Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
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administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers,
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officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, business leaders, education
professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory agencies,
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Grassroots Non-Partisan
Public Education Advocacy
PA Ed Policy Roundup for
August 8, 2014:
PA still
owes school districts $1.7 billion for 338 Plancon projects
Interest revives in Pa.
WHYY Newsworks BY MARY
WILSON AUGUST 7, 2014
A natural gas extraction tax in Pennsylvania has been regarded at times as a
silver bullet, and lawmakers have proposed shooting it every which way to solve
financial woes. Now Republican Sen.
Tommy Tomlinson, running for re-election in his Bucks County
Key questions and answers on
the Philly budget crisis
the notebook By Dale
Mezzacappa on Aug 7, 2014 04:29 PM
Notebook editors Paul Socolar and Dale Mezzacappa prepared a
question-and-answer sheet, updating the budget crisis for distribution at E!
Day, the District's annual back-to-school event to be held Friday at School
of the Future. This is the event at which the District holds workshops and
gives out information to families, as well as free book bags.
Following is the Q&A, and here
is a link to the actual flyer. Feel free to copy and distribute.
The path forward: Q&A
with Lisa Haver
the notebook By Bill
Hangley Jr. on Aug 7, 2014 05:06 PM
Lisa Haver, a retired teacher and a founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia
Public Schools (APPS), is a fixture at School Reform Commission meetings and a
consistent advocate for transparency, adequate funding, and a strong union role
in public education.
“Public schools must continue to be a civic enterprise where
district policies and decisions are formulated in public forums,” says the APPS
mission statement, “not a financial enterprise controlled by corporate
interests."
Haver is convinced that Philadelphia ’s
school leaders need to make common cause with their unionized workforce in
order to gain more leverage in Harrisburg
and City Council.
“Bill Green’s got a built-in organization right there that has
the same interests that the District has,” she says, speaking of the School
Reform Commission chairman. “We have to work together. If you’re not using the
people in the schools, you’re leaving behind a big resource.”
She also believes that school district leaders statewide could
increase their clout through more effective collaboration. We asked Haver to
share her impression of this year’s budget debate, the role of the reform
sector, the state of the union contract, and the path to a stronger statewide
alliance of educators.
This is the final installment in The Notebook's series on
"The path forward."
"Welcome to yet another headache for Pennsylvania
PlanCon backlog strains
school budgets
Freeze on state construction payouts ends, but educators say
the increase isn't enough.
KATHY BOCCELLA, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Thursday, August 7, 2014, 1:08 AM
It's been nearly two years since the new Phoenixville Area
Middle School Chester County public school is missing only one thing: money
that Harrisburg
promised to help defray the cost.
"We show it as a receivable in the belief that at some
point we will get what we are owed by the state," said Stan Johnson, Phoenixville Area School District
“Let me put that $10 million in
perspective,” he said. “They owe us (Penn
Hills SD
TribLive By Patrick
Varine Editor, 412-320-7845
Published: Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014, 9:00 p.m.
The expiration of a moratorium that blocked state funding for new school construction is good news for local leaders with plans for new buildings. State officials also boosted the reimbursement program, known as PlanCon, by $10 million, for 2014-15. Still, Penn Hills School District Business Manager Rick Liberto is not optimistic about the chances of his district being reimbursed for projects, at least for now.
The expiration of a moratorium that blocked state funding for new school construction is good news for local leaders with plans for new buildings. State officials also boosted the reimbursement program, known as PlanCon, by $10 million, for 2014-15. Still, Penn Hills School District Business Manager Rick Liberto is not optimistic about the chances of his district being reimbursed for projects, at least for now.
“Let me put that $10 million in perspective,” he said. “They
owe us $4 million.”
Liberto isn't counting on the increase to the state's $296
million PlanCon budget making much of a dent in the backlog of projects
awaiting reimbursement — including Penn Hills '
two major construction projects.
PlanCon, short for Planning and Construction Workbook, is a set
of forms and procedures used to apply for state reimbursement when districts
build new schools or additions.
The state instituted a moratorium on new projects in 2012. When
the state budget was passed on July 10, the moratorium was lifted and the $10
million added. Meanwhile, Penn Hills still is
awaiting reimbursement for paperwork submitted prior to the moratorium.
"Neither chamber has indicated it will
oblige Corbett's call. House and Senate sessions are scheduled for September
15, too late to help Philadelphia
Corbett's
"ask" lands with a thud
WITF State House Sound Bites by Mary
Wilson, Capitol Bureau Chief | Aug 6, 2014 10:14 PM
Governor Corbett on Wednesday asked state lawmakers to end
their vacation early to address legislation concerning a Philadelphia schools funding gap that
threatens to delay the school year in the state's largest school district. He asked nicely.
"I'm calling for the legislature though to come to Harrisburg before school
starts," Corbett said at a press conference with Philadelphia
Superintendent William Hite at his side. "And I expect them to address
this issue as their first and number one order of business."
The ball is in lawmakers' court. Leaders of the
Republican-controlled House and Senate alone have the power to return to the
Capitol to approve a $2-a-pack cigarette tax to help the Philadelphia school system bridge a
multimillion dollar deficit.
Inquirer Editorial: Reduced
to begging
POSTED: Thursday, August 7, 2014, 1:08 AM
Like most big cities, Philadelphia
has more than its share of panhandlers, some of whom will return your kindness
with a few choice words if they think you're being stingy. Others merely
express their gratitude, even if they need much more.
Apparently Gov. Corbett expects the city School District
Governor Corbett Announces
$21 Million in School Improvement Grants for Nine Schools
Philadelphia Business Journal HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 7,
2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Tom Corbett today
announced that nine public schools will share $21 million in federal
School Improvement Grant funding. "Pennsylvania is
home to thousands of high-quality educators; however there are still too many
schools that have a history of failing to provide students with a quality
education," Corbett said. "Through the federal School Improvement
Grant program, schools have the opportunity to implement innovative educational
initiatives to better meet the needs of their students and improve academic
performance."
The Pennsylvania Department of Education awarded the grants
through a competitive process. Applications were reviewed and scored by a
panel of peer reviewers who then made award recommendations. For a school to be eligible for funding, it
must be among the lowest-achieving schools in Pennsylvaniathat has not
made substantial progress on state assessments, or has a graduation rate of
less than 60 percent for at least two of the last three years.
While 47 schools were eligible to apply, only 20 submitted
applications.
As part of the competitive application process, eligible
schools must adopt and implement one of four reform models developed by the
federal government: Transformation, Turnaround, Restart and School Closure.
Corbett Ceremoniously Signs
Holocaust Education Bill at Philly Federation
Jewish Exponent by Eric Berger AUGUST 6, 2014
In a ceremonial signing of the state's Holocaust and genocide
education legislation on Thursday, advocates of the bill appeared to have
put aside their differences.
Gov. Tom Corbett symbolically signed the legislation — which
had actually been approved and signed at the end of June — at the Jewish
Community Services Building in Center City before state legislators, Holocaust
survivors and World War II veterans, as well as some of the nonprofit leaders
and private citizens who played a significant role in shaping the law. The
event put a neat end to a process that was at times not pretty, even though the
legislation ultimately passed unanimously in both the State House and
Senate.
Saucon Valley teachers, board
trying to reach deal ahead of school start
By Sara K.
Satullo | The Express-Times on August 07, 2014 at 7:46 PM
Saucon
Valley teachers and the
school board are back at the bargaining table trying to hammer out a
deal ahead of the start of the school year.
The two sides are meeting tonight and another session is scheduled for
Monday. Following the bargaining
sessions, Andrew Muir, the attorney representing the teachers, plans to meet
with the Saucon
Valley Education Association to discuss their next steps. Muir
acknowledged one of those steps legally could be a strike but emphasized there
are many other options available.
This Teacher
Asked Her Students to Write to an Author. Kurt Vonnegut Wrote Back This
Twisted Sifter Blog March 14,
2014
In 2006 Ms. Lockwood, an English
teacher at Xavier High School, asked her students to write a letter to a famous
author. She wanted them discuss the author’s work and ask for advice. Kurt
Vonnegut (1922 – 2007) was the only one to write back and his advice is worth
reading. If you can’t make out the text in the image, you can find the letter
transcribed beneath!
"This program started with the
simplest idea in the world-- putting books in the homes of small children. It
began, once again, in her home county, and her proposal was simple-- sign your
newborn child up, and once a month from birth through Kindergarten, the child
will receive a book. …
It makes me wonder-- what if Bill Gates had decided that
rather than rewrite public education, he would spend a gabillion dollars
putting books in the hands of every elementary school student in this country.
What if a raft of corporate sponsors had worked with Scholastic Books to give
every child a good-for-one-book voucher?"
Curmuducation Blog Thursday, August 7, 2014
So you say you'd like a cheerful story for a change. Fine.
Let's talk about Dolly Parton. Really. You
may or may not be a fan of Dolly Parton, Country Icon and Oddly Constructed
Barbie Doll, but if you're not paying attention, you might miss Dolly Parton,
Philanthropist. And not Investment Philanthropist or Disruptive Innovation
Philanthropist. Parton is pretty old school.
Parton came from real poverty, growing up with eleven siblings and a
father who couldn't read or write in the middle of one of the poorest regions
in the country. A tough time for her was not wondering if she dropped out of
college, would her parents be willing to support her long enough to get her
start-up off the ground.
"It’s part of rising national interest
in multigenerational approaches to reduce poverty and improve student
achievement, based on mounting evidence that parents’ and children’s
educational and life trajectories are inextricably linked."
Multigenerational Programs
Aim to Break Poverty Cycle
Dual strategy is attracting interest
By Sarah D.
Sparks Published Online: August 5, 2014
Not much about public education has gone as advertised for
Rebecca Goodman or her family.
The Tulsa , Okla.
"They found that a child's fate is in
many ways fixed at birth — determined by family strength and the parents'
financial status. The kids who got a
better start — because their parents were married and working — ended up better
off. Most of the poor kids from single-parent families stayed poor."
Rich Kid, Poor Kid: For 30
Years, Baltimore
NPR by JUANA SUMMERS
August 07, 2014 3:24 AM ET
Education is historically considered to be the thing that
levels the playing field, capable of lifting up the less advantaged and
improving their chances for success. "Play
by the rules, work hard, apply yourself and do well in school, and that will
open doors for you," is how Karl Alexander, a Johns Hopkins University
sociologist, puts it. But a study
published in June suggests that the things that really make the difference —
between prison and college, success and failure, sometimes even life and death
— are money and family.
Alexander is one of the authors of "The
Long Shadow," which explored this scenario: Take two kids of the same
age who grew up in the same city — maybe even the same neighborhood. What
factors will make the difference for each?
To find the answer, the Hopkins
researchers undertook a massive study. They followed nearly 800 kids in Baltimore — from first
grade until their late-20s.
'Myths & Lies' That
Threaten Our Schools: An Interview With David Berliner & Gene Glass
Education Week Classroom Q&A Blog By Larry
Ferlazzo on July 30, 2014 8:11 PM
This summer, I'll be alternating between publishing thematic
collections of past posts (ones onStudent
Motivation, Implementing
The Common Core, Teaching
Reading & Writing, Parent
Involvement, and Teaching
Social Studies have already been published) and sharing interviews
with authors of recent books I consider important and useful for us educators (Meenoo
Rami was the first, co-authors Carmen
Fariña & Laura Kotch were the second, Warren
Berger was the third, and Annette
Breaux and Todd Whitaker were the fourth). For today's author interview, David C.
Berliner and Gene V. Glass have offered to answer a few questions about their
book, 50 Myths
& Lies That Threaten America's Public Schools.
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE
AUGUST CONGRESSIONAL RECESS: BACKGROUND & TALKING POINTS
Members of Congress return to their hometowns to meet with
constituents locally and on September 8 they return to Washington , D.C.
Read the latest on federal education issues on Capitol
Hill in the NSBAC
August Congressional Recess Talking Points and then contact your
members of Congress during the August recess. You can call your
members’ offices using the Capitol switchboard at 202.224.3121 or use the
National School Boards Association’s legislative action center at
nsba.org/advocacy. Consider becoming a Friend of Public Education to connect
with National School Boards Action Center’s advocacy efforts and stay active
year round.
Save the Date 2014 PAESSP State
Please join us for the 2014 PAESSP State Conference, “PRINCIPAL
EFFECTIVENESS: Leading Schools in a New Age of Accountability,” to be
held October 19-21 at the Sheraton Station Square Hotel, Pittsburgh , Pa.
Featuring Keynote Speakers: Alan November, Michael Fullan &
Dr. Ray Jorgensen
This year’s conference will provided PIL Act 45 hours,
numerous workshops, exhibits, multiple resources and an opportunity to network
with fellow principals from across the state.
Interested in education
policy? CPE has got the internship for you!
The EDifier August 6, 2014
The Center
for Public Education seeks a policy research intern to work
closely with CPE’s senior policy analyst in conducting education policy
research. CPE is a national resource for accurate, timely, and credible
information about public education and its importance to the well-being of our
nation. CPE provides up-to-date research, data, and analysis on current
education issues and explores ways to improve student achievement and engage
public support for public schools. Primary
duties include: Complete a major project such as a research report or
writing a research article for NSBA’s magazine American School Board
Journal. Other responsibilities include summarizing findings of significant
education reports, updating CPE’s previous reports, and attending
briefings/conferences in the Washington ,
DC
TOWN MEETING ON LOCAL CONTROL
OF PHILLY SCHOOLS
THURSDAY, AUGUST 14TH 6:30 P.M. MONUMENTAL BAPTIST CHURCH
Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools Posted
on August 4, 2014by wearepcaps
Forty Thousand Philadelphia
registered voters signed a petition this Spring to put the question of
returning our schools to local control and abolishing the School Reform
Commission on the ballot in the form of a non-binding referendum. But before
this can happen City Council and the Mayor and have to approve. Come to the
town meeting to find out how returning our schools to local control can improve
education and how can bring pressure on our elected officials to let the people
vote on this important question.
Upcoming meetings on Philly
District's school redesign initiative
the notebook By Marilyn Vaccaro on Jul 30, 2014 05:14 PM
The School District is planning a series of meetings and
discussions about its new
school redesign initiative, which was announced last week. Two informational sessions will be held, with
the second on Aug. 12. Those who participate will be able to
learn more about the application process and the specifics of the initiative
itself. Through the initiative,
the District is calling on teams of educators, parents, community groups, and
other outside organizations to propose their own school turnaround plans. Ten
winning design teams will be chosen in October and will receive grants of
$30,000 to support planning costs.
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
PASA-PSBA School Leadership
Conference registration forms now available online
PSBA Website
PSBA Website
Make plans today to attend the most talked about education conference
of the year. This year's PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference promises to be
one of the best with new ideas, innovations, networking opportunities and
dynamic speakers. More details are being added every day. Online
registration will be available in the next few weeks. If you just can't
wait, registration forms are available online now. Other
important links are available with more details on:
·
Hotel registration (reservation deadline extended
to Sept. 26)
·
Educational Publications Contest (deadline Aug.
6)
·
Student Celebration Showcase (deadline Sept. 19)
·
Poster and Essay Contest (deadline Sept. 19)
Slate of candidates for PSBA
offices now available online -- bios/videos now live
PSBA Website August 5, 2014
PSBA Website August 5, 2014
The slate of candidates for 2015 PSBA officer and at-large
representatives is now available online. Photos, bios and videos also have been
posted for each candidate. According to recent PSBA Bylaws changes, each
member school entity casts one vote per office. Voting will again take place
online through a secure, third-party website -- Simply Voting. Voting will
openSept. 9 and closes Oct. 6. One person from the school entity
(usually the board secretary) is authorized to cast the vote on behalf of the
member school entity and each board will need to put on its agenda discussion
and voting at one of its meetings in September. Each person authorized to
cast the school entity's votes will be receiving an email in the coming weeks
to verify the email address and confirm they are the person to cast the vote on
behalf of their school entity.
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