Education
2025 State of Education Spending in Pennsylvania
Overview The national trends impacting education in Pennsylvania in 2025 include an impending fiscal cliff, under-enrolled schools, and population decline, all of which lead to school closures…
Read More: 2025 State of Education Spending in PennsylvaniaPennsylvania’s future is in the hands of the next generation. Parents and students—not activist agendas—should drive the Commonwealth’s education policy. While policymakers have been entrusted with ensuring the next generation receives a quality education, parents should be empowered to choose the quality education that meets their unique child’s needs. Charter schools and tax credit scholarships are integral pieces of school choice, but more reforms are needed to make school choice a reality for all Pennsylvania students.
Education
Patriot News (Mostly) Endorses School Choice
This week, the Patriot News editorial board wrote an endorsement of a school voucher proposal in Pennsylvania. Here is the key pro argument: The case for vouchers is…
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A Word on Hellholes
As I got in the car yesterday to begin a very long drive home from Pike County, I learned of a letter Sen. Vincent Hughes had sent requesting that I…
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School Choice in Pa. is Cure for Disaster
An excellent commentary by Jeanne Allen in the Delaware County Times sums up the case for school choice and the empirical evidence: Pennsylvania’s neighbors have led by example…
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Four of Five Philadelphia Students Not Proficient in Reading or Math
Yesterday, the National Center for Education Statistics (part of the U.S. Department of Education) released district perfomance data on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). This is part…
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Are School Vouchers Constitutional in Pennsylvania?
Several attacks on school choice claim that using state funds for vouchers that might go to private schools is unconstitutional. Here are some facts and legal analysis on that issue.
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Hughes’ Boos a Ruse
In the absence of facts and any plausible excuse for poor performance, it’s always a good time to attack the messenger. As if on cue, this well-worn strategy was trotted…
Media
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Lorenzo’s Boil: Why Father Not PSEA Knows Best
It’s just over 24 hours ago that children and parents trapped in failing and violent Pennsylvania schools delivered to Harrisburg lawmakers 4,300 messages of urgency and hope. Among the messengers was Lorenzo…
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Educrats Fight for System Not Kids, Taxpayers
The Sharon Herald posted an article Sunday about anti-voucher signs popping up around the Sharon, Sharpsville and Greenville areas in Mercer County. I’ve seen these signs in Western Pa.
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PSEA Ignores Children’s Cries for Help, Facts
Following the Commonwealth Foundation’s press conference with legislators highlighting how one violent act occurs every 17 minutes in Pennsylvania’s worst-performing schools, the Pennsylvania State Education Association retorted: “In…
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Dear Reluctant Rural Republican…
A friend just forwarded me some objections offered by a Republican member of the House of Representatives from a rural area who’s reluctant to support a comprehensive school choice bill…
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Chart of the Day: Public School Enrollment vs Staff
One of the drivers of education spending is an increase in staff sizes while enrollment has declined. Data from the PA Department of Education indicates that from 1999-2000 to…
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What Will You See in 17 Minutes?
Seventeen minutes is a small sliver of time for most people. In those few moments, most people could take a shower, prepare a meal, or watch half a sitcom. But…
Commentary
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Radical Reform Required…Now!
My friend Nick Pandelidis, a physician and entrepreneur in York, has published an excellent piece on school choice in the York Daily Record. After recounting much data, he concludes:…
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Pennsylvania’s School Choice Movement Must Address the ‘Bottom 5%’
Pennsylvania has a simple choice to make. We can embrace change and welcome educational reform or we can choose to satisfy ourselves with the tired old policies of the past that,…
Commentary
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Improving Public Education…Through School Choice
Here is a letter to the editor I submitted to the Pocono Record, correcting the record on school choice: Your editorial, “Support your public schools” bashes school choice…
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The Right Questions for Penn State
Stacy Brown of the Pennsylvania Independent—which, in the interests of full disclosure, CF launched but no longer controls in any way—is asking the right questions this morning in his…
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Our Villainous Plan to Let Parents Choose the Best School for Their Children
If you weren’t aware, Commonwealth Foundation is a sinister cog in a powerful underground organization of folks who support online learning. An article from The Nation bemoans conservative and libertarian…
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The Lesson of Ohio Might Not Be What You Think
The Wall Street Journal recently featured a very short, very striking piece on the defeat of much-needed limits on the power of government unions in Ohio. The conventional wisdom on…
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End Transparency Exemption for Penn State
Penn State officials will soon be under a different kind of investigation—an investigation by taxpayers. In the aftermath of the child sexual abuse scandal, Rep. Eugene DePasquale is…
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Teacher Evaluation Bill Up for Committee Vote
Reforming Pennsylvania’s teacher evaluation system is an important leg of Gov. Tom Corbett’s education reform agenda, along with school vouchers, charter school reform, and expanding the successful Educational Improvement Tax…
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Is the Education Status Quo a Success?
Former Gov Ed Rendell was in town today to defend the status quo in education, claiming that more spending has produced great improvements in performance. Is he looking at…
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