“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
cyber charter schools made AYP for 2012.
Most have never made AYP.
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
PA Cyber Charter PSSA AYP 2005 - 2012 from PDE
Updated September 26, 2012
Of 12 PA cyber charters only 1 made AYP for 2012; only 2 made AYP for 2011, while 8 were in corrective action status.Pennsylvania
has authorized four new cyber charters that are scheduled to open this year.
Of 12 PA cyber charters only 1 made AYP for 2012; 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
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett
bombing public education into Stone Age
The
late Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay once famously proclaimed, "We should bomb
Vietnam
back into the Stone Age." He'll
never say it quite so colorfully, but I would argue that Gov. Tom Corbett is
engaged in bombing public education in Pennsylvania
into the Stone Age, and doing a pretty darned good job of it.
I've
been trying for weeks to come up with a good vehicle for writing a satirical
column on Corbett, his state budget cuts for education, Pennsylvania 's charter school mess, dropping
test scores and other manifestations of his carpet-bombing campaign. I've
discovered that the reality of what is happening to public education in Pennsylvania is wackier
than anything I could make up.
These legislative guides from Education Voters PA are a great
resource – for each county they list your state senators and state
representatives along with their contact information, committee assignments and
the school districts that they represent.
Education Voters PA September 26, 2012
Education Voters PA County
Legislative Guides
Available
Dear Friends and Allies,
We have now created, and have made available on our website, Legislative Guides for all ofPennsylvania 's 67 counties! These Legislative Guides can be extremely helpful tools in
engaging your constituents around legislative education advocacy. They include
pictures, contact information (local and Harrisburg
offices), committee appointments and a list of school districts within each legislative district.
Please feel free to share this resource with your networks and email lists and post on your social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.). We'd like as many people as possible to have access to this information, because after all, the more people know how to communicate with policymakers the more they will, and the closer we'll come to our shared goal of providing a quality education for every child inPennsylvania !
Please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments.
We have now created, and have made available on our website, Legislative Guides for all of
Please feel free to share this resource with your networks and email lists and post on your social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.). We'd like as many people as possible to have access to this information, because after all, the more people know how to communicate with policymakers the more they will, and the closer we'll come to our shared goal of providing a quality education for every child in
A full list of legislative guides can be viewed and downloaded
HERE: http://www.educationvoterspa.org/index.php/site/take-action/legislative-guide7/
Philly District: Closings could mean end of neighborhood
assignment, middle schools
thenotebook on
Sep 25 2012
By Benjamin Herold for
NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner
In order to close up to one-fifth of the city's
traditional public schools by the fall of 2013, Philadelphia District officials
are considering some dramatic steps, including a move away from
assigning students to schools based on their home address.
Also on the table are eliminating traditional
middle schools and closing some poor-performing schools located in adequate
facilities in order to preserve stronger academic programs elsewhere. All told,
as many as 57 schools could be shuttered over the next few years.
Philly district seeks input on which schools to close
By Kristen A. Graham Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: Wed, Sep.
26, 2012 , 8:05 AM
The Philadelphia
School District is
preparing to close roughly 40 schools in June, and officials want your opinion
on how they should pick which ones to shutter.
Really.
Missed the
Delco Times Live from the Newsroom webcast tackling the trouble with PSSA numbers? Here
is the replay
School
districts around the state get hammered this time of year when the
PSSA numbers come through. What are
the solutions to using standardized testing to measure how students are
progressing? Are these tests culturally biased?
We welcomed Upper Darby Assistant Superintendent Dan McGarry and Haverford School Board member Larry Feinberg and Liam Carey, a student atHaverford Middle School , to the big table to talk
all things PSSA.
We welcomed Upper Darby Assistant Superintendent Dan McGarry and Haverford School Board member Larry Feinberg and Liam Carey, a student at
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 26, 2012
Contact:Anne E. Casey Foundation Sue Lin Chong
Child Poverty Rates Increase
in 44 of 50 Largest U.S.
Cities Between 2005 and 2011
New American Community
Survey data available in the Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT Data Center
Over the same period, the national percentage of
children living in poverty — or below 100 percent of the federal poverty level
(FPL) — rose from 19 to 23 percent, or an increase of about 3 million children
from 2005 to 2011. The 2011 federal poverty level was about $23,000 for a
family of four.
A people’s education
platform
With the presidential election approaching and
the recent Chicago
teachers strike, it seems like a good time for the following post, a “people’s
platform” for education, or what Americans really want from their public
schools. It was written by Nancy Flanagan, an education consultant and blogger
at Education Week Teacher, and Don Bartalo, a retired superintendent who now
works as an instructional coach and is also an author.
Are the untested Common Core Standards an homage
to Soviet style central planning?
Who’s backing the standards push? The Gates Foundation is funding common core
parent outreach; the Walton Foundation is funding press coverage of “parent
empowerment issues”
COMMON CORE: Standards Backers Seek Out Support
of Parents
Education Week By Sean Cavanagh
Published
Online: September
25, 2012
Backers of the common-core academic
standards have worked for years to secure the support of a diverse collection
of elected officials, academic scholars, and school employees. Now they're
ramping up efforts to court a different and potentially critically important
audience: parents.
A number of national organizations
are churning out written and online materials, videos, and even public service
announcements aimed at explaining the Common Core State Standards to parents,
in plain language, and building support for the new guidelines, which have been
adopted by 46 states and the District
of Columbia .
With this
huge uniform national Common Core market we can re-brand those laid-off Dell
tech support workers in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chandigarh and Gurgaon as “Common
Core Content Associates” put them under contract to Walmart and give them all
the online scripts that they will need to coach our students….heck, we won’t
even need teachers…
COMMON CORE: Preparing for Common Core, Firm
Acquires School Improvement Companies
Schools aren't the only entities gearing up for
the Common Core State Standards. Weld North, a private equity firm founded by a
former Kaplan executive, purchased two school-improvement and
professional-development companies, Editure and JBHM Education Group, the
company announced Monday. The deal, worth around $50 million and for a 100
percent stake in each company, will create a national school consulting group
that will compete for an increasing flow of money dedicated to school
improvement and preparation for the Common Core State Standards adopted by all
but four states.
NPR’s Movie Review: 'Won't Back
Down' Takes A Too-Easy Way Out
NPR.org
Movie Review by ELLA TAYLOR
September 26,
2012
……All cynicism aside, the movie taps a rich vein
of accumulated public frustration at the continued failure of government to
provide decent access to public schools for all American children. Aside from
religion itself, no subject lends itself more to arm-waving entrenched
positions than education. And perhaps a movie aimed at a mainstream audience
can't help but distill the discussion into culture-war sound bites.
For all its strenuous feints at fair play,
though,Won't Back Down is something less honorable — a
propaganda piece with blame on its mind. Directed with reasonable competence by
Daniel Barnz from a speechifying screenplay he co-wrote with Brin Hill, the
movie is funded by Walden Media, a company owned by conservative mogul Philip
Anschutz, who advocates creationist curricula in schools. Walden also
co-produced the controversial pro-charter school documentaryWaiting for Superman, so the outfit is
not without axes to grind.
…..But if you were to wave a magic wand that
replaced unions and bureaucrats with a rainbow coalition of local parents and
educators coming together to create the kind of school they want, the result
would be chaos, not to mention an end to the tattered remains of our common
culture
In
Texas , Hudson
ISD embracing a new vision
By MARY ANN WHITEKER/For The Lufkin
News September 12, 2012 1:15 am
Hudson ISD has embraced a “New
Vision” for the district. This vision will focus on five key goals: digital
learning, 21st century learning standards (academic and career), multiple forms
of assessment, accountability that is not focused on one state test, and
transforming our school into a 21st century learning organization.
We will no longer purchase
banners or plaques that imply we are a state recognized or exemplary campus
based on one state mandated test! Parents will not see STAAR worksheets or test
preparation materials. Teachers will not be referencing the tests in their
classrooms. Rigor, purpose, interest, talent, creativity, problem solving,
innovation, real-world application, digital access, collaboration will
transform classrooms into centers that promote students owning their learning
rather than learning for a test!
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 for a public meeting to call on
state and national policy-makers to act on bi-partisan solutions to the
pressing problems impacting our communities.
·
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 : What State and
Federal Budget Changes Mean for DelCo Service Providers
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
will offer a look ahead. Congress
faces dramatic budget choices that will have a deep impact on our ability to
provide services DelCo families depend on. Governor Corbett is also at a
choice point, and there are some signs of a course correction in PA this coming
year. Please RSVP for the forum:
Click here to RSVP.
2012 PASA-PSBA
School Leadership
Conference Oct. 16-19, 2012
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/
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