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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for July 21, 2015:
PA Budget politicking hits
the road
Interested in letting our elected leadership know your thoughts on
education funding, a severance tax, property taxes and the budget?
Governor Tom Wolf, (717) 787-2500
Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Turzai, (717) 772-9943
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
Gov. Wolf says he’s
willing to compromise on severance tax
State Impact NPR BY REID
FRAZIER JULY 20, 2015 | 5:11 PM
Speaking in Western
Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Wolf said Monday he would be “willing to have
conversations” about compromises on the 5 percent severance tax on natural gas
he’s proposed to balance the state budget.
“I want a better Pennsylvania .
If I’m convinced we can have a better Pennsylvania
with something better than what I’ve proposed, then I’m all ears.” Wolf and the GOP-controlled legislature have
yet to agree on a budget, and are entering their fourth week past a June 30
deadline. A key element of the impasse is Wolf’s insistence on passing a
severance tax on natural gas. Republicans have so far resisted the governor’s
call. Wolf says he wants to pass the tax to pay for education and to lower
local property taxes.
Amid budget stalemate,
Wolf touts education funding in visit to Big Beaver
BIG BEAVER -- As the
state’s budget impasse enters its third week, Gov. Tom Wolf visited Big Beaver Elementary School on Monday to tout his education
proposals and hammer home that Pennsylvania ’s
students need to be prepared for a modern economy. “The world has changed, and we’ve got to want
to make sure we have the educational facilities for a 21st century economy,” he
told a small gathering of elected officials, Big Beaver Falls Area School Board
members and administrators, and residents in front of the elementary school. Wolf, continuing his Schools that Teach tour,
said Pennsylvania
must fully fund education, a focal point of his first budget that is predicated
on the proposed 5 percent severance tax on drilling.
Budget politicking hits
the road
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Monday, July 20,
2015
Major players in
Pennsylvania’s budget stalemate were on the road Monday trying to sell their
message to the Commonwealth’s body politic before House members return to
voting session on Tuesday. The governor
had a busy morning in Western Pennsylvania where he began the day giving
remarks at the Pittsburgh Technology Council Breakfast Briefing Program. He then stayed in Pittsburgh where he gave
remarks at the VFW national convention. By
noon, Gov. Wolf was speaking at Big Beaver Elementary School in Darlington,
Beaver County. That stop was part of his continuing “Schools That Teach Tour,”
which is the governor’s ongoing push for his education funding plan. It was that third stop that was met with
Republican reaction in a joint statement from Representatives Jim Christiana
(R-Beaver) and Jim Marshall (R-Beaver), who organized a rally held to counter
Gov. Wolf’s trip to the area.
Republicans to Wolf: Call
off the attack ads
BEN FINLEY AND ANGELA COULOUMBIS, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, July 21, 2015,
1:08 AM POSTED: Monday, July 20, 2015, 3:04 PM
As Pennsylvania entered its third week without
a budget, Gov. Wolf and the Republicans whose support he needs to pass a
spending plan were hundreds of miles apart - and not just figuratively. Wolf spent the day
Monday touting his plan in Western Pennsylvania, while Philadelphia-area GOP
legislators gathered in Norristown to assail
the governor's position on key budget issues - and what they call his
unprofessional, take-no-prisoners public relations war against them. The lawmakers called
a news conference to respond directly to what they consider to be misleading
television ads and mailers that attack each of them individually. The ads,
costing at least $750,000 and paid for by Wolf's allies, claim, among other
things, that the Republicans put natural-gas drilling company profits ahead of
education, and have denied homeowners property-tax relief.
GOP lawmakers blame Gov.
Wolf for budget impasse
Pottstown Mercury By Dan Clark, dclark@21st-centurymedia.com,, @danclark08 on Twitter POSTED: 07/20/15, 6:26 PM
EDT | UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO
NORRISTOWN >>
Republican state lawmakers stood outside the Montgomery County Courthouse on
Monday decrying the use of political mailers by supporters of Democratic Gov.
Tom Wolf to try to win the favor of suburban residents during the budget
impasse. The group of nine legislators,
representing varying parts of Montgomery , Chester and Delaware
counties, also took the opportunity to denounce the governor’s budget saying it
too highly taxes every day working Pennsylvanians and adds an unnecessary sales
tax to new products. State Rep. Mike
Vereb, R-150th Dist., acknowledging Monday’s sweltering temperatures, said the
state Republicans are used to the heat and that lately it’s come in the form of
the political mailers.
Darrell Auterson:
Lawmakers should consider a natural gas severance tax (column)
York Daily Record Letter by Darrell W. Auterson UPDATED: 07/16/2015 04:01:11 PM EDT
Darrell W. Auterson
is president and CEO of the York County Economic Alliance.
Natural Gas and its Economic Benefits for
South Central PA
I begin my comments
by disclosing that I have a bias in favor of York County and south central
Pennsylvania over other counties and regions of the commonwealth. I offer no
apologies for narrowing my focus as I raise the issue of the proposed severance
tax, a tax on Marcellus Shale gas extracted and sold (as opposed to an impact
fee on wells drilled, which we currently have in place). During the early years
of natural gas fracking, there was extensive debate over whether to tax this
industry. I admit other issues were more pressing on my mind at that time,
especially since there is no Marcellus or Utica shale in our region. The York
County Chamber of Commerce polled its membership in the summer of 2011 and over
65 percent of the respondents said they believed Marcellus Shale revenue should
be taxed in Pennsylvania in a manner similar to other Marcellus Shale natural
gas producing states. The information was shared for educational purposes, but
no formal position was adopted. As budget negotiations continue, the time is
right to gather the facts and thoughtfully evaluate the current impact fee
versus Gov. Wolf's proposed severance tax.
Guest Editorial: Budgets express our values
Cumberlink Carlisle
Sentinel GUEST EDITORIAL by Jill Bartoli July 20, 2015
Jill Sunday
Bartoli, a Carlisle resident, is an Associate Professor of Education and Social
Work at Elizabethtown
College
We choose to fund
what we believe to be important and valuable to us. To listen to some of our
legislators, who rag on about our current “massive investment in public
education,” you might be led to believe that Pennsylvania adequately funds its schools.
But here is a
reality check from a recent survey of all 500 Pennsylvania school districts:
- More than 70 percent of districts plan
to raise local property taxes, and nearly 80 percent of these indicate
that the increases will hit or exceed the Act 1 index.
- Forty-one percent of districts will
reduce their staffing (beyond the 33,000 jobs in education already lost
over the last four years).
- Nearly one-quarter of all districts, and
29 percent of the poorest districts, will reduce or eliminate valuable
programs.
Our public schools
have fewer guidance counselors, nurses, librarians and teachers than they did
four years ago. Music, art and physical education programs and after-school
opportunities for our children have been vastly diminished. And the digital
divide between the poorest and wealthiest schools has grown ever deeper, at a
time when students are required to take high-stakes standardized tests by
computer. All of these alarming
conditions are the direct result of the state’s deepening disinvestment in
public education funding — from a 50 percent share in the late 1970s to a 35
percent share today. These facts make clear the state’s dwindling commitment to
public education over the decades and legislators’ shift of the school funding
burden onto local property taxes.
Delco Times By Linda Reilly, Times Correspondent POSTED: 07/19/15, 10:26 PM EDT
Worries mount as educators
brace for fallout of PSSA plunge
the notebook By Dale
Mezzacappa on Jul 20, 2015 01:50 PM
As districts across
Pennsylvania brace for an anticipated
plunge in scores on the state’s standardized test, educators are
worrying about the repercussions while questioning the value of using the
volatile test results to make high-stakes decisions about teachers and schools. Districts and schools will not receive their
preliminary results until the end of the month. But statewide
data show that the proficiency rates of students on the Pennsylvania
System of School Assessment test have dropped precipitously, especially in
math – in some grades by as much as 40 percentage points compared to last year. Plus, math proficiency rates dropped in each
grade, starting at 48.5 percent of students in grade 3 and dropping to 30
percent by grade 8.The drops ranged from 26.6 percentage points for 3rd graders
to more than 43 percentage points for seventh and eighth graders. Overall, the proficiency rates were higher
and drops much smaller in language arts.
Educators noted that a drop in scores is not unusual after a test is
revised, as this one was to reflect the new Pennsylvania Core standards. In
fact, it is likely.
"Sen. Andrew Dinniman,
D-Chester, co-sponsored legislation, Senate Bill 880, that would delay the
Keystone graduation requirement for two years while lawmakers examined the role
standardized tests should play. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate last
month Similar measures have cropped
in the House Education Committee during the last year, but have gone nowhere."… "The state spent $58 million last year to implement the PSSAs and
the Keystones, according to state budget documents. It’s money Dinniman says
would be better spent on resources necessary for students to past the tests,
such as updated text books and appropriately trained staff."
Capitolwire: Underwhelming PSSA scores reignite push
to delay the Keystone graduation requirement
PSBA website Reprinted
with permission By Christen Smith, Staff Reporter, Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (July 17)
— An analysis of preliminary PSSA results from the 2014-15 school
year released Tuesday reignited debate surrounding the state’s other
standardized test — the Keystones— and whether it should remain a graduation
requirement. Newsworks reports students
scoring “basic” or “below basic” on the PSSAs increased 9.4 percent in reading
and 35.4 percent in math, with nearly half of all seventh and eighth graders
dropping an entire proficiency level in math in just one year. The news may be disappointing, but not
surprising to the state Department of Education. “The PA Core Standards were adopted by the
State Board of Education in autumn of 2013. PDE understands that transitioning
to these new, more rigorous standards takes time, curriculum development and
resources,” said Nicole Reigelman, department spokeswoman. “Over the next
several years, PDE anticipates student performance will grow steadily as
resources return to the classroom, and students and teachers become more
familiar with the PA Core.” The state
Board of Education also voted earlier this month to raise the bar for what
constitutes an “advanced,” “proficient,” “basic” or “below basic” score in
order to match the “rigor” of the new standards. It’s an explanation, however, that doesn’t
sit well with many — including one lawmaker devoted to redefining the role of
standardized testing in Pennsylvania .
Cocalico teachers to
school board: 'standardized testing is harming students'
Public education has
gone down the wrong path, according to Cocalico teachers.
The problem? Too much standardized testing. That's what the teachers union told the
school board at a public meeting last month. Their statement came in a year when testing backlash
has reached new heights across the country, and as Congress works to rewrite
the 2001 law that mandates yearly testing.
It also came just weeks before Pennsylvania 's
Department of Education confirmed that the number of students who scored "proficient" or
"advanced" on 2015 PSSA tests dropped significantly from 2014.
"According to the study,
if this state could eliminate the achievement gap between rich and poor, whites
and students of other races, it would have a major effect on the state's gross
domestic product, increasing it by at least $1 billion to $2 billion a year. And it would have an effect on the students
themselves, increasing lifetime earnings by $1 billion and $3 billion for each
graduating class of students statewide."
DN Editorial: EGALITARIAN
EDUCATION
Study: Closing racial, class gap will boost
state's economy
Philly Daily News Editorial POSTED: Monday, July 20, 2015, 12:16 AM
Trib Live By Kelsey
Shea and Gideon Bradshaw Sunday, July 19, 2015, 2:28 p.m.
School districts desperate to retain students say taking a personal approach can help draw families back into public schools. Leaders in Gateway and Penn Hills school districts announced plans this year to interview families leaving their districts for charter schools, a shift from previous efforts to market the districts through commercials and print advertisements. “I think that when districts have reached out to students who have left traditional public schools for charter schools and worked with them to try to bring them back, they've had a great deal of success,” said Steve Robinson, spokesman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. For other districts hard hit by students leaving for charters, the practice of contacting families is now standard. Charter schools — self-managed, taxpayer-funded schools that are approved by local school districts — came into the Pittsburgh area in the mid-2000s, and there are now 20 brick-and-mortar and cyber charter schools in Allegheny County according to the state Department of Education.
School districts desperate to retain students say taking a personal approach can help draw families back into public schools. Leaders in Gateway and Penn Hills school districts announced plans this year to interview families leaving their districts for charter schools, a shift from previous efforts to market the districts through commercials and print advertisements. “I think that when districts have reached out to students who have left traditional public schools for charter schools and worked with them to try to bring them back, they've had a great deal of success,” said Steve Robinson, spokesman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. For other districts hard hit by students leaving for charters, the practice of contacting families is now standard. Charter schools — self-managed, taxpayer-funded schools that are approved by local school districts — came into the Pittsburgh area in the mid-2000s, and there are now 20 brick-and-mortar and cyber charter schools in Allegheny County according to the state Department of Education.
By Jacqueline Palochko Of The Morning Call July 20, 2015
When the Allentown
School District approved a lease in January for its new alternative high school
and an application for a twice-rejected charter school, administrators and
board members knew about — but made no public mention — of a side agreement
involving developer Abe Atiyeh. In
a Jan. 30 letter outlining the agreement, Atiyeh pledged not to open
any more charter schools in the district in exchange for the district's
approval of a charter school in a building he owns at 601 Union St . The letter, a copy of which was obtained by
The Morning Call, was addressed to Superintendent Russ Mayo. It was forwarded
to Mayo by district solicitor John Freund, who in his own letter to Mayo
described it as "an original fully executed Pledge letter from Abraham
Atiyeh." Atiyeh's letter indicates
the side deal was made as part of Atiyeh's agreement to lease 265 Lehigh St. to
the district for Building 21, its new alternative high school. At the time, the cash-strapped district was
frustrated with Atiyeh's promotion of charter schools in buildings that he owns
in Allentown and throughout the Lehigh Valley Allentown
students attending charter schools inside and outside the city cost the
district $13 million a year in state funding that must follow them.
Quality early education is an investment in the future
workforce
Post Gazette By
Corbin Kearns and Dennis Noonan July 20, 2015 12:00 AM
As plant general
manager of Johnson Matthey Smithfield and as vice president of sales and
marketing for Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, the two of us operate in very
different industries. However, we both see ourselves as responsible neighbors
with a long-term sustainable view of our respective operations. Part of this long-term sustainable view is
having a strong and suitably qualified workforce, both now and in the form of a
talent pipeline for the future. That is
why we are pleased that there is widespread bipartisan support for increased
investment in high-quality early childhood education programs in this year’s
state budget. Both Gov. Tom Wolf and House and Senate Republicans have proposed
significant investments in these programs — $120 million and $30 million,
respectively.
Philly ethics board fines
teachers union over contribution
WHYY Newsworks DAVE DAVIES OFF MIC A BLOG BY DAVE DAVIES JULY 20, 2015
The Philadelphia
Board of Ethics has fined the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers $1,500 for
contributions to City Council candidate Helen Gym in violation of the city's
campaign finance law. Political committees
are permitted to give candidates for municipal office no more than $11,500 per
year. The board found (and the PFT admitted) that the union's political
committee gave Gym's campaign twice that, routing a second contribution through
the committee of the American Federation of Teachers' Pennsylvania chapter. Some have publicly questioned whether actions
like these by the Ethics Board are effective in policing campaigns. In this
case, the union got to deliver $11,500 more than the law allows to Gym's
campaign at the relatively moderate cost of a $1,500 fine. Some public embarrassment is associated with
the action, of course, but is that enough? I don't know, but it's good
somebody's paying attention.
"Now House HB 1225 and
Senate SB 6 proposes to punish principals and staff because they can’t do more
with less! Push instead for pre-K funding and for adequate funding for all
school districts on some basis that does not rely upon property taxes
exclusively. Push for mandated developmental testing of all kindergarteners
near the beginning of the school year with mandated services from qualified
professionals."
Letter to the Editor:
Don’t punish schools with new mandates
Delco Times Letter
by Heather G. Jorgensen POSTED: 07/19/15, 10:15 PM EDT
To the Times:
I read with great
interest the column on July 8 by Kate Shaw and John Sludden. I think their
points are well worth thinking about. I was also struck that, once again, when
talking about fixing schools, no mention is made about consulting those who
probably know best what is needed, those with boots on the ground, the teachers.
To them goes the blame, of course. Having done some volunteering in, and also
being a relative of a longtime kindergarten teacher who has taught in, some of
the lowest socio-economic areas of Pennsylvania ,
let me provide a little insight. Legislators and educators
with big experimental ideas that get put into law have very little idea of how
these things get, or rather, don’t get, properly implemented in practice.
Without the money and training and close supervision where all these big ideas
are to be implemented the soundest programs cannot and do not work.
Chief among those differences
is how to beef up accountability in a way that appeases the concerns of
Democrats and the civil rights communities that the end result must include
stronger federal guardrails for the most disadvantaged students, while at the
same time ensuring the small federal footprint that Republicans are adamant
about.
Clock Ticking on ESEA
Rewrite: What to Expect From House-Senate Conference
Education Week
Politics K-12 Blog By Lauren Camera on July 20, 2015 9:44 AM
Education leaders
from both chambers of Congress begin brokering an overhaul of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act this week after recent passage of starkly differing
House and Senate bills, in hopes of delivering something to the president's
desk this fall.
And the clock is
ticking: Congress convenes Monday for one of its last working weeks before
members scatter for the summer break July 30 until September. Last week, the U.S. Senate passed its version of a federal K-12
reauthorization for the first time in more than 14 years. The
bill, known as the Every Child Achieves Act, is carefully crafted piece of
bipartisan legislation from co-authors Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and
Patty Murray, D-Wash. The two were able to hold their caucuses together to pass
the bill with overwhelming support from both sides of the aisle, 81-17. But that's not exactly how it played out in
the U.S. House of Representatives, where Republican leadership yanked its version of an ESEA rewrite off
the floor mid-debate in February amid waning support from their own caucus. After months of whipping and educating
members about how the bill differs from current law, leadership rescheduled it
for floor debate earlier this month, where it narrowly passed in by
218-213, with 27 Republicans joining the entire Democratic caucus in opposing
it. Now the representatives from both
parties and both chambers will attempt to find common ground between their
dueling reauthorization bills, which contain some big policy differences.
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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