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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for May 27, 2015:
When was the last time you saw any coverage
of public charter school budgets?
May 28, 2015 7:00 PM Jefferson Educational Society 3207 State St. Erie , PA 16508
This is a great series of
podcasts and "web explainers" providing in-depth reporting on many
facets of PA school funding.
MULTIPLE CHOICES:THE INS AND OUTS OF SCHOOL FUNDING IN
PENNSYLVANIA
Keystone Crossroads
Here is the latest in the
above series….
What is a millage rate and
how does it affect school funding?
WHYY Newsworks BY CONNIE LANGLAND MAY 27,
2015 MULTIPLE CHOICES: PART 10
Tenth in an
occasional series
of podcasts and web
"explainers."
What is a millage rate?
Millage is a
relatively obscure term that represents the tax rate levied on real estate or
other property. A mill is one thousandth of a dollar, or one tenth of one
cent.
The millage rate is
the number of dollars of tax assessed for each $1,000 of property value. A rate
of 10 mills means that $10 in tax is levied on every $1,000 in assessed value.
A school district
typically will set the millage rate each spring as it calculates what it needs
to fund its final budget. Some years, the rate stays the same; other years,
there's an increase.
What else goes
into setting my tax bill?
The other key figure
is the assessed valuation.
Every property has
one. It is set by each county in Pennsylvania .
But in many counties, the assessed valuations are not updated systematically on
any set schedule.
When property values
rise, this means the assessed value can lag behind what the house might sell
for in the current year. It can even be far less if the value of real estate in
the area has spiked and assessments aren't updated, as happened in the first
decade of this century in some gentrifying neighborhoods in and around Center
City Philadelphia.
Wolf: Let's pay for
preschool, not prison
ANGELA
COULOUMBIS, INQUIRER HARRISBURG BUREAU POSTED: Tuesday,
May 26, 2015, 12:56 PM
Governor ties early childhood education to crime
prevention
By Sam
Janesch, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Tuesday, May 26, 2015
CAMP HILL, Pa. - Gov. Tom Wolf
stood outside a state prison near Harrisburg on Tuesday alongside several
district attorneys to support increased funding for early childhood education.
Mr. Wolf, along with state Corrections Secretary John Wetzel and others, noted
a report released from the organization "Fight Crime: Invest in Kids"
that says more pre-kindergarten programs would boost high school graduation
rates and reduce the number of people in prison. According to the report, the
$120 million spending increase for early childhood education included in Mr.
Wolf's budget proposal would eventually save the state $350 million in prison
spending each year. It would aid in the education of about 14,000 children, the
governor said. Mr. Wolf called the multimillion-dollar investment a "down
payment" for pre-kindergarten education - the "first step" in
the governor's effort to fully fund early childhood education in four years
Law enforcement adds backing to Wolf's
pre-kindergarten plan
AP State Wire By
MARC LEVY Published: Yesterday
CAMP HILL, Pa. (AP)
- Gov. Tom Wolf is getting help from law enforcement officials in his push to
persuade lawmakers to spend more money to raise the quality of Pennsylvania's
pre-kindergarten programs. Wolf
appeared Tuesday morning outside the Camp Hill state prison in
suburban Harrisburg with several district attorneys and the head of the state
prisons agency to tout his proposal that would add $120 million in
early-childhood education funding - an 88 percent increase. "There is no better way to invest in the
lives of our fellow citizens than in early childhood education. We can see the
reverse when we don't invest," Wolf told reporters. Wolf and his team
pointed to a body of studies from other states they say bears out their
message.
What are the Top 5 issues
facing Gov. Wolf, lawmakers as budget season really kicks in?: Tuesday Morning
Coffee
By John L. Micek | jmicek@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter on
May 26, 2015 at 7:38 AM, updated May 26, 2015 at 8:22 AM
Good Tuesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
Well, we hope you're rested and refreshed after the long, bank holiday weekend. As we write this, there's little more than a month to go before the June 30 deadline to pass a new budget. And with that in mind, now seemed as good a time as any to run down the top 5 issues facing Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled General Assembly as both the weather -- and the tempers -- really warm up.
Well, we hope you're rested and refreshed after the long, bank holiday weekend. As we write this, there's little more than a month to go before the June 30 deadline to pass a new budget. And with that in mind, now seemed as good a time as any to run down the top 5 issues facing Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled General Assembly as both the weather -- and the tempers -- really warm up.
Tidal shift: Pennsylvania
Post Gazette By the
Editorial Board May 24, 2015 12:00 AM
The state House has
advanced historic changes to Pennsylvania ’s
system of taxing its residents, a plan designed to reduce school property
taxes. It comes with a big price tag. The
House passed a bill that would raise the state income tax and the state sales
tax. House Bill 504 would boost the sales tax by nearly 17 percent, from 6 to 7
percent, and from 7 to 8 percent in Allegheny
County
POWERFUL STUDY SHOWS WHY MORE STATE DOLLARS ARE NEEDED
FOR SCHOOLS
Third and State Blog Posted by Michael Wood on May 22, 2015 11:06 am
Within three years,
MOST school districts in Pennsylvania
will be cutting programs and laying off staff if we continue on the current
path of school funding. While program eliminations and staff reductions are
already the case in a number of lower-income districts, they could soon become
the norm across the state, according to an updated report from Temple
University
Diane Ravitch's Blog
By dianeravitch May
26, 2015
When the idea of
charters was first floated in the late 1980s, advocates offered a simple
promise: Give us autonomy, and we will be accountable. That was then, this is now.
The Pennsylvania
School Boards Association estimates that public schools lose $1.3 billion each
year to the state’s 177 charters. It filed a “Right to Know” request seeking
information about how charters spend public money on such matters as salaries,
consultants, advertising, rentals, etc. A
charter spokesman said the PSBA request was “frivolous.” Thus far, not
a single charter has responded to the request for financial data.
This matrix has been updated
with the status of several charter schools who have either complied with the May
15th RTK request or requested a 30 day extension.
Charter Schools: Tracking PSBA's Right-to-Know Requests
PSBA filed a Right-to-Know
request with Pennsylvania
charter and cyber charter schools on May 15, 2015. PSBA is tracking the
response from each charter in the table below and updating it on a weekly
basis. According to Right-to-Know Law, public entities have five days from
receipt of an open records request by the agency’s open records officer to
either 1) provide the requested records (indicated by a green check); 2) deny
the request and give reasons for the denial (indicated by a red X); or 3) invoke
a 30-day extension for specific legal reasons (indicated by an (E)).
Blogger note: It is
noteworthy that the Keystone Alliance for Public
Charter Schools does not appear to support or advocate for Pennsylvania
Close failing schools,
whether district-run or charter
Philly.com Opinion By
Tim Eller POSTED: Wednesday, May
27, 2015, 1:08 AM
Tim Eller is
executive director, Keystone Alliance for Public Charter Schools
When the
Philadelphia School Reform Commission recently voted to close two
underperforming charter schools, it was making a decision that was in the best
interests of students. The Keystone
Alliance for Public Charter Schools applauds the SRC; however, the alliance
believes that the commission should go further and close the other
underperforming public schools in Philadelphia :
district-run schools. Across the state,
students and parents expect and deserve the opportunity to receive a
high-quality education, whether it is obtained at a public charter school or a
traditional public school.
Readers of this blog know
that we regularly post coverage of school budget deliberations and approvals
which are required to be discussed at multiple public school board meetings
over the course of the year and are subject to public scrutiny and public
comment.
When was the last time you
saw any coverage of public charter school budgets?
Have you ever seen any
coverage of the budgets of private and religious schools that receive EITC and
OSTC diverted tax dollars? Under pending
legislation, those schools may receive up to $250 million in diverted PA tax
dollars this year, with intermediary scholarship organizations keeping up to
20% as administrative fees. Good luck
finding any details on that $50 million…..
Spring-Ford approves $145M
budget, 2% tax hike
By Eric Devlin, The Mercury POSTED: 05/26/15, 10:54 PM
Royersford >>
Spring-Ford Area School Board member Tom DiBello
said Tuesday’s approval of a proposed final budget was just to follow
state rules — the real work was still to come.
In a 6-1 decision, the Spring-Ford Area School Board passed a proposed
final budget of $145,221,260, which calls for a property tax increase of 2.72
percent. With a millage rate of 26.446,
the owner of a home assessed at $100,00 would pay an additional $70 a year. A
mill is equal to $1 for each $1,000 of assessed property value. Board President
Mark Dehnert dissented saying he felt the district was headed in the wrong
direction by increasing expenses. Board members Todd Wolf and Dawn Heine were
absent. “I’m not trying to raise taxes
on people,” DiBello said. “I’m trying to get us to a point where we can
advertise this budget.” According to the
Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Act 1 time line, a proposed final budget
must be approved 30 days before a final budget can be adopted. It also must be
available for public inspection at least 20 days before adoption.
Post Gazette By
Margaret Smykla May 27, 2015 12:21 AM
At its Tuesday
meeting, the West Jefferson Hills School Board approved the collective
bargaining agreement between the district and the 206-member Jefferson
Federation of Teachers for July 1, 2015,through June 30, 2020. The federation approved the five-year
agreement earlier in the day. The agreement includes annual raises of 2 to
2.5 percent. Forty-nine teachers who are
at the highest step level accepted a pay freeze for the first year of the
contract. The raises will cost the
district an additional $542,533 each year, or a total of $2.7 million. The contract also includes changes in
education reimbursement; medical co-pays; procedural changes in filling
positions; clarified dates for returning from various leaves; and more.
Hite, SRC make pitch to
City Council
the notebook By Dale
Mezzacappa on May 26, 2015 03:00 PM
The annual ritual of
District officials appearing before City Council began on Tuesday.
School Reform
Commission Chair Marjorie Neff told the lawmakers that "our
fiscal house is now in order." While
acknowledging the need to significantly boost academic performance,
Superintendent William Hite touted
achievements: safer schools, better student attendance, three new
innovative high schools, a push for early literacy, curriculum aligned to
Common Core standards. One student
gave a personal
testimonial and another made a video pleading for more funds for
education. But, as usual, Council
members had their own concerns, including why cursive writing wasn't a
mandatory part of the curriculum.
School District's budget
request gets a skeptical hearing from Council
KRISTEN A.
GRAHAM, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, May 27,
2015, 1:08 AM POSTED: Tuesday, May 26, 2015, 6:08 PM
The Philadelphia School District
Philadelphia City Council
talks budgets, penmanship with school district
WHYY Newsworks BY LAURA BENSHOFF MAY 27, 2015
It's budget season,
and the School District
of Philadelphia Philadelphia
and the state.
Bernie Sanders On Education: 5 Things The Presidential
Candidate Wants You To Know
Forbes.com April 30,
2015
Vermont Senator
Bernie Sanders is challenging front-runner Hillary Clinton for
the 2016 Democrat party presidential nomination. Though he is a registered
Independent and is proud to call himself a democratic socialist, he will run as
a Democrat. In his campaign announcement today he called once again for a move
to “make college tuition in public universities and public colleges free.” He has not had much
to say recently on the hot-button issues of school choice, Common Core
curriculum standards, charter schools or vouchers, but over the years he has
decried a move toward “privatizing” education. Before his election to
the Senate in 2006, he served as Vermont ’s
lone Congressman and voted against voucher programs and for No Child Left
Behind. Here are some of his views on education:
Testing Resistance & Reform News: May 20 - 26,
2015
Fairtest Submitted
by fairtest on May 26, 2015 - 1:31pm
More victories for
the assessment reform movement this week as activists move into the policy and
electoral arenas: the PARCC consortium votes to reduce testing time; Florida
suspends high-stakes for end-of-course exams; Colorado's governor signs
compromise legislation, Wisconsin blocks test-based teacher assessment, and New
Yorkers elect many allies to school boards.
Sign up here to receive a weekly
email update on the status of efforts to have Pennsylvania
Sign up to support fair funding »
Campaign for Fair
Education Funding website
Our goal is to
ensure that every student has access to a quality education no matter where
they live. To make that happen, we need to fundamentally change how public
schools are funded. The current system is not fair to students or taxpayers and
our campaign partners – more than 50 organizations from across Pennsylvania - agree
that it has to be changed now. Student performance is stagnating. School
districts are in crisis. Lawmakers have the ability to change this formula but
they need to hear from you. You
can make a difference »
NAACP PA STATE CONFERENCE YOUTH & COLLEGE
DIVISION:
Saturday, May 30, 2015 9:00 am
St. Bernard Hall, Friendship Circle Senior
Center
East Campus of Mercy Fitzgerald
Hospital
Please RSVP to
panaacpyc@gmail.com by May 25
May 28, 2015 7:00 PM Jefferson Educational
Society 3207 State St.
Erie , PA 16508
Panelists
Conneaut School
District
Mr. Jarrin
Sperry, Superintendent, Ms. Jody Sperry, Board President
Corry School
District
Mr. William Nichols,
Superintendent
Fort LeBoeuf
School District
Mr. Richard Emerick,
Assistant Superintendent
Girard School
District
Dr. James Tracy,
Superintendent
Harbor Creek
School District
Ms. Christine
Mitchell, Board President
Millcreek School
District
Mr. William Hall,
Superintendent Mr. Aaron O'Toole, Director of Finance and Accounting
Keynote Speaker
Mr. Jay Himes,
Executive Director, Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials
PILCOP: Adequately and
Fairly Funding Pennsylvania Schools: What are the Needs and Where Does the
Money Come From? (Live Webinar)
June 8, 2015, 12:00 — 2:00 P.M.
June 8, 2015, 12:00 — 2:00 P.M.
Staff attorney
Michael Churchill will speak about what schools need and where the money comes
from in this Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI) webinar on June
8. Click here to register.
Governor Wolf has
proposed $500 million in new funding for public schools starting this July. He
has proposed as shale extraction tax and increases in personal income and sales
taxes to pay for this. This Philadelphia
Bar Association Education Law Section and PBI are hosting a webinar that will
focus on how much public schools need and differing proposals on how state
funds should be distributed this year and in the future. Other focuses will
include the current local tax burdens for public schools and issues concerning
how the state should raise revenues to pay for these programs. The program will also provide information
about the components of a good funding formula and look at the work of the
Basic Education Funding Commission and the state-wide Campaign for Fair
Education Funding, of which we are a leading member.
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