Gubernatorial hopefuls back school vouchers

And the winner of the May 18 primary election for governor is . . . state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams of West Philadelphia.

Williams didn't actually win the Democratic primary - he finished third out of four candidates - but he successfully injected the issue of school vouchers into the gubernatorial debate.

The primary-election winners, Republican state Attorney General Tom Corbett and Democratic Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, told school-choice advocates yesterday that they support "in concept" legislation Williams is pushing in the state Senate that would, among other education reforms, allow public-school money to pay for private-school tuition.

Williams said Corbett and Onorato told him school vouchers would be part of "the full menu" of educational-funding options if they are elected governor.

"Whatever it is, whatever works, that's what we're going to talk about funding," Williams told school advocates gathered at the National Constitution Center for an event sponsored by the Students First PAC, which gave his campaign for governor more than $5 million this year.

Corbett said school-reform issues have "for far too long" been controlled by the "education establishment" and teacher unions rather than parents and students.

"When it comes to education funding, I'm going to put the students first and make sure the funding makes it to their classrooms and not be filtered off somewhere else," Corbett said. "It's not something we should consider. It's something we must do."

Onorato, endorsed in March by the Pennsylvania State Education Association, told the crowd that that would not stop him from supporting vouchers for low-income students in failing schools.

Onorato said that, as a member of Pittsburgh's City Council in the 1990s, he pushed for a resolution to support vouchers when then-Gov. Tom Ridge tried to get them approved in the Legislature. That effort failed.

"I don't view it as you get endorsed and you have to be 100 percent with any organization," Onorato said of union support. "I don't see it as a conflict."

The Students First PAC is a political-action committee funded by Main Line trading-firm executives who want education funding to follow public-school students to whatever type of school - public, private, cyber or charter - they attend.

Joe Watkins, the group's chairman, said Pennsylvania faces a "singular" situation on vouchers.

"There is no other state in the country that has two candidates for governor who both support choice and opportunity for kids," Watkins said. "So this is a wonderful day."