Category: School Choice

Stories about school choice, vouchers and Pennsylvania Improvement Educational Tax Credit or IETC

20% Of Philly Students Can Read???

20% Of Philly Students Can Read??? — The ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary has a plot line in which a big, bad charter school company is trying to take over the show’s eponymous Philadelphia public school.

This caused Jeanne Allen, founder and CEO of the Center for Education Reform, to tweet:

It’s pathetic when fewer than 20% of Philadelphia students can even read, write or spell at grade level that there’s a show on television that has the nerve to criticize the schools that succeed, and the people that help them. This has TEACHERS UNION written all over it.

Is it true that fewer than 20 precent of Philadelphia students read, write or spell at grade level??

According to the Philadelphia School District’s website 46 percent of children K-2 and 33 percent of children in third grade read at grade level as of 2019, which is before the Covid shutdown.

The stats in 2013, by the way, were 52 percent of K-2 and 45 percent in grade 3.

It appears the more caring parents are getting their kids out of public school and into the big, bad charters which is the only sane and caring thing to do.

20% Of Philly Students Can Read???
Remember, this is fiction
20% Of Philly Students Can’t Read

Penn Delco Parents Need Outrage

Penn Delco Parents Need Outrage — The race-card is being played to guilt-trip Penn Delco taxpayers into shelling more to the corrupt institutions public schools have become.

And to foster self-loathing docility in children.

Sheep groomed to believe they deserve shearing won’t object to their missing wool when the time comes to strip them, after all.

This video was found on Schoology page of the school district in Delaware County, Pa.

Give us more money and all problems will be solved.

LOL.

End public school districts and return the tax dollars to parents as vouchers to be used in the school of their choice.

Granted, if Little Precious is a trouble-making bully a whole lot of schools won’t want him.

Keep your money, they will say.

Somewhere, however, a school for him will be found. For every pot there is a lid.

And the decent normal kids of whatever skin shade will unite in the joy of learning without the hate, bigotry and bullying of Little Precious.

Or maybe LP’s daddy will take the time to teach him to respect his teacher and to stop bullying other kids just so he could have some kind of decent future.

Win-win.

Understand though, the Critical-Race-Theory people don’t want children of whatever skin shade uniting. They want hatred, bitterness and division.

That’s what makes CRT truly evil.

But there is a light shining in the darkness. Truly woke Republican state representatives are demanding that state Education Secretary Eric Hagarty end faux-wokeness — in this case Gender Theory Student Indoctrination — or resign.

Vote for Doug Mastriano for governor in November to make this happen.

Vote for Oz, too, for U.S. Senate even though the Turkish Turkey doesn’t seem to be trying that hard to win.

Penn Delco Parents Need Outrage
Penn Delco Parents Need Outrage

AASA Promotes Stupidity And Laziness

AASA Promotes Stupidity And Laziness — We have been sent this poster produced by the AASA The School Superintendents Association LOL as further evidence of the laziness and delusion that has become the norm in public education.

The AASA is the professional association for school administrators.

Leave the childish illustrations aside and note that there is nothing on it about universal literacy or numeracy. There is nothing on it about how our laws are created and why we should respect them. There is nothing about why we think racial inequality is bad such as this and this and this and this.

Poster like this are promoted by silly people more interested in shining their halos before going off to a two-hour catered workday “symposium”.

Stop funding systems. Start funding students. Get your kids out of public schools.

AASA Promotes Stupidity And Laziness
AASA Promotes Stupidity And Laziness

RTM Expensive New Slot Designed For Ruining Lives?

RTM Expensive New Slot Designed For Ruining Lives? — Norman Ralph Harrison of the Rose Tree Media School District in Delaware County, Pa. — for those outside Pennsylvania, RTM is the school district in which Wawa has its headquarters — is leaving his $161,392 job as Penncrest High principal to become the district’s “Administrator for Safe and Inclusive Schools,” a new position that takes effect July 1.

It’s a safe assumption he’s getting a raise.

So what exactly does this new job entail?

Groups pushing “Safe and Inclusive Schools” usually begin describing it as the prominent ADL does: Name-calling, bullying, harassment and bias often get in the way and leave students feeling marginalized in school.

Great. Who is for bullying? Well, okay, there are some, but most of us think bullying is very bad.

The big concern, though, is that “Safe and Inclusive Schools” appears now to have become part of a movement to refrain from discouraging — if not out-and-out encouraging — young, often prepubescent, people to make life-changing, often destructive, decisions regarding their sexuality; and to give a nod of approval to objectively destructive sexual behavior.

One is not a bully if one tells someone out of love: “Don’t do that. It will hurt you. Fight the urge.”

And we are not just considering student behavior here, or restricting it to homosexuality.

There is great evil in the world even, maybe especially, in RTM. The goal must be to teach the young to stand up to it, even if it means standing up to it in themselves.

If we learned anything in the past year it’s that we should never assume the consensus of the credentialed have our interests at heart.

And we really don’t believe that stopping bullying is the real goal of this new job. We are pretty sure it’s a money and power grab by the district.

Parents, please understand that it is education that is important. Schools are merely the means to get it. If there are better means to this end, demand it, especially if it you find yourself with happier children and more disposable income.

Public funds should follow students, not systems.

We do not need a dozen (plus?) people making six-figures in any public school district.

RTM Expensive New Slot Designed For Ruining Lives?
RTM Expensive New Slot Designed For Ruining Lives?

Union Hates Charter Schools, Parents Love Them

Union Hates Charter Schools, Parents Love Them

By Leo Knepper

Public charter schools empower parents by giving them options for their children’s education. Because most charter school teachers decide against forming a union and provide competition for traditional public schools, teachers’ unions and their allies have made charter schools into a boogeyman. Since becoming Governor, Tom Wolf has been openly hostile to charter schools and attempted to reduce their funding at every turn.

Union Hates Charter Schools, Parents Love Them

On last week’s CAPitalist Cast, which you can find below, CAP CEO Leo Knepper had a chance to talk with Lenny McAllister about how charter schools are funded and how they’ve handled the challenges created by COVID 19. Mr. McAllister is the CEO of the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools. It was a fantastic opportunity to explore the role these schools play in educating the next generation of Pennsylvanians.

Mr. McAllister has written several opinion columns recently. We found some of the information they included fascinating. Below are excerpts and links to the articles. 

The first article from Mr. McAllister, co-authored by Amber Northern and published by the Daily Signal, details the funding myths pedaled by teachers’ unions and their political allies (emphasis added):

“Contrary to charter critics’ preferred narrative, total revenues per pupil increased in most states as the percentage of local students who enrolled in charter schools rose…Simply put, charter schools in Pennsylvania receive less money than district schools. For example, a recent study estimated that Pennsylvania charter schools received $12,175 per pupil, while traditional public schools would have received $17,989 for those same students…

“According to University of Arkansas researchers, “The state funding formula for charter schools begins with the same amount of funding as a charter school’s home district, but then subtracts up to 21 categories of prior-year district expenditures,” resulting in a funding disparity that favors districts.

“In other words, the host districts get to keep the subtracted funds…districts were actually being paid more to educate fewer students.” 

On the subject of cyber-charters from GoErie (emphasis added):

“A report showed that roughly one-fourth of the third through eighth grade cohort, including a disproportionate number of socioeconomically challenged students, did not take specific annual academic assessments.

“In Pennsylvania, these issues have cropped up for months in school districts despite district officials telling lawmakers for years that they could provide online academic instruction better and cheaper than public cyber charter schools. The pandemic has proven otherwise — here at home and around America.

“In contrast, public cyber charter families didn’t miss a beat.

“Pennsylvania’s cyber charters have been teaching online for more than 20 years. These schools know how to use technology to educate large numbers of students at home. As a result, thousands of families exercised their right under Pennsylvania law to choose a public cyber charter school for their children...The “blame game” has ramped up from school district officials and education unions. They complain that their money is lost to public charter schools — especially cyber charter schools. However, it’s not their money. It’s state funding allocated for education in Pennsylvania, regardless of where a student attends a public school.

“Public charter schools are public schools – just like those in local school districts, but simply operating at roughly three-fourths of the cost.“

On the importance of school choice to ensuring racial equality, from USA Today:

“Families who have chosen to enroll their children in public charter schools deserve to know with certainty that the new [Biden] administration understands, values and supports their choice. These 7,500 unique public schools educate about 3.3 million children across the USA, mostly from Black and brown families.

“These children have the ability to thrive in innovative public schools that best suit their needs for life, with teachers who look more like them and curriculum that is malleable to fit diverse backgrounds and learning preferences. These schools are effective at teaching our nation’s nuanced history and developing students not only with strong academic foundations but also with self-esteem and civic awareness.”

The USA Today article also profiles three outstanding examples of Black educators working to improve educational opportunities in the communities.

The best way to counter Governor Wolf’s narrative about education funding is to be armed with the facts.

Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Union Hates Charter Schools, Parents Love Them

Wuhan Flu Silver Lining May Be Cyber Education

Wuhan Flu Silver Lining May Be Cyber Education — Pennsylvania’s school boards love their Taj Mahals. The go-along-to-get-along-especially-when-we-can-get-a-cut political parties happily egg them on. The lap dog media outlets masquerading as protectors of the little guy joyfully hump their legs.

With the Wuhan Flu — excuse me President Xi that should be Wuhan Bat-eater Flu — maybe horizons can be expanded and some thinking outside the box occur. The panic is causing some places to put their education online.

Economics forced the one-time steel town of Midland, Pa. to close its high school in 1985. It contracted with other districts to handle education including at one point sending its children across the border into Ohio.

In 2000, it started The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, commonly known as PA Charter. It is now the largest public school in Pennsylvania and second largest in the country. The vast majority of attendees are happy with it.

Granted you still need hands-on interaction especially for the arts and athletics which are very important for growth but one can’t deny the flexibility offered online, the enormous cost savings and the chance to escape some of the twisted teachings that have become fashionable by the progressives who run the educational establishment.

Online education might be a silver lining of the Wuhan Flu.

Wuhan Flu Silver Lining May Be Cyber Education
Wuhan Flu Silver Lining May Be Cyber Education
Where would you rather send your kid to school? Here or Midland?

Wolf Attack On Popular Charter Schools

Wolf Attack On Popular Charter Schools By Nate Benefield

I watched, Sept. 16, as hundreds of charter school students flooded the Capitol and dozens of parents spoke out against Gov. Wolf’s attacks on charter school families. After they rallied in the Capitol rotunda, 1,700 letters were delivered to Gov. Wolf—letters from parents and students fearful of losing this critical educational opportunity.

The event was organized by our friends at the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools and comes at a desperate time. Gov. Wolf is taking unilateral executive action that would seriously threaten these public schools of choice as an educational option for parents.

In August, Gov. Tom Wolf proposed cutting funding for Pennsylvania charter schools, capping charter enrollment, and banning new cyber charter schools. Then, Gov. Wolf—without legislative authority—imposed new fees on charter schools.

At the rally, the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools again asked the governor to visit a charter school. While touting his “Schools that Teach Tour” since he entered office, nearly 5 years later, his tour has visited 167 schools across the state, but not a single one was a private or charter school.

Yet he seems to think he singularly knows best how their students should be treated.

By ignoring the 140,000 students attending public charter schools and 240,000 enrolled in private schools, Wolf is treating nearly 25 percent of Pennsylvania students as second-class citizens.

We need your help protecting educational opportunity for these kids. Legislation that would address charter school transparency and financial accountability has already passed the Pa. House, while legislation to create a commission on charter school funding has passed the Senate. These bills would address problems in the charter school law without taking educational opportunity away from students.

For reasons he alone knows, Gov. Wolf has chosen to ignore these legislative solutions and go his own way.

Commonwealth Foundation will continue our intellectual leadership on all types of educational opportunity, be it charter schools, tax credit scholarships, or public school funding. And we’ll keep sharing our message across the state via TV, radio, social media, and print.

Please reach out to your lawmakers to ask them to stand up for charter schools, and against Wolf’s unilateral action, by taking action on these positive steps.

You can do so here.

Nate Benefield is vice president and COO of Commonwealth Foundation.

Wolf Attack On Popular Charter Schools
Wolf Attack On Popular Charter Schools

Gutting Charter Schools Is Wolf’s Plan

Gutting Charter Schools Is Wolf’s Plan

By Nathan Benefield

Gov. Tom Wolf, Aug. 13, unveiled a “reform” plan that has the potential to drastically reduce the ability of Pennsylvania families to send their kids to charter schools. He’s telling the students, families, teachers, and administrators of charter schools that they don’t matter.

Gutting Charter Schools Is Wolf's Plan
Any resident of Philadelphia who supports this guy’s party is cutting his wrist.

Ironically, he is constructing this wall to prevent students from leaving their current school for a better opportunity on the anniversary of the construction of the Berlin Wall.

But we aren’t fooled. This overhaul, some of which he is planning to implement via executive action, would cut funding for charters, cap enrollment, and place a moratorium on new cyber charter schools, even as tens of thousands of students are on waiting lists for charter schools across the state. In short, it would deny families the schooling options they seek.

Wolf’s charter strategy, along with his June veto of tax credit scholarship expansion legislation, makes it clear his administration is treating the 350,000 students in charter and private schools like second class citizens. Because of that mindset he is unafraid of treating them with a dubious double standard.

For underperforming district-run schools, his solutions are to move away from standardized testing, water down tests, and increase funding. But for charter schools, Gov. Wolf proposes funding cuts and halting growth through the heavy hand of the law, regardless of performance or what families desire.

The governor’s motivation is clear: He wants to appease teachers’ union leaders. Unlike most charters and private schools, district schools are unionized. Under contracts with the AFT and NEA/PSEA, school districts collect campaign contributions for teachers’ union PACs. Since 2013, Wolf received $4 million from teachers’ unions.

This is a politically shrewd announcement from our governor, but disastrous for families and children.

Pennsylvania’s families deserve better. That’s why we won’t stop fighting until every child can attend the best school possible, no matter what Gov. Wolf’s campaign donors prefer.

Mr. Benefield is vice president and chief operating officer of Commonwealth Foundation.

Gutting Charter Schools Is Wolf’s Plan

Wolf Condemns Children To Failed Schools

Wolf Condemns Children To Failed Schools

By Leo Knepper

In 2018, over 50,000 students were denied education scholarships through the EITC (Education Improvement Tax Credit) and OSTC (Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit) due to a lack of funds thanks to statutory limits. There is currently a waiting list of eligible businesses willing to provide $80 million to the programs in exchange for the tax credits offered. Who could possibly think that standing in the way of expanding educational opportunities is a good idea? The answer is, sadly, Governor Tom Wolf.

Wolf Condemns Children To Failed Schools
Does he really hate children that much? Yes, yes he does.

Almost immediately after passage, Governor Wolf announced his intention to veto HB 800. The legislation would have increased the EITC and OSTC limits by a combined $100 million. The bill would have also expanded scholarship eligibility to include more middle-class families. Despite his lofty rhetoric that a zip code shouldn’t determine the quality of a student’s education, his veto guaranteed that children will be trapped in failing schools. Pennsylvania currently spends more than $16,000 per student, on average, per year. Despite that amount being well over the national average, too many schools fail to provide the education that students deserve.
 
The EITC and OSTC provide assistance to families who live in school districts that underperform and allow students an opportunity to reach their full potential. Our friends at the Commonwealth Foundation estimated that the increased tax credits and eligibility requirements in HB 800 would have benefited 90,000 students over the next five years.
 
Expanding educational opportunities and empowering parents should be a bipartisan issue, but it isn’t. Thanks to the opposition from teachers’ unions and their allies in the Governor’s Mansion and General Assembly, Pennsylvania’s students pay the price.

Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Wolf Condemns Children To Failed Schools

School Choice Expansion Clears Committee

School Choice Expansion Clears Committee

By Nathan Benefield

The Pennsylvania House Education Committee passed HB 800, April 29, which represents the most significant expansion of the state’s popular Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) school choice scholarship program since its inception.

The EITC program is funded by business donations (businesses earn tax credits in return) and allows Pa. kids to attend a school they otherwise may not be able to afford. But arbitrary limits on the program prevent tens of thousands of kids from attending a school of choice.

HB 800, sponsored House Speaker Mike Turzai along with 59 other members, including several Democrats, would increase the tax credit cap for EITC K-12 scholarships by $100 million next year and further raise the cap by 10 percent when 90 percent of tax credits are used in the prior year. 

I cannot stress enough: This bill is a huge step toward helping families access the education choices they deserve. Tax credit scholarships are so popular the programs could double in size and still not meet demand. 

The bill passed along party lines, you can see the roll call here. Thank you to the representatives that voted to expand opportunity for thousands of Pa. kids!

An EITC scholarship may be a family’s only lifeline to provide their child with a chance at a brighter future. It’s time to raise the limits so kids can reach their dreams. We’re excited to see HB 800 progress in the legislature, and will keep you posted as key votes occur.

School Choice Expansion Clears Committee
School Choice Expansion Clears Committee
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