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

School Choice Bill Introduced in PA House

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 18, 2011

While the debate over SB 1 continues over in the Pennsylvania Senate, Rep. Tom Quigley has introduced HB 1330 in the other chamber. HB 1330 would expand the Educational…

Media

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Education

Can’t Cut, Can We?

  • Charles Mitchell
  • April 13, 2011

While Pennsylvania’s public universities continue to cry poverty, pesky facts keep proving otherwise.  Here’s a snippet from a piece by Debra Erdley in yesterday’s Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Professors at…

Media

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Education

Washington Is Watching Harrisburg

  • Charles Mitchell
  • April 12, 2011

Two writers for Politico recently opined that when it comes to getting spending under control, “the most sweeping work is getting done in states”—and they said the folks in…

Media

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Education

School Choice and Polling

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 12, 2011

Yesterday, a slew of acronym organizations who want more taxpayer funding for public schools released yet another survey they commissioned trying to undermine school choice.  (This survey contradicts previous polls…

Media

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Education

Millions Funneled to Lobbyists by Public Schools

  • April 12, 2011

Harrisburg, PA – The Commonwealth Foundation announced today preliminary results from extensive Open Records Requests that found more than $59 million dollars of taxpayer money is being funneled through…

Press Release

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Education

SB 1 Expands to Include More Middle Class Families

  • April 11, 2011

Today, Senate Bill 1—legislation to expand school choice for Pennsylvania families—was amended and passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee.  The amendment increase voucher eligibility in the fourth…

Media

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Education

White-out not Needed for Higher Ed Cuts

  • April 11, 2011

Today, the percentage of students enrolling at Pennsylvania's public universities who don't graduate four year ranges from 42-89 percent, with Penn State boasting a mere 58 percent. As for their…

Commentary

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Education

Not So Fast, University Presidents

  • Charles Mitchell
  • April 8, 2011

CF’s own Nate Benefield is quoted at length in a Capitolwire piece today by Pete DeCoursey that calls us “a leading advocate of the unpopular higher education cuts proposed by…

Media

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Education

More Evidence Vouchers are a Win-Win

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 7, 2011

The latest series of studies from the University of Arkansas’s Department of Education Reform on the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) provide more evidence that vouchers improve academic performance…

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Education

Higher Education Spending & Performance

  • April 6, 2011

Gov. Tom Corbett's FY 2011-12 budget proposal includes $63.6 billion in total operating spending—$27.3 billion in General Fund spending—a reduction of $3.3 billion from FY 2010-11. This budget restores overall…

Fact Sheet

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Education

The Myth of Taxpayer Subsidies for Lower Tuition

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 5, 2011

CF’s Charles Mitchell sat down with Inside Academia‘s Andy Nash to discuss the false choice between higher tuition or higher taxpayer subsidies for universities.  Watch the video:…

Media

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Education

Public Policy and Free Enterprise in Pennsylvania

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 5, 2011

Public Policy and Free Enterprise in Pennsylvania represents a partnership with the Commonwealth Foundation and the department of economics at Duquesne University.  Key findings in these five papers include Over…

Commentary

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Education

A higher education in greed

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 4, 2011

My letter to the editor on university subsidies in Sunday’s Pittsburgh Tribune Review: University presidents and lobbyists for state-funded universities, such as the University of Pittsburgh and…

Media

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Education

Scholars Aren’t Made from Dollars

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • April 4, 2011

All indications say academic performance remains inadequate, with thousands of children trapped in failing schools while waiting lists for charter schools and Educational Improvement Tax Credit scholarships grow.  Proponents of…

Commentary

Read More: Scholars Aren’t Made from Dollars

Education

Talking School Choice with Dick Armey

  • Nathan Benefield
  • April 1, 2011

This week, CF Senior Fellow Jeff Coleman sat down with Dick Armey, former congressman and U.S. House Majority Leader and now Chairman of FreedomWorks, to talk about…

Media

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Education

Crystal Clear Evidence on School Choice

  • March 30, 2011

Released this month, a new comprehensive report looking at all the available empirical studies on school voucher programs found vouchers improve outcomes for both students and public schools.

Media

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Education

Students’ Ire Is Misplaced

  • Charles Mitchell
  • March 28, 2011

As I write this, there are Pennsylvania college students walking past our State Capitol holding signs reading, “Save Our System.”  It’s understandable:  Since Gov. Corbett outlined his budget, these students…

Media

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Education

Does State Aid to Universities Keep Tuition Low?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 25, 2011

Cato’s Neal McCluskey has a new podcast discussing state funding for universities, specifically discussing how taxpayer funding has not kept tuition low, but rather that colleges have raised prices…

Media

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Education

Do School Districts have to Raise Property Taxes?

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 25, 2011

Following Gov. Corbett’s budget, school district officials and the tax-and-spend lobby have cried that cuts to state education spending will force schools to increase property taxes.  Yet this ignores several…

Media

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Education

Pennsylvanians Support School Choice

  • March 24, 2011

Muhlenberg College polled more than 470 Pennsylvanians for the Morning Call. Several questions focused on expanding school choice in Pennsylvania; here’s what the poll found: Muhlenberg College Poll Question…

Media

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