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
Willie and Penny Can’t Read
We'll call them Willie, Penny, Ben and Frankie, four public school students from Philadelphia, Reading, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, respectively. If they don't drop out of school and become clients of…
Commentary
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School Choice Saves Kids, Taxpayers $4 Billion
Critics of expanding school choice in Pennsylvania often claim it will “cost too much” or drain precious resources. But in fact, school choice already saves Pennsylvania taxpayers more than $4…
Media
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Truth About Failing Schools is Scary
Today, the Commonwealth Foundation released an analysis updating violence statistics from failing public schools. These 141 schools with data available all rank in the bottom-5 percent based on…
Media
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Analysis Finds Failing Public Schools Racked by Violence
The Commonwealth Foundation released today an alarming new analysis of school violence that uncovered more than 4,500 criminal acts occurred at the 141 public schools scoring worst in the…
Press Release
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Pennsylvania’s Failing, Violent Schools
Nearly 82,000 children are enrolled in the 141 public schools with available data on violence in Pennsylvania's lowest-performing 5 percent on student proficiency. These schools reported more than 4,500 violent…
Fact Sheet
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How Does Your Public School Stack up Against the World?
The George W. Bush Institute has a new “Global Report Card” looking at test scores for each school district in the United States against students around the world…
Media
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Charter School Funding in Pennsylvania
Many school districts and other advocates complain about the charter school funding mechanism, arguing that it "drains funding" from school districts. This charge must be considered in the context of…
Fact Sheet
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The Learning Revolution
Online learning serves a significant and growing number of students, and represents a significant shift in how we educate Pennsylvania's children. In light of the growth of cyber and hybrid…
Report
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Taxpayer-Funded Lobbyists’ Survey Contradicts Real Polls
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association has released a new “survey” claiming that state residents oppose plans to provide vouchers to students. The PSBA’s funding comes from taxpayers through school…
Media
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Lawmakers Can Save Students in Duquesne
Jake Haulk at the Allegheny Institute points out that Duquesne City School District spends almost $20,000 per student every year (state average is about $14,000). But less than…
Media
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Academic Achievement Stagnates
Pennsylvania students are not making much academic progress according to 2011 PSSA test results. The Patriot-News reports small gains were not enough to keep some central Pennsylvania school districts…
Media
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Pennsylvania’s Public Universities Have Indigestion
If you ask them, they'll say they're hurting because budget-slashing Gov. Tom Corbett just forced something nasty down their throats—namely cuts to the subsidies they receive from Keystone State taxpayers. …
Commentary
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SAT Scores by State, 2011
EDITORS NOTE: Click here for the 2014 SAT Scores by state Every year, the College Board puts out SAT scores by state, but only in PDF format. Since…
Media
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Teacher Qualifications vs. Teacher Effectiveness
Teachers are an important factor affecting student performance, and teacher salaries make up the biggest chunk of public school spending. So ensuring that the best teachers instruct our kids should…
Media
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Do Public Schools Need More Construction Spending?
One of the supposed benefits of President Obama’s “Jobs Bill” (despite demands to “pass it now”, the jobs bill has not yet…
Media
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Tax Credit Scholarships Shown to Improve Student Performance
A new study of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship—which provides tax credits for businesses donating to organizations offering scholarships to K-12 students, similar to Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax—finds academic…
Media
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What Do France, Hungary and Pennsylvania Have in Common?
A Hungarian, a Frenchman and a Pennsylvanian walk into a bar…okay, so they may not have the same tastes in beer, but turns out they would have the same ability…
Media
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Teacher Strikes
Good afternoon, my name is Pearre Dean and I am Deputy Director of Public Affairs at the Commonwealth Foundation, Pennsylvania’s free-market think tank that crafts free-market policies, convinces Pennsylvanians of…
Testimony
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The Real Crime in Philadelphia’s School District
Last year, we blogged on the hefty $65,000 bonus Philadelphia’s Superintendent Arlene Ackerman collected. Her annual base salary, $348,140, was higher than what superintendents collect in New York City,…
Media
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Green Light More Education Tax Credits
Would you ever give a green light or a hard-earned nickel to a business model that showed it was going to hire more staff to service fewer customers by doubling…
Commentary
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Texas vs. Pennsylvania on Educational Performance
At a hearing yesterday on right-to-work legislation, a number of testifiers remarked on the substantially greater job growth in right-to-work states, on the fact residents are moving from…
Media
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