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
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.
“There will be no public
confidence in the district, however, until there is complete transparency about
its finances. Appoint a special prosecutor to investigate whether there were
improper expenditures. Appoint a financial manager who reports weekly all
encumbrances and expenditures - publicly. Post all payments on a website, with
cumulative totals against the budget. Operate transparently. Since neither the
state nor district administrators can be trusted, it is time to let the public
see the books.”
Many to blame in Chester
By
A. Jean Arnold, J. Whyatt Mondesire and Michael Churchill
A. Jean Arnold is chair
of the Chester NAACP State
Posted:
Sun, Feb. 19,
2012 , 3:01 AM
The
crisis facing the Chester
Upland School
District Harrisburg as in Chester
Education
reformers such as Horace Mann helped jump start the common school movement. In
1837, Mann became the first Secretary of the Board of Education for Massachusetts Massachusetts soon spread to
the U.S.
Rick Santorum suggests opposition to public schooling
CBSNews.com
By Brian Montopoli Topics Campaign 2012
Campaigning
in Idaho
"We
didn't have government-run schools for a long time in this country, for the
majority of the time in this country," he said. "We had private
education. We had local education. Parents actually controlled the education of
their children. What a great idea that is."
Santorum Questions Education System; Criticizes Obama
New
York Times By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
Published:
February 18, 2012
The PSERs employer
contribution rate for 2011/2012 FY is 8.65%.
The rate for 2012/2013 FY
is 12.36%
The rate is projected to
climb to over 27% by 2019 and stay there until 2025
An Update from the Public School Employees’
Retirement System
Presented
to the Montgomery County School Districts Legislative Committee
By Jeff
Clay, Executive Director, PSERs February 15, 2012
New
analysis makes case for higher ranking for U.S.
By Greg
Toppo, USA February
16, 2012
The idea that U.S.
Here’s the report referenced in
the USA
Brookings Institution:HOW
WELL ARE AMERICAN STUDENTS LEARNING?
With sections on predicting the effect of
the Common Core State Standards, achievement gaps on the two NAEP tests, and
misinterpreting international test scores.
February 2012 Volume III, Number 1, The
2012 Brown Center
by: TOM LOVELESS, Senior Fellow, The Brown Center
Bill would permit
virtual charter schools in Mississippi
Proponents tout flexibility; critics fear
lack of accountability
Clarion Ledger 10:09 PM , Feb. 11, by Jerry Mitchell
A for-profit Virginia
company has hired lobbyists to push for a virtual public school in Mississippi Mississippi
The push for new charter schools, online
and otherwise, is taking place across the nation, even as communities and
states are coming up millions short in funding public schools.
Obama Proposes NAEP Cut; Seeks State Pilot for
Global Testing (PISA
One item tucked into President Obama's new
budget request that you might have missed is a proposed cut to the esteemed
"nation's report card."
The administration wants to trim $6 million from
the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a key measure of U.S. student
achievement across disciplines relied upon by educators, policymakers,
researchers, and, yes, journalists. The proposal comes as part of a $70 billion
budget request for the U.S. Department of Education that, overall, would
increase the agency's discretionary coffers by 2.5 percent. The NAEP cut would
bring the testing budget down to $132 million, a reduction of 4.3 percent.
At the same time, the president's budget request
would add $6 million—a strange coincidence, perhaps?—to create a pilot program
for states to benchmark the performance of their 15-year-olds against that of
students around the world on the Program for International Student Assessment,
or PISA
SAVE THE
DATE: March 8, 7 pm Lehigh County
Thursday, March 8th,
7:00 pm at Lehigh Carbon
Community College , Community Services
Center
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. More info to come.
PA SENATE
APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
Budget Hearing -
Department of Education
Monday, February 27, 2012 9:30
AM Hearing Room 1 North
Office Bldg.
PA HOUSE
APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE
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
SUNDAY MORNINGS AT 9am .
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.
February 23: 9 am to 3 pm Harrisburg
Hilton 2012 Budget Summit :
Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center
Join the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy
Center for our 2012 Budget Summit on Thursday,
February 23, 2012 for an in-depth look at the state and federal budget
plans and what they mean for communities and families across Pennsylvania Summit
Time: February 23, 2012 from 9am to 3pm
Location: Harrisburg Hilton
City/Town: Harrisburg
Website or Map: http://org2.democracyinaction…
Click here to RSVP
February 29th: 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, 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
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 20, 2011
District is
slated to lose an additional $980,000 under the Governor’s proposed 2012-2013
budget
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
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