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?
Good morning folks – just a quick
heads-up that after publishing the Keystone State Education Coalition’s
Education Policy Roundup 6 days a week since November 2010 we will be taking a
brief hiatus beginning this Friday morning.
Pennsylvania 2013 Blue Ribbon Schools
U.S.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today announced 286 schools as the 2013
cohort of National Blue Ribbon Schools, based on their overall academic
excellence or their progress in improving student academic achievement. Here are the 15 Pennsylvania
HB618 Charter School
You can
follow status/comments on twitter using the hashtag #HB618
PA Special Education Funding Formula Commission
Public Meeting Sept 26th at Alvernia
College in Reading 9:30 am – 3:00 pm
To consider
charter and cyber special education funding
Wind behind alternative
property tax bill
The statements by Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-28, Pittsburgh ,
at the Pennsylvania Press Club reflect ongoing pressure on lawmakers from
constituents in some parts of the state, including Northeast
Pennsylvania , to tackle the perennial property tax issue.
Mr. Turzai described the measure giving school districts the choice of
shifting partially or completely away from relying on property taxes to a mix
of an additional earned income tax and a tax on business gross receipts as a
very good bill that's getting real wind in the House.
PBPC Statement: Tax Shift Proposal Would Hurt PA
Students
Posted by PA Budget and Policy
Center September 24, 2013
HARRISBURG,
PA (Sept. 24, 2013) — Sharon Ward, Director of the Pennsylvania Budget and
Policy Center, issued the following statement in response to today’s Capitol
event on property tax legislation (HB 76):
“This property tax plan will do
irreparable damage to a generation of Pennsylvania students. It pulls the rug
out from under our public education system and ignores the real problem — that
too few state dollars support our schools.
“Years of
state funding cuts have already diminished the long-term prospects for Pennsylvania
Taxpayers swarm Harrisburg
By Frank Otto,
The Mercury POSTED: 09/24/13,
3:15 PM EDT
Turzai: Cyber charter
school formula should be scrutinized
By Natasha Lindstrom Calkins Media September
23, 2013 5:31 pm
HARRISBURG
— Pennsylvania lawmakers should consider taking action this fall to address
flaws in the way cyber charter schools are funded and held accountable, House
Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-28, Bradford Woods, said Monday. The Allegheny
County legislator's remarks come a
month after the U.S.
attorney's office filed charges against Pennsylvania
Cyber Charter
School founder Nick Trombetta for
allegedly funneling public money from the Midland
school to organizations under his control. If convicted on 11 counts involving
tax fraud, Trombetta could face up to 100 years in prison, a fine of $3.25
million or both.
Education Policy and Leadership Center
Schools wonder: If they
build, will state reimburse?
The Intelligencer By Gary Weckselblatt Staff Writer September 24, 2013
A state
moratorium on reimbursements for approved school construction costs has some
districts concerned the money might not come.
“You kind of worry about the future,” said Bob Riegel, Quakertown’s
business manager, “and whether the money’s going to really be there for
reimbursement.” The worry stems from a
moratorium of the state’s so-called PlanCon reimbursement. PlanCon refers to
the Education Department’s $300 million a year “Planning and Construction
Workbook,” a complicated review that runs from justifying the need for a
project to designing it, acquiring the land, building it and paying for it.
Schools,
under financial pressure from growing pension obligations, are concerned the
moratorium could lead to the program’s elimination.
By Karen
Langley / Pittsburgh September
24, 2013 3:48 pm
The state
appeals board vote was unanimous.
“When
philanthropists pour money into alternatives, like individual
charter schools or the privately run Philadelphia School
Letter: Philanthropy
won't save Philly schools; rich people should pay more taxes
WHYY Newsworks
Opinion SEPTEMBER
24, 2013 ESSAYWORKS
With our
severely underfunded public schools now open, it is important to examine the
causes of this crisis. We are a
group of people in our 20s and 30s with inherited wealth and
class privilege who believe that philanthropy has played a role in
contributing to the crisis. Current forms of philanthropy are not
leading to the transformation of public schools our city needs.
Will Bunch
wrote a blog post recently critiquing
philanthropic efforts to "fix" Philadelphia's public education.
We agree: When philanthropists pour money into alternatives, like individual
charter schools or the privately run Philadelphia School Partnership, they
erode the development of a healthy public system that equitably serves
all. Funding private alternatives supports small-scale interventions that do
nothing to address the root causes of inequality. It also weakens
the democratic process. Philanthropists should not be the ones deciding
what is best for public schools. That decision belongs equally to all
the city's community members.
Grable Foundation gives another $5M to Pittsburgh
By Eleanor
Chute / Pittsburgh September
24, 2013 12:16 pm
The
Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program is about two-thirds of the way toward
its goal of $250 million, with its latest large gift coming from the Grable
Foundation.
Saleem
Ghubril, executive director of the Promise, Tuesday announced Grable has
pledged another $5 million, bringing Grable's total contribution to $10
million.
Parkland among nation's best high schools, U.S.
By Margie Peterson, Special to The Morning Call 10:10 p.m. EDT, September 24, 2013
By Margie Peterson, Special to The Morning Call 10:10 p.m. EDT, September 24, 2013
Nationally,
Parkland High was 1,834th out of more than 21,000 schools reviewed by the
magazine, according to Rodney Troutman, assistant superintendent of the Parkland School District
Column: Quiet voices
heard on improving education
Delco Times Opinion By JOSEPH P. BATORY, Times Guest Columnist POSTED: 09/24/13, 9:29 PM EDT | UPDATED: 6
HRS AGO
Joseph P. Batory of Philadelphia
is a former Upper Darby
School District
Politicians
and media talking heads now have become the “self-anointed” experts on public
education improvement. However, conclusions are often over-simplified and
filled with half-truths and inaccuracies. And in most cases teachers and school
administrators — those closest to reality — have been allowed little or no
input into this discussion.
With 50 million students attending more than 98,000 public schools in our diverse American society, analysis is not simple. Below are five commonly heard but questionable statements about public education. Each statement is followed by some commentary which is not usually heard.
With 50 million students attending more than 98,000 public schools in our diverse American society, analysis is not simple. Below are five commonly heard but questionable statements about public education. Each statement is followed by some commentary which is not usually heard.
To save our schools:
Improvement districts?
Philly.com Opinion by KEN STEIF POSTED: Wednesday, September 25, 2013 ,
3:01 AM
Ken Steif is a Doctoral Fellow in
the City & Regional Planning Department at the University of Pennsylvania
ONE OF the motivations for then-Mayor John Street's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative (NTI) was that blight removal would increase the value of land in struggling neighborhoods and spur new investment. While this may have been the case, recent evidence shows that providing increased local-school quality can play an even greater role in the process of neighborhood revitalization.Philadelphia Penn
Alexander School
ONE OF the motivations for then-Mayor John Street's Neighborhood Transformation Initiative (NTI) was that blight removal would increase the value of land in struggling neighborhoods and spur new investment. While this may have been the case, recent evidence shows that providing increased local-school quality can play an even greater role in the process of neighborhood revitalization.
Read more
at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20130925_To_save_our_schools__Improvement_districts_.html#LWesZdH7AaVz0YJh.99
Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools
protests Eric Cantor’s charter school speech in Philadelphia
El Sol on 9/24/2013 , 11:40
p.m.
Ralliers
chant “Public schools yes, austerity no” and hold signs giving Cantor an “F”
for failing to support public schools and social programs. Thirty activists and
parents with the Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools protested
House GOP Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s visit to a Philadelphia Freire
Charter School New
Orleans
Philly's Top Tax
Deadbeats
NBC Philadelphia Sep 24, 2013
| Updated 7:25 PM
EDT
The NBC10
Investigators look at how much the top property tax scofflaws owe the city of Philadelphia Philadelphia School
District of Philadelphia
"We
have to be clear that the city has not done its job in collecting the taxes," says
Wright, who is with the group Parents United for Public Education. "We are
beyond crisis. We are at the point where some schools just can't do any of what
they used to do."
Was Budget Secretary
Trying to Stir the Pot?
Inquirer by Troy Graham @troyjgraham POSTED: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2013 ,
6:16 PM
Charles
Zogby, Gov. Corbett’s budget secretary, said he wasn’t really expecting to make
news when he told a reporter earlier this week there was talk of giving taxing
authority to the unelected members of the Philadelphia School Reform
Commission.
He said the
idea had arisen because of the stalemate between Mayor Nutter and City Council
over extending the city’s extra 1 percent sales tax for the benefit of the schools.
Council has
refused to even introduce the mayor’s bill to extend the tax. If Council won’t
act, Zogby said, maybe the taxing authority should go to the members of the
SRC.
Southmoreland Elementary
recognized as National Blue Ribbon School
Tribune-Review By Paul
Paterra Published: Wednesday,
Sept. 25, 2013 ,
12:46 a.m.
National recognition has come the way ofSouthmoreland Elementary
School
National recognition has come the way of
It was
announced Tuesday that the school was recognized as a National
Blue Ribbon
School — one of just 286 schools in
the country to be so recognized and one of just 15 in Pennsylvania
The
announcement was made by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
The
National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes schools where students perform
at very high levels or where significant improvements are being made in student
levels of academic achievement.
Read more:http://triblive.com/news/westmoreland/4764531-74/southmoreland-elementary-national#ixzz2ftZAfxaE
U.S. Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan Announces 286 National Blue Ribbon Schools for 2013
Press
Office, (202) 401-1576, press@ed.gov
SEPTEMBER 24,
2013
U.S. Secretary
of Education Arne Duncan today announced 286 schools as the 2013 cohort of
National Blue Ribbon Schools, based on their overall academic excellence or
their progress in improving student academic achievement. Secretary Duncan made
this year's announcement live via the Department's USTREAM channel http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/39189722,
viewed by recognized principals, teachers, and students assembled across the
country.
The
Department will honor 236 public and 50 private schools at a recognition
ceremony on Nov. 18-19 in Washington ,
D.C. America
NSBA president wins Bammy
Award for school board leadership
NSBA School
Board Mews Today by Alexis Rice|September 24th, 2013
The Academy of
Education Arts and Sciences presented David A. Pickler, President of the
National School Board Association (NSBA), with a Bammy Award in the
school board category.
….According
to the organizers, “the Bammy Awards were created in response to the relentless
national criticism of America
http://schoolboardnews.nsba.org/2013/09/nsba-president-wins-bammy-award-for-school-board-leadership/
Hedge Fund Manager to
Investors: K12 Inc.'s Stock Is Overvalued
Education Week Marketplace K-12 Blog by Sean Cavanaugh September 24, 2013
Whitney
Tilson, a hedge fund manager with a strong interest in school issues, had this
message for investors recently: Don't bet on the for-profit, online education
provider K12, Inc.
In a
presentation last week at the Value Investing Congress, Tilson, who manages Kase
Capital, offered a sweeping dissection of why he believes the publicly traded
company is overvalued.
Interested in keeping the “public” in public
education? Sign up for text grassroots
alerts from the Network
for Public Education.
Join NPE's
NIXLE Group by texting "4NPE" to 888777. After sending the initial text, NIXLE will
ask for a "zipcode" - providing a zipcode will limit messages to
local interest of each subscriber. Leave the zipcode blank if you want to
receive all grassroot alerts from NPE.
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).
PASCD Annual
Conference ~ A Whole Child Education Powered by Blendedschools Network
November 3-4, 2013 | Hershey Lodge & Convention Center
We invite
you to join us for the Annual Conference, held at an earlier date this year, on
Sunday, November 3rd, through Monday, November 4th, 2013
at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center. The Pre-Conference begins on
Saturday with PIL
Academies
Click here for the 2013 Conference Schedule
Click here to register for the conference.
Building
One Pennsylvania
Fourth Annual Fundraiser
and Awards Ceremony
THURSDAY,NOVEMBER 21, 2013
6:00-8:00 PM
THURSDAY,
IBEW Local 380 3900 Ridge Pike Collegeville, PA
19426
Building One Pennsylvania is an emerging
statewide non-partisan organization of leaders from diverse sectors -
municipal, school, faith, business, labor and civic - who are joining together
to stabilize and revitalize their communities, revitalize local economies and
promote regional opportunity and sustainability. BuildingOnePa.org
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/.
Proposed Amendments to
PSBA Bylaws available online
PSBA website 9/17/2013
A special issue of the School Leader News with the
notice of proposed PSBA Bylaws amendments has been mailed to all school
directors and board secretaries.
This issue also is available online in the Members Only section by clicking here. Voting on PSBA Bylaws changes will take
place at the new Delegate Assembly on Oct. 15, 2013 , at the Hershey Lodge &
Convention Center from 1-4 p.m. All member school entities should have
appointed their voting delegates and submitted names to PSBA. Details on
selecting an entity's voting delegate can be found in previous issues of
the School Leader News.
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