REACH Alliance and Foundation applauds lawmakers for restoring funding for Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program to $60 million.

EITC was funded at $60 million last year when the program was cut by $15 million.  As a result, approximately 6,000 scholarships were lost.  This year the program was scheduled to be cut by an additional $10 million, but the General Assembly was able to circumvent the planned reduction and hold the line on funding.

Click here to read a press release from REACH on this year’s EITC Funding.

REACH applauds the introduction of two bills, one introduced by Sen. Jeff Piccola and the other introduced by Speaker of the House Keith McCall,  that would restore EITC funding to $75 million.   A REACH release on the bills is below, and we have updated the “Contact Your Legislator” letters to reflect the bill numbers.  Feel free to contact your legislators again with this new message.

-REACH Alliance Release –

Two legislators have introduced bills that would restore funding for Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program to $75 million.  The program, established in 2001, is an educational program that helps children get the chance to attend the best school available to them and provides enhanced opportunities for kids in public schools.

Speaker of the House Keith McCall, D-Carbon, introduced House Bill 2508 with 109 co-sponsors.  His bill has been referred to the Finance Committee.   Sen. Jeff Piccola, R-Dauphin, introduced Senate Bill 1370 with 27 co-sponsors.  The program was cut by $15 million last year and is slated for another $10 million reduction in this year’s state budget.  Both bills would restore the EITC funds to $75 million.  At the same time, funding for education is slated for a $354 million increase in the budget.

“Funding cuts to the EITC program affect Pennsylvania families directly.  Last year, it’s estimated that approximately 6,000 scholarships were lost due to the $15 million cut – and if the program is cut again, the effects will be even more devastating,” says Bill Donahue, Chairman of the REACH Board of Directors. “We strongly applaud Speaker McCall and Senator Piccola’s efforts to restore funding for this educational program and help Pennsylvania’s families.”

Many in the Legislature have called the EITC program the best educational initiative passed in Pennsylvania in the past 15 years.   Funds for the program come from businesses, which make contributions to non‐profit scholarship or educational improvement organizations. Since the program’s inception in 2001, more than 3,600 companies have pledged nearly $490 million to EITC organizations.

The program benefits both public and private schools in Pennsylvania, and actually saves the state money – each student attending private schools saves the state approximately $12,000 in education costs.  If all 44,000 students receiving EITC scholarships would re‐enter the public school system, it would cost Pennsylvania taxpayers an additional $531.6 million per year.  The EITC program has received bipartisan support since its inception.

The Allentown Diocese Times reported on the Allentown Town Hall Meeting. The full story begins on page 7 of this document.   There are also several stories in this issue that demonstrate how valuable the EITC is to Allentown schools.

Recently, Erin Loudenslager of REACH was interviewed about Operation Restore and the EITC program. Listen to the interview here.

The May 7 issue of The Catholic Witness (Harrisburg Diocese) reported on the Operation Restore Town Hall meeting.

Included in the story were Erin Loudenslager of REACH, who says that “The most important thing for people to do right now is contact their legislators.”

Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary School Principal Loretta Miller says that their school, in Middletown, received more than $50,000 in scholarship funding and “The EITC program is quite important because we have nearly 45 scholarship recipients that includes 33 families…who, without the support of the EITC program, probably would not be able to come to our school.”

Read the full story here.

Today, the Pittsburgh Catholic Newspaper reported on our Pittsburgh Town Hall meeting on April 13.  The story details the need for the EITC program in the Pittsburgh Diocese and the program’s impact statewide:

“In our 114 Catholic schools this should be Priority 1,” said Dr. Ron Bowes, assistant superintendent for public policy and development in the diocesan schools office.  “It has enabled us to sustain ourselves and move ahead to better serve parents and schools.”

Operation Restore estimates that the 44,000 non-public school students in the state who received scholarships last year re-entered the public school system, it would cost the state an additional $531.6 million per year.

Read the full story in pdf.

A reporter from the Delaware County Times attended the Philadelphia Town Hall meeting.

Monsignor Bonner & Archbishop Prendergast President Fr. James Olson and St. Laurence School Principal Sr. Helen Thomas were quoted in the story.

“The best way to prevent or to cure some of the future ills of society … is to educate (at-risk students) now,” said Olson, adding that schools can serve their students only to the degree that they are funded.

Thomas said the state budget cuts were evidence of a difficult economy, which also hurt parents of Catholic school students.

“(In) many of our families, the parents are out of work, therefore they’re struggling to put food on the table,” Thomas said.

Fr. Olson is also featured in a video embedded in the story.

The Harrisburg Town Hall meeting has been scheduled for next Tuesday, April 19 at 10 a.m.

Location: Diocese of Harrisburg  4800 Union Deposit Road, Harrisburg PA

Please note that this date is a day later than initially advertised.

Please join us for a Town Hall meeting about Operation Restore and the push to restore EITC funding in Kutztown.

Date: Friday, April 16

Time:  9:00am

Location:  St. Mary’s Parish

Street:    14833 Kutztown Road

City/Town:  Kutztown, PA

Town Hall Meeting scheduled in Pittsburgh- we welcome all EITC supporters to join us on Tuesday, April 13 to learn about Operation Restore and how you can help.

Date:  Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Time:  10:00 am – 11:00 am

Location:  Dicoese of Pittsburgh St. Paul Seminary

Street:  2900 Noblestown Road

City/Town:  Pittsburgh, PA 15025