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
Posted: Tue, Jul. 17, 2012 , 3:00 AM
The story of West Philly
High School
Philadelphia Daily News by Ronnie Polaneczky, Daily
News Columnist
I'M A SUCKER for a love story. I just never thought I'd see one on "Frontline."
I'M A SUCKER for a love story. I just never thought I'd see one on "Frontline."
The weekly PBS documentary showcase rivals only
"60 Minutes" in its Very Important Coverage of news and public
affairs. The last thing you'd expect while watching "Frontline" is to
reach for a Kleenex while pressing your hand to your heart and sniffling,
"I LOVE these guys…"
But if you watch Tuesday night's
"Frontline" premiere of "Fast Times at West Philly High," I
promise that you, too, will be tearful and smitten.
And you will ask, "Shouldn't more teachers be
doing what these people are doing?"
The gripping, 36-minute documentary by Swarthmore
filmmaker Debra Morton chronicles the three-year quest of students at West Philly
High School
If you're a political junkie, you've probably heard
of the Pennsylvania
Cyber Charter
School Ohio border called Midland , Pa. -- that was
taking $38,000 a year from taxpayers in the blue-collar Pittsburgh
suburb of Penn Hills for the home-schooling of five of Santorum's kids, who
lived two states away in an affluent Virginia
Background on
PA Cyber Charter School
There's an interesting and worthwhile debate over
whether we should be expanding alternative, public-funded charter schools;
some, like the Kipp Academiies, are clearly successful, although
we can argue about the extent of that success. Others have been flat-out
scams. Then we have the case of cyber charter schools, which receive public
tax dollars to educate children over the Internet, and which seem to be
especially popular in Pennsylvania
Keystone State Education Coalition posting from Tuesday,
November 22,
2011
“There is no reliable evidence that for-profit (cyber)
operators provide education that is effective, but there is no question that
they are highly effective at turning public tax dollars into private
gain."
"There is no
reliable evidence that for-profit (cyber) operators provide education that is
effective, but there is no question that they are highly effective at turning
public tax dollars into private gain. For example, K12, Inc.'s CEO,
during the recent recession, received compensation from "cyber"
schools totaling over $2,400,000 per year in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
According to K12, Inc.'s own filings, other executives with the company managed
to obtain annual compensation in 2010 ranging from $471,649 to $1,782,614 from
their "cyber" school operation.
K12, Inc. can generate
such outsized salaries for its executives because it and other operators have
convinced some other states (Blogger's note: like Pennsylvania
Tennessee
http://ftpcontent.worldnow.com/wtvf/PDF/MikeStewartlettertolawmakers.pdf
PA Budget
Director Charles Zogby Statement of Financial Interests form SEC-1 for 2011
On his Statement of Financial Interests Form SEC-1 for
2011 filed with the PA State Ethics Commission on June 30, 2012 , Budget Secretary Zogby
listed “Senior Vice President of Education and Policy” at K12, Inc. as a source
of direct or indirect income. In addition
to managing Pennsylvania
Two sentenced
in theft from Philadelphia
A U.S.
district judge handed prison terms Friday to the founder of a Northwest
Philadelphia charter school and its former chief executive for
stealing $522,000 in taxpayer money to prop up a restaurant, a health-food
store, and a private school they controlled, and for defrauding a bank.
Hugh C. Clark, a lawyer who helped found New Media
Technology Charter
School
Ina Walker, a career educator and the charter
school's former chief executive officer, was sentenced to six months in prison.
Districts
fear bankruptcy as pension costs to triple
In five years, pension
contributions for area school districts are projected to increase by $172.9
million. With reduced levels of state
funding and limits on how much districts can raise local property taxes,
superintendents fear there will be one option: bankruptcy.
The recently passed 2012-13 state
budget did nothing to address what many call the upcoming "pension
crisis." From fiscal 2011-12 to 2015-16, contributions are set to triple.
Area districts have already furloughed teachers, cut tutoring programs and
increased class sizes.
It may only be the beginning.
Capitol Ideas Blog by John Micek July 16, 2012
Report:
Ratings agency Moody's downgrades PA's bond rating
Moody's Investors Service has
downgraded Pennsylvania
RPT-Pennsylvania joins ranks of states seeking public pension reform
* Gov does not say how $29 bln
pension gap will be closed
* Other cities in Pennsylvania
* Illinois
By Lisa Lambert
WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia, July 15
(Reuters) - Pennsylvania is joining a growing movement across U.S. states to
overhaul public pensions, but even while the state's governor says the need for
reform is urgent, he advocates action only after great deliberation.
"It's going to be a
working summer to start coming up with some recommendations, because I don't
think there is a silver bullet to this," Corbett, a Republican, told
Reuters on Friday at the sidelines of a National Governors Association meeting.
"If there was, everybody would be doing it."
The PSERs employer contribution rate for 2011/2012 FY was
8.65%.
The rate for the 2012/2013 FY is 12.36%
The rate is projected to climb to over 27% by 2019 and stay
there until 2025
An Update from the Public School
Employees’ Retirement System
Presented to the
Montgomery County School Districts Legislative Committee
By Jeff Clay, Executive
Director, PSERs February 15, 2012
Concerns
remain for teachers
New evaluations leave questions about regulations
Legislation enacted last month
spells out specific criteria on which educators will be measured, and a
possible new protocol for classroom observation has been getting trial runs in
dozens of districts. But concerns linger about the still-unwritten final
regulations.
WSJ U.S. June 27, 2012 ,
8:33 p.m. ET
Wall Street Journal By STEPHANIE
BANCHERO
Nashville school officials have
rejected a proposal to open a charter school in a middle-class part of the
city, highlighting a broader national battle over efforts by operators of such
publicly financed, privately run schools to expand into more affluent areas.
The Metropolitan Nashville Public
Schools board voted 7-2 Tuesday night to reject an application by Great Hearts
Academies, a nonprofit that operates prep-school-like charter schools, for five
new establishments.
The Arizona-based group planned to
open its first Tennessee school in a middle-
to upper-middle class area in west Nashville
The board denied the application
because members worried that low-income parents wouldn't be able to easily
transport their children across town to a school on the west side, meaning the
plan could effectively cause "segregated schools," said Olivia Brown,
spokeswoman for the district.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.