Daily postings from the Keystone State
Education Coalition now reach more than 3150 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,
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Keystone State Education Coalition
Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup
for March 13, 2014:
Netflix CEO on Charter Schools goal: "Get rid of School
Boards"
Published on Mar 9, 2014 youtube video runtime
2:37
"A bill in the Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
local governments would need better reasons for going behind closed doors,
under bill
By on
March 12, 2014 at 3:29 PM
A Pennsylvania House proposal would limit the reasons for school
boards and local government to talk behind closed doors. It would also make it easier for citizens to
challenge what they believe are unlawful executive sessions. The proposal received a lot of support
Wednesday at a hearing of the House State Government Committee. The hearing
came days before the beginning of Sunshine
Week, designed to raise awareness about open government.
"The money really is astonishing. The new Keystone exams
are costing us taxpayers $70 million to develop over a six-year period.
[PA
House Republican Caucus, 12-13-13] The new School Performance Profile
system, largely based on student test scores, has already cost us $2.7
million to develop and it will cost an estimated $838,000 every
year to maintain. [Post-Gazette,
10-5-13] Our legislators also signed a five-year, $201.1
million contract with Minnesota-based Data Recognition Corporation to
administer high-stakes-tests to our students. [PennLive.com, 12-1-11] This doesn’t include the millions
that local school districts are paying to develop their own tests and purchase
new test-prep materials."
Millions
Spent, No Results
Yinzercation Blog March 12, 2014
Last night over 120 people came together to watch the new movie,
“Standardized.” We had parents from the Northside to Hazelwood, Duquesne to Mt.
Lebanon, and everywhere in between; teachers from Pittsburgh to Steel Valley;
principals from Cannonsburg in Washington, County; at least four school board
members; leaders of several community organizations; and many others. Following
the film, we had a discussion that ran well over an hour, as we thought
together about some of the issues it had raised: what tests are appropriate?
how much testing is OK? what are the consequences of high-stakes testing that
we are seeing in our schools and communities?
One of the clear themes of the movie that came out in our conversation
could be summed up in four words: millions spent, no results.
Citing budget gap, Chester Upland schools
cut staff
Kathy Boccella, Inquirer
Staff Writer March 13, 2014
The Chester
Upland School
District Delaware County
Philly Schools Offer Parents a Choice: Go Charter or Stay in
Schools with No Resources
The
Philadelphia public school district is being aggressively starved of resources
by Governor Corbett and the Legislature, and its Broad-trained superintendent
now proposes to shrink the district still farther to save money. He is offering parents a choice
of converting to charter status or remaining in the district, where they cannot count on having a library, a school
nurse, reasonable class sizes, the arts, basic supplies, or anything else.
Thousands of teachers, school aides, nurses, social workers, and nurses have
been laid off. This is reform-by-attrition. Last fall, a 12-year-old child died
of an asthma attack in her public school in Philadelphia because there was no
school nurse on duty that day, due to Corbett’s budget cuts.
For many Philadelphia parents with
kids about to enter kindergarten or first grade, March is a very stressful
time. Moms and dads ― hoping their
children will be selected to attend charter schools ― worry about how this
one month could hold the key to their kid's future.
Wanda Thomas is one of
them. It's around 9 a.m. at Thomas' house near Erie and Broad in North Philly. Her 5-year
old daughter Madeline sits on her lap fidgeting. Thomas, a photographer, is
waiting to find out whether her young daughter got into a charter school.
Phila. Superintendent Plans
to Open Unconventional Schools
Education Week By Benjamin
Herold Published Online: March 11, 2014
Six months after
investing millions of dollars in expanding three of Philadelphia ’s most innovative educational
programs, Superintendent William R. Hite is doubling down on his bet to improve
the troubled district by putting new models of teaching and learning in place. Although he says the cash-strapped city
school system will need
$440 million in as-yet-uncommitted revenues just to provide a “bare
minimum” level of service to its 131,000 students in the 2014-15 school year,
Mr. Hite in February pushed for and won approval to open three unconventional
high schools next school year. The price tag for the new schools remains
unclear, but will easily run into the millions of dollars next year alone,
prompting concerns from some public education advocates that more money will be
diverted away from existing schools.
Innovative
education model challenges teachers to adjust
by thenotebook on Mar 12 2014 Posted in Latest news
by Benjamin Herold for Education Week
Another first-period engineering class has just been derailed by a
series of small frustrations: Students strolling in late. Questions met with
blank stares. Smartphones used for text messages instead of research. Karthik Subburam, a five-year veteran in his
first year teaching in the "inquiry-driven, project-based,
technology-infused" style of Philadelphia 's
nationally acclaimed Science Leadership Academy, runs
his fingers through his hair. "Sometimes, it's like pulling teeth,"
he says. Six months into the school
year, a controversial
gamble by Philadelphia
Superintendent William R. Hite to expand innovative school models has yielded
progress. Science
Leadership Academy
But inside classrooms, efforts to re-create SLA 's
instructional model have been uneven, highlighting the challenges faced by the
growing number of districts seeking to open and replicate nontraditional,
technology-oriented schools.
Chalkbeat.com by Scott Elliott on March
12, 2014
If Gov. Mike Pence
signs off, Indiana
is poised to officially junk Common Core academic standards despite last minute
drama when the bill’s author removed his name and voted no.
The Indiana Senate
today voted 35-13 to concur with the House version of a bill that voids Common
Core standards by July 1. Senate Bill 91 now only needs Pence’s signature to
become law. Pence has expressed support for Indiana-created standards.
A
Study Seeks to Determine What Makes Prekindergarten Successful
New York Times By KATE TAYLOR MARCH 12, 2014
The teacher held up a
card with a number on it, then looked at the 4-year-olds waving their hands
eagerly in front of her. “Anderson ,”
she said, calling on a small boy in a blue button-up shirt and a sweater vest. “Five,” Anderson said, correctly. “Good boy, Anderson,” the teacher said. Then
she turned to the rest of the class. “Are you ready?” she said, and then, “Go!”
At that, the children jumped up and down five times as they counted: “One! Two!
Three! Four! Five!” This exercise, which
held a prekindergarten class in Brooklyn
riveted one morning last week, was not an effort to introduce high-impact
aerobics into preschool. It was part of an ambitious experiment involving 4,000
children, lasting more than six years and costing $25 million, and designed to
answer a fundamental question: When it comes to preschool, what actually works?
Bipartisan
Bill Proposes Curbing Federal Testing Mandates
Two Congressmen–a
Democrat and a Republican–proposed legislation to cut back on
federally mandated testing. This is
great news! The legislation was
immediately endorsed by the NEA.
“Today the National
Education Association endorsed HR-4172, introduced last week by Reps. Chris
Gibson (R-NY) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). The bill would amend the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to change the number of federally mandated
standardized tests state would be required to administer under the current law,
eliminating annual testing and replacing it with grade-span testing (or testing
once over a certain span of grades.)
“According to Rep.
Gibson: “In the decade since No Child Left Behind was signed into law the focus
in education has shifted from teaching to testing. But data shows the current
testing regime established in No Child Left Behind has not led to higher
standards. Teachers are spending more time preparing students to take tests and
less time educating, while students are spending more time taking tests and
less time learning.”
FairTest
Reports Growing Movement Against Excessive Testing
Across the nation,
parents and teachers are resisting the testing mania imposed by the U.S.
Department of Education and Congress. It is a good time to remember that
education is not mentioned in the Constitution, and that it is traditionally
considered a state and local function. The federal government provides only 10%
of the funding. Here is FairTest’s
roundup of the latest resistance to high-stakes testing:
Testing Resistance
& Reform Spring is taking off across the nation. This week’s stories
include articles about protests against standardized exam overkill in a dozen
states plus several excellent commentaries. Be sure to post your events and
take advantage of the resources available to support your work via the new,
simpler URL: http://www.resistthetest.org — as always, feel free to use or adapt the many useful fact sheets at http://www.fairtest.org
Say goodbye to public
schools: Diane Ravitch warns Salon some cities will soon have none
"Why destroy public education so that a handful can
boast they have a charter school in addition to their yacht?"
Salon.com by JOSH EIDELSON March
12, 2013
Once a George H.W. Bush education official and an advocate for
greater testing-based accountability, Diane Ravitch has in recent years become
the nation’s highest-profile opponent of Michelle Rhee’s style of charter-based
education reform (one also espoused by Barack Obama).
In a wide-ranging conversation last week, Ravitch spoke with
Salon about new data touted by charter school supporters, progressive divisions
over Common Core, and Chris Christie’s ed agenda. “There are cities where
there’s not going to be public education 10 years from now,” Ravitch warned. A
condensed version of our conversation follows.
Choosing to Learn
Increasing compliance to the state reduces accountability to parents.
Increasing compliance to the state reduces accountability to parents.
National Review By Joseph Bast , Lindsey M. Burke , Andrew J. Coulson , Robert Enlow , Kara Kerwin &Herbert J. Walberg
MARCH 12, 2014 5:00 AM
Americans face a choice between two paths that will guide
education in this nation for generations: self-government and central planning.
Which we choose will depend in large measure on how well we understand
accountability.
To some, accountability means government-imposed standards and
testing, like the Common Core State Standards, which advocates believe will
ensure that every child receives at least a minimally acceptable education.
Although well-intentioned, their faith is misplaced and their prescription is
inimical to the most promising development in American education: parental
choice. True accountability comes not
from top-down regulations but from parents financially empowered to exit
schools that fail to meet their child’s needs. Parental choice, coupled with
freedom for educators, creates the incentives and opportunities that spur
quality. The compelled conformity fostered by centralized standards and tests
stifles the very diversity that gives consumer choice its value.
Live Chat with PA's Major Education Leadership Organizations on Twitter
PSBA
website 3/11/2014
On Tuesday,
March 25 at 8 p.m., Pennsylvania's major education leadership organizations
will host a live chat on Twitter to share the opinions of school leaders from
throughout the state and invite feedback.
Join the conversation using hashtag #PAEdFunding and
lurk, learn or let us know what you think about the state of support for public
schools. If you've never tweeted before,
join us. It's a simple, free and fast-paced way to communicate and share
information. Here are directions and a few tips:
- See
more at: http://www.psba.org/news-publications/headlines/details.asp?id=7286#sthash.OGonknCO.dpuf
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
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
Wednesday, March 19, 2014 in Monroeville ,
PA
Thursday, March 27, 2014 inPhiladelphia ,PA
Thursday, March 27, 2014 in
Auditor General DePasquale to Hold Public Meetings on Ways to Improve
Charter Schools
Seeks to find ways to improve accountability, effectiveness,
transparency
The the last of
five public meetings will be held:
- Philadelphia: 1 to 3 p.m., Friday, March 14, City Council
Chambers, Room 400, City Hall
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. This list will be updated, as more
information becomes available.