News & Brews February 24, 2025
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Public schools have more staff, fewer students
You know how unions and the Democrats they bankroll continually clamor for more funding for “education,” claiming our kids are underfunded? Kind of makes you wonder, right? Well, you should wonder. The 74 reports, “Public schools added 121,000 employees last year, even as they served 110,000 fewer students.” The story has an interactive, district-level map of the U.S. where you can view student/teacher growth from 2016-2024.
Lawmakers respond to UPMC Hospital shooting
On Saturday, a gunman walked into UPMC Memorial in West Manchester Township and took several staff members hostage before shooting three of them, all of whom are now in stable condition. In a shootout with responding police, the gunman shot three officers, one of whom—Andrew Duarte of the West York Police Department—tragically died. The shooter was also killed. In response to the officer’s murder, Gov. Shapiro called him “the best of us” and ordered flags to fly at half staff. And House lawmakers from York County issued a statement that said in part, “We are deeply saddened by the tragic shooting at UPMC this morning. Our hearts go out to the victims, their families and all those affected by this senseless act of violence.“
Budget hearings continue today
The Pa. House Appropriations Committee will continue state budget hearings today, with two sessions scheduled with the Department of Education. Undoubtedly, these hearings will have some heated moments, as Gov. Shapiro wants to continue to increase education spending for traditional public schools with no ties to accountability for results, even as he wants to cut funding for charter school students and completely ignores calls for additional school choice options. The first hearing will be at 10:00 a.m. and the second is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Meanwhile, the state Senate is set to resume hearings tomorrow. Watch today’s live streams here.
Richey elected new Allegheny County GOP chair
As expected, on Saturday, former Pa. gubernatorial candidate Jason Richey was elected the new chair of the Allegheny County Republican Party. As I shared last week, Richey was the only candidate left running after two other candidates dropped out of the race. “Our party is ready to unite, fight, and win,” he said. “It’s time to bring together conservatives from every corner of this county, build a movement that stands for working families, and take the fight to the far-left Democrats.” Richey replaces Sam DeMarco, who resigned from the role for a position in U.S. Senator Dave McCormick’s office.
Pa. officials charged with voter fraud
So, I guess bad things happen (near) Philly? The Inquirer reports that in a “brazen voter fraud scheme,” three officials in Millbourne Borough, Delaware County “change[d] the registration of voters in neighboring communities to Millbourne before casting mail ballots on their behalf.” In addition to persuading “friends who did not live in Millbourne to change their voter registration address to Millbourne,” the officials also “used Pennsylvania’s online voter registration system to change the registration address” for other friends who handed over their personal identifying information. But remember, there’s nothing to see here, because any time a Republican raises concerns about voter fraud the legacy media characterizes it as a Right-wing scheme intended to disenfranchise folks.