House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda

House of Representatives
Session of 2017 - 2018 Regular Session

Posted:	March 30, 2017 03:43 PM
From:	Representative Michael H. Schlossberg
To:	All House members
Subject:	Public School Advertising

In the near future I plan on introducing legislation that would prohibit public school entities from advertising “free” tuition or transportation, stipulating they must disclose that instructional and transportation costs are paid for by tax dollars. Schools across the state and nationwide are using various forms of advertising to attract students to increase enrollment. However, some schools -- particularly cyber charter schools -- are referring to services and programs in their advertising as “free." Instruction and other programs and services at all public schools in Pennsylvania, including brick-and-mortar charter and cyber-charter schools, are taxpayer funded, just like at traditional public schools. To ensure a level playing field for ALL public schools competing for student enrollment in Pennsylvania, we should make sure all public schools tell the truth in their advertising about who is paying the bills. This would be consistent with the requirement that paid advertising by state agencies include the phrase "Paid for with Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars" (Taxpayer-Funded Advertising Transparency Act, aka Act 90 of 2015).
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Introduced as HB1203