Charles Mitchell
Senior Fellow
Charles Mitchell is a Senior Fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation.
Charles first became associated with the Commonwealth Foundation when he was a college newspaper editor under attack for defending free speech. He became a Commonwealth Foundation donor in 2006, joined the staff in 2010, and was President and CEO from 2016 to 2024. Charles is the only person to receive the State Policy Network’s Overton Award and Roe Award for his work building out Pennsylvania’s freedom movement.
Education
It’s Not About Tuition, It’s About Mo’ Money
Over at PA Independent, Stacy Brown has an important story on the ongoing fight over Gov. Corbett’s budget proposal. There, Duquesne University professor Antony Davies, a member of CF’s…
Media
Read More: It’s Not About Tuition, It’s About Mo’ MoneyEducation
Not a Joke: Learn from Louisiana
Here in Pennsylvania, we like to think we’re better than states like Louisiana. Those folks used to have slaves, but our founder was a Quaker. They’re poor, but we’re rich. …
Media
Read More: Not a Joke: Learn from LouisianaTaxes & Economy
Calvin Coolidge, Tom Corbett, and Why Politics Isn’t Like Business
My wife is awesome. As proof, I submit to you the fact that she willingly parted with 35 bucks in order to give me The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge for…
Media
Read More: Calvin Coolidge, Tom Corbett, and Why Politics Isn’t Like BusinessEducation
A Word on Hellholes
As I got in the car yesterday to begin a very long drive home from Pike County, I learned of a letter Sen. Vincent Hughes had sent requesting that I…
Media
Read More: A Word on HellholesEducation
Dear Reluctant Rural Republican…
A friend just forwarded me some objections offered by a Republican member of the House of Representatives from a rural area who’s reluctant to support a comprehensive school choice bill…
Media
Read More: Dear Reluctant Rural Republican…Education
Radical Reform Required…Now!
My friend Nick Pandelidis, a physician and entrepreneur in York, has published an excellent piece on school choice in the York Daily Record. After recounting much data, he concludes:…
Media
Read More: Radical Reform Required…Now!Education
The Right Questions for Penn State
Stacy Brown of the Pennsylvania Independent—which, in the interests of full disclosure, CF launched but no longer controls in any way—is asking the right questions this morning in his…
Media
Read More: The Right Questions for Penn StateGovernment Accountability
Thank You, Friends of Freedom
Less than two weeks ago, CF announced to our supporters a goal of raising $225,000 by year’s end. They have already supplied $54,487.76. Talk about Thanksgiving…I’m thankful! And if you would…
Media
Read More: Thank You, Friends of FreedomEducation
The Lesson of Ohio Might Not Be What You Think
The Wall Street Journal recently featured a very short, very striking piece on the defeat of much-needed limits on the power of government unions in Ohio. The conventional wisdom on…
Media
Read More: The Lesson of Ohio Might Not Be What You ThinkEducation
School Choice Saves, School Choice Sells
Harrisburg is atwitter this morning as the Senate Education Committee is voting on school choice legislation. Let’s quickly rebut three myths that are circulating: School choice saves money. It’s…
Media
Read More: School Choice Saves, School Choice SellsEducation
Want a 70% Approval Rating?
Let’s be real. One of the things that often gets CF into trouble is that from the outside, it seems like we never need to worry about whether the free-market…
Media
Read More: Want a 70% Approval Rating?Education
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
Read More: Pennsylvania’s Public Universities Have IndigestionRegulation
This Is What a Boom Looks Like
About half an hour ago, I was in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. (For my fellow natives of the Philadelphia area, Canonsburg is southwest of Pittsburgh, where they say “younse” instead of “youse”…
Media
Read More: This Is What a Boom Looks LikeTaxes & Economy
Who’s Nutty Now?
There’s a ton of chatter out there right now about how nutty the Tea Party is, most recently with 29 percent of voters saying Tea Party members are “economic…
Media
Read More: Who’s Nutty Now?Education
Penn State’s Smallest Tuition Hike in Years
The conventional wisdom ever since March 8, when Gov. Tom Corbett made his budget address, has been very simple: The sky is falling! How, exactly? In the form of crippling…
Media
Read More: Penn State’s Smallest Tuition Hike in YearsEducation
President Obama Is Right
Savor that headline, because you won’t see it on this blog too often. But it’s true. As our friend Lindsey Burke at the Heritage Foundation points out, today at…
Media
Read More: President Obama Is RightEducation
Will the “Year of School Choice” Come to PA?
Today’s Wall Street Journal has an editorial that begins as follows: School may be out for the summer, but school choice is in, as states across the nation…
Media
Read More: Will the “Year of School Choice” Come to PA?Education
Cut Waste at This Temple, and I Will Praise It in Three Days
Temple University just announced that it is raising tuition by ten percent, blaming the new state budget. Temple is an outstanding example of an institution that should have spent…
Media
Read More: Cut Waste at This Temple, and I Will Praise It in Three DaysEducation
Are Tuition Hikes Forced by Cuts in State Subsidies?
Today, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) voted to raise tuition by 7.5 percent for 2011-12. Many have tried to place the blame solely on the reduction…
Media
Read More: Are Tuition Hikes Forced by Cuts in State Subsidies?Education
Don’t Fall for the False Choice on Tuition and Taxpayers
I see that right now, our legislators are once again debating cuts to the generous subsidies our public universities receive from taxpayers. Some are claiming that if the cuts pass,…
Media
Read More: Don’t Fall for the False Choice on Tuition and TaxpayersEducation
The Governor is Right and the Union Bosses are Wrong
I’m in Pittsburgh today, but I can hear the shouting in Harrisburg from here: Union bosses are hopping mad at Gov. Tom Corbett for calling them out in his…
Media
Read More: The Governor is Right and the Union Bosses are Wrong