Josh Shapiro’s school voucher record gets renewed scrutiny as Harris seeks running mate

Thrust into the national limelight as a leading candidate to become Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential running mate, Gov. Josh Shapiro is brooking criticism from groups that both support and oppose expanding public funding for alternatives to traditional public schools.

Since his campaign for governor two years ago, Shapiro has said he backs an expansion of Pennsylvania’s programs using tax dollars to help families pay for educational expenses, including private and religious school tuition.

But after President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he would not seek reelection and support for Harris’s nomination solidified, Shapiro’s credentials as a moderate Democrat with a record of success at several levels of government and strong appeal in a crucial swing state put him into the running as a potential vice presidential pick.

In response, political groups that oppose Shapiro’s school choice policies or say he hasn’t made good on campaign promises have taken their messages to a national audience.

The conservative Commonwealth Foundation is airing a television ad starting this weekend in Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., media markets that flips Shapiro’s “Get S**t Done” slogan on its head, claiming Shapiro “Ain’t got s**t done.”

The ads are critical of Shapiro’s record, claiming he’s the least effective Pennsylvania governor in 50 years, but highlight Shapiro’s decision to veto a Republican plan to fund private school scholarships for students in the state’s lowest performing public schools.

The group has also published full-page ads in The Washington Post and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel during the Republican National Convention and plans to run the ad in the Chicago Tribune during the Democratic National Convention next month.

“Certainly he’s in the spotlight right now and we’re going where the attention is,” Commonwealth Foundation Senior Vice President Erik Telford told the Capital-Star.

“Ever since he was forced to veto his own promise … his rhetoric has shifted to pointing fingers to the legislature and saying he has to deal with a divided legislature,” Telford said that in addition to vouchers, Shapiro has not delivered on commitments to speed reductions in the state’s corporate net income tax or negotiate an alternative to a challenged regional carbon credit trading agreement.

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A grassroots coalition of public education advocates led by the Network for Public Education Action (NPE) released an open letter to Harris this week urging her not to choose Shapiro and claiming that he supports “education policies mirroring Project 2025,” the conservative presidential transition plan promoted by the Heritage Foundation.

Among the more than two-dozen groups that signed the letter are Pittsburgh-based 412 Justice and its education justice arm Education Rights Network.

Carol Burris, executive director of NPE, said Shapiro’s support for expansion of the programs that currently divert public money to pay for private education is puzzling when support for public education is a core value for Democrats.

Shapiro nonetheless has refused to engage in discussions or back away from support for vouchers when allies have asked, Burris said.

“Kamala Harris has a deep bench to choose from,” Burris told the Capital-Star. “All of them are stalwart allies and friends of public education and all of them are opposed to vouchers.”

Asked for Shapiro’s most recent position on vouchers, a spokesperson touted the administration’s achievements in public education funding increase in the 2024-25 state budget.

“In his time in office, Governor Shapiro has consistently delivered historic increases in public education funding and finally, after decades of inaction, moved Pennsylvania towards adequately and equitably funding our public schools,” spokesperson Manuel Bonder said in a statement. “Despite being the only Governor in the nation with a divided legislature – and despite bad faith attacks from all sides – Josh Shapiro has been a champion for public education and delivered real results.”

Bonder noted that Shapiro has increased support for public education in the last two budgets, including the largest investment in state history with a $1.1 billion increase in total K-12 funding.

During the 2022 gubernatorial campaign Shapiro’s positions on education cast a stark contrast with those of his Republican opponent, state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Franklin), who spoke about drastically reducing per-student funding and eliminating property taxes, upon which school districts depend for much of their budgets. A group of school board members from across the state called Mastriano’s plan “ dangerously out of touch with the vast majority of Pennsylvania parents.”

Shapiro, then-attorney general, touted his backing of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the state that resulted in the historic 2023 ruling that declared Pennsylvania’s education funding system unconstitutional. He called for increased spending on public education while backing legislation to provide “Lifeline Scholarships” to students in the bottom 15% of schools based on reading and math scores.

While Shapiro’s support for the scholarship proposal surprised some, it also had support from Democratic Philadelphia state lawmakers Sen. Dwight Evans and Rep. Amen Brown. And although the state teachers union opposed Lifeline Scholarships, it still endorsed Shapiro as governor.

When Senate Republicans included the scholarships, then rebranded as the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success, in their response to Shapiro’s first budget proposal in 2023, House Democrats, who fiercely opposed the program, killed it. Finger pointing ensued and Shapiro said Republican Senate leaders had failed to negotiate with Democratic House leaders. Shapiro then agreed to veto the $100 million line item to obtain the House’s approval of the spending bill.

The most recent budget, which Shapiro signed July 11, does not include the new voucher program, although it includes a $75 million increase for two existing tax credits for businesses and individuals who fund scholarship programs for students to attend public schools.

Burris, of the Network for Public Education, said there is concern among public school advocates that Shapiro’s support for a voucher program stems from ties with conservative mega donor and school choice advocate Jeff Yass. Spotlight PA reported Shapiro received contributions from a political action committee funded by Yass before and during his first campaign for attorney general in 2016

“If none of this is true, Shapiro needs to make a statement that he is not in support of vouchers,” Burris said.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Pennsylvania Capital-Star maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kim Lyons for questions: info@penncapital-star.com. Follow Pennsylvania Capital-Star on Facebook and X.