The Archdiocese of Philadelphia applauds the Pennsylvania State Legislature and Governor Tom Ridge for adopting the Pennsylvania State Budget for 1999-2000, which includes $64 million for school vouchers. This is a significant step towards making school choice a reality for families throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Governor Ridge has unveiled legislation that would create a pilot school voucher program, which would assist students in each county within the Archdiocese, as well as assist students in each region of the state. The archdiocese supports vouchers because they will ensure that all children, especially the poor, have access to a quality education, acceptable to their parents, at public, private or parochial schools.

In the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, there are 214 elementary schools and 22 high schools with approximately 25,000 seats available for new students. These seats would be available to students of all faiths if their parents chose one of these schools.