Letters to the Editor | June 11, 2026
Inquirer readers weigh in on the struggles of Philadelphia’s public schools and a proposal to raise the minimum wage in Pennsylvania.
$7.25 per hour
The Pennsylvania Senate is in the process of working through the commonwealth’s annual budget. This could be a shining moment for some Republican senators if they were to recognize the imperative to increase Pennsylvania’s minimum hourly wage based on the challenges of affordability and the shame of being one of the neglectful states in America that still expects its most vulnerable residents and families to somehow continue to survive on $7.25 an hour.
House Bill 2189 passed the state House of Representatives this past March and is now in the Senate Labor and Industry Committee. The bill would increase the minimum wage to $11 per hour, effective Jan. 1, 2027. The minimum wage would then increase to $13 per hour in 2028 and $15 per hour in 2029, followed by annual cost-of-living adjustments.
Additionally, the bill would give counties the option to implement a $15-per-hour wage sooner and set the minimum wage for tipped employees at 60% of the statewide minimum wage.
Pennsylvania raised its minimum wage in 2009, when the federal minimum wage increased to $7.25 per hour. In the 17 years since, neighboring states have raised their wages while inflation has increased by more than 50%. Pennsylvania has woefully remained at $7.25.
Passage of HB 2189 would allow defenseless families to eat, remain housed and clothed, and restore the faith of countless members of this commonwealth that those who can affect change will actually do so.
State Sen. Devlin Robinson, Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, and Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward need to be challenged and pressured to pass this measure so vital to Pennsylvania residents.
Currently, it would take more than one hour of work to afford a gallon of white milk and a dozen eggs — maybe these legislators need to go to a supermarket to see how far $7.25 an hour will take any mother of two.
Please call and/or email State Sens. Robinson, Pittman, and Ward and advocate for yourself, your neighbors, or maybe just be the voice of those who can’t even afford to make those calls.
Increasing Pennsylvania’s minimum wage is shamefully overdue.
Mary Kay Owen, Downingtown
‘Progress’ masks failures
Celebrating Philadelphia schools’ post-pandemic progress misses the larger story.
Yes, students have made gains — and hardworking teachers, parents, and students deserve credit. But Philadelphia students remain 2.46 grade levels behind the pre-pandemic national average. Only 33% are proficient in reading, and just 25% in math.
That’s not a success story. It is a crisis.
If a hospital healed only a quarter of its patients, few would celebrate, because other hospitals healed even fewer. We would demand answers and better options immediately. Yet, in education, we too often accept failure as progress because the comparison group is somehow even worse.
The real question is not whether Philadelphia is improving faster than other urban districts. It’s why so many children still cannot read or do math at grade level — despite record-level funding, federal pandemic relief dollars, and decades of reform promises.
Wealthy families don’t wait for broken systems to fix themselves. They find schools that work. Why would we deny poor kids in Philadelphia that same power? They deserve resources that will help them find better schools, such as tax-credit scholarships, educational savings accounts, and local tuition programs.
Families need more options, not more excuses.
Rachel Langan, senior education policy analyst, Commonwealth Foundation
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