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
One Page Primer on the 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
“…. Applicants
must believe that unions are bad; vouchers are good; charter schools are good
and mustn't be subject to the same scrutiny as conventional public schools;
standardized test scores are to be taken as gospel; democratically elected
school boards are bad for education; state education boards that take charter
school applications seriously must be sidestepped and new agencies created that
don't take the review so seriously; public universities must teach this dogma
and reject countervailing views, and, finally, might makes right.”
Waltons expand political push on
school measures
Wow, when the Walton
family — which has put more than $1 billion into "education reform"
through its foundation and spent untold millions more in separate political
activities — indicates it's going to increase its political effort it's time
for political opponents to build a bomb shelter.
Remember when “the
family” was just a bunch of ruthless guys in good suits?
Here’s the Walton
Foundation letter referenced in the blog entry above.
Increasing Momentum for
K-12 Reform Sparks
National search for director of education reform
focus area begins; Jim Blew to focus on Walton family's engagement in special
political and philanthropic initiatives in education reform
The Walton Family Foundation
is driven by the urgent need to dramatically raise student achievement,
particularly in low-income neighborhoods across our nation. Our board and staff
are proud of how we’ve helped cultivate today’s education reform movement by
investing more than $1 billion in initiatives that expand parental choice and
equal opportunity in education.As our board reflects on the movement’s recent gains and momentum, they see many new and compelling opportunities to help accelerate the pace of reform. In order to make the most of those opportunities, the board has decided to further expand its leadership role in education reform. Here’s what is taking place:
Hite’s
Philly schools blueprint praised, slammed
Kristen A. Graham, Inquirer
Staff Writer POSTED: Tuesday, January 8, 2013 , 5:36 AM
People think William R.
Hite Jr.'s new blueprint for the Philadelphia
School District
Why isn’t the list of
companies participating in the EITC program available to the public?
Why do accountability and
transparency apply to traditional public schools but not to EITC recipients?
'Onerous' process for Opportunity Scholarship in Pennsylvania
Program
aims to attract donations from businesses
By Mary Niederberger and Karen Langley, Pittsburgh January 6, 2013
Education groups
promoting a new tax credit for businesses funding scholarships are reporting
confusion with an electronic application process that they fear could dissuade
potential donors.
The Opportunity
Scholarship tax credit was created last summer by state lawmakers seeking to
provide scholarships for children living in the sending areas of low-performing
schools. Modeled after an existing scholarship tax credit, the program allows
businesses to reduce their tax liability by donating scholarship money the
students can use to attend another school.
Businesses had applied
to the original Educational Improvement Tax Credit with a paper form, but the
Department of Community & Economic Development, which oversees the tax
credits, included the new Opportunity Scholarship credit in its transition to
electronic applications, which officials say reduce processing time.
The list of companies
participating in the program is not public, but organizations seeking or
promoting donations have reported frustration with the online form that they
fear could dampen contribution rates.
National Opt Out Day
Today is national Opt
Out Day. Today is the day that United Opt
Out,
a group of grassroots public education advocates from across the country, has
called on parents, students, teachers, administrators, school board members,
and anyone else who cares about what is happening to our schools to challenge
corporate style education “reform” in our own communities. It’s time to think
about what opting out means.
Two
Viewpoints: To test students or not to test students. That is the question
Michigan Live By Paula Holmes-Greeley |
pholmes@mlive.com
onJanuary 07,
2013 at 8:46 AM ,
updated January 07, 2013 at 8:55
AM
on
Education
reforms and student testing are hot topics among educators, parents, lawmakers
and business owners with little agreement on what's best.
Today
is National Opt Out Day, an event created by educators and parents concerned
about high stakes testing to protest corporate education reform proposals. One
of the sponsors, United Opt Out National, says high stakes testing does not
promote quality public education because it is used to punish children, to
malign educators, and to provide financial gain for testing corporations and
their political sponsors. Others argue
testing is needed to determine if students understand what is being taught and
it teachers are being successful.
Following
are two views on testing. The first one, "Why My Children Don't Take The
MEAP," is from a teacher and parent, Scott Baker of Shelby Muskegon Area Intermediate
School District
By Betsy Hammond, The
Oregonian on January 04, 2013
Tim
King and Norm Donohoe, who ran a chain of taxpayer-funded charter schools across
small-town Oregon from their headquarters in Clackamas, scammed
the state out of $17 million and must repay that plus $2.7 million more, the
state said in a court filing this week.
The
legal claim, brought Thursday by the Oregon Department of Justice in Marion
County Circuit Court, accuses the pair of racketeering, money laundering and
other fraud from 2007 to 2010.
Michelle Rhee’s new
state reform report card
StudentsFirst, her lobbying organization that
has taken aim at teachers unions, just released a "reform" report
card that grades states on whether they have followed the reforms that she
likes. That means that D.C. schools did better than Maryland
and Virginia
Michelle Rhee Grades
States as Press Serves Up Hard-Hitting Reports on Her
Education Writers Association EdMedia Commons
Posted by Emily Richmond on January 7, 2013 at 2:28pm
It would be tough to find a more polarizing figure in
the education reform debate than
Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools,
who is the focus of a new Frontline documentary debuting Tuesday on PBS.
U.S.
Reuters By Anna Yukhananov and Lisa Lambert
Local U.S.
American Association of
School Administrators Leading Edge Blog
House
and Senate Education, Appropriations, Budget Committee Rosters for 113th
Congress
House and
Senate Education Committee Members Finalized
Who's
Who: House Appropriations and Budget Committee Rosters for the New Congress
Who's
Who: Senate Appropriations and Budget Committee Rosters for the New Congress
You Made This Happen: 213,802 Books
in the Hands of Kids
First Book Blog January 4, 2013
That’s right. Thanks to
everyone who donated to First Book over the holiday season – and thanks
to a
generous matching offer from our friends at Disney – First Book was
able to provide 213,802 brand-new,
high-quality books to schools and programs serving children from
low-income families across the country.
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
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.