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.
The Keystone State Education Coalition is
pleased to be listed among the friends and allies of The Network for Public
Education. Are you a
member?
These daily
emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
According to minutes from 12/18/12 Agora Cyber Board mtg, your PA tax $$$
paid for 19,298 local TV commercials
According
to the minutes
(pg. 7) from the December 18, 2012 K12,
Inc.’s Agora Cyber Charter
School
No mention of ubiquitous radio and internet ads in that total.
As of
February, 2013 Agora Cyber was serving 2,857 Philly students, the most of any
PA cyber
Agora has
never made AYP. Agora 2012 grad rate was 45%; Philly SD
In 2011, Agora
parent company K12, Inc. CEO Ron Packard’s total compensation was $5 million
“The USA
Online schools spend millions to attract
students
By
Greg Toppo, USA November 28, 2012
Virtual, for-profit K-12
schools have spent millions in taxpayer dollars on advertising, an analysis shows.
If your local public high
school has empty seats, the district might lay off teachers. If it's operated
by K12 Inc., the company will take out an ad on CNN, The Cartoon Network or
VampireFreaks.com and fill those seats.
An analysis by USA
“Cooper also said the District shouldn’t expand any charters until it
has the money to also expand high-quality traditional public schools. She
pointed to the example of Penn Alexander Elementary, which recently had to turn
away parents from within its surrounding neighborhood because it didn’t have
the space. "We don’t have a
printing press for cash," said Cooper. "So we need to … look at the
state and say, 'restore the cuts that were made, and then we can turn around
and have this discussion about expansion and more quality seats.'"
Rally urges expansion of Philadelphia
by thenotebook on
Apr 16 2013
Posted in Latest news
by
Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks,
a Notebook news
partner
Saying that thousands of
children are being denied quality educational opportunities, about 200
students, parents, and charter proponents rallied outside School District
headquarters Monday demanding that the School Reform Commission grant the
expansion requests of at least 20 charter schools. "Our children are begging for opportunities.
Let them get in!" said Naomi Booker, the CEO of Global Leadership Academy
Charter in West Philadelphia and the president
of Philadelphia Charters for Excellence.
But District officials said a
vote on the charters’ requests, which had been tentatively scheduled for this
Thursday, has been postponed indefinitely.
Philly Advocates:
Teacher contract must promote learning
PhillyTrib Written
by Damon C. Williams Tuesday, 16
April 2013 11:18
Existing deal with union, school district
expires in August
As the collective bargaining
agreement between the School
District of Philadelphia
The Coalition for Effective
Teaching – which includes member groups Aspira, Congreso, Education Voters,
Public Citizens for Children and Youth, Public Citizens for Children and Youth,
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey and the Urban League
of Philadelphia – is calling for a certain teacher and principal-sought
contractual changes, including maintaining smaller class sizes, allowing school
leaders full site selection for assigning teachers, and an increase in pay for
teachers with additional, specialized skills.
Group pushes bills to end school taxes
Property taxes would be replaced with mix of taxes under plans in state
House, Senate.
While some local legislators
still have reservations about bills that would eliminate school property taxes,
a petition drive is pushing forward to change their minds.
Thousands of people in Luzerne County
and communities throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania
are rallying behind House Bill 76 and Senate Bill 76 — identical pieces of
legislation known as the Property Tax Independence Act, said Charlie Urban,
head of the state retirees group of the American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees.
Urban, who has been
spearheading a petition drive in the region on behalf of the Pennsylvania
Taxpayer Cyber Coalition, made a presentation at a Wilkes-Barre Taxpayers
Association meeting the week before last, explaining the bills and asking that
people circulate petitions.
The bills were designed by the
cyber coalition — a group of 78 taxpayer groups across the state. Essentially,
the legislation would replace school property tax revenue by increasing the
state sales tax from 6 to 7 percent, expanding the sales tax base of items that
could be taxed and increasing the earned income tax from
3.07 to 4.34 percent.
Here’s a sample of regular local press coverage
detailing public school budgeting that impacts local taxpayers. When’s the last time that you saw anything
comparable detailing budgeting/spending for charter schools? How about for private and religious schools
using diverted tax dollars under EITC?
By Precious Petty | The Express-Times
on April 16, 2013
at 8:37 PM
As promised, Parkland School Districtadministrators
continue to find ways to whittle away the proposed tax hike for 2013-14. Director of Business Administration John
Vignone at tonight's school board meeting identified nearly $1.475 million in
new revenue and savings that translate into a 2.73 percent tax increase, down
from the 4.35 percent increase discussed in March.
“The PSBA supports legislation that protects the pension
benefits already earned by current employees but allows for changes to future
benefits. Ms. Leader said without
meaningful pension reform school districts will be forced to cut programs and
services for students in order to meet future pension payments.”
By Mary
Niederberger / Pittsburgh April
16, 2013 11:37 am
The Pennsylvania School Boards
Association today released its legal argument supporting changes that Gov. Tom
Corbett has proposed to pensions for current state employees and teachers which
it claimed are legal under the state constitution.
In a statement based on
testimony of PSBA acting chief counsel Emily Leader before the House State
Government Committee, the organization said the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
allows changes to current employee's benefits under the Public Employee
Forfeiture Act "if they were on notice of its provisions prior to
accepting a new term of office, a promotion or new appointment."
PSBA says pension crisis is a perfect storm
for public education
PSBA Press
Release 4/15/2013 Steve Robinson, Publications
and PR Director
In testimony before the House
State Government Committee, PSBA urged the committee members to enact pension
reforms that would ease the financial crisis facing school districts and their
taxpayers. "Solutions need to be
worked out or the pension tidal wave will wash over taxpayers and school
districts leaving them angry and frustrated," said Emily Leader, PSBA
acting chief counsel. She said public education is facing a perfect storm with
the merging of increased pension expenses and escalating healthcare benefit
costs, which continue to outpace inflation, and the yearly Act 1 index, which
sets the maximum tax rate districts may approve unless they fall within very
narrow exceptions. Without meaningful pension reform, schools will be facing
years of strained budgets that will leave them no option but to continue to cut
programs and services for students.
D.C. custodial staff were evaluated by
student test scores. Really.
How obsessive have school
reformers been with linking student standardized test scores to the evaluations
of adults in school buildings?
Well, a lawsuit filed in
Florida today by seven teachers and their unions is asking for an end to the
state’s evaluation system that insists that most teachers be evaluated in part
by the test scores of students they didn’t teach — in subjects they don’t
teach.
It may sound crazy, but it’s
true. Read
about it here.
And then there’s this: Until
this year, Washington D.C.
New York Times By MOTOKO RICH Published: April 17, 2013
Seven Florida
“In reality, test scores on the National Assessment of Educational
Progress (NAEP) are the highest in history. High school graduation rates are
the highest in history. The nation’s dropout rates are the lowest in history.
Such positive news is drowned out, however, by the purposeful barrage of
negative messaging by critics of public education, she said.”
Ravitch at NSBA: Public schools facing
‘unprecedented assault’
NSBA 2013 Conference Daily by Del
Stover|April 16th, 2013
Public education is under
attack. Local school boards are under attack. Local governance is under attack. That was the blunt message delivered by Diane
Ravitch at the closing General Session of NSBA’s annual conference in San Diego
A nationally recognized
education researcher and author, Ravitch has become a fierce critic of many of
the education reform models that, in the past decade, have been advocated by
misguided state and federal policymakers, as well by wealthy ideologues. And
she shared her criticisms and concerns with conference attendees.
“The nation’s 90,000 school board members are influential community members,
each of whom has a constituency and political connections and access to more
than 50 million schoolchildren.”
Pickler: Let’s ‘change the conversation’
about public schools
NSBA 2013 Conference Daily by Del
Stover|April 16th, 2013
School board members have
watched the efforts to privatize public education through vouchers and charter
schools, and they’ve seen the authority of local school governance eroded by
the decisions of state and federal policymakers. They’ve also watched public education put on
the defensive in national debates—and heard the arguments that the nation’s
public schools are failing and school boards are obstacles to reform.
But none of this will go
unchallenged in the future, NSBA’s new president, David A. Pickler, told
attendees at the closing General Session of the annual conference.
“On his blog for philly.com, Will Bunch summed up his view of why
Rhee failed
to act in this situation: "Because it would have demolished
her credibility as an 'education reformer' and an author."
How Will Michelle Rhee's Policy and
Politics Work Fare in States?
The biggest national education
story of the past week was John Merrow's discussion of a memo about possible, even likely cheating in D.C. Public Schools under
former Chancellor Michelle Rhee, and how she may have swept the issue under the
rug, or just passively let it get buried and lost under other paperwork,
depending on how you look at it. (As my colleague Lesli Maxwell documents,
Rhee claims not to remember the memo.)
But it's important to remember
that Rhee is not an abstraction, and she hasn't retired—she's the leader of a
K-12 advocacy group that is steadily expanding its role in many states, getting
involved in both policy lobbying and campaign donations. StudentsFirst's
website now says it is active in 18 states, including California ,
New York , and Florida
RNC Votes to Oppose Common Core,
Inappropriate Overreach
Alabama Republican Party
website By jbarbee on April
12, 2013
The resolution adopted by the
committee goes on to say, “(The) Republican National Committee recognizes the
CCSS for what it is– an inappropriate overreach to standardize and control the
education of our children so they will conform to a preconceived ‘normal…’
They call StudentsFirst and Democrats for Education Reform fronts for
GOP and corporate interests. Also, Harris and Newsom tout stands on same-sex
marriage.
By Seema Mehta, Los Angeles April 14, 2013 , 7:55
p.m.
SACRAMENTO — California Democrats on Sunday condemned efforts led by
members of their own party to overhaul the nation's schools, arguing that
groups such as StudentsFirst and Democrats for Education Reform are fronts for
Republicans and corporate interests.
Before delegates overwhelmingly
passed a resolution excoriating the groups on the final day of the party's
annual convention here, speakers urged them to focus on protecting students and
teachers. "People can call
themselves Democrats for Education Reform — it's a free country — but if your
agenda is to shut teachers and school employees out of the political process
and not lift a finger to prevent cuts in education, in my book you're not a
reformer, you're not helping education, and you're sure not much of a
Democrat," said state Supt. of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, a registered Democrat whose office is
nonpartisan.
Dozens of new bald eagle nests reported
across Pa.
Observer-Reporter published apr 15, 2013 at 8:36 am (updated apr 15, 2013 at 8:36 am )
HARRISBURG (AP) — Dozens of new
bald eagle nests are being reported across Pennsylvania Lebanon
County , Allegheny
County , Blair
County and Bucks County Chester , Indiana , Lancaster ,
Lawrence, Northumberland and Schuylkill
counties.
Superintendents, Business Managers, School
Board Members, Union Leaders, Any Others interested in PSERS and wanting to
learn more about Pension Reform . . .
Tuesday, May 14, 2013 Registration:
6:30 p.m. Presentation: 7:00 p.m.
Allegheny Intermediate Unit 475 East Waterfront Drive Homestead , PA 15120
Jeffery B. Clay, Executive
Director for the Pennsylvania Schools Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS)
will present on the topic of pension reform. Mr. Clay’s presentation will
review the increases in retirement contributions and the Governor’s proposal on
pension reform. As one concerned about public education, we are sure that
you will find this meeting enlightening and a valuable investment of your time.
In order to accommodate those
attending and prepare the necessary materials for the meeting, please
register using the following link: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6252177431 by May 7, 2013 .
If you have any questions
regarding the registration process, please contact Janet Galaski at 412.394.5753 or janet.galaski@aiu3.net.
Sign Up
Today for PILCOP Special Ed CLE Trainings
Spots are filling up for the
final three trainings in our 2012-2013 Know Your Child’s Rights series with
seminars on ADAAA, Pro Se Parents and Settlement Agreements.
For seminar details and
registration: http://pilcop.org/sign-up-today-for-special-ed-cle-trainings/
NAACP 2013
Conference on the State of Education in Pennsylvania
A Call for Equitable and
Adequate Funding for Pennsylvania
Media Area Branch NAACP
Saturday, May
11, 2013 9:00 am
– 2:30 pm (8:30 am
registration)
Marcus Foster Student Union 2nd
floor, Cheyney University of PA, Delaware County Campus
Information and registration
at: http://www.naacpmediabranch.org/2013_conference.html
PA Charter Schools: $4 billion taxpayer dollars with no real
oversight
Charter schools - public funding without public scrutiny; Proposed
statewide authorization and direct payment would further diminish
accountability and oversight for public tax dollars
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