State Representative Michael Diven and the representatives from the Bravo Foundation presenting a check
to Mrs.Cathy Jakubowski, the principal and Fr. Robert Cedolia of St. Anne’s School.

State Representative Mike Diven joined representatives from the Bravo Educational Foundation and Enterprise Rent-A-Car to announce a $15,000 scholarship donation from Enterprise that will be used to provide school tuition scholarships for families in Allegheny County.

“It’s great to see scholarship organizations like Bravo taking donations from private businesses like Enterprise and using them to provide tuition assistance for families in our region. By keeping our Allegheny County private schools financially strong, thousands of children in this county will benefit greatly,” Diven said.

Diven said he believes it is important for all parents to be able to afford to send their children to a private school if they choose to do so.

“If you want to send your child to St. Anne of Pittsburgh, or Brookline Regional Catholic, these donations by businesses and individuals help in the quest to make that possible.”

Diven said the donation through the Bravo Educational Foundation was made possible by a state law he helped to pass in 2001. The law established the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program which provides companies in Pennsylvania with a 75 percent state tax credit on money they donate to private school scholarship organizations or to public school educational foundations. The Bravo Educational Foundation was established under the law to collect business donations and use them to provide private school tuition scholarships.

“This is an outstanding program and I’m very satisfied in my role in helping to enact it in the legislature,” Diven said. “Having educational choices is so important for families, and this scholarship program encourages our business community to help parents in Pennsylvania make those choices for their children.”

According to Diven, the Harrisburg-based Bravo Educational Foundation has committed to distributing more than $1 million of scholarship money statewide for private school tuition since 2003.

“Private school education is a huge part of Pennsylvania’s quality education system,” Diven said. “The bottom line is everyone in Pennsylvania should support a quality education for our state’s children.”

State Representative Diven’s Staff to Assist Residents

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The staff of State Representative Michael Diven will be in Room 120 of the Castle Shannon Borough Building on the second Thursday of each month, from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m. They will be able to assist residents with the following:

• Car registrations, special tags, handicap placards, titles and driver’s license applications
• Information about financial assistance for higher education
• Unemployment compensation, disability and workers’ compensation
• Birth and death certificates
• Problems with the Department of Public Welfare (food stamps, medical and income assistance)
• Pennsylvania income tax questions or problems
• Requests for literature of all kinds ñ bills, regulations, statutes, PA maps, senior citizen information
• Citations from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for outstanding accomplishments and family milestones
• Complaints or questions about utilities and the Public Utility Commission
• Complaints or problems with insurance companies
• Renewal of state-issued licenses or certifications
• Problems or questions about the state lottery
• Consumer complaints
• Liquor control board concerns or questions
• Tours of the state capital for individuals or groups
• PACE cards for senior citizens
• Voter registration forms and absentee ballots