Keystone State News Connection

Emily Scott

A corporate tax break in Pennsylvania funding scholarship programs for K-12 private and religious schools lacks sufficient data to determine its success, according to a new report.

The program, worth about $280 million annually, includes the Educational Improvement Tax Credit and the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit.

Supporters contended the programs help low-income students in underperforming public schools.

Rich Askey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said the report from the state’s Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) paints a troubling picture of lack of accountability for the programs. He is concerned some lawmakers want to increase the tax credits.

“The bottom line is this: From that report, we do not know if it’s working for students,” Askey asserted. “That brings us to the question of why would we dramatically expand these programs to the point they want to expand them, when we’re not sure if they’re even working?”

Companies donating to a scholarship organization can receive a 75% to 90% credit on their taxes. A bill which cleared the Senate Education Committee last month would automatically increase the annual number of tax credits available by 25%.

The IFO report recommends obtaining data on student outcomes after switching to private schools and tracking scholarship awards by family income, among other metrics, but state law prohibits the collection of such data.

Susan Spicka, executive director of the group Education Voters of Pennsylvania, argued it is time for the law to change.

“It is really extraordinary that there are lawmakers in Harrisburg who claim to be fiscal conservatives, and who claim to be looking out for taxpayers, who support a program that has zero accountability for how over a billion dollars in tax money has been spent over the years on these scholarships,” Spicka remarked.

Legislative leaders and the governor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Funds from the tax credits also go to pre-K and educational improvement programs.

PORT CLINTON, Ohio (AP) — Coast Guard authorities say 18 people were rescued from an ice floe that broke away in Lake Erie over the weekend. Officials said a helicopter from Air Station Detroit noticed a group of people on the floe near Ohio’s Catawba Island at about 1 p.m. Sunday with several all-terrain vehicles seeking a route back to land. The helicopter lifted seven people from the floe. An airboat dispatched from the nearby Marblehead station rescued four others. Officials said the other seven people were picked up and taken to shore by a good Samaritan who also had an airboat at the scene.

(AP Photo)
By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer
Frontier Airlines’ parent company is buying Spirit Airlines in a $2.9 billion cash-and-stock deal that will allow the combined airline to be more competitive against its larger rivals. Spirit shareholders will receive 1.9126 shares of Frontier plus $2.13 in cash for each existing Spirit share they own. This implies a value of $25.83 per Spirit share at Frontier’s closing stock price of $12.39 on Friday. The deal is valued at $6.6 billion when accounting for the assumption of debt and operating lease liabilities.

GOP won’t endorse in big primary fields for governor, Senate
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Republican party isn’t endorsing in huge primary fields for governor, U.S. Senate and lieutenant governor, ensuring that this spring’s races will be that much more wide open. The party banned reporters from the ballroom where it held its winter meeting Saturday at a Lancaster hotel. However, committee members and candidates say the party held a voice vote against endorsing. Party committee members had predicted for months that nobody would win an endorsement. The primary field for governor is double-digits deep, while the fields for U.S. Senate and lieutenant governor each feature at least a half-dozen candidates.

(File Photo)
By MARC LEVY Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf is preparing to pitch his eighth and last budget proposal to lawmakers, as the Democrat pushes Republicans to spend more federal pandemic aid now and Wolf looks to secure one more big boost in state funding for public schools. The details of Wolf’s budget plan for the 2022-23 fiscal year starting July 1 will be released Tuesday. State accounts are brimming with cash, thanks to federal aid and a booming economy, and Democrats floating bullish spending plans. Republican majorities in the House and Senate have remained steadfast that federal pandemic aid and state reserves be used conservatively to ward off deficits.

(Chippewa Twp., Pa.) Pa State Police in Beaver are reporting that they were dispatched to the scene of a one vehicle accident Tuesday February 1, 2022 on Interstate 376 in Chippewa Twp. around 9:22 AM.
Upon arriving on the scene and investigating it was learned that 40-year-old Justin Gunther of Beaver Falls was operating a 2013 Kia Optima west bound on the interstate when he lost control of his vehicle striking the cable barrier near mile marker 33.9. Gunther was not injured in the accident but was charged by Troopers with not driving on roadways laned for traffic properly.

(McKees Rocks, Pa.)  Allegheny County police are investigating a shooting took place Saturday morning around 10:20 AM in the 400 block of Broadway Ave. in McKees Rocks.
Police said first responders found an adult man with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to an area hospital. There is no word on his condition as police continue to investigate.

(New Galilee, Pa.) Pa State Representative Aaron Bernstine announced on his Facebook Page yesterday that he will be running for re-election this year for his 4th consecutive term.
Bernstine currently represents House District 10, but will be running in House District 8 in 2022 under the state’s newly approved House district maps. He is a small business owner and farmer who lives in New Galilee with his wife, Ilia, and son, Dierks.
The newly drawn 8th District includes the following municipalities: In Butler County, the townships of Brady, Center, Clay, Connoquenessing, Forward, Franklin, Lancaster, Middlesex, Muddycreek, Penn, and Worth; and the boroughs of Connoquenessing, Portersville, Prospect, West Liberty, and West Sunbury. In Lawrence County, the townships of Little Beaver, Perry, Plain Grove, Scott, Slippery Rock, Washington, and Wayne; and the boroughs of Ellport, Ellwood City (Lawrence County portion), Enon Valley, New Beaver, Volant, and Wampum.
Bernstine will make his monthly appeareance on Rappin with the Reps here on Beaver County Radio this Thursday at 9:00 AM

You can read Bernstine’s announcement that was posted to his Facebook Page on Sunday February 6, 2022 below:

(AP Photo)
DALLAS (AP) — Shirley Cuban, the mother of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, has died. Her son Brian Cuban confirmed the death. She was 84. The Dallas Morning News reports that Cuban died Friday in the suburban Pittsburgh home where she and her husband, Norton, raised sons Mark, Brian and Jeff. Brian Cuban said his mother died after battling lung cancer. Shirley Cuban was born Shirley Rita Feldman in 1937. She graduated from Carlow College, today known as Carlow University in Pittsburgh, and worked as a massage therapist and at an addiction rehabilitation center. She and her husband moved to Dallas after Mark Cuban bought the Mavericks’ NBA franchise. Her husband died in 2018, and Shirley returned to the Pittsburgh area.