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
Lawsuit in troubled Chester
Upland School
District
At issue is whether state is living up to
constitutional obligation to fund education.
By Steve Esack and
John L. Micek, Of The Morning Call, May 6,2012
Thorough and efficient.
Those three words can
be found in Section 14 of the Pennsylvania Constitution: "The General
Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and
efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the
Commonwealth."
But what that archaic
bit of legalese actually means is anyone's guess.
For decades, the
Legislature, governor and public school officials have not hashed out a funding
formula to meet the obligation to educate students. Likewise, the federal and
state judiciary have been reluctant to establish a definition whenever a
lawsuit has arisen over Pennsylvania
That ambiguity is
expected to go on trial this week in a federal lawsuit that has become Pennsylvania
Corbett turns focus to state pension predicament
The Tribune-Review By
The Associated Press
Published: Sunday, May 6, 2012 , 8:14
p.m.
City
schools seek to base layoffs on teachers' effectiveness
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh May 7, 2012 12:25 am
No one disputes that this fall will
be a year of unsought change as Pittsburgh Public Schools battles a projected
deficit. About 1 in 4 classroom teachers
won't be back in the same school as staffs are reduced and class sizes are
increased. Nearly 1 in 6 classroom
teaching positions will be eliminated, leading to what is likely to be an
unprecedented number of layoffs, depending on how many teachers retire or
resign.
…."We're not that many years
away from a system where women were furloughed because they got pregnant,"
said Ron Cowell, president of The Education Policy and Leadership Center in
Harrisburg. Since November, Ms. Lane
Published: Sunday, May 06, 2012
Delco Times By VINCE
SULLIVAN vsullivan@delcotimes.com
@vincesullivan
Despite a small
increase in education funding from the state for the 2012-2013 fiscal year,
many Delaware County
AP surges as tool for schools raising standards
Not long ago, Advanced
Placement exams were mostly for top students looking to challenge themselves
and get a head start on college credit. Not anymore.
In the next two weeks,
2 million students will take 3.7 million end-of-year AP exams , figures well
over double those from a decade ago. With no national curriculum, AP has become
the de facto gold standard for high school rigor. States and high schools are
pushing AP classes and exams as a way to raise standards across the board, in
some cases tying AP to bonuses. And the federal government is helping cover the
exam fees.
Participation in AP
exams up, especially among minorites
By
Dan Hardy Inquirer Staff Writer, Posted: Mon, Dec.
12, 2011
http://www.philly.com/philly/insights/in_education/20111212_Participation_in_AP_exams_up__especially_among_minorites.html
More info on AP Honor Roll from the College Board http://press.collegeboard.org/releases/2011/367-school-districts-placed-college-boards-2nd-annual-ap-district-honor-roll-significant-gai
Posted: Fri, May. 4,
2012, 6:11 AM
District cuts affect summer meals for children
By Alfred Lubrano Inquirer
Staff Writer
Fewer students will be
eating free breakfast and lunch in summer school this year because budget
troubles are forcing the School
District of Philadelphia
Updated postings on ALEC:
Inquirer May 4: Common Cause of PA files
complaint over ALEC tax status
Education Week May 1: Ravitch – What you need to
know about ALEC
Support Educator-led Turnaround in Philadelphia
Sign a petition to be delivered to: Lori Shorr, Chief Education Officer, Executive
Advisor to the SRC, Pedro Ramos, Chair, School Reform Commission, Wendell
Pritchett, School Reform Commission, Joe Dworetzky, School Reform Commission,
Lorene Cary, School Reform Commission, Feather Houstoun, School Reform
Commission, Penny Nixon, Chief Academic Officer, and Thomas Knudsen, Acting
Superintendent and Chief Recovery Officer
Posted: Fri, May. 4, 2012, 3:00
AM
Private interests vs. school reform: It’s
time to fight
Daily News editor-at-large Marc
Lamont Hill is an associate professor of education at Columbia University
LAST WEEK, the Philadelphia
School District
While not surprising, given our city’s consistent bungling of education
reform over the past two decades, this move was nonetheless disturbing for many
reasons.
THURSDAY, MAY
3, 2012
Destroying our public schools -- it's
worse than you think
Daniel Denvir has an excellent -- loooong, but excellent -- piece
in the new City Paper on the who, how, and why of the assassination of public
education in Philadelphia.
Tax relief from gaming fails to
reach predicted mark
By Jeremy
Boren Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Published: Saturday, May 5, 2012
Six years of increasing casino revenue that made Pennsylvania the nation's No. 2 gambling market have done little to increase property tax breaks for mostPennsylvania
Six years of increasing casino revenue that made Pennsylvania the nation's No. 2 gambling market have done little to increase property tax breaks for most
An average property owner receives
about a $200 discount on annual property tax bills prepared by the state's 500
school districts. That average has been roughly the same since the 2008-09
fiscal year -- fluctuating year-to-year by $2 to $3 among Western
Pennsylvania school districts.
Move to Outsource Teacher Licensing
Process Draws Protest
New York Times By MICHAEL WINERIP Published: May 6, 2012
The idea that a handful of college instructors and student teachers in
the school of education at the University
of Massachusetts could slow the
corporatization of public education in America
Sixty-seven of the 68 students studying to be teachers at the middle and
high school levels at the Amherst campus are
protesting a new national licensure procedure being developed by Stanford University
“…jobs
in education were slashed substantially from August 2008 to August 2011.
According to an October White House report: “Nearly 300,000 educator jobs have
been lost since 2008, 54 percent of all job losses in local government.”
OP-ED COLUMNIST
Teaching Me About Teaching
New York Times By CHARLES M. BLOW
Published: May
4, 2012
Next week is National Teacher Appreciation Week, and, as far as I’m
concerned, they don’t get nearly enough.
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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