Media

Education

Charter Schools Senate Hearing: Giving Parents Options Should Not Be Optional

• Colleen Hroncich
• October 22, 2019

Do charter schools work? That was the focus of a Pennsylvania Senate Education Committee hearing today. The 3-hour meeting featured five different panels discussing various aspects of charter schools…

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Taxes & Economy

Wolf Pollutes the Discussion on RGGI

• Tirzah Duren
• October 18, 2019

Power plants aren’t the only things blowing smoke in Pennsylvania. Governor Wolf’s executive order forcing the state to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is based on deceptive “findings.” And…

Media

Miss Virginia: How One Mom’s Fight Led to Opportunity for Thousands

• Marc LeBlond
• October 18, 2019

“MISS WALDEN!” The words of reproach thundered from the dais of a Congressional hearing room. But rather than shirk back at the rebuke from her congresswoman, Virginia Walden doubled down.

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Education

Charter School 101

• Colleen Hroncich
• October 15, 2019

Nearly 140,000 Pennsylvania students attend charter schools. Despite their popularity, misconceptions about charter schools abound. Here are answers to some common questions about this public alternative to district schools.

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Government Accountability

The Cost of Secretly-Negotiated Government Union Contracts

• October 14, 2019

Are Pennsylvanians a bottomless pit of cash? Government union leaders and Governor Wolf seem to think so. The two “re-negotiate” new labor contracts behind closed doors, and each time…

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Taxes & Economy

State Treasury: Soak the Rich

• Andrew Abramczyk
• October 14, 2019

Last week the Pennsylvania state treasury tweeted a link to a New York Times opinion piece headlined The Rich Really Do Pay Lower Taxes Than You. The piece…

Media

Education

Protecting Mackenzie’s School

• Elizabeth Stelle
• October 11, 2019

Brad and Emily Moore live in Erie County. They chose to send their oldest daughter to Commonwealth Cyber Charter Academy (CCA). But now her education and the education…

Media

Education

How to Fix the Teacher Shortage in Pa.

• October 10, 2019

This year Gov. Wolf proposed raising the minimum salary of teachers to attract and mintain the best talent. There's a better way to attract the best…

Media

Taxes & Economy

The Not-So Secret Trick to Raise Kids out of Poverty

• Andrew Cuff, Elizabeth Stelle
• October 10, 2019

Innassa, a Pittsburgh native, was a stay-at-home mom for her two sons while her husband worked. Then, he got injured—and three surgeries later, still hasn’t recovered. “He’s talking and can…

Media

Regulation

Good Returns Won’t Close the Gap

• Andrew Abramczyk
• October 9, 2019

The state teachers’ pension fund, PSERS, just reported a 6.7% return over the past twelve months. That is a very good investment return. Sadly, when starting from a deep…

Media

Public Union Democracy

Union Contracts Bow to Worker Pressure

• Kevin Mooney
• October 8, 2019

Public employee unions, which spend dues and fees on political activity that frequently conflict with the views of their rank-and-file members, are finally showing signs of yielding to legislative and…

Media

Regulation

RGGI Would Hurt Pennsylvanians

• Tirzah Duren
• October 7, 2019

The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is a network of nine surrounding states that have imposed caps on CO2 emissions in a failed attempt to impact climate trends. Current member states have experienced increased…

Media

Public Union Democracy

Unconstitutional Union Fees that Won’t Go Away?

• October 7, 2019

The 2018 Supreme Court Janus v. AFSCME decision was a fantastic victory for American workers, striking down the ability of public-sector unions to charge nonunion public-sector employees “fair share”…

Media

Regulation

Pensions and Pa’s Poor Fiscal Health

• October 4, 2019

Pennsylvania recently underwent a “fiscal physical’ and didn’t exactly come out with a clean bill of health. Truth in Accounting, an economic think tank, recently released its report on the…

Media

State Budget

Soda Taxes Target the Poor

• Tirzah Duren
• October 4, 2019

Soda may not be on the list of Seven Deadly Sins but try telling that to lawmakers in Philadelphia. On January 1, 2017, the city instituted a tax of 1.5…

Media

Education

Duty, honor, country: Educational freedom for families who serve

• Marc LeBlond
• October 3, 2019

Ask any military family with kids and they’ll tell you that one of the most stressful parts of getting orders to a new duty station is figuring out where their…

Media

Taxes & Economy

How to Increase Economic Growth

• Andrew Abramczyk
• October 3, 2019

The following testimony was given at the Pennsylvania Fiscal and Economic Summit at York College on August 22.       Good afternoon.  Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you…

Testimony

Regulation

Mimosa Monopoly

• Tirzah Duren
• October 2, 2019

Pennsylvania is waging a secret war on millennials. Okay, maybe not on millennials, but definitely on brunch, and that’s pretty much the same thing. The deleterious effect of Pennsylvania’s sky-high…

Media

State Budget

How to Improve State Budgeting Practices

• Andrew Abramczyk
• October 1, 2019

The following testimony was given at the Pennsylvania Fiscal and Economic Summit at York College on August 22, 2019. Thank you for the opportunity to address you this morning on…

Testimony

Regulation

The Liquor Control Board is a Jobs Program, Not a Business

• Andrew Abramczyk
• September 30, 2019

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) recently announced “record sales and record net income” for the year ended June 30th. Such wording is the language of a business proudly…

Media

Criminal Justice Reform

Rallying for Probation Reform

• Jessica Barnett
• September 27, 2019

Earlier this week, hundreds of activists gathered in the capitol in support of probation reform. Here’s what Pennsylvanians impacted by the probation system have to say: “I couldn’t…

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