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?
Keystone State Education Coalition blog
site is now smart phone friendly
OP-ED: Reform of Pa.
Governor Corbett Recognizes Academic Excellence of Three Harbor Creek
Schools; Outlines Increase for Education in 2014-15 Budget
PDE Press ReleaseFebruary 11, 2014
Harbor Creek Twp. – Governor Tom Corbett today presented the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Academics to three schools inHarbor
Creek School
District , Erie
County
PDE Press Release
Harbor Creek Twp. – Governor Tom Corbett today presented the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Academics to three schools in
“These schools
demonstrate the remarkable commitment and dedication of students, parents,
taxpayers, teachers and administrators in preparing students for a successful
future,” Corbett said. “Klein, Clark and Rolling Ridge elementary schools
are great examples of the high-quality learning that is taking place in classrooms
across Pennsylvania
Based on the 2012-13
School Performance Profile, www.paschoolperformance.org, Klein
Elementary School attained a 94.9
percent, the highest in the district and the second highest among the 75 public
schools in Erie County
OP-ED: Reform of Pa.
Pottstown Mercury By
State Reps. Joe Emrick and Mike Reese, Guest columnists 02/10/14 , 8:03 PM EST |
Members of the
Pennsylvania General Assembly are charged with being good stewards of taxpayer
dollars. It is our responsibility to treat this money as an investment by doing
all we can to ensure the highest possible “return.” One of the greatest
investments we make is in education. Our students are our future and the manner
in which we invest in them will significantly impact Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
Last September, a
bipartisan vote passed House Bill 618, which addresses the investment in
charter school education as well as the double dip on pensions that currently
benefits cyber charter schools. We urge our Senate colleagues to take up this
legislation and send it to Gov. Tom Corbett’s desk for his signature.
“The report found that only 13 percent of child-care programs in Delaware County
are considered high quality; 15 percent in Chester
County ; 18 percent in Bucks County ;
and 20 percent in Montgomery
County Delaware and Bucks,
6.5 percent in Chester , and 7 percent in Montgomery
Even harder to come by are high-quality subsidized programs such as
Pre-K Counts and Head Start for 3- and 4-year olds. In Chester
County , for instance, there are 68
slots for 4,372 eligible Pre-K Counts students; in Delaware County
Group: Preschool programs badly lagging in Pa.
KATHY BOCCELLA, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 , 1:08 AM POSTED: Monday, February 10, 2014 ,
5:15 PM
It's not only poor Philadelphia
Characteristics of
high-quality care include having trained teachers who understand child
development and can teach social and emotional skills along with letters and
numbers, said Shawn Towey, the organization's child-care policy coordinator.
By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com on February 10, 2014 at 1:33 PM , updated February 10, 2014 at 4:43 PM
This story was updated at 4:40 p.m. to
reflect later testimony from Revenue Secretary Dan Meuser before the House
Appropriations Committee, and revenue projections from the Independent Fiscal
Office.
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale's 2014 agenda includes looking at
state university system and charter school law
By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com on February 11, 2014 at 12:01 PM
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale came
before the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday morning to make a pitch
for more money for his department and to offer a preview of the areas his
department’s 400 auditors will focus on this year. Auditor General Eugene DePasquale is asking
for more money to hire five new auditors and make other upgrades to allow his
department to be more aggressive in its auditing of state and local agencies.
Corbett budget a mix of good, bad and ugly
The best I can say about
the latest budget to come from Gov. Tom Corbett is that it is not the worst
budget to come from Gov. Corbett. There is a small infusion of funds for
education, and that is good. There are jobs on the horizon, also good. It’s a
step in a positive direction that is very much needed. Breaking down what I see, there is a $20
million increase to special-education funding after six years of flat funding.
By itself, this is no significant help. But in 2013, Gov. Corbett also signed
Act 3 into law (right here in Bucks
County
Special-education funding
lags behind the need for our public schools. Charter and cyber charter schools
get a disproportionate share of that money with no accountability for its use
(BAD). If action is not taken soon, public schools will not be able to serve
the needs of our special-education students (UGLY).
Today's New York Times story on Philly schools: downright strange
CityPaper By Daniel Denvir Published: 02/11/2014
Today's New York Times story on Philadelphia
Superintendent William Hite was strange, mainly because of what was left out.
Which was mostly everything. This school district is undergoing one of the most
profound crises in American public education, but readers outside this region
will learn very little about that crisis from this article. There is little context, and no mention of
the fact that many blame Gov. Tom Corbett's budget cuts for the ensuing
public-education crisis. Also no mention that this issue is the largest
obstacle confronting Corbett in his reelection campaign, or that it is the
issue that has turned him into America
Indeed, there's not even
a mention that the state controls Philadelphia
That would have been nice
to mention.
District raises concerns about York
A health-and-fitness school is trying
again for approval
Elements of a proposed
charter school, before the York City School Board for the third time, were
debated during a nearly four-hour public hearing Monday night.
Cynthia Dotson went
before the board in her third attempt to have the proposed Championship Academy
of Distinction Charter School approved. The proposal is for a
health-and-fitness themed charter school that would open with kindergarten to
third grade.
First hearing for proposed Choices Charter School in William Penn
School District
Delco Times By Kevin
Tustin, Special to the Times POSTED: 01/27/14
The founder of Choices Charter School 237 Mill St.
Easton
Area School Board approved a preliminary budget tonight that includes
a possible 4.9 percent tax rate increase.
The decision came after an initial 4-4 deadlock to the delight of
parents who have pleaded with the board to restore laid-off teachers. The $132.9 million budget for 2014-15 school
year includes 36 teacher cuts, which
is down from the originally projected 56 staff cuts.
Heading into budget
season at School District
of Lancaster
The board is looking at a
$7.7 million deficit for the 2014-15 budget. If it stays within the Act 1 index
— the state's limit on property tax increases — it will either have to make
cuts or draw from reserve funds. Alternatively,
the board could pass a preliminary budget with a tax hike of more than 3.1
percent and apply to the state for Act 1 exceptions. The board will not adopt its final budget and
tax rates until June, but the deadline to apply for Act 1 exceptions is early
March. The board will vote on the issue at its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7
p.m.
By Monica Von
Dobeneck | Special to PennLive
on February
10, 2014 at 10:17 PM ,
HERSHEY — The Derry
Township School District has been in the news lately over reports of secret
meetings and possible misuse of taxpayer dollars. Now newly seated school board members want to
know if residents want them to pursue an investigation into past wrongdoing —
possibly through a forensic audit — or just move forward with policies that
ensure such events don't happen again. “What
outcome would you like to see?” new Board Member Julie Neal asked during
Monday's board meeting. “We can't get stuck in the past, but we also can't
pretend it didn't happen.”
Advanced Placement classes double in popularity
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Columbus McKinney is taking his fifth Advanced Placement course at Woodrow Wilson
High School in Washington
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20140211_ap_d907b4c0459b4ff7829b7ba5db549e3c.html#yvRr2r4CXks3K6mj.99
Meet the top 50 wealthiest school districts in southwestern
Pennsylvania
Here are the Pittsburgh
Ethan
Lott Research Director-Pittsburgh Business Times Feb 11, 2014 , 11:38am EST
Who are the wealthiest
school districts in the seven-county region?
Pine-Richland School
District led all of the 105 school districts in the region, with median
household income of $109,906, according to a Pittsburgh Business Times analysis
of newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Eleven local districts were
among the top 50 (out of 500) in the state, and 20 districts were among the top
100 statewide.
Students in Duquesne City School District Unionville-Chadds Ford
School District
Districts Adopt Effective Governance Standards
PSBA website 2/11/2014
Thanks are extended to these districts
statewide that adopted PSBA Standards for Effective School Governance
PSBA's thanks are
extended to all school entities that adopted PSBA's Standards for Effective
School Governance and Code of Conduct for Members of Pennsylvania School
Boards. Remaining entities continue to be encouraged to notify PSBA when the
standards are adopted.
School entities statewide
adopting PSBA Standards for Effective School Governance include:
- See more at: http://www.psba.org/news-publications/headlines/details.asp?id=8#sthash.4LY8nwAA.dpuf
“The complaint alleges that Defendants issued materially false and
misleading statements and/or failed to disclose material information regarding
the Company's student enrollment and revenue growth prospects for fiscal year
2014.”
SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Announces Class Action
Involving K12, Inc. and Its Board of Directors and a Deadline of April 1, 2014 to
Seek a Lead Plaintiff Position -- LRN
Wall Street Journal February 11, 2014
SHAREHOLDER ALERT: Levi
& Korsinsky, LLP Announces Class Action Involving K12, Inc. and Its Board
of Directors and a Deadline of April 1, 2014 to Seek a Lead Plaintiff Position
-- LRN
NEW YORK, Feb. 11, 2014
(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Levi & Korsinsky announces that a class action lawsuit
has been commenced in the USDC for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf
of investors who purchased K12, Inc. ("K12" or the
"Company") (NYSE:LRN) common stock between March 11, 2013 and October 9, 2013 .
Click here to learn more
about the action http://zlk.9nl.com/k12 or
call: 877-363-5972. There is no cost or obligation to you.
The new push for school vouchers at state, federal levels
Liberals, Jeff Bryant
notes in this post, “tend to laugh off” voucher programs “as aberrations from
fly-over country.” They shouldn’t. Bryant is director of the Education Opportunity Network,
a partnership effort of the Institute for America ’s
Future and the Opportunity to Learn Campaign.
Jeff owns a marketing and communications consultancy in Chapel Hill , N.C.
By Jeff Bryant
Many people who ventured
to Slate recently gaped in horror at a map of the United States
depicting a rash of schools – like a case of chicken pox across the nation’s
Bible Belt – that are teaching children creationism instead of the scientific
theory of evolution, all at taxpayer expense.
Senate Ed Committee Chairman Folmer Holding Town Hall Meetings on
Education
Senator Folmer’s Facebook
Page February 10,
2014
Parents, I want to hear
your thoughts on education! Join me for a parent town hall meeting Tuesday,
February, 19, at 6:30 p.m. in Room 203 of the Neidig
Garber Building ,
on the campus of Lebanon
Valley College
A similar meeting is planned for Monday, February 24, at 6:30 p.m. in the Quiet Study Room of Penn State Harrisburg’sCapitol Union
Building
Seating is limited - please RSVP to (717) 787-1347 or fbinner@pasen.gov.
A similar meeting is planned for Monday, February 24, at 6:30 p.m. in the Quiet Study Room of Penn State Harrisburg’s
Seating is limited - please RSVP to (717) 787-1347 or fbinner@pasen.gov.
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.
The Pennsylvania Budget
and Policy Center will host its Annual Budget Summit on Thursday, February 20th
to provide an in-depth look at the Governor's spending plan and an update on
the federal budget — and what it all means for communities and families across
Pennsylvania.
As in previous years, the
Budget Summit will be at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Harrisburg
Additional information,
agendas, and workshops will be posted in the new year.
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,
RESCHEDULED:
PDE chief Dumaresq LIVE budget presentation, PSBA Conference
Center
PSBA website Feb 4, 2014
Acting Secretary of Education Carolyn
Dumaresq will be at the PSBA
Conference Center Pennsylvania
To register for the LIVE event, Thu.,
Feb. 13, 2:30 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.EhFhjsIb.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
Public Interest Law
Center of Philadelphia
Dear
Parents and Advocates:
This month
we are offering TWO great special education seminars.
Learn about
special education provisions in charter schools,
including
how one's rights differ from school to school.
Tuesday, February 11, 2013 12:00 -
4:00 p.m.
Audience
members will learn about the legal needs of children with dyslexia, and other
learning disabilities, and hear from expert presenters on the latest research
and trends.
Tuesday, February 25, 2013 12:00 -
4:00 p.m. - Full Session
6:00 - 8:00
p.m. - Abbreviated Session
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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