A coalition of public education advocacy organizations has formally urged Vice President Kamala Harris, who is running for president, not to select Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate over his support for private school vouchers.
President Joe Biden exited the presidential race last Sunday and endorsed Harris. The vice president is expected to announce her running mate at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) where she’ll likely accept the party’s nomination.
Shapiro, a popular governor of a crucial swing state, has been rumored to be a top choice for Harris. An Emerson College Polling/The Hill survey of 850 Pennsylvanians conducted between July 22 and 23 found that 49 percent approve of Shapiro, while 31 percent disapprove. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percent.
In a July 24 letter signed by more than two dozen organizations across the country, including Pennsylvania’s 412 Justice, the coalition called for Harris to “select a running mate for Vice President of the United States who fully supports public education.” They added, “For this reason, we respectfully ask you not to select Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.”
The coalition claims that Shapiro is not a champion of public education and “instead has supported voucher schemes.”
Private school vouchers use state funding to provide children with subsidized tuition to attend private and religious schools. The issue typically falls along partisan lines, with Republicans advocating for vouchers as a means to provide better opportunities, while Democrats and many educators argue that they divert funds from public education.
Shapiro has publicly supported vouchers, including initial support for a $100 million school voucher program with the state’s Republican Senate legislature, which he later vetoed. He has noted that they should be paired with increased public education funding. This July, he signed the state budget, passing a $1.1 billion increase for K-12 education.
On Wednesday, Shapiro wrote about his education-related initiatives on his X, formerly Twitter, account, and wrote, “For two years in a row, we worked across the aisle to deliver historic funding for our K-12 public schools. And we gave every kid free breakfast, funded our special education programs, and got kids the mental health services they need. We can do big things in Pennsylvania.”
For two years in a row, we worked across the aisle to deliver historic funding for our K-12 public schools.
And we gave every kid free breakfast, funded our special education programs, and got kids the mental health services they need.
We can do big things in Pennsylvania. pic.twitter.com/Zt8VhcaxHA
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) July 24, 2024
Manuel Bonder, Shapiro’s spokesperson, told Newsweek in an email statement on Saturday afternoon, “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. 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 provided additional context, highlighting Shapiro’s work in securing $300 million for various education-related initiatives, evenly divided among student mental health resources, increased special education funding, and sustainable funding for environmental repair and other school facilities.
Newsweek has reached out to 412 Justice via email on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the coalition’s letter likened Shapiro to the recently published conservative agenda Project 2025, saying, he “has supported education policies mirroring Project 2025,” a nearly 900-page document produced by The Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, that seeks to provide a guidebook for a future conservative administration. Project 2025 seeks to abolish the Department of Education (DOE), among other public education cutting initiatives.
However, despite this pushback against Shapiro, some education policy advocates posted their continued support for the governor and noted his legislative feats for public education.
Democratic chair of the Pennsylvania House Education Committee, Peter Schweyer, wrote in an X post that he is “proudly one of the most anti-voucher legislators in PA,” but acknowledged that Shapiro “delivered more than $1.5 billion in money for our public schools since becoming governor. In a divided legislature (remember the GOP controls the state senate) he was able to secure the most aggressive public K-12 funding packing in the history of PA.”
Fact one: @JoshShapiroPA delivered more than $1.5 billion in money for our public schools since becoming governor. In a divided legislature (remember the GOP controls the state senate) he was able to secure the most aggressive public K-12 funding packing in the history of PA.
— Peter Schweyer (@peter_schweyer) July 25, 2024
Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, an attorney at the Public Interest Law Center who worked on the state’s school funding lawsuit and includes “#fundourschoolsPA” in his X profile biography, posted a thread about Shapiro’s education policies.
He wrote: “I of course believe that supporting the bizarrely branded ‘lifeline’ vouchers was a terrible idea. But also true that 1) none of that came to pass, and 2) as a result of his decisions (along with *so* *much* *work* from others), we have come a long way.”
The coalition’s letter concluded, “As education advocacy groups, we are fighting not only for 50 million students and millions of educators, but also for the future of our democracy,” adding that they believe it’s essential the next leaders are “wholly committed to our nation’s public education system and willing to fight against school privatization in all its forms.”
In the letter they endorsed Governors Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Andy Beshear of Kentucky, and Tim Walz of Minnesota as “vocal champions for public education.”
Updated 7/27/24 at 3:33 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Bonder, additional context, and a new headline.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
