Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
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administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's
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team members, Superintendents, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher
leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations,
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These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for April 25, 2015:
Participate in this
weekend's Network for Public Education national conference via live streaming
technology
Central PA education forum Tuesday, April 28, 6:30-8:30
Grace Lutheran Church (in Harkins Hall), 205 S. Garner Street, State College
Grace Lutheran Church (in Harkins Hall), 205 S. Garner Street, State College
Panelists
Dr. Cheryl Potteiger, superintendent, Bellefonte Area School District
Ms. Kelly Hastings, superintendent, Keystone Central School District
Mr. James Estep, superintendent, Mifflin County School District
Mr. Sean Daubert, CFO, Mifflin County School District
Dr. Robert O’Donnell, superintendent, State College Area School District
Mr. David Hutchison, school board member, State College Area School District
Ms. Cathy Harlow, superintendent, Tyrone Area School District
Mrs. Linda Smith, superintendent, Williamsburg Community School District
Dr. Cheryl Potteiger, superintendent, Bellefonte Area School District
Ms. Kelly Hastings, superintendent, Keystone Central School District
Mr. James Estep, superintendent, Mifflin County School District
Mr. Sean Daubert, CFO, Mifflin County School District
Dr. Robert O’Donnell, superintendent, State College Area School District
Mr. David Hutchison, school board member, State College Area School District
Ms. Cathy Harlow, superintendent, Tyrone Area School District
Mrs. Linda Smith, superintendent, Williamsburg Community School District
Register HERE to attend the central PA education forum.
Southeastern PA Regional Meeting on School Funding
Wednesday April 29th 7:00 pm Springfield High School Auditorium, 49 West Leamy Avenue, Springfield, PA 19064
Wednesday April 29th 7:00 pm Springfield High School Auditorium, 49 West Leamy Avenue, Springfield, PA 19064
Local school district leaders will discuss how state funding issues are
impacting our children’s educational opportunities, our local taxes and our
communities.
Hosted by Delaware County School Boards Legislative Council, Education Voters of PA, the Keystone State Education Coalition and Public Citizens for Children and Youth
Hosted by Delaware County School Boards Legislative Council, Education Voters of PA, the Keystone State Education Coalition and Public Citizens for Children and Youth
Panelists:
Mr. Frank Agovino, school
board president, Springfield School District and Board of Directors, Delaware
County Chamber of Commerce
Dr. James Capolupo,
superintendent, Springfield School District
Dr. Wagner Marseille, Acting
Superintendent, Lower Merion School
District
Mr. Joe Bruni,
superintendent, William Penn School District
Dr. Richard Dunlap,
superintendent, Upper Darby School District
Mr. Stanley Johnson. Executive Director of Operations, Phoenixville Area School District
Ms. Susan Gobreski,
Executive Director, Education Voters of PA
Moderator: Mr. Lawrence
Feinberg, Chairman, Delaware County School Boards Legislative Council
Registration HERE to attend.
Upcoming Basic Education Funding Commission Meeting
PCCY will be live tweeting from the hearing
using hashtag #FairFundingPA
Participate in this
weekend's Network for Public Education national conference via live streaming
technology
The Network For Public Education Annual Conference inChicago is currently taking place. Some of
the sessions, including nationally known speakers, will be available
free through live streaming technology. On Saturday, April 25 at 3:45-5 p.m., PSBA Executive Director
Nathan Mains and PSBA Vice President Mark B. Miller will be part of a panel
titled, The Battle Between Public School
Districts
The Network For Public Education Annual Conference in
Keynote addresses will also be livestreamed
(note: scheduled times are CST)
Legislators talk pensions,
education funding at North
Penn School
District
By Jarreau Freeman, jfreeman@21st-centurymedia.com, @JarreauFreeman on Twitter
POSTED: 04/24/15,
4:57 PM EDT |
Lansdale >> No
topic seemed to be off limits at an education funding forum in the North Penn
School District North Penn School District officials gathered Thursday in the Penndale Middle School
"Pennsylvania USA ’s average state contribution to district
budgets is 44 percent, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
Another View: No surprise
from court in ruling on Pa.
Delco Times By Joseph P. Batory, Times Guest Columnist POSTED: 04/24/15, 11:28 PM EDT |
Joseph P. Batory is a former superintendent
of schools in the Upper Darby
School District
The decision of Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court
(April 21) to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the State of failing to adequately and
equitably fund Pennsylvania
public schools was no surprise.
Over the years, Pennsylvania courts have consistently lacked the
“political courage” to remedy what is a situation of neglect and abdication of
responsibility by state government regarding public education funding in Pennsylvania . The “tired argument” of Pennsylvania
Commonwealth Courts in refusing to rule on the school funding issue is that
this matter is not in its jurisdiction, but rather belongs with the
Legislature. But this reasoning defies the very system of checks and balances
built into the American system of government.
On Nov. 10, 2014,
six school districts, seven parents, the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and
Small Schools (PARSS) and the NAACP Pennsylvania State Conference had filed a
lawsuit in Commonwealth Court against legislative leaders, State education
officials, and then Gov. Tom Corbett for failing to uphold the General
Assembly’s “constitutional obligation” to provide a system of public education
that gives all children in Pennsylvania the resources they need to meet
state-imposed academic standards.
Blogger's note: these are
diverted tax dollars that are not received into the general fund and are not
available for the state's constitutional mandate of providing a thorough and
efficient public education for all kids.
It is great that these students are getting the opportunity to attend
these schools but it should not be at the expense of all children.
Scholarship intermediate
organizations in PA get to keep 20% of the funds as administrative fees; in Florida
There are no academic
performance or fiscal accountability reporting requirements attached to this
money.
EITC: Local Catholic,
private schools get $17M for scholarships
ALEX
WIGGLESWORTH, PHILLY.COM LAST
UPDATED: Friday, April 24, 2015, 3:04 PM
Supporters of
Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools (BLOCS) gathered at the
Union League Wednesday night to present $16.9 million in scholarship funds for
students to attend private and Archdiocesan schools. More than half the money – $10.1 million –
was gifted to BLOCS through the state Educational Improvement and Opportunity
Scholarship Tax Credit programs, which allow corporate donors to credit 75 to
90 percent of the contribution amount to their state tax bills.
Good News from York City , Pennsylvania : Court Rejects
State
Diane Ravitch's Blog
By dianeravitch April
24, 2015 //
Good news–no, great
news–from York City , Pennsylvania York City
over to Florida-based Charter Schools
USA
"The bill would change
all members of the Pennsylvania
“By changing the pension plan
available to legislators, we will set an example and create an environment to
enact necessary broader pension reforms for all public employees in the
commonwealth,” White said. “We as legislators cannot in good faith ask public
employees to move to a defined benefit program if we are not willing to do the
same.”
The Senate Finance
Committee on Tuesday approved legislation aimed at providing savings to Pennsylvania ’s public
pension system. The legislation, Senate
Bill 401 introduced by Sen. Don White (R-IN), would generate savings by
dramatically changing the program available to members of the Pennsylvania
General Assembly. “Despite the reforms
enacted by Act 120 of 2010, Pennsylvania ’s
public pension systems remain in great financial distress and the burden on
taxpayers is growing exponentially. It is well past time that we face economic
reality,” White said. “There has been a fundamental change in pension benefits
offered by the private sector to its employees, with most companies offering
defined contribution plans and few, if any, providing defined benefit plans. It
is only right that we follow suit.”
In a time of austerity,
Title I changes cause consternation in schools
Trying
to target more resources to the neediest schools, officials recalculated
poverty levels and allocations. As a result, some schools gain and others lose
funds.
the notebook By Dale
Mezzacappa on Apr 24, 2015 06:42 PM
The School District has a new system for calculating school
poverty rates and a new set of break points for determining how much federal
Title I funding per pupil each school receives.
Superintendent
William Hite has made it clear that he wants to target the most money he can to
the neediest schools in the Philadelphia
– those with very high poverty and low academic performance. Doing this is crucial to improving
achievement and giving underserved students better opportunities, Hite has
said. Schools with the highest concentrations of poverty, he reiterates, need
extra resources to overcome the toughest challenges. But in Philadelphia, where all schools have
been operating for the last several years in a mode of punishing austerity,
need is a relative term. And recent moves to change how the District
distributes Title I dollars, its largest chunk of federal money, have left
several schools protesting that they are unfairly being left worse off than
before.
Philly’s cigarette tax:
Here’s how much the schools are getting
Billy Penn By Anna Orso April 24, 2015
Since a $2-per-pack
cigarette tax to benefit Philadelphia
schools began in the city in October, the tax has brought in $36.5 million in
revenue to the district — putting the income on par to meet or exceed
projections. Mayor Michael Nutter
proposed the cigarette tax — it had to be passed through the state legislature
with the backing of Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams — and, at the time, his
office estimated the new tax could bring in $83 million to the school
district in its first year if implemented by July 1st at the beginning of
the fiscal year. But the legislature
dragged their feet on the bill, and it ultimately wasn’t implemented until
October 1. The district then reported the tax would bring in $49 million this
year if implemented by October, or in about nine months total. The revenue
already brought in puts the district on par with meeting or exceeding those
nine-month projections.
“This is a zero budget year,”
said School Board President Judyth Zahora. “And we’re being told we are going
to have to spend an additional $500,000 for pensions before we spend one cent
on our students.”
By Evan Brandt,
The Mercury POSTED: 04/25/15,
2:00 AM EDT |
POTTSTOWN >>
Striving to stick to its pledge of not raising taxes in the coming year, the
Pottstown School Board is struggling to balance the need for roof and masonry
repairs around the district and the need to limit how much money gets spent. “This is hateful that we have to do this,
hateful,” said school board member Mary-Beth Bacallao. “This” is choose between spending only the $625,000
in the budget to make these repairs, and potentially not replacing the flat
roof on the administration building. The latter could put the district’s
computer servers at risk, but comes with a pricetag of $260,000.
5 things you should know
about School District
of Lancaster
K. SCOTT KREIDER | LNP CORRESPONDENT Posted: Saturday, April 25, 2015 6:00 am
All are
invited for a screening of the documentary:
STANDARDIZED: Lies, Money
& Civil Rights—How Testing is Ruining Public Education Monday, April 27, 7-
9 PM Wayne, PA
The Saturday
Club, 117 West Wayne Avenue, Wayne, PA
Standardized testing
has long been a part of public education. Over the last ten years however,
education reform has become an increasingly heated political issue and
seemingly a highly profitable target market for private enterprise resulting in
expanded and high-stakes testing. While some hold the view that testing is an
effective assessment of student ability and teacher and school effectiveness,
many feel these exams are instead undermining our students, teachers and
schools. Daniel Hornberger’s STANDARDIZED documentary
raises issues about this model of education reform and the standardized
testing that goes along with it. The film includes interviews with prominent
educational experts and government officials who take aim at the goal of
standardization that is being promoted and imposed by our federal and state
governments. It sheds light on the development, nature and use of these
assessments, the consequences of high-stakes testing, and the ostensible
private enterprise and government agendas behind them.
A Q&A
session with a panel of informed parents, teachers and experts will follow.
This screening
is made possible through a collaboration of Radnor, Tredyffrin/Easttown and
Lower Merion concerned parents and PTOs.
DISTRICT TO HOLD SEVEN
COMMUNITY BUDGET MEETINGS
Wednesday,
April 15
Wednesday,
April 22
Tuesday,
April 28
Wednesday,
May 6
Tuesday,
May 12
Thursday,
May 14
Congreso, 216 West Somerset St .
Wednesday,
May 20
Nominations for PSBA
offices closes April 30
PSBA Leadership Development Committee seeks strong leaders for the association
Members interested in becoming the next leaders of PSBA are encouraged to complete an Application for Nomination no later than April 30. As a member-driven association, the Leadership Development Committee (LDC) is seeking nominees with strong skills in leadership and communication, and who have vision for PSBA. The positions open are:
PSBA Leadership Development Committee seeks strong leaders for the association
Members interested in becoming the next leaders of PSBA are encouraged to complete an Application for Nomination no later than April 30. As a member-driven association, the Leadership Development Committee (LDC) is seeking nominees with strong skills in leadership and communication, and who have vision for PSBA. The positions open are:
- 2016 President Elect (one-year term)
- 2016 Vice President (one-year term)
- 2016 Eastern Section at Large
Representative - includes Regions 7, 8, 10, 11 and 15 (three-year
term)
Complete details on
the nomination process, including scheduled dates for nominee interviews, can
be found online by clicking here.
Beyond a New School Funding
Formula: Lifting Student Achievement to Grow PA's Economy
Wednesday, May 6, 2015 from 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM (EDT)
Harrisburg, PA
7:30 am: Light breakfast fare and registration; 8:00 am:
Program
Harrisburg University Auditorium, Strawberry Square 326 Market
Street Harrisburg, PA 17101
Opening Remarks by Neil D. Theobald, President, Temple
University
SESSION I: THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF ACHIEVEMENT GAPS IN
PENNSYLVANIA’S PUBLIC SCHOOLS with introduction by Rob Wonderling,
President, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, and Member, Center on
Regional Politics Executive Committee.
Presentation by Lynn A. Karoly, Senior Economist, RAND
Corporation
SESSION II: WHAT CAN PENNSYLVANIA LEARN FROM THE WORLD’S
LEADING SCHOOL SYSTEMS? with introduction by David H. Monk, Dean, Pennsylvania State University College of Education
Presentation by Marc S. Tucker, President and CEO,
National Center on Education and the Economy
Sessions to be followed by a response panel moderated
by Francine Schertzer, Director of Programming, Pennsylvania Cable
Network
Program presented by the University Consortium to Improve
Public School Finance and Promote Economic Growth
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