Priya Brannick
Senior Fellow
Priya Brannick is a Senior Fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation.
Priya has a Master of Arts in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University and graduated magna cum laude in 2002 with a degree in journalism from Texas Christian University. Before joining the Commonwealth Foundation, she was an international affairs journalist for WORLD Magazine and the Communications Director for the Institute on Religion and Public Policy.
Priya’s primary research areas include education reform and labor policy. Her expertise has been featured in various media outlets including: KDKA, WITF, WHYY, the Patriot News, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, amongst others.
A native of Zambia, Africa, Priya has lived, worked, and traveled across the United States (and still admits to a strong fondness for soccer). She is deeply passionate about America’s founding principles, crafting sound public policy to better people’s lives, and ballroom dance.
Regulation
PA Tax Loophole Funds Frackaphobic Film
There’s a memorable line in Promised Land, the new Matt Damon movie opening Friday about a gas drilling company buying land rights in a declining farming community. One…
Media
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Busting Charter School Funding Myths
Charter schools are under fire again this month, following renewed criticism from Pennsylvania Auditor General Jack Wagner on how the schools spend and save their funding.
Media
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More Strikes, More Staff, No Solution
If you thought the Chicago teacher strike was bad—spawning strikes elsewhere in Illinois—you should take a look at Pennsylvania. Mother Jones has compiled a fascinating map of teacher strikes…
Media
Read More: More Strikes, More Staff, No SolutionRegulation
Pennsylvania’s Tax Burden Ranks 10th (Again), but Pension Bomb Ticking
Last week, America kept its president and Congress, and Pennsylvania’s legislature stayed largely the same too. There’s another thing that Pennsylvanians can count on—ranking 10th in the United States for…
Media
Read More: Pennsylvania’s Tax Burden Ranks 10th (Again), but Pension Bomb TickingEducation
Pa. Teachers Unions Among America’s Most Powerful
Pennsylvania’s teachers unions rank fourth among all U.S. states in their strength and influence, according to a report released this week from the Fordham Institute. We trail only Hawaii,…
Media
Read More: Pa. Teachers Unions Among America’s Most PowerfulPublic Union Democracy
Unions Allowed to Stalk, Harrass, Threaten with WMDs
In August we told you about a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report that was pretty embarrassing for Pennsylvania. The report highlighted special protection for labor unions on activities that…
Media
Read More: Unions Allowed to Stalk, Harrass, Threaten with WMDsEducation
Teachers Union Worse Than Hollywood Portrayal
Pennsylvania State Education Association President Mike Crossey takes issue with the film “Won’t Back Down” for not matching “real-life experience” on teachers unions. He’s right—in real…
Media
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Top 5 Charter School Myths
Session days in the Pennsylvania legislature are dwindling, but the assembly still has time to pass essential reforms to how charter schools are run. The valuable reforms contained in…
Media
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“Won’t Back Down” Captures Heart of Education
“Won’t Back Down” is a movie about education that fittingly begins and ends with a close-up of a child reading aloud. Education debates in America frequently whirl…
Media
Read More: “Won’t Back Down” Captures Heart of EducationEducation
7 Education Facts Unions Don’t Want You to Know!
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!Public Union Democracy
Mailbag: Why Not Pay for Unused Sick Days?
Our post last week highlighting WGAL’s story on government workers receiving hefty payouts for unused sick days sparked a lively discussion. Here’s a question that popped up frequently: Do…
Media
Read More: Mailbag: Why Not Pay for Unused Sick Days?Education
How Pennsylvania Teachers Salaries Stack Up
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 UpEducation
“Mighty” Teachers’ Union Strikes Chicago
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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Is Caring for Your Kids Criminal?
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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Public School Failures Leave Graduates Unemployable
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 UnemployableHealth Care
Medicaid Myth #2: Medicaid Expansion Helps Poor
Yesterday, we began a series on the many myths surrounding Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan’s plan to reform Medicaid. We started with the myth that Ryan would gut Medicaid,…
Media
Read More: Medicaid Myth #2: Medicaid Expansion Helps PoorPublic Union Democracy
Indiana: Ending Forced Unionism Creates Jobs
It’s been only six months since Indiana became the 23rd right to work state in America, but it is already seeing a surge in business activity. Indiana adopted right…
Media
Read More: Indiana: Ending Forced Unionism Creates JobsEducation
Opportunity Scholarships a “Choice for a Better Future”
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
Read More: Opportunity Scholarships a “Choice for a Better Future”Taxes & Economy
Raising Taxes on “the Rich,” And Everybody Else Too
Bernard Hinault, five-time cycling champion of the Tour de France, once grumbled that the French government taxed the rich so heavily, the state had claim to three pumps of…
Media
Read More: Raising Taxes on “the Rich,” And Everybody Else TooEducation
Hundreds of Pa. Schools Taking Opportunity Scholarships
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 ScholarshipsPublic Union Democracy
Union Leaders Misrepresent Pension Reforms
CF Senior Fellow Rick Dreyfuss testified yesterday before the Pennsylvania House about how to make our public pensions current, affordable and predictable, proposing a five-step plan for doing…
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