Education
A Fair Funding Formula: School Choice
Although it doesn’t fit the popular narrative of cash-starved school districts, spending on education is at an all-time high. The Pennsylvania Department of Education budget reached $11.2 billion in FY…
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Five Facts on Pennsylvania Public Schools
The Pennsylvania Department of Education recently released its annual summary of public school finances for the 2012-13 school year. Here are some basic facts about school finances and spending,…
Fact Sheet
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2014 Pennsylvania State Budget
Governor Corbett's proposed budget of $29.4 billion in General Fund spending (a 3.3% increase) and $71.8 billion in spending from all funds represents Pennsylvania's highest spending levels ever—exceeding years when…
Fact Sheet
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Fewer Districts Seek Big Property Tax Hikes
Government union leaders like to claim mythical state education funding cuts caused widespread school property tax increases. But new data shows fewer school districts are actually receiving exceptions…
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Charter School Reform
Good morning, my name is Nathan Benefield; I am the vice president of policy analysis for the Commonwealth Foundation. I wish to thank Auditor General DePasquale for the opportunity to…
Testimony
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Myth: PA Spends Less on Education
There are many myths circulating about how much Pennsylvania spends on public education. One such myth is that the state government used to provide 50 percent of all revenue for…
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Plagiarism: Union Style
Several letters to the editor opposing paycheck protection—ostensibly written by different teachers—have appeared in newspapers around the state. Their suspicious similarity provides a valuable lesson in a practice typically frowned…
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Win for Transparency in Public School Spending
How would you like to know what’s in a teachers’ contract before your school district passes it—and locks in spending—for four years? And how would you like to track how…
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How is Your Public School Performing?
The Pennsylvania School Performance Profile launched today, but will it deliver the “accountability system” Acting Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq promised in a briefing earlier this month? Created through a…
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