HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) — Vice presidential candidate and Sen. J.D. Vance is hosting a town hall Saturday evening at the Rock Church in Harrisburg.

The main topic of the town hall is education, and the Trump campaign says the Trump-Vance administration will “double down” on its commitment to ensuring every child in Pennsylvania has “access to a top-tier education.”

“The majority of American children of all races are not receiving the quality of education in the United States,” Vance said. “This is a national scandal.”

“Some of these public schools need to spend more on teachers and students and less on bureaucrats,” Vance said. “I’ve seen the statistics, and when you look at the increase in school funding, very little of it went to students, very little of it went to teachers. All of it went to administrators.”

“I think that requires some leadership from teachers, teachers’ unions, and teachers’ unions to have a come-to-Jesus moment, no pun intended, and say to the American people, ‘yes, we screwed up.'”

Vance talked about ways he plans to change the current education system if elected as Vice President of the United States.

“One way to solve this, I think, is to offer scholarships, to give vouchers to every parent, every grandparent who cares for a child, so that they can choose the educational option that makes the most sense for their family.”

He made the following statement in the campaign press release:

An overwhelming majority of parents in Pennsylvania support school choice, and each year more than 60,000 scholarships are awarded to K-12 students, giving them the opportunity to attend schools of choice. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expanded School Choice; Parents were empowered to make important educational decisions for their children and were given the ability to use money in 529 education savings accounts to cover public K-12 tuition costs. private or religious school of their choice.

Former President Trump called education the “civil rights issue of our time” earlier this month.

Vance is speaking at the local church at the invitation of the pastor, who is now making national headlines.

READ MORE |Nonpartisan Harrisburg pastor hosts town hall; JD Vance and others will attend

The Rev. Joshua C. Robertson said in a statement that he does not support Kamala Harris or Donald Trump.

Black communities don’t need politicians who just look like us. We need politicians who support the principles and policies that are important to us. Especially on the civil rights issue of our time: freedom of education.

Pastor Robertson said he also made an effort to extend the invitation to Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate. It has not yet been confirmed whether Walz will attend. Walz was in Scranton for campaign work Friday night.

CBS 21 has a crew heading to the campaign event, which starts at 7:30 p.m.

The visit marks a series of campaign events held in the battleground state of Pennsylvania over the past few weeks.

On October 15, she held a town hall with “Mothers for America” ​​in Montgomery County.

PREVIOUS NEWS |JD Vance speaks at ‘Mothers for America’ town hall in Pennsylvania

On the other hand, the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, is also expected to campaign in Harrisburg on behalf of his wife, Kamala Harris.

GALLERY | Doug Emhoff knocking on doors in Mechanicsburg on behalf of his wife’s campaign

The Harris campaign released a statement about Vance’s town hall in Harrisburg saying the following:

As Vice President Harris fights to increase opportunities for the next generation, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance’s Project 2025 will give Trump unchecked power to raise costs for families by nearly $4,000 a year and eliminate the Department of Education, which would save thousands of lives It will eliminate pre-school education. of children statewide.

Elon Musk also visited Central Pennsylvania on behalf of the Trump-Vance ticket on Saturday evening.

READ MORE |Elon Musk returns to Central Pa. for town hall to promote early voting with America PAC