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
A Run For Their Money
Big
corporate money in support of school vouchers hits primary races statewide.
Will it
tip the scales in Philly?
By Daniel Denvir, City
Paper Posted: Thu, Apr.
12, 2012 , 12:00 AM
The names on the fliers —
candidates for state office like upstart Fatimah Muhammad and anointed Philly
insider Jordan Harris — may look and sound like homegrown legislative hopefuls.
But follow the money and a different picture emerges: that of a statewide
campaign, funded by wealthy donors, to stack the Pennsylvania
Fear of cuts in state funding stalling teacher negotiations
By Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh April 12, 2012 7:37 am
Traditionally, teacher
contract negotiations are tedious processes that sometimes pit teachers unions
against school directors and can involve endless rounds of posturing and
maneuvering that, in some instances, erupt into work stoppages. Yet in the past, the opposing sides in most
districts have found ways to eventually meet in the middle and settle on
multiyear contracts that satisfy both sides within a reasonable amount of time.
In the past year, an
unseen but influential third party has been at the bargaining table -- Gov. Tom
Corbett. District and union officials say the nearly $900 million in cuts to
education funding in 2011 and a proposed maintenance of that funding level for
2012 has made their budgets too tight to offer teachers raises or other perks.
Pittsburgh City schools start planning
shifts, cuts
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh
About one in four classroom teachers in Pittsburgh Public Schools today will
get an email saying the teacher won't be working in the same building in the
fall. Issuing 450 building displacement
notices is the first step in putting into effect the district's cost-saving
plan that is expected to result in an unprecedented number of teacher layoffs
for the district
The district plans to reduce its force of 2,245 professionals represented
by the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers -- including teachers, counselors and
social workers -- by about 400.
Delaware
County: Big cuts in staff, curriculum proposed in Upper
Darby schools
Delco Times By LINDA REILLY Times Correspondent llreilly1@gmail.com
UPPER DARBY — An
estimated $4 million will be shaved off the 2012-2013 Upper Darby School
District budget if school directors approve a proposal to cut staff and
elementary and middle school classes in the areas of art, music, physical
education and library. District
officials blamed the governor’s lack of support to public education, No Child
Left Behind and the millions of dollars it costs to fund charter schools for
the cuts.
The “Save the Music in Upper Darby ”
Facebook page lists comments posted by thousands of community members concerned
with the loss of the arts.
Published: Friday, April 13, 2012
Delco Times By LINDA REILLY Times Correspondent llreilly1@gmail.com
UPPER DARBY — By
daybreak Thursday a Facebook page was up and running to address the elimination
of the “specials” classes of art, music, gym and library in the Upper Darby
School District’s elementary and middle schools.
The “Save the Music inUpper Darby ” Facebook
page lists comments posted by thousands of community members concerned with the
loss of the arts.
The “Save the Music in
"I
would love to see the taxpayers speaking up at the school board meetings,"
he said.
Take tax gripes to school boards, not state, Corbett says
Reading Eagle by The
Associated Press 4/12/12
In his monthly
appearance on the "Dom Giordano Program," the Republican governor
suggested that excessively small class sizes and overly generous contracts with
teachers unions are part of the reason many school districts are struggling
financially.
"I would love to
see the taxpayers speaking up at the school board meetings," he said.
EDITORIAL:
U.D. parents will heed guv’s call to 'speak up'
First,
the Chester Upland School District Upper Darby is the latest poster child for distress in
the classroom. A proposed budget unveiled this week would cut $4 million, chop
57 teaching jobs in elementary and middle schools, consolidate other positions,
and eliminate “special” art, music, gym and library classes in elementary and
middle schools. Teachers will cover those subjects as part of their regular
classroom instruction.
Allentown, Bethlehem school districts
could close Vitalistic Charter School
By Steve Esack and Devon Lash,
Of The Morning Call 11:39 p.m.
EDT, April 12, 2012
Those and other findings were unveiled Thursday
night by Superintendent Russ Mayo's administration. The school board's
Education Committee then moved to recommend the full board vote this month on
sending "a notice of violations" outlining five reasons the board
could shut down the troubled school.
39th House District: Levdansky for the Dems, D'Alessandro for the
GOP
Sofo moving to Pittsburgh
Posted: Tuesday, April 10, 2012 3:00 pm
By Bill
Utterback butterback@timesonline.com
NEW SEWICKLEY TWP. -- Presented with school
choice, Beaver County Freedom Area
School District since November 2002
and a 19-year district employee, has been hired as the chief executive officer
at City Charter
High School in downtown Pittsburgh
Education Inc.
How private companies are profiting from Texas
Pearson, one of the
giants of the for-profit industry that looms over public education, produces
just about every product a student, teacher or school administrator in Texas Texas
A Leader of Brooklyn Charter Schools Is Indicted for Fraud
New York Times By
PATRICK McGEEHAN Published: April 12, 2012
When state
investigators demanded last year to see personal tax returns filed by Eddie
Calderon-Melendez, the founder and chief executive of a troubled network of
charter high schools in Brooklyn , he produced
them. One problem, according to the investigators, was that those state tax
returns were falsified and had never been filed.
Then, when the
investigators studied the books of one of the schools, Williamsburg
Charter High
School , they found that Mr. Calderon-Melendez had used a
school credit card to pay for parts of a European vacation, including
accommodations at a Paris hotel and some
expenses in England Brooklyn
indicted Mr. Calderon-Melendez on 11 felony counts, including tax fraud, grand
larceny and falsifying business records.
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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