Daily postings from the Keystone State Education
Coalition now reach more than 3060 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school
directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers,
Governor's staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, 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 and searchable 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?
The
Network for Public Education Press Release January 19, 2014
NPE National Conference at University of Texas
at Austin
Keystone State Education Coalition
Snowed
in? Here’s some warm PA Ed Policy News for you….
Pennsylvania
Auditor General to hold public meeting in Bucks County
Bucks Local News Published: Monday, January 20, 2014
“In my first year as auditor general we released audit reports for more than 300 school entities including charter schools, many of which are relatively new to
DePasquale said he hopes to hear from a wide cross-section of experts and advocates, including representatives of school districts, charter schools, educational associations, business and industry groups and citizen organizations.
Locally, a public meeting will be held in
Time is limited to two hours for each meeting.
Comments can be submitted in writing by Wednesday, Feb. 19, via email to Susan
Woods at: swoods@auditorgen.state.pa.us.
The
other school cheating scandal: A PennLive editorial cartoon
By Signe Wilkinson January 21, 2014
“By contrast, the Philadelphia
School District
Catholic
school gives student the boot over court-ordered ankle monitor
MENSAH M. DEAN, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER DEANM@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-568-8278 POSTED: Wednesday, January 22, 2014 , 3:01 AM
Bill
Green’s Education Views: Way More Reasonable Than Tom Corbett’s Views
Keystone Politics Blog Posted on January 19, 2014 by Jon Geeting #
As someone who is interested in weakening the
power of the Building Trades Council over Philadelphia
Sean does a good job of contextualizing the
Bill Green nomination within recent news events, and makes it all sound very
sinister. But it seems to me that whether or not this is a sinister thing
hinges critically on your opinion of Bill Green’s stated views on public
education, which Sean blockquotes
at length nearthe bottom of his post.
Bill
Green: plus and minus
Axis Philly by Tom
Ferrick, Jan.
19, 2014
When it comes to figuring out decisions,
sometimes the best thing to do is to get out a legal pad, draw a line down the
middle, put a plus sign on one side, a minus on the other, and see how it adds
up. Take Gov. Corbett’s decision last
week to appoint Councilman Bill Green as chair of the School Reform Commission
(SRC). So far, I have found only two people who were delighted with the
decision. One is Gov. Corbett. The other
is Bill Green.
Inquirer
Editorial: Take a good look at Green
POSTED: Wednesday, January 22, 2014 , 1:08 AM
The state senators who will individually
interview Bill Green about his nomination for chairman of the Philadelphia
School Reform Commission should be as thorough as if they were questioning him
in a formal hearing - which, unfortunately, they won't. A huge flaw in the SRC appointment process is
that it offers little or no opportunity for public input after the mayor and
governor make their choices. That can reduce the required Senate confirmation
to a rubber stamp.
But that should not be the Senate's approach
to any SRC nomination, and especially not when it comes to Green, whose past
statements in favor of charters and vouchers have some in the education
establishment questioning his commitment to traditional public schools.
Bill
Green is a difficult man for a difficult job
KAREN HELLER, INQUIRER COLUMNIST
Wednesday, January
22, 2014 , 1:08 AM
Bill Green is a smart but difficult man. He
does not play well with others, and the difficulty often arises when he shows
them how smart he is. Then again,
Green's a member of City Council, where there's not much competition for summa
cum laude and Penn Law graduates, and veteran members view themselves as
royalty and expect reverence. Green managed to annoy most of them in no time
flat, for which I am eternally grateful.
But Green might have achieved more with less arrogance. He had only to
consult Michael Nutter's similarly difficult history with Council.
What
recourse do taxpaying voters have when a charter school ignores an auditor
general’s report?
“My big stick is the public … [using] the bully pulpit,” he said.
In cases where other school districts have ignored an auditor general’s report,
DePasquale noted, voters have decided to elect new board members.”
Auditor
general has widened the investigation into Susquehanna Township
By Matt Zencey |
mzencey@pennlive.com on January 21, 2014 at 1:29 PM , updated January 21, 2014 at 2:33 PM
The state auditor general’s investigation into
the Susquehanna Township School District has been expanded to include reviewing
Superintendent Susan Kegerise’s contract, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale
said Tuesday. His office was already looking into the controversial contract
extensions that Kegerise proposed giving to two assistant superintendents.
DePasquale expects the final report on Susquehanna Township
School
board questions value vs. money spent
By Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh January 21, 2014 11:21 PM
The Wilkinsburg school board will vote next
week on canceling its contract with two educational consultants from Louisiana
At its meeting Tuesday, the board decided to
place a motion on the Jan. 28 legislative agenda directing the business manager
to stop paying the consultants immediately and directing the solicitor to seek
reimbursement for services that were not provided this year and in past years.
Editorial:
Include all contracts in school law
High-profile corruption prosecutions of the
"kids for cash" judges in Luzerne
County and of county commissioners
there and in Lackawanna
County
Those cases make plain the need for the Senate
to vastly expand the scope of a bill that was passed last week by the House. The legislation is fine as far as it goes. It
requires public notice of no less than 48 hours before a school board votes to
approve a labor contract with unionized teachers or other employees, or a
professional educator employment contract with a superintendent or other
administrators.
North
Hills district has tentative accord with teachers union
Post-Gazette By Sandy Trozzo January 21, 2014
10:58 PM
The North
Hills School
District
“She had been urging members of the Pennsylvania Legislature to
pass a bill requiring public middle and high schools in the state to provide
Holocaust and genocide education, but for a while she got nowhere.”
Woman
puts Pa.
WHYY Newsworks BY JENNIFER LYNN JANUARY 21, 2014
Holocaust education is mandatory in New Jersey and New York
high schools, but not in Pennsylvania
Lancaster
school, city officials oppose proposed business charter school
Intelligencer Journal Lancaster New Era By
KARA NEWHOUSE Staff Writer knewhouse@lnpnews.com
Updated Jan 14,
2014 23:06
Just say "no."
That's the messageSchool District of Lancaster administrators sent the school board at a
second hearing for the Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship Charter
School
"This applicant clearly does not have a working concept of what a school requires to be successful. We respectfully advise that ... you do not invest our children in a plan that is dangerously underdeveloped and dramatically flawed," said Director of Elementary Education Lynette Waller during an hour-long review of the application. Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray and city council members also voiced disapproval of the charter school proposal.
That's the message
"This applicant clearly does not have a working concept of what a school requires to be successful. We respectfully advise that ... you do not invest our children in a plan that is dangerously underdeveloped and dramatically flawed," said Director of Elementary Education Lynette Waller during an hour-long review of the application. Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray and city council members also voiced disapproval of the charter school proposal.
“This is taxation without representation because the funding
requirements would remain with the local school district.”
Letter:
SB1085 Charter school bill hurts public education
Intelligencer Journal Lancaster Jan 17, 2014 16:11 by
Thomas R. Hassler
State Sen. Lloyd Smucker's charter school
reform bill, Senate Bill 1085, needs to be defeated because, in my opinion, it
does more harm to public education than it helps. There is no doubt that the state Legislature
needs to address charter- and cyber-school accountability and funding issues. I
applaud attempts to do that, as the deficiencies in the current law are well
known. However, SB 1085 also would permit the following:
Governing boards of institutions of higher
education would be permitted to authorize charter schools and regional charter
schools. As such, any Pennsylvania
“Perhaps most undemocratic about this bill's intention to expand
charter schools in the state is that these institutions have no accountability
to anyone but their boards of directors and investors -- not the taxpayers who
fund them, nor to the school boards who are elected representatives of the
taxpayers, parents and citizens.”
Letter:
SB1085 Charter school funding
Intelligencer Journal Lancaster Jan 16, 2014 17:16 by Roger
L. Cohen
I urge Sen. Lloyd Smucker to rethink his
support of Senate Bill 1085, which would erode what little accountability and
public input that now exists over charter schools in Pennsylvania
The charter school network has become an unaccountable,
private parallel system of education that is paid for by local and state
taxpayers, but does not answer to them.
Moreover, the taxpayer funds the charter
schools consume are not in addition to public school funding but instead of it.
A dollar to a charter is as good as a dollar cut to public education.
Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/945050_Charter-school-funding.html#ixzz2r7rKFdcd
Letter:
Lancaster
Intelligencer Journal Lancaster Jan 14, 2014 18:57 by
Danene Sorace
Setting aside the lack of a proposed
curricula, local business partners and letters of support from the Lancaster community, the costs associated with the
proposed Academy of Business and Entrepreneurship
Charter School
application should give every School
District of Lancaster School District of Lancaster
Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/944215_Charter-school-concerns.html#ixzz2r7rtNLZX
Letter:
Vote on school taxes
Inquirer letter to the editor by State Rep.
Dwight Evans January
22, 2014 , 1:08 AM
I recently introduced House Resolution 613,
which seeks a nonbinding resolution on the May 20 ballot asking voters whether
they would support increasing the state sales, income, and business taxes - or
any combination of taxes - to support public education. Gov. Corbett's reported backing of an
election-year funding boost for schools reeks of pandering, not passion, for
public education. After all, education funding - like transportation
infrastructure funding - is a core function of state government, and perhaps
even more critical to the commonwealth's future.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20140122_Letters_to_the_Editor.html#1BDxjX3PGsteCYT6.99
Letters:
Parents, beware of school plans
Daily News letter to the editor by Gloria C.
Endres Wednesday, January
22, 2014 , 3:01 AM
THE PLAN recently discussed at a School Reform
Commission meeting for a universal system of enrollment proposed by
multieducation providers Great Schools Compact and its facilitator, the
Philadelphia School Partnership, sounds on the surface like a simplification of
a complex system. The idea is for families to provide on a single application a
list of school preferences, including public, charter and diocesan schools.
Using a formula supposedly meant to match the student with the best choice, the
decision about which school to attend is made for the family.
Parents are right to be suspicious of a system
that allows a student's personal information to be shared by special interests
with a stake in privately operated competitive schools. Furthermore, we have a
state constitution that strictly forbids using public money for private and
religious education, yet more and more such blended arrangements are permitted.
All with no accountability.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140122_Letters__Parents__beware_of_school_plans.html#Ixfs4BvOSCu3gwmp.99
Letter:
Pittsburgh
By NINA ESPOSITO-VISGITIS, President, Pittsburgh
January 22, 2014
January 22, 2014
The Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers and the
district invested five years developing a model teacher evaluation and growth
system. We were close to creating a system that builds positive, collaborative
and meaningful teacher supports when the district abandoned collaboration. It
decided, arbitrarily and unilaterally, to place 15 percent of Pittsburgh
Letter
The Pittsburgh
By ALAN LESGOLD, Dean, School
of Education , University
of Pittsburgh Oakland
January 22, 201412:00 AM
January 22, 2014
Recently, almost all states have decided that
we need more out of our schools than ever before. The Common Core State
Standards are a substantial step toward remaking schools to be able to teach
all students the combination of problem solving, self-learning and
self-management skills needed to do well in the information age.
Just as the new standards demand much more of
students, they also demand more of teachers. They demand much more of parents,
too, but that’s a story for another day. It’s unfair to tell teachers that,
effective immediately, they must be able to teach the Common Core State Standards
effectively, even if they were not trained to do so.
Commentary:
Teacher union's lesson plan for failure
The Tribune-Review By Richard
Berman Monday, Jan.
20, 2014 , 9:00 p.m.
When the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
offered Pittsburgh Public Schools $40 million, it was a godsend to the
cash-strapped school system. But to the American Federation of Teachers, the
city's teachers union, and AFT President Randi Weingarten, the idea that school
funding might be tied to improving children's education was anathema. The grant
had to go.
The Gates foundation's criteria were
straightforward: The school district and teachers needed to agree on a method
to evaluate classroom performance and to hold teachers accountable for their
performance. The union and the district agreed on a metric, but now the AFT and
its Pittsburgh
Read more: http://triblive.com/opinion/featuredcommentary/5421788-74/teachers-pittsburgh-union#ixzz2r7nd7evC
“I don’t know how there aren’t fatalities every month,” Ohstrom, who shared
her photos with The Huffington Post, said over the phone. “It seems like
there’s something lucky going on because after spending so much time in these
schools and the nurses' offices, I would say probably every single school nurse
over their career has saved multiple lives.”
Rebecca.Klein@huffingtonpost.com
Posted: 01/17/2014 12:54 pm
Updated: 01/21/2014 8:10 pm
When 12-year-old Laporshia Massey died this past October after not having the
option of visiting a school nurse at her cash-strapped Philadelphia school,
media outlets and education advocates were stunned. How could a school
district, entrusted with keeping its students safe, fail to provide children
with even the most basic of health care services? Philadelphia-based photographer Katrina Ohstrom, on the
other hand, was not shocked. Before Massey’s death, Ohstrom spent time in the Philadelphia Philadelphia
OECD
Chart: U.S.
Commission:
Early Childhood Investment Key to Healthier America
Education Week Early Years Blog By Christina
Samuels on January 13, 2014 8:00
AM
Investing in early childhood through
high-quality preschool programs and community support programs is an essential
element to creating a more healthy country, says a commission convened by
the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation—the nation's largest philanthropy devoted solely
to health issues.
The report, Time
to Act: Investing in the Health of Our Children and Communities,
is a followup from the Commission to Build a Healthier America, which first
released 10 sweeping recommendations in 2009. One of its recommendations then
was "ensure that all children have high-quality early
developmental support (child care, education, and other services)."
Expanding
school choice: An education revolution or diversion?
NSBA Action Center The Edifier by Patte Barth January 21, 2014
House majority leader Eric Cantor (R-Va)
Cantor was speaking recently at the release of the Brookings Institution’s
latest report on Education
Choice and Competition. Calling these policies “an education revolution,”
the House leader baldly stated, “school choice is the surest way to break [the]
vicious cycle of poverty.”
Not “a solid education.” School choice.
The Brookings’ report ranks 100 large
districts on their school choice policies. Their report came out in advance ofNational School Choice Week whose
organizers boast 5,500 scheduled events across the country beginning January 26, 2014 .
Both share a goal to drum up more support for funneling tax dollars into
educational options — whether they be charters, magnets, private, or virtual schools.
The rationale is that a free marketplace will force schools to innovate
in order to compete for students. Popular schools will equate with “good
schools” and unpopular ones will close. And thus, in Brookings words, we will
raise “the quality of the product.”
Unfortunately, that’s one mighty big
assumption.
On
Assignment for DianeRavitch.Net: Rewriting Thomas Harkin’s Teach For America
Cloaking Inequity Blog January 21, 2014 byJulian Vasquez Heilig |
I am on assignment today. Diane Ravitch asked
me to rewrite Tom Harkin’s email to a constituent that extols the virtues of
TFA. I will begin with the letter that was forwarded to me that was apparently
written by Harkin’s office and then follow the official letter with my rewrite.
Connecticut
Judge rejects state's request to delay school funding trial
Hartford Superior Court Judge Kevin Dubay
summarily rejected the state's request Thursday for a lengthy postponement of
an education-funding lawsuit over whether the state is meeting its
constitutional responsibility of providing a "suitable education" for
every child in Connecticut
The attorney general's office had
asked the judge to reschedule a trial now set to begin this summer
until October 2015, a move that the plaintiffs, the Connecticut Coalition for
Justice in Education Funding, claimed was intended to delay the
proceedings until after the 2014 gubernatorial election. "Fortunately, it didn't work, and nine
years from the time CCJEF filed this case, schoolchildren will finally have
their day in court," said Dianne Kaplan deVries, the founder and executive
director of the coalition. The attorney general's office had no comment.
Reaction
to Ravitch: A different view of Common Core
I published
the text of a speech that education historian and activist Diane
Ravitch gave this month about the past, present and future of the Common Core
State Standards to the Modern Language Association. (You can read
it here.) Here’s a response from Professor Gerald Graff,
a former president of the Modern Language Association who teaches English and
education at the University of Illinois at Chicago
COMMENTARY:
Questionable Education Lessons From China
Education Week By Xu Zhao, Helen Haste, and
Robert L. Selman January
22, 2014
In 2010 and again in 2013, American
journalists and educators, stunned by Shanghai
“Lately, most new Gulen charter schools have been approved by
alternative authorizers. This way there is a better chance of using
political or inside connections, and minimizing public input.”
Gulen
Charter Schools Blog
Citizens Against Special Interest Lobbying in
Public Schools January
21, 2014
Hearings on new applications, expansions, etc
Come
to Harrisburg February 4th for the Governor's Budget Address
Show your School Spirit with PCCY!
In 25 days the Governor will introduce his
budget plan for 2014-2015. Based on past performance, the next budget may
do little to meet the needs of Pennsylvania’s public school students.
School districts in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties of Bucks,
Chester, Delaware and Montgomery remain underfunded by the state by a combined
$161 million. That is why we need YOU to stand up for your school in
Harrisburg on February 4th to demand equitable funding for our
schools. To really make our point, please wear local school colors,
jackets or sweatshirts to show your school spirit!
Click here to sign-up and get details. For more
information please email Shanee Garner-Nelson at shaneeg@pccy.org.
PDE
chief Dumaresq LIVE budget presentation, PSBA Conference Center, Feb. 5 at 2
p.m
PSBA’s website 1/13/2014
Acting Secretary of Education Carolyn
Dumaresq will be at the PSBA Conference Center on Feb. 5 at 2
p.m. to present a special state budget overview.
Find out how the proposals of the fiscal year
2014-15 Pennsylvania budget impact your school district the day after the
governor delivers his address to the General Assembly. Secretary Dumaresq will
review the governor's plan and answer your questions. In addition to the live
presentation, members across the state also can participate through streaming
media on their computers.
To register for the LIVE event, Wed.,
Feb. 5, 2 p.m., at the PSBA Conference Center, Mechanicsburg: https://www.psba.org/workshops/register/?workshop=150
To register for the WEB event: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7884287076736574210
- See more at: http://www.psba.org/news-publications/headlines/details.asp?id=6842#sthash.6jG84BK0.dpuf
2014
PA Gubernatorial Candidate Plans for Education and Arts/Culture in PA
Education
Policy and Leadership Center
Below is an alphabetical list of the 2014 Gubernatorial Candidates and
links to information about their plans, if elected, for education and
arts/culture in Pennsylvania. This list will be
updated, as more information becomes available.
2014 PICASSO PROJECT SCHOOL AWARDS
Representatives
from winning schools and partner organizations are invited to join us for the
grants award ceremony on Monday, January 27, 2014 at the World
Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut Street from 4:00pm to
6:00pm. RSVP to info@pccy.org or call 215-563-5848
x11.
January
24th – 26th, 2014 at The Science
Leadership Academy
in Philadelphia
EduCon is
both a conversation and a conference.
It is an
innovation conference where we can come together, both in person and virtually,
to discuss the future of schools. Every session will be an opportunity to
discuss and debate ideas — from the very practical to the big dreams.
DELAWARE COUNTY INTERMEDIATE UNIT - GOOGLE SYMPOSIUM
2014
FEBRUARY 1ST, 2014
The DCIU Google Symposium is an opportunity for teachers,
administrators, technology directors, and other school stakeholders to come
together and explore the power of Google Apps for Education. The
Symposium will be held at the Delaware County Intermediate Unit. The
Delaware County Intermediate Unit is one of Pennsylvania’s 29 regional
educational agencies. The day will consist of an opening keynote
conducted by Rich Kiker followed by 4 concurrent sessions.
NPE National Conference
2014
The Network for Public Education
The Network for Public Education is pleased to announce our
first National Conference. The event will take place on March 1 & 2, 2014
(the weekend prior to the world-famous South by Southwest Festival) at The
University of Texas at Austin. At the
NPE National Conference 2014, there will be panel discussions, workshops, and a
keynote address by Diane Ravitch. NPE Board members – including Anthony Cody,
Leonie Haimson, and Julian Vasquez Heilig – will lead discussions along with
some of the important voices of our movement.
Details and
registration here: http://www.networkforpubliceducation.com/conference/
The National School Boards Association 74th Annual
Conference & Exposition April 5-7, 2014 New Orleans
The National School Boards Association 74th Annual
Conference & Exposition will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention
Center in New Orleans, LA. Our first time back in New Orleans
since the spring of 2002!
General
Session speakers include education advocates
Thomas L. Friedman, Sir Ken Robinson, as well as education innovators Nikhil
Goyal and Angela Maiers.
We have more than 200 sessions planned!
Colleagues from across the country will present workshops on key topics with
strategies and ideas to help your district. View our Conference
Brochure for highlights on sessions and
focus presentations.
·
Register
now! – Register for both the conference and housing using our online
system.
·
Conference
Information– Visit the NSBA conference website for up-to-date information
·
Hotel
List and Map - Official NSBA Housing Block
·
Exposition
Campus – View new products and services and interactive
trade show floor
Join the National School Boards Action Center Friends of
Public Education
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’s
schoolchildren
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