PA Dems Should Demand Accountability in Public Schools

Pennsylvania’s teachers unions are nervous, even angry, which in turn is compelling a Democratic response that only hurts students.

For wide-ranging reasons – poor test scores, safety issues, bizarre or divisive curricula, school district policies, treatment of parents – more parents are asking questions about district-run public schools. Many are voting with their children’s feet by transferring them to other schools –or trying to get their kids into other schools.

Home schooling is the fastest growing sector of education. This is followed by the growth of cyber and charter schools. When considering that about 30,000 students are on charter school waiting lists, it’s clear that Pennsylvania parents are looking for options.

Plus, Pennsylvania has the nation’s second largest privately-funded tuition-assistance program, the Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC). This program allows taxpayers, small businesses, and even corporations to make charitable donations to non-profit scholarship organizations, so that they may award tuition-assistance (“scholarships”) to children in poor and working-class families. This allows them to select a non-public school for their children.

It’s 25 years old, effective and growing in popularity each year with both donors and students seeking tuition-assistance. In fact, it served as the model for the newly-created federal education tax credit. It’s so popular that over 101,000 students will earn tuition-assistance/scholarships this year. However, about 80,000 will not get scholarships because the money ran out.

All these parents looking for options elicits a visceral response from teachers unions. Due to self-interest, they’re focused less on improving public schools – becoming more customer/parent friendly or more student-outcome focused, for example – than on limiting and stopping alternatives desired by parents.

The unions and their legislative pawns hide their wrath through false and misleading accusations alleging that the schools which parents actually want lack “accountability.” The latest target is Pennsylvania’s EITC program. Why? When parents transfer a child to a non-public school, the union loses a customer – a meal ticket.

The teachers union and their allies in the state legislature know that they don’t have the votes (yet) to repeal EITC. So, their new strategy is to lower the amount of money that donors may give – so less students would be helped. They’re trying to add on more regulations for the non-profit scholarship organizations and trying to force the non-public schools to look like failing public schools. They attack the scholarship organizations and the schools that parents choose in hearings and floor speeches.

Ironically, the EITC program may be one of the most accountable and effective programs in the Commonwealth. Every donor donates by choice – choosing the amount to give, and which scholarship organization to select. Every school is accredited by a government-approved organization or process. Every family involved chooses to apply for tuition-assistance/scholarships – and must meet income guidelines that are in the law. Every family selects a school for their child.

They’re accountable to donors, parents, and taxpayers. Moreover, if the donor, the scholarship organization, the school, the parent, or the student is unhappy, anyone may choose to stop participating. In fact, the parents could withdraw their student from a non-public immediately, at any time, for any reason – and return/send their student to their local district-run public schools.

Plus, donors note their donation on their tax returns. And the scholarship organization must be a registered non-profit, and approved by both the Departments of State and Community and Economic Development. Those organizations’ payments are subject to audit and overview by the Auditor General and the state Treasurer.

Any one of those entities can investigate – and could act to remove – participating organizations from the program.

Perhaps the teachers union doesn’t know what the word accountability means. Moreover, this multi-participant, multi-layered oversight program has immediate impact. Students leave a school that’s failing them, finding one that works. Everyone wins.

On the subject of accountability, whats happens when public schools fail students and taxpayers — the schools that everyone is forced to fund, and many students are forced to attend? Consider the statistics: 53% of Pennsylvania public school 4th graders cannot read at grade level. In Philadelphia and Harrisburg, 70% and 88% of 4th graders, respectively, cannot read at their grade level. Meanwhile, 37 % of public schools are deemed “persistently violent” (71% in Philadelphia and 84% in Pittsburgh).

But for a small percentage of magnet or special program state public schools, the majority of students are required to attend their local public schools – based solely on their zip code. But if one can’t afford to move or pay tuition, the child is stuck.

Before you think it’s about money, realize that Pennsylvania taxpayers spend an average of $25,000 per student – the 6th highest per pupil level in America. The largest taxpayer-funded increases ever happened over the last 5 years. The Philadelphia School District’s budget is about to reach $5 billion.

It’s not about money.  It’s a lack of accountability.

EITC works because it’s what more and more parents want. It’s built on opportunity, outcomes, and accountability.

If the teachers union and their legislative pawns want to have a discussion about accountability in education, start by looking in the mirror.