Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Folmer to chair PA Senate Education Committee?


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1750 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, education professors, 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
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Allentown school directors question charter school applicant's ties to Gülen Movement

Board members are concerned that engineering academy's applicants have ties to Gülen Movement. Hearing set for Tuesday.

December 16, 2012|By Steve Esack, Of The Morning Call
After three misfires, a group of charter school advocates is seeking a fourth shot at getting approval for a publicly funded school in Allentown dedicated to science and technology.
They say they have new trustees, a new name and a new, better curriculum. So the Allentown School Board should not reject the application for Allentown Engineering Academy Charter School as it did in 2005-06, 2009-10 and last school year.

Corbett scoops Scarnati on Senate Ed committee announcement

Philly.com Commonwealth Confidential Blog by Amy Worden December 17, 2012, 9:48 AM
In the words of one popular modern-day songstress: "Oops. I did it again."
Gov. Corbett on Friday scooped Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R., Jefferson) on a key committee chairman announcement.  Corbett sent a congratulatory tweet to Sen. Mike Folmer (R., Lebanon), a school voucher supporter, who apparently is at least in line to replace retiring Sen. Jeff Piccola (R., Dauphin) as chairman of the powerful education committee.
It seems the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association broke the news first, according to the online news service Capitolwire with Corbett retweeting them.
The only problem was, Scarnati had not yet made any announcement of committee chairs for the 2013-2014 session.

More questions for Hite at second forum on school closings
Submitted by thenotebook on Mon, 12/17/2012 - 23:21 By Connie Langland
More students, teachers and community members found their voices Monday night at the District’s second of four community forums on the looming school closings. They challenged Superintendent William Hite on whether the plan makes sense, questioning whether it assures student success and safety and supports programs that are working, even flourishing.

Teacher Heroes
Yinzercation Blog December 17, 2012
I didn’t want to send my kids to school this morning. After the shootings on Friday at Sandy Hook elementary, I suspect like many parents across the country I just wanted to keep my kids by my side and not let them out of my sight. With the horrifying news all over the media this weekend, I talked to our boys a little about what happened, mostly to assure them that they would be OK in their own school.
“Mr. Sikorski keeps your school very safe,” I told them. That’s their principal, and as I said it, I had to fight back tears thinking about the Sandy Hook principal who literally gave her life for her students. “Your teachers care about you and will keep you safe,” I reassured them.

School security articles available at American School Board Journal

NSBA School Board News Today by Kathleen Vail December 17th, 2012
In her 2006 article, “A Measured Approach,” which was written after several school shootings by individuals with no connection to the schools,American School Board Journal editor Naomi Dillon wrote: “From fostering a positive and inviting school climate, to teaching and modeling good behavior, to encouraging students and staff to be the eyes and ears of the building, schools can do a lot to make themselves unsuitable targets for unstable individuals.”
The horrific events in Newtown, Conn., have most of us looking for answers again. As school leaders, you are searching anew for information on security – disaster planning, safeguards, and the kind of prevention described in Dillon’s article. ASBJ can help provide that information for you: The magazine has published many articles on school safety for school leaders over the years. Usually only open to subscribers or available for purchase, the articles will be open to the public at our topical archive, Safe From Harm.

Obama, Boehner move closer to ‘cliff’ deal

Washington Post by Lori Montgomery and Paul Kane, Published: December 17

President Obama and House Speaker John A. Boehner moved close to agreement Monday on a plan to avert the year-end “fiscal cliff,” but they had yet to clear several critical hurdles, including winning the support of wary House Republicans.
Obama and Boehner (R-Ohio) huddled at the White House for 45 minutes Monday morning for their third conversation in the past five days. Later, Boehner met for an hour at the Capitol with his leadership team in advance of a briefing Tuesday morning for the entire House GOP that could be a crucial test of Boehner’s ability to sell the deal.

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