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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for June 4, 2015:
We now know students cannot be tested out of poverty’
COMMUNITY MEETING: PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING
IN BERKS COUNTY
Berks County IU June 23, 7:00 - 8:30 pm
Come to Harrisburg on June 23rd for an All for
Education Day Rally!
Education Voters PA website June 1, 2015
Open & transparent? 76 of 177 PA Charter schools
have yet to respond to a Right to Know Law request made by PSBA on May 15th
Track here: http://bit.ly/1G6vKth
Two years ago, former PA
Office of Open Records Executive Director Terry Mutchler had this to say
testifying before a Senate
State
"They don't feel they
should be subject to this law, or, candidly, subject to you," Mutchler
told senators on the state government committee, which is considering
legislation to amend the five-year-old law. "They are a cancer on the
otherwise healthy right-to- know-law."
By Amy Worden,
Inquirer Harrisburg
Bureau POSTED: May 15, 2013
Pedro Rivera will be the new
Secretary of the Department of Education
PA-Gov: Senate Confirms
More Cabinet Secretaries
PoliticsPA Written by Nick Field, Managing Editor
The Governor’s
cabinet is starting to come into place. Yesterday, the
State Senate confirmed four new Secretaries. Today, they added
another three. Pedro Rivera will be the
new Secretary of the Department of Education,
John Quigley is now the Secretary of the Department
of Environmental Protection while Teresa Miller becomes
Commissioner of theInsurance
Department. Rivera and Miller
were unanimously
approved while Quigley’s vote was 44-4.
LTE: ISSUE | SCHOOL FUNDING Gas tax needed
Inquirer LTE by |John
Hanger, secretary of policy and planning, Governor's Office, June 4, 2015
Pennsylvania
is the only gas-producing state in the country that does not have a severance
tax on natural-gas extraction ("Wolf, GOP exchange budget salvos,"
June 2). It is past time for oil and gas companies to pay their fair share so
we can get schools the funding they need. Yet corporate interests continue to
protect oil and gas companies instead of working to fix schools and get Pennsylvania back on
track. Gov. Wolf's budget proposes a
historic $1 billion investment in education at all levels. This is only the
first step in achieving the governor's goal of a $2 billion investment in
education over four years. The governor's severance-tax proposal will generate
more than $1.5 billion in 2018-19. This revenue is critical to fixing our
schools.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20150604_LETTERS_-_June_4.html#wFMdH4XysuibbHwi.99
Future state workers face up to
70% benefit cut if bill passes, think tank warns
The battle is
intensifying over reforms to Pennsylvania 's
pension systems for public employees and school teachers. On Thursday, state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, chair
of the House State Government Committee, will convene the
second of two hearings on Senate Bill 1. Passed
in the Senate in May, SB 1 would trim benefits for state employees and put
new hires into a 401(k)-style plan rather than the existing traditional pension
system. LNP Editorial: Wolf, lawmakers must
solve Pennsylvania pension crisis now
On Tuesday, Metcalfe, a conservative Republican from western Pennsylvania , called
such a shift "a necessity to sustain the system."
Wolf, lawmakers must solve
Pennsylvania
THE ISSUE: Pennsylvania ’s
two large pension funds — for teachers and state employees (the
latter including state lawmakers, on the theory that they work) — are
significantly underfunded. According to their own reports, they have a combined
$53 billion in unfunded liabilities. In a March report, the National Association of State
Retirement Administrators put the two funds at only 41 percent of annual
required contribution, second-worst in the nation.
Five representatives
of groups that speak for public school administrators and school board members
told the LNP Editorial Board on Monday that Pennsylvania ’s pension crisis must be
addressed as part of this year’s budget.
Advocates rally for change
in Pennsylvania
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa -
"We need our state legislators to step up this year, to do their jobs and
support a budget that will increase funding for public education," said
Susan Spicka, parent and advocate.
Facing close to a $1 million school budget deficit, residents supporting
the Shippensburg Area School District Shippensburg Area
School District
School funding still
undecided as Council weighs options
MENSAH M.
DEAN, DAILY NEWS STAFF
WRITER DEANM@PHILLYNEWS.COM,
215-854-4172 POSTED: Thursday, June 4, 2015, 12:16 AM
WITH JUST TWO weeks
to go before City Council recesses for the summer, it does not appear likely
that $105 million in new funding for the School District of Philadelphia
Council huddles on school
funds; District provides spending breakdown
Council
President Clarke, focused on closing the deficit, calls Hite's request for new
funds a "Cadillac version" of education.
the notebook By Dale
Mezzacappa on Jun 3, 2015 03:48 PM
City Council spent
Wednesday in a closed-door session considering how to raise additional revenue
for the schools. Reports
indicate that Council President Darrell Clarke is looking at a
solution short of the $105 million the District has asked for, and Mayor
Nutter's proposed 9 percent property tax increase is apparently not on the
table. Superintendent William Hite is
asking for $200 million from the state and $105 million from the city, not only
to restore some personnel and services slashed over the last several years, but
also to embark on his reform plan. District
officials say that $82 million is still needed for next year just to keep
services at current levels, due to rising costs for pensions, benefits, charter
schools, and debt service.
What the election said about
the kind of schools Philadelphians want
the notebook commentary By Ron Whitehorne on
Jun 3, 2015 09:48 AM
The primary election
was, among other things, a referendum on what kind of schools Philadelphians
want and how they think they should be governed. Taken together with polling data, the
election results show that the forces for corporate education reform,
headquartered locally in the Philadelphia School Partnership, are losing the
fight for hearts and minds, despite a seemingly limitless amount of money, a
well-oiled public relations machine, and many friends in high places, including
the media. For years the mantra of
school choice advocates has been that “people are voting with their feet.” It
was their way of saying that parents want their children enrolled in charter
schools. But in the recent primary, people voted with their ballots. The
results suggest that the “dump the losers” approach to school reform does not
reflect how Philadelphians are thinking about education, in so far as elections
reflect popular opinion.
A year ago, State
Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, a strong advocate for charters and school
vouchers, was widely regarded as the likely Democratic nominee for mayor. With
a trio of Main Line billionaires ready to
spend whatever it takes and the blessing of party chair Bob Brady, many Black
elected officials, and ward leaders, Williams was regarded as a formidable
candidate whose race it was to lose.
'First in Math' program
adds up to good results in Philly school district
WHYY Newsworks BY BILL HANGLEY JUNE 3, 2015
Some of Philadelphia 's best young
math students were honored Tuesday by the organizers of an online program
called "First in Math." Among
them was Daniel Wang -- a fourth-grader at Fitzpatrick Elementary who loves
numbers and monster trucks. A trip to the Path of Destruction truck rally with
his father next week will be Daniel's reward for finishing second in the nation
in an online competition. "It all
came down to the final day," said Daniel afterward, holding his new gold
trophy -- the second he's won from First in Math. "I was in third place at
the start, and I kept fighting and fighting until I got there." Daniel was one of about 200 Philadelphia students honored for their
success in the program, which teaches basic math skills through puzzles and
games. Students work through levels individually or in teams, earning virtual
stickers for their successes.
Trib Live By Stephanie
Hacke Wednesday, June 3, 2015, 11:36 a.m. Updated 18 hours ago
The furloughing of eight
teachers in the Brentwood
Borough School
District
Wilson Area teachers to get raises under new contract
By Christina
Tatu Of The Morning Call
June 3, 2015
The Wilson Area
School Board and teachers union have agreed to a contract giving teachers an
average pay raise of 2.57 percent per year during the three-year agreement. The contract also increases the steps on the
salary scale from 16 to 19, meaning teachers will have to work an additional
three years before reaching their top potential salary. The new contract will go into effect Sept. 1
and continue through Aug. 31, 2018. For
the 2015-16 school year, the contract includes a 2.74 percent pay increase,
followed by increases of 2.32 percent and 2.64 percent.
"Starting next school
year, any parent in Nevada
The ultimate in school choice or school as a
commodity?
Starting next school
year, any parent in Nevada
can pull a child from the state’s public schools and take tax dollars with
them, giving families the option to use public money to pay for private or
parochial school or even for home schooling.
The new law, which the state’s Republican-controlled legislature passed
with help from the education foundation created by former Florida governor Jeb Bush (R), is a
breakthrough for conservatives, who call it the ultimate in school choice. And
they are working to spread it nationwide: Lawmakers in Georgia , Iowa
and Rhode Island
considered similar legislation this year.
Democrats, teachers unions, public school superintendents and
administrators are alarmed, saying that the Nevada law to provide private school
vouchers is the first step toward dismantling the nation’s public schools.
"Why should wealthy
parents be able to opt-out of the over-testing by sending their children to
private schools while disadvantaged students are forced to exist in a high
stakes, over-tested climate for the sake of producing data that confirms what
they already know—their schools lack the needed supports?"
We now know students cannot be tested out of poverty’
Last
month, a dozen civil rights groups issued
a statement, under the umbrella of the Leadership Conference on Civil
and Human Rights, saying that parents opting their children out of high-stakes
standardized tests are harming at-risk students. I published a few posts
questioning the rationale of the groups (here and here,
for example), which argued that only by obtaining data from annual standardized
tests can further the goal of achieving educational equity. It said in part:
For the civil rights
community, data provide the power to advocate for greater equality under the
law. It’s the reason we’ve fought to make sure that we’re counted equally in
every aspect of American life, such as in employment, the criminal justice
system, and consumer lending.
Our commitment to
fair, unbiased, and accurate data collection and reporting resonates greatest
in our work to improve education. The educational outcomes for the children we
represent are unacceptable by almost every measurement. And we rely on the
consistent, accurate, and reliable data provided by annual statewide
assessments to advocate for better lives and outcomes for our children. These
data are critical for understanding whether and where there is equal
opportunity.
The following post
is a new critique of that argument. It was written by Judith Browne Dianis,
John Jackson and Pedro Noguera. Dianis is co-director of the national racial justice
organization Advancement Project; Jackson is
president and CEO of the Schott Foundation for Public Education; Noguera is the
Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education at New York University
"Philanthropy still does
enormous good, perhaps now more than ever. But it’s alarming how in an era of
high inequality, private funders have a growing say over central areas of civic
life like education and public parks, and how this influence is often wielded
against a backdrop of secrecy. Earlier this year, for example, a school reform
group in Philadelphia
Who Will Watch the Charities?
New York Times Opinion By DAVID CALLAHAN
MAY 30, 2015
LAST week federal
authorities disclosed that four cancer charities had bilked tens of millions of
dollars from donors. Questions continue to surface about the lack of
transparency at the Clinton Foundation. Philanthropy, we’re learning, is a
world with too much secrecy and too little oversight. Despite its increasing
role in American society, from education to the arts to the media, perhaps no
sector is less accountable to outsiders.
The charitable sector is a bit like the Wild West — by design.
Foundations have long been granted expansive freedom, on the view that the
diversity of America ’s
civil society is one of the country’s signature strengths, as Alexis de
Tocqueville famously said, and that government shouldn’t mess with this magic.
Both political parties have been content to impose a minimum of rules on
philanthropy. For example, foundations
don’t have to prove that they’re making good use of billions of dollars of
tax-subsidized funds, and nonprofits don’t have to identify their donors, as
we’ve learned from the Clinton Foundation saga. The law even permits donors to
get an immediate tax break for charitable gifts that may sit in investment
accounts for decades, never helping anyone. And in many states, the rules that
do govern philanthropy are barely enforced, which is why the fraud perpetrated
by those four cancer charities was undetected for years.
Shaky Methods, Shaky
Motives
A Critique of the National Council of Teacher
Quality’s Review of Teacher Preparation Programs
By Edward
J. Fuller1 1Penn
State University ,
University Park , PA , USA
Edward J. Fuller,
Penn State University, 204D Rackley Bldg., University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Email: ejf20@psu.edu
Abstract
The National Council
on Teacher Quality’s (NCTQ) recent review of university-based teacher
preparation programs concluded the vast majority of such programs were
inadequately preparing the nation’s teachers. The study, however, has a number
of serious flaws that include narrow focus on inputs, lack of a strong research
base, missing standards, omitted research, incorrect application of research
findings, poor methodology, exclusion of alternative certification programs,
failure to conduct member checks, and failure to use existing evidence to
validate the report’s rankings. All of these issues render the NCTQ report less
than useful in efforts to understand and improve teacher preparation programs
in the United States .
The article also suggests alternative pathways NCTQ could have undertaken to
work with programs to actually improve teacher preparation. The article
concludes by noting that the shaky methods used by NCTQ suggest shaky motives
such that the true motives of NCTQ for producing the report must be questioned.
Come to Harrisburg
Education Voters PA website June 1, 2015
On June 23 at the Capitol in Harrisburg, Education Voters will be
joining together with more than 50 organizations to send a clear message to
state lawmakers that we expect them to fund our schools in this year’s
budget. Click
HERE for more information and to register for the June 23 All for Education Day
in Harrisburg. Join us as we speak up for the importance of
funding our schools fairly and at sufficient levels, so that every student in
PA has an opportunity to learn. Community,
parent, education advocacy, faith, and labor organizations will join together
with school, municipal, and community officials to hold a press conference and
rally at 12:00 in the main rotunda and to make arrangements to meet with
legislators before and after the rally. We
must send a strong message to state lawmakers that we are watching them and
expect them to pass a state budget that will fund our schools this year. Please
come to Harrisburg on June 23 to show broad support for a fair budget for
education this year.
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 »
COMMUNITY MEETING: PUBLIC
SCHOOL FUNDING IN BERKS COUNTY
Berks County IU June 23,
7:00 - 8:30 pm
Date: Tuesday, June 23, 2015 Time:7:00 – 8:30 p.m. | Registration begins
at 6:30 p.m.
Location: Berks County Intermediate Unit, 1111 Commons Boulevard,
Reading, PA 19605
Local school district leaders will discuss how state funding issues are
impacting our children’s education opportunities, our local taxes, and our
communities. You will have the opportunity to ask questions and learn how you
can support fair and adequate state funding for public schools in Berks County. State lawmakers who represent Berks County
have been invited to attend to learn about challenges facing area schools.
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.
Acting Secretary of
Education Pedro Rivera and Wolf administration Budget Director Sharon Ward will
speak about What Schools Need and Where the Money Can Come From in a webinar on
June 8th. Other presenters will include PILCOP attorney Michael
Churchill and ELC interim executive director Deborah Gordon Klehr. 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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