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?
Pennsylvanians Want a School
Funding Formula
Press Event Monday September 23rd, 11:30 am Capitol Rotunda, Harrisburg
Every child in Pennsylvania
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
One thing that all sides in
the education debate in PA seem to agree upon is the need for a fair and
adequate funding formula
The folks representing
charters, choice and vouchers at Tuesday’s House Democratic Policy Committee
hearing in Philly made it clear that they too believe Pennsylvania
If you agree please
consider signing this petition to Carolyn Dumaresq, Acting Secretary for
Education, The Pennsylvania State House, The Pennsylvania State Senate, and
Governor Tom Corbett, which says:
"The Pennsylvania legislature must adopt a fair education funding
formula AND provide the funding investments needed to ensure that every student
has an opportunity to learn."
Will you sign the petition too? Click here to add your name:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/a-fair-funding-formula?source=s.fwd&r_by=473539
Will you sign the petition too? Click here to add your name:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/a-fair-funding-formula?source=s.fwd&r_by=473539
Parents, teachers push
for new Pa.
WHYY
Newsworks By Holly Otterbein, @hollyotterbein September 11, 2013
Charter
school champions, parent activists, a public school student, a teacher and
other residents who testified before the House Democratic policy committee all
agreed on at least one point: They want the state to come up with a more
equitable way of allocating money to schools.
"We're
one of three states that don't truly have a funding formula of some kind that
channels money according to the students' needs and where the students are
going to school," said Mark Gleason, executive director of the
Philadelphia School Partnership, which contributes money to high-performing
schools including charters.
State Board of Education set to vote on revised set
of Common Core standards
By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com
on September 11,
2013 at 6:24 PM
Despite a
public outcry about it moving education in a wrong direction, the State Board
of Education stands ready on Thursday to vote on a set of grade-level learning goalsthat come with the implementation of
Pennsylvania’s first-ever state graduation-testing requirement.
The
learning goals, called Pennsylvania Core Standards, spell
out what students should be able to do at the end of each grade in math and
language arts.
Along with
them, the proposed rules would require students, starting with the Class of
2017, to demonstrate their proficiency in Algebra I, Biology I and language
arts on a Keystone Exam, or one of the other state-approved
alternative assessments, to graduate.
It’s a move
that the board sees as necessary to make high school diplomas more meaningful
and to help standardize what students are being taught in schools, among a bevy
of other reasons.
A Brief Audit of Bill
Gates’ Common Core Spending
deutsch29 Mercedes Schneider's EduBlog August 27, 2013
This is a
post about Bill Gates and his money, a brief audit of his Common Core
(CCSS) purchases. Before I delve into Gates accounting, allow me to
set the stage with a bit of CCSS background.
Gates Money and Common
Core: Part II
deutsch29 Mercedes Schneider's EduBlog August September 3, 2013
On August 27, 2013 ,
I wrote a post about Bill
Gates’ financial involvement in advancing the Common Core State Standards
(CCSS). Though CCSS promotes itself as “state led,” in my previous post, I
showed that all four major organizations responsible for CCSS from inception
for its principal development– the National Governors Association (NGA), the
Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), Achieve, and Student Achievement
Partners– have received in total $147.9 million from Bill Gates for a variety
of purposes, $32.8 million of which is expressly earmarked to advance
CCSS.
One man is
purchasing his view of what American education should be.
Gates Money and Common Core– Part III
At the
Chalk Face Blog SEPTEMBER
11, 2013 BY DEUTSCH29 LEAVE
A COMMENT
My first
post on Gates and his Common Core State Standards (CCSS) spending
includes information on his paying millions to the four key
organizations involved in composing CCSS as well as to key education
organizations and think tanks for their endorsement. My second
post of this series examines Gates money paid to organizations
influencing state departments and local school districts for the purpose
of advancing CCSS.
In this
third post, I discuss the state departments and local school
districts that have accepted Gates money in order to promote CCSS. CCSS is apparently important enough to
Gates for him to force feed to the public via funneling though its
departments of education. And since he is wildly rich, he must know what
is good and true for American public education. We can blindly trust him, for
he has a large wallet.
Not.
As to that
wallet: Here are the state and local boards (and a single independent school)*
that have accepted Gates payouts specifically for CCSS as noted on
the Gates
grants search engine:
By ED PALATTELLA, Erie Times-News ed.palattella@timesnews.com SEPT
11, 2013 2:37 AM
Over the past several weeks, former Erie
schools Superintendent Jim Barker has seen his former boss indicted and his
17-year tenure at the Erie
School District Erie
"I just tried to do the best I could when I was there," Barker
said in a telephone interview Monday.
Teachers in Shaler Area
approve new contract
By Robert Zullo / Pittsburgh September
11, 2013 11:31 pm
The Shaler Area School District
And for parents of the district's more than 4,600 students who will head
back to class Friday, the end of the seven-day work stoppage that delayed the
start of school couldn't come soon enough.
No deadline for study of
merger with Exeter and Antietam ,
officials say
By Stephen F. DeLucas Reading Eagle correspondent Originally Published: 9/11/2013
The statement came at Tuesday's school board meeting in response to
questions from Rob Reiter, who clearly opposed the merger.
If you do
just one thing for public education this month, come hear Diane Ravitch on
Monday evening – and bring a friend. Seriously. This is a huge event for our
education justice movement in Southwest PA and
a crucial opportunity to be a part of the conversation about the future of our
schools. Don’t miss this rare –
and free – opportunity to hear widely acclaimed education
historian and best-selling author Dr. Ravitch speak on her new book, Reign
of Error: The Hoax of the Privatization Movement and the Danger to America’s
Public Schools. She is the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education and
named by the Wall Street Journal as a “whistle-blower extraordinaire.”
The event
will be at Temple
Sinai 5505 Forbes Avenue 5PM .
The lecture begins at 6PM .
Do you have
friends wondering about school closures? The massive budget cuts? Increasing
class sizes and high-stakes-testing? Have them spend just one hour with Diane
Ravitch to learn why there is a better way forward for our kids and our
schools.
Questions and answers
about the District’s budget gap
The
notebook by Paul Socolar October 2013 Issue
How did
the School District get into such a financial
mess?
The $304
million budget gap announced last winter didn’t happen overnight. In fact, the
District has faced budget crises almost annually for decades.
The
fundamental issue is that Philadelphia Pennsylvania
It all adds
up to a big problem raising revenue. Philadelphia
Karen Heller: One
counselor, 2,820 students
Karen Heller, Inquirer Columnist POSTED: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 , 1:08 AM
Let me tell you about Peter
Zadro's first day of school as an itinerant guidance counselor. Honest, that's
his title in the continuing drama of the Philadelphia
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130911_Karen_Heller__One_counselor__2_820_students.html#bWR3TbI2LimRXgBJ.99
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20130911_Karen_Heller__One_counselor__2_820_students.html#bWR3TbI2LimRXgBJ.99
City to Give Schools $50M
by Expediting School Sales
The city is moving forward with its
plan to take over the sale of more than two dozen school buildings across the
city
NBC Philadelphia Sep 11, 2013 | Updated 12:28 PM EDT
Philadelphia City Council said they are prepared to give the School District of Philadelphia
State says violence is
down in Phila. schools
Martha Woodall, Inquirer Staff Writer LAST UPDATED: September 11, 2013 , 1:08 AM
The Philadelphia
School District
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20130911_State_says_violence_is_down_in_Phila__schools.html#LzIYtWs8xLXfwLCF.99
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20130911_State_says_violence_is_down_in_Phila__schools.html#LzIYtWs8xLXfwLCF.99
Philly schools off the
'most dangerous' list credit student-staff trust for success
WHYY Newsworks By Aaron Moselle, @awmoselle September 12, 2013
The School District
of Philadelphia Lincoln High School
in Northeast Philadelphia remains on the list.
Sayre High
School in West Philadelphia
was added this school year.
The total means the district can say it has reduced the number of schools
on the list by 40 percent or more for each of the last three years.
"Our principals and school-based staff have worked extremely hard to
improve school culture, safety and climate," said district Superintendent
William Hite in a statement.
"We know that much work remains, which is why we are increasing the
use of restorative practices andPositive
Behavioral Interventions and Support. Safety remains a high priority, and
we will continue working to ensure positive and safe environments for
learning."
AFL-CIO 2013 Convention
Resolution 52: Governor Corbett and Mayor Nutter's Attack on Philadelphia
September
2013
Those who work in Philadelphia public schools, represented by the
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and those who provide the city’s vital
public services, represented by AFSCME District Councils 33 and 47, do so out
of a sense of mission: they want to help kids, they want to care for those who
are most vulnerable, and they want to ensure that the vital public services
that keep our city moving are reliably provided to build a better Philadelphia
for all.
But educators and public employees are under attack from forces intent on
rolling back the promise of equal opportunity, basic fairness and responsive
government.
Governor Corbett and his legislative partisans are leading the attack.
While extending $2.4 billion in tax breaks to corporate special interests and
political donors, including expanded favors for energy and telecommunications
companies, Corbett eliminated assistance to 69,000 financially distressed
Pennsylvanians suffering from illness, disability or domestic violence; cut
environmental funding by 20 percent and slashed more than $1 billion from
public education, including more than $304 million from Philadelphia
Right now, Governor Corbett is holding hostage $45 million in federal
assistance targeted for Philadelphia
Instead of standing up to Corbett and demanding the federal funds Philadelphia
The 45th annual
PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools
Kappan Magazine V95 N1 By William J. Bushaw and Shane J. Lopez
As 45 states stand on the brink of one of the most ambitious education
initiatives in our lifetime, Americans say they don’t believe standardized
tests improve education, and they aren’t convinced rigorous new education
standards will help. These are some of the findings in the 45th annual
PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools.
Analyzing the new
PDK/Gallup poll on how Americans view public education
This was written by education historian Diane Ravitch, a research
professor at New York University and author of the bestselling “The Death
and Life of the Great
American School
By Diane Ravitch
The annual Phi Delta Kappa-Gallup poll on education was just
released and the sponsors characterize public opinion as
split, which is true for many issues.
We must see this poll in the context of an unprecedented, well-funded
campaign to demonize public schools and their teachers over at least the past
two years, and by some reckoning, even longer.
The media has parroted endlessly the assertion that our public schools
are failures, they are (as Bill Gates memorably said to the nation’s governors in
2005) “obsolete,” and “the system is broken.” How many times have you heard
those phrases? How many television specials have you seen claiming that our
education system is disastrous? And along comes “Waiting for Superman” with its propagandistic attack on
public education in cities and suburbs alike and its appeal for privatization.
Add to that Arne Duncan’s faithful parroting of the claims of the critics.
That is the context, and it is remarkable that Americans continue to
believe in the schools they know best and to understand what their most
critical need is.
Here are the salient findings:
Estimated reductions in dollars in federal
funding to the states in fiscal year 2013 for Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act Part B Grants, following 5 percent sequestration cuts. Pennsylvania
Sequester Hits Special
Education Like 'Ton of Bricks'
Pew Charitable Trusts Stateline By Adrienne
Lu, Staff Writer Sept
10, 2013
Since the first day of class for most schools in Michigan
Will Congress Get Rid of
Sequestration? Don't Hold Your Breath.
Education Week Politics K-12 Blog By Alyson Klein on September
11, 2013 9:45 PM
Here we go again: Brokedown Congress is gearing up for its umpteenth game
of fiscal chicken, as lawmakers have to craft not one, but likely three
separate budget agreements over the next several months to keep the federal
government from shuttering.
And yet again, education programs—which have already taken a more-than 5
percent hit through "sequestration"—are
caught in the crosshairs.
The latest, completely unsurprising development: A stop-gap spending
measure, written by House Republicans, that would fund the government until
Dec. 15, doesn't do anything to alleviate the cuts, which are slated to stay in
place for a decade. The Committee for Education Funding, a lobbying coalition,
sent a letter to Capitol Hill Wednesday opposing the measure because it
"locks in the harmful sequester cuts."
“…bringing their (Waltons) total support
for TFA to over $100 million since 1993.”
As WalMart Writes Checks,
Critics Blast Teach for America
Critics blast non-profit as 'pipeline' for pro-corporate policies like
charter schools and privatization
Published on Monday, August 5, 2013 by Common Dreams - Lauren
McCauley, staff writer
The education non-profit Teach for America has been under increasing fire
recently as critics and alumni accuse the organization of misappropriating
their original mission by backing the policies of the "corporate education
agenda" that promote privatization, the expansion of charter schools and
the undermining of teachers unions.
These criticisms come amidst news last week that Wal-Mart owners, the
Walton Family—key backers of charter school expansion and the effort to end
teacher protections—donated $20 million to the nonprofit for "recruitment,
training and professional development," bringing their total support for
TFA to over $100 million since 1993.
War is peace; freedom is
slavery; ignorance is strength –
Five weeks training is “highly
qualified”
TFA
looks to capitalize on School
District of Philadelphia
Teacherbiz
Blog SEPTEMBER
10, 2013 · 8:46 PM
Like many
other urban districts across the country, the School District of Philadelphia
On their
first day of school, Philadelphia
Amid all
this chaos, Teach
for America’s Greater Philadelphia chapter is advertising, on its
website, that “Today in Philadelphia, only 61% of kids graduate from high
school within four years, and only 10% will go on to graduate from
college. It’s clear that not all of Philadelphia
As a
solution, and taking advantage of the poor conditions that result from
financial crisis (just as they did in Chicago,
where they’re expanding their presence–particularly with plans to support the
expansion of privately-operated charters while the district lays off thousands
of public school teachers), Teach for America has initiated a regional
restructuring plan that will transfer Camden and Trenton from the Greater
Philadelphia chapter to Teach for America New Jersey. Doing so, says TFA,
will allow Greater Philadelphia “to focus our full efforts on the
opportunities and challenges ahead of us in Philly” (where,
incidentally, TFA alum Marc
Mannella is CEO of the KIPP charter network).
Keystone State Education Coalition Co-Chair and PSBA
Pres-Elect Candidate Mark B Miller on tap for Bucks County Town Hall Meeting to
discuss possible Property Tax reform, HB 76 on Sept. 12th.
Thursday evening September 12th,
7 to 9 p.m. @ Kings Caterers, 4010 New Falls Road, Bristol
PILCOP 2013 Symposium on Equality September 12, 2013
Privatization: Looking out for the Public Good
HEALTHCARE—LAND USE—EDUCATION
Thursday, September 12, 2013
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
University
of Pennsylvania Law School Levy Conference
Center
Join us for
a day of panels, discussions and presentations on what privatization means for
communities and individuals, using healthcare, education and land use as
examples.
Details and
tickets here: http://www.pilcop.org/2013symposium/
Featuring
Morris Dees and honoring education advocates Barbara Minzenberg and the
Philadelphia Student Union. Wednesday,
Sept. 18th at 5:30 p.m., Crystal Tea Room, Wanamaker Building 100 Penn Square East , Philadelphia
Details and
registration: http://elc-pa.givezooks.com/events/copy-of-morris-dees-a-passion-for-justice
PA Special Education Funding Formula Commission
Upcoming Meeting Has Been Rescheduled to Sept 26th in Reading
Was
originally scheduled for September 19. No
venue announced yet
To consider
charter and cyber special education funding
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 of Pittsburgh andCarnegie Mellon University
Co-sponsored by
Children’s activities provided by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and
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 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).
oN �)l < @� P� e='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'> 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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