Having retired this summer after 40 years in public education — including my final years as superintendent of Bethlehem Area School District — I am writing this not as a spokesman for the district, but as a local citizen, a proud Liberty High School graduate and a career educator who spent four decades in Pennsylvania’s public school buildings.
Right now, Gov. Josh Shapiro is under heavy pressure from private school advocates to opt Pennsylvania into the new federal tax credit scholarship program created under the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Proponents sell it as an easy win for choice. But when you look closely at how the law is written, it becomes clear that this program is an unregulated gamble that siphons tax dollars out of the public domain while offering the biggest payout to families who need help the least.
During my time directing curriculum and leading the central office here in Bethlehem, our school board, administrators, teachers and specialists poured years into overhauling how we teach literacy, grounding our K-12 instruction in the science of reading. That work taught me a basic truth: Real school improvement is hard, messy work that depends on steady funding, public accountability, and a commitment to serve every single child who walks through the door.
This federal scholarship tax credit violates every one of those values.
Research and policy analysis published by Education Voters of Pennsylvania highlights just how little say our state would actually have if Shapiro signs us up. Under rules previewed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, participating states cannot impose income caps that are stricter than the federal standard.
The federal ceiling is set at 300% of area median gross Income. Here in Northampton and Lehigh counties, that means households earning well over $200,000-$300,000 a year would qualify for taxpayer-subsidized tuition.
Instead of targeting lower-income families who genuinely and increasingly need financial support, the program turns into a tax break for affluent households. The mechanics favor taxpayers who have $1,700 or more in federal tax liability to write off against contributions to scholarship granting organizations. Working families living paycheck to paycheck simply don’t have thousands of extra dollars sitting around to redirect ahead of tax season.
The lack of fiscal oversight is just as concerning. As EdVoters points out, the federal guidelines essentially ask scholarship granting organizations — which keep up to 10% of incoming donations for their own expenses — to monitor and audit students and operations themselves.
We have already seen what happens in states like Florida and Arizona when voucher programs lack rigorous state oversight: Public funds end up spent on resort trips, luxury goods and noneducational expenses that have nothing to do with helping kids learn. Pennsylvania taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to foot the bill for a setup that lacks basic watchdog controls.
Equally troubling is the absence of antidiscrimination protections. Because Pennsylvania would be barred from adding state-level protections to the federal law, we would have zero authority to prevent these voucher dollars from going to private and religious institutions that turn away students based on disability, academic background or religious beliefs.
Public schools take everyone. Private institutions pick and choose. Public tax dollars should not subsidize institutions that exclude children.
Proponents often counter that public school families could theoretically use these vouchers for out-of-pocket educational expenses. But public school districts do not — and should not — charge families for core educational services.
Expecting local school districts to design brand-new, fee-based options, set up billing systems, and manage collection procedures just so a few families can process federal vouchers is completely impractical.
It would create an administrative headache for school boards and business managers, diverting energy and staff away from running our schools. In reality, public school districts won’t see operational support from this program, which is engineered primarily to funnel resources into private educational intermediaries.
Pennsylvania already runs two tax-credit voucher programs — EITC and OSTC — that divert $575 million a year to private schools. In fact, those programs went undersubscribed by more than $115 million in the 2024–2025 school year. We don’t need a massive new federal layer that chips away at state sovereignty, starves the federal treasury of revenue that supports Title I and IDEA, and leaves local taxpayers with no say over how the money is spent.
My four decades in public education taught me that strong communities are built on strong public schools. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek recently opted her state out of this program, concluding it was not in the best interest of Oregon’s public school children. Shapiro should draw the exact same line for Pennsylvania.
This is a contributed opinion column. Jack P. Silva retired in July as superintendent of Bethlehem Area School District. He lives in Fountain Hill. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author(s), and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. For more details on commentaries, read our guide to guest opinions at mcall.com/opinion.