The peace and tranquillity that have prevailed between Gov. Josh Shapiro and fellow Democratic legislators during the six months that he has been in office was shattered last week when he repeated his support for school vouchers.

Not only that, but according to his acting Education Secretary, Khalid Mumin, he is hoping to incorporate funding for them into the 2023-24 state budget whose deadline for adoption is Friday.

Shapiro’s position has also brought venomous comments from representatives from the two unions which represent teachers and other public school employees.

Rich Askey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, charged that the proposal is “irresponsible and unacceptable.” He predicted it will not pass the General Assembly if House Democrats continue to oppose it. Askey said he and the PSEA membership are “incredibly disappointed” that Shapiro could become the first governor in state history to sign a school voucher bill.

The call for additional school voucher funding through the Lifeline Scholarships school-choice program is also problematic for distressed school districts such as Panther Valley and Shenandoah Valley, two of the six districts that joined the suit against the state to change the way public school funding is being carried out.

The feeling is that if parents are given funding to have their children attend charter and other private schools, it will diminish the amount of funding for public education since districts must contribute to the payments for these vouchers.

Shapiro expressed his views on school vouchers during an appearance last week on Fox News. “I believe every child of God deserves a shot here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and one of the best ways we can guarantee their success is making sure that every child has a quality education,” Shapiro said.

The proposal has received a cool reception from Democrats who narrowly control the state House by a razor thin 102-101 margin. In addition, Peter Schweyer, D-Lehigh, chair of the House Education Committee, said flat out that this proposal will not be considered by his committee.

That said, however, Schweyer acknowledges that the way things are done in Harrisburg he and other Democrats may not be able to control the narrative if the Lifetime Scholarships program makes it into the full budget.

Senate Republicans, who control the upper house, support school vouchers, so this is one of the most significant disconnects between Shapiro and Democratic policy objectives since he took office in January.

Shapiro said his views did not emerge overnight out of the blue. He campaigned on this issue but also noted that he would not oppose the Democrats’ addition of nearly $1 billion to his budget proposal, much of it to enhance public school funding in needy districts. He sees it as a win-win for both sides. Democrats do not. They view it as another effort to channel money which should be going to fund public school education into private school voucher programs.

It’s unclear how much of a battle Democrats will wage to fight the governor on this proposal. Their leader, House Speaker Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, has declined to comment on the proposal, although she has in the past supported alternatives to public schools that included charter school expansion.

State and education leaders are casting about as to how to address the disparity in school funding that was criticized in the historic Commonwealth Court ruling in February that found that the school-funding system in Pennsylvania is woefully inadequate and must be addressed by the state General Assembly.

This is going to ultimately mean that the state will have to come up with lots of money to try to fix a system which was allowed to get way out of whack over decades of inattention and neglect. That’s one reason why Democrats added nearly a billion dollars for educational aid, primarily to give a hand to distressed and lower-performing districts across the state.

The result, however, angered Republicans who were pretty much on board with the original Shapiro budget. We don’t really know how serious the rift has become, because budgetary discussions are held in private, and we won’t know where things stand until legislative leaders share the status of negotiations with the public. Since the budget deadline is just four days from now, we should be hearing something definitive soon.

By BRUCE FRASSINELLI| tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.