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Have a safe and happy 4th!
Five
things everybody should know about July 4th
These are five things you and everybody else
should know about July 4th.
I posted these a few years ago, but I like
them so much I’m doing it again. Here they are, adapted from George Mason
University
Summary
of Pennsylvania School
PA Budget and Policy Center July 2, 2013
The Pennsylvania Legislature has approved a
School Code bill (House Bill 1141, PN 2200). The bill determines the 2013-14
formulas for distributing the basic education subsidy, community college
subsidy and intermediate unit funding to local governments, and sets other
requirements on entities under the jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Department
of Education (PDE).
The School Code establishes a new basic education funding “formula” with a base distribution, and 12 new supplemental criteria targeted to very specific school districts based on aid ratio, enrollment or other unique factors.
The School Code establishes a new basic education funding “formula” with a base distribution, and 12 new supplemental criteria targeted to very specific school districts based on aid ratio, enrollment or other unique factors.
‘Delaware loophole’ in Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review By Thomas
Olson Tuesday, July 2, 2013 , 12:01 a.m.
State lawmakers moved closer to eliminating the so-called “Delaware
State lawmakers moved closer to eliminating the so-called “
The Delaware
loophole refers to the legal but questionable deductions multistate companies
operating in Pennsylvania
“Corbett then
argued that the federal government is providing less than half the amount for
school special educational costs that it had pledged years ago and that if it
had kept that pledge, Pennsylvania would be in
a better position to aid Philadelphia
Education
Secretary Arne Duncan tells Pa. lawmakers to
help Philadelphia
By KATHY MATHESON and MARC LEVY Associated Press July 03, 2013 - 1:40 pm EDT
Call it “Race To the Top” if you like, IMHO, the
concerns voiced by Secretary Duncan are a direct result of his own “March to
the Sea” policies for public education.
See Mike Klonsky’s posting below……
"I'm concerned about a lack of commitment, a
lack of investment in public education," Duncan
Huffington Post by Joy.resmovits@huffingtonpost.com
Posted: 07/03/2013 7:45 am
EDT
"I'm really really worried about the
education that children in Philly are going to receive this upcoming school
year," Duncan
“No,
there's no excuse, except for the fact that Philly, for the past five years,
was simply following the reform plan specifically laid out in Duncan's
own Race To The Top, which
mandates school closings, mass teacher firings, and replacing public schools
with privately-run charters as a precondition for receiving badly-needed
federal education funds. The worst (and final?) part of the collapse of urban
public education (not just in Philly) has occurred on Secretary Duncan's
watch.”
Mike Klonsky’s SmallTalk Blog Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Some mornings, upon doing my regular media
scan, I can only sit here at my desk and shake my head in disbelief. This was
one of those mornings.
$45
million piece of school budget puzzle stalls
Martha Woodall, Bob Warner, and Angela
Couloumbis, Inquirer Staff Writers LAST UPDATED: Thursday, July 4, 2013 , 1:08 AM POSTED: Wednesday, July 3, 2013 , 9:14 PM
The biggest chunk of funding in the proposed
$140 million rescue package for Philadelphia public
education has stalled in Harrisburg Philadelphia
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130704__45_million_piece_of_school_budget_puzzle_stalls.html#3Zwu2vFSOuBxee6L.99
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130704__45_million_piece_of_school_budget_puzzle_stalls.html#3Zwu2vFSOuBxee6L.99
Corbett's
rescue plan sets the stage for attack on teachers' union
The notebook by Ron
Whitehorne on Jul 03 2013 Posted in Commentary
The Corbett rescue plan for Philadelphia Harrisburg
Waiting
for Corbot ... A play in one act: Wednesday Morning Coffee
By John L. Micek |
jmicek@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter
onJuly 03, 2013
at 7:44 AM ,
updated July 03, 2013 at 8:29 AM
on
(Scene: It's
a gray and rainy morning, the day before the Fourth of July and Gov. Tom
Corbett, his chief of staff Steve Aichele and the first dogs, Penny and Harry,
are sitting on the banks of the Susquehanna River
near the Governor's Mansion on Second
Street
Criticism pours down as Corbett's agenda stalls
Few bet he would get everything, even from a
Legislature run by fellow Republicans. Many seemed to believe he would get some
things, but not others.
So
when it all fell apart in a stunning pileup of personalities, politics and
ideology, lawmakers were ready with a long list of mistakes the Corbett
administration made in trying to shepherd its agenda through an often parochial
Legislature.
http://www.eveningsun.com/ci_23584494/criticism-pours-down-corbetts-agenda-stalls?source=most_viewed
Committee
of Seventy: Council, Mayor need new school funding plan
Philly.com by Jan Ransom POSTED: Wednesday, July 3, 2013 , 12:38 PM
Good government group Committee of Seventy is
calling on City Council and Mayor Nutter to return to the drawing board this
summer to come up with guaranteed funding streams to help the struggling school
district. "City government has a choice: sit tight and wait for the state
to act on the cigarette tax, which it may not ever do, or step up and ensure
funds for the schools right now," said Committee of Seventy president Zack
Stalberg. "Every day that goes by without resolving this nightmare is one
more day of chaos and uncertainty about the state of the schools when they open
on September 9."
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/cityhall/Committee-of-Seventy-Council-Mayor-need-new-school-funding-plan-.html#huL3SFS2ijsiuBrM.99
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/cityhall/Committee-of-Seventy-Council-Mayor-need-new-school-funding-plan-.html#huL3SFS2ijsiuBrM.99
Pa.
finds $$$ for lots of things, just not Philly schools
John Baer, Daily News Political Columnist
POSTED: Wednesday, July
3, 2013 , 3:01 AM
IF YOU DON'T fully get why Gov. Corbett and
the Legislature found only $15 million in new funds for Philly's fiscally
failing schools, allow me to explain. See, the state has no more money for
Philly schools. Oh, it has more money than expected. Revenue reports released
Monday show it has $57 million more than estimated. And it has more money for
itself.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20130703_Pa__finds_____for_lots_of_things__just_not_Philly_schools.html#FO5YskOmoIHWjY2O.99
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20130703_Pa__finds_____for_lots_of_things__just_not_Philly_schools.html#FO5YskOmoIHWjY2O.99
Penn to
extend its programming at Henry C. Lea School
The West Philadelphia elementary will receive more attention,
though not more funding, in the fall
The Daily
Pennsylvanian By WILL MARBLE · July 2, 2013, 11:43 pm
As many Philadelphia Henry C. Lea School Penn.
Who needs teachers
anyway? How do you spell “Content
Delivery Associate”?
“Remember
the days when teachers wrote their own tests, knowing what their students had
been taught? Remember when teachers were trusted as professionals? Now, we put
our faith in big corporations and their computers. Better to put our faith in
well-prepared professionals. Well
written, but not likely to happen unless something happens soon. With the
advent of Common Core Standards, we are completing the process of selling our
children's future while pouring billions of dollars into the testing and
technology companies that are driving education in the United States.”
The
Common Core Nightmare That Awaits Us
Common Core Standards are here to stay,
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and school administrators have been telling
us, but what they have not been telling us is that these nationwide standards
are opening the door to more and more standardized testing.
And with standardized testing comes companies
that make profits not only with tests, but with materials to prepare for those
tests, and with ready-made curriculum based on those tests, just like we saw
with all of the school districts in Missouri, including Joplin, that fell hook,
line, and sinker for McGraw-Hill's Acuity tests, which were allegedly designed
to prepare students for the Missouri standardized tests, which were also made
by McGraw-Hill.
It never worked in Joplin
Common Core Standards will be the same thing
on steroids.
All
About the Benjamins
Edushyster Blog Posted on July 3, 2013
A retired hedge fund billionaire says that it’s time for
teachers to stop living so large
Let’s face it, reader. Most teachers go into the teaching biz for one reason and one reason only: the money. And the only reason they continue to show up, day after day, year after year, is to collect the golden parachutes, otherwise known as pensions, that will make their golden years literally golden. But is there anyone brave enough to look these fat cats in the eye? Meet billionaire and 38-year-old retiree John Arnold who is on a quest to rescue the nation from large-living teachers and at last put students first.
Let’s face it, reader. Most teachers go into the teaching biz for one reason and one reason only: the money. And the only reason they continue to show up, day after day, year after year, is to collect the golden parachutes, otherwise known as pensions, that will make their golden years literally golden. But is there anyone brave enough to look these fat cats in the eye? Meet billionaire and 38-year-old retiree John Arnold who is on a quest to rescue the nation from large-living teachers and at last put students first.
NSBA
pleased with Obama administration’s decision to delay Affordable Care Act
employer mandate
NSBA School Board News Today by Alexis Rice July
3rd, 2013
The National School Boards Association (NSBA)
today applauded the federal government’s decision to delay the
implementation of IRS rules for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) until January
2015, based upon the “complexity of the requirements and the need for more time
to implement them effectively.”
Intrepid tourists
retrace Confederates’ final steps in Battle of Gettysburg
TribLive By Mike Wereschagin Published: Wednesday,July 3, 2013 , 9:00 p.m.
GETTYSBURG -- Marty Bryant took his place near the left flank of Gen. Lewis Armistead's brigade, his tall, lean form not far from where Asa Jones, a relative, stood exactly 150 years earlier. On the steamy ground around Bryant gathered a great mass of tourists and reenactors, students and teachers, jubilant shouters and quiet contemplators, the young and curious, and the old and courageous. Many, like Bryant, wanted to see what their ancestors had seen a century-and-a-half earlier during Pickett's Charge, the final conflict of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863, and the last time the South invaded the North.
TribLive By Mike Wereschagin Published: Wednesday,
GETTYSBURG -- Marty Bryant took his place near the left flank of Gen. Lewis Armistead's brigade, his tall, lean form not far from where Asa Jones, a relative, stood exactly 150 years earlier. On the steamy ground around Bryant gathered a great mass of tourists and reenactors, students and teachers, jubilant shouters and quiet contemplators, the young and curious, and the old and courageous. Many, like Bryant, wanted to see what their ancestors had seen a century-and-a-half earlier during Pickett's Charge, the final conflict of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863, and the last time the South invaded the North.
More than 12,000 Confederates charged across
nearly a mile of undulating, open field on July 3, 18 63, led by Gen. George Pickett
into a hail of fire from the Union line entrenched on the high ground of
Cemetery Ridge. More than half were wounded, killed or captured, bringing the
three-day battle's total to 51,000 casualties.
Support
Early Learning: Join the July 8 Virtual Rally4Babies
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children Blog Posted At : July 2, 2013 10:52 AM
Join the Rally4Babies on Monday, July 8 at 2:00 EST to show your support for our youngest children. The event will be hosted online at Google Hangout on Air, and details and updates are being posted onwww.rally4babies.org.
Join the Rally4Babies on Monday, July 8 at 2:00 EST to show your support for our youngest children. The event will be hosted online at Google Hangout on Air, and details and updates are being posted onwww.rally4babies.org.
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.
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
PA Charter Schools: $4
billion taxpayer dollars with no real oversight
Charter schools - public funding without public scrutiny
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