Education

Shadow School Choice: When Public Schools Turn Students Away 

  • Rachel Langan
  • March 19, 2025

Summary The School District of Philadelphia outsources special education to private schools when the district is unable to meet the student’s special education needs. The U.S. Department of Education guarantees…

Fact Sheet

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Education

Education Funding in the Commonwealth

  • January 10, 2024

Pennsylvania Outspends the Nation on Public Schools Pennsylvania ranks among the highest-spending states on public education. According to National Center for Education Statistics data, as of fiscal year (FY) 2021,…

Backgrounder

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Education

HB 2169: Lifeline Scholarship Program

  • June 1, 2022

Overview The Pennsylvania House passed the Lifeline Scholarship Program bill on April 27, 2022. House Bill 2169, if passed by the Senate and signed by the governor, offers an…

Fact Sheet

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Education

Fast Lies and Slow Truths

  • Marc LeBlond
  • March 11, 2020

All students—regardless of school type—deserve a student-based funding system. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, only 14% of the $1.2 billion Special Education appropriation is distributed based on categories of…

Commentary

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Education

School Choice: Helping One Student at a Time

  • December 20, 2016

As a recent graduate from PA Leadership Charter School (PALCS), I’m familiar with school choice. In fact, for the past five years, I have joined my Student Government on an…

Media

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Education

Education Spending Trends: April 2016

  • James Paul
  • April 11, 2016

Pennsylvania’s FY 2015-16 budget was finalized in late March when Gov. Tom Wolf allowed HB 1801, a supplemental funding bill, to become law. This legislation appropriated an additional $3.1 billion…

Memo

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Education

Wolf Tops $1 Billion in New Education Spending

  • James Paul
  • February 12, 2016

As expected, a cornerstone of Gov. Wolf’s budget proposal is a massive increase in state support of public schools. The administration seeks a $1.1 billion increase over the record-high funding…

Media

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