News & Brews October 22, 2026
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Philly schools promote antisemitism: report
A new report issued yesterday by the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee found that the School District of Philadelphia “teaches curricula and employs individuals who incite antisemitism.” Per the report, “In September 2026, when asked about contemporary manifestations of antisemitism, Superintendent Watlington did not know whether it is antisemitic to claim that the State of Israel is a racist endeavor. Instead, he said it ‘depend[s] on context[.]’ He likewise did not know whether it is antisemitic to compare Israeli policy to that of the Nazis and did not understand what it meant to apply a double standard to Israel not applied to any other democratic nation.” The school district, of course, is taking issue with the report. But we refer to exhibits A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and H.
Pa. gets a ‘D’ in economic, personal freedom
The latest edition of the Cato Institute’s Freedom in the 50 States report ranks Pennsylvania 29th in overall freedom, earning an abysmal “D.” In economic freedom—which includes fiscal burden, housing freedom, occupational freedom, and tech and consumer freedom—we rank 16th, while in personal freedom—which includes educational freedom, firearm freedom, freedom from law enforcement overreach, freedom of speech and association, medical freedom, and recreational freedom—we rank 39th. Notably, one of our worst rankings among all these individual categories is in educational freedom, where we earned an “F” and rank 45th.
Shapiro shouldn’t let Pa. be left behind
Speaking of educational freedom (see previous item), Democrats for Education Reform CEO Jorge Elorza and Invest in Education Coalition CEO Anne Lesser write in Broad + Liberty, “The ground is shifting on the politics of expanding educational opportunities, and Governor Josh Shapiro should pay attention.” Already, 30 state governors have opted into the new federal tax credit scholarship program, including Democrat Govs. Jared Polis and Kathy Hochul.
In short, “The wall of Democratic resistance is cracking.” Yet, Gov. Shapiro still hasn’t acted. He “has until the end of the year to decide. But the evidence is already in front of him — in the polling, in the bipartisan coalition, and in the momentum building across the states around us, including the ones next door. Pennsylvania’s parents are counting on their governor to represent their interests and their children’s future.”
PennLive confirms ad is true but slams it anyway
PennLive takes issue with a new ad from Rep. Scott Perry “claim[ing] that police were called to investigate [Democrat Janelle] Stelson for ‘exposing herself totally naked to a neighborhood child.’” Now, here’s the thing, the ad says police were called to investigate Stelson for allegedly exposing herself. And, “East Pennsboro police confirmed to PennLive that they had responded to the complaint.” So the ad saying police were called is actually accurate. Yet, PennLive couldn’t obtain a copy of the alleged photo of the incident, which is probably the real reason they’re mad and coming out against the ad.
Bell-to-bell cell phone ban to become law
”Pennsylvania schools will have to go phone-free – if they aren’t already – beginning with the 2027-28 school year, as the state Senate on Wednesday passed the final version of a bill requiring the implementation of bell-to-bell phone bans,” PennLive reports. Gov. Shapiro is expected to sign the bill. The legislation “requires every school administration in the commonwealth to adopt a policy to ‘prohibit the use of a mobile device during the school day while on school property’ and to ‘establish the manner in which a student’s possession of a mobile device is to be restricted.’” Honestly, society would be better off if we all just ditched cell phones—particularly smartphones—period. I can dream, can’t I?
