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?
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
special education funding and charter schools
2. Save the
date: September 19 tentative meeting date in Reading
To consider
charter and cyber special education funding
Referenced
in the indictment, but not the subject of any criminal count, are $40,000 in
campaign contributions. Those
contributions represent a small fraction of the political involvement of
charter school-related businesses in the political process. They are
noteworthy, though, because of the allegation that they were made by executives
of Avanti Management Group -- and their spouses -- at Mr. Trombetta's
direction, and that the donors were reimbursed by the firm.
Donations from ex-cyber school raise concerns
Former CEO directed funds to
campaign contributions
By Rich
Lord and Karen Langley / Pittsburgh September
1, 2013 12:02 am
Elected
officials who received political contributions from former associates of cyber
school pioneer Nick Trombetta -- checks referenced in an indictment issued late
last month -- said last week that they hadn't known the donations might not be
legal.
The
indictment of the former CEO of the Pennsylvania
Cyber Charter
School
PPG: PA CYBER Founder and Associates Political
Donations Summary
$88K to make the world friendlier
for cybercharters
PPG: TROMBETTA CYBER CASH DETAIL
91 checks by 10 donors to 28
campaign committees in PA and OH from 2007-2013
Indictment of ex-CEO of
cyber charter resonates in Erie
BY ED
PALATTELLA, Erie Times-News ed.palattella@timesnews.com Sept. 1, 2013
Two years
ago, when Erie
Trombetta
was then the chief executive of the Pennsylvania
Cyber Charter
School , which he launched in 2000 from
the small town of Midland , near Pittsburgh
Trombetta
bristled at claims, from Badams and other educators, that unfair funding
formulas had allowed the Pennsylvania
Cyber Charter
School
"We
aren't a moneymaking machine," Trombetta told the Erie Times-News in March
2011.
Today,
Trombetta, 58, is accused of 11 federal charges that he stole $990,000 in
public funds from the Pennsylvania
Cyber Charter
School East Liverpool ,
Ohio June 30, 2012 .
“Asked to
give Gov. Corbett a grade for his performance on several key issues in the
state, respondents were the most critical by far of the governor’s handling of
education. Only 11% gave him an A or B for “improving public education,” while
an overwhelming 56% gave him a D or F. In fact, 31% – almost a third of those
surveyed – gave Gov. Corbett a failing grade on education, a far larger
proportion than failed him on any other issue.”
Movements Work
In
celebration of Labor Day today, it’s a good time to remember that movements
work. They’re messy, fractured, and can take an awfully long time, but they
work. What we call the labor movement of 19th and 20th centuries
was actually scores of different movements, with different leaders, different
goals, many painful losses, and some incredibly important wins: child labor
laws, the weekend, minimum wage, healthcare, retirement, and major improvements
in occupational safety, to name just a few.
But how do
we know if our education justice movement is working? Here’s a great clue from
a Pennsylvania
Early absenteeism in school can point to later
problems in life
Back to School/Missing Class: The
first of three parts
By Eleanor
Chute and Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh September
1, 2013 12:19 am
It's just
kindergarten. Maybe you had that thought
when your 5-year-old woke up with a tummy ache or when you wanted to take your
youngster on a trip for a few days or when your child missed the school bus. What's the harm in missing a day -- or two or
three -- of school?
Consider
this:
Children
who miss a significant number of days in kindergarten often continue to miss a
significant number of days in first grade.
By third
grade, fewer than 1 in 5 of those significantly absent in kindergarten and
first grade are at grade level in reading.
By fourth
grade, when reading is required to learn just about everything, many never
catch up. They may disengage from learning, have behavior problems and later
drop out.
When the Scranton School District
Education digest:
Volunteers sought to shadow CASD administrators
Chambersburg
Area School District Foundation is seeking 17 community members to shadow
administrators in each of the district's schools Oct. 11 for the
"Principal for a Day" program.
Volunteers
will spend the morning following in the footsteps of a principal or assistant
principal as they carry out their daily responsibilities, according to Angela
Lynch, foundation executive director. The experience will show individuals who
support the school district through financial or other means how their work
impacts daily operations.
"We're
looking for community leaders who are interested in learning more about
educational leadership, in terms of supporting the efforts of our school
administrators," Lynch said.
Strings attached to Phila. school grant rankle many
Troy
Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer POSTED: Monday, September 2, 2013 , 1:08 AM
When it
comes to educating Philadelphia School District of Philadelphia
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20130902_Strings_attached_to_Phila__school_grant_rankle_many.html#7lRPbO7sUvwTKuF7.99
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20130902_Strings_attached_to_Phila__school_grant_rankle_many.html#7lRPbO7sUvwTKuF7.99
As the PFT
has about 15,000 members, to achieve $103 million in savings comes out to an
average of nearly $7,000 per union member. The District is seeking pay
reductions ranging from 5 to 13 percent depending on salary level.
As deadline
passes, Jordan
The
notebook by Dale Mezzacappa on
Sep 01 2013
Posted in Latest news
Negotiators
for the School District and the Philadelphia
Federation of Teachers reached the midnight
deadline without reaching agreement on a new contract. PFT president Jerry Jordan said in an
interview that the two sides "made some progress," although there
were still many unresolved issues. Asked
if the two sides were still far apart, he said, "There are a number of
outstanding issues, we were not close enough to close the deal."
School unions deserve a friend
Inquirer
Letter by Gerald D. Klein Sunday, September 1, 2013 , 1:09 AM
Jerry
Jordan's teacher union and other unions associated with the School
District do not seem to have many friends these days. However, I
am in their corner. An important ingredient in a successful school year is
teacher and staff morale, and morale will suffer if the concessions others want
reduce teacher and staff standards of living. I learned this during a career as
a university professor in management. Philadelphia Philadelphia
Read more
at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20130901_Letters_to_the_Editor.html#JjPCg054zUUIlM0g.99
“For
starters: Make teaching a precarious occupation. Tie pay to test scores. Put
teachers on annual contracts to make firing them easier. Stop respecting
teacher judgment. Assign grades to schools and close the troubled ones or,
preferably, hand them over to charter chains. Abolish recess. Lengthen school
days and years. Cut out art, music, physical education, free reading, and other
frills and use the time to hammer academics.
Most
importantly, tighten the
curriculum screws. Focus with intensity on the “core”
subjects—math, science, language arts, and social studies. Write standards that
tell teachers what to teach, monitor them continuously to make sure they don’t
go off script, and give their students high-stakes tests to keep them on their
toes. Give the screw-tightening strategy an impressive name that appeals to the
conventional wisdom.
Do all this
quietly, then roll it out with a massive public relations campaign. Give money
to prestigious organizations and media outlets in exchange for support and good
press.”
A quiz on America
How much do
you really know about the core curriculum that American students are taught?
Exploring this is the following piece — along with a quiz — by Marion Brady,
who was a classroom teacher for years, has written history and world culture
textbooks (Prentice-Hall), professional books, numerous nationally
distributed columns (many are available here),
and courses of study.
“…an Education Week (Gates money: $7,232,037)
commentary written by Richard Laine, the education division director of the
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (Gates
money:$26,524,137), formerly with the Illinois Business Roundtable, and Chris
Minnich, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers
(Gates money: $79,033,200), former Strategic Initiative Director of Standards,
Assessment and Accountability, where he led the development and adoption of the
Common Core;”
With Help from
Bill Gates Beneficiaries, Vermont Secretary of Education Provides Boilerplate
Reply to 28 Questions About the Common Core
Vermont Commons Blog by Susan Ohanian
08/29/13
This year, my tax bill to support public
education in Vermont Vermont
What Can Martin Luther
King, Jr. Teach Us About Our Education System?
I received
a note from an outstanding superintendent in a fine suburban district in New York
Suddenly,
it struck me that the best way to remember Martin Luther King was not to think
of him as a statue or an icon, but to take to heart his example. He did not bow
his head in the face of injustice. He did not comply. He said no. He said it in
a spirit of love and non-violence. But he resisted.
The High Turnover at Charter Schools
New York
Times Letters to the Editor Published: August 29, 2013
Re “At
Charter Schools, Short Careers by Choice” (front page, Aug. 27):
Thank you
for shedding light on the appalling turnover rate for teachers at many charter
schools. Research has shown that teacher-student relationships are absolutely
crucial to student success. These relationships cannot be built in a year or
two.
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).
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