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Private schools and nonprofits tell committee EITC funding helps underserved students
Summary
Operators and school leaders (SPE operator, Imani Christian Academy, Baum School of Art) told the committee tax-credit dollars enable services for low-income students and community programming, while acknowledging the committee
HARRISBURG — Representatives of scholarship organizations, special-purpose entities and private schools told the House Education Committee that Pennsylvania tax-credit programs provide critical funding for both schools and community nonprofits serving low-income students, but they acknowledged the programs operate within different data and accountability rules.
Jed Silversmith, an attorney who runs special-purpose entities that pool individual donors, described SPEs as a practical mechanism to allow individuals to participate in the tax-credit program without extensive state paperwork. "We set up these SPES to allow individuals to participate...we collect the money...and then we remit the gifts to the private schools consistent with the data they provide," he said.
Representatives of recipient organizations gave concrete examples. Paul Lewenzombi, head of Imani Christian Academy in Pittsburgh, said the school enrolls about 150—60 students from adjacent low-income neighborhoods and that tax-credit scholarships make the school financially viable and give families an educational option where the local district lacks a nearby high school. "These credits made it possible for families of modest means to access holistic education," he said.
Shannon Fugate, executive director of the Baum School of Art in Allentown, described EIO funding as a key component of outreach that serves thousands of children annually and pays for after-school classes, camps and partnerships with public schools.
Operators acknowledged state reporting limits and privacy constraints. Silversmith and other witnesses said scholarship organizations maintain student-level records and file audits (990s), but that those records are not routinely aggregated by DCED or the Department of Revenue unless specifically requested. Several speakers said they would cooperate with requests for anonymized or aggregated data to inform oversight while noting FERPA and other privacy considerations.
Committee members said testimonies reinforced the need to balance accountability with the operational realities of private schools and nonprofit operators; no changes were adopted at the hearing.
