ED BUDGET HEARING LIVE FEED/ Charter School Reform SB 904/ MCALL: Social Security Cuts

PA SCHOOL TALK WILL HOST A LIVE FEED COVERING THE PA EDUCATION BUDGET HEARINGS

Today (Tuesday, March 29), Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Ronald J. Tomalis will testify before the State Senate and House Appropriations Committees about Governor Corbett's proposed education budget for 2011-12. The Senate hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m., and the House hearing at 1:00 p.m.

Baruch Kintisch, Director of Policy Advocacy at the Education Law Center, will be in the hearing room all day to provide you with live updates via a discussion thread on PA School Talk. Check out the forum here, and look for new replies beginning tomorrow morning. 

What questions do you want Tomalis to answer on Tuesday? Post your own comments and inquiries in advance, or in real time as the hearings are in progress.

Posted on Tue, Mar. 29, 2011

Proposed Pennsylvania law would give local school boards more freedom to award charters

By Dan Hardy

Inquirer Staff Writer

Legislation introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate would give school districts more freedom to convert public schools to charters and set up a new state oversight board. The proposal would also tighten ethics and financial oversight regulations for charter school management.

http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20110329_Proposed_Pennsylvania_law_would_give_local_school_boards_more_freedom_to_award_charters.html

Bill would provide approval options for state charter schools

By Jodi Weigand, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, March 28, 2011

One lawmaker likens the charter school approval process in Pennsylvania to the cutthroat fast-food industry.

"It's almost like saying McDonald's gets to say whether Burger King gets to franchise in their area," said state Rep. Tom Killion, R-Delaware County.

Read more: Bill would provide approval options for state charter schools - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_729514.html#ixzz1Hz425xTl

Senator Piccola Press Release March 28, 2011

Charter School Reform Bill Unveiled by Education Committee Chairmen

Improving Accountability & Transparency, Encouraging Expansion

HARRISBURG – In an effort to continue providing additional educational opportunities for families while maintaining a level of necessary accountability, Majority Chairman of the Senate Education Committee Jeffrey Piccola (R-15) and Minority Chairman Andrew Dinniman (D-19) introduced today legislation to overhaul Pennsylvania's current laws governing charter and cyber charter schools.

 http://piccola.org/press/2011/0311/032811.htm

Click here to link to the Charter School reform bill, Senate Bill 904

Wealthiest school districts brace for cuts

Social Security subsidy losses may top $40 million for state's affluent schools.

By Devon Lash, OF THE MORNING CALL

10:01 a.m. EDT, March 28, 2011

There has been much ado about how the governor's proposed budget sets education funding back three years. Tutoring and early education took hard hits. State colleges saw their aid cut in half.

But another cut, nearly lost in the fine print, would exceed $40 million for nearly one-third of the state's school districts — the wealthiest ones.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-education-social-security-cut-20110327,0,3201061.story