Issue: Tuition Vouchers
When new legislation passes, PSBA is seen as the leader in analyzing it and helping members make sense of it.
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House Refuses to Vote on Vouchers, Charter Expansion Fails |
School Director Toolkit
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On Dec. 14, 2011, the House of Representatives dropped its plan to run a voucher bill, and a proposal to expand charter schools and the Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program was defeated with a vote of 90-105. Republican leaders had worked to get enough support to run some variation of a voucher plan, ranging from the language for a full plan as described in SB 1 as passed by the Senate to scaled back pilot programs. Numerous amendments were filed by various legislators to bills that could be used as vehicles, including SB 560, SB 858 and SB 743. In the end, it was just three amendments to SB 560 that mattered -- two for vouchers (full scale and pilot plans), and one for charter/EITC expansion. However, no agreement could be reached and during the afternoon a decision was made not to make the attempt to run a voucher amendment. Without sufficient support for vouchers, the House leaders decided to instead focus on a charter school/EITC expansion plan. Amendment A07732, filed by House Majority Leader Rep. Mike Turzai and drafted by Rep. Tom Killion, was similar to the language of HB 1348 and included provisions to establish a new statewide commission to authorize charter schools. Provisions regarding EITC expansion were similar to those under HB 1330, and would have increased the tax credits available to businesses to $100 million for 2011-12 and to $200 million for 2012-2013 and subsequent years. As the evening’s session wore on, there was a constant undercurrent of activity as leaders tried to shore up enough support. At about 9:30 p.m., SB 560 was brought up for a vote and Amendment A07732 was offered. One argument to Amendment A07732 that failed with a 107-88 vote was whether the language, which would amend the School Code, was germane to the original language of SB 560, which is a freestanding act to establish a State Military College Legislative Appointment Initiative Program. The debate lasted until about 10:50 p.m. when the question was finally called, with legislators keeping in mind the House rule that prohibits session from going past 11 p.m. The rules allow 10 minutes for voting, and with just minutes left in the session, the amendment was defeated 90-105. |
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Summary of Taxpayer-Funded Voucher Proposals |
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Since January 2011, there's been an effort in the General Assembly to advance state legislation designed to provide students across the state with a taxpayer-funded tuition voucher to attend the public, private or parochial school of their choice. Interested parties have come out strong on both sides of the debate, and although the push for this legislation ebbed and flowed for a couple of months, over the course of the spring the issue heated up one final time before summer recess. Although the General Assembly was not able to agree on a voucher program, a voucher bill is slated as a priority this fall, and the discussion now revolves around several bills that offer variations of the original bill, Senate Bill 1. Below are links to summaries of each of the voucher proposals currently on the table:
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The Issues and the Messages |
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A series of breif explanations of the main issues surrounding taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers, for members to read and share with fellow school leaders and taxpayers:
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PSBA Testimony on Vouchers |
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Vouchers, PSBA in News Media |
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