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The Keystone State Education Coalition is an endorsing member of The Campaign for Fair Education Funding
Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for
December 24, 2014:
Could the Next State
Happy Holidays!
The ABC's of Basic Education Funding in Pennsylvania
The Campaign for Fair Education Funding December 18, 2014 Video Runtime
3:31
The Pennsylvania
"The next ( PA Basic Education Funding
Commission) hearing will be held at the beginning of January in York County
Could the Next State
WESA Pittsburgh
NPR Station By JESSICA NATH
WED DECEMBER 24, 2014
For as long as property taxes have been used to locally funded
schools, there has been a debate over fairness and it might come to head this
year in Pennsylvania . State Senator Matt Smith (D – Allegheny) is
hopeful the 2015-16 budget will incorporate a funding formula for Pennsylvania ’s 500
school districts. He is a member of the
Basic Education Funding Commission, which is tasked with crafting the
formula. Created in June, the 15-member commission has about six months
to go until it must submit a proposal to the legislature. The commission has held several public
hearings throughout the state and has heard from superintendents, parents, and
officials from other states with formulas.
“This isn’t anything definite by any means, but I’m very hopeful that we
can incorporate our work into governor elect (Tom) Wolf’s budget proposal in
March, and we have to do the budget by the end of June,” Smith said. “So I
think we should try as hard as possible to come to a consensus, so it’s part of
the new governor’s budget.”
Keep Up with
the Campaign for Fair Education Funding
The Campaign for Fair Education
Funding is sending out regular email notices about the activities of the Campaign
and ways for supporters to get involved and connect with this growing movement. Please sign-up here to receive those updates, and encourage others -
parents, teachers, students, civic leaders, business owners, etc. - to do the
same.
Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia website December
2014
The petitioners filed their answers to the state’s preliminary
objections in our school funding lawsuit. These objections mostly refer to a
previously tried case. In response to the legislators’ brief, we wrote that
some factual issues raised by that brief are not appropriate for the court to
consider at this time. After the answers
were filed, the court issued a scheduling order for briefing the preliminary
objections. Briefs in support of the respondents’ preliminary objections must
be filed on or before January 16, 2015. Briefs in opposition must be filed on
or before February 17, 2015. Argument will be heard in March 2015.
- See more at: http://www.pilcop.org/school-funding-petitioners-answer-states-preliminary-objections/#sthash.SL4QBxHJ.dpuf
Gov.-elect Tom Wolf: 'I was
elected governor of Pennsylvania
Penn Live By Candy Woodall |
cwoodall@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter
on December 23, 2014 at 11:09 AM, updated December 23, 2014 at 3:33 PM
on December 23, 2014 at 11:09 AM, updated December 23, 2014 at 3:33 PM
With less than a month until he
is officially seated as the state's top executive, Gov.-elect Tom Wolf said he's looking
forward to working with the Legislature.
The Democrat will face a Republican majority in both the state House and
Senate, and isn't deterred by the challenge.
While he's sticking to his campaign platforms, one of
which called for a 5 percent severance tax on oil and gas drilling in the
state, Wolf is willing to negotiate.
After volunteering at Our Daily Bread in York on Tuesday, he responded to comments
made earlier this month by Senate Majority Leader Jake
Corman, who said there would be no severance tax without pension reform. Pension reform will be on the table "if
the Legislature wants it to be. I was elected governor of Pennsylvania , not dictator," Wolf said. "I look forward to sitting down and
having a good conversation with Senator Corman," he added.
New lawmakers bring fresh
eyes to Pa.
Philly.com by MARK SCOLFORO, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS December 20, 2014, 11:30 AM
The newest class of freshmen lawmakers, including three House
members who made it to the Senate, have not had much opportunity to bask in
their recent victories as they spent time picking caucus leaders, setting up
offices and navigating their way around the Capitol. And, oh yeah, figuring out
what to do about that enormous state budget deficit.
Meet the PA
House Republican Representatives-Elect
PA House Republican Caucus
December 2014
"Charter
Schools USA Florida York , Pennsylvania
How Charter Operators Get
Rich
Diane Ravitch's Blog By dianeravitch December 23, 2014 //
As Channel 10 learned
in its investigation, charters profit handsomely by paying outsize rent to
themselves. “When the company helps open
a new school, its development arm, Red Apple Development, acquires land and
constructs a school. Then, CUSA charges the school high rent.
“For example, Winthrop Charter in Riverview may struggle to
balance its budget this year thanks to a $2 million rent payment to CUSA/Red
Apple Development. The payment will equate to approximately 23% of its budget,
even though CUSA CEO Jon Hage has been quoted as saying charter school rent
should not exceed 20%.” The corporation
says that as long as test scores are high and parents are happy, the profits
are no problem.
State school boards association
offers Coatesville more advice
MICHAELLE BOND, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, December 24, 2014, 1:08 AM
POSTED: Tuesday, December 23, 2014, 6:10 PM
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association says it differs with
some of the recommendations a Chester County grand jury gave to the Coatesville Area
School District
Looking back: Which Philly
education stories were most important, most read?
the notebook By Dale
Mezzacappa on Dec 23, 2014 06:36 PM
The Notebook is closed until Jan. 2, and our reporters won't
be posting new stories. But follow our Philly Ed Twitter feed for any breaking
news and join the conversation in our comments.
It is time for our year-end review of the biggest education
news in Philadelphia
in 2014. We looked at the 20 top stories viewed on our site over the course of
the year, as well as other major developments that had an impact on education
in the city. No surprise,
the topics that generated the most interest and news were state education
funding, the District’s perennial budget crisis, the School Reform Commission’s
battle with the teachers’ union, controversy about charter schools, and the
continuing investigation of adult cheating on standardized tests.
By Edward
Sieger | The Express-Times on December 23, 2014 at 6:05 PM
The Allentown
School District is preparing a preliminary budget that includes a host
of variables: charter school costs, increases to healthcare, the health of its
fund balance and state education funding, perhaps the biggest wildcard of them
all. "You have to get out your
crystal ball," said Jack Clark, the district's chief financial officer.
"You don't have a budget from state, we're still negotiating on medical
costs." The Allentown school board last week adopted the
district's proposed preliminary budget, marking its availability for public
review on the district website, allentownsd.org. The board is scheduled to vote
on the preliminary budget in January, so it can be submitted to the
Pennsylvania Department of Education in late January or early February.
Delco Times By Susan
L. Serbin, Times Correspondent POSTED: 12/23/14, 11:09 PM
EST |
CONCORD >> As a result of the second rejection of the
fact-finder’s report by the Garnet Valley Education Association, the teachers’
union leadership and school board negotiating team will go back to the table. The union took a second vote this week,
within the time frame set out in the fact-finding process. Rejection of the
report crafted by appointed fact-finder William Lowe cancels any specifics of
the several dozen recommendations made. The board approved the report at a
special meeting Dec. 10 and was not required to vote again. The union and board have been in negotiations
since January 2014. The teachers’ most recent contract expired June 30, 2014.
The board requested the fact-finding process from the Pennsylvania Labor
Relations Board, which was carried out to the finale of the education
association’s second rejection.
"Even those vaguely aware of him did
not find it perplexing that a Turkish preacher, billionaire, and head of a
multinational media and business empire—a man of immense power in Turkey and sinister repute—had set up shop in Pennsylvania and
become a big
player in the American charter school scene."
Turkey’s Two Thugs
Erdoğan and Gülen are both
dangerous—but only one of them lives in the Poconos.
City Journal by CLAIRE BERLINSKI 23 December 2014
Until recently, I lived in Turkey . It seemed to me then
unfathomable that most Americans did not recognize the name Fethullah Gülen.
Even those vaguely aware of him did not find it perplexing that a Turkish
preacher, billionaire, and head of a multinational media and business empire—a
man of immense power in Turkey
and sinister repute—had set up shop in Pennsylvania and
become a big
player in the American charter school scene. Now that I’ve been out of Turkey a while,
I’ve realized how normal it is that Americans are indifferent to Gülen. America is full
of rich, powerful, and sinister weirdoes. What’s one more?
Feds aim to redistribute
quality teachers
Politico By STEPHANIE SIMON
12/23/14 5:35 AM EST
More than a decade ago, Congress ordered states to figure out a
way to distribute qualified teachers fairly, so low-income and minority
children weren’t so often stuck with inexperienced and unlicensed educators. As it turns out, they’ve done a lousy job.
New data out from the Education Department find
sizable — and in some states, huge — disparities in children’s access to fully
qualified and experienced teachers.
In Pennsylvania, for instance, more than 20 percent of
teachers are unlicensed in the schools with the largest concentration of
minority students. In largely white schools, just 0.2 percent of teachers lack
a license, the data show.
Or consider Louisiana: Nearly 20 percent of classes in the most
impoverished schools are taught by teachers who don’t meet the federal
definition of “highly qualified” — which generally means they lack a bachelor’s
degree, are unlicensed or don’t have a strong academic background in the
subject they’re teaching. In the wealthier schools, fewer than 8 percent of
classes are led by a teacher who’s not highly qualified.
In New York, students in high-poverty schools are nearly three
times more likely to have a rookie teacher and 22 times more likely to have an
unlicensed teacher than their peers in more affluent schools.
“The inequitable distribution of teachers teaching low-income
students is staggering, sobering and getting worse,” said Arnold Fege,
president of Public Advocacy for Kids, an education policy group.
Federal Educator
Equity Profile Pennsylvania 2011–12 Data
This profile compares certain
characteristics of educators in schools with high and low concentrations of
students from low-income families and minority students. These data are the
best available to the Department. In working to ensure that all students have
access to excellent teachers and leaders, states and districts are encouraged
to supplement these data with additional measures of educator quality.
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.
PSBA Master School Board
Director Recognition: Applications begin in January
PSBA website December 23, 2014
The Master School Board Director (MSBD) Recognition is for
individuals who have demonstrated significant contributions as members of their
governance teams. It is one way PSBA salutes your hard work and exceptional
dedication to ethics and standards, student success and achievement,
professional development, community engagement, communications, stewardship of
resources, and advocacy for public education.
School directors who are consistently dedicated to the
aforementioned characteristics should apply or be encouraged to apply by fellow
school directors. The MSBD Recognition demonstrates your commitment to
excellence and serves to encourage best practices by all school directors.
The application will be posted Jan. 15, 2015,
with a deadline to apply of June 30. Recipients will be notified by the MSBD
Recognition Committee by Aug. 31 and will be honored at the PASA-PSBA School
Leadership Conference in October.
If you are interested in learning more about the MSBD
Recognition, contact Janel
Biery, conference/events coordinator, at (800) 932-0588, ext. 3332.
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