Written by Susan Spicka
March 30, 2022

Every few years, a few people in the legislature try to bring back the idea of vouchers, which give public dollars to pay tuition for private/religious schools.

HB 2169 is the latest attempt to establish an education voucher program in the Commonwealth. It was voted out of the House Education Committee on Tuesday, March 29th.

See which House Education Committee members voted for the bill HERE.

Vouchers are a bad idea. They are bad policy, bad for public education, and bad for taxpayers.  

The current version of a voucher proposal would cost almost $170 million! School districts in Pennsylvania are already underfunded and this legislation requires that money for vouchers be deducted from a school district’s state subsidy.

There are no income limits for families to receive a voucher, which means the voucher can subsidize a wealthier family’s private school tuition. There aren’t guarantees HB 2169 will help or even prioritize children from economically disadvantaged families.

Click HERE to send an email to your state lawmakers asking them to vote NO on House Bill 2169 and any other voucher legislation that comes before them.

Click HERE to read more in a letter sent to legislators by a coalition of educators, parents, and school officials opposing the bill