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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for December
1, 2014:
Delco Times Editorial: A
clear message on education funding
Upcoming PA Basic Education Funding Commission Public
Hearings
Thursday, December 4, 2014 at 10 AM East Stroudsburg; Carl T. Secor
Administration Bldg., 50 Vine Street, East Stroudsburg Area School District
Wednesday, December 10, 2014, 10 AM - 12:00 PM Lancaster; location TBA
* meeting times and locations subject to change
* meeting times and locations subject to change
Delco Times Editorial: A
clear message on education funding
Delco Times POSTED: 11/30/14, 12:05 AM EST |
If there is one clear message from this year’s race for
governor in Pennsylvania, it’s this: The way the state funds K-12 schools is
neither fair nor adequate. It is the
reason Tom Corbett will be shown the door after just one term as governor. It is the topic that hounded him for four
years. It is the topic that was on the minds of voters in every race in
Delaware County, from William Penn to Garnet Valley. And it was not just Delco.
From the Delaware River to Lake Erie, voters saw class sizes
swelling, school programs being slashed, and teachers getting pink slips, while
school districts imposed painful property tax increases. Education was the main
issue in the race and it cost Corbett his job — all in a year when his party romped
to victories nationwide by running against President Obama and a disappointing
economy.
While the state underfunds schools in general, some districts
suffer a lot worse than others. It is part of the fundamentally unfair,
unbalanced playing field that for too long has substituted for a sound
education funding formula in Pennsylvania.
The key variable driving Pennsylvania ’s
school funding decisions is not what students need to get a good education —
it’s politics. Communities with a friend in the Legislature or governor’s
office do better. Pennsylvania
is one of only three states that has no set formula for sending money to
schools.
Did you catch our weekend postings?
PA Ed Policy Roundup Nov 29: Campaign for Fair
Education Funding draws broad support statewide
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2014/11/pa-ed-policy-roundup-nov-29-campaign.html
ISSUE | PA. SCHOOLS - Study up on funding
Inquirer
Letter to the Editor by William H. Kerr, superintendent, Norwin School
District, North Huntingdon POSTED: Sunday, November 30, 2014, 1:09 AM
Pennsylvania
is one of only three states without a consistently applied school funding
formula, which creates unfairness for students and disparities among school
districts. State officials must find an equitable method to distribute funds so
that all students can have access to a high-quality education. Recently, more than 850 educators met via
video conference at 29 locations to discuss the need for a fair funding
formula. Discussions focused on how the state legislature determines the amount
and method of Basic Education Funding by using inconsistent criteria. The last
true funding formula, eliminated in 2011, calculated aid based on a district's
costs, which created a more level playing field. The newly
appointed Basic Education Funding Commission is working to create a funding
formula that is fair, adequate, and equitable for rural, suburban, and urban
districts - especially addressing Pittsburgh and Philadelphia schools'
long-term needs. A new formula must consider changing school district
demographics, such as population and income. Also, the state must consider
student poverty levels and district size to close the achievement gap for
minority students and low-income students.
State needs to ensure cyber charter schools are up to
task
Cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania scored an average of
48.7 on the 100-point School Performance Profiles, which are primarily based on
student scores on state tests. Traditional public schools across the state got
an average of 76.9, and regular charter schools got an average of 65.1.
Pennsylvania Acting Education Secretary Carolyn Dumaresq has said that schools
should aim for a score of 70 or better. Scores
for the 12 cyber charters that enrolled Lancaster County students last year ranged
from 37.5 at Achievement House Charter School to 66 at 21st Century Cyber
Charter School. Statewide enrollment in
cyber charters increased 5.5 percent between 2012-13 and 2013-14, reaching a
total of about 36,500 students, according to Research for Action, an
independent research organization in Philadelphia.
Cyber charter schools are not making the grade. And it’s a shame, because they could — and
should — be meeting the needs of students for whom traditional schooling isn’t
the best fit.
Gov.-elect Tom Wolf will need to make quick decisions
on budget, personnel, more
Penn Live By Mark Scolforo | The Associated Press on
November 29, 2014 at 3:39 PM
Democrat Tom Wolf had to make high-pressure decisions while
running a business, serving as state revenue secretary and successfully
campaigning for governor. But nothing compares to what awaits him in January
after he is sworn in as Pennsylvania's chief executive.
There won't be much time to break in — the 2015-16 budget
address must be delivered in February or March, and he'll need to find a way to
work with strong Republican majorities in the Legislature to plug yet another
budget deficit projected by the Independent Fiscal Office to be almost $2
billion. Wolf will have to determine a
strategy to fill two vacancies on the Supreme Court, what to make of the
ongoing work of a school funding commission, how to pursue a death penalty
moratorium he has advocated and even whether some of his top aides should be
voting members of the Penn State board. Wolf's
aides say no one should be surprised at his main priorities — Medicaid
expansion, education funding and a tax on natural gas extraction.
Dear Tom Wolf: Advice on
Your New Secretary of Education
Caucus of Working Educators POSTED BY THE CAUCUS BLOG 5SC ON
NOVEMBER 30, 2014
Dear Mr. Wolf,
The members of PFT's Caucus of WE congratulate you on your
election as Governor of Pennsylvania. It was our pleasure to help Get
Out the Vote for your election. We look forward to working with you to
repair the harm done by the current administration in the last four years and
since the economic recession began in 2008.
We hope that you keep a few key criteria in mind when making all of your
political appointments. Diversity in terms of geography, race, gender, religion
and political leanings should be a priority. Your cabinet should look
like Pennsylvania .
Appointees should be Pennsylvanians with a track record of public service
and notable achievements. They should be highly qualified and bold
thinkers. They should be brave enough to advise you from their experience and
conscience. Leaders can only do their best when they surround themselves
with people they respect enough to listen to their dissenting opinions.
PhillyDeals: Report: Pa.
Inquirer by JOSEPH N. DISTEFANO LAST
UPDATED: Sunday, November 30, 2014, 1:09 AM
There are a couple of reasons the pension funds that pay
retired teachers, police, elected officials, and other public servants have
become more expensive for taxpayers - eating up $1 of every $6 in
Philadelphia's city budget, for example.
It's easy to blame the exotic, sometimes politically connected,
investments in unprofitable projects and secretive far-off funds that the
pensions' trustees - many of them political appointments - have too often
approved.
But it's probably more costly that politicians years ago
fattened pension benefits but didn't set aside enough money to pay for them
along the way. And they still don't.
Especially in New Jersey and Pennsylvania . Moody's
Investors Service says in a new report New Jersey kicked in just 28 cents
for every dollar needed to balance spending liabilities with income in 2013.
Cyber Charter school center
to open in January
Scranton Times-Triune BY
SARAH HOFIUS HALL Published: November 29, 2014
Last year, the charter school purchased the former Petco
building on Business Route 6 in Dickson City for $1.3 million. Officials plan
to open the center in January, after workers complete the $1 million face-lift. “It’s going to be something like they’ve
never seen before,” said Reese Flurie, Ed.D., the school’s CEO. The center will not be a typical school or
office, and will have a lobby designed somewhere between a hotel lobby and a
Cabela’s store, he said. “It will be
like a really friendly, warm student union building,” Dr. Flurie said. There will be public areas for group
meetings, space for tutoring and a living room with a fireplace where students
can meet with the teachers — who they usually see only on their computer
screens. Students can also form clubs and meet at the center for activities.
Analyzing enrollment trends in Philly schools – district,
charter and Catholic
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY DECEMBER 1, 2014
Between this school year and last, K-12 enrollment in the
Philadelphia School District fell from roughly 132,000 students to 128,000. District officials could not provide
statistics for students in its alternative schools. In past years, the district
educated roughly 4,000 in these schools.
In the same time, enrollment in the city's brick-and-mortar
charter schools grew from roughly 60,500 to 62,500. About 7,000 Philadelphia children now attend
one of the state's cyber charters.
Over 10 years, district enrollment has declined by roughly
60,000 students, while the charter sector, including cybers, has grown by
roughly 47,000.
"It speaks loudly to the choices that are available within
the city of Philadelphia. The School District of Philadelphia itself has
created many of these choices when it [authorized] charter schools and
renaissance charter schools," said district spokesman Fernando Gallard.
Pittsburgh program pushes black students to take
advanced high school courses
By Clarece Polke / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette November 28, 2014
12:00 AM
Mathew Johnson could barely read or write when he entered
the third grade in public school.
Having started out being homeschooled with his six siblings,
he got every question wrong on a class quiz on his first day at Pittsburgh
Whittier K-5 on Mount Washington. That day was a turning point in his academic
career, he said. "I didn't know
anyone. I didn't know how to do anything,” he said. “I promised myself I would
never fall behind again.” Fast-forward
nine years and Mathew, 17, of Knoxville, is a model of the highly sought-after
students the College Board is championing in a nationwide effort to identify
and enroll more academically capable minority students in Advanced Placement
courses.
Curmuducation Blog by Peter Greene Friday, November 28,
2014
Turns out there is more than one way to reduce the job
requirements for teaching.
Pennsylvania's Department of Education has apparently announced its intention to cut Reading Specialists off at the knees. In an email dated November 5, the department apparently indicatedthat they would add the Reading Specialist Certificate to the Added By Test list. In other words, it will no longer be necessary to go out and do a Master's Degree's worth of college coursework to become a reading specialist. Instead, aspiring reading specialists would just take a test. The Keystone State Reading Association is not delighted. Neither are the colleges and universities that make money by training reading specialists. And neither should the rest of us be. I find the whole concept a little bizarre. I've been an English teacher for 35-ish years and while I know a thing or two about reading, I wouldn't call myself a specialist.
Pennsylvania's Department of Education has apparently announced its intention to cut Reading Specialists off at the knees. In an email dated November 5, the department apparently indicatedthat they would add the Reading Specialist Certificate to the Added By Test list. In other words, it will no longer be necessary to go out and do a Master's Degree's worth of college coursework to become a reading specialist. Instead, aspiring reading specialists would just take a test. The Keystone State Reading Association is not delighted. Neither are the colleges and universities that make money by training reading specialists. And neither should the rest of us be. I find the whole concept a little bizarre. I've been an English teacher for 35-ish years and while I know a thing or two about reading, I wouldn't call myself a specialist.
School districts wade into
legalities with commercial advertisements on websites
Trib Live By Megan
Guza Saturday, Nov. 29, 2014, 9:00 p.m.
Some Western Pennsylvania school districts — and any other governmental bodies that allow commercial advertisements on their websites — could open the door to First Amendment issues if they allow some cause- or organization-based advertisements and not others, legal experts warn.
Some Western Pennsylvania school districts — and any other governmental bodies that allow commercial advertisements on their websites — could open the door to First Amendment issues if they allow some cause- or organization-based advertisements and not others, legal experts warn.
Adoption Connection PA, a Christian adoption agency in Beaver
County, is running ads on dozens of local school district websites through a
company called EDGEclick. A division of Thought Process Enterprises, EDGEclick
specializes in soliciting and placing banner ads on public school websites and
represents nearly 30 school districts in Allegheny, Beaver and Butler counties. While the districts running the advertisement
have had school officials sign off on it, an attorney for the American Civil
Liberties Union said the ad could open the door to legal issues should the
officials choose not to run ads from other nonprofits or groups that represent
a specific cause.
How Public Education Dollars Are Flowing Into
For-Profit Companies
Huffington Post ProPublica By Marian Wang Posted: 10/15/2014
12:11 pm EDT Updated: 10/15/2014 12:59 pm EDT
Versions of this story
were co-published with The Daily Beast, Raleigh News & Observer and
Charlotte Observer.
In late February, the North Carolina chapter of the
Americans for Prosperity Foundation — a group co-founded by the libertarian
billionaire Koch brothers — embarked on what it billed as a statewide tour of
charter schools, a cornerstone of the group's education agenda. The first — and
it turns out, only — stop was Douglass Academy, a new charter school in
downtown Wilmington.
Douglass Academy was an unusual choice. A few weeks before,
the school had been warned by the state about low enrollment. It had just 35
students, roughly half the state's minimum. And a month earlier, a local
newspaper had reported that federal regulators were investigating the school's
operations.
But the school has other attributes that may have appealed
to the Koch group. The school's founder, a politically active North Carolina
businessman named Baker Mitchell, shares the Kochs' free-market ideals. His model for success embraces decreased
government regulation, increased privatization and, if all goes well, healthy
corporate profits.
In that regard, Mitchell, 74, appears to be thriving. Every
year, millions of public education dollars flow through Mitchell's chain of
four nonprofit charter schools to for-profit companies he controls.
Discipline, Disabilities,
School to Prison, Disproportionality
Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia
Saturday, December 13, 2014 from 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM
United Way Building 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway,
Philadelphia, 19103
Presenters include Sonja Kerr; Howard Jordan, ACLU; Dr.
Karolyn Tyson; Michael Raffaele, Frankel & Kershenbaum, LLC
This session is designed to assist participants to
understand the specifics of the federal IDEA disciplinary protections, 20
U.S.C. §1415(k) as they apply to children with disabilities. Topics will
include functional behavioral assessment, development of positive behavioral
support programs for children with disabilities, manifestation reviews and
avoiding juvenile court involvement.
Questions? Email cbenton@pilcop.org or call
267.546.1317.
Info and Registration: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/discipline-disabilities-school-to-prison-disproportionality-tickets-12930883621
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.
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