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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for August 21, 2015:
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
Aide to Gov.
Wolf visits Reading Eagle says budget talks getting serious
Reading Eagle By Karen Shuey Friday August 21, 2015 12:01 AM
John
Hanger says he is starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.
The
secretary of policy and planning - a key post in Gov. Tom Wolf's inner circle -
has been in the negotiating room as his boss and the majority Republican
legislative leadership battle over a state spending plan that is more than
seven weeks past its due date. "We've
made important progress in the last 10 days but we've got a significant number
of issues that we still need compromise on," Hanger said Thursday during a
meeting with the Reading Eagle editorial board. Hanger, a one-time primary opponent of Wolf's
who served as the state's top environmental official under former Gov. Ed
Rendell, said the administration is focused on fighting for a balanced budget
that increases funding for public education and sparks economic development. Here are three notable takeaways from the
secretary's visit:
Gov. Wolf not
fazed by GOP’s take it or leave it education for pension reform offer
The PLS
Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Thursday, August
20, 2015
Speaking
to the latest budget developments Thursday, Gov. Tom Wolf said the take it or
leave it nature of the offer made by Republican leadership is “not unusual in
negotiations.”
The
Republican proposal provides $400 million for education funding if the governor
agrees to a new pension reform proposal that is a modified version of a plan
passed the legislature in June. “We’re
talking and I continue to think this is a good step forward,” he said. “They
embraced the idea of $400 million of additional money in basic education and
education is really important to me.” Gov.
Wolf said he still reviewing the pension reform offer, stating he is waiting to
see numbers from a state actuary in order to guide his decision. He stated those numbers are expected by
Monday or Tuesday. “I think we both are
looking for more evaluation,” he said. He
otherwise commended the Republicans for “real movement” by showing a
willingness to give “full support” in terms of the $400 million for basic
education.
GOP modified
pension reform plan met with chilly reception by some Democrats
The PLS
Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Wednesday, August
19, 2015
The
GOP’s latest proffer on pension reform has been met with a chilly reception by
some legislative Democrats, who say Republicans are thus far operating off of
talking points and not proposed a plan that would actually work. In tweets by mid-afternoon Wednesday, House
Minority Leader Frank Dermody (D-Allegheny) said the plan is the wrong answer
for the budget. “The
‘new’ GOP pension plan looks a lot like old #SB1 plan,” one tweet read. “At first blush based on sketchy detail, GOP
pension idea appears to increase systems' unfunded liability. Wrong answer for
#PaBudget," said another from Rep. Dermody’s account. According to Senate Majority Leader Jake
Corman (R-Centre), the modified pension reform plan differs from Senate Bill 1
by including a 16 percent employer contribution, removing legal issues brought
up by Gov. Wolf in his veto message, as well as including a one percent employer
contribution to the cash balance side of the plan.
By Kevin
McCorry for NewsWorks on Aug 20, 2015 06:15 PM
The
school year is soon to begin, and districts across the state of Pennsylvania are faced
with a troubling proposition: How do you stay afloat when a very large chunk of
your budget is nonexistent? School
leaders face this question as first-year Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, and leaders
of the Republican-held state House and Senate continue to disagree about how to
frame the state's spending plan. As the
first day of classes draws near, districts have not received any of the state
aid that would typically begin flowing in August. "Right now, we're obviously not getting
any money in – that has a huge effect on the district," said Gary Kiernan,
business manager for the Susquehanna
Community School
District Northeastern Pennsylvania
nestled among natural gas fracking rigs, typically gets more than two-thirds of
its funding from the state government. To
get through the first few months of school without that aid, Susquehanna will
have to deplete its cash reserves. The district relies on a yearly budget of
$14 million and currently has an unassigned fund balance of about $600,000.
By Kevin Duffy Special to The Morning Call August 20, 2015
With no
state money coming into the district due to the budget impasse in Harrisburg , the Salisbury
School Board has decided to withhold payments for charter schools.
In doing
so, Salisbury
joins the Bethlehem Area School Board, which approved a similar measure on
Monday. In a motion approved unanimously
Wednesday, Salisbury decided to withhold a
percentage that is tied to last year's state subsidy, or the amount of funding
received from Harrisburg
during the last fiscal year. That amounts to 20 percent of the district's
operating budget, board Secretary Robert Bruchak said. Eighty percent of Salisbury 's budget comes from local tax
dollars, with the remaining 20 percent coming from state subsidies, he said. Board
President Russell Giordano said the impasse among lawmakers in Harrisburg over finalizing Gov. Tom Wolf's
budget is akin to the initial budget cycle overseen by former Gov. Ed Rendell.
That year — 2003 — the budget wasn't finalized until 176 days after the June 30
deadline.
The Phoenixville News By Eric Devlin, edevlin@21st-centurymedia.com, @Eric_Devlin on Twitter POSTED: 08/19/15, 8:49 AM
EDT | UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO
Royersford
>> Fed up over the lack of a state budget, Spring-Ford Area School Board
members have decided to voice their displeasure with Harrisburg .
Board member Joe Ciresi called for a march on the capitol at Monday
night’s meeting. The march, scheduled for Sept. 8, would unite every school
board member and resident from across the state. “It’s time that we take a stand,” Ciresi
said, “as a school district, as a community.”
Lawmakers at the state capitol have been in the middle of a budget
impasse since June 30. Spring-Ford has approximately $25 million at stake as
the budget impasse continues, according to Superintendent David Goodin. A march
on Harrisburg ,
Ciresi said, is overdue and he’d like to see Spring-Ford be the one to unite
all 4,500 board members from across the state, along with their respective
residents, in protest. He said he was
frustrated by the state’s inability to pass a budget, given the fact that every
school board was mandated to pass its own.
"In 1980, Pennsylvania
It's time to unite behind
the cause of increased school funding; Jill Sunday Bartoli
PennLive Op-Ed By Jill Sunday Bartoli on August 20,
2015 at 2:00 PM
Our group, The Concerned
Women of Greater Carlisle, urges all our fellow citizens to join with us and
call, write to and visit your legislators to insist on a budget that fairly and
adequately supports our public schools. Our
teachers, our students and our public schools need your concern and your
support for fair, equitable and sustainable funding. It is shameful that Pennsylvania is ranked 46th in
equity of school funding. Some PA schools have per-pupil spending of
$22,140. Other schools have closed libraries, no music or art classes and
per-pupil spending of $8,584. There is
no mystery about how students learn best and succeed. Abundant
research documents the necessary ingredients, which are always found in the
highest performing schools, public and private: challenging and
engaging courses of study, well supported and respected teachers, enrichment
programs, small class sizes and a supportive staff of librarians, counselors,
nurses and social workers.
Lawmakers see own funds dwindle in Pennsylvania
PA lawmakers say
they're running out of money
Morning Call By Mark Scolforo Of The Associated Press August
20, 2015
"According
to Wolf, the district is required to pay the charter schools an inflated
$40,315.42 for each special education student. This is more than twice the
expenditures on its own students with special education needs and more than any
other district in the commonwealth. Chester Upland, Wolf said, has a recurring
and growing annual budget deficit that it cannot fix absent drastic measures to
address their dire financial crisis."
Wolf: ‘No more
quick fixes’ for Chester Upland
schools
Philly Trib by Larry Miller Tribune Staff
Writer
Posted: Thursday, August 20, 2015 5:15 pm
Gov. Tom
Wolf announced this week that unless swift measures are initiated to help the
financially distressed Chester
Upland School
District Chester
Upland School
District receiver Dr. Francis V. Barnes, filed an amended
financial recovery plan in Delaware
County
Audit finds
overbilling and underbilling at Nittany Valley Charter School
Centre Daily Times BY BRITNEY MILAZZO bmilazzo@centredaily.comAugust 20,
2015
An audit by the state Auditor General’s Office didn’t
quite go in Nittany Valley
Charter School’s favor. And Auditor General Eugene
DePasquale said it could be because the school didn’t get proper
guidance from the state Department of Education.
A report released on Wednesday by DePasquale said the first-ever audit
of the school showed the “need for improved involvement by the Pennsylvania
Department of Education and a general overhaul of the 1997 charter school law.” “What’s going on at Nittany
Valley Charter
School in Centre County
The
audit covered Oct. 20, 2013, through April 8, 2015. It also included the
2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years as it pertained to state subsidies
and reimbursements.
The
audit showed Nittany
Valley Charter
School
Training aims to build teams in buildings to
improve student learning
York Daily Record By Angie Mason amason@ydr.com @angiemason1
on Twitter UPDATED:
08/17/2015 10:42:10 AM EDT
Having more leaders
in a school means more people to pick up the tasks that need to get done on a
daily basis, more teachers involved in the daily decisions that impact their
classrooms, and more people focused on improving instruction. And in the end, it should mean better
teaching and learning for kids, according to John DeFlaminis, executive
director of the Penn Center for Educational Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania York
City School
District
SRC rejects Esperanza's
charter application, OKs $22M revamp of student info system
the notebook By Dale
Mezzacappa and Fabiola Cineas on Aug 20, 2015 10:49 PM
The School Reform
Commission Thursday rejected a bid by Esperanza to open a K-5 elementary
school, which would have given the faith-based organization a full K-12 feeder
pattern in its North Philadelphia
neighborhood. Esperanza submitted a
revised application after being denied in February, when the SRC approved just
five of 38 applications for new charters.
The denial, which came on a 3-1 vote, was due to concerns about the
performance of students in Esperanza's middle school, which has been in full
operation for just a year. Rev. Luis
Cortes, who heads Esperanza, and David Rossi, CEO of Esperanza Charter Schools,
said they would keep coming back to the SRC until the charter is approved. They
do not plan to appeal to the state Charter Appeal Board, they said after the
vote.
KRISTEN A. GRAHAM, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Friday, August 21, 2015, 1:08 AM POSTED: Thursday,
August 20, 2015, 9:35 PM
The Philadelphia
School Reform Commission moved Thursday night to block a proposed charter
school's new application and to sell two unused buildings. Esperanza
Elementary Charter
School first came before the SRC in
the winter, hoping to open a school in North Philadelphia .
It already operates a charter high school and middle school in the area. The SRC turned down the application in
February and denied it again Thursday, saying that although Esperanza has
excelled at the high school level, its performance has been uneven for middle
school. Commissioner Bill
Green praised Esperanza's work at the high school level, and said that he hoped
the organization reapplies after concerns about its middle school programs have
been worked out.
Principals file charge
against school district
THE SCHOOL
district's principals union has filed an unfair labor practice charge against
the district after officials informed the union that it will outsource
substitute principals, the Daily News has learned. Lawyers for the Commonwealth Association of
School Administrators filed the charge July 8 with the Pennsylvania Labor
Relations Board, claiming the district's actions violate the union's collective
bargaining agreement with the district.
Are Traumatized Students Disabled? A Debate Straight
Outta Compton
NPR by CORY TURNER AUGUST
20, 2015 5:00 AM ET
An unprecedented,
class action lawsuit brought against one Southern
California school district and its top officials could have a big
impact on schools across the country. On
Thursday in Los Angeles , a U.S. District Court
judge will preside over the first hearing in the suit against the Compton Unified School District Compton . The city, located
just south of LA, has long had a violent reputation. Last year, its murder rate was
more than five times the national average. Now, a handful of students say
they've been traumatized by life in Compton
and that the schools there have failed to give them the help they deserve.
New
York Schools With Many Students Who Skipped Tests Won’t Lose Money
New York Times By KATE TAYLOR AUG. 20, 2015
School districts
will not be penalized for having large numbers of students refuse to sit for
the New York State
Testing Resistance & Reform News: August 12 - 18,
2015
FairTest Submitted
by fairtest on August 18, 2015 - 3:36pm
School doors are
opening in many parts of the country but test scores from last spring are just
beginning to be released. The big news in many jurisdictions is the huge surge
in the number of families who opted out, a movement that is sure to grow in the
2015-2016 academic year. In many state capitals and Washington, DC policy
makers are responding to mounting grassroots pressure by reducing test overuse
and misuse -- we are making progress, but there's still a long way to go! If you have been on vacation, you can catch
up on assessment reform news through FairTest's weekly news clip archives
at: http://www.fairtest.org/news/other
Twenty-two PA high schools in
these rankings…..
Newsweek: America
The Newsweek High School
PCCY: Get on the Bus to Harrisburg
As parents, teachers
and advocates, you know first hand how difficult it is to get the resources
needed to support our students. Harrisburg continues to be mired in political
gridlock and has failed to pass a budget for Pennsylvania’s 500 school
districts.
Teachers,
parents and students have no idea what they will be walking into come September
for the start of school. We say enough is enough.
We are contacting
you because on August 25th the PA House is scheduled to return to the
Capitol—and we want to be there to meet them. Could you give us a few hours of
your day and help make it clear that we demand a budget?
- Join your neighbors and other concerned
citizens who believe that investing in our kids is non-negotiable
- We’ll provide: FREE Transportation to
and from the Capitol and lunch; a brief training on the bus, materials,
and day of schedule
- Scheduled visits with elected
officials
Kids are off from
school so bring them with you – after all, it concerns their future!
Details:
Details:
- Bus will depart from in front of the
United Way Building at 7:45am at 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
- We will return to Philly by
approximately 4:30pm. (Discounted parking ($8) available at the
Sheraton Hotel at 17th & Race)
- If you plan to drive yourself, we will
meet at the Capitol between 10am and 10:30am.
INVITATION: Twitter Chat on Pennsylvania
Tuesday, Aug. 25 at 8 p.m.
The next Twitter
chat with Pennsylvania ’s
major education leadership organizations is set for Tuesday, Aug. 25 at
8 p.m. Use hashtag #FairFundingPA to participate and
follow the conversation.
On the last Tuesday
of each month at 8 p.m., the following organizations go to Twitter to discuss
timely topics, ask questions and listen to the public’s responses:
- The
- The
- The
- The
- The
Join the
conversation. Share your ideas, lurk, learn and let us know what you think
about the state of support for public schools. It’s a simple, free and
fast-paced way to communicate and share information. If you’ve never tweeted
before, here are directions and a few tips:
The John Stoops Lecture
Series: Dr. Pasi Sahlberg "Education Around the World: Past, Present &
Future" Lehigh University October 8, 2015 6:00 p.m.
Baker Hall |Zoellner Arts
Center | 420 E. Packer Avenue | Bethlehem , PA 18015
Baker Hall |
Free and open to the
public!
Ticketing is general
admission - no preseating will be assigned. Arrive early for the best seats.
Please plan to stay
post-lecture for an open reception where you will have an opportunity to meet
with students from all of our programs to learn about the latest innovations in
education and human services.
Register now for the
2015 PASCD 65th Annual Conference, Leading and Achieving in an Interconnected World, to be
held November 15-17, 2015 at Pittsburgh Monroeville Convention
Center.
The Conference
will Feature Keynote Speakers: Meenoo Rami – Teacher and Author
“Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching,” Mr. Pedro Rivera,
Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, Heidi Hayes-Jacobs – Founder and President
of Curriculum Design, Inc. and David Griffith – ASCD Senior Director of Public
Policy. This annual conference features small group sessions focused on:
Curriculum and Supervision, Personalized and Individualized Learning,
Innovation, and Blended and Online Learning. The PASCD Conference is
a great opportunity to stay connected to the latest approaches for innovative
change in your school or district. Join us forPASCD 2015!
Online registration is available by visiting www.pascd.org <http://www.pascd.org/>
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.
Slate of
candidates for PSBA offices now available online
PSBA website July 31, 2015
PSBA website July 31, 2015
The
slate of candidates for 2016 PSBA officer and at-large representatives is now
available online, including bios, photos and videos. According to
recent PSBA Bylaws changes, each member school entity casts one vote per
office. Voting will again take place online through a secure, third-party
website -- Simply Voting. Voting will openAug. 17 and closes Sept. 28. One person from the
school entity (usually the board secretary) is authorized to register the vote
on behalf of the member school entity and each board will need to put on its
agenda discussion and voting at one of its meetings in August or September.
Each person authorized to register the school entity's votes has received an
email on July 16 to verify the email address and confirm they are the person to
register the vote on behalf of their school entity.
Register Now for PASA-PSBA
School Leadership Conference Oct. 14-16, 2015 Hershey Lodge & Convention
Center
Save the date for the
professional development event of the year. Be inspired at more than four
exciting venues and invest in professional development for top administrators
and school board members. Online registration is live at:
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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