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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for
January 10, 2015:
The Hill Congress Blog: America
"More than two-thirds of children from
Pennsylvania
Report finds that Pa.
the notebook By Laura Benshoff for NewsWorks on Jan 9, 2015
11:13 AM
A new report finds that Pennsylvania ranks 41st nationally in
early childhood education, lagging behind New Jersey, Delaware, 37 other
states, and the District of Columbia.
This week, the nonprofit Education Week
Research Center
Senator Smucker Moves Up To
Chair Education Committee
Senator Smucker's website January 9, 2015
For state Senator Lloyd Smucker, the new legislative session
begins with a challenging assignment he was seeking – chairing the Senate
Education Committee.
“All the discussions in our communities about growing jobs and
expanding opportunities and encouraging investment and development ultimately
come back to the quality of the workforce, which in turn reflects on how well
our education system is performing,” Smucker said.
“During my six years in the Senate, I have heard constantly
from parents, students, educators, administrators, and employers about
education issues ranging from funding to testing to curriculum. Last
year, for the first time in a long while, voters were citing education as their
top concern. There may not be a common definition of reform or
improvement, but there is wide agreement on the need to do things
differently. We cannot afford to put off acting on effective solutions to
the problems confronting basic and higher education,” he stated.
PA Senate Democrats announce
committee chairs
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason
Gottesman/Friday, January 9, 2015
The Senate Democrats have named their committee chairs,
according to a release sent out Friday afternoon. As it looks from the line-up, a number of
Democrats will be pulling double duty with Senators Jim Brewster (D-Allegheny),
Sean Wiley (D-Erie), and Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny) chairing two
committees each. Freshman Senator Art
Haywood (D-Montgomery) has found his way to be Minority Chairman of the Senate
Aging and Youth Committee.
Meanwhile, Sen. Matt Smith (D-Allegheny) moves from the State
Government Committee to chair Banking and Insurance for Sen. Mike Stack
(D-Philadelphia), who plans to resign when sworn in as Lt. Governor later this
month. Sen. Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia)
replaces Sen. Smith on State Government.
Here is the rest of the list:
PA Senate Republicans
announce committee chairs
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason
Gottesman/Friday, January 9, 2015
On behalf of the Senate Republican Caucus, President Pro
Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson) announced the Republican standing committee
chairs for the 2015-2016 session.
Notable changes from last session include a switch in State
Government and Education Committee chairs with Sen. Lloyd Smucker (R-Lancaster)
taking over the Education Committee for Sen. Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon), who will
helm the State Government Committee where Sen. Smucker was chairman last session. Former Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi
(R-Delaware) will find his home as chairman of the Senate Local Government
Committee taking over for Sen. John Eichelberger (R-Blair) who replaces the
retiring Sen. Mike Brubaker (R-Lancaster) as chair of Senate Finance. Freshman senators and former House members
Michele Brooks (R-Mercer), Mario Scavello (R-Monroe), and Ryan Aument
(R-Lancaster) all received chairmanships.
Sen. Brooks will chair the Aging and Youth Committee, Sen.
Scavello will chair the Game and Fisheries Committee, and Sen. Aument will
chair the Intergovernmental Operations Committee.
The other three freshman senators—Camera Bartolotta
(R-Washington), Thomas McGarrigle (R-Delaware), and Pat Stefano (R-Fayette) did
not receive chairmanships. The full list
follows:
After 2012, the
state stopped posting spreadsheets with school and district test scores.
Through a Right-to-Know request, the Notebook has obtained files with the
Keystone and PSSA results.
the notebook By David
Limm on Jan 9, 2015 11:05 AM
Say you're someone who's curious about taking a detailed look
at how Pennsylvania 's
schools, districts, and students performed over the past few years. As a
researcher, policymaker, journalist -- or anyone with an interest in exploring
the data -- it would be reasonable to expect test-score results to be made
available in a similar format each year, in a spreadsheet form that can be
easily sorted and manipulated. Until two
years ago, anyone could download the same Excel spreadsheets containing data
sets of PSSA scores from the Pennsylvania Department of Education's website --
all in the same, easy-to-mine, easy-to-compare format. Test results as far back
as 1995 were all available
via one web page. But for the last
two years of tests, unless you possessed the computational chops to extract an
enormity of data from PDF files or separate web pages, you would be out of
luck. That's because the state stopped releasing the data in spreadsheet form
and stopped highlighting
year-to-year comparisons of proficiency rates for schools, districts,
and the state as a whole.
Obama’s community college
plan could cause 15% jump in Philly enrollment
By Anna Orso for Billy Penn on Jan 9, 2015 04:31 PM
In a move that could
change the way the nation views higher education, President Obama today
announced details for a proposal that would use federal dollars to subsidize
two years of community college for Americans “willing to work for it.” AKA,
free college for lots of people.
Leaders here say the plan could allow thousands of
Philadelphians to attend community college — people who wouldn’t have attended
before because they couldn’t afford it. Donald Generals, president of the Community College of Philadelphia
Bonus: If the plan moves forward, it could cut down on the
city’s nearly-9-percent high school dropout rate, giving students the financial
hope they might need to push through their final years of high school with
plans to attend community college.
But there are major concerns with the proposal — like where
schools will put the thousands of (theoretical) new students. And experts
say it’ll
be a hard sell for the president who will need backing from a
Republican-controlled Congress. Here’s what you need to know.
Longtime Pileggi spokesman
Erik Arneson tapped to lead Office of Open Records
By Tim Logue, Delaware County
Daily
For more than 20 years, Erik Arneson has been in the
communications business, first as a reporter in Lebanon County Pennsylvania ’s
Office of Open Records. “I think it’s
helpful for the person in charge of this office to have experience in both
fields,” Arneson said Friday afternoon, a few hours after Gov. Tom Corbett
announced the appointment. “I think it’s especially useful to have an
understanding of the ‘why’ from the perspective of a journalist.” Arneson, 43, helped craft the 2008
Right-to-Know Law, introduced by Pileggi and signed by Gov. Ed Rendell, that
led to the establishment of the Office of Open Records. He will replace its
first executive director, Rendell appointee Terry Mutchler, an attorney and
former journalist for the Associated Press who resigned Friday.
Timing of Corbett's open
records chief appointment draws fire
Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow
on Twitter on January 09, 2015 at 7:40 PM, updated January 10,
2015 at 7:11 AM
With only 11 days left in his four-year term, Gov. Tom Corbett
announced his decision on Friday. On Monday, he will sign the paperwork to
appoint longtime Senate Republican staffer Erik Arneson, 43, of Cornwall ,
Lebanon
Blogger's note: Was this appointment an
eleventh hour "gift" to charter magnate Vahan Gureghian, who was
Corbett's largest individual campaign donor?
Mutchler was an outspoken critic of charter schools flaunting RTK. Gureghian
fought a right-to-know request seeking financial details of his Charter School
Management Company and also sought a change in PA charter school law that would
have excluded vendors like him from the state's RTK requirements. Several years later, the public still has no
detailed information on how their tax dollars are being spent.
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2011/06/follow-money-contributions-by-vahan.html
"They (charter officials) don't feel
they should be subject to this law, or, candidly, subject to you,"
Mutchler told senators on the state government committee, which is considering
legislation to amend the five-year-old law. "They are a cancer on the
otherwise healthy right-to- know-law."
May 2013: Pa.
By Amy Worden, Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau POSTED: May 15, 2013
Executive director Terry Mutchler said her office had received
239 appeals in cases in which charter schools either rejected or failed to
answer requests from the public for information such as budgets, payrolls, or
student rosters. She said her office ruled in favor of the schools on just six
of those appeals.
Twitter Fight of the Week:
Can All Schools Actually Be Great?
A social media duel that cuts to the heart of the Philly
schools debate.
Philly Mag BY PATRICK KERKSTRA | JANUARY
9, 2015 AT 9:00 AM
Sure, Twitter is an ephemeral, terse medium. Yes, it is better
suited for pithy one-liners and insults than for substantive policy debate. But
every so often, Twitter’s immediacy, its frisson-stoking powers, yields
fascinating and relatively unfiltered discussions between those Philadelphians
who are wrangling with the city’s Big Issues.
Citified will highlight these edifying Twitter fights when we find them
(ok, ok, we may highlight some that aren’t so edifying as well). This week features a
genuinely substantive debate sparked by a provocative op-ed published Wednesday by the Public
School Notebook.
Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/citified/2015/01/09/citified-twitter-fight-of-the-week-schools-debate/#72xeqCclKOhX3Q7h.99
Jeremy Novak: What Do We Mean
By Public and Private Today?
In today’s rancorous
schools debate, old distinctions no longer apply
The Philadelphia Citizen By Jeremy Nowak January 9, 2015
Anytime the hot-button issue of our schools is debated, sides
are taken and lines are drawn in the sand. It’s the public school advocates
versus those who favor privately-run charters, and the finger pointing begins.
But that narrative misses a crucial point about our schools today.
In Philadelphia
right now, one out of three children attends a public charter
school—a school that is publicly funded and regulated but managed by a civic
entity (the overwhelming majority of charter schools are nonprofits). But the math is even more complex than the 1
out of 3 figure. The School District also has contract schools where major
institutions like the University of Pennsylvania or The Franklin Institute run
schools, and it has special select schools that you test into or apply to from
anywhere in the city. If you put the
number of charters, special selects, and contract schools together, then the
number of children that go to schools that are very different than the
conventional District-run schools gets closer to about 55 percent. That means
the District now embodies contending notions of what it means to be a public
school, based on management autonomy or admissions selectivity.
Daily Review BY ERIC
HRIN (STAFF WRITER) Published: January 10, 2015
But this week, Canton Area School Board members found the
opposite to be true.
They were honored for School Director Recognition Month.
The district presented them certificates and windbreakers as
tokens of appreciation.
During his report at the school board meeting, district
superintendent Matt Gordon read a portion of the 2015 resolution for School
Director Recognition Month from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association
(PSBA). Gordon stated, "whereas,
locally elected school officials distinguish themselves and their communities
in this non-paid, volunteer public service commitment; and whereas the
contributions of these men and women need to be recognized and appreciated by
those who benefit from the workings of our public school system; and therefore
be it resolved that the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania School Boards
Association proclaims January as School Director Recognition Month in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."
Sharing his own thoughts, Gordon said, "on behalf of our
school district and our students and staff, thank you very much. We certainly
appreciate it." The members of the
Canton Area School Board are Jared Wilcox, president; Judy Sourbeer, vice
president; Gary Black, treasurer; Ryan Allen; Eric Anderson; Mike Herman; Bill
Holland; Dennis Sourbeer; and Melony Taylor.
Seven Delco school districts
look to raise taxes
Delco Times By Kevin
Tustin, Special to the Times POSTED: 01/09/15, 11:33 PM EST |
As Delaware
County
Individual district indices range from 1.9 to 3 percent:
Chester-Upland, 3.0 percent; Chichester, 2.5 percent; Garnet Valley, 1.9
percent; Haverford Township, 1.9 percent; Interboro, 2.6 percent; Marple
Newtown, 1.9 percent; Penn-Delco, 2. 2 percent ; Radnor Township, 1.9 percent;
Ridley, 2.5 percent; Rose Tree Media, 1.9 percent; Southeast Delco, 2.8
percent; Springfield, 1.9 percent; Upper Darby, 2.7 percent;
Wallingford-Swarthmore, 1.9 percent; and William Penn, 2.8 percent. Garnet
Valley , Haverford, Marple Newtown,
Radnor, Rose Tree Media, Springfield
and Wallingford-Swarthmore school districts have been held at the base index
since at least the 2006-07 school year.
"A new Columbia
University study by Michael Rebell and
Jessica Wolff has found that the United States
The Hill Congress Blog By Rachel Burger January 09, 2015,
01:00 pm
Are U.S.
schools really underperforming? A new study may change the perception of
American public education’s shortcoming as one of cash, not curriculum. For years, a narrative of the U.S. lagging
behind other industrialized countries has dominated the media. For example, the
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranks the United States
as 27th in math and 17th in reading internationally — far below the
international average — while the U.S. maintains the highest federal
education budget in the world.
The United
States certainly has underwhelming scores,
but that isn’t the whole picture.
A new Columbia University study by Michael Rebell and Jessica Wolff
has found that the United
States outperforms every single country in the world when controlling for
schools with a child poverty rate of less than 20 percent. While noted education experts have started to come out
against standardized testing in response to the U.S. ’s supposedly abysmal
performance, perhaps a new takeaway should be drawn. Namely, our “education”
problem is really a problem of poverty.
Given the United States ’
huge education budget, it may seem baffling that schools would need even more
money, but consider how funding is dispersed in the United States . Nearly half of school revenue comes from local
property taxes, meaning per-student spending increases with more affluent
neighborhoods. For example, in Philadelphia, poor school districts would need an
additional $1 billion to have the same funding as the rich public
schools.
NCLB Rewrite Could Target
Mandate on Annual Tests
Education Week By Alyson Klein and Lauren
Camera Published Online: January 9, 2015
For more than a decade, even amid big revisions to the original
No Child
Left Behind Act, one thing has remained constant: States have required
students to take annual tests in reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and
once in high school. Now, as a
long-stalled reauthorization of the law gets underway in a newly
Republican-controlled Congress, that could be changing.
There’s been a reshuffling of the political landscape that’s
aligned GOP interests in scaling back the federal role in K-12 education with
support from some education organizations in reducing the number of tests.
Teachers to the Test
Evaluating educators
based on their students' exam scores is misguided and threatens reform efforts.
The Atlantic by AMANDA M. FAIRBANKSJAN
8 2015, 11:00 AM ET
GREAT NECK, N.Y. — On September 2, the day her principal shared
each teacher’s annual evaluation, Sheri Lederman came home from work and
announced to her husband that she was ready to quit. In the span of one year, Lederman’s score
dropped 13 percentage points. Suddenly, she was demoted from an
"effective" teacher to an "ineffective" one. It was enough
to make her head spin. After all, this marks Lederman’s 18th year in the
classroom. She teaches fourth grade at the Elizabeth
M. Baker Elementary School in Great Neck, a middle-class suburb about
20 miles from New York City .
A statewide teacher ranking system was implemented in 2012 and
changed how educators were assessed. Nearly half of Lederman's score—40
percent—was tied to her students’ test scores and the number of kids who
progressed on statewide exams. The rest of the rating was based on classroom
evaluations conducted by administrators. Depending on the final percentage,
teachers in New York
received ratings of "highly effective," "effective,"
"developing," or "ineffective." Teachers who received
ineffective ratings for two consecutive years could face an expedited dismissal
process—a fate that Lederman now fears might soon be her own.
Join a Community
Conversation about Public School Funding in Franklin
County ; January 15, 6:30 pm Chambersburg
Confirmed Guests of Honor:
Senator Richard Alloway Senator John Eichelberger Representative-Elect Paul
Schemel
Join a Community Conversation about Public School Funding in
Franklin County on Thursday, January 15 at 6:30 at the First Evangelical
Lutheran Church of Chambersburg, 43 West Washington Street, Chambersburg, PA
Local school district leaders will discuss how state funding issues are impacting
our children’s educational opportunities, our local taxes, and our communities
and area legislators will be in attendance to learn about voters' concerns. Ask
questions. Share your stories, your concerns, and your suggestions. Learn how
you can support fair and adequate state funding for our area schools
Panelists:
Dr. Joe Bard, Executive
Director, PA Association of Rural and Small Schools
Dr. Joe Padasak, Superintendent,
Chambersburg Area School District
Mr. Jim Duffey, Superintendent, Fannett-Metal School District
Dr. Gregory Hoover,
Superintendent, Greencastle-Antrim
School District
Mrs. Beth Bender,
Superintendent, Shippensburg
Area School
District
Dr. Charles Prijatelj,
Superintendent, Tuscarora
Area School
District
More info:. Franklin_County_Flyer_Final_PDF.pdf
Mark Your Calendars. The next Twitter Chat on PA School Funding is
Tuesday, January 27, 2015 at 8:00 p.m.
Join us #paedfunding
Tweet from Circuit Rider Kathleen Kelley
Adams Co. PSBA Basic
Education Funding Listening Tour Breakfast
JAN 14, 2015 • 8:30
AM - 10:30 AM
Jan. 14, 8:30-10:30 a.m. at the Gettysburg Area
Middle School 37 Lefever St. , Gettysburg ,
PA
PSBA Members Register online: https://psba.wufoo.com/forms/p97bly31fs5ecs/
PILCOP Special Education
Seminar: Dyslexia and Other Learning Disabilities
United Way Building 1709
Benjamin Franklin Parkway , Philadelphia
Tickets: Attorneys $200
General Public $100 Webinar
$50
"Pay What You Can" tickets are also
available
Speakers: Sonja Kerr; Kathleen Carlsen (Children’s
Dyslexia Center of Philadelphia)
This session is designed to provide the audience with
information about how to address 1) eligibility issues for children with
learning disabilities, including dyslexia and ADHD, 2) encourage self-advocacy
and 3) write and implement meaningful IEPS (what does Orton-Gillingham really
look like?) This session is
co-sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania School of Policy and Practice.
The University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice is a
Pre-approved Provider of Continuing Education for Pennsylvania licensed social workers.
Questions? Email jfortenberry@pilcop.org or call 267-546-1316.
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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