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1. Billions in reserves, fewer students, falling scores — and Shapiro wants more

By Beth Ann Rosica
 

Despite the historic increases in education funding at the federal, state, and local levels, basic student proficiency in Pennsylvania is abysmal, and the Governor is asking for yet more education funding, proposing a $75 million (or one percent) increase in this year’s budget.

Only 53 percent of Pennsylvania public school students are proficient in reading and just over 40 percent are proficient in math, while education funding continues to increase and student enrollment declines.

Over the last fifteen years, Pennsylvania school district’s revenues have increased by a staggering $14 billion at the same time that enrollment decreased by eleven percent.

Why It Matters. Perhaps equally concerning is the fact that school districts continue to hold large sums in their fund balances while claiming to need additional revenue. The Commonwealth Foundation reports the majority of school districts in the state maintain large fund balances, also known as reserves, while simultaneously raising taxes.

If reading and math proficiency were improving, Governor Shapiro might be able to make a case that more money solves the problem, but that is certainly not happening in the Commonwealth.

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2. To grow again, Pennsylvania must compete

By Luke Bernstein
 

"Economic competitiveness” is not a phrase on most people’s minds, but it is the single most important determinant of a state’s long-term future.

Every day, Pennsylvania is competing with other states to attract and retain people, jobs, and investment. And our competitiveness impacts everything – from the long-term health of our local school districts, to the viability of neighborhood small businesses, and whether our kids will have career opportunities close to home. 

But when it comes to competing, Pennsylvania’s story is still being written.

Why It Matters. In virtually every national ranking that matters — business friendliness, economic growth, entrepreneurship, overall tax climate — Pennsylvania ranks in the middle or near the bottom of the pack.

When Intel was choosing where to build its $28 billion semiconductor plant a few years ago, they didn’t even look at Pennsylvania, in large part because we had the second-highest corporate net income (CNI) tax rate in the entire country and penalized investment due to uncompetitive net operating loss (NOL) policy.

Similarly, U.S. Steel chose Arkansas over Pennsylvania for its $3 billion facility explicitly because of that state’s streamlined permitting process. At the ribbon cutting, Arkansas’ governor bragged they had finished the project before Pennsylvania would’ve even issued a permit. 

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3. Lightning Round

• Richard Kosich: A profile in cowardice — why Montgomery County rejected ICE cooperation

• Guy Ciarrocchi: The education experts are failing our kids — and our nation

• Stu Bykofsky: Is there anything really wrong with John Fetterman?

• Paul Davis: Elder abuse scams

• Christine Flowers: In Skrmetti, Justice Barrett explains it all

• Kyle Sammin: New York makes the mistake Philly avoided

• Thom Nickels: Truth at all costs — Oriana Fallaci’s final war

4. PA Chamber reacts to socialist switch-up in NYC mayoral race

5. What we're reading

As America and Israel take action to confront the world’s leading sponsor of terror, Iran, it is worth remembering that the Islamic Republic has been a bad actor in the world for a long time — since its founding in 1979. This week at The Free Press, writer (and Broad + Liberty co-founder) Albert Eisenberg writes a moving piece about one example of Iranian terror that hits close to home: the murder of his grandfather and sixteen other Americans in the Beirut embassy bombing of 1983. Iran, then and now, gives terrorists the means to kill and destroy throughout the world. Hopefully, that murderous regime is nearing its end.