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
Gureghian takes his formula to Camden, NJ
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
By Jason
Laday/South Jersey Times on March 21, 2013 at 5:58 PM
CAMDEN — Officials on
Thursday announced a newly approved public charter school in
North Camden , scheduled to begin serving up to
300 elementary school students beginning as early as September. Students at the new Camden Community Charter
School — which will soon break ground at what has long been an empty lot near
the intersection of 8th and Linden streets — will be provided with free laptops
and at-home Internet access through a partnership between Comcast and a local
charity. The new charter school will be
managed by CSMI Education Management LLC, which operates Chester
Community Charter School in Pennsylvania, and whose founder and CEO,
Vahan Gureghian, is one half of the foundation providing the free laptops and
Internet access to students. The other half, Danielle Gureghian, serves as
executive vice president and general counsel for the group.
Jersey Jazzman is a great New
Jersey education blogger; he did his homework on
this….
Now that the state has officially taken control of Camden 's schools, what changes are we likely
to see? What's in store for the city's children and their schools?
The best place to find an answer may be right down theDelaware
River . A charter school made famous in Chester ,
PA is setting
up shop in Camden.
The best place to find an answer may be right down the
Debate continues on Chester
Upland school closures
Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013
Delco Times By JOHN KOPP jkopp@delcotimes.com
@DT_JohnKopp
The financial and academic recovery plan designed to boost the Chester Upland School District
requires the district to restructure its schools, a process that includes
consolidations and closings.
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.
Gov. Tom Corbett announces Lehigh
Valley effort to promote manufacturing jobs - UPDATE
By Precious
Petty | The Express-Times on March 28, 2013 at 8:24 PM
As a 1960s high school kid, Gov. Tom
Corbett said he associated manufacturing with the "dirty
jobs" found in Pittsburgh 's
steel mills. Steel mills haven't changed
-- they're still dirty -- but manufacturing jobs have, and some of the best one
are found in tidy, high-tech equipment-filled labs like the one Corbett toured
today at Lehigh
Career & Technical Institute, he said.
Lehigh Valley officials criticize
state education, human services funding
By Lynn
Olanoff | The Express-Times on March 28, 2013 at 6:28 PM
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom
Corbett’s proposed minor increase in state funding will do nothing to make
up two years of severe cuts to education and human services, Lehigh Valley
officials told a Corbett representative today in Bethlehem.
“But the district's chances for getting more
money from Harrisburg
do not look good.
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R.,
Delaware) said Thursday that the state is facing "a very tight
budget" and that "there is no surplus waiting to be allocated."
Kristen A. Graham, Inquirer
Staff Writer POSTED: Friday, March 29, 2013 , 4:45 AM
Already in dire financial straits, the Philadelphia School
District must now find ways to plug a hole of as
much as $304 million next year. The
School Reform Commission on Thursday night passed a $2.7 billion preliminary
2013-14 budget with few details and multiple question marks.
Its current gap-filling plan requires $120 million in new money from the
state, $60 million in new city
funding, and pay cuts of roughly 10 percent from all employees, including
teachers and other unionized workers. Each
of those line items will be a tough sell, to say the least.
Philly budget banks on $180M in new
aid, 10% pay cuts
by thenotebook on Mar 28 2013 Posted in Latest news
by Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks, a Notebook news
partner
[Updated, 10:15 p.m.] The struggling Philadelphia School
District , hoping to close a $242 million
budget shortfall for next school year, plans to slash labor costs by 10 percent
more and hope for a huge influx of cash from the state and city.
The School Reform Commission voted Thursday evening to approve
this so-called "lump-sum
budget," which totals $2.66 billion. The 2013-14 school year will
be the third in a row in which the District, staggered by sharp reductions in
state and federal aid as well as poor financial planning, has had to make deep
and painful cuts to balance its books.
In a press briefing Thursday afternoon, Superintendent William Hite told
reporters the District would ask for $120 million from Harrisburg and $60 million from City Hall,
part of a painful effort to fix the District's "structural deficit"
without again resorting to borrowing money to pay its bills.
By PETER JACKSON, Associated Press Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Lawmakers need to reduce taxpayers' share of
payments into Pennsylvania's major state pension funds in the next few years
even if the rest of Gov. Tom Corbett's pension-overhaul proposals bog down, the
governor's top budget adviser said Wednesday.
Budget Secretary Charles Zogby said Corbett's $28.4 billion state budget
plan for the year starting July 1 includes $175 million in savings from a
proposed short-term reduction in taxpayers' contributions to the pensions of
hundreds of thousands of state and school employees. Similar deferrals would
avert sharp increases in the following two years.
Failure to approve the changes would require cuts elsewhere in the budget, he said.
Failure to approve the changes would require cuts elsewhere in the budget, he said.
Corbett gears up for court fight
over pension reform
Governor seeks to get around 1934 precedent
that protects public pensions.
By Steve Esack, Call
Harrisburg
Bureau 9:08 p.m. EDT, March 27, 2013
Winning, however, is another matter.
Since 1934, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that pension benefits
are contractual obligations that cannot be taken away as long as workers abide
by the terms of their employment. The precedent has withstood numerous
challenges over the decades. But the administration first has to persuade the
Legislature to back the pension plans in a law before Schultz can attempt to
change precedent with his legal argument he plans to use against lawsuits that
have been promised by state workers and teachers unions.
‘Hybrid learning’ ahead, says Pa. Department of
Education Secretary Tomalis
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review By Bill
Zlatos Published: Friday, March 29, 2013 , 12:13 a.m.
With help from the Internet, schools one day will tailor education to individual students, who might choose from among 100 languages to learn, the state's top education official predicted on Thursday. “I think the new parents will drive that conversation,” Ronald Tomalis, secretary of the state Department of Education, said during a wide-ranging discussion with Tribune-Review editors and reporters.
With help from the Internet, schools one day will tailor education to individual students, who might choose from among 100 languages to learn, the state's top education official predicted on Thursday. “I think the new parents will drive that conversation,” Ronald Tomalis, secretary of the state Department of Education, said during a wide-ranging discussion with Tribune-Review editors and reporters.
South Side celebrates middle school
honor
By Abdul Al-Nakhli For The Times | Posted: Friday, March 29, 2013 12:15 am
GREENE TWP. — It was an afternoon of celebration Wednesday as students,
faculty and guests gathered at South
Side Middle
School to acknowledge being named a “School to
Watch.”
“We get to celebrate our young people, their achievements, their
perseverance and their successes,” said acting Superintendent Tammy Adams.
“Students, you should know your teachers, your counselors and principals and
entire staff are very proud of you today.”
South Side was one of four middle schools statewide to receive the honor
from the Pennsylvania Association for Middle Level Education through its Don
Eichhorn: Schools to Watch program.
Schwartz poll: Leads primary and
general for guv
Post=Gazette Early Returns by Tim McNulty on Thursday, 28 March 2013
3:34 pm .
U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz's nascent gubernatorial campaign did polling
two weeks ago claiming the MontCo congresswoman is the leader in the
ever-expanding Democratic field clamoring to take on Tom Corbett next year, and
would be the top vote-getter out of the crucial Philadelphia media market. Schwartz would lead a three-way Dem race
among Treasurer Rob McCord and businessman/Rendell cabinet member Tom Wolf with
31% to their 12 and 5% respectively. Once voters are read bios of the trio (listed
in pdf below) her lead is 58% to their 14 and 8%. In a wide field including
Joe Sestak, former DEP Secretary John Hanger and others she's still squeaks by
as the leader, with 18% to Sestak's 15%
The Keystone State Education Coalition is
pleased to be listed among the Friends and Allies of the Network for Public
Education
Network for Public Education NPE
News Issue #3 March
28, 2013
“The real lesson to draw from these facts is
that the future of the country is directly linked to how well the 90 percent of
American students in public schools are being educated. The nation's future
workers, military troops, scientists, doctors, and political leaders will be
drawn mostly from children now being educated in public schools. If we want a
bright future, we must focus national attention on making public schools as
good as they can be.”
Proportion of U.S. Students in
Private Schools is 10 Percent and Declining
Huffington Post by Jack
Jennings Posted: 03/28/2013 12:31
pm
Founder, and former President, Center on
Education Policy
One in 10 U.S.
students in grades preK-12 attends a private school, according to
the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education. Surprised it's not
a higher share?
Perhaps even more surprisingly, the private school share of total
enrollments has decreased over the past 15 years, from about
12 percent to 10 percent. This trend seems unlikely to reverse. The U.S.
Department of Education projects that in 2021, private schools will enroll
about 9 percent of preK-12 students, while public schools will enroll 91
percent.
10th Period Blog by Stephen Dyer SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013
I was stunned to read this weekend that 3 out of 4 Charter Schools in
this state will receive Fs under the new state report card. However, I was even
more stunned by the response of Bill Sims, president and CEO of the Ohio
Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Here was his answer to why 3 out of
4 of his schools are failing, (according to the Gongwer (subscription only)
story):
In Maine , More Advanced Placement classes to be
offered online
Thanks to a funding increase, a program
providing universal access to advanced classes can also take more students.
By Noel K. Gallagher ngallagher@mainetoday.com Staff Writer March 25,2013
Maine is increasing funding and expanding courses for a program that provides free online Advanced Placement courses to students who can't get them at their local high school.
Maine is increasing funding and expanding courses for a program that provides free online Advanced Placement courses to students who can't get them at their local high school.
"I firmly believe that it's a very, very important program,"
said Dave Patterson, who oversees AP4ALL for the state Department of Education.
The department is currently accepting applications for this fall. This year, there are about 200 students in
the 17 AP courses. Next year the state will offer 21 courses and could have as
many as 420 students enrolled.
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 to see
their education system. Follow their
blog…..
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 When: May 18, 2013 Cost: FREE!
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.