Shapiro’s Wait-and-See Approach Leaves Pennsylvania Public Schools Behind

At Wednesday night’s gubernatorial debate, Gov. Josh Shapiro was asked whether he would opt Pennsylvania into the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC). But the governor, as usual, kicked the can down the road.

First, he said he needed to review the final federal guidelines before opting in. The Treasury Department released those guidelines last week, but Shapiro still refuses to commit to opting in, even though he says he’s “very open to this.” He masked his indecision as prudence, suggesting that the FSTC would interfere with Pennsylvania’s own tax-credit scholarship programs. (Spoiler alert: It won’t.)

Shapiro likes to present himself as a champion of public education. Assuredly, his administration has pushed for and achieved major funding increases.

But the governor continues to ignore what’s at stake for public-school students. More than 1.8 million Pennsylvania K–12 kids—most of whom attend public schools—will be eligible for the scholarship. So, it’s curious why he is even considering leaving money on the table for Pennsylvania schools.

Meanwhile, leaders in the 30 states that have already opted in are enthusiastically preparing for the new opportunity.

In Colorado, several public-school foundations plan to create their own scholarship-granting organizations. The Colorado Public Schools Foundation, the Denver Public Schools Foundation, and RESCHOOL are already preparing to raise funds for tutoring, advanced-placement test fees, and fifth-day programming for the hundreds of school districts on four-day weeks.

Similar proposals from public-school districts, associations, and foundations have emerged in Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, and the dozens of other states that have already opted in. Public-school districts and groups in these states are already organizing donors.

As one Denver foundation leader put it, there is “money on the table”—and Pennsylvania public-school students stand to benefit. If 10 percent of state tax filers donate to the program, Pennsylvania kids could receive about $700 million in scholarships.

But if Shapiro doesn’t opt in, those dollars will leave the commonwealth and support kids in other states that have opted in. That’s a lot of money to leave on the table, especially considering it will cost Pennsylvania nothing to participate.

Shapiro says he plans to announce his decision to opt in or not in “the next few weeks.”

But Pennsylvania is already trailing in this race, and the clock is ticking. States must opt in by January 1, 2027, and scholarship organizations need time to register, raise money, and build donor relationships. Every week of delay costs Pennsylvania’s public schools the head start other states already have.

It’s long past due for Governor Shapiro to opt the commonwealth in before Pennsylvania kids fall further behind.

Additional reading on the FSTC is also available here:

• U.S. Department of the Treasury Rules for Federal Scholarship Tax Credit
• Federal Scholarship Tax Credit
• Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Myths and Facts