Message From Sen. Solobay: Voucher Bill is Expensive Gamble

After months of hearings and hours of debate, the Senate passed Senate Bill 1, a plan to spend millions on vouchers for a handful of students in Pennsylvania’s worst schools.

It’s hard to believe that there was so much time consumed and so much political infighting over a bill that does so little for so few.

Pennsylvania’s public schools need help.  The system needs reform and refinement. We are engaged in a global fight for jobs and, apparently,  the best we can do is create vouchers for five percent of students.  Those who are left out—students with physical or learning disabilities, or those from unstable homes—will be left behind in struggling schools with even fewer resources.

Increasing the Education Improvement Tax Credit is a laudable idea that could make Pennsylvania businesses partners in educating the workforce but, beyond that, this bill spends $200 million that will not help a single student my Senate district.

In the rush to get something—anything—done on education, this bill sends that money to private companies with very little in the way of transparency that taxpayers have come to expect from public schools. So taxpayers in my district get to send a lot of money on students from somewhere else and they don’t even get to know where it goes.

I understand the need for reform, but this isn’t reform. It is a very, very expensive gamble on a very narrow band of students.

New Vans Will Help Vets Get to the Doctor

As Democratic Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee, I was proud to help announce the addition of 14 new Ford vans to the Disabled American Veterans Hospital Transportation Network.

DAV volunteers transport disabled veterans to and from VA medical facilities for treatment. There are chapters throughout Pennsylvania and volunteers log thousands of miles providing rides for veterans who cannot otherwise receive treatment for service-connected disabilities.

Holiday Giving Season Kicks Off

Former Steeler Louis Lipps and I will be hosting a Gifts for G.I.’s campaign throughout November at .  

Items will be collected and shipped to U.S. troops overseas. There will be collection boxes located throughout The Meadows. A complete list of shippable items can be found at http://www.give2thetroops.org.

Also during November, former Steelers Randy Grossman and Mike Merriweather, along with The Marine Corps Reserve of Washington County, will be collecting for its annual Toys for Tots campaign. New, unwrapped toys may be dropped off in designated boxes located throughout The Meadows and will be distributed as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community.

For more on holiday giving events at The Meadows, click here.

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