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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for July
30, 2014:
School
Choice? I've got mine, I'm not going to
worry about anybody else's.
Their View | The hard truth
of pension reform
Centre Daily Times Opinion BY JIM PAWELCZYK July 26, 2014
Jim Pawelczyk lives
in Ferguson Township
and serves on the State College Area school
board. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the district or the board.
With combined debts approaching $50 billion, the Public School Employees
Retirement System and State Employees Retirement System are in
trouble. The blame game is in full swing: It’s the legislature’s fault. It’s
the governor’s fault (insert any governor of this century). It’s school boards’
fault. It’s unions’ fault. Take your
pick. To some degree, each assertion is correct.
Gov. Tom Corbett is sounding the alarm for “meaningful pension
reform.” Reform, however, has two different meanings in legislative doublespeak:
Reduce costs by changing benefits, or provide budgetary “relief” to employers
by deferring payments.
Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2014/07/26/4279963/their-view-the-hard-truth-of-pension.html?sp=/99/145/#storylink=cpy
Tribune Democrat by John
Finnerty CNHI State Reporter July 27, 2014
Corbett has less often mentioned another consequence of the pension crisis: School districts are trimming jobs to save costs – on the front end by paying fewer employees, and on the back end by lowering the amount they must contribute to the pension. There were 15,000 fewer public school employees working and enrolled as active members of the state pension system in June 2013 as there were just three years earlier, according to the Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement System.
It's time to put up or shut
up on pensions: Fred Keller
PennLive
Op-Ed By Fred Keller on July 29, 2014 at 1:00 PM
State Rep. Fred Keller, a Republican, represents the 85th House
District, which includes parts of Snyder and Union
counties.
Either we face the truth or the taxpayers will suffer the
consequences of inaction.
"Joining us will be two of the most
powerful men in Harrisburg, state Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-9, of Chester, the
Senate majority leader, and Rep. Bill Adolph, R-165, of Springfield, the
majority chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Yep, they're
the ones who put the state budget together.
Also joining us will be longtime Haverford
School Board member Larry Feinberg,
who also just happens to be the founder and co-chairman of the Keystone State
Delco Times Heron's Nest Editors Blog by Phil Heron Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Last week we heard from Gov.
Tom Corbett, who has been criss-crossing the state doing his best Paul
Revere impersonation: 'The pension crisis is coming, the pension crisis is
coming.'
Actually, it's already here. And it's about to detonate in
school districts across the state, straining budgets from one end of the
Commonwealth to the other. To his credit, the governor has been saying so for
most of his troubled first term, labeling it a 'tapeworm' in the state budget
crisis and Pennsylvania's No. 1 problem.
"More than just in Philadelphia Harrisburg
New SRC member Marjorie Neff
plans to advocate from the inside
the notebook By Dale
Mezzacappa on Jul 29, 2014 03:12 PM
Marjorie Neff was looking forward to retirement after nearly 40
years as an educator when Mayor Nutter surprised her by asking if she
would serve on the School Reform Commission. "I was intending to do advocacy work,
and when the mayor asked me, I thought this might be one way to continue that
from the inside rather than from the outside," said Neff, who just retired
after eight years as principal of Masterman
School
More than just in Philadelphia ,
she said, there is a "national trend" toward "an abandonment of
public education."
Teplitz Named to Basic
Education Funding Commission
PA Senate Democratic website
July 29, 2014
State Sen. Rob Teplitz has been named to the newly formed Basic
Education Funding Commission. The
15-member commission, made up of a bipartisan group of state senators and
representatives, as well as administration officials, will work to develop and
recommend a new formula for allocating state funding to Pennsylvania ’s 500 school districts. “As a strong advocate for public education,
I’m pleased to be a part of this commission,” said Teplitz (D-Dauphin/York),
who is a member of the Senate Education Committee. “Every child deserves access
to a quality education in his or her own community, but unfortunately, that is
not happening under our current system. We must explore a more equitable way to
provide crucial state dollars to our diverse school districts.
Where’s the work?
It’s hard to justify a Corbett adviser’s high salary
Post-Gazette Editorial July
30, 2014 12:00 AM
During the two years that Ron Tomalis was state education
secretary, he was one of the most visible members of Gov. Tom Corbett’s
Cabinet, running one of the largest departments and serving as the public face
of significant administration efforts.
But since his reassignment 14 months ago as the governor’s special
adviser on higher education, he has been nearly invisible to the public. Just
what tasks Mr. Tomalis has been accomplishing to earn his $139,542 salary
aren’t clear either. For an administration that was recently faced with a $1.5
billion deficit, it’s hard to see how such spending can be justified.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2014/07/30/Where-s-the-work/stories/201407300027#ixzz38wL9Rekd
Ethics complaint filed
against Ron Tomalis, Gov. Tom Corbett's special higher education adviser
Steve Esack Call Harrisburg
9:19 a.m. EDT, July 29, 2014
A Harrisburg
activist is asking the state Ethics Commission to investigate whether Ron
Tomalis has earned his salary of nearly $140,000 as Gov. Tom Corbett’s special adviser for higher education. In filing his ethics complaint Monday,
activist Gene Stilp cited a Pittsburgh Post Gazette investigative story that
found Tomalis has done little to no work in the role Corbett created for him
after Tomalis lost his position as state education secretary 14 months ago.
"It's not exactly
clear what Wolf's plan would look like, although the AP does say that Wolf
pledges a dollar-for-dollar reduction in local property taxes in conjunction
with the state tax increase. Potentially, households with up to $90,000 in
annual income would be spared a tax increase, and the tax increase would amount
to about a 3 percent increase for those at the high end of the income scale. On
his website, Wolf says that schools in Pennsylvania
Raise Taxes On Wealthy for
K-12, Pa.
The idea of raising taxes on wealthy individuals to help
shoulder a big state's education-funding burden may be gaining traction in a
big East Coast state.
Tom Wolf, the Democratic candidate for governor in Pennsylvania who will
face GOP incumbent Tom Corbett in November, believes that the state needs
to pay a bigger share of K-12 costs and take the burden
off local property taxes. To that end, the Associated Press reports, he wants
to raise taxes on high earners while reducing taxes for middle-class households
and exempting those with relatively low earnings from his new taxes entirely.
If that idea sounds familiar, it's because California Gov.
Jerry Brown, a fellow Democrat, successfully pushed through his own tax
increase for public schools back in 2012 through Proposition 30, even though
statewide tax increases are no easy matter in California . That tax increase also
focused on raising taxes specifically on high earners, rather than taking an
across-the-board approach.
Get the facts about Tom
Corbett and education
Corbett/Cawley Campaign website July 2014
As a former public school teacher, Governor Tom Corbett
believes strongly in the power of education.
Governor Corbett inherited a $4.2 billion budget deficit when he was
elected governor. And worse yet, almost $1 billion in federal dollars that had
been helping to fund our schools ran out. So he moved quickly. Thanks to Governor Corbett's bold steps and
tight budgets, Pennsylvania 's
public schools are now in a much stronger financial position. Get the facts and
hear more from Pennsylvania
teachers in our videos.
Politically Uncorrected: Give
‘Em Hell Tom
PoliticsPA Written by
G. Terry Madonna and Michael L. Young July 29, 2014
“Running against Harrisburg ” is a popular
strategy. Most modern gubernatorial candidates seeking a first term, including
incumbent Gov. Tom Corbett, have “run against Harrisburg .” They focus their campaigns
heavily toward attacking Harrisburg “insiders”
and the “Harrisburg
culture.”
But while most gubernatorial aspirants run against Harrisburg , no incumbent
governor seeking a second term has ever done so — until now.
New Corbett/Wolf poll: Wave
of the future or polling aberration?
By Christina
Kauffman | ckauffman@pennlive.com on July 29, 2014 at 6:41 PM,
updated July 29, 2014 at 9:03 PM
Midstate analysts are among those cautious about the results of
a new poll showing Gov. Tom Corbett narrowing the gap between himself and
Democratic challenger Tom Wolf. The recent
polling collaboration between the New York Times and CBS News, completed as
part of a massive effort using new polling standards with the firm YouGov,
shows Corbett losing 33 percent to Wolf's 42 percent. The nine-point divide is the closest the
incumbent governor, widely expected to be defeated, has seen in any post-primary
poll conducted in Pennsylvania .
Two midstate political professors said they're cautious about
the poll's new methodology, which some consider controversial.
PA House to amend
cigarette-tax bill
WHEN HOUSE members return to Harrisburg on Monday to consider the
cigarette-tax bill that would help fund Philly's schools, the legislation most
likely will head to the Rules Committee, where it will be amended, a spokesman
for the top Republican says.
Members of the committee plan to remove Community
Revitalization Improvement Zone grants and a hotel tax from the bill, said
Steve Miskin, spokesman for House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny. The $2-per-pack cigarette-tax bill would then
be introduced on the floor for a vote. The legislation, if passed, would be
sent back to the Senate for a vote.
Senate members are at the ready, said Erik Arneson, spokesman
for the Senate Republicans.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140730_House_to_amend_cigarette-tax_bill.html#FUDvhjKVtLQpTPH5.99
State board reverses Sto-Rox
school board's denial of Propel charter
By Mary Niederberger / PIttsburgh
Post-Gazette July 29, 2014 11:38 PM
A state Charter Appeals Board decision to grant a charter to
Propel to open a K-12 school in the Sto-Rox
School District
State leaves Pittsburgh
By Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette July 29, 2014 11:23 PM
The Pittsburgh Public Schools can continue to use a teacher
evaluation system that is more rigorous than the state system, according to a
decision by the state Department of Education.
The news pleased Pittsburgh superintendent Linda Lane but
disappointed Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers president Nina
Esposito-Visgitis, who said she plans to meet with Ms. Lane today to discuss
the issue. “We have concerns,” Ms.
Esposito-Visgitis said, adding that the union does not believe state law allows
for districts to pick their own cut scores.
In the Pittsburgh
district, cut scores for teacher performance are higher than those in the state’s
teacher evaluation system and higher than those used by other districts in the
state.
The district used the evaluation system this year under a
one-year waiver from the Department of Education. The new decision, made
Tuesday, allows the district to continue using the system for the next three
years, at which time it can apply for further approval.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2014/07/29/State-leave/stories/201407290204#ixzz38wMtSwNK
EASD again rejects charter
school application
Proposed Strong Foundations submitted new application after
March turndown.
By Jacqueline Palochko, Of The Morning Call 10:19 p.m.
EDT, July 29, 2014
At a heated meeting that touched upon racial and economic
issues, the Easton Area School Board again rejected a charter school
application. The proposed Strong Foundations
Charter School
The board rejected the application based on its solicitor's
finding that the application did not comply with the Common Core Standards and
did not include evidence that local businesses and organizations intended to
partner with the proposed school.
National honors for a Delaware County
BY NEWSWORKS
TONIGHT STAFF JULY 29, 2014 Audio Runtime 3:25
The job of superintendent of schools isn't always an envious
one. Tight budgets, performance standards, accountability to school
boards and parents — when someone’s not happy, the person in the top job is to
blame. For a change, there’s an area
superintendent who’s enjoying accolades. Last week, Dr. James Capolupo of
the Springfield School District Delaware County
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN
MCCORRY JULY 29, 2014
Nervous test-takers, fear not. Temple University
The university calls it the "Temple Option
The university says the move is in line with its goal of
placing more emphasis on noncognitive "grit factors." "By giving students more choices, we
open doors to more first-generation students and those from underserved
communities whose enormous academic promise may be overlooked by conventional
measures of achievement," said Temple President Neil Theobald in an official
release. With this move, Temple becomes the first
national public research university in the Northeast to make test scores optional
for admission.
"Montclair State, which admits about
3,000 freshmen a year, is the third school in the region to announce the change
in recent days, following Bryn Mawr College
and Temple University
LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, July 29, 2014, 8:32 PM POSTED: Tuesday,
July 29, 2014, 8:31 PM
Review of Charter School
Meagan Batdorff, Larry Maloney, Jay F. May, Sheree T. Speakman,
Patrick J. Wolf, & Albert Cheng School Choice Demonstration Project and
University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform April 16, 2014
Bruce
D. Baker May 20, 2014
The University of Arkansas Center for Education Reform’s report
on charter school funding inequities proclaims large and growing inequities
between school district and charter school revenues, even after accounting for
differences in student needs. But the report displays complete lack of
understanding of intergovernmental fiscal relationships, which results in the
blatantly erroneous assignment of “revenues” between charters and district
schools. A district’s expenditure can be a charter’s revenue, since charter
funding is in most states and districts received by pass-through from district
funding, and districts often retain responsibility for direct provision of
services to charter school students—a reality that the report entirely ignores
when applying its resource-comparison framework. In addition, the report
suffers from alarmingly vague documentation regarding data sources and
methodologies, and it constructs entirely inappropriate comparisons of student
population characteristics. Simply put, the findings and conclusions of the
study are not valid or useful.
Teachers Fight Back
CNN By busyboypro |
Posted July 28, 2014 | Washington DC , District of
Columbia (video runtime 2:!3)
CNN PRODUCER NOTE A group of BATs
descended upon Washington Minneapolis
Badass Teachers Meet with
Duncan and Staff
Politico.com reports that representatives of the BATs met with
Secretary Duncan.
“BADASS TEACHERS OUT IN FORCE: Several hundred teachers,
parents and students sang, danced and demonstrated outside the Education
Department on Monday, protesting federal education reform under the Obama
administration. The rally was hosted by the Badass Teacher Association. On the
list of grievances: The Common Core, high-stakes testing and teacher evaluation
reform. “Teachers’ voices have been absent from the shaping of education
policy,” BAT founder Mark Naison told Morning Education. “These policies are
stifling teacher creativity and driving good teachers out of the classroom.” An
Education Department official said the agency worked with BAT to secure permits
for their demonstration and federal officials met with group leaders to discuss
their concerns.
The Common Core PR war
Politico By STEPHANIE SIMON |
7/29/14 5:06 AM EDT
The millions have proved no match for the moms.
Supporters of the Common Core academic standards have spent big
this past year to persuade wavering state legislators to stick with the new
guidelines for math and language arts instruction. Given the firestorm of
opposition that took them by surprise, they consider it a victory that just
five states, so far, have taken steps to back out. But in a series of strategy sessions in
recent months, top promoters of the standards have concluded they’re losing the
broader public debate — and need to devise better PR. Consider: Conservative commentators Glenn
Beck and Michelle Malkin held a crackling town hall meeting last week
describing the Common Core as a threat to local control of education. The
two-hour event was simulcast in 700 movie theaters nationwide and will be
rebroadcast Tuesday night in more than 500.
Education organizations call
on U.S.
NSBA
School Board News Today by Alexis Rice|July 29th, 2014
The National
School Boards Association (NSBA), joined by the Pennsylvania
School Boards Association (PSBA) and the National Association of State
Directors of Special Education (NASDSE), today filed a “friend of the court” (amicus) brief in the U.S.
Supreme Court in the case of M.R. v. Ridley School District. At
issue in the case is whether school districts must continue paying for a
student’s private placement once a court finds the school district provided the
child with a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Under the stay-put
requirement in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), school
districts must pay for a disabled child’s current educational placement while
legal proceedings continue to resolve a dispute between parents and schools.
Resources help school
districts address undocumented children
NSBA
School Board News Today by Alexis Rice|July 29th, 2014
School districts may feel significant impacts in the coming
year resulting from the influx of Central American children to our country and
schools. The National School Boards Association (NSBA) and its Council of
School Attorneys (COSA) along with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee
Resettlement (ORR) can all help. In
addition to the many legal resources on immigration issues available to COSA members, COSA will be offering a webinar August
13, 2014 at 1-2:15 p.m. EDT: “Immigration Issues and Public School Attendance: Registering
and Serving Undocumented Students and Employer Compliance.”
Democratic, Republican Voters
Want More Preschool, And They Want It Now
The Huffington Post | By Rebecca Klein
Posted: 07/17/2014 12:01 am Both Democratic and Republican voters want
more of an investment in early childhood education, and they want it now,
according to a new national poll. The
poll, commissioned by early education advocacy group the First Five Years Fund(FFYR) and
conducted by bipartisan researchers, surveyed 800 registered voters on their views.
The sample was demographically representative of the electorate and included
voters living throughout the country. Similar
to previous polls conducted on the subject, Americans expressed support for the idea of early childhood
education. Out of nine sample national priorities, including “reducing the
tax burden on families” and “securing our borders,” voters ranked “making sure
our children get a strong start in life,” as the second most important, only
trumped by “increasing jobs and economic growth.”
PCCY: Join us in Harrisburg
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives will return to work
on Monday, August 4th and it is critical to vote to approve the Philadelphia cigarette
increase for schools. Join us in Harrisburg
as we visit lawmakers to tell them the wisdom of siding with children over big
tobacco by voting for the cigarette tax increase. If this vote doesn't
happen or, if it fails, there is a strong chance Philadelphia Public Schools
will not open this September.
Buses are filling up quickly. Click here to RSVP today or call 215-563-5848 x11 or
emailinfo@pccy.org. Buses
depart 1709 Benjamin Franklin
Parkway at 8:30am and return to Philadelphia
about 5:00pm. If you plan to drive, meet us in the Capitol
at 10:30am in Room 39 of the East Wing.
Bucks Lehigh
EduSummit Monday Aug 11th and Tuesday Aug 12th
Location: Southern Lehigh High School5800 Main Street , Center Valley , PA
18034
Time: 8 AM - 3 PM Each Day(Registration starts at 7:30 AM. Keynote starts at 8:00 AM.)
Location: Southern Lehigh High School
Time: 8 AM - 3 PM Each Day(Registration starts at 7:30 AM. Keynote starts at 8:00 AM.)
The Bucks Lehigh EduSummit is a
collaboratively organized and facilitated two day professional learning
experience coordinated by educators in the Quakertown Community School District , Palisades School District, Salisbury
Township School District, Southern Lehigh School District, Bucks County IU, and Carbon Lehigh IU, which are all located in
northern Bucks county and southern Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Teachers in
other neighboring districts are welcome to attend as well! The purpose of the
EduSummit is to collaborate, connect, share, and learn together for the benefit
of our kids. Focus areas include: Educational Technology, PA Core, Social
Media, Best Practices, etc.
http://buckslehighedusummit2014.wikispaces.com/Home
http://buckslehighedusummit2014.wikispaces.com/Home
Educational Collaborators
Pennsylvania Summit Aug. 13-14
The Educational Collaborators, in partnership with the Wilson School
District
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