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
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on Twitter at @lfeinberg
FOLLOW THE MONEY
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Investigate Money in
State Politics. Money in state politics
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Funding is cut for Pa.
National Institute for Early Education Research report says upward trend
has been reversed.
After nearly a decade
of increases, states have started cutting funding for pre-kindergarten classes
nationwide, reducing both the number of students enrolled and the quality of
programs, a national study contends. The pattern is apparently playing out in Pennsylvania and Luzerne County
Posted: Sat, Apr. 14, 2012 , 3:01 AM
Abington superintendent to lead national group
By Dan Hardy Inquirer
Staff Writer
Amy Sichel,
superintendent of the Abington
School District Montgomery County 's Abington
School District has been elected
president of the American Association of School Administrators, the first time
in the organization's 147-year history that it will be led by a Pennsylvania
Watch: Students Demand Equitable, Adequate School Funding
Video Runtime 6:35 Posted by Megan Williamson on
April 9, 2012
at 5:20pm
This action was
organized by Philadelphia Student Union, Project Peace, A+ Schools' TeenBloc,
Juntos, & Campaign for Nonviolent Schools. Many other organizations &
individuals participated and helped make this action a success.
Students are committed
to organizing across geographic, racial & economic barriers to win a new
school funding formula that will ensure all Pennsylvania
This video was produced
by Media Mobilizing Project.
Hundreds gather to decry education funding cuts
Hazelton Standard Speaker BY DAVID
FALCHEK AND SAM GALSKI (STAFF WRITERS) Published: April 15, 2012
With chants of "enough is enough," 600
people crammed the area in front of the monument to labor leader John Mitchell,
spilling into one of the lanes of Adams
Avenue
Allentown School
District
Published:
Friday, April 13,
2012 , 6:47 AM
Lehigh Valley Live
In the face of a $12.3 million budget gap, the Allentown School District is looking to significantly reduce its full-day kindergarten offerings.
The amount of full-day kindergarten classrooms will be scaled back from 38 to 14, for a savings of about $1 million, according to Karen Boardman, executive director of elementary education.
That means the all-day classes previously available to 800 students will now only be available for 250, Boardman said during a school board education committee meeting Thursday.
School board members and officials alike called full-day kindergarten a great benefit for students that they hate to cut. But, they said, it is not a mandated service and must fall victim to this year’s budgetary cuts.
In the face of a $12.3 million budget gap, the Allentown School District is looking to significantly reduce its full-day kindergarten offerings.
The amount of full-day kindergarten classrooms will be scaled back from 38 to 14, for a savings of about $1 million, according to Karen Boardman, executive director of elementary education.
That means the all-day classes previously available to 800 students will now only be available for 250, Boardman said during a school board education committee meeting Thursday.
School board members and officials alike called full-day kindergarten a great benefit for students that they hate to cut. But, they said, it is not a mandated service and must fall victim to this year’s budgetary cuts.
“What I’ve learned in 11 years is sometimes we
have to make difficult decisions for the greater good,” Boardman said. “This is one of those decisions.”
Anger with Pennsylvania
By Michael Sadowski Pocono Record Writer April 12, 2012
Traditionally, relationships school boards and administrations have
shared with teachers unions are tolerated at best, contentious and acrimonious
at worst.
But now as potential layoffs and position eliminations loom, both sides
have a common enemy bringing them closer together: Gov. Tom Corbett.
Each of the sides will be represented Saturday at a union-sponsored rally
in Scranton
Blame Harrisburg
School boards seem to
be bearing the full brunt of the anger from parents, students, bus drivers and
teachers alike for teacher layoffs, changes in programming and outsourcing bus
drivers. While it is true they bear some responsibility, I don't understand why
no one is blaming who is really responsible, and that is Harrisburg
Where is the $1 billion
in property tax relief from slot machines?
Published:
Saturday, April
14, 2012 , 6:00 AM
So much for the promised $1 billion in property tax relief that slot machines were supposed to offer Pennsylvanians by now. Former Gov. Ed Rendell made that billion-dollar promise to sell the legalization of slots casinoseight years ago. The state’s share of slot proceeds for 2012-13 fell more than $217 million shy of that goal.
By Mary Niederberger /
Pittsburgh April
13, 2012 12:00 am
The West Mifflin Area
school board has authorized its solicitor to prepare the legal groundwork for
an injunction against the state Education Department if state officials
announce plans next week to send Duquesne elementary or middle school students
to West Mifflin schools.
A meeting is scheduled
for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Duquesne Elementary/Middle School auditorium at
which state officials are expected to discuss options for the education of
Duquesne students in grades K-8. State officials have said at various times
during the past year that the district cannot continue in its current form
because of its failing academics and finances but have announced no specific
plans for how the students would be educated in the 2012-13 school year.
Lt. governor touts record education dollars
By Joe Napsha, PITTSBURGH April 13, 2012
Despite criticism that the state is reducing
financial support for public school education, Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Corbett has proposed a $22 million
increase in basic education spending, boosting the total to $5.3 billion, the
largest amount of state tax dollars ever earmarked for basic education, Lt.
Gov. James Cawley told more than 35 business and community leaders who gathered
for a forum at St. Vincent
College
Read more: Lt.
governor touts record education dollars - Pittsburgh Tribune-Reviewhttp://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/state/s_791101.html#ixzz1rwOaJWOK
Residents pleaded with Philadelphia
City
Roxborough-Manayunk
Patch By Sam Fran Scavuzzo
"Crumbs for
Children," "There Aren't Enough Cookies," and "Corbett to
Schools" Bake Your Way Out" were signs written by parents that were
more than puns based on baked goods.
Parents from schools throughout Philadelphia School District of Philadelphia
The Pittsburgh (Pa.
NSBA’s School Board
News April 12,
2012 by Alexis Rice
2012 Magna Awards
honors Missouri , New York ,
and Pennsylvania
School boards group offers aid to charters
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh April 16, 2012 12:00 am
Since the charter school
law was passed 15 years ago, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association has
been providing occasional help to charter schools as long as the chartering
school districts approved. They always
did, said PSBA executive director Thomas Gentzel.
Now the PSBA is
preparing to reach out more deliberately and offer to help bricks-and-mortar
charter schools -- as long as they pay a $1,500 access fee and the member rate
for services, such as workshops, policy manuals and joint purchasing.
This time, not all are
saying yes.
Robots are taking over Temple
BY VINNY VELLA Daily
News Staff Writer Posted: Fri, Apr. 13, 2012 , 7:15 AM
MARCH MADNESS may be
over, but the hardwood at the Liacouras
Center Delaware , New Jersey and
southeastern Pennsylvania will put their
mechanical creations through "Rebound Rumble" (basketball adapted for
robots) for a shot to qualify for the finals in St. Louis
But, according to the
adults mentoring these students, FIRST is about much more than bragging
rights. "In some sense, it's a
chance for students to interact with other kids who share their interests,"
said David Cohen, an engineer with Chant Engineering in Chalfont, Bucks County ,
and the mentor for the joint Springfield-Cheltenham
High School
Why Are McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and Intuit Fleeing ALEC?
Bloomberg Businessweek By Brendan Greeley on April 13, 2012
The American Legislative Exchange Council describes itself
as a nonpartisan champion of free markets. …..What’s
happening to ALEC this week provides a valuable lesson for those who would
limit the influence of money in politics. It’s difficult—and evidently
unconstitutional—to keep people and corporations from speaking through money.
But people and corporations do respond to embarrassment. Embarrassment is
impossible without disclosure. ALEC should be free to advocate for whatever it
likes, and people should be free to support the candidate who pleases them. In
ALEC’s case, it’s been interesting to watch embarrassment do its work once
disclosure showed up. It might be a rule for campaign and super PAC
contributions as well: You can do whatever you like, as long as you cop to it.
“Frank Shrontz, David
Kearns, Lou Gerstner, and their generation of business leaders, had it
right. If one is serious about addressing the underlying problems on the
scale needed to make a difference for the vast majority of American school
children, then one has to change the system charged with their education,
however difficult that may be. “
School-by-School vs. System Reform: Why Business
Leaders Need to Go Back to the Future
Do
you remember the 1980s, when the United States
Leaders of New Group
Have an "Interest" in Education
Posted: 04/13/2012 4:45 pm
Huffington Post NY by
Gail Robinson
Few people define themselves as
being a member of a special interest. That term applies to the folks on the
other side -- the people you disagree with. New Yorkers got more evidence of
that this month with the formation of StudentsFirstNY. In a nutshell, the group wants
to preserve and extend the education policies of New York City Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and battle the teachers union, which has had an increasingly
rancorous relationship with Bloomberg. In its mission statement, the group declares, “StudentsFirstNY will be New York's leading
voice for students who depend on public education for the skills they need to
succeed, but who are too often failed by a system that puts special interests,
rather than the interests of children, first.”
POSSE Program That Sends Urban Students to Elite Colleges Comes to
Houston
NY Times - THE TEXAS TRIBUNE By REEVE HAMILTON April 14, 2012
Starting this fall,
high school seniors in the Houston
Independent School
District
Teachers, principals
and community leaders will get to nominate students to become members of the
city’s inaugural “posses” — groups of students from large, urban districts
organized by the Posse Foundation, which sends them to elite colleges and
universities as a unit to serve as a pre-established peer support network.
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
REMEMBER TO VOTE! TUESDAY, APRIL 24th
Tuesday,
April 24 is Primary Election Day
in Pennsylvania
Polls open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. Click here to find your polling place. During the Primary, registered members of the
Republican and Democrat parties are eligible to vote to nominate the candidates
that will represent their party on the ballot in the November General Election. ALL
voters will be required to show a photo ID before voting at a polling place in
the November 2012 Election. Click here for
more information on the new Voter ID law.
Stand Up for Public Education!
East Penn Education Forum on April 25th
7:00 – 9:00 pm
What’s at Stake? Discover how high-stakes testing and funding
cuts are impacting our kids and schools.
Hosted by: East Penn Invested Citizens (EPIC), Salisbury Parent Advisory,
Allentown Parent Groups and a coalition of Lehigh Valley Parents
Where: East Penn Administration Building School Board Meeting Room, 800 Pine Street
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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