Both PA Candidates for Governor Agree on School Choice?

In a climate of deep political divisiveness, I must admit to my surprise that Pennsylvania’s two gubernatorial candidates agree on the need for expanded school choice.

Senator Doug Mastriano’s campaign site says that he “will work with the legislature to finally bring school choice to Pennsylvania families, so that no child is trapped in a failing school ever again.”

Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s campaign site says he “favors adding choices for parents and educational opportunity for students and funding lifeline scholarships like those approved in other states and introduced in Pennsylvania.”

Could it be that both Republicans and Democrats finally agree that a child’s zip code, ethnicity, or class should not determine whether they have access to a high-quality education?

Pennsylvania’s parents can only hope so.

For too long, we have witnessed a rancorous debate that pits public schools against charters and private schools. We have been fed the half-truths of a scarcity mindset that says resources are limited.

Pennsylvania’s kids deserve more visionary hope and courage than that.

Let’s stop pitting school leaders against each other. As the CEO of Logos Academy, I refuse to see my peers in public and charter schools as foes. All of today’s teachers are front-line heroes in my eyes. All our teachers deserve our support.

PA’s public schools, especially districts with a high concentration of impoverished students, need fair and adequate funding to do the good work they do. 

PA’s charter schools need time and opportunity to show they can innovate. 

PA’s private schools offer alternatives to families who feel like their children need something different than a one-size-fits-all approach. Families who can’t afford private schools should have access to funds that give them the power of that choice. 

Funding our children’s future doesn’t have to be an either-or dichotomy. We can ensure that public districts are not drained of financial resources while we simultaneously give desperate families access to programs like lifeline scholarships.

Both Republican Senator Mastriano (via his voting record on HB 2169) and Democrat Attorney General Shapiro (via https://joshshapiro.org/policy-education) have voiced their support for lifeline scholarships. Let us not forget these commitments.

Lifeline scholarships would give parents who live in districts in the bottom 15% of State performance metrics the ability to choose an alternative academic setting that meets their child’s individual learning needs. The money would follow the student at the parent’s discretion.

Perhaps that choice will mean the child will attend another public school, a charter, or a private school. 

Disenfranchised parents deserve the power to make that choice.

I believe most of us believe in school choice, but many do not possess the power to make that choice. Most parents execute the power of school choice by choosing to buy a home in a high-performing district. The quality of the local schools is a question every homebuyer with school age kids is going to research. School choice will be available for these homebuyers as they shop neighborhoods. 

These homebuyers believe in and exercise school choice. That school choice is contingent though on their ability to execute a real estate transaction. 

The poorest among us have limited options when it comes to affordable housing. Our antiquated housing laws have created contiguous pockets of poverty that recently resulted in York City being named as the 4th most under-resourced city in America. And the local schools unfairly bear that burden.

The poor don’t have a lot of choices, certainly not in finding affordable housing in high-performing school districts. 

The quality of a child’s education should not be connected to a parent’s ability to afford more expensive real estate. That does not seem right or fair to me.

I hope that this injustice changes in the next election cycle. I pray our next Governor will have integrity, strengthen our democracy, and fulfill their campaign promises to empower struggling families with school choice to ensure the future success of our children.

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This piece also appears as an op-ed at the York Daily Record.