Wednesday, October 26, 2011

BREAKING NEWS: Pennsylvania Senate Passes Sweeping School Choice Expansion

About 15 minutes ago (and after over four hours of debate), the Pennsylvania Senate passed Senate Bill 1, which will create a voucher program for failing schools and increase funding for the state's Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program.

Here's a portion of our release:
The American Federation for Children—the nation’s voice for school choice—calls on the House of Representatives to follow the Senate’s lead and pass the plan, which is an amended version of Senate Bill 1, a proposed school choice expansion introduced earlier this year. The bill, which passed 27-22 today with bipartisan support, would grant scholarships to students in the bottom five percent of Pennsylvania schools and also increase funding for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program by $25 million next year and an additional $25 million in 2014. 
Championed by Sens. Jeffrey Piccola (R) and Anthony Williams (D), the legislation now moves onto the House for consideration. If passed in the lower chamber and signed into law by Gov. Tom Corbett—who unveiled a similar education reform plan earlier this month—it would give thousands of additional Pennsylvania students the opportunity to attend the school of their parents’ choice. 
“The Senate, backed by the leadership of Sens. Williams and Piccola, has taken an important step towards greater educational equality for Pennsylvania kids,” said Betsy DeVos, chairman of AFC. “We’re grateful for their hard work, but now the responsibility rests with the House to make sure that it hasn’t been in vein.”
Read the full release here. This is great news for Pennsylvania families. Now it's on to the House!

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MAG

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