Education
The High Cost of Pa. K–12 Education Failures
Key Points The cost and risk of failure in our K–12 system is high. Low academic achievement is a predictor of lower lifetime incomes and higher costs for taxpayers. On…
Read More: The High Cost of Pa. K–12 Education FailuresPennsylvania’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
Violence Rips Worst Pa. Schools!
In the 2009 school year, Pennsylvania’s bottom five percent of failing public schools had an alarming amount of violent incidents totaling more than 5,400. Not only are these 100,000 students trapped in failing schools, but…
Media
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Questions for Appropriators on Higher Education
Since Gov. Corbett presented a budget which reduced state taxpayer funding for institutions including Penn State, Temple, Pitt, and the State System of Higher Education, college administrators, faculty and lobbyists…
Media
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Oh Yeah, Those Guys
My letter to the Philadelphia Daily News: Will Bunch’s recent article identifies wealthy Americans who are voluntary donating their money to push greater school choice. Bunch fails…
Media
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Is Full-Day Kindergarten All Supporters Claim it to Be?
Gov. Corbett’s proposed budget includes cutting Pennsylvania’s Accountability Block Grant (ABG). Among the areas Accountability Block Grants can be use for is full-day Kindergarten programs at school districts. While…
Media
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Spending for Higher Education Doesn’t Create Economic Growth
The Coleman Report, published in 1966, and subsequent experience and analysis has demolished the idea that inputs alone are very useful in explaining the output of K-12. As the college…
Commentary
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Saving Our School Boards
Schools must be able to furlough teachers based on a broad-based assessment of student needs, not a last-in/first-out requirement that ignores teachers' classroom performance, ability to connect with students, grasp…
Commentary
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The Governor is Right and the Union Bosses are Wrong
I’m in Pittsburgh today, but I can hear the shouting in Harrisburg from here: Union bosses are hopping mad at Gov. Tom Corbett for calling them out in his…
Media
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Senate Passes Furlough Bill, but Keeps “Last In First Out”
Today, the Pennsylvania Senate passed SB 612 by a 38-12 count. The bill, sponsored by Senator Folmer, would give school districts the ability to furlough teachers and other school…
Media
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Corbett’s Case for School Choice
Gov. Tom Corbett delivered the following speech at the American Federation for Children conference at the Washington Marriott in Washington D.C. on Monday, May 9, 2011. What isn’t working about public…
Media
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PA House Passes Expansion of Scholarship Tax Credit
The Pennsylvania House today passed, on a 190-7 vote, HB 1330, which would expand the amount of tax credits available through Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC), and increase income…
Media
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Bad Economists and Good Budget Cuts
Yesterday in the Patriot-News, yet another Penn State administrator campaigned against Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed cuts to the generous subsidies our public universities receive from taxpayers (many of which…
Media
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Of School Choice and Government-Run Swimming Pools
Responding to a letter I wrote, a letter in the Allentown Morning Call attempts to make the case that school vouchers are a bad idea—using the rationale that…
Media
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On School Spending “Cuts”
A reader writes in, noting that a school board member is pushing the “stop the billion dollar cut” campaign, and asking for some info. Here are some quick facts.
Media
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Has Penn State “bin Laden” with Speech-Squelching Policies?
Our friends at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) say yes: The announcement late last evening that U.S. forces had killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan…
Media
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Property Taxpayer Referendum
Good afternoon. I am Nathan Benefield, Director of Policy Research for the Commonwealth Foundation. We are a nonprofit, independent public policy research and educational institute based in Harrisburg. I would…
Testimony
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PSU: Progress Seems Underway
On March 8, Gov. Tom Corbett started a statewide conversation about higher education through his budget address, in which he proposed significant cuts in the subsidies Pennsylvania public universities receive…
Media
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When Bell Bottoms Were Cool…And PSU Charged $675
I just sent the following to a student at Penn State who is writing a paper on Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed cuts to the subsidies our public universities receive from…
Media
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A Pitt Student’s Take on Corbett’s Budget Proposal
As a Pitt student, I will not be joining in those manufactured protests, nor will I be participating in lobbying activities like Pitt's yearly "Harrisburg Day" when the University spends…
Commentary
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Understanding Real vs. “Sticker Price” Tuition
A common misconception in debating higher education funding is that the posted rate of tuition, or “sticker price,” is what students actually pay. This is exemplified in a commentary…
Media
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School Choice Advancing in Indiana, Tennessee
While the Pennsylvania Senate continues to deliberate on Senate Bill 1, school choice is moving along in several other states as well. Last…
Media
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Provost Spins Unsuccessfully
I used to be one of those people who have Google Alerts set for their names. I’m not anymore, so it’s come to my attention only belatedly that on April…
Media
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