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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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One Page Primer on Education Reform Debate
From Education Week,
Anthony Cody, Living in Dialogue Blog January 1,2013
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2013/01/one-page-primer-on-education-reform.html
The Education Reform Dichotomy: Big Choices
Ahead
In recent weeks, some commenters on my blog have
suggested that there is a "false dichotomy" at work in the debate
over education reform. We are told we should "tone down" our views in
order that we be might be better heard. Last
fall, scholar Paul Thomas offered a powerful framework for understanding the two camps of reformers currently
contending for public support.
“During
the 2011-12 school year, when charters enrolled 41 percent of the city’s
students, they removed 227 children for discipline violations and had an
expulsion rate of 72 per 10,000 students; the District school system removed
three and had an expulsion rate of less than 1 per
10,000 students.”
D.C.
charter schools expel students at far higher rates than traditional public
schools
Washington
The District’s public
charter schools have expelled students at a far higher rate than the city’s
traditional public schools in recent years, according to school data,
highlighting a key difference between two sectors that compete for the
District’s students and taxpayer dollars.
D.C. charter schools
expelled 676 students in the past three years, while the city’s traditional
public schools expelled 24, according to a Washington Post review of school
data. During the 2011-12 school year, when charters
enrolled 41 percent of the city’s students, they removed 227 children for
discipline violations and had an expulsion rate of 72 per 10,000 students; the
District school system removed three and
had an expulsion rate of less than 1 per 10,000 students.
The discrepancy
underscores the freedom that charters — publicly funded schools that operate
independently of the traditional school system — have from school system
policies. That autonomy defines the charter movement and gives its schools
considerable latitude to decide what student behavior they will — and won’t —
tolerate.
Courts and NLRB: Charters Are
Not Public Schools
Diane Ravitch’s Blog January 4, 2013 //
Courts have repeatedly
ruled that charter schools are not public schools. These rulings have been
sought not by charter critics, but by the charters themselves, to enable them
to avoid complying with state laws.
Charter school ruled
private entity for labor relations
The
question of just how public charter schools really are has been further muddied
by a ruling
by the National Labor Relations Board in a case involving a Chicago
Critics
of charter schools have long contended that private companies that run publicly
funded charters don’t act like public organizations and that charter schools
represent the privatization of public education in the United States
Now we
have a decision by the board, made last month and just publicized,
involving efforts by teachers at the Chicago Math and Science Academy
Best,
worst of area's SATs
Of Pa.
Rita Giordano and Dylan
Purcell, Inquirer Staff Writers, January 6, 2013 , 5:42 AM
Sixteen of Pennsylvania 's 25 top public schools for average 2012 SAT
scores were in the five-county area, with the top-ranked school - and almost
all the lowest - in Philadelphia
For a complete list of Philadelphia
For all statewide SAT scores, visit www.philly.com/satpa.
David T. Shulick, an attorney, is Delaware Valley
High School
School firm faces loss of Pa.
Martha Woodall, Inquirer
Staff Writer January 6, 2013 , 6:12 AM
A Bala Cynwyd
alternative-education company under federal investigation has been warned it
could lose its approval for a disciplinary school in Reading Delaware Valley
High School
According to documents
obtained by The Inquirer, state officials sent a letter, reports, and an order
Dec. 21 to Delaware Valley 's owner - lawyer David T. Shulick - that said
its approval to operate a private alternative-education school in Reading
School integration redux
Friday,
Few education experts have been as true to a
seemingly unworkable idea as Richard D. Kahlenberg, an author and senior fellow
at the Century Foundation. Since the 1990s, he has been the nation's leading
exponent of socio-economic integration. That means he wants as many low-income
students as possible to attend schools with a middle-class majority.
The Pennsylvania
Department of Education recently granted nearly half a million dollars to 37
school districts throughout the commonwealth via its Safe Schools Targeted
Grants program, which is designed to establish and implement programs and
projects that reduce violent incidences in schools and neighboring communities.
Here’s the PDE press release which included a list of recipient school
districts:
PDE Press Release December 14, 2012
Secretary of Education Announces $479,513 in Safe Schools Targeted Grants
Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis today announced that $479,513 has been awarded to 37 public schools through the Safe Schools Targeted Grant to establish and implement programs to prevent and reduce incidents of violence.
Secretary of Education Announces $479,513 in Safe Schools Targeted Grants
Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis today announced that $479,513 has been awarded to 37 public schools through the Safe Schools Targeted Grant to establish and implement programs to prevent and reduce incidents of violence.
“Ensuring the safety of Pennsylvania
STEM Initiative Aims to
Broaden Minority Student Access to AP Science, Math Courses
by Ronald Roach
…to create the AP STEM Access Program has been a “student-driven” effort
with the College Board working with Google to identify the public high schools
College Board president
David Coleman’s group and DonorsChoose.org will help participating schools
secure the classroom resources and professional development necessary to begin
the new courses. With the aim of
increasing underrepresented minority and female participation in Advanced
Placement (AP) STEM courses, the College Board has announced the launch of the
AP® STEM Access program.
The initiative is
targeting more than 800 public U.S. high schools to start new AP science and
math courses while encouraging “traditionally underrepresented minority (Black/African-American,
Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native) and female students who
demonstrate strong academic potential to enroll and explore these areas of
study and related careers,” according to the College Board, which administers
the SAT and the AP course and exam program.
The AP® STEM Access Program is being funded by a $5 million grant from
Google to DonorsChoose.org as part of the search engine company’s Global impact
Awards. DonorsChoose.org and the College Board will be collaborating to work
with AP teachers in participating schools to enable them to secure the
classroom resources and professional development necessary to begin the new
courses.
For Many Kids, Winter Break Means Hungry Holidays
January 3, 2013
LISTEN TO THIS STORY Runtime 4:06
Holidays are typically a
festive time, with breaks from the routine, meals with loved ones, maybe even
some gifts. But for many families across the U.S.
For some, free or
reduced-price school meals have become a major source of basic nutrition. When
schools close for the holidays, many of those families struggle to fill the
gap.
Better
Basics
Our programs provide
literacy intervention and enrichment to elementary- and middle- school students
throughout central Alabama
New
U.S.
EducationVotes/NEA Posted January 4, 2013
The 113th Congress was sworn in yesterday, and when it comes
to public education it’s a fool’s errand to try to predict what actions and
policies Congress might pursue. Nevertheless, knowing who the new members of
the House and Senate education committees are can serve as a useful
guidepost. Education committees oversee
programs that affect millions of students and educators from pre-K to higher
education. Among the issues they address are teacher quality and training,
early childhood education, education for students with disabilities, the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, unpopularly known as No Child Left
Behind, vocational and technical education, and the Higher Education Act. The
committees’ actions often set the direction for what happens at the state, county
and local levels.
Here then are three new
lawmakers who are likely to play pivotal roles on the U.S. Senate Committee on
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions this year
‘Frontline’ raises questions about
test-score tampering under Rhee
The “Frontline” examines Rhee’s record in Washington
The Washington
Student
standardized-test scores at an award-winning D.C. school dropped dramatically
in 2011 after the principal tightened security out of concern about possible
cheating, according to a new “Frontline” television documentary to be broadcast
Tuesday.
The hour-long
program raises questions about whether District officials have
adequately investigated persistent
suspicions that public school employees may have tampered with tests
during the tenure of former schools chancellor Michelle A. Rhee.
FreedomWorks has been a strong proponent of school choice in Pennsylvania
Powerful
Tea Party Group's Internal Docs Leak—Read Them Here
FreedomWorks bills itself as a grassroots outfit, but it's bankrolled
mostly by big-money donors.
MotherJones
By Andy Kroll
| Fri Jan. 4, 2013
3:02 AM PST
FreedomWorks, the
national conservative group that helped launch the tea party movement, sells
itself as a genuine grassroots operation, and for years, it has battled accusations
of "astroturfing"—posing
as a populist organization while doing the bidding of big-money donors. Yet
internal documents obtained by Mother Jones show that
FreedomWorks has indeed become dependent on wealthy individual donors to
finance its growing operation.
SAVE THE DATE: 2013 Pennsylvania
Budget Summit
Many Pennsylvanians have
sent a clear message to Harrisburg Policy Center
for an in-depth look at the Governor's proposal and an update on the federal
budget -- and what they mean for communities and families across Pennsylvania
2013 Pennsylvania
Budget Summit
Thursday, February 21, 2013 ,
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
HiltonHarrisburg , 1 North Second Street, Harrisburg , PA
Hilton
EPLC 2013 REGIONAL WORKSHOPS
FOR SCHOOL
The Education Policy and Leadership Center, with the Cooperation
of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) and Pennsylvania
Association of School Business Officials (PASBO), will conduct A Series of Regional Full-Day
Workshops for 2013
Pennsylvania School Board Candidates. Registration is $45 and includes
coffee/donuts, lunch, and materials.
Philadelphia Region Saturday, February 2, 2013 – 8:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m.
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, 1605 W. Main Street, Norristown, PA 19403
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, 1605 W. Main Street, Norristown, PA 19403
Harrisburg Region Saturday, February 9, 2013– 8:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania School Boards Association Headquarters, 400 Bent Creek Boulevard, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Pennsylvania School Boards Association Headquarters, 400 Bent Creek Boulevard, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Pittsburgh Region Saturday, February 23, 2013 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m.
Doubletree Hotel Pittsburgh/Monroeville, 101 Mall Blvd., Monroeville, PA 15146
Doubletree Hotel Pittsburgh/Monroeville, 101 Mall Blvd., Monroeville, PA 15146
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