Education
Commonwealth Court ruling is a massive win for education choice advocates
Originally published in The Philadelphia Inquirer After a more than eight-year slog, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court affirmed what the Pennsylvania Constitution has said all…
Read More: Commonwealth Court ruling is a massive win for education choice advocatesEducation is the first stepping-stone on the path to success, but Pennsylvania students face severe inequality among public school districts. Thousands who can’t afford private school are trapped in failing schools or situations that aren’t the right fit. The solution to this crisis is school choice. By offering families options outside their zip code-assigned district schools, students are better able to find their path to success. Charter schools, tax credit scholarships, education savings accounts (ESAs), homeschooling, and other types of education choice must become a priority in Pennsylvania.
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The Berlin Wall of Philadelphia’s Public Schools
Students in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh had their hopes dashed last week when they lost out on the chance to land one of the few vacant openings in charter schools. In…
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Myth: PA Spends Less on Education
There are many myths circulating about how much Pennsylvania spends on public education. One such myth is that the state government used to provide 50 percent of all revenue for…
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7 Little-Known Facts on Pennsylvania Public School Spending
For years, teachers unions in Pennsylvania have claimed the governor cut $1 billion from schools. But the real story is more complicated. A huge influx of federal stimulus funding expired,…
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Pennsylvania Still Not Making the Grade
The bipartisan education reform group, StudentsFirst, released its annual State Policy Report Card grading each state’s education policies and demonstrating the need for more student-centered reforms. How did Pennsylvania…
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Win for Transparency in Public School Spending
How would you like to know what’s in a teachers’ contract before your school district passes it—and locks in spending—for four years? And how would you like to track how…
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Philly Experiment Shows Charter School Promise
Philadelphia schools have long battled declining student achievement, sky-rocketing violence, and unsustainable spending levels. Yet, several turn-around schools have managed to overcome this bleak educational trajectory and should…
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Paycheck Protection Benefits Teachers and Taxpayers
Pennsylvania’s AFL-CIO union boss Rick Bloomingdale is absolutely right that there is a “war on workers” here in Pennsylvania—he should know, because he is waging it. His recent opinion piece…
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PODCAST: StudentsFirst on Education Reform
Part two of our conversation with Ashley DeMauro, PA state director for StudentsFirst, features an in-depth discussion of seniority reform, teacher evaluations, school transparency, and charter school reform.
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Philly Schools Spending Crisis Set to Grow
$3.1 billion is a lot to spend for violent and failing schools. A Pennsylvania Independent report by Maura Pennington examines the School District of Philadelphia’s new budget and highlights…
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Union Dues Exploit Teachers, Taxpayers
What if I told you that regardless of your political beliefs, several hundred dollars will be deducted from your paycheck each year to support politicians whose views you may not…
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Keeping Teachers in the Classroom
Given our still-sputtering economy, Americans have grown used to their public schools facing tight budgets. This fiscal squeeze has drawn out a hidden crisis in public education: How do we…
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VIDEO: Charter Schools Threatened by Punitive Rules
With a waiting list 30,000 students long, you’d think Philadelphia would be working to expand the reach of charter schools. Sadly, Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission is seeking just the opposite, …
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Top 5 Articles of 2013
Yesterday, we gave you the 5 most popular blog posts of 2013. Today, we are highlighting the 5 most read articles of 2013 on our website. 1) The (Growing)…
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Top 5 Blog Posts of 2013
As 2013 winds to a close, we thought we’d run down the top stories of the past year. Here are Commonwealth Foundation’s top 5 blog posts, as chosen by you…
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PODCAST: StudentsFirst & Performance Profiles
In our latest podcast, Ashley DeMauro, PA state director for StudentsFirst, discusses Pennsylvania’s recently implemented school performance profiles. What do they measure? How can parents learn about their…
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Philadelphia’s Education Crisis Worsens
More than 80 percent of 4th and 8th grade students in the School District of Philadelphia didn’t reach proficiency in math and reading, according to the Nation’s Report Card. When…
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Outdated Seniority Rules Harm Pittsburgh Students
Yesterday, we reported that the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers is trying to lower evaluation standards for teachers it had previously helped craft. Under Pittsburgh’s new system, which goes into…
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Teachers’ Union Wants Lower Teacher Standards
Four years ago, Pittsburgh School District, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, embarked on an innovative effort to evaluate teachers. Administrators and the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers (PFT) collaborated to create…
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Cyber Schools Deserve Fair Treatment
Alyssa Weaver is a poster-child for the benefits of choice in public education. At the age of twelve, Alyssa was diagnosed with a crippling case of scoliosis which, in…
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Union Dues Backing Political Groups Prompted My Resignation
This perspective on union spending by Pennsylvania public school teacher John Cress originally appeared at Free to Teach, a project of the Commonwealth Foundation. I have been a middle school…
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Reform Cybers Without Arbitrary Cuts
How will more than 35,000 cyber school students be affected by legislation pending in the state Senate this week? There’s both good and bad news on the horizon and your…
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