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Monday, October 17, 2011

"Anytime the private sector sees a large pot of public money, it wants to get its hands on it," says Tim Potts, a liberal activist who heads the grassroots Democracy Rising. "Why isn't the Corbett administration trying to fix public schools ........

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RSVP for Bucks County PTO Legislative Forum on 10/27

Thursday, October 27, 2011 from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM Warminster, PA

William Tennant High School 333 Centennial Road, Warminster, PA 18974

Pennsylvania has passed a state budget that cut over $900 MILLION from public education, and as the new school year begins we're starting to see the effects of these cuts on our kids and our communities.  Especially now, we need our legislators to make public education a priority to help strengthen our troubled economy and ensure a brighter future for all Pennsylvanians!
All public education stakeholders are invited to this special event.  Join us on Thursday, October 27th at William Tennent High School in Warminster from 7PM to 10PM for an evening with key state legislators from Bucks County.  Every legislator representing the Bucks County school districts is invited to attend and discuss their positions on public education and take questions from audience members.
Talking about our priorities with our elected officials and hearing their views on issues that are important to the community is a vital part of democracy!   Don't miss this important conversation!


"Anytime the private sector sees a large pot of public money, it wants to get its hands on it," says Tim Potts, a liberal activist who heads the grassroots Democracy Rising. "Why isn't the Corbett administration trying to fix public schools that are broken? Because they want failure so they can better make a case for turning schools over to the private sector . . . it's all about the money. If there wasn't any money, they wouldn't be doing this."

Matt Brouillette, a conservative voucher-backer who runs the free-market think tank Commonwealth Foundation, also says it's about money, different money: "The 800-pound gorilla is the PSEA [the state teachers' union], one of the biggest campaign contributors. Many lawmakers are either on board with them or afraid of an opponent who is . . . remember, vouchers are going mostly to schools with teachers who don't pay union dues."

Posted on Mon, Oct. 17, 2011
John Baer: Vouchers a fundraising opportunity for pols
By John Baer, Philadelphia Daily News, Daily News Political Columnist
THE POLITICS OF vouchers or, as Gov. Corbett insists on calling them, "opportunity scholarships," is a mess.
It's a tug-of-war among ideological and regional teams. Its issues are tied to unions, the Catholic Church, race, geography and, above all, money.


Ongoing Pennsylvania School Voucher Coverage

Posted on Sun, Oct. 16, 2011
To balance budgets, schools allow ads
By Dan Hardy, Inquirer Staff Writer
Without ever cracking a book, students in Bucks County's Pennsbury School District are learning a new subject this year: marketing.
Starting three weeks ago, the 16 elementary, middle, and high schools are being adorned with - some say defiled by - advertisements as large as 5 by 10 feet. By month's end, 47 should be in place. Ultimately, 218 are to appear on walls and floors, and shrink-wrapped over lockers, locker-room benches, even cafeteria tables.

Nationally, no verdict yet on turnarounds
With federal support, many districts are investing, but there is little evidence yet of success on a large scale.
The notebook by Dale Mezzacappa and Katrina Morrison, October 2011
School turnaround is about the need to make drastic changes and achieve dramatic improvements in chronically low-performing schools. The approach has been championed by the Obama administration, which over the past three years has awarded $3.5 billion in grants to schools willing to adopt one of four models:

October 16th Joint Letter from AASA, NAESP, NASSP, NEA, NSBA to Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman, and Senator Michael Enzi, Ranking Member of the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee regarding shared concerns with the reauthorization of ESEA


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