One element of the One Big Beautiful Bill—now signed into law by President Donald Trump—is a provision aimed at promoting school choice.
Under the measure, individual taxpayers can contribute up to $1,700 to a nonprofit scholarship-granting organization and receive a federal tax credit. However, participation requires each state to opt into the program. That means for Pennsylvanians to benefit, Gov. Josh Shapiro would need to formally sign on.
And despite previously claiming Pennsylvania “got screwed” by the reconciliation bill, Shapiro now says he’s considering it.
“The Shapiro administration is reviewing potential impacts of the new federal school tax credit provision, which does not go into effect until 2027, and awaiting additional federal guidance,” said Manuel Bonder, a spokesman for the governor.
Shapiro, who faces reelection next year and is rumored to be considering a 2028 White House run, campaigned in 2022 as a moderate Democrat who supported school choice. However, facing resistance from the Democratic-controlled state House, Shapiro used his line-item veto to strike a school choice provision from the state budget in 2023—his first as governor.
Meanwhile, many Pennsylvania students continue to struggle academically.
In 2024, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that fewer than half of Pennsylvania’s public school fourth graders were proficient in both math and reading. Among eighth graders, 69 percent were not proficient in math, and 69 percent could not read at grade level.
Additionally, NAEP results show that Pennsylvania public schools have made no measurable progress since 2003 in closing achievement gaps among various student groups, including Black and Hispanic students, economically disadvantaged students, and English language learners.
This comes despite record levels of education spending.
According to the Commonwealth Foundation, a Pennsylvania-based free-market think tank, public school districts spent an average of $23,000 per student in the 2023–24 school year—a 44 percent increase from 2014–15. That figure includes state and federal funds.
“President Trump honored his pledge to support school choice by signing the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB),” said school choice advocate Guy Ciarrocchi. “OBBB now puts the ball in Shapiro’s court to honor his pledge to working families. If he joins in, he begins to fulfill that promise—with a lot more work to do. If he doesn’t, it’s clear he misled families and cares more about the teachers’ union.”
Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College, called school choice a “vexing” issue for the governor.
“If he opts Pennsylvania into the program, it will certainly strain his relationship with a powerful Democratic-leaning interest in the form of teachers’ unions,” Borick said. “But if he balks at the federal money, it will open him up to attacks in next year’s governor’s race, where he could be accused of blocking resources from low- and middle-income households.
“There is much in the Big Beautiful Bill that Shapiro can use to his advantage in 2026, but the school voucher component is likely to be a challenging element to navigate.”
Albert Eisenberg, a Republican political consultant with BlueStateRed, said Democrats are at risk of alienating key voting blocs.
“Gov. Shapiro and the Democrats are treading on very thin ice as working, non-white voters abandon their party and they continue to kowtow to teachers’ unions that block educational opportunity for the poorest kids,” Eisenberg said. “The OBBB takes a significant step in funding opportunities for low-income families to send their kids to better schools—something the governor initially campaigned on in 2022 but has since abandoned. Like on a lot of issues, Shapiro is eventually going to have to stop talking out of both sides of his mouth and choose a side.”
However, Democratic strategist T.J. Rooney believes the OBBB provision could become a catalyst for change.
“There was a time in our politics when the talk of vouchers would set off alarm bells. To a degree, it still does—just not as many, and they’re not as loud,” Rooney said. “Public schools face tremendous challenges, but so, too, do our hard-working families. They work hard to ensure their children receive the best education possible.
“Parents in districts—wealthy and poor—want better options. I know the governor understands this and has expressed a willingness to upend the status quo,” Rooney added. “Maybe now is the time to initiate some much-needed change.”