skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Trump announces sweeping new tariffs to promote US manufacturing, risking inflation and trade wars; Arizonans experience some of the highest insurance premiums; U.S. immigration policy leaves trans migrants at TX-Mexico border in limbo; Repealing clean energy tax credits could raise American energy costs.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

President Donald Trump announces worldwide tariffs. Democrats decry 'Liberation Day' as the economy adjusts to the news. And some Republicans break from Trump's trade stance.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Rural schools face budget woes even as White House aims to dismantle the Department of Education, postal carriers argue against proposed USPS changes, fiber networks to improve rural internet may be supplanted by Musk's satellites, and PLAY BALL!

Educators voice concern PA school voucher programs 'discriminate'

play audio
Play

Monday, February 19, 2024   

Pennsylvania's teachers' union is voicing concerns that the state's public school voucher program will negatively affect public education in lower-income families and communities.

The most recent budget proposal would direct an additional $1 billion to K-12 education, affecting more than 1.7 million students, and doesn't include any specific funding for school voucher programs.

Arthur Steinberg is president of the American Federation of Teachers in Pennsylvania.

He said the Educational Investment Tax Credit programs allow parents to send students to private and religious schools, if they think the public school is underperforming - siphoning funds from public schools.

"They go to schools, which are allowed to - permitted to - discriminate based on any facts, religion, gender, political beliefs, anything they want," said Steinberg. "There's no restriction on that money. And there's no accountability for how it is spent. So, the choice really goes to the schools, not students - so there's no benefit to them whatsoever."

Steinberg pointed out that Senate Bill 1057, introduced this month, would fund $300 million in scholarships for students at nonpublic schools - when public schools are underfunded by $5.4 billion, according to a Commonwealth Court ruling.

He added that diverting funds widens gaps, without improving education or equity.

Supporters argue vouchers let children leave under-performing public schools and get a better education at private schools. Test school data does not consistently confirm the argument that voucher students are better educated.

Steinberg said school voucher program do not exclude low-wealth areas, but mostly benefit wealthy people that can afford the private-school tuition.

"It's really a handout to wealthier individuals that are already in those schools," said Steinberg. "If you give a family living below the poverty level $7,000 to go to a school where the tuition is $28,000, they can't afford the difference anyway, so they still can't go."

Steinberg emphasized that the Educational Investment Tax Credit program began at $30 million and has ballooned to $550 million - and said 89% is spent on private schools.

But there's no achievement data available in Pennsylvania to let parents know how well those children are doing compared with other schools.




Disclosure: American Federation of Teachers contributes to our fund for reporting on Education, Health Issues, Livable Wages/Working Families, Social Justice. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
The Little Village Environmental Justice Organization has become as much as a landmark to the community as the Little Village Arch and was awarded the national Food Sovereignty Prize in 2024. (City of Chicago 2021)

Environment

play sound

By Angela Burke for Civil Eats.Broadcast version by Judith Ruiz-Branch for Illinois News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Pub…


Social Issues

play sound

More than 1,000 protests against the policies of President Donald Trump are set for Saturday across the country, with 117 planned in California alone…

Social Issues

play sound

A bill known as the Act for Civic Engagement did not make it out of committee in Olympia before the deadline but advocates for people who are incarcer…


Legislation regulating cryptocurrency kiosks is being considered in the Maryland House of Delegates. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A bill in the Maryland General Assembly would regulate cryptocurrency kiosks, the more than 700 ATM-like machines for virtual currencies around the …

Environment

play sound

Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., has introduced a bill to remove gray wolves from the list of endangered and threatened species under the Endangered …

Economists with the American Farm Bureau Federation said there are still unknowns but it is clear the escalating trade war will decrease demand for U.S. products in the second- and third-largest export markets for American farmers. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The Trump administration announces its new wave of tariffs Wednesday, and with U.S. Department of Agriculture funding still a question mark, …

play sound

Educators at Iowa State University are creating a new major to meet what they see as a new and growing demand in the health care field: pairing medica…

Environment

play sound

Large, energy-intense buildings used in Bitcoin mining, cloud computing and artificial intelligence data processing industries could become more …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021