Shapiro avoids rebuke from Pa. Democrats over school vouchers after national Dems get involved
HARRISBURG — Gov. Josh Shapiro avoided a rebuke from his own party over school vouchers. This time, at least.
The Pennsylvania Democratic Party postponed voting on a resolution to formally declare the party opposed to private school vouchers — a priority for Shapiro, a Democrat in his first term.
Democratic state Sen. Sharif Street, who leads the state party, said the rules committee tabled the anti-voucher resolution after the Democratic National Committee contacted him with concerns that the party would appear divided going into the hotly contested 2024 election. “Right now, what we need to be focused on is winning and beating the Republicans,” Street added.
Shapiro broke with his party earlier this year by working with Republican senators to craft a $100 million school voucher program. He later vetoed that same program, because of pushback from members of his own party in the one-seat Democratic majority in the state House. Legislators finalized the last pieces of the state budget last week.
Several Democratic committee members introduced a resolution at the party’s September meeting to criticize Shapiro and reaffirm the party’s commitment to public education. It was tabled at the time, with an agreement that the drafters of the resolution would work with committee staff to edit the original language that targeted Shapiro.
At the request of the DNC, the resolution was again tabled Saturday at the committee’s endorsement convention, and an effort to force the issue failed. National Democrats feared a rift between the top Democratic official in Pennsylvania and his own party would look bad for Democrats in the crucial battleground state next year, committee members said. A spokesperson for the DNC could not immediately be reached for comment.
Street said that had the party approved the resolution Saturday as expected, the party would appear divided with its top state official. That’s opposite to the reality in the state party, which is unified in reelecting President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, whom the party unanimously endorsed Saturday.
“We understand the moment and we understand the mission, which is to make sure that Donald Trump and his MAGA agenda don’t win,” Street added.
Street declined to say who from the DNC reached out to him to table the resolution.
Kristy Moore, a Democratic state committee member and public school teacher in Lancaster County, said she appreciates that Democrats can disagree on issues. But everyone should agree to oppose vouchers.
“Our public schools and our students need to come first,” Moore said. “It’s always been our position that we are pro-public education and anti-school voucher. I don’t understand why we could not come together over that.”
The drafters of the resolution said they’d continue to advocate for its approval at all future state committee meetings, including those in 2024. They noted that the national party already opposes school vouchers as part of its platform.
Chuck Pascal, one of the drafters of the resolution and the chair of the Armstrong County Democratic Party, said he has opposed school vouchers since former Gov. Tom Ridge first introduced them in 1995.
“It’s still bad policy, and I don’t care who the governor is,” Pascal added. “We’re not here to have a slavish agreement with any elected official.”
Republican leaders in Harrisburg have tried for years to create a program using state dollars to send students in low-income areas to private schools to give parents more choices of where they can send their students. While most Democrats advocate for teachers’ unions and public education, school vouchers remain a complicated issue for some Philadelphia Democrats, who recognize the many challenges in the chronically underfunded School District of Philadelphia and want students to have more opportunities to succeed.
