The House Republican Policy Committee, including state Rep. Martina White, held a recent hearing at St. Anselm Parish on Expanding Educational Opportunities in Pennsylvania.
White was joined by Reps. David Rowe, Kristin Marcell, Donna Scheuren, Barb Gleim, Dave Zimmerman, Robert Leadbeter and Marc Anderson.
Testifiers were Keisha Jordan, president and CEO, Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia; Stephen Bloom, vice president, Commonwealth Foundation; Rachel Langan, senior education policy analyst, Commonwealth Foundation; and Patrick Graff, senior fellow, American Federation for Children.
The Jan. 23 hearing inside Our Lady of Victory Hall kicked off with St. Anselm sixth-graders singing the national anthem and leading the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. The Rev. Jeff Stecz, the pastor, and principal Seamus Mee attended the hearing, and Mee led a tour of the school afterward.
Scheuren was happy to hear the youngsters say, “God bless America,” after the pledge.
“Nice job, Father, and principal Seamus,” she said.
The hearing touched on how Pennsylvania’s school choice programs — EITC and OSTC — are expanding educational opportunities for families.
At the same time, the hearing largely focused on the potential role of the Educational Choice for Children Act, also known as the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, which was included in the Big Beautiful Bill, signed into law last July 4 by President Trump.
ECCA scholarships are funded with private donations, not federal money, and donors receive a 100 percent federal tax credit of up to $1,700 annually. Public school students could also use scholarships for tutoring, after-school programs, special needs services and education technology.
For donors to take advantage of the ECCA, a state governor needs to opt in by Jan. 1, 2027.
“Pennsylvanians want the governor to opt in,” said Jordan, citing polling data.
Colorado’s Jared Polis is the only Democratic governor so far who has indicated he will opt in. Jordan, a Democrat who calls scholarships “life changing,” sees no downside to opting in to a program that will have no impact on a state budget.
“This isn’t a political issue,” she said. “I hope every state opts in.”
White does not understand why Democrats are so supportive of housing and food vouchers, but don’t want to give a boost to parents in the education of their kids.
Anderson believes Gov. Josh Shapiro and House Democrats are opposed to school vouchers because of all the campaign money that the public school teachers unions donate to the party.
Rowe said the decision to opt in should not be a budget bargaining chip, since the program will not have an impact on the state budget.
White, calling on Shapiro to opt in, cited statistics showing that fewer than one-third of Philadelphia public school third-graders are reading proficiently.
“It is critical that he act sooner rather than later,” she said.
Jordan said 48 students at St. Anselm are part of Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia, receiving $109,500 toward tuition. She added that CSFP recipients have higher math and reading scores and college attendance rates than those in public schools. She cited safety and religion as two reasons parents seek CSFP funding, adding that programs like hers are better than continuing to merely throw a lot of money at urban school districts.
“Scholarships work,” she said. ••
