When the Pennsylvania General Assembly returns to session this fall, one of the major issues up for debate will be the creation of a taxpayer-funded school voucher system. About two-thirds of Pennsylvanians — myself included — oppose vouchers that would use tax dollars to pay private-school tuition.
A voucher system would be a major and expensive overhaul to education as we know it in Pennsylvania. Any sweeping changes to our education system must include measurable academic and financial accountability standards. Yet school vouchers institute no accountability standards and no defined measurement for determining success.
Public schools are accountable to the state Department of Education, and to their local elected school boards. Private schools are, well,private. They have voluntary accreditations but, in the end, they are accountable only to the people who put up the money to own them.
Without basic accountability measures in place, a voucher program would be ripe for abuse and would leave taxpayers without any assurance that their money is being spent wisely and effectively in the best interest of the students.
An expensive voucher program would harm public education by taking money and the most motivated students away from struggling schools. But I am also concerned that vouchers would drive up homeowners’ school property tax bills to cover the basic education cuts that would accompany the program.
With so many of our friends and neighbors out of work and struggling to make ends meet, the last thing they need is a higher property tax bill. A voucher program could cost Pennsylvania anywhere from $800 million to $1 billion in valuable taxpayer money.
And with more than half of Pennsylvania’s school districts considered rural, a voucher system would set these schools and students up to be short-changed — financially and educationally.
The issue of school vouchers is mainly a city issue, because few private schools exist in rural areas. Rural schools have a lot to lose if vouchers become a reality. There would be many fewer opportunities for students to take advantage of them because of the scarcity of private schools in rural areas and because other public schools are not exactly handy. In addition, while they would get little of whatever benefit could exist in vouchers, they would get to pay for them, as the money would come largely from the Basic Education Subsidy.
During these tough economic times, we cannot afford to be cavalier with taxpayer dollars. I’m concerned about starting a new program that would cost millions in the first year, with costs that could grow to billions in future years, at a time when the governor’s budget has cut state funding for public education by $1 billion. A voucher program would benefit only a few students at the expense of many, and this is unacceptable.
Taxpayer-funded school vouchers are unaffordable, unaccountable, unpopular, unproven and unconstitutional. Rather than instituting a voucher program that ultimately would take money out of the pockets of our taxpayers, I think we need to restore funding for basic education in Pennsylvania — education for all of our students and held to the same accountability standards.
Rep. Mike Hanna represents the 76th Legislative District in Clinton and Centre counties and serves as House Democratic whip. He can be reached at his main constituent service office, 29 Bellefonte Ave., Lock Haven, or by calling 570-748-5480.
