“Tuition free online
public schools” are not free.
They take
significantly more of your local tax dollars than it costs them to educate
their students, accumulating large balances of excess funds, spending your
local tax dollars on advertising and corporate bonuses while achieving
lackluster academic results. Only one of
12 Pennsylvania
Daily
postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1650
Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators,
legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, PTO/PTA officers, teacher
leaders, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 education advocacy
organizations via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.
These daily
emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us
on Twitter at @lfeinberg
This revised posting is
being faxed to all members of the PA General Assembly today
KEYSEC Posting Updated
September 24,
2012
Charter schools -
public funding without public scrutiny
Proposed statewide
authorization and direct payment would further diminish accountability and
oversight for public tax dollars
Charter school reform leads
pre-election legislative to-do list
Published: Sunday, September 23, 2012 , 9:00
BY JAN MURPHY AND CHARLES THOMPSON, The
Patriot-News
For the GOP-controlled Legislature and
Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, reforms to Pennsylvania
Before the June recess, Corbett said the sides
came “within a sentence” of passing a bill to give the state a larger role in
regulating charter schools. The bill would have launched a process to address
funding inequities that charters and school districts often grumble give the
other an advantage.
“I think charter reform helps everybody,”
Corbett said last week. “It helps the schools districts and it helps the
charters. We need to get that done because a lot of that goes to the funding
and the amount of funding.”
PSSA: PA test scores drop –
teacher beatings will continue
2012 PSSA commentary, links to data, press
release and reactions
“The steep drop in test
scores at Chester
…In a letter to the
charter last week, Education Department Deputy Secretary Carolyn Dumaresq said
that there had been "overwhelming evidence of testing irregularities"
at the school in 2009, 2010, and 2011.
…Education Department
spokesman Tim Eller: "The statistical irregularities point to
inappropriate behavior having taken place," he said. "The dramatic
drop in test scores this year speaks volumes, we believe."
Posted: Sun, Sep. 23, 2012 , 5:23 AM
PSSA: Test scores raise new doubt at Chester
By Dan Hardy and Dylan Purcell Inquirer
Staff Writers
Standardized-test scores have dropped
precipitously at Chester
Community Charter
School
Results for 2012 state tests released last week
show that, schoolwide, scores fell about 30 percentage points in math and
reading, with double-digit drops in every grade. Some fell more than 40
percentage points.
PSSA: Changes coming for standardized tests will make AYP less feasible
Grades
becoming tougher for schools
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh September 24, 2012 1:16 am
If school officials
think making adequate yearly progress was difficult this year, wait until they
give state tests this school year.
At least some of the
changes in the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment will make it more
difficult to achieve AYP, which is based on student achievement on math and
reading tests, test participation, attendance and graduation rates. The changes include eliminating a version of
the test for certain special education students, replacing the 11th-grade PSSA
exams with the new end-of-course Keystone Exams and offering an online version
of the PSSA.
Posted: Sun, Sep. 23, 2012 , 5:20 AM
PHILLY: PSSA Scores fall at
probed city schools
The declines in state
results were sometimes dramatic at the schools in the cheating inquiry.
By Kristen A. Graham, Dylan Purcell, and Susan
Snyder Inquirer Staff Writers
When officials released state test scores last
week, all eyes were on the 53 Philadelphia
PSSA: AYP results
illustrate unrealistic expectations of dated law
PSBA’s Website Posted 9/21/2012
Today, Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis
released statewide scores for the 2012 administration of Pennsylvania System of
School Assessments (PSSA), stating that test scores overall declined as a
result of the state's investigation of cheating in a handful of school
districts and charter schools, and dismissing critical factors directly related
to test results, including the large jump in required performance targets,
changes in the methods of measuring progress, and cuts in state funding.
Volume 28, Number 5
September/October 2012
Opt-Out Movement Gains
Steam
The forces opposed to high-stakes assessment
tests have their Montgomery
When more than 550 sets of parents—about one out of 10—in this small town west ofSeattle
From two at an elementary school in Portland, Maine, to 550 in Snohomish, to 1,427 in Colorado, frustrated families that oppose the high-stakes tests required by the 11-year-old No Child Left Behind law are deploying a new weapon: keeping their kids from taking them.
“Talking to those in power has not accomplished anything,” says Tim Slekar, an associate professor of teacher education atPennsylvania
State University 's
Altoona
When more than 550 sets of parents—about one out of 10—in this small town west of
From two at an elementary school in Portland, Maine, to 550 in Snohomish, to 1,427 in Colorado, frustrated families that oppose the high-stakes tests required by the 11-year-old No Child Left Behind law are deploying a new weapon: keeping their kids from taking them.
“Talking to those in power has not accomplished anything,” says Tim Slekar, an associate professor of teacher education at
State House will be in session just 10 more days
in 2012; State Senate only 8 days
Posted: Mon, Sep. 24, 2012 , 3:01 AM
John Baer: Pa.
Philadelphia Daily News byJohn Baer, Daily News
Political Columnist
HOLD YOUR breath, Pennsylvania
That's right, the dynamic duo that managed to
screw up this year's election cycle in two ways - voter ID and redistricting -
is back on deck for more, um, work.
For lawmakers, it's a return from a well-earned
two-month-plus vacation. For the judiciary, it's ongoing badminton with voter
ID. So pull up a chair, get some
popcorn, the House and Senate are back Monday, the court's back Tuesday, and
who knows what happens next?
But you'd better hurry.
PDE changes SAWW
calculations resulting in a lower Act 1 index cap for FY 13-14
The ACT 1 index for FY 13-14
was published Friday in the Pa Bulletin (see below).
Please note that PDE has apparently opted to change the
calculation of the Statewide Average Weekly Wage portion of the index from a
twelve month base to a thirty six month base.
PDE relied upon recent changes
to the unemployment benefit law, rather than the law specific to Act 1 for
index calculations. This revenue
reduction, if not challenged, will impact future staffing levels, and existing
bargaining agreements that include Act 1 index caps.
Here’s the definition of the “Statewide
average weekly wage." From Section 102 of Act 1 of 2006:
“That
amount determined by the Department of Labor and Industry in the same manner
that it determines the average weekly wage under section 404(e)(2) of the act of December 5, 19 36
(2nd Sp.Sess., 1937 P.L.2897, No.1),known as the Unemployment Compensation Law,
except that it shall be calculated for
the preceding calendar year.”
Using the 12 month base method
that has been in effect up to this year, the Act 1 index for FY 13-14 would
have been 2.2%. Using the new 3 year
base had the effect of dropping the index from 2.2% to 1.7%. As an example, one suburban school
district’s ability to raise taxes for FY 13-14 within the Act 1 base index cap
was decreased $325,000 due to the way the SAWWs base was calculated by PDE.
NOTICES DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION
Index Calculation Required
by the Taxpayer Relief Act
[42 Pa.B. 5974] [Saturday, September 22, 2012 ]
Under section 333(l) of the Taxpayer Relief Act
(53 P.S. § 6926.333(l)), the Department of Education (Department) has
calculated the index for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013-2014.
The index is the average of the percentage
increase in the Statewide average weekly wage and the Employment Cost Index. For FY 2013-2014, the base index is 1.7%.
For school districts with a market value/income
aid ratio greater than 0.4000, an adjusted index will be posted on the
Department's web site at www.education.state.pa.us by September 30, 2012 .
RONALD J. TOMALIS, Secretary
Posted: Sun, Sep. 23, 2012 , 5:43 AM
PSSA: Former Philly
Superintendent Arlene Ackerman responds
to falling test scores
This is the complete statement from former
Superintendent Arlene Ackerman on the decline in test scores in Philadelphia
Building One Pennsylvania 2012 Statewide Public Meeting
Promoting sustainable, inclusive and
economically prosperous communities
Saturday, October 13, 2012 10 am to 11:30 a.m. (doors open at 9:30
for registration)
Declining
local tax bases, aging infrastructure, unfair state and federal policies are
undermining our communities. It's time to stand together to support our
diverse, middle class communities.
Join
local elected, faith and civic leaders from across Pennsylvania
·
Reduce our local
property tax burdens
·
Invest in our schools
·
Redevelop our
infrastructure while creating local jobs
·
Promote more balanced
housing markets
The
event is free but you must register in advance to reserve your seat. Register at www.buildingonepa.org or by emailing name, title, organizational
affiliation, address, phone and email to info@buildingonepa.org. To defray the cost of the event, we are
accepting donations. Suggested donation: $5-$10.
Public Forum in Delaware
County
Thursday, Sept. 27th at 1pm Media Borough
Hall Community
Center ; 3rd &
Jackson , Media ,
PA
The SEPA Budget Coalition will join with
Family and Community Service of Delaware County and PathWays PA to host a forum
on the state and federal budgets. Experts from the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center
Click here to RSVP.
2012 PASA-PSBA
School
Registration is Now Open! Hershey Lodge & Convention Center, Hershey, PA
www.psba.org/workshops/school-leadership-conference/
Registration is Now Open! Hershey Lodge & Convention Center, Hershey, PA
www.psba.org/workshops/school-leadership-conference/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.