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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for
January 28, 2015:
Wanted: A fair funding
formula/Prelim budgets show pension impact
Upcoming Basic Education Funding Commission hearings
scheduled in Mercer County, Montgomery County and Dauphin County
PA
Basic Education Funding Commission website
Thursday, January 29, 2015, 10 am Greenville Junior/Senior High School 9
Donation Road, Greenville, PA 16125
Thursday, February 5, 2015, 10 am Montgomery County, Central Montco Tech HS, 821 Plymouth Road, Plymouth Meeting, PA
Thursday, February 26, 2015, 11 am Dauphin County, location TBA
Thursday, February 5, 2015, 10 am Montgomery County, Central Montco Tech HS, 821 Plymouth Road, Plymouth Meeting, PA
Thursday, February 26, 2015, 11 am Dauphin County, location TBA
General Assembly's Education
Funding Commission to meet Thursday in Greenville
Sharon Herald Posted: Tuesday, January 27, 2015 11:30 am
The Basic Education Funding Commission will hold a hearing
beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday at Greenville Junior/Senior High School, 9 Donation Road , Greenville
The agenda for the hearing is:
10:05 a.m. - Testimony from Greenville Area School
District Superintendent Mark Ferrara, Sharon City School District
Superintendent Michael Calla, Hermitage School District Superintendent Daniel
J. Bell and Sharpsville Area School District Superintendent Brad Ferko;
11:05 a.m. - Testimony from Austin Area
School District
11:35 a.m. - Testimony from Propel Schools Foundation founder
and Executive Director Jeremy Resnick and Keystone Charter School CEO Mike
Gentile;
12:15 p.m. - Testimony from Erie
School District Superintendent Jay
Badams and Corry School District
Public comments.
The bipartisan, bicameral 15-member commission was
created by Act 51 of 2014, and consists of senators and representatives from
across Pennsylvania .
"One of those issues includes state
lands. Sasala said that 10 percent of land in the Austin Area
School District
Sasala to speak on education
funding before state panel
By ALEX DAVIS Bradford Era Reporter a.davis@bradfordera.com Posted: Tuesday,
January 27, 2015 10:00 am
An administrator from the smallest public school district in
the four-county region — and the state — will testify about a big issue on
Thursday in front of state legislators and leaders.
Jerry Sasala, who is the acting superintendent/principal in the
Austin Area
School District , will focus on a basic
education funding formula when he speaks during a Basic Education Commission
hearing in Greenville , Mercer County Pennsylvania
school districts. Pennsylvania
currently has no basic education formula, relying instead on a combination of
previous legislation. And especially for
Potter and Cameron counties, there are plenty of unique challenges, Sasala
said. He knows both counties well, being an administrator at the Austin area district and a former administrator and music
teacher in Cameron
County
Potter County Today
Maris Grove, Foxfield
residents air Garnet
Valley
By Susan L. Serbin, Delco
Times Correspondent POSTED: 01/27/15, 11:07 PM EST |
“I can’t pay my taxes and I can’t move out,” said Foxfield
resident Tina Lampert, adding that seniors should be afforded tax breaks.
By Linda Reilly, Delco
Times Correspondent POSTED: 01/27/15, 11:07 PM EST |
UPPER DARBY >> The first “snapshot” peek at the 2015-2016
Upper Darby School District budget was presented at a committee meeting
Tuesday. Business Manager Ed Smith
presented the current status of the budget document in keeping with the Act 1
time line.
The $180.4 million budget calls for a 3.6 percent tax increase,
or 1.2 mills, for a total millage rate of 35.8 mills. Homeowners in the
communities of Clifton Heights , Millbourne and Upper
Darby paying $3,459 this year will pay $3,584, an additional $125,
if the proposed budget is adopted as presented.
“The purpose of having a budget at this time is due to following the Act
1 of 2006 budget adoption process, as we did for the last four years,” Smith
said. “The timetable calls for a preliminary budget to be made available to the
public no later than Jan. 29.
Rose Tree Media to keep taxes
within Act 1 index
By LESLIE KROWCHENKO, Delco Times POSTED: 01/27/15, 11:03
PM EST |
MIDDLETOWN >> The Rose Tree Media School Board voted
unanimously to commit to a tax increase no higher than the district’s Act 1
index of 1.9 percent and not seek exceptions in conjunction with the 2015-2016
budget. Set by the state, the index
determines the maximum increase which can be levied by each school district,
unless a higher rate is approved by voters in a referendum or application for
exceptions is made to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The board made
a request for the special education exception in conjunction with the 2008-2009
budget, when taxes were raised 4.8 percent.
“Act I has been in place for 10 years and only once in that time have we
applied for an exception,” said vice president and finance committee Chairman
Bill O’Donnell. “We will not be applying for any exceptions for 2015-2016.”
"The $28.3 million proposed budget was
$934,918 higher than the 2014-15 budget, with $570,742 of that increase blamed
on the district's state-mandated retirement contributions."
The Pen
Argyl Area School Board has rejected the administration's preliminary
2015-16 budget.
By a vote of 3-4 Tuesday night, the board did not approve the
proposed budget that called for a 3.8 percent property tax hike. For the owner of a home assessed at $50,000
the tax increase would have meant an additional $93 a year. Board members Robert Rutt, Christopher Graham
and Bryan Trinkley voted in favor of the budget. John Dally Jr., Darrin Evans, Joseph Gennusa
and Ethan Habrial voted against the measure. Bryan Scott and Domenic Martino
were absent.
"The taxpayers keep getting hammered," Habrial said
after the vote. "It's got to stop some place."
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/slate-belt/index.ssf/2015/01/pen_argyl_area_school_district_16.html#incart_river
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/slate-belt/index.ssf/2015/01/pen_argyl_area_school_district_16.html#incart_river
"Early budget figures call for a $43.3
million spending plan that does not tap those reserves, despite some of the
fund balance being designated towards easing skyrocket employee pension
contributions. Next year brings a
$979,000 increase in the district's employee pension obligation. The state
typically reimburses the district for about half of that."
By Sara K.
Satullo | The Express-Times Follow on Twitter on January 28, 2015 at 6:18 AM
The Saucon
Valley School Board voted Tuesday night to keep any property tax
increase below its 1.9 percent state set cap on annual tax hikes. The board has made the same pledge for the
last six years and later passed final budgets that did not increase taxes.
The district will
release full budget for the next school year in April
By Eric Blum eblum@eveningsun.com @Eric_M_Blum
on Twitter UPDATED: 01/27/2015 07:24:55 PM EST
Members of the Hanover
Public School
District
"The district's shortfall stems
largely from a $1.07 million increase to the district's mandatory Public School
Employees' Retirement System contribution. Some of that will be returned
through a state subsidy, making the increase roughly $538,000 for the district,
Hunt said."
By Mark Walters mwalters@eveningsun.com
@walt_walters on Twitter POSTED:
01/22/2015 05:22:52 PM EST
Faced with a $1.5 million deficit, the Gettysburg
school board left the door open for a tax increase beyond the state's limit to
help balance Gettysburg Area School District's 2015-16 budget.
Board members voted Jan. 20 to apply for the tax exception,
which requires approval from the state's Department of Education. The board was
also presented with the district's preliminary budget, a $57.81 million
spending plan.
Wanted: A fair funding
formula
In Our Opinion By the
Notebook on Jan 27, 2015 12:06 PM February 2015 Vol. 22. No. 4
Since last July, a Basic Education Funding Commission has been
collecting testimony across the state, charged by Harrisburg with developing a rational system
for distributing state education aid. Their work is urgently needed. Not only is current state funding for most Pennsylvania districts
inadequate; it is unpredictable and subject to political manipulation. And any
system that makes taxpayers in poor districts pay tax rates two or three times
higher than in affluent districts and still end up with less revenue is deeply
flawed. The system relies far too much on local tax dollars.
But simply engineering a consistent way to divvy up existing
state dollars will not resolve the fundamental flaws in Pennsylvania funding. To be successful, the
commission must develop a plan that reflects the actual cost to educate
children with varieties of needs. The state has set performance standards for
schools and students, and hundreds of districts are struggling to meet them
because of inadequate resources. In districts with large numbers of low-income
students, English language learners, and students with disabilities, funding
needs are much greater. Districts like Philadelphia
that operate a dual system of traditional and charter schools also incur higher
costs.
"According to sixth grade Feltonville
teacher Kelley Collings, over 100 parents at the school have decided to opt
their children out of the testing this year. To put that number in context,
only 16 students in the entire city of Philadelphia
opted out of the PSSA in 2012."
One of the 'Feltonville Six'
speaks up about right to opt out
WHYY Newsworks PHILLY PARENTING A
BLOG BY JEN BRADLEY JANUARY
27, 2015
in Philadelphia
have taken a stand against high-stakes standardized testing. Using their legal
right to opt out, one in five parents at Feltonville are now refusing the
spring administration of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments (PSSAs)
for their children. The parents and
students at Feltonville are part of a growing national movement. Many in the
"opt-out" movement are dissatisfied with the use of curriculum as
preparation for testing, with school funding decisions based on student
performance, and with the for-profit politics of assessment.
The Feltonville group is joining the voices of parents,
educators and activists around the country who are outraged by the
disproportionate affect that high-stakes testing so often has on low-income
students, students of color, students with special needs and English language
learners.
“We
created a basic education funding commission, and they’re currently going
around the state holding hearings and gathering information on that topic,”
Causer said. “As far as changing the formula, I’m going to be there looking out
for our rural schools. Often, their idea of change is taking away from one area
and giving to another. Our circumstances in rural areas are different.
Lawmakers curious to hear
Wolf budget plan, education funding
Posted: Tuesday, January 27, 2015 10:00 am
By AMANDA NICHOLS Bradford Era Reporter a.nichols@bradfordera.com
Local lawmakers are looking forward to hearing the budget
address by Pennsylvania ’s
newly-elected Gov. Tom Wolf — especially his proposal for state education
funding, which was a focus of his campaign.
Wolf and his campaign have stated his proposals will lead to the first
income tax cut for middle class families in more than 20 years, help reduce
property taxes, increase education funding and improve the economy.
Local legislators said they would support bigger budgets for
public schools, but they want to know where that money would come from when the
state could be facing as much as a $2 billion budget deficit. “I know the governor in his campaign said he
wanted to increase funding for education. I’d certainly be supportive of that.
I just don’t know where he anticipates getting the money,” said state Rep.
Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint. “We may have a $2 billion deficit, it’s going to
be a tough budget year.” Meanwhile,
there is a push in Harrisburg
to change the funding formula for public schools, according to Causer.
2014 brought Philly charters
a chance at expansion
The District must
decide by Feb. 21 what to do with 40 new applicants. Meanwhile, two charters
closed midyear.
the notebook By Dan Hardy on Jan 27, 2015 09:21 AM
As 2014 began, it looked as if it might be the year in which
the state legislature would finally revise the nearly two-decade-old charter
law. There was anticipation that
Republican legislators would try to boost then-Gov. Tom Corbett’s poll numbers
– sagging mostly due to his education policy – by tackling this. Hope for change was particularly fervent in Philadelphia , where
charters educate about a third of public school children and consume about 30
percent of the District’s budget. District officials sought revisions that
would ease the financial pressure from charter expansion. However, 2014 turned out not to be the year
for an overhaul of the charter law. Still, there were important developments
that affected charter funding and policy – with major consequences for the School District .
DN Editorial: A BETTER WAY
FOR SCHOOLS? An elected school board might not improve on SRC, but taxing power
would
Philly Daily News Editorial Posted: Wednesday, January 28,
2015, 3:01 AM
SHOULD the School Reform Commission be dissolved in favor of an elected school board?
SHOULD the School Reform Commission be dissolved in favor of an elected school board?
Newly elected Gov. Wolf supports the idea. So does a group of
vocal education activists in the city. Some mayoral candidates are on board
with the idea. The teachers union would vastly prefer an elected board to the
governance system we have now - especially after the School Reform Commission's
recent attempt to cancel union contracts, a move blocked last week by Commonwealth Court . Despite support from some quarters, it's not
a sure thing.
For one thing, the governor doesn't have the power to abolish
the SRC; only the SRC can dissolve itself, a point of law that some Harrisburg
Democrats unsuccessfully tried to alter back in October. But before we even think of diving off this
high board, let's be sure to take a good look at what lies below.
Truebright Gulen charter
fights for its future
MARTHA WOODALL, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITER Tuesday, January 27, 2015, 5:27 PM
The Olney school in Olney filed a petition in Commonwealth Court
on Monday, challenging the Philadelphia School Reform Commission's 2013
decision not to renew Truebright's charter on several grounds, including poor
academic performance. The school decided
to take its battle to Commonwealth
Court because the State Charter Appeal Board had
voted unanimously in December to uphold the SRC's decision and ordered the
school to close at the end of the current school year.
By Mercury Staff POSTED: 01/27/15,
6:02 PM EST |
POTTSTOWN >> Perhaps the phrase “joint school
board/borough council meeting” might not sound like how you would like to spend
a Thursday evening, but you might want to think again if you car about fair
school funding. Right now in Pennsylvania , the
commonwealth provides an average of 34 percent of a local school budget. The
national average is closer to 44 percent. That makes Pennsylvania
school districts over-reliant on local property taxes and, as many area
residents know, not all tax bases are created equal.
Further, that state funding is distributed unevenly and often,
districts with a struggling tax base — like Pottstown
and Daniel Boone — get even less state aid per student than wealthier
districts. Last year, former Gov. Tom Corbett set up a task force to
examine the idea of creating a fair funding formula for Pennsylvania public schools, like most other
states have. Which is where the joint meeting comes in.
Digital Notebook Blog by Evan Brandt Tuesday, January
27, 2015
The meeting will be held
at Rupert Elementary School
I know, I know; the phrase "joint school board/borough council meeting" does not have you rushing to your calendar to check your schedule. But maybe you should -- at least if you care about fair public school funding, an issue which is currently givingPottstown the very short end of a very sharp stick. Right now in Pennsylvania , the amount of resources your
public schools can bring to bear on your child's education has more to do with
your zip code than the innovative financing of the administration. In fact the innovation is more likely to be
found in places like Pottstown and Daniel
Boone school districts where enfeebled tax bases make the raising of local
public revenues both burdensome and unequal when compared with wealthier
locales.
I know, I know; the phrase "joint school board/borough council meeting" does not have you rushing to your calendar to check your schedule. But maybe you should -- at least if you care about fair public school funding, an issue which is currently giving
In a state where about 34 percent of public school funding
comes from the state -- the national average is closer to 44 percent -- that
means local taxes make the difference.
By Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette January 28, 2015 12:00 AM
Occupational and physical therapists who are employed by the
Allegheny Intermediate Unit but work at the majority of the school districts in
the county will be switched from full-time, salaried employees to hourly
employees without benefits after an audit found a $1.1 million deficit in the
program. The change will take place
Sunday and the AIU is waiting to hear how many of the therapists will return to
work under their new terms of employment.
The annual independent audit of the agency’s $167 million
budget performed by the accounting firm Maher Duessel also showed that the
intermediate unit’s reserve fund, which held $23.3 million as of June 30, is
down by $12.4 million since June 2012.
Montessori raises offer
despite repeated refusal
Pennsylvania's teacher
pension system scores D plus, National Council on Teacher Quality says
Trib Live By Megan Harris Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, 10:54 p.m.
Young teachers just joining the Pennsylvania education system may not see much bang for their pension buck, according to a report issued Tuesday.Pennsylvania 's
teacher pension system carries the third highest unfunded liability in the
country, findings from the National Council on Teacher Quality show. Pennsylvania ranks
seventh in the nation if that $32.6 billion liability is apportioned per
student. “There's this perception that
teacher salaries are low because they have these great benefits, but that isn't
always true,” said Sandi Jacobs, the report's author and NCTQ vice president.
“In most states, Pennsylvania
included, the financial health is questionable at best.”
Young teachers just joining the Pennsylvania education system may not see much bang for their pension buck, according to a report issued Tuesday.
Read more: http://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/7649539-74/pennsylvania-teacher-national#ixzz3Q7LiYCQ6
Teacher Pension Policy in Pennsylvania
A report card on the
sustainability, flexibility and fairness of state teacher pension systems
National Council on Teacher Quality | January 2015
"Our nation's grassroots democracy was
founded on the principle that all children, regardless of ZIP code, deserve
access to a world-class education. Nine out of 10 school-age children today are
enrolled in public schools, which are their gateway to the future. Choice
absent accountability can hurt vulnerable students when the choice turns out to
be a bad one. Unfortunately, the "choice" movement -- and its glossy
public relations campaign that masks flaws by hyping "empowerment" --
jeopardizes opportunity for all students, ultimately harming our nation's
global readiness and economic prosperity."
'Choice' Denying Opportunity ?
Huffington Post by Thomas J. Gentzel,
Executive Director of the National School Boards Association (NSBA) Posted: 01/27/2015
2:53 pm EST
This week is National School Choice Week, self-described as
"an unprecedented opportunity to shine a spotlight on the need for
effective education options for all children."
Ironically, "opportunity" for America 's
schoolchildren is what National School Choice Week places at risk. The further
irony is "choice" can mean public tax dollars siphoned away from
community schools to subsidize for-profit ventures. Vouchers, tuition tax
credits and charter schools not governed by local school boards create a
secondary, profit-driven system of education that strains limited resources and
risks re-segregating schools, economically and socially, by admitting only
certain, top-performing students.
Reducing Our Obscene Level of
Child Poverty
New York Times Opinion by Charles M. Blow JAN. 28, 2015
I’m not someone who believes that poverty can ever truly be
ended — I’m one of those “the poor will always be with you” types — but I do
believe that the ranks of the poor can and must be shrunk and that the effects
of poverty can and must be ameliorated. And
there is one area above all others where we should feel a moral obligation to
reduce poverty as much as possible and to soften its bite: poverty among
children. People may disagree about the
choices parents make — including premarital sex and out-of-wedlock births.
People may disagree about access to methods of family planning — including
contraception and abortion. People may disagree about the size and role of
government — including the role of safety-net programs.
But surely we can all agree that no child, once born, should
suffer through poverty. Surely we can all agree that working to end child
poverty — or at least severely reduce it — is a moral obligation of a civilized
society. And yet, 14.7 million children
in this country are poor, and 6.5 million of them are extremely poor (living
below half the poverty line).
Study Suggests Using Poverty
as a Factor in Teacher Evaluation
Education Week Teacher By Jordan
Moeny on January 26, 2015 5:00 PM
A forthcoming
study by University
of Missouri
Senate Ed. Panel Unlikely to
Require Teacher Evaluations in NCLB Overhaul
Education Week Politics K-12 Blog By Lauren
Camera on January 27, 2015 1:40 PM
Washington Although members of the Senate education
committee agreed at a hearing Tuesday that teacher evaluations are
essential for a thriving public education system, it's unlikely that the
forthcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act will include
specific requirements. Republicans,
including Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said Washington shouldn't mandate such policies,
while Democrats, including ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., were wary of
increasing the role student test scores play in evaluations and how those
evaluations are used to compensate teachers.
States
Move to Make Citizenship Exams a Classroom Aid
Thorough and Efficient: Pennsylvania
Arguing that our state has failed to ensure that essential
resources are available for all of our public school students to meet state
academic standards.
Register
Now! EPLC 2015 Regional Workshops for School Board Candidates and Others
The Education Policy and Leadership Center, with the
Cooperation of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) and
Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO), will
conduct A Series of Regional Full-Day Workshops for 2015
Pennsylvania School Board Candidates. Incumbents,
non-incumbents, campaign supporters and all interested voters are invited to
participate in these workshops.
Pittsburgh Region Saturday, February 21, 2015 – 8:30
a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Allegheny Intermediate Unit, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA 15120
Allegheny Intermediate Unit, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA 15120
Harrisburg Region Saturday, March 7, 2015– 8:30
a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania School Boards Association Headquarters, 400 Bent Creek Boulevard, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Pennsylvania School Boards Association Headquarters, 400 Bent Creek Boulevard, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Philadelphia Region Saturday, March 14, 2015 – 8:30
a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, 2 W. Lafayette Street, Norristown, PA 19401
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, 2 W. Lafayette Street, Norristown, PA 19401
PILCOP: Children with
Emotional Problems: Avoiding the Juvenile Justice System, and What Does Real
Help Look Like?
This session will help you navigate special education in order
to assist children at home not receiving services, those in the foster care
system or those in the juvenile court system. CLE and Act 48 credit is
available. This session is co-sponsored
by the University of Pennsylvania School of Policy and Practice, a Pre-approved
Provider of Continuing Education for Pennsylvania
licensed social workers. Click here to purchase tickets
NPE 2015 Annual Conference – Chicago
January 4, 2015 NPE 2015 Annual Conference, NPE National Conference
Early-bird discounted Registration for the Network for
Public Education’s Second Annual Conference is now available at this address:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/network-for-public-education-2015-annual-conference-tickets-15118560020
These low rates will last for the month of January.
The event is being held at the Drake Hotel in downtown
Chicago, and there is a link on the registration page for special hotel
registration rates. Here are some of the event details.
There will be a welcoming social event 7 pm Friday night,
at or near the Drake Hotel — details coming soon. Featured speakers will be:
§
Jitu Brown, National Director – Journey
for Justice, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, Network for Public
Education Board of Directors
§
Tanaisa Brown, High School Senior, with
the Newark Student Union
§
Yong Zhao, Author, “Who’s Afraid of
the Big Bad Dragon?“
§
Diane Ravitch in conversation with
§
Lily Eskelsen Garcia, NEA President and
§
Randi Weingarten, AFT President
§
Karen Lewis, President, Chicago Teachers
Union
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