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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
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Virtual Schools, Real Profits, Troubling Results
Education Week Living in Dialogue Blog by
Anthony Cody July
18, 2012
Private enterprise is often portrayed as a
mighty engine of innovation. If we break the "government monopoly" on
education, entrepreneurial opportunities will inspire new solutions to problems
that have not been licked by the public schools. But corporations are funny people. They do
not actually care so much about how they make money - just so long as they do.
Innovation is not their purpose, nor is solving society's intractable problems.
We have a fresh report from the National Educational Policy
Center, where authors Gary Miron and Jessica Urschel take us into the
world of K12 Inc, the nation's largest "virtual school provider."
They look at the characteristics of the students, at the quality of the
instruction they receive, and the outcomes that result. This should be a huge
wakeup call to anyone who cares about education.
PPG
Editorial: Cyber excess: Taxpayers should not over-fund charter schools
There is something very wrong with an education
funding system that has public school districts chopping staff and ending
programs while a publicly funded charter school is making so much money that it
can pay millions to its spinoff companies.
The operators of the Pennsylvania Cyber
Charter School
Part of the reason that's been possible is the
amount of taxpayer money the online school receives far exceeds what it costs
to educate cyber students.
PA Cyber
Charter PSSA AYP 2007 - 2011 from PDE
Of 12 PA cyber charters, only 2 made AYP for 2011, while
8 were in corrective action status.
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2011/11/pa-cyber-charter-pssa-ayp-2007-2011.html
Which CEO
made $5 million stealing your kid's lunch money?
YouTube video runtime 4:37 Published on Jul 19,
2012 by bravenewfoundation
ALEC is working to ensure that public education
dollars get diverted to private profits. Their approach is working -- for them.
Not so much for the students who pay the price in the form of a subpar
education and poor performance.
New Keystone Exam Test Requirements Shake Up Cheltenham and Other School Districts
Cheltenham Citizen’s Call (no by line) Posted on July 17,
2012
Last May the PA State
Board of Education set in motion a process for establishing the state’s new
Keystone exams as the yardstick that will determine whether high school
students measure up to graduation standards. The plan was to phase in the
Keystone tests with the graduating class of 2017 being the first to be required
to pass or “show proficiency” on three of the end-of-course exams: Algebra I,
biology and literature. An earlier proposal had the class of 2015 being the
first required to pass the exams for graduation.
Last Tuesday, however, a
Department of Education (DEd) directive landed on the desk of school
administrators across the state, including that of Cheltenham ’s
Assistant Superintendent Michael Lowe, which added a new wrinkle to plans for
the roll-out of the Keystones, which are designed to be rigorous, end-of-course
assessments. The updated timeline for all grade levels included testing for
next year’s 11th graders in Algebra I, biology and literature.
Prior to last week’s announcement
it had been understood that 11th graders in 2012-13 would be getting a pass on
the tests, having to take neither the Keystones nor the PSSAs. However, DEd
reversed course and instituted the testing requirements for the 11th graders as
a part of the measure of schools’ “adequate yearly progress” (AYP) mandated by
the federal No Child Left Behind law.
According to Cheltenham
Board President Tina Viletto, the change has left school districts scrambling
on two counts. First, how do they fairly and appropriately test 11th graders in
subjects that they may have taken as long as three or four years ago? (Algebra
I is typically taken in eighth grade and biology in ninth grade.) Second, with
the switch to the Keystone course-specific testing from the more generalized
skill-based PSSAs, how do districts measure AYP from one year to the next with
the switch to a radically different test?
the notebook by Dale Mezzacappa on Jul 19 2012
The Philadelphia School Partnership, a two-year-old organization that is raising
$100 million to support high quality public and private schools in Philadelphia
Among the recipients is the Sustainability Workshop,
a unique project-based program for seniors that split off from West
Philadelphia High School's automotive academy and was featured this week in a Frontline documentary (see
link below). It is getting $175,000 "incubation" grant as it works to
grow into a full-fledged high school.
FRONTLINE Fast Times at
West Philly High
PBS video runtime 53:42
Sto-Rox attempting to work with Propel Schools
Post-Gazette By Sonja Reis July 20, 2012 12:51 am
Instead of voting to
approve or deny a revised and resubmitted charter application from Propel
Schools for a K-12 location within the district, Sto-Rox directors have agreed
to establish a committee arranging for representatives from both side to
discuss options.
The unexpected move came
one day before a July 20 deadline requiring Sto-Rox to respond to Propel's
resubmitted application for the proposed Propel-West location. In November, the
district voted to deny Propel's original charter application, with officials
then stating the creation of the charter school would bankrupt the struggling
public school serving students from Stowe and McKees Rocks.
Read
more:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/sto-rox-board-agrees-to-talk-to-propel-charter-schools-645445/ K
A Closer Look at the Teacher Shortage
The National
Center
Students in
K12 Inc.’s online classes lag academically, study finds
K12 Inc., the Herndon-based company that is the
country’s largest provider of full-time online education, lags behind charter
schools and traditional public schools on a broad array of academic measures,
according to a new study.
Students enrolled at K12, which provides public
virtual education in 29 states and the District of
Columbia , lag behind their counterparts on federal and state
measures of math and reading proficiency, according to a study released
Wednesday by the National
Education Policy
Center
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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