Daily
postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1700
Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators,
legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, PTO/PTA officers, parent
advocates, 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
First Monday of December
Although publicly
funded with taxpayer dollars, there is no comparable affirmation or oath
required of Pennsylvania
The term of office for Pennsylvania
School Director Oath of Office (24 PS
3-321): I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey and defend
the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this
Commonwealth, and that I will discharge the duties of my office with fidelity.
“In the current fiscal environment of school
districts faced with exploding pension costs, the notion that charter schools
are getting a double-dip advantage is unthinkable.”
Editorial:
Charter school funding reform must address pension
There
are several reasons why laws regulating charter schools should be examined and
addressed by Pennsylvania
As explained in a recent news article by the Pa. Independent, charter schools get excess pension contributions because the current funding formulas provide contributions both through public school allocations and a state reimbursement
As explained in a recent news article by the Pa. Independent, charter schools get excess pension contributions because the current funding formulas provide contributions both through public school allocations and a state reimbursement
“Education looks to be
the biggest area that is impacted. Title I, which is the mean federal education
program that targets lower income students, we're looking at potentially [a cut
of] $43 million, or $70 per-student. The other big one is special education. We
have 271,000 school-aged students who are served by special education in Pennsylvania
Sequestration: Pennsylvania
In a Q&A, PA Budget Secretary Charles Zogby talks about impact
of Congress' inaction
9:22 p.m. EST, December 1, 2012
Zogby is the Corbett administration's budget
secretary, which means he's in charge of making the numbers add up, even as
Congressional leaders and the Obama White House struggle to reach a
deficit-cutting agreement before year's end, avoiding a series of mandatory
spending cuts and tax hikes that would cut the deficit for them.
A report released earlier this month by the
state's Independent Fiscal Office projects a tax increase as high as $22
billion for Pennsylvania
Zogby took a few minutes this week to talk about
what going off the cliff might mean for the average Pennsylvania
taxpayer and the challenges of preparing a new state budget while Washington
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-zogby-fiscal-cliff-20121201,0,6673116.story
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Louisiana Judge Rules
Voucher Program Unconstitutional
If you missed Saturday’s
Keystone State Education Coalition postings…
Editorial: The pension crisis: Gov. Corbett must signal the reforms he
wants
With the release of a
report Monday on the condition of state employee pension funds, Gov. Tom
Corbett kicked off an important conversation that is long overdue. It will be
up to him to determine whether the discussion leads nowhere or to a long-term
resolution of Pennsylvania
Keystone exams cause confusion, angst for
students and faculty
Some high school students will start taking the state's latest
standardized tests this week.
12:01
a.m. EST, December 3, 2012
Since September, Allen High School
"It's been two years since we took
biology," Emily, 16, said.
"It goes into my transcripts," said
Stephanie, 16. "I didn't want colleges to think I didn't try."
Emily and Ngan agreed there could be
consequences to not scoring well. But they all were mistaken.
This week, for the first time, students across Pennsylvania
Meet Ms. Cook, 2012 teacher
of the year, rated unsatisfactory due to VAM scores.
Tweet by Arthur Goldstein @TeacherArthurG
Duquesne School
By Tribune-Review Published: Thursday, November
29, 2012 , 9:04 p.m.
The Duquesne City School Board on Thursday approved the appointment of Paul Long as the chief recovery officer for the financially strapped school district.
The Duquesne City School Board on Thursday approved the appointment of Paul Long as the chief recovery officer for the financially strapped school district.
Education Secretary Ron
Tomalis appointed Long, 63, to the position on Nov. 16. Under Act 141, Long has
until Dec. 16 to develop a fiscal and academic plan for the district, which
members of the school board can accept or reject. The board will make a
decision on his plan at a meeting scheduled for Dec. 30. Tomalis can approve
extensions for both those deadlines, if necessary.
In a presentation to the
board, Long explained he will spend the next few weeks collecting data and
meeting with community members. He plans to form a 15- to 20-member advisory
council and encouraged anyone interested to contact him at paulblongcro@comcast.net.
If the board rejects
Long’s plan, a receiver selected by Allegheny
County Common Pleas Court
What Works: Students get
in the groove with Tune Up Philly
Samantha Byles, Inquirer
Staff Writer POSTED: Friday, November 30, 2012 , 6:57 AM
For Delia Raab-Snyder,
the process of learning and playing an instrument is about community.
"We wanted to make
music a social activity," said Raab-Snyder, "because it is."
The director of Tune Up
Philly, an after-school music-enrichment program, said: "It shouldn't be
something that you sit in your room all day and do by yourself. We want future
students to see that their friends are playing and that those friends are
playing for the entire school at the concert and then performing for the church
next door, and say, 'If they can do it, then so can I.' "
Tune Up Philly is one of
five ensembles of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, an independent outreach
program.
The concept is adapted
from the Venezuelan music program El Sistema. Led by Jose Antonio Abreu, the
program was developed to teach low-income children how to play and perform
orchestra-style music. Famed conductor Gustavo Dudamel, who leads the Los
Angeles Philharmonic and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela,
attended El Sistema.
"If
his agenda is voter ID and killing public education, we're not going to be part
of that," said House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny.
Corbett talks
bipartisanship; Dems wait for proof
MARC LEVY , The Associated Press
Philly.com POSTED: Saturday,
December 1, 2012 ,
11:27 AM
HARRISBURG, Pa. -
Republican Gov. Tom Corbett is gearing up for his next two years in office and
a 2014 re-election campaign by stressing bipartisanship, even though he
acknowledges that he needs to do a better job of practicing what he preaches.
Many of Corbett's major
legislative accomplishments since he became governor in January 2011 attracted
just a handful of Democratic votes, if that, in a Legislature heavily
controlled by the GOP.
Corbett still honing relationship with Pa.
By Laura Olson / Post-Gazette Harrisburg December 2, 2012
12:08 am
During extended
interviews last week, Mr. Corbett described his relationship with the lawmakers
as one that still is "learning, growing."
The notoriously
tight-lipped prosecutor-turned-chief-executive says he is talking to
legislators more, and even indicated that Democrats may be included in the
closed-door budget process
5 states will increase some class time
Post Gazette By Josh Lederman / The
Associated Press December
3, 2012 12:19 am
Five states were to
announce today that they will add at least 300 hours of learning time to the
calendar in some schools starting in 2013. Colorado ,
Connecticut , Massachusetts ,
New York and Tennessee
will take part in the initiative, which is intended to boost student
achievement and make U.S.
“If
you’re looking at the competitiveness of a region, the most important thing a
region can do is to focus on education. And this use of incentives is really
transferring money from education to businesses.”
As
Companies Seek Tax Deals, Governments Pay High Price
New York Times By LOUISE STORY Published: December 1, 2012 670
Comments
In the end, the money that towns
across America
When the automaker released a list
of factories it was closing during bankruptcy three years ago, communities that
had considered themselves G.M.’s business partners were among the targets.
For years, mayors and governors
anxious about local jobs had agreed to G.M.’s demands for cash rewards, free
buildings, worker training and lucrative tax breaks. As late as 2007, the
company was telling local officials that these sorts of incentives would
“further G.M.’s strong relationship” with them and be a “win/win situation,”
according to town council notes from one Michigan
Yet at least 50 properties on the
2009 liquidation list were in towns and states that had awarded incentives,
adding up to billions in taxpayer dollars, according to data compiled by The
New York Times. Some officials,
desperate to keep G.M., offered more. Ohio was
proposing a $56 million deal to save its Moraine plant, and Wisconsin ,
fighting for its Janesville
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