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PA Ed Policy Roundup for July 11, 2015:
Wolf: "The people of Pennsylvania
Amid criticism, Wolf, Republicans offer hints of
compromise on budget
By Steve
Esack and Jacqueline
Palochko Of The Morning Call July 10, 2015
5:45 p.m.
Amid criticism,
Wolf, Republicans offer up hints of compromise on budget
On the 10th day
of the state's budget impasse, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf visited a South Whitehall elementary school to drum up support for
his $33.8 billion spending plan that would increase education funding and
reduce local property taxes by raising a host of state taxes by a cumulative 16
percent. "You need to make your
voice heard," Wolf said Friday outside Cetronia Elementary. "The
people of Pennsylvania
want funding for education, and they support a common sense severance tax to
pay for it." About 110 miles away,
some Republican lawmakers were at a York
County Cetronia Elementary School ,
he made a speech to the Pennsylvania American Legion convention at a downtown Harrisburg hotel.
Afterward, the
governor told reporters he was willing to drop his stance on the need for
higher income and sales taxes to raise education spending and end the
years-long deficit.
Could delaying property
tax discussions be the issue that helps to break Pa.
Penn Live By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on July 10,
2015 at 1:50 PM, updated July 10, 2015 at 2:42 PM
Gov. Tom Wolf has
said he doesn't do his negotiating in the press. So bear in mind that what you're about to
read wasn't so much an offer as an answer to a question. But it may be an answer worth keeping an eye
on as the Great 2015 Budget
Stalemate slogs through July.
Wolf was saying Friday morning that you can't do real property tax
relief for Pennsylvania
homeowners without shifting much of the burden for funding local school to the
state personal income or sales tax. "I
don't know any way we can have real property tax relief without it (increases
in those two, broad-based state taxes)," said Wolf, who has proposed
raising the income tax from 3.07 percent to 3.7 percent and the sales tax from
6 percent t0 6.6 percent to do just that.
Gov. Wolf to budget
supporters: 'I need your help'
By Sarah Cassi | For lehighvalleylive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter on July 10,
2015 at 3:45 PM, updated July 10, 2015 at 4:28 PM
Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Wolf came calling Friday
in South Whitehall Township Cetronia Elementary School
Governor Wolf willing to explore tax alternatives
WITF Written by The
Associated Press | Jul 10, 2015 12:54 PM
(Harrisburg )
-- Governor Tom Wolf says he'll listen to ways to wipe out a long-term deficit
and increase education aid without raising sales or income taxes, which
Republicans oppose. Wolf says he's
willing to explore ideas, as long as Pennsylvania state government's deficit is
addressed honestly and without what he calls "smoke and mirrors.'' The Wolf administration is on day 10 of the
new fiscal year without signed budget legislation that gives it the authority
to pay all of its bills. Senate Majority
Leader Jake Corman said earlier in the week the stalemate will last for as long
as Wolf insists on higher income or sales taxes to support state
spending. But Wolf vetoed the
Republicans' budget bill, saying it felt short of his priorities and used
unacceptable stopgaps.
"We had more than a few
companies coming to Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
Wolf, shale industry do battle over proposed severance tax
Wolf, shale industry do battle over proposed severance tax
ANDREW MAYKUTH LAST
UPDATED: Saturday, July 11, 2015, 1:07 AM
The shale gas
industry and allies of Gov. Wolf ratcheted up rhetoric this week over a key
component of the state's stalemated budget debate: Imposition of a severance
tax on natural gas production. The
Marcellus Shale Coalition says the proposed tax is the harshest in a series of
hostile actions the Wolf administration has taken against the gas industry, one
of the state's better-performing economic sectors in the last decade.
From booze to pensions,
here's how the #PaBudget fits into a bigger battle with Big Labor: Friday
Morning Coffee
Penn Live By John L. Micek | jmicek@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter on
July 10, 2015 at 8:30 AM, updated July 10, 2015 at 8:32 AM
Good Friday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
The Internetz aren't cooperating with us here atPennLive World HQ this morning, so we're going to keep things short and sweet. If you read yesterday's post, then you've probably caught onto the fact that organized labor has a huge stake in Budget Impasse 2015. From the debate over school funding to pension reform and booze privatization, the key issues of the fight over Gov. Tom Wolf's nearly $34 billion spending plan hit Big Labor where it lives.
The Internetz aren't cooperating with us here atPennLive World HQ this morning, so we're going to keep things short and sweet. If you read yesterday's post, then you've probably caught onto the fact that organized labor has a huge stake in Budget Impasse 2015. From the debate over school funding to pension reform and booze privatization, the key issues of the fight over Gov. Tom Wolf's nearly $34 billion spending plan hit Big Labor where it lives.
State budget stalemate: 9 ideas on how to resolve it
Penn Live By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com July
10, 2015, 4:01PM
Wolf, GOP remain at odds
A group of House
Republicans from York
and surrounding counties blasted Gov. Tom Wolf's recent veto of the state
budget and other GOP-driven bills. Friday,
the day the Republicans gathered at the York County School of Technology in York Township
for a news conference, marked the 10th day Pennsylvania has been without a budget, Rep.
Kate Klunk, R-Hanover, noted. When the
state's 2014-15 fiscal year ended last week, Wolf vetoed a $30.2 billion
Republican budget and a separate GOP-crafted bill to privatize Pennsylvania 's
state-controlled liquor and wine sales. On
Thursday, Wolf also vetoed a bill that Republicans say would have reformed
pension plans for future state and school employees. "To date, the governor has vetoed all
these measures and refused to compromise," said Rep. Kristin
Phillips-Hill, R-York
Township
What’s The Latest Poll Say? July 10, 2015
PCCY Media Library
July 10, 2015
Yesterday households
across the state received an email from some Republican House lawmakers asking
recipients to take a poll on various state tax and spending proposals.
Among the questions one sticks out as particularly poor form. It reads, The
governor is proposing $506 million in new K-12 spending, with nearly 32% of
that money going to the Philadelphia
School District
It’s pretty
outrageous that any state elected official would use a citizen survey to foment
hostility toward one of the most distressed school districts in the nation that
educates the largest number of poor and minority students in the Commonwealth.
Better yet, if the
Representatives had used the survey to inform the recipients that Philadelphia weathered
32% of the education funding cuts imposed in FY 2011, they could claim some
reliability with the answers.
Some area Republican
lawmakers let PCCY know off the record that they were uncomfortable with the
question. We’ve also heard that constituents are calling the lawmakers’
offices and are pretty hot about the Philly bashing. And, for the
record, State Representative Bill Adolph from Springfield , Delaware
One of the loudest
voices in the state legislature’s Philly-bashing crowd is State Representative
Stan Saylor from York
County Philadelphia School
District
PCCY has a survey
question that we think makes more sense for residents of the state. Would
you support new funds going to school districts that received increased state
school aid over the last fifteen years despite dramatic declines in student
enrollment? That’s the situation in Southeastern
York , just one of the many districts in State Representative Stan
Saylor’s legislative district. There student enrollment dropped by 12% in
the last fifteen years but state funding rose by $2.4 million in the same
period.
Representative
Saylor is not alone in having districts with fewer students receiving more
state funding. Representative Daryl Metcalfe, the standard bearer of
the Tea Party Caucus in
the House, represents South Butler school
district that lost 13% of its students in the last 15 years, while its state
funding grew by $1.2 million.
For those keeping
score, Philadelphia ’s
student population grew by 4% in the last 15 years
"The reason for this
massive difference can be traced directly to the unwillingness of many
lawmakers in Harrisburg
With Pennsylvania West
Virginia
This type of stonewalling can
only be attributed to two things — either some lawmakers are intent on fighting
Governor Wolf just for the sake of fighting, or their relationship with the
Marcellus Shale lobby is too solid to rock the boat."
Guest Editorial: Budget must take aim at education
The Sentinel Guest
Editorial by Susan Spicka July 09, 2015 9:00 am
Susan Spicka is Advocacy
Coordinator for Education Voters of PA
When Pennsylvania voters
elected Gov. Tom Wolf last November, they put their faith in someone they knew
would fight for public education — reverse the damaging cuts made to schools
over the last four years, and invest in every level, from pre-K to college. That’s exactly what Gov. Wolf did in his
first budget proposal, dedicating $1 billion this year with a pledge to invest
$2 billion over four years — funded through a commonsense severance tax on oil
and natural gas extraction. Unfortunately, the recent budget that was proposed
has — once again — demonstrated misguided priorities: it caters to special
interests at the expense of Pennsylvania ’s
public school children. Gov. Wolf vetoed
this budget plan, first and foremost, because it failed to fix our schools. The
budget passed by the Republican House and Senate members only provided an
additional $8 million for public education. That’s less than 2 percent of the
$500 million for basic and special education proposed by the governor, and
needed to restore the cuts to education over the last four years.
"The ramifications of
this election, however, are quite substantial because the Supreme Court
consists of five judges. Since the people will be able to vote to radically
shift the ideology of the court, it becomes increasingly important to know
where the candidates are receiving that money, especially since one of the consistent
criticisms against the direct election of jurors highlights the need for
candidates to fundraise from large donors and special interests."
Pennsylvania
Philly.com by JONAH
HAHN, SUNLIGHT FOUNDATION Friday,
July 10, 2015, 9:38 AM
In Pennsylvania ,
candidates heavily fundraised and advertised aggressively in the lead-up to
May’s primary election for the three open seats on the commonwealth’s Supreme
Court. A Sunlight Foundation analysis of documents obtained through its Political Ad Sleuth tool
reveals that candidates bought over $1.1 million worth of television
advertisements in just the two weeks leading up to the primary. The election narrowed the field down to six candidates: Kevin
Dougherty, David Wecht, Christine Donohue, Judith Olson, Mike George and Anne
Covey. Although information on Donohue could not be obtained, the other five
actively purchased ad spots. According to financial disclosure reports, Dougherty spent over $531,000 on three media buys
during that final period of time, by far the most amount of money. This gap in
spending between Dougherty and the field is consistent with the earlier
findings of the Brennan
Center
Layoffs, deficit raise new
questions about ASPIRA charters in Philly
WHYY Newsworks
BY BILL HANGLEY JULY 10,
2015
A multimillion
dollar budget deficit and an unannounced round of layoffs has left Philadelphia
School District officials with more questions than ever about the finances and
management of one of its largest charter providers, ASPIRA Inc. ASPIRA recently announced dozens of layoffs
at Olney High
School , a 1,600-student neighborhood Renaissance school in the
Olney section of North Philadelphia . A total
of 36 staff members were released – including 22 classroom teachers and 14
instructional aides – due to a $2.7 million deficit.
In the wake of those
layoffs, which will increase class sizes from the low twenties to as many as 33
students per class, ASPIRA officials say they're confident that the school can
maintain its current levels of academic performance. But teachers say that's a dubious
proposition, given the challenges of managing larger classes with diminished
support for Olney's neediest students. And district
officials say they're actively investigating the origins of Olney's current
deficit, even as they continue to seek answers from ASPIRA about a number of other
longstanding financial concerns. ASPIRA officials have said that Olney's
deficit springs from various changes in pension-funding laws, but district
officials say they cannot confirm that at this time. The stakes are high
for ASPIRA, which runs five charters and has been held up by district officials
as one of the city's top-performing operators. It was hand-picked last year to
take over the Muñoz-Marín
Elementary school
The book — “Teach
For America Counter-Narratives: Alumni Speak Up and Speak Out” — is edited
by T. Jameson Brewer, a former TFA corps member and and a doctoral student in
Educational Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign; and Kathleen deMarrais, professor and head of the
Department of Lifelong Education, Administration and Policy at the University
of Georgia’s School of Education.
The editors of the book say
they view it as a counter-narrative to that given by the organization, and it
reveals some of the problems within the structure of TFA that they believe hurt
teachers and students. Following is an excerpt from Chapter 14 of the book by
Wendy Chovnick, a former corps member in Washington ,
D.C. schools, who also served as chief
of staff to the executive director in the Phoenix
‘Good Intentions Gone Bad’ — excerpt from new book
about Teach For America
A
new book about the 25-year-old Teach For America tells the story
of the controversial organization through the eyes of alumni who share their
experiences and insight about working in TFA.
TFA was founded by Wendy Kopp based on her 1989 Princeton Universityexperience — and it has
become a powerful force in the corporate school reform movement, winning tens
of millions of dollars from the U.S. Education Department and millions more
from private philanthropists to continue its work. It became famous for its program of
recruiting thousands of new college graduates and giving them five weeks of
training in the summer before sending them into high-poverty schools to work as
teachers (not interns), leading to criticism that their corps members were not
properly prepared for teaching high-needs students and that they were being
recruited by school districts at the expense of veteran teachers. As growing
criticism and a polarized education reform debate has harmed TFA recruiting,
the organization has been experimenting with new training programs.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2015/07/10/good-intentions-gone-bad-excerpt-from-new-book-about-teach-for-america/
How Much Tougher Is Common Core?
The controversial
standards are challenging states—and students—to reach a higher bar of
achievement.
The Atlantic by MIKHAIL
ZINSHTEYN JUL 10, 2015
In an early glimpse of how much tougher state tests could be
in the Common Core era, a new federal report released in July shows that early adopters
of the controversial standards are assessing their students using far higher
bars of difficulty. While this new
report is unlikely to settle the battle between Common Core advocates and foes,
it does indicate that one of the original purposes of the standards—challenging
students in math and reading more so they’ll be better prepared for the rigors
of college and their careers—seems to be
proving fruitful. But tougher tests aren’t contingent on adopting the Common
Core: Texas ,
one of the few states that has eschewed the standards, is also among the few
states using tests that are much more challenging. The Common Core adopters Kentucky ,
New York , and North
Carolina joined Texas
in offering tough math and English tests to its fourth- and eighth-graders. Though the report, released by the National Center on
Education Statistics, contains many moving parts, its basic premise is that
because states set their own rules for testing difficulty, those rules—or “cut
scores”—should be compared to a common yardstick. The U.S. has such a
benchmark: The National Assessment of Educational Progress, which is considered
the gold standard in measuring how much students know and viewed by many if not
most education experts as a more exhaustive assessment than anything the states
offer.
EPLC "Focus on Education"
TV Program on PCN - Sunday, July 12 at 3:00 p.m.
Part 1:
Discussion on the Financial Condition of School Districts in Pennsylvania
Jay D. Himes,
Executive Director, PA Association of School Business Officials and
Dr. Tim Shrom, Business Manager, Solanco School District
Dr. Tim Shrom, Business Manager, Solanco School District
Part 2: An Interview with Dr. Don Francis,
President, Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Pennsylvania
All EPLC "Focus
on Education" TV shows are hosted by EPLC President Ron Cowell.
Visit the EPLC and the Pennsylvania School Funding Project web sites for
various resources related to education and school funding issues.
"Focus on Education" is a monthly program focusing on
education issues in Pennsylvania .
The program has most recently covered topics including the
National Math + Science Initiative; Pennsylvania 's
Political and Legislative Landscape and Its Implications for Funding
Education; Ethics in School Districts ,
the Role of Intermediate Units, Reactions to Governor Wolf's 2015-2016 State
Education Budget Proposal; and Physical Education and Health Education Issues
for Students. Past programs are posted on the EPLC site.
"Focus on Education" airs on the second Sunday of each month at 3:00 p.m. EST on Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) and then airs again several times throughout the same month.
"Focus on Education" airs on the second Sunday of each month at 3:00 p.m. EST on Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) and then airs again several times throughout the same month.
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
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.
PSBA POSTED
ON JUN 29, 2015 IN PSBA
NEWS
The Pennsylvania
School Boards Association gives an overview of the newly proposed Basic
Education Funding Formula.
Sign up here to receive a weekly
email update on the status of efforts to have Pennsylvania
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 »
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