Education Issues Dominate Summer 2023
From the halls of the Ivy League to your local school house door education issues are dominating this summer’s policy agenda. The political fault lines are defined by the Left’s adherence to race-based policies and fealty to labor unions; on the Right the focus is on education freedom and empowering families.
The Supreme Court of the United States ended its session in June by slaying two of the education cabal’s most sacred cows. The high court finally recognized that the racist policy euphemistically dubbed “affirmative action” is clearly unconstitutional given that it discriminates against applicants based on skin color. Applicants of Asian heritage in particular were being harmed by the policy which admitted students based on race rather than on objective qualifications.
President Joe Biden’s so-called student loan “forgiveness” program was also ruled unconstitutional by the Justices. Despite the fact he himself had voiced doubts about the legality of the program, Biden predictably attacked the court’s decision. He had attempted to by-pass congress by creating a $30 billion taxpayer give-away program by administrative fiat. The court’s ruling essentially affirmed the legislative branch’s power of the purse.
Here in Penn’s Woods higher education is also in the spotlight. State House Republicans blocked passage of an appropriation to state-related universities. That included Penn State, the University of Pittsburgh, Temple and Lincoln University. Governor Josh Shapiro had proposed a significant increase in funding for those universities; however, they refused demands from lawmakers to pledge to freeze tuition.
Multiple other controversies also surround the universities. Questions have arisen over their failure to properly account to the legislature for how past dollars have been spent. Both Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh are under fire for the involvement of their related hospitals in providing gender transition services to children. There is on-going concern over fetal research at the University of Pittsburgh. Both Pitt and Penn State have also come under fire from conservatives for institutional efforts to block conservative speakers and stifle free speech.
As a way to side-step the state related-funding issue State Representative Eric Nelson (R-Westmoreland) has proposed bringing to an end all funding of institutions of higher learning and instead funding students directly then letting them decide what school they may wish to attend. That could be state-related, state system schools, community colleges, trade school, or private schools.
Meanwhile, lawmakers missed passing the state budget by the June 30th deadline with education funding the main sticking point. Governor Josh Shapiro and state Senate Republicans agreed on a $45.55 billion spending plan, which the senate passed on time. House Democrats, however, failed to act in a timely manner pushing for billions more in spending.
The Senate-passed budget – at the time backed by Governor Shapiro – includes $150 million more for tax credit scholarship programs. It also includes $100 million to create the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success Initiative or PASS, formerly known as the Lifeline Scholarship Program. The program would provide funding to give children trapped by zip code in under-performing schools access to better education opportunities.
It should be noted the Senate-passed budget also includes a basic education funding increase of $567 million for government-run schools.
The funding for school choice initiatives is the one area where House Democrats don’t want to spend more and for that they have triggered a budget stalemate. State Representative Seth Grove (R-York) the ranking Republican on the Appropriations Committee pointed out Democrats are opposing 0.2% of the state budget targeted to giving kids more education choices.
In politics a “Nixon going to China” moment means an elected official is in the unique position to forge a major accomplishment that no other politician could effectively accomplish. Governor Josh Shapiro had the opportunity for such a transformative moment by backing the PASS program. However, at the last minute he caved to pressure from the labor unions and House Democrats and announced he would line item veto the scholarship program.
As a result of his epic double-cross, Governor Shapiro has in one fell swoop destroyed his credibility with legislative Republicans and trapped tens of thousands of children in under-performing schools consigning them to a lifetime of educational struggle.
In politics and policy trust is a valuable commodity. Once lost it is nearly impossible to regain. By breaking his deal with Senate Republicans – and his campaign promise to voters – he has shown he is not a man whose word can be trusted.
(Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of the weekly American Radio Journal and Lincoln Radio Journal. His e-mail address is [email protected].)
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