Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
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administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's
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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for
December 18, 2014:
Everything you ever wanted to
know about PA education funding/school finance but were afraid to ask
Basic Education Funding
Commission School Finance Briefing
By Jim Buckheit, Executive Director, PA
Association of School Administrators and Jay Himes, Executive Director, PA
Association of School Business Officials August 20, 2014
Aljazeera by Peter Moskowitz @ptrmsk
December 15, 2014
York, Pennsylvania, could become the second school district in
the country to offer only charter schools to the area’s residents if a court
ruling likely to come this week turns over control of public
schools to the state. In what appears to
be a last-ditch effort to carry out a two-year-old plan to turn all of York’s
schools over to for-profit charter corporation Charter Schools USA,
Pennsylvania’s Department of Education filed a petition in a York County court
earlier this month to take away almost all local control from the school board,
and put the district in the “receivership” of state-appointed York education
official David Meckley.
Meckley, a local businessman who once served on the board of a
nearby school district, was appointed in 2012 to oversee York’s financially
beleaguered school system under a 2012 law that allowed the state to appoint
“recovery officers” for any school districts with significant debt. His plan for York [PDF] involves a slew of
concessions from the district, from teacher layoffs to extracurricular
cutbacks. But the most controversial part is the handing over of the entire
operation of the district to Charter Schools USA.
l
An Urban Myth? New
Evidence on Equity, Adequacy, and the Efficiency of Educational Resources in
Pennsylvania
Center for Policy Research in Education November 2014
Authors: Matthew P. Steinberg, Rand Quinn
How and in what ways money matters in education is a
long-standing question among policymakers and education researchers. This issue
is particularly salient to large, urban school districts, where debates on the
organization of school often gravitate toward issues of financial resources and
academic performance. Large urban districts, the story goes, spend more money
per pupil but generate lower than expected results. In this policy brief,
University of Pennsylvania researchers Matthew P. Steinberg and Rand Quinn
present evidence that addresses the oft-told story that large urban districts,
such as the School District of Philadelphia (SDP), are inefficient.
Letter to the Editor: Pa.
Delco Times LTE by William H. Kerr POSTED: 12/17/14, 10:35
PM EST |
WILLIAM H. KERR, Ed.D,
Superintendent of Schools, Norwin School District, North Huntington, PA
To the Times:
The effectiveness of public education – the cornerstone of our
democracy – is essential to graduating productive and responsible citizens in a
knowledge and technology-based economy.
Pennsylvania is one of only three states without a consistently
applied school funding formula, which creates unfairness for students and
disparities among school districts across the state.
State officials must find an equitable method to distribute
state funds for public education so that all students can be better served and
have access to high-quality educational programs and services. Recently, more than 850 educators across
Pennsylvania met via video conference at 29 locations on the same night to
discuss the need for a fair public school funding formula. Discussions focused
on how the Pennsylvania legislature, each budget year, determines the amount
and method of Basic Education Funding by using inconsistent criteria and
multiple factors. The last true school funding formula, eliminated in 2011,
calculated state aid based on a district’s actual costs. This created a more
level playing field and provided a state commitment to the total cost of
educating our students.
Politically Uncorrected:
2015: Challenge Amid Change in the Keystone
State
PoliticsPA Written by
G. Terry Madonna and Michael L. Young December 17, 2014
In 2014, Pennsylvania selected
a new governor, rejected an old governor, and voted decisively to be indecisive
about which party should control state government – overwhelmingly handing the
executive branch to Democrats while just as overwhelmingly turning the
legislature over to Republicans – thus installing divided government in the Keystone State
Approaching 2015, five unfolding political themes deeply rooted
in 2014 seem likely to dominate state politics in the New Year.
Wolf presents dire financial
picture for Pennsylvania
WHYY Newsworks gannBY HOLLY OTTERBEIN DECEMBER 17, 2014
Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Wolf is continuing to sound the
alarm about the state's fiscal woes.
At a press conference in Philadelphia, Wolf said the state is
facing a budget gap that could be more than $2 billion. He is not saying how he
plans to close the gap. Wolf said he wants to first determine the exact size of
the problem, and then work with the legislature to come up with solutions. "We need to think about solutions on the
spending side. We need to think about solutions on the revenue side," he
said. "Just hoping for growth doesn't seem to be enough."
state budget: Analysts see growth ahead for Pennsylvania
The projected nearly $2 billion budget deficit Pennsylvania lawmakers and Gov.-elect Tom Wolf are facing
next year is just the start of what's to come, according to two Harrisburg thinktanks.
At current revenue levels and while maintaining the same level
of services, the $1.9 billion budget deficit will balloon to $2.2 billion come
2016, said Mike Wood, research director with the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy
Center, citing data from the state's Independent Fiscal Office.
"And that gap grows every year as revenues fail to keep up
with expenditures," he said.
By 2017, the gap is projected to grow to $2.5 billion; by 2019,
it'll hit $2.7 billion, the data shows.
Wood was part of a trio of experts from the nonpartisan budget
and policy center and the Keystone Research Center
who gave their outlooks on the state of the state's finances during a
presentation in Harrisburg
on Tuesday.
Clarece Polke / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette December 18, 2014 12:00
AM
Pittsburgh Public Schools’ board of directors unanimously
approved a final budget Wednesday night of $556.8 million for 2015. The approved budget has a 5 percent increase
of about $27 million but holds the line on the property tax rate of 9.84 mills.
One mill equals a tax of $1 for each $1,000 of assessed property value. The
board also unanimously voted to levy realty transfer and earned income taxes,
all of which remained the same from this year.
Pittsburgh students deliver
wish list to school board. There’s one item on it.
Actress Kerry Washington spends an
afternoon with the Savoy Players, dancers comprised of boys and girls at at
Savoy Elementary School in Washington, DC on January 22, 2013. Washington was
part of a “Turnaround Arts Initiative” to improve low-performing schools by
emphasizing the arts. (Photo by Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
Some unusual speakers appeared at the final Pittsburgh school board meeting of the year —
students, and they were asking for something. Arts education. In the following
post, Jessie B.
Ramey, a parent of two children in Pittsburgh
public schools and a historian of working families, gender, race and U.S. social policy who teaches women’s studies
and history at the University
of Pittsburgh
Delco Times Heron's Nest Blog by Editor Phil Heron Thursday,
December 18, 2014
There is nothing wrong with the Chester Upland
School District
That's the word from the man who should know. Joe Watkins is
the embattled state-appointed receiver of the struggling district. He managed
to survive an attempt by his boss at the state Department of Education to boot
him from his job. But he's not out of the woods yet. Neither is the district. Chester Upland continues to face fiscal
calamity, staring at a $20 million deficit. Watkins says that shortfall could
be wiped out if the state went back to disbursing money as it did after a
costing-out study done in 2011 that delivered more state aid to those districts
in the greatest need. He's hopeful that
a new administration taking over in Harrisburg
- namely Democratic Gov.-elect Tom Wolf - will restore the Act 88 funds nixed
by the Corbett Administration. In the
meantime, he maintains the district is making progress, both in luring students
back to the public schools from charters, in maintaining a safe atmosphere, and
increasing test scores.
Missed Chester
Upland
Delco Times Video POSTED: 12/17/14, 9:54 AM EST
Chester Upland School District receiver Joe Watkins stood his
ground and refused to be pulled away by the state powers. Watkins and Chester Upland Superintendent
Gregory Shannon made a visit to Live from the Newsroom Wednesday night to talk
about the district and the improvements that have and will be made.
By Sara K.
Satullo | The Express-Times on December 17, 2014 at 8:06 PM
Saucon
Valley teachers say their prior negotiating team submitted a contract
proposal that was unacceptable to the majority of its union members. Officials with the education association and
theschool
district spent their second day in Harrisburg on Wednesday before Pennsylvania
Labor Relations Board Hearing Examiner Jack Marino. A November
hearing before Marino on the district's unfair labor practice charge had been
continued until this week.
Coatesville school board
approves release of internal investigation
By Kristina Scala, Daily Local News POSTED: 12/17/14,
2:44 PM EST
Caln >> The Coatesville Area School Board Tuesday night
unanimously approved releasing contents of an internal investigation containing
additional details connected to the Chester County District Attorney’s criminal
probe of two former school district administrators.
After a lengthy executive session Tuesday night, the board made
an unexpected approval to release the contents of the report, performed by the
school district’s special legal counsel Conrad O’Brien, following sufficient
redaction. “I am extremely pleased that
our Board has voted to do this as I believe it is an important step in our
process to move forward from the scandal that has caused so much havoc in our
school district,” school district superintendent Cathy Taschner said in a
message to parents Tuesday night.
Moody’s upgrades Haverford School District
Delco Times By Lois
Puglionesi, Times Correspondent POSTED: 12/17/14, 8:50 PM EST
HAVERFORD >> Moody’s last week upgraded the school
district’s bond rating from A1 to Aa3.
The upgrade reflects the district’s “improved financial
position following several years of growth in fund balance and cash reserves,
and also takes into account the district’s stable and affluent tax base, and
above-average but manageable debt burden,” according to a Rating Action notice.
Moody’s had downgraded the rating from Aa2 to A1 in 2012 after
the fund balance hit a low of $97,000. School
directors recently approved a parameters resolution authorizing the refinancing
of outstanding School Revenue Bonds, Series of 2006, and General Obligation
Bonds, Series AA of 2010. Financial adviser Jamie Schlessinger estimated the
district would see a net savings of about $1 million, or 6 percent, over the
next few years, with $400,000 less in interest costs this year.
Restorative Practices: An
Alternative To Suspension And Expulsion: 'Circle Up!'
NPR by ERIC WESTERVELT DECEMBER 17, 2014 3:42 AM ET
One by one, in a room just off the gym floor at Edna Brewer Middle School in Oakland , Calif.
This school and the Oakland
Unified School
District
"By eliminating funding for Race to
the Top and adding a little bit of extra funding to each of the huge civil
rights formula programs, Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA), Congress made a statement, though its action is symbolic
rather than substantive."
Congress Deletes ‘Race to the
Top’ Competition
Jan Resseger's Blog Posted on December 17, 2014 by janresseger
As you know, over last weekend Congress passed an omnibus
appropriations bill to get us through the fiscal year to the end of next
September. This was all very theatrical as the ideologues postured and
threatened to stop the government. Despite the atmosphere of crisis,
however, a bill was passed, and if you look at how the money was appropriated
in particular areas, it is possible to observe some trends. Let’s look
at the
federal appropriations for public education as an example. Remember that the federal investment in
education is relatively small at $70.5 billion. While federal policy
affects what happens in public schools across the states, the federal
government isn’t really a big financial player in education. According to the New
America Foundation, “States and local governments typically provide about
44 percent each of all elementary and secondary education funding. The federal
government contributes about 12 percent of all direct expenditures.” But spending trends in federal policy set an
important direction, and in its spending bill for Fiscal Year 2015 (October
2014–end of September 2015) Congress did not appropriate any money for the
competitive Race to the Top program. Another competitive grant program,
Investing in Innovation, was cut by $21.6 million. School Improvement Grants,
the other big competition for money for so called “failing” schools did
survive, though the entire program is flat-funded at $506 million.
New
York City Teachers Score Highly Under New Evaluation System
New York Times By KATE TAYLOR DEC. 16, 2014
Nine out of 10 New York City teachers received one of the top
two rankings in the first year of a new evaluation system that was hailed as a
better way of assessing how they perform, according to figures released on Tuesday. The system, enacted into state law in 2010,
was created, in part, to make it easier to identify which teachers performed
the best so their methods could be replicated, and which performed the worst,
so they could be fired. Although very few teachers in the city were deemed not
to be up to standards, state officials and education experts said the city
appeared to be doing a better job of evaluating its teachers than the rest of
New York State.
In the city, only 9 percent of teachers received the highest
rating, “highly effective,” compared with 58 percent in the rest of the state.
Seven percent of teachers in the city received the second-lowest rating —
“developing” — while 1.2 percent received the lowest rating, “ineffective.” In
the rest of the state, the comparable figures were 2 percent and 0.4 percent.
Pillars of Reform Collapsing,
Reformers Contemplate Defeat
Accountability / Bill Gates / Charter
schools / Common Core / Grassroots
Activism / Standardized
tests / Teach For
America
Living In Dialogue Blog By Anthony Cody. December 17, 2014
There is growing evidence that the corporate-sponsored
education reform project is on its last legs. The crazy patchwork of half-assed
solutions on offer for the past decade have one by one failed to deliver, and
one by one they are falling. Can the edifice survive once its pillars of
support have crumbled?
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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