Boyd supports historic education investment in 2023-24 budget
Applauds Gov. Shapiro’s decision to veto private school voucher program
Rep. Heather Boyd July 6, 2023 | 5:06 PM
HARRISBURG, June 6 – State Rep. Heather Boyd, D-Delaware, voted in favor of Pennsylvania’s budget, affirming her stance as staunch advocate for public education.
“The reason that the legislature did not pass a budget before the June 30 deadline was due to Senate Republicans’ insistence on school vouchers, what they called the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success Scholarship Program – or PASS,” Boyd said. “The only thing that this proposed voucher program would do is turn a blind eye to the students being deprived of quality education without fixing a single underlying issue. A system like that is a major failure to our commonwealth’s children. With Governor Shapiro’s promise to line-item veto this voucher program, I voted in favor of the budget largely because of the increases it allots for school districts I represent.”
Boyd’s legislative district includes Upper Darby, Southeast Delco and William Penn school districts. They received the following funding:
- Upper Darby: 73,453,741 (12.6% increase).
- Southeast Delco: $32,873,186 (14.7% increase).
- William Penn: $40,613,816 (12.2% increase).
“Schools in my district have historically been underfunded, so I’m happy to see percentage funding increases in the double-digits for each of them,” Boyd said. “The voucher program would have exacerbated issues that contribute to the very inequities we should be trying to remedy. The Commonwealth Court even agreed that schools like William Penn are being denied their fair share, and this budget is a step in the right direction toward addressing this systemic problem.”
Other factors that contributed her affirmative vote, Boyd said, include a measure for free breakfast for all students and expanded free lunches, $20 million to counties for mental health resources, and $50 million for the Whole Home Repair Program.