Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
reach more than 3600 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors,
administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's
staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, Wolf education transition
team members, Superintendents, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher
leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations,
education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory
agencies, professional associations and education advocacy organizations via
emails, website, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for May 4, 2015:
Saylor: "There's broad agreement that
the current system is broken, it desperately needs to be fixed and people see
this as their best chance ever of getting that done"
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
Revisiting a prior posting in recognition
of National Charter Schools week:
Hornbeck: After 20 years charter schools are not the
answer
As Philadelphia ’s
Superintendent of Schools, I recommended the approval of more than 30 charter
schools because I thought it would improve educational opportunity for our
215,000 students. The last 20 years make
it clear, I was wrong.
Their View: Rural
districts need fair spending formula
Centre Daily Times LTE BY JAMES ESTEP May 1, 2015
James Estep is
superintendent of the Mifflin
County School
District
I have spent all of
my 27-year career serving students in rural Pennsylvania school systems, 20 of which
have been in school leadership positions.
In that span of time, I’ve learned a few things that I consider to be
absolute truths. First, our children
work very hard, and it shows. More often than not, a majority of Pennsylvania ’s public
school students perform well in the classroom, and this historically has been
even more true for our rural public school students. Second, the performance and work ethic of our
children can be directly attributed to our families and our
dedicated teaching and administrative professionals, both of whom are committed
to the well-being of kids. Unfortunately,
rural districts around the state are struggling, and if the state itself
doesn’t change the way it funds public education, our children will fall
behind.
Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2015/05/01/4728089_their-view-rural-districts-need.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy
How Wolf's budget would
aid our schools
By JAY BADAMS
Contributing writer03 May
2015 — Erie Times-News
Jay Badams is superintendent of the Erie School
District
Those of us who work
in the field of education have long understood the impact of teaching and
learning on our economy -- statistics abound that show the increase in lifetime
earnings that accompanies an individual's educational attainment. While supporting and advocating for increased
education funding is part of my role as a school superintendent, I am also very
encouraged by Gov. Tom Wolf's recognition of public education's ability to
strengthen Pennsylvania's middle class and his proposal to shift school funding
from a reliance on property taxes and, instead, make investments from revenue
generated from a proposed 5 percent severance tax on the natural gas drilling
industry. In fact, these two specific proposals reflect action on policy
initiatives that have been offered by policymakers on both sides of the aisle
for decades.
"There's broad agreement
that the current system is broken, it desperately needs to be fixed and people
see this as their best chance ever of getting that done," said House
Education Committee Chairman Stan
Saylor, R-York, a commission member. "So I think for those reasons I'm
fairly optimistic that we can indeed do this."
Drive to depoliticize
school funds adds intrigue in Capitol
Penn Live By MARC LEVY, Associated Press | May
2, 2015
This year, a move to
de-politicize the process that drives billions of dollars in state aid to
public schools is injecting another level of intrigue as Gov. Tom
Wolf seems determined to give schools their biggest-ever one-year
increase. Many are watching whether the
15-member Basic
Education Funding Commission can produce an objective formula to
distribute the aid and win prompt support from the Republican-controlled
Legislature and Wolf.
http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/05/drive_to_depoliticize_school_f.html
Did you catch our weekend postings?
"According to the Campaign for Fair
Education Funding (www.fairfundingpa.org), “Pennsylvania Lower Merion acting
Superintendent Wagner Marseille and William Penn Superintendent Joe
Bruni."
PA Ed Policy
Roundup May 2: Delco superintendents discuss education funding challenges
School-funding issue heads
for high court
Republican Herald BY ROBERT B. SWIFT Published: May 3, 2015
The seven-member
high court currently has two vacancies and that could mean there was some
trepidation about having just five justices decide such a major case. Pennsylvania
voters will solve that problem in November when they elect three justices to
10-year terms.
Three open seats on Pa.
By Chris Potter / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
May 3, 2015 12:00 AM
One has sentenced a
man to death, and been threatened with death himself. Another prosecuted a
woman for providing abortion drugs to her daughter, while others challenged the
ethics of fellow court officers. They
are among the 12 candidates — six Democrats and six Republicans
— running for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. And most voters barely know
their names. Three seats are open
on the state’s highest court, after the retirement of Chief Justice Ron
Castille and the scandal-tainted departures of justices Joan Orie Melvin and
Seamus McCaffery.
"There's no borrowing in
this plan, I can say that," said Browne, who chairs his chamber's
Appropriations Committee. The measure is
expected to contrast with the plan presenting by Gov. Tom Wolf, who wants to
bring down state and school pension costs without changing retirement benefits.
The governor's plan would cut investment management fees and borrow $3 billion
to shore up the school employees' retirement system, essentially refinancing
the larger of the two state funds.
WHYY Newsworks BY MARY WILSON MAY 4, 2015
Best wishes for a speedy
recovery to Sen. Pat Browne…
"Browne also has taken a
lead role in trying to develop new school funding formulas by co-chairing two
separate commissions. One commission recommended a new method, partially
adopted into law under Gov. Tom Corbett, of paying for special
education. The other commission, which is ongoing, was seeking a new, less
political way to distribute per-pupil expenditures to the state's 500 school
districts."
Sen. Browne, under investigation for possible DUI
crash, in hospital with 'considerable injuries'
By Nicole Radzievich and Steve Esack Of
The Morning Call May 4, 2015
Sen. Pat Browne,
considered by many to be the Lehigh Valley's most influential state lawmaker,
is in the hospital recovering from "considerable injuries" following
a Saturday motorcycle crash that state police are investigating as a possible
case of driving under the influence. Browne of Allentown
crashed his Harley-Davidson motorcycle at about 4:30 p.m. Saturday while
heading west on Interstate 78 in Allentown ,
according to state police at Fogelsville. He lost control as he entered the
curve of the Exit 57 ramp to Lehigh
Street . The motorcycle fell on its side and
continued to slide on the road until it came to rest, the police report says.
PlanCon: School districts
wait for reimbursements for renovation projects
TribLive By Matthew
Santoni Saturday, May 2, 2015, 6:44 p.m.
A delay and more budget uncertainty could be ahead forPennsylvania school districts awaiting state
money for hundreds of construction projects totaling $1.2 billion.
A delay and more budget uncertainty could be ahead for
Gov. Tom Wolf's
proposed 2016 budget would reinstate a moratorium his predecessor imposed on
applications for reimbursement and leave the funding level at about $306.2
million for projects in the system. Lawmakers had allowed the moratorium to
expire in September and increased the budget for payouts under the 11-step
approval process for the “PlanCon” program. Of an estimated 350
projects working their way through the state's pipeline, 200 had reached Part H
— the stage just before the state starts paying the district. About 60
districts started getting payments totaling $46.6 million when legislators
increased the funding, said Hannah Berrick, director of advocacy at the
Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials.
“It means more of the same,”
said Michael Gleba, who succeeded Scaife as the foundation's chairman and CEO
last year after serving as its president. The charitable focus — economic and
public policy groups, most with conservative or libertarian views, and foreign
policy think tanks — won't change, he said.
Scaife bestows 'game-changing' legacy of giving to region, nation
Scaife bestows 'game-changing' legacy of giving to region, nation
Trib Live By Mike
Wereschagin Saturday, May 2, 2015, 9:00 p.m.
TwoPittsburgh
nonprofit foundations benefited substantially from the will of late
Tribune-Review publisher Dick Scaife — one of them jumping to nearly six times
its present wealth.
Two
Sarah Scaife
Foundation and Allegheny Foundation soon will receive $367.5 million each from
Scaife, who died July 4. The cash infusions will double the former's assets and
transform Allegheny Foundation from a $75 million entity into one worth nearly
$443 million.
Public charities and
organizations will ultimately benefit, too, as donations from both foundations
markedly increase. Federal law requires foundations to donate at least 5
percent of their assets each year. “This
is quite a game-changer,” said Matthew Groll, who became Allegheny Foundation's
chairman following Scaife's death. He previously was its executive director. “For the last five
years, we distributed an average of $3 million to $4 million a year, and
approximately $100 million since Mr. Scaife established the foundation in
1953,” Groll said. “Those amounts will be eclipsed in short order, as our new
distribution requirements increase to more than $20 million annually.”
T/E: Proposed 2015-16
final budget approved
At its regular
meeting on April 27, the Tredyffrin-Easttown School Board approved the proposed
final budget for the 2015–2016 school year in the amount of $125,856,647.
The proposed final
budget includes a tax rate increase of approximately 3.81 percent or $194 on
the average assessed house in the district. The budgeted imbalance of
approximately $5.3 million is addressed through property tax increases from the
Act 1 index at 1.9 percent and approved referendum exceptions at 1.91 percent
as well as a commitment from the fund balance. The T/E School Board and
administration will continue to scrutinize the budget before voting on the
2015-2016 final budget at the June 15, 2015 regular board meeting.
Letter From The Editor:
Learning a lesson in dedication from teachers
By Phil Heron,
Delaware County Daily
I used to think
teaching was a cake job.
You know the drill.
Done school every day at 3 o’clock. Weekends off. Long Christmas vacation.
Miserable winter weather? Hooray! A snow day! And of course, let’s not forget
that other fable: They only work nine months a year. Then my son became a teacher. After
graduating from college he took a job in a pretty tough school district in West Virginia . As soon as my son’s vocation became clear, I
made it a point to talk to teachers about their experience. They all shared a
common experience. They all told me their first year was brutal. They weren’t lying.
Williams gets Inquirer nod
in Philly mayor's race, amid some controversy
WHYY Newsworks DAVE DAVIES OFF MIC A BLOG BY DAVE DAVIES MAY 3, 2015
State Sen. Anthony
Williams has won the coveted endorsement of the Philadelphia Inquirer in
the Democratic mayoral primary. Titled,
"Williams, narrowly," the editorial announcing the Williams pick
expresses some ambivalence about the choice. It says only two of the six
candidates in the primary, Williams and former City Councilman Jim Kenney, have
a chance to win, and that "the conspicuous support of an array of wealthy
interests...makes for serious reservations about both."
It ultimately
concludes that "because the unions backing Kenney already wield too much
influence, the Inquirer's choice for the Democratic nomination is
Anthony Williams."
Transcript: Bill Green,
Tony Williams discuss Helen Gym and Thursday's Susquehanna Intl. dust-up
[updated]
WHYY Newsworks NINETYNINE A BLOG
BY BRIAN HICKEY MAY 1,
2015
A strange thing happened
after Thursday's
labor rally for Philadelphia mayoral candidate Anthony Hardy Williams at
Love Park
NPE Endorses Helen Gym for
Philadelphia City
The Network for Public Education May 2, 2015 NPE
Endorsements
The Network for
Education is proud to join the growing list of organizations endorsing Helen
Gym in the Primary Election for a City Council At-Large seat in the city of Philadelphia .
NPE President Diane Ravitch has lauded Helen as a hero of
public education and an inspiration for us all. When asked about
Helen’s candidacy, Diane said she is “a great advocate
for children and education. Philadelphia
PhillyMag: The (New) Jim Kenney for Mayor
An endorsement by the
editors of Philadelphia
BY PHILLYMAG | MAY
3, 2015 AT 5:59 AM
In many ways, this
has been the weirdest of Philadelphia
mayoral elections.
We mean that not in
the sense of weird things happening — honestly, with the exception of Lynne
Abraham doing a face-plant at a televised debate, it seems like not much has
happened at all in this campaign — but more in the following sense: This
doesn’t feel like the election Philadelphia was supposed to be having right
now. Yes, ours is a city with large problems — widespread poverty, a school
system that utterly fails families, a tax system that repels business — but
it’s also, somehow, a city on the move and on the rise, with a palpable sense
of energy about it. Population is growing, construction is booming, and
Philadelphians of all ages, races and income levels are feeling more optimistic
about the city than they have in ages. Surely, with that as the backdrop, this
should have been a mayoral election that produced a candidate — or candidates!
— ready to build on the undeniable momentum of the Nutter years and at long
last wrestle Philadelphia ’s
toughest problems to the ground.
Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/05/03/jim-kenney-mayor-endorsement/#MzMpeOb6UAkDHh3f.99
Legislators talk pensions,
education funding at North
Penn School
District
By Jarreau Freeman jfreeman@montgomerynews.com @JarreauFreeman
on Twitter Published: Saturday, May 02, 2015
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 April 23 in the Penndale Middle School
KATHY
BOCCELLA, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Monday,
May 4, 2015, 1:08 AM
Sara Byala, mother
of a third grader at Wayne
Elementary School
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Standardized
Testing (HBO)
Published on May 3, 2015 YouTube runtime 18:01
American students
face a ridiculous amount of testing. John Oliver explains how standardized
tests impact school funding, the achievement gap, how often kids are expected
to throw up.
The Best and Worst Places to Grow Up: How Your Area
Compares
Children who grow up in some
places go on to earn much more than they would if they grew up elsewhere. MAY
4, 2015
New York Times By
GREGOR AISCH, ERIC BUTH, MATTHEW BLOCH, AMANDA COX and KEVIN QUEALY May 4, 2015
Location matters
– enormously. If you’re poor and live in the Philadelphia
area, it’s better to be in Bucks County than in Cumberland
County or Atlantic County Bucks
County United States .
Why the movement to opt out of Common Core tests is a
big deal
A
school bus passes a sign encouraging parents to refuse that their children take
state tests on Monday, April 13, 2015, in Rotterdam ,
N.Y.
The movement among
parents to refuse to allow their children to take Common Core-aligned
standardized tests has been growing in a number of states, as recent Answer
Sheet posts have chronicled (here and here,
for example). As opt-out numbers have grown, so too has reaction from officials
who argue that frequent testing is valuable and that school districts could
loss federal funds if too many students refuse to take the test (a
threat that appears to be based on shaky ground.) Though testing
supporters have attempted to minimize the importance and impact of the opt-out
movement, it is having a big impact, as explained in the following post by
award-winning New York Principal Carol Burris.
Burris, of South Side High School in Rockville Centre, was named New York ’s 2013 High
School Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New
York and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. In 2010, she
was selected as the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School
Administrators Association of New York State. She has written several books,
numerous articles and many posts on this blog about the seriously botched
implementation of school reform in her state — including the Common Core
standards and the implementation of high-stakes Core-aligned exams — and about
the misuse and abuse of high-stakes standardized tests. She recently announced
that she had decided to retire early and to advocate for public
education in new ways.
CONFERENCE ON THE STATE OF EDUCATION
IN PENNSYLVANIA
A CALL FOR ADEQUATE AND EQUITABLE SCHOOL FUNDING
Sponsored by Coatesville and Media Area
NAACPs
9:00 AM – 1:30 PM SATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015
MARCUS FOSTER STUDENT UNION 2ND
FLOOR
CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA DELAWARE
COUNTY CAMPUS, CHEYNEY, PA
Our children have to
pass the state mandated tests in order to move on with life. SO - it is time
for the PA Assembly to provide adequate and equitable funding to the public
schools of Pennsylvania.
FREE AND OPEN TO THE
PUBLIC. SPACE IS LIMITED.
COME AND ASK YOUR
PERSONAL QUESTIONS AND SHARE YOUR OPINIONS WITH PRESENTERS WHO ARE EXPERTS AND
POLICY MAKERS.
Pre-Registration is
required for meals. Deadline for Pre-registration is May 12, 2015
PRE-REGISTER
ON-LINE: HTTPS://www.surveymonkey.com/S/JTZB9F8
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
Common Core Forum: A Closer Look at the PA Core
Standards
Thursday, May 7, 6:30 - 8:00 pm Radnor Middle
School
150 Louella Avenue,
Wayne, 3rd floor
Presented by the Leagues of
Women Voters of Chester County , Haverford,
Lower Merion , Narberth and Radnor. Supported by the Radnor School District
Panelists Include:
Fred Brown, K-12
Math Supervisor, School District of Haverford Township
Jon Cetel, Education
Reform Agent, PennCAN
Mary Beth Hegeman,
Middle School Teacher, Lower Merion School District
Cynthia Kruse,
Delaware County Intermediate Unit
Susan Newitt,
Retired Elementary Teacher, Lower Merion School District
Wendy Towle,
Supervisor of Language Arts & Staff Development, T/E School District
Larry Wittig,
Chairman of the State Board of Education
PHILLY DISTRICT TO HOLD
COMMUNITY BUDGET MEETINGS
Wednesday,
May 6
Tuesday,
May 12
Thursday,
May 14
Congreso, 216 West Somerset St .
Wednesday,
May 20
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