School vouchers 101: Does Pennsylvania have them? How do they work?

Education funding is a regular topic of debate in Pennsylvania, both among lawmakers and residents—especially when you add school vouchers to the discussion. Here’s a breakdown of what school vouchers are and how Pennsylvania uses them.

The conversation over how best to fund public education—which has been going on in Pennsylvania for generations—is rooted in the nation’s founding ideals.

Early Americans like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison believed a democracy could only survive if ordinary people were educated enough to understand issues and hold leaders accountable. That’s why, over time, education has become a public responsibility.

Today, residents pay state and local taxes that flow into government budgets. Elected officials decide how to spend that money on public services, like education, and how much funding to allocate.

But not everyone agrees on how public funds for education should be used. Some lawmakers argue that taxpayer dollars should stay in public schools. Others believe families should be able to use those dollars to attend private or religious schools—even those that select which students they admit. 

That’s where the modern debate over school vouchers comes in.

What are school vouchers?

A school voucher lets families use public money to pay for private school tuition instead of their local public school.

Does Pennsylvania have school vouchers?

Yes, but the commonwealth calls them “tax credit scholarships.” 

The state operates the Education Improvement Tax Credit and the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit, which function in a similar way to traditional school voucher programs.

Here’s how they work:

Businesses in Pennsylvania can reduce their state tax bills if they donate to state-approved “scholarship organizations.” Those organizations then award scholarships to some families who send their children to private schools, or to higher-achieving public schools outside of their district.

That means that, when we’re all throwing our money into the state pot (by paying taxes), some people are throwing in less. Then, using whatever is left, the state decides how much to allocate to public schools, infrastructure projects, and so on. 

Who qualifies for these scholarships?

To qualify under the Opportunity Scholarship program, a student must:

• Live within the boundaries of one of the state’s lowest-performing public schools (bottom 15% on state tests), and
• Meet specific income requirements defined by the state (currently, a family must make under $112,000 plus about $20,000 per dependent per year).

These scholarships can cover tuition and school-related fees up to a capped amount, and can continue year to year as long as the family remains eligible.

More details about both tax-credit programs are available on the state website.

Why are school vouchers controversial?

In Pennsylvania, and across the nation, school vouchers are a topic of intense debate. Why? 

Public education advocates say vouchers:

• Redirect money from public schools, draining already tight public school budgets, especially in low income areas.
• Lack accountability. Most voucher-accepting schools don’t have to follow state curriculum standards, can set admission requirements, and aren’t required to serve students with disabilities.
• Increase inequality, worsening racial and economic segregation.

Voucher supporters say they:

• Give low-income families school choices wealthy families already have access to (as long as the schools in wealthy neighborhoods open their doors to voucher students).
• Create competition that pressures public schools to improve.
• Help students escape failing schools.

What’s the reality? 

A growing body of evidence shows that vouchers produce modest academic gains in the best scenarios, but more often lead to no improvement or even significant losses in achievement, while draining funding from public schools and worsening segregation for many students. 

In several of the largest, best-studied US programs, students who switched from public to private schools with vouchers experienced substantial and persistent achievement losses.

Vouchers tend to increase racial and economic segregation by pulling more advantaged (often white or higher-income) families into private schools, leaving public schools with higher concentrations of low-income, high-need students and students of color. 

For public schools and the students who remain in them, vouchers generally mean more concentrated need and more segregated learning experiences, with less money to work with. Meanwhile, private schools receiving vouchers aren’t required to take all students—and can effectively use public money to subsidize selective admission.

There’s also new evidence that voucher and education scholarship programs like Pennsylvania’s are largely used by families whose children were already in private schools, meaning the programs act as a taxpayer subsidy for existing private-school users rather than a pathway out of public schools.