In Pennsylvania, activists pour millions into the fight for school vouchers

Buoyed by what they see as their best opportunity in a decade, education activists are spending millions of dollars and countless hours trying to persuade or pressure Pennsylvania lawmakers to approve school tuition vouchers.

From Pittsburgh to Harrisburg to Montgomery County to West Philadelphia, the money is paying for lobbyists, renting rally buses, printing pamphlets, even buying bright red backpacks for pupils.

It has flowed - sometimes in five- and six-figure checks - to legislators' campaign coffers. And it has funded an unusual wave of attack ads, mailers, and websites against lawmakers who are undecided or opposed to vouchers.

The effort reflects hopes that stretch beyond Pennsylvania. New Jersey Gov. Christie has made vouchers part of his education budget proposal now pending in Trenton.

Last year's elections gave tuition-voucher proponents the upper hand in many state capitals, including Harrisburg. Vouchers are part of a school-reform bill signed Thursday by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. Officials in Florida, Ohio, and Louisiana are weighing bills to create or expand vouchers.

"This is a hugely important year for the movement," said Andrew Campanella, a spokesman for the American Federation for Children in Washington, which gave $1.2 million last fall to a political action group funding Pennsylvania candidates. He said the state "is certainly one of the top battlegrounds."

On Monday, Gov. Corbett is to deliver a keynote speech at the federation's national summit in Washington. Christie was a featured speaker last year.

The Pennsylvania proposal, introduced as Senate Bill 1, would give public-school students thousands of dollars for private tuition. The subsidy, with a price of at least $500 million, was originally limited to poor students in underperforming schools but has been expanded to some middle-income students.

The amount of each "opportunity scholarship" varies among districts depending on enrollment and other factors. Philadelphia students, for instance, could be eligible for about $7,500 a year.

The bill could be called up for a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate at any time. But the fine print remains unsettled. Once considered a slam-dunk by Corbett and GOP leaders, the bill has been stalled recently by rural senators worried that it would give Philadelphia too much money while doing little for their districts.