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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for June 9, 2015:
Basic Ed Funding Commission Report Due Tomorrow
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
"The Commission has
until June 10, 2015 to submit a report with their final recommendations to
the General Assembly."
Basic Education Funding
PASBO website
The Basic Education
Funding Commission, authorized through Act 51 of 2014 (originally House
Bill 1738), has begun its work of examining the current basic education
funding in the Commonwealth. The Commission, co-chaired by Sen. Patrick Browne
and Rep. Mike Vereb, consists of 12 legislators and 3 administration officials,
and is tasked with making recommendations on the development of a new basic
education funding formula and identifying the factors that should be used to
determine the distribution of basic education funding to school
districts.
Basic Education Funding Commission website
Thank you for your
interest in the Basic Education Funding Commission and for visiting the
commission’s website. The 15-member
commission is tasked with developing and recommending to the General Assembly a
new formula for distributing state funding for basic education to Pennsylvania school
districts. The new formula will take into account relative wealth, local tax
effort, geographic price differences, enrollment levels, local support as well as
other factors. The Basic Education
Funding Commission was created with the passage of House Bill 1738, sponsored by Representative Bernie
O’Neill, which was signed into law by the Governor on June 10, 2014, as Act 51 of 2014.
Budgets: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Politically
Uncorrected by G. Terry Madonna & Michael L.Young June 8, 2015
June, that most
beautiful of months, is associated with some of life’s larger pleasures: the
beginning of summer, annual vacations, school graduations, Fathers’ Day, June
brides—and, of course, state budgets. Pennsylvania
law requires the budget to be adopted by June 30th. This year, however, June’s glories may have
to be savored without a state budget. Few observers expect the June
30th budget deadline to be met. Since
the past four budgets were passed on time, it’s a fair question to ask: why not
this year, too?
One answer is obvious:Pennsylvania
has returned to a divided government with one party (Republicans) controlling
the legislature, while the other party (Democrats) controls the governor’s
office. In this political configuration, institutional conflict between the
governor and the legislature is always rancorous and budgets, with few
exceptions, are always late.
But a second force is present this year that produces an influence rarely confronted in the budget process – political ideology. Normally ideology is toPennsylvania politics as
straight talk is to a politician: it isn’t practiced much. Indeed, past budget debates mostly involved
carving up the state’s resources, or in the phrase of one political scientist,
determining “who gets what and who pays.” Legislative leaders were consummate
wheeler-dealers, pragmatic to the core, with final budgets a product of
compromise, bargaining, and with more than a little deal making.
But not this year.
One answer is obvious:
But a second force is present this year that produces an influence rarely confronted in the budget process – political ideology. Normally ideology is to
But not this year.
Our public schools are in
crisis - and students are paying the price: Ian Noah Gavigan and Deborah Gordon
Klehr
PennLive Op-Ed By
Ian Noah Gavigan and Deborah Gordon Klehr on June 08, 2015 at 1:00
PM, updated June 08, 2015 at 1:53 PM
Ian Noah Gavigan is
a Research and Policy Fellow for the Education
Law Center
of Pennsylvania Education
Law Center
of Pennsylvania
Our state's public
schools are in crisis and students are paying the price.
Academic performance
is stagnating. Classroom sizes are growing as teachers, counselors, and other
staff are laid off as a result of continuing budget cuts. Districts have
eliminated core services and programs, and more cuts are possible. This crisis results from two primary factors:
in 2011, the state cut nearly $1 billion in basic education funds, and Pennsylvania does not
have an adequate, fair formula to distribute basic education funding to the
state's 500 school districts.
"The Education Law
Center Pennsylvania
But when the way those
dollars are distributed is considered, Pennsylvania
Reports put a spotlight on Pennsylvania
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
June 8, 2015 12:00 AM
The word “equity” is
getting a lot of attention in education lately.
The state last week
sent its plan for “ensuring equitable access to excellent teachers for all
students” to the U.S. Department of Education.
The Education Law Center in Newark, N.J., which advocates for equal
education opportunity, and The Leadership Conference Education Fund in
Washington, D.C., which promotes human and civil rights, teamed up to release
two reports today on the need for fair school funding. And, according to the law that established
it, the bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission in Pennsylvania is charged with reporting out
by Wednesday on how the state can establish a fair school-funding formula. Of today’s reports, one by both groups is
called “Cheating Our Future: How Decades of Disinvestment by States Jeopardizes
Equal Educational Opportunity.” The other is the fourth annual national report
card by the Education
Law Center
The 30 Pennsylvania
Billy Penn By Anna Orso
June 8, 2015 at 8:45 am
In the 139 days
since Tom Wolf was inaugurated as governor of Pennsylvania ,
he’s spent a significant portion of that time touring 30 schools across the
state, from Erie
to Kensington.
The new
governor’s social media
accounts have been littered with never-ending photos of him smiling
with kids and shaking hands with teachers, walking the halls with aides and
chatting up superintendents. It’s happened dozens of times over. But why visit *so* many schools across the
state? Simply stated: It’s budget time. And that means it’s also
selling-the-budget time. “The primary focus
of the governor’s tour is talking with schools about their needs and how they will
use the funding,” Jeff Sheridan, Wolf’s spokesman, told Billy Penn. Wolf’s trek to schools across the
commonwealth, dubbed the “Schools
That Teach” tour, is now on a month-long hiatus in June while
lawmakers make back-room deals with each other so they can figure
out how to best spend your taxpayer dollars over the next fiscal year. And
those budget talks take a lot of time, especially when the new governor has made huge
promises to better fund education while working with a
Republican-controlled legislature that’s
less than excited to compromise.
http://billypenn.com/2015/06/08/the-30-pennsylvania-schools-gov-tom-wolf-has-visited-so-far-and-why/
Education jargon,
explained
WHYY Newsworks BY PAUL JABLOW JUNE 9,
2015 MULTIPLE CHOICES: PART 12
Twelfth an
occasional series of podcasts and web
"explainers."
Too often we hear
school officials, experts, advocates, and yes, even journalist throw around
terms like "Block grants" and "charter authorizer" with
little explanation as to what these terms actually mean. Important education
funding terms and concepts get lost in translation. Here we breakdown
jargon and loaded concepts into a glossary of education funding terms.
Blogger note: SB 6 is on the
agenda for the PA Senate Education Committee meeting this morning along with SB
880 which would delay the graduation requirement associated with the Keystone
Exams for two years.
SB6: Senate bill seeks to
hold government responsible for under-performing schools
Chambersburg Public Opinion Online By Sarah Davis sdavis@publicopinionnews.com @svdavis56PO
on Twitter UPDATED:
06/05/2015
HARRISBURG >> A
bill making its way through the state Senate seeks to hold the government
responsible for the state's lowest performing public schools, but local school
leaders think it oversimplifies the path to under-achievement. Sen. Lloyd Smucker's Educational Opportunity
and Accountability Act would create a new entity called the Achievement School District
Bill advances to limit
checks for Pennsylvanians who work with kids
Guest Columnist: Pension
reform isn’t a problem since state approved Act 120
Delco Times By Mike Sturla, Times Guest Columnist POSTED: 06/08/15, 10:42 PM EDT
State Rep. P. Michael Sturla, chairman of the
House Democratic Policy Committee, represents all of Lancaster
In 2010, the
Legislature and governor faced rapidly rising employer pension contribution
rates often referred to as the rate spike. In response, an overwhelmingly
bipartisan majority of the House and Senate approved Act 120 which was widely
viewed as a responsible pension reform solution that served as a roadmap to
dealing with the crisis. Act 120 included shared sacrifice by reducing benefits
for employees by $33 billion, increasing employee contributions, the retirement
age to 65, the vesting period from 5 to 10 years and prohibiting early lump-sum
withdrawals. It also reduced the cost of benefits for the employer by 60
percent and pays down the accrued pension debt caused largely by employer
deferrals, benefit enhancements and investment losses from the economic
downturns in 2001, 2003, and 2008. Employees who entered the system since Act
120 took effect are 100 percent funded and commonwealth’s cost is just three
percent of payroll. The problem moving forward is not the revised defined
benefit pension that new state employees are receiving, but the unfunded
liabilities as a result of underfunding from the past.
When the increased
debt payments prescribed in Act 120 started coming due in 2013, another crisis
was declared. In order to address this pension “crisis,” we need to pay our
debt obligation and respect workers constitutional rights, both prescribed in
Act 120.
the notebook By Michaela Ward on Jun 8, 2015
03:12 PM
When asked why he
wants to go to college, his answer is very simple.
“My goal is to make
something of myself," said Anthony Williams, a soon-to-be graduate of Bodine High
School Pennsylvania
Convention Center
The 2015-16 budget sets aside
$200,000 for the Supplemental Property Tax Rebate Program. Board members voted
to approve the resolution, which provides property tax rebates for widowers,
disabled persons and certain senior citizens on fixed or limited incomes. The
vote was 7-1, with Scott Fozard dissenting
State College school board
OKs budget, tax rebate plan
Centre Daily Times BY FRANK READY fready@centredaily.com June
8, 2015
STATE COLLEGE —
The State College Area school board passed the final 2015-16 budget Monday, a
measure that will include 5.49 percent increase in taxes and a 8.3 percent
growth in revenues. “This is a unique
year in our budgeting, because it’s the first year of the referendum for the
high school project,” Randy Brown, district business administrator, said.
The referendum debt
exception accounts for 3.59 percent of the overall tax increase, a total that
also includes the hiring of a few new teachers and administrators, maintaining
and upgrading district facilities, and direct contact with students through
instruction. For the average district
residential taxpayer, that means a $156 increase in taxes — which, according to
Brown, is $50 less than what was projected in January. Jim Pawelczyk was the only board member to
vote against the budget. “For the most
part it has been a successful budget process,” Brown said.
Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2015/06/08/4785289_state-college-school-board-oks.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy
York school deal hikes
pay, lengthens day
Under
the agreement, the school day would increase by 40 minutes, and teacher
salaries would go up at least 2.5 percent in each of the next two years
York Daily Recprd By Dylan Segelbaum dsegelbaum@ydr.com @dylan_segelbaum
on Twitter UPDATED:
06/08/2015 09:30:09 PM
In a marked shift,
the York City School Board on Monday unanimously approved a tentative agreement
with the district's teachers' union that increases the school day by 40
minutes, along with boosting teacher salaries at least 2.5 percent for each of
the next two years. "This is
unprecedented," York City School District Supt. Eric Holmes said.
"And the School District of the City of York is moving in the right direction, and
we're happy to have our partners — the teachers — on with us." By adding 40 minutes to the school day,
Holmes said that translates to an additional hour of instructional time for
teachers. He called the agreement "bold," saying he did not know of
any other district taking that step. Under the tentative agreement, teacher
salaries would increase by 2.5 percent next year, and 2.75 percent during
2016-17 — numbers that fall within the district's proposed budget.
Penn Live By Allison Dougherty | Special to PennLive on
June 08, 2015 at 11:24 PM
CAMP HILL – The Camp
Hill School Board next week might finish up the district's 2015-16 budget. On Mon., the board discussed the most recent
updates to the district's preliminary proposed budget. In its current
incarnation, proposed spending would come in next year at about $20.38 million,
which is about 2.1 percent greater than this year's budget. The proposal includes costs for two new
teachers and increases in healthcare and retirement costs, among other
expenditures. On the revenue side,
the district's state set index is 2.3. While the board has not finalized a
millage rate for next year, Camp Hill has been approved for exceptions.
By Kevin Duffy Special
to The Morning Call June 8, 2015
The average
homeowner will see a real estate tax increase of about $64 per year after
school directors in the Northampton
Area School
District
By Sara K. Satullo | For
lehighvalleylive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on June 08, 2015 at 7:35 PM,
updated June 08, 2015 at 8:25 PM
Bethlehem Area School District officials
don't believe in the Keystone Exam's project-based assessments, but students
will be enrolled in classes to complete them next year. Starting with the class of 2017, Pennsylvania students
must show proficiency on three Keystone Exams. If students cannot show
proficiency, they are given a chance to take a project-based assessment
during the school day. The school board will vote later
this month to add an elective class next fall that will run for 9 weeks or 18
weeks depending on student need. The course will count as either an English,
biology or math credit for students. Once students finish the assessment, they
will enroll in a regular elective course.
Charter schools should keep track of their students
Charter schools,
both of the brick-and-mortar and online variety, have been hailed as a
free-market solution to many of the woes that bedevil public education.
However, time has shown many of the students who pass through these schools
perform no better academically than their public-school counterparts, and
charter schools have been plagued by questions of exactly how accountable they
are, even as they gratefully accept public money. Take, for instance, the problem of truancy.
Right now in Pennsylvania ,
a student can be enrolled in a cyber charter school, where they must check in
online every day school is in session (though one assumes that process can be
manipulated by a computer-savvy young person). If three days pass without an
excused absence, then a student’s home school district is notified, and that
district is left to investigate the absence, even though they have little or no
daily interaction with the student.
Nation's 'Disinvestment'
in Public Schools Is Crippling Poor Students, Reports Say
Six years after the
national economy bottomed out, here's one generic view of K-12 finance: Budgets are more stable
and can rely on more revenue than in 2008, and spending on K-12
has gradually recovered in many states over the last several years. So are
prominent school funding advocates satisfied that states are now giving schools
robust and well-targeted financial support?
Not even close.
"This should be
easier, not harder," Wade Henderson, the president and CEO of the
Leadership Conference Education Fund, told me in an interview. The Education Fund is one of two advocacy
groups, along with the Education Law Center, saying in reports released today
that despite rosier revenue pictures and more ambitious student achievement
goals, most states continue to hamstring schools, and poor students in
particular, by failing to provide them more resources to help them meet these
goals.
The US
Tweet by Anya
Kamenetz @anya1anya NPR.org June 8, 2015
"Experts believe you can
tell by third grade whether children will graduate high school based on clear
early warning signs, or what they call the ABCs: attendance, behavior and
course performance. Delonna struggles with all three."
In Washington
D.C.
NPR by KAVITHA
CARDOZA JUNE 07, 2015 9:39 PM ET
The US
Delonna Jones is a
10-year-old with twisty braids and a toothy grin. She struggles with reading
and is repeating the third grade at Ketcham
Elementary School
"None of this is particularly
surprising, but private school enrollment rarely comes up in discussions about
public school funding. The Education
Law Center
Public versus private schools: Who goes where, by
state
The proportion of
children who attend public school ranges widely from state to state, from a low
of 79 percent in the District of Columbia and Hawaii to 93 percent in Wyoming
and Utah , according to the
Education Law Center’s annual school funding report, released Monday.
And in every state,
private school students on average come from wealthier families than public
school students. In some cases, much wealthier: In the District, private
school families’ income is more than three times that of public school
families’ income, on average.
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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