Poor academics, declining enrollment show Philadelphians ‘hungry for alternatives’ to public schools, educational analyst says

Pennsylvania’s failing public schools need more competition – not more money, argues the founder of a Philadelphia charter school.

“Imagine bringing home a report card full of Ds and Fs,” writes David Hardy in a recent opinion piece for the Philadelphia Inquirer.  “Would this be a good time to ask for a raise in your allowance? Sadly, this is what’s happening with Pennsylvania public education.”

Hardy, who founded Boys’ Latin of Philadelphia Charter School, is president of Girard College and distinguished senior fellow at the Commonwealth Foundation.

He highlights recent data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress as evidence the state – which spends approximately $22,000 per student – is failing to fully educate the next generation.

“About 7 in 10 Pennsylvania eighth graders cannot read or perform math at grade level,” he laments. “This academic crisis is even more dire in Philadelphia, where 82% of eighth graders cannot read at grade level, and 85% aren’t proficient in math. Nearly half of the state’s lowest-achieving schools are in the Philadelphia School District.”

Against this backdrop, the state’s governor announced an increase in public-school funding during a Feb. 4 budget address – even as enrollment has dropped by 140,000 students since 2000, according to Hardy. 

“The Pennsylvania Department of Education projects these schools to lose another 60,000 students by 2028,” he notes. 

“Meanwhile, in the last five years, homeschooling jumped by 60%, and charter school enrollment grew by 12%. Pennsylvanians are hungry for alternatives.” 

‘More funding without added accountability’ 

Many of the existing challenges could be solved if lawmakers find ways to base funding on public schools’ performance, according to Hardy. 

“Year after year, Pennsylvania public education fails to provide a quality education for youth statewide. Yet, lawmakers reward this shameful record with more funding without added accountability.” 

Hardy suggests expanding tax credit scholarship programs and adopting open enrollment throughout the Keystone State, among other ideas. 

“Not all policy solutions require funding,” he argues. “Currently, zip codes determine the schools students must attend. Lawmakers could adopt statewide open enrollment that breaks up this monopoly, freeing students and families to find and enroll in better schools outside their immediate neighborhood.” 

Other states recently enacting open enrollment policies include Wisconsin, Idaho and Missouri. 

For the 2023-24 school year, Wisconsin saw an increase in open enrollment to almost 10% of all public-school students – more than 73,000 children attending schools outside their home district. 

“Educational reform is a win-win situation,” Hardy concludes, noting 8 in 10 Pennsylvanians in a poll showed support for the policy measures he suggested implementing. “Politicians deliver politically popular ideas while they, more importantly, save kids from failing schools.”