Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Keystone Exams "go to sleep" for a year

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Friday, 22 July 2011 19:09
Keystone Exams process "goes to sleep" for a year
WITF.org Written by  Mary Wilson
Raise your hand, high school student readers, if you love budget cuts. 
The Department of Education doesn't have enough money to administer the Keystone Exams this year.   The Keystones are spankin'-new state tests that could have hit classrooms this coming academic year, at the discretion of school districts.  There are ten prototypes, for ten different subjects, but only three are pencil-ready: algebra I, literature, and biology.

House Education Committee school choice hearings in Philly Wednesday July 27th and Thursday July 28th from 10:00 AM-3:30 PM, 1st floor of 1810 Liacouras Walk at Temple University
If history is any indication, Students First will supply transportation, boxed lunches, T-shirts and signs for busloads of Philly charter school students to serve as the backdrop for any press photos when the House Education Committee holds hearings on school choice at Temple University on Wednesday July 27th and Thursday July 28th.  The hearings will be held from 10:00 AM-3:30 PM in the first floor of 1810 Liacouras Walk at Temple University.  The tentative agendas and speakers for both days are listed below.
PLEASE HELP TO GENERATE TURNOUT AND ATTENDANCE AT THE HEARINGS
Alas, here at the Keystone State Education Foundation we have no T-shirts, no busses and no funding for lunches.  If you have any time to spare in support of public education please consider putting on your own school T-shirt or name badge, bring some of your fellow public education stakeholders, come say hello to the members of the PA House Education Committee and carry the flag for public educationPlease let me know if you are planning  to attend any of these hearings.

Pa. ethics panel says it didn't have evidence to prove violations by former charter school head
By Martha Woodall, Inquirer Staff Writer Posted on Tue, Jul. 26, 2011
The State Ethics Commission did not have the evidence to prove that the former head of the Multi-Cultural Academy Charter School in North Philadelphia violated state ethics laws, according to an investigative report that nevertheless describes Vuong Thuy's business dealings as "disturbing."  Multi-Cultural is one of 19 local charters being investigated by federal authorities for several reasons, including conflicts of interest and fraud, according to sources with knowledge of the probes.

Lancaster districts lead way in tough times

Agree to tough concessions to help balance budgets
Intelligencer Journal, Lancaster New Era, Updated Jul 25, 2011 11:17
By BRIAN WALLACE , Staff Writer
Gov. Tom Corbett and state Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis have complained recently that school employees didn't do enough to help their districts in a tough budget year.

Posted at 12:27 PM ET, 07/25/2011

Where private foundations award education cash

Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss
Public school systems around the country may have spent the past several years starving for cash in this financially troubled era, but a new reportshows that philanthropists doled out $684 million in private grants from 2000-08 to organizations involved in reforming the teaching profession.

Pittsburgh City schools ponder cuts in early childhood education staff

By Jodi Weigand, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW, Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Early childhood education would take one of the biggest hits in a round of layoffs the Pittsburgh school board is expected to finalize on Wednesday.
Up to 15 early childhood teachers, 13 paraprofessionals and six other staffers could lose their jobs as a result of a $3 million decrease in state funding for early childhood education programs. The district reduced the number of children in prekindergarten for 2011-12 by more than 400, or about 20 percent.



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