Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, a rising political star, crosses partisan school choice divide

HARRISBURG, Pa. — In the partisan politics of education funding, the school choice movement has pressed states for decades to send taxpayer money to private and religious schools and long had to concentrate its efforts on states where a Republican governor was an ally. Shapiro would later back down in the face of House Democratic opposition, but his support has raised Pennsylvania’s profile in the national voucher debate and given advocates optimism that the program will eventually become law. Shapiro insists he only supports a voucher program that doesn’t do that — something public school advocates dispute, saying every voucher dollar could have gone to public schools. “Every other champion in state government for these programs has come from the Republican Party.” Within days, Shapiro had struck a budget agreement with Senate Republicans that included the $100 million voucher program — blindsiding Democratic lawmakers, teachers’ unions, public school advocates and school boards. In the end, House Democratic opposition prompted Shapiro to agree to veto the $100 million program from wider budget legislation — drawing angry recriminations from Republicans and school choice allies.