Daily postings from the Keystone State Education
Coalition now reach more than 2250 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school
directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers,
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members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory agencies,
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PA Ed Budget increases tied to having powerful
legislators; 3rd-grade reading matters
“In all,
just 21
of the state's 500 districts were the beneficiaries of 12 different
supplements added this year to the state's basic education funding awards.
According to an analysis by the Notebook and NewsWorks, $22 million of that
money is going to areas
represented by eight of the highest-ranking lawmakers in the General
Assembly, five of them Republicans.
And of
the 37 lawmakers representing the districts that benefited from extra aid, 33
are majority/minority committee chairs, vice chairs, secretaries or in some
other leadership position. Only two of the 21 Districts have no Republicans
among their legislators.”
Increases in state education aid carefully targeted select districts
by Dale Mezzacappa for the Notebook and Holly Otterbein
for NewsWorks Jul 10 2013
When Pennsylvania
But they managed to devise the
formulas for these supplements in such a way that Philadelphia
In fact, the money for districts
impacted by charters and ELL students went to only six districts around
the state -- most of it, perhaps not coincidentally, in the areas represented
by powerful legislators.
Missed 'Live from the Newsroom' talking Pennsylvania
Delco Times Published: Thursday, July 11, 2013
'Live From the Newsroom,' tackled
all the issues swirling around the state budget with some of the people who
were up to their necks in the process.
Joining us was state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-9, ofChester ; House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill
Adolph, R-165, of Springfield Harrisburg ,
Rep. Joe Hacket, R-161, of Ridley, and Rep. Margo Davidson, D-164, of Upper Darby .
Joining us was state Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-9, of
“While
the funding increase is welcomed, it is still less than the approximately $160
million needed for mandated pension cost increases at the school district level
in 2013-14 – meaning fewer dollars for classrooms. Overall, the plan retains
81% of the state cuts to public school classrooms enacted in 2011.
A
quarter of the basic education increase, the $30 million added by the General
Assembly, will be distributed to only 21 school districts, while the rest of
the increase will be allocated to all 500 school districts.”
PBPC Detailed Budget Analysis: Pa. Legislature Passes $28.376 Billion
Plan
The Pennsylvania Legislature has
approved a 2013-14 state budget (House Bill 1437, PN 2198) that spends $28.376 billion,
roughly $645 million (or 2.3%) more than in the current fiscal year. Governor
Tom Corbett signed the budget into law late in the evening of June 30, 2013 .
Overall, the plan is $64 million less than the Governor proposed in February,
reflecting nearly $113 million in reduced spending for public school pensions
and school employees’ Social Security payments along with a shift of $90
million in General Fund spending off budget to other funds.
The plan includes a small increase
to basic education funding, $122.5 million overall, with $30.2 million
allocated to 21 school districts through a supplemental allocation, on top of
the $90 million increase in the Governor’s proposal.
Third-grade reading matters
PENNCAN blog posted by Lauren Robertson on Wednesday,
July 10, 2013
In the first grade, I was unable to
read or write. I was one of a few students selected to participate in a
supplementary tutor program. For an hour twice a week, I met with a retired
teacher to practice reading, writing and spelling. By the end of first grade, I
was reading on level. By second grade, the extra nudge of my tutor had allowed
me to excel in reading and I was reading two levels beyond my grade level.
Nearly thirteen years have passed since my reading tutor helped me learn to read
and I truly believe that being proficient in reading by third grade has allowed
me to be successful academically.
Last month, the Annie E. Casey
Foundation released a follow-up report to its 2010 report “Early
Warning! Why reading by the End of Third Grade Matters.” This report, along
with another report entitled “Double
Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School
Graduation,” showed the strong link between proficiency in reading in third
grade, high school graduation rates and poverty. According to research,
students who did not read proficiently by third grade are four times more
likely to not graduate from high school than those students who are proficient.
In addition, 83 percent of low-income students were not proficient in reading
by the end of third grade.
Special education funding revisited
By
Megan Rogers / Post-Gazette Harrisburg July 11,
2013 12:24 am
"The
biggest sin Pennsylvania
"You don't
throw the baby out with the bath water," Wittig said.
But you can
rename the baby. The standards are now called the Pennsylvania
Residents urge state to
drop Common Core school standards
Residents
describe Common Core as federal intrusion and a Bill Gates money grab. They
argue against adoption in Pa.
By Steve Esack, Call Harrisburg
For a
growing number of people, however, he is a shark with glasses, and he's
swimming in Pennsylvania
Lots of Superintendents
Are Common Core Skeptics Too, Survey Finds
Education
Week District Dossier Blog By Lesli A. Maxwell on July
10, 2013 10:51 AM
Thirty
percent of superintendents serving in some of the nation's smaller school
districts said they don't think the Common Core State Standards will have any
effect on the quality of education in their communities. That's a healthy dose of skepticism.
But many of
their colleagues expressed more optimism about the promise of the new standards
in English/language arts and math adopted by most states: 58 percent said the
common core will make schooling better. When
asked if the common-core standards would provide more consistency in the
quality of schooling across districts and states, 75 percent said they would.
Those
sentiments were captured in a first-ever survey of superintendents conducted
jointly by Education Week and Gallup, the Washington-based polling
organization. For the survey—conducted in March and April—the Gallup
Sequestration Pushes Head
Start Families To The Precipice (UPDATE)
Huffington
Post by Sam Stein Posted: 07/09/2013
6:01 am EDT
The
Huffington Post set out to tell the story of another slice of sequestration:
the damage being done to Head Start. The 5.27 percent reduction to the $8
billion program is having a devastating effect on families with children in the
program, according to interviews with parents across the country. Not everyone
has experienced the loss of a child's Head Start slot or a teary living room
conversation. But parents have been left fearful and scrambling, worried that
the cuts are shredding an already frayed social safety net upon which they
depend.
Pension Proposal Aims to Ease Burden on States and
Cities
New York
Times Dealbook BY MARY WILLIAMS WALSH JULY 9, 2013 , 12:01 AM
As states
and cities wrestle with mounting pension woes, some even seeking refuge in
bankruptcy, Washington
By law, the
50 states are sovereigns, so even though federal officials have regulated
company pension plans for decades, they have had little interest in telling the
states how to run theirs.
Now, one United States Utah
The
American Interest Via Media Blog by Russell Mead July 9, 2013
The public
pensions crisis is one of the greatest challenges facing the states today, but
thus far it has mostly met with silence from Washington
Teach For America
Teach For
America alumni and students of corps members who are critical of TFA are
holding this weekend what amounts to the first national assembly aimed at
organizing resistance to the organization that is popular with school
reformers.
An Open Letter to New Teach for America
At The
Chalk face blog JUNE
30, 2013 BY KATIE
OSGOOD
Dear New
TFA Recruits,
It is
summertime, which for those of you newly accepted into Teach for America, means you are
enduring the long hard days of Institute. I congratulate you on being accepted
into this prestigious program. You clearly have demonstrated
intelligence, passion, and leadership in order to make it this far.
And now I am asking you to quit.
We now must
transform NSBA’s external advocacy and outreach to meet challenges at the
federal, state, and local level. Chief among these are efforts to privatize our
nation’s public schools through charter school expansion and taxpayer-funded
school vouchers.
NSBA: Join our army of
advocates
The
following is NSBA President David Pickler’s column from the July/August issue
of American School Board Journal.
This is a
particularly exciting year to take the reins as NSBA President. I am excited
and energized to work with our new Executive Director, Tom Gentzel, and see his
vision for this organization take hold. We
are living in exponential times of change in NSBA, and the opportunities that
lay ahead are incredible. You’ve probably already heard about what we’re
calling the New NSBA in this column and at NSBA events. The NSBA Board of
Directors has worked to restructure and recreate our organization. Under the
leadership of Tom and our new Chief Operating Officer Marie Bilik, we are
transforming NSBA’s internal operations to establish structure that is
efficient, effective, and fiscally viable.
Yinzers - Save the Date: Diane
Ravitch will be speaking in Pittsburgh 6:00
pm . Location and details to
come.
Save the Date: Diane Ravitch will be
speaking in Philly at the Main Branch of the Philadelphia 7:30
pm . Details to come.
Know Your Child’s Rights! 2013-2014 Special Education
Seminars
The Law Center Law Center
This year’s
topics include Tips for Going Back to School; Psychological Testing, IEEs and
Evaluations; School Records; Children with Autism; Transition Services;
Children with Emotional Needs; Discipline and Bullying; Charter Schools;
Children with Dyslexia; Extended School Year; Assistive Technology;
Discrimination and Compensatory Education; and, Settlements. See below for
descriptions and schedules of each session.
PSBA members will elect
officers electronically for the first time in 2013
PSBA 7/8/2013
Beginning
in 2013, PSBA members will follow a completely new election process which will
be done electronically during the month of September. The changes will have
several benefits, including greater membership engagement and no more absentee
ballot process.
Below is a
quick Q&A related to the voting process this year, with more details to
come in future issues of School Leader News and at
www.psba.org. More information on the overall governance changes can be found
in the February 2013 issue of the PSBA Bulletin:
October 15-18, 2013 | Hershey Lodge & Convention Center
Important change this year: Delegate Assembly (replaces the
Legislative Policy Council) will be Tuesday Oct. 15 from 1 – 4:30 p.m.
The
PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference is the largest gathering of elected
officials in Pennsylvania
Registration:
https://www.psba.org/workshops/?workshop=17
The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, State College , PA
The state
conference is PAESSP’s premier professional development event for principals,
assistant principals and other educational leaders. Attending will enable you
to connect with fellow educators while learning from speakers and presenters
who are respected experts in educational leadership.
Featuring
Keynote Speakers: Charlotte Danielson, Dr. Todd Whitaker, Will Richardson &
David Andrews, Esq. (Legal Update).
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
James H. Shelton III
is confirmed to participate in a White House panel at the Building One America
Summit, to be held July 18-19 at Georgetown
Law School
in Washington D.C.
PA Charter Schools: $4
billion taxpayer dollars with no real oversight
Charter schools - public funding without public scrutiny
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