Happy Friday the 13th - Great LTE by Marc Stier of Penn Action on SB1; Patriot News OPED supports Solanco cyber initiative even though school choice advocates are having difficulties with that "competition thing"; couple of items with national perspective on PA and SB1.
Voucher bill won't help those who needed it most
May 12 2011 by Marc Stier, Penn Action, Germantown Chronicle and the Mt. Airy Independent,
SB1 has been sold as a response to the difficulties faced by low income children who attend one of the 144 lowest performing schools in the Commonwealth, many of which are in African American neighborhoods of Philadelphia and other cities. However SB1 it will not help the vast majority of low income children who go to these troubled schools. By the third year of the program, only 8% of the students who benefit from vouchers will be these kids. Over 64% of the children benefiting from the voucher program will be children who attend non-public schools today.
http://pennaction.org/pablog/2011/05/12/voucher-bill-wont-help-those-who-needed-it-most/
Improving education: Solanco School District's plan should be supported
Published: Thursday, May 12, 2011, 6:05 AM
School districts are being told by state officials and taxpayers that they need to find ways to save money — and not increase taxes.
Solanco School District in Lancaster County is taking that call to action seriously and can be an example to other school districts statewide.
The district wants students to leave outside cyber charter schools and instead enroll in its own Solanco Virtual Academy for the next school year.
It is going as far as offering families $1,000 if they do so.
Wisconsin and Pennsylvania lawmakers can't agree on statewide school voucher expansion
The Washington Independent, By Mikhail Zinshteyn | 05.12.11 | 12:15 pm
Legislatures in two states that school choice advocates were hoping would pass statewide voucher programs are struggling to corral enough lawmaker support.
Wisconsin and Pennsylvania each have governors that support using taxpayer money to subsidize student enrollment in private schools. And while key players in the school choice movement — a coalition of wealthy investors, prominent Democrats, frustrated minority groups and many Republicans — agree on the core principle of providing an outlet to needy children in struggling school districts, Gov. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) and Tom Corbett (R-Pa) would like to expand their respective states' voucher programs to all students; Walker would like to lift income eligibility requirements for his state's voucher program.
Players in school voucher movement hold summit in D.C.
The American Federation for Children hosted its second annual National Policy Summit at the Washington Marriott in Washington, D.C., Monday. The group is one of the nation's largest organizations supporting school choice — a political movement that advocates for parochial, private, and charter schools to play a bigger role in public education in the form of voucher programs and tax credits to businesses that support school choice initiatives.
…. Luntz released a collection of his findings in 2010, outlining his nine communication commandments that make the best use of the most impacting words that the public finds most compelling. Commandment number seven reads, in part: "Play the America card–often. Embrace 'American Exceptionalism' and encourage people to embrace the principle of exceptionalism in schools." Number three says: "While positive imagery and arguments are comforting and popular, it's the negative ideas and fear of failure that move people to action." That sentiment is paired with the efficacy of negative images: "A school with boarded up windows and broken glass is the single most frightening visual of a school in trouble."
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