Daily
postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1900
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 regulatory agencies, professional associations and education
advocacy organizations via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.
These daily
emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
Read it again: Profits
and Questions at Online Charter Schools
Help spread
the message of the PA School Funding Campaign for the 2013-2014
State Budget:
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2013/03/help-spread-message-of-pennsylvania.html
If you missed this December 2011 New York Times piece by Stephanie Saul
you should take a few minutes to read it – especially if you are a recently
elected Pennsylvania
State
Profits and Questions at
Online Charter Schools
New York Times By STEPHANIE SAUL Published: December 12, 2011
By almost every educational measure, the Agora Cyber
Charter School
Nearly 60 percent of its students are behind grade level in math. Nearly
50 percent trail in reading. A third do not graduate on time. And hundreds of
children, from kindergartners to seniors, withdraw within months after they
enroll.
By Wall Street standards, though, Agora is a remarkable success that has
helped enrich K12 Inc., the publicly
traded company that manages the school. And the entire enterprise is paid for
by taxpayers.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review By Jason
Cato Published: Tuesday, March 26, 2013 , 10:48 p.m.
The Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission on Tuesday fined the executive director of aMercer
County Keystone
Education Center
Charter School
The Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission on Tuesday fined the executive director of a
The charter school, founded in 1997, accepts students from 40 school
districts in Western Pennsylvania .
“Real opportunities are there for the state
to assist our local communities with significant statutory reforms: Fix the
pension problem, reform cyberschool funding, deal with the property tax and
recognize that special education funding is woefully inadequate to provide the
services we are required to provide. A
resolution of any one of these issues would help.”
Superintendents' forum: Commonwealth
not meeting its constitutional obligation
Reading Eagle By Dr. Gary L. Otto Originally Published: 3/27/2013
Superintendent, Daniel
Boone School
District
Since there is no mention of the word "education" in the U.S.
Constitution, public education fundamentally is a state responsibility as is
mandated under the Pennsylvania Constitution, which states in Article III,
Section 14, "The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and
support of a thorough and efficient system of public education." Given this language in our state
Constitution, the state has adopted statutory language, primarily in laws
promulgated in the Pennsylvania School Code and state Board of Education
regulations to carry out is constitutional mandate.
After Years of Debate, Keystone
Exams Get Passed
WESA 90.5 Pittsburgh March 25, 2013
After more than four years of debate and revision, the Keystone Exam will
more than likely be coming to schools across Pennsylvania
The exam plans however, come with some new regulations — the Pennsylvania
Common Core Standards. These new requirements must be implemented across the
state in English, arts and mathematics by July 1. These regulations are similar to the Common
Core Standards initiative already underway in 45 states. However, Department of
Education spokesman Tim Eller said Pennsylvania
Debate continues on CUSD school
closures
Delco Times By JOHN KOPP jkopp@delcotimes.com
@DT_JohnKopp March 27, 2013
The financial and academic recovery plan designed to boost the Chester Upland School District
Receiver Joseph Watkins held a hearing Wednesday to consider proposals to close several buildings by the beginning of next school year.
Receiver Joseph Watkins held a hearing Wednesday to consider proposals to close several buildings by the beginning of next school year.
PSP's Gleason cited by Waltons as a
'reformer to watch'
The notebook by Dale
Mezzacappa on Mar 27 2013
Mark Gleason, the executive director of the Philadelphia School
Partnership, has been named
one of four "education reformers to watch" nationwide by the
Walton Family Foundation.
Walton, which has given some $1 billion to its education causes, is one
of the country's leading backers of parental choice in education, including
vouchers and the expansion of charter schools. It believes that choice is the
best path to equal opportunity for low-income students.
Are a handful of benevolent billionaires
protecting us from the unionized minions of greedy teachers? I posted a comment regarding the Waltons’
school reform largesse on the notebook article above and received a reply with
a link to this July 2012 WSJ piece:
Teachers Unions Give Broadly
Beyond Their Political Donations, Two Largest Federations Contribute to
an Array of Outside Groups
Wall Street Journal By ALICIA
MUNDY July
12, 2012 , 7:54 p.m. ET
What do the American Ireland Fund, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Gay,
Lesbian and Straight Education Network have in common?
All have received some of the more than $330 million that America
The contributions—totaling more than $200 million from the National
Education Association and more than $130 million from the American Federation
of Teachers—were disclosed in annual reports that unions file with the Labor
Department detailing their spending on political activities and advocacy work,
as well as separate political-action-committee filings.
Congressman Paul Ryan's Plan Cuts Almost One in Five Dollars of Federal
Funding to States and Localities, Harming Schools, Health Care, Housing, Report
Finds
Read
the Full Report (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
HARRISBURG, PA (March 27, 2013) — Critical federal funding for
Pennsylvania's schools, health care, clean water, law enforcement, and other
key services would be slashed under a budget plan approved last week by the
U.S. House of Representatives authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul
Ryan. "Chairman Ryan's budget
would place the burden of deficit reduction squarely on the backs of Pennsylvania 's low-income and middle-class families while
providing big new tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest
individuals," said Sharon Ward, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center
Chairman Ryan's budget would cut by 18 percent the part of the federal
budget that supports schools, public safety, and a range of other state and
local services, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities, co-released today with the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center
Education Week Politics K-12 Blog By Alyson Klein on March
25, 2013 3:41 PM
States that run afoul of federal rules for special education funding will
be punished—though not forever—under a technical, but important tweak to state
maintenance of effort under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
The change, which was crafted with the help of the U.S. Department of
Education, was included in the giant spending bill for the rest of this fiscal
year (better known in Inside the Beltway as a continuing resolution, or CR)
that Congress passed this month. Under
maintenance of effort—or MOE, in wonky Washingtonspeak—states can't cut their
own education spending below whatever amount they spent the previous year and
still tap federal dollars for special education under the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act, unless they get special permission from the
department.
Crowds join Loop protest against Chicago
Chicago Tribune By Ellen Jean Hirst and Bridget DoyleTribune reporters March 28, 2013
On a day when Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the time for negotiations on school
closings was over, the Chicago Teachers Union led hundreds of supporters in a
highly orchestrated downtown rally and march as part of its continuing efforts
to derail the district's plan to shut 53 elementary schools. CTU President Karen Lewis was cheered when
she took the microphone at Daley
Plaza
In Chicago ,
Dozens Arrested As They Protest
School
NPR by EYDER PERALTA March 27, 2013 8:46 PM
Hundreds of demonstrators, along with the Chicago Teachers Union, marched
through the city today demanding that City Hall walk back its plan to close 53
elementary schools and one high school in response to a $1 billion budget
deficit.
With Vouchers, States Shift Aid for
Schools to Families
New York Times By FERNANDA SANTOS and MOTOKO RICH Published: March 27, 2013
By Kate
Alexander American-Statesman Staff Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The Texas House on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to loosen high school
graduation requirements and significantly reduce high-stakes testing after a
daylong debate in which legislators grappled with how academic rigor and
flexibility can co-exist. House Bill 5
won preliminary passage on a 145-2 vote. State Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, who
unsuccessfully pushed an amendment aimed at steering more students toward
college, and state Rep. Naomi Gonzalez, D-El Paso, were the only nays.
The legislation reduces from 15 to five the number of end-of-course exams
needed for graduation from high school and amounts to an about-face for Texas U.S.
Education
Voters PA ACTION ALERT – Call to action day April 10th
Mark your calendar for the next Call to
Action Day on Wednesday April 10th - where thousands of Pennsylvanians
will take 10 minutes to call their State Senators and House members.
Read more: http://educationvoterspa.blogspot.com/2013/03/time-for-fair-and-meaningful-ed-funding.html
PENN-FINN LEARNINGS 2013: SHARING
OUR INQUIRIES – MARCH 23-30
A group from the Penn Graduate School of Education is visiting Finland
PSBA opens nominations for the
Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award
PSBA website 3/15/2013
The nomination process is now open and applications will be accepted
until June 21,
2013 .
In 2011, PSBA created a new award to honor the memory of its long-term
chief lobbyist, who died unexpectedly. The Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award
may be presented annually to the individual school director or entire school
board to recognize outstanding leadership in legislative advocacy efforts on
behalf of public education and students that are consistent with the positions
in PSBA’s Legislative Platform. The nomination process is
now open and applications will be accepted until June 21, 2013 . The award will be
presented during the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference in October.
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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