Senator Jeffrey E. Piccola Honored with School Choice Champion Award
LANCASTER, PA (Jan. 23) – The Pennsylvania affiliate of the Council on American Private Education announced today that recently retired Senator Jeffrey E. Piccola (R-Dauphin) will be the recipient of the group’s School Choice Champion award.
PA-CAPE provides a framework for communication and cooperation among nonpublic preschool through secondary schools in Pennsylvania. The association promotes the vital role of private schools and their significant contributions to educating the public and promoting the common good in Pennsylvania. It encourages excellence and pluralism in education and promotes the right of private schools to fulfill their unique missions; promotes the rights of parents to educate their children in the schools of their choice; and advocates the equitable opportunity of private school students to participate in appropriate state and federal education programs.
PA-CAPE also fosters the participation of the private school community in shaping Pennsylvania’s education agenda by advocating positions on education policy. “Last year school choice supporters achieved a big win with the expansion of Educational Improvement Tax Credits and the creation of the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit program,” said Sean McAleer, co-director of PA-CAPE and education director for the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference. “Senator Piccola had the guts to pursue school choice and the leadership to see it through to the finish line.”
“The religious and private nonpublic schools of Pennsylvania are proud to honor Senator Piccola with this award,” added D. Merle Skinner, co-director of PA-CAPE and executive director of the Christian Family & Children’s Center of the Association for Christian Schools International Northeast Chapter. “He is a true champion to the thousands of school children and their parents who now can choose the school that best meets their needs.”
