pennsylvania budget deficit

Pennsylvania’s next governor will face a looming budget deficit

Originally published in The Philadelphia Inquirer

In 2019-2020, over 75,000 kids in Pennsylvania were denied a chance to leave their failing schools. Now there will be 30,000 fewer, thanks to a major win for students in this year’s budget.

The budget includes a $125 million expansion in the Educational Improvement Tax Credit — the biggest ever in the program’s history — that will empower more families with scholarships to attend theschool of their choice. The previous caps on the program not only denied students better alternatives but turned away $116 million in business donations to the program.

We should do more than applaud this win — we must demand more of it. The wait list for a kid to get out of a failing school and into one of their parents’ choosing should be zero. States like Florida have balanced budgets — where the governor also slashed unnecessary spending — but still have enormous tax credit programs. We can do that in Pennsylvania.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer