Friday, March 30, 2012

State wants manure management plans


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1500 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.

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

 

***   APRIL FOOLS EDITION   ***

 

Thanks and a tip of the hat to Mr. Scaife and his Pittsburgh Trib  - We just couldn’t find a better actual in-print lead for this Keystone State Education Coalition April Fool’s edition...LAF

State wants manure management plans

Pittsburgh Tribune By R. A. Monti, VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
"I have to tell them when, where and how often I apply manure."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/s_788664.html

PDE considering application from Perzel, Fumo, DeWeese, Veon, Feese, Mellow, Orie to open new Keystone Leadership Cyber Charter

Bi-Partisan School’s Focus to be political science and personal finance.

In an interview last month, K12’s Chief Executive Officer Ronald J. Packard said, “For reasons I don’t fully understand, there are a lot of people who don’t like for-profit companies in education.” 
Americans becoming increasingly alarmed about “Green Slime” associated with school reform movement.
After 20 years of pervasive school reform efforts, Americans are expressing growing concerns that school reform is not helping kids, but just concentrating and moving money to different adults.

Duncan steps down to take Head Coaching Job at Faber College; Obama appoints Darling-Hammond to Secretary of Ed Post
Signals an end to 10 year Federal “March to the Sea” program for public education

Charter and Cyber Funding Reform tied to “Limited” Voucher Pilot Program in Omnibus School Bill as Part of PA Budget Deal
Keep an eye on this one, it might not be a joke.

Does School Choice Really Reduce Erectile Dysfunction?
Researchers at University of Arkansas and University of Wisconsin provide evidence that school voucher researchers stand up for privatizing public education.

Florida Legislature passes controversial measure requiring public school teachers to wear visible “T”
New ALEC-sponsored school improvement measure would only apply to teachers out in public; Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania considering similar measures.

PSERs Executive Director Jeff Clay says “gee – this is great, I’m going to Disneyland!”
Gureghian reportedly offers proposal to completely eliminate PSERs pension tsunami
It is rumored that Corbett campaign donor and charter school magnate Vahan Gureghian has proposed to cover the cost of projected PSERs spike through 2025 in exchange for assuming control of 10 failing school districts and the Philadelphia Inquirer dropping its right-to-know request for his salary.

Walton and Gates announce 10 year $100 Billion National Effort to Fund Early Childhood Literacy Programs
Saying that kids can’t learn if they can’t read, they acknowledge that 20 years of “School Reform” spending has not been successful; they intend to spend money on something that actually works

Thursday, March 29, 2012

School board resolution asks state for more funding


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1500 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.

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

 

Lehigh County: Parkland school board resolution asks state for more funding

A resolution seeks increase in wake of last year's $900 million cut and proposed reduction this year.

By Marion Callahan, Of The Morning Call March 28, 2012
The Parkland School Board is joining districts across Pennsylvania to make its wish for more state money official.  The board approved a resolution Tuesday calling for the General Assembly to "take legislative action" and invest more money in Pennsylvania schools. Gov. Tom Corbett's 2012-13 budget proposal reduces public school funding by $100 million at a time when districts are still reeling from a $900 million cut in 2011-12.  The resolution states that the proposed budget for Grades K-12 maintains basic education funding at 2008-09 levels, though costs to provide mandated services continue to rise.

Dauphin County: Derry Township School District administrators warn of danger down the line if hard decisions aren't made

By NICK MALAWSKEY, The Patriot-News  March 28, 2012
As public school districts across the midstate begin building their budgets for the next school year, a slow, steady song is emerging.  It contains three main beats; deficits, staff furloughs and program cutbacks. 

Spend money on Pa. education, not a voter ID law

Allentown Morning Call Letter to the Editor by Don Wingate March 26, 2012
I would like to know where is the estimated $8 million going to come from to fund this voter photo identification law. I went to a meeting March 8 at Lehigh Carbon Community College where a state senator and two state representatives reported that estimated cost to a large crowd of concerned Pennsylvanians who are tired of the devastating cuts being made to the education system. Last year, more than $900 million was cut from education. This year Gov. Corbett's plan is set to cut another $100 million for public education programs which in turn will make last year's cut permanent.

Vitalistic charter school chief resigns, alleging continued financial mismanagement

She alleges continuing financial mismanagement at Vitalistic in Bethlehem.

By Devon Lash and Steve Esack, Of The Morning Call
10:18 p.m. EDT, March 28, 2012
The top administrator of a troubled Bethlehem charter school resigned Wednesday, alleging that school officials continue to mismanage tax dollars even as two local school districts investigate its finances and loss of a state license to provide students withmental health care.

CityPaper Naked City Blog
Posted by Daniel Denvir WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2012
A flyer attacking State Rep. James Roebuck for opposing school vouchers is hitting mailboxes throughout his West Philadelphia district. “James Roebuck blocked kids from attending the schools of their choice,” is printed in big red letters above an unflattering photo of Roebuck with his mouth hanging open.

PA Statewide Bake Sale for Public Education
The Week of April 9th is Bake Sale for Public Education Week!!
That’s right, the week of April 9th, parents and community groups will be hosting local mock “Bake Sales” throughout the Commonwealth to send a message to Governor Corbett and the State Legislature:  There are NOT enough cookies in the state of Pennsylvania to protect our children from the damage that is BEING DONE to the Commonwealth’s schools!  This is an opportunity for Pennsylvanians to raise their voices together in support of Pennsylvania’s public schools.
Learn more about the these mock bake sales and how you can host one in your own community.  I’m sure some of you are thinking:  Why a bake sale?  Send us any questions you may have.  Send a message to your lawmakers by joining other parents and community members across Pennsylvania who oppose funding cuts to public schools.   CLICK HERE to sign up for this event!

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 03/28/2012

Ravitch: The toll of school reform on public education

Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss
This was written by education historian Diane Ravitch for her Bridging Differences blog, which she co-authors with Deborah Meier on theEducation Week website. The item was first published on March 6. In their blog, Ravitch and Meier exchange letters about what matters most in education. Ravitch, a research professor at New York University, is author of “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” a critique of the flaws in the modern school reform movement that she just updated.
By Diane Ravitch
There comes a time when you look at the rug on the floor, the one you've seen many times, and you see a pattern that you had never noticed before. You may have seen this squiggle or that flower, but you did not see the pattern into which the squiggles and flowers and trails of ivy combined.  In American education, we can now discern the pattern on the rug.

Hired Guns on Astroturf: How to Buy and Sell School Reform

SPRING 2012  Dissent Magazine By Joanne Barkan
For Barkan’s other writing on the self-proclaimed “education reform movement,” click here, here, and here.
If you want to change government policy, change the politicians who make it. The implications of this truism have now taken hold in the market-modeled “education reform movement.” As a result, the private funders and nonprofit groups that run the movement have overhauled their strategy. They’ve gone political as never before—like the National Rifle Association or Big Pharma or (ed reformers emphasize) the teachers’ unions. 

UPDATED DAILY – STATEWIDE PRESS COVERAGE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGETS
The PA House Democratic Caucus has been tracking daily press coverage on school district budgets statewide:

http://www.pahouse.com/school_funding_2011cuts.asp?utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pahouse.com%2fschool_funding_2011cuts.asp&utm_campaign=Crisis+in+Public+Education


Stand Up for Public Education!
Wed., April 11, 2012 7:00 pm Town Hall Meeting on Education at Bucknell University
Meeting with legislators from Columbia, Northumberland, Montour, Snyder & Union counties
Where: The Forum, Room 272, Elaine Langone Center Bucknell University 701 Moore Avenue Lewisburg, PA 17837
7 p.m. – School directors and administrators meet with legislators (PSBA Legislative Meeting)
7:30 p.m. – Town Hall Meeting on Education – Please invite your PTO/PTA and other parent/ community groups to join us!  The purpose of the 7 p.m. meeting is for school directors and administrators to discuss the impact of the governor’s 2011-12 budget proposal on their school districts. At 7:30 p.m., the meeting will be open to all interested parents and other members of the community who would like to come out in support of their public schools and ask their legislators to take their message back to Harrisburg.
Please RSVP By April 4, to Kathy Swope, PSBA Region 6 director, at (570) 523-3336 or email swope@ptd.net

Stand Up for Public Education!

Thursday April 12th, 7:00 pm Allegheny County Legislative Forum

WHERE: North Hills Senior High School 53 Rochester Road Pittsburgh, PA 15229
WHEN: Thursday, April 12, 2012 @ 7:00pm
REGISTER for this event: NorthernAreaLegislativeForum.eventbrite.com
All public education stakeholders are invited to this special event, which will be moderated by the League of Women Voters. Join us on Thursday, April 12th at North Hills Senior High School at 7PM for an evening with several key state legislators from Allegheny County and other education experts who will help explain local impacts. State Representatives and Senators representing surrounding school districts have been invited to attend and discuss their positions on public education as they head into negotiations over next year’s budget.


Has your board considered this draft resolution yet?

PSBA Sample Board Resolution regarding the budget

Please consider bringing this sample resolution to the members of your board.

http://www.psba.org/issues-advocacy/issues-research/state-budget/Budget_resolution-02212012.doc


PA Partnerships for Children – Take action on the Governor’s Budget
The governor’s budget plan cuts funding for proven programs like Child Care Works, Keystone STARS and the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship program, Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program. These are among the most cost-effective investments we can make in education.  Gov. Corbett’s budget plan also runs counter to a pledge he made when he ran for governor in 2010. He acknowledged the benefits of early childhood education and promised to increase funding to double the number of children who would benefit from early learning opportunities.
We need your help to tell lawmakers: if you cut these programs – you close the door to early learning! Click here to tell your state legislators to fund early childhood education programs at the same level they approved for this year’s budget.

Education Voters PA – Take action on the Governor’s Budget
The Governor’s proposal starts the process, but it isn’t all decided: our legislators can play an important role in standing up for our priorities.  Last year, public outcry helped prevent nearly $300 million in additional cuts.  We heard from the Governor, and we know where he stands.  Now, we need to ask our legislators: what is your position on supporting our schools?

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Follow the Voucher Money: AFC/Students First PAC funding 2 week media blanket targeting Senator Vance who voted against SB1


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1500 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.

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

Follow the Voucher Money: AFC/Students First PAC funding 2 week media blanket targeting Senator Vance who voted against SB1
According to their campaign finance report, the pro-voucher Students First PAC received $1 Million during February and March from Betsy Devos’ American Federation for Children, and contributed $350,000 to the Citizens Alliance for Pennsylvania PAC on Feb. 28th.  Here’s how it is apparently being used to target Republican Senator Pat Vance who dared to vote against voucher bill SB1:
PoliticsPA reported in their March 15th Morning Buzz:
SD-31: Conservative group Citizens Alliance for Pa. is making good on a threat against Pat Vance (R-Cumberland). They’re up for the next 2 weeks, 39 times per day, with a 60-second spot on WHP 580, the conservative talk radio station in the midstate (listen to the ad here). It smacks Vance for voting for compromise budgets during the Rendell administration. She faces a primary challenge from attorney Andrew Shaw of North Middleton, who the York Daily Record interviewed.

Senator Vance represents the following school districts:

BIG SPRING SD
CAMP HILL SD
CARLISLE AREA SD
CUMBERLAND VALLEY SD
DOVER AREA SD
EAST PENNSBORO AREA SD
MECHANICSBURG AREA SD
NORTHERN YORK COUNTY SD
SHIPPENSBURG AREA SD
SOUTH MIDDLETON SD
WEST SHORE SD

Lycoming County: Jersey Shore School board may cut 7 from staff; raise taxes and still be looking at a $111K deficit

March 27, 2012
By JOSEPH STENDER - jstender@sungazette.com , Williamsport Sun-Gazette
JERSEY SHORE - Facing a deficit of about $875,000, the Jersey Shore Area School Board was informed of a recommendation to cut seven district positions at Monday's meeting.
The district also would raise property taxes to the Act 1 index of .339 mills - a property assessed at a value of $100,000 would pay an additional $33.90.
After all of the cuts and tax increase recommended by Emery, the district still would be looking at a deficit of about $111,000.

Pa. Senate Education Committee shows its disapproval to Gov. Tom Corbett's proposed changes to the Keystone exams

By JAN MURPHY, The Patriot-News  Published: Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 2:30 PM
The Senate Education Committee showed how serious its opposition is to Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposal to change the Keystone Exam state testing program.
The committee passed two bills intended to give lawmakers some leverage in ongoing talks with the Corbett administration, which wants to trim the number of course-specific Keystone exams being developed from 10 to 3. It is proposing to keep the Keystone exams in Algebra I, biology and literature, but drop the ones proposed in social studies

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 03/27/2012

Largest charter network in U.S.: Gulen Schools tied to Turkey

Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss
This was written by Sharon Higgins, an independent researcher and blogger based in California. She is also a founding member of Parents Across America.
By Sharon Higgins
The largest charter school network in the United States is operated by people in and associated with the Gulen Movement (GM), a secretive and controversial Turkish religious sect. With 135 schools enrolling more than45,000 students, this network is substantially larger than KIPP, the well-known charter management organization with only 109 schools. A lack of awareness about this situation persists despite it being addressed in anational paper and in articles about Gulen charter schools in Utah (alsohere), Arizona, (also here), Illinois, Tennessee, Pennsylvania (also here),Indiana, Oklahoma (and here), Texas (also here), Arkansas, Louisiana(also here), New Jersey, Georgia, and North Carolina. It was alsoreported that the FBI and the Departments of Labor and Education are investigating practices at these schools.

“….without regulation, transparency, and accountability, private charter schools are free to soak up enormous public resources with stunningly poor educational results.”
Soaking the Public
Yinzercation Blog — MARCH 27, 2012
At the White House education policy session on Friday, the Superintendent of the Lancaster School District, Pedro Rivera, offered an idea that received immediate support from those in the room. “Put a cap on for-profit charter schools,” he said, “just like the federal government is now doing with insurance companies.”

UPDATED DAILY – STATEWIDE PRESS COVERAGE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGETS
The PA House Democratic Caucus has been tracking daily press coverage on school district budgets statewide:

http://www.pahouse.com/school_funding_2011cuts.asp?utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pahouse.com%2fschool_funding_2011cuts.asp&utm_campaign=Crisis+in+Public+Education


Stand Up for Public Education!
Wed., April 11, 2012 7:00 pm Town Hall Meeting on Education at Bucknell University
Meeting with legislators from Columbia, Northumberland, Montour, Snyder & Union counties
Where: The Forum, Room 272, Elaine Langone Center Bucknell University 701 Moore Avenue Lewisburg, PA 17837
7 p.m. – School directors and administrators meet with legislators (PSBA Legislative Meeting)
7:30 p.m. – Town Hall Meeting on Education – Please invite your PTO/PTA and other parent/ community groups to join us!
The purpose of the 7 p.m. meeting is for school directors and administrators to discuss the impact of the governor’s 2011-12 budget proposal on their school districts. At 7:30 p.m., the meeting will be open to all interested parents and other members of the community who would like to come out in support of their public schools and ask their legislators to take their message back to Harrisburg.
Please RSVP By April 4, to Kathy Swope, PSBA Region 6 director, at (570) 523-3336 or email swope@ptd.net

Stand Up for Public Education!

Thursday April 12th, 7:00 pm Allegheny County Legislative Forum

WHERE: North Hills Senior High School 53 Rochester Road Pittsburgh, PA 15229
WHEN: Thursday, April 12, 2012 @ 7:00pm
REGISTER for this event: NorthernAreaLegislativeForum.eventbrite.com
All public education stakeholders are invited to this special event, which will be moderated by the League of Women Voters. Join us on Thursday, April 12th at North Hills Senior High School at 7PM for an evening with several key state legislators from Allegheny County and other education experts who will help explain local impacts. State Representatives and Senators representing surrounding school districts have been invited to attend and discuss their positions on public education as they head into negotiations over next year’s budget.


Arcadia University's Education Department presents:
Panel: Unpacking the PA School Budget: What Does This Mean for Me?
March 29, 2012 from 5:30pm to 8pm at Arcadia University
Website or Map: http://www.arcadia.edu/direct…
Join us for a panel discussion that will delve into details of the Commonwealth's School Budget as announced by the Governor in February 2012.  This event will tell you how the budget will affect your schools, community, and children.
Please RSVP by March 12 to dressm@arcadia.edu

Has your board considered this draft resolution yet?

PSBA Sample Board Resolution regarding the budget

Please consider bringing this sample resolution to the members of your board.

http://www.psba.org/issues-advocacy/issues-research/state-budget/Budget_resolution-02212012.doc


PA Partnerships for Children – Take action on the Governor’s Budget
The governor’s budget plan cuts funding for proven programs like Child Care Works, Keystone STARS and the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship program, Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program. These are among the most cost-effective investments we can make in education.  Gov. Corbett’s budget plan also runs counter to a pledge he made when he ran for governor in 2010. He acknowledged the benefits of early childhood education and promised to increase funding to double the number of children who would benefit from early learning opportunities.
We need your help to tell lawmakers: if you cut these programs – you close the door to early learning! Click here to tell your state legislators to fund early childhood education programs at the same level they approved for this year’s budget.

Education Voters PA – Take action on the Governor’s Budget
The Governor’s proposal starts the process, but it isn’t all decided: our legislators can play an important role in standing up for our priorities.  Last year, public outcry helped prevent nearly $300 million in additional cuts.  We heard from the Governor, and we know where he stands.  Now, we need to ask our legislators: what is your position on supporting our schools?

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

If we can’t afford to fund Pennsylvania public schools why is anybody even talking about vouchers?


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1500 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.

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

Yesterday the Keystone State Education Coalition Blog got its 50,000th hit.  Thank you for your continuing interest and support.

Central Dauphin School Board plans to cut 84 jobs, raise taxes to balance budget

By MARY KLAUS, The Patriot-News  Published: Monday, March 26, 2012, 11:43 PM
The Central Dauphin School District must slash jobs and programs and raise taxes to avoid bankruptcy, the school board was told Monday night.
Up to 84 employees, including 74 teachers, could lose their jobs, district officials said.
Middle schools would lose foreign language, family and consumer science programs, and kindergarten offerings including art, music, physical education and library would be eliminated.
Taxpayers in the 118-square-mile district could also expect a 3.3 percent property tax increase in the upcoming budget based on preliminary budget reports.

TIOGA County: SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS

Corbett’s budget puts the ‘hurt’ on Tioga County schools

March 25, 2012
By CHERYL R. CLARKE (cclarke@sungazette.com) , Williamsport Sun-Gazette
WELLSBORO - Tioga County school districts are not alone in trying to deal with a budget from Gov. Tom Corbett that threatens to leave both programs and staff out in the cold.
All three school district superintendents and business managers in Tioga County recently discussed their options should nothing change before the budget is passed in June.

Pittsburgh City schools learning to do more with less

By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette March 26, 2012 12:00 am
Cutting school budgets is in vogue these days, but Pittsburgh is trying to save money this fall by approaching cost-cutting from a different angle.
The first question is not cost but equity: What should all children have in the Pittsburgh Public Schools?  The second is: How can that be accomplished and save money?
The result is a plan -- now in its final stages of development -- that changes the way the district determines how much money each school gets, increases class sizes and is part of an expected $29.1 million in annual savings.

Chester County: Avon Grove School Board talks state mandates with legislators
By MARCELLA PEYRE-FERRY Journal Register News Service Posted: 03/26/12
PENN — Avon Grove school officials recently discussed their problems with unfunded state mandates and other requirements with state legislators.
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi and state Reps. John Lawrence and Chris Ross attended a March 22 Avon Grove School Board Meeting to discuss views on education and the state’s education budget.

Lawmakers seek clarity on Duquesne schools

By Rachel Weaver, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Sen. James Brewster said he and other legislators will meet this morning with Education Secretary Ron Tomalis to discuss the future of the embattled Duquesne City School District.
"The folks in Duquesne need to have clarity as to what's going on," said Brewster, D-McKeesport. "There are a lot of unanswered questions."
Since 2000, a state-appointed board has managed the district, which has struggled financially and academically. In October, the board sent a letter to parents stating it was unlikely Duquesne would continue to function in its current form beyond the 2011-12 school year.
Residents soon could learn what that means. The board has scheduled a meeting at 6 p.m. April 5 on the direction of the district.

UPDATED DAILY – STATEWIDE PRESS COVERAGE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGETS
As districts consider their preliminary budgets and we await the Governor’s February 7th budget announcement, the PA House Democratic Caucus has been tracking daily press coverage on school district budgets statewide:

http://www.pahouse.com/school_funding_2011cuts.asp?utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pahouse.com%2fschool_funding_2011cuts.asp&utm_campaign=Crisis+in+Public+Education


“Here’s what I want you to say,” ….. “Public schools are a public good.”
I told the White House to stop talking about failing schools as if they were the rule rather than the exception, which only serves to paint all public education with the same toxic brush. That’s not to say we shouldn’t fix problems where they occur, or focus on significant issues such as graduation rates for some populations. I believe we have to address trenchant disparities along lines of race, class, and gender. But we’ve got to shift the larger debate and start talking about the good that public education serves. Because public education is one of America’s great success stories. Because public education is the key to our children’s future. Because it’s for our common good.
What I Told the White House
Yinzercation Blog MARCH 26, 2012
You have five minutes to talk to the White House about something that you really care about – what are you going to say? I had this rare opportunity last Friday when the President’s Office of Public Engagement invited 150 community leaders from Pennsylvania to the White House for a briefing. Through my work with our grassroots public education movement and Yinzercation, I was invited to attend the White House with Education Voters PA and Keystone Progress.

John Kuhn Roars Back: Texans Rebel Against Testing

 Anthony Cody  
Texas has become a hotspot of rebellion against standardized testing. Earlier this year, state education commissioner Robert Scott compared test publishers to the military industrial complex. More than 100 school districts have passed a resolution saying standardized testing is "strangling" their schools. And on Saturday, several thousand Texans gathered at the state capitol in Austin for the Save Texas Schools rally. One of the speakers was a man we first heard at a similar protest more than a year ago, Superintendent John Kuhn.
Here is what Superintendent Kuhn had to say.

Tenn. Senate Passes Bill Allowing Anti-Evolution Talk in Classroom

Neatoday March 26, 2012 by twalker  
The Tennessee Senate has approved a bill that guarantees that teachers won’t be subject to discipline for challenging the science of evolution and climate change. The bill is being called a “monkey bill” by critics who say it promotes creationism in class. It was criticized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the National Center for Science Education. Source: The Wall Street Journal

New York Times OP-ED COLUMNIST

ALEC: Lobbyists, Guns and Money

By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: March 25, 2012
Many ALEC-drafted bills pursue standard conservative goals: union-busting, undermining environmental protection, tax breaks for corporations and the wealthy. ALEC seems, however, to have a special interest in privatization — that is, on turning the provision of public services, from schools to prisons, over to for-profit corporations. And some of the most prominent beneficiaries of privatization, such as the online education company K12 Inc. and the prison operator Corrections Corporation of America, are, not surprisingly, very much involved with the organization.
What this tells us, in turn, is that ALEC’s claim to stand for limited government and free markets is deeply misleading. To a large extent the organization seeks not limited government but privatized government, in which corporations get their profits from taxpayer dollars, dollars steered their way by friendly politicians. In short, ALEC isn’t so much about promoting free markets as it is about expanding crony capitalism.

NPR WBUR Boston Friday, March 23, 2012
Schools Abandon Textbooks To Go All iPad
Apple reports schools in more than 600 districts have bought iPads for all of their students. And it’s not happening just in wealthy suburbs. Schools in urban districts like New York City and Chicago are also handing out iPads.
In the Boston area, Burlington High School launched a one-to-one iPad program in the fall, providing a tablet for each student.  It cost the school about $500,000 for the devices, and the principal, Patrick Larkin, said the school paid for them within its existing budget.

“I will also give you the best advice I can, advice from the Nobel Prize-winning writer, Juan Ramón Jiménez. Ray Bradbury thought this was so important, he used it as the epigraph at the beginning of Fahrenheit 451: “When they give you lined paper, write the other way.”

About Those Tests I Gave You • An Open Letter to My Students

Rethinking Schools Spring 2012 By Ruth Ann Dandrea
Dear 8th Graders,
I’m sorry.  I didn’t know.
I spent last night perusing the 150-plus pages of grading materials provided by the state in anticipation of reading and evaluating your English Language Arts Exams this morning. I knew the test was pointless—that it has never fulfilled its stated purpose as a predictor of who would succeed and who would fail the English Regents in 11th grade. Any thinking person would’ve ditched it years ago. Instead, rather than simply give a test in 8th grade that doesn’t get kids ready for the test in 11th grade, the state opted to also give a test in 7th grade to get you ready for your 8th-grade test.
But we already knew all of that.  What I learned is that the test is also criminal.

Chester Upland's Stetser Elementary School students help first lady plant garden

WASHINGTON — Michelle Obama planted vegetables and plants at the White House with children from across the country as part of her broader initiative to promote healthy eating Monday.  The first lady was helped by school children from Stetser Elementary School in Chester, among others, in planting potatoes, spinach, broccoli, carrots, radishes and onions at her fourth annual spring planting.

Students' Basketball-Playing Robots Face Off at Rebound Rumble

 Bryan Toporek  
Worried that you won't be able to get your fill of youth basketball once the NCAA tournament wraps up next week?
Allow me to introduce you to the Rebound Rumble, the 2012 edition of the FIRST Robotics Competition. Ever since January, teams of high school students and volunteer engineers have gathered together to design robots created entirely to shoot basketballs into hoops.

Stand Up for Public Education!
Wed., April 11, 2012 7:00 pm Town Hall Meeting on Education at Bucknell University
Meeting with legislators from Columbia, Northumberland, Montour, Snyder & Union counties
Where: The Forum, Room 272, Elaine Langone Center Bucknell University 701 Moore Avenue Lewisburg, PA 17837
7 p.m. – School directors and administrators meet with legislators (PSBA Legislative Meeting)
7:30 p.m. – Town Hall Meeting on Education – Please invite your PTO/PTA and other parent/ community groups to join us!
The purpose of the 7 p.m. meeting is for school directors and administrators to discuss the impact of the governor’s 2011-12 budget proposal on their school districts. At 7:30 p.m., the meeting will be open to all interested parents and other members of the community who would like to come out in support of their public schools and ask their legislators to take their message back to Harrisburg.
Please RSVP By April 4, to Kathy Swope, PSBA Region 6 director, at (570) 523-3336 or email swope@ptd.net

Stand Up for Public Education!

Thursday April 12th, 7:00 pm Allegheny County Legislative Forum

WHERE: North Hills Senior High School 53 Rochester Road Pittsburgh, PA 15229
WHEN: Thursday, April 12, 2012 @ 7:00pm
REGISTER for this event: NorthernAreaLegislativeForum.eventbrite.com
All public education stakeholders are invited to this special event, which will be moderated by the League of Women Voters. Join us on Thursday, April 12th at North Hills Senior High School at 7PM for an evening with several key state legislators from Allegheny County and other education experts who will help explain local impacts. State Representatives and Senators representing surrounding school districts have been invited to attend and discuss their positions on public education as they head into negotiations over next year’s budget.


Please join EPLC this Wednesday, March 28, 8:00 am at the Harrisburg Hilton for breakfast and discussion about the Arts and Education Initiative's (AEI's) new policy report: Creating PA's Future through the Arts and Education. 
Hear from AEI staff and Study Group members and share about plans for advocacy in 2012.  Breakfast begins at 8 am and the program starts at 8:30 am.  This EPLC program is free of charge, but online registration is required:
To learn more about the Arts and Education Initiative (AEI) and to read the new policy report, please visit www.aei-pa.org.

Arcadia University's Education Department presents:
Panel: Unpacking the PA School Budget: What Does This Mean for Me?
March 29, 2012 from 5:30pm to 8pm at Arcadia University
Website or Map: http://www.arcadia.edu/direct…
Join us for a panel discussion that will delve into details of the Commonwealth's School Budget as announced by the Governor in February 2012.  This event will tell you how the budget will affect your schools, community, and children.
Please RSVP by March 12 to dressm@arcadia.edu

Has your board considered this draft resolution yet?

PSBA Sample Board Resolution regarding the budget

Please consider bringing this sample resolution to the members of your board.

http://www.psba.org/issues-advocacy/issues-research/state-budget/Budget_resolution-02212012.doc


Education Voters PA – Take action on the Governor’s Budget
The Governor’s proposal starts the process, but it isn’t all decided: our legislators can play an important role in standing up for our priorities.  Last year, public outcry helped prevent nearly $300 million in additional cuts.  We heard from the Governor, and we know where he stands.  Now, we need to ask our legislators: what is your position on supporting our schools?