Daily postings from the Keystone State Education
Coalition now reach more than 3000 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school
directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers,
Governor's staff, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders,
education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory
agencies, professional associations and education advocacy organizations via
emails, website, Facebook and Twitter
These daily emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
The Keystone State Education Coalition is
pleased to be listed among the friends and allies of The Network for Public Education. Are you a member?
F&M Poll: Only 2% of
respondents gave the Governor a grade of “A” for “Improving Public Education”
Save the Date:
Pennsylvanians Want a School Funding Formula
Press Event Monday
September 23rd, 11:30 am
Capitol Rotunda, Harrisburg
Grassroots Advocacy by Education Voters PA; Education
Matters in the Cumberland Valley and the Keystone State
Sign up here if you may be able to join us to represent your
schools and community: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/104e0endYpVYcPxSyfG9V_DOIVAB0J3AVI0-20Q8Yylw/viewform more
details will follow.
PA Special Education Funding Formula Commission
Upcoming Meetings
1. Next
Meeting: Wednesday, September 4th, 10:00 am at the Nittany
Lion Inn
State
To consider
charter funding
2. Save the
date: September 19 tentative meeting date in Reading
To consider
charter and cyber funding
IMHO, Here’s
some takeaways: Pennsylvanians don’t want public education defunded and
dismantled; the state is responsible for providing adequate funding. Public tax dollars for charters must include
transparency and accountability.
Only 2% of respondents gave
the Governor a grade of “A” for “Improving Public Education”
F&M Poll: Corbett’s
Numbers Reach Historic Lows
PoliticsPA written by Keegan Gibson, Managing Editor, August 29, 2013
The results
of the latest Franklin & Marshall poll are devastating for Gov.
Tom Corbett. His approval rating has reached its lowest point ever, and few
voters believe he deserves to be re-elected.
The Franklin
The August
2013 Franklin & Marshall College Poll of Pennsylvania registered voters
finds a majority (62%) believes the state is “off on the wrong track” and only
one in five (20%) believes Governor Tom Corbett has performed sufficiently well
to deserve re-election. Nearly one in three (28%) registered voters believe
unemployment and the economy is the state’s most important problem, followed
closely by schools and school funding (23%). The Poll also finds registered
voters believe passing a transportation funding plan (29%) or expanding the
state’s Medicaid program (24%) should be state lawmakers’ top priority.
View the
latest Franklin & Marshall
By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com on August 29, 2013 at 7:01 PM
The cost of
implementing new grade-level learning goals remains
a major concern for state lawmakers as the State Board of Education prepares to
adopt them next month. But it was clear
at a state Senate Education Committee hearing on Thursday it is not their only
concern.
"They
don't have any resources," he said. "That's the position of my
caucus: We don't oppose the standards, but we oppose a stamp of failure on any
student, on any community, until that community has the appropriate standards
to achieve."
Revised academic Common Core standards explained
Revised academic Common Core standards explained
By Karen
Langley / Post-Gazette Harrisburg August 30,
2013 12:04 am
PA Senate Education
Committee Common Core Hearing Audio (runtime 2:53)
PA Senate GOP Harrisburg Thursday, August 29, 2013
http://pasenategop.com/committees/education/2013/082913/agenda.htm
http://pasenategop.com/committees/education/2013/082913/agenda.htm
Teachers strike looms for Shaler Area schools
At issue are teachers'
contribution to medical benefits and salaries
By Mary
Niederberger / Pittsburgh August
29, 2013 11:37 pm
The Shaler
Area teachers union has rejected the district's request to enter into
"final best offer arbitration" rather than strike Tuesday if they
don't have a new contract agreement.
Superintendent
Wesley Shipley will announce later today if he is canceling classes for
Tuesday.
43 Western
Pa. districts need contracts for teachers, other school workers
Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review By Megan
Harris August 30, 2013, 12:01 a.m.
With the start of the school year at hand, almost half of the state's 500 school districts are facing contract negotiations for some portion of their workforce, including 43 districts inWestern Pennsylvania . The sticking points in talks range from the
benign to contentious, as in Shaler
Area School
District Aug. 15, 2011 .
With the start of the school year at hand, almost half of the state's 500 school districts are facing contract negotiations for some portion of their workforce, including 43 districts in
PPG LTE: Education quality
Post-Gazette
Letters by Jonathan Cetel August 29, 2013 12:06
am
Jonathan Cetel in Executive Director of PennCAN
Jonathan Cetel in Executive Director of PennCAN
Regarding
the Aug. 27 editorial "Virtual Indictment: How Pa. Regulates Charter Schools Is
on Trial, Too": The recent allegations against Nicholas Trombetta and
Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School expose the urgent need to pass a
comprehensive reform of Pennsylvania's public charter schools. Lawmakers had
the opportunity to pass legislation that would have paved the way for a better
charter funding formula, increased accountability and stronger charter
authorizing on at least three occasions over the past few years. But each time,
political gridlock got in the way of what was right for kids.
Shocking
allegations of financial abuse always generate headlines. But the bigger fraud
that deserves more attention is the subpar education that some cyber charters
are providing. Nearly every cyber charter school failed to surpass the
statewide high school graduation rate of 83 percent, and in many cyber schools
less than two-thirds of eighth-graders are proficient readers.
Read
more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/opinion/letters/education-quality-701099/#ixzz2dMUnVSJE
Invest in kindergarten now to develop skills that
last a lifetime: Patty Kim
By Patriot-News Op-Ed on August 29, 2013
at 11:00 AM ,
updated August 29, 2013 at 11:03
AM
State Rep. Patty Kim, a Democrat,
represents the Harrisburg-based 103rd state House District.
Last year,
because of funding problems, the Harrisburg
School District
This would
be a tragedy. Not only would it negatively impact the children who would miss
out on kindergarten, but it also would impact our entire society: studies have
shown that children who do not start with the solid foundation gained from
kindergarten often have worse life outcomes than children who do
New Upland
charter set to open doors
By JOHN KOPP jkopp@delcotimes.com @DT_JohnKopp August 28, 2013
Kelly
Wilson happily had sent her son to Chester
Community Charter
School Wilson
moved to Upland Wilson
Community Charter, the largest K-8 charter school inPennsylvania
Community Charter, the largest K-8 charter school in
Philly Countdown, Day 11:
What is the story with counselors?
The
notebook by Dale Mezzacappa on Aug 29 2013
The
District has said that, so far, it
has recalled 126 of the 270 counselors that it had laid off, all but
10 of them by using some of the $50 million in additional funds that the city
has promised to deliver as a contribution
to helping close the District's budget gap.
Although
officials have not confirmed this, it appears that schools with fewer than 600
students were not allotted a full-time counselor. By looking at school enrollment projections from June,
the Notebook calculated that only 85 of the District's 212
schools have 600 or more students. Ten additional counselors were also assigned
to Promise Academies, seven of which have enrollments below 600.
Barring
more recent purchases of counselors by principals or special allotments, that
still leaves more than half of the District's schools, including half of the
District's 48 high schools, without a counselor -- a situation that is unheard
of in fully functional school systems.
Cash-strapped Philly
school district considers selling prized art collection
WHYY
Newsworks By Holly Otterbein, @hollyotterbein August 29, 2013
….."We
are considering selling the art collection because we must look at every
revenue source possible to assist us with putting more resources the
classroom," he said.
Facing a
$304 million budget deficit, the district sent pink slips this summer to nearly
3,900 employees, including teachers, guidance counselors and safety staff. The
district received emergency funding from the city and state after the layoffs,
but only enough to hire back 1,600 workers.
It is unclear how much money the district could raise by selling the
collection. In 2003, an art consultant said it was worth $30 million. Gallard
said it is now valued at $2 million, but couldn't explain the change. The fact that the district is eyeing a sale
drew a range of responses from education advocates, school employees and city
officials.
State oversight lacking
Letter Tribune-Review Published: Tuesday,
August 27, 2013 ,
9:00 p.m.
Shaun Rinier, Harrison City
The
allegations against Pennsylvania Cyber Charter
School founder Nick Trombetta (“Feds
charge Pa.
Trombetta indictment
details complicated scheme
Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review By David
Conti Published: Saturday,
August 24, 2013 ,
12:01 a.m.
U.S. Attorney David Hickton and a federal grand jury outlined a scheme they say Nick Trombetta used to skim nearly $1 million from PA Cyber Charter School and a foundation he founded, and related entities they say he controlled.
U.S. Attorney David Hickton and a federal grand jury outlined a scheme they say Nick Trombetta used to skim nearly $1 million from PA Cyber Charter School and a foundation he founded, and related entities they say he controlled.
“What happens
if the charter ends?” asks Masch. “Then, Aspira still owns the building even
though it was 100 percent paid for with taxpayer money.”
Charter operator owed its
schools millions, but no one's checking its books
City Paper By Daniel Denvir Published:
08/29/2013
The Philadelphia School District Pennsylvania owed large
sums of money to four Philadelphia June 30, 2012 , that was obtained by City
Paper. According to the report, which was produced for Aspira and completed
in April, the nonprofit was running a deficit of $722,949 as of last June and
owed the publicly financed schools $3.3 million. That’s in addition to millions
of dollars in lease payments and administrative fees filtered to Aspira and
entities it controls with no oversight.
Diane Ravitch will be speaking in
Philly at the Main Branch of the Philadelphia 7:30 pm ..
Diane Ravitch | Reign
of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America
When: Tuesday,September 17,
2013 at 7:30PM
Where: Central Library
Cost: $15 General Admission, $7 Students
Ticket and Subscription Packages
Tickets on sale here:
When: Tuesday,
Where: Central Library
Cost: $15 General Admission, $7 Students
Ticket and Subscription Packages
Tickets on sale here:
Yinzers - Diane Ravitch will be
speaking in Pittsburgh on September
16th at 6:00 pm at Temple Sinai
Free and open to
the public; doors open at 5:00 pm
Hosted by Great
Public Schools (GPS) Pittsburgh : Action United,
One Pittsburgh , PA
Interfaith Impact Network, Pittsburgh
Co-sponsored byCarlow Univ. School
of Education, Chatham Univ. Department of Education, Duquesne
Univ. School
of Education, First Unitarian Church
Social Justice Endowment, PA State Education Association, Robert Morris Univ.
School of Education & Social Sciences, Slippery Rock
Univ. College
of Education, Temple Sinai , Univ.
of Pittsburgh School of Education
Children’s activities provided by the Carnegie Library ofPittsburgh
and Carnegie Mellon University
Co-sponsored by
Children’s activities provided by the Carnegie Library of
Join the National School Boards
Action Center
Participate
in a voluntary network to urge your U.S.
Representatives and Senators to support federal legislation on Capitol Hill
that is critical to providing high quality education to America
PSBA is accepting applications to fill vacancies in NSBA's grassroots
advocacy program. Deadline to apply is Sept. 6.
PSBA members: Influence
public education policy at the federal level; join NSBA's Federal Relations
Network
The
National School Boards Association is seeking school directors interested in
filling vacancies for the remainder of the 2013-14 term of the Federal
Relations Network. The FRN is NSBA's grassroots advocacy program that provides
the opportunity for school board members from every congressional district in
the country who are committed to public education to get involved in federal
advocacy. For more than 40 years, school board members have been lobbying for
public education on Capitol Hill as one unified voice through this program. If
you are a school director and willing to carry the public education message to Washington , D.C.
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:
Electing PSBA Officers:
2014 PSBA Slate of Candidates
Details on each candidate, including
bios, statements, photos and video are online now
PSBA Website Posted 8/5/2013
The 2014 PSBA Slate of Candidates is being officially published to the
members of the association. Details on each candidate, including bios,
statements, photos and video are online at http://www.psba.org/elections/.
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).
oNormal> Featuring
Keynote Speakers: Charlotte Danielson, Dr. Todd Whitaker, Will Richardson &
David Andrews, Esq. (Legal Update).
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
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