Sen. Devlin Robinson Advocates for School Voucher Program, Defunding Public Education

Republican incumbent Sen. Devlin Robinson is running for reelection in Senate District 37. 

According to his campaign website, Sen. Robinson is “committed to full and fair funding for school districts in the 37th District.” Sen. Robinson says that he “knows that the system needs repairs – with reliable, consistent revenue available without taxing working families and retirees out of their homes.” 

However, Robinson voted for House Bill 479, which would have allowed families of students in “low-performing” districts to apply for private school tuition vouchers. According to the National Education Association, private school tuition voucher systems take funds away from public schools and direct them to private schools. The Tribune-Democrat said of HB 479, “[t]he scholarships would be funded by personal income tax revenues.” Robinson joined a majority of Republicans in voting for the bill. 

The Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania Senate District 37, Nicole Ruscitto, lists “supporting public education” as one of her campaign's top priorities. She states that “every child born in the Commonwealth deserves a high quality, fully and fairly-funded public education.” 

According to her campaign website, “[a]s a lifelong educator who has spent her career working in our public schools, Nicole understands firsthand that the status quo is failing too many students and families.” As a solution, Ruscitto proposes to implement a fair-funding formula and “will crack down on funds leaving the public school system for unaccountable, failing charter schools.”