Pennsylvania’s Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro claimed to back school choice but caved when it came time to put his money where his mouth is.
Teacher unions and Democrats don’t want school choice, and Shapiro’s first loyalty is to them, not the parents and children of Pennsylvania.
FOX News reports:
Pennsylvania’s Democrat governor caves on school choice program he staunchly backed to appease his own partyDemocratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro made an unexpected move Wednesday when he gave into partisan squabbling in the state legislature over funding for school choice in order to appease members of his own party preventing the passage of a state budget.”Last Friday, the Senate passed a responsible budget that delivers critical funding to our shared priorities and sent it to the House for its consideration. Now, we stand at an impasse largely over one provision of this budget, PASS Scholarships, a proposal I support that has been passed by the Senate but one that Leader [Matthew] Bradford has made clear does not have the support of the House,” Shapiro said in a statement…A supporter of the funding and increasing school choice for Pennsylvanians, Shapiro had struck a deal with Republicans on what would be the state’s first-ever “voucher” program for private and religious schools, and insisted on including $100 million for it in the budget.His move surprised state lawmakers and caused tensions within the Democratic Party that led to Democrats in the state House demanding $750 million more in aid for public schools that state Senate Republicans had not agreed to. State House Democrats voted down separate legislation to create the voucher program last week.
Promises made, promises not kept.
Of course, Shapiro sends his kids to private school.
Jeff Zymeri of National Review has more:
Studies throughout the years have not found that school-choice programs harm student outcomes in public schools. A recent study from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty showed that the state’s commitment to school choice has not harmed students in Milwaukee, Racine, and the rest of the state. Unlike Pennsylvania, Wisconsin was recently able to make a historic investment in school choice through a bipartisan agreement.Shapiro campaigned as a moderate who believed in school choice and said he did not think public schools would be harmed if he were to pursue vouchers.In the days preceding the veto, the governor’s support for the vouchers was portrayed as shrewd recognition of the political realities in the Keystone State. Former president Donald Trump lost the state by less than 100,000 votes in 2020, and one recent survey of Pennsylvania voters has Trump in a dead heat with President Joe Biden.According to Matthew Brouillette, the president and CEO of the conservative group Commonwealth Partners, Shapiro “claims he wins big fights, but in the first big fight of his administration — with kids’ futures on the line — he left the court without even taking a shot.”
Is anyone surprised?
Featured image via YouTube.
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