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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Education
Hundreds of Pa. Schools Taking Opportunity Scholarships
Since our last update on the new Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) program, the Pa. Department of Education and Department of Community and Economic Development have compiled additional information…
Media
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Keep Tuition Affordable Legislative Package
Testimony of Nathan A. Benefield to Pennsylvania House State Government Committee, August 15, 2012 Good morning, my name is Nathan Benefield; I am the director of policy analysis for the…
Testimony
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PSEA Blows Smoke Over Political Spending
School board members at the West Chester Area School District are negotiating a new contract with teachers, and rightly questioning why the district deducts union dues from teachers’ paychecks, when…
Media
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Opportunity Scholarships Now Open for Business in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development issued new guidelines regarding the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) program. Businesses can begin applying for tax credits on August 8.
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Superintendent Shocked Students Splitting Skidding Schools
Across Pennsylvania, newspapers are telling the celebratory story of parents and students formerly stuck in failing and violent public schools who are taking immediate advantage of new opportunity scholarships that…
Media
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Cyber Schools Under Unfair Attack
Last week, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on Pennsylvania’s cyber schools advanced some common myths and omitted some critical facts about how these popular schools do academically, and how they are…
Media
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Who’s Eligible for PA Opportunity Scholarships?
Just weeks ago, the Pennsylvania General Assembly and Gov. Corbett threw a major lifeline to thousands of children trapped in violent and failing public schools. Click…
Media
Read More: Who’s Eligible for PA Opportunity Scholarships?Education
Unable to Win, Union Bosses Try to Change Election Rules
My younger brother Matt and I often enjoy an intense pickup one-on-one basketball game. Being seven years older, I had the advantage for a long time. As kids, I was…
Media
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Taxpayers Benefit from School Choice
I had a letter to the editor in Friday’s edition of the Philadelphia Daily News on the benefits of the expansion of school choice in Pennsylvania for taxpayers…
Media
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Massive Strategic Victory for Kids
I've long been convinced that Thomas Jefferson was exactly right when he wrote, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never…
Commentary
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What School Choice Advocates are Saying about Pennsylvania’s “Massive School Choice Victory”
The fiscal year 2012-13 state budget increases the Educational Improvement Tax Credit by $25 million to $100 million and creates a new $50 million tax credit for Opportunity Scholarships—effectively doubling…
Media
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School Choice Expansion in Pennsylvania
The fiscal year 2012-13 state budget increases the Educational Improvement Tax Credit by $25 million to $100 million and creates a new $50 million tax credit for Opportunity Scholarships—effectively doubling…
Memo
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Auditor Errs On Charter School Funding
Auditor General Jack Wagner recently release a report criticizing charter school funding. Unfortunately, the report is riddled with errors. One key flaw is the argument that cyber schools get…
Media
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Child Rescue Plan Underway, EITC is Lifeline
As we come down to the wire in the Pennsylvania legislature’s 2012 session, the Senate revealed the latest details (subscription required) of how an expanded opportunity scholarship program would…
Media
Read More: Child Rescue Plan Underway, EITC is LifelineEducation
Temple Tuition Tamp-Down Shows Wake-Up Calls Work
During last year’s budget season, I was pretty critical of Temple University for raising tuition by ten percent while its administrators joined in the Chicken Little routine (“The sky…
Media
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Save Kids, Save Schools, Save Our Future
Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit program is already transforming lives and schools throughout our state. In some of the worst neighborhoods and schools—the schools where kids are 5-times…
Media
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Doubling of Education Spending a Myth?
From 1996-97 to 2010-11, Pennsylvania public school spending increased 93.4 percent, according to state Department of Education data. Yet Rep. James Roebuck says this increase is a…
Media
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Would You Rather Kids Share Books, or Get Booked?
I’m writing right now from the road, specifically from the poorest city in America: Reading, Pennsylvania. Reading is one of the cities mentioned in today’s CF news release pointing…
Media
Read More: Would You Rather Kids Share Books, or Get Booked?Education
Kids 5 Times as Likely to Suffer Violence at Pa.’s Worst Schools
Pennsylvania’s worst schools don’t just compromise our children’s education and future success – they compromise our children’s safety. Kids attending Pennsylvania’s worst academically performing public schools are more than…
Media
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Research Finds Pa. Kids 5-times as Likely to Suffer Violence at Academically Failing Schools
Children attending Pennsylvania’s worst academically performing public schools are more than 5-times as likely to fall victim to acts of violent crime according to research released today by the…
Press Release
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2 Minutes Can Save Children
Meet Willie and Penny, two typical school students in Pennsylvania. Willie is a student from Philadelphia who attends one of the state’s worst violent, failing schools, where students are…
Media
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