The state House Education Committee approved a tuition voucher bill today - and it could see a full House vote this week.

The bill would offer vouchers to students in the Harrisburg School District, just when the district is starting to recover from years of fiscal crisis.

If we let this happen to kids in Harrisburg, this voucher scheme could eventually impact other school districts in Pennsylvania.

Here’s what you need to know.

PA Rep. Mike Turzai and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos love tuition vouchers, and they’re targeting Harrisburg School District as their first voucher experiment in Pennsylvania.

Here is what Rep. Turzai’s HB 1800 does:

·         Provides tuition vouchers worth up to $8,200 to students in Harrisburg School District.

·         Targets Harrisburg School District because it has had a history of fiscal crisis, even when it is starting to turn itself around.

·         Costs the school district up to $8.5 million if between 10 and 20 percent of students utilize the tuition vouchers.

·         Offers no accountability for the education of students who use tuition vouchers to attend private schools.

Voucher Schemes Don’t Work

We know voucher schemes don’t work, because we’ve seen students who use vouchers end up doing worse academically than their public-school peers. Just this year, a study of a Louisiana voucher program found that it hurt students’ math scores. We also know Harrisburg School District can’t afford to lose $8.5 million.

And we know something else. We don’t want voucher schemes like this one to end up hurting kids in the schools where we work.

So, contact your state representative today. And tell him or her to vote “NO” on HB 1800.