Education 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.

Education

7 Education Facts Unions Don’t Want You to Know!

  • Priya Brannick
  • September 25, 2012

Pennsylvania is reeling from the Friday release of student test scores for 2011-12, which show declining student performance in our public schools. Kids did worse on the Pennsylvania System…

Media

Read More: 7 Education Facts Unions Don’t Want You to Know!

Education

Approaches to Property Tax Reform

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 24, 2012

Testimony of Nathan A. Benefield to the Pennsylvania House Select Committee on Property Tax Reform Good morning, my name is Nathan Benefield; I am the director of policy analysis for…

Testimony

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Education

Harrisburg’s Horrid Decade of Despair

  • September 21, 2012

With soaring crime, a city in bankruptcy and families on the financial brink, children trapped in Harrisburg School District have to wonder how bad it can really get. …

Media

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Education

How Pennsylvania Teachers Salaries Stack Up

  • Priya Brannick
  • September 12, 2012

If the Chicago teachers union walk-out on school children or the WGAL story on sick-time pay has you wondering about teacher salaries in Pennsylvania, you’re in luck. Our…

Media

Read More: How Pennsylvania Teachers Salaries Stack Up

Education

“Mighty” Teachers’ Union Strikes Chicago

  • Priya Brannick
  • September 10, 2012

Some 25,000 members of the Chicago Teachers’ Union (CTU) went on strike today, leaving 400,000 students out of school and parents scrambling to find safe places for their children to…

Media

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Education

PSBA Chooses Scores Over Kids

  • Nathan Benefield
  • September 5, 2012

Yesterday, Priya posted on how a Philadelphia area family faces criminal charges for trying to put their child in a better school, while demand for Pennsylvania’s new Opportunity Scholarship…

Media

Read More: PSBA Chooses Scores Over Kids

Education

Is Caring for Your Kids Criminal?

  • Priya Brannick
  • September 4, 2012

Hamlet and Olesia Garcia are facing criminal charges in Montgomery County for enrolling their daughter in the suburban Lower Moreland Township school district when they appear to live in…

Media

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Education

Public School Failures Leave Graduates Unemployable

  • Priya Brannick
  • August 31, 2012

William Marsh would like to hire a couple of good workers for his steel bar manufacturing company in Warminster, Pa. But he has a problem: He can’t find good…

Media

Read More: Public School Failures Leave Graduates Unemployable

Education

Back to School Numbers

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 28, 2012

With kids returning to school this week, here are some fast facts about education spending and performance in Pennsylvania. $14,865: The amount Pennsylvania school districts spent per student in…

Media

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Education

Opportunity Scholarships a “Choice for a Better Future”

  • Priya Brannick
  • August 24, 2012

This week, the Times-Herald of Montgomery County published my letter to the editor on underperforming schools and why Pennsylvania’s new opportunity scholarships matter: In “Norristown School…

Media

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Education

Hundreds of Pa. Schools Taking Opportunity Scholarships

  • Nathan Benefield, Priya Brannick
  • August 20, 2012

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

Read More: Hundreds of Pa. Schools Taking Opportunity Scholarships

Education

Keep Tuition Affordable Legislative Package

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 15, 2012

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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Education

PSEA Blows Smoke Over Political Spending

  • Priya Brannick
  • August 6, 2012

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

Read More: PSEA Blows Smoke Over Political Spending

Education

Opportunity Scholarships Now Open for Business in Pennsylvania

  • Nathan Benefield
  • August 2, 2012

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.

Media

Read More: Opportunity Scholarships Now Open for Business in Pennsylvania

Education

Superintendent Shocked Students Splitting Skidding Schools

  • July 31, 2012

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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Education

Cyber Schools Under Unfair Attack

  • Priya Brannick
  • July 27, 2012

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

Read More: Cyber Schools Under Unfair Attack

Education

Who’s Eligible for PA Opportunity Scholarships?

  • July 26, 2012

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

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Education

Unable to Win, Union Bosses Try to Change Election Rules

  • Nathan Benefield
  • July 24, 2012

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

Read More: Unable to Win, Union Bosses Try to Change Election Rules

Education

Taxpayers Benefit from School Choice

  • Nathan Benefield
  • July 23, 2012

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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Education

Massive Strategic Victory for Kids

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • July 16, 2012

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

Read More: Massive Strategic Victory for Kids