Jay-Z is putting his weight behind an effort to fund private school vouchers in Philadelphia.
The entertainment mogul’s Roc Nation announced it is funding a campaign this month to drum up support for the Pennsylvania Award for Student Success, a statewide legislative proposal to spend taxpayer money on private school scholarships for low-income families in neighborhoods with low-achieving schools.
“We have enjoyed such a special connection with Philadelphians, so we’ve made it our mission to invest in the long-term success of the city’s changemakers,” Roc Nation Managing Director of Philanthropy Dania Diaz said in a news release last week.
Jay-Z has developed close ties to Philadelphia through Roc Nation’s annual Made In America festival and involvement in the REFORM Alliance, which advocates for criminal justice reform.
Vouchers are controversial in a lot of states — including Pennsylvania, where Republicans promote them as a way to help students escape underperforming schools, and teachers unions, school boards and many Democrats oppose sending taxpayer money to private and religious schools.
Jay-Z’s support of the voucher bill drew pushback online. The AFT Pennsylvania teachers union said on the social platform X: “This ain’t it,” over a photo of Jay-Z and Jeffrey Yass, a billionaire who is the biggest donor to Republican campaigns in Pennsylvania. Yass’s top issue in the state is school choice.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a first-term Democrat, supported a Republican-backed proposal last year to send $100 million to families for private school tuition and school supplies. Shapiro later backed down in the face of House Democratic opposition.
Latest Stories
-
Actress Benyiwaa of ‘Efiewura’ TV Series is dead
2 minutes -
Ashanti Regional Chief Imam dies at age 74
27 minutes -
Africa Arts Network calls for tax reform to save Ghana’s theatre industry
39 minutes -
SSTN Ghana Chapter reaffirms commitment to economic growth under new leadership
45 minutes -
Inlaks strengthens leadership team with key appointments to drive growth across sub-Saharan Africa
2 hours -
Green Financing: What Ghana’s Eco-startups need to know
2 hours -
CHAN Qualifiers: Amoah confident of beating Nigeria
2 hours -
Governments deprioritising health spending – WHO
2 hours -
Lordina Foundation brings Christmas joy to orphans
2 hours -
Yvonne Chaka Chaka to headline ‘The African Festival’ this December
2 hours -
Nigerian man promised pardon after 10 years on death row for stealing hens
2 hours -
MGA Foundation deepens support for Potter’s Village
2 hours -
Galamsey: One dead, 3 injured as pit collapses at Nkonteng
3 hours -
Man, 54, charged for beating wife to death with iron rod
3 hours -
MedDropBox donates to UG Medical Centre
3 hours