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FEBRUARY 3, 2010 | News Release by COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION

Penn State Whitewashes Climategate Investigation

University's internal review ignores key evidence of alleged scientific misconduct

Penn State's internal review of Michael Mann's alleged scientific misconduct-and the university's virtual exoneration of his behavior-ignored key evidence in the Climategate scandal.  As expected, Penn State did little more than a whitewash.

JANUARY 19, 2010 | Commentary by MATTHEW BROUILLETTE

Mann-Made Global Warming?

Climategate was born in late November 2009 with the release of more than a thousand emails and other documents from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia in England.  One of the prominent figures in these emails is Penn State's Michael Mann, a professor in the university's Department of Meteorology. To Penn State's credit, the university announced it would investigate Mann's alleged misconduct.  But the school has a serious conflict of interest that legi

JANUARY 12, 2010 | Policy Brief by COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION

Climategate & Penn State

The Case for an Independent Investigation

Just days after news broke about what has been dubbed "Climategate," Penn State University (PSU) announced that it would investigate the conduct of Michael Mann, a professor in PSU's Department of Meteorology and a prominent figure in the Climategate emails.

DECEMBER 9, 2009 | Testimony by NATHAN BENEFIELD

Costing-Out the Price of Education

In the last two years, Gov. Rendell has used the "costing-out" study to justify proposed increases in state education subsidies. Yet while costing-out or "adequacy" studies have been conducted in over 35 states to quantify the amount of education funding needed, in no case did spending increases result in dramatic improvement of adequacy standards.

NOVEMBER 30, 2009 | Commentary by ELIZABETH BRYAN, NATHAN BENEFIELD

Taxing Tuition: The Future of Higher Education?

With Pittsburgh on the brink of bankruptcy thanks to its continual out-of-control spending, Mayor Ravenstahl and his allies on City Council have hatched a new scheme to collect more money to pay for their profligate ways: a 1% tuition tax on the city's financially-strapped college students.

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009 | Commentary by ELIZABETH BRYAN

Reform, Not More Spending, Key to College Affordability

This year's budget debate has generated several silly schemes, including a few related to higher education funding. But Gov. Rendell's proposed video poker tax and  House Democrats' ploy to move university appropriations off-budget do raise an important discussion about how the state should finance post-secondary education.  While lobbyists have eagerly advocated the popular notion that more higher education spending will increase affordability, this is far

AUGUST 5, 2009 | Commentary by KARA LUZIK

Low Standards De-Value Diplomas

The U.S. dollar isn’t the only piece of paper plagued by inflation.  While the Federal Reserve drives down the value of the greenback, low academic standards in Pennsylvania are decreasing the value of a high school diploma.

JULY 27, 2009 | Commentary by NATHAN BENEFIELD

Who's For the Children?

In the television comedy The Office, dim-witted boss Michael Scott remarks that he likes giving presents because they are “like this tangible thing that you can point to and say ‘Hey man, I love you this many dollars-worth.’” Gov. Rendell and many lawmakers apply this mentality to the state budget—only they are spending other people’s money.  They believe that government can solve all problems simply by opening the vault in the Treasury. 

JULY 20, 2009 | Commentary by NATHAN BENEFIELD, MATTHEW BROUILLETTE

The Faulty Premise of the Budget Impasse

Governor Rendell wants the taxpayers to spend more on public schools.  So do Republicans in the General Assembly—nearly 12 percent more.  Yet education funding remains a major obstacle in the budget impasse. The governor decries his opponents' proposed level of spending as a “cut” because—though actually an increase—it's below the level identified as “adequate” in a so-called costing-out study commissioned by the General Ass

JUNE 23, 2009 | Commentary by CHRISTOPHER M. DODDS

The “Mis-education” of Ed Rendell

Gov. Rendell wants to increase taxes to continue the double-the-rate-of-inflation spending that has defined his tenure.  In order to sell his state budget plan to an increasingly skeptical public, he has resorted to deception and hyperbole on education spending. Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak traveled to 14 school districts on a five-day bus tour that also featured Rendell and U.S. Senator Bob Casey.  The mantra was that taxes have to be raised “for the children,