Another way to look at educational funding was unveiled on Monday by Rep. Joe D’Orsie (R-York).
The freshman representative is proposing legislation to create the Student Freedom Account Program for what he says will “give Pennsylvania youngsters and their parents the true opportunity for educational freedom.”
“For far too long students and parents have asked for and repeatedly been denied the unbridled freedom to excel,” said D’Orsie. “The Student Freedom Account Act will finally deliver them the opportunity they rightly deserve. No longer will a child’s ZIP code dictate the quality of their education. Rather, they will have the freedom to choose the school that best fits their educational needs.”
D’Orsie’s legislation would tie state education funding to students rather than school districts by allowing the state portion of district education funding to follow the student to their school of choice. The funds, which would be housed in individualized Student Freedom Accounts, would be used by students to attend the school of their choice, such as a parochial or charter school.
The bill mirrors a universal educational choice bill authored by former Rep. Andrew Lewis in 2021.
“Educational choice is very simply a human rights issue,” said Lewis. “I’m glad to see the work I started last session has been picked up and the momentum we’re seeing around the nation with educational choice is impacting our state.”
D’Orsie was also flanked by educational choice advocate Myles Slade-Bowers who attended Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg due to the state’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program, which allows businesses to direct tax dollars to educational institutions of their choosing.
“I was one of the fortunate students to benefit from the EITC program, but more can and should be done to help other kids,” Slade-Bowers said. “Universal educational choice, as proposed through the Student Freedom Account Program, would open the door of opportunity to countless more students.”
On his website, D’Orsie attempts to debunk three of the biggest myths regarding school choice.
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One Response
We now have freedom. We can choose to send our children to public or private schools.
Freedom is not having taxpayers fund private schools.
I have attended both, and in my experience, the public was superior to the private. Sometimes, the opposite is the case.
In any event, if a person has seen what turning public education into a private morass just look at how Scott Walker ruined the educational system in Wisconsin.
The students have never recovered from that fiasco — nor have the taxpayers.