Corbett+Pushes+School+Vouchers

= = = By **Brad Bumsted and Jodi Weigland** = =// Published in the Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW //= =// 4/13/11 //=

= = =HARRISBURG -- Republican Gov. Tom Corbett on Tuesday took the unusual step of appearing before the Senate GOP closed-door caucus to argue for passage of school choice, but a vote on the bill was postponed until April 26 at the earliest.= ="He (Corbett) said he wants it passed," said Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon County.= =The delay came as hundreds of parochial school students from across the state gathered at a Capitol rally, including about 400 from schools in the Diocese of Greensburg.= ="What's always been done (in education) isn't working," Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley said as he whipped up the crowd. "We are all here to say we want our future back. We want school choice."= =The school choice bill allows students to attend private or parochial schools of their choice with state-paid vouchers. Senate Republicans are projecting the cost of the program to be at least $328 million by 2013-14.= =Sometimes, delays can mean a bill is in trouble, but Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware County, told reporters there is "very strong support in our caucus for this bill."= =It's not unprecedented for governors to visit caucus meetings of the House or Senate, but it happens rarely. Kevin Harley, Corbett's press secretary, declined to discuss what Corbett told GOP senators.= =Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills, said one of the chief concerns about a voucher program would be its annual costs, which he said are higher than what the Republican majority is projecting. The third-year costs, for instance, are projected by Democratic analysts to be $385 million, and $250 million of that is "new money" the state wouldn't otherwise be spending, Costa said.= ="They brought the governor into their caucus to try and ram it through," Costa said.= =Part of the reason for the delay is that co-sponsor Sen. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia, is ill, Pileggi said. Pileggi also said there are proposals from Republicans and Democrats to "tweak" the bill.= ="The substance of the bill would remain," Pileggi said.= =In a statement on his web page, Williams said he is "recuperating from a medically necessary procedure." He said he had planned to vote from home. Senators are able to cast votes by proxy. But Pileggi said Republican senators were not comfortable with a proxy vote on such major legislation.= =In the first year of the program, vouchers will be available to students from schools in the bottom 5 percent of student achievement as measured on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test.= =In the second year, eligibility expands to low-income students living within failing schools' boundaries but attending private schools. In the third year, all low-income students would be eligible for vouchers.= =Eligible families would have to meet income limits.= = = = Read more: [|Corbett pushes school vouchers - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] [] =

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