By Joe Picozzi
We can all agree that few things are more important to a child’s growth and future success than attending a school that provides a nurturing environment and an excellent education. In the Great Northeast, we are fortunate to have excellent public and private schools. As a state Senator, I support educational opportunities of all kinds.
Catholic and private schools offer families high-quality educational options and serve as a critical part of our community. State scholarships offer a lifeline to families who could not otherwise afford to attend the school of their choice. These schools often provide smaller class sizes, strong academic standards, safe learning environments and a values-based education that many parents seek for their children. For thousands of families, scholarship assistance is the difference between remaining in a struggling school and accessing an educational setting where their child can thrive.
Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) are state tax credit programs that provide thousands of low- to middle-income students with access to Catholic, faith-based and private schools. In fact, today over 63,000 Pennsylvania students in all 67 counties currently attend private and parochial schools because of tax credit scholarships.
Most families receiving tax credit scholarships earn below the median income level for their respective counties, and the counties with the most low-achieving public schools have the highest number of scholarship recipients.
The funding targets families in economically disadvantaged schools for students to learn in an environment that best suits their needs. Last year, the Pennsylvania Senate expanded school choice options with an additional $50 million for this very successful program. The funding increase serves an additional 10,000 students and increased average scholarship amounts to $2,600 per student.
Recently, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed House Bill 2632 to cut credits for scholarship organizations, reducing funding for scholarships by $102 million over two years.
This legislation would take away scholarships from 30,000 current students in need, cutting this critical lifeline to families who can least afford it.
The bill would require onerous new regulations on every private school and require the Auditor General to conduct audits of private schools, but not public schools. It would also impose a 2% tax on scholarship organizations to fund government agencies.
In 2024, almost 70,000 students were turned away due to program caps in the EITC and OSTC programs. Expansion, not reduction, of these programs, and opting into new programs like the federal scholarship tax credit, are needed to serve the demand from students seeking access to an alternative school of their choice.
The OSTC program specifically prioritizes students living within the geographic boundaries of the bottom 15% lowest-achieving public schools in the state, offering them a financial pathway to attend an out-of-district public school or a private school.
Demand for these scholarships is at an all-time high, with students submitting more than 160,000 applications annually, historically leaving tens of thousands on waitlists due to capped program limits.
It’s time to expand these important programs—not cut them—and give kids a chance to grow and learn in a school that best suits their needs.
Joe Picozzi is a state Senator from Northeast Philadelphia’s 5th District