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Monday, April 30, 2012

“….arts advocates are looking to the state legislature for solutions. "Our fight is not with the school district. It's with the state."


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.

These daily emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
  
Posted: Mon, Apr. 30, 2012, 3:01 AM
Music and art may soon join languages on the endangered list at Pennsylvania elementary schools
By Dan Hardy Inquirer Staff Writer
Art and music classes in Pennsylvania's elementary schools may be headed down the same road as language instruction - desirable but dispensable, too costly in an era of ever-tightening public education budgets.
In Delaware County's blue-collar Upper Darby school district, pressure to allocate more money and more classroom time to core academic subjects could trigger the elimination of elementary school music and art classes, physical-education teachers, and librarians this fall.
In high-achieving and prosperous Tredyffrin/Easttown, in Chester County, budgetary woes threaten elementary and middle school instrument instruction.
A statewide survey of school districts last summer showed that among those responding, 44 percent reduced course offerings not required for graduation, including foreign languages, arts, music, physical education, and some elective English, science, and social-studies courses.
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20120430_Music_and_art_may_soon_join_languages_on_the_endangered_list_at_Pennsylvania_elementary_schools.html

Continuing reactions to Philadelphia school restructuring plan
Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Tribune, Washington Post, CityPaper, Notebook….
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2012/04/reactions-to-philly-restructuring-plan.html

Cyber Charters and your tax dollars; Heads Up for KDKA broadcast tonight at 6
KDKA Pittsburgh is slated to run a story on cyber charter funding during tonight’s 6:00 p.m. newscast.  We hope to pick up a YouTube link for tomorrow’s email blast.

Cybercharters Grow, Despite Evidence

Diane Ravitch’s Blog April 27, 2012

There is no “reform” these days that has less evidence to support it than the expansion of cyber-charters. This is the (usually for-profit) business that enrolls students, provides them a computer and textbooks, then teaches them online while they sit at home in front of a computer. Both the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/education/online-schools-score-better-on-wall-street-than-in-classrooms.html?pagewanted=all ) and the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/virtual-schools-are-multiplying-but-some-question-their-educational-value/2011/11/22/gIQANUzkzN_story.html ) have published exposes of the for-profit cyber-charter corporations.

http://dianeravitch.net/2012/04/27/cybercharters-grow-despite-evidence/


“There is another story we rarely hear: Our children who attend schools in low-poverty contexts are doing quite well. In fact, U.S. students in schools in which less than 10 percent of children live in poverty score first in the world in reading, out-performing even the famously excellent Finns.”
Posted at 10:00 AM ET, 04/27/2012

Education and the income gap: Darling-Hammond

Washington Post Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss
This was written by Stanford University Education Professor Linda Darling-Hammond, who directs the Stanford University Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and was founding director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. A former president of the American Educational Research Association, Darling-Hammond focuses her research, teaching, and policy work on issues of school restructuring, teacher quality and educational equity.
By Linda Darling-Hammond
There is much handwringing about low educational attainment in the United States these days. We hear constantly about U.S. rankings on assessments like the international PISA tests: The United States was 14th in reading, 21st in science, 25th in math in 2009, for example. We hear about how young children in high-poverty areas are entering kindergarten unprepared and far behind many of their classmates. Middle school students from low-income families are scoring, on average, far below the proficient levels that would enable them to graduate high school, go to college, and get good jobs. Fewer than half of high school students manage to graduate from some urban schools. And too many poor and minority students who do go on to college require substantial remediation and drop out before gaining a degree.
There is another story we rarely hear: Our children who attend schools in low-poverty contexts are doing quite well. In fact, U.S. students in schools in which less than 10 percent of children live in poverty score first in the world in reading, out-performing even the famously excellent Finns.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/education-and-the-income-gap-darling-hammond/2012/04/26/gIQAHn0LkT_blog.html?wprss=rss_answer-sheet

Budget completion a priority for state legislators
April 30, 2012 12:27 am
By Laura Olson / Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- With the primary campaigning done, Pennsylvania lawmakers will return to the Capitol today with one main agenda item for the remainder of their spring session -- completing the state budget.  There's a handful of other items also set to move forward in the state House of Representatives and Senate, dealing with business taxes, the unemployment compensation system, rules for charter schools and potentially even liquor sales.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/budget-completion-a-priority-for-state-legislators-633652/?p=0

Delco Times BLOGS > HERON'S NEST by Phil Heron, Editor
Friday, April 27, 2012
Another problem for Corbett: Casey?
While Gov. Tom Corbett is furiously trying to wipe the egg off his face after his anointed candidate in the GOP primary for U.S. Senate got his behind handed to him, he just might have other worries. His popularity continues to tank. Party insiders are moving away from him. He’s on something of an island. Now he needs to focus not on the November general election, but on his own future.
http://delcoheronsnest.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-problem-for-corbett.html

Betsy Devos’ American Federation for Children contributed $1.25 million to Pennsylvania’s Students First PAC between 1/1/12 and 4/9/12.  In turn, on 2/28/12, Students First contributed $350,000 to the Citizen’s Alliance PAC noted in Amy Worden’s article below.
The PA Dept. of State Campaign Finance Reporting website has no filings posted for the Citizen’s Alliance PAC for 2012 thus far.
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2012/03/follow-money-students-first-pac-from.html
Posted: Fri, Apr. 27, 2012, 3:00 AM
Primary brought some unexpected losses in Harrisburg
By Amy Worden, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
HARRISBURG — At least five House lawmakers — Democrats and Republicans, from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh — lost their seats Tuesday in head-turning upsets in what would usually be predictable legislative primary races.  Among those who fought down to the wire to hold on to their seats was House Speaker Sam Smith (R., Jefferson), who withstood a challenge by an anti-incumbent conservative by a whisper-thin margin.
Longtime House Transportation chairman Rep. Rick Geist (R., Blair) was not so lucky. Geist, in his 33d year as a lawmaker, was unseated by John McGinnis, a college finance professor and political unknown. McGinnis was backed by a well-funded Harrisburg interest group, Citizens’ Alliance, that for the last year has targeted a number of Republicans they deem “not conservative enough” or too cozy with Democrats.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20120427_Primary_brought_some_unexpect_losses_in_Harrisburg.html

APNewsBreak: Legislature's reserve $184M last year
April 26, 2012, 6:12 p.m. EDT AP – LehighValleyLive
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — An annual financial audit of the Pennsylvania Legislature expected to be approved next week says lawmakers' reserve cash cushion was almost $184 million last June 30.  The chairman of the Legislative Audit Advisory Commission, Rep. Gordon Denlinger, R-Lancaster, on Thursday confirmed the figure in a copy of the preliminary financial audit obtained by The Associated Press. 
The figure is about $5 million lower than the previous year's cash reserve, and the Legislature has since committed $50 million to a program that benefits public schools called accountability block grants.
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/ap-pa-legislatures-cash-reserve-184m-last/7f3bfe52173745628e0cb2fed9fcdad7

Good News From Around the State
Yinzercation Blog — APRIL 27, 2012
It’s Friday and we could all use some good news, so here is a wrap-up of positive public education budget items from around the state:
http://yinzercation.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/good-news-from-around-the-state/

Oh Good – just what our kids need - more testing that is not used to inform instruction . 
Looks like you’ll just have to go to private school if you want an education.  Everybody else will just be doing test prep for Pearson……BTW, that Texas resolution concerning high stakes testing has now been adopted by 412 Texas school districts…..LAF
“That move is welcomed by Fritz Fischer, a history professor at the University of Northern Colorado, in Greeley, and a former chairman of the National Council for History Education.
"In the educational world we live in, it is a positive development," he said of the plans by his state and some others to include history and social studies in their accountability systems. "I am very sympathetic to those who think we test too much and we are obsessed with testing, but that battle is over."
Published Online: April 24, 2012
Accountability Moving Beyond Math, Reading Tests
State accountability plans counting more subjects
Education Week By Erik W. Robelen
As states seek waivers under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, one effect may be to chip away at the dominance reading and math have had when it comes to school accountability.
Many state waiver applications include plans to factor test scores in one or more additional subjects into their revised accountability systems. Seven of the 11 states that won waivers in the first round intend to do so, and about a dozen of those that applied in the second round have the same intent.
Science is the most popular choice, followed by writing and social studies.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/04/25/29testing_ep.h31.html

A Very Pricey Pineapple

New York Times OP/ED By GAIL COLLINS
Published: April 27, 2012
We have turned school testing into a huge corporate profit center, led by Pearson, for whom $32 million is actually pretty small potatoes. Pearson has a five-year testing contract with Texas that’s costing the state taxpayers nearly half-a-billion dollars.
This is the part of education reform nobody told you about. You heard about accountability, and choice, and innovation. But when No Child Left Behind was passed 11 years ago, do you recall anybody mentioning that it would provide monster profits for the private business sector?
Me neither.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/opinion/collins-a-very-pricey-pineapple.html?_r=2

Politics and Education Don't Mix

APR 26 2012, 10:10 AM ET
The Atlantic Monthly by P.L. THOMAS - P.L. Thomas is an associate professor of education at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.
Governors and presidents are no better suited to run schools than they are to run construction sites, and it's time our education system reflected that fact.
Universal public education needs a new wall, paralleling the wall of separation between church and state: a wall between education and government and corporate America. Power over funding and broad performance benchmarks can remain vested in political leaders. But granular operational details should be left to educators and local administrators, the people best suited to achieve these goals in their schools and classrooms. Education should be treated no differently than a civil engineering project: government provides funding and ensures the goals of the civil function, and then expert builders and engineers fill in the details, taking into account realities on the ground and utilizing a wealth of experience and training that is completely unavailable to most elected officials. Governors and presidents are no better suited to run schools than they are to run construction sites, and it's time our education system reflected that fact.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/04/politics-and-education-dont-mix/256303/#.T5lWh_DzseM.twitter

Education Talk Radio: At the Chalkface
Listen online; One hour talk show dedicated to education.  SUNDAY MORNINGS AT 9am
Hosts Tim Slekar and Shaun Johnson cover the biggest issues in education, from standardized testing to No Child Left Behind.
If you want a text reminder send "CHALK" TO THE NUMBER 60193." 
Audio clips of prior shows are available too.
http://www.wtdy.com/content/-THE-CHALK-FACE-91.html

STATEWIDE PRESS COVERAGE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGETS
Here are more than 400 articles since January 23rd detailing budget cuts, program cuts, staffing cuts and tax increases being discussed by local school districts
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

 

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?
at 1 comment:

Reactions to Philly Restructuring Plan


Here's a link to our regular postings for April 30th: “….arts advocates are looking to the state legislature for solutions. "Our fight is not with the school district. It's with the state."




Posted: Sun, Apr. 29, 2012, 6:04 AM
Philly schools gear up for huge venture
The radical restructuring is raising many questions, namely, How will it work? and Will it work?
By Kristen A. Graham Inquirer Staff Writer
On the brink of financial ruin and not improving nearly fast enough academically, the Philadelphia School District will, over the next 16 months, completely reinvent the way it organizes and runs schools.  And with the announcement of its radical restructuring last week, questions swirl.
Is the district privatizing public education?
Who will run the new "achievement networks," groups of 25 or so schools to be managed by either outside providers or district staff, bound by performance contracts with the School Reform Commission, and expected to be entrepreneurial?
How will the 40 schools to be closed in 2013 be chosen?
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20120429_District_gears_up_for_huge_venture.html?viewAll=y

Posted: Sun, Apr. 29, 2012, 6:24 AM
Education leader sees no reform in Phila. plan
By Kristen A. Graham Inquirer Staff Writer
Diane Ravitch, education historian and pointed observer of the American educational scene, came to Philadelphia last week to speak at a math teachers' convention.
She had read the Philadelphia School District's "Blueprint for Transformation," and she wasn't pleased.  "If you really want to improve schools, you do something about teaching and learning," Ravitch said. "This is all shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic."
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20120429_Education_leader_sees_no_reform_in_Phila__plan.html

Philly School reorganization plans raise concerns
PhillyTrib.com by  Damon C. Williams Thursday, 26 April 2012
The reaction to the School District’s release earlier this week of the controversial Blueprint for Transforming Philadelphia’s Public Schools has been mixed, with many local and state elected officials either willing to give the plan a chance, think only a few elements of the plan will work, or wish to scrap the plan altogether.
http://www.phillytrib.com/newsarticles/item/3857-school-reorganization-plans-raise-concerns.html

Posted: Sun, Apr. 29, 2012, 3:00 AM
Phila. children deserve better
Philadelphia Inquirer Opinion by Pedro Ramos
Pedro A. Ramos is chairman of the School Reform Commission
After days of listening intently to public responses to a draft plan that could transform our broken and broke public education system, I’m hearing one common thread in the conversation: All children in this city deserve better than the status quo. They are entitled to a high-quality public education that will prepare them for productive and satisfying adult lives. They are also entitled to a safe environment at school so they can focus and learn. And we, as a city, have not delivered.
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20120429_Phila__children_deserve_better.html

Churches criticize transformation plan
The Notebook by Dale Mezzacappa on Apr 30 2012
Several hundred people gathered at historic Mother Bethel AME Church on Lombard Street Sunday night to decry plans put forward by the School Reform Commission to close dozens of schools, expand charters, and reorganize the School District into “achievement networks” primarily run by private entities.  A succession of preachers roused the gathering and put public officials on notice that their voices would be heard before any such radical restructuring would be allowed to take place.
http://www.thenotebook.org/blog/124770/churches-speak-out-district-transformation

Ravitch: My visit to Philadelphia

Diane Ravitch’s Blog April 26, 2012
Yesterday I went to Philadelphia to speak to the annual meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Before I left New York City, the local spokesperson for Parents Across American, Helen Gym, asked if I would meet with some journalists to talk about the “reform” plan just released the day before. She sent me a link to the plan, and as I read it, it sounded just like the plans recently proposed or adopted in such cities as Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City, Indianapolis, and Cleveland: Close public schools, open privately managed charter schools, cut the budget. That’s the basic formula, and it is always accompanied by impressive promises of glory to come: higher test scores, higher graduation rates.
http://dianeravitch.net/2012/04/26/my-visit-to-philadelphia/

Posted at 11:41 AM ET, 04/28/2012

A defeatist plan to restructure Philadelphia public schools

Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss
Philadelphia school “recovery” officials have announced a radical restructuring plan that calls for:
* closing 40 low-performing, underutilized schools in 2013 and a total of 64 more by 2017
* organizing “achievement networks” of about 25 schools that would be run by outsiders who bid for management contracts
* increasing the number of charter schools, which now educate about 25 percent of the city’s roughly 200,000 students
* effectively shutting down the central office, which is already half the size it was last year
* phasing out all academic divisions now in place by this summer, with pilot achievement networks in place as early as this fall.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/a-defeatist-plan-to-restructure-philadelphia-public-schools/2012/04/28/gIQAjRSanT_blog.html

In Philly, Radical District reorganization, 64 school closings planned
The notebook by Dale Mezzacappa on Apr 24 2012
District staff and consultants are recommending a sweeping overhaul of how public schools in Philadelphia operate, planning to close 64 schools over the next five years and divvy up those that remain among “achievement networks” led by teams of educators or nonprofit institutions.
http://www.thenotebook.org/blog/124746/radical-district-reorganization-64-school-closings-planned

TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2012
Philadelphia School District announces its dissolution
Citypaper Naked City Blog by Daniel Denvir
Philadelphia public schools are on the operating table, reeling from a knockout blow of heavy state  budget cuts. It was too much to bear after decades of underfunding and mismanagement at the hands of shortsighted Philadelphians and mean-spirited politicians in Harrisburg.
So the District is today announcing that it's going to call it quits. Its organs will be harvested, in search of a relatively vital host.
“Philadelphia public schools is not the School District,” Chief Recovery Officer Thomas Knudsen told a handful of reporters at yesterday's press conference laying out the five-year plan proposed to the School Reform Commission. “There's a redefinition, and we'll get to that later.” 
http://www.citypaper.net/blogs/nakedcity/Philadelphia-School-District-announces-its-dissolution-.html

Budget: This is what austerity looks like
The Notebook by Paul Socolar on Apr 24 2012
The District's transformation plan announced today includes a five-year budget plan. The District also published its annual 43-page budget-in-brief document today. Here are 10 details that stand out about this far-reaching plan to bring the budget, which now has a $218 million gap, back into balance:
http://www.thenotebook.org/blog/124750/what-austerity-looks

Commentary: You're not speaking to me, Mr. Knudsen
The notebook submitted by Helen Gym on Tue, 04/24/2012
Dear Mr. Knudsen:
I am the mother of three children in District and charter schools in this city. I have been actively involved in stopping good schools from decline and helping low-performing, violent schools turn around. I believe in the essential role that a high-quality public school system plays and have fought for that vision. My 7th grader will soon have outlasted four superintendencies, including yours. And I’m here to tell you that you’re not speaking to me.
http://www.thenotebook.org/blog/124747/youre-not-speaking-me-mr-knudsen

SRC 'restructuring' plan isn't about students or achievement
It's a business model to privatize schools.
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers website by Jerry Jordan, President 4/24/2012
I released the following statement to the news media after the School Reform Commission news conference today:
This restructuring plan has nothing to do with raising student achievement. The district provided a business model, not a research-based plan for turning around or supporting schools.
http://pft.org/blog.aspx?id=90


at No comments:

Friday, April 27, 2012

Senator Daylin Leach and State Representative Bernie O’Neill honored as outstanding champions for public education


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.

These daily emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

Thursday, April 26, 2012

An open invitation to Gov. Corbett

Delco Times Heron’s Nest Blog by Editor Phil Heron
Last night we had a chance to hash out some of the issues causing controversy in the Upper Darby School District on ‘Live From the Newsroom.’
I am grateful to state Rep. Nick Micozzie, R-163, who rushed over to our Primos offices after sitting down at a meeting with a group of concerned parents.
Several of those Upper Darby moms joined us on the show. They made it clear they believe the district is making a huge mistake by attempting to balance the books by eliminating “special” classes in music, art, physical education and library at the elementary and middle school levels.
http://delcoheronsnest.blogspot.com/2012/04/open-invitation-to-gov-corbett.html

Save Upper Darby Arts (www.saveudarts.org)

We are citizens of all backgrounds, united in the ideal of a complete and public education for all students, regardless of socioeconomic status, within Upper Darby, PA.  We think that Upper Darby School District should not suffer, year after year, with massive cuts in their budget. We fight to protect art, music, foreign language, library, and physical education programs that our community DESERVES.
More info and a petition at this site:
http://www.saveudarts.org/#!home|mainPage

Senator Daylin Leach and State Representative Bernie O’Neill honored as outstanding champions for public education
More than 100 southeastern Pennsylvania school board members, superintendents and administrators recognized the strong and consistent efforts of both legislators on behalf of Pennsylvania’s 1.8 million public school students.  Pennsylvania School Boards Association Region 11 Director Valentina Viletto, representing the 35 school districts in Bucks and Montgomery Counties, and PSBA Region 15 Director Lawrence Feinberg, representing the 27 school districts in Chester and Delaware Counties, presented the awards to Senator Leach (D-17) and Representative O’Neill (R-29) in a meeting at the Upper Merion Middle School in King of Prussia last evening
https://twitter.com/#!/mptomei/status/195821361577467904/photo/1

Lehigh Valley Forum discusses future of public education

Author: Emily Thiel, WFMZ.com Reporter, news@wfmz.com
Published On: Apr 26 2012 01:20:37 AM EDT
EMMAUS, Pa. - East Penn housed a public forum discussing education Wednesday night for parents and citizens who are concerned with what is at stake for their children in public education.
The panel answered questions that were focused on “What’s at stake?” within the public school system in regards to the state budget and cuts.
Last year, Pennsylvania schools saw more than $960 million less in their budgets.
http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-lehighvalley/Forum-for-education-discusses-what-is-at-stake/-/132502/11921286/-/fr6ygt/-/index.html

Rally in Support of Public Education on Thursday, May 3 at 7 p.m. on the steps of the Chester County Courthouse (corner of High and Market Streets) in West Chester. The rally is rain or shine.
Email from Senator Andy Dinniman, April 25, 2012
Dear Friends,
A number of you have sent me letters and emails expressing your concerns regarding education fiunding and Governor Corbett’s proposed cuts to education in next year’s budget.
First, let me emphasize that I share your concerns and I stand strongly against such significant and widespread cuts to education. Cutting support for early childhood and basic education and slashing funds for higher education will be disastrous for students at all levels and even more devastating in the years to come.
That is why I have worked with the Chester County Coalition for Public Education to organize a Rally in Support of Public Education on Thursday, May 3 at 7 p.m. on the steps of the Chester County Courthouse (corner of High and Market Streets) in West Chester. The rally is rain or shine.
We know that cuts to basic and early education mean increased local property taxes, larger class sizes, teacher layoffs and less individualized attention and specialized programs. We know that cuts to higher education mean significantly increased tuition and fees, greater student borrowing and debt and more people on the unemployment rolls. Altogether these cuts will set Pennsylvania back decades and undermine all of our efforts for long-term economic growth and prosperity.
This is an issue that affects every Pennsylvanian – from current students and their families, to teachers and professors, to high school seniors and prospective college students. I urge you to come out on May 3 and make your voice heard! After all, this not just a rally for education, it’s a rally for our future.
In addition, please help me spread the word about the rally by circulating this e-mail to anyone who may be interested.
We must stand together to ensure that our message is loud and clear!

In Philly, New York is no model, Ravitch says
The Notebook by Dale Mezzacappa on Apr 25 2012
If Philadelphia is looking to New York City as the exemplar of "best practices" for improving schools by organizing them into support networks, it is looking in the wrong place, according to historian and education analyst Diane Ravitch.
"New York City has not had any great success," said Ravitch, in town Wednesday for the conference of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. "New York used to boast of dramatic test score gains, but they disappeared in 2010."
In that year, the state's Department of Education acknowledged that the cut scores had been dropping on the standardized tests. "All the gains disappeared," she said.
http://www.thenotebook.org/blog/124757/new-york-no-model-ravitch-says

Pittsburgh school board wants end to seniority-based layoffs

April 26, 2012 12:00 am
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Public Schools board is asking the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers to do what no teachers union in the state has done: Agree to furloughs not based on seniority.
The board Wednesday night approved a resolution directing school superintendent Linda Lane to talk with union leadership "to improve the current furlough process for teachers in order to consider factors beyond seniority in light of the growing body of evidence around teacher effectiveness as well as the disproportionate impact that seniority-based furloughs have on the district's most vulnerable schools."
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/school-board-wants-end-to-seniority-based-layoffs-633113/

Published online April 24, 2012

Studies Test for Ways to Spot Good Teachers

Education Week By Sarah D. Sparks
Vancouver, British Columbia
The latest results of the massive Measures of Effective Teaching Project may give pause to districts working to develop teacher-effectiveness evaluations.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's MET project, one of the largest instructional-observation studies in the country, has found that teacher-effectiveness assessments similar to those used in some district value-added systems aren't good at showing which differences are important between the most- and least-effective educators, and often totally misunderstand the "messy middle" that most teachers occupy.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/04/25/29teach.h31.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW

“….But the state constitution applies to all children. So what is the state supposed to do? What happens when the ultimate state-imposed school reform— takeover—itself fails?
The answer is "Whatever it takes.’’ New Jersey has to do whatever it takes. And those words just happen to be the informal slogan of a rising educational powerhouse, the nation of Finland.”

N.J. school privatization debate rages on, leaving parents in the dark

Published: Thursday, April 26, 2012, 6:45 AM
By Bob Braun/Star-Ledger Columnist 
HIGHLAND PARK — Marilyn Valentine of Franklin Township was one of the few African-Americans in the audience the other night at Highland Park’s Bartle School. She came to hear a panel discussion about charter schools. Much of the discussion was critical of state policies concerning the privately managed but publicly-funded alternatives.
Valentine, who raised two children into successful adulthood, said she understood the criticisms but pointed out that many parents who looked like her despaired of traditional public schools. "Where are the solutions?" she asked.
If charter and other privatized schools aren’t the solution—and she didn’t say they were—then what are parents to do? "You’re telling the people there is nothing for you.’’
http://blog.nj.com/njv_bob_braun/2012/04/braun_nj_school_privatization.html

As of April 26, 2012, 412 districts representing more than 2 million students have adopted the Resolution Concerning High Stakes, Standardized Testing of Texas Public School Students.
http://www.tasanet.org/adopted-board-resolutions

Posted at 10:00 AM ET, 04/24/2012

National resolution against high-stakes tests released

Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss
A national resolution protesting high-stakes standardized testing was released Tuesday by a coalition of national education, civil rights and parents groups, as well as educators who are trying to build a broad-based movement against the Obama administration’s test-centric school reform program.
This is the latest in a series of recent initiatives taken around the country by academics, educators, parents and others to protest the use of student standardized test scores for high-stakes decisions, including teacher and principal evaluation, student grade promotion and high school graduation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/national-resolution-against-high-stakes-tests-released/2012/04/23/gIQApRnNdT_blog.html

The Keystone State Education Coalition has endorsed this resolution
Organizations and individuals are encouraged to publicly endorse it (see link below). Organizations should modify it as needed for their local circumstances while also endorsing this national version.
http://timeoutfromtesting.org/nationalresolution/

Education Talk Radio: At the Chalkface
Listen online; One hour talk show dedicated to education.  SUNDAY MORNINGS AT 9am
Hosts Tim Slekar and Shaun Johnson cover the biggest issues in education, from standardized testing to No Child Left Behind.
If you want a text reminder send "CHALK" TO THE NUMBER 60193." 
Audio clips of prior shows are available too.
http://www.wtdy.com/content/-THE-CHALK-FACE-91.html

STATEWIDE PRESS COVERAGE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGETS
Here are more than 400 articles since January 23rd detailing budget cuts, program cuts, staffing cuts and tax increases being discussed by local school districts
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

 

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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