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Pennsylvania Education Policy
Roundup for June 18, 2013:
City
schools get national attention
Send an email to Harrisburg
Education Voters PA
As the budget process continues 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
City
schools get national attention
John Baer, Daily News Political Columnist Monday, June 17, 2013, 8:47 AM
One
of the reasons I suggest in a Monday
column that the fiscal puzzle to funding Philly schools isn't as
unsolvable as it might seem is played out in Monday's New York Times.
The
national newspaper brings national
attention to the "doomsday budget" approved by the School
Reform Commission that lays off thousands of employees, shuts down programs and
athletics and threatens to leave the district a virtual hull of education come
September.
I
believe the more attention the issue gets from the media the more likely the
issue gets attention from the governor and the Legislature.
Read
more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/growls/City-schools-get-national-attention.html#OkGxDHELJhJueJoI.99
Schools'
friend in Harrisburg
Philly.com
Opinion By William E. Harner POSTED: Monday,
June 17, 2013, 3:01 AM
William E. Harner is
Pennsylvania's acting secretary of education.
Gov. Corbett and his administration are attuned to the Philadelphia School District's $304 million budget shortfall. Finding a long-term solution that is student-centered and fiscally responsible is paramount.
Gov. Corbett and his administration are attuned to the Philadelphia School District's $304 million budget shortfall. Finding a long-term solution that is student-centered and fiscally responsible is paramount.
I
and other members of the Corbett administration recently met with Mayor Nutter,
Superintendent William Hite, and other school and community leaders to discuss
the district's fiscal challenges. I subsequently traveled to Philadelphia to
learn more firsthand.
This
kind of fiscal crisis has occurred several times before in the School District.
Unfortunately, though, there has never been a long-term solution. To their
credit, the city, the School Reform Commission, and the superintendent have
such a solution this time around.
Read
more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20130617_Schools__friend_in_Harrisburg.html#V4WaUbTjM8SshKgT.99
Lawmakers,
Corbett continue work on budget and related issues
By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com on June 17, 2013 at 11:10 AM
Legislative
leaders are meeting with Gov. Tom Corbett this morning to get an update on
where things stand following a weekend of work on attempting to resolve
differences on various issues that have become attached to the 2013-14 budget. According to House and Senate leadership
sources, discussions continue on all four fronts: the budget, liquor reform,
transportation funding, and pension reform.
State
revenue picture grows brighter, according to Independent Fiscal Office forecast
By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com on June 17, 2013 at 5:25 PM
The
state’s Independent Fiscal Office released its official revenue projection for
2013-14, predicting the state’s tax collections will grow by 1.2 percent over
this year.
That
projects the state’s general fund revenues will bring in more than $29 billion,
barring any changes in law. That is $147 million higher than the office’s
preliminary revenue growth estimateof $28.9 billion issued last month
because revenues came in higher than anticipated.
It
estimates the state will end the fiscal year this month having collected $28.7
billion from general fund revenue sources. That amounts to an anticipated $144
million revenue surplus.
City
schools, state money: annual tug of war
JOHN BAER, DAILY NEWS POLITICAL COLUMNIST Monday, June 17, 2013, 8:36
AM
A
FEW FACTORS - present and emerging - should help Philly's ever-embattled public
schools, and by that I mean help wring more money from a tight-fisted
Legislature.
And,
yeah, I know it's an annual game: cries of crises, days of doubt.
But
this time, there are differences. For
one, Philly isn't the only district in distress.
York
teachers face 40 percent pay cuts over the next four years. Allentown just
canned 100 teachers. Other districts are eliminating kindergarten and school
nurses, cutting programs and closing buildings.
So there's pressure for targeted school aid, no matter who caused the
need.
Also,
high-ranking Corbett-administration officials privately say that for the first
time in a long time, numbers detailing Philly's needs are actually believable.
As
such, the administration is serious about finding funding solutions.
Williams
continues pushing Pa. for more Philly school funds
WHYY
Newsworks By Mary Wilson @marywilson June 17, 2013
One
Democratic state lawmaker is warning that poor schools are being overlooked as
the Pennsylvania Legislature gets down to the final two weeks of budget
negotiations.
Sen.
Anthony Williams points to the Philadelphia School District, which is laying
off nearly 3,800 workers, and says other financially distressed districts will
join it soon if the state doesn't send more money. Lawmakers are too busy trying to find
consensus on policy issues orbiting around the budget, he said. "Pensions, transportation, liquor,
they're being resolved as we speak. Education has not been resolved," he
said Monday. "And it can actually affect whether we get a budget or
not."
Deathly
ill public ed needs state meds
Philly.com
Opinion by REP. DWIGHT EVANS Monday, June 17, 2013, 3:01 AM
Dwight Evans represents
the 203rd legislative district in Philadelphia.
I'M CALLING IT the Harrisburg Syndrome: the chronic and costly practice of refusing to invest responsibly in education. Symptoms far exceed the number of schools closed - roughly two dozen or so in Philadelphia alone - and probably approach the 20,000 school employees furloughed statewide since Gov. Corbett cut almost $900 million from public education two years ago. A physician would look at the condition of public education in Pennsylvania and call for broad-spectrum antibiotics in the form of money. Not just your garden-variety antibiotic, but consistent, broad-based funding - similar to what's advancing in California - to provide for the "thorough and efficient" education system called for in our state constitution.
I'M CALLING IT the Harrisburg Syndrome: the chronic and costly practice of refusing to invest responsibly in education. Symptoms far exceed the number of schools closed - roughly two dozen or so in Philadelphia alone - and probably approach the 20,000 school employees furloughed statewide since Gov. Corbett cut almost $900 million from public education two years ago. A physician would look at the condition of public education in Pennsylvania and call for broad-spectrum antibiotics in the form of money. Not just your garden-variety antibiotic, but consistent, broad-based funding - similar to what's advancing in California - to provide for the "thorough and efficient" education system called for in our state constitution.
There,
I said it - taxes. Taxes dedicated to public education and not subject to
political whims.
Read
more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20130617_Deathly_ill_public_ed_needs_state_meds.html#mttfgE9pQblHopGZ.99
Bethlehem Area School Board increases
tax hike in final budget vote
By Sara K.
Satullo | The Express-Times on June 17, 2013 at 9:01 PM
The Bethlehem
Area School Board tonight opted to increase taxes 2.7 percent next
year to expand full-day kindergarten and restore seventh-grade team teaching. The amended $225.27 million 2013-14 spending
plan passed in a 5-4 vote despite warnings from Superintendent Joseph
Roy that he wasn't comfortable with adding 11 new employees.
While
the tax hike this year covers the salary and benefits of those workers, those
costs rise about $50,000 each year, creating a structural deficit as expenses
outpace revenue increases, Roy said.
Hunger strike against school closures
begins in Philadelphia
Ned Resnikoff, @resnikoff 11:11 AM on
06/17/2013
The fight
over public education in Philadelphia escalated Monday, when two local
parents and two school district employees initiated a hunger strike to protest
the closure of 23 schools and firing of 3,783 education professionals.
The
four hunger strikers camped out on the steps in front of Gov. Tom Corbett’s
Philadelphia office, where they say they will remain without food until the
city and state governments do something to reduce layoffs and improve student
safety.
Corbett Submits Letter to
Pennsylvanians Supporting Pension Reform
June
17, 2013 at 6:00 AM by Gant
Team · Leave
a Comment
HARRISBURG
– Gov. Tom Corbett has sent an open letter to Pennsylvanians in
support of pension reform. The letter
was submitted to newspapers statewide.
It
reads: To the People of Pennsylvania:
Support
cyber schools, or Internet learners will be made second-class students
WHYY
Newsworks Opinion By Pat Parris June 17, 2013
The
following is in response to a letter from Rhonda Brownstein, titled "The
true costs of unchecked charter growth," published May 29.
Virtual
schools are schools of the future. They provide the ultimate level playing
field for students living in poverty or affluence. The phenomenal growth of
Internet learning is happening across the education spectrum. This has been
played out in the growth of massive open
online courses.
In
2012, one Internet platform provider had 300,000 students. Also, 6.7 million or
a third of all college students now learn online, according to the Babson
Survey Research Group. The 200,000 students already enrolled in K-12
virtual schools are only about 3 percent of this number. At this rate of
growth, virtual learning has surpassed the number of K-12 students in public
schools in the United States. In light of these developments, perhaps, there
are too few initiatives in Internet learning.
I
work at an independent cyber charter school in
Pennsylvania. We live in a changing world that is requiring our students to
change with it. Cyber schools are schools of choice. Parents who have a
negative experience at a cyber school can choose another form of education.
PA Charter Schools: $4 billion taxpayer dollars with no
real oversight
Keystone State Education
Coalition Prior Posting
Charter schools - public
funding without public scrutiny
Pittsburgh schools to clarify codes of
conduct
New policies due
before city board
By
Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette June 17, 2013 12:11 am
Refusing
to remove a baseball cap in school or being in the hallway after the late bell
rings are not offenses one might expect would land a student in the court
system.
But
under the current definition of "disorderly conduct" in the
Pittsburgh Public Schools Code of Student Conduct, that's what has happened,
said Nancy Potter, a staff attorney at the Education Law Center.
Program at
Kensington CAPA guides seniors toward college
OSCAR CASTILLO, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER CASTILO@PHILLYNEWS.COM,
215-854-5906 POSTED: Tuesday,
June 18, 2013, 3:01 AM
IT
WAS ONE of those busy days at Kensington High School for the Creative and
Performing Arts (CAPA), the kind of day where you can't even get to a computer,
senior Angel Hardy said.
Upon
finally checking her email, the 18-year-old from Germantown received some
highly anticipated news and actually screamed. A counselor rushed back into the
room to investigate the yelp, saw the email, hugged Hardy and ran to the
principal's office. Before Hardy could utter a word of the news to anyone, she
heard it broadcast over the school's loudspeaker.
Hardy
had earned a $25,000 college scholarship.
"I
was excited and at the same time it was like a big weight was lifted off my
shoulders," she said.
Hardy,
who will attend Bloomsburg University, about two hours northwest of
Philadelphia, credits her success in part to Kensington CAPA's College Access
Program, which helps students achieve a college education through counseling,
college-related events and help filing forms, plus support and encouragement.
She
and nine others who also will attend Bloomsburg after spending their senior
year in the program agree that without it, most of them wouldn't have gone to
college.
PA School
District Statistical Snapshot Database 2011-12
Scranton TIMES Tribune DATACENTER Published: June
16, 2013
View
a statistical snapshots of any PA School District.
Data used in the Grading Our Schools analysis is from the 2011-12 school year, with the exception of graduation rate data which is from the 2009-2010 school year. The state Department of Education is generally one year behind in collecting and releasing data from school districts.
Data used in the Grading Our Schools analysis is from the 2011-12 school year, with the exception of graduation rate data which is from the 2009-2010 school year. The state Department of Education is generally one year behind in collecting and releasing data from school districts.
PBS Blog:
Common Core Has Fatal Flaw
Diane
Ravitch’s Blog By dianerav June 17, 2013 //
On
the PBS blog, economist Robert Lerman of the Urban Institute and American
University expresses
skepticism about the one-size-fits-all academic nature of the Common
Core.
Lerman
strongly supports youth apprenticeship programs.
Lerman
is skeptical of Common Core for two reasons: One is that it lacks any evidence.
In other words, as I have written repeatedly, Common Core has never been
field-tested and we have no idea how it works in real classrooms, and how it
will affect the students who are currently struggling.
The
other is the dubious assumption that college and career skills are the same.
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
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 America
Lineup of speakers: https://buildingoneamerica.org/summit/speakers
Information and registration: https://buildingoneamerica.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=1
Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School FAST FACTS
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