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
Catholic Church and new “Fighting Chance PAC”actively lobbying for
taxpayer-funded voucher bailout and expanded EITC program that would take
another billion dollars away from public schools
“At the
same time that parochial schools demand state support, they bristle at the
suggestion that they become accountable for their policies and curriculum. The
state should only pay for schools that it controls, those that accept every
student and teach a state-supported curriculum.”
Letters to the Editor
No public money for private schools
I disagree with those
calling for the state to bail out the parochial schools with our tax dollars
("Catholic students lobby for vouchers," May 21). Parents who send
their students to parochial schools, especially in the suburbs, are not fleeing
failing public schools. They are making a decision to give their children a
religious education. That is their right, but don’t ask the rest of us to pay
the freight.
No problem!
Our response to this is to give these same
kids more standardized tests, fire their teachers and open more charter
schools. That’s the Obama/Duncan/Gates
national policy, the Corbett/Piccola PA state policy and will soon be the Philadelphia
UNICEF Report: U.S.
Huffington Post By saki.knafo@huffingtonpost.com
Posted: 05/30/2012 8:03 pm
Can government spending
lift poor children from poverty?
A new report from UNICEF suggests it's possible. The latest edition of UNICEF's report on child poverty in developed countries found that 30 million children in 35 of the
world's richest countries live in poverty. Among those countries, the United States ranks second on the scale of what
economists call "relative child poverty" -- above Latvia , Bulgaria ,
Spain , Greece
Related chart: Child Poverty Rate % of children
living in households with equivalent income lower than 50% of national median:
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Poverty
Level at 144 SB1 Failing Schools is 80.8% vs PA State Avg 39.1%
This chart lists the
poverty level (percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunch) for each
of the 144 schools on the "failing schools" list under Senate Bill 1.
The Pennsylvania
American students in schools with less than 10% of students
on free and reduced lunch averaged 551, higher than the overall average of any
OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development country.
Those in schools with 10% to 25% of students qualifying for
free and reduced lunch averaged 527, which was behind only Korea and Finland
In contrast, American students in schools with 75% or more of
children in poverty averaged 446, second to last among the 34 OECD countries.
How poverty affected U.S.
PISA
Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus at the University of Southern
California, wrote the following, which was posted on the Schools Matter blog.
…..But data available
now tells us that poverty, as usual, had a huge impact on PISA reading test
scores for American students. American students in schools with less than 10%
of students on free and reduced lunch averaged 551, higher than the overall
average of any OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
country. Those in schools with 10% to 25% of students qualifying for free and
reduced lunch averaged 527, which was behind only Korea
and Finland
In contrast, American
students in schools with 75% or more of children in poverty averaged 446,
second to last among the 34 OECD countries.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/research/how-poverty-affected-us-pisa-s.html
Stephen Krashen: Children need food, health
care, and books. Not new standards and tests.
Decades of research confirm that poverty has a
huge impact on student learning. Many studies show that more poverty means lower
scores on all measures of school achievement. There are also many studies that
show us just how poverty negatively impacts school performance.
Pittsburgh Public Schools sends 285 layoff notices
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh May 31, 2012 1:11 am
Pittsburgh Public
Schools today is sending out 285 provisional furlough notices to teachers and
other professionals, a prelude to what is expected to be the largest number of
teacher layoffs in the district's history.
The school board in Delaware County ’s
Chester Upland School District
The budget woes are
only the latest problems for the beleaguered district, which last fall had to
lay off about 40 percent of its teaching staff and eliminate arts and music
instruction and honors classes. The district almost ran out of money in
January; it managed to stay open but ran up millions in debt in the process.
Politically Incorrect: Public Education Financing Flawed
PoliticsPA May 29, 2012 Written
by G. Terry Madonna & Michael L. Young
The "Property Tax
Independence Act" sponsored by Rep. Jim Cox (R-Berks) may be a solution to
our public education woes.
These days, the word
“crisis” has become a tedious cliché, much overused and abused by those for
whom every problem becomes a looming catastrophe. But the unparalleled
challenges now confronting the financing of Pennsylvania ’s
public education system do comprise a genuine crisis, one that if left unsolved
threatens to transform Pennsylvania
Across the
Commonwealth dedicated teachers are being furloughed, vital programs are being
curtailed, entire schools are being shut down, and an entire generation of
students may be losing their access to a quality education. That’s just the
good news.
“What
motivates her? "I believe strongly
that all kids are our
kids," Yanoff, the daughter of a barber who emigrated from Latvia
Posted: Wed, May. 30,
2012, 7:10 AM
Shelly Yanoff leaving a legacy of advocacy for children
By Kristen A. Graham
Inquirer Staff Writer
In 1986, Shelly Yanoff
accepted a job as executive director of what was then called Philadelphia
Citizens for Children and Youth. She thought she would stay a few months at the
organization so tiny the only employees were Yanoff and a secretary.
Plans changed.
Many school districts tapping reserve funds to close budget gaps
Governor says schools
must spend such money rather than rely on state
Third in an eight-part
series
Reading Eagle by Erin
Negley Originally Published: 5/29/2012
When budgets are
tight, school districts sometimes have to dip into reserve funds to make ends
meet. It's not something they like to
do, but these are desperate times.
"We can't count
on doing this every year," said Dr. Paul B. Eaken, Fleetwood
superintendent.
“Corbett’s
admonition to local school boards to come clean with taxpayers about money in
reserve is a fair assessment, and urging school districts to use their reserves
within reason is good advice. But that’s only part of the story. Blaming local
districts for not using reserves doesn’t absolve the state of the greater
responsibility for fairly funding schools in Pennsylvania
School reserve funds are issue, but not the full story
At a time when most
school boards are raising taxes or cutting staff and programs, Gov. Tom Corbett
is encouraging districts to dip into their reserve funds, statewide totaling
$3.2 billion, to cover operating expenses. So far only one district in the Pottstown tri-county area has heeded the advice. Corbett’s analysis that school districts “are
making a concerted effort not to go into those reserves” is apparently being
played out locally.
New nutrition regulations force schools to raise prices
By Rossilynne Skena
Tribune-Review Published: Monday, May 28, 2012 , 11:10 p.m.
Students in a number
of local districts will have to shell out a little more cash for school lunch
next school year. District officials
attribute the price increases to the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, new federal
regulations that dictate requirements for lunches, as well as other commodity
cost increases.
In Philly, District rejects Creighton teachers’ proposal
by Benjamin Herold for
the Notebook and WHYY/NewsWorks on May 30 2012
District officials
have shot down an effort by teachers at Creighton Elementary to stave off
charter conversion and lead their own school turnaround effort.
A teacher-led proposal
calling for a council of teachers and community members to assume control of
the school “does not provide sufficient evidence of the…ability to implement,
manage, and sustain a large-scale school turnaround at Creighton,” wrote Chief
Academic Officer Penny Nixon in a memo dated May 29.
Commentary: The choice before the Philadelphia
The Notebook by Ron
Whitehorne on May
29 2012
In one community
hearing and meeting after another, the School Reform Commission has been told
in no uncertain terms that its privatization plan and austerity budget are not
acceptable to parents, students, educators, and community members.
On MSNBC, Daniel
Denvir discusses Philly as ground zero for school privatization
Putting Philly's (and Pennsylvania
Sneak Attack on Teachers’ Collective Bargaining Rights in Pennsylvania
Friday, 25 May 2012
14:43
Truthout.org By Mike
Elk, In These Times
Republican Gov. Tom
Corbett of Pennsylvania
Earlier this week, the
Pennsylvania State Senate Education committee passed H.B. 1307, a bill allowing
the state to declare school districts financially distressed and subsequently
appoint an overseer to approve plans made by the school board. To the dismay of
teachers' unions, the bill would also allow public schools to be turned over to
private charter companies and give the receiver the power to null and void any
collective bargaining contracts.
Broward school board passes anti-FCAT resolution
By Scott Travis, Sun
Sentinel 5:12 p.m. EDT, May 30, 2012
The School Board
unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday opposing standardized testing as the
primary means for evaluating schools, students and teachers. They say there is
so much focus on students doing well on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment
Test that it's thwarting teacher creativity and hindering students' ability to
learn.
They say many students
are being poorly educated on subjects not directly tested on the FCAT,
including history, art and music. At the same time, the tests have become so
stressful that kids are staying home sick, skipping school and dropping out,
they said.
"This is
destroying public education, destroying the teaching profession and destroying
children," School Board member Robin Bartleman said. "The classroom
should be fun. Kids should be excited about learning and not be afraid they're
going to be punished for one test."
Two
Polls Show Floridians Want an End to Reliance on High Stakes Test
The Florida Current and the Northwest Florida Daily News have polls which shows
that by 61% to 39% and 83% to 17% , respectively, Floridians
want something else for their children.
Rebukes continue for Jeb
Bush’s test-based system. Such polling data when combined with the outrage that
Bush’s hand-picked education commissioner in Gerard Robinson is facing on
his FCAT Listening/Apology/It’s Here to Stay
Tour indicate significant opposition by Floridians –
voters and taxpayers all.
SAVE UPPER DARBY ARTS 2012
Published on May
21, 2012 by SaveUDArts
Sign the
Petition http://ow.ly/b3rR2
This isn't just about theUpper
Darby School District Pennsylvania
We will be inHarrisburg
Please visit www.saveudarts.org to learn more and join the fight.
This isn't just about the
We will be in
Please visit www.saveudarts.org to learn more and join the fight.
Youtube video (runtime
7:32) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh8RNhMo4Ks&feature=plcp
STATEWIDE PRESS COVERAGE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT
BUDGETS
Here are more than 700 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:
