NEWS
Proposed Charter School Reforms are Welcome, Necessary, and Long Overdue
February 26, 2021 HARRISBURG, PA (February 26, 2021) – Susan Spicka the executive director of Education Voters of PA, a nonpartisan, nonprofit, statewide public education policy and advocacy organization issued the following statement in response to Governor Wolf’s...
PA to allow the delay of standardized testing until the fall
Many families, school officials, and advocates had hoped that the Biden Administration would grant waivers that would allow states to cancel standardized tests this year because of the extraordinary challenges the pandemic has created for students and schools. But...
Pass a Resolution in Support of Pennsylvania’s School Funding Lawsuit
This year Pennsylvania's historic school funding lawsuit will go to trial. Every child in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has the right to an education that prepares them for college or career. In fact, the Pennsylvania Constitution speaks to the right of a “thorough...
Gift cards, cell phones, cash payments for families, $1000/student in advertising costs & real estate development: It’s time to audit PA’s cyber charter schools
Recent reporting in the Scranton Times-Tribune revealed a stunning of state oversight over billions of taxpayer dollars that have been poured into cyber charters over the past two decades. Half of Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools have never been...
Governor Wolf Proposes a Bold, Historic Investment in Public Education (and a lot more!!)
On Wednesday, February 5th, Governor Wolf gave his budget address. Gov. Wolf's proposed state budget for 2021-2022 demonstrates his understanding of the extensive unmet needs in Pennsylvania's public schools and his commitment to fixing the unfairness of our current...
$2.2 billion in federal aid headed to PA’s public schools
On Friday, the Wolf administration announced that Pennsylvania’s $2.2 billion share of federal ESSER II (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) emergency funding for public K-12 schools will be allocated to school districts and charter...
$2.2 billion in federal aid headed to PA’s public schools
On Friday, the Wolf administration announced that Pennsylvania's $2.2 billion share of federal ESSER II (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) emergency funding for public K-12 schools will be allocated to school districts and charter schools based on the...
How does your school district measure up? Don’t miss this new tool and report
If you want to learn about how state funding issues impact your own school district, you are in for a treat with the Tools for Education Advocates Webinar that is being hosted by PA Schools work.On Thursday, January 21st at noon data experts (rock stars in their...
How does your school district measure up? Don’t miss this new tool and report!
If you want to learn about how state funding issues impact your own school district, you are in for a treat with the Tools for Education Advocates Webinar that is being hosted by PA Schools work.On Thursday, January 21st at noon data experts (rock stars in their...
Help us support and defend public education
What a year of challenges 2020 has been! We have struggled with the severe disruptions of COVID-19, witnessed nationwide protests against systemic racism, and faced profound economic, ideological, and political gulfs in American society. And throughout all of this,...
Help us support and defend public education
What a year of challenges 2020 has been! We have struggled with the severe disruptions of COVID-19, witnessed nationwide protests against systemic racism, and faced profound economic, ideological, and political gulfs in American society. And throughout all of...
REJECTED! Doomed-to-fail cyber charter application denied by PDE
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) delivered an early holiday gift to Pennsylvanians. On Monday, November 30th, PDE denied the revised application of the Virtual Preparatory Academy of Pennsylvania (VPAP) Cyber Charter School. VPAP is a new project of Ron...
New Report: Pennsylvania Distributes Emergency K-12 School Funding Backwards—The Fewest Dollars Go to School Districts With the Greatest Need
Last week our partners at the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center released a report that found Pennsylvania allocated $174 million of federal COVID-19 aid backwards—with the fewest dollars going to school districts with the greatest need. We flagged this issue after...
Webinar: Lifting the Curtain on Cruelty and Death in Pennsylvania’s Horse Racing Industry
Since 2004, more than $3 billion in taxpayer money has been funneled into The Pennsylvania Race Horse Development Fund (RHDF), which provides $240 million every year in taxpayer funding to subsidize Pennsylvania’s horse racing industry. The bulk of...
Learn more about Pennsylvania’s School Funding Lawsuit!
Public education advocates can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that school privatization crusader Betsy DeVos will be going back to private life in January, where she can enjoy her yacht, vacation homes, and whatever other luxuries her Amway fortune can buy. A few...
Nearly $475 million increase in charter school tuition predicted for 2020-2021
The Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) recently released an important study about increased charter and cyber charter school tuition payments for the 2020-2021 school year. PASBO predicts that school district payments to charter schools will...
Tell PA lawmakers to fund kids over horse racing
A little-known taxpayer-funded public trough called the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development Fund (PRHDF) provides $240 million every year in government subsidies to wealthy horse racing enthusiasts and hobbyists. Since the fund's inception in 2004, more than...
Tell PA lawmakers—Choose public schools, not DeVos vouchers
UPDATE: The House Education Committee pulled House Bill 2696 from the agenda for its meeting on Thursday, October 1. Our advocacy is working. But the fight is not over. The Senate Education Committee will be holding a hearing on the DeVos voucher bill on Monday,...
Blistering court decision stops DeVos from looting public schools
We are delighted to have some very good news to share! This week a federal judge issued a blistering decision that temporarily stops Betsy DeVos from taking federal COVID-19 aid away from the poorest students in order to provide well-off children in private/religious...
A school year like no other
Families are preparing for a school year that will be unlike any other. Because Pennsylvania provides grossly inadequate funding to public education, school administrators have spent their summers operating within the constraints of very tight budgets and uncertain...