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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for December
4, 2014:
Statewide Coverage
- "Reality Check" looms for PA Budget
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
Curmuducation Blog by Peter Greene Sunday, November 23,
2014
Why do we have these policies that don't make sense? Why does
it seem like this system is set up to make schools fail? Why do states pass
these laws that discourage people from becoming teachers? My friends, colleagues and family ask these
kinds of questions all the time. So my goal today is to step back and try to
fit the pieces into the larger picture. If you have been paying attention, you
already know this stuff, but perhaps this post will help someone you know who's
trying to make sense of reformsterdom. Here, then, is my attempt to show the
big picture.
"The school district is staring at a
deficit believed to be in the vicinity of $20 million. And Watkins sees a
familiar stumbling block standing in the path of putting the district on a
sound financial course. It continues to bleed money – and students – to charter
schools.
The one-time charter advocate now finds
himself in the position of falling on his sword, telling Corbett that their
friends in the charter business are slowly strangling Chester
Upland
Delco Times Editorial: No end
to problems in Chester Upland
POSTED: 12/03/14, 10:57 PM EST |
Joe Watkins can probably cancel that China trip.
The head of the perennially struggling Chester
Upland School
District raised a lot of eyebrows recently when he announced
plans to visit the Far East and meet with a
Chinese educator and businessman about a possible partnership he hoped would
result in as much as $1 billion flowing back into the troubled district.
Instead this morning he will be in a courtroom in Media trying
to hold on to his $144,000-dollar-a-year job as receiver in Chester Upland.
Oddly enough, the outspoken Republican finds himself in this
position not because of Democratic or community opposition, but because the
outgoing Republican governor, the man who put him in charge just two years ago,
has decided to pull the rug out from under him.
Tom Corbett and Watkins seemed to be a perfect match. Both were
Republicans who were vocal boosters of charter schools as an alternative in
areas where public schools were failing.
That certainly describes Chester Upland, where more than half
of students are now enrolled in charter schools, a factor that plays a big part
in the district’s constant budget problems.
But just two years later, Corbett’s acting education secretary,
Carolyn Dumaresq, filed a petition in court seeking to oust Watkins and replace
him with another former state education secretary, Francis Barnes.
Wolf: Corbett should 'hold
off' on York City
ERIN JAMES / The York Dispatch 505-5439 / @ydcity 12/03/2014 05:15:39 PM EST
At a press conference Wednesday, Gov.-elect Tom Wolf said he
sees no need for Gov. Tom Corbett's administration to pursue receivership of
the district when Corbett's time in office will expire in a few weeks. "I would just ask him and his
administration to hold off and let me make these decisions," Wolf said. Wolf will take office Jan. 20.
"Between now and then, the governor's going to be in a
position to do a lot of things," Wolf said. "There will be some
emergency things that have to be done. I get that. This is not one of
them."
Wolf likely to make severance
tax an early priority
By Michael Sanserino / Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette December 4, 2014 12:00 AM
But he should find support for one of his biggest campaign
pledges — to impose a severance tax on natural gas extracted from the Marcellus
Shale. And it’s growing more likely that
the tax proposal will top his legislative agenda at the start of his term, according
to a panel of politicians and pundits that met Wednesday in Harrisburg .
Speaking at Pennsylvania
environmental advocacy nonprofit PennFuture’s post-election forum at the Civic
Club of Harrisburg, state Rep. Kate Harper, a Montgomery County Republican,
said there appears to be enough public support to impose a severance tax. “Since 2008, we’ve been living on fumes, so I
think most people know we need more money,” Ms. Harper said. “And most people
would rather we get that money from the shale industry than their own pockets.” She said she believes there is a mandate for
a severance tax in Pennsylvania . That sentiment mirrors polling figures
collected by Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public
Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College
By Wallace McKelvey
| WMckelvey@pennlive.com on December 03, 2014 at 5:18 PM,
updated December 03, 2014 at 5:32 PM
Readers were awash in data and opinion about Pennsylvania 's looming $1.9
billion deficit on Wednesday as politicians placed blame in a
series of press conferences. Reporters
raced from one end of the Capitol, where Budget Secretary Charles Zogby
presented his annual mid-year budget
briefing, to the other, where Senate Democrats presented their
response. Amid a flurry of a press releases, Gov.-elect Tom Wolf joined
in the chorus with his own event in downtown York. With so much information to sort through,
what does it all mean and why does it matter?
Gov.-elect Wolf, outgoing
Gov. Corbett spar over $2B deficit
By Steve Esack,Call Harrisburg
Bureau December 3, 2014
While the deficit is high, Zogby said, it is nothing compared
to the $4.2 billion deficit Corbett faced when he took office in 2011, and the
continued financial pressures each subsequent year.
"The reality is, the dynamic the new governor will walk
into is no different than the dynamic facing this governor in each of the last
four years," Zogby said at a news conference in the state Capitol.
"Baloney," Wolf said later. The deficit was caused by Corbett's
"failed ideology" over four years and "an orgy of one-time
[revenue] fixes" in the 2014-15 budget, Wolf said.
State budget chief Zogby says
officials face tough choices next year
By Karen Langley / Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau December 3, 2014 1:04 PM
“It's a debate that needs to occur, frankly, because we're in
an environment where we've hit the wall in terms of what people in this
building are willing to cut," Budget Secretary Charles Zogby said during a
mid-year budget briefing. “You can't say no to pension reform, no to LCB
reform, no to everything else and no to taxes and balance the budget. It's just
not going to work.”
The state's Independent Fiscal Office has projected that Pennsylvania faces a
budget shortfall of $1.85 billion in the next fiscal year, in part because of
one-time measures used to balance the current year's spending plan.
Official: 'Reality check'
looms for Pa.
ANGELA COULOUMBIS, INQUIRER HARRISBURG
BUREAU LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, December 3, 2014, 2:58 PM POSTED: Wednesday,
December 3, 2014, 10:52 AM
"We've hit the wall in terms of what people in this
building are willing to cut," Secretary Charles Zogby said during his
mid-year briefing in the Capitol. ".Folks are in for a reality
check."
Zogby's message continues the dour fiscal drumbeat that state
officials have pounded for weeks.
Gov.-elect Tom Wolf: State's
fiscal situation 'unacceptable' and worse than one Gov. Tom Corbett inherited
By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com on December 03, 2014 at 3:02 PM,
pdated December 03, 2014 at 4:29 PM
As Gov.-elect Tom Wolf and his advisers try to get his arms
around the budget hole that the state faces, what he sees so far is
"unacceptable."
The state budget is built on many one-time fixes. Its expenditures
outstrip its revenues. It is facing a budget deficit that may or may not be
larger than the $1.9 billion figure that has been suggested by
others. "It is not acceptable
simply because it doesn't work mathematically," Wolf said. "The commonwealth of Pennsylvania
At a Wednesday news conference at the Yorktowne Hotel on the
state's fiscal situation, Wolf emphasized that he is not prepared yet to say
specifically how he plans to address the budget challenges beyond what he said
he would do during his campaign.
Wolf isn't ready to say how
he'd fix budget mess
Philly.com by PETER JACKSON, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS POSTED: Wednesday, December 3, 2014, 6:03
PM
YORK, Pa. (AP) - The Corbett administration's budget chief on
Wednesday defended the use of one-time stopgaps to offset $2 billion in
Pennsylvania state spending in the current year, saying they helped avert
higher taxes, while Gov.-elect Tom Wolf called it "unacceptable" and
said he is still not convinced officials know the depth of next year's deficit.
Budget Secretary Charles Zogby's annual midyear analysis of
state finances prompted a critical response from the incoming Democratic
governor at his first news conference since he ousted Republican incumbent Tom
Corbett in the Nov. 4 election.
Budget tussle the latest in a
messy transition
WITF State House Sound Bites Written by Mary
Wilson, Capitol Bureau Chief | Dec 3, 2014 6:21 PM
A mid-year progress report on the state's budget outlook is
giving the outgoing Governor Corbett and incoming Governor-elect Tom Wolf a
chance to put each other on notice, becoming the latest chapter in what's
becoming a rocky gubernatorial transition.
With his legally-mandated mid-year budget report Wednesday, Budget
Secretary Charles Zogby confirmed what independent agencies have said for
months: next year's budget situation will be tough, due to rising mandated
costs, weak revenues, and the amount of one-time funding sources used to
balance this year's spending plan. "It's
sort of like Groundhog Day in these budget presentations, for me -- it's the
same old story of growth and mandated cost," said Zogby. As he spoke,
Senate Democrats stood at the ready to denounce the Corbett administration's
budget legacy, and Wolf's staff prepared for a press conference later that
afternoon on the sorry state of the budget.
The bare cash reserves and the nearly $2 billion "planning
deficit" for the next fiscal year should come as no surprise, Zogby said. "There's this sort of shock that there's
gaming at the casino attitude out there," said Zogby. A few hours later, Wolf addressed reporters,
underscoring the state's dismal financial picture and Governor Corbett's role
in it.
Trib Live By Brad
Bumsted Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, 11:24 a.m.
HARRISBURG — Despite positive signs in the economy, Pennsylvania faces a potential budget gap of $2 billion next year because of short-term budget fixes, the state budget secretary said Wednesday. Charles Zogby, fiscal chief for Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, said challenges awaiting the new governor and legislature next month include continued growth in public pension costs and mandated spending in human services benefits. Lawmakers have “hit a wall,” in terms of spending cuts, Zogby said, and a discussion of new revenue would be appropriate — short of major reforms to curb public pension costs and selling the state stores. “Folks are in for a reality check,” he said. Democrats pummeled Zogby, and his boss, within minutes of the end his budget briefing.
HARRISBURG — Despite positive signs in the economy, Pennsylvania faces a potential budget gap of $2 billion next year because of short-term budget fixes, the state budget secretary said Wednesday. Charles Zogby, fiscal chief for Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, said challenges awaiting the new governor and legislature next month include continued growth in public pension costs and mandated spending in human services benefits. Lawmakers have “hit a wall,” in terms of spending cuts, Zogby said, and a discussion of new revenue would be appropriate — short of major reforms to curb public pension costs and selling the state stores. “Folks are in for a reality check,” he said. Democrats pummeled Zogby, and his boss, within minutes of the end his budget briefing.
Eight things to know about an
expected $2 billion deficit for the Pa.
Wolf says he is
inheriting a big problem
By Ed Mahon emahon@ydr.com @edmahonreporter
on Twitter UPDATED: 12/03/2014 11:40:08 PM EST
Democratic Gov.-elect Tom Wolf said on Wednesday that he wants
people to have a sense of how serious the state budget problems are — and to
know that he didn't cause them.
"I want to make sure that we're all in agreement that I am
inheriting a big problem here," Wolf said during a news conference at The
Yorktowne Hotel. Wolf was joined by Josh
Shapiro, a Montgomery
County York
County
Wolf painted a bleak budget picture, saying that one-time
funding sources, slow economic growth and a "failed ideology" will
cause a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall for the 2015-16 fiscal year.
Wolf said an "orgy of one-time fixes" has created
problems for the state.
Shapiro said Wolf's task force wants to challenge assumptions
in the last budget under Republican Gov. Tom Corbett to "get to the root
cause of the problem and really understand the full scope of the hole." Shapiro said it was too soon to say what the
solutions are.
The Wolf news conference came hours after state Budget
Secretary Charles Zogby, a Corbett appointee, gave a mid-year budget briefing,
in which he said the state is facing an about $2 billion planning deficit for
the 2015-16 budget. Zogby said that
shouldn't be a surprise to Wolf or anyone else. He said the state has faced
mandated cost increases "that, in each and every year, have outstripped
available revenues."
Here are eight things to know about the briefing, the news
conference and the budget:
Budget gap exposes transition
tensions
The exchanges came at the midway point of the 2014-15 fiscal
year and seven weeks before Mr. Wolf takes office Jan. 20 to succeed Republican
Gov. Tom Corbett, who lost his re-election bid.
Mr. Wolf said he is trying to determine if the deficit will
actually be larger than the $1.85 billion revenue shortfall projected for the
next fiscal year by the state Independent Fiscal Office. He said this
assessment is needed before he can offer detailed fiscal solutions beyond his
call during the campaign for a state severance tax on natural gas production.
“I’m inheriting a big problem here,” said Mr. Wolf, who will
unveil his budget proposal in March. “I want to make sure I understand the
magnitude of the problem.” Mr. Wolf said
he thought Mr. Corbett’s statements about having a $4 billion budget deficit
when he took office in 2011 are “baloney.”
“Folks are in for a reality check,” said Corbett Budget Secretary
Charles Zogby at a mid-year budget briefing.
He said it won’t be possible to balance future state budgets by saying
no to reducing public pension costs, privatizing the state liquor stores and
hiking taxes.
Mandated costs are outstripping revenue growth, said Mr. Zogby. Mr. Wolf said the way to grow revenue is
through policies that encourage economic growth. “We have not done this,” he added.
Both Mr. Wolf and Mr. Zogby zeroed in on the use of an
estimated $2 billion in one-time revenue sources that won’t be replenished to
balance the current $29 billion budget. This was a factor in the decision by
Moody’s, the New York-based credit ratings agency, last July to put a lower
rating on Pennsylvania ’s
debt.
G. Terry Madonna: Tom Wolf
will have tough first year
To push ambitious
agenda will make for difficult first year
York Daily Record By
Flint McColgan fmccolgan@ydr.com @flintmccolgan on Twitter
UPDATED: 12/03/2014 10:50:32 AM EST
On Nov. 4, Pennsylvania
voters made history and sent two distinct messages for what they want from
their state government, according to a noted political expert. G. Terry Madonna, professor of public affairs
and director of the Franklin and Marshall
College Poll, spoke to a packed crowd in the Mirror Room of the Yorktowne Hotel
in York Tuesday
during lunch. While Pennsylvanians went
along with the national wave of electing Republicans to legislative positions,
they made history by replacing incumbent Republican Gov. Tom Corbett with
Gov.-elect Tom Wolf, a Democrat. Those are the two messages. Every incumbent governor has won a second
term since the state constitution was changed to
Heads up! Your Legislature's
'in session' again
JOHN BAER, DAILY
NEWS POLITICAL COLUMNIST Wednesday, December 3, 2014, 3:01 AM
PSST . . . Want a little fun fact about your Legislature?
Get this: The 2015-16 legislative session is underway.
Yep, started Monday. State Constitution says so.
And even though lawmakers aren't sworn in and won't be until
Jan. 6, they're already drawing pay - 'cause that's just how they roll. All 253 House and Senate members, including
those newly elected last month, get paid the first of the month, including the
first of this month.
Put another way, the nation's largest full-time legislature,
legally in session but not actually in session, gets a payday in time for the
holidays more than a month before being sworn in to office.
Pretty sweet, no? Oh,
and that first check includes the annual automatic raise provided by taxpayers
who pay more each year. One assumes that's to ensure that the stellar service
and shiny reputation of your Legislature continues.
Student group asks Penn to
contribute $6 million to city schools
SUSAN SNYDER, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITER Thursday, December 4, 2014, 1:08 AM
A University of Pennsylvania student group called on the school
Wednesday to begin donating about $6 million a year to Philadelphia , with the money designated for
its cash-starved public schools and other "essential services." The Student Labor Action Project asked Penn
president Amy Gutmann to set aside the money for a payment in lieu of taxes
(PILOT). Penn, like other nonprofits, gets a break on property taxes. The $6
million represents a small portion of the property tax it would pay as a
for-profit entity. Penn's response was
the same as it has been in recent years when education advocates and others
have raised the prospect: No.
Officials at Penn - and other city universities - have said the
schools donate in many ways, including services, expertise, neighborhood
upgrades, and student scholarships. Penn has noted that it also gives up to
$750,000 a year to Penn Alexander, a district elementary school in that opened
in partnership with it in 2001. And as the city's largest private employer, the
university generates more than $170 million in business, real estate, and sales
and wage taxes.
As if the debate over public education
weren't vitriolic enough: this morning, Boys' Latin of Philadelphia Charter
School CEO David Hardy tweeted "What
does Temple law professor Susan DeJarnett and Ferguson police officer Darren
Wilson have in common? They both shoot at unarmed boys."
Charter school leader
compares critic to Officer Wilson
Citypaper By Daniel
Denvir Published: 12/03/2014 | 0
Comments Posted
As if the debate over public education weren't vitriolic
enough: this morning, Boys' Latin of Philadelphia Charter School CEO David
Hardy tweeted "What does Temple
law professor Susan DeJarnett and Ferguson
police officer Darren Wilson have in common? They both shoot at unarmed
boys." Wilson ,
of course, being the controversial Ferguson
police officer who shot and killed unarmed black teen Mike Brown, sparking
widespread protest and debate.
What did DeJarnett do?
Charter school CEO compares
Temple professor to Darren Wilson
A DATA-DRIVEN opinion piece written by a Temple University Temple
law professor Susan DeJarnatt and Ferguson
police officer Darren Wilson have in common? They both shoot at unarmed
boys," David P. Hardy wrote in a tweet sent out at 5:07 a.m. yesterday. Hardy is the chief executive officer of Boys'
Latin of Philadelphia Charter School and a spokesman for PhillySchoolC
Circuit Rider Martin
Hudacs @MartinHudacs on Chester
County
#FairFundingPA I get to talk
educational funding on WCHE's (1520 AM) Chalk Talk at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
Listen in: http://www.wche1520.com
In Episode 10, we talk with
Dr. Pat Mulroy (@mulroy54)
about her work as a PA Circuit Rider.
TL Talk Radio Season 1: Episode 10 – Fair Education Funding
[Podcast runtime: 26:50]
The Circuit Riders provide information, resources, and
strategies to help engage educational leaders in the efforts for fair,
consistent, predictable, sustainable and equitable funding for public
education. Pat helps us understand why it is important for all leaders to
get involved in this important conversation. With limited funding sources
and increasing expenses, now is the time for advocates for public
education to get involved in the conversation!
PBS NewsHour Examines Innovation in
Philly Schools
Education Week Digital Education Blog By on December 3, 2014 12:03 PM
Efforts by the struggling Philadelphia school district
to save itself by cultivating "innovative" school models were the
focus of two public television segments produced by award-winning reporter John
Merrow and aired on PBS's popular NewsHour program this week.
As with Education Week's multi-part "Innovation Gamble" series last school year, the focus is on Science Leadership Academy
Principals' Group Rejects Use
of 'Value-Added' Measures For Evaluations
Education Week By Denisa R.
Superville on December 3, 2014 3:16 PM
This post first appeared on the Teacher
Beat blog. By Stephen Sawchuk
The National Association of Secondary School Principals has
entered the loud fray over teacher evaluation, giving preliminary approval to a
statement that says test-score-based algorithms for measuring teacher
quality aren't appropriate. In
addition to criticizing the research on such "value added" systems,
the statement says that the timing for using them comes at a terrible time,
just as schools adjust to demands from the Common Core State Standards and
other difficult new expectations for K-12 students. "New teacher evaluation systems demand
the inclusion of student data at a time when scores on new assessments are
dropping. The fears accompanying any new evaluation system have been magnified
by the inclusion of data that will get worse before it gets better," the
statement reads in part. "Principals are concerned that the new
evaluation systems are eroding trust and are detrimental to building a culture
of collaboration and continuous improvement necessary to successfully raise
student performance to college and career-ready levels." The resolution was approved at the
organization's November board of directors meeting. A public comment period
follows, and the statement will go before the NASSP's members at its February
2015 meeting.
Testing Resistance &
Reform News: November 26 - December 2, 2014
Submitted by fairtest on December 2, 2014 - 1:18pm
On this "Giving Tuesday," our gift to you is another
set of stories and resources about the rapidly growing national assessment
reform movement. In return, we ask that
you help FairTest's critical work supporting grassroots activists,
policy-making allies, and journalists by making your most generous possible
contribution today either by clicking herehttp://www.fairtest.org/donate or
mailing your check to P.O. Box
300204, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130. Your donation will be fully tax
deductible. Thanks for all you do !
Chromebooks Overtake Apple’s
iPads in U.S. Education Market
Gigjets By Radu Tyrsina /
December 1, 2014
When Google first released its Chromebook concept, many didn’t
believe that it will prove to be so successful. But it seems that affordable
price, portability and always-online have been the main selling points of a
device that is becoming hotter by the day.
According to recent data coming from IDC and reported by Financial Times, Google has overtaken Apple
in United States
schools. Around 715,000 Chromebooks have been shipped to U.S. schools in
the third quarter, while Apple shipped 702,000 iPads to schools. With these new
numbers, Chromebooks now account for a quarter of the educational market. What’s really impressive is that laptops
running Chrome OS have seen a dizzying increase. They have gone from zero to a
quarter of the US
educational market in only two years. And it seems that price has been the
deciding factor.
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.
Good information SAP Online Training
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