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
“The
Senate plan would restore $50 million in (the Accountability Block Grant) a
zeroed-out line to school districts to provide full-day kindergarten or reduced
class sizes.”
PA Senate Republicans
prepare budget with additions for colleges, schools and social services
Published:
Monday, May 07,
2012 , 7:35 PM
As the legislature begins to lay down its markers for the new state budget,
A Senate Republican
plan set to be considered by the Senate Appropriations Committee
Tuesday would keep 2012-13 state funding for all state-owned, state-related and
community colleges at current-year levels, erasing deep cuts
proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett.
School funding burden
should go on Gov. Corbett
Published:
Monday, May 07,
2012 , 12:29 AM
Patriot News
As a taxpayer and grandmother of children in theWest
Shore School
District , I am upset with the crisis that Gov.
Tom Corbett has caused in our public schools.
Now, as our school board furloughs many of our teachers and staff in response to his cuts, he says he wants local taxpayers like us to solve the crisis for him. His plan to fund schools with block grants would turn the problem he created into our problem.
After cutting nearly $1 billion from public schools, his new idea is to collapse four state-funding programs that work into one that doesn't, shifting away from students' actual needs in favor of distribution based on political factors.
As a taxpayer and grandmother of children in the
Now, as our school board furloughs many of our teachers and staff in response to his cuts, he says he wants local taxpayers like us to solve the crisis for him. His plan to fund schools with block grants would turn the problem he created into our problem.
After cutting nearly $1 billion from public schools, his new idea is to collapse four state-funding programs that work into one that doesn't, shifting away from students' actual needs in favor of distribution based on political factors.
Education Policy and Leadership Center
Arts Education an
Operatic Tragedy
Yinzercation Blog — MAY 7, 2012
Believe it or not,
this Saturday the Pittsburgh Opera is planning to honor Gov. Corbett with a
lifetime achievement award for his contributions to … wait for it … EDUCATION!
I kid you not. The Opera announced that
Corbett “will be honored for his early work as a teacher as well as his
long-standing protection of the public interest” and that, “as Governor, he has
recognized the economic, educational, and social value of the arts.”
Is the Opera so out of
touch that it doesn’t realize Gov. Corbett has actually devastated public
education, cutting $1 BILLION from Pennsylvania ’s
schools these past two years? These cuts have crippled local school districts,
which have been forced to slash arts education.
The Pennsylvania
Association of School Administrators and the Pennsylvania Association of School
Business Officials conducted a survey of the
impact of those cuts last fall and found that 44% of the
state’s school districts have already eliminated courses — the first to go?
Arts, music, and foreign languages. The very things students need to become
educated citizens who will appreciate the arts, be patrons of the arts, and
become future artists themselves.
Petri pushing pension reform
PhillyBurbs.com Posted: Monday,
May 7, 2012
5:55 am
By Gary Weckselblatt
Staff Writer
Lawmakers from Bucks
and Montgomery
counties are pushing for an end to pensions for new lawmakers and school and
state employees, while advocating for a 401(k)-style retirement vehicle to get
taxpayers off the hook for years when the stock market suffers huge losses.
State Rep. Scott
Petri, R-178, is the primary sponsor for HB 551 and 552 to establish a defined
contribution plan for both the Public School Employees’ Retirement System and
State Employees’ Retirement System.
Nonpartisan school board elections discussed in
Downingtown
Chester County Daily Local By ERIC S. SMITH esmith@dailylocal.com, Monday, May
7,2012
DOWNINGTOWN — The state Senate education
committee held a hearing Friday on a bill
(SB327)
that would make school board elections in Pennsylvania nonpartisan and
eliminate primary elections for those offices.
State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19th of West
Whiteland, minority chairman of the committee, proposed the bill and hosted the
hearing at the STEM
Academy . Committee Chairman Jeffrey Piccola, R-15th of
Dauphin County , cosponsored the bill and was the
only other committee member besides Dinniman at the hearing.
What the research says about portfolio management models
Research for Action Posted
by Alison Murawski on May 7, 2012
The School District of Philadelphia
recently announced its intention to dramatically reform its school governance
model in an effort to improve public school performance. The District’s plan
calls for major elements of a portfolio management model to be put in place,
including:
- a reduced central management structure that
delegates most operational control to the school-level; and
- increased accountability and school choice by
closing poor performing schools and assembling diverse groupings of public
and charter schools into “achievement networks.”
As the School District of Philadelphia examines this management
approach and the public debates its strengths and weaknesses, RFA has produced a brief that draws on rigorous,
reputable research. It provides a summary of what is known and what is not
known, and poses a set of basic questions for Philadelphia policymakers, school officials,
parents, students and members of the education community to consider.
Daily News Editorial, Philadelphia Daily News Posted:
Tue, May. 8, 2012
Today, the City
Council budget hearing for the school district starts at 10 a.m. Given what’s
at stake and the complexity of the changes the district is proposing, by our
reckoning, the hearing should end ... sometime next month.
The district recently
announced a massive restructuring plan that will close schools, create
“achievement networks,” push more students into charters, and rely on major
concessions from the unions to get $156 million in savings, while coping with a
deficit of more than $200 million for next year. Any one of these is worth at
least a day of questioning. But the main “ask” of the Council during the
hearings is $94 million more from the city.
Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY)
The Forum for Education and Democracy
Recent postings:
Education and the
Income Gap, April
28, 2012 - Linda Darling-Hammond
Sign the National
Resolution on High Stakes Testing, April 24, 2012 - George Wood
What U.S. Can't
Learn From Finland ,
April 23, 2012
-by Pasi Sahlberg
“it has
been said that reductions could be as high as 9.1% per year over the next ten
years”
Sequestration could be coming soon to your federal education
dollars
Missouri Department of
Education website
Sequestration is
defined as a procedure by which automatic spending cuts are triggered. Sequestration is set to be applied to federal
discretionary funds, which include education, starting in January 2013. This
has occurred due to the failure of the Congressional Joint Select Committee on
Deficit Reduction to develop a plan for budgetary savings.
Teacher Appreciation Week May 7th – 11th: Incubate
this……
“Incubators of Innovation?”
Diane Ravitch’s Blog May 8, 2012
To mark National
Charter School Week, President Obama issued a proclamation hailing charter
schools as “incubators of innovation.”
I began wondering what
exactly he was thinking about.
Practical Theory Blog
by Chris Lehmann
2012 Conference on the State of Education
in Pennsylvania
The Media Area
NAACP and CU Keystone Honors Program will host 2012
Conference on the State of Education in Pennsylvania "Calling for
a Trauma Informed Education System" at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
(Marcus Foster Student Union, 2nd floor) on Friday, May 25 from 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM . For agenda and registration
details, click
here.
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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