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Democratic lawmakers on wrong side of school choice

Democratic lawmakers — specifically, Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania House Democrats — are feeling the heat after waging a losing battle on an issue that is near and dear to so many Pennsylvanians: educational choice. Their recent legislative attack, which would have taken away thousands of scholarships from Pennsylvania students, reveals how out of touch these lawmakers are on the issue. The numbers alone speak for themselves: Pennsylvanians want more educational options. New polling by the Commonwealth Foundation shows that a supermajority of Pennsylvanians oppose cuts to the ...

What is the Declaration of Independence?

I frequently answer constitutional questions from individuals who want to know more about the relationship between the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Most of them understand that the Constitution is a statement of positive law—that is, man-made law—but they ask whether the Declaration is law as well. During the 18th century, an official declaration was an announcement of a particular event, often after the event had occurred. In addition to the announcement, a declaration might explain the event or justify action being taken. For example, in cases of offensive ...

Appalachian awakening: Rewriting American music culture

AVERY COUNTY, North Carolina -- If there is such a thing as the classic Appalachian success story, the rise in popularity of the outside-the-box band Cigarettes @ Sunset would be that story. But nothing comes easy in Appalachia. The five-member band, which includes Garrett Dellinger, Ryland Bagbey, Sarah Vann, Wells Whitman and Ethan Moore, was born in the winter of 2022, practicing their music in the cold, unheated seats of the EDGE of the WORLD Snowboard Shop in Banner Elk, North Carolina. Four years later, they have amassed over 225,000 monthly Spotify listeners with a unique ...

The controversy around data centers

I’m old enough (as are many of you) to remember UNIVAC, the huge computer which filled a whole room that correctly predicted President Eisenhower’s victory in 1952. But advances in technology have enabled us to hold in our hands a device that is many times more powerful and much faster than UNIVAC. According to the Pacific Standard, “...the iPhone in your pocket has over 100,000 times the processing power of the computer that landed man on the moon 50 years ago.” In order for these tiny devices to perform all the everyday tasks that we’ve gotten used to, like checking the ...

When judges lecture instead of listening

When a sitting judge chooses to publish an op‑ed, the public has every right to expect clarity, humility, and a commitment to strengthening trust in the courts. Judge William P. Carlucci’s column, “The High Cost of Not Having a Lawyer,” does the opposite. Rather than illuminating the challenges facing ordinary Pennsylvanians, it reveals a deeper and more troubling reality: too many people in our justice system are blamed for circumstances they did not create and cannot control. Carlucci’s piece frames self‑represented litigants as the architects of their own misfortune. He ...

State House Democrats vote to rip scholarships away from children

On Tuesday, Pennsylvania House Democrats on the Education Committee quietly did something extraordinary — and not in a good way. With barely a day’s notice and not even posting a public committee notice, they passed a series of bills that would decimate educational options in Pennsylvania. The first bill, House Bill (HB) 2632, would gut the state’s most successful educational choice programs, strip scholarships from low-income students, and slam the door on tens of thousands more who are desperately waiting to get in. Another bill, HB 2634, would cut funding to all charter ...