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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for June 26, 2015:
Not one of PA's 500 school districts ever authorized a
cyber charter but all are required to send tax dollars to them. Not one cyber has achieved a passing SPP score
of 70 in the past two years; most never made AYP under NCLB
Just a heads-up that the PA Ed Policy Roundup may be intermittent
and/or late next week while some of us pretend we're on vacation
Blogger's note: Not one of
PA's 500 school districts ever authorized a cyber charter but all are required
to send tax dollars to them, even if the district operates it's own cyber or blended
program. Not one of PA's cyber charters
has achieved a passing score of 70 on the state's School Performance Profile in
the past two years. Most cybers never
made AYP under No Child Left Behind.
Senate Education Committee will consider HB530 charter
reform bill today
PA Senate EDUCATION
Committee Meeting Today 10:00 AM Room 461 Main Capitol
To consider Senate
Bill No. 731; and House Bill No. 530)
EPLC Education Notebook
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Education Policy and
Leadership Center
In 2011 Philly was subjected to 30% of the state’s
funding cuts that year while educating 12% of the state's kids.
"Staffers familiar with
the Republican plan said it would contain increases for public education,
although less than the $400 million in basic education funding the governor had
proposed. Another issue is whether the
proposed new education funding formula announced last week will be applied to
the 2015-16 budget. For the Philadelphia School District Philadelphia Pennsylvania
that were hardest hit by funding cuts over the past several years," Philadelphia
GOP Pa. budget said to
ignore Gov. Wolf
ANGELA COULOUMBIS
AND KRISTEN A. GRAHAM, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITERS LAST UPDATED: Friday, June 26, 2015, 1:08 AM POSTED: Thursday,
June 25, 2015, 7:16 PM
Democrats decry Republican
agreed-to budget prospects
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Thursday, June 25,
2015
House and Senate
Democrats Thursday responded to reports of an agreed-to budget among the
Republican caucuses that is likely to take more detailed shape over the next
several days. Legislative
Democratic leaders held a closed-door discussion with Gov. Tom Wolf Thursday to
detail strategy and plan for the coming days.
House Appropriations Committee Minority Chairman Joe Markosek
(D-Allegheny) couched the coming budget proposal as “more of the same.” “They’re really not serious about talking,”
he said. “The governor and Democrats have been at the table and offered some
things to them that have been pretty much ignored and they just want to do what
they’ve done for the last four years and kind of go on their merry way with all
their really non-budget, gimmick-filled budgets, missed opportunity budgets.” He said Republicans
are daring the governor to veto whatever proposals they send him.
Lawmakers prepare for the 'long haul' of budget
negotiations
Morning Call By Sam Janesch Call Harrisburg
Bureau June 25, 2015
HARRISBURG — State
Rep. Mike Schlossberg traveled Thursday to the Capitol knowing it could be a
while before the state budget passes and he has a chance to return to his Allentown home. "I've got a lot
of clothing in my trunk right now and I'll suspect I'll be using all of
it," he said. With the fiscal year
ending Tuesday and little hope for a punctual 2015-16 budget agreement between
the Republican-led Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, rank-and-file
legislators are expecting to stay in Harrisburg
until it passes. Some say it could take months, such as the 101-day delayed
budget under Gov. Ed Rendell in 2009. State
Rep. Gary Day, R-Lehigh, said legislators still will work on moving other bills
and having meetings while party leaders engage in budget discussions with the
governor's team. But if the negotiation process extends far past the deadline,
he said, it will be difficult to set a schedule and get things done.
Is Wolf's stance on
startup of new funding formula shifting?
Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter on June 25,
2015 at 11:29 AM, updated June 25, 2015 at 11:30 AM
While House
Democrats appear adamant about holding off on implementing the new school
funding formula for a year, indications are Gov. Tom Wolf may be willing to
start it sooner.
House and Senate
Republican leaders have made it clear that their position is to move forward
right away with using the formula that was recommended by a bi-partisan task
force last week. But House Democrats
as recently as Wednesday argued the state should first restore more of the
nearly $1 billion in funding that was cut to schools four years ago and base
the new formula off that funding base. "To
start out with the notion that we're absolutely going to lock ourselves into an
inequitable system makes no sense at all and I think would be unfair to
students across the state of Pennsylvania ,"
said Rep. Mike Sturla, D-Lancaster. That was Wolf's
position last week when the Basic Education Funding
Commission issued its funding formula recommendation and it
remains the position that administration officials are stating publicly.
New Pennsylvania
HARRISBURG
(AP) — A bipartisan panel of state lawmakers and advisers to Gov. Tom Wolf
gave unanimous approval June 18 to a new formula to distribute aid to
Pennsylvania's 500 public school districts, a model that would funnel more
money to districts with rising enrollment and students whose families are
deeper in poverty. The formula still
does not have the agreement of the Legislature, and there are battles that
remain to be fought over whether and when to start using the formula, and how
much money to distribute through it. It also would not automatically correct
the inequities built into Pennsylvania 's
current system of distributing nearly $6 billion in for classrooms and
administration. For now, the formula endorsed
by the 15-member Basic Education Funding Commission is being advanced as a way
to inject transparency, fairness and predictability into distributing school
aid in a state branded as harboring some of the nation's worst disparities
between wealthy and poor school districts.
The real-world effect of the proposed formula remained unclear, since
the commission would not release a rundown showing exactly how money would flow
through it to each district.
Bus tour to promote
education stops in York
Education advocates
came together today to talk education reform.
A white bus with red words painted on the windows — "Fair PA budget
now" — rolled to a stop outside a local senator's office Thursday morning. The bus was filled with supporters Alliance
to Reclaim our Schools Pennsylvania was joined by the Pennsylvania chapter of
Working Families and other community members outside the office of Sen. Scott
Wagner, R-Spring Garden Township during a stop in their two-week, statewide
tour to galvanize public support for the restoration of school funding after
years of extensive cuts. Wagner, who has
been a vocal critic of teachers unions and the need for additional education
spending, was in Harrisburg
and could not be reached for comment.
Letters: First priority:
School funds
Philly Daily News Letter by First Lady Francis Wolf POSTED: Thursday,
June 25, 2015, 12:16 AM
Frances Wolf is the
first lady of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania
SINCE HE WAS SWORN in as governor in January, my husband and I have been crisscrossing the state, visiting schools, meeting with teachers and administrators, and talking with students in the classroom. We have seen the same thing in school after school and classroom after classroom: motivated students and dedicated teachers who simply don't have the resources they need to succeed. AtKing
Elementary School in Lancaster , I heard about how some textbooks
in the library are more than 30 years old because they don't have the funds
available to replace them with updated versions. At Paul Fly Elementary School
in Norristown , administrators shared how vital
support and program specialist positions have been cut, leaving fewer teachers
in classrooms with consistently increasing numbers of students.
SINCE HE WAS SWORN in as governor in January, my husband and I have been crisscrossing the state, visiting schools, meeting with teachers and administrators, and talking with students in the classroom. We have seen the same thing in school after school and classroom after classroom: motivated students and dedicated teachers who simply don't have the resources they need to succeed. At
"The General Assembly
and Gov. Tom Wolf should act in an equally bipartisan way by enacting the formula
as soon as possible. Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
Ensure formula, funds
The June 24
Times-Tribune editorial (“Put school cash where needed most”) made a strong
case for why Pennsylvania
urgently needs a fair, predictable formula for funding basic education in our
public schools. Clearly, the way Pennsylvania funds its
public schools isn’t working, in part because we are failing to consider the
real costs necessary to help our students meet academic standards. Pennsylvania
also is failing to consistently use accurate, reliable, verifiable and current
school and community data to addresses factors that impact learning. All of these shortcomings could be addressed
if the legislature and governor move quickly to enact a common-sense funding
formula like the one proposed by the state’s Basic Education Funding
Commission.
Post Gazette Letter by Carol Balance June 26, 2015 12:00 AM
Did you know that Pennsylvania has the
biggest spending gap in the nation between its richest and poorest school
districts? This gap amounts to over $3,000 difference per student, per year. I worked as a
substitute for the Allegheny Intermediate Unit for many years. I’ve seen the
great disparity among school districts in our county. There was a high school
Algebra II class that did not have graphing calculators. In today’s high-tech
world, this is unacceptable. How are these students going to compete with those
who have this basic tool? There are often classes without enough desks, books
or equipment. The members of the
Unitarian Universalist Church of the North Hills are fasting to call attention
to the sacrifices the students make daily. We are located in the North Allegheny
School District United States . We people of faith,
who recognize our unearned privilege, must support fair funding for education
in our commonwealth.
Fifteen PA districts are on
this list…
Districts with >50% higher census poverty rate & 2000
Pupils, County Districts Excluded, Rural Labor Markets Excluded by Bruce D.
Baker, Rutgers University
Contemplating Philly's
portfolio school model after a year of closures, openings
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY JUNE 25, 2015
Policy Brief
– Explaining School Fund Balances: An Update
Center on Regional
Politics June 25, 2015
This policy brief summarizes fund balances for Pennsylvania ’s 500
school districts as of the close of fiscal year 2013-14. It updates the policy
brief summarizing such balances for fiscal year 2012-13, published by CORP last
August. Accompanying this year’s brief are fund balances for all 500
districts, as well as for charter and technical schools, for both fiscal years
to allow users to understand trends for individual districts as well as for the
state as a whole. Both briefs explain the four types of fund balances under government
accounting standards and the restrictions on unassigned balances under state
law. In addition to serving as a hedge against economic and budgetary
uncertainty, fund balances for many school districts reflect to varying degrees
concerns arising from Commonwealth policies, such as the underfunding of
pensions, freezes in state support for capital projects, and the historical
experience of state budget delays. David Davare, author of both fund balance
briefs, is an advisor to CORP and the University
Consortium to Improve Public School Finance and Promote Economic Growth. He
also oversees the Harrisburg
office of the Pennsylvania Economy League’s Central Division and formerly
served as research director of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
Black students more
harshly punished in Pittsburgh, official acknowledges
Trib Live By Tory
N. Parrish Thursday, June 25, 2015, 11:33 p.m.
Pittsburgh Public Schools disciplines black students more harshly than other groups, a district official acknowledges. Black students accounted for 54.2 percent of the school district's 26,401 students in the 2013-14 school year, but they accounted for 75 percent of all the district's out-of-school suspensions for conduct, 82 percent of its out-of-school suspensions for weapons and 80 percent of all its expulsions, according to Pennsylvania Department of Education data. “It's structural. It's a national problem,” said Dara Ware Allen, Pittsburgh Public Schools' assistant superintendent for student support services. The district is taking steps to address the issue, Allen said. Suspensions are down, she said.
Pittsburgh Public Schools disciplines black students more harshly than other groups, a district official acknowledges. Black students accounted for 54.2 percent of the school district's 26,401 students in the 2013-14 school year, but they accounted for 75 percent of all the district's out-of-school suspensions for conduct, 82 percent of its out-of-school suspensions for weapons and 80 percent of all its expulsions, according to Pennsylvania Department of Education data. “It's structural. It's a national problem,” said Dara Ware Allen, Pittsburgh Public Schools' assistant superintendent for student support services. The district is taking steps to address the issue, Allen said. Suspensions are down, she said.
Editorial: Chester Upland receiver’s
tenure reaches end
Delco Times
Editorial POSTED: 06/24/15, 11:27 PM EDT
The Joe Watkins Era
in the Chester Upland School District
The choice of
Watkins raised eyebrows when Corbett tapped the former political analyst and
MSNBC commentator to be the district’s chief recovery officer. Watkins was an
unabashed booster of charter schools. One of the biggest issues facing Chester
Upland was the exodus of students — and the resultant state funds — to charter
schools. At one point more than half of the students in Chester Upland were
enrolled in charter schools.
Nevertheless, an
enthusiastic Watkins vowed to work with the charters and even go one on one
with residents in efforts to convince them to come back to the district’s
public schools. Along with new Superintendent Gregory Shannon, Watkins did just
that, literally going door to door, talking to families about the district’s
schools.
Post Gazette By
Margaret Smykla June 26, 2015 12:24 AM
A balanced $45
million final budget for the 2015-16 school year that raises taxes for the
third consecutive year was adopted by a 6-2 vote at Thursday’sWest
Jefferson Hills School Board meeting. The
new real estate tax rate is 0.446 mills, raising the millage rate to 19.038
mills.
The owner of a home
appraised at $100,000 will pay a little over $46 more in taxes next year. The tax increase will generate an additional
$866,269 for the district. There are no
furloughs or program cuts in the budget.
"At $154.6 million, the
2015-16 budget is roughly $4.8 million larger than the 2014-15 budget, an
increase driven mainly by escalating charter school and retirement costs. It
includes no staffing or program cuts."
By Erica Erwin 814-870-1846 Erie
Times-News June 25, 2015 12:01 AM
High-performing city high
school given money to expand
KRISTEN A. GRAHAM, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Friday, June 26, 2015, 1:08 AM
POSTED: Thursday, June 25, 2015, 3:48 PM
One of the city's top high schools just got more support for its newest
venture, a middle school launching in the fall.
Carver High School
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150626_High-performing_city_high_school_given_money_to_expand.html#0VifFwPWB4CUPDjz.99
Olney Charter teachers
protest layoffs
TEACHERS AT Olney
Charter High School learned yesterday that school administrators are expected
to slash 36 jobs due to a deficit, the Daily News has learned. Additionally, Olney Principal Jose LeBron's
contract was not renewed by the school's charter operator, ASPIRA Inc. of Pennsylvania , multiple
sources familiar with the situation told the People Paper. LeBron, a former
school district principal, has worked at Olney since it opened as a charter in
2011. Earlier in the day,
LeBron held a morning meeting and informed staff that a $2.3 million budget gap
would result in the loss of 22 teachers and 14 noninstructional positions from
the high school, according to teachers at the meeting. The teachers, who with other school staff
voted to unionize in April, were incensed with ASPIRA, teachers said. They
headed over to rally against the cuts in front of ASPIRA headquarters, on 5th Street near Bristol in North Philadelphia . "My gut feeling is that they are doing
it to retaliate for our union organizing and they're trying to eliminate
positions," said Ellie Sammons, a 12th grade civics and psychology
teacher, holding a sign. "With those positions go strong, active
teachers."
By Monica Von Dobeneck | Special to
PennLive on June 25, 2015 at 8:09 PM
It took two years of
negotiations, but on Thursday the Palmyra Area School Board approved a
four-year contract with the Palmyra Area Education Association. It also
approved a four-year contract with the support staff. Despite the length of time it took to reach
an agreement, negotiators said relationships remained cordial. The teachers' contract will provide raises of
2.5 percent for the 2014-15 school year retroactive to Sept. 1; 2 percent in
2015-16 and 2016-17; and 2.75 percent in 2018-19. Starting in the 2015-16 school year, teachers
will also pay more deductibles and copays for their health insurance. They will
also pay a larger portion of their premiums, starting with 10 percent in
2014-15, 11 percent in 2015-16 and 11.5 percent in 2017-18. Employees wishing
to cover their spouses will pay $300 in 2014-15, $400 in 2015-16, $450 in
2016-17 and $500 in 2017-18.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/06/palmyra_school_board_approves_2.html#incart_river
Derry Area hikes taxes,
promotes assistant superintendent
Trib Live by Greg
Reinbold Thursday, June 25, 2015, 11:36 p.m.
TheDerry Area School District
The
Read more:http://triblive.com/news/westmoreland/8627423-74/district-board-superintendent#ixzz3eAC1Dq4M
Methacton approves budget
with zero percent tax increase
By Brendan Wills,
The Times Herald POSTED: 06/25/15,
10:13 PM EDT
Brain food: Columbia
In the Columbia School District
PSBA Video: Issues
affecting public schools in PA
PSBAvideo Published on Jun 24, 2015 YouTube runtime 2:27
Board members from various districts tell us
the issues affecting their districts most, what we need to do and how to get
involved. Visit the State Advocacy
Network page at www.psba.org/legislative-advocacy/state-advocacy-network/
WHYY Newsworks BY ZOË READ JUNE 25, 2015
Congress: House
Appropriations Committee OKs Fiscal 2016 Education Spending Plan
Education Week
Politics K-12 Blog By Lauren Camera on June 24, 2015 4:55 PM
Democrats on the
House Appropriations Committee were unsuccessful in several attempts to restore
funding for federal education programs during Wednesday's markup of a fiscal
2016 spending plan that would slash the current funding level for the U.S.
Department of Education by $2.8 billion.
The committee cleared the measure, which funds the department and
federal education programs to the tune of $64.4 billion, on party-line
vote of 30-21. You can read more about how education programs would be funded here. Democrats tried to increase funding for
several programs, as well as restore funding for some 20 education programs
that would be eliminated under the GOP appropriations bill, which also funds
the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor.
Here's a quick recap
of the education-related amendments:
Peter Greene: Campbell
Diane Ravitch's Blog By dianeravitch June
24, 2015
Peter Greene has
discovered that Campbell Brown, scourge of public schools, teachers,
unions, and due process, has just created a new vehicle to advance her cause. With funding from various billionaires who
share her passion to destroy public education, she has started a new
organization. Greene writes: “Today the Wall Street Journal is announcing
that Campbell Brown is launching a new education site that “won’t shy away from
advocacy.” Which is kind of like announcing that Wal-Mart is opening a new
store and will not shy away from marketing or that Burger King is opening up at
a new location that might sell hamburgers.
“Sadly, there are no surprises in this story. The site, called The
Seventy Four in reference to the seventy-four million students in the US (and
not say, the seventy-four gazillion dollars Campbell and her friends hope to
make from privatizing education)….“The new site will launch with thirteen
employees and a $4 million dollar budget, courtesy of backers that include
Bloomberg Philanthropies (as in former anti-public ed NY mayor Michael
Bloomberg), Walton Family Foundation, Johnathan Sackler, and the Peter and
Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation– in other words, the usual group of charter school
backers….
Pasi Sahlberg on Parental Choice: ‘Lazy’ strategy set
to result in poorer learning - expert
The Irish Times by Joe Humphreys First published:Fri, Jun 26, 2015,
01:00
By making parental
choice the cornerstone of its education system, Ireland is following a “lazy”,
market-based strategy which is likely to produce greater inequalities and
poorer learning outcomes, renowned educational expert Pasi
Sahlberg has said. Addressing a
Department of Education policy seminar in Dublin ,
the Finnish scholar said “either you are serious about equality” or you rely on
parental choice “and you just hope that this will somehow create good things”. The latter was “a clear sign of a lazy or
reluctant education policy: If you don’t know what you are doing you say ‘Let’s
expand parents’ choice’ ”. “If you want to have a more equity-based
system, that requires very systematic and deliberate policy by the Government,”
he said.
Equality does not
materialise at local level by accident, said Dr Sahlberg, a visiting professor
at Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Don’t Miss Tuesday, June 30, 8 p.m. #FairFundingPA
chat on Twitter
You are invited to
join the next monthly Twitter chat with Pennsylvania ’s
major education leadership organizations on Tuesday, June 30 at 8
p.m. They will discuss details of the recommendations for a fair,
school funding formula made by the General Assembly’s Basic Education Funding
Commission. Use hashtag #FairFundingPA to participate and follow
the conversation.
On the last Tuesday
of each month at 8 p.m., the following organizations go to Twitter to discuss
timely topics, ask questions and listen to the public’s responses:
- The
- The
- The
- The
- The
Join the
conversation. Share your ideas, lurk, learn and let us know what you think
about the state’s support for public schools. It’s a simple, free and
fast-paced way to communicate and share information. If you’ve never tweeted
before, here are directions and a few tips:
Register Now – PAESSP
State Conference – Oct. 18-20 – State College, PA
Registration is now
open for PAESSP's State Conference to be held October 18-20 at The
Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel in State College, PA! This year's
theme is @EVERYLEADER and features three nationally-known keynote
speakers (Dr. James Stronge, Justin Baeder and Dr. Mike Schmoker), professional
breakout sessions, a legal update, exhibits, Tech Learning Labs and many
opportunities to network with your colleagues (Monday evening event with Jay
Paterno). Once again, in conjunction
with its conference, PAESSP will offer two 30-hour Act 45 PIL-approved
programs, Linking Student Learning to Teacher Supervision and Evaluation
(pre-conference offering on 10/17/15); and Improving Student Learning
Through Research-Based Practices: The Power of an Effective Principal (held
during the conference, 10/18/15 -10/20/15). Register for either or both PIL
programs when you register for the Full Conference!
REGISTER TODAY for
the Conference and Act 45 PIL program/s at:
Apply
now for EPLC’s 2015-2016 PA Education Policy Fellowship Program
Applications are
available now for the 2015-2016
Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP).
The Education Policy Fellowship Program is sponsored in Pennsylvania by The
Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC).
With more than 400 graduates in its first sixteen years, this
Program is a premier professional development opportunity for educators, state
and local policymakers, advocates, and community leaders. State Board of
Accountancy (SBA) credits are available to certified public accountants. Past participants include state policymakers,
district superintendents and principals, charter school leaders, school
business officers, school board members, education deans/chairs, statewide
association leaders, parent leaders, education advocates, and other education
and community leaders. Fellows are typically sponsored by their employer
or another organization. The Fellowship
Program begins with a two-day retreat on September 17-18, 2015 and
continues to graduation in June 2016.
Click here to read about the Education Policy
Fellowship Program.
Sign up here to receive a weekly
email update on the status of efforts to have Pennsylvania adopt an adequate,
equitable, predictable and sustainable Basic Education Funding Formula by 2016
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 »
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