Daily postings
from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1500
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
A New Mantra: “We
need sustainable and equitable state funding for public education in Pennsylvania
Yinzercation Blog MARCH 7, 2012
I’m developing a new
mantra. Though it’s a bit of a mouthful, it’s worth repeating regularly: “We
need sustainable and equitable state funding for public education in Pennsylvania
Lehigh County
Nearly 200 attend Lehigh County
By Steve Esack, Of The Morning Call 11:08 p.m. EST, March 8, 2012
Nearly 200 residents crowded into a room at Lehigh Carbon
Community College
Residents outnumbered teachers — by a lot.
Residents spanned the economic and demographic spectrum. They were angry
and concerned that Corbett, in his second year as governor, is crushing the
state's education system by reducing public schools funding by $900 million in
2011-12 and $100 million in his 2012-13 budget proposal. Corbett's budget
proposal would also cut higher education funding by $1.4 billion, which comes
after a roughly 181/2 percent cut this fiscal year.
Yes, it’s Working! (and
here’s how we know)
Yinzercation Blog — MARCH 8, 2012
We’ve called our
legislators, written them letters, and met with them; we’ve hosted house
parties, a teach-in, and public forums; we’ve held a rally in a snowstorm,
published op-ed pieces, and submitted letters-to-the-editor. But is it
working?
The simple answer is
yes. But to understand how it’s working, we have to piece
together what is going on around the state.
Pennsylvania
Partnerships for Children’s March issue of Capitol
Watch for Children
Pennsylvania
Partnerships for Children’s March issue of Capitol
Watch for Children recaps the
House and Senate budget hearings on issues that impact kids, explains the
benefits of Governor Corbett’s “Fostering Connections” budget proposal to help
older foster youth, looks at proposed changes to child care subsidy regulations
and special education funding, and more.
Based on school reform pledges, Corbett earns grade
of 'F'
Phillyburbs.com Opinion By R. Paul Baumgartner March 8, 2012
Gov. Tom Corbett has completed over one year of his four-year term. A few
of his public education statements/pledges are as follows:
·
Will make
funding our schools a top priority.
·
Putting
students first means ensuring the resources intended to support their education
make it to the schools and classrooms they attend.
·
Will begin to
cut the strings from Harrisburg
·
Enabling
schools to focus on results and eliminating barriers that get in the way of
achieving them is critical to reforming our education system and making it
student-centric.
·
Believes in
greater control of resources at the school level, lessening state mandates to
schools and directing resources to best achieve student-learning goals.
In his term to date, the governor’s performance is an “F” (failure) based
on his campaign pledges. Rather than make funding a top priority, Corbett cut
public education over $840 million for the current school year. That reduction
is being carried forward again for next year’s budget, with an additional $94
million more in cuts.
LEADING RESEARCHERS GIVE
VALUE-ADDED TEACHER ASSESSMENT AN "F"
Test scores largely
reflect whom a teacher teaches, not how well they teach.
Recent writings on
value-added methods from SCOPE and others
Under
pressure to meet Race to the Top requirements, more
and more states are adopting, or poised to adopt, "value-added"
models (VAMs) of teacher assessment required by the federal competition. In
this rush for compliance, important findings on the effectiveness of VAMs are
being overlooked.
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2012/03/leading-researchers-give-value-added.html
Restoring Civic Purpose in Schools
Education Week Commentary March By James E. Davis, H. Michael Hartoonian,
Richard D. Van Scotter, & William E. White, March 6, 2012
Ask most social critics what ails America
Growing Gaps Bring Focus on Poverty's Role in
Schooling
Education Week By Lesli A. Maxwell, March 6, 2012
The fractious debate over how much schools can counteract poverty's
impact on children is far from settled, but a recently published collection of
research strongly suggests that until policymakers and educators confront
deepening economic and social disparities, poor children will increasingly miss
out on finding a path to upward social mobility.
New
Data from Office for Civil Rights Reveals Vast Inequities in Our Nation’s
Schools
WASHINGTON — The Campaign for High
School Equity — a coalition of leading civil rights and education advocacy
organizations focused on high school reform — points to newly released data
from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights as a tool to
draw much-needed attention to severe inequities around teacher experience,
disciplinary practices, and high school rigor that negatively impact students
of color.
Ed "Reform" in Louisiana
Diane Ravitch's brilliant, must-read blog, Bobby Jindal vs. Public Education, caused me to pull out an e-mail I got from a teacher buddy in
Panel: Unpacking the PA School Budget: What
Does This Mean for Me?
March
29, 2012 from 5:30pm to 8pm at Arcadia University
Website or Map: http://www.arcadia.edu/direct…
Website or Map: http://www.arcadia.edu/direct…
Join us for a panel discussion that
will delve into details of the Commonwealth's School Budget as announced by the
Governor in February 2012. This event
will tell you how the budget will affect your schools, community, and children.
Host: Dr. Bruce Campbell,
Coordinator, Educational Leadership Master's Program, Arcadia University
Moderator: Baruch Kintisch, Director
of Policy Advocacy and Senior Staff Attorney, Education Law
Center
Panelists:
Christopher McGinley, Superintendent,Lower Merion
School District
Christopher McGinley, Superintendent,
Art Haywood, President, Board of
Commissioners, Cheltenham Township
Nofre Vaquer, Director, ARC of Philadelphia
Hiram Rivera, Executive Director, Philadelphia Student Union
Dale Mezzacappa, Contributing Editor, Philadelphia Public School Notebook
Dan Hardy, Contributing Editor, Philadelphia Inquirer
Please RSVP by March 12 to dressm@arcadia.edu
Nofre Vaquer, Director, ARC of Philadelphia
Hiram Rivera, Executive Director, Philadelphia Student Union
Dale Mezzacappa, Contributing Editor, Philadelphia Public School Notebook
Dan Hardy, Contributing Editor, Philadelphia Inquirer
Please RSVP by March 12 to dressm@arcadia.edu
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?
PSBA Sample Board
Resolution regarding the budget
Please consider bringing this sample resolution to
the members of your board.
http://www.psba.org/issues-advocacy/issues-research/state-budget/Budget_resolution-02212012.doc
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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