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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for July 22, 2015:
Judge: Trombetta case can proceed; PA Cyber Charter
Cutting 43 Jobs
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
"While there is little
doubt that Pennsylvania’s most challenged schools need support, the state’s
existing track record of managing fiscally and academically distressed
districts provides little evidence to recommend such policies."
SB6: Teachers aren’t widgets
Yet state legislators seem to
think they work in factories
Post Gazette Opinion
By Adam Schott and Kate Shaw July 22, 2015 12:00 AM
Adam Schott is a
senior policy analyst and Kate Shaw is executive director for Research for Action,
a nonprofit that works to reform education policy. Mr. Schott is a former
executive director of the state Board of Education. Ms. Shaw is a former Pennsylvania
We have 180,000
teachers in the state of Pennsylvania .
If we laid off 10 percent of the teachers in the state of Pennsylvania , we’d never miss them.” So said Sen. Scott Wagner, R-York County Pennsylvania
school districts and charter schools already have cut 10 percent or more of
their teachers and other professional employees since 2010. A recent survey by
two state education associations found 41 percent of districts plan further
staff reductions ahead of the 2015-2016 school year. But it would be a mistake to discount Mr.
Wagner’s comment completely. That’s because an increasing number of state
policy proposals reflect on some level the sentiment at the heart of his
remarks: That teachers are an interchangeable commodity, rather than highly
skilled professionals. Each of these proposals needs to be examined against
available evidence and research.
Wolf, lawmakers sound
upbeat after 4-hour budget talk
Lehigh Valley Live By Associated Press on July 21,
2015 at 9:48 PM, updated July 22, 2015 at 1:00 AM
A nearly four-hour
budget meeting in the Pennsylvania Capitol on Tuesday left the governor and
Republican leaders sounding upbeat even though they had no major breakthroughs
to announce. Democratic
Gov. Tom Wolf said negotiators
made progress but he declined to "even guess" how much longer the
budget stalemate will go on. "We
have, each of us have, a better understanding of why the things that separate us
separate us," Wolf said. The
meeting focused on spending, the sort of process that historically has been
done by staff, not by the governor and the leaders in person. "Everybody felt that it was a productive
meeting and we really have a dialogue going on," said House Speaker Mike
Turzai, R-Allegheny. "We want to get to an agreement, but we realize there
are some significant differences but we had to get into the details and we did
that today."
Three weeks in, getting
down to Pa.
WHYY Newsworks BY MARY WILSON JULY 22, 2015
Wolf, GOP discuss proposed
Pennsylvania
Trib Live By Brad Bumsted Tuesday, July 21, 2015, 8:18 p.m.
HARRISBURG —
Gov. Tom Wolf and Republican leaders on Tuesday broke bread together. In the longest
budget negotiation during a 21-day stalemate, Wolf, a Democrat, and legislative
GOP leaders shared pizza while claiming they made progress. But they reported
no breakthroughs and acknowledged they focused only on expenditures. The
lawmakers and governor also didn't agree on how much the state should spend. The differences dividing them have been
revenue-raising proposals such as Wolf's plan to increase the state income and
sales taxes and levy a severance tax on Marcellus shale gas wells. A
Republican-drafted budget, which the governor vetoed June 30, did not raise
taxes. “We have a better understanding
of where our differences are (on spending),” House Majority Leader David Reed, R-Indiana County
Budget negotiators find a
“better understanding” of differences, but no final product
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Tuesday, July 21,
2015
Key budget
negotiators in Pennsylvania’s three-week long budget standoff emerged from a
nearly four-hour long late afternoon meeting Tuesday announcing they have not
come to an agreement on a final budget product, but have found one nugget of
success in the search for an agreed-to spending plan: “better understanding” of
their differences. Both sides
acknowledged this is a key first step toward an eventual agreement on Pennsylvania ’s FY
2015-2016 spending plan. “We really rolled up
our sleeves and found where some agreements are and where the disagreements
are,” said House Speaker Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) of the meeting. He said the meeting
was productive in that the sides were able to establish parameters—guiderails,
as he and Gov. Tom Wolf put it—for future discussions.
“It was an important
process step to take,” he said. “We want to get to an agreement, but we
recognize there are significant differences, but we had to get into the details
and we did a lot of that today.” Gov.
Wolf agreed that the meeting was productive in that it led to a much better
understanding of what separates the parties and what work is left to do.
Budget summit leads Wolf
to say: 'We're going to get through this'
Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter
on July 21, 2015 at 8:09 PM, updated July 21, 2015 at 10:03 PM
on July 21, 2015 at 8:09 PM, updated July 21, 2015 at 10:03 PM
Following a more
than three-hour budget summit on
Tuesday, Gov. Tom Wolfand
Republican legislative leaders say they now have a better understanding of the
justifications behind the $4 billion difference that separates their spending
plans. Although no agreements were
reached on how to resolve those differences, they agreed the meeting was
productive and moved them closer – even if just by inches – toward a final
budget product. The state has been
operating without an enacted budget since July 1. "Each of us have a ... much clearer
understanding of what we have yet to do but I feel comfortable, even more
comfortable than I did coming into this meeting, that we're going to get
through this," Wolf said, following the lengthy meeting that went on so
long they called out for pizza.
Centre Daily Times BY BRITNEY MILAZZO bmilazzo@centredaily.com July
21, 2015
When Penns Valley Area resident
Jay Martin approached the school board last week regarding its financial future
without a state budget having been passed, board President
Chris Houser said the district had nothing to worry about. “So we are good for months?” Martin asked.
“Could we make it more than eight months?” “If we had to, yes,” Houser replied. District business manager Jef Wall said the
board approved the $25.5 million budget in June — a 2.61 percent increase from
2014-15. And he expects the district to
receive $4.8 million in state funding, the same amount as last year. But the state hasn’t passed its budget yet,
despite a June 30 deadline. “We want to
keep government working, but the budget is stalemate,” Rep. Rich Irvin, R-Spruce
Creek Township
Read more here: http://www.centredaily.com/2015/07/21/4844114_centre-county-school-districts.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy
Gov. Tom Wolf and
Republican legislators have been locked in state budget negotiations for more
than three weeks, but York
County Pennsylvania
was the last state in the country to approve a budget, more than 100 days after
the deadline, and in 2010 the state approved a budget on time for the first
time in eight years.
Day 21: Politics no excuse
to further delay Pa.
THE ISSUE: Some Republicans in the House and Senate are calling on
their leaders to stick with what’s known as the “majority of
the majority” rule, under which no budget agreement could go to the floor
for a vote unless it had majority support among Republicans in that chamber.
The unwritten rule came about after Democrats provided the majority of votes
for a 2003 budget signed by then-Gov. Ed Rendell. We’re
21 days into the 2015-16 fiscal year without a state budget. And whatever rules
they have, Pennsylvania ’s
legislative leaders have no excuses for not dealing in good faith with Gov. Tom
Wolf to deliver one. Disagreement over
taxes appears to be the key sticking point between the governor and Republican
lawmakers. This is a good debate to have. And, as we noted before, Republicans
were right to pass their own plan so Pennsylvanians can compare their proposal
with the governor’s. What Republican
leaders cannot do is point to “majority of the majority” or any other rule as
an excuse for failing to reach a reasonable agreement with Wolf. It is up to
voters to tell their lawmakers what they believe a reasonable approach would
be. And it is up to lawmakers and the governor to deal with the realities of
public opinion and of budgeting and come up with a compromise that serves the
state’s needs now and into the future.
Philly region Republicans
weigh in on severance tax, budget deadlock
WHYY Newsworks BY LAURA BENSHOFF JULY 21, 2015
Sweating under the
mid-day sun, nine Republican lawmakers from southeast Pennsylvania took Gov. Tom Wolf to task on
the steps of Montgomery County Courthouse for what they called
"campaign" tactics during budget negotiations. As the state's budget deadlock stretches into
its fourth week, the governor's administration and Republican legislators are
each engaging in a campaign to sway public opinion about spending. In an
unusual move, relatively moderate republicans in Philadelphia suburbs called out the Governor
for messaging they say isn't fair. At issue were mail,
television and radio ads paid for by a political action committee called
America Works. According to Rep. Bill Adolph (R-Delaware County
"In 2013, Nick
Trombetta, who founded the school and helped it grow into one of the largest
online K-12 programs in the state, pleaded not guilty in federal court to 11
criminal charges related to the diversion of $990,000 in public educational
funds to private uses. That case is still pending.".... "Enrollment has declined from a peak of 11,500 in 2013 to about
10,000. Mr. Conti attributed the decline "in part to increased competition
from some local school districts offering online learning options"
PA Cyber
Charter School
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
July 21, 2015 11:44 AM
Federal judge approves lawyer evidence against
indicted founder of PA Cyber Charter School
By Torsten Ove / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
July 21, 2015 1:15 PM
A federal judge has
rejected indicted Pennsylvania
Cyber Charter
School
Judge says three of four
attorneys did not represent Trombetta
PITTSBURGH -- A
federal judge has ruled that Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School founder Nick
Trombetta did not have attorney-client privileges with three attorneys the
federal government recorded him talking to, but he can still argue that a
fourth attorney represented him. On Monday, U.S.
District Court Chief Judge Joy Flowers Conti issued a 73-page opinion in which
she said Trombetta was not represented by former Beaver County solicitor Joe
Askar, the attorney for Rochester-based Lincoln Learning Solutions (formerly
the National Network of Digital Schools), or Leo Daly and Ralph Monico,
attorneys with the Pittsburgh firm Grogan Graffam, which used to represent
NNDS, when Trombetta was recorded speaking with them. Trombetta, an East Liverpool , Ohio
"The report stated that
a small group of Pennsylvania school districts is "grappling with severe
financial stress," saying key factors include increasing pension
contributions and competition from charter schools "draining cash reserves
and pushing districts into a deep structural imbalance."
Moody's report rates some Pittsburgh
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
July 21, 2015 3:01 PM
Moody's Investors
Service has issued a report noting McKeesport Area, East Allegheny, Penn Hills
and Philadelphia
school districts are all now rated as below investment grade, putting them in a
category some others would characterize as junk. Nationwide, there are only 20 such districts,
including the four in Pennsylvania .
Moody's rates districts on request in conjunction with planned borrowing. The
rating is based on Moody's opinion of the chances of the bondholder getting
paid back in full and on time.
Pa. auditor general to look into ASD's charter school
review process, prompted by Morning Call report
By Jacqueline
Palochko Of The Morning Call
July 21, 2015
State Auditor
General Eugene DePasquale announced an upcoming audit of the Allentown School District
Rose Tree Media School
Board president resigns
Delco Times by LESLIE
KROWCHENKO POSTED: 07/21/15, 11:04 PM EDT
WHYY PlanPhilly BY JARED BREY TUESDAY,
JULY 21, 2015
A group of real
estate investors from Bethesda , Maryland , are betting big on Philadelphia schools—the closed ones, anyway. In the next few months, Concordia Group
expects to close on a deal to purchase five school buildings put up for sale
two years ago when the Philadelphia
School District Germantown , had all been shut down in the few
years prior. According to the School District ,
Concordia is expected to pay $6.8 million for the five buildings. Will Collins, a co-founder and managing
partner of the development company, said that along with the proposed
redevelopment of Mt. Sinai hospital in Dickinson Square West , the school
projects are Concordia’s first foray into Philadelphia .
They were attracted, he said, by the locations.
“Infill development is something that is our focus and we just love the
idea of being in town …” Collins said. “We just think these are great
opportunities.”
What Recovery? Report
Reveals Rising Poverty for Children in America
Annie E. Casey Foundation study
finds recovery from Great Recession has left out children of color altogether
Common Dreams by Sarah Lazare, staff writer Tuesday, July 21, 2015
There are roughly
three million more U.S. children living in poverty today than during the
outbreak of the Great Recession in 2008, and the so-called economic recovery
has bypassed children of color altogether, a harrowing new report reveals. The 2015
Data Book, released Tuesday by the Baltimore-based Annie E.
Casey Foundation, evaluates information from numerous federal agencies from
2008 to 2013 to determine child well-being nationwide. The report finds that approximately 22
percent of U.S.
children were beneath the poverty line in 2013, a significant increase from 18
percent in 2008. Moreover, 31 percent of children in 2013 had parents without
secure employment, compared to 27 percent in 2008. The data showed that, for many, there has
been no economic recession at all. "Although
we are several years past the end of the recession, millions of families still
have not benefited from the economic recovery," said Patrick McCarthy,
president and CEO of the Casey Foundation, in a press statement. "While
we’ve seen an increase in employment in recent years, many of these jobs are
low-wage and cannot support even basic family expenses."
FairTest Testing Resistance & Reform News: July 15
- 21, 2015
FairTest Submitted by
fairtest on July 21, 2015 - 1:06pm
The U.S. Senate has
joined the House of Representatives in responding to growing, grassroots
pressure by voting to overhaul "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB). The
bills passed by both the Senate and House reflect widespread rejection of
failed top-down, test-and-punish strategies as well as the "NCLB on
steroids" waiver regime dictated by Arne Duncan. While neither version is
close to perfect from an assessment reform perspective, each makes significant
progress by rolling back federally mandated high-stakes, eliminating
requirements to evaluate educators based on student test scores, and
recognizing opt-out rights. FairTest and its allies will closely monitor the
conference committee working on compromise language to make sure the gains
remain in the final bill sent to President Obama -- the alternative is to keep
the yoke of NCLB-and-waivers in place for at least two more years, if not much
longer. Meanwhile, organizers in many states are keeping the spotlight on the
problems of test overuse and misuse, modeling better practices and winning
additional policy victories.
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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