Pennsylvania’s Republican-led Legislature has successfully pushed back against Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro’s proposal to cut two scholarship programs from the 2026–27 budget.
Shapiro’s original budget proposal, HB 2632, called for eliminating two programs: the Educational Improvement Tax Credit and the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit.
The Pennsylvania Legislature successfully amended the budget to maintain the original scholarships and programs in the budget passed July 12, 2026.
The Educational Improvement Tax Credit allows businesses to receive tax credits when they donate to approved educational organizations, and the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit assists students who live in the lowest-performing schools to receive scholarships.
Shapiro’s proposal also eliminated supplemental scholarships for economically disadvantaged schools. As the Daily Signal previously reported, if these cuts had been implemented, roughly 30,000 students would have been impacted.
Jonathan Butcher, director of the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation, condemned the governor’s proposed cuts.
“School choice is advancing rapidly across the country, and efforts by the Left to kick students out of scholarship programs harm families and voters, as well as children.”
Butcher isn’t alone in his critique. According to a Commonwealth poll, 65% of respondents opposed Shapiro’s original plan to reduce the amount of tax-credit scholarships for students.
Republican representatives pushed back, too. Pennsylvania Senate Republicans posted on X:
“We fought to protect learning opportunities by maintaining full funding for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program and rejecting proposals that would take away scholarships from kids.”
In a press release, Shapiro explained the divided Legislature was able to pass the budget and invest in education, saying that by “listening to Pennsylvanians and working together, we’re solving problems and building on the last three years of real progress.”
A Call to Expand ‘Educational Opportunity’
Although Pennsylvania was able to retain current scholarship programs, some argue that the Legislature still needs to fight for more changes.
Andrew Lewis, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, said that even though the Legislature kept the popular school choice programs, it didn’t expand “educational opportunity.”
“With public school spending approaching $24,000 per student, sending more taxpayer dollars into a system with declining enrollment and no accountability is neither good education policy nor sound fiscal policy.”
Lewis urged Shapiro to act, saying that he should “embrace the new federal scholarship tax credit—which he can do without permission of House Democrat leadership or teacher union executives—and expand opportunity for more Pennsylvania students at no cost to state taxpayers.”
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[ H/T The Daily Signal ]
