News & Brews August 21, 2026
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How bad is Philly school violence?
As lawmakers throw money at failing school systems, and Philly claims the $30K or so spent per year per student isn’t enough, there’s another issue that should raise alarm. Chalkbeat reports, “Fights are a major concern in the district: Between 2021 and 2025 there was an average of about 550 incidents each year where police responded to an assault on a public school campus, according to data provided by the city police department.” Now get this, this tidbit is included as a sub-theme in a story on digital hall passes—which track student movements. Basically this digital system is now optional in Philly schools. Part of its purpose? It “is designed to help prevent physical violence between students” since it helps “ensure certain students are not simultaneously approved for hallway access.” Not even joking. Here’s a brilliant idea: Pass universal school choice so kids can get out of violent schools.
Dem lawmaker wants audit of Philly school district
Democrat state Sen. Anthony Williams has sent a letter to Auditor General Tim DeFoor, requesting “an independent performance and operational audit of the School District of Philadelphia’s public and privately sourced funds, donations, grants, charitable contributions and sponsorships.” Williams points to the “district’s continuing fiscal challenges and requests for additional public investment” and argues that city “residents deserve a clear and comprehensive accounting of all resources available to support our schools and students.” Indeed!
Philly among three finalists for DNC
Philadelphia has made the whittled down list of three finalists to host the 2028 Democrat National Convention—along with Boston and Denver. (Atlanta and Chicago were cut in the latest round.) Gov. Shapiro, who’s had eyes on the presidency since Kindergarten, give or take a year, no doubt would love a Philly host city—particularly if he manages to move to the top of presidential contenders. Of course, if he does not, then a Philly DNC could prove politically painful for him as he’d be forced to hand someone else the spotlight.
Where the political wind blows, there Shapiro goes!
Spotlighting Gov. Shapiro and his dramatic data center flip-flop, the Wall Street Journal reports that politicians who once championed data center investments are backtracking—and fast. Shapiro went from praising AI and welcoming data center investment to signing an executive order against data centers. What changed? Only public opinion. Where the political wind blows…there Shapiro goes!
Can data centers reverse public opinion?
And speaking of data centers, if you want an example of an industry’s colossal messaging failure, this is it. Data centers are critical to energy needs, but have lost the messaging battle to the point that the majority of folks think they are the source of problems when the real culprit is bad policy. The Washington Post Editorial Board writes that the data center “industry will have to do more than talk its way around legitimate concerns about power, noise and location if it wants to weather the democratic storm. It will have to strike a better bargain with the communities hosting the build-out.” The Ed Board emphasizes that “not all stated concerns about data centers have merit. Some activists insist that data centers guzzle vast quantities of water, yet the facilities’ overall consumption is modest” and is actually “far less than the hundreds of billions of gallons used annually to irrigate golf courses.”
Can Dems win the Pa. Senate?
The Erie Times-News looks beyond Pennsylvania’s attention-grabbing congressional races to the down ballot state House and Senate races that will determine which party controls the state Legislature in Harrisburg. The story is paywalled, but here are the key points: 1) Democrats haven’t held control of the House, Senate, and governor’s office (a “trifecta”) in more than 30 years, and it’s a priority for them this year. 2) Dems need to flip three Senate seats to gain a 26-24 lead and just two to gain an effective majority, with Lt. Gov. Austin Davis casting tie-breaking votes. 3) Dems are targeting four Senate seats in the eastern part of the state, while defending a seat in Lancaster.
