Education
Pennsylvania’s Education Tax Credit Scholarships: How EITC Serves Children and Families in the Commonwealth
Key Findings Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) are state tax credit programs that give thousands of low- to middle- income students access to…
Read More: Pennsylvania’s Education Tax Credit Scholarships: How EITC Serves Children and Families in the CommonwealthPennsylvania’s future is in the hands of the next generation. Parents and students—not activist agendas—should drive the Commonwealth’s education policy. While policymakers have been entrusted with ensuring the next generation receives a quality education, parents should be empowered to choose the quality education that meets their unique child’s needs. Charter schools and tax credit scholarships are integral pieces of school choice, but more reforms are needed to make school choice a reality for all Pennsylvania students.
Education
Government Preschool Delivers Few Results
State Sen. Pat Browne is quoted on John Micek’s blog Wednesday, citing an oft-repeated claim that government funding for preschool is one of the “best investments” of taxpayer money:…
Media
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Monitoring Charter Schools
Last month, PA Independent highlighted Senate Bill 1156, which would create a committee to monitor Pennsylvania charter schools. This was in response to the mismanagement of a number of…
Media
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PA School Districts Have $2.5 Billion in Reserves
PA Independent highlights the $2.5 billion school districts have in reserve accounts – $1.8 billion in “undesignated reserves.” To put that it lay terms – it’s a lot of…
Media
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Celebrating School Choice
Yesterday the REACH Alliance held the 9th annual birthday party for Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit – see story here – in which hundreds of students and parents showed…
Media
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Some Educating Research on Education
I’m a little behind on my reading – hence I am going through two editions of the quarterly journal Education Next. Nonetheless, there are a number of interesting and informative…
Media
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Are Pittsburgh Public Schools Among the Nation’s Best?
A recent national ranking said the Pittsburgh Public Schools were 7th best among large cities in the nation. (HT Grassroots PA). This was quite surprising, as the Pittsburgh…
Media
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Cyber School Stardom
Participating in PA Cyber Charter School won’t guarantee a student’s stardom but it did make it possible for Aaron Kelly, an 2010 American Idol finalist. Kelly, a 17 year…
Media
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PA Public School Staff Grows As Enrollment Declines
Despite stagnation in qualitative measures of school performance, cries for additional spending in public schools have not subsided. In fact, Gov. Rendell says…
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Race to the Bottom
Is a lack of funding the problem with Pennsylvania’s education system? Lincoln Institute’s Lowman Henry answers this question with a resounding no, in his recent article, Race to the…
Media
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Ten Tips to Balance the Budget
Contrary to Gov. Rendell's rhetoric, there are a plethora of reforms and cuts that can balance the budget without taking more from the pockets of Pennsylvania taxpayers. Here are ten…
Commentary
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Gov. Rendell Learned His Lesson
Last year, Gov. Rendell went on a bus tour across Pennsylvania, at taxpayer expense, to lobby for more education spending. Rendell was…
Media
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Is Choice Harming Public Schools?
The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story this week about the number of students (314,000 over nine years) served by Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC). The EITC provides tax…
Media
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Operation Restore Launched to Preserve School Choice in PA
The REACH Alliance launched Operation Restore, a campaign to restore the funding for Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program to $75 million. The EITC, which before…
Media
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College Just Got Cheaper, for Government Workers
When the Obama Administration couldn’t get the Student Loan Overhaul through the Senate last year, they created a scheme to tacking it onto the unrelated healthcare bill. This bill…
Media
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Rhetoric vs. Reality on Higher Ed
I got an email alert from Student PIRGs with the lead in, “College just got less expensive.” Really, that happened? Did anyone notice? Uh no. What they meant is…
Media
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Some Facts About School Choice for Joe Hoeffel
In the Democrat contest for Pennsylvania Governor, Joe Hoeffel came out swinging, attacking Anthony Williams for supporting school choice. Apparently, Hoeffel thinks the…
Media
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Establishment Continues to Attack Cyber Schools
At a hearing yesterday, Pennsylvania School Boards Association touted additional proposals to cut off funding for cyber charter schools. One of these proposals would be that cyber schools would…
Media
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The Green Schools Ruse
Yesterday the House passed Rep. Drucker’s bill to exclude any costs associated with making a school building LEED certified from a possible…
Media
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Who’s to Blame for the Rising Costs of Higher Ed?
Rendell’s FY 2010-11 budget funds state related universities at the same level as FY 2009-10 budget. University officials claim they need an increase in state funding to keep tuition…
Media
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Pennsylvania School District Sued for Spying on Children
In a story that sounds like a George Orwell novel, the Lower Merion School District is being sued for using laptops to spy on children. The school district gave…
Media
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Climategate is an Embarassment
Penn State sophomore Samuel Settle pens a letter on why he is embarrassed of professor Michael Mann’s behavior, and his school’s white-washing of an investigation. Click here for our…
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