Jun 15, 2022
Cyber charter surpluses are substantial, growing, and unregulated. This issue matters to school districts that are responsible for paying public cyber charter tuition and taxpayers who ultimately foot the bill. State law already prevents school districts from...
Jun 8, 2022
Montgomery County superintendents, school board members, and a bipartisan group of state legislators came together to demand charter school reform at a Children First press conference this week. Charter school payments by school districts drive up property...
May 20, 2022
Teach Our Children Well Our hearts break for the Buffalo families who are burdened with unspeakable grief. The sickening sadness of witnessing a teenager driven to a murderous rage by racism adds another level of grief altogether. “I need a village to...
May 13, 2022
PA’s Budget Surplus Can Be a Game-Changer for Kids For years we’ve been told that the money just isn’t there to meet the needs of schools, child care programs, or children’s health. Routinely, state lawmakers would metaphorically pull out their empty...
May 6, 2022
School District of Philadelphia Budget Hearing at City Council Children First Testimony May 4, 2022 Good afternoon. My name is Tomea Sippio-Smith. I am the K-12 Education Policy Director at Children First. Clearly, this has been a rough two years for Philadelphia’s...
May 4, 2022
Children First Testimony May 4, 2022 Presented to the PA House Democratic Policy Committee Regarding Attorney General DeFoor’s Elimination of the Bureau of School Audits Thank you for the opportunity to testify regarding the Auditor General’s surprise elimination of...
