Just+Before+Pa.+Budget+Deadline,+Gov.+Tom+Corbett+Pushes+for+Vouchers

media type="custom" key="9905541" =//By Jan Murphy and Charles Thompson//= =//Published in The Patriot-News//= =//6/29/11//= = = = = =Gov. Tom Corbett’s push for school vouchers is not over yet.= =Even as lawmakers put the final touches on [|the 2011-12 state budget], Corbett launched a two-minute drill yesterday to see if the General Assembly can hand him a victory on a signature piece of his gubernatorial campaign.= =  = =Corbett raised the issue of vouchers at a news conference yesterday. He asserted that there is still time to deliver a plan that would provide taxpayer-funded vouchers so parents could send their children to a private or public school of their choice.= =“Contrary to some of the rumors I hear out there, we have been working on it,” Corbett said. “We’ve been working on it behind the scenes. To me, it is an important issue to the people of Pennsylvania. They want this option.= =“We still can get this done,” Corbett said.= =At a late afternoon closed-door meeting, Corbett made his pitch personally to House and Senate Republican leaders.= =Afterward, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, said there’s interest in the Senate in enacting some school choice components and interest in the House in enacting others. “Whether it comes together, I think, [today] is D-Day for that. We’re running out of time,” Scarnati said.= =He said there was no package in place Tuesday night. But staffers planned to work through the night on a plan that mixes some charter school reforms with school choice measures. It could see Senate committee action today.= =The effort is probably no better than a coin toss to see if it would get through both the House and Senate in time to reach Corbett before the summer recess.= =Still, the late push on vouchers had opponents on alert Tuesday night.= =“At a time when the Legislature has agreed to cut nearly $1 billion from our public schools, this is absolutely the worst time to design bills at the last moment with no public input that would divert taxpayer money to a voucher program,” said David Broderic, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state’s largest teacher union.= =Corbett is also pushing for a change in state law to give voters a greater say in school property tax increases. The measure is likely to see House action today.= =“I consider this crucial to this budget and to help school districts,” Corbett said. “The Legislature needs to protect the taxpayer from being hit with property tax hikes that go well beyond the rate of inflation. They want to have a vote on that. They are entitled to that.”= =A state law known as Act 1 allows taxpayers to vote on school budgets only in very limited circumstances. School districts looking to raise taxes above a state inflation index can gain 10 exceptions before seeking voter approval.= =Corbett wants to get rid of all the exceptions. But legislation that took shape Tuesday would allow for three exceptions: spikes in special-education costs, construction debt and higher pension costs.= =“It looks like that’s where it’s headed,” Scarnati said after the meeting with Corbett.= =House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, declined comment about the meeting.= =The House has legislation in place that could allow for quick passage of the property tax reform proposal.= =Observers suggested that the property tax reform legislation was more likely to make it to the governor’s desk than a school-choice proposal, given the varying views on what Republicans and Democrats would accept.= =Until recently, much of the school-choice discussion was focused around Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin County. It would phase in vouchers over four years but target vouchers to low-income students in the state’s 144 worst-performing schools. In later years, vouchers would go to all low-income students and to some from middle-income families.= =That plan stalled last month due to lack of support. Some voiced concerns about the costs, and others worried about siphoning money from public schools.= =A different school-choice approach that won House approval in the spring would increase funding for the state’s popular Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program. It would expand the program from $60 million to $100 million in 2011-12 and then to $200 million in 2012-13.= =The program offers state tax credits to companies that donate to private-school scholarships or innovative educational programs. The legislation also would allow more students to qualify for scholarships.= =Last week, some House Republicans issued other voucher plans.= =Rep. Curt Schroder, R-Chester, proposed giving $5,000 grants to students in persistently failing schools. He also offered an alternative that would offer $5,000 grants for school choice to any student statewide.= =Rep. Jim Christiana, R-Beaver, then unveiled what some saw as a plan that could garner support from skittish lawmakers afraid of the cost of other voucher plans. His plan would divert the per-student state subsidy a school district receives to fund vouchers to students in the state’s worst-performing schools. The vouchers would be available to families of any income level.= =Corbett has spoken out repeatedly in support of vouchers, making a speech in Washington, D.C., during the spring. But he has been criticized by some voucher supporters for not doing more to spur lawmakers to get a bill passed before the recess.= =//-- By Jan Murphy and Charles Thompson, The Patriot-News//= = = = = =News= =home=