Keystone State Education Coalition

Established in 2006, the Keystone State Education Coalition is a growing grass roots, non-partisan public education advocacy group of several hundred locally elected, volunteer school board members and administrators from school districts throughout Pennsylvania. Our mission is to evaluate, discuss and inform our boards, district constituents and legislators on legislative issues of common interest and to facilitate active engagement in public education advocacy.

Monday, March 31, 2014

PA Ed Policy Roundup for March 31, 2014: PA charter school funding debate no closer to resolution

Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 3250 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

Visit us on Facebook at KeystoneStateEducationCoalition

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

Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for March 31, 2014:

PA charter school funding debate no closer to resolution

Did you catch our weekend posting?

Keystone State Education Coalition Saturday, March 29, 2014

PA Ed Policy Roundup for March 29, 2014: Does this sound like "thorough and efficient" to you?

http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2014/03/pa-ed-policy-roundup-for-march-29-2014.html

Pennsylvania's charter school funding debate no closer to resolution

Trib Live By Megan Harris Published: Sunday, March 30, 2014, 9:10 p.m.
The contract that ousted PA Cyber Charter School founder Nick Trombetta brokered with its curriculum provider remains in place months after prosecutors indicted the former school chief on 11 counts of mail fraud, bribery, tax conspiracy and filing false tax returns. Lawmakers pointed to the Trombetta case as a high-profile opportunity to overhaul the charter school laws passed in the early-Internet days of 1997 and address criticisms that cyber schools pocket too much money compared to their operational costs. While legislation sits in limbo, many educators agree no one has hard data on how much money cyber schools should receive.

Schools follow strict rules in administering PSSA

Students at one Bethlehem school nervously await start of PSSA.

By Adam Clark, Of The Morning Call 9:47 p.m. EDT, March 30, 2014

It's 9 a.m. on a Wednesday morning and Jodi Frankelli is alone behind a locked door inside Governor Wolf Elementary School. Classes begin in five minutes and Frankelli, the Bethlehem school's principal, is getting ready in a small room with a table, a half dozen chairs and an old TV.

With one entrance from the hallway and another from the main office, this space is usually a conference room for Frankelli and her teachers. Today, it's a vault. Four signs, on the fronts and backs of each door, warn teachers to stay away.

"On average, school districts pay $14,750 per student who leaves a district to enroll in a cyber school, regardless of whether they require regular or special education services. These payments far exceed actual costs to cyber programs, which don't face the capital, operational, and other expenses borne by traditional public schools. This funding system ignores the fact that costs to districts (e.g., staffing classrooms, heating and cooling buildings, maintaining grounds) continue when an individual student attends a cyber charter school."

Public schools need fair funding formula

Lancaster Online BY STACEY L. MARTEN Special to the Sunday News March 30, 2014 6:00 am

Stacey L. Marten is the president of the Board of School Directors for the School District of Lancaster.

This is in response to the letter to the editor, "Cuts in cyber school funding are opposed," dated March 7. As a public school district, the School District of Lancaster supports student programs which provide a high-quality education in a setting that best suits individual needs.

We open our school doors each day to the most diverse student body in our area, and arguably, one of the most diverse in the commonwealth. We pride ourselves not only on our diversity, but on the vast programs and opportunities that are readily available for all students who fill our classrooms.

http://lancasteronline.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/public-schools-need-fair-funding-formula/article_ce6135ca-b4fe-11e3-ba65-0017a43b2370.html

Study: Pa. gets "D" in civil rights teaching

Lancaster Online by Associated Press | Posted: Monday, March 31, 2014 5:02 am

BEAVER, Pa. (AP) — Imagine Pennsylvania students not being taught about the Revolutionary War, the Great Depression or World War II. Sounds unbelievable, right? But, according to a new Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) study of state teaching standards, that's exactly the case with the civil rights movement. In "Teaching the Movement 2014: The State of Civil Rights Education in the United States," the SPLC graded states on what they "expected teachers to teach and students to learn." Pennsylvania, while receiving praise for linking resources and materials to standards as a guide for teachers, still received a D, as did 13 other states, including neighboring Ohio.

http://lancasteronline.com/news/pennsylvania/study-pa-gets-d-in-civil-rights-teaching/article_14ff5b63-3f0d-5120-8b0e-d0fe69274a0d.html

Pittsburgh Public Schools officials cautious despite surplus

Some expect district to be broke by 2017

By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette March 30, 2014 11:47 PM

When 2013 began, Pittsburgh Public Schools expected to run an operating deficit of $9.8 million, but by November things were looking up. Instead of a deficit, an operating surplus of $2.7 million was predicted. By early March, the estimate grew to a surplus of $10.2 million. When the year-end numbers for 2013 were released last week after an additional round of earned income tax revenue was received, the surplus was $20.8 million. Now the question is: What does the surplus mean for a district that expects to run out of money in 2017?

"The new 2014-2018 investment plan, which was unveiled last month and will take effect July 1, will expand education funding but limit that support to programs assisting children who attend 22 "priority" elementary and middle schools in Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton and Bangor. The overarching goal is to increase by 50 percent the number of third-graders regionwide reading at grade level by 2022."

New United Way funding formula shifts money to select city schools

Some nonprofits feel left out as top fundraiser targets early education.

Adult Literacy Center director says less classes are inevitable.

By Sam Kennedy, Of The Morning Call 9:35 p.m. EDT, March 29, 2014

The United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley is launching a new investment plan that narrows its focus to 22 hand-picked, mostly urban elementary schools, creating some winners and some losers among recipients. Though some nonprofits that stand to lose grant money say they have been caught unawares, the United Way describes the change as an incremental step in a transformation that began more than a decade ago. "We are using the investment plan to sharpen our approach," said David Lewis, president of the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley. "How can we have the greatest impact in the Lehigh Valley where it's most needed?"

In years past, the United Way — the region's preeminent charitable fundraising organization — dispersed education funding to partnering nonprofits throughout the Lehigh Valley that, collectively, served people of all ages.

Notebook editorial: Nightmare scenario

the notebook editorial April 2014 print edition

Spring has arrived – and with it the recurring nightmare: the School District again confronting a catastrophic budget situation. Superintendent William Hite said he needs $440 million in new revenue to operate schools at an adequate level next fall. The first $200 million of that figure will merely head off another round of cuts. That’s because the current budget was balanced using one-time funds and because costs for pensions, benefits, and charters climb each year.

So far, just a fraction of the money needed to avert more cuts is committed. Gov. Corbett’s proposed budget increases education spending but steers much of the new money to less needy districts. His proposal disregards the dire plight of Philadelphia and other struggling systems. But it will be a heavy lift to get the legislature to alter that plan. Many advocates are turning their attention to electing a new governor committed to addressing the state’s gross school funding inequities.

http://thenotebook.org/april-2014/147062/nightmare-scenario

Network for Public Education Endorses Daylin Leach for Congress in Pennsylvania!

Diane Ravitch's Blog By dianeravitch March 29, 2014 //

The Network for Public Education has endorsed Daylin Leach for the U.S. Congress. Daylin Leach is running for the 13th Congressional district in Pennsylvania. He is a strong supporter of public education, and we need him in Congress. I urge you to send whatever you can to help Daylin Leach get elected.

http://dianeravitch.net/2014/03/29/npe-endorses-daylin-leach-for-congress-in-pennsylvania/

A national honor for Philadelphia activist Helen Gym

MICHAEL MATZA, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Monday, March 31, 2014, 1:07 AM

Spend a few hours with Helen Gym, Philadelphia's famously feisty community organizer, and you see a rabble-rouser on the run, dashing from a TEDx talk rehearsal at Temple University to a rally for public education, where she revved up the crowd. Gym speaks "truth to power," said State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.), who introduced her at the rally Thursday after first teasing her for "troublemaking." At a White House ceremony Monday, Gym, 45, a cofounder of Parents United for Public Education, a parent-led school watchdog group; and a board member of Asian Americans United, which advocates for ethnic diversity, will add another label to her brand: Cesar E. Chavez Champion of Change.

http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20140331_A_national_honor_for_Philadelphia_activist_Helen_Gym.html

Teacher indecency can get lost in state's system, Trib analysis reveals

By Kari Andren and Kate Wilcox Published: Saturday, March 29, 2014, 9:00 p.m.
When Tracy A. Bergen stepped before a Columbia County chemistry class in the fall of 2010, state education officials were investigating her alleged sexual relationship with a female student in another district where she taught, records show. No one knew — not students, parents or Harry C. Mathias, the superintendent who unwittingly hired her at Central Columbia High School in Bloomsburg. Neither a criminal background check nor calls to her references turned up anything unusual. “We potentially put our kids at risk, and I think that's ridiculous,” said Mathias, still angry that the state did not make available to him information about Bergen's problems in Susquehanna Community School District, about 100 miles north of Bloomsburg. “It was like talking to the CIA,” he said. “If you know something I should know, I think you have a moral obligation to tell me that.”

http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/5102708-74/teacher-teachers-state#axzz2xTTE2KnH

"On this week’s Moyers & Company, Diane Ravitch tells Bill Moyers, ”I think what’s at stake is the future of American public education. I believe it is one of the foundation stones of our democracy: So an attack on public education is an attack on democracy.”

Public Schools for Sale?

Moyers & Company March 28, 2014

Public education is becoming big business as bankers, hedge fund managers and private equity investors are entering what they consider to be an “emerging market.” As Rupert Murdoch put it after purchasing an education technology company, “When it comes to K through 12 education, we see a $500 billion sector in the US alone.” Education historian Diane Ravitch says the privatization of public education has to stop. As assistant secretary of education under President George H.W. Bush, she was an advocate of school choice and charter schools; under George W. Bush, she supported the No Child Left Behind initiative. But after careful investigation, she changed her mind, and has become, according to Salon, “the nation’s highest profile opponent” of charter-based education.

http://billmoyers.com/episode/public-schools-for-sale/

HOW THE TEXAS TESTING BUBBLE POPPED: PART 1

ONE MOM’S IRE BECOMES A CAUSE

In the battle that undid testing in Texas, a grass-roots group formed in Austin played an indispensable role

The Dallas Morning News By Jeffrey Weiss | Staff Writer March 2014

When Texas public school students start their STAAR tests this week, they’ll face a far different testing and accountability system than was set at the beginning of the prior school year.

For 13 legislative sessions across 34 years, every time Texas passed laws about school testing, the numbers and stakes had grown. That ended in 2013, when a series of laws passed that not only demanded changes in testing, but also challenged the legitimacy of the test-based accountability system. All without a single dissenting vote.

That enormous shift in attitude is still raising echoes nationally. And as legislators prepare for the next session, they’re discussing ways to further reduce the number and influence of tests.

How did that happen? This is the story of how the Texas testing bubble popped.

http://res.dallasnews.com/interactives/2014_March/standardized_tests/part1/

"The underlying question remains: How did a privately managed school franchise that serves a tiny portion of New York’s students manage to hijack the education reforms of a new mayor with a huge popular mandate?"

New York Schools: The Roar of the Charters

New York Review of Books by Diane Ravitch March 27, 2014

In his speech at Riverside Church last Sunday, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio tried to end weeks of attacks on his schools policies by striking a conciliatory tone toward the city’s privately managed charter schools. He used the charter sector’s own rhetoric of “crisis” and “failure” to describe the school system that he inherited from Mayor Bloomberg. He spoke of parents eager to escape failing schools and condemned the “status quo” without noting that it was Bloomberg’s status quo. He opposed the idea that public schools and charter schools are competing and called for a new era “in which our charter schools help to uplift our traditional schools.” According to The New York Times, he called some of the financial leaders on Wall Street, the billionaires who have paid millions of dollars for the ads attacking him, to plead for a truce.

De Blasio decided he could not win this war. The other side had too much money and proved it could drive down his poll numbers. He said that the charter schools could help public schools, but in reality, charter schools could learn a few things from the public schools, like how to teach children with disabilities and second-language English learners. Contrary to popular myth, the charter schools are more racially segregated than public schools and have performed no better than the public schools on the most recent state tests. But what they have behind them is vast resources, and de Blasio capitulated.

http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2014/mar/27/new-york-charters-against-deblasio/?insrc=hpss

How Does PISA Put the World at Risk (Part 4): Misleading the World

Yong Zhao's Blog 29 MARCH 2014 262 NO COMMENT

How Does PISA Put the World at Risk: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Part 4

China’s poorest beat our best pupils—The Telegraph (UK), 2-17-2014
Children of Shanghai cleaners better at math than kids of Israeli lawyers—Haaretz (Israel), 2-19-2014
Cleaners’ children in China beat kids of US, UK professionals at maths: study—NDTV (India), 2-18-2014
Children of Chinese janitors outscore wealthy Canadians in global exams—The Globe and Mail(Canada), 2-19- 2014

These are some of the most recent sensational headlines generated by PISA with a 4-page report entitledDo parents’ occupations have an impact on student performance released in February 2014. These headlines exemplify the secret of PISA’s great success as a masterful illusionist: effective misdirection of attention by exploiting human instinct for competition.

From the start, the entire PISA enterprise has been designed to capitalize on the intense nationalistic concern for global competitiveness by inducing strong emotional responses from the unsuspecting public, gullible politicians, and sensation-seeking media. Virtually all PISA products, particularly its signature product—the league tables, are intended to show winners and losers, in not only educational policies and practices of the past, but more important, in capacity for global competition in the future. While this approach has made PISA an extremely successful global enterprise, it has misled the world down a path of self-destruction, resulting in irrational policies and practices that are more likely to squander precious resources and opportunities than enhancing capacity for future prosperity.

http://zhaolearning.com/2014/03/29/how-does-pisa-put-the-world-at-risk-part-4-misleading-the-world/

The Pennsylvania PTA 105th annual statewide convention April 4-6, 2014, at the Radisson Valley Forge/King of Prussia.

Pennsylvania PTA Harrisburg, Pa. March 21, 2014

Delegates from local PTA units, councils, and regions throughout the state will gather to give direction to the State PTA on issues of resolutions, bylaws, and timely topics being addressed around education and child advocacy. The convention format will include a Diversity Leadership Conference, a Town Hall Meeting on Suicide Awareness and Prevention, twenty (20) workshops on timely issues, networking time with other delegates, an exhibit hall, a Reflections Gallery showcasing student artwork, and the opportunity to hear keynote speakers and representatives from the National PTA and other statewide partnering organizations from Pennsylvania. Complete details for registration may be obtained at the Pennsylvania PTA website at www.papta.org.

http://www.papta.org/cms/lib6/PA07000425/Centricity/Domain/41/Press_Release_Convention_2014.pdf

Education Debate - Pittsburgh, April 8

by Yinzercation March 20, 2014

Please mark your calendars now and plan to be a part of this event:

Democratic candidates for Governor of Pennsylvania
Tuesday, April 8^that Pittsburgh Obama 6-12 515 N. Highland Ave., Pittsburgh PA 15206

http://yinzercation.wordpress.com/2014/03/20/education-debate/

Sign up for weekly Testing Resistance & Reform News and Updates!

Fairtest - The National Center for Fair and Open Testing

http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001JF17rFyDmDZqLD3kq33imU1aL3aHTrD18LQ9y4-5yRl6gTN_d8IXrfQq5MG1OIy3IBWSrYAeJgim8up-BluI2JJqKnlYKyxNYNf3ZEKBNDS_qJncU8kKkENUlbpeuDj7Fs71QES9Xu8JUVciGtfwCXy8WYvbAnw-Xb-JE0fezxOpQvkGKWxDEA%3D%3D

PSBA nominations for offices now open! Deadline April 30th
PSBA Leadership Development Committee seeks strong leaders for the association
Members interested in becoming the next leaders of PSBA are encouraged to complete an Application for Nomination no later than April 30. As a member-driven association, the Leadership Development Committee (LDC) is seeking nominees with strong skills in leadership and communication, and who have vision for PSBA. Complete details on the nomination process, links to the Application for Nomination form, and scheduled dates for nominee interviews can be found online by clicking here.

How the Business Community Can Lead on Early Education

Economy League of Greater Philadelphia

Join business and community leaders to learn about how you can help make sure every child arrives in kindergarten ready to succeed. On April 29th, the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia and the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey will host a forum featuring business leaders from around the country talking about why they’re focused on early childhood education and how they have moved the needle on improving quality and access in their states.

Featured Speakers

Jack Brennan, Chairman Emeritus of The Vanguard Group
Phil Peterson, Partner, Aon Hewitt and Co-Chair of America’s Edge/Ready Nation
And more to be announced!
Date & Time Tuesday, April 29, 2014 | 5-7 PM

Registration begins at 5 PM; program from 5:30 to 7:00 PM

Location Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

10 North Independence Mall West Philadelphia, PA 19106

Registration: http://worldclassgreaterphila.org/worldclasscouncilforum

PILCOP Special Education Seminars 2014 Schedule

Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia

Wrongs and Remedies: Discrimination Claims, Other Claims, and Compensatory Education

Tuesday, April 29th, 12-4 p.m.

Settlements

Wednesday, May 14th, 1-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.

http://www.pilcop.org/know-your-childs-rights1314/

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.

http://www.eplc.org/2014-gubernatorial-candidate-plans-for-education-and-artsculture-in-pa/

Saturday, March 29, 2014

PA Ed Policy Roundup for March 29, 2014: Does this sound like "thorough and efficient" to you?

These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org

Visit us on Facebook at KeystoneStateEducationCoalition

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

Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for March 29, 2014:

Does this sound like "thorough and efficient" to you?

Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Public School System Section 14.

The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth.

Does this sound like "thorough and efficient" to you?

"Back in 2008-09, not long after it opened, the school had just 240 students, compared with 814 this year. But today, Palumbo has just a single counselor and only a three-day-per-week nurse, same as five years ago. There's just one secretary at the school—that's one less than five years ago. And now, Palumbo has no assistant principal, no librarian, next to nothing for extracurricular activities, a dramatically reduced budget for supplies ... the list goes on. Add it all up, and what you get is not nearly enough to provide Palumbo students with the basic supports they deserve, such as algebra tutoring, or friendly advice, or medical care, or college guidance, or the assurance of a safe passage home." …."Perhaps the saddest reality of all is the lack of fight: Too many in the city now seem resigned to wait a year or more in the hope that a new governor or a new mayor might muster the will to eliminate what officials describe as a $300 million annual structural deficit."

Desperate Times for Schools in the City of Brotherly Love

Education Week Digital Educatiion Blog By Benjamin Herold on March 28, 2014 12:40 PM

Balloons rained down from the balcony. The 11th graders gathered in the auditorium screamed in delight. And I couldn't help but feel profoundly sad.

Such is life in Philadelphia, my adopted hometown and former professional stomping grounds, where hundreds of public schools and tens of thousands of children have been left largely on their own to forage and fundraise for the basics of modern education.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2014/03/desperate_times_schools_city_brotherly_love.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW

Report: Absence of school funding formula in PA costs Pottstown $5 million a year

By Evan Brandt, The Mercury POSTED: 03/28/14, 6:45 PM EDT

POTTSTOWN — Borough property owners would be off the hook for generating more than $5 million in school funding this year if the state funding formula abandoned by Gov. Tom Corbett in 2010 were still in place, according to a report. Further, as a result of that formula’s absence in calculating state education funding, Pottstown has lost more state aid in the past few years than almost any other district in Montgomery County, the report found. At $2.5 million, only Norristown schools lost more in the last three years than the $1.5 million in state funding Pottstown has lost since 2010-11, the study found. In an attempt to reverse the problems highlighted in that study, the Pottstown School Board on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution calling on Harrisburg to establish “a fair and equitable school funding formula.”

http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20140328/report-absence-of-school-funding-formula-in-pa-costs-pottstown-5-million-a-year

Pa. property tax reform needs stakeholders' support

Pottstown Mercury Editorial 03/21/14, 9:43 AM EDT

The property tax as a means of funding public schools in Pennsylvania needs to change.

The system creates an educational disparity by funding public schools based on the value of real estate, hence the phrase, “education by zip code.” And, the tax burden, particularly in older towns and rural areas, makes it difficult for those on fixed incomes to stay in their homes and for young people to buy homes. The property tax discourages small businesses from relocating into areas where the tax burden is high, continuing the cycle of homeowners bearing the brunt of school funding. In the face of these issues, many want to eliminate the property tax, landing one knockout punch that helps senior citizens, schools and struggling communities in one fell swoop. As editorial writers for the Pennsylvania Digital First Media editorial board, we would like that, too. But it’s not that simple.

http://www.pottsmerc.com/opinion/20140321/pa-property-tax-reform-needs-stakeholders-support

Rolling in Dough, or Debt?

Yinzercation Blog by Jessie Ramey March 27, 2014

To hear Pennsylvania’s acting secretary of education, Carolyn Dumaresq, tell it, our school districts are rolling in dough. In an op-ed piece this week she said the proposed “2014-15 budget dedicates a record $12.01 billion for Pennsylvania’s early, basic and postsecondary education system.” [Indiana Gazette, 3-23-14] I like how you can roll three program areas together and get one giant-big-huge sounding number. Oh my gosh! Twelve billion!

Politicians apparently like to roll things together. It reminds me of when Gov. Corbett rolled a bunch of line items together in the K-12 “basic education” budget a couple years ago and then went around claiming he had “increased” K-12 funding, while overall he had slashed it by close to $1 billion. [See “The Truth About the Numbers”] Oh wait a minute. The administration is still making these outlandish claims. In her piece, Dr. Dumaresq repeated Gov. Corbett’s old story, saying, “Since taking office, Corbett has increased support of public schools by $1.55 billion.”

http://yinzercation.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/rolling-in-dough-or-debt/

Summit stresses impact of early education on future workforce

Local educators attended Friday

Chambersburg Public Opinion By Amber South March 28, 2014

The summit was the inaugural event of an initiative to develop an action plan for improving access to and results of early childhood education — pre-kindergarten through the early elementary years — in Franklin County, and therefore improving the county's workforce and economy. Early childhood education was one of 29 indicators included in the Franklin County Prosperity Report a couple of years ago, and one of three areas that local leaders decided to focus on in hopes of making a difference for the community, said Dave Sciamanna, president of the Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce. The chamber hosted the summit, in cooperation with Franklin County Government, United Way of Franklin County and Franklin County Area Development Corp.

http://www.publicopiniononline.com/local/ci_25442461/summit-examines-role-early-education-future-workforce

Corbett Named Most Vulnerable Gov

PoliticsPA Written by Nick Field, Contributing Writer March 28,2014

Governor Tom Corbett finds himself in the midst of a streak about as sad as that faced by the Philadelphia 76ers. For the ninth straight month, the Washington Post rated Gov. Corbett the number one most vulnerable governor in the 2014 midterm elections.

The Post’s political blog The Fix published the following entry:

1. Pennsylvania (R): Gov. Tom Corbett (R) is still the most vulnerable governor in the country. A recent Quinnipiac poll showed voters said he doesn’t deserve reelection by 55-34 percent. Former state revenue secretary Tom Wolf has emerged as the Democratic frontrunner, and he led the incumbent 52-33 in the same poll. Ouch. (Previous ranking: 1)

http://www.politicspa.com/corbett-named-most-vulnerable-gov/56487/

In Philly, Democratic guv candidates make a play for young voters

By John L. Micek | jmicek@pennlive.com on March 28, 2014 at 10:29 PM

(*This story was updated to include comment from the re-election campaign of Gov. Tom Corbett)

PHILADELPHIA _ They’re the ones who are supposed to be staying home. But on Friday, the 2014 pack of Democrats looking to send Gov. Gov. Tom Corbett back to the private sector made a direct play for the hearts and minds of the coveted 18-24 vote in one of the first official debates of this year’s still-young primary season. Two-term state Treasurer Rob McCord, former Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty, U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-13th District, and former Revenue Secretary Tom Wolf of York County faced about 150 young voters who gathered in Temple University’s student center for the two-hour event sponsored by the Pennsylvania College Democrats .

…..On the hot-button topic of charter schools, the candidates agreed that public school students needed options, but they voiced concerns about the way the alternative public schools are funded. They also expressed reservations about the proliferation of cyber-charter programs. “We’ve had too many situations of abuse,” said McGinty, who called for more transparency and accountability in the way the schools operate. McGinty also said “no to tax dollars going to schools that are operated by for-profit companies.” Schwartz acknowledged the role charters play, but called for strengthening all of the state’s public schools. The next governor “has to figure out what’s smart, where we can take money,” such as the money spent on cyber-charters, and funnel it into early childhood education programs. Wolf also expressed concerns about the way the schools are funded and said he was concerned charter movement represented an effort “to privatize public education.”McCord dismissed charters, in general, as a “rip-off,” even as he acknowledged that “there are some very good charter schools and some deeply flawed charter schools.”

http://blog.pennlive.com/capitol-notebook/2014/03/in_philly_democratic_guv_candi.html

Pennsylvania gubernatorial debate gives hint of Democrats' leadership styles

The four candidates seeking to unseat Corbett spar at Temple University.

By Steve Esack, Call Harrisburg Bureau 10:54 p.m. EDT, March 28, 2014

PHILADELPHIA — It took a college setting to bring a little life to what had been a bland series of election forums for the Democratic candidates for governor.

Music pumped, questions were unscripted, the crowd of students and others was eager and lively, and the four candidates were animated in a debate Friday night at Temple University.

The candidates ripped each other at times. They differed on whether college athletes should be unionized and paid. All called cyber charter schools taxpayer rip-offs. But perhaps the most telling answer the candidates gave came when the moderator, Franklin & Marshall College pollster and political science professor G. Terry Madonna, asked how, if they win election, they would work with a Republican-controlled Legislature to keep gridlock at bay. Answers gave a hint at their would-be leadership styles.

Democrats for Pa. governor target charter schools

Lancaster Online by Associated Press Friday, March 28, 2014 9:03 pm

The four Democratic gubernatorial candidates on Friday promised to take a hard line against charter and cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania, from pulling the plug on ones that struggle to educate to refusing public dollars for ones operated by private companies. Across the board, the candidates saved their biggest criticism for cyber charter schools, but also made it clear that some of the more traditional cyber schools are failing and unworthy of taxpayer money. They spoke at a two-hour forum at the annual convention of the Pennsylvania College Democrats at Temple University in Philadelphia. Some pointed out that charter schools, despite several years of debate in the Legislature, are not accountable to state ethics and open records laws, and they echoed longstanding complaints in the Legislature that charter schools are overcompensated for their actual costs, such as pensions. All four are public school boosters, while Republican Gov. Tom Corbett has battled public school teachers unions and sought to promote private, parochial and charter schools. He also has drawn heavy criticism for his budget-balancing cuts to schools in his first budget year, 2011.

http://lancasteronline.com/news/pennsylvania/democrats-for-pa-governor-target-charter-schools/article_005bc3bc-2e15-557a-bc65-dad32554016e.html

Arise Academy Charter issues detailed

MARTHA WOODALL, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Saturday, March 29, 2014, 1:08 AM

PHILADELPHIA The Philadelphia School District on Friday outlined a litany of academic, financial, and management problems that it said warrant closing the nation's first charter school for students in foster care. District staffers involved with charter-school oversight testified that Arise Academy Charter High School has been beset with problems with truancy, absenteeism, and dropouts. Throughout a six-hour hearing, they said that the school had never met state academic standards and that its 11th-grade test scores rank in the bottom 5 percent among high-poverty schools in the state. http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20140329_Arise_Academy_Charter_issues_detailed.html

PSBA analysis shows charter schools continue to underperform
PSBA is sending to all legislators its report on the academic performance of traditional and charter schools, with results showing that charter schools continue to academically underperform traditional public schools. An analysis of the PA Department of Education’s (PDE) system of rating the performance of public schools using School Performance Profiles (SPP) indicate that less than half of the brick and mortar charter schools met passing benchmark scores, and none of the cyber charter schools met the mark. Nearly three-quarters of traditional public schools, however, earned passing scores in the first year of the new measuring system.

http://www.psba.org/issues-advocacy/issues-research/research-resource-center/charter_schools_underperform-03242014.pdf

U.S. Representative Grijalva stands with NPE in call for hearings on testing!

Network for Public Education NPE Newsletter - March 28, 2014

Six-term Arizona Representative Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ-3), a member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, has responded to NPE's call for Congressional hearings. Representative Grijalva released the following statement in support of NPE's call for action.

"The need for an impartial and transparent hearing on mandatory testing and privatization efforts directed at public education, is critical. We need to have an open discussion about the dismantling of public education. I hope the leadership of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives will hold hearings that allow our public schools and the families they serve the opportunity to have an open and honest hearing."

Over the next week, we are asking our Friends & Allies to call members of Congress to voice support for Congressional hearings. Phone, email, or tweet the need for Congressional hearings. Below are links to the websites of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate where you can find contact info for Congressional delegation.

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

"The U.S. is the only economically advanced nation to rely heavily on multiple-choice tests," according to Fair Test. "Other nations use performance-based assessment to evaluate students on the basis of real work such as essays, projects and activities. Ironically, because these nations do not focus on teaching to multiple-choice and short-answer tests, they score higher on international exams."

Our opinion: Negative consequences of standardized tests

Brattleboro Vt. Reformer Editorial POSTED: 03/28/2014 03:00:00 AM EDT

There has been much debate over the years concerning the use and over-emphasis on standardized testing in our schools. While assessing a school's performance and how well our children are learning are important, more and more parents and educators argue that the tests are biased and produce skewed results that label schools as failing. Instead of improving the quality of education our children receive, this has only led to diminishing morale among teachers and increasing stress on the very children the tests are supposed to help. A veteran teacher in Massachusetts articulated these frustrations best when she submitted her letter of resignation last month to the Cambridge Public Schools. "I have watched as my job requirements swung away from a focus on the children, their individual learning styles, emotional needs, and their individual families, interests and strengths to a focus on testing, assessing, and scoring young children, thereby ramping up the academic demands and pressures on them," wrote Susan Sluyter, whose letter has been garnering national attention. "Each year I have had less and less time to teach the children I love in the way I know best -- and in the way child development experts recommend."

http://www.reformer.com/opinion/ci_25435787/negative-consequences-standardized-tests

Why Do Corporate Reformers Hate Democracy?

Education Week Living in Dialogue Blog By Anthony Cody on March 27, 2014 11:15 AM

Back in the 1950s, we were told that the communists wanted to destroy democracy. I am not sure what the communists ever did to hurt democracy in America, but the corporate backers of charter schools are making some real headway. Their target is the power of elected school boards and even the mayor of the nation's biggest city. In New York City, according to the New York Daily News, financiers have poured close to $4 million into ads attacking Mayor Bill de Blasio for revoking the carte blanche that the previous mayoral administration had given to charter schools.

Though corporate reformers like Bill Gates were huge fans of mayoral control of schools when their man was the mayor, there is now a drive to strip Mayor de Blasio of his power, led by New York governor Andrew Cuomo. In Indiana, the governor has similarly sought to remove powerfrom the elected state superintendent of education, Glenda Ritz, even though she was the top vote-getter in the 2012 election. The only consistent pattern is the effort to remove power from anyone who might not carry out their will.

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2014/03/why_do_corporate_reformers_hat.html