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
Charter Schools: Public Funding Without Public Accountability. Charter schools must be accountable to taxpayers
too.
Keep 1.7 million PA kids learning; protect public
schools and taxpayers from paying exorbitant corporate bonuses, funding tens of
thousands of TV, radio, print and internet ads, funding $10 million non-school building
projects and buying beachfront property with tax dollars meant for educating our
neediest kids.
Education Voters PA Statewide Call to Action for
Public Education
Pennsylvania ’s 1.76 million public school kids
don’t care whether Rendell backfilled or Corbett cut stimulus money; they now
have 20,000 fewer adults trying to maintain their constitutionally mandated
“thorough and efficient system of public education” than they did a couple
years ago.
Take 10 minutes to
do three things to make a difference!
MEETING OF SPECIAL EDUCATION FUNDING FORMULA
COMMISSION
Thursday, June 13, 2013 10:00 AM Hearing Room 1, North Office Bldg.
To consider
Special Education Funding in PA
Wednesday June 12, 2013 10:00 am Capitol Media
Center
PLUS press event in the Capitol
Media Center
in Harrisburg
on Wed morning at 10 a.m. Hosted by Dauphin County
Democratic Senator Rob Teplitz.
PLUS superintendents expected to attend/speak
include are Bill King from Scranton, Carlinda Purcell from Reading, Steve Butz
from SE Delco, Sybil Knight Burney from Harrisburg and Tamara Willis, assistant
superintendent from York.
Send an email to Harrisburg on school
funding
Education Voters PA
In the
event that you have a few minutes to spare, please consider contacting the legislative
leadership listed below regarding the education budget ; here’s part of their
job description:
PA Constitution - Public School System Section 14.
“The General Assembly shall
provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of
public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth.”
PA Legislature Republican Leadership 2013
Senate Majority Leader Dominic
Pileggi
717-787-4712
Senate Appropriations Committee
Chairman Jake Corman
717-787-1377
Senate President Pro Tempore Joseph
Scarnati
717-787-7084
House Majority Leader Mike Turzai
717-772-9943
House Appropriation Committee
Chairman William Adolph
717-787-1248
House Speaker Sam Smith
717-787-3845
Governor
Tom Corbett
717-787-2500, Fax: 717-772-8284
Email: governor@state.pa.us
“This Bill has tremendous bipartisan support,”
said Centennial School Board Director Mark B. Miller, Co-Chair of the Keystone
State Education Coalition and First Vice President of the Pennsylvania School
Boards Association. Miller strongly supported Rep. O’Neill’s efforts to develop
the bill. “We are very grateful to Rep. O’Neill for his hard work over
the last seven years to bring this bill to reality,” said Miller.
Gov. Corbett Holding Special Ed Bill Signing Event at
Tennent Friday
The governor has been
invited to sign Special Education House Bill 2 at the high school this Friday
at noon.
Warminster
Patch June 10,
2013
Governor
Tom Corbett is scheduled to visit William
Tennent Friday, June 14 at 12 p.m. to sign Special Education House
Bill 2 (Act 3 of 2013) that seeks to create a better funding formula to support
special education in Pennsylvania . The bill’s prime architect and sponsor, Rep.
Bernie O’Neill, will join with the Governor and Centennial Board of School
Directors, administrators, and representatives from the Pennsylvania Department
of Education to celebrate the signing.
Pink Slips for 99 Allentown Teachers
NBC Philadelphia Tuesday, Jun 11, 2013
| Updated 7:06 AM
EDT
Cash-strapped
schools aren’t only a Philadelphia
thing. Another area school district is firing teachers due to a budget crunch. Dozens of teachers in the Allentown School District
are being laid off. Teacher's union
President Deb Tretter says the 99 teachers received pink slips from their
principals last Thursday and Friday. The district's proposed $242 million
budget eliminates 132 teaching positions; 99 of those are coming through
layoffs.
House Democrats fault GOP education policies with driving up
future costs
“We’ve railed against the Republican-backed cuts
to education for two years; we debated them again last night on the House
floor; and we’re continuing our efforts today. Saying nothing is not an
option,” Sturla said. Pointing out the
negative impact of the recurring $1 billion cut to basic education introduced
by Gov. Tom Corbett two years ago, several lawmakers noted how those cuts have
impacted their local school districts and taxpayers.
Pension reform: It's probably too complicated to get
done quickly
By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com
on June 11, 2013
at 11:30 AM
Of the
three big policy issues Gov. Tom Corbett put on the General Assembly’s to-do list along
with budget passage, the governor told an audience in Ephrata the $47 billion
unfunded liability in the state’s two pension systems is the most worrisome to
him. Gov. Tom Corbett said of all the
big policy issues the state faces, the $47 billion unfunded pension liability
is the most worrisome to him. He said failure to reform the pension system will
unleash an economic hardship for the state and school districts for decades to
come. He said failure to reform the pension systems will
lead to a “nightmare of economic hardship for our children” for decades by
forcing state government and school districts to cut into core programs.
Five takeaways from Gene Veno and Sybil Knight-Burney
about Harrisburg
schools
By Matt Zencey | mzencey@pennlive.com
on June 11, 2013
at 3:23 PM
Here are
five takeaways from Tuesday’s Pennlive/Patriot-News Editorial Board meeting
with Harrisburg School Recovery Officer Gene Veno and Superintendent Sybil
Knight-Burney.
As Philly school layoffs
loom, furious activity
MARTHA WOODALL, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITER POSTED: Tuesday, June 11, 2013 , 9:32 PM
Amid
massive Philadelphia School District layoffs, the teachers' union Tuesday
decried the lack of education funding, Mayor Nutter spent the day in Harrisburg seeking support
for schools, and laid-off noontime aides demonstrated outside City Hall.
Read more
at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130612_As_school_layoffs_loom__furious_activity.html#ijIBLLuYD31r15mx.99
By Eleanor
Chute / Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette June
12, 2013 12:09 am
All three
have been awaiting word from the state Charter Appeal Board, but, with 14 cases
pending, the Charter Appeal Board meeting scheduled for Tuesday was cancelled.
PDE Press
Release June 05,
2013
Governor Corbett Announces $345,000 in Grants to 34 Libraries to Enhance Services and Improve Access for Local Communities
Harrisburg – Gov. Tom Corbett today
announced that 34 public, school and academic libraries across the state will
share $345,430 in grant funding to enhance services and improve access to
materials to local communities. Funding
for this competitive grant program is provided through the federal Library
Services and Technology Act, which is overseen by the Institute of Museum
and Library Services and administered by the Pennsylvania Department of
Education’s Office of Commonwealth Libraries.
Governor Corbett Announces $345,000 in Grants to 34 Libraries to Enhance Services and Improve Access for Local Communities
“Evaluation
of 10 years of data demonstrates that City Connects' approach to addressing
out-of-school factors significantly improves academic performance and narrows
the achievement gap. Students who attended City Connects elementary schools
outperform their peers on standardized tests in middle
school. They are less likely to be retained in grade, be chronically absent, and drop out of high school than students never in City Connects.”
Community Schools: Support All Students to Close the
Achievement Gap
THE WHOLE
CHILD BLOG June
10, 2013 by Mary E. Walsh
Mary E. Walsh, PhD, is the executive director of City
Connects and the Kearns Professor of Urban Education & Innovative
Leadership at the Lynch
School of Education, Boston
College.
More than
16 million children in the U.S.
live in poverty, which dramatically affects their ability to come to school
ready to learn and thrive. The latest data from the National Center
for Education Statistics' The Condition of
Education 2013 (PDF) report shows that one in five schools was
considered high poverty in 2011, an increase from one in eight schools in 2000.
Even the
significant investment the U.S.
has made in developing strong curricula and talented teachers is not adequate
to ensure that all children can succeed. Research shows that only
one-third of the achievement gap can be attributed to the quality of a
student's in-school experiences. The other two-thirds is linked to the
non-academic factors that impact children, many of which are greatly
exacerbated by poverty. These "out-of-school" factors can include
hunger, homelessness, unaddressed medical concerns, violence, and lack of access
to important enrichments like arts or athletics. The evidence is clear: until
we address poverty, the achievement gap will persist.
A Commitment to Pre-Kindergarten is a Commitment to
National Security
High-Quality Early Childhood
Education Saves Billions While Strengthening Our Military and Our Nation
A report by
Mission :
Readiness, 2013
“The Texas testing
revolt first got traction when, in January 2012, the state education commissioner
at the time, Robert Scott, said the mentality that standardized testing is the
“end-all, be-all” is a “perversion” of what a quality education should be. He
also called “the assessment and accountability regime” not only “a cottage
industry but a military-industrial complex.” School boards across the state
then began passing resolutions demanding that the testing regime be
reconsidered, and Texas
lawmakers began to publicly call for a reduction in testing.”
Bending to
popular outrage over high-stakes standardized testing, Gov. Rick Perry signed
school reform legislation Monday that revamps high school graduation
requirements and cuts the number of mandatory end-of-course exams from 15 to 5.
Perry had
not revealed his decision until he signed it, leaving activists concerned
about which way he would go with the legislation, the Austin-American
Statesman reported
here. But in the end, Perry (R) chose not to ignore a revolt against excessive
amounts of high-stakes standardized testing that
began more than a year and a half ago in Texas and that has spread to other states.
A new ‘Education
Declaration’ for genuine school reform
A coalition
of educators, researchers, parents, activists and elected officials issued what
signees are calling an “Education Declaration” on Tuesday that lists seven key
principles on which genuine school reform should be guided for the 21st century
and starts from the premise that public education is “a public good.” The document offers a progressive approach to
school reform that includes ensuring that teachers are properly trained and respected,
that opportunities to learn for all students are paramount and that
learning must be “engaging and relevant.”
CAPS Forum on Community Schools Saturday June 15, 9 am – 1:30 pm
The Philadelphia Coalition
Advocating for Public Schools (PCAPS)
Over the
past year, in forums, workshops, listening sessions, and through surveys,
thousands of students, parents, community members and school staff voiced their
desire for an educational system that provides a well-rounded education
parallel to what affluent districts offer, but that also addresses the
challenges that come with poverty. We understand that all of our schools must
provide:
- A rigorous academic
curriculum
- Enrichment activities
such as sports, art, music, drama
- Coordinated supports and
services that address the social-emotional as well as the academic needs
of students and their families.
The
Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools (PCAPS) has done our
research! After meeting with experts from around the country, we have
concluded that the most equitable, effective, financially sound strategy for
our city is one that embraces community schools for all children.
Please join
us on Saturday, June 15th for the Community Schools Conference
(9am-2pm) at Kensington CAPA High School (Front & Berks St.) to learn more
from national experts and work with others on a strategy to make this a reality
for our city.
Please
encourage your networks to attend and feel free to bring a friend! Lunch will
be provided. Please RSVP at www.eventbrite.com/event/6815949689
EPLC Education Policy Fellowship Program –
Apply Now
Applications are
available now for the 2013-2014 Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP). The Education Policy
Fellowship Program is sponsored in Pennsylvania
by The Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC).
With more than 350
graduates in its first fourteen years, this Program is a premier professional
development opportunity for educators, state and local policymakers, advocates,
and community leaders. State Board of Accountancy (SBA) credits are
available to certified public accountants.
Past participants
include state policymakers, district superintendents and principals, school
business officers, school board members, education deans/chairs, statewide
association leaders, parent leaders, education advocates, and other education
and community leaders. Fellows are typically sponsored by their employer
or another organization.
The Fellowship Program
begins with a two-day retreat on September 12-13, 2013 and
continues to graduation in June 2014.
Building One America 2013 National Summit July 18-19, 2013 Washington , DC
Brookings Institution to present
findings of their “Confronting Suburban Poverty” report
Building One America’s Second National Summit for
Inclusive Suburbs and Sustainable Regions will involve local leaders and
federal policy makers to seek bipartisan solutions to the unique but common
challenges around housing, schools and infrastructure facing America ’s metropolitan regions and
its diverse middle-class suburbs. Participants will include local elected and
grassroots leaders from America ’s
diverse middle class suburban towns and school districts, scholars and policy
experts, members of the Obama Administration and Congress. The summit will identify comprehensive
solutions and build bipartisan support for meaningful action to stabilize and
support inclusive middle-class communities and promote sustainable,
economically competitive regions.
Lineup of speakers: https://buildingoneamerica.org/summit/speakers
Information and registration: https://buildingoneamerica.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=1
Thanks for the information, I am still undecided on where to to go school. I've been researching career paths online and I like the idea of attending either one of the nursing schools in PA or becoming a pharmacist.
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