News & Brews May 13, 2024
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Shapiro’s strategy: Take credit for decisions others make
There are profiles in courage, and then there’s Gov. Josh Shapiro. Turns out that when he called for the University of Pennsylvania to disband the anti-Israel encampment (after previously saying it wasn’t his judgement to make), he knew Penn officials were already planning to disband the encampment. In other words, he wanted to make it look like he was “pressuring Penn,” when in reality, he was simply trying to take credit for a decision Penn had already made.
Biden ‘struggling in Pa.—even with his base’
The Inquirer reports that per a new Inquirer/New York Times/Sienna Poll, “President Joe Biden is polling at just 36% in Pennsylvania when third-party candidates are counted, despite numerous visits to the state. Former President Donald Trump isn’t doing much better, but he leads Biden on the economy and other issues.” The story notes, “After months of return visits to Pennsylvania and millions of dollars poured into political advertisements, President Joe Biden hasn’t gained ground in the critical swing state.”
Pa. per-student revenue hits new high
Per new data released by the National Center for Education Statistics, per pupil revenue in Pennsylvania hit a new high of $22,544 in 2022. As the Commonwealth Foundation’s Nathan Benefield points out, “That’s 7th most in the nation, and $4,100 more than [the] US average.” Still, many Democrat state lawmakers want to hike taxes by $2,000 per family of four to increase education spending even more, while blocking kids from leaving poorly performing schools.
Pa. House Dems want to fix education … in 7 years
And speaking of education, WESA reports that Pa. House Democrat “leaders are planning to introduce legislation intended to close funding gaps between the Commonwealth’s poorest and wealthiest school districts over seven years.” Of course, Democrats claim that this funding gap is the reason many children are in crummy schools (despite evidence suggesting this is not the case). So, they want to fix the problem—in seven years. Meanwhile, nearly all Democrat lawmakers oppose expanding school choice now. In other words, under the Dems’ plan, kids in 5th grade today who are relegated to terrible schools by zip code—and who will be graduating in seven years, ready or not—are out of luck.
Courts strikes down Pa. town’s limit on political signs
The AP reports that a panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has found that Camp Hill Borough’s “ordinance designed to cut down on lawn signs is unconstitutional, saying that its resulting limitations on political lawn signs violates the free speech rights of residents.” The judge writing the decision noted that “the borough sought to impose stricter limits on noncommercial signs, such as political signs, than commercial or holiday signs.” In response to the ruling, the borough noted in a statement that it “is concerned with the potential sprawling impact it may have on the ability of the borough and other municipalities to meaningfully regulate signs in pursuit of traffic safety and aesthetics.” Per one Camp Hill official, the borough has not yet decided whether to appeal.