Commonwealth: A Journal of Pennsylvania Politics and Policy Frontmatter COMMONWEAL A Journal of Pennsylvania Politics and P TH olicy EDITOR-IN-CHIEF J. Wesley Leckrone, Widener University BOOK REVIEW EDITOR/ ASSOCIATE EDITOR Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes University ASSOCIATE EDITORS Michelle J. Atherton, Temple University Christopher Borick, Muhlenberg College Paula Holoviak, Kutztown University Joseph P. McLaughlin, Jr., Temple University EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Bruce Caswell, Rowan University Beverly A. Cigler, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg Richardson Dilworth, Drexel University John J. Kennedy, West Chester University John Kincaid, Lafayette College David Y. Miller, University of Pittsburgh Joseph Marbach, Georgian Court University Megan Mullin, Duke University Richard A. Stafford, Carnegie Mellon University COPY EDITOR Barbara Crawford EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Nicole Crossey, Widener University FOUNDING EDITOR EMERITUS Donald G. Tannenbaum, Gettysburg College EDITORS EMERITUS Thomas J. Baldino, Wilkes University Gerard J. Fitzpatrick, Ursinus College Published by Temple University Press on behalf of The Pennsylvania Political Science Association COMMONWEALTH, Volume 18, Issue 1 (June 2016). © 2016 The Pennsylvania Political Science Association. ISSN 2469-7672 (online). http://dx.doi.org/10.15367/cjppp.v18i1.78. All rights reserved. THE PENNSYLVANIA POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION OFFICERS AND EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 2015–2016 PRESIDENT FIRST VICE PRESIDENT SECOND VICE PRESIDENT Christopher Borick Steven Peterson Lanethea Mathews-Schultz Muhlenberg College Pennsylvania State University, Muhlenberg College Harrisburg TREASURER SECRETARY Steven B. Lem Paula Holoviak Kutztown University Kutztown University EXECUTIVE COUNCIL 2013–2016 2014–2017 2015–2018 Joseph P. McLaughlin, Jr. Michelle DeMary Michelle J. Atherton Temple University Susquehanna University Temple University Ayesha Ray Kyle Kreider Michael Greenberg King’s College Wilkes University Shippensburg University EX OFFICIO MEMBERS PAST PRESIDENT PAST PRESIDENT Brooke Harlowe Stanley Berard Lock Haven University Lock Haven University EDITORIAL STAFF OF COMMONWEALTH: A Journal of Pennsylvania Politics and Policy EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ASSOCIATE EDITOR & BOOK REVIEW EDITOR J. Wesley Leckrone Thomas J. Baldino Widener University Wilkes University EDITOR EMERITUS FOUNDING EDITOR EMERITUS Gerard J. Fitzpatrick Donald G. Tannenbaum Ursinus College Gettysburg College Pennsylvania Policy Forum COMMONWEALTH collaborates with the Pennsylvania Policy Forum to plan special issues and attract high-quality content to the journal. The Forum is a consortium of faculty members and academic and policy institute leaders from Pennsylvania colleges and universities who share an interest in generating ideas, analyses, and symposiums that might prove useful to citizens, elected officials, and civic leaders in addressing major issues confronting the Commonwealth and its local governments. As educators who have helped train students for careers in public policy, members also share an interest in helping to improve the skills, knowledge, and tools of leaders in the public and civic sectors. Members of the Forum have expertise in not only public policy analysis but also a wide range of substantive issues, including but not limited to education, transportation and public infrastructure, economic development, agriculture, energy, elections, water policy and the environment, health care, social policy, urban development, emergency management, information technology, public finance, and constitutional law. Members also share an interest in improving both the policy process and the institutional structures through which issues and problems are addressed. Forum members have contributed to public policy debates in Pennsyl- vania, and a number have also served in state and local government and in nonprofit and civic organizations that engage in policy development and implementation. Some members of the Forum are associated with other academic and public policy–related organizations, but the Forum itself is independent of these relationships and has no formal connections to any government entity. Members clearly benefit from the intellectual resources and environments of their universities, but unless otherwise indicated they do not act on behalf of their institutions when they sponsor Forum projects. The premise of the Forum is that through the consortium, members can jointly develop and sponsor nonpartisan research, symposiums, and education and training programs of value to elected officials, civic leaders, and the public and thereby enhance their ability to contribute to more intelligent and informed policy making. PENNSYLVANIA POLICY FORUM MEMBERSHIP (2016) Theodore R. Alter, professor of agricultural, environmental, and regional economics, Pennsylvania State University Michelle J. Atherton, associate director, Institute for Public Affairs, Temple University Thomas J. Baldino, professor of political science, Wilkes University Michael Cassidy, adjunct instructor of political science, Temple University Beverly A. Cigler, professor of public policy and administration, Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg Richardson Dilworth, associate professor of political science and director of the Center for Public Policy, Drexel University Michael R. Dimino, Sr., associate professor of law, Widener University Commonwealth Law School (Chair) Paula Holoviak, professor of political science, Kutztown University John J. Kennedy, associate professor of political science, West Chester University Michael King, adjunct professor, Albright College and Temple University, and associate professor, Pennsylvania State University (retired) Robin Lauermann, professor of politics and international relations, Messiah College (Vice Chair) Joseph P. McLaughlin, Jr., director of the Institute for Public Affairs, Temple University David Y. Miller, associate professor and director of the Innovation Clinic, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh Randall M. Miller, professor of history, St. Joseph’s University Theresa Miller, director, Institute of Politics, University of Pittsburgh Joseph Sabino Mistick, associate professor of law, Duquesne University School of Law Richard A. Stafford, distinguished service professor of public policy, Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University David B. Thornburgh, executive director of the Committee of 70 Craig Wheeland, associate vice president for academic affairs and professor, Villanova University Contents Volume 18, Number 1 | June 2016 | ISSN 2469-7672 ■ About the Authors ■ COMMONWEALTH Matters | J. Wesley Leckrone, Editor-in-Chief ■ An Introduction to the Special Issue on Education Policy | Joseph P. McLaughlin, Jr., and Michelle J. Atherton ■ COMMONWEALTH Forum: Should Pennsylvania Abolish the Property Tax for Schools? Y es, Abolish the Property Tax: It is the Worst Tax for Schools | David G. Argall and Jon Hopcraft No, Keep the Proper ty Tax: It is the Best Tax for Schools | William A. Fischel ■ What Would Student-Based Allocation Mean for Pennsylvania School Districts? | Marguerite Roza and Amanda Warco ■ Higher Standards and Lower Achievement? An Evaluation of Pennsylvania’s Keystone Exams | Adam McGlynn ■ More Trouble Ahead for Public School Finance: The Implications of Generational Change in Pennsylvania | Maureen W. McClure and Vera Krekanova ■ Special Education Funding in Pennsylvania: The Effects of a Policy of Neglect | William T. Hartman ■ The Education Policy Bookshelf: An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Studies | Meghan E. Rubado About the Authors David G. Argall is a member of the Pennsylvania Senate and chair of the Senate Republican Policy Committee. Michelle J. Atherton is the associate director of Temple University’s Institute for Public Affairs and coeditor of the Special Issue on Education of COMMON- WEALTH: A Journal of Pennsylvania Politics and Policy. William A. Fischel is a professor of economics and Hardy Professor of Legal Studies at Dartmouth College. William T. Hartman is a professor of education in the College of Education at Pennsylvania State University and a cofounder and executive director of the Cen- ter for Total Quality Schools at Penn State. Jon Hopcraft is the director of the Senate Republican Policy Committee. Vera Krekanova is the director of strategy and research for the Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board. Maureen W. McClure is an associate professor of administrative and policy stud- ies and senior research associate at the International Institute for Studies in Edu- cation in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh. Adam McGlynn is an associate professor of political science at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. Joseph P. McLaughlin, Jr., is the director of Temple University’s Institute for Pub- lic Affairs and coeditor of the Special Issue on Education of COMMONWEALTH: A Journal of Pennsylvania Politics and Policy. Marguerite Roza is the director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University and a senior research affiliate at the Center on Reinventing Public Education. Meghan E. Rubado is a graduate assistant at Temple University’s Center on Regional Politics, housed within the Institute for Public Affairs, and a PhD can- didate in Temple’s Department of Political Science. Amanda Warco is a research associate in the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown Uni- versity.