Daily postings from the Keystone
State Education Coalition now reach more than 3100 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?
On
Tuesday, February 4th, the Governor will be presenting his proposal for the
budget, kicking off “budget season” in Harrisburg
Education funding at forefront as Pa.
awaits Corbett's budget address
“It sounds like the
Governor and his staff are aware that public education is the No. 1 concern of
the voters in the state,” …. “Hopefully, this budget will be responsive to that
concern.”
Education funding at forefront as Pa. awaits
Corbett's budget address
By John
Kopp, Delaware County Daily Times 02/02/14, 11:49 PM EST
Gov. Tom
Corbett applauds a choir at The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps
Community Center during a news conference Wednesday in Philadelphia. Corbett
discussed his budget proposal for the fiscal year 2014-2015 during the news
conference. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Gov. Tom
Corbett will give the final budget address of his term Tuesday, but the
Republican has yet to escape the shadow cast by his first. Corbett infamously slashed public education
funding by $1 billion in 2011 to help close an anticipated $4.2 billion
deficit.
Three years
later, Corbett still faces a consistent chorus of criticism for his decision.
Democrats, school district administrators and the state teachers’ union accuse
him of balancing the budget on the backs of poor school districts.
Pensions, education central to Gov. Corbett's
budget talk
By Karen
Langley and Kate Giammarise / Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau February 2, 2014
11:58 PM
HARRISBURG --
Sitting in shirtsleeves in his budget secretary's office, by a sign reading
"Nothing stimulates the imagination like a budget cut," Gov. Tom
Corbett refrained from explaining ahead of Tuesday's annual address just how he
will propose closing a shortfall projected at $1.3 billion. But the governor, a Republican facing
re-election in November, and aides did offer broad outlines of the proposals on
pensions, education funding and other topics that will mark his fourth annual
fiscal plan for Pennsylvania government.
Public schools, pensions to top Corbett's budget
address
ANGELA
COULOUMBIS AND AMY WORDEN, INQUIRER HARRISBURG BUREAU
POSTED: Sunday,
February 2, 2014, 1:09 AM
HARRISBURG
Public schools and pensions will top the agenda when Gov. Corbett delivers his
fourth budget address Tuesday. And
overall, the news is expected to be good.
So signaled
Budget Secretary Charles Zogby on Friday, saying the governor will be making
"substantial new investments" in education, health
care, and jobs programs.
Corbett expected to ask for more education money
Gov. Tom Corbett will present a
spending plan Tuesday.
By Steve Esack, Call Harrisburg
Bureau February 3, 2014
HARRISBURG —
When embattled Gov. Tom Corbett stands before the Legislature Tuesday,
he is likely to present a kinder, gentler budget proposal than in years past.
The
first-term Republican — up for re-election in November amid record-low approval
ratings — is expected to propose his biggest funding increases ever to make up
for unpopular cuts to education and human services that primarily occurred in
2011-12.
Corbett could
call for at least $100 million more for public schools, $20 million more for
special education, and more money for higher education on top of the extra $10
million he has already said he wants for preschool in 2014-15. "I can't give details but I think what
the governor will propose will make many people happy," said state
Education Department spokesman Tim Eller. "The governor believes in
education and I think you'll see that in his announcement Tuesday."
Educators hope to not repeat Corbett's first three
budgets
Scranton
Times Tribune BY SARAH HOFIUS HALL AND MICHAEL BUFFER (STAFF WRITERS) Published:
February 2, 2014
Since Tom
Corbett became governor, school districts in Northeast Pennsylvania have seen
their funding slashed by $143.8 million.
Educators hope to see some of those funds restored when the governor
unveils his proposed 2014-15 budget on Tuesday.
If reform to
the state's pension system is not made and districts do not see an increase in
funds, area superintendents fear more teaching jobs will be cut and programs
eliminated.
Herzenberg at
Keystone Research is wrong on pension reform: PennLive letters
PennLive Letters to the Editor on February 02, 2014 at 7:38 AM
By GENE BARR, President
and CEO, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, Harrisburg
On January 28, PennLive published a commentary by Stephen Herzenberg of the Keystone Research Center that
took aim at lawmakers for what he referred to as “ill-advised” efforts to
reform the state’s public pension system.
Despite facing a $47 billion deficit that continues to weigh on the
state budget and cut deeper into the spending plan each year, the commentary
significantly downplayed the severity of the state’s pension problem.
“No country in the world conducts more standardized testing of
its students. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year on the tests
themselves, not to mention test-prep computer software and workbooks. Pennsylvania's
2013-14 education budget allocates $53.9 million for assessment.”
Fallen standards: Opting out of high-stakes tests
Philly.com
Opinion by LISA HAVER Monday, February 3, 2014, 3:01 AM
Lisa Haver is a retired teacher and
co-founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools
IN "THE BIG TEST," author Nicholas Lehman describes the birth of the Educational Testing Service and its many offspring, including the Standard Aptitude Test. The men who developed those early assessments over 70 years ago had to sell the idea that one multiple-choice test could measure the intelligence and abilities of any person - an idea that has become accepted and, until recently, rarely questioned.
IN "THE BIG TEST," author Nicholas Lehman describes the birth of the Educational Testing Service and its many offspring, including the Standard Aptitude Test. The men who developed those early assessments over 70 years ago had to sell the idea that one multiple-choice test could measure the intelligence and abilities of any person - an idea that has become accepted and, until recently, rarely questioned.
My own
children took standardized tests in third, eighth and 11th grades. The scores
were put into their files, and not much was said about them. With the passage
of No Child Left Behind, in 2001, states were required to administer one
standardized test each year for all students from third grade though 12th. In
addition to five to seven days of state standardized tests, students in many
districts take bubble tests throughout the year, as well as classroom tests in
each subject for report-card grades. Low scores have been used to justify
firing teachers and closing schools; many states now require seniors to pass
one test in order to graduate.
Lehighton board member goes to Washington
Ahner hopes to get changes in school
lunch program
Times News By
TERRY AHNER tahner@tnonline.com Saturday, February 1, 2014
While many
people will spend their weekend prepping for Sunday's Super Bowl extravaganza,
one local school director will spend his in our nation's capitol. Lehighton Area School Board director Rocky
Ahner left today to participate in the National School Boards Advocacy
Institute, scheduled Feb. 2-4 in Washington, D.C. The Institute will advance
federal issues, as well as state issues of significance. Ahner, who was appointed to the National
School Boards Association Federal Relations Network, said his main focus is
Bill 3663, introduced by Congresswoman Kristi Noem of South Dakota.
Councilman's
Attendance Record Questioned
By NBC10.com - Lu Ann Cahn Feb 1, 2014
video (runtime 2:32)
Philadelphia City Councilman Bill Green,
whose been tapped to lead the Philadelphia School Reform Commission, has a 28
percent absence rate from city meetings, but he's not apologizing for it.
Science competition keeps kids on track to be next wave of researchers
At 14, Jonathan Russell
is trying to do some serious science.
He's a big fan of cars,
and the growing prominence of alternative motor fuels inspires him. So the Fox
Chapel eighth-grader decided to experiment with how temperatures affect the
viscosity of several types of organic oils.
The work earned him a top prize in biophysics — and a $1,000 check —
from the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science's 18th annual regional meeting
this weekend in Pittsburgh.
Have you considered signing this petition yet?
Petition by Denise
Kurnas
To be
delivered to The Pennsylvania State
House, The Pennsylvania
This petition
is designed to keep charter school oversight in local district control instead
of allowing other entities or the Pennsylvania Department of Education to spend
our property tax dollars without input from our locally elected school board
officials.
Register Now! EPLC’s Education Policy Forums on
Governor Corbett’s 2014-2015 State Budget Proposal for Education
The next EPLC
education policy forums will be held on the following days and in the following
locations. These forums will take place shortly after Governor Corbett’s
February 4th presentation of his proposed 2014-15 state budget and will focus
on his plans for education.
Thursday, February 13, 2014 – Pittsburgh , PA
Monday, February 24, 2014 – Philadelphia , PA
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
– State College, PA
Thursday, February 27, 2014 – Harrisburg , PA
Space is limited for each event and an
RSVP is required. Anyone wishing to receive an invitation should inquire by contacting
The Education Policy and Leadership
Center
PSBA White Paper: The costs of charter and cyber
charter schools
Updated January 2014
Research and policy implications for Pennsylvania
White Paper
by PSBA’s Education research & Policy
Center
This week PSBA’s Education Research and Policy Center
Register Now! EPLC’s 2014 Education Issues Workshops for Legislative
Candidates, Campaign Staff, and Interested Voters
EPLC’s Education Issue
Workshops Register
Now! – Space is Limited!
A Non-Partisan One-Day Program forPennsylvania
A Non-Partisan One-Day Program for
Tuesday, February 25, 2014 in Harrisburg, PA
Wednesday,March
19, 2014 in Monroeville, PA
Thursday,March
27, 2014 in Philadelphia,PA
Wednesday,
Thursday,
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
Find out how the
proposals of the fiscal year 2014-15 Pennsylvania
To register for the LIVE event, Wed.,
Feb. 5, 2 p.m., at the PSBA
Conference Center
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
Auditor General DePasquale to Hold Public Meetings on Ways to Improve
Charter Schools
Seeks
to find ways to improve accountability, effectiveness, transparency
The public meetings will
be held:
- Northampton County: 1 to 3 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 27, City Council
Chambers, 6th Floor, City Hall, One South Third St., Easton
- NEW:
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.
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
The Alliance
Thursday, February 6
- 6:00 p.m.Ritz East - 125 S. 2nd St. Philadelphia, PA
- There will be a
discussion after the film. Special Guests: - Mark Naison Professor of
History and Chair of African and African-American Studies,
- Tickets are
$9.00 and can be purchased at Rockfish Productions.
- https://sites.google.com/site/rockfishproductions/Films/standardized-lies-money-civil-rights/screenings-for-standardizedOnline
is recommended because if it sells out there may not be tickets available
at the door.
- The trailer for
the film https://sites.google.com/site/rockfishproductions/standardized-background-info
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
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. New Orleans
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
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
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