On November 18, over 700 supporters, parents, children, and school administrators joined CSFP at the National Constitution Center (NCC) to mark the release of new applications for CSFP’s random scholarship lottery. The event also served as a call to action for those in attendance: vital scholarship funding provided by Pennsylvania corporate tax credits is in jeopardy while the Pennsylvania budget impasse drags on.
Current CSFP parent Seyna Mushington shared her family’s story with the crowd, commenting that she wanted her child’s school to have a library, grassy play areas, and a low teacher-to-pupil ratio. Even though her son was assigned to a public school with a good reputation, there were over 30 students per class at his designated school, so Seyna decided to seek scholarships to private school. Her impassioned speech enlivened the crowd as she called on Governor Wolf to prioritize the needs of Pennsylvania children when making budget decisions, and act now to release the tax credit approval letters necessary for corporate donors to contribute to scholarship organizations like CSFP.
For the first time in the organization’s history, CSFP opened up a small, special lottery for parents who attended the Application Release. Parents who submitted paper applications that day were entered into CSFP’s “Opening Day” lottery, separate from the 2,000 scholarships that will be awarded next spring. The 200 new opening day winners will be announced in mid-December.
Watch Seyna share her CSFP story and why she decided it was time to make a change:
You can make a private education possible for #PhillyKids this year! Help us provide quality, safe educational opportunities for thousands of Philadelphia students through scholarships.
