Sen. Anthony H. Williams: Voucher Senate Bill 1 Is A Must For Free Schools Now By Van Stone frontpagenews1@yahoo.com (215) 469-1902

Sen. Anthony H. Williams: Voucher Senate Bill 1 Is A Must For Free Schools Now By Van Stone frontpagenews1@yahoo.com (215) 469-1902

State Sen. Anthony H. Williams

For all the talk of fixing traditional free schools, more Pennsylvania Pols are growing increasingly supportive of Senate Bill 1. Costs are killing the already empty reserve account of the School District of Philadelphia.

That’s right folks - several suburban school districts that are on the perimeter of the Philadelphia School District have millions of dollars in reserve. And the Philadelphia School District is not bankrupt but is broke. State Sen. Anthony H. Williams, 8th District, has co-sponsored new school vouchers for students who want a way out of the state's 144 lowest-performing schools just in case the Philadelphia school district never ever become no longer broke. It’s a voucher process that must happen so that Philly parents can send their kids to school anywhere-including to the suburban schools. They will learn what the perimeter of the Philadelphia School District is about. This is the short explanation of Senate Bill 1.

Senator Williams feels that low-income children are "trapped in persistently failing schools." And he’s so thorough with this point that he may be the political pioneer who changes the meaning of traditional free school for the next generation of kids who are ages 10 and younger.

Vouchers advocated by Senator Williams are great toward the goal to have all students experience reduced class sizes in public school. And vouchers pushed by Williams will improve any partnerships between neighborhood social agencies which are in schools and the school districts. It would be perfect if Senate Bill 1 went into effect immediately especially because the Philadelphia School District budget must be cut to make up an estimated close to $640 million deficit.

The same budget cuts could mean that some planned Renaissance Charter Schools programs, which cost millions to support, might not begin because of the budget crisis in PA.

Since the Senate Appropriations Committee has tagged the per year cost of Senator Williams' voucher plan at $54 million, just picture in your mind where that 54 million would solidly be going. With Senator Williams' voucher plan every parent in the school district of Philly would be able to SEE where the money is going.

The parents would decide where their children go to school “regardless of where they live or their financial circumstance”. Parents would freely enroll their children in schools that are just a bus ride or car pool ride away across the border of Philly. School district taxes would bottom out instead of the schools reserves bottoming in. And if a parent chose home schooling, parochial, private, cyber, or charter school, the cycle of failing schools would no longer mean that a very high percentage of students in Philadelphia free school are lost. Vouchers created by Sen. Williams and supporters are the solution to preventing so many public school students from being lost.