Pennsylvania Students Can’t Succeed if They Aren’t Safe

Originally published by The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

According to federal and state law, the Keystone State owes parents of students attending dangerous schools the chance to transfer their kids to a safer public school in their own or a neighboring district.

But to date, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has not designated any school as “persistently dangerous.” Zero. Zilch. This number should surprise many, especially considering the significant number of public school students who endure daily violence.

Moreover, this hasn’t always been the case for PDE. In years past, Pennsylvania was one of the eight states to officially designate schools as persistently dangerous. According to an investigation by The 74 (an education-advocacy publication), Pennsylvania had identified 155 persistently dangerous schools by April 2019.

Read more at The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.