Corbett calls for taxpayer-funded vouchers
by Rajiv Venkataramanan on Jul 15 2010
In an interview Tuesday with the Associated Press, Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett declared that one of his priorities as governor would be to make public money available for private and parochial school vouchers.
Corbett called the public school system a "monopoly," and stated that public schools would have to dramatically improve or risk losing taxpayer dollars to educational alternatives like charter and parochial schools. Corbett's statements make him bedfellows with Democratic State Senator Anthony Williams, who also gave a full-throated endorsement to taxpayer-funded vouchers during his failed gubernatorial bid.
Corbett's position, however, puts him directly at odds with his competitor, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dan Onorato. While Onorato supports tax credits for businesses contributing to private school scholarships, which already are provided by Pennsylvania, he says he is firmly opposed to taxpayer-funded vouchers. Onorato's spokesman asserted that "...vouchers direct funds away from public education, undermining the state's ability to ensure all public schools are
