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For February 26, 2013 :
Roebuck Seeking Co-sponsors for Comprehensive
Charter and Cyber
Charter School
Pennsylvanians for Charter
School
Reform PA Charter Schools:
Pennsylvanians could save $365 million THIS YEAR if Harrisburg
Read more: http://reformpacharterschools.wordpress.com/
“Of
the five states with the largest student enrollment in independently operated
charter and cyber charter schools, Pennsylvania spends the most per student:
PA:
$12,657
June 2012 Report: Auditor General
Jack Wagner Says Fixing PA’s Charter
School
Says Department of Education and General Assembly must take leadership
role
A study by the Department of the Auditor General shows that Pennsylvania
PA House Co-sponsorship
Memorandum Posted: February
25, 2013 10:47 AM
From: Representative James Roebuck To:
All House members
Subject: Comprehensive Charter and Cyber Charter
School
In the near future I intend to introduce legislation that will make
comprehensive amendments to the Charter and Cyber Charter School Law. While I do support charter schools, I believe
major revisions are needed regarding the governance, financing and
accountability of charter and cyber charter schools. I believe these revisions
will result in significant savings to our school districts of at least $365
million a year. The legislation
addresses what’s needed in reforming the Charter and Cyber Charter
School
Strengthening local school board and taxpayer ability to approve and have
authority over charter schools;
A Charter School Funding Advisory Commission to determine the actual
costs of charter and cyber charter schools as part of developing a new
equitable funding formula that is fair to both charter schools and school
districts and most importantly taxpayers AND changes in the charter school law
to address immediate specific financial concerns about the funding of charter
and cyber charter schools including special education overpayments, pension
“double-dipping” and limiting surplus fund balances;
Providing better fiscal and academic accountability for charter and cyber
charter schools including greater transparency and financial accountability of
for-profit management companies contracted to run charter and cyber charter
schools.
A detailed summary of the major revisions is below.
Cybers continue to blur the line between brick and mortar charters
(that require local school board authorization) and cyber charters (authorized
by PDE). This article reports that Commonwealth Connections
Academy already operates several
“teaching centers” in Pennsylvania
Cyber school plans teaching center
in Dickson City
Officials from the school, which is funded with taxpayer money, plan a
major overhaul of the building and to increase the number of local employees
from about a dozen to as many as 100 people.
"When we saw that site, we thought it was perfect," said Reese
Flurie, Ed.D., the school's CEO. "I think it's going to be really
nice." The plan, which includes a
full cyber curriculum as well as a physical location for students to interact
with peers and teachers, is the first of its kind for a cyber charter school in
Northeast Pennsylvania .
Superintendent wants to iron out differences
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh February
26, 2013 12:17 am
Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent Linda Lane Ms.
Lane
"We're going to have to think through our charter school
relationship here," Ms. Lane Ms. Lane
The notebook by Dale
Mezzacappa on Feb 25 2013 Posted in Latest news
A new Graduation
Nation report shows that the country is on track to reach a 90 percent
high school graduation rate by 2020. Pennsylvania
Op-ed: Quality early childhood
education is a no-brainer
By Patriot-News
Op-Ed By Cynthia Tucker on February 26, 2013 at 12:00 AM ,
Decades of research have proved that high-quality pre-kindergarten
classes work. Programs, such as Head Start, that haven't stood up as well to
long-term studies are inconsistent in quality. By contrast, those programs that
hire well-educated teachers and put them in well-equipped classrooms with small
groups of children show excellent results.
New York Times Room for Debate FEBRUARY 25, 2013 9:27 PM
Is Public Preschool a Smart
Investment?
In his State of the Union address this month, President Obama said he
wanted to “make
high-quality preschool available to every single child in America.” His plan specifically
calls for federally financed preschool for all 4-year-olds from low- and
moderate-income families.
Is public preschool really what the children of low-income parents need?
Would quality child care that included a preschool curriculum be a better
national goal?
Critics say Corbett's pension reform
would increase costs
Gov. Tom Corbett wants to ease taxpayers' burden, but skeptics say
legal and financial risks loom.
By Steve Esack, Morning
Call Harrisburg
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Corbett has described the growing $41 billion
deficit afflicting the state's two pension systems as Pac-Man because it keeps
eating more and more revenue.
Corbett has proposed a three-pronged attack to tame Pac-Man's hunger as
part of his $28.4 billion spending plan for the next fiscal year. He claims his
proposals, which need legislative approval, would reduce taxpayers' costs to
fund the Public School Employees' Retirement and the Pennsylvania State
Employees' Retirement systems.
But a growing number of skeptics — from unions to the state treasurer to
the independent state pension commission — say the governor's plan is fraught
with legal and financial risks, and would increase costs over time.
“The agency is buying licenses for the online
Framework for Teaching Proficiency System to train 5,330 administrators…. The TeachScape system includes 35 hours of
training for evaluators and culminates in a test, said Scott Noon, vice
president of business development at TeachScape.”
By Tory
N. Parrish Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review February 23, 2013 , 8:34 p.m.
A new state law requires that public school teachers be evaluated based on uniform standards, so the Department of Education is spending about $2 million to use an online system to train and assess administrators who would do so. Teacher evaluations will be linked to student achievement as the department implements the Teacher Evaluation Effectiveness System. It must be in allPennsylvania
A new state law requires that public school teachers be evaluated based on uniform standards, so the Department of Education is spending about $2 million to use an online system to train and assess administrators who would do so. Teacher evaluations will be linked to student achievement as the department implements the Teacher Evaluation Effectiveness System. It must be in all
Read more: http://triblive.com/business/headlines/3032610-74/system-teachscape-licenses#ixzz2Lv3ykMz5
PA eSTARS to let educators
electronically exchange student records
Tribune-Review By Liz
Zemba Saturday, February 23, 2013 , 8:36 p.m.
A $1.4 million federal grant will helpPennsylvania Arizona
A $1.4 million federal grant will help
Announcing New School
Turnaround Americorps Program
U.S. Department of Education sent this bulletin at 02/25/2013 01:35 PM EST
Department of Education and the
Corporation for National and Community Service Announce New School Turnaround
Americorps Program
Today, as education leaders from across the country gather at the Grad
Nation Summit in Washington ,
D.C.
RPT-U.S. high school graduation rate
up sharply, but red flags abound
* States including Texas , California , New
York
* Nation on pace for first time to hit 90 percent rate
* Black, Hispanic and disabled students lag well behind
Feb 25 (Reuters) - For the first time in decades, the United States is making steady gains in the number of high school students earning diplomas, putting it on pace to reach a 90 percent graduation rate by 2020, according to a new analysis released Monday. But the good news comes with a big asterisk: students with learning disabilities and limited fluency in English face long odds to finish high school, with graduation rates for those groups as low as 25 percent in some states, the analysis found. Minority students also continue to fall well behind their white peers, with about one-third of African-American students and 29 percent of Hispanic students dropping out before graduation.
* Black, Hispanic and disabled students lag well behind
Feb 25 (Reuters) - For the first time in decades, the United States is making steady gains in the number of high school students earning diplomas, putting it on pace to reach a 90 percent graduation rate by 2020, according to a new analysis released Monday. But the good news comes with a big asterisk: students with learning disabilities and limited fluency in English face long odds to finish high school, with graduation rates for those groups as low as 25 percent in some states, the analysis found. Minority students also continue to fall well behind their white peers, with about one-third of African-American students and 29 percent of Hispanic students dropping out before graduation.
Watchdog Gnaws On Foundation With
Jeb Bush Ties
Education Week By Andrew
Ujifusa Published Online: February 19, 2013
Correspondence between former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's K-12 advocacy
organization and state education leaders—obtained and publicized by a
privatization-watchdog group—has renewed debate over the extent to which the
private sector can benefit by gaining access to government officials, and
markets, through nonprofit advocacy groups.
The emails between Mr. Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education and
officials in Maine, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and other states show the group discussing
model bills with state officials and promoting specific policy
initiatives, such as online education and retaining 3rd graders not reading at
grade level.
The nonprofit group In the Public Interest, which is based in Washington
PhilaSoup March 2013 - Sunday Get
together
Sunday, March 3, 2013
from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST) Philadelphia , PA
Teachers Institute of Philadelphia , University of Pennsylvania
3417 Spruce Street , Philadelphia , PA 19104
Philasoup is a monthly microgrant dinner meant to bring
innovative and dynamic Philadelphia-area educators together, highlight the
great work they are doing and fund some terrific projects. The vision for
PhilaSoup is to be a monthly microgrant dinner that starts and ends with
educators but is an access point to education for the whole city.
For more info and RSVP: http://philasoupmarch2013.eventbrite.com/
PSBA officer applications due April
30
PSBA’s website 2/15/2013
Candidates seeking election to PSBA officer posts in 2014 must file an
expression of interest for the office desired to be interviewed by the PSBA
Leadership Development Committee.
This new committee replaces the former Nominations Committee. Deadline
for filing is April 30. The application shall be marked received at
PSBA headquarters or mailed first class and postmarked by the deadline to be
considered timely filed. Expression of interest forms can be found online
at www.psba.org/about/psba/board-of-directors/officers/electing-officers.asp.
Edcamp Philly 2013 at UPENN
May 18th, 2013
For those of you who have never gone to an
Edcamp before, please make a note of the unusual part of the morning where we
will build the schedule. Edcamp doesn’t believe in paying fancy people to come
and talk at you about teaching! At an Edcamp, the people attending – the participants
- facilitate sessions on teaching and learning! So Edcamp won’t
succeed without a whole bunch of you wanting to run a session of some kind!
What kinds of sessions might you run?
What: Edcamp Philly is an"unconference" devoted
to K-12 Education issues and ideas.
Where:University
of Pennsylvania
Where:
Education Policy and Leadership
Center
SUBJECT: Governor Corbett's Proposed
Education Budget for 2013-2014
"Southeastern Region Breakfast Series" Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Continental Breakfast - 8:00 a.m. Program - 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel - 201 North 17th St. , Philadelphia ,
PA 19103
SPEAKERS: An Overview of the Proposed 2013-2014 State Budget
and Education Issues Will Be Provided By:
Sharon Ward, The Pennsylvania Budget and
Policy Center
Ron Cowell, The Education Policy and Leadership
Center
State and Regional
Perspectives Will Be Provided By:
Mark B. Miller, School Director,Centennial School District
Mark B. Miller, School Director,
Joe Otto, Chief Operations Officer, William Penn
School District
Michael Churchill, Of Counsel, Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia
Dr. Stephen D. Butz , Superintendent, Southeast Delco
School District
Dr. Stephen D. Butz
While there is no
registration fee, seating is limited and an RSVP is required.
2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on
Advocacy and Issues
April 6, 2013 The Penn Stater Convention Center Hotel; State College, PA
Strategic leadership, school budgeting and advocacy are key issues facing today's school district leaders. For your school district to truly thrive, leaders must maintain a solid understanding of these three functions. Attend the 2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on Advocacy and Issues to ensure you have the skills you need to take your district to the next level.
April 6, 2013 The Penn Stater Convention Center Hotel; State College, PA
Strategic leadership, school budgeting and advocacy are key issues facing today's school district leaders. For your school district to truly thrive, leaders must maintain a solid understanding of these three functions. Attend the 2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on Advocacy and Issues to ensure you have the skills you need to take your district to the next level.
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