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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for
December 31, 2014:
Beaver County
Solicitor, linked to Federal Proceedings of Former PA Cyber Founder Trombetta,
Resigning
Happy New Year!
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.
Keystone Crossroads/Newsworks BY EMILY PREVITI, WITF DECEMBER 30, 2014
A judge has ruled the state can take over York City School District York
with Keystone Crossroads reporter Emily Previti:
With one son in college and another on the same track, Carmelo
Casiano said he's satisfied with the education his boys received through the York City
School District William
Penn Senior
High School York City
"Trombetta was indicted
on 11 charges, including mail fraud, theft or bribery concerning a federal
program, tax conspiracy and filing a false tax return. In November, the state Supreme Court’s
disciplinary board received complaints about Askar's professional conduct. A
recording played in court showed Askar once said to Trombetta, “I’m supposed to
be representing the county, and I’m representing you.” But the resignation didn’t have anything to
do with the controversy, Amadio said."
Beaver County Times Onlline By David Taube dtaube@timesonline.com Posted:
Tuesday, December 30, 2014 7:30 pm
BEAVER -- Beaver
County
…..But also earlier this year, he was linked to the federal
court proceedings of former Pennsylvania
Cyber Charter
School U.S. attorney said after a 2013
indictment. Askar has represented the
National Network of Digital Schools, a Rochester-based Trombetta offshoot. In
his defense, Trombetta argued Askar also was representing him. And in October,
Askar took the Fifth Amendment, refusing to testify. But Askar said if there was any reason for
him to resign under duress, it would have been from NNDS, a job he said he
still holds.
"But the cost isn't the main
issue," Bedford
Area School
District
Schools
compare funding, success
Educators discuss
if sharing money between charters, districts works
By Russ O’Reilly (roreilly@altoonamirror.com) , The
Altoona Mirror December
28, 2014
Taxpayers fund two public education systems in Pennsylvania - the
traditional public school system and the charter school system. But are they getting their money's worth?
The way it works is public school districts receive a
combination of local and state tax money, and charter schools take their
per-student share from the school district where the student would otherwise
attend. The amount is about 70 percent
of what the district would spend to educate the student. Paying bills to charter schools can be a
drain on districts, unless charters draw enough students for districts to cut
back on major expenses including personnel. But that seldom happens. District
officials say charters draw a student here and there, so while the bill adds
up, the costs of educating students who remain in their schools doesn't get any
lower.
WHYY Newsworks BY MARY WILSON DECEMBER 30, 2014
By Evan Grossman | Watchdog.org December 29, 2014 | By Eric
Boehm
The Philadelphia
teachers union says making teachers pay for part of their health benefits isn’t
the way to plug the city’s hemorrhaging public school budget, and the district
should look elsewhere for relief. In
October, the district terminated an expired contract with teachers after two
years of failed negotiations and is asking them to pay part of their health
insurance.
“What the district was attempting to do was to save a lot of
money on the backs of some employees,” Philadelphia Federation of Teachers
President Jerry Jordan said.
Most Philadelphia
teachers haven’t had to contribute to their benefits. Philadelphia ,
Ephrata and Warwick are the only three districts
in Pennsylvania
that don’t pay for health care.
On average, U.S.
citizens are paying $328 per month for middle-tier plans under the Affordable
Care Act, and the School Reform Commission, which governs the School District of Philadelphia
A Kansas
court has ruled that the state's current system for funding public schools does
not meet the required legal standard. In
a decision released Dec. 30, a three-judge panel of the 3rd Judicial District
Court in Shawnee County Kansas ,
which is facing one of the more severe budget crises in the country.
(More on that later.)
In the ruling, the judges wrote that while they were not
ordering the state to spend a specific per-pupil amount on education in order
to comply with their decision, the state's funding system has deteriorated
since 2009 to the point where it no longer complies with the Kansas
Constitution.
School Cash
Insufficient in Kansas
New York Times By JOHN ELIGON DEC. 30, 2014
The court also ruled that a provision allowing localities to
provide funding to equalize the gap between rich and poor districts was
insufficient because it did not guarantee that the playing field would be
leveled. But the decision of the court,
in Shawnee County
Testing under fire
Republicans may consider slashing the number of
federally required tests.
Republicans on the Hill are finding unusual common ground
with teachers unions about an overthrow of the annual testing mandate embedded
in No Child Left Behind.
Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee is making reauthorization of the
law one of his biggest priorities — and testing is expected to take center
stage. He plans to tackle the issue during a hearing early in the new year.
Under serious consideration: slashing the number of federally required tests or
even doing away with them all together. This
political alliance is part of a larger nationwide movement, buoyed by a
grass-roots crusade led by parents and teachers who reject the testing regimes
that they say have come to dominate public schools for the past decade. “We are actively exploring the question of
whether the federal mandate on annual tests is warranted,” one GOP aide said.
The goal is to give states more flexibility in how they track student progress,
report those results to the public and hold schools accountable for all kids.
Testing Resistance & Reform News: December 24 -
30, 2014
Fairtest website December 30, 2014 - 1:29pm
FairTest doesn't just report the assessment reform news --
we often help make it to support the movement. Check out this week's stories. Please support an expansion of our crucial
public education campaigns in 2015, FairTest's 30th Anniversary Year, with a
contribution at http://www.fairtest.org/donate or by mailing a check to P.O. Box 300204 , Jamaica
Plain , MA 02130
Education’s Newsmaker Of The Year: Charter School
Education Opportunity Network website December 2014
Since it’s the time of the year when newspapers, websites,
and television talk shows scan their archives to pick the person, place, or
thing that sums up the year in entertainment, business, sports, or every other
venue, why not do that for education too?
In 2014 education news, lots of personalities came and went.
Michelle Rhee gave way to Campbell Brown as a torchbearer
for “reform.” The comedian Louis C. K. had a turn at becoming an education wonk
with his commentary on the Common Core standards. Numerous “Chiefs for Change”
toppled from the ranks of chiefdom. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett went down
in defeat due in part to his gutting of public schools, as Wisconsin Governor
Scott Walker remained resilient while spreading the cancerous voucher program
from Milwaukee
to the rest of the state. New York Mayor Bill De Blasio rose to turn back the
failed education reforms of ex-mayor Bloomberg, only to have his populist
agenda blocked by New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo who insisted on imposing
policies favored by Wall Street. Progressives formed Democrats for Public
Education to counter the neoliberal, big money clout of Democrats for Education
Reform. And Kentucky Senator Rand Paul and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush
emerged as rival voices in the ongoing debate about the Common Core among
potential Republican presidential candidates.
But hogging the camera throughout the year was another notable
character: charter school scandals.
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.