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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
Thursday April 12,
7:00 pm Allegheny County
WHERE: North Hills Senior High School 53 Rochester
Road Pittsburgh, PA 15229
WHEN: Thursday, April
12, 2012 @ 7:00pm
REGISTER for this event: NorthernAreaLegislativeForum.eventbrite.com
All public
education stakeholders are invited to this special event, which will be
moderated by the League of Women Voters.
Join us on Thursday, April 12th at North
Hills Senior
High School at 7PM
for an evening with several key state legislators from Allegheny County
When asked if
the state would pull Frontier's charter, (PDE Spokesman) Eller said,
"that's a possibility, but I don't want to say that's going to happen. But
that is an option."
Frontier cyber-school students:
All we want is to learn
BY DAVID GAMBACORTA Daily News Staff Writer Posted:
Fri, Mar. 23,
2012 , 3:01 AM
CAREY STONE is living Ferris Bueller's life - just
the complete opposite of it, actually.
Every morning, the high-school senior calls her
school's administrators, trying to find out where they are, wondering when
they'll have classes for her to attend or let her hand in a report on "The
Great Gatsby." And every day, her
calls go unanswered. "I feel like they're just brushing me off," she
said. Carey, 18, and her sisters, Rachel, 15, and Harmony, 14, are enrolled at
the Philadelphia-based Frontier
Virtual Charter
High School
The school laid off its teachers and principal on
March 8 and hasn't held any classes since.
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20120323_Frontier_cyber-school_students__All_we_want_is_to_learn.html
“In both the
House and the Senate, various bills have tried to address charter oversight and
funding issues. One such bill would establish an independent authority to
oversee all charters in the state. And Auditor General Jack Wagner has called
for fixing the broken funding formula for charters, especially that cybers get
as much as "brick and mortar" schools.
Those efforts
have gone nowhere; some of them been have been held hostage by forces in Harrisburg
Philadelphia
Posted: Fri, Mar. 23, 2012 , 3:01 AM
WITH OVER 150 charter schools - nearly half of them
in Philadelphia - and an additional 13
"cyber schools," which operate online, Pennsylvania
Unfortunately, we're lagging when it comes to
coherent and consistent regulations governing the oversight of these schools,
which are funded with public money but are free of many of the mandates of
public school systems. "Bricks and mortar" charters are overseen by
the school districts from which their students are drawn; cyber charters are
overseen by the state Department of Education.
And while many bills that would govern charter
oversight and funding have made their way through Harrisburg
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20120323_DN_Editorial__Cyber-charter_blues.html
Yinzercation Blog — MARCH 22, 2012
Ninth grade students
at Pittsburgh Harrisburg Forster
Street
http://yinzercation.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/a-sign-in-harrisburg/
Education, voter IDs top
issues at candidates forum in Harrisburg
Published: Thursday, March 22, 2012 , 11:40 PM
By M. Diane McCormick, The Patriot-News
Education, voter identification and government
spending topped the issues aired at a forum featuring candidates for the state
House 103rd and 104th and Senate 15th districts Thursday night sponsored by the
Harrisburg Chapter of the NAACP.
All candidates who spoke deplored the depletion of
public education budgets.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/03/education_voter_ids_top_issues.html
Educators, legislators
debate merits of economic furloughs
Daily American Staff Writer
A House bill that would allow school districts
to furlough teachers for economic reasons is in the state education committee.
State Rep. Scott Boyd, R-Lancaster, and 35 other lawmakers introduced legislation that would also allow districts to consider performance, not just seniority, in deciding whom to let go. A spokesman for Boyd said on Wednesday that House Bill 855 is still active and is in the education committee.
State Rep. Scott Boyd, R-Lancaster, and 35 other lawmakers introduced legislation that would also allow districts to consider performance, not just seniority, in deciding whom to let go. A spokesman for Boyd said on Wednesday that House Bill 855 is still active and is in the education committee.
http://www.dailyamerican.com/da-ot-bill-would-change-how-teachers-are-furloughed-20120321,0,5626853.story
The Education Policy and
Leadership Center
EPLC Education Notebook – Wednesday,
March 21, 2012
Pennsylvania School
PSFC Urges PA
Lawmakers to Oppose Governor’s 2012-2013 K-12 Education Budget
Click here to read the full text of the letter sent to all
members of the PA General Assembly from the Pennsylvania School Funding
Campaign (March 20, 2012).
http://www.paschoolfunding.org/2012/03/psfc-urges-pa-lawmakers-to-oppose-governors-2012-2013-k-12-education-budget/
The Inky ran this opinion piece as a news story yesterday.
The authors,
Robert Maranto and Patrick Wolf are professors in the Department of Education
Reform at the University of Arkansas, and John Witte is a professor at the La
Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
The Walton Family Foundation provided $680,000 to the University of Arkansas University of Wisconsin
Perhaps this
“news story” should have correctly been entitled
Evidence that funding works; or at least labeled as opinion……….
Evidence that vouchers
work
Philadelphia
School vouchers have stalled in the Pennsylvania
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20120322_Evidence_that_vouchers_work.html
WHAT WORKS: Formative Assessments,
Differentiated Instruction, Targeted Interventions
“A total of 92% of the teachers surveyed reported that
formative, ongoing assessments were absolutely essential or important in
measuring student achievement. Furthermore, more than 90% of teachers actively
use student performance data of this sort to differentiate instruction, target
interventions for students in need of help, and otherwise improve their
teaching.”
Gates/Scholastic Teacher Survey Challenges
Assumptions About Test-Based Reform
The big headline from the recent Gates/Scholastic
survey of teachers is that only
28% of teachers see standardized tests as an essential or important gauge of
student assessment, and only 26% say they are accurate as a reflection of
student knowledge. Another question reveals part of the reason this may be so -
only 45% of teachers think their students take these tests seriously, or
perform to the best of their ability.
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/03/gatesscholastic_teacher_survey.html
It’s Spring –
and the Scaife
funded Commonwealth Foundation’s dreams turn once again to vouchers….stay
tuned as this will certainly ramp up through the budget process.
Commonwealth Foundation MARCH 22, 2012 by NATHAN
BENEFIELD
Does School Choice
Reduce Crime?
http://www.commonwealthfoundation.org/policyblog/detail/does-school-choice-reduce-crime
Has your board considered this draft resolution yet?
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
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
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 officer applications due by March 31
PSBA Website 3/12/2012
Candidates seeking election to PSBA officer posts in 2013 must file an
expression of interest for the office desired to be interviewed by the PSBA
Nominating Committee. Deadline for filing is March 31. For more info and forms:
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