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
Follow us
on Twitter at @lfeinberg
A collection of
our postings that garnered the most traffic and interest during 2012:
Congress Passes Cliff Deal
Hard-Fought Bill Averts Broad Tax Hikes, Spending Cuts, but Puts Off
Major Issues
Wall Street Journal By JANET HOOK, COREY BOLES and SIOBHAN HUGHES
Congress broke a rancorous stalemate Tuesday to pass legislation
designed to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. But the compromise bill, which
blocked most impending tax increases and postponed spending cuts largely by
raising taxes on upper-income Americans, left a host of issues unresolved and
guaranteed continued budget clashes between the parties.
Amid Pressure, House Passes Fiscal Deal
New
York Times By JENNIFER
STEINHAUER Published: January 1, 2013
The measure, brought to
the House floor less than 24 hours after its passage in the Senate, was
approved 257 to 167, with 85 Republicans joining 172 Democrats in voting to
allow income taxes to rise for the first time in two decades, in this case for
the highest-earning Americans. Voting no were 151 Republicans and 16 Democrats.
Entire
Pa.
Delegation Votes for Fiscal Cliff Deal
Every Republican and
Democrat who represents Pennsylvania
in the U.S. House or Senate this week voted in favor of a deal to avert the
so-called ‘fiscal cliff.’
K-12 Aid Faces Uncertain Future, Despite 'Fiscal
Cliff' Deal
Education programs would be spared the prospect
of the largest across-the-board cuts in history, but only temporarily, under a
bill to avert much of the so-called "fiscal cliff," overwhelmingly
approved by the U.S. Senate early Tuesday morning. The measure now requires
passage by the House of Representatives. UPDATE: The House
approved the
measure late Tuesday by a vote of 257 to 167. Nearly every Democrat voted for
the bill, while 85 Republicans supported it. Sixteen Democrats, and 151
Republicans voted against the measure.
The measure, which passed the Senate 89-8, would
delay the trigger cuts known as "sequestration," which have been set
to hit just about every government agency—including the U.S. Department of
Education—on Jan. 2. Under the deal, the cuts would be postponed until March,
giving federal lawmakers time to craft a broader budget agreement. The deal was
worked out at the 11th hour by Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Mitch
McConnell, R-Ky., the Senate minority leader.
To help pay for the postponement of the trigger
cuts—which would slice 8.2 percent from a wide range of programs, including
K-12 education—lawmakers have agreed to $12 billion in revenue increases, plus
$12 billion in spending cuts, including $6 billion from domestic programs,
according to published reports. It's unclear how, and whether, those cuts would
affect education spending.
The deal essentially sets up yet another major
fiscal fight later on this year.
PCAPS advances alternate plan for Philly school closings
TeachersLeadPhilly.org 01/01/2013
With the prospect of closing 37 schools by Sep 2013, teachers,
students and families are very concerned about the future of public education.
The good people at Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools
(PCAPS) have come up with alternatives as embodied in The Philadelphia Community Education Plan.
Op-ed: State should call
time-out on cyber charters
Patriot News Op-Ed by Adam
Schott January 01, 2013 , 12:35
Adam
Schott is Senior Policy Analyst at Research for Action, and a former
executive director of the State Board of Education.
The Department of
Education has the opportunity to make a meaningful New Year’s resolution in
raising standards for performance and accountability
Across Pennsylvania ,
school districts face unprecedented financial and structural challenges,
leading many—including Harrisburg , Lancaster , York ,
and other mid-state communities—to drain reserves, furlough staff, and end
proven, research-based programs. Yet one sector of public education is
burgeoning, due in part to a lack of sufficient regulation by the state and a
funding system that creates incentives for rapid growth.
More than 30,000
students attend Pennsylvania ’s
16 cyber charter schools, up from 12 earlier this year. With eight more
cyber charter applications currently before the Department of Education, the
sector’s footprint is set to double in the span of just six months. In a
state where education policy change normally assumes a cautious pace, this
rapid growth should be reason enough for leaders to tap the brakes. But
given the questions concerning the academic and operational performance of
cyber charter schools, the imperative for a time-out on further approvals is
clear.
If you have been offline for the holidays here
are links to Keystone
State Education Coalition
postings:
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