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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Shock and awe, coming to a school near you?


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1000 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators and members of the press via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

 

Chester Community Charter School funding in jeopardy, too
By Dan Hardy Inquirer Staff Writer Posted: Tue, Jan. 31, 2012, 3:01 AM
A federal court order earlier this month sending money to the Chester Upland School District to keep it solvent threatens to put the Chester Community Charter School, home to about 2,750 Chester Upland students, in jeopardy, charter officials say.

Dinniman modifies stance on school vouchers
Published: Monday, January 30, 2012
West Chester Daily Local By ERIC S. SMITH esmith@dailylocal.com
WEST GOSHEN — Amid attacks on his prior support of limited school vouchers, state Sen. Andy Dinniman told the Chester County Democratic Committee at its endorsement convention that he no longer supports any vouchers.  Dinniman’s vote received some attention as Tom Houghton, who previously was running a primary challenge against the senator. Houghton is no longer running because the state Supreme Court ruled that the redistricting for state House and Senate seats are unconstitutional.

Commentary: Shock and awe, coming to a school near you
The notebook by Ron Whitehorne on Jan 27 2012 Posted in Blogger commentary
Naomi Klein, in her book The Shock Doctrine, The Rise of Disaster Capitalism lays out in considerable detail how right wing politicians have used natural and man made disasters to impose privatization and market-driven “reforms” while bypassing the messy business of democratic decision-making.
There seems little doubt that this is what we are seeing in public education in Pennsylvania. To a remarkable degree, the storyline follows the formula Klein describes in her book.

Education Policy and Leadership Center

Chester Upland School District Fast Facts from the Democratic Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, January 19, 2012
The Education Policy and Leadership Center reports that on January 24, the same day the Senate Education Committee held its hearing on fiscally distressed school districts, Democratic leaders in the House held a press conference and released this analysis of the financial condition of the Chester Upland School District.

Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus calls for help for Chester Upland schools
HARRISBURG, Jan. 25 – State Rep. Ronald G. Waters, D-Phila./Delaware, chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, and other members of the PLBC at a Capitol news conference on Tuesday called on the governor to release funds to keep Chester Upland School District in operation through the remainder of the school year.

Competition keeps youths in the robotics game
By Liz Gormisky, Inquirer Staff Writer Posted: Mon, Jan. 30, 2012, 6:57 AM
From the outside, 3851 Warren St. is an unfriendly, unremarkable warehouse that hardly merits a second glance.  But behind the white, unmarked door of the Powelton Village building, a freezing room that is home to the Atomic Robotics 4-H Club buzzed on a recent school night with the sounds of motors whirring, a heater sputtering to life, and table saws interrupting discussions on whether the computer coding would work this time.
Founded over the summer, Atomic Robotics meets four times a week, aided by 17 adult mentors, to work on building a robot that can shoot as many basketballs and score as many points as possible in two minutes and 15 seconds.  The group is part of a nationwide competition organized by FIRST, a nonprofit that sets the rules and guidelines for the contest each year, backed by corporate sponsors and notable celebrities, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, and crowd favorite Stephen Colbert.
The growth of Atomic Robotics, from a chance meeting between Biel-Goebel and Masterman math teacher Kate Smith, is all the more remarkable as Philadelphia School District budget cuts have forced the demise of 15 similar clubs in the city.

Latest Updates on Chester Upland - January 31, 2011


PA House Democratic Caucus Website
As districts consider their preliminary budgets and we await the Governor’s February 7th budget announcement, the PA House Democratic Caucus has begun daily tracking of press coverage on school district budgets statewide:
http://www.pahouse.com/school_funding_2011cuts.asp?utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pahouse.com%2fschool_funding_2011cuts.asp&utm_campaign=Crisis+in+Public+Education

County Legislative Guides by Education Voters PA
These legislative guides list contact information, committee assignments and school districts for PA State Representatives and State Senators.  They also include tips on being an effective advocate for public education: contacting your elected officials and writing letters to the editor
Bucks County Legislative Guide
Cumberland Count Legislative Guide
Delaware Count Legislative Guide
Franklin Count Legislative Guide

Map of Pennsylvania School Districts and Intermediate Units
ftp://ftp.dot.state.pa.us/public/pdf/BPR_PDF_FILES/MAPS/Education/Statewide_IU_and_Districts.pdf


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Monday, January 30, 2012

Erie SD to open online charter school/ Easton Area SD considers charging charter, cyber schools a fee for sports participation


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1000 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators and members of the press via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

  

Obama SOTU: stop teaching to the test
In his State of the Union message President Obama encouraged teachers to stop teaching to the test.  Here’s a way you can help him operationalize that.

Not concerned about budget cuts to public education?
Then you are NOT paying attention
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette By Judy Wertheimer Sunday, January 29, 2012
As mandated by state law, districts are in the process of drafting their proposed budgets for the 2012-13 fiscal year. So, too, is Gov. Tom Corbett, who will announce his proposed budget Feb. 7.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12029/1206457-109.stm#ixzz1ks9MxGt8

Posted: Sun, Jan. 29, 2012, 3:01 AM
Inquirer Editorial: Public schools facing crisis
His fans are calling Gov. Corbett courageous for ignoring impassioned pleas to drop his pledge not to raise taxes.  The governor would show more courage if he admitted the state's financial situation without new revenue is becoming untenable - especially when it comes to all the public schools across Pennsylvania in financial trouble.

PUBLISHED: JANUARY 28, 2012 12:01 AM EST
Erie School District to open online charter school
GoErie.com BY SEAN MCCRACKEN, Erie Times-News sean.mccracken@timesnews.com
Erie school officials are tired of paying millions of dollars each year and losing hundreds of students to online charter schools.  But they believe they can get those students back by offering a similar program in the district.  School officials announced on Friday the creation of the Erie Public Schools Online Campus. The new program will offer online courses to students at the district's four high schools.
"The Erie School District is now wholehearted in the 21st century," Erie schools Superintendent Jay Badams said.  Students can choose to take just some courses or they can enroll as full-time online students at no cost to their families other than property taxes already paid to the district.
http://www.goerie.com//apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012301279886

Easton Area School District considers charging charter, cyber schools a fee for sports participation

By Samantha Marcus, Of The Morning Call, 11:29 p.m. EST, January 29, 2012
Many a young Eastonian has aspired to one day be part of Easton Area School District's storied football and wrestling programs — bright spots in a school system battling economic and academic shortfalls.
Even those students who leave the public school district for charter or cyber schools have the right to call themselves Red Rovers. Pennsylvania school code prohibits home districts from closing their rosters to cyber, charter and home-schooled students.
The Easton Area School Board, in turn, is exploring its right to charge charter and cyber schools a fee for their students to join district athletics and other activities.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/easton/mc-easton-school-district-cyber-charter-sports-20120129,0,4093961.story

Duquesne schools examine survival strategies
Idea of a takeover by a charter floated
By Mary Niederberger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Sunday, January 29, 2012
Connie Lucas, an elected school board member in the Duquesne City School District, holds little power.  A state board of control has overseen the academically and financially failing school district since November 2000, and last year announced the district's single school would close after the 2011-2012 year. But in the absence of any formal plan from the state on how to educate the district's children, Ms. Lucas and fellow board members are working to save and, more importantly, improve their K-8 school.

With no new taxes, Cumberland Valley School District may face program, teacher cuts
By ED KOMENDA, The Patriot-News Published: Friday, January 27, 2012, 3:29 PM
Many people won’t be happy with the news coming out of the Cumberland Valley School District.
Faced with dwindling funds, increasing costs and new school board members that campaigned on hard lines against raising taxes, the CV board may have to slash programs and staff, raise taxes or a combination of the two to balance the budget.

Archbishop Chaput: Catholic school crisis shows need for vouchers
Philadelphia, Pa., Jan 28, 2012 / 06:13 pm (CNA).- The “unique value” of Catholic education in Philadelphia is being threatened by a shortage of resources, and Pennsylvania Catholics should encourage their legislators to create vouchers to sustain them, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput says.  “We can honor Catholic Schools Week this year by actually doing something about the fiscal problems hurting our schools. We need to press our lawmakers, respectfully but vigorously, to pass school choice,” the archbishop wrote in his Jan. 26 Catholic Standard & Times column.

SPENCER: Not all public schools failing students
Published: Sunday, January 29, 2012
Delco Times Opinion By GIL SPENCER, gspencer@delcotimes.com
“Most of our schools are doing an OK job,” he asserts. “U.S. schools that have less than a 25 percent poverty rate at doing pretty well internationally.” 

Vollmer’s List: The Increasing Burden Placed on America’s Public Schools

PISA: It's Poverty Not Stupid

Latest Updates on Chester Upland - January 30, 2011


PA House Democratic Caucus Website
As districts consider their preliminary budgets and we await the Governor’s February 7th budget announcement, the PA House Democratic Caucus has begun daily tracking of press coverage on school district budgets statewide:
http://www.pahouse.com/school_funding_2011cuts.asp?utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pahouse.com%2fschool_funding_2011cuts.asp&utm_campaign=Crisis+in+Public+Education

County Legislative Guides by Education Voters PA
These legislative guides list contact information, committee assignments and school districts for PA State Representatives and State Senators.  They also include tips on being an effective advocate for public education: contacting your elected officials and writing letters to the editor
Bucks County Legislative Guide
Cumberland Count Legislative Guide
Delaware Count Legislative Guide
Franklin Count Legislative Guide
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Saturday, January 28, 2012

CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT FISCAL DISTRESS LEGISLATION


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1000 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators and members of the press via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

CONFIDENTIAL DRAFT FISCAL DISTRESS LEGISLATION
November 4, 2011
From Community Matters Blog Posted on January 28th, 2012   1:37 PM  by Pattye Benson
Finally, click here for a draft legislative proposal that several PA state legislators have recently made public.  Marked confidential, the draft proposal document is titled “Chester Upland Fiscal Distress” and dated November 4, 2011.  Interesting to note that this draft proposal was written prior to CUSD’s request to the state for financial help.  The proposal calls for the state to take over school districts in financial distress (starting with Chester Upland) and run the school district with the use of an oversight board – a ‘Special Board of Control’.
This special board would have the legal authority to cancel teacher contracts, turn district schools into charter schools, reassign or suspend staff and to close schools. To be clear, this is only a draft proposal and no formal legislation has yet been introduced – however, this draft would suggest that the ‘handwriting is the wall’  for the introduction of this, or similar legislation.
Looks like Chester Upland School District could become the model for all distressed school districts across the state. It is probably a fair assumption that how the state decides to handle the financial crisis in CUSD will be duplicated in every other failing school district in Pennsylvania.

Here is Dan Hardy’s coverage of the above draft legislation from Friday’s Inquirer:

Governor’s draft fiscal distress legislation: SRC-like boards could cancel teachers’ contracts and turn district schools into charters
Draft of a Corbett plan for Chester Upland district stirs a debate
By Dan Hardy, Inquirer Staff Writer Posted: Fri, Jan. 27, 2012, 3:01 AM
As Delaware County's Chester Upland School District descended into insolvency this winter, the Corbett administration was largely mute on its plans for a solution.
A draft legislative proposal from the governor's office made public earlier this month by several state legislators sheds more light on his views.
It calls for state takeovers of distressed districts, starting with Chester Upland andDuquesne City, that would put Philadelphia School Reform Commission-type oversight boards in place.
Those boards could cancel teachers' contracts and turn all district schools into charters.
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20120127_Draft_of_a_Corbett_plan_for_Chester_Upland_district_stirs_a_debate.html

 

Latest Updates on Chester Upland - January 28, 2011


PA House Democratic Caucus Website
As districts consider their preliminary budgets and we await the Governor’s February 7th budget announcement, the PA House Democratic Caucus has begun daily tracking of press coverage on school district budgets statewide:
http://www.pahouse.com/school_funding_2011cuts.asp?utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pahouse.com%2fschool_funding_2011cuts.asp&utm_campaign=Crisis+in+Public+Education
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Friday, January 27, 2012

Governor’s draft fiscal distress legislation: SRC-like boards could cancel teachers’ contracts and turn district schools into charters


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1000 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators and members of the press via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

Governor’s draft fiscal distress legislation: SRC-like boards could cancel teachers’ contracts and turn district schools into charters
Draft of a Corbett plan for Chester Upland district stirs a debate
By Dan Hardy, Inquirer Staff Writer Posted: Fri, Jan. 27, 2012, 3:01 AM
As Delaware County's Chester Upland School District descended into insolvency this winter, the Corbett administration was largely mute on its plans for a solution.
A draft legislative proposal from the governor's office made public earlier this month by several state legislators sheds more light on his views.
It calls for state takeovers of distressed districts, starting with Chester Upland and Duquesne City, that would put Philadelphia School Reform Commission-type oversight boards in place.
Those boards could cancel teachers' contracts and turn all district schools into charters.

Latest Updates on Chester Upland - January 27, 2011


Chester Community Charter School and Chester Upland School District Jointly Propose Plan to Avert Funding Crisis

CUSD and CCCS host press conference to present new information that may avert a continuing educational crisis in the City of Chester, PA

WHEN: Friday, January 27, 2012  9:00am - 10:00am
WHERE: Chester Community Charter School East Campus Gymnasium 
Chester, PA (PRWEB) January 27, 2012
Representatives of media outlets are invited to attend a news conference wherein officials of the Chester Community Charter School (CCCS) and Chester Upland School District will provide information on their joint proposal for identifying previously budgeted state funding that might avert a continuing educational crisis in the City of Chester, PA, that has impacted both educational entities and nearly 7,000 school children.

Senator Piccola’s Weekly Column January 26, 2012:
Pennsylvania's Distressed Schools in Need of Financial & Educational Reform
The critical issue of fiscally distressed school districts in Pennsylvania is unfortunately and rapidly escalating in its severity.  In addition to their financial struggles, these districts are facing significant educational challenges as well, causing a few – such as the Chester Upland School District – to be on the brink of collapse.  As a result, our Commonwealth must step in and exercise bold leadership to structurally reform these districts and provide students and their families more choices in achieving a quality education.

City controller says Philly School District must cut $400,000 per day
By Martha Woodall, Inquirer Staff Writer Posted: Thu, Jan. 26, 2012, 8:37 AM
School district's fiscal future worries a doubting Butkovitz
City Controller Alan Butkovitz expressed serious concern Wednesday about the Philadelphia School District's continued financial viability.
And he estimated that the district would have to cut $400,000 per day between now and June 30 just to erase a projected deficit of at least $61 million as it wrestles with continuing problems in matching expenses to declining revenues.

NSBA’s School Board News
January 26, 2012 by Naomi Dillon
Interview with Kahn Academy’s Sal Kahn
It began innocently enough in 2004 as a way for Sal Kahn to tutor his young cousin, who was struggling with math and lived miles away. Within two years, those virtual lessons blossomed into a full-time career and the Kahn Academy, an online library of 2,600 YouTube videos and counting that currently draw more than 3 million viewers a month and fans like Google and Bill Gates, who sends his own kids to the free site for help with school work.

“Although every educator wants and deserves a good wage, no sane person goes into teaching to get rich. We go into teaching to make a difference in the lives of kids. That is what parents want. They do not want their child’s score to become part of a formula to determine someone’s bonus.”
Using Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers Is Based on the Wrong Values
Do test scores indicate teacher effectiveness?
New York Times Viewpoint By CAROL CORBETT BURRIS, Jan. 25, 2012, 12:17 p.m.
I should be a cheerleader for the New York evaluation system for educators known as the Annual Professional Performance Review system, or A.P.P.R. I am the principal of a very successful high school where students get great test scores. I have a wonderfully supportive superintendent. My personal “score,” in all probability, will be high.

WHAT WORKS:Early Education a Crime-Fighting Weapon?

Education Week Early Years Blog By Julie Rasicot on January 25, 2012 4:23 PM
You'd expect educators and parents to be front and center advocating for early childhood education as state legislatures debate school funding for the next fiscal year. In New York and Maine, these advocates have another ally: top police officers.

Charter schools don't necessarily provide a better education
Charter schools under the microscope (Part 1/3) January 25, 2012
IndyWeek.com by Bob Geary @rjgeary
That picture you carry in your mind's eye of a public school system? Set it aside. In the world of charter schools, you won't find a lot of clocks on bell towers, yellow school buses or cafeterias, and there are no elected boards of education to uphold a community's vision. Typical charter schools, whether in North Carolina or elsewhere, rent space in office buildings, malls or churches. Instead of buses, most organize carpools for parents and the kids arrive with a bag lunch.
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Thursday, January 26, 2012

PA House Dems now tracking daily press coverage on school district budgets statewide


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1000 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators and members of the press via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

PA House Education Committee to hold informational meeting on cyber charter school funding and operating issues
Thursday, January 26, 2012 10:00 AM, Room 60 East Wing

Charter and Cyber Funding and Accountability Recap

Collection of previous KEYSEC postings on this topic

Auditor General Jack Wagner Says State Leadership Must Step Up, Fix Flawed Charter School Funding Formula

http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2011/12/charter-and-cyber-funding-and.html

Piccola says “no other alternative” than to increase education spending because school reform failed
WITF.org Written by  Mary Wilson Tuesday, 24 January 2012 18:36
At one point during Tuesday’s Senate Education Committee meeting, Dauphin County Republican Sen. Jeff Piccola quoted the movie Cool Hand Luke: what we have here is a failure to communicate.  Piccola, a Senate GOP leader on the issue of school reform, hammered away at state Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis and the Corbett administration for not getting more aggressive about education measures that failed last year.
 “We’ve got to move on these reforms,” said Piccola, who is not running for reelection at the end of his term this year.  Moreover, he said he doesn't see any option but to pony up emergency funding for the school districts facing insolvency.

Video and testimony from Senate Education Committee’s Public Hearing of January 24, 2012 regarding Fiscally Distressed School Districts
Video and written testimony from the hearing are posted on Chairman Senator Piccola’s website:

PA House Democratic Caucus Website
As districts consider their preliminary budgets and we await the Governor’s February 7th budget announcement, the PA House Democratic Caucus has begun daily tracking of press coverage on school district budgets statewide:

Pennsylvania asks for freeze on Adequate Yearly Progress
With unreachable No Child Left Behind deadlines looming in 2014, the state Secretary of Education requests a two-year recess on PSSA exam progress targets
By Mary Niederberger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Thursday, January 26, 2012
When the federal No Child Left Behind legislation was signed into law in 2002, it called for all students in public schools that receive federal funding to test proficient in math and reading by 2014.  But a decade later, education officials realize that goal is unlikely, if not impossible.

Teachers' salary freeze part of early contract agreement in Parkland
The tentative agreement calls for a freeze in the first year and a flat $1,250 increase for full-time teachers in the second year of the two-year contract.
By Marion Callahan, Of The Morning Call, 1:19 p.m. EST, January 24, 2012
A freeze in teachers' salaries for next year and a higher contribution by teachers to healthcare coverage are part of an early agreement reached by the Parkland Teachers Association and the Parkland School District during a Monday meeting.

Saucon Valley School District hoping to hold line on taxes — again
By Charles Malinchak, Special to The Morning Call, 12:52 p.m. EST, January 25, 2012
Saucon Valley School District's 2012-13 budget is showing no signs of a tax hike even though proposed expenses are about 1.2 percent higher than the previous year.
Although the budget is still under construction and won't be finalized until June, school Director Bryan Eichfeld said, "I am happy to say there is a zero tax increase.''

Southern Lehigh, teachers reach early bird contract
Agreement would tie raises to the financial health of the district.
By Melinda Rizzo, Special to The Morning Call, 12:50 p.m. EST, January 25, 2012
Southern Lehigh School District reached an early bird contract with its teachers that both sides agree could signal the dawn of a new era in negotiations — one of mutual understanding over the district's financial health.
The four-year pact begins Sept. 1 and runs through Aug. 31, 2016.
Under its terms, pay raises would be based on three factors: the district's revenues, its retirement contribution to the Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS), real operational costs.
"This is a completely new model, because what it says is we both share the risk. If the district does well, we will too. If times are tough, we share in that," said Bonnie Organski, a high school business education and technology teacher and president of the Southern Lehigh Education Association.

Teachers Offer the Wealthy an Escape from Poverty

By Anthony Cody on January 25, 2012 1:05 PM
Last night in President Obama's State of the Union address, he repeated a familiar refrain about the importance of teachers.  A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance.
But it seems that it is those in power who are actually using teachers to escape from the realities of poverty these days.

It’s great that efforts are underway for healthier meals but this is still another underfunded federal mandate:
“The federal government will give schools an additional 6 cents a lunch to meet the standards. When fully implemented, the cost of preparing a healthier lunch that meets the new rules is estimated to rise by about 11 cents, and the cost of preparing a breakfast is estimated to increase by 28 cents, according the USDA says. The agency estimates that the increased cost of producing meals that meet the standard will be $3.2 billion over five years……Schools are required to meet the standards to get federal reimbursements for meals”
Government requires more fruits, veggies for school lunches
By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY January 25, 2012
Students: Get ready for pizza with whole-grain crust and bigger portions of fruits and vegetables on your school lunch tray. You're still going to get French fries, but they'll probably be baked and sprinkled with less salt.  Today the government is releasing new nutrition standards for school meals that spell out dramatic changes, including slashing the sodium, limiting calories and offering students a wider variety and larger portions of fruits and vegetables. These changes will raise the nutrition standards for meals for the first time in more than 15 years.

USDA Unveils Historic Improvements to Meals Served in America's Schools
New Standards Will Improve the Health and Wellbeing of 32 Million Kids Nationwide
USDA Press Release FAIRFAX, Va., Jan. 25. 2012 – First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today unveiled new standards for school meals that will result in healthier meals for kids across the nation. 


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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Obama in SOTU: ”Stop teaching to the test”. Duncan’s Race to the Top: teach to the test or risk losing your job.


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1000 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators and members of the press via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

Education Voters PA Statewide Call to Action for Public Education Today, Wednesday January 25th
Please consider taking a few minutes today to make a couple calls and forward this to other public education stakeholders.
Today, Wednesday, January 25, Education Voters of Pennsylvania is sponsoring a Statewide Call to Action for Public Education.  Click here to tell the Governor and your state legislators that Education is important to you!

PA House Education Committee to hold informational meeting on cyber charter school funding and operating issues
Thursday, January 26, 2012 10:00 AM, Room 60 East Wing

Corbett asked to aid poor schools
Bipartisan effort pursues workable plan for distressed districts
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 By Tom Barnes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
HARRISBURG -- As 50 placard-holding students from the ailing Chester Upland schools looked on, Republican and Democratic senators urged Gov. Tom Corbett Tuesday to develop a workable plan to aid financially distressed school districts.
"We need a plan, Mr. Secretary; we need a plan," Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin, told state Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis. "It's time to end the finger-pointing and the blame game. Taxpayers are fed up with the increasing costs of public education. They see it every July when their school tax bill arrives."
Sen. Andrew Dinniman, D-Chester, was even more blunt. "This administration is trying to destroy public education in the poorest districts," such as Chester Upland [outside Philadelphia], Duquesne schools and others, he contended. "This administration isn't serious about education of the poor in Pennsylvania."

PA Dems on YouTube
Chester Upland SD is 16 miles from the Radnor SD.  In this year’s budget, Chester Upland got cut by $29K per class; compared to Radnor cut of $950 per class of 25 students.
Click here to watch 4:16 YouTube video

Inspector General's office interviewing teachers in PSSA-test cheating probe
By Martha Woodall, Inquirer Staff Writer Posted: Wed, Jan. 25, 2012, 3:01 AM
The Pennsylvania Inspector General's Office is assisting the state Department of Education with its probe of allegations of cheating on 2009 state exams.
Agents arrived in Philadelphia this week to begin interviewing teachers at the 13 Philadelphia district schools and three charter schools that are part of the inquiry, according to educators and others with knowledge of the probe.
The Inspector General's Office has set up a hotline that teachers may call if they have information about cheating at their schools: 855-448-2435. The "PSSA test-integrity hotline" is operational statewide and allows callers to provide information anonymously about the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests.

Posted at 09:53 PM ET, 01/24/2012

Obama on education in State of the Union address

Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss
Here’s the part of President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address that was about education, taken from a text prepared for delivery:
....To prepare for the jobs of tomorrow, our commitment to skills and education has to start earlier.
For less than one percent of what our Nation spends on education each year, we’ve convinced nearly every State in the country to raise their standards for teaching and learning – the first time that’s happened in a generation.

Obama in SOTU: ”Stop teaching to the test”.  Duncan’s Race to the Top: teach to the test or risk losing your job.

High Tech Testing on the Way: a 21st Century Boondoggle?

Education Week Teacher, Living in Dialogue Blog By Anthony Cody on April 8, 2011 2:32 PM
In my recent exchange with the Department of Education regarding President Obama's remarks critical of our obsession with testing, it became clear that there is a vast expansion of testing on the horizon. Few reports have emerged that describe this, and I fear the public may be unaware of the resources that soon will be diverted from our already decimated classrooms. I asked two of the nation's experts on this trend to share what they have learned about this recently. Here is their report.
“there is no evidence supporting the idea that tests to enforce national standards, no matter how subtle and refined, will have any positive impact on student learning. In fact, the evidence we have suggests that it will not: States that use more high-stakes tests do not do better on the NAEP tests than states with fewer…”
by Stephen Krashen and Susan Ohanian
When the plans to create Common Core Standards were announced, Secretary Duncan told us that it would be accompanied by assessments to enforce the standards. We were also told that developing standards would be relatively inexpensive, but developing assessments, by contrast, will be a "very heavy lift financially" (USA Today, June 14, 2009).

AP Exclusive: States weaken teacher tenure rights
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
AP Education Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- America's public school teachers are seeing their generations-old tenure protections weakened as states seek flexibility to fire teachers who aren't performing. A few states have essentially nullified tenure protections altogether, according to an analysis being released Wednesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality.
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