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School choice
•Pennsylvaniapublicschoolspendingdoubledinthepast15years;performancedidnot.•Inthecommonwealth’sbottomvepercentofschools,morethan5,400actsofviolenceoccurredinthe2008-09schoolyear,includingsevenrapesandmorethan3,000assaultsonstudentsandstaff.•Pennsylvania’sEducationalImprovementTaxCreditserves40,000studentsannually,butthousandsremainonwaitinglists.•Studieshaveshownschoolchoiceprograms,includingvouchersandtaxcredits,increasestudentperformance,improvethequalityofpublicschools,andsavetaxpayersmoney.
liquor Store Privatization
•PennsylvaniaandUtaharetheonlystateswheregovernmenthasacompletemonopolyoversalesofwineandliquor.•69percentofPennsylvaniavoterssupportgettinggovernmentoutoftheboozebusiness.•APennsylvaniaLiquorControlBoard-commissionedstudyfoundthat45percentofSoutheastPennsylvaniansbuywineandliquorinotherstates,eventhoughitisillegaltotransportalcoholacrossstatelines.•Pennsylvaniarankshigherthanthenationalaverageinunderagedrinking,underagebingedrinking,andbingedrinkingamongallresidents.Acomprehensivestudyshowsnolinkbetweengovernmentcontrolofalcoholsalesandnegativesocialimpacts.
MarcelluS Shale iMPact Fee/tax
•Pennsylvania’snaturalgasindustryhaspaidmorethan$1.2billioninstatetaxessince2006.Inadditiontotaxes,gascompaniesput$200millionintoimprovinglocalroadslastyear,andpaidoutanestimated$7billioninleaseandroyaltypaymentstoresidentssince2006.•PennStateeconomistsestimateMarcellusactivityspurredmorethan24,000newjobsinPennsylvaniain2009alone.•Lastyear,MarcellusgasproductionsavedPennsylvaniansanestimated$633millioninutilitycosts,orabout$200foreveryfamilyoffour.•Anyimpactfeeassessedtothenaturalgasindustryshouldonlychargeforthegovernmentservicesgasdrillersareusingthatarenotalreadybeingcoveredthroughcurrenttaxesandfees.
tranSPortation Funding
•Noadditionaltransportationfundingshouldbeawardedwithoutspendingreforms.Everydollarspentontransportationshouldbeprioritized.•Redeningprevailingwagesasthemarketwagewouldsavehundredsofmillionsofdollarseachyear.•Enablingpublic-privatepartnershipswouldbringinprivate-sectorfundingandexpertisebothinnewroadconstructionandinmasstransitoperations.•Anyadditionalfundingneedsshouldbeborneonlybythosewhobenet.Thisincludesridersofmasstransit.
charter School reForM
•Charterschoolenrollmentgrewfrom982studentsin1997to91,000in2010,asmoreparentsexercisedchoiceintheirchildren’seducation.•Onaverage,charterschoolsreceiveandspendonlyabout83percentofwhatschooldistrictsspendforeachstudent.•Ifchartersfailtoperform,theymaybeshutdown.Ultimately,chartersfacethehighestaccountabilitystandard—parentalchoice.•Allowingalternativecharterschoolauthorizerswouldincreaseopportunitiesfornewandinnovativecharterschools.
 
School choice
Should parents have more control over their child’s education?
Pennsylvaniahasdoubledpublicschoolspendinginthepast15years,yetonly40percentof8th-gradestudentsscoredatoraboveprociencylevelsontheNationalAssessmentofEducationalProg-ressreadingandmathematicsexams.Overthattime,enrollmentinPennsylvaniapublicschoolsdeclinedby26,960students,whileschoolshiredanadditional32,937employees.Nearlyeveryempiricalstudyshowsthatschoolchoiceprogramsincreaseacademicachievementforstudentsandimprovepublicschoolsthroughcompetition.It’stimetoempowerfamiliestopickthebestschoolfortheirchild.
Why does school choice need to happen this session?
Inthecommonwealth’sbottomvepercentofschools,fewerthan53percentofstudentswereprocientinreadingandmathin2009-10.Inthesame144schools,morethan5,400actsofviolenceoccurredinthe2008-09schoolyear,includingsevenrapesandmorethan3,000assaultsonstudentsandstaff.Onlybyactingnowcanlawmakersprovidealifelinetothesestudentsbeforesentencingthemtoanotheryearinviolentandfailingschools.
What can lawmakers do?
Legislationhasbeenintroducedtoexpandeducationaltaxcreditsandimplementschoolvouchers.ThepopularEducationalImprovementTaxCreditProgram(EITC)supportsscholarshipsthathelpparentspaytuitionattheirschoolofchoicefromvoluntarycontributionsofPennsylvaniabusinesses.Vouchersprovidefamilieswithtaxpayermoney,inthiscaseafrac-tionoftheamountschoolscurrentlyspendperpupil,tohelpparentspayprivateorpublicschooltuition.
Does school choice provide a better education for children?
Nineofthe10“goldstandard”evaluationsofvoucherprogramsre-portedstatisticallysignicantgainsinachievementforallorsomevoucherrecipients.VoucherprogramsimprovegraduationratesinplaceslikeWashington,D.C.,andMilwaukee,havehigherparentalsatisfactionratesandreducesegregation.
How does school choice affect public schools?
Whenparentscanchoose,publicschoolsareforcedtocompete.In18outof19aca-demicallyrigorousstudies,vouchershadapositiveimpactonaffectedpublicschooldistricts.Nostudyhaseverdemonstratedthatscholarshipshaveanegativeimpactondistrictschoolperformanceortheirabilitytoraisefunds.
Can school choice save taxpayers money?
TheEITCsavedtaxpayersanadditional$512millionlastyear,asstudentslefthigh-costdistrictschools.TheaverageEITCscholarshipis$1,044,whiletheaverageschooldistrictspendsover$14,000perstudent.Ifallstu-dentscurrentlyenrolledincharterschools,privateschoolsandhomeschoolingreturnedtodistrictschools,itwouldcosttaxpayersanadditional$3billionperyear.
Do parents want school choice?
Sincethelate1990s,Pennsylvanialawmakershavecreatedcharterschools,cyberschoolsandpri-vateschoolscholarshipsthroughtheEducationalImprovementTaxCreditprogram.Yetlongwaitinglistsfortheselimitedoptionsshowthesupplyofschoolchoiceoptionsdoesnotmeetparentaldemand.Forexample,theChildren’sScholarshipFundPhiladelphiahad95,000applicationsfor7,700scholarshipsawardedoverthelast12years.
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