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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.
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on Twitter at @lfeinberg
Thorough analysis of the Governor’s proposed 2012-2013 budget….
Education Law
Center
Governor Corbett has
proposed state funding for public schools in 2012-13 that includes cuts for
most school districts. These cuts reflect the loss of $100 million in state
funding for Accountability Block Grants, which support kindergarten programs
and tutoring for struggling students, as well as 5 percent reductions in Pre-K
Counts and Head Start.
"Despite smaller cuts than last year, the
Governor’s proposal for education funding is still deeply flawed because it
ignores the fiscal and educational inequities between poor and wealthy school
districts," said Law Center Policy Director Baruch Kintisch. "The
Governor’s budget does not provide every student with an equal opportunity to
learn and succeed in school."
Summary: http://www.elc-pa.org/budget2012.html
Full report: http://www.elc-pa.org/ELCBudgetAnalysis2.16.12.pdf
“Among industrialized countries, the United
States invests the least in early childhood care and education services — 0.5
percent of GDP compared to anywhere between 2 percent and 6 percent in European
countries. … At the national and state levels, we need
more political will and determination to increase and enhance pre-school
education and care.”
WHAT
WORKS: Prekindergarten education matters
Published: Friday, February 24, 2012
Delco
Times By JOSEPH P. BATORY, Times Guest Columnist
Joseph P. Batory was superintendent of Upper Darby School District
Amidst the endless debate over
improving education in the United
States
http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2012/02/24/opinion/doc4f46fd3e9359d464755256.txt?viewmode=fullstory
"At
Northeast, we lost shop teachers, art teachers," said Danza, who spent a
year teaching at Northeast for a reality show. "That sends a message to
the kids that they really don't matter."
At news conference, speakers say
budget cuts hitting Philadelphia
By Kristen A. Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer Posted: Fri, Feb. 24, 2012 , 3:01 AM
The speakers came from different backgrounds - an actor-turned-teacher,
two union officials, and a state senator - but their message was the same:
budget cuts have hit the Philadelphia
School District
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20120224_At_news_conference__speakers_say_budget_cuts_hitting_Philadelphia_schools_too_hard.html
“….She noted that some schools now do not have
a full-time counselor or social worker or lack library services, art, music,
advanced classes and dedicated resources for parent and community engagement.”
Third phase would produce up to $13
million in savings
By Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh February 24, 2012
Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent Linda Lane Manchester
Pittsburgh Public
Schools superintendent Linda Lane
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12055/1212297-53.stm#ixzz1nIT4sEvV
“Value-added ratings are one important piece
of a complete personnel system. But student test scores alone aren’t a
sensitive enough measure to gauge effective teaching, nor are they diagnostic
enough to identify areas of improvement. Teaching is multifaceted, complex
work. A reliable evaluation system must incorporate other measures of
effectiveness, like students’ feedback about their teachers and classroom
observations by highly trained peer evaluators and principals.”
Bill Gates: Shame Is Not
the Solution
New York Times Opinion By BILL GATES, Published: February 22, 2012
LAST week, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled
that teachers’ individual performance assessments could be made public. I have
no opinion on the ruling as a matter of law, but as a harbinger of education
policy in the United States
I am a strong proponent of measuring teachers’
effectiveness, and my foundation works with many schools to help make sure that
such evaluations improve the overall quality of teaching. But publicly ranking
teachers by name will not help them get better at their jobs or improve student
learning. On the contrary, it will make it a lot harder to implement teacher evaluation
systems that work.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/opinion/for-teachers-shame-is-no-solution.html?_r=2&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1
A test for politicians
on education (with cheat sheet)
Here are questions that education historian Diane Ravitch posed to politicians who
make education policy. Ravitch, a research professor at New York University
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/a-test-for-politicians-on-educatioin-with-cheat-sheet/2012/02/23/gIQAKbkrWR_blog.html
Here’s our
prior blog posting on K12 from December 2011:
It's
all about the kids......K12 Inc. chief executive Ron Packard paid $5 million
compensation package in 2011
Fyi, 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. In PA, K12’s
Agora Cyber Charter has never made AYP.
"I'm a
big believer in transparency and accountability. I do think the more visible
you are, the easier it is to try and attack you," Mr. Packard said in an
interview last week. "For reasons I don't fully understand, there are a
lot of people who don't like for-profit companies in education."
K12 Inc.'s Public Status and Growth Attract
Scrutiny
Virtual ed. company faces critical press and a recent lawsuit
Education Week February
21, 2012 By Jason Tomassini
In a scant few months, K12 Inc. and its fluctuating performance on Wall
Street are proving that the combination of being a publicly traded company and
operating in the school marketplace can lead to heightened levels of scrutiny
in a growing but controversial sector of education.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/02/22/21k12.h31.html?tkn=PRNFeKwIR/JXi5iPNpSKkGa5NBBVjRiwlUnm&cmp=clp-edweek
February 29th: Partners for Public
Education at 6PM in the
South Fayette High School Theater
Statewide
kickoff meeting of PSEA's Partners for Public Education (PPE) Program
PPE is all about connecting
parents, community leaders, elected officials, and teachers together for one
goal - the support of public education. State
Senator Wayne Fontana, State Representative Jesse White, State Representative
Nick Kotik, Education Policy & Leadership Center Director Ron Cowell, PSEA
President Mike Crossey,
along with members of the SFEA Representative Council, SF School Board, SF
Administration, and SF Student Government will stand together to recruit
parents and other interested parties add their voices to the chorus of those
who care about public education.
http://partnersforpubliced.org/
http://www.facebook.com/SouthFayettePPE
SAVE THE
DATE: March 8, 7 pm Lehigh County
Thursday, March 8th,
7:00 pm at Lehigh Carbon
Community College , Community Services
Center
All public education stakeholders are
invited to this special event. Join us on Thursday, March 8th at Lehigh Carbon
Community College at 7PM for an evening with several key
state legislators from Lehigh
County
State Representatives and Senators
representing surrounding school districts have been invited to attend and
discuss their positions on public education as they head into negotiations over
next year’s budget. This event will be
moderated by the League of Women Voters.
The
Education Committee of the League of Women Voters of Chester County
March 19th LWV Chester
County
PA Auditor
General Jack Wagner
Monday
March 19th 6:30 pm
at Stetson Middle
School , West Chester
Location: Stetson Middle School Auditorium
The Auditor General will speak to the public followed by Q & A Session.
The Auditor General will speak to the public followed by Q & A Session.
THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
March 26th: Last day to register to vote in the
April 24th PA Primary Election
You do have the power to change the direction of
education policy in Pennsylvania
The
last day to REGISTER before the primary is March 26 , 2012. Make sure that you, your family, friends,
neighbors and co-workers are all registered to vote in the April 24th
Pennsylvania Primary. Ask your incumbent
state representative and state senator for their positions on public
education. Let them know how important
these issues are to you. Forward this
reminder to any and all public education stakeholders.
Budget Hearing -
Department of Education
Monday, February 27, 2012 9:30
AM Hearing Room 1 North
Office Bldg.
BUDGET HEARINGS:
EDUCATION
Monday, March 5, 2012 10:00 AM Room
140 Main Capitol
Education Voters PA –
Take action on the Governor’s Budget
The Governor’s proposal starts the process,
but it isn’t all decided: our legislators can play an important role in
standing up for our priorities. Last year, public outcry helped prevent
nearly $300 million in additional cuts. We heard from the Governor, and
we know where he stands. Now,
we need to ask our legislators: what is your position on supporting our
schools?
At The Chalk Face - Education Talk
Radio – Listen Anytime
Educated Educators Talking Education.
A new one hour talk show dedicated to education. Hosts Tim Slekar and Shaun Johnson cover the
biggest issues in education. From
standardized testing to No Child Left Behind.
PA House Democratic
Caucus Website
UPDATED DAILY –
STATEWIDE PRESS COVERAGE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT
BUDGETS
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
Latest Updates on Chester
Upland February 22, 2012
District is
slated to lose an additional $980,000 under the Governor’s proposed 2012-2013
budget
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