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HARRISBURG, PA (August 30, 2023) – As students head back to classrooms across the state, Pennsylvania’s public schools are facing crisis-level staff shortages and a school funding system that is unconstitutional. But instead of addressing those issues, Senate Republicans’ fixation on tuition voucher programs for private and religious schools is getting in the way as they refuse to authorize state spending for key programs included in the state budget bill they approved on June 30, Pennsylvania State Education Association President Rich Askey said today.

“Public schools are struggling to place teachers and aides in classrooms and hire bus drivers to take kids to school,” Askey said. “We need to fund programs that address these problems. No Pennsylvanian can afford to let tuition voucher politics get in the way of doing that.”

On June 30, the Senate approved a budget that included $100 million for Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable school districts and $10 million for a program to pay student teachers for the work they do. Both programs require additional legislation to authorize payments that will help hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians, but the bills Senate Republicans approved today do not include that authorization, leaving funding for both programs sitting in state accounts unspent.

“Nearly two months ago, the Senate passed a budget that addresses some of the real needs in our public schools. But today’s actions demonstrate that some lawmakers are more interested in political games than doing the right thing for Pennsylvania’s public school students and families. As a result, our students and future educators will suffer the consequences of their inaction,” Askey said. “Once again, these lawmakers have put politics and ideology ahead of public school students.

“Senate Republicans are refusing to pass legislation to authorize spending on key education programs included in the budget that overwhelmingly passed both chambers, simply because Gov. Shapiro vetoed spending for a tuition voucher program that would have taken money away from public schools and sent it to private and religious schools.

“Increasing funding for Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable school districts is a key part of the court decision that found that our school funding system is so broken that it’s unconstitutional. And without immediate intervention, the school staff shortage crisis will harm students in every single school district in this state. We can’t let politics stand in the way of releasing this money to address these critically important priorities for so many Pennsylvania families.”

An affiliate of the National Education Association, PSEA represents about 177,000 active and retired educators and school employees, student teachers, higher education staff, and health care workers in Pennsylvania.