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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2019 - 2020
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | February 27, 2020 01:28 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Malcolm Kenyatta |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Protecting LGBTQ Students from Discrimination |
| Each year the Educational Improvement and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credits (EITC & OSTC) provide for scholarships which help nearly 50,000 Pennsylvania children afford to go to a school other than their school district of residence. Unfortunately, students who are members of the LGBTQ community and have come out are often cut out from receiving this support because some private schools choose to discriminate against them in the admissions process. Because of this harmful oversight, I am introducing legislation that will protect LGBTQ students from being discriminated against by schools that receive funding through EITC and OSTC. It would do this by requiring that schools which receive funding through these programs have a written policy of nondiscrimination. Regardless of how you might feel about these programs in particular, I hope we can all agree that any program that spends hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars should be implemented in a nondiscriminatory way. The status quo of EITC and OSTC will continue to alienate a vulnerable group of students—this is unacceptable and needs to be changed. No student should be forced to hide who they are to receive a scholarship to attend school. Please help make this a reality by co-sponsoring this legislation. |