9 Reasons Why Governor Josh Shapiro Must Say ‘No’ to Trump’s Federal School Vouchers
October 9, 2026
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The Democratic governor has shown himself to be voucher-curious in the past.
Josh Shapiro has served as Pennsylvania’s 48th Governor since 2023. His career in public service includes roles as the state’s Attorney General, Chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners, and a State Representative. Raised in Montgomery County by a pediatrician and an educator, he is a graduate of Georgetown Law. During his first term as Governor, he has focused on increasing public education funding, expanding apprenticeship programs, and implementing universal free school breakfast. He and his wife, Lori, are raising their four children in the same community where they grew up.
The Democratic governor has shown himself to be voucher-curious in the past.
“Right now, Democrats, the thing they want the most is a winner, and a very close second is a fighter,” said Paul Begala, a Democratic campaign strategist.
The Conversation asked experts why parents are opting out and how to protect vaccination policy.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said the visits with local leaders in Tremont and Upper Bern townships were made to understand where the local leaders stand in these communities, along with the negative impacts should ICE detention centers be constructed in them.
As we have seen too often in Harrisburg, a vision is not a policy, and a proposal is not progress until it is signed into law, writes Conservation Voters of Pennsylvania Executive Director Molly Parzen.
But will the Republican-controlled state Senate actually answer the call to pass reforms that could potentially generate tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue?
Former government officials say the state isn’t doing enough to regulate fracking waste, even as new research shows it’s far more radioactive than previously known.
“We have all witnessed as a nation the unrelenting cruelty of ICE as they physically brutalize people and their blatant disregard of the constitution and people’s rights,” said Jasmine Rivera, executive director of the Pennsylvania Immigration Coalition.
Some Democrats and environmental advocates argue that the governor has essentially given away the store.
“As we near the four month mark without a state budget, the consequences are no longer looming – they are here,” said Brad Whitman, executive director at Northwest Tri-County IU5.
“Unfortunately, Senate Republicans have refused to agree to a long-term solution that provides certainty and does not also unfairly raid mass transit capital dollars for unrelated expenditures,” stated Pennsylvania Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll.
“Discarding thousands of ballots every election is not a reasonable trade-off in view of the date requirement’s extremely limited and unlikely capacity to detect and deter fraud,” the appeals court panel wrote.
An interactive tool provided by the Committee of Seventy in collaboration with the Bucks County Beacon.
An interactive tool provided by the Committee of Seventy in collaboration with the Bucks County Beacon.
