Special interests drive up education spending but hurt students and teachers

Originally published in The Mercury News

Last month, after many delays, the Pennsylvania Department of Education released academic assessment results for 2021. The results were startling: over 47 percent of our eighth-graders aren’t proficient in reading, and a whopping 78 percent are below grade level in math.

The trends show dramatic declines in student performance compared to two years ago. But even pre-pandemic numbers were unacceptably, woefully low, with more than half of our students left behind.

This woeful performance can’t be blamed on a lack of funding.

Read more in The Mercury News