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
Lehigh County :
Parkland school board resolution asks state
for more funding
A resolution seeks increase in wake of last year's
$900 million cut and proposed reduction this year.
By Marion
Callahan, Of The Morning Call March 28, 2012
The Parkland School Board is joining districts across Pennsylvania to make its
wish for more state money official. The
board approved a resolution Tuesday calling for the General Assembly to
"take legislative action" and invest more money in Pennsylvania schools. Gov. Tom Corbett's
2012-13 budget proposal reduces public school funding by $100 million at a time
when districts are still reeling from a $900 million cut in 2011-12. The resolution states that the proposed
budget for Grades K-12 maintains basic education funding at 2008-09 levels,
though costs to provide mandated services continue to rise.
Dauphin County :
Derry Township School District
administrators warn of danger down the line if hard decisions aren't made
March 28, 2012
As public school districts across the midstate begin building their
budgets for the next school year, a slow, steady song is emerging. It
contains three main beats; deficits, staff furloughs and program cutbacks.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/03/derry_township_school_district_25.html#incart_mce
Spend money on Pa. education, not a voter ID law
I would like to know where is the estimated $8 million going
to come from to fund this voter photo identification law. I went to a meeting
March 8 at Lehigh
Carbon Community College where a state senator and two state
representatives reported that estimated cost to a large crowd of concerned
Pennsylvanians who are tired of the devastating cuts being made to the
education system. Last year, more than $900 million was cut from education.
This year Gov. Corbett's plan is set to cut another $100 million for public
education programs which in turn will make last year's cut permanent.
Vitalistic charter school chief
resigns, alleging continued financial mismanagement
She alleges continuing financial mismanagement at
Vitalistic in Bethlehem .
By Devon
Lash and Steve Esack, Of The Morning Call
10:18 p.m. EDT, March 28, 2012
The top administrator of a troubled Bethlehem charter school resigned Wednesday,
alleging that school officials continue to mismanage tax dollars even as two
local school districts investigate its finances and loss of a state license to
provide students withmental health care.
CityPaper Naked City Blog
Posted by Daniel
Denvir WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2012
A flyer attacking State
Rep. James Roebuck for
opposing school vouchers is hitting mailboxes throughout his West
Philadelphia district. “James
Roebuck blocked kids from attending the schools of their choice,” is printed in
big red letters above an unflattering photo of Roebuck with his mouth hanging
open.
PA Statewide Bake Sale for Public Education
The Week of April 9th is Bake Sale for Public Education
Week!!
That’s
right, the week of April 9th, parents and community groups will be hosting
local mock “Bake Sales” throughout the Commonwealth to send a message to
Governor Corbett and the State Legislature:
There are NOT enough cookies in the state of Pennsylvania to protect our children from
the damage that is BEING DONE to the Commonwealth’s schools! This is an opportunity for Pennsylvanians to
raise their voices together in support of Pennsylvania ’s public schools.
Learn more
about the these mock bake sales and how you can host one
in your own community. I’m sure some of you are thinking: Why a
bake sale? Send
us any questions you may have.
Send a message to your lawmakers by joining other parents and community
members across Pennsylvania
who oppose funding cuts to public schools. CLICK HERE to sign up for this event!
Ravitch:
The toll of school reform on public education
This was written by education historian Diane Ravitch for her Bridging Differences blog, which she co-authors with
Deborah Meier on theEducation Week website.
The item was first published on March 6. In their blog, Ravitch and Meier exchange letters about what matters
most in education. Ravitch, a research professor at New York University, is
author of “The Death and Life of the Great
American School System,” a critique of the flaws in the modern
school reform movement that she just updated.
By Diane Ravitch
There comes a time when
you look at the rug on the floor, the one you've seen many times, and you see a
pattern that you had never noticed before. You may have seen this squiggle or
that flower, but you did not see the pattern into which the squiggles and
flowers and trails of ivy combined. In
American education, we can now discern the pattern on the rug.
Hired Guns on
Astroturf: How to Buy and Sell
School Reform
SPRING
2012 Dissent Magazine By Joanne Barkan
For Barkan’s other writing on the self-proclaimed “education
reform movement,” click here, here, and here.
If you want to change government policy, change the politicians who make it. The implications of this truism have now taken hold in the market-modeled “education reform movement.” As a result, the private funders and nonprofit groups that run the movement have overhauled their strategy. They’ve gone political as never before—like the National Rifle Association or Big Pharma or (ed reformers emphasize) the teachers’ unions.
If you want to change government policy, change the politicians who make it. The implications of this truism have now taken hold in the market-modeled “education reform movement.” As a result, the private funders and nonprofit groups that run the movement have overhauled their strategy. They’ve gone political as never before—like the National Rifle Association or Big Pharma or (ed reformers emphasize) the teachers’ unions.
UPDATED DAILY –
STATEWIDE PRESS COVERAGE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT
BUDGETS
The PA House Democratic Caucus has been tracking daily 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
Stand Up for Public Education!
Wed., April 11, 2012 7:00 pm Town Hall Meeting on Education at Bucknell University
Meeting with legislators from Columbia , Northumberland,
Montour, Snyder & Union counties
Where:
The Forum, Room 272, Elaine
Langone Center
Bucknell University
701 Moore Avenue Lewisburg , PA 17837
7
p.m. – School directors and administrators meet with legislators (PSBA
Legislative Meeting)
7:30
p.m. – Town Hall Meeting on Education – Please invite your PTO/PTA and other
parent/ community groups to join us! The
purpose of the 7 p.m. meeting is for school directors and administrators to
discuss the impact of the governor’s 2011-12 budget proposal on their school
districts. At 7:30 p.m., the meeting will be open to all interested parents and
other members of the community who would like to come out in support of their public
schools and ask their legislators to take their message back to Harrisburg .
Please
RSVP By April 4, to Kathy Swope, PSBA Region 6 director, at (570)
523-3336 or email swope@ptd.net
Stand Up for Public Education!
Thursday April 12th,
7:00 pm Allegheny County
Legislative Forum
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
and other education experts who will help explain local impacts. 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.
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
PA Partnerships for
Children – Take action on the Governor’s Budget
The governor’s budget plan cuts funding for proven
programs like Child Care Works, Keystone STARS and the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship
program, Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance
Program. These are among the most cost-effective
investments we can make in education. Gov. Corbett’s budget plan also runs counter
to a pledge he made when he ran for governor in 2010. He acknowledged the
benefits of early childhood education and promised to increase funding to
double the number of children who would benefit from early learning
opportunities.
We need your help to tell lawmakers: if you cut
these programs – you close the door to early learning! Click here to tell your state legislators to fund early childhood education programs
at the same level they approved for this year’s budget.
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?
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