Sen. McCormick calls for Pennsylvania to join school choice program

Lindsay Shachnow / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick joined school choice advocates in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to urge Pennsylvania to opt into a federal program aiming to provide financial assistance for eligible students.

The federal tax credit scholarship program, signed into law in July, will give taxpayers credit of up to $1,700 annually to go toward certain qualified schooling expenses, including tuition, books and tutoring. It will take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

“School choice does exist in our country today, it just exists for people that have the wealth to be able to send their kids anywhere they want,” Mr. McCormick, a Republican, said at a news conference in Oakland on Tuesday morning. “We want to make sure that opportunity, equality of opportunity, is there for every single kid.”

The legislation marks what some advocates, mostly Republicans, see as an important step toward educational choice in the state — but they say there’s still more to do to ensure that Pennsylvanians are able to take advantage of the program.

Opponents of school choice argue that the tax credits drain public funds that could be spent on making public schools better.

States are able to elect if students in their state should be eligible for the program, so it’s up to Pennsylvania to decide if it will participate. 

“Pennsylvania and every other state that wants to take advantage of this incredible benefit needs to opt in,” Mr. McCormick said.

Pennsylvania has its own school choice program called Educational Improvement Tax Credit, which has been in the political crosshairs before, and is a credit on state taxes and applies to businesses that donate scholarship funds.

Officials at the news conference Tuesday, hosted by the Invest in Education Foundation, called on Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, to offer his support.

“I join with the others here to call on Gov. Shapiro to do the right thing and to tell the Trump administration that Pennsylvania wants in,” said State Senator Judy Ward.

Rosie Lapowsky, spokesperson for Mr. Shapiro, said the Shapiro administration “is awaiting federal guidance to address key questions about how this program would work, including which students will be eligible, how this federal initiative will interact with existing programs, and more.”

Mr. Shapiro has been more supportive of school choice in the past than other Democrats. 

Under the program, taxpayers will be eligible to receive tax credit for the value of cash contributions for designated organizations, which are required to put the money toward grant scholarships for students at schools located within the state, according to Congress’ summary of the program.

The federal tax credit scholarship program is based on legislation co-sponsored by Mr. McCormick, which has been instrumental to making school choice a reality, said Tony de Nicola, board chairman of the Invest in Education Foundation.

Supporters of the program say it is a way to level the playing field — the scholarships would only be available for students whose family income is below 300% of their median income.