PolicyBlog

Year of School Choice...and Beyond

Commonwealth Foundation — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:30:00 EST

The Alliance for School Choice released its latest School Choice Yearbook highlighting the developments in school choice in 2011, as well as each of the programs in the United States.

The report also features an "Accountability Checklist," comparing the various provisions in choice programs, and "Growth & Expansion", illustrating the growing number of programs and students being served.

Already, the yearbook could use some updates from recent news, such as:

An amazing 93 percent of parents expressed satisfaction with the Louisiana voucher program.
A judge in Indiana upheld the constitutionality of the state's new voucher program—the most expansive voucher program in the nation—against a lawsuit from government employees' unions.
An Arizona judge affirmed the constitutionality of that state's Educational Savings Accounts, the first such program. (For more on Educational Savings Accounts, click here).

With a proven record of success, and increasing parental demand, the future of school choice looks bright for 2012 and beyond.

Does Pennsylvania Need Fewer Legislators?

Commonwealth Foundation — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST

A proposal to reduce the Pennsylvania State House from 203 representatives to 153 will be voted on in the coming weeks by the House. The proposal is certainly popular, but is it much ado about nothing?

As Daily News columnist John Baer notes, the reduction wouldn't take effect until after the 2020 redistricting plan goes into effect— at least 10 years from now. This date assumes the proposed constitutional amendment passes both the House and Senate this session, and next legislative session, and is then approved by voters.

The proposal is often sold as cost-savings. At $314 million, the cost of running the legislature is no small matter, but reducing the number of legislators need not reduce costs. The biggest cost in the state legislature is not its 253 members, but its 2,919 staff members, the largest legislative staff in the nation. Indeed, lawmaker salaries are only a bit more than 10 percent of the General Assembly's total cost. And reducing legislative spending need not wait a decade, it can happen in the next budget.

The more important question is whether this is good policy. Our analysis shows almost zero connection between the number of legislators and policy outcomes like spending, taxes, or economic freedom. As we've repeated time and time again, it is unlikely that minimizing the legislature's size without other reforms will improve Harrisburg's spending problem.

Frack Attacker Exposed

Commonwealth Foundation — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:30:00 EST

Prof. Robert Howarth is known for controversial, anti-fracking studies declaring natural gas as one of the worst environmental polluters. Yesterday, former PA Department of Environmental Protection secretary John Hanger summed up how the unscientific work of Howarth gained media buy-in:

Exactly how Prof. Howarth became the King of Media is now revealed. Bought and paid for by Park Foundation funds, a PR firm--the Hastings Group--was retained to publicize Howarth's original study and his response to the 6 studies debunking Howarth. ...

Money spent on the Hastings Group has been exceptionally productive for Professor Howarth. The Hastings group won a tsunami of press coverage, while most of the media ignored the avalanche of studies debunking Howarth.

Clearly the Sierra Club financed Carnegie Mellon University study that found coal emits twice the carbon as gas had no aggressive PR firm spoon feeding the study to media around the country. It attracted little coverage, despite its high quality. The same fate fell the Worldwatch Institute study and the other reports that reached flatly contradictory results to Howarth.

The huge imbalance in coverage has meant that the public has been badly misinformed about the carbon footprint of gas and coal. The truth has suffered.

Bill Cosby Explains How to Really Educate a Child

Commonwealth Foundation — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:01:00 EST

We're in the middle of National School Choice Week, which means the word "education" is hot on the lips of its advocates across our state and country. Schooling is a concern of the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Caucus, too, as Sen. Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) claimed today: "Education funding has been driven back to 2006 levels. We are no longer investing in education."

Hold up, Senator. Public education funding in Pennsylvania has doubled in the last 15 years to $26 billion a year. Meanwhile, public schools have added nearly 36,000 employees—all while student enrollment has declined by almost the same number.

While funding has skyrocketed, student performance has largely stagnated. About 82,000 students suffer the worst of it, trapped in the commonwealth's persistently failing schools, where some two-thirds cannot read or do math at grade level. The problem isn't a lack of education funding—it's a public education system that lacks incentives to improve. And that's why school choice has attracted supporters from across the political spectrum.

Supporters include veteran comedian and education advocate Bill Cosby, who last night discussed the "State of American Education" before President Obama tackled the State of the Union. "Cuts, cuts, cuts, that is what we hear, but education is not a thing that big bucks happens to be the answer [to]," Dr. Cosby—a Philadelpia native—said. "The answer is—with education comes teaching children to respect and love questions, looking for the answer, reading."

Other school choice supporters echoed Cosby's doubts about dollars at a school choice panel at Pennsylvania's State Capitol today. Sen. Anthony Williams (D-Phila.) noted that increases in funding for some school districts don't necessarily reach the classroom: "Spending more money doesn't result in spending more money on teaching the child."

In the end, we should measure the effectiveness of American—and Pennsylvanian—public education by whether our children learn and are equipped to compete for jobs in an increasingly competitive world. School choice restores the responsibility to parents and teachers for educating children, and forces public schools to improve as they compete with charter, cyber and private schools. That's an investment in education worth making.

SNAP Back to Reality, Senators

Commonwealth Foundation — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:30:00 EST

Courtesy of the Pennsylvania Senate Democrats' Twitter, @PaSenateDems, comes some high-stakes rhetoric during a Capitol press conference today. In reaction to the Pa. Department of Public Welfare's decision to reapply an asset test to the food stamps program better known as SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program), here is what some senators had to say:

"This gov has a vision of meanness." - Sen. Mike Stack, Philadelphia

"We don't understand this draconian nature of this administration." - Sen. Vincent Hughes, Philadelphia

"Only conclusion drawn: administration hates poor people." - Sen. Mike Stack, Philadelphia

"You can't beat a person when they're down. We should be giving them a hand up." - Sen. LeAnna Washington, Philadelphia

While we don't question the sincerity of the senators' desire to protect those who truly need help, we have to ask whether furthering dependency is truly compassionate? Are the poor better off being dependent on unaffordable and unsustainable taxpayer-funded programs or learning to become self-sufficient through personal responsibility and true charity care? Please take a look at the CF commentary on the asset test today, examine the facts and decide for yourself.

There is no question that many in the commonwealth are in need, but what has the last decade of generous benefits gotten us? For one, we get a higher poverty rate, which dramatically climbed from 8.8 percent in 2000 to 12.2 percent in 2010 regardless of economic conditions. No matter how you look at it, welfare spending is simply failing to lift Pennsylvanians out of poverty.

Gov. Corbett's effort to target benefits for the poorest Pennsylvanians doesn't stem from meanness or hate for the poor. It comes from his unwillingness to settle for the sad status quo of more Pennsylvanians becoming dependent on Harrisburg rather pursuing their own ambitions.

Democrats and Republicans should work together to figure out what changes can be made to our safety net to offer a hand up and reward self-sufficiency, not just through enabling handouts that feed dependence. Simply demanding taxpayers fork over more of their hard-earned dollars to support exploited and broken programs is not compassion but coercion, which breeds an unearned and unnecessary contempt for the legitimately needy. A better solution is to encourage true voluntary charity in our communities throughout the commonwealth, a step that cannot be taken until we address needed welfare reform.

School Choice: The ABC's

Commonwealth Foundation — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:50:00 EST

In time for National School Choice Week, the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice released its 2012 ABC's of School Choice.

The new guide gives an overview of what school choice means, and profiles each of the 34 school choice programs—tax credit or voucher program—across the United States.

For lawmakers debating an expansion of school choice in Pennsylvania, there is also a very handy chart comparing the key components of each of the voucher and tax credit programs.

The Commonwealth Foundation will be participating in two School Choice Week events.

On Wednesday Matt Brouillette will be featured at a legislative briefing in the State Capitol; click here for details.

On Saturday, American's for Prosperity-PA will be hosting Dick Morris in Hershey for a discussion of school choice. The event is fee, but registration is required. Click here for more info and to sign up.

Is the EPA Frackophobic?

Commonwealth Foundation — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:50:00 EST

The Environmental Protection Agency is now delivering water to homes in Dimock, Pa., even though Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection says it's not needed.

Here's the background: In 2010, the DEP investigated drilling in Dimock and concluded that the company Cabot was responsible for methane getting into water wells (caused by poor well casing, not hydraulic fracturing). Besides paying fines, Cabot created a $4.1 million escrow account for the households with contaminated water—double the value of the homes. In addition, Cabot installed free home water treatment systems for all families that met or exceeded safe drinking water standards. After ensuring the water quality was safe, the DEP no longer required Cabot to deliver water.

Does the EPA know something the DEP doesn't about water quality in Dimock? No. According to the DEP, the EPA hasn't presented any new data to justify stepping in to supply water. In fact, the EPA has already stated that there was no evidence Dimock well water is unsafe. But this is just the latest in the EPA's "act then think" approach to monitoring drilling.

In Texas in 2010, the EPA falsely convicted the drilling company Range Resources of polluting drinking water with methane in Parker County. Despite being acquitted, the EPA demanded the drilling company pay $15 million in fines for failing to comply with its initial wrong findings. Texas drilling regulators daily have feet on the ground to monitor drilling, and understand the fracking process, necessary precautions and the area's history of methane in water. The state's regulators—not the EPA—correctly identified the source of the methane.

Then there's the recent Pavillion, Wyo. example where the EPA created anti-fracking hysteria by releasing its preliminary report before addressing the several pages of questions raised by Wyoming scientists and regulators. These objections remain unanswered.

If the federal FRAC Act passes, we can expect more stories like this, as responsibility is snatched from state authorities who are better equipped to handle local situations.

Fiscal Outlook for Pennsylvania: Not Too Rosy

Commonwealth Foundation — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:34:00 EST

This week the new Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office held its first annual seminar on the state economy and revenue. After a series of presentations on the state of the economy and state budgeting/revenue from a national perspective—all with the perspective that robust growth is unlikely and risks to the economy persist—the IFO presented on future budget trends and released its five-year fiscal outlook.

Here are some highlights (or lowlights, to be accurate):

Pennsylvania's population will continue to age, with an estimated 25 percent increase in senior citizens, and a 1.8 percent decline in working-age population.
This translates into slow revenue growth: Estimated annual growth in General Fund Revenue is projected to average 1.6 percent annually for 2011-14, and 4 percent annually from 2015-17.
This is in contrast to General Fund expenditures, which are expected to grow absent significant policy changes. The big categories of growth are Public Welfare (driven by Medicaid), Corrections, Pensions, and Debt.
- General Fund Public Welfare spending is expected to go up by 8 percent per year from 2011-14. As noted, federal policy (stimulus and Affordable Care Act) is driving this growth—increasing Medicaid eligibility and preventing state reform through the "Maintenance of Effort" requirement.
- Commonwealth debt payments will grow by 7.3 percent per year from 2011-14.
- Pennsylvania's corrections spending is expected to grow 6.9 percent per year from 2011-14.
- Commonwealth pension contributions will skyrocket by 40 percent per year over the next three years. As a share of General Fund spending, pension payments will rise from 4.2 percent for FY 2011-12 to 11.6 percent for FY 2016-17.
- The IFO projects education spending will decline by 1 percent per year from 2011-14—this forecast is based on expected enrollment declines, rather than anticipation of legislative priorities.

All these forecasts are based on current policy, i.e., no changes to current programs. But it should be blatantly obvious that reform must occur. Lawmakers must tackle the big cost drivers. Pension reform, Medicaid and welfare reform, criminal justice reform, and reducing our debt burden must be budgetary priorities. Moreover, to improve the revenue picture lawmakers must focus on policies that promote prosperity.

Want to Help PA's Kids?

Commonwealth Foundation — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:27:00 EST

With the 10-year anniversary of No Child Left Behind recently passing, the $20.7 million bailout for Chester-Upland School District, and students in Neshaminy sitting at home while their teachers strike, the timing of School Choice Week (Jan. 22-28) seems especially timely here in Pennsylvania.

Please join us at the following two School Choice Week events to show your support for education in Pennsylvania that best serves the child, not the system.

School Choice Legislative Briefing - Wednesday, Jan. 25 at 10 a.m. in the North Capitol Building in Harrisburg. Matt Brouillette will be joining a panel discussion on the need for school choice in PA.
Restoring American Exceptionalism Townhall - Saturday, Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. at Hershey Lodge. Featured guest speakers include: Dick Morris, Bob Bowden, and Chris Freind

Frothing Frackaphobes Fermenting Fear

Commonwealth Foundation — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST

Courtesy of John Micek's daily must-read blog Capitol Ideas comes a post on an Esquire magazine article articulating the latest lunacy foisted by phobic fracking fact foes furiously fomenting fear.

Yesterday, it was fracking makes Jesus cry. No really, we're not trying to be sacrilegious, that is basically what they said. Today, it is fear for beer as fracking will poison your potables and kill jobs in New York. What's next, fracking kills cuddly kittens?

The lead goes like this: "You should know that some excellent beer is in danger should fracking begin in the Marcellus Shale." It concludes: But you know what else is inconveniently located right on top of the Marcellus Shale? Brewery Ommegang, maker of some of our favorite Belgian-style beers.

A lot of water is used in the brewing process, and the beer is just never quite as good when it's peppered with toxins like benzene and radioactive strontium. If fracking begins, Ommegang will either have to relocate, close, or truck in its water from elsewhere."

Or maybe Marcellus Shale might expand brewery production due to increased demand from jobs created by drilling? Ooops, sorry, jobs are proven benefits of natural gas, we'd never want to talk about those. But seriously absent in the report are little things called facts, causality and common sense.

Here are a few things the reporter might have considered before fermenting her frothy fear:

Since the 1980s nearly all wells in Pa. have been fracked and natural gas development has never been proven to cause crops, cattle or food to be unsafe. According to the DEP, the process has never even led to groundwater contamination let alone poison beer.

Moreover, just in case you are interested in facts more than fear, the shale in question is more than a mile below the water surface (at least in Pa.) and groundwater is simply not in danger of contamination caused by fracking chemicals. How do we know for sure? Pennsylvania's DEP has tested water on seven state rivers and concluded there are NO dangerous radiation or radioactive chemicals caused by Marcellus Shale development.

Still fear for beer? The fracking and wastewater are well regulated in Pa. and could and should be for New York should they lift their current jobs-killing moratorium. For example in Pa., the drilling industry is held to Total Dissolve Solids (minerals, metals, and salt in the water) standards that are 300 percent more stringent than other industries in the state. Drilling wastewater is treated to safe drinking water standards before it can be discharged into waterways.

But hey, those pesky little facts shouldn't get in the way of a good story, huh? While you cower in fear, keep your suds close and your kittens closer. After all, the fracking monster is around every corner.

Ponderous PSEA, Virulent Violence Verified

Commonwealth Foundation — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:30:00 EST

Last December, the Commonwealth Foundation urged lawmakers to offer kids in Pennsylvania's worst violent, failing schools a lifeline, and give them school choice for Christmas. We delivered bouquets of 17 white roses to every legislator to highlight that students in the bottom-5 percent of the commonwealth's schools endure a violent act every 17 minutes.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association pooh-poohed the effort, and that of lawmakers working to grant an immediate escape through vouchers to kids trapped in the worst 143 schools: "In situations where you don't have good facts, you tend to escalate your rhetoric," a PSEA spokesman said.

Philadelphia is home to 88 of the schools in the bottom-5 percent. The city's Blue Ribbon Commission on Safe Schools just released a 41-page report detailing the protracted problem of violence in its schools (otherwise known as "good facts"). The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:

The facts are sobering, if not surprising—the Philadelphia School District has failed to report crime consistently, offers too little help for students traumatized by violence, and fails to implement the most effective methods citywide.

Such problems are entrenched and hard to fix, requiring time students cannot afford, especially given the only PSEA prescription appears to be willful neglect of those facts. Why not rescue these students now, and allow their families to use their tax dollars at a safer, better school of their choice? Facing weapons, assaults and robberies every day is no way to live, and certainly no way to get an education.

Impact Fee: Compromise on Details, not Principles

Commonwealth Foundation — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:15:00 EST

Capitolwire reports (subscription required) on the negotiations between the House and Senate Marcellus Shale impact fee bills -- HB 1950 and SB 1100. Here's a recap:

The fee per well would be $260,000 over 10 years -- right in the middling of what the House ($160,000) and the Senate ($360,000) proposed per well.
The fee would be imposed at the local level, not at the state level. Reportedly, the Senate has proposed a revision that would give municipalities with the majority of the population the power to force the county to impose the fee.
The Senate is seeking a statewide entity to collect the fee instead of the Public Utility Commission. And the Senate wants revenue going to counties that aren't affected by drilling.
The local zoning ordinances debate is unsettled but Capitolwire reports it's likely to remain under the authority of the attorney general.

As a compromised bill is debated, legislators should rely on sound principles protecting people, not politics or pressure from special interest groups for more money.

The impact fee should remain at the county level and the county should be able to decide how much the fee should be, within the maximum cap. In order to actually be an "impact fee," the amount should be linked to the actual, uncompsenated costs to government of drilling. County officials should be held accountable to show that they imposed an appropriate fee to pay for the government's cost to remediate a drilling problem.

Allowing municipalities to force the county to act seems a very odd way to manage our commonwealth. It is doubtful that many legislators would support extending this concept and giving county officials the ability to force the state legislature to adopt a policy, if a majority of counties support it.

Further, the fee should not be imposed to extract additional revenue for unrelated government purposes or subsidies, but strictly limited in its use to the actual costs of drilling. Anything more is a tax increase.

To learn more about implementing a principled fee on Marcellus Shale drilling, click here.

Will Anti-Gas Political Climate Prevent 10,000 Jobs?

Commonwealth Foundation — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:30:00 EST

U.S. Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey, along with Gov. Tom Corbett, have been lobbying for Shell to invest their petroleum chemistry plant, known as a "cracker" plant, in PA instead of Ohio or West Virginia. The plant could bring the "reindustrialization of Southwest Pennsylvania" says the Department of Community and Economic Development. Comparable plants in other states sustain, on average, 10,000 to 14,000 jobs, plus thousands of temporary construction jobs.

While the senators have cited the state's advantages such as an extensive rail transportation network, the hostile anti-gas political climate certainly won't be ignored by Shell. We've already seen Devon Energy, one of Fortune Magazine's 100 Most Admirable Companies, state the company would not consider drilling in Pennsylvania because of the "political problems".

Today, for example, protesters gathered at the Capitol to "kill" proposed drilling legislation that would enact an impact fee and more stringent regulations because it doesn't go far enough. A pastor at the event wearing a "Where Would Jesus Frack" patch told listeners that Jesus wouldn't frack anywhere.

When it comes to enacting a Marcellus fee and new drilling regulations, science, not emotions, needs to guide the rulemaking. A cursory review of the drilling regulations proposed in HB 1950 (the version passed by the PA House) and SB 1100 reveals the new rules are far from the industry handout protesters claim. Most of the setback requirements and bonding requirements are higher than neighboring states, ensuring communities and the environment are protected.

Will Shell overlook PA's hostile drilling climate and decide to bring its cracker plant and thousands of jobs to the Keystone State? Only time will tell.

Time for Pennsylvania to Get Right on Crime

Commonwealth Foundation — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:37:00 EST

Last week on NPR, former U.S. Attorney General and Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh joined Adam Gelb, director for Pew's Public Safety Performance Project, to discuss criminal justice policy.

The issue, as former Gov. Thornburgh stated: "We have more people in prison than any other country in the world. We have instituted all kinds of what we call tough sentencing regimens...and it isn't working."

This is especially relevant for the commonwealth, which hasn't seen its per capita crime rates go down since 2000, while the cost of the Department of Corrections has skyrocketed to $1.8 billion. Corrections is the third- largest department in the Pennsylvania General Fund budget.

The situation need not stay bleak, as meaningful correction reform can control costs while continuing to protect public safety, and reduce recidivism. The question NPR identified is whether criminal justice reform has public buy-in. Thornburgh concluded that we need political leaders to deliver the message that "what we have right now is simply not working. It's not effective, it's not efficient. It's not in the best interests of the broad spectrum of society..."

A few meaningful reforms mentioned during the program include:

Expanded use of technology such as GPS monitors. For example, a Florida study found offenders on GPS were 31 percent less likely to return to prison than those not being monitored.

Front-end risk assessment to distinguish between high-risk offenders that need to be locked up from non-violent offenders. Nationally, up to half of prison admissions are individuals revoked from probation or parole, not from violent crimes.

Drug treatment facilities. Drug courts offer intensive judicial oversight of offenders combined with mandatory drug testing and escalating sanctions for failure to comply.

For more on corrections reform, check out our Policy Points with criminal justice recommendations and track criminal justice reforms across the country at Right On Crime.

Bring Choice to Chester-Upland

Commonwealth Foundation — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:03:00 EST

Chester-Upland, a chronically failing and bankrupt school district of 3,700 students in Delaware County, last week filed a federal suit against the commonwealth to demand a $20.7 million bailout that would carry it through the end of the school year. Teachers have now volunteered to work without pay.

Six of the district's nine schools rank in Pennsylvania's bottom 5 percent of failing schools. In the district, only 39 percent of students can do math at grade level, while only 35 percent are proficient in reading on the PSSA. Only half of all students graduate on time.

Gov. Corbett is unsurprisingly reluctant to continue funding a decade of failure and mismanagement. A quick infusion of education dollars may get Chester-Upland through the school year, but flooding the district with more money is no long-term solution, and has been the toothless tactic for years. According to statistics from the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Chester-Upland has racked up $74 million in debt, amounting to two-thirds of its spending. Between 2004 and 2010, spending grew 28 percent, and the school district now devotes a mind-boggling $25,500 per student every year (the Pennsylvania average is $14,000). In the same time period, state funding grew more than 40 percent.

Rather than condemning Chester-Upland's children to a shoddy education, or no education at all, school choice is the lifeline these kids desperately need. Vouchers or tax-exempt scholarships would allow Chester-Upland families to use taxpayer dollars already in play—and less of them—at better schools of their choice. The school district complains it has lost half of its students to charter schools, and with them part of the funding that would otherwise go to the district. But public education funding is for STUDENTS, not systems, and should rightly follow children who go to other types of public schools. Let the kids flee, and let's stop funding a school district that has refused to shape up.

The Education Monopoly Comandeers CNN

Commonwealth Foundation — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:55:00 EST

The Reading School District was featured on CNN this weekend, but not for anything positive. Reporters documented the poor air quality caused by crumbling school buildings across the nation. It appears the entire segment was encouraged by the NEA, the national affiliate of the PSEA, in their never-ending campaign to insist more time and more money will improve education.

Meanwhile, an entire decade has passed without any meaningful improvement in Pennsylvania's NAEP scores. Even the more generous PSSA tests show 36 percent of Reading students are not proficient in math and more than 50 percent are not proficient in reading.

The problem with education funding is not the amount, Pennsylvania's education spending per student increased 133 percent since 1980 after adjusting for inflation. No, the problem is how these funds are spent.

Since 2000, Pennsylvania public schools added 35,821 additional staff while enrollment dropped by 35,510.

Another obstacle to smart spending is Pennsylvania's archaic prevailing wage law. This law requires school districts to pay the prevailing wage, usually the union wage, on any construction project. Prevailing wage laws increase the cost of construction by 20 percent or more.

The president of Reading's teacher union weighed in:

"Education reform right now is about how to punish public schools," Sanguinito said, explaining that many new initiatives like school vouchers and charter schools pull funding away from public school districts. "If we were the Lehman Brothers School District they would be giving us money."

What they are really saying is competition in education is bad for their education monopoly. They'd rather force parents to send their children to failing schools than allow choice and competition. Taxpayers can't afford a school district bailout in the fashion of Lehman brothers. It's time to end the education monopoly and allow parents a voice in one of the most fundamental aspects of their children's lives.

Crisis vs. Competition in Education

Commonwealth Foundation — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:20:00 EST

Here are two views on school choice, the idea that fostering a variety of schooling options for families—whether public, charter, cyber or private—is a good thing:

School choice is a waste of taxpayer dollars when we already have a "funding crisis" for public schools, to quote the head of the state's largest teacher union, the Pennsylvania State Education Association, this week. "Gov. Tom Corbett's unprecedented $860 million in public school funding cuts is getting worse and forcing districts to cut more essential programs," the PSEA warned.
School choice creates competition in our education system between public schools, charter and cyber schools and private schools-which makes the public schools improve.

So which view is true? New evidence from one of Pennsylvania's most expensive school districts—Pittsburgh—shows competition from charter schools forced its public schools to trim $40 million in wasteful spending, cut more than 200 office positions, furlough teachers and other staff, and announce nearly 400 teachers would not return in 2012-13. That might sound like an "education crisis" to the PSEA. But that's not how the school district views it.

The Education Action Group reports:

Normally, when a school district announces mass layoffs, it is followed by charges that lawmakers are not "investing" enough in public education and that the apocalypse is at hand.

Instead, Pittsburgh school officials admit the district had gotten flabby and careless with its spending, leading to, in the words of Superintendent Linda Lane, "a relatively expensive infrastructure and way of conducting business."

Pittsburgh spends more than $20,000 per student every year, far above the $14,000 per student Pennsylvania average, in part because the districts' enrollment is half what it once was, but staff and building reductions have not kept pace.

The "increasing array of other educational options (e.g., charter schools, cyber charter schools, and potentially vouchers) did help to move the needle in terms of our culture shift," said Lisa Fischetti, chief of staff and external affairs for Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Wasteful spending isn't just limited to Pittsburgh: Across the state, districts have added 36,000 staff while enrollment has declined by roughly the same amount. Pennsylvania does have an education crisis, but it's not the one the PSEA trumpets: It's that throwing money at a failing public school system has not produced better results.

Competition isn't the enemy here—it's the cure.

PLCB Quips Curing Cancer Can't Combat Critics

Commonwealth Foundation — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:12:00 EST

In a recent interview on Harrisburg's ABC-27, PLCB board member P.J. Stapleton III clarified once again why we frequently refer to the PLCB as tone deaf.

Speaking with reporter Dennis Owens about criticism of the board's decision to raise prices, Stapleton actually offered the following:

"Quite frankly, Dennis, we could announce that we've found a cure for cancer and be criticized, you know, for people living too long," said Stapleton.

No, Sir, we don't know that. Having lost many a friend and family member to this dreaded disease (and I am sure you have, too) let's gain some perspective: The PLCB promotes and sells alcohol in a government-run monopoly, they don't do research to combat global human suffering. We criticize the board for protecting and promoting a broken system that doesn't work for taxpayers and consumers, period.

Here's some more perspective if needed: http://www.stjude.org/about

Poll: 81% Choose Bootlegging Over PLCB Hikes

Commonwealth Foundation — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:15:00 EST

So just what effects do monopolies have on markets? You need look no further than Philadelphia this morning for the answer.

An online Philadelphia Inquirer poll has found more than 81 percent of respondents would rather break the law and bootleg their wine and liquor across the borders than subject themselves to further price hikes made by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, Wednesday. More than 10 percent said they would just buy less.

This, of course, just confirms what the PLCB already knows but never trumpets: That border bleed is costing Pennsylvanians millions in lost sales and tax revenues. And oh, yeah, by the way, jobs.

In a taxpayer-funded, PLCB-commissioned study, a Neiman Group survey showed that 45 percent of residents in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties purchase some or all of their alcohol outside of Pennsylvania, even though it is illegal to transport it back into the state.

Given the PLCB sales in these surveyed counties totaled $808 million in 2010, out-of-state purchases lost represented upwards of $180 million in sales, and more than $40 million in potential sales and alcohol tax revenue Pennsylvania did not collect. And that is just in eight counties!

But hey, let's just keep it the same, right, Pennsylvania? It's so much better to turn your citizens into Prohibition-era bootleggers in pursuit of an otherwise legal commodity than it is to embrace free markets, create new jobs and let freedom drink.

Stay thirsty my comrades.

www.letfreedomdrink.com

313 More Reasons to End PLCB Booze

Commonwealth Foundation — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:22:00 EST

Pop quiz: Who has to pay for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's $66 million (and growing) inventory software failure, a million-plus in the wine kiosk catastrophe or the millions spent in advertising on both promoting and preventing alcohol abuse at the same time?

a) The decision makers should pay with their jobs because they are responsible for such folly

b) Wine and liquor vendors - after all, they are part of the 1 % and can take it

c) Consumers who purchase lawfully in Pennsylvania

d) Pennsylvania taxpayers

e) Both c & d

If you chose "e," both consumers and taxpayers, you'd be correct. But wait, that's right, you really don't get to choose in Pennsylvania, your government does that for you. And so today, predictably, consumers and taxpayers are left picking up another tab for government's mistakes as the PLCB voted unanimously to raise prices on 313 state-sold products.

In fairness, prices do indeed need to be raised from time to time. But unlike prices almost anywhere else in America, that argument is actually being made to a government-appointed board, rather than left to the market. A private company raising prices would face potential competition from other, lower-priced retailers.

As a government-run monopoly, the PLCB is making pricing decisions for the entire state. Because of the PLCB's monopoly status and its required 30% markup and 18% flood tax, this latest move is just a de facto tax hike on Pennsylvania consumers on top of the price increases.

And thus, millions of dollars poured down the drain in PLCB waste and abuse isn't paid for in a vacuum, it is just passed along to consumers and taxpayers through higher prices and taxes. We can't wait to see how the new prices line up with those of neighboring states, thus adding to hemorrhaging already caused by significant border bleed.

But until then stay thirsty, my comrades.