“Only public schools, operated by school
districts with elected school boards are open to all children and fully
accountable to all taxpayers.”
Baruch Kintisch, Director of Policy Advocacy,
Education Law Center, in testimony before the PA House Democratic Policy
Committee, July
17, 2012
Daily postings
from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1600
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
Details on Act 85 of 2012, PA’s new EITC 2.0 Opportunity
Scholarship Tax Credit “Supervoucher” Program.
Click here for a
detailed report
from PSBA regarding the new EITC 2.0 program.
Here the list of low
achieving schools released by PDE this week
What makes
a “failing school”? In 2011 we ran this
analysis; no surprise that most of these are still on the list……
From 2011: Poverty Level at 144 SB1 Failing
Schools is 80.8% vs State Avg of 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 statewide average was 39.1%. For these 144 schools the average
was 80.8%
School chiefs decry state’s failure ranking
Published: Friday, July 27, 2012
By JEFF WOLFE jwolfe@delcotimes.com @delcoreporter
To be put on a low
achieving list can be a bit disheartening for anyone. But it can be especially
discouraging if you don’t think you belong there.
That’s the case with at least oneDelaware
County
That’s the case with at least one
Some students in Central Dauphin, Harrisburg
Published: Thursday, July 26, 2012 , 9:22 AM
By ERIC VERONIKIS, The
Patriot-News
The midstate’s largest school district has four schools on the state’s list of lowest-achieving schools.Central Dauphin
East High
School , East Middle School , Swatara
Middle School and Tri-Community Elementary
School
The midstate’s largest school district has four schools on the state’s list of lowest-achieving schools.
W.Pa. districts say kids will stay
TribLive By Bobby
Kerlik and Tory N. Parrish Published: Friday, July 27, 2012 ,
12:01 a.m.
Updated 6 hours ago
Updated 6 hours ago
Officials from some of
the region’s lowest-performing public schools said Thursday they don’t expect
an exodus of students this year because of a state program that will allow
transfers with the help of a scholarship.
But officials question their ranking, noting
many of them passed federal benchmarks.
By Marion Callahan
and Steve Esack, Of The
Morning Call
11:21 p.m.
EDT, July 26, 2012
As early as this year,
some students attending what the state considers low-achieving schools may head
elsewhere for their education.
Seven Bethlehem Area
schools and 15 Allentown schools made the newly
published list of 414 Pennsylvania
That means students in
those elementary and secondary schools will be able to apply for a financial aid
grant, funded by $50 million in business tax credits, to go to another school.
But how the state
Department of Education devised its list is leaving local school officials
scratching their heads and worrying about losing state money if students sign
up for the grant through the new Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program.
AP coverage: Pa.
KATHY MATHESON, Associated Press
Updated 05:54 p.m., Wednesday, July 25, 2012
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — State education
officials published a list Wednesday of Pennsylvania's worst-performing
schools, a move that makes students in hundreds of buildings eligible for new
scholarship money and new learning environments.
The list, based on last
year's standardized test scores in reading and math, includes 414 public
schools in 74 districts. Nearly 40 percent of the lowest-achieving schools are
in Philadelphia
Students who live within
the affected schools' attendance areas — and whose families meet income
guidelines — can apply for scholarships of up to $8,500, or up to $15,000 for
special education students.
The money can pay for a
private education, including at Catholic schools, or be used as tuition in
another public district with an open enrollment policy.
Pittsburgh schools push science, technology, engineering and math
into lower grades
By Deborah M.
Todd / Pittsburgh
Story time and
building blocks aren't exactly extinct in the nation's youngest classrooms, but
an increasing emphasis toward early science, technology, engineering and math
-- or STEM -- education could mean those early children staples may be paired
with a biology or physics lesson.
With the world's
top-paying jobs increasingly tied to technological, scientific or mathematic
innovation -- and with American teens ranking 23rd in science and 31st in math
among 70 developed nations -- school districts have been scrambling over the
past few years to improve student interest and knowledge of STEM subjects.
While most schools are
taking the incremental approach of expanding course offerings at the highest
levels, several in the Pittsburgh
Head Start Fears Impact of Potential Budget Cuts
New York Times By ADESHINA
EMMANUEL
Published: July 26, 2012
Supporters of Head
Start fear the cuts would put more children at a disadvantage even before they
reach kindergarten. Critics, including Congressional Republicans who tried to
slash the Head Start budget in 2011, say the cuts would help rein in an
overpriced program whose benefits have not been proven.
Sequestration: Lawmakers Explore Impact of
Automatic Cuts on Education
A set of sweeping, across-the-board trigger cuts
set to go into effect in January would be "devastating" to education
programs, particularly if Congress decides to spare only defense programs while
allowing K-12 cuts to go through, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and
Democratic lawmakers said at a hearing today.
Right now, domestic spending programs—like
education and defense programs are supposed to share the pain of the trigger
cuts equally, with all programs facing a cut of up about 7.8 percent on January
2, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
But, if Congress reaches some sort of deal that exempts only defense, the cuts to domestic programs would be much steeper, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the chairman of the subcommittee that oversees education spending, said at hearing today on the impact of the cuts. They could be as high as 17.6 percent, across-the-board, he estimated.
But, if Congress reaches some sort of deal that exempts only defense, the cuts to domestic programs would be much steeper, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the chairman of the subcommittee that oversees education spending, said at hearing today on the impact of the cuts. They could be as high as 17.6 percent, across-the-board, he estimated.
States With Education Waivers Offer Varied Goals
New York Times By MOTOKO RICH
Published: July
26, 2012
In excusing more than
half of the states from meeting crucial requirements of the No Child Left Behind education law, the
Obama administration sought to require states to develop more realistic tools
to improve and measure the progress of schools and teachers.
A report being
issued on Friday by the liberal Center for American Progress shows that while
some states have proposed reforms aimed at spurring schools and teachers to
improve student performance, others may be introducing weaker measures of
accountability.
Absentee
ballot procedures for election of PSBA officers
Absentee
ballot requests must be received no later than August 15
PSBA website 6/1/2012
All school directors and school
board secretaries who are eligible to vote and who do not plan to attend the
association's annual business meeting during the 2012 PASA-PSBA School
Leadership Conference in Hershey, Oct. 16-19, may request an absentee ballot
for election purposes.
The absentee ballot must be
requested from the PSBA executive director in accordance with the PSBA Bylaws
provisions (see PSBA
Bylaws, Article IV, Section 4, J-Q.). Specify the name and home mailing
address of each individual for whom a ballot is requested.
Requests must be in writing,
e-mailed or mailed first class and postmarked or marked received at PSBA Headquarters
no later than Aug. 15. Mail to Executive Director, P.O. Box 2042 , Mechanicsburg ,
PA 17055
NSBA
Federal Relations Network seeking new members for 2013-14
School directors are invited to
advocate for public education at the federal level through the National School
Boards Association’s Federal Relations Network. The National School Boards Association is
seeking school directors interested in serving on the Federal Relations Network
(FRN), its grass roots advocacy program that brings local board members on the
front line of pending issues before Congress. If you are a school director and
willing to carry the public education message to Washington , D.C.
Click here for more information.
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