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

John Stossel: ‘Stupid in America’

  • January 13, 2006

John Stossel plans to look at how the public schools are failing kids tonight on ABC. ‘Stupid in America’ will ask the question: Does the U.S. government’s monopoly over public…

Media

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Education

Referendum exemption is blackmail

  • January 10, 2006

From the York Dispatch… Thumbs Down to Rep. Stan Saylor’s proposal to amend property tax reform legislation to an extent that renders taxpayer approval impotent when it comes to increases…

Media

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Education

States Throwing Money at Higher Education

  • Nathan Benefield
  • January 10, 2006

An analysis of state spending on higher education from The Chronicle of Higher Education shows that overall spending increases substantially outpaced inflation. While the article’s perspective (and the perspective…

Media

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Education

Are American Kids Stupid?

  • Nathan Benefield
  • January 9, 2006

I love John Stossel reports – this Friday (on 20/20) he asks, “Are American Kids Stupid?” The answer, of course, is no, but our monopolistic public school system is.

Media

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Education

Unions Win: Florida Supreme Court Rules Against School Choice

  • January 5, 2006

News release from the Institute for Justice…. Florida Supreme Court Strikes Down School Choice Washington, D.C.-In a major blow to education reform in Florida, the Florida Supreme Court today struck…

Media

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Education

Rocky Mountain High

  • Nathan Benefield
  • January 5, 2006

Denver enacts the nation’s first merit pay system for teachers in a large district. See this National Center for Policy Analysis summary of Denver’s new system and other pay…

Media

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Education

Myths about Public Education

  • Nathan Benefield
  • December 21, 2005

Here is short article summarizing a few of the debunked myths about public education spending: National Center for Policy Analysis – Five Myths About Education. For those still looking…

Media

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Education

Court Bans Mention of Intelligent Design

  • Nathan Benefield
  • December 20, 2005

The Dover Schools case has reached a conclusion: Judge bars the school district from mentioning ‘intelligent design.’ The lesson to take from this sage is that government run schools…

Media

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Education

The public school monopoly hates competition

  • December 18, 2005

It was always only a matter of when, not if, the defenders of the status quo in public education would seek to hamstring their competition. First, no charter school…

Media

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Education

Universal preschool is inviting universal disaster

  • Nathan Benefield
  • December 5, 2005

SF Chronicle article – Universal preschool is inviting universal disaster. Advocates of universal pre-school in Pennsylvania would do well to heed this warning.

Media

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Education

Is the NEA Really a NUT?

  • July 26, 2005

Is the NEA really a NUT? By asking, I’m not casting aspersions on the National Education Association’s sanity, just on its choice of name. The NEA’s British counterpart really is…

Commentary

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Education

Throwing a Party for the Educational Status Quo

  • July 18, 2005

The National Education Association recently concluded its annual convention in Los Angeles, gathering 8,000 delegates in celebration of the status quo in public education. When attendees weren’t offering a vigorous…

Commentary

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Education

The Union Behind the Curtain

  • April 7, 2005

California’s Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is giving his 49 colleagues across the country a quick tutorial in political courage. And Gov. Ed Rendell would be wise to sit up in class…

Commentary

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Education

School Choice Works!

  • March 17, 2005

A Quick Guide to the Scholarly Literature on School Choice During a recent round of visits with print journalists, I spoke to a newspaper editor who told me that she…

Commentary

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Education

The Somerset Nine: Pennsylvanias Magnificent Seven

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • March 10, 2005

What does it take for school board members to be fiscally responsible with taxpayers’ money? For the nine members of the Somerset Area School District (SASD) board of directors, the…

Commentary

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Education

Union Propaganda Can’t Hide Charter Schools’ Success

  • October 24, 2004

There they go again. Back in July 2002, during a slow news period, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), a school employee labor union, issued a widely cited report "showing"…

Commentary

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Education

How to Increase Teacher Pay

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • September 7, 2004

Few people will disagree that the best school teachers are often paid less than they deserve. But even fewer people agree when it comes to figuring out what to do…

Commentary

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Education

Pennsylvania Needs School Board Rent Control

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • June 2, 2004

Pennsylvanians are once again being reminded this spring that they never actually own their homes; they only “rent” them from their local school board. As school districts across the commonwealth…

Commentary

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Education

Referendum: School Taxes

  • May 11, 2004

Pennsylvania homeowners lack the right to vote on school property tax increases, while citizens in 44 other states enjoy some form of taxpayer protection. As Pennsylvania legislators debate whether or…

Fact Sheet

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Education

The Fight for Educational Freedom

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • April 29, 2004

Matthew J. Brouillette, president of The Commonwealth Foundation, delivered the following remarks at The Heritage Foundation's Resource Bank dinner in Chicago on May 29, 2004, in honor of Virginia Walden-Ford,…

Commentary

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