Education Feed

"What Teachers Unions Don’t Want You to Know about School Choice"

This is just sad:

Strawberry Mansion High School ranks as one of the most dangerous schools in the country. And despite the Philadelphia School District’s spending nearly $30,000 per student per year in district-operated public schools, the latest data from the Nation’s Report Card shows student performance in the city is lower than students in most other large cities. Last year, 81 percent of Philadelphia fourth-grade students were not proficient in math, while 83 percent were not proficient in reading. Among Black, Hispanic, and economically disadvantaged students, the numbers were even higher. 

Because of his zip code, Anthony was on track to attend Strawberry Mansion High School. But his life forever changed thanks to Pennsylvania’s tax credit scholarship program, which his mother used to send him to a safe, quality private school. 

What happened to the thousands of dollars that would have been spent on Anthony’s public school education each year? It stayed with the Philadelphia School District, even as Anthony left.