April 27, 2011 11:56AM 

# Pennsylvania School Choice Bills 

By [Andrew J. Coulson](https://www.cato.org/people/andrew-coulson) 

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Much attention and controversy have been focused in recent months on Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1, which would create a government-funded school voucher program. Less attention, and far less controversy, accompanied the passage yesterday of [an expansion of the state’s existing education tax credit program](http://standardspeaker.com/news/school-choice-tax-credit-bill-advances-1.1138033) out of the House education committee. The vote was 21 to 4.

Apart from the seemingly more favorable reception it is receiving, the tax credit program has three notable advantages: it is [less likely to curtail educational freedom](http://standardspeaker.com/news/school-choice-tax-credit-bill-advances-1.1138033) by suffocating participating private schools with regulation (which would defeat the purpose of a school choice program), it [does not force taxpayers to support types of education that may violate their convictions](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-coulson/a-winn-for-education-and-_b_848035.html), and it encourages direct co-payments by parents toward the cost their children’s education, when they can afford to do so (which is associated in the [international](https://www.cato.org/pubs/articles/coulson_comparing_public_private_market_schools_jsc.pdf) and [historical](http://books.google.com/books?id=3xi49dmYw0wC&dq=andrew+coulson+market-education+chapter+9&q=parental+financial+#v=snippet&q=financial%20responsibility&f=false) research with higher school efficiency and greater responsiveness to parents’ demands).

Worth thinking about.

##### Related Tags 

[Education](https://www.cato.org/education), [Center for Educational Freedom](https://www.cato.org/center-educational-freedom) 

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