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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for July 17, 2015:
Coverage of Senate Passage of NCLB/ESEA Rewrite
PA House Education committee hearing on PA
State Assessments is scheduled for 10:00 am July 29, Room 250 Irvis office
bldg.
Bears Repeating 1: Pa.
At Lower Merion High, 10 miles away in a suburb of stately
stone homes, copy paper and textbooks are available but are rarely necessary:
Each student has a school-provided laptop. A pool allows for lifeguarding
classes, and an arts wing hosts courses in photography, ceramics, studio art
and jewelry making. The campus has a social worker.
Bears Repeating 2: Poor schools hit hardest by budget
cuts in Pennsylvania
By The Associated Press on
August 07, 2011 at 8:12 PM, updated August 07, 2011 at 8:28 PM
Cutbacks in state aid for public
schools hit Pennsylvania ’s
poorer school districts the hardest, slashing nearly three times as many
dollars in aid per student compared with wealthier districts, according to an
analysis of state data. All told, the
poorest 150 school districts, or 30 percent of the state’s total, lost $537.5
million in five key program lines. That works out to $581 per student, the
analysis found. The wealthiest 150 school districts, as measured by the number
of children who qualify for subsidized school lunches, lost $123 million, or
$214 per student.
Of the remaining money in the programs, almost $3 per
student went to the 150 poorest districts for every $1 per student that went to
the 150 wealthiest. The hardest-hit
districts, such as Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Reading and York, lost more than
10 times the money per student as some other districts, such as Cumberland
Valley in Cumberland County, Council Rock School District in Bucks County,
North Allegheny in suburban Pittsburgh and Tredyffrin-Easttown in Chester
County.
"Pennsylvania 's school funding crisis has often been
discussed as if it is just an urban problem or a "Philadelphia
Bears Repeating 3: 49 out of 50 Pennsylvania Senate
Districts have Underfunded School Districts
POWER Press Release
July 15, 2015
A new report shows
that 49 of out of Pennsylvania 's
50 State Senate Districts have school districts that are not getting their fair
share of state education dollars. The data analysis demonstrates how
unfair and underfunded public education is a statewide problem that spans
rural, urban, and suburban areas, and proves that nearly every Senate district
will benefit from the application of a fair funding formula. However,
lawmakers in Harrisburg have
largely gone home for the summer without finishing a budget that addresses
school funding and current inequities in the funding system. Having
led a "Moral Takeover" of the State Capitol in June, faith
communities across the state have showed major concern over the problem, which
they say is an urgent moral crisis.
No new budget negotiations
with Gov. Tom Wolf, says spokesman
Penn Live By Christian Alexandersen |
calexandersen@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on July 16, 2015 at 4:00 PM,
updated July 16, 2015 at 4:12 PM
Gov. Tom Wolf's
Spokesman Jeff Sheridan said there's nothing new to report on Thursday
regarding ongoing budget negotiations. The governor was scheduled to have a press
conference on education funding in Williamsport
Thursday afternoon and then deliver remarks at the mayor's conference in Bethlehem . Sheridan
said the governor spent a "good portion of the day" on Wednesday
calling lawmakers by phone. He also spoke to House Speaker Mike Turzai by phone
yesterday, Sheridan
said.
GOP House
member unveils budget alternative
The PLS
Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Thursday, July 16,
2015
Standing
alone Thursday, Rep. Gene DiGirolamo (R-Bucks) unveiled what he called a
“middle of the road” budget alternative.
“I’ve been here a long time, I’ve been through a lot of these debates on
the budget and I think it’s time we start to get serious about doing this,” he
said at Thursday morning’s news conference unveiling his proposal. “It doesn’t
appear to me that much progress is being made.”
He said his plan will raise $1.137 billion in new revenue for FY
2015-2016 by placing a 3.2 percent tax on natural gas extractions above the impact
fee and raising the personal income from 3.07 to 3.32 percent. It would remove from the budget proposal
vetoed by Gov. Tom Wolf what Rep. DiGirolamo called $637.4 million in
“unsustainable revenue sources” like liquor privatization, a delay in the school
employees’ Social Security payment, a delay in the child welfare payment to
counties, the use of the nursing home assessment account balance, and cuts to
DHS managed care. It would also invest
$484.2 million in education and human services programs, leaving a total
surplus of $15.9 million going into FY 2016-2017.
“Maybe
nobody will be happy with what I’m going to propose,” he said.
Rep.
DiGirolamo said he has introduced the proposal in an attempt to move
negotiations along due to his position as Majority Chairman of the House Human
Services Committee.
GOP lawmaker
proposes income tax increase, severance tax to break impasse
Trib
Live By Brad
Bumsted Thursday, July 16, 2015, 1:33 p.m.
HARRISBURG — Saying it's time to break the impasse, a Republican lawmaker on Thursday offered a budget package that he claimed would meet Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and GOP leaders halfway in the 17th day of a stalemate. “I think it needs to stop,” said Rep. Gene DiGirolamo ofBucks
County
HARRISBURG — Saying it's time to break the impasse, a Republican lawmaker on Thursday offered a budget package that he claimed would meet Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and GOP leaders halfway in the 17th day of a stalemate. “I think it needs to stop,” said Rep. Gene DiGirolamo of
Wolf's taxing
budget
Trib
Live Opinion By Gene
Barr Wednesday, July 15, 2015, 9:00 p.m.
Pennsylvania
The 2015-16 fiscal year is officially underway, and with no state spending plan in place, it seems as if we are reverting to the old days of budget impasses and standoffs. Despite the General Assembly meeting its constitutional obligation of getting a budget to the governor's desk by the June 30 deadline — a $30.2 billion plan that included a $1 billion increase in state spending, invested more in education and didn't raise taxes — Gov. Wolf chose to veto the measure and is sticking to his proposal that includes broad-based tax increases and nearly $5 billion in new spending. This massive tax-increase plan failed to garner a single vote when it was brought up for consideration by the House of Representatives. The Legislature-approved budget would have made historic state investments in education funding, including a $100 million increase to basic education. It's important to note thatPennsylvania
already invests more than $27 billion in education (in total local, state and
federal funds). According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data, the
commonwealth ranks among the top 10 states in the nation in per-pupil spending. Clearly, Pennsylvania doesn't suffer from a lack of
dedicated education funding. What we do suffer from is the ability to ensure
those education dollars are being invested in student achievement and the
classroom. That's why pension reform is so critically important.
The 2015-16 fiscal year is officially underway, and with no state spending plan in place, it seems as if we are reverting to the old days of budget impasses and standoffs. Despite the General Assembly meeting its constitutional obligation of getting a budget to the governor's desk by the June 30 deadline — a $30.2 billion plan that included a $1 billion increase in state spending, invested more in education and didn't raise taxes — Gov. Wolf chose to veto the measure and is sticking to his proposal that includes broad-based tax increases and nearly $5 billion in new spending. This massive tax-increase plan failed to garner a single vote when it was brought up for consideration by the House of Representatives. The Legislature-approved budget would have made historic state investments in education funding, including a $100 million increase to basic education. It's important to note that
Falling
scores, changing test increase focus on Pa.
KATHY BOCCELLA, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: July 16, 2015, 5:56 PM
A
tougher test - coupled with harsher standards for evaluating the students who
take it - has prompted a steep decline in this year's scores on the state's
main school-achievement exam as well as a surge in the number of kids failing
to earn a "proficient" rating.
The news that the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test scores
fell for the fourth consecutive year has also sparked a growing debate over the
fairness of using the falling scores from a changed test to evaluate teachers
and struggling public schools. State
officials acknowledge that the test questions have grown harder, to align Pennsylvania with the
national learning standards known as Common Core. But they say the lower
2014-15 scores - from English and math tests of students in grades 3 through 8
- aren't an "apples-to-apples" comparison with past years and that
the Wolf administration doesn't want standardized exams to be the sole measure
of teacher and student performance.
Test scores
drop due to more 'rigorous' standards, says Pa. Department of Education
Penn
Live By Christian Alexandersen |
calexandersen@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on July 16, 2015 at 10:58 AM,
updated July 16, 2015 at 2:23 PM
The
standardized test scores for math and language arts by Pennsylvania kids in elementary and middle
schools have dropped -- by a lot. The
Pennsylvania Department of Education confirmed to WHYY/Newsworks that
the number of students who scored "proficient" or
"advanced" on the 2015 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment test
fell significantly compared with scores in 2014. The tests are taken annually
by students in third through eighth grades.
An analysis by WHYY/Newsworks found
that proficiency rates dropped on average by 35.4 percentage points in math and
9.4 percentage points in English language arts.
The Department of Education said in a prepared release that the
past school year was the first time the tests aligned to the more
"rigorous" Pennsylvania Core Standards. So, comparing 2015 scores to
the ones in 2014, isn't an apples to apples comparison, it said. It is important to remember that Pennsylvania 's students
haven't changed -- the assessment has changed - PDE
Blogger note: this piece
provides a good overview of the provisions, issues, reactions and amendments to
the bill.
Senate Passes
ESEA Rewrite With Big Bipartisan Backing, 81-17
Education
Week Politics K-12 Blog By Lauren Camera on July 16, 2015 2:28
PM
For the
first time since 2001, the U.S. Senate Thursday passed a sweeping overhaul of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the country's federal K-12 law,
which if enacted would significantly roll back the role of the federal
government in public education and give states more flexibility in the process. The legislation, the Every Child Achieves
Act, proved a rare example of bipartisan politicking, with co-authors Sens.
Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., carefully ushering the
measure through the amendment process and floor debate with little to no drama.
In the end, they held their caucuses together to pass the bill, which would
overhaul the law now known as the No Child Left Behind Act, with overwhelming
support from both sides of the aisle, 81-17.
"Consensus among experts is not easy, but consensus is necessary in
the U.S. Senate if we're going to deal with a complex problem like this, and
that's exactly what we did," Alexander said. "We found a consensus
not only on the urgent need to fix the law, but also on how to fix No Child
Left Behind." Murray relayed similar sentiments. "I've
been very glad to work with Chairman Alexander on our bipartisan bill,"
she said. "It gives states more flexibility while also including federal
guardrails to make sure all students have access to a quality education."
NSBA Hails Senate Passage of Every Child
Achieves Act Affirming Local Governance in Public Education
NSBA News Release July 16, 2015
Alexandria,
Va. (July 16, 2015) -- In light of the U.S. Senate’s passage of its fix
for No Child Left Behind, the National School Boards Association (NSBA)
applauds the bipartisan consensus to restore local governance in public
education. NSBA has worked closely with senators on both sides of the aisle to
ensure that the Every Child Achieves Act (S. 1177) includes
provisions to underscore the importance of local governance and community ownership
so that our nation’s 90,000 school board members can offer all students a
world-class public education. By a vote
of 81-17, the Senate passed S.1177, to reauthorize the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.),
Chairman, Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, hailed this
vote as a “remarkable consensus” achieved by Senate lawmakers. Multiple
amendments were considered (by either recorded vote or voice vote) and roughly
half were agreed to, including a tri-partisan measure offered by Senators Deb
Fischer (R-Neb.), Angus King (I-Maine), and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) to restore
local governance and greater flexibility to local school boards. Senator
Fischer, a former school board member and past president of the Nebraska
Association of School Boards, introduced the amendment with Senators King and
Tester to “ensure that communities have ultimate authority over their school
districts,” and “strengthen the relationship among local school board members and
parents.”
- See
more at: https://www.nsba.org/newsroom/press-releases/nsba-hails-senate-passage-every-child-achieves-act-affirming-local#sthash.B7N0XDNA.dpuf
Senate passes No Child Left Behind
rewrite, would shrink federal role in education
The
Senate on Thursday passed a bipartisan rewrite of No Child Left Behind, the
main federal education law, that would shrink the federal role in the nation’s
100,000 public schools and yield greater power to states to judge student
achievement and school performance. The
measure passed 81-17, an unusual level of agreement in a hyperpartisan era on
Capitol Hill. It was a victory for Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Sen.
Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who each navigated divides within their parties to push
the measure to passage, something that lawmakers have been unable to do for
eight years. Alexander dryly called it
“a remarkable accomplishment for a U.S. Senate filled with 100 experts on
education.” But the bill lacked a key
accountability measure important to Democrats and the Obama administration — an
amendment that described struggling schools and required states to take action
to improve them. That could threaten the bill’s fate. Under the Senate’s
version of the legislation, states would be expected to do something about
low-performing schools and struggling students, but the bill leaves it up to
states to define “struggling”and what to do about such schools. Conservatives called it a victory for state
and local control.
Senate Approves a Bill to Revamp ‘No Child Left Behind’
New York Times By JENNIFER STEINHAUER JULY 16, 2015
No Child Left
Behind rewrite passes U.S.
The U.S.
Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would roll back significant parts of the
much-criticized No Child Left Behind education law. However, senators voted down U.S.
Sen. Bob Casey's proposed amendment to expand public pre-kindergarten
education. The Every Child Achieves Act
passed by an 81-17 vote. Casey's amendment was defeated by a vote of 45 to 52.
In a
statement, Casey noted he has introduced pre-K legislation in every Congress
since 2008, and this is the first time it has received a full Senate vote. "While I had hoped for a better result I
will continue to work to ensure that a substantial investment in Pre-K becomes
law," the Pennsylvania Democrat said.
Casey's amendment would have provided more than $30 billion nationwide
over five years for full-day education for 3- and 4-year-old children. Pennsylvania would have
received $817 million.
Casey Statement Following Vote on Pre-K
Amendment
Senator Casey Press Release July
16, 2015 Contact: John Rizzo 202-228-6367
Washington
DC- U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released a statement following a vote on his
Strong Start Pre-K amendment to the No Child Left Behind rewrite currently on
the Senate floor. The amendment was not added by a vote of 45-52.
“Today
some Senators voted against making our tax code more fair for the middle class
and making a substantial investment in locally driven Pre-K programs that would
aid more than three million children across our nation, including over 93,000 Pennsylvania children.
The facts are clear that if children learn more earlier in life they will earn
more later. Investing in Pre-K isn’t just good for children and families it’s
central to strengthening our economy and working to fix one of our nation’s
most profound economic challenges- the lack of wage growth over the last 40
years. Numerous authoritative studies show that kids who receive high quality
early learning have higher wages as adults. Early learning has touched the
lives of countless children across Pennsylvania .
One mother from Washington
County Montgomery
County
Toomey Fights
to Preserve Education Funding For Pennsylvania
Senator
Toomey Press Release: July 15, 2015 Contact: Bill Jaffee (202) 228-6837
An
amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, originally
proposed by Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), would have cut Pennsylvania ’s education funding by over
$120 million each year. Senator Toomey worked to undercut this effort, working
across the aisle with his colleagues in the Senate and with Pennsylvania
educators, including the Superintendent of the Philadelphia School District
William R. Hite, Jr. and the Superintendent of the Pittsburgh School District Linda A. Lane . Due to Senator Toomey’s efforts, the formula
for allotting education funds will not change, and there will be no effect
on Pennsylvania
funding in the immediate future. Unfortunately, the compromise amendment
could reduce the rate of increase in funding for Pennsylvania in future years. And for
this reason, Toomey said in his speech today, he will vote no on the compromise
amendment.
Senate
approves No Child Left Behind overhaul; tough talks ahead with House on
compromise
US News
and World Report By JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press July 16, 2015
WASHINGTON
(AP) — The Senate voted Thursday to roll back significant parts of the
much-criticized No Child Left Behind law, keeping the annual testing
requirement but reducing the federal role in education. The 81-17 vote comes a week after the House
passed its own rewrite and sets the stage for what could be contentious
negotiations over the federal government's influence in education policy. The Senate version would leave in place the
law's annual testing schedule. But, in a major shift, it would give states and
districts more control over whether and how to use those tests to assess the
performance of schools, teachers and students.
The
legislation, sponsored by Republican Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
and Democrat Patty Murray of Washington ,
would prohibit the federal government from requiring or encouraging specific
sets of academic standards, such as Common Core.
Senate Passes
Education Bill, But Tough Talks Lie Ahead With House
Both chambers back
sweeping changes to Bush-era’s ‘No Child Left Behind,’ though versions differ
Wall
Street Journal By ISAAC
STANLEY-BECKER July 16, 2015 2:51 p.m. ET (paywall)
Senate passes
overhaul of No Child Left Behind
The Hill By Jordain Carney July 16, 2015, 02:43 pm
The
Senate on Thursday passed an overhaul of the No Child Left Behind education
law, an action that senators on both sides of the aisle agreed was long
overdue. Senators voted 81-17 to
pass the Every Child Achieves Act, which transfers more decision-making power
to state and local authorities. While
No Child Left Behind was passed under former President George W. Bush, the
weeklong debate in the Senate over changes to the law was among the least
divisive of Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) six-month tenure as majority leader. He touted the legislation as the latest
example that his party has been able to get the Senate working again ahead of
the 2016 elections. "The pundits
told us it would never happen. Republicans and Democrats will never agree on a
way to replace No Child Left Behind, they said. But a new Senate that’s
back to work is proving them wrong," McConnell said. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who
spearheaded the bill, repeatedly thanked Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) for their cooperation.
Senate passes
education bill that shifts power to states
Politico
By MAGGIE SEVERNS and KIMBERLY HEFLING 7/16/15 2:56 PM
EDT
Congress
is finally on its way to rewriting the long-outdated — and widely hated — No
Child Left Behind education law. The
Senate on Thursday passed an update to the country’s overarching education law
that greatly rolls back the federal say in thousands of public schools. The chamber, with a vote of 81-17, cleared
its bill just a week after the House eked out passage of its proposed rewrite
of the 2002 law, a victory it took Republican supporters months to achieve. Now
the two chambers and the White House must negotiate a bill that can satisfy the
president and House Republicans — who passed their bill with no Democratic
support and under the threat of a veto. Unlike
the original No Child Left Behind, which laid out the moonshot goal of all
students eventually reading on grade level, the new Every Child Achieves Act is
measured. It responds to widespread unrest about testing and the Common Core
academic standards, diminishes federal oversight of schools and doesn’t set any
new, ambitious goals for the education system as the original law did.
Read
more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/no-child-left-behind-senate-updates-120240.html#ixzz3g8yPBG9z
AASA Applauds Senate Vote On ECAA
AASA Press Release James Minichello Alexandria , Va.
Daniel
A. Domenech, executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents
Association, issued the following statement today following the U.S. Senate’s
passage of the Every Child Achieves Act.
“AASA applauds the Senate for its broad support for our nation’s schools
and the students they serve, voting 81-17 to pass the Every Child Achieves Act
(ECAA). In this act, the effort to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act (ESEA, going on its 8th year) has reached the
furthest point yet. Today’s vote maintains the core focus of ESEA, targeting
resources and support to students most in need while providing robust
educational opportunities for all students. ECAA is long past due and ensures
continued support for our nation’s public schools. “We applaud ECAA for being a bipartisan
solution to the federal overreach and punitive measures in current law,
restoring a more proper balance between federal, state and local government in
public education. By returning autonomy to the state and local level, ECAA
recognizes the importance of empowering state and local leaders to use their
professional knowledge and proximal location to make the decisions necessary to
successfully adhere to their educational missions. We look forward to the
conference committee process to reconcile the differences between the House and
Senate proposals.”
Senate’s
“Every Child Achieves Act” Passes by 81-17
Diane
Ravitch's Blog By dianeravitch July
16, 2015 //
Minutes
ago, a bipartisan majority of the Senate approved the Every Child Achieves Act,
which is the bill forged by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn) and Patty Murray
(D-WA). This is the long-overdue reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, the
legislation passed by Congress in 2001 and signed into law on January 8, 2002.
The underlying legislation is the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965, whose purpose was to authorize federal aid to education targeted to
schools that enrolled significant numbers of children living in poverty. The
original bill was about equity, not testing and accountability. The Senate bill retains annual testing, but
removes federal sanctions attached to test results. Any rewards or sanctions
attached to test scores will be left to states. The Senate rejected private
school vouchers; nine Republican Senators joined with Democrats to defeat the
voucher proposal. The bill also strengthens current prohibitions against the
Secretary of Education dictating specific curriculum, standards, and tests to
states, as well as barring the Secretary from tying test scores to teacher
evaluations. The bill repudiates the punitive measures of of NCLB and RTTT. The House of Representatives has already
passed its own bill, called the Student Success Act. A conference committee
representing both houses will meet to iron out their differences and craft a
bill that will then be presented for a vote in both houses.
Nominations for PSBA's
Allwein Advocacy Award now open
PSBA July 7, 2015
PSBA July 7, 2015
The Timothy M.
Allwein Advocacy Award was established in 2011 by the Pennsylvania School
Boards Association and may be presented annually to the individual school
director or entire school board to recognize outstanding leadership in
legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of public education and students that
are consistent with the positions in PSBA’s Legislative Platform. The 2015 Allwein Award nomination process
will close on Aug. 28, 2015. The 2015 Allwein Award Nomination Form is available online. More details on the
award and nominations process can be found online.
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.
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