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Pennsylvania Education Policy
Roundup for June 20, 2013:
Corbett
signals he'll try to help Philly schools; PennCAN school "reformers"
want Corbett to use Philly crisis for political gain
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
Corbett
eyes $108 million debt for Philly school funding
SEAN COLLINS WALSH, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER WALSHSE@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-4172 : Tue
Jun 18 00:01:00 PDT 2013
GOV. CORBETT'S administration is attempting to get
new funding for Philly schools by convincing the federal government to let the
state off the hook for a $108 million debt, according to city, state and
federal sources.
All parties involved cautioned that the plan is far
from a sure thing, as the federal Department of Health and Human Services,
which is owed the money, has not indicated whether it will go along. An HHS
spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Corbett
signals he'll try to help Philly schools
Associated
Press, By MARC LEVY and KATHY MATHESON
Updated
2:15 pm, Wednesday, June 19, 2013
HARRISBURG,
Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom
Corbett on Wednesday signaled that he is engaged in efforts to help
the financially troubled Philadelphia School District, which is in the midst of
shedding 20 percent of its workforce, but he made no promise that he would
fight for more money for the district.
Corbett, a Republican who has championed public school alternatives and
private school vouchers while being heavily critical of school boards and
teachers' unions, stressed that any help must yield long-term solutions
"with an expectation that we will not be back at the drawing board again
next year with another fiscal crisis."
State
leaders raise hopes of Phila. school rescue
MARTHA WOODALL AND ANGELA COULOUMBIS, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, June 19, 2013, 10:49
PM
HARRISBURG
- With the clock ticking down to a doomsday budget for Philadelphia schools,
state leaders signaled Wednesday that they might ride to the rescue. Gov. Corbett said he is determined to help
solve the district's financial crisis, even as a top Senate Republican outlined
a concerted, behind-the-scenes push in the Capitol to assemble a bailout
package.
Leach: 'Public
schools are the glue that holds a neighborhood together'
Philly.com Opinion SEN. DAYLIN LEACH POSTED: Thu
Jun 20 00:01:00 PDT 2013
AS
NEGOTIATIONS, legislation and rumors fly fast and furious around Harrisburg (as
they do every year at budget time), there is one particular proposal that
emerged recently and is particularly troubling. We have been hearing about the
possibility of turning every last one of Philadelphia's public schools into
charter schools. This would be bad for children, bad for teachers and, in a
fundamental way, bad for society.
Sims: Real
Solutions to Our Education Funding Crisis
Huffington
Post by Brian Sims Posted: 06/18/2013 5:52 pm
Pennsylvania State
Representative in Philadelphia's 182nd District
If
you've been paying attention to the national news lately, you've certainly
caught wind of the catastrophic budget problems that the Philadelphia public
school system is currently facing. This isn't only happening in Pennsylvania,
but other areas across the country that view budget cuts as an option to
"fix" public schools. Perhaps even more ironic, in a week when even
some Republican members of Congress have come out in support of the Safe Schools Improvement Act, Pennsylvania's Republicans,
led by entrenched Governor Tom Corbett, have created a budget that should be
entitled the Unsafe Schools Creation Act by maintaining nearly $1 billion in drastic cuts to education
funding.
Plan to
move to a defined contribution pension plan for public employees draws mixed
reviews
By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com on June 19, 2013 at 5:50 PM
Gov.
Tom Corbett sees theSenate
Finance Committee's approval today of a defined contribution pension plan for
most future school and state employees as positive step.
“The introduction of a defined contribution
plan for future employees protects the future of our pension systems by
shifting investment risk away from taxpayers, while also providing a
best-in-class plan for future employees," Corbett said in a statement
reacting to the committee's vote.
Pennsylvania pension overhaul advances
Under a measure
narrowly OK'd by a Senate committee, new state and school employees would get a
401(k)
By
Karen Langley / Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau June 20, 2013 12:09 am
HARRISBURG
-- Months after Gov. Tom Corbett called for pension reform, his proposals got a
first legislative vote Wednesday when a Senate panel removed changes for
current workers before narrowly approving a defined contribution plan for new
hires. Sen. Mike Brubaker, chairman of
the Finance Committee, had introduced legislation mirroring Mr. Corbett's
proposal to divert new state and public school employees from the traditional
pension systems while changing how current workers accrue benefits during
future years of service. But Mr. Brubaker, R-Lancaster, said he concluded the
proposal lacked enough support to clear his panel.
Pa.’s
Marcellus Impact Fee Comes Up Short
PA
Budget and Policy Center June 18, 2013
Fee
revenue fails to keep up with rising value of gas production
As
the economic value of natural gas production increases in Pennsylvania’s
Marcellus Shale, the local impact fee created by Act 13 of 2012 is failing to
keep pace. While the total value of the gas produced in Pennsylvania has
increased substantially between late 2010 and late 2012, fee revenues remained
flat. On June 13, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission reported that drilling
impact fee revenue for wells drilled in 2012 was $202 million, essentially
unchanged from the prior year.
Over
the next decade, the value of natural gas produced in Pennsylvania will grow
much more quickly than impact fee revenue. This is largely because of the
unusual structure of Pennsylvania’s impact fee, which is based on the price of
natural gas and the year in which a well is drilled. This means the fee revenue
varies based on the number of wells drilled each year and the price of natural
gas, rather than the value of gas production.[1] Over
time, total production and the value of gas produced will increase, but the
effective rate[2] of
the impact fee will decline.
Cyber
studies lead Latrobe grad to West Point
TribLive By Stacey
Federoff
Thursday, June 20, 2013, 12:01 a.m.
The intense physical fitness test for the U.S. Military Academy was the least of 17-year-old David Henderson Jr.'s worries when he considered applying. He will graduate as valedictorian Thursday from Agora Cyber Charter School with many accolades, including leading the Greater Latrobe Senior High School swim team as captain.
The intense physical fitness test for the U.S. Military Academy was the least of 17-year-old David Henderson Jr.'s worries when he considered applying. He will graduate as valedictorian Thursday from Agora Cyber Charter School with many accolades, including leading the Greater Latrobe Senior High School swim team as captain.
Henderson
of Latrobe will be among the first of his peers to have completed his entire
education in cyber charter schools when he joins the West Point corps of cadets
July 1. Mike Brantley, a spokesman for
West Point, said, “It is rare that we would admit someone from a cyber school,”
but he could not provide enrollment statistics.
In Philly
schools fight it helps to know your numbers
JOHN BAER, DAILY NEWS POLITICAL COLUMNIST POSTED: June 19, 2013, 3:01 AM
IN
THE FIGHT OVER money for Philly schools, it's easy to get lost in numbers that
aren't always what they appear to be. Take
something as simple as the number of students.
The
school district says it's 149,535. The state Department of Education says it's
201,694.
Can't
Harrisburg and Philly agree on anything? Not even how to count kids?
Nope.
Corbett
speaks out on schools; leaked poll suggests that he take on teachers' union
The
Notebook by Dale Mezzacappa on Jun 19 2013 Posted in Latest news
For
the first time, Gov. Corbett has issued a formal statement on
Philadelphia's school-funding crisis, saying he is "committed to finding a
solution ... that is focused on students and is fiscally responsible for
taxpayers." His statement came
minutes after Daniel Denvir of City Paper published
a leaked poll, conducted by a prominent national Republican polling group,
Public Opinion Strategies. The poll of
Pennsylvania voters concludes that Corbett can increase his popularity -- and
chances for re-election -- by taking on the Philadelphia teachers' union,
especially on the issue of teacher seniority.
PennCAN,
a chapter of a national education reform organization that emphasizes school
choice and "better measures of teacher effectiveness," paid for the
poll, said its executive director, Jon Cetel.
School
"reformers" want Corbett to use Philly crisis for political gain
Daily News Attytood Blog by Will Bunch Wednesday,
June 19, 2013, 8:50 PM
You
have to wonder if the corporate school reformers are overplaying their hard.
Daniel Denvir is reporting tonight in the City Paper that a major
"education reform" group called PennCAN hired a leading GOP pollster
and commissioned a secret report urging Gov. Corbett to attack the Philadelphia
teachers' union and use the current schools crisis to whip up political
support going into the 2014 election.
The
report commissioned by PennCAN urges Corbett to use the school situation --
which has already caused considerably anguish for 3,900 workers who've been
handed pink slips and for parents and kids watching
their schools close for good this week -- as a "wedge" issue
to rally his voters.
Secret
Corbett poll proposing teachers union attack funded by PennCAN
POSTED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE
19, 2013, 6:05 PM
A
secret report, based on a poll of Pennsylvanians, proposing that Gov.
Tom Corbett mount a high-profile attack on the Philadelphia
Federation of Teachers was funded by the self-described school reform
group PennCAN, according to pollsters at Public Opinion
Strategies.
The secret poll, which suggested that Corbett exploit the Philadelphia
schools crisis to attack the teachers union in an effort to boost his
faltering reelection prospects, was first reported by City Paper Wednesday
afternoon. Notably, PennCAN supports
school vouchers, which use taxpayer dollars to pay for private school tuition.
PennCAN, which has not yet responded to requests for comment, is part of an expanding universe of corporate-inspired "school reform" groups in Pennsylvania. PennCAN, like many such groups, has deep-pocketed donors.
PennCAN, which has not yet responded to requests for comment, is part of an expanding universe of corporate-inspired "school reform" groups in Pennsylvania. PennCAN, like many such groups, has deep-pocketed donors.
SRC delays
Renaissance conversions, renews charters for five schools
by thenotebook by
Connie Langland on Jun 20 2013 Posted in Latest news
Strong-armed
into agreeing to enrollment caps, five charter schools won
five-year operating renewals in votes Wednesday night by the School
Reform Commission, but five others still have not come to terms with District
officials determined to contain costs in the midst of its fiscal crisis.
And
funding uncertainties also spurred a decision by Superintendent William Hite to
delay the conversion of three low-performing elementary schools—Alcorn,
Kenderton and Pastorius—into the Renaissance charters under the District’s
school turnaround initiative. The SRC had been scheduled to approve
assignment of Alcorn to Universal Companies, Kenderton to Scholar Academies and
Pastorius to Mastery Charter Schools.
EITC: State
Judge Strikes Down N.H. Tax Credit for Private Tuition Aid
Education
Week By Mark
Walsh on June 18, 2013 6:35 PM
A
New Hampshire judge has struck down the state's year-old program of tax credits
for businesses that contribute money to organizations offering tuition
scholarships at private schools.
Presiding
Justice John M. Lewis of Stratford County Superior Court held that the program
violates the state constitution because it diverts state tax payments to
religious schools.
"New
Hampshire students, and their parents, certainly have the right to choose a
religious education," the judge said in his June 17 ruling in Duncan v. New
Hampshire. "However, the government is under no obligation to
fund 'religious' education. Indeed, the government is expressly forbidden from
doing so by the very language of the New Hampshire Constitution."
The Philadelphia
school funding crisis
WHYY
Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane June 19, 2013
Guests:
Tom Ferrick and Kate Shaw; audio runtime: 52:00
"A
building with teachers and principals, but no other supports? That's not a
picture of a school to me." That's how Philadelphia school
superintendent William Hite described the dire funding situation facing the
City’s schools this September. With a $304 million budget shortfall, there
may be no assistant principals, 646 fewer classroom teachers, support staff,
and almost no school nurses or counselors. Also on the chopping block are
athletic programs, new textbooks, arts and music programs and librarians. The
District is calling on the city, the state and the Philadelphia Federation of
Teachers to share the burden but so far little progress has been made. And
while the crisis is extreme in Philadelphia, school districts around the
state are also facing similar funding challenges. In this hour of Radio
Times we'll talk about the consequences for Philadelphia’s school
children, educators and the city-at-large, what it will take to remedy the
crisis and who is responsible for fixing it. Our guests are long-time
reporter and Axis
Philly contributor TOM FERRICK and
education policy researcher KATE SHAW from Research
for Action.
House
Committee Passes Partisan NCLB Renewal Bill
Education
Week Politics K-12 Blog By Alyson Klein on June
19, 2013 3:33 PM
Another
markup of the Elementary and Secondary Education, another totally predictable
partisan vote. Last week, the Senate
education committee passed an ESEA bill with just Democratic support. This
time, it was the House Education panel's turn to consider a bill to revise the
No Child Left Behind Act.
Everyone
agrees the law is in desperate need of a makeover, but partisan divisions
continue to get in the way. And today's debate on the bill, which was written
by Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., the chairman of the committee, was no exception.
NSBA: Dems
Support Federal Control of Education
Diane
ravitch’s Blog By dianerav June 19,
2013 //
On
a party-line vote, Democrats on the Senate committee reported out a bill that
expands the role of the federal government in education and makes the Secretary
of Education the national superintendent of schools. The National School Boards
Association describes the legislation here, which NSBA opposes.
Save the Date: Diane
Ravitch will be speaking at the Main Branch of the Philadelphia Free Library on September 17 at
7:30 pm. Details to come.
PASA-PSBA School
Leadership Conference
October 15-18, 2013 | Hershey Lodge & Convention Center
October 15-18, 2013 | Hershey Lodge & Convention Center
The
PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference is the largest gathering of elected
officials in Pennsylvania and offers an impressive collection of professional
development opportunities for school board members and other education leaders.
See Annual School Leadership Conference links for all
program details.
Registration:
https://www.psba.org/workshops/?workshop=17
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
PA Charter Schools: $4 billion taxpayer dollars with no
real oversight
Keystone State Education
Coalition Prior Posting
Charter schools - public
funding without public scrutiny
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