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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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for June 8, 2015:
Report: Pa.
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
Report: Pa.
SOLOMON
LEACH, DAILY NEWS STAFF
WRITER LEACHS@PHILLYNEWS.COM,
215-854-5903 POSTED: Monday, June 8, 2015, 12:16 AM
Inequitable school funding called ‘one of the sleeper
civil rights issues of our time’
Funding for public
education in most states is inadequate and inequitable, creating a huge
obstacle for the nation’s growing number of poor children as they try to overcome
their circumstances, according to a set of reports released Monday by civil
rights groups.
Students in the
nation’s highest-spending state (New York )
receive about $12,000 more each year than students in the lowest-spending state
(Idaho ),
according to the reports, and in most states school districts in wealthy areas
spend as much or more per pupil than districts with high concentrations of
poverty.
School Funding in Most States Unfair
Inequitable Funding Systems Shortchanging Nation's
Students
Public school
funding in most states continues to be unfair and inequitable, shortchanging
the nation’s 49 million school public school students, especially those living in
poverty, out of the educational opportunities they need to succeed. Despite an
economic rebound, states have been slow to restore the cuts to K-12 education
triggered by the 2007 downturn, and school funding remains below pre-recession
levels in many states. There are wide
disparities in the amount spent on public education across the country, from a
high of $18,507 per pupil in New York , to a
low of $6,369 in Idaho .
In addition, most states do not systemically provide additional funding to
low-income districts, depriving at-risk students of the resources and supports
essential for academic success. These
are among the key findings from the 4th Edition of Is School Funding Fair? A
National Report Card released by Education Law Center (ELC) today. The Report
Card is the most sophisticated comparative analysis of public school finance in
the United States ,
examining the level and distribution of school funding within each state in
relation to student need.The 4th Edition is based on funding data from 2007 through
2012.
“We don’t believe money fixes
everything,” he said. “But if you have children that are already challenged by
poverty and give them less money—that definitely doesn’t work.” That, according to studies published by the
Education Trust and the National Forum on Educational Statistics is exactly
what Pennsylvania has been doing."
Coalition to rally for fair school funding
from state
In three weeks, a
coalition of corporations, nonprofits, faith organizations and education
advocates from across the state will meet in Harrisburg to send a single
message to legislators ahead of state budget negotiations: put a fair school
funding formula in place. The Campaign
for Fair Education Funding includes more than 50 organizations all concerned
with Pennsylvania’s dismal standing with respect to funding disparities among
its school districts. Two recent reports place it last, or near last in the
nation. Allies for Children Executive
Director Patrick Dowd, a former teacher, school board member and Pittsburgh
councilman, said the scope of the coalition is unlike he’s seen but they are
galvanized by the issue of improving educational equity for children across the
state
Property tax reform: Comparing Gov. Wolf's plan with
the House Republicans
Post Gazette By Eric
Holmberg / PublicSource June 7, 2015 12:00 AM
Both Gov. Tom Wolf
and the state House of Representatives have advanced plans that give
significant property tax relief to homeowners by increasing the state sales and
income taxes.
But the two plans
diverge when it comes to who would benefit most. The $4.9 billion property tax relief plan
backed by House Republicans directs more money to residents in school districts
with the highest property tax bills, which would favor wealthier school
districts. The plan also reduces the property tax rate in every school district,
extending more of the perks to businesses than under Mr. Wolf’s proposal. “We tried to drive [property tax relief] to
the areas that had the highest property taxes, but in a way that helps
everyone,” said state Rep. Seth Grove, R-York, a member of the House
Appropriations Committee. Property taxes
provide a portion of the funding for schools.
Mr. Wolf’s $3.8 billion plan focuses on relief for homeowners,
especially in school districts with lower property values and high tax rates.
It would reduce the property tax rate in 311 of the state’s 500 school
districts, and some of the state’s poorest school districts would be able to
completely eliminate property taxes.
Non-native speakers feel
lucky to graduate before Pa.
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY JUNE 8, 2015
Keystone Exams: PSBA asking legislators to ‘push
pause’ on graduation requirements
PSBA website June 5, 2015
With growing concerns across the state over the graduation
requirements effective for the Class of 2017, the time is right now to call for
a pause on the high-stakes use of Keystone Exams and project-based assessments
for granting diplomas. Let’s get this issue fixed before the start
of the next school year! Various bills that address this critical issue have
been introduced from both Republican and Democratic legislators.
Senate confirms Pedro Rivera as education secretary
PSBA News June 5,
2015
This week the Senate
unanimously confirmed the governor’s appointment of Pedro Rivera as education
secretary. PSBA congratulates the new
secretary, noting that his extensive experience as teacher, principal and
superintendent in the Philadelphia Public Schools and the School District of
Lancaster have prepared him well for the role of state secretary. Through the
years, he has demonstrated outstanding leadership abilities and has gained a
“real-life” perspective of the needs and concerns of Pennsylvania school
officials, teachers and students. His practical knowledge of school operations
makes him well qualified to be a key policymaker in education matters. Under
his leadership, the school community anticipates an open dialogue and
opportunities to provide input with the Department of Education on key
education issues, including the establishment of a fair, sustainable and
predictable process for funding all public schools.
Wayne Burton: Retiree
group sees merit in Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget blueprint
Times Leader by Wayne Burton Contributing Columnist Last updated: June 04. 2015 11:10PM
"Holmes doesn’t just fly
over his district he lives in its trenches and says educating kids in poverty
just costs more. Ninety percent of the students in York commonwealth
of Pennsylvania
Tale of two states, school funding inequities exposed
in York
ABC27 By Dennis Owens Published: June 5, 2015, 7:36 pm Updated: June 5,
2015, 7:37 pm
The swimming pool at
York ’s William Penn
Senior High School
The pool is empty. Holmes says the rest of his budgetary cup is
half empty.
“We’ve cut guidance,
elementary art, elementary music, elementary PE,” Holmes said. “We have cut
sports programs.” The super says he’s
felt like Eric Scissorhands the past few years. “They’ve had to
eliminate a number of programs and professionals over these last couple of
years,” said Representtive Kevin Schreiber (D-York). Schreiber invited us on a walking tour through
William Penn’s reality in reaction to the helicopter flight with Senator
Scott Wagner a few weeks ago. Wagner showed us the overhead opulence of some
suburban districts and suggested schools aren’t as decimated as Governor Wolf
has been insisting.
State Senator Who Can
Afford To Charter Helicopters On Whim Says Public Schools Overfunded
The Huffington Post | By Samantha Lachman Posted: 06/05/2015 5:51 pm EDT
A Republican state
senator illustrated his belief that the state's schools aren't suffering
financially by chartering a helicopter ride for himself and a local reporter last
week. According to ACB27 reporter Dennis
Owens, Sen. Scott Wagner pointed at various schools from 1,600 feet up to make
the argument that their expansive facilities mean the state spends "a lot
of money" on all schools. “This
looks like a college or university campus if you look at the sports fields,"
he said of one. "And they have tennis courts down there.”
Pennsylvania Gov.
Tom Wolf (D), who unseated former Republican Gov. Tom Corbett in November, is
pushing for the state legislature to increase education funding by $1 billion. Corbett was one
of the few Republicans to lose statewide in an excellent year for GOP
candidates. “Senator Wagner
should get out of the helicopter and go visit a school,” Wolf spokesman Jeff
Sheridan told Owens, suggesting that the legislator cherry-picked the districts
he flew over. “Nobody has said that every school district across the state was
devastated. But we’ve said, and maintain, and stand by that school districts
across the state are struggling.”
Two groups, two school districts, one township
WITF Written
by Ben
Allen, General Assignment Reporter | Jun 5, 2015 5:50 AM
(York )
-- Some parents in a York
County Washington Township to move from Dover
Area School
District to Northern
York County Dover , and most
of the people in Washington Township are in favor of moving from Dover to Northern," he says.
But if the scores
are adjusted for poverty levels, Dover is
actually as good, or slightly better than Northern York
County
"This isn't a debate
about athletic facilities you can see from a helicopter. This is a debate about
making sure that every child in Pennsylvania
OP-ED: Scott Wagner's
clueless helicopter stunt
If there were a
contest to come up with the most out-of-touch way to assess Pennsylvania's
education crisis, Republican state Sen. Scott Wagner's renting a helicopter and
doing a flyover of some hand-selected central Pennsylvania schools, declaring
that Pennsylvania schools aren't underfunded, would be the winner. You couldn't even make this stuff up if you
tried. Wagner took the
media up in a helicopter and told them that because the schools down below had
tennis courts, that means Pennsylvania
schools are doing just fine. Never mind that the schools Wagner chose to fly
over are some of the most well-funded schools, while so many others would
present an entirely different picture.
Could he miss the
point any more if he tried?
Inquirer Editorial: Invest
more in schools
INQUIRER EDITORIAL BOARD POSTED: Sunday, June 7, 2015, 1:09 AM
Now that the May
election is over, City Council members have stopped campaigning and gotten
serious about filling the hole in the School District 's
budget, right? Actually, no, they haven't. Compared with the need, the paltry
$70 million that Council would generate by tepidly hiking three taxes is a
joke. Superintendent William R. Hite Jr.
has made it very clear that the schools need at least $85 million just to
maintain the terrible status quo, which means a continuation of crowded
classrooms with too few counselors, librarians, and nurses. To restore some of
the drastic recent cuts in programs and personnel, the district needs $103
million.
City should cut other
spending for education
Harold
Jackson, Inquirer Opinion
Columnist POSTED: THURSDAY, JUNE 4, 2015, 2:36 PM
The scoffing
language that some Philadelphia City Council members have been using in
discussions with School District officials asking them for more money is not
only inappropriate, it suggests that the elected leaders don’t take seriously
the dire consequences of not providing a better education for this city’s
children. “I want to help the schools,
but not at the expense of hurting people in the neighborhoods,” said Councilman
David Oh at a recent public hearing. How can he not see that the worst thing he
can do to “people in the neighborhoods” is to condemn their children to an
inferior education that limits their opportunities to become productive,
tax-paying citizens of this city.
Philly Principals: Give us
the tools to succeed
SOLOMON LEACH &
MENSAH M. DEAN, DAILY NEWS STAFF
WRITERS LEACHS@PHILLYNEWS.COM,
215-854-5903 POSTED: Friday, June 5, 2015, 12:16 AM
GIVE US THE
resources and we will have better outcomes.
That was the message
yesterday from dozens of school principals as City Council continues to debate
the Philadelphia School District's request for $103 million in new funding. In a letter delivered to Council and signed
by more than 75 principals throughout the district, administrators described an
"ongoing crisis in our schools" due to insufficient city and state
funding. "It is a crisis that
affects the daily lives of children and whether or not they develop their
skills and capacities," the letter reads. "It sends a message to them
about how much we value them. It is a crisis that causes there to be too few
adults with too few tools and thus affects the ability of our teachers to teach
and meet student needs."
If taxes are raised to
fund the schools, who will have control of that extra money?
Inquirer by Claudia
Vargas @InqCVargas POSTED: FRIDAY, JUNE 5, 2015, 3:03 PM
One of the biggest
differences between Mayor Nutter’s school funding plan and City Council’s plan
is who would control the money. As my
colleague, Julia Terruso reported in today’s Inquirer, City Council
offered a plan Thursday to increase three different taxes - property tax,
parking and Use & Occupancy – for an estimated revenue total of $70
million. (The school district asked the city for $103 million). Nutter previously proposed increasing property taxes by 9.3
percent for a total new revenue of $105 million. The obvious difference: Nutter’s single
source of funding vs. Council’s multiple sources.
Tax hikes for 10 school budgets
07 Jun
2015 — Erie Times-News By MADELEINE O'NEILL madeleine.o'neill@timesnews.com
and ERICA ERWIN erica.erwin@timesnews.com
But homeowners in
most other districts throughout the region might not be as fortunate.
Ten school districts
in the region, including Millcreek, Fairview
and Crawford Central, have included tax increases in their proposed final or
final budgets for 2015-16, and two others have yet to decide whether to
increase taxes. Figures below for
2015-16 budgets are based on budgeted expenditures.
Warrior Run teachers
authorize strike notice
Sunbury Daily Item by Joe Sylvester
Posted: Wednesday, June 3, 2015 7:57 pm
TURBOTVILLE — Warrior
Run School District teachers authorized a strike notice more than a month
before their contract expires, the district reported on its website. But not only is there a stipulation in the
current contract that teachers won’t strike while the agreement is in effect,
today is the last day of school for this school year, and any walkout would not
come until the 2015-16 school year, unless the contract is settled. According to a posting on the website,
Warrior Run Education Association President Michael Freeborn informed the
district on May 27 that the union authorized the notice. The posting also
states the district and the teachers union have held just four negotiation
sessions. The district said if the union decides to strike, it must give the
district 48 hours’ notice, and that has not happened.
http://www.dailyitem.com/news/warrior-run-teachers-authorize-strike-notice/article_3fbd8edc-0a4c-11e5-ba87-631885534faa.html
Ambler Gazette By Erin Weaver 21st
Century Media News Service June
06, 2015
KATHY
BOCCELLA, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST
UPDATED:June 7, 2015, 1:09 AM
Abington School
Superintendent Amy Sichel has gained national recognition and high marks from
school board members and colleagues, but the generous terms of a recent
contract extension for the state's highest-paid superintendent have raised
concerns in the Montgomery
County Philadelphia
schools chief, who makes $300,000. The Philadelphia
district has about 250,000 students, compared with 7,600 in Abington, one of
the state's smaller districts.
The Uphill Battle of Unionizing a Philly Charter School
How a Philadelphia charter
operator can spend tens of thousands of public dollars to fight a union.
The American Prospect by RACHEL M. COHEN JUNE
4, 2015
On April 30th,
faculty at North Philadelphia’s Olney Charter High School voted 104-38 in favor
of forming a union, an NLRB election that Olney’s charter operator, ASPIRA, has
since announced they’re challenging.
Olney’s union campaign is only the latest in a small but rapidly growing wave
of charter union drives nationwide. But few efforts have been as contentious,
or as revealing, as this one. Ever since the campaign began three years ago,
ASPIRA has pumped tens of thousands of dollars into an elaborate union-busting
effort, even as the beleaguered district it’s funded by struggles with massive
debt. Unionizing Olney also threatens to shine light on ASPIRA’s questionable
finances, at a time when authorities at the state and district level have
failed to act. More broadly, the union drive in Philadelphia reveals how
charter management organizations can use lax regulation to dodge financial
accountability.
In These Times BY ARIELLE ZIONTS
THURSDAY, JUN 4, 2015, 5:21 PM
On Wednesday, a
majority of Urban Prep teachers voted to
join the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (Chicago ACTS). Fifty-six teachers voted for, and 36 voted
against, joining Chicago ACTS—a joint Chicago Teachers Union, Illinois
Federation of Teachers and American Federation of Teachers project. However,
the vote’s results are not yet set in stone because the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) is looking into 21 other votes cast by employees like counselors
and department chairs with debatable union eligibility. Currently, 60 percent
of teachers voted to unionize—the lowest percentage of any of the 29 schools
that have voted to join Chicago ACTS. Union organizers say they are confident
they will retain a majority. At
the request of
Urban Prep COO Evan Lewis, the vote was conducted via an NLRB-sanctioned
secret-ballot election. Lewis said this process is the most “fair and
democratic” one, the argument often put forward by management about such
elections. Teachers had wanted administers to recognize the union through “card
check,” a count of how many employees signed union cards. Secret ballot elections
can be viewed as benefitting bosses, who are able to use the time between the
announcement of the intention to form a union and the union vote itself to
organize against the union.
Don't write off a school
basic
Philly.com Letter By
Jannie L. Blackwell and Blondell Reynolds Brown June 5, 2015, 1:08 AM
As classrooms
advance into the 21st century, they are no longer in the golden age of the
blackboard and chalk. Nevertheless, a timeless and elegant writing style should
be preserved in the school curriculum. The
Common Core Standards, released in 2010 and so far adopted by all but five U.S. states,
call for replacing the teaching of cursive handwriting in favor of tech-based
literacy learning. However, the reintroduction of cursive writing in our
schools is important and desirable. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are the
foundation of education in our society, and handwriting remains a relevant
skill in many settings. And yet the
Common Core standards for English language arts curriculum will no longer
explicitly require cursive instruction for elementary school students, setting
the stage for a national debate on the importance of handwriting instruction.
What’s Next on Charter School
In the media and in
real life it seems clear that the charter school “backfill” issue is big and
getting bigger — especially in districts where charters are a large and growing
percentage of students: A new report on
charter backfilling is coming up from the University of Washington
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.
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