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Major issues in education converge in Delaware County today – funding, school closings,
vouchers and charter schools are all in the mix. Kudos to Phil Heron and the crew at the Delco
Times for their coverage.
“Citing
Dinniman’s support for SB1, the vouchers/school choice bill Houghton accused
the Senator of failing to support public education.”
Former Rep. Houghton to Primary Sen. Dinniman
PoliticsPA
By Keegan Gibson, Managing Editor, posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2012
Pa.
Senator Andy Dinniman has drawn a primary challenge from one-term Pa. Rep. Tom
Houghton, the former lawmaker confirmed to PoliticsPA. Citing Dinniman’s support for SB1, the
vouchers/school choice bill Houghton accused the Senator of failing to support
public education.
“He’s
supposed a Democratic leader on education. Not only has he supported a voucher bill,
but he’s taken a lead on it,” Houghton said. “He’s giving cover to
right-wingers who are threatening to defund our public schools.”
Guest
Column: Anti-voucher foe: Pols need to be educated
Delco Times By KATE SHAW, Times Guest Columnist, Published: Friday, December 23, 2011
Kate
Shaw is Executive Director at Research for Action
As a New Year’s resolution,
legislators ought to commit themselves to a discussion that asks the hard
questions: What has been the experience of states and districts nationwide that
have implemented voucher systems? Do
these reforms expand access and educational opportunity for the most vulnerable
students? And do vouchers increase student achievement and readiness for
college and meaningful careers?
My organization recently conducted a review of the research on school vouchers to inform these questions and providePennsylvania
policymakers, parents, stakeholders, and students with the evidence and answers
they need about this important issue.
My organization recently conducted a review of the research on school vouchers to inform these questions and provide
Voucher bill fails
again for a reason
Centre Daily Times Opinion By Michael J.
Crossey Posted: 12:01am on Jan 5, 2012
Michael
J. Crossey is a special education teacher in the Keystone
Oaks School
District and president of the 193,000-member Pennsylvania State
Education Association.
Here we go again. That’s what many Pennsylvanians said as they watched Gov. Tom Corbett push for tuition voucher plans and charter school expansion. It’s like the movie “Groundhog Day,” where the same scene repeats over and over. Voucher proponents and people who profit from charter schools made the same tired arguments they’ve been using for 20 years, proposing to take money from public schools to pay for programs that will not improve student performance.
Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/01/05/3040970/voucher-bill-fails-again-for-a.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy
Here we go again. That’s what many Pennsylvanians said as they watched Gov. Tom Corbett push for tuition voucher plans and charter school expansion. It’s like the movie “Groundhog Day,” where the same scene repeats over and over. Voucher proponents and people who profit from charter schools made the same tired arguments they’ve been using for 20 years, proposing to take money from public schools to pay for programs that will not improve student performance.
Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2012/01/05/3040970/voucher-bill-fails-again-for-a.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy
The official announcement of
school closings by the Philadelphia
Archdiocese will be at 4 p.m. on Friday, January 6th but word could
come out on Friday morning as schools are told in advance of the announcement. Commission members are expected to deliver
their findings between 10 a.m. and noon
today at Neumann University to pastors, grade school
principals and high school presidents, who will then inform their faculties and
students of the news.
Catholic
school crisis hurts all
Robert
H. Palestini is executive director of the Center for Catholic Urban Education
at Saint Joseph 's
University
Posted: Thu, Jan. 5, 2012 , 3:01 AM
An Archdiocese of Philadelphia
blue-ribbon commission is expected to release its final report on the future of
Catholic schooling in the five-county region on Friday. The plan will likely
recommend closing and merging many elementary and high schools. Although this
presents a particular challenge to Catholics, the impact will go well beyond
them. These schools are a valuable community resource, and their sustainability
should be of universal concern.
Live-stream
of archdiocese press conference on school closings
School principals, presidents
and pastors will gather at Neumann
University in Aston at 10
a.m. to get advance word on the findings, including which schools will likely
be closed. They will then return to
their prospective schools to deliver the word at noon.
The archdiocese will hold a press conference to announce the findings at 4 p.m. at theArchdiocesan
Pastoral Center
on North 17th Street
in Philadelphia .
YOU CAN CLICK HERE to watch a live-stream of the 4 p.m. press conference.
The archdiocese will hold a press conference to announce the findings at 4 p.m. at the
YOU CAN CLICK HERE to watch a live-stream of the 4 p.m. press conference.
Additional Coverage of Archdiocese
school closings: http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2012/01/06/news/doc4f06735135d3c041626616.txt
Senator Piccola is Majority Chairman of the
Senate Education Committee
Senator
Piccola asks state to declare Chester Upland a distressed
school district
Delco Times Published:
Thursday, January
05, 2012
By JOHN KOPP jkopp@delcotimes.com
State Sen. Jeffrey E.
Piccola, R-15, of Dauphin County, has called for Secretary of Education Ronald
Tomalis to declare the Chester Upland School District a “district in financial
distress” and consider implementing a board of control to oversee the
district’s finances.
Senator Dinniman is Minority Chairman of the
Senate Education Committee
Chesco Senator
Dinniman blasts education department
State Sen. Andrew Dinniman,
D-19, of Chester County, the minority chairman of the Senate Education
Committee, blasted the Pennsylvania Department of Education Thursday, saying he
was dismayed the state refused to advance funding to the Chester Upland School
District.
Dinniman argued that the only
option left is the local charter school.
“As a legislator, I have a fundamental responsibility to ask a question that needs to be asked and I don’t know the answer to: ‘Is it just a coincidence that the operator of the for-profit charter school serving the students of this district is also one of the biggest Republican contributors in the commonwealth?’” Dinniman asked.
“As a legislator, I have a fundamental responsibility to ask a question that needs to be asked and I don’t know the answer to: ‘Is it just a coincidence that the operator of the for-profit charter school serving the students of this district is also one of the biggest Republican contributors in the commonwealth?’” Dinniman asked.
Chester Upland owes intermediate unit $1.08 million
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
By JOHN KOPP jkopp@delcotimes.com
The Chester Upland
School District ,
struggling to meet its payroll beyond December, owes $1.08 million to the
Delaware County Intermediate Unit.
Chester Upland incurred a $2.94 million debt to the DCIU for various services provided during the 2010-11 school year. The district has paid $1.86 million of that, including two payments within the last month totaling $500,000, leaving Chester Upland’s outstanding debt at $1.08.
Officials from the DCIU, Chester Upland and the Pennsylvania Department of Education have been meeting to construct a repayment plan, DCIU Executive Director Lawrence J. O’Shea said. State Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-9, ofChester , is also involved
in conversations.
Chester Upland incurred a $2.94 million debt to the DCIU for various services provided during the 2010-11 school year. The district has paid $1.86 million of that, including two payments within the last month totaling $500,000, leaving Chester Upland’s outstanding debt at $1.08.
Officials from the DCIU, Chester Upland and the Pennsylvania Department of Education have been meeting to construct a repayment plan, DCIU Executive Director Lawrence J. O’Shea said. State Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-9, of
Interesting connection here
- Joe Watkins, who is cited in the following article as the spokesman for Vahan
Gureghian’s Chester Community Charter School is also the Chairman of
Pennsylvania's Students First PAC, the PAC that contributed over $6.66 million
to support pro-voucher candidates in Pennsylvania last year. Which BTW,
included $45,000 given to Senator Dinniman discussed in the first article
above. Students First PAC raised that
$6.66 million from just 19 contributors.
December
30, 2011 7:59
AM
CBS Philly.com By David Madden
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