Pennsylvania Can Turn Moms Into Millionaires
Leave it to a Pennsylvanian to speak truth to power.
Recently, when receiving an award in New York City, the Philadelphia investor and philanthropist Jeff Yass gave Mayor Zohran Mamdani some good advice.
Yass said to Mamdani: why don’t you make New York City moms into millionaires? It wouldn’t be that hard. The Big Apple already spends about $42,000 per public-school student. Yet for such a massive investment, the city gets horrible results. The overwhelming majority of students can’t read or do math at grade level. Black and Brown students are the furthest behind.
So why not give that money directly to parents? New York City could give just half of the spending — $21,000 — to moms and dads to spend on their children’s education. The city could invest the other half in an account that parents would give to their kids when they graduate. If it earned just 2% a year, which is a pretty safe bet, parents would have over $500,000 to empower their kids. A single mom of two would be a millionaire.
The math is simple. But the moral case is even simpler. Parents deserve the freedom and the funding to send their kids to the best possible schools. Maybe it’s a public school for some kids, but for others, maybe it’s not. If parents had control of the money that’s spent on their kids’ education, they could do whatever it takes to help their sons and daughters unlock their God-given potential.
But if that’s true for families in New York City, it’s just as true for families in Pennsylvania.
Take Philadelphia. According to the city government, Philly spends just as much per public school student as New York City — a massive $42,621 on every student, every year. If parents got half that total, they’d have $273,000 to spend on kindergarten through 12th grade for each kid. Public-school families could pay for extra tutoring and extracurriculars. Other families could pay for tuition at the private schools that best fit their values and needs. And if Philadelphia invested the other half of that $42,000, every kid would likely enter adulthood with over $300,000 to their name.
I have no illusions that Philadelphia’s mayor and City Council will do this, though it doesn’t hurt to hope and pray. But it should get families across Pennsylvania thinking about what’s possible. Forget being given all that money. Why don’t families just get a slice of it?
Not long ago, Gov. Josh Shapiro basically called for something similar. He campaigned in support of Lifeline Scholarships for kids in under-performing schools, especially Black and Brown kids in the worst Philly schools. They could have used that money to go to better schools. But four years in, Gov. Shapiro hasn’t kept his promise.
Now the governor is silent on the new federal tax credit scholarship that goes into effect next year. If he opted in, Pennsylvania families could apply for money to pay for tutoring or private school tuition. It’s not a million bucks, not by a long shot. But it’s a real taste of empowerment for families that want the best for their kids.
In effect, these policies would give parents a slice of the money the government spends on their kids’ education. Yet practically, neither reform would take a penny from public schools. That fact makes them far more achievable than giving families 100% of public-school funding. Why hasn’t the governor taken action? Why is he holding out on families who are watching their kids fall further behind?
If Gov. Shapiro gave families this relief, he would become an instant hero, especially in the Black and Brown communities where parents are desperate for better schools. But if he doesn’t step up, families’ frustration will only grow. They aren’t asking for a million bucks, though maybe they should. All they want is a meaningful chance to empower their children. Gov. Shapiro, will you finally use your power to deliver these families to a new dawn of hope?
