Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for February
9, 2015:
Funding, charters, pensions
drive school debates
Upcoming Basic Education Funding Commission hearing
scheduled in Dauphin County
PA
Basic Education Funding Commission website
Thursday, February 26, 2015, 11 am Dauphin County, location TBA
Pa. schools need fair
funding: Pam Lenz
GoErie letter by Pam Lenz February 8, 2015 12:01 AM
PAM LENZ, a "circuit
rider" for the Campaign for Fair Education Funding, is the recently
retired curriculum director and former acting superintendent of the Iroquois School District Gannon
University
…..Now let's imagine it's your job to take a given amount of
money and divide it equitably among Pennsylvania's 500 school districts as part
of their yearly operating budgets. You'll just pull up your formula, plug the
numbers in and be done, right? Wrong. Pennsylvania
has no formula for distributing funds that have been allocated to schools. It's
more like listening to the relatives, doing what Cousin Bess says, and
including bits and pieces of others' suggestions to make everyone happy. Pennsylvania
is one of only three states that does not use a formula to distribute funds to
its school districts (Delaware and North Carolina are the
other two). Instead of looking at things such as local tax effort, enrollment
and poverty, to name a few, Pennsylvania
largely goes by what a district has received in years past. Over time, this has
resulted in a difference of $17,000-plus in what is being spent per pupil among
districts throughout the state. It goes without saying that this creates a
disparity in the opportunities available for students.
Did you catch our weekend postings?
PA Ed Policy Roundup Feb 7: Listen to Mark Gleason and
Donna Cooper debate charter expansion on 'Radio Times' on the web
PA Cyber School
Beaver County TImes By J.D. Prose jprose@timesonline.com |
Posted: Sunday, February 8, 2015 4:00 am
Enrollment at the
Midland-based Pennsylvania
Cyber Charter
School
"These three problems are
inter-related and require a comprehensive solution. We need to stop viewing
this crisis in terms of charters, unions, management, and school boards as
being good or bad, or deluding ourselves into thinking that corporations and
partnerships will solve the problem. We must focus instead on a cost-based,
fair funding formula, charter funding reform, and pensions. The children of Philadelphia
Funding, charters, pensions
drive school debates
Philly.com Opinion By Marjorie Neff POSTED: Monday,
February 9, 2015, 1:07 AM
Marjorie Neff is a member
of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission
While the vigorous debate over Philadelphia 's public schools is vitally
important, it relies heavily on the same old saws that have allowed the funding
crisis to go on for so long. We must shift the discussion. First, the debate about whether charters are
good or bad is a red herring. The real issue is how to fund charter and public
schools in a fair and equitable way. Many advocate a marketplace where charters
and public schools compete and parents are informed about their options. That
only works if funding one does not disadvantage the other. Such is not the case
in Philadelphia .
"Private money going to public schools
is a good thing. More of it should be encouraged. After all, we all have a
stake in the quality of education offered to our children and clearly, the
state has been starving the schools for years.
But such deals need transparency and coordination with the District and
other stakeholders. PSP's announcement of its offer, which came as a surprise
to many in the district, could be a poison pill: if the district turns it down,
it will incur the wrath of Harrisburg; if it accepts the money under PSP's
terms, it could undermine its finances even worse than they are now, by
expanding charter enrollment without the ability to pay for it in the future."
DN Editorial: The gift that
keeps on taking
PSP's charter
incentive has so many strings attached, it looks like a noose.
Daily News Editorial POSTED: Monday, February 9, 2015,
3:01 AM
WE'RE GUESSING that "no good deed goes unpunished"
was a refrain heard around the offices of the Philadelphia School Partnership
last week, following the mixed reaction to PSP's announcement that it was
offering a $35 million gift to encourage the school district to approve up to
15,000 new charter-school seats. PSP is
an alliance of businesses, charities and educators that raises funds for
public, charter and private schools. So far, it has given $20 million to
charters, $11 million to district schools and $3 million to private schools.
Given the details of the latest offer, it's fair to wonder just
how good a deed it was.
"When a student moves to a charter,
the district loses a chunk of state aid that doesn't get offset by
savings. Why? Because, when a class shrinks from 35 to 34 students,
no has yet figured out how to lay off 1/35th of a teacher. When a couple
of kids leave a school, the building still needs to be heated, the office
staffed and the buses run. (Another
problem, one that was fixed by Harrisburg for a while until Tom Corbett
un-fixed it: Even when a new charter student is moving from a Catholic or
private school, not a public one, the home school district still gets docked to
pay for the student. Real logical, huh?)"
Charters falter in Philly
mostly because of a bad state law
WHYY Newsworks FEBRUARY 9, 2015 CENTRE SQUARE BLOG by
Chris Satullo
The Philadelphia
school system has received one of those Godfather-style "offers you can't
refuse." A private group called the
Philadelphia School Partnership is dangling a $25 million gift before the
school district. The money comes, of course, with a catch: To get it, the
district must approve a surge of new charter schools around the city. Why $25 million? Well, the PSP concedes – as
every intellectually honest party with access to a calculator must – that the
bizarre way Pennsylvania
funds charters creates a financial penalty for the home district.
The details are messy. But the formula operates on the wacky
assumption that every time a student leaves for a charter, his old school can
trim costs equal to the state aid that travels with the student to the charter. That does not work in the real world.
Kenney to school district:
Don't take $25M from PSP
WHYY Newsworks NINETYNINE A BLOG
BY BRIAN HICKEY FEBRUARY
6, 2015
Mayoral candidate Jim Kenney just released a statement
regarding the highly
debated Philadelphia School Partnership's $25
million offer to "the Philadelphia school district to help offset
the stranded costs of charter expansion over three years." He's against
it. To wit:
"Our school district should not accept PSP's $25
million. Not only does that offer cover a fraction of the nearly $500 million
required to enroll just 15,000 more students in charters, but the donations
come from unnamed millionaires who already have far too great an influence in
our upcoming mayoral election. These millionaires are far more concerned with
the financial stake they have to gain from public dollars flowing into
pro-voucher programs and privately run charters than they are with 'school
choice.' As mayor, I will work with Governor Wolf to stand up to those who
would seek to profit off our children by privatizing our education
system."
We'll keep our eyes peeled for reaction from the other
campaigns and update this post accordingly. In the meantime, here's
where several candidates stand on the charter issue.
"On Monday, another outspoken opponent
of unfettered charter growth, longtime activist Helen
Gym, will announce her candidacy for an at-large City Council seat, with
one Democrat slot now wide open because of Kenney's resignation. So there is
some good news about the election here: Voters will have a choice when it comes
to "school choice," the closest we will come to a referendum of
whether there's still a place for traditional public schools. The bad news is that this referendum will pit
regular people saying the right things against rich anonymous people willing to
spend millions to get their way. Never bet against the money."
Why Philly's cash-strapped
schools must say 'no' to the cash
Daily News Attytood Blog by Will Bunch POSTED: SUNDAY,
FEBRUARY 8, 2015, 8:21 PM
The Philadelphia 2015 mayor's race is starting to remind me of
Yogi Berra's famous observation about the left field shadows in the old (i.e.,
real) Yankee Stadium, that "it
gets late early out there." No doubt it's technically early -- the
filing deadline for candidates won't come for a month, and maybe somebody else
wonderful will jump in (although the fact that no name even occurs to me is
telling.) And yet it feels late out there -- that the candidates, the issues,
and maybe the fate of the city's zeitgeist for the rest of the 2010s is locked
in.
There's a lot this election could be about -- Philadelphia's
rate of deep
poverty, said to be highest in the land, how to move policing out of the
stop-and-frisk era, or how to bring make the city's comeback touch all
neighborhoods and not just the ones with hipster coffee hangouts. But, no, they
-- not me or you, but they -- decided that the race is going
to be about charter schools.
School official runs PAC once
associated with Williams
WHYY Newsworks by DAVE DAVIES OFF MIC A BLOG BY DAVE DAVIES FEBRUARY 9, 2015
How weird is this? The political committee formed early in 2013
to support the exploratory effort of mayoral candidate State Sen. Anthony
Williams is now headed by a full-time employee of the Philadelphia school district. The Philadelphia Daily News' Solomon
Leach reported Saturday that the Believe Again PAC is headed
by the district's government affairs director, Rodney Oglesby.
When Williams formally announced his candidacy for mayor in November, he designated a different PAC, the one used for his past State Senate campaigns as his mayoral campaign committee (city law requires municipal candidates to have a single committee).
So Believe Again is, by definition, no longer a Williams vehicle. But it's interesting to note that it paid $25,000 to Dawn Chavous, now a Williams campaign staffer between January and July of last year, and donated $10,000 to Williams campaign in December.
The school district is okay with Oglesby's role, according the piece. But it's strange.
When Williams formally announced his candidacy for mayor in November, he designated a different PAC, the one used for his past State Senate campaigns as his mayoral campaign committee (city law requires municipal candidates to have a single committee).
So Believe Again is, by definition, no longer a Williams vehicle. But it's interesting to note that it paid $25,000 to Dawn Chavous, now a Williams campaign staffer between January and July of last year, and donated $10,000 to Williams campaign in December.
The school district is okay with Oglesby's role, according the piece. But it's strange.
Meet Mayoral Front-Runner
Anthony Williams
The longtime state
senator says “I have never been bought, never been rented” and promises policy
proposals soon.
Philly Mag Citified BY HOLLY OTTERBEIN | FEBRUARY
8, 2015 AT 5:58 AM
In the Philadelphia
mayor’s race, everything’s coming up Anthony Williams.
When past city solicitor Ken Trujillo dropped
out of the race, it was good news for Williams. When former City
Councilman Jim Kenney got in, it was good news for Williams. When Council
President Darrell Clarke decided not to enter it at all, it was good news for Williams. Williams, a state senator for the past 16
years, has the backing of U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, the boss of the city's
Democratic Party. He's the only viable black mayoral candidate in a city that
tends to vote along racial lines. He had the most cash on hand of anyone in the race at the
end of 2014. He's been christened the front-runner by countless political
insiders and journalists. The man
clearly has a good shot at winning. But who is Williams and what does he stand
for? His campaign has been relatively quiet, and his positions on issues not
involving education are something of mystery.
Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/citified/2015/02/08/philadelphia-mayoral-candidate-anthony-williams-qa/#P96ssqxh64hDUUzG.99
School superintendent for
four years, Linda Lane
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette February 9, 2015 12:00 AM
Near the end of an annual interview on her superintendency,
Pittsburgh Public Schools’ Linda
Lane picked up a list of 21 names from her desk. They were city school students who had died
unnatural deaths since she was named superintendent more than four years
ago.
“We have lost children,” she said as she read the names and the
causes of death — house fire, suicide, homicide, car accident, accidental
shooting. She has paid her respects to most at funeral homes. The moment was a reminder that Mrs. Lane tries to
keep children in the front of her mind. She shows pictures of the three
children she has mentored — one at a time — at Pittsburgh Weil PreK-5
in the Hill District. At a Pittsburgh Promise scholarship event last month, she
gave a big hug to a student who had just told her he was accepted at college.
She had written him a recommendation.
AIU board spends freely as
reserve fund dwindles
Serving local school districts, the Allegheny Intermediate Unit
depends on public money
By Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette February 8, 2015 12:00 AM
The Allegheny Intermediate Unit has hit hard times lately—
drawing down $12.4 million from its reserve fund over the last three years
— but its top administrators are getting raises, eating well and hitting
luxury resorts as they preach austerity and reduce pay of some of their
employees.
The AIU, which provides specialized services to school
districts, spent $104,621 over those three years on food served to employees,
board members and visitors.
During the same three-year period, top administrators and a
handful of board members spent $260,592 to go to national and state conferences
ranging from Las Vegas to Orlando
to Ponte Verde Beach , Fla.
In Spring City
KATHY BOCCELLA, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITER POSTED: Sunday, February 8, 2015, 1:08 AM
With lagging student test scores and only about 120 students in
grades K-4, Spring
City Elementary
School Spring-Ford Area School District
gambled on a radically different approach to fixing the struggling school near
the border of Montgomery and Chester Counties
Poll: Is there too much
testing in schools?
Standardized tests are aimed at providing data on how well
schools are educating our children.
Proponents of the assessments say the data keep schools
accountable for improving overall achievement, as well as gaps between
white and minority students and between wealthy and poor children. But the increased emphasis on testing in
public schools since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has created
frustration among many invested in education.
L-S teacher quits over
standardized testing, says leaving breaks her heart
By KARA
NEWHOUSE | Staff Writer Posted: Sunday, February 8, 2015 8:00
am | Updated: 8:37 am, Sun
Feb 8, 2015.
Gina de Vitry didn't expect to change careers at age 42. She considers herself a natural teacher and
loved working on the sixth-grade math team at Martin Meylin
Middle School
But in early January, she quit to pursue a medical career. The
decision, she said, broke her heart.
In her resignation letter, de Vitry cited increasing pressure
and time spent on standardized tests in public schools as her reason for
leaving. A copy of the letter can be seen here.
"I can't watch these kids struggle and work as hard as
they can and still, they start to feel like failures. They give up," de
Vitry said in an interview at the end of January.
De Vitry, who worked at Lampeter-Strasburg School
District
Lani Guinier on our Ivy
League meritocracy lie: “You don’t want only those people who do well on the
SAT”
EXCLUSIVE: The civil
rights authority tells Salon why teaching to the test hurts kids -- and favors
the elite
Salon.com by Jeff Bryant WEDNESDAY, FEB 4, 2015 08:30 AM EST
If you were a fan of the HBO series “The Wire,” you likely remember
the scene in
the fourth season focused on Baltimore
public schools where the term “juking the stats” defined how corporate-driven
reengineering of the public sphere has distorted public institutions so they no
longer serve ordinary people. The scene
that really crystalized how these systems are transmogrifying our public
institutions occurred in an episode in
which disgraced police officer Roland “Prezbo” Pryzbylewski, who is now
employed as a Baltimore
public school teacher, learns how his school will teach test questions in order
to increase student scores on standardized exams. “Juking the stats,” he
confides to a fellow teacher, “Making robberies into larcenies. Making rapes
disappear. You juke the stats, and majors become colonels. I’ve been here
before.”
It’s good for us to remind ourselves about this scene as
Congress deliberates on rewriting No Child Left Behind legislation that made
juking the stats an imperative in public education. Senators and House members
are pouring over the law and questioning
the use of testing and how student scores on those tests are being
used to evaluate teachers and schools.
George F. Will: Education is
the business of states, not federal government
Post Gazette Opinion By George F. Will February 9, 2015 12:00
AM
In 1992, the former Tennessee
governor was President George H.W. Bush’s secretary of education. He urged Mr.
Bush to veto proposed legislation to expand federal involvement in K-through-12
education. He said it would create “at least the beginnings of a national
school board that could make day-to-day school decisions on curriculum,
discipline, teacher training, textbooks and classroom materials.” The veto
threat derailed the legislation.
Today this former governor and former secretary (and former
president of the University
of Tennessee
From Capital
Associates, Inc.:
PA LEGISLATURE SESSION
DAYS
Senate
Feb 17, 18, 23, 24, 25
Mar
2, 3, 4
Apr 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22
May
4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13
Jun
1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30
House
Feb
9, 10, 11, 23, 24, 25
Mar
2, 3, 4, 30, 31
Apr 1, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22
May
4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13
Jun
1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
PSBA 2015 Advocacy Forum
APR 19, 2015 • 8:00
AM - APR 20, 2015 • 5:00 PM
Join PSBA for the second annual Advocacy Forum on April 19-20,
2015. Hear from legislative experts on hot topics and issues regarding public
education on Sunday, April 19, at PSBA headquarters in Mechanicsburg. The next
day you and fellow advocates will meet with legislators at the state capitol.
This is your chance to learn how to successfully advocate on behalf of public
education and make your voice heard on the Hill.
·
Schedule of Events
·
Day One –PSBA headquarters
·
10 a.m. — Early Bird Arrival and Registration
·
10:30-12 p.m. — The State Education Agenda
The chairman of the Senate and House Education Committees will share their perspectives on the education agenda for the 2015-16 session of the General Assembly. Speakers: Senator Smucker, chairman, Senate Education Committee; and Representative Saylor, chairman, House Education Committee
The chairman of the Senate and House Education Committees will share their perspectives on the education agenda for the 2015-16 session of the General Assembly. Speakers: Senator Smucker, chairman, Senate Education Committee; and Representative Saylor, chairman, House Education Committee
·
Noon-1:15 p.m. — Welcome Lunch
·
1:00-12:15 p.m. — Special Welcome and
Introduction: Nathan Mains, PSBA Executive
Director and William LaCoff, PSBA President
·
12:30-1 p.m. — Speaker: Diane Ravitch, nationally known education
historian, policy analyst and author of Reign of Error.
·
1:15-2:00 p.m. — Education Priorities will be
discussed with the Education Secretary Pedro
Rivera
This session provides the latest information on the governor’s proposed state funding plans, the pension crisis and the latest on special education.
This session provides the latest information on the governor’s proposed state funding plans, the pension crisis and the latest on special education.
·
2:00-2:30 p.m. — Federal Education Update:
NSBA
Director of National Advocacy Services Kathleen Branch will join Director of Federal Programs Lucy Gettman from NSBA, to speak about federal advocacy.
Director of National Advocacy Services Kathleen Branch will join Director of Federal Programs Lucy Gettman from NSBA, to speak about federal advocacy.
·
2:30-3 p.m. — Social Media Training (Speakers
to be announced)
·
3-3:15 p.m. — Break
·
3:15-3:45 p.m. — Grassroots Advocacy: How to
be an Effective Advocate
Hear from former Allwein Advocacy Award winners Shauna D’Alessandro, school director from West Jefferson Hills SD and PSBA Allegheny Region 14 director, and Mark B. Miller, board vice president of Centennial SD and PSBA BuxMont Region 11 director.
Hear from former Allwein Advocacy Award winners Shauna D’Alessandro, school director from West Jefferson Hills SD and PSBA Allegheny Region 14 director, and Mark B. Miller, board vice president of Centennial SD and PSBA BuxMont Region 11 director.
·
3:45-4:15 p.m. — Legislative Update and Lobby
Day Coordination
PSBA’s Senior Director of Government Affairs John Callahan will walk you through legislative issues and priorities that might be addressed the next day during legislative visits by members.
PSBA’s Senior Director of Government Affairs John Callahan will walk you through legislative issues and priorities that might be addressed the next day during legislative visits by members.
·
4:15-5 p.m. — Roundtable Discussion
Network with your fellow board members before visiting your legislator
Network with your fellow board members before visiting your legislator
·
5:00-5:15 p.m. — Break
·
5:15-6:30 p.m. — Dinner Buffet
Enjoy a legislative discussion on the 2015-16 budget and appropriations with Senator Browne
Enjoy a legislative discussion on the 2015-16 budget and appropriations with Senator Browne
·
6:30 p.m. — Adjourn
EPLC
"Focus on Education" TV Program on PCN - Sunday, February 8 at
3:00 p.m.
Panel 1: Curriculum,
Assessment and Academic Opportunities for All Students
Dr. Richard D. Nilsen, Executive
Director, Pennsylvania Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Panel 2: Career and
Technical Education
Jackie Cullen, Executive
Director, Pennsylvania Association of Career and Technical Administrators
Dr. Clyde Hornberger, Educational Consultant and Former Director, Lehigh Career & Technical Institute
All EPLC "Focus on Education" TV shows are hosted by EPLC President Ron Cowell.
Dr. Clyde Hornberger, Educational Consultant and Former Director, Lehigh Career & Technical Institute
All EPLC "Focus on Education" TV shows are hosted by EPLC President Ron Cowell.
Campaign for Fair Education
Funding Seeks Campaign Manager
Campaign for Fair Education Funding February 2, 2015
The Campaign for Fair Education Funding seeks a campaign
manager who is a strategic thinker and an operational leader. This position
could be filled by an individual or firm. The manager will lead the day-to-day
operations of the campaign and its government relations, communications,
mobilization and research committees and work in partnership with the campaign
governing board to set and implement the campaign’s strategic direction.
Sign-up for weekly email updates from the
Campaign
The Campaign for Fair
Education Funding website
PA Basic Education Funding
Commission website
Thorough and Efficient: Pennsylvania
Education Funding Lawsuit website
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.
Sign up for National School Boards Association’s Advocacy Network
Friends of
Public Education http://p2a.co/nsbac
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 April 24 - 26 – Early Bird Special Registration Open!
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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