News & Brews April 23, 2025
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School choice is on the move
It’s been quite a few weeks for school choice! Fresh off last week’s huge win for educational freedom in Texas, on Monday, the North Dakota House passed a bill that the state Senate had previously passed that would establish education savings accounts. This came the same day that ND Gov. Kelly Armstrong signed legislation to establish public charter schools. Separately, a new study out of Ohio shows that students participating in the state’s voucher program “were substantially more likely to enroll in college than students who remained in public schools…. The enrollment impacts were strongest for male students, Black students, students with below-median test scores before leaving public school, and students from the lowest-income families.” And back here in Pa., last week GOP state Rep. Joe D’Orsie (York County) officially introduced a universal school choice bill!
Gov.’s mansion reopens to public after attack
The governor’s mansion reopened to the public yesterday for an Easter egg hunt, just over a week after an arsonist set fire to it. PennLive reports that Gov. “Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, along with first lady Lori Shapiro and second lady Blayre Holmes Davis, hosted dozens of preschoolers who scrambled for prize-filled eggs spread across the residence’s lawn – which was cordoned off from the building’s south wing, where crews are already at work stripping the fire-damaged interior.” While complete repairs are expected to take several months, Shapiro said, “The first floor is very close to being able to be used, and the budget meetings I’ve had with legislative leaders have largely been in this part of the house and outdoors.” He added, “I’m not going to live in fear, period. I’m looking forward to getting back here.”
Philadelphia 2025: State of the City report
The Pew Charitable Trusts has released its 2025 State of the City report for the City of Brotherly Love. And there’s some good and some not so good news inside. “Homicides and shootings, which rose dramatically at the height of the pandemic, have fallen to the lowest levels in a decade. Unemployment rates, which were high in 2020 and 2021, have been relatively low for several years. And the poverty rate continues to decline. Nevertheless, Philadelphia faces major uncertainties in the form of shifts in federal funding, increasing housing costs, the ongoing opioid epidemic, and a citywide population that has shrunk from its pre-pandemic peak.”
DOJ withdraws lawsuit against Hazleton
In January, the U.S. Department of Justice, under former President Biden, filed a lawsuit against the city of Hazleton in Luzerne County, alleging the that the city was “violating federal law by thwarting the election of Hispanic City Council candidates.” On Monday, the DOJ withdrew the suit. Hazleton Mayor Jeff Cusat, who along with city officials had been fighting the accusations, said yesterday, “The DOJ’s baseless assumption that the non-Hispanic white voters vote as a block to defeat Hispanic candidates could not be supported. The Hazleton community simply cannot be stereotyped by people who have never visited the area.”
Ellen Greenberg case is now a book
Yesterday, legal commentator and victims’ rights advocate Nancy Grace released her new book, What Happened to Ellen? An American Miscarriage of Justice. The book examines the case of Ellen Greenberg, the teacher found dead in 2011 in the Manayunk apartment she shared with her fiancé. The unsolved case has raised questions that extend from the Philly police department to now-Gov. but former Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who is mentioned multiple times in the book. See a recent interview with Nancy Grace on the book here.