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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for March
6, 2015:
Governor Wolf Launches
‘Schools That Teach’ Website
See how your school district and taxpayers would fare
under the Governor's proposed budget
The next PA Basic
Education Funding Commission Public
Hearing will be on Thursday, March 12th at 10:00 am in Hearing Room 1, North
Office Building, Harrisburg
See how your school district and taxpayers would fare under the Governor's proposed
budget
Basic Ed Funding
Special Ed Funding
Property Tax Relief
Cyber Charter Tuition Savings
Governor Wolf Launches
‘Schools That Teach’ Website
Governor Wolf's website 03/05/2015
Meet the House GOP pension
prophet ignored by leadership: Thursday Morning Coffee
Penn Live By John L. Micek |
jmicek@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on March 05, 2015 at 8:15 AM
Good Snow-Delayed Thursday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
So everyone knows thatPennsylvania 's
$50 billion pension knot is the single biggest policy challenge facing state
government this budget season.
Enter Rep. John McGinnis, R-Blair, a fiscal conservative, former
finance professor and Penn
State Harrisburg , McGinnis said
he wants to put the state on a $3 billion a year payment plan for 20 years and
change benefits for future hires to a 401(k)-style retirement plan. It'll take program cuts and tax hikes to do
it, he tells WHTM's Dennis Owens, but the alternative is far worse. But he
says he can't get legislative leaders to buy into it. "None of that is politically easy so
nobody wants to do it," McGinnis told Owens. "So why
would they want to hear from me?"
So everyone knows that
How much did Gov. Tom Wolf
increase the budget? Take your pick
Penn Live By Wallace McKelvey
| WMckelvey@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on March 05, 2015 at 2:02 PM, updated March 05, 2015 at 4:50 PM
A lot of numbers are thrown around come budget season at the
Capitol and even something as simple as Gov. Tom Wolf's total spending is
up for interpretation. On paper, the
governor's proposals spends about $29.9 billion, a 2.7 percent increase from
the current budget.
Republicans, however, point out that the governor's
calculation doesn't include the state's pension obligations or the funds
Wolf plans to raise in order to provide school property tax relief.
According to the House Republican Appropriations Committee,
Wolf's plan calls for nearly $33.8 billion in spending, a 16 percent increase,
after those factors are included.
More goods, services to be
taxed under Wolf proposal
By Karen Langley / Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau March 6, 2015 12:00 AM
Legislators prepare for
battle over Wolf’s ‘aggressive’ budget
Observer Reporter By Mike Jones Staff writer Published: March
3, 2015 - Updated: March 4, 2015 10:56 pm
Gov. Tom Wolf’s “aggressive” budget proposal is setting up a
political fight between legislative Republicans and his administration that
reminds some local representatives of the protracted fiscal battles during the
late 2000s. The governor’s plan to raise
both the personal income and state sales taxes in exchange for an undermined
reduction in property taxes left local legislators calling the spending plan a
“grand slam” or “very disappointing,” depending on which side of the aisle
they’re seated.
Wolf's business tax plans
well received by York
County
Halving the corporate income tax would put more money
back into businesses
By Gary Haber and
Brett Sholtis York Daily Record/Sunday News 03/03/2015 09:55:49 PM EST
Gov. Tom Wolf's proposal to halve the state's corporate income
tax rate was well-received by area business owners like Raymond Fertig. "Any time you can reduce your taxes,
it's a good thing," said Fertig, president of Ray Fertig Construction in York Township
Politically Uncorrected:
Wolf’s Budget: The Rising Price of A Civilized Society
PoliticsPA Written by
G. Terry Madonna & Michael L. Young March 5, 2015
Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once
famously observed, “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.” Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf’s new budget
with its imposing array of new taxes promises to determine exactly how
much Pennsylvanians are willing to pay for a civilized society. The Wolf budget contains the most ambitious
and bold set of proposals in modern history, including $4 billion in income and
sales tax hikes, along with a new severance tax on natural gas extraction. As a
lure to win popular support, he’s pledged to use some of the new
revenues for education spending, property tax relief and business tax cuts
popular with many Republicans.
LETTER: Wolf's budget hurts
charter schools
Bob Fayfich is Executive director, Pennsylvania Coalition
of Public Charter Schools
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf's budget proposal is focused on
increasing funding to ensure Pennsylvania
has schools that teach. The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools
(PCPCS) supports fair and adequate funding for all students, but we are keenly
focused on Pennsylvania
having children who learn. The
difference is more than nuance and semantics. PCPCS is dedicated to ensuring
that every public school child receives adequate funding and has the right to
choice in their education. While Gov.
Wolf's budget seeks to increase funding for many students, tens of thousands of
Pennsylvania
children will receive less public funding and have their educational choice
threatened based solely on the type of public school they have chosen to
attend.
Bob Casey aims for Washington
Penn Live By Ivey DeJesus |
idejesus@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
March 05, 2015 at 5:06 PM
U.S.
Sen. Bob Casey is going after school suspensions. Casey, D-PA, this week introduced a bill
aimed at reducing the rate of student suspension across the nation's schools.
Casey's bill - Keep Kids in School Act - specifically takes aim at the
discrepancies in the nation's suspension rates.
Students of color and students with disabilities, Casey noted, are disproportionately
suspended at higher rates than their white peers. Black students are
suspended and expelled at a rate three times higher than white students and
Latino students are also suspended at a higher rate. Students with disabilities
are more than twice as likely to be suspended as those without.
Organizers hope school board
forum becomes ongoing event
Bucks County
Courier
Organizers of a recent forum on the responsibilities of school
board members and how to run for the position want to make the event a
recurring one, repeated every two years when school board members are elected
in Bucks County Council Rock
School District Bucks
County
Monday’s event featured six current or former school board
members from around the county sharing their experiences and answering
questions about the responsibilities of the position and their opinions about
what it takes to be a good school board member. Information also was provided
on the process of running for a school board seat and on the training and
seminars available to those who are elected.
Operational
Revenue per Student in Comparable Urban Districts 2013-2014 School Year
Pew Charitable Trusts State
"Nutter called Hite's plan an
"innovative redesign of our public schools" that could result in a
school like Bartram High hiring back "guidance counselors and nurses,
reading specialists, or assistant principals." Other schools, he said,
might reestablish art programs, sports teams, and Advanced Placement classes".
It's been a good week for Phila. schools
It's been a good week for Phila. schools
KRISTEN A. GRAHAM, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Friday, March 6, 2015, 1:08 AM
William R. Hite Jr. finds himself in an unusual spot. For the last two winters and springs, he has
grappled with Philadelphia
School District
Nutter proposes extra $105
million annually for Philadelphia
By Laura Benshoff for NewsWorks on Mar 5, 2015 11:34 PM
School Reform Commissioners Farah Jimenez, Bill Green and
Sylvia Simms join Superinendent Bill Hite and Chief Financial Officer Matthew
Stanski at Mayor Nutter's budget address.
Between Gov. Tom Wolf's proposed state budget and Mayor Michael
Nutter's proposal, the School
District of Philadelphia
Here's the math: $159 million in basic education and special
education funding from the state, plus $25 million in savings from charter
funding reform plus $105 million from Nutter's proposed budget. That's nearly enough to hit the district's
$309 million funding goal. But the state and city funding increases are
contingent upon lawmakers agreeing to different and, in some cases, more taxes.
THE SCHOOL district's Charter School Office has laid down the
law to charter operator ASPIRA Inc. of Pennsylvania
over the charter renewal of one of its schools, John B. Stetson.
In a detailed letter dated Jan. 22 and obtained by the Daily
News, the charter office seeks an immediate overhaul of Stetson's board of
trustees, its business practices and its oversight of the school. The letter's author, Charter School Office
operations coordinator Lauren Thum, lists 17 conditions that ASPIRA must
satisfy before the office will recommend that the School Reform Commission
extend Stetson's charter for one year. In almost all previous charter-renewal
cases, the SRC has granted five-year renewals.
Eleven of the conditions must be met by April 30 or June 30, while the
remaining items can be satisfied during the year. All the conditions would be
incorporated into a one-year charter agreement, the letter said.
WHYY Newsworks BY BILL
HANGLEY MARCH 6, 2015
The Philadelphia
School District Philadelphia schools with
more than 3,000 students. In the past, it's been held up as a model of success.
And last year, district officials recommended that ASPIRA take over North Philadelphia 's Muñoz Marín Elementary as part of
the Renaissance process, telling parents that it was a high-quality provider
with a proven track record. (That plan was eventually scuttled after a parent
vote rejected the charter.) But this year,
district officials have changed their tune, revealing serious concerns about a
number of ASPIRA's financial and management practices, and asking the nonprofit
to change them.
GOP
education chairman anticipates vote on education bill
WASHINGTON — The Republican chairman of the House education
committee said Wednesday he was blindsided by conservative opposition to his
rewrite of the No Child Left Behind education law and will take the next week
to try to clear up misconceptions. GOP
House leaders late last week abruptly canceled a scheduled vote on the bill
when it became uncertain whether it would pass given conservative concern about
the federal role in education. House Democrats widely opposed the bill, but a
similar one had passed in 2013 with much less consternation by rank and file
Republicans. The bill by Rep. John
Kline, R-Minn., chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce,
would keep annual testing requirements in schools, but it gives states and
districts more freedom in the way they spend federal money and set rules to
identify and fix failing schools. It prohibits the federal education secretary
from demanding changes to state standards or imposing conditions on states in
exchange for a waiver around federal law — a provision that shows opposition to
the Obama administration’s encouragement of the Common Core education standards
that spell out what reading and math skills students should master at each
grade. It also eliminates many federal
programs, creates a single local grant program and allows public money to
follow low-income children to different public schools.
K12, Inc.: New Report Alleges
Shortcomings in California
Education Week Digital Education Blog By Audrey
Armitage on March 4, 2015 2:20 PM
A new
report claims that California 's
virtual education system, run largely through the California Virtual Academies, is lagging behind
brick-and-mortar schools in terms of academic performance, graduation rates,
and resources available to students and teachers.
The report was released by In the Public Interest, an
organization that studies privatization and contracting, and is often critical
of the outsourcing of public services. The organization analyzed academic
reports, public education data, financial reports, and contracts between the
virtual academies and K12 Inc.,
a national online education service provider and CAVA's parent company.
The authors also conducted interviews with current CAVA teachers.
Lawsuit asks the Court to ensure that all
students -- including those living in low-wealth districts -- have the basic
resources they need to meet state academic standards.
Meet Us in Court on March 11th
Education Law Center
On Wednesday, March 11th at 9:30 a.m., the
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania will hear oral arguments in our school
funding lawsuit which challenges the legislature's failure to adequately
support and maintain Pennsylvania's public school system. This historic case,
which the Education Law Center filed with the Public Interest Law Center of
Philadelphia and pro bono counsel O'Melveny & Meyers, asks the Court to
ensure that all students -- including those living in low-wealth districts --
have the basic resources they need to meet state academic standards. We ask the
court to hear this case and enforce the rights of our children to a
"thorough and efficient" system of public education as guaranteed to
them by our state constitution.
Please come and support us as we fight for vulnerable students and all public school students across the state. The hearing will be held at thePennsylvania Judicial
Center , 601 Commonwealth Avenue , Courtroom 5001
in Harrisburg , PA.
Please come and support us as we fight for vulnerable students and all public school students across the state. The hearing will be held at the
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
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:
Leaving Gifted Kids Behind Tuesday, March 24, 2015 1:00
-- 4:00 P.M.
In this session, participants will learn howPennsylvania 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
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
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.
The State of Public Education
Funding in Pennsylvania
Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia Tuesday, March
17, 2015 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM
United
Way Building, 1709 Benjamin Franklin Pkwy, Philadelphia, PA
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-state-of-public-education-funding-in-pennsylvania-tickets-15816877707
Education Voters of PA will
hold a forum about public school funding in Lancaster County Tuesday, March 17,
at 7:00 pm at Millersville University
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 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.
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.
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
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:
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