
Education
The kids are not all right
Originally published at Broad + Liberty Our children’s test scores are down. They haven’t even reached pre-Covid levels, which wasn’t anything to brag about then. And the students are…
Read More: The kids are not all rightEducation 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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Education
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Outdated Seniority Rules Harm Pittsburgh Students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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Teacher: Forced Union Dues a “Kick in the Teeth”
This perspective on union spending by Pennsylvania public school teacher Rob Brough originally appeared at Free to Teach, a project of the Commonwealth Foundation. I left my teachers union…
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False Claims Fuel Charter Attacks
The Education Law Center has issued an attack on legislation to allow universities to approve new charter schools. In a single paragraph, a spokesman for the group makes makes…
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School Spending Transparency Coming to Pa.?
Pennsylvania earned a “C+” for providing citizens information on how public schools spend money, according to a recent report from the Cato Institute titled “Cracking the…
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Dues Deduction For Public Sector Unions Is An Offense To Taxpayers
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The Lost Year: How Seniority Harms Teachers and Kids
Rep. Vanessa Brown (D-Phila.) knows what it’s like to lose a good school teacher. For her son, it was nearly a matter of life and death. For years, Brown has…
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Cyber School Centers Embrace Community Values
Cyber schools have been falsely maligned as impersonal and anti-social environments for learning, but the truth is far different. Case in point: Achievement House Cyber Charter School is bringing blended…
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Podcast: Teachers on Union Exploitation – Part 2
Julie Raab and Keith Williams are speaking out about how union influence affects their teaching jobs. They, and many teachers across the state, are fed up with Pennsylvania’s unfair…
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Voters Support Education Reform
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Podcast: Teachers on Union Exploitation – Part 1
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Unions’ Taxpayer-Subsidized Politics
How would you feel if you were forced to pay for a political cause that worked against your own beliefs and values? Outraged? Victimized? Just plain angry? Many Pennsylvania teachers,…
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Saving Pennsylvania’s Best Teachers
This week, Commonwealth Foundation placed billboards in Philadelphia subway stations to highlight the problem of seniority rules in our public schools. Currently, Section 1125…
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