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These daily
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Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for March 15, 2013 : Money talks, privatization marches on in
Philly
Do you have a colleague who would like a nice
slice of warm PA public education policy with their coffee in the morning? Please pass along their name, email address
and affiliation.
If they lean towards ADHD they can follow us
on twitter at @lfeinberg
“Fresh off of "cheerleading" the
District's controversial school-closings push, said Gym, the Philadelphia School
"I think there is a clear intent here to
influence and drive the District's decision-making," she said.
Gleason agreed that his group is trying to
influence the School Reform Commission, but said that PSP's investments do not
amount to improper interference.”
Nonprofit gives $3.4 million to
expand two Philadelphia
WHYY Newsworks By Benjamin Herold March 14, 2013
The Philadelphia School Partnership (PSP) announced Thursday that it will
give $3.4 million to charter school operators KIPP Philadelphia and Scholar Academies Scholar Academies Philadelphia School District
Purchasing
public policy? Money talks - In Philly the same folks who brought us the EITC
bailout of parochial schools via millions of diverted tax dollars and spent
millions on voucher candidates are apparently now just buying more charter
schools….meanwhile, Wm. Penn Foundation has significantly cut funding to public
ed advocacy groups
You
know the names: O’Neill, Bravacos, Yass…..
In addition to a $15 million grant from
the William Penn Foundation in July, the
partnership has received $5 million from the Maguire Foundation and
$31.9 million from a group of twenty donors that includes the Samuel
S. Fels Fund and school reform advocate Janine Yass.
By Gregg Bortz |
The Express-Times on March 14, 2013 at 10:58 PM
Allentown
School District is proposing to cut 150 teachers jobs, to help plug a
$22.5 million shortfall, in what the superintendent calls a "worst-case
scenario" budget for 2013-14.
The school board's finance committee reviewed the initial $248.7 million
budget tonight, and was told jobs could be restored by the final vote in May if
the financial outlook improves.
An overflow crowd packed the administration center's auditorium, with
about 50 people in the lobby watching on a television screen.
Back to the Budget
The governor is talking about education funding again, so it’s time to check
back in on our state budget. Yesterday Gov. Corbett visited the Delaware County
Chamber of Commerce to tout his liquor privatization plan, which he estimates
will yield $1 billion that he will require school districts to spend on science
and technology initiatives. [Delco
Times, 3-13-13] I’m all for getting schools money after the draconian
cuts they have suffered these past two years – totaling $2 billion now – but
this plan has some serious holes in it.
First, you may have noticed that the dollar amounts don’t quite add up.
This plan only talks about half the amount that schools are currently missing
(after the nearly $1 billion cut in 2011 and the budget freeze in 2012 that
locked in those cuts for a second year in a row). The governor believes that
the state will collect around $1billion in revenue from the sale of licenses
and auctioning off wine and spirit retails stores over the course of four
years. [Post-Gazette,
1-30-13] As we pointed out before, that’s not a sustainable model. [See
“Kids or
Booze”.]
PCN March 13: Education Funding:
Benso, Bard, Himes
By Francine Schertzer on Mar 13, 2013
with Comments 1
Wednesday night’s Call In Program looked at how education funding will be
impacted by the proposed state budget. Panelists were: Joan Benso,
President & CEO of PA Partnerships for Children, Joseph Bard, Executive
Director of the PA Association for Rural and Small Schools
Letter to Governor Corbett: PA's
Lack of Education Funding System Failing Constitutional Requirement
In
a letter to Governor Corbett, attorneys from the Education Law Center and
the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia were joined by Education Voters
PA, Public Citizens for Children and Youth, the Pennsylvania League of Urban
Schools, and the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools in writing
that "the current scheme for funding education bears no reasonable
relation to the constitutional requirement that the state provide for the
maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient public education."
I
attended the morning session of yesterday’s House Education Committee
hearing on two cyber charter reform
bills. My takeaways?
(1)There was general consensus among legislators, cyber advocates and
traditional public school advocates that Pennsylvania
(2) Although AYP is used early and often to condemn traditional public
schools that do not perform, cyber advocates do not believe that it should
apply to their schools and their students.
This is convenient since most have never made AYP.
(3) Although PA has legislated and is implementing a teacher evaluation
program cyber advocates do not believe it should apply to their schools and
their teachers.
(4) The House Majority caucus Room and the Capitol rotunda were packed
with cyber students, parents, teachers and executive directors. Unfortunately, the tens of thousands of
regular public school students whose underfunded school budgets are impacted by
overpayments to cybers (and who have lost things like art, music, gym, sports,
counselors, nurses, safety officers) were in class and unable to attend the
hearing.
(5) I did not see K12, Inc. CEO Ron Packard in the room to defend his
$5 million compensation package.
In cyber-charter funding debate,
educators on predictable seesaw
WITF Written by Mary
Wilson, Capitol Bureau Chief | Mar 14, 2013 7:52 PM
If school districts are up on an idea, cyber-charter school groups are
down. If the cyber-charter groups swing skyward, the traditional school boards
careen to the ground.
That was the trend at a recent state House Education Committee hearing,
where everyone underscored their commitment to children, but no one could agree
on how to reform their funding models. One
of the more tense exchanges on proposals that would mean less funding for
cyber-charter schools – and slightly more leeway in how they’re overseen – came
during a back and forth on the quality of the education provided at the
publicly-funded, privately-run schools (cyber-charter schools, unlike their
brick-and-mortar charter counterparts, provide mostly online instruction).
Rep. James Roebuck (D-Philadelphia) pressed a cyber-charter school CEO on
why she called such schools high quality in her testimony. According to
the most
recent calculations, none of the state’s cyber-charters met Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP) on statewide exams.
PSBA did a great job here summarizing the
charter reform bills that are in play…
PA Charter School
PSBA website March
14, 2013
Listed below is current legislation that has been proposed for
consideration. Each bill number is linked to a bulleted summary, with the more
detailed description below the summary. A printable version of ALL the bill
summaries also is available, below. This list will be updated as items are
announced or eliminated.
- HB 371 (Rep. Anthony DeLuca)
- HB 372 (Rep. Anthony DeLuca)
- HB 617, HB 618 (Rep. Joe Emrick)
- HB 759 (Rep. Mike Reese)
- HB 934 (Rep. Jim Roebuck)
- HB 970 (Rep. Dan Truitt)
- HB 971 (Rep. Dan Truitt)
- HB 979 (Rep. Mike Fleck)
- HB 980 (Rep. Mike Fleck)
- HB 984 (Rep. Garth Everett)
PSBA supports legislative efforts to
reform charter and cyber charter school funding
N E W S R E L E A S E Steve Robinson, Publications and PR Director 3/14/2013
Stuart L. Knade, interim executive director for the Pennsylvania School
Boards Association (PSBA), told members of the House Education Committee school
districts across the state are concerned with the current funding formula for
charter and cyber charter schools, which is not equitable or accountable to the
taxpayers of Pennsylvania
My Bill is One Step Toward Important Cyber School
YouTube Video runtime 5:22 Published on Mar 14, 2013
Rep. Mike Reese (R-59, Part Fayette, Part Westmoreland) testifies before
the PA House Education Committee on his cyber school reform bill, HB
759
“As required by the new regulations, the Pennsylvania July
1, 2013 . ….Beginning with
the class of 2017 – this year’s 8th-grade class – students will be required to
pass three Keystone Exams – algebra I, biology and literature – or a comparable
assessment to obtain a high school diploma.”
Keystone Exams: PA State Board of
Education Finalizes Adoption of Pennsylvania Common Core State Academic
Standards and High School Graduation Requirements
PDE PRESS RELEASE:March 14, 2013
Harrisburg – The State Board of Education today voted to adopt final-form regulations to amend Chapter 4, Academic Standards and Assessment, of Title 22, the Pennsylvania Education Code, said Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis. Specifically, the board’s action puts into place the Pennsylvania Common Core Standards and requires students to demonstrate proficiency on a Keystone Exam, validated local assessment or a comparable Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate exam.
PDE PRESS RELEASE:
Harrisburg – The State Board of Education today voted to adopt final-form regulations to amend Chapter 4, Academic Standards and Assessment, of Title 22, the Pennsylvania Education Code, said Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis. Specifically, the board’s action puts into place the Pennsylvania Common Core Standards and requires students to demonstrate proficiency on a Keystone Exam, validated local assessment or a comparable Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate exam.
Interview with NSBA Conference
speaker Diane Ravitch: ‘Schools belong to the people and not to corporations’
NSBA School Board News Today Lawrence
From 1991 to 1993, Diane Ravitch served as Assistant Secretary of
Education in President George H.W. Bush’s administration. Today, the author and
education historian says the institution she served at the federal level is
under an unprecedented threat from powerful interests intent on privatizing
public schools. In 2010, Ravitch
published The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How
Testing and Choice Undermine Education. A keynote speaker at the 2013 NSBA
Annual Conference in San Diego
New York Times By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON Published: March 14, 2013
Gov. Robert Bentley signed a law on Thursday granting tax credits to
families who want to send their children to private schools or
better-performing public schools. The act was passed amid heated controversy,
not only about its substance, but about the way it was passed: A conference
committee that was to reconcile versions of a school-related bill already
passed by the House and Senate added the tax credit, and more than tripled the
original bill’s length. The new version was then voted on quickly by both
houses.
How to Join the Network for Public
Education
Diane Ravitch’s Blog By dianerav March 13,
2013
Several readers have contacted me asking how they can join the Network
for Public Education.
Some read about it but don’t know how to find the website.
Here it is: http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org
Become a member: http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/network-membership/
Subscribe to our
newsletter: http://www.networkforpubliceducation.org/subscribe/
Teachers Lead Philly Spring
Dinner/Workshop
Thu,Mar 21, 2013 ~ 5pm -7pm Franklin
Register HERE!
Thu,
Register HERE!
Children with Specific Learning
Disabilities, Dyslexia and Calls for Reforming Special Education
Session will take place from 12:00-4:00pm on the
listed day at the United
Way Building 1709 Benjamin Franklin
Parkway , Philadelphia , PA 19103
Sessions also available via webinar.
Cost: Pay What You Can! (Minimum
payment of $5 Requested)
This session is designed
to address the legal aspects surrounding the needs of children with dyslexia,
and other learning disabilities (ADHD, non-verbal learning disabilities). An
expert in dyslexia will join Sonja Kerr to explain dyslexia/learning
disabilities, the research and what we can do about it.
Honoring Valor: National History Day
Student Competition
Letters of intent due by April 1, 2013
The Pennsylvania Department of Education, the Army Heritage Center
Foundation, and the Pennsylvania
State Museum
High School to demonstrate how and why societies honor valor. Inspired by
the valor exemplified by Soldiers at Gettysburg September
11, 2001 , and the responses of individuals battling disease or
injustice, the competition will recognize students who demonstrate
excellence in identifying and describing how and why societies honor
their valiant men and women.
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:
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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