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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy
Roundup for March 17, 2015:
Hornbeck: After 20 years charter schools
are not the answer
Time/date: Tuesday, March 17 at 7 p.m.
Location: Lehrer Room in Millersville
University 's Bolger Conference
Center
Who's invited: parents, taxpayers, educators and
any others interested in school funding in Pennsylvania .
School funding, it's safe to say, is on the minds of many Pennsylvania
policymakers.
In the past year, six school districts sued state officials over
insufficient funds, legislators toured the state to hear about the issue, and Gov. Tom Wolf
made it a centerpiece of his recent budget proposal. On Tuesday night, the conversation is coming
to Lancaster County Millersville University Bolger
Conference Center
"Republicans in the Legislature have
focused on cutting the pension benefits of future employees, although that
promises no near-term relief from the rising pension obligation payment
schedule for school boards and the state"
Wolf plan seeks to end rising
school pension costs early
Penn Live By Marc Levy | The
Associated Press on March 16, 2015 at 6:39 PM, updated March 16,
2015 at 8:00 PM
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Gov. Tom Wolf wants
to make the state's first full pension obligation payments in more than a
decade and end fast-rising obligation payments for school districts, a top
budget official said Monday. But the
Democratic administration's plan to chip away at roughly $50 billion in debt
for the pensions of state and public school employees faces a tough reception
in the Republican-controlled Legislature. Top GOP lawmakers have focused
instead on cutting future employee pension benefits. The debt has piled up since 2001 during a
period when Pennsylvania
became one of the nation's worst pension-funding delinquents. Under the plan, Wolf wants to borrow $3
billion by way of a bond issue and persuade Pennsylvania 's two big public employee
retirement systems to cut investment management fees by $200 million a year.
Senate pension reform plan
coming soon
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason
Gottesman/Monday, March 16, 2015
According to Sen. Pat Browne (R-Lehigh), Majority Chairman of
the Senate Appropriations Committee and the likely prime sponsor of a Senate
pension reform bill, the Senate Republican’s pension reform plan is still being
worked on and could see the light of day in April. The caucus leadership has repeatedly
said pension reform must be dealt with before any revenue increase
considerations can be had. “I want to
have something our caucus will support before I put it in,” Sen. Browne told
reporters Monday afternoon following a budget hearing with the Budget Office.
“But, it’ll be very different from what the governor proposed.”
Budget secretary answers
Senate committee's questions about Wolf budget plan
Penn Live By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
March 16, 2015 at 9:21 PM, updated March 16, 2015 at 11:14 PM
Senate Republicans grill
governor's budget secretary on tax proposals
By Karen Langley / Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau March 17, 2015 12:00 AM
PA PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES’
RETIREMENT SYSTEM POSTS DECEMBER 31, 2014 QUARTERLY INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE
PSERS earns 8.83% for calendar year 2014 and adds $4.2 billion
in net investment income HARRISBURG ,
PA
Two troubling stats about Pa.
By John L. Micek |
jmicek@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
March 16, 2015 at 8:37 AM
Good Monday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
So if you've been paying attention to Gov. Tom Wolf's public schedule of late, then you probably know that he's been crisscrossing the state like some kind of super wonky Merry Prankster as he plugs his "Schools That Teach" education funding initiative. The York Democrat's spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1 proposes a $400 million increase to the state's basic education subsidy, raising it to a total of $6.1 billion. He's also promised to raise the funding level by $2 billion over the next four years, funded on the back of a proposed 5 percent severance tax on Marcellus shale natural gas drillers. Wolf also has promised a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the property taxes used to fund education, swapping it for a higher state sales and personal income tax. The overall goal is for the state to shoulder roughly 50 percent of the share of funding for public schools, up from the roughly 35 percent it's been for years.
So if you've been paying attention to Gov. Tom Wolf's public schedule of late, then you probably know that he's been crisscrossing the state like some kind of super wonky Merry Prankster as he plugs his "Schools That Teach" education funding initiative. The York Democrat's spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1 proposes a $400 million increase to the state's basic education subsidy, raising it to a total of $6.1 billion. He's also promised to raise the funding level by $2 billion over the next four years, funded on the back of a proposed 5 percent severance tax on Marcellus shale natural gas drillers. Wolf also has promised a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the property taxes used to fund education, swapping it for a higher state sales and personal income tax. The overall goal is for the state to shoulder roughly 50 percent of the share of funding for public schools, up from the roughly 35 percent it's been for years.
But as our pal Joel Mathis at PhillyMag reports, two troubling
stats show that the administration has its work cut out for it, particularly
when it comes to leveling the playing field for poorer districts. First off, Mathis cites as Washington Post analysis showing that,
"in Pennsylvania ,
per-pupil spending in the poorest school districts is 33 percent lower than
per-pupil spending in the wealthiest school districts." Read More: Who's lining up for Wolf's budget plan
As Mathis notes, the funding gap is the highest in
the nation, so much so that, even when federal dollars are thrown in, there's
still a huge gap between the richest and poorest districts.
Second is a Research for Action analysis showing that the state
"Student Performance Profile used to measure the academic performance of
every school in the state (with sanctions coming against persistently
low-performing schools) seems to be actually measuring the poverty level of
those schools," Mathis writes, adding that "as the percent
of a school's economically disadvantaged population increases SPP scores
decrease."
PhillyDeals: Wolf's pension
fix: What a bond can, and can't, do
Inquirer by JOSEPH N. DISTEFANO POSTED: Sunday, March
15, 2015, 1:09 AM
Stop panicking about Pennsylvania
pensions, says Randy Albright, Gov. Wolf's budget secretary.
Yes, the state's history of overpromising and underfunding, so
veteran public workers (and elected officials) can collect nearly their old
take-home pay as retirees, has dug taxpayers into a hole. Sure, the state workers' (SERS) and
school (PSERS) pensions have scraped together just around $75
billion of the $130 billion- plus they would need to invest to pay pensions for
today's public employees and retirees until they're all dead. To prevent the cash from running down - since
worker contributions and the state's often-exotic investments bring in less
than pensioners are paid each year - taxpayers have had to pay in more each
year since the mid-2000s, squeezing out other state spending. "A tapeworm" eating his budget,
Gov. Tom Corbett called the pensions. Moody's last year cut Pennsylvania 's bond rating to the
third-lowest of the 50 states, citing its pension-finance failure. Only Illinois and New
Jersey , with bigger pension problems, have worse
credit.
Education top issue for city,
poll finds
the notebook By Dale
Mezzacappa on Mar 16, 2015 05:25 PM
A poll
from the Pew Charitable Trusts has found that residents rank education
as the top issue facing Philadelphia ,
outpacing crime and the economy. Opinion
on the quality of the public schools has sunk over the past several years, the
poll showed, but views on charter schools were mixed. Only 11 percent of respondents want to keep
the School Reform Commission, with 48 percent wanting to replace it with a
local board of education and 41 percent having no opinion. If the SRC goes, 64
percent favor an elected board and just 11 percent want an appointed board,
while 25 percent had no opinion. Before
the state took over the city schools and installed the SRC in 2001, the
District was governed by a nine-person board appointed by the mayor. Philadelphia has never
had an elected school board. Responding
to an open-ended question, about one in three people, or 32 percent, cited
education as the most important issue facing the city, compared to 23 percent
for crime and 22 percent for jobs and the economy.
Schools, not crime, the No. 1
issue, Phila. tells Pew
KRISTEN A. GRAHAM, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, March 17,
2015, 1:08 AM POSTED: Monday, March 16, 2015, 3:53 PM
Education is the most important issue to Philadelphians - more
important than crime, jobs, and the economy, according to a new study by the
Pew Charitable Trusts. City residents
favor eliminating the School Reform Commission, want an elected school board,
and "have an extremely low opinion of the performance of the public school
system," according to a research study released Monday. Philadelphians were mixed on charter schools
in the poll - they view them generally positively, but most back the idea of
spending more money on traditional public schools rather than creating new
charter schools. Thirty-two percent of
city residents view education as the top issue, according to Pew, with 23
percent viewing crime as paramount and 22 percent jobs and the economy.
Philly teachers call on
Kenney to be next mayor
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN
MCCORRY MARCH 16, 2015
Surrounded by teachers and students outside of John B. Kelly
Elementary in Germantown
Monday, Democratic mayoral hopeful Jim Kenney accepted the endorsement of the
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.
Kenney, a 23-year veteran of City Council, has been a vocal supporter of
teachers throughout the campaign. "Teachers
and principals did not cause that problems that we're facing in the United States and in Philadelphia ," Kenney said to the crowd
gathered Monday. "They are holding on by their fingertips with lack of
resources and lack of respect. We're going to fight as best we can to get them
resources, but they're certainly going to have our respect." The endorsement came after a citywide vote
among the PFT's active members, which includes roughly 12,000 teachers,
counselors, nurses and other school staff.
Charter school issue in York City
School District
Capitolwire.com — Under The Dome™ Monday, March 16, 2015
Study: Charters More
Segregated than Public Schools in Pennsylvania
WESA 90.5 NPR Pittsburgh
By LARKIN PAGE-JACOBS • March
15, 2015
Charter schools in the commonwealth have grown rapidly. Over a
five year period beginning in 2006, enrollment in the state increased by 54
percent, and according to the most recent data, 6 percent of Pennsylvania students now attend a charter
school.
But a study
by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania at Penn State
Cost of Education: No easy
answers to balancing fair teacher salaries, fair tax rates
By Rudy Miller
| The Express-Times Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on March 16, 2015 at 6:02 AM, updated March 16, 2015 at 9:42 AM
Both elected leaders and union officials agree: Providing a
first-class educational system taxpayers can afford is a balancing act. Pennsylvania
and New Jersey lie in a relatively wealthy
part of the United States ,
so it stands to reason teachers in those states earn more than the average
American teacher, according to local education officials. The average Pennsylvania
teacher made about $64,000 for 2013-14 and the New Jersey average was $70,000. They're the
sixth- and 10th-highest salaries among the 50 states and Washington D.C.
Cost of Education: Teachers look
for solutions to Pennsylvania
By Rudy Miller
| The Express-Times Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
March 16, 2015 at 6:15 AM, updated March 16, 2015 at 8:40 AM
While local school boards have a big say in what teachers earn
and what taxpayers pay, they're greatly constricted by decisions made in Harrisburg . Multiple crises must be resolved in order for
education to remain on track, according to state and regional teachers union
officials.
"A top priority is to try to solve the school funding
crisis overall," said Wythe Keever, the assistant director of
communications for the Pennsylvania State Education Association.
"School director candidates offered
varied reasons for the increased interest in school board races, but Muhlenberg
College Institute of Public Opinion director Chris Borick, Ph.D., speculated
heightened public interest in education issues could be a factor. Last year,
during the governor’s race, polls repeatedly showed education as the top issue
on the minds of voters. Gov. Tom Corbett’s failure to continue the education
funding levels under Gov. Ed Rendell contributed to local property tax hikes,
mass layoffs of teachers and cuts to programs.
“Clearly, the issue has been more prominent
in the minds of voters and often the perception among voters might tend to make
them more interested in running for the types of seats that have an influence
on policy,” Dr. Borick said."
School board candidacies
surge on May primary ballot
Candidacies for Lackawanna County school boards surged this
year compared with two years ago, fueling a sharp increase in contested primary
election races countywide, a Sunday Times review of nomination petitions for
both years found. The surge was led
largely by contested school board races in the Carbondale Area, Dunmore , Old Forge and Valley View school districts.
The increased percentage of contested school board races
happened even though the number of available nominations rose to 108 in 2015
from 88 in 2013.
In 2013, only more than a third (36.4 percent) of Democratic
and Republican school board races had contests. This time, more than half of
Republican (51.9 percent) and almost three in five (57.4 percent) of Democratic
school director nominations are contested.
Contested means there are more candidates than available nominations.
Each available school board seat has two available nominations, one Republican,
one Democrat. Overall, the number of
contested nominations in all the major county and local races rose to more than
three in 10 (30.9 percent) this year from about one in five (21.1 percent) in
2013.
Register
Now for EPLC Forum on the State Education Budget – Harrisburg
on March 18, Pittsburgh on March 19, and Philadelphia
Education Policy and Leadership
Center Pennsylvania
You are invited to attend one of EPLC’s Regional Education
Policy Forums on Governor Wolf’s Proposed Education Budget for
2015-2016 Space is limited. There is no cost, but an
RSVP is required. The program will
include a state budget overview presented by Ron Cowell of EPLC and a
representative of the PA Budget and Policy
Center
Wednesday, March 18, 2015– EPLC Education Policy
Forum on the Governor’s State Budget Proposal for Education – 8:30-11
a.m. – Hilton Harrisburg – Harrisburg , PA
Thursday, March 19, 2015– EPLC Education Policy
Forum on the Governor’s State Budget Proposal for Education – 8:30-11 a.m.
– Wyndham Pittsburgh University Center – Pittsburgh , PA
Wednesday, April 1, 2015– EPLC Education Policy
Forum on the Governor’s State Budget Proposal for Education – 10 a.m.-12
Noon – Penn Center for Educational Leadership, University of Pennsylvania
– Philadelphia , PA
For this event, sponsored by Public Citizens for Children and
Youth (PCCY), local dentists will provide free screenings and cleanings for
children. Give Kids a Smile Day is especially for children who do not
have health insurance or who have not had a dental exam in the last six months.
Appointments are necessary, so please call PCCY at 215-563-5848 x32 to
schedule one starting Monday, March 16th. Volunteers will be
on hand to answer calls. Smile Day information can also be found on the school
district website and on PCCY’s website - http://www.pccy.org/resource/give-kids-a-smile-day/.
PCCY Spring Training:
Hit a School Funding Home Run for Kids Advocacy Training Workshop
March 18 or 21
This year we have an unprecedented opportunity to make public
education funding more fair and to get more of it for schools across
Pennsylvania. Voters spoke in November when an incumbent governor—widely
perceived to be responsible for drastic education cuts, was unseated while his
opponent ran on the promise to increase school funding. A funding commission
has been established to research and develop recommendations for a new funding
formula. Now is our time to let our elected officials know we take investment
in education seriously.
Please join Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) for
our annual advocacy training to learn how you can win fair and increased
funding for our students.
By participating, you’ll be joining a statewide movement. PCCY
is a part of a statewide coalition of 50 (and growing) organizations committed
to getting a fair funding formula passed by 2016.
Attend our training to:
·
Learn
o
Why education funding in PA is broken and how a
funding formula can fix it
o
Best practices for amplifying your voice for PA
kids
o
How to develop an advocacy plan tailored to fit
your schedule and strengths
·
Connect with
·
Others throughout our region who are as
passionate about public education as you are
·
Leave
·
Inspired and ready to take action for PA
Workshop Details:
When: The same workshop will be offered on two different
days for your convenience.
Wednesday, March 18th, 6:00-8:00pm or Saturday,
March 21st, 9 am - Noon
Where: United Way Building, 1709 Benjamin Franklin
Pkwy., Philadelphia, 19103
For additional information, email info@pccy.org.
This event is free and open to the public. Registration is
requested. Children are welcome.
Click here to sign up:
Public Interest Law Center of
Philadelphia offering two special education seminars in March
Leaving Gifted Kids Behind Tuesday, March 24, 2015 1:00
-- 4:00 P.M.
In this session, participants will learn how Pennsylvania law affects and supports gifted children, as well as practical tips for ensuring gifted services. We will also discuss race and gifted services.
In this session, participants will learn how Pennsylvania law affects and supports gifted children, as well as practical tips for ensuring gifted services. We will also discuss race and gifted services.
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.
Children with Emotional Problems: Avoiding the Juvenile Justice
System, and What Does Real Help Look Like? Friday, March 27, 2015 1:00
-- 4:00 P.M.
This session will focus on giving you the tools you need to
support children with emotional problems, including those in the foster care
system or those in the juvenile court system.
Note: This session was originally scheduled for February 17,
but had to be rescheduled due to inclement weather. Tickets purchased for the
original date still apply.
United Way Building 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway,
Philadelphia, 19103
Tickets: Attorneys $200
General Public $100 Webinar $50
Pay What You Can" tickets are also available
2015 Pennsylvania Budget
Summit
Wednesday, March 25, 2015 Hilton Hotel, Harrisburg
Pennsylvania
PA Budget and Policy Center
The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center will host its Annual
Budget Summit on Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at the Hilton Harrisburg. Join us
for an in-depth look at the Governor's 2015-16 budget proposal, including what
it means for education, health and human services, and local communities. The
Summit will focus on the leading issues facing the commonwealth in 2015, with
workshops, lunch, a legislative panel discussion, and a keynote speech.
Space is limited, so fill out the form below to reserve your
spot at the Budget Summit.
Education Voters of PA will
hold a forum about public school funding in York :
Wednesday, March 25th, 6:30pm to 8pm at the York Learning
Center 300 E. 7th Avenue , York
More info/registration: http://www.educationvoterspa.org/index.php/site/news/2015-events/
More info/registration: http://www.educationvoterspa.org/index.php/site/news/2015-events/
Education Voters of PA will
hold a forum about public school funding in Cumberland County: Wednesday, April
1, 7:00 pm at the Grace Milliman Pollock Performing Arts Center, 340 North 21st
Street, Camp Hill.
More info/registration: http://www.educationvoterspa.org/index.php/site/news/2015-events/
More info/registration: http://www.educationvoterspa.org/index.php/site/news/2015-events/
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.
Agenda/Speakers: https://www.psba.org/event/advocacy-forum-day-hill-2015/
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.
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