By opposing educational choice programs, teachers’ unions limit opportunities for Philly students
Lobbying against choice-based programs, like Lifeline Scholarships or the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success, that allow students in failing schools to enroll in better ones is an example.
The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) voted to authorize a strike if the union and the school district cannot reach a deal. Whether the union goes on strike is yet to be determined.
However, it’s apparent that union leaders don’t have students’ interests in mind.
As part of its demands, the PFT wants smaller classrooms, but Philadelphia class sizes have actually decreased over the years. In 2012, the National Center for Education Statistics reported a pupil-to-teacher ratio of 17-1. In 2021 (the most recent data available), that number dropped to 15-1.
Declining enrollment has also contributed to smaller class sizes. Since 2014, district enrollment has dropped by 13%.
Interestingly, during the same time, cyber charter enrollment has increased by 2,500%. Yet, teachers’ unions villainize this popular option. The PFT has even advocated for cutting funding to cyber charters.
But where will these students go? By defunding cyber charters, union executives threaten to send tens of thousands of Philadelphia students back to the schools they fled in the first place.
This opposition also extends to other charter schools. The Philadelphia School District has approved only one new charter since 2018, ignoring the 20,000 Philadelphia students on a wait list.
If smaller class sizes are the goal, undermining charter schools is counterintuitive at best and foolish at worst.
Why are Philadelphia families seeking options other than their neighborhood schools?
To be frank, many of the neighborhood schools fail to provide a meaningful education. One out of two Philadelphia students attends a state-designated low-achieving school. Even worse, some of these schools habitually appear on this list year after year — all without any sign of improvement or accountability.
District officials and union executives often encourage families to be “patient,” touting the district’s “incremental growth.”
Again, the numbers say otherwise. Two-thirds of Philadelphia students are not proficient in English language arts, and almost 80% cannot perform math at grade level.
Philadelphia students don’t have years to wait for the district to get its act together. They need better options now.
The longer we wait to provide those options, the greater the public costs, especially those involving the criminal justice system.
Educational choice programs can minimize — if not stop — the school-to-prison pipeline. Milwaukee — home to the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), one of the longest-standing educational choice programs in the nation — serves as a convincing case study. MPCP students were 60% less likely to be involved in property crimes and 41% in drug-related crimes than their peers in district schools. Several other studies reached similar conclusions.
Educational choice isn’t a foreign concept in Philadelphia. Last year, more than 30,000 Philadelphia students received scholarships from Pennsylvania’s two tax credit scholarship programs, the Educational Improvement Tax Credit and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit.
And though those credits are transformational programs, they are not enough. Those tax credit programs denied about as many students as they awarded — all because of arbitrary caps established by lawmakers.
The problem isn’t demand; it’s supply. Philadelphia students need more choice-based programs, such as Lifeline Scholarships or the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success. PASS/Lifeline Scholarships would provide the funding students stuck in failing schools need to enroll in better schools — all without taking a cent from Pennsylvania’s K-12 funding.
These programs enjoy widespread support not only in Philadelphia but also throughout the state. Seven out of 10 Pennsylvanians support programs like PASS/Lifeline Scholarships, and this support transcends partisan identity, race, or geographic location.
Despite this widespread popularity, teachers’ unions continually lobby against such beneficial programs. Year after year, they demonize tax credits as school choice options. In 2023, union opposition to Lifeline Scholarships influenced Gov. Josh Shapiro to veto the program.
If it wants Philadelphia students to succeed, the PFT must look beyond its narrow self-interests. Moreover, it must stop trapping kids in underperforming schools and, instead, promote educational opportunities for Philadelphia families.
Andrew J. Lewis is the president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania’s free-market think tank.