Ideas We Should Steal: Training Workers for Well-Paying Jobs

New Jersey’s public-private Pay It Forward program provides free or low-cost access to training in fields that need skilled workers. It’s a model Philly should emulate

By Courtney DuChene

Ideas We Should Steal: Information Literacy Education

New Jersey became the first state to require schools teach K-12 students how to tell fact from fiction — a critical skill in preserving democracy

By Courtney DuChene

Ideas We Should Steal Revisited: Reusable Bag Share

As the City enforces the plastic bag ban, Green Philly highlights a Collingswood program that could make going bag-free easier for consumers and businesses

By Brianna Baker

Ideas We Should Steal: Reduce Gun Violence Through Better Policing

While murder and shootings have spiked in Philly and elsewhere, both Camden and Newark have made progress in reducing gun violence by adopting smart policing techniques. Why don’t we do what they’ve done?

By Roxanne Patel Shepelavy

Citizen of the Week: Larry Abrams

The South Jersey teacher and founder of BookSmiles has created a magical book bank, where teachers can load up on books to give to their students. The cost? Free.

By Christine Speer Lejeune

Ideas We Should Steal: Treat Homelessness as a Health Issue

While the City and advocates continue negotiations over the homeless encampment on the Parkway, Denver and New Jersey demonstrate some much-needed new thinking

By Diana Lind

Ideas We Should Steal: Voter Turnout Contest

In Cumberland County, NJ, a competition among cities helped to boost 2018 turnout by 13 percent. Could Philly’s competitive spirit be the key to more votes here, too?

By Alyssa Biederman

Ideas We Should Steal: Tracing Illegal Guns

Thousands of illegal guns from Pennsylvania are used in violent crimes every year. Why don’t we track them like they do in New York?