Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
reach more than 3500 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, business leaders, education
professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory agencies,
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These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
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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?
PA Ed Policy Roundup for
September 26, 2014:
"the odds that erasure patterns were
random … were between one in a quadrillion and one in a quintillion. …But the state left the charter to
investigate itself."
KEYSTONE EXAMS: Not Just Another Standardized Test
What You Need to Know
About Pennsylvania’s NEW High School Graduation Requirement
Join the Radnor, Haverford, Chester
County , Lower
Merion & Narberth Leagues of Women Voters October 7 @ 7:00 pm
in Radnor
How to Register to Vote -
Deadline is October 6th
PA Department of State
Once you know you are eligible
to vote, the next step is to register. In Pennsylvania , you can register in person, by
mail and at various government agencies. Below you will find information about
how to register, as well as links to voting registration forms and
applications.
Upcoming PA Basic Education
Funding Commission Meetings*
PA Basic Education Funding
Commission website
Tuesday, September 30, 2014 at
11 AM, Clarion University
Thursday, October 16, 2014 at 10 AM, Perkiomen Valley
Tuesday, October 21, 2014 at 11 AM, Pittsburgh
* meeting times and locations subject to change
Thursday, October 16, 2014 at 10 AM, Perkiomen Valley
Tuesday, October 21, 2014 at 11 AM, Pittsburgh
* meeting times and locations subject to change
"Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign against
incumbent President George H.W. Bush featured the famous line, “It’s the economy,
stupid.” In Pennsylvania
It’s
Education, Stupid
Yinzercation September 26, 2014
Is it any surprise that Governor
Tom Corbett is woefully trailing his opponent, Tom Wolf, in the polls? The
latest numbers released last week show Tom W. ahead of Tom C., 49% to 31%. With
60% of registered voters saying that Pennsylvania
Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign
against incumbent President George H.W. Bush featured the famous line, “It’s
the economy, stupid.” In Pennsylvania
In fact, I said this very thing
last week when I appeared on “Get to the Point,” a PCNC Friday night talk show.
I had the chance to sit across from Bob Bozzuto, the Executive Director of the
Republican Party in Pennsylvania
Philly.com by THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS POSTED: Thursday, September 25, 2014, 6:25 PM
That puts Pennsylvania
in the bottom seven of states rated by Standard and Poor's. Pennsylvania was last at AA minus in 1998.
Two former principals charged
in state cheating investigation
the notebook By David
Limm on Sep 25, 2014 03:09 PM
Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has filed criminal
charges against two more former Philadelphia
principals. Barbara McCreery, 61, former
principal of Communications Technology High School, and Arthur
"Larry" Melton, 70, former principal of Bok Technical High School,
were arrested Thursday as part of the state's ongoing probe into adult cheating
on standardized tests.
They were taken into custody and charged with crimes of
"tampering with public records or information, forgery, and tampering with
records or identification," according the attorney general's office. A grand jury presentment said that Melton admitted to
making an answer key and to personally changing students' answers on test
sheets as early as 2008 or 2009. In an interview with investigators, Melton had
cited an "intense" pressure on principals from the District with
respect to PSSA test performance.
2 more Philly educators
charged in cheating probe
KRISTEN A. GRAHAM, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER AST UPDATED: Thursday, September 25,
2014, 4:50 PM POSTED: Thursday, September 25, 2014, 10:45 AM
Two more principals have been snared in a Philadelphia School
District
Barbara McCreery and Arthur "Larry" Melton, the
former leaders of now-closed Communications Tech and Bok
High Schools , are the latest to be
arrested in an ongoing grand jury investigation into widespread cheating in Philadelphia and other
parts of the state.
Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane's office said that McCreery,
61, of Philadelphia and Melton, 70, of Cherry Hill , were both charged with three counts of
tampering with records and forgery.
A state grand jury recommended the charges after the
Pennsylvania Department of Education referred the case. The principals will be
prosecuted in Philadelphia .
As additional Philadelphia
"In Pennsylvania
NYT July 2011: Pa.
New York Times By MICHAEL WINERIP Published: July
31, 2011
People trust Ms. Mezzacappa to get it right. After the panel
discussion, an executive for a testing security company suggested she ask state
officials if they had done a study flagging schools with suspicious numbers of
erasures on state tests. In May, the state responded, sending Ms. Mezzacappa a
file so large she needed technical assistance to download it.
"A state forensic analysis found that
the odds that erasure patterns were random on the reading portion of Chester Community Charter
School
Citypaper July 2013: How Pennsylvania
Tainted scores throw an entire way of running schools into
question.
Citypaper By Daniel
Denvir Published: 07/18/2013
The odds that 11th-graders at Strawberry Mansion
High School
In short, there appeared to be cheating — and it didn’t come as
a total surprise. In 2006, student members of Youth United for Change protested
being forced out of class for test-preparation sessions and won concessions
from the district. In 2010, principal Lois Powell-Mondesire left Strawberry Mansion
the notebook July 2011: Two
of Pa.
by Benjamin Herold for the Notebook/NewsWorks on Jul 21, 2011
12:07 PM
Two of the largest charters in Pennsylvania, Chester Community Charter School (CCCS) and the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School (PA Cyber), are among the 89 schools across the state that are to be investigated for statistical irregularities on 2009 standardized tests.
Two of the largest charters in Pennsylvania, Chester Community Charter School (CCCS) and the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School (PA Cyber), are among the 89 schools across the state that are to be investigated for statistical irregularities on 2009 standardized tests.
In all, 10 Pennsylvania
charters were found to have 2009 test scores warranting further inquiry,
according to a recently revealed state report meant to identify "potential test
results that may have been earned unfairly."
The rest of the 89 schools are spread over 38 school districts.
State Secretary of Education Ronald Tomalis has directed
those districts to conduct investigations in all their traditional
public schools that were heavily flagged in the study. The charters with
unusual results will investigate themselves, according to Pennsylvania
Department of Education (PDE) spokesperson Tim Eller.
"Palmer is a lesson in the dire need
for reforming the charter system in the state. Virtually every attempt at
"charter reform" at the state level has been to grant more
independence to charters, not less, and to expand the numbers of charters
without the proper framework for managing them well. Right now, the district
oversees "bricks and mortar" charters, and the Pennsylvania Department
of Education oversees cyber charters. But the district's thin ranks makes this
oversight problematic. And the PDE's involvement sometimes hinders that
oversight."
DN Editorial: Charter reform, anyone?
DN Editorial: Charter reform, anyone?
Philly Daily News Editorial Friday, September 26, 2014, 3:01 AM
MAYBE the Walter Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter
School should be renamed the "Palmer
Chutzpah Academy
The problem is, the charter under which Palmer is operating
allows it to have only 675 students. The money coming from the school district
is based on that number, not on the higher number.
State official: York City
The York
City School
District
However, Meckley has repeatedly said that plan is not
financially viable without significant wage and benefit concessions from
teachers, support staff and administrators.
Negotiations between the district and the teachers union have
been ongoing for more than a year. As of Thursday, a new collective-bargaining
agreement had not been reached, Meckley said.
Charter conversion: The district's other option —
outlined in the financial recovery plan approved by the school board in June
2013 — would be to convert the district to charter schools through a contract
with an outside provider.
Charter operator Mosaica
Education fields questions in York
Community asked what Mosaica Education would do differently in
schools
York Daily Record By Angie Mason amason@ydr.com @angiemason1
on Twitter UPDATED: 09/25/2014 11:08:08 PM EDT
Representatives of Mosaica Education took questions from a
small crowd Thursday night, including some about what the company would do
differently in York
City
Thursday's meeting was the third in a series of public forums
as the school board considers bringing in a charter operator — either Mosaica
or Charter Schools USA — to run district schools next year. Mike Johnson, who serves on the district's
Community Education Council, asked the officials to be frank about what they've
seen in their visits to York
and what might be different if the company was selected to run schools.
Charter school founder heads
to prison, temporarily
JULIE SHAW, DAILY
NEWS STAFF WRITER SHAWJ@PHILLYNEWS.COM,
215-854-2592
POSTED: Thursday, September 25, 2014, 3:01 AM
'Crushing' school taxes
As Pa.
the notebook By Connie Langland on Sep 25,
2014 12:23 PM
On Duncan Avenue
in Yeadon, owning a modest home means paying several thousand dollars in real
estate taxes. Taxes in the William
Penn School
District Southeastern Pennsylvania .
If Gwenevere Washington and her husband lived in the Marple-Newtown School District Washingtons
own a home in Yeadon, a borough less than 10 miles away, down Darby Creek William
Penn School
District in Delaware
County
The tax bill that arrived in July hit like a hammer. It was
$4,000 for the year, less a $400 discount.
Add to that borough and county taxes, and their total tax tab
tipped well beyond $5,000 a year, on a property that might sell for $150,000. “We’re talking about downsizing. It costs too
much, with these high taxes,” Washington
said. “When you retire, you get less money, and all of our money goes to
taxes.” Despite tax bills a neighbor
calls “crushing,” her school district is struggling for funds.
By Colin McEvoy
| The Express-Times on September 25, 2014 at 9:09 AM,
updated September 25, 2014 at 9:17 AM
Even despite state funding cuts, tax hikes and positions
getting eliminated this budget season, the Lehigh Valley's two largest public
school districts have increased their full-day kindergarten offerings this
year. But they did so by either scaling
back on prekindergarten programs they previously offered, or declining to seek
new pre-K grant money so they could focus on offering more full-day
kindergarten classes.
The Philadelphia School
District
Why the district has a money problem
Education
Next By John Caskey and Mark Kuperberg
Each year, as predictably as
classes end in June, the School
District of Philadelphia Philadelphia Philadelphia
Tom Wolf and PennLive talk
'fair' taxes, shale, schools, and data
Penn Live By Christina
Kauffman | ckauffman@pennlive.com on September 25, 2014 at 5:35 PM
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Wolf left the Jeep at
home and arrived for his Thursday PennLive editorial board meeting in a
staff-accommodating Dodge minivan.
Readers submitted an
overwhelming number of questions to be asked of the wonkish candidate,
more than the hour-long meeting afforded.
"They still haven't done what no state
has really done adequately, which is to set up a review system to keep the
original bargain of charter schools, which was if they weren't outperforming
the public model, they weren't supposed to get their charter renewed."
Bill Clinton Weighs In on Charter School
Education Week Charters and Choice Blog By Arianna
Prothero on September 25, 2014 4:39 PM
Former President Bill Clinton is wading into the charter school
accountability debate, noting at an event earlier this week that charters have
great potential, but the movement isn't totally delivering on its
promises, according to The Huffington Post. Although charter schools can claim many
successes—Clinton pointed specifically to New Orleans—he told a group
of international philanthropists and businesspeople in New York City that states have
failed to set up comprehensive accountability systems. Here's Clinton's exact
quote from the Huffington Post's story: "They still haven't done what no
state has really done adequately, which is to set up a review system to keep
the original bargain of charter schools, which was if they weren't
outperforming the public model, they weren't supposed to get their charter
renewed."
Judges Rule that Washington State School
The Education Law Center
reports on a major ruling in Washington
State
On September 11, 2014, in McCleary v. State, the Washington
Supreme Court held the State in contempt for failing to obey a court order for
a phase-in schedule for fully funding the components of “basic education” by
the 2017-18 school year. The Court ruling was unanimous.
As reported by the Associated Press, Thomas Ahearne, the lead
counsel for the plaintiffs, said Thursday’s order “wipes out all the excuses
that legislators tell themselves as to why they don’t have to do anything. I
think the attorney general is now going to be telling legislators, ‘Guys you
are in a box.'”
Health Issues in Schools:
"Mom I can't find the Nurse"
October 21, 2014 1:00 -- 4:00 P.M.
United Way Building 1709
Benjamin Franklin Parkway , Philadelphia
Tickets: Attorneys $200
General Public $100 Webinar $50
"Pay What You Can" tickets are also
available
Click here to purchase tickets
Click here to purchase tickets
LWV Panel:KEYSTONE EXAMS
Not Just Another Standardized Test Oct 7th Radnor
What You Need to Know About Pennsylvania’s NEW High School Graduation
Requirement
Join the Radnor,
Haverford, Chester County, Lower Merion & Narberth Leagues of Women Voters
October 7 @ 7:00 pm in Radnor
In partnership with your area schools’ Parent
Organizations and supported by your area School Districts
Moderator: Susan Carty, President, League of Women Voters of PA
Panelists Will Include:
Pennsylvania State
Senator, Andy Dinniman
Lower Merion
School District Board of Directors
Member, Lori Actman
Conestoga High
School
Education Lawyer, Josh Kershenbaum, Esq.
Additional Panelists To Be Announced
Panelists Will Include:
Education Lawyer, Josh Kershenbaum, Esq.
Additional Panelists To Be Announced
Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2014 at 7:00 PM Radnor Municipal Building, 301 Iven Ave. ,
Radnor
Questions? Please Call 610-446-8383 or e-mail katederiel@verizon.net
Questions? Please Call 610-446-8383 or e-mail katederiel@verizon.net
What About the Schools? A
Community Forum on the Next Governor's Education Agenda Oct. 15 7:00 pm WHYY
Philly
Pennsylvania's public schools, especially in Philadelphia, are
in dire straits. Many hope that the upcoming gubernatorial election will help
shine a light on the state's education issues. But how will Harrisburg politics
and financial realities limit the next governor’s agenda for education?
Join Research for Action, WHYY, and the United Way of Greater
Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey for an interactive community forum
designed to suggest an education agenda for the next administration—and to
assess the politics of achieving it. Hear
from local educators about what they see as priorities for the schools, and
from seasoned policy practitioners on the political realities of Harrisburg. Then, make your voice heard. Discuss your
thoughts and perspectives with other event guests and interact with the
panelists. You’ll come away from this spirited discussion with a more nuanced
view of the politics of education in both Philadelphia and at the state level.
Admission
This event is FREE and open to the public, but registration is
required.
When
Wednesday, October 15, 2014 from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Doors open at
6:30 p.m.
Where
WHYY, Independence Mall West, 150 N. 6th Street, Philadelphia,
Pa 19106
Contact
Questions? Call 215-351-0511 during regular business hours,
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Save the date: Bob Herbert
book event! Pittsburgh October 9th
Save the date – you don’t want to miss this! We are hosting the
national launch of Bob Herbert’s new book, Losing Our Way: An Intimate
Portrait of a Troubled America
Date: Thursday, October 9, 2014 Time: 5:30 – 6:30PM,
moderated discussion and Q&A.
Doors will open at 5 with student performances. Followed by book signing.
Doors will open at 5 with student performances. Followed by book signing.
Location: McConomy Auditorium,
Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh 15213. Free parking in the garage.
Hosted by: Yinzercation (we are
profiled in the book!)
Moderator: Tony Norman, columnist and
associate editor,Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PUBLIC Education Nation October
11
The Network for Public Education will hold a historic event in one month's time.
The Network for Public Education will hold a historic event in one month's time.
PUBLIC Education Nation will deliver the
conversation the country has been waiting for. Rather than featuring
billionaires and pop singers, this event will be built around intense
conversations featuring leading educators, parents, students and community
activists. We have waited too long for that seat at someone else's table.
This time, the tables are turned, and we are the ones setting the agenda. This event will be livestreamed on the web on
the afternoon of Saturday, October 11, from the auditorium of Brooklyn New
School, a public school. There will be four panels focusing on the most
critical issues we face in our schools. The event will conclude with a
conversation between Diane Ravitch and Jitu Brown.
Please join us for a symposium
on:
“Funding
Pennsylvania's Public Schools: A Look Ahead”
This event is co-sponsored by the
University of Pittsburgh Institute of Politics and the Temple University
Center
When: Friday, October 3, 2014, 8:30 am to 12 pm
Where: Doubletree Hotel Pittsburgh in Green Tree, PA
Session I:
"Forecasting the Fiscal Future of Pennsylvania's Public
Schools"
A panel of legislators and public
officials will respond to a presentation by Penn State Professor William
Hartman and Tim Shrom projecting the fiscal trajectory of Pennsylvania’s 500
school districts over the next five years and by University of Pittsburgh
Professor Maureen McClure discussing the implications for school finance of an
aging tax base.
Session II: "Why Smart
Investments in Public Schools Are Critical to Pennsylvania's Economic
Future"
Following an address by Eva Tansky
Blum, Chairwoman and President of the PNC Foundation, a panel of business
and labor leaders will discuss the importance of public school funding
reform to the competitiveness of regional and state economies.
We look forward to your
participation!
Pennsylvania Arts Education
Network 2014 Arts and Education Symposium
The 2014 Arts and Education Symposium will be
held on Thursday, October 2 at the State Museum
of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, PA. Join us for a daylong convening of
arts education policy leaders and practitioners for lively discussions about
the latest news from the field.
The Symposium registration fee is $45 per person.
To register, click
here or follow the prompts at the bottom of the page. The Symposium will include the following:
Register Now – 2014 PAESSP
State Conference – October 19-21, 2014
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.
PASA-PSBA School Leadership
Conference (Oct. 21-24) 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)
Voting for PSBA officers
and at-large representatives opens Sept. 9
PSBA Website 9/8/2014
The slate of candidates for 2015 PSBA officer and at-large
representatives is available online. Photos, bios and
videos also have been posted for candidates. 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 open Sept. 9 and closes Oct. 6. One person from the school
entity (usually the board secretary) is authorized to register 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 received an email on Aug. 13 and a
test ballot was sent to them on Aug. 28. In addition, a memo from PSBA
President Richard Frerichs will be mailed in the coming days to all board
secretaries and copied to school board presidents and chief school
administrators.
- See more at: http://www.psba.org/news-publications/headlines/details.asp?id=8465#sthash.faopm8Xr.dpuf
January 23rd–25th, 2015 at The Science Leadership
Academy , Philadelphia
EduCon is both a conversation and a conference.
It is an innovation conference where we can come together, both
in person and virtually, to discuss the future of schools. Every session will
be an opportunity to discuss and debate ideas — from the very practical to the
big dreams.
thanks results
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