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from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1000
Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators,
legislators, members of the press and a broad array of education advocacy
organizations via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.
Follow us
on Twitter at @lfeinberg
Monday March 5th
– Call to Action - Mark Your Calendar!
Education Voters Pennsylvania,
joined by several education advocacy groups, will hold a "Statewide Call to Action for Education"
on Monday, March 5. Tell
the Governor and your state legislators "No more cuts to
education!" For more
information on how you can participate, visit http://www.educationvoterspa.org/index.php/site/news/call-to-action-for-public-education11/.
Six years later…..
of
the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas (trial court) directing Charter
School
to produce a number of salary and
contract documents requested by a
newspaper
reporter, Daniel Hardy, on behalf of
The Philadelphia Inquirer. In
doing
so, the trial court affirmed a decision of the Pennsylvania Office of Open
Records
(OOR) that the records were subject to disclosure even though they were
in
the possession of a private party that had contracted with Charter School
Discerning no error, we
affirm
Here’s a few earlier related postings:
Charter
school should reveal deal, court says
February 17, 2006 By Dan Hardy INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The management contract between
the Chester Community
Charter School
and a for-profit charter-management company headed by Main
Line lawyer and businessman Vahan H. Gureghian should be made
public, Commonwealth Court
In its ruling, the court said Pennsylvania
The school has asked the court to
reconsider. A decision on that request is expected within the next 60 days.
http://articles.philly.com/2006-02-17/news/25409726_1_public-schools-state-appointed-board-ruling
Follow
the Money: Contributions by Vahan Gureghian 1/1/07 - 5/31/11
Governor
Corbett’s stark naked school choice: some moving out, some moving in
“Corbett is the first governor in state
history to lump mandatory pension payments into what had been separate funding
streams for regular education programming.”
Corbett's education spending hike
covers pensions, not books
Corbett touts boost but local officials
say mandated reimbursements don't count.
A Morning Call analysis of the state Department of
Education's new website shows Gov. Tom Corbett’s $8.2 billion education budget
would increase student-related spending by less than half a percent from the
current 2011-12 funding levels.
9:34
p.m. EST, February 29, 2012
It was meant to quiet
Gov. Tom Corbett's critics who claimed his budget proposal
would eviscerate public education: an interactive website touting how he is
bestowing the "largest amount of funding to public schools in state
history."
But the state
Department of Education's new website,http://www.investinginpastudents.com,
shows the vast majority of Corbett's $338.1 million, or 3.7 percent, increase
in education spending would not go toward classroom learning as his
administration claims.
It would go to cover
the state's mandatory increase in its share of public school employees'
retirement payments, which originated in the Legislature's 2001 decision to
increase pensions for its members and all state employees.
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-pa-corbett-education-spending-229-20120229,0,2652371.story
Here’s
the PDE website incorporating the PSERS payments described above:
PA Department of
Education Website
Governor Tom Corbett’s 2012-13 proposed
budget will provide Pennsylvania school
districts with more than $9.3 billion in taxpayer assistance, representing the
largest amount of state funding in Pennsylvania
To see how much state taxpayer funding
would be provided to your school district, select the district’s name in the
drop down menu below.
Here’s
PSEA’s budget impact website:
PSEA: How state budget cuts will affect your district
Use
the drop-down menus to find out how proposed budget cuts would affect your
district.
Someone
particularly close to me attended Philly’s Thomas Creighton
Elementary School
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2012
Four more Phila.
schools to become charters
Philadelphia Inquirer Philly
School
Despite the fact that it’s nearly broke and in the
middle of a major organizational shakeup, the Philadelphia School
District Philadelphia schools
have been targeted — Cleveland , Creighton, and H.R. Edmunds
Elementary Schools , and Jones Middle
School
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/school_files/Four-Phila-schools-to-.html
“It may
be easy, then, to say use this as an example of free-market capitalism
improving the education system. But you also have to wonder if the
emphasis on turning a profit, rather than delivering an optimal education, wasn't
the problem in the first place.”
Publicly Funded Online
Schools: Education on the Cheap
The American Prospect by ABBY RAPOPORT FEBRUARY 28, 2012
Investors are
increasingly queasy about putting money into for-profit learning.
Publicly funded online schools run by
private companies have been controversial with teachers groups and some
education advocates since they started to take off a few years ago. But the
concept of educating kids by computer has a strong appeal—not just among
lawmakers but also among portfolio managers and investors. The two biggest
companies offering online education—K12, Inc. and Connections Academy
How to Demoralize Teachers
Dear Deborah,
Two weeks ago, New York
According to The New York Times, current schools
Chancellor Dennis Walcott had "mixed feelings" about the naming of names,
but his predecessor, Joel
Klein, had "championed" their release. A story
in the Columbia Journalism Review said that the city's department of
education had encouraged reporters to file "freedom of information"
requests and responded with uncustomary speed when the requests were received.
The scores were released to the public last
Friday.
SUNDAY,
FEBRUARY 26, 2012
Undermining Public Education, Hobbles Our Hope for
the Future
Digital
Notebook Blog by Evan Brandt
As the presidential campaign gears up and every
candidate is sure to use the word "jobs" in every sentence they
speak, I am sometimes struck by the acknowledgement gap that exists between the
words "jobs" and "education."
Education, particularly public education, is a dirty word these days.
Education, particularly public education, is a dirty word these days.
BUDGET HEARINGS:
EDUCATION
Monday, March 5, 2012 10:00 AM Room
140 Main Capitol
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.
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:
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