DV Journal

The Commonwealth Foundation, a free market think tank, has announced its Better Pennsylvania Plan, which includes 30 policy ideas for improving life in Pennsylvania. And with it, they’ve released polling they say shows Pennsylvania voters are on board with their key issues.

Among those issues: More support for the state’s Lifeline Scholarships for children in failing public schools and opposition to higher energy costs.

Commonwealth Vice President of Policy Elizabeth Stelle said the Better Pennsylvania Plan is “a commonsense policy roadmap that we think can release Pennsylvania’s potential, make us a leader across the nation, and create more prosperity for future generations.”

The statewide poll of 800 registered voters found 52 percent of Pennsylvanians believe the state was on the wrong track, and 71 percent want the governor and state legislature to address “pocketbook issues.”

Some 89 percent of those polled believe access to an excellent K-12 education is extremely or very important. And 81 percent want energy costs reduced, while 71 percent want energy production increased.

Some 44 percent gave the state’s current educational system a “C” grade.

“The problem in Pennsylvania is the funding doesn’t follow the child,” said Stelle. “So you have wide discrepancies. You have inequity in education.”

It’s a popular idea, according to their poll with 83 percent of respondents saying Lifeline Scholarships for students in failing schools should be expanded.

During a recent press conference, Stelle said, “I think there is a tremendous opportunity to see reform happen in this (legislative) session.” More than 70,000 students are on the waiting list for the Lifeline Scholarships.

She noted that Gov. Josh Shapiro had campaigned on expanding Lifeline Scholarships, and while the GOP-controlled state Senate needs to fight hard for the program, in the end it will be up to Shapiro.

“It’s incredibly rare to have a governor line-item veto one of his campaign promises,” Stelle noted.

And it’s not just the Lifeline choice program that’s popular. Open enrollment — letting families pick any public school for their child, regardless of their address — is supported by 75 percent of Keystone Staters. Charter schools remain popular, though no new charter schools have been approved in the state in six years.

Some 78 percent surveyed would like an independent agency to authorize charter schools, instead of school districts, a sign voters have concerns about the level of bureaucracy that comes with the public school system.

Erik Telford, Commonwealth senior vice president of public affairs, said the poll also showed Black and Hispanics in urban areas have “very strong support” for Lifeline policies.

If Shapiro seeks reelection in 2026, he will need to show results, Telford said. “Voters want to see more leadership from him.”

DVJournal asked how likely the education programs are to pass given the powerful teachers’ union opposes them and the legislature is divided.

“I think there is tremendous opportunity to see something significant in education to happen this session,” said Stelle. “In particular, in this current budget cycle we’re moving into.  And the reason I say this is number one: Gov. Shapiro campaigned on it, so he is looking to make good on all his promises to voters. And he’s running out of time to do that.

“And secondly, it’s an extremely popular idea. The polling shows that. So what I think we’re going to see is some sort of compromise that will expand choice for these families and empower them to find a better solution for each of their students.”

On energy, the poll found 71 percent of Pennsylvanians oppose new taxes on energy that could increase electric utility rates as much as 30 percent, including the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) and the proposed PA Climate Emissions Reduction Act (PACER).

Reliability is also a concern for 56 percent of respondents, and 88 percent would like the legislature to create an electric reliability standard that doesn’t favor any specific energy source and focuses on the most affordable ways to generate power.

Also, 80 percent would reject government programs and taxpayer-funded subsidies for politically favored energy industries.

“Pennsylvania is a major energy producer,” said Stelle. “We have a lot of natural gas, we’re the largest producer in the nation, we also have a lot of coal, we have a lot of nuclear. We are the number one energy exporter. We export more electricity than any other state. We also have a big part to play in national energy security.”

Stelle said Shapiro’s policies so far will make electric power less affordable. He’s suing to impose a carbon tax [RGGI] and proposing his own carbon tax, PACER.

“What the governor is doing is the exact opposite of making energy more affordable,” said Stelle

(From a press release)

Pennsylvania has been named one of the top three states in the United States to raise a family in 2025, according to a new report from ConsumerAffairs, earning high marks for education, public safety, and healthcare. Since he took office two years ago, Gov. Josh Shapiro has focused on making Pennsylvania a great place to live, work, and raise a family – and the new report directly credits his work to invest in Pennsylvania’s education system as a key reason why the commonwealth is a great place to raise a family.

“As I travel all across Pennsylvania — no matter if I’m in a rural, urban, or suburban community — people want the same basic things: great schools for their kids and grandkids, safe places to live, good jobs and economic opportunity, and the freedom to chart their own course through life,” said Shapiro. “We focus everyday on getting commonsense stuff done and I’m proud that Pennsylvania is ranked as one of the best places to raise a family. There’s more work to do, and we’re going to continue bringing people together to get stuff done, deliver more results, and make Pennsylvania the best place to live, work, and raise a family.”

Pennsylvania ranks fifth nationwide for public education standards and boasts the second-highest public high school graduation rate in the country at 96 percent. The report directly cited Governor Shapiro’s 2024-2025 bipartisan budget, which included a historic $1.11 billion increase in K-12 public education funding — the largest single-year investment in Pennsylvania’s history — bringing the total investment to over $11 billion. This funding prioritizes equitable distribution, special education enhancements, and a new adequacy formula to ensure every child has access to quality education. Watch Shapiro talk about how shaping Pennsylvania’s future by investing in education.

The commonwealth ranks in the top 10 for public safety, with positive scores in crime statistics, driving safety, and climate safety. Last year’s budget allocated $16 million to create four new cadet classes for the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP), adding nearly 400 new State Troopers and bringing the total to 800 additional troopers since Governor Shapiro took office. The Shapiro administration also supported the hiring of 700 local police officers through grant funding from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), reinforcing its commitment to safe and secure communities. Watch Governor Shapiro talk about prioritizing the safety and security of Pennsylvania communities through historic investments in law enforcement and violence prevention.

Pennsylvania ranks 10th for pediatric healthcare, offering 147 pediatricians per 100,000 children, ensuring the commonwealth’s children have adequate access to medical care. Shapiro’s administration secured the first-ever state investment to address maternal mortality, signed legislation to improve maternal health data, and doubled the state’s funding for maternal mortality prevention in the latest budget. Additionally, the governor signed SB 739 to expand telemedicine services to serve more Pennsylvanians and HB 2268, which ensures children who stutter have access to speech therapy without financial barriers.

In addition to the three mentioned above, Pennsylvania ranks in the top half of the states for affordability, boosted by the creation of the Employer Child Care Contribution Tax Credit to help businesses support employees’ childcare expenses. This builds on the expansion of the Child and Dependent Care Enhancement Tax Credit, which was signed into law by Governor Shapiro in 2023, easing financial burdens for families across the state. Watch Governor Shapiro talk about easing the financial burden on Pennsylvania families.

ConsumerAffairs highlighted Pennsylvania’s success in providing a safe, nurturing environment for families, making it a top choice for those weighing relocation decisions. Vermont and Maine joined Pennsylvania at the top of the rankings.

The report evaluated all 50 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., across five key categories: affordability, safety, education, pediatric healthcare, and quality of life. For the full report and methodology, visit the ConsumerAffairs website.

Learn more about Governor Shapiro’s initiatives to support families and communities across Pennsylvania at pa.gov/governor.

My name is Hope Danoff, and I want to share with you the essence of Republicans With HOPE. I have always been a person of action, understanding at a very young age that one person can really make a positive change for others in our community. Recently, I worked with my township commissioner to install stop signs and traffic safety measures on my street.

I witnessed several different and disturbing policies enacted and trends such as open borders, crime, defunding and demoralizing the police, the foreign affairs debacles, the overtaking and indoctrination in our schools, biological males competing on women’s sports teams, and the corruption in Washington, D.C.

It seems that what is up is down, and what is down is up. I cannot just sit by when I see these things happening in our country.

The open border policy invites millions of undocumented migrants to our country. Many of the undocumented migrants are beautiful people longing for the American Dream, but many are not. Recent statistics released by ICE show 435,000 undocumented migrants with criminal convictions have been released into our towns. We are a country of immigrants and should use the legal immigration policy that works for everyone. Democrats want an open border, Republicans do not.

Crime has soared in our communities under Democratic policies. In part because of undocumented migrants, but also because we have normalized it and allow crime to occur without accountability. I see this everywhere, but it is worse in the very liberal cities. Republicans stand for law and order.

The economy has become so bad it’s difficult to make ends meet. Prices have soared including the necessities like groceries and fuel. More and more people are becoming dependent on government subsidies just to survive. The economic and inflation problems are caused by government over-spending with lack of accountability. Democrats spend with little or no limits. The most recent atrocity was the Inflation Reduction Act for $1.2 trillion which, ironically, caused inflation to rise. Republicans also overspend, but within limits. Republicans lean more towards smaller government (free market solutions with less government intrusion).

We are on the verge of WWIII. When America is weak, the world is in chaos. Republicans believe in peace through strength. As a two-party system, neither party is perfect, but we have to pick one when we vote. I see the Republican Party as the party of hope. We are building a big tent; diverse, enthusiastic, and positive movement in the Republican Party.

Whereas, the Democratic Party is not the party of the people. The Democrats are the party of the progressive elites desiring to force their ideas onto “we, the people.” Democrats are the party of big government. Ronald Reagan once said, “When government gets too big, freedom is lost. Government is supposed to be the servant. But, when a government can tax the people with no limit or restraint on what the government can take, then the government has become the master.”

So, why do the urban communities continue to vote Democrat? I believe the media is extremely biased with an overall narrative that Democrats are the party that will help urban communities thrive while demonizing Republicans. You can see with your own eyes that it is not working and it is time for a change! Liberal policies are destroying the urban communities with homelessness, crime, poor education, high taxes, and stifling opportunities. Republicans welcome all with policies we know work including free market solutions, law and order, school choice, opportunity to grow and thrive.

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Pennsylvania lost 10,408 residents between July 2022 and July 2023, the U.S. Census said.  After the 2000 Census, Pennsylvania lost a congressional seat because so many residents sought their fortunes elsewhere.

Hoping to reverse this trend, on Tuesday the Republican-led state Senate nearly unanimously passed a bipaartisan package of bills dubbed “Grow PA.”

“Everyone knows we have a declining population in Pennsylvania, and our workforce is shrinking as Pennsylvanians age,” Sen. Tracy Pennycuick (R-Montgomery) told DVJournal. “So we came together, and leadership did a great job of putting this together.”

Elizabeth Stelle, director of policy analysis for the free market think tank, agreed.

“The Commonwealth Foundation applauds Pennsylvania Senate Republicans—and state Sen. Scott Martin (R-Lancaster) in particular—for its leadership in advancing much-needed higher education reform in the commonwealth. The passage of Grow PA illustrates the Senate Republican’s commitment to supporting our students and future workforce,” Stelle said.

“Grow PA’s reforms provide student-centered funding, ensuring financial aid benefits students directly. From technical programs and community colleges to four-year universities, Grow PA funds students regardless of their choice of higher education. It prioritizes student choice—not bureaucracy—and allocates resources to the fields of study our state needs the most,” she said.

“Grow PA links accountability and results, tying scholarship grants to student success in high-demand fields, such as health care and agriculture. This approach makes higher education more affordable and aligns educational programs with the demands of our state’s key industries. As a result, students graduate better prepared, collect less student debt, and have a greater chance to secure gainful employment.”

The Grow PA Scholarship Grant Program will offer grants of up to $5,000 per year for in-state students who attend college in Pennsylvania, pursue a degree in a high-demand industry, and agree to live and work in that industry in Pennsylvania after graduation.

Students who receive grants would be required to live and work in Pennsylvania for at least 15 months for each year they accept the grant. Otherwise, the grant is converted into a loan.

A Grow PA merit scholarship program also attracts high-performing out-of-state students to a Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) school.

Another bill would expand the Ready to Succeed Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships to promising students to cover the cost of post-secondary education. The bill would increase household income limits from $126,000 to $175,000 and allow students with at least a 2.5 GPA to qualify.

Pennycuick was the lead sponsor of a bill to help foster children.

The measure would expand the Fostering Independence Tuition Waiver Program, which waives higher education tuition and fees for foster children in the foster care system and adopted children. Under the bill, the program would include eligible nonresident students for undergraduate courses at PASSHE schools.

“Many young, talented individuals are simply in need of a chance to succeed. This is especially true for foster care children, who often face significant barriers when seeking access to postsecondary education,” said Pennycuick. “Let’s give foster care kids across the nation the opportunity they seek right here in Pennsylvania.”

She hopes those former foster children will continue to live as contributing members of Pennsylvania society.

“We’ve got phenomenal schools in Pennsylvania,” she said. “We have some top-notch universities. I think it’s a great way to grow Pennsylvania and bring kids that need an opportunity here.”

Another bill would impose performance-based metrics to funding for state-related universities, including the University of Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania State University, and Temple University.

Stelle added, “Grow PA links accountability and results, tying scholarship grants to student success in high-demand fields, such as health care and agriculture. This approach makes higher education more affordable and aligns educational programs with the demands of our state’s key industries. As a result, students graduate better prepared, collect less student debt, and have a greater chance to secure gainful employment.”

The bills will now be taken up by the House.

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During a recent “fireside chat” with the Northhampton County chapter of Moms for Liberty, GOP U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick spoke as a dad about public policy issues like protecting girls-only sports and spaces in public schools.

“As the father of six daughters, this resonates with me so much. The very idea of allowing  biological males to compete with biological females is fundamentally unfair.

“It guts women’s sports,” McCormick went on. While Title IX protects girls and women’s sports and education, adding biological males “is part of a broader ideological shift.”

McCormick added that, as a parent, he’s concerned about content on topics like sex and gender being introduced to children too young to process it.

“Our schools are introducing transgender ideology to young children before they are old enough to form their own views as adults. And so I think it’s deeply troubling. It’s something that I would be completely opposed to as a senator…We need to get commonsense back.”

The Republican candidate also slammed his opponent, three-term Democrat Sen. Bob Casey Jr., for a letter Casey wrote last year claiming concerns about transgender athletes competing in college and high school sports are “overgeneralized.”

Also at the event was Betsy DeVos, who served as President Donald Trump’s secretary of education.

“This is an issue very timely because the rule the Biden administration has put forward that would extend the definition of gender to include gender identity, the downstream ramifications of that you can’t begin to really articulate all the different ways in which it would negatively impact everything in our culture which already has lots of challenges,” DeVos said.

She called the change, which is set to take effect in August, “fundamentally unfair” and urged people to contact their members of Congress to oppose this rule.

“Bob Casey had a chance to do the right thing and to vote against this,” said DeVos. “And to dismiss it and say it’s not a real problem is absolutely false.”

McCormick said decried the nation’s academic achievement gap compared to other advanced nations.

“We have lost progress and that’s while spending a trillion dollars over the last 50 years on the Department of Education,” he said.

Meanwhile, America is losing a generation to “woke” ideology.

“Just turn on the television and see those kids marching on campuses. They don’t know the difference between right and wrong, between good and evil. It’s not just antisemitism. It’s anti-Americanism. Only about a third of (college students) believe America is exceptional.”

“And my recollection of the history that I was taught is that by any measure, analytically, America has been an extraordinary success…liberating the world from the Nazis, winning the Cold War,” said McCormick. “And it’s had some dark chapters, dark chapters that we’ve overcome and we’re still overcoming. It’s imperfect. But it’s a great source of liberty and wealth for the world. That’s the history that’s unfortunately not being taught. It shows up in our recruiting numbers. It shows up on our campuses. And it’s because of, among other things, this ideology.”

McCormick, who grew up in Bloomsburg, noted that both his parents were teachers, that he went to public schools and that teachers and coaches were the most important influences on his life. A high school wrestler, he went to West Point, became an 82nd Airborne paratrooper, was a successful Pittsburgh businessman and a hedge fund CEO, before entering politics.

“If you have a generation that doesn’t really believe in American exceptionalism, who don’t understand our history, who don’t have the skills, the capabilities to take on this generation of challenges,” McCormick said.  “We are in a complicated world.  The rest of the world is not standing idle.  They’re moving forward.”

One “blessing” of COVID was that parents saw what their schools were teaching their kids and got more involved, he said. McCormick supports school choice.

“That opportunity will create better educational outcomes, that competition will create better opportunity, that competition will create more honesty.  That competition is the pathway to creating equal opportunity for all,” he said.

For DeVos, the big-picture problem is the power of government schools and teachers unions. “The system to which most kids are subjected to today is essentially a monopoly. Unless you have the resources to do something different, your children are headed by a monopolistic structure, and we see from the very top of it, which is the teachers’ union, the AFT and, the NEA, and all the allied organizations, have continued to influence down to the lowest level everything that has gone on in the system.”

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For an alternate point of view, see: “Counterpoint: Vouchers are Not the Civil Rights Issue of Our Time”

On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court took a historic step toward ending injustice with its decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Politicians once stood in the schoolhouse door as a barrier to keep minorities out.

The new civil rights challenge is to break through the barrier that’s trapping minority children in failing government schools today.

Teachers unions.

Teachers unions exploited the pandemic, holding the education of America’s children hostage to extract ransom payments from taxpayers. Yet, the remote learning they pushed revealed that many schools focused more on indoctrination than education. Unions overplayed their hand and awakened a sleeping giant: parents.

As I explain in “The Parent Revolution: Rescuing Your Kids from the Radicals Ruining Our Schools,” conservatives have since doubled down to provide all families with the freedom to choose how to educate their children. And remarkably, in the last three years, 11 states with Republican-controlled legislatures have passed universal school choice initiatives.

School choice shouldn’t be a partisan issue. Actually, it isn’t among voters. RealClear Opinion Research polling found that a supermajority of Republicans, Democrats, and independents support school choice. Further, University of Houston polling found that 73 percent of Black Democrats support private school vouchers for low-income families in Texas.

Indeed, the problem is that the Democratic Party is a subsidiary of the teachers unions. In fact, unions engage in what is tantamount to money laundering. In 2022, 99.97 percent of campaign contributions from the American Federation of Teachers went to Democrats. Make no mistake, this one-sided cycling of cash has been taking place for decades. And politicians listen to the special interest dollars over their own constituents.

The public school system — more accurately, the “government school system” — spends  $20,000 in taxpayer money per student annually. However, the average private school tuition is less than $13,000 annually. Taxpayers’ money should be redirected to families to empower them to choose the education provider that best meets their needs and aligns with their values. That’s the most economical and democratic approach to education.

The government school system discriminates by ZIP code and is rife with inequality. For example, there are dozens of government-run Baltimore schools in which no student is proficient in math. The government school system is also markedly divided along racial lines. A preponderance of evidence finds that school-choice initiatives yield integration. Lo and behold, several staunch segregationists locked arms with teachers unions to oppose school choice in the 1950s after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling. 

Today, as it was then, education freedom is the great equalizer.

If the ideologues running teachers unions were honest, they would label the vast disparities in government-run schools “systemic racism.” Yet, they don’t because the apparent solution — giving families the right to choose their children’s education — would diminish their power.

Fortunately, some Democratic politicians are finally breaking with teachers unions. Legislators in Georgia and North Carolina joined the GOP on the issue of school choice last year. In Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro changed his education platform to include private schools right before his gubernatorial election in 2022. In Virginia, the defeat of Terry “I-don’t-think-parents-should-be-telling-schools-what-they-should-teach” McAuliffe was undoubtedly a cautionary tale.

The Louisiana House passed universal school choice by a supermajority vote of 72 to 32, and nearly 20 percent of the Democrats in the chamber voted for the bill. “As I watch children in poverty, trapped in failing schools, who can hardly read, I’d be damned if I will continue to defend the status quo,” said Rep. Jason Hughes from the floor.

Eleven percent of Florida’s House Democrats voted for universal school choice last year. This year, three Democrats in the Missouri House voted to expand school choice, and Democratic Sen. Justin Wayne made a consequential vote for school choice in Nebraska.

If enough Democratic officials locked arms and listened to their constituents, they could once and for all break free from the militants running teachers unions. If they don’t, sooner rather than later, they will be excoriated and punished by parents, who have emerged as one of the most potent voting blocks in modern American politics.

For an alternate point of view, see: “Point: Parents Must End the Teachers Unions’ Stranglehold on Education”

In 1958, three years after the Brown v. Board of Education order to integrate American schools, the Texas legislature debated a plan that would offer vouchers to parents who opposed the idea that their children would learn in diverse racial settings. Echoing similar efforts throughout the U.S. South, the Texas bill left no ambiguity about the voucher’s purpose. “Such aid,” the legislation read, “should be given only upon affidavit that the child was being withdrawn from the public schools due to the parents’ dislike of integration.”

That voucher bill failed, and 67 years later—70 years this month after the Brown decision itself—Texas still has yet to pass a voucher system. But I think about this piece of legislation every time I hear the claim, from Donald Trump on down, that vouchers and related school choice bills are “the civil rights issue of our time.”

No. They are not.

In the early days of modern voucher systems that use taxpayer funds for private K-12 tuition—1990 through roughly 2010—vouchers were largely limited to students in a handful of urban settings like Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Washington, D.C. That fact, combined with firm albeit slowly lifting caps on income for participants, meant that vouchers went disproportionately to children of color.

A handful of studies through 2002 showed those students realized some academic gains as a result. Over the past decade, however, as vouchers expanded into statewide systems in places like Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, and again in Washington, D.C., those results became negative—catastrophically so. How bad? In Louisiana, for example, students who used a voucher to transfer from public to private school suffered academic declines more than three times what Hurricane Katrina did to test scores for students who survived that calamity. And like Katrina’s victims, Louisiana’s voucher users at that time were disproportionately Black.

The main culprit was the fact the best-run private schools didn’t take vouchers or the students who had them at the time. Louisiana’s system pushed students of color largely into D and F-rated private schools, and the results showed. That’s why I’ve called vouchers the education equivalent of predatory lending: all promise, no results.

Today, however, as voucher systems grow in number and in scope, those warning signs for children of color are changing into something else. With income caps lifting, and now 10 states and counting with “universal” vouchers for all children, the vast majority of new users are White and coming from wealthier communities. We’ve seen this pattern in new data from Ohio and North Carolina, as well as in Arizona.

There’s strong evidence that most of these students were already in private school even before getting the voucher. And new data shows many private schools simply raise tuition further once taxpayers begin picking up some of the tab through the emerging voucher system.

Even when they do use vouchers, students of color are disproportionately likely to leave their private schools—either because they are pushed out or for some other reason. These students are also the most likely to be struggling academically. What this means is that vouchers may provide a temporary coupon to change schools but are hardly a long-term solution to problems of racial inequality that persist across schools and communities.

Beyond the data, it’s important to note that many of the same people pushing the claim that vouchers are a civil rights issue, are also those who want to ban teaching about racial inequality in public schools. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the nation’s largest voucher bill last year, has also repeatedly insisted that slavery had some benefits for African Americans. In Arkansas, home to some of the most important moments in actual civil rights history, the same legislation that created vouchers in that state also put strict new limits on the teaching of race in public schools—and removed African American History from the state’s list of approved AP courses.

All of this simply means that when we look beyond claims and slogans about vouchers providing a new civil rights agenda, the results suggest entirely the opposite.

Saying something doesn’t make that something so.

Although it is not the only path to success, a college degree has long been a source of pride for first-generation-to-college families like mine.  Some now question the value and purpose of college altogether.  Sensational stories describe millionaire dropouts as though that was a common occurrence.  One editorial writer went so far as to call college a “cancer.”  This can lead some prospective college students to wonder, not which college to apply to, but whether they should apply at all.

It’s time to look past the vitriol of the current narrative and to recognize the transformative value of a college education.  There are four oft-repeated misnomers about higher education—1) “Not worth it,” 2) “too elitist,” 3) “too expensive,” or that it 4) “doesn’t prepare you for the real world.”

College is worth it

First, we’ve heard that, “college isn’t worth it.”  The prospect of debt causes some to question any investment in college.  Is it worth it? Both quantitatively and qualitatively—-Yes!

The reality is that we live in an age where our trust in just about everything has gone down—partly a casualty of our 24/7 news cycle.  And though higher education is still among the most revered sectors in America, right up there with churches, small business owners and the military—the trust level for all these institutions has dropped in the last two decades.

But at the end of the day, college is still one of the very best “investments” someone can make in their life.

Quantitatively, according to repeated analyses by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a four-year degree generates an annual return of 14 percent over a 40-year career, even beating the stock market.  In other words, a college degree would yield about twice the return compared to diverting your college savings into an index fund, and five times greater than if you had invested it into bonds, gold, or real estate.  If “college” were a stock, it would be the darling of Wall Street.  And if money is your measure, studies consistently show college graduates enjoy a bump in pay of over $1 million in their lifetime (on average) over those without a degree.

Qualitatively, is a fulfilling life your goal? Numerous surveys show that college graduates poll significantly higher for indicators of happiness and fulfillment compared with their non-graduating peers. College graduates, overall, tend to be happier, enjoy longer life expectancy, have healthier lifestyles, lower probability of incarceration, higher philanthropic giving, and higher rates of community engagement.

Opportunity, access, and upward mobility

Second, the “elitist” charge is just not fair. Sure, there are some schools that cater to wealthier populations, but colleges and education generally have long been the great equalizer in America.  For many women, minorities, first-generation, and lower-income students, the path to a better life starts with a college education.  And college-aid programs like PHEAA and Pell for lower-income students, and the GI Bill for veterans, have opened the doors to college to more first-generation-to-college students than ever.

The 90 independent nonprofit colleges and universities of Pennsylvania educate 45% of all lower-income, Pell-eligible students, 49 percent of all “adult” students, 54 percent of all minority students and the largest proportion of first-generation-to-college students in the state. You may find that surprising, but in Pennsylvania, it’s actually the independent nonprofit colleges that give low-income, first-generation, adult and minority students the biggest boost and best bang for the buck.  National measuring sticks like the highly regarded Economic Mobility Index and the WSJ’s Social Mobility Ranking demonstrate that schools like these change lives and empower lower-income students.

Making College Affordable

Third, the actual net cost of a degree at these independent nonprofit schools is much lower than that “sticker price” you saw.  According to the US Department of Education, average net tuition and fees (what families actually pay after school aid and public grants) at independent nonprofit colleges in Pennsylvania is just under $13,000, less than 10 years ago (even before adjusting for inflation).  A degree from these schools is actually becoming more affordable, not less.

Preparing for an uncertain future

Fourth, we’ve heard that “college doesn’t prepare you for the real world,” and that “colleges don’t meet workforce needs.”

The average person entering the job market today will have 16 different jobs in 5-6 different fields, and the job they have 10 years from now might not even exist today.  So how can you prepare for an unknown career in an uncertain future?  When jobs become more competitive, and new technology like A.I. structurally changes our economy, the case for college is enhanced, not diminished.  “Learning how to learn” is the new essential skill in a knowledge-based economy, and higher education is the surest way to develop it.

Choosing to forgo college limits your options. There are still plenty of jobs available without a college degree, sure, but so many more opportunities are available with a college education. By 2031, 70 percent of all jobs will require at least some post-secondary education, a double-digit increase in just a decade.

Next time you read a news headline blasting higher education or questioning the merit of a college education, tune out the rhetoric and tune into these facts.

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It’s time to sound the alarm on early literacy in Pennsylvania.

Almost half of fourth graders across our state are reading below grade level, a challenge that exists in every corner of our state — from urban cities to our rural communities. Research has consistently shown that early literacy is critical to academic success and long-term achievement. A strong, evidence-based reading program, beginning in kindergarten and continuing into the third grade and beyond, gives students the best possible chance to maximize their education.

Because we are not born with the natural ability to read, the skills that lead students to become competent, lifelong readers must be explicitly and systematically taught at a young age with ample opportunity for practice and improvement.

As policymakers, we have the ability to ensure our students get the reading support they need in those early years so they can succeed later on in life.

Currently, one in five American adults struggle with reading basic sentences. For these individuals, tasks such as reading the mail, completing tax forms, or even engaging in civic duties can be nearly impossible.

Literacy cannot be a skill reserved for wealthy families and those who can afford private tutoring. Learning to read is a challenge for many, and that challenge does not discriminate.

To improve early literacy in Pennsylvania, we are sponsoring legislation mirroring a bipartisan proposal from Reps. Justin Fleming and Jason Ortitay that uses a three-pronged approach.

First, it bolsters reading instruction with evidence-based reading curricula, ensuring literacy achievement for children across the Commonwealth. Second, struggling readers will be identified through a universal screening within the first 30 days of school. Finally, looking at the screening data will help schools and educators design and implement intervention plans to prevent children from falling behind.

When states take this comprehensive approach, positive outcomes for students rise. Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina have all showed and continue to show us what is possible when a comprehensive law is adopted and implemented with fidelity.

After Mississippi’s literacy program was passed in 2013, the state rose from 49th in 4th grade reading to 21st in the nation.

After two years of statewide teacher training in the science of reading, the latest assessment results also showed that North Carolina students in grades K-4 made greater mid-year gains than students in other states using the same assessment, with the percentage of kindergarten students meeting the benchmark almost doubling from 28 percent to 56 percent.

Those are the kind of results Pennsylvania families deserve, and we can’t afford to wait. Researchers have spent decades determining which approaches work best to teach reading, but if our teachers don’t have the resources they need to educate our kids, our outcomes are unlikely to improve. The pandemic brought uncertainty and turmoil to our lives, and our kids need us now more than ever. Literacy is a great equalizer. Whether a person can read is a critical predictor of educational and lifelong success. We cannot afford to have almost half of our students falling short of that goal.

By providing support for early literacy development, our legislation has the potential to make a meaningful difference in the lives of countless Pennsylvania children and ensure they are able to reach their full potential.

Investing in education means investing in the future of our state and opening all students up to a lifetime of success.

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Three contrarian votes from Republican senators—including one from the Delaware Valley—failed to halt the confirmation of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s pick for education secretary this week.

On Monday, the Republican-controlled Senate’s education committee approved Acting Education Secretary Khalid Mumin. He was formerly superintendent of the Lower Merion and Reading School Districts. The full Senate subsequently affirmed the pick, voting 46-3 to confirm Mumin.

The three holdouts were all Republicans: Jarrett Coleman (Bucks and Lehigh), Doug Mastriano (Adams and Franklin), and John DiSanto (Dauphin County).

Coleman and Mastriano did not respond to requests for comment on their votes. DiSanto, meanwhile, said Mumin is too firmly embedded in an education system needing change.

“Pennsylvania ranks 8th nationally in per-student education spending, yet we lag in student achievement,” DiSanto told DVJournal. “The emphasis is always on more money when we need fundamental changes in the system.”

“The secretary has been part of that system for 25 years, and I don’t believe he’s capable of or interested in making the reforms needed,” he added.

Mumin began teaching in 1997. Shapiro tapped him for the acting secretary post in January, shortly before the governor’s inauguration.

The secretary won praise during his tenure as Reading superintendent. The district had been amid financial turmoil at the time of his arrival and had seen multiple superintendents in a short period. The prior director, Carlinda Purcell, had been relieved of her position after just 17 months on the job.

In 2021, the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrations selected Mumin as its Pennsylvania Superintendent of the Year, describing the significant challenges the administrator faced when he began the job.

“In 2014, when Dr. Mumin began his tenure as superintendent, he was confronted with 19 buildings of failing infrastructures, eight bargaining units without contracts for five years, and a district having little to no transparency with either staff or constituents,” the PASA said, claiming that Reading was “a district facing a financial crisis – along with a looming state takeover.”

Mumin “demonstrated visionary leadership right from the start to get the district back on a positive track and focused on academic growth and support,” the group said.

Senate Education Committee Chair Sen. Dave Argall said in a press release that the committee “performed [its] constitutional duty” in voting Mumin through.

“I look forward to working with him to improve our education system,” Argall said.

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