EDUCATION LAW CENTER NEWS ALERT: Senate Bill 1 Fiscal Note Shows Majority of Voucher Dollars Going to Students Already Enrolled in Private and Religious Schools

EDUCATION LAW CENTER NEWS ALERT

Oct. 26, 2011

  

Senate Bill 1 Fiscal Note Shows Majority of Voucher Dollars Going to Students Already Enrolled in Private and Religious Schools

The final draft of the Republican Senate Appropriations Committee's Fiscal Note on the amended Senate Bill 1 reveals the majority of taxpayer-funded school vouchers will go to students already enrolled in private and religious schools.  

- In the 2013-14 school year $50 million of public, taxpayer money is expected to fund tuition vouchers for students already enrolled in private and religious schools, compared to $25 million for students seeking to use a voucher to leave a low-performing public school, according to the Fiscal Note.

- In addition, from 2013 through the 2015-16 school year a total of $150 million of public, taxpayer money is expected to fund tuition for students already enrolled in private and religious schools -- that's 60 percent of the total voucher funding, according to the Fiscal Note.

The Fiscal Note shows relatively few students attending public schools will use the voucher: Only 9 percent of eligible students attending low-performing public schools are expected to be accepted with a voucher at a non-public school, while 100 percent of eligible students currently enrolled in private and religious schools will receive voucher funding. 

"The new Fiscal Note tells the same story as the bill's original financial calculations: This legislation is a giveaway of public, taxpayer dollars to private and religious institutions, not a serious effort to help improve public schools or improve real opportunities to learn for our public school students," said Baruch Kintisch, Director of Policy Advocacy for the Education Law Center.

  

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 CONTACT:

Brett Schaeffer

Education Law Center

office: 215-238-6970 ext. 334

mobile: 215-519-6522

bschaeffer@elc-pa.org

Baruch Kintisch

Education Law Center

office: 215-238-6970  ext. 320

mobile: 215-837-2499

bkintisch@elc-pa.org