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.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — a first-term Democrat seen by his party as a rising star nationally — forcefully put his weight behind a Republican-backed proposal to send $100 million to families for private school tuition and school supplies.
Vouchers have long been viewed in stark partisan terms: Democrats and public school allies say they drain critical resources from public schools. Republicans and school choice advocates say they give freedom to families who may not like their local public schools. “I see that he understands the political value of school choice, and I thought, ‘My goodness, he’s going to pave his way to the White House by embracing this particular issue,’” said Matthew Brouillette, a prominent voucher advocate in Pennsylvania.
The division reflects similar polls over the past two decades - but support drops when people are told vouchers siphon money from public schools. Shapiro’s familiarity with private schools, meanwhile, is borne of experience. He attended a private Jewish school, his children attend the same school and his father is on the school’s board.
But even if Yass never gives another dime to Shapiro’s campaigns, keeping Yass on the sidelines may also be a potent strategy to weaken Republican opponents. Those fluent in the history of school vouchers could think of no other Democratic governor who had embraced them.
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