The fight over school choice in Pennsylvania just had the stakes raised by eight figures.

Commonwealth Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs announced that its connected political action committees (PACs) will launch an 8-figure-plus campaign to elect Pennsylvania senators and representatives committed to rescuing kids trapped in failing schools and giving them the opportunity to access an excellent education.

The PACs – which just received over $10 million in contributions – will invest in candidates for state House and state Senate who are committed to passing school choice legislation and making Pennsylvania once again a national educational choice champion for children.

“Our supporters applaud the Pa. Senate for making school choice a priority in the state budget,” said Commonwealth Partners President and CEO Matt Brouillette. “Unfortunately, Pa. House Democrats and many Pa. Senate Democrats have chosen to side with government unions over the interests of students and families. We look forward to electing lawmakers in 2024 who will put students’ interests above special interests. And that work has already begun!

Gov. Josh Shapiro was under fire from a broad group of unions, including the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) – Pennsylvania, and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 13, to veto any tuition voucher program that was in a budget that crossed his desk.

A letter from the eight unions on behalf of their one million members reads that “Pennsylvania has a moral and constitutional responsibility to fund its existing system of public education. Consideration of a tuition voucher program would flagrantly disregard the direction of the Commonwealth Court in William Penn School District et al. v. Pa. Department of Education et al. Therefore, it is clearly irresponsible to appropriate state funds for tuition vouchers that benefit private and religious schools when the commonwealth hasn’t met its most basic duty to students who attend our public schools – the same public schools that the Commonwealth Court has determined are unconstitutionally underfunded.”

“Gov. Shapiro caved to his union campaign donors once by vetoing educational opportunity and then rewarded them with billions of dollars in new taxpayer-funded contracts,” Brouillette said. “We know we’re up against a special interest group that ultimately doesn’t care about kids. That’s why our supporters are investing significant resources to free children from unions’ failing schools.

“As our elected officials have not had a change of heart, it’s clear Pennsylvanians need a change in leadership,” Brouillette concluded. “Our kids need an educational lifeline now. They can’t wait. If you stand with children, we will stand with you. But if you keep blocking the schoolhouse door, know that we plan to do everything we can to help children escape the unions’ worst schools in Pennsylvania.”

The 2023-24 Pennsylvania state budget has still not been finalized, in part due to the battle between Shapiro, Senate Republicans and House Democrats over the so-called “lifeline scholarships.” The Senate GOP says it had a deal with the governor to include them in the budget, while Shapiro offered a differing viewpoint and vetoed that line from the Senate proposal, much to the joy of House Democrats.