Month: July 2023

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Not Having to Think About Race And Racism Is White Privilege

  By Politics, Public Policy, White Supremacy and Structural Racism

So the “wonderful” thing about being a white person in the United States is that you don’t have to think about it, or racism, if you don’t want to. You can form your political opinions without giving a second thought. You can write policy analysis as if race has no impact on education, or on access to health care or housing or jobs, or anything else we value—and until relatively recently,  almost no one will criticize you and say you are missing something. You can work in business without thinking about how your employment policies or where you are located affect Black people differently than white people. You can practice medicine without thinking about how the experience of being Black in America might affect the health of your patients. I know this from personal experience. I did this kind of work without thinking about race and racism. Even now, I… Continue reading

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Penn Policy Center Statement on PA Budget Passage

  By Budget, Penn Policy Center, Pennsylvania Budget, Statement

July 5, 2023 For Immediate Release Contact: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennpolicy.org Penn Policy Center Statement on Budget Passage Governor Shapiro’s letter announcing that he would line-item veto the appropriation for vouchers in the budget passed by the Senate last week clears the way for the House to also pass the budget and send it to the Governor for his signature. Enacting a budget that doesn’t include a voucher plan is a victory, especially because that plan would have likely been a first step toward the destruction of public education in Pennsylvania. We are grateful to Democrats in both the House and the Senate for standing strong against vouchers. Sadly, while the enacted budget is likely the best that can be achieved at this date, it is not a good one. While it includes bout a 5% increase in total spending, after taking inflation into account, the increase is not substantial. If… Continue reading

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Saving Public Education in Pennsylvania, Where It Began

  By Blog post, Education, K-12 Education in PA, Penn Policy Center, Published op-eds

Originally published on PennCapital-Star.com The budget stalemate in Harrisburg hasn’t been primarily about whether some budget line items go up or down by a few hundred million dollars. Those kinds of disputes are easy to resolve. Rather, it’s been about whether Pennsylvania will start down a radical, extremist path that leads to the destruction of public education in our state. As we celebrate the birth of our country, we should remember that public education is central to the ideals that led to, and grew out of, American independence. And we in Pennsylvania should resolve not to compromise those ideals as the state passes its budget this year. The American Revolution was not just a political revolution against the King and Parliament. It was also a social revolution against the hierarchal society they represented, a society in which everyone knew and kept in their place. It was a revolution to give… Continue reading

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Update on Pennsylvania Budget

  By Blog post, Penn Policy Center, Pennsylvania Budget

With $13 billion in accumulated surplus and a budget from the governor that proposed modest additions to state spending on policies that have broad support, one would expect that making a budget deal would be easy. Yet the budget deadline came and went. House Democrats passed a budget four weeks ago with more funding for a number of programs, including education, where they added to basic education funding and special education funding, and added the popular Level Up program back into the budget. They then passed a minimum wage bill that was not perfect but would put Pennsylvania on a path to $15. Governor Shapiro embraced both plans. Senate Republicans passed a profoundly flawed budget, at the last minute, that rejected most of the House plan. Its worst element, however, was the inclusion of a $100 million down payment on a radical plan, sponsored by extremist billionaires like Betsy Devos… Continue reading