA, told the committee his organization does not agree with the voucher proposal.
The state subsidy for basic education amounts to more than $5.7 billion in the current fiscal year. The state’s overall education budget in the current fiscal year exceeds $26 billion.
Mr. Dinniman’s other amendment would address concerns over the academic accountability of the students who depart from public schools via the proposed voucher program by mandating those students continue to participate in the state’s standardized testing system.
The amendments are still being drafted and appear to be directed at opponents of the bill who have expressed concerns over the cost of the program to the public school system and the educational standards of some private schools which could receive public funds through vouchers.
Michael Crossey, vice president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA), the state’s largest teachers’ union, said the organization opposes the legislation as currently written, but they would be open to re-examining the legislation if it was amended.
“What we’ve looked at right now is Senate Bill 1 as it is written,” said Mr. Crossey. “If amendments are added, we’ll look at each of those amendments and see if it meets our policies and see how it affects kids.”
Mr. Crossey admitted the EITC has worked well since it was implemented in 2001. Since that time, the program has benefited more than 244,000 students in the state.
When asked whether the PSEA would support a revised version of the bill containing Mr. Dinniman’s proposed amendments, Mr. Crossey was noncommittal, but he said it would “probably” be a deal-breaker for the teachers’ union if the voucher program takes any funding from the state’s education subsidy, even if other concerns were addressed.
“If we’re pulling money out of the system and we’re leaving some children behind, that’s not right,” said Mr. Crossey.
Under S.B. 1, each student who participates in the voucher program would take roughly $9,000 with them to the school of their choice – equal to the state subsidy per student – though the exact amount would vary from district to district. The average cost of educating a student in Pennsylvania is more than $16,000 and school districts would retain the difference – about $7,000 – which comes from local sources. The end result is more money per pupil remaining in the school.
State Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-Dauphin) said the union’s estimate of a $1 billion price tag on the statewide voucher program was “grossly exaggerated.”
“I have always found it disturbing that PSEA defines educational excellence in terms of its state appropriation, not by how well children are learning,” Mr. Piccola said. “In keeping with their no-holds-barred defense of their turf, it comes as no surprise to me that they won’t let facts stand in the way of their funding.”
State Sen. Anthony Wiliams (D-Philadelphia), one of the main supporters of the bill, doubted changes to the bill would bring the PSEA to support it.
“I think they are more concerned about the system than the kids,” said Mr. Williams.
Ronald Tomalis, Gov. Tom Corbett’s nominee for Secretary of Education, said he would welcome the increased accountability offered by Mr. Dinniman’s amendments, but he was concerned it may lead to “backdoor regulations” for private and religious schools.
