Gov. Tom Corbett signed Saturday, June 30, a bill that creates a new school choice program and expands Pennsylvania’s popular existing one.
The enabling language was found in HB 761, the Omnibus Tax Reform Code and increases funding by $25 million to $100 million for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program (EITC) while adding $50 million for the new Education Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program (EISC).
“This bill is a landmark victory for parental choice in Pennsylvania,” said Otto V. Banks, executive director of the REACH Alliance & Foundation.
Both programs use corporate tax credits for funding.
The EISC will fund scholarships for children from low and middle income families who reside in low-achieving school areas. A low-achieving school is considered a public school that ranked in the lowest 15 percent of its designation as an elementary school or a secondary school based on combined mathematics and reading scores from the annual assessment administered in the previous school year and for which the Department of Education has posted results on its website.
The passage marks the culmination of a two-year effort led by Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-15) and Sen. Anthony Williams (D-8) whose SB 1 this session provided the parental choice framework of statewide EITC expansion coupled with targeted funding for children in low achieving schools, REACH said. SB 1 passed the Senate 27-22 last fall, marking the first voucher legislation clearing a chamber in 20 years.
Rep. Tom Quigley introduced HB 1330, which would have increased EITC funding to $100 million in the 2011-12 school year, increasing to $200 million in 2012-13. HB 1330 passed the House by a 190-7 vote.
This month, Rep. Jim Christiana introduced HBl 2468, the bill that provided much of the legislative language included in the passage of this school choice victory.
“This victory would not have been possible without the leadership of Governor Tom Corbett, Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley, Speaker of the House Sam Smith, Representatives Mike Turzai, Senator Dominic Pileggi, House and Senate leaders, Senator Jeffrey Piccola, Senator Anthony Williams and Representative Jim Christiana,” said Banks.