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PA Ed Policy Roundup for July
15, 2014:
Anthony Cody: This model does not allow for a robust
and independent public sector that is under the democratic control of citizens. .… The only thing that stays "public" is the
source of the funding
House GOP leads by
example
Inquirer Opinion By Sam Smith and Mike Turzai
POSTED: Tuesday, July 15, 2014, 1:08 AM
State House Speaker Sam
Smith (R., Jefferson) represents the 66th District. shsmith@pahousegop.com House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R.,
Allegheny) represents the 28th District. mturzai@pahousegop.com
Light has long been shining from some corners of Harrisburg as policies
driving sustainable job growth, budgetary responsibility, unparalleled
investments in education, and consumer choices have been sown. The Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus has
consistently led from the front by identifying both the needs of Pennsylvania 's families
and children and the requirements for employees and employers and then
proactively moving an agenda of responsible solutions.
Charters dodge Pa.
WHYY Newsworks BY MARY WILSON JULY 15, 2014
A recently approved tweak to special education funding won't
apply to charter schools in Pennsylvania
after all. State lawmakers shied away from the changes after charters argued it
would have been unfair. There will be
changes to the way traditional public schools receive any new funding for
special education -- it'll be based on the needs of individual students and
school districts, instead of being tied to an average special needs cost across
the state.
But charter schools are still receiving special education
funding under the same flat rate. They got lawmakers to back off of changes
when they pointed out the potential hit to their budgets.
“He's disappeared, and there's no money,”
the source said. “Everything is in disarray.”
Finances of Sankofa charter
under investigation
By Michael
N. Price and Kendal
Gapinski, Daily Local News POSTED: 07/12/14, 6:18 PM EDT
The recently revoked Sankofa
Academy Charter
School , long the subject of financial
scrutiny from the West Chester
Area School
District Sankofa
Academy
Three days after the charter expired, on June 23, the West Chester Police Department filed for the search warrant at district court. The warrant authorized borough detectives to examine five ofSankofa
Academy
Three days after the charter expired, on June 23, the West Chester Police Department filed for the search warrant at district court. The warrant authorized borough detectives to examine five of
Corbett plunges into
public fight for pension bill
Delco Times POSTED: 07/14/14, 12:41 PM EDT |
GLENSHAW, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Corbett is using the resources of
his office and his campaign to press for legislation to curb future public
pension costs by paring back benefits. The
campaign issued robocalls over the weekend, while Corbett’s office lined up
public events beginning Monday in suburban Pittsburgh to discuss pension legislation. In the robocall, the Republican governor
criticizes the Republican-controlled Legislature for sending him a budget
“loaded with perks and earmarks,” and then warns of property tax increases
without passage of pension legislation.
With pension reform, the
buck stops with Gov. Corbett: Frank Dermody
PennLive
Op-Ed By Frank Dermody on July 14, 2014 at 2:00 PM
State Rep. Frank Dermody, a Democrat, is the state House
Minority Leader. He represents the 33rd House District in Allegheny County
Gov. Tom Corbett continues to shift the blame for his own
direct role in increasing school property taxes in Pennsylvania . The governor claims pension costs are
draining school district budgets and forcing higher property taxes. He says his
pension reform proposal would reduce costs for school districts and reduce
property taxes for homeowners. He is wrong.
There would be no pension "crisis" today if Governor
Corbett had not cut K-12 education funding. Those sustained cuts, over his
tenure, have grown into a $3 billion loss for Pennsylvania schools. The governor's decision to drain schools of
$3 billion while he provided more than $2 billion in tax breaks to some of the
world's wealthiest corporations is driving pension problems for school
districts and property tax hikes for homeowners.
Corbett draws links between
pensions and school tax hikes
But reform measure
governor supports wouldn't provide school districts relief anytime soon.
Morning Call By Karen Langley, Of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 11:02 p.m.
EDT, July 14, 2014
Many Pennsylvania
school districts name pension payments as a budgetary stressor. Indeed,
one-third of the state's districts cited pension costs when they received state
permission to raise property taxes in the upcoming school year beyond an
allowed rate.
"Clearly, pensions are one of the most significant, if not
the most significant, drivers of expenditures in school budgets, which in turn
drives property taxes," said Jay Himes, executive director of the
Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials.
But the House Republican pension bill, which Corbett, also a
Republican, supports and has urged legislators to pass, would provide school
budgets with little near-term relief. Because the plan is limited to new hires,
savings would materialize only over time.
Delco Times Heron's Nest Blog by Phil Heron, Editor Tuesday,
July 15, 2014
Don't look now, but we believe Gov. Tom Corbett got one right.
The governor threw down a gauntlet last week when he signed the
budget, but promptly cut out about $72 million in operating expenses and pet
projects of the Legislature. Yes, that
would be the same two bodies that are controlled by his own Republican Party. He was irked by members of the GOP ignoring
his call for pension reform and heading home for the summer. He wants them to
come back to Harrisburg
and work on it. I hope he's not holding his breath.
WHYY Newsworks BY MARY WILSON JULY 14, 2014
After weeks of lying low during the state budget process,
Gov. Tom Corbett is packing his schedule with visits across Pennsylvania to call for an overhaul of
public pensions.
His message is no different than it was two weeks ago, at
the height of the typical late-June legislative frenzy. The pension proposal at
the heart of Corbett's plea has not changed. But short of a legislative success
to hawk, the governor is taking his frustration to the voters, and blaming the
measure's failure on lawmakers. Rapport
isn't great between the administration and Republican leaders of the House and
Senate, who rebuked the governor for vetoing about 20 percent of their annual
funding and other proposed programs last week. Corbett said he used the
line-item veto to underscore his displeasure that lawmakers began their summer
break without passing a pension bill. Corbett's
latest move gives him a new argument to take to voters during his campaign for
reelection this fall, said pollster Terry Madonna of Franklin
& Marshall College
Corbett's hard stand on Pa.
By Amy Worden and Thomas
Fitzgerald, Inquirer Staff Writers POSTED: July 14, 2014
Behind closed doors he signed the $29 billion spending plan,
but not before wielding his blue pen to do something no governor in at least
the last 20 years dared to do - by line-item veto slashing $65 million in
funding to run Senate and House operations.
Being poor helps districts
when it comes to state education funding
By on
July 14, 2014 at 3:21 PM, updated July 14, 2014 at 4:32 PM
When it comes to
divvying up the state dollars going into public education, it's good to be
poor.
A good chunk of the $12
billion going into education in the recently enacted 2014-15 state budget that Gov.
Tom Corbett signed last week is
driven out by a distribution formula that directs a disproportionate amount of
state funding to poorer districts.
"The premise of it has always been to provide more state funding to
less wealthy school districts just because of their inability to raise local
funds," said Tim Eller, press secretary for the state Department of
Education.
How much of state education
funding is coming to your midstate school district?
By on
July 14, 2014 at 12:25 PM, updated July 14, 2014 at 2:26 PM
School districts in
nine midstate counties will receive a combined total of slightly more than $1
billion from three key state funding streams in 2014-15. PennsylvaniaFile
photo/Pennlive
This represents a
nearly $21.5 million increase in state aid from these revenue sources over the
prior year for districts in Adams, Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin,
Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, and York counties.
The following is a searchable database that provides state Department of
Education-provided estimates of basic ed, special ed and block grant funding
that these 89 districts are expected to receive in the coming school year.
"Is this the best our elected
officials can do for our schoolchildren? Come up with another sin tax - first
liquor by the drink, then cigarettes? What happened to the rhetoric about how
important education is to our children, the vitality of the city, the growth of
the commonwealth?"
Cigarette tax the best we can do?
Cigarette tax the best we can do?
Philly.com Opinion by PHIL GOLDSMITH POSTED: Sunday, July
13, 2014, 1:09 AM
Phil Goldsmith served as
chief executive officer of the School
District of Philadelphia 2000-01
The initial backslapping over the then-expected passage of the cigarette tax to help bail outPhiladelphia schools is
similar to the accolades for the performance of the U.S. soccer team in the World Cup.
As you might recall, everyone was going gaga over the U.S.
performance, though the team won only one game, lost two, and tied one. The reason for all the backslapping - both by
soccer fans and supporters of another sin tax to support the basic right of
education - is that we set our expectations so low. Success with soccer was moving on to one more
round, not winning the World Cup or even getting into the semis or finals.
Legislative success for funding the School District
was fending off more layoffs, not enhancing high-quality education. No wonder
the district hobbles along in perpetual bankruptcy - financially and
educationally in terms of expectations and aspirations.
The initial backslapping over the then-expected passage of the cigarette tax to help bail out
"Fund You": Pa.
JOHN BAER, DAILY
NEWS POLITICAL COLUMNIST POSTED: Monday, July 14, 2014, 3:01 AM
LET'S TALK about Gov. Corbett's semiballsy declaration of war
on the Legislature.
First, though, let's acknowledge that picture of the guv giving
a one-finger salute to the Legislature after signing a budget that cuts some of
its funding. The photo, which I'm
calling "Fund You," is an instant classic, certain to be reprised. The action - cutting lawmakers' cash and
special projects while essentially calling them lazy, greedy and worthless - is
merely political theater. If you were
down the Shore last week or otherwise doing things better than tracking the
squirrely world of Pennsylvania politics, here's a quick recap.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20140714_PA_s_one-finger_solution.html#T2RDRZtJ5PGyYKEP.99
"It makes some wonder: Is it possible for Philadelphia Pennsylvania State
Senator Vince Fumo and Pennsylvania
State
Can a Mayor Be Too Honest?
Just ask Michael Nutter.
Politico By HOLLY OTTERBEIN July 13, 2014
Holly
Otterbein covers Philadelphia
Remember 2008? Whatever it was like where you live, trust me,
it was even headier in Philadelphia .
The Phillies, the biggest losers not only in baseball but in professional
sports, won the World Series. We danced in the streets that day—past red, white
and blue images of presidential candidate Barack Obama adorning barber shops
and fixed-gear bikes around town. When he cinched the election the next month,
we danced in the streets again.
Perhaps nothing inspired more hope in city residents around
that time, though, than a wonkish, Wharton-educated, bespectacled 51-year-old
named Michael Nutter. A year earlier, the reform Democrat had gone from
underdog in the race to be Philadelphia ’s
next mayor to clobbering a slate of usual suspects in the May primary,
including a millionaire, the boss of the city’s Democratic Party, a West Philly
congressman and a powerful state representative.
WHYY Radio Times with Marty
Moss-Coane July 14, 2014
The Philadelphia
cigarette tax; the Pennsylvania
Hour 1 Guests: Kevin McCorry, Sharon Ward, Katrina Anderson
Audio runtime 52:01
Just one vote held up the proposed cigarette tax in Pennsylvania ’s General
Assembly last week. The $2-per-pack tax would have helped fund Philadelphia ’s struggling
public schools and now it’s uncertain if they will be able to open on time.
We start this hour off looking at how the cigarette tax got derailed and
where it now stands with WHYY education reporter KEVIN
MCCORRY. Then, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett signed the state
budget on Friday but vetoed $65 million in funding for the legislature, saying
the General Assembly failed to reign in pension spending. We’ll get
analysis of the budget and discuss the politics with SHARON WARD, Director of the
Pennsylvania Budget and Policy
Center
West York without 30 adviser,
coaching positions next year
west york
The West
York Area
School District
"This model does not allow for a
robust and independent public sector that is under the democratic control of
citizens. Instead, the
public system must be re-engineered so that the funds continue to flow from
taxpayers, but flow into various profit-seeking enterprises competing against
one another. The only thing that stays "public" is the source of the
funding."
Questioning Education
Reformers' Motives: The Big Taboo
Education Week Living in
Dialogue Blog By on July 13, 2014 5:15 PM
When Lyndsey
Layton interviewed Bill Gates a
few months ago, she violated one of the major taboos of the education reform
discourse. She suggested that he needed to respond to concerns being raised
about his personal financial motives in supporting the Common Core.
Here is her question, as transcribed
by Mercedes Schneider
WRONG ANSWER
In an era of high-stakes testing, a struggling school made a
shocking choice.
The New Yorker BY RACHEL
AVIVJULY 21, 2014
One afternoon in the spring of 2006, Damany Lewis, a math
teacher at Parks Middle
School , in Atlanta ,
unlocked the room where standardized tests were kept. It was the week before
his students took the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test, which determined
whether schools in Georgia
had met federal standards of achievement. The tests were wrapped in cellophane
and stacked in cardboard boxes. Lewis, a slim twenty-nine-year-old with
dreadlocks, contemplated opening the test with scissors, but he thought his cut
marks would be too obvious. Instead, he left the school, walked to the corner
store, and bought a razor blade. When he returned, he slit open the cellophane
and gently pulled a test book from its wrapping. Then he used a lighter to warm
the razor, which he wedged under the adhesive sealing the booklet, and peeled
back the tab.
Obama/Duncan continued federal push for
charter schools
Final Priorities,
Requirements, and Definitions-Charter Schools Program (CSP) Grants for National
Leadership Activities
Federal Register - A
Rule by the Education
Department on 07/14/2014
The purpose of the CSP is to increase national understanding of
the charter school model by—
(1) Providing financial assistance for the planning, program
design, and initial implementation of charter schools;
(2) Evaluating the effects of charter schools, including the effects
on students, student academic achievement, staff, and parents;
(3) Expanding the number of high-quality charter schools (as
defined in the notice) available to students across the Nation; and
(4) Encouraging the States to provide support to charter schools
for facilities financing in an amount that is more commensurate with the amount
the States have typically provided for non-chartered public schools.
Any connection with Duncan
Education Week Politics
K-12 Blog By on July
14, 2014 10:38 AM
By guest
blogger Lesli A. Maxwell. Crossposted from District Dossier.
In a visit to Philadelphia
over the weekend, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said the city's
battered public schools are "starved for resources" and that current
state levels of investment in K-12 are "unacceptable," the Philadelphia Daily News reported.
The secretary, who has been known before to weigh in with
strong opinions on local education matters, spoke at length about the funding
crisis in Philadelphia
that has left the big city system, once again, on the verge
of massive layoffs and another devastating round of spending cuts.
It's the second time in a year that the Education Secretary has
made such public remarks about Philadelphia 's
fiscal crisis. Last July, he
issued a formal statement urging Pennsylvania politicians and education
officials to address the district's financial meltdown that, at the time,
threatened to postpone the start of the 2013-14 school year.
Report Calls on Principals to
Put Greater Focus on Pre-K-3 Years
Education Week District
Dossier Blog By on July 11, 2014 2:18 PM
Recognizing the importance of learning in the early-childhood
years, the National Association of Elementary School Principals gave its
members a sneak peak at a forthcoming report that calls for more training and
professional development for elementary school principals to address their
students' needs before they even enter kindergarten. The report calls on elementary principals
themselves to start to adjust their focus and mission to include
prekindergarten even if those classes and services may not be located in the
buildings they run.
The executive summary of the report, "Leading Pre-K-3
Learning Communities: Competencies for Effective Principal Practice," was
unveiled at the group's annual conference here, where pre-K-3 and
early-childhood education are among this year's hot topics.
This blogger usually goes out of his way to
ignore anything having to do with celebrity reformer personality Ms. Rhee for
the same reasons he's never watched the Kardashians…..
Michelle Rhee's Ed Reform Group
Powers Down
Five State
By on July
14, 2014 5:53 PM | No
comments
By Andrew
Ujifusa. Cross-posted from the State
EdWatch blog.
StudentsFirst, the advocacy group founded by former District of
Columbia schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, has expanded at a steady pace into
many states over the last few years, but the group has confirmed over the last
week that it's ending the work of paid staff in five states: Florida, Iowa,
Indiana, Maine, and Minnesota. In Florida , as reported by
Travis Pillow at RedefinED on July 7, StudentsFirst will maintain only a "nominal presence," while pulling the
plug on its core policy work. Then on July 9, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported
a similar situation in Minnesota —StudentsFirst's
state affiliate will no longer maintain
a paid staff there.
The reasons for these decisions can vary from state to state,
however.
PBS’s Frontline examines the
resurgence of school segregation in America
NSBA School Board News Today Margaret Suslick July 14th, 2014
PBS’s Frontline will feature upcoming programming
about resegregation in America ,
“Separate and Unequal,” following the recent 60th
anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education. Tune in to PBS on
July 15, 2014 (check your local listings for time) for Frontline’s two-part
examination of what’s behind the growing racial divide in American schools, and
the legacy of Brown.
Frontline will profile Louisiana ’s
East Baton Rouge Parish
School District Baton Rouge
to form a new city
with its own separate schools. If they succeed, the newly formed school
district would be more affluent and predominantly white, and the East Baton
Rouge Parish School District
Educational Collaborators Pennsylvania Summit
The Educational Collaborators, in partnership with the Wilson School
District
Pre-K for PA has supporters
all over the greater Philadelphia
We need your help -- join an upcoming phone bank. Join
a fun gathering of like minds in Philadelphia
and Conshohocken on Wednesday evenings throughout the summer. We are
calling fellow Pre-K for PA supporters to build local volunteer teams.
Call a Pre-K Friend in Philly:
UnitedWay Building 1709 Ben Franklin Parkway
Wed July 30, 5-7 PM
United
Wed July 30, 5-7 PM
Call a Pre-K Friend in Mont Co:
Anne's House242 Barren
Hill Road
Wed July 16, 5-7pm
Wed July 30, 5-7pm
Anne's House
Wed July 16, 5-7pm
Wed July 30, 5-7pm
RSVP: http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/51084/c/10476/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=9390
EPLC Education Issues
Workshop for Legislative Candidates, Campaign Staff, and Interested Voters - Harrisburg
Register Now! EPLC will again be hosting
an Education Issues Workshop for Legislative Candidates, Campaign Staff,
and Interested Voters. This nonpartisan, one-day program will take place
on Thursday, July 31 in Harrisburg .
Space is limited. Click
here to learn more about workshop and to register.
PSBA opens nominations for
the Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award
The nomination process is now open for the Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award. This award may be presented annually to the individual school director or entire school board to recognize outstanding leadership in legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of public education and students that are consistent with the positions in PSBA’s Legislative Platform. Applications will be accepted until July 16, 2014. The July 16 date was picked in honor of Timothy M. Allwein's birthday. The award will be presented during the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference in October. More details and application are available on PSBA's website.
The nomination process is now open for the Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award. This award may be presented annually to the individual school director or entire school board to recognize outstanding leadership in legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of public education and students that are consistent with the positions in PSBA’s Legislative Platform. Applications will be accepted until July 16, 2014. The July 16 date was picked in honor of Timothy M. Allwein's birthday. The award will be presented during the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference in October. More details and application are available on PSBA's website.
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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