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
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
Lawmakers urge parents
to form coalition on schools
Thanks to the over 80 school board members, Superintendents
and administrators from Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware and Chester Counties who
attended this PSBA combined region meeting Thursday evening. Thanks to the board, administration, staff
and students at Centennial
School District
Lawmakers urge parents
to form coalition on schools
Doylestown Intelligencer By James Boyle Correspondent Thursday,
May 15, 2014 11:05 pm
The public education system in Pennsylvania is under attack from several
different fronts, and it will ultimately be up to parents, educators and
administrators to come together and build a stronger defense. That was the running theme of a state
legislative meeting organized by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and
hosted at William
Tennent High
School
Dinniman was joined at the forum by five state representatives,
including House Education Committee Chairman Paul Clymer, R-145, who is set to
retire from the General Assembly in December.
The evening played like a greatest hits album of the longstanding issues
impacting local school district budgets, including the federal government
imposing “one size fits all” testing, for-profit charter schools chewing off
large sections of local school district budgets and the continued struggle to
pay the cost of pensions.
Great collection of news coverage and
reaction to the Auditor General's Charter School Report
Time to Tune-Up Charter
Schools
PA Auditor General's Newsletter May 16, 2014
PA Auditor General's Newsletter May 16, 2014
Good afternoon, Earlier
this week I released a special report, Pennsylvania Charter School Accountability
and Transparency: Time for a Tune-Up., which is a follow-up to a series of
public meetings I held earlier this year to identify ways to improve
accountability, effectiveness and transparency of charter schools. The report makes numerous recommendations as
to how we can better serve students and taxpayers by creating an independent
charter school oversight board, improving communication between school
districts and charter schools, updating requirements for professional staff,
clarifying procedures admissions and enrollments, encouraging
transparency and improving special education assessments, to name just a few.
Turzai tells Trib that
natural gas extraction tax isn't answer
Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review By Tom
Fontaine Published: Thursday, May 15, 2014, 11:24 p.m.
Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, said on Thursday that he opposes using revenue from a proposed natural gas extraction tax to balance the state budget.
Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, said on Thursday that he opposes using revenue from a proposed natural gas extraction tax to balance the state budget.
Turzai didn't say
whether he'd use his leadership post to block a proposal from being voted on in
his GOP-controlled chamber. A severance tax on gas extraction has support from
all four Democratic candidates for governor and some members of Turzai's
caucus.
"The evidence that political competition is
disappearing is abundant. Fewer and fewer state legislative and congressional
districts feature serious competition between the Republican and Democratic
parties. Within these one-party districts, incumbents today typically face
little or no opposition. Once elected,
they stay in office as long as they wish, rarely attracting serious
challengers. Since the mid 1960s, at least 85 percent of U.S. Pennsylvania
Elections and Choices
Politically
Uncorrected by G. Terry Madonna & Michael L.Young May 15, 2014
Many Republicans who show up on May 20 to vote in the
Pennsylvania
gubernatorial primary will confront a familiar situation in American politics:
they don’t have any choices. Apparently,
a few counties will have political GOP gadfly Bob Guzzardi on the ballot
because a Supreme Court decision barring him from running came too late. But
let’s not kid ourselves. There is no competition in the Republican Party for
governor. And that’s really too bad
because as polls and other anecdotal evidence suggests, many Republicans would
have preferred choices this year.
"A total of 67,315 city students attend charters. The
district pays the charters $8,419 per student, $22,312 for those who receive
special-education services. Officials
say the district expects to spend $700 million on charter payments through
June, about $25 million more than budgeted. One reason for the higher bills is
that charters have enrolled 1,600 more students than permitted in their
agreements."
MARTHA WOODALL, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Saturday, May 17, 2014, 1:08 AM
POSTED: Friday, May 16, 2014,
5:27 PM
The state Supreme Court
has granted a temporary restraining order that bars the Philadelphia School
Reform Commission from taking action against a charter school.
It marks the first time
the top court has entered the dispute over the powers the commission has to
ignore state law in order to protect its finances by managing charter
enrollment.
On Thursday, the court
approved West Philadelphia Achievement
Charter Elementary
School
The SRC has threatened
to revoke West Philadelphia Achievement's charter because the school has
refused to sign a new agreement that includes an enrollment cap.
Upper Dublin, Wissahickon, Jenkintown,
Lower Moreland in top 4 percent for SAT scores
Ambler Gazette By Linda Finarelli lfinarelli@montgomerynews.com
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Two local school districts are among the top 3 percent of high
schools in the state for SAT scores, and two others were close on their heels,
being ranked among the top 4 percent.
The rankings were made by the Philadelphia Business Journal, which released a list of the top 50 high schools in the state for SAT scores last month. The Journal based the rankings on the recently updated Pennsylvania Department of Education database showing average SAT test scores for public high schools statewide for 2013. The state provides each public high school’s verbal, math and writing scores. PBJ added up the scores and ranked schools, according to the journal’s website. The highest ranking high school locally wasUpper Dublin at No. 18, with Jenkintown a close second at
No. 20, placing both schools in the top 2.8 percent of the 696 high schools in
the state. Neighboring Wissahickon High School Philadelphia ’s
Masterman.
The rankings were made by the Philadelphia Business Journal, which released a list of the top 50 high schools in the state for SAT scores last month. The Journal based the rankings on the recently updated Pennsylvania Department of Education database showing average SAT test scores for public high schools statewide for 2013. The state provides each public high school’s verbal, math and writing scores. PBJ added up the scores and ranked schools, according to the journal’s website. The highest ranking high school locally was
By Linda Finarelli lfinarelli@montgomerynews.com Published: Tuesday, May 13, 2014
About a dozen Upper
Dublin Education Support Personnel Association members donned matching red
T-shirts and stood in the back of the room at the school board’s May 12
meeting.
“We don’t want to interfere; we just want the board to see us,” UDESPA President Matt Toner said outside the cafeteria, where students were being recognized for various achievements at the start of the board meeting. “We just want to educate people,” he said, handing out post cards explaining the union’s position to people as they entered.
The approximately 200 members of UDESPA — bus drivers, custodians, educational assistants, nurses, secretaries and other support staff — are facing an uncertain future with their contract set to expire June 30. While continuing to bargain with the union, the district has solicited proposals from third-party vendors for custodial, education support personnel and transportation services “in the hopes of reducing significant operation costs associated with these services,” according to a statement issued by the school board at its May 12 meeting.
“We don’t want to interfere; we just want the board to see us,” UDESPA President Matt Toner said outside the cafeteria, where students were being recognized for various achievements at the start of the board meeting. “We just want to educate people,” he said, handing out post cards explaining the union’s position to people as they entered.
The approximately 200 members of UDESPA — bus drivers, custodians, educational assistants, nurses, secretaries and other support staff — are facing an uncertain future with their contract set to expire June 30. While continuing to bargain with the union, the district has solicited proposals from third-party vendors for custodial, education support personnel and transportation services “in the hopes of reducing significant operation costs associated with these services,” according to a statement issued by the school board at its May 12 meeting.
Still, 29 jobs lost
through attrition and a 4 percent tax hike are expected.
By Jacqueline Palochko, Of The Morning Call 10:14 p.m.
EDT, May 16, 2014
Easton Area class sizes will increase next year and taxpayers
will see a 4 percent tax hike, but the impact of a district budget crisis won't
be as bad as feared. That's because on
Thursday night, the teachers union voted to accept a two-year salary freeze
that will save 72.6 positions from being eliminated. Now 29 positions will be lost in the 2014-15
school year, all through attrition. At a
news conference Friday morning, school board President Frank Pintabone said the
teachers union's acceptance of the salary freeze will help balance the
district's budget. The district is facing a $5 million deficit, and Pintabone
said the board is looking to raise taxes by 4 percent.
Where Gates money is going in
education world this year
Where in the education world has Bill Gates been putting his
foundation’s money this year?
A look at some of the biggest grants awarded by the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation — by far the largest philanthropy in the world — shows
millions of dollars being spent to foster “cooperation” between traditional
public schools and charter schools in Chicago. Significant money grants were
also given to institutions seeking to improve higher-education access and
success for underserved students. Half a million dollars was given to help
improve communications around the Common Core State Standards, but this is less
support for Common Core than the foundation has given in previous
years. For well over a decade, the
foundation plowed billions of dollars in K-12 reform (first creating small
schools and then teacher
evaluation systems, both of which were less than successful), helping to
drive the public policy agenda. More recently, it has expanded into higher
education. Articles in
the Chronicle of Higher Education detailed the nearly half a billion dollars
the foundation has spent to help remake the higher education world into one
that focuses on getting more students degrees faster through technology and
what is called “competency-based learning,” and which is wrapped around an
accountability system based on standardized testing.
Here are some of the largest Gates grants for education-related
purposes since January 2014:
How School Closures Across
The Country Are Failing Black And Latino Children
The Huffington Post | by Inae Oh
Posted: 05/14/2014 2:26 pm
In some of the country's largest cities, public school closures
have become a familiar occurrence -- a phenomenon some community groups have
blasted as coming at the expense of minority students. A new report from the Journey For Justice Alliance is
airing those concerns, specifically calling out charter school advocates and
so-called school reformers for proliferating widespread
shutdowns which have disproportionately affected black and Latino children.
The grassroots education civil rights consortium has partnered
with the Advancement Project to file three federal complaints with the Education
Department's Office of Civil Rights, alleging that the impact of school shutdowns is racially discriminatory and
thus violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The complaints are also backed by the nation's two largest teachers' unions.
NCLB
Was A Failure: PBS Reporter John Merrow Condemns Myopic Fixation on Testing
Network for Public
Education by janresseger 15 May
2014
This week John Merrow,
the PBS education reporter and columnist, insists that we tell ourselves the
truth, even though some of our leaders want to keep pretending that test-based
school reform is our path to universal academic prowess. You’ll remember
of course, that 2014 is the year the No Child Left Behind Act projected all
American children would be above average. Except it didn’t work. Writing about the flat, unimproved scores
among high school seniors released last week by the National Assessment for
Education Progress, Merrow challenges our society’s complacent, bipartisan
support for test-and-punish accountability—the school reform philosophy
enshrined in federal law in January, 2002. He writes: “Any thinking
person, Republican or Democrat, looking at those numbers squarely in the face
would have to question the path we are on. No one in power seems to want
to do that.”
PCCY invites you to get on
the School Spirit Bus to Harrisburg on Tuesday
June 10th for Fair and Full
School
Public Citizens for Children and Youth
On Tuesday June 10th, Public Citizens for Children
and Youth (PCCY) will be going to Harrisburg .
Join committed parents, leaders, and community members from around state to
make it clear to Harrisburg
that PA students need fair and full funding now! We are providing free
transportation to and from Harrisburg
as well as lunch. Please arrive at the United Way Building 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway no later
than8:15am. The bus will depart at 8:30am sharp! Reserve your
seat today by emailing us at info@pccy.org or
calling us at 215-563-5848
x11. You can download and share our flyer by clicking here. We hope to see you there!
Dinniman: Roundtable
Discussion on Education in Pa.
Senator Dinniman's website
MAY 13, 2014
WEST CHESTER (May 13) – State Senator Andy Dinniman
announced today that he is bringing together education professionals and
advocates from throughout the region for a roundtable discussion on critical
issues in education on Wednesday, May 21 from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Technical College High School –
Brandywine Campus.
“Parents, teachers, students and education professionals from
suburban and urban school districts across Pennsylvania recently united against
the expansion of the Keystone
Graduation Exams,” Dinniman said. “Now, another pressing issue will bring
together suburban and urban schools from throughout the region – the need to
adequately support and sustain public education for the future.” The panel will feature education
professionals from Bucks, Chester, Montgomery, Delaware and Philadelphia
counties as well as representatives from major education organizations,
including:
·
Joe Ciresi, President, Spring-Ford Area School
District Board of Directors.
·
Helen Gym, Parents United of Philadelphia.
·
Bill LaCoff, President-Elect of the Pennsylvania
School Board Association, Owen J. Roberts School District Board of Directors.
·
Larry Feinberg, Keystone State Education
Coalition, Haverford Township School District Board of Directors.
·
Joe O’Brien, Executive Director, Chester County
Intermediate Unit.
·
Joan Duvall-Flynn, President and Education
Committee Chair of the NAACP, Media Branch.
·
Hillary Linardopoulos, Philadelphia Federation
of Teachers.
·
Korri Brown, President, Southeast Region,
Pennsylvania State Education Association.
·
Mike Churchill, Public Interest Law Center of
Philadelphia.
·
Mark Miller, Director, Network for Public
Education, Vice-President of the Centennial School District Board of Directors.
Pennsylvania Education Summit
Wednesday, June 11, 2014 from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM (EDT) Camp Hill, PA
PA Business-Education Partnership
Featuring:
Welcome By Governor Tom Corbett (invited)
Remarks Acting Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq
(confirmed)
Perceptions & comments of business leaders, educators,
college presidents, and advocacy groups
Full agenda here: http://www.bipac.net/pbc/2014-PA-Education-Summit-Agenda.pdf
Registration: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/pennsylvania-education-summit-tickets-11529363637?aff=eorgf
“How Public School Funding
Works in Pennsylvania—Or Doesn’t: What You Need to Know” When: Friday, May
30, 2014, 9 am to 12 pm Where: Marriott Hotel in Conshohocken, PA
Session I: "Funding Schools: What Pennsylvania Can Learn from Other States"
Key Pennsylvania legislators and public officials will respond to a presentation by Professor Robert C. Knoeppel of Clemson University, an expert on emerging trends and ideas in public school finance.
Session I: "Funding Schools: What Pennsylvania Can Learn from Other States"
Key Pennsylvania legislators and public officials will respond to a presentation by Professor Robert C. Knoeppel of Clemson University, an expert on emerging trends and ideas in public school finance.
Introduction: Representative Steve Santarsiero
Moderator: Rob Wonderling, President and CEO, GreaterPhiladelphia Chamber of Commerce
Panel:
Charles Zogby, Secretary of the Budget, Commonwealth of PA, Senator Patrick Browne, Senator Anthony Williams, Representative Bernie O'Neill, Representative James Roebuck
Session II: "Why Smart Investments in Public Schools Are Critical toPennsylvania
Moderator: Rob Wonderling, President and CEO, Greater
Panel:
Charles Zogby, Secretary of the Budget, Commonwealth of PA, Senator Patrick Browne, Senator Anthony Williams, Representative Bernie O'Neill, Representative James Roebuck
Session II: "Why Smart Investments in Public Schools Are Critical to
A discussion with a panel of CEOs who are major employers in
the region.
Introduction: Rob Loughery, Chair, Bucks County Commissioners
Panel (confirmed to date):
Michael Pearson, President and CEO, Union Packaging, Philip Rinaldi, CEO, Philadelphia Energy Solutions, Bryan Hancock, Principal, McKinsey & Company, and author: "The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools"
You can register for this free event here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-public-school-funding-works-in-pennsylvania-or-doesnt-what-you-need-to-know-tickets-11527064761?ref=ebtnebregn
Introduction: Rob Loughery, Chair, Bucks County Commissioners
Panel (confirmed to date):
Michael Pearson, President and CEO, Union Packaging, Philip Rinaldi, CEO, Philadelphia Energy Solutions, Bryan Hancock, Principal, McKinsey & Company, and author: "The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools"
You can register for this free event here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-public-school-funding-works-in-pennsylvania-or-doesnt-what-you-need-to-know-tickets-11527064761?ref=ebtnebregn
2014 CONFERENCE ON THE STATE OF EDUCATION IN PENNSYLVANIA
60 YEARS AFTER BROWN HOW ARE THE CHILDREN? WHAT ARE THE
ISSUES?
Saturday, May 31, 2014 - 9:00 AM
– 3:00 PM (8:30 Registration)
MARCUS FOSTER STUDENT UNION 2ND
FLR. CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, DE Co. Campus
Keynote
Speaker: Dan Hardy – Retired Reporter -Philadelphia Inquirer
Distressed Schools: How Did it
Come to This?
PANELS:
- The State of Education in Pennsylvania 60
Years after Brown
- Keystones and Graduation: Cut the
Connection
- How Harrisburg Cut District Funding,
Poured on the Keystones, and Connected them to Graduation
- Financing Our Schools: What Does it Cost
to Educate a Child in 2014 and How Should We Fund It?
- Effective Advocacy – How to be
Heard in Harrisburg - And - What We Need to be Saying
For
more info and registration: http://www.naacpmediabranch.org/#
Education
Policy and Leadership
Center
Click
here to read more about EPLC’s Education Policy Fellowship Program, including:
2014-15 Schedule 2014-15 Application Past Speakers Program Alumni And More
Information
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.
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