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Pennsylvania Education Policy
Roundup for July 6, 2013:
Commonwealth's education budget
reflects politics, not student needs
Commonwealth's education budget reflects politics, not student
needs
thenotebook by
Michael Churchill on Jul 05 2013 Posted in Commentary
Michael
Churchill is an attorney at the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia
Pennsylvania’s
state constitution charges the General Assembly with providing the state with a
“thorough and efficient system” of public education “to serve the needs of the
Commonwealth.” Harrisburg’s budget concoction, slapped together at the
last minute, speaks more to politics than to serving the needs of the
Commonwealth’s 1.75 million students who are dependent upon adequate state
funding. It is a prescription for personal tragedies and a declining state
economy. Unless you are a person with a stake in promoting failing schools, it
is a terrible budget.
Politically Uncorrected: A House Divided
PoliticsPA
Written by G. Terry Madonna & Michael L. Young Friday, July 5th, 2013
Most attention in the bruising
battle to adopt the recently enacted Pennsylvania budget focused on whether the
state budget passed on time. It did.
But a story far more important than
budget passage itself was largely missed in covering the late night, last-
minute theatrics now de rigueur with state budgets. That story poignantly
revealed to those watching the deep polarization that now exists within the
Pennsylvania legislature.
‘The private donors who revived the Governor's School for the
Sciences deserve to be applauded. Now, if only state officials would show
similar enlightenment and bring the other schools back.”
Summer scholars: A Governor's School is back, via private donors
Summer scholars: A Governor's School is back, via private donors
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial July
5, 2013 12:02 am
In 2009 when Gov. Ed Rendell
defunded the Governor's Schools of Excellence, the residential summer program
for high school students, it was more than a $3.2 million budget cut. It was an
incalculable loss to the educations of the state's top academic achievers.
The Governor's Schools were
scattered about the state at colleges and universities including Carnegie
Mellon, Pitt, Penn State and Drexel. Each offered a program in a specific
field: the arts; agricultural science; global entrepreneurship; information,
society and technology; health care; international studies; sciences and
teaching. Some of the schools dated back to the 1970s.
“Saucon Valley, which will receive about $62,000
more in basic education funding than last year, is worried about keeping up
with the costs of cyber charter schools, which took about $363,476 from the
district last school year. While the
district's own cyber program costs about $4,500 per student, Saucon has to pay
$11,652 for every regular education student and $20,957 for every special
education student who leaves for a cyber charter. Superintendent Sandra Fellin
had hoped the state would set a flat rate for the cost of cyber education.
"This would have been a shift in money that
would have benefited districts tremendously, keeping their tax dollars local
and making cyber school accountable to actual costs rather than inflated
profits," Fellin said.”
Allentown only school district in Valley to get windfall in state budget
District to receive $9.6M more than expected; others in Valley won't see
much change.
By Adam Clark, Of The
Morning Call 11:45 p.m. EDT, July 4, 2013
Allentown School District emerged
from the final state budget with $9.6 million more than it expected in its pocket
and a difficult decision on its hands.
School officials have to decide how
to divvy that money by either restoring some of 127 slashed teaching positions,
lowering an 8.2 percent property tax hike or trimming the $10 million
contribution from savings needed to balance the district's 2013-14 budget.
Central Bucks OKs severance for superintendent
Ben Finley, Inquirer Staff Writer
LAST UPDATED: Thursday, July 4, 2013, 1:08 AM POSTED: Wednesday, July 3, 2013,
9:57 PM The Central Bucks School District parted ways with its superintendent
Wednesday, giving him the kind of costly severance package that will soon
disappear in Pennsylvania. Rodney Green ran the district for nine months of his
four-year contract at an annual salary of $225,000. He will get $365,000 and
one year of health insurance for leaving. Green's contract was signed in July
2012, just months before a state law took effect that caps superintendent
severance packages.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20130704_Central_Bucks_OKs_severance_for_superintendent.html#jZd5qvVcpddQGG2s.99
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20130704_Central_Bucks_OKs_severance_for_superintendent.html#jZd5qvVcpddQGG2s.99
Letter: Enjoy summer vacation, Dr. Hite. Philadelphia teachers can't.
WHYY Newsworks By Helene Gold July
5, 2013
The following is a work of opinion
submitted by the author.
ATTN: Dr. Hite, members of the SRC,
city and state elected officials, and members of the community
I am a School District of
Philadelphia TEACHER. I am a surrogate mom, a nurse, a psychologist, a
disciplinarian, a counselor, a problem solver. I am a supplier of notebooks,
crayons, glue, folders, scissors, pencils, copy paper, tissues, wipes, hand
sanitizer — for without me, some would not be prepared for school.
Is U.S. Secretary Duncan's Common Core Defense Falling Apart?
Education Week By Peter
DeWitt on July 5, 2013 6:27 AM
In Arne Duncan Mounts Strongest Defense Yet of Common Core
Standards(Education Week) Michele McNeil highlighted a recent speech that
Secretary Duncan gave to the American Society of News Editors in Washington
D.C. In the speech, Secretary Duncan called out opponents to the Common Core
State Standards (CCSS) and focused on some of the outliers who are
saying, "That the standards and tests will lead to mind control,
robots, and biometric brain mapping." He called them, "Just
wacky."
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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