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PA House Cancels Voting Days Next Week
PA Capitol Digest November 17, 2011
Speaker Sam Smith announced the House is canceling voting session for next week. The House will return to session December 5
http://pacapitoldigestcrisci.blogspot.com/2011/11/house-cancels-voting-days-next-week.html
Excerpts from the Nation article cited below:
"According to disclosures reported in Business Week, Pennsylvania's Agora Cyber Charter School—K12 Inc.'s online school, which allows students to take all their courses at home using a computer—generated $31.6 million for K12 Inc. in the past academic year."
"For White Hat Management, the politically connected Ohio for-profit operating both traditional and virtual charter schools, the success rate under NCLB was a mere 2 percent, while for schools run by K12 Inc., it was 25 percent. A major review by the Education Department found that policy reforms embracing online courses "lack scientific evidence" of their effectiveness."
"Why are our legislators rushing to jump off the cliff of cyber charter schools when the best available evidence produced by independent analysts show that such schools will be unsuccessful?" asked Ed Fuller, an education researcher at Pennsylvania State University, on his blog.
Blogger's note: Agora has never made AYP and is in it's second year of Corrective Action 2 under NCLB. Charles Zogby, PA's Budget Secretary and Former Secretary of Education under Governor Ridge, served as K12's Senior Vice President of Education and Policy prior to being recruited to serve in the Corbett Administration.
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2011/11/pa-cyber-charter-pssa-ayp-2007-2011.htmlThe Nation: Online Learning Buying America's Schools
In the latest critical look at the world of virtual schooling, left-leaning magazine The Nation today has published an investigative report painting recent reforms to broaden access to virtual schooling as measures drafted with ulterior motives—mainly the desire to line the pockets of big business. The piece, which will appear in the magazine's Dec. 5 print edition, ultimately questions whether school reform groups that rely on donations from philanthropies and businesses are driven by the desire to reform or the desire to maximize profits for corporate donors in the technology sector.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2011/11/the_nation_online_learning_buy.html
Here's the full Nation article:
http://www.thenation.com/article/164651/how-online-learning-companies-bought-americas-schools
Franklin and Cumberland County Legislative Forum on Public Education
Thursday, December 1, 2011 from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (ET), Shippensburg, PA
Co-sponsored by The Shippensburg University Teacher Education Department and Education Matters in the Cumberland Valley.
RSVP here: http://franklinandcumberlandcountylegislativeforum.eventbrite.com/
Unofficially, write-ins take at least one seat on WC school board
West Chester Daily Local By JEREMY GERRARD jgerrard@dailylocal.com
WEST CHESTER – Unofficial results for the West Chester Area School Board race reveal that the write-in candidates are in a position to take at least one seat from the Republican slate when all the counting is done.
EPLC School Choices Forum on 11/29 in Harrisburg
Sponsored by The Education Policy and Leadership Center
Tuesday, November 29, 2011, Hilton Harrisburg Hotel
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs043/1103584053062/archive/1108649292598.html
Private vs. Public: No advantage
Washington Post Class Struggle Blog By Jay Mathews
People who live in affluent neighborhoods such as Northwest Washington may wonder: Will it hurt my kid's chances of getting into Harvard if I let her stay in the public schools after elementary school?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/private-vs-public-no-advantage/2011/11/16/gIQAfMlSTN_blog.html
U.S. Supreme Court rejects petition from religious group barred from distributing promotional flyers in elementary school
NSBA Legal Clips Blog
According to Courthouse News Service, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a religious group's petition for certiorari seeking review of a three-judge panel decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The panel ruled that a Missouri school district's restrictions on the group's opportunity to distribute promotional flyers in school did not violate its constitutionally-protected free speech rights.
Use Education Voters PA website to contact your PA State Representatives today asking them to oppose taxpayer funded vouchers:
For more info/background - PSBA's Tuition Voucher Issue Page
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