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?
PA School
report card: Charter and Vo-Tech schools
Standardized test scores have long
been strongly correlated with students’
household income. In 1979, 300 of Pennsylvania
School report card: Charter and Vo-Tech schools
By Nick Malawskey | nmalawskey@pennlive.com
on October 07,
2013 at 12:51 PM
On Friday
the state Department of Education has released the Pennsylvania School
Performance Profile on each individual public school, including charter and
vocational-technical schools.
PennLive
tried to help parents navigate the deluge of information available on Friday by
breaking down each district's schools and assigning them an overall letter
grade. Below is a similar breakdown of the information about the midstate's
charter and vo-tech schools as well as cyber charter schools.
Think of it
as a district's report card.
The
notebook by Dale Mezzacappa on Oct 04 2013
The state
started to unveil its new system for rating schools on Friday, using awebsite containing school
performance profiles that will ultimately provide a wealth of
data for each school in the state and give a numerical performance rating
to each. However, it is ending the
practice of comparing absolute proficiency rates on state tests from one year
to the next, either for individual schools and districts or for the state
as a whole.
The Philadelphia School District
Keystone Exam forms are
blamed for incomplete profile woes
Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review By Megan
Harris Monday, Oct. 7, 2013 , 11:55 p.m.
Educators and state officials agree Keystone Exams were the culprit in Friday's incomplete online release of the Department of Education's new school assessment system.
Educators and state officials agree Keystone Exams were the culprit in Friday's incomplete online release of the Department of Education's new school assessment system.
Thousands
of students, proctors and administrators statewide failed to check the correct
box that would indicate whether a student took the test for course credit or to
meet federal requirements.
Acting
Education Secretary Carolyn Dumaresq said the state shares the blame for those
errors by failing to more clearly outline how to fill out test forms.
A comment posted to
the story below reads: “The private sector will solve the problems that
government bureaucrats couldn't.”
...or at least they'll
make a few bucks from taxpayer money without any better results for the kids:
Documenting the impact of
Philly school closings
The
notebook by Wendy Harris October 7, 2013
Videographer
Amy Yeboah worked this summer with the Notebook to complete a
30-minute documentary about this year’s wave of school closings. It’s calledGoodbye
to City Schools.
The project
took her inside four of the 24 schools that closed for good in June: Germantown High School ,
Bok Technical
High School , Fairhill
Elementary School , and University City High School Scribe Video Center 4212 Chestnut St.
State, educators hold
opposing views on funding policies
Valley News Dispatch By Tom
Yerace Published: Sunday,
Oct. 6, 2013 ,
12:21 a.m.
A major disconnect
exists between Harrisburg
Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review By Tony
LaRussa Published: Oct.
5, 2013, 9:00 p.m.
Local
school officials have complained for years that charter schools siphon money
from public school districts when students leave them to attend the alternative
public schools.
State
lawmakers expect to enact changes this fall in the funding formula for charter
schools, along with measures to add greater accountability.
Proposals for revamping Pa.
WHYY
Newsworks BY MARY WILSON OCTOBER 7, 2013
A statewide
approach to property tax changes was defeated in the Pennsylvania House last
week, but the Senate is still working on a plan to get rid of the unpopular
levy. Last year, a proposal to replace
property taxes with higher sales and income taxes got a thumbs-down from the
state's Independent Fiscal Office. The
IFO analyzed a second, reworked plan and found, again, it wouldn't come up with
enough money for schools.
We must ensure our schools provide kindergarten: As I
See It
By Patriot-News Op-Ed on October 07, 2013
at 9:00 AM
State Rep. Pat Harkins, a Democrat,
represents the 1st House District in Erie
In the past
decade, states across the country, including Pennsylvania
Studies
indicate that access to quality programs like pre-kindergarten are a proven
investment for states and families by helping to create a level playing field
for all students when they enter grade school, through better academic
performance and by returning an estimated $16 for every dollar spent in reduced
spending on crime, remedial education and welfare.
However,
even as we aim to improve access to pre-kindergarten for three- and four-year
olds, in Pennsylvania under a law passed in 1949, a child is not legally
required to start school until age eight. As technology, the economy and family
dynamics have changed substantially over the past 60 years, I believe it is
time to revisit this outdated law.
Republicans will try to
solve Pa.
BY PETER E. BORTNER (STAFF WRITER
PBORTNER@REPUBLICANHERALD.COM)
Published: October
5, 2013
WEST HAZLETON - State Rep. Mike Tobash said Friday morning that
Republicans are prepared to issue a proposal to try to solve Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
Proposed Allentown
By Colin McEvoy | The Express-Times
on October 07,
2013 at 9:03 PM
The fate of
a proposed arts-focused charter school for elementary students is now in the
hands of the Allentown School Board. The board held a public hearing tonight
on the proposed Arts Academy Elementary Charter
School, and will determine within two months whether to accept or
reject it. The applicants explained
their vision for a school that would not train students for careers in the arts,
but rather provide a traditional academic program enhanced by regular,
intensive artistic offerings.
PA Cyber shells out half a million in legal fees
Founder could have to repay school
amid investigation
By Rich
Lord / Pittsburgh October
8, 2013 12:05 am
The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter
School
The Push for Universal Pre-K
New York
Times By NANCY FOLBRE September 30, 2013 , 12:01 am
Nancy
Folbre is professor emerita of economics at the University of
Massachusetts, Amherst.
The labor
is going to be long and difficult, but this baby is on its way in most affluent
countries. Japan and Germany United
States
I’ve touched
on some of the reasons forresistance
to increased public investment in children in earlier posts. Sometimes
the issue is framed as one of disagreement over social cost-benefit analysis,
but many economists, most famously James
Heckmanof the University of Chicago, offer powerful evidence of a high
social rate of return in the form of improved outcomes for children. The net
benefits loom even larger when the value of increased work flexibility for
parents is added in.
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.
Join us as we celebrate their accomplishments!
Tuesday,November
19, 2013 5:30 pm
- 8:30 pm WHYY, 150 North 6th Street , Philadelphia
Invitations coming soon!
Tuesday,
Invitations coming soon!
Register: http://tinyurl.com/m8emc4m
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.
- See more at: http://www.psba.org/news-publications/headlines/details.asp?id=6170#sthash.ezkO8nkH.dpuf
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