Common Sense Weekly
Here’s the Commonwealth Foundation’s weekly news roundup of policy issues debated in Harrisburg and across Pennsylvania.
We hope you have a great weekend!
Election Integrity Is Essential to Restoring Faith in Our Republic
Only half of Americans trust that our elections are fair—a crisis that cuts to the very core of self-government 250 years after the founding. Megan Martin, our COO and general counsel, shares why voter ID laws can restore that trust and overcome the most urgent civic challenge of our time.
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School Choice Saves Families Struggling with Affordability
When a pastor’s job loss and his wife’s sudden illness threatened to upend their family of six, timely scholarships did more than pay for school—they gave the Penrods a lifeline. Read how educational choice helped one Pennsylvania family stay afloat through financial crisis.
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Pennsylvania’s Economy Trails Nationally
Gov. Josh Shapiro touted Pennsylvania’s rise in national economic rankings, but a deeper dive into jobs, income, and population growth tells a far less flattering story. See how the commonwealth really stacks up against the rest of the country.
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When Schools Aren’t Safe, Families Deserve Better Choices
A horrifying hazing case at Cheltenham High reveals a deeper problem: Pennsylvania’s official safety data may be dramatically undercounting school violence, with one independent study finding a third of public schools qualify as “persistently dangerous.” Discover why families say they shouldn’t have to wait for tragedy to get their kids somewhere safer.
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How State Block Grants Reward Failing Systems
Despite $5.4 billion funneled into Pennsylvania’s Ready to Learn program since 2019, student proficiency has actually dropped nearly 20% — while a handful of politically favored districts rake in nearly half the funding increase. See the data behind a grant system critics say rewards failure instead of fixing it.
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