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
Mapping Graduation Rates
Education Week has an interactive tool to map the graduation rates of states and school districts (based on the recent analysis by America’s Promise Alliance). Here is the…
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The Real Cost of Public Schools
Andrew Coulson has an article in the Washington Post and a more detailed version on the Cato-at-liberty blog contrasting public school spending ($24,000 per pupil) and private school…
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Report: Philly graduation rate 33% lower than suburbs
A new report on graduation rates in the largest US cities has troubling news for Philadelphia (and most urban districts). The Philadelphia City School District ranks 34th among the…
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New Reports on Education and School Choice
Here are a few new reports that make for handy reference guides for legislators, advocates, researchers, or anyone interested in education reform. American Legislative Exchange Council: 2007…
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School Choice Tax Credit Saves Money in IL
An analysis by the Illinois Policy Institute of the Illinois Education Expense Tax Credit finds that an increase on the cap for that credit to $4,000 per child would…
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Merit selection and education lawsuits
Our sister think tank, the Show Me Institute, has an interesting post on the intersection of merit selection of judges (i.e. the Missouri Plan) and education cases – namely…
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Salaries for 120,000 PA teachers
Stop Teacher Strikes has the data here.
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Lobbying by State Universities
The blog, “Left of Centre,” has some details about lobbying by PA’s state universities, following up an article in the Daily Collegian. Of interest to those following lobbying…
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Wisconsin’s Virtual Schools Could Close this Summer
Intriguing piece in School Reform News on how the Wisconsin teachers’ union is also working to undermine cyber schools – rather than targeting funding, they are going after cyber…
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Teachers Unions Exposed
TeachersUnionExposed.com is a new website (from the Center for Union Facts) focusing on teachers’s unions role in blocking education reform, bargaining away quality, and protecting bad teachers. They…
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Home-Schooling Under Attack
Here is some commentary on the recent California court ruling that would require parents homeschooling their children to have full teaching credentials/certification. Acton Institute PowerBlog Cato-At-Liberty…
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Determining the Cost of an Adequate Education
The Pennsylvania General Assembly recently commissioned a $650,000 study to determine what it “costs” to educate a child. The firm winning the commission reported that the state should increase spending…
Commentary
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Empowering Families
Ken Blackwell commentary on the mistakes states are making by continuing to push for taxpayer-funded state-run preschool – to the detriment of educational choice and parental control.
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Study: Milwaukee school choice program saves taxpayers money
A new study released by the School Choice Demonstration Project at the University of Arkansas, demonstrates how Milwaukee’s Parental Choice Program saves Wisconsin taxpayers money, as voucher amounts are…
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Drew Carey Video on Education & Teachers’ Unions
ReasonTV video with Drew Carey on union opposition to school reform in Watts Commentary on the video from NTU’s Government Bytes blog…
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Curriculum reform “isn’t enough”
Reason’s Lisa Snell lays the smackdown on arguments by Sol Stern in his article “School Choice Isn’t Enough” (Click here for previous post), which labels instructionist reform…
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The School Choice Gold Standard
The Friedman Foundation has a new report grading the various scholarship, voucher, and tax credit programs across the US on three categories – student restrictions (how many students can…
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School choice suggested for Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review discusses how a Milwaukee-like school choice program might work in Pittsburgh, after speaking with former Milwaukee mayor John Norquist. Norquist will be speaking at an event on…
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Don’t write off vouchers
Robert Enlow in USA Today on the merits of school voucher programs. Enlow is providing the counterpoint to a piece arguing for moving away from the push for…
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PHEAA must pay legal fees
The Commonwealth Court ruled that PHEAA must pay $48,000 in legal fees to the AP, WTAE TV, and the Patriot News for “wanton disregard in withholding public records”:…
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Budget Preview
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story previews Rendell’s budget proposal, including “Rebuilding Pennsylvania”, involving a three-year, $860 million ($287/year average) in new spending on infrastructure, mostly through new borrowing. He also promises…
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