Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
reach more than 3750 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors,
administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's
staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, Wolf education transition
team members, Superintendents, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher
leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations,
education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory
agencies, professional associations and education advocacy organizations via
emails, website, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for August 3, 2015:
New PSSA levels: “all of a sudden they
weren’t good teachers anymore and they weren’t good students”
Note: PA Ed Policy Roundup may be late, intermittent or abbreviated
this week depending upon the beach weather.
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 has been very explicitly positive about HB504 and
this may be our best chance in a generation for bipartisan compromise and an
opportunity to achieve something that has been a top legislative priority for
Republicans for years,” Stephen Herzenberg, executive director of the research
center, said in a call with the media last week.”
Editorial: Is
this finally the time for property tax reform?
Delco
Times POSTED: 08/01/15, 10:04 PM EDT | UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO
Day 33
of the Pennsylvania state budget impasse, and neither side is budging.
Issues
keeping apart Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican Legislature are as
deep as the chasm of education funding shortfalls on which Wolf staked his
campaign for governor and as entrenched as opposition to Marcellus hale
extraction tax, liquor store privatization and the debate over the best way to
solve the public pension crisis. The
differences are so sharp that it seems improbable the two sides can agree on
anything. But, in fact they agree in one
area, and it’s an area of great potential for Pennsylvanians. According to a report released last week by
the Keystone Research Center, property tax reform holds promise as the one
topic on which the two sides share common ground. The goal that has remained elusive for three
decades in Pennsylvania could be the catalyst to break the budget logjam, a
guiding light to compromise and consensus.
The report comes from a study comparing House Bill 504, the property tax
plan that recently passed the House, and Wolf’s property tax relief proposal
included in his budget plan.
Pottstown a
winner under competing property tax reform plans
By Evan Brandt, The Mercury POSTED: 08/02/15, 10:01 AM
EDT | UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO
POTTSTOWN
>> Homeowners in the area school district with the highest poverty rate
and the lowest property values would receive the greatest relief under either
property tax reform plan now under discussion in Harrisburg. An analysis of the property tax reform plansproposed
both by Gov. Tom Wolf, and the one approved by the Pennsylvania House of
Representatives, shows Pottstown as the area school district where homeowners
would get the most relief under both plans.
This is likely because Pottstown is also the area school district with
the highest student population living in poverty, the greatest local share of
school funding, and the district where paying property taxes consumes the
highest percentage of household income. The
analysis of both plans, which includes a breakdown of the two plans for each of
Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts, was performed by the Keystone
Research Center for the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center.
“Only in Pennsylvania is the extraction tax considered a
partisan idea.”
Severance tax
on gas drillers makes sense for Pa.
Philly.com
opinion By Lance Haver POSTED: Monday,
August 3, 2015, 1:06 AM
Lance
Haver is director of civic engagement for Philadelphia City Council.
If you have been following the political question of whether Pennsylvania should pass an extraction tax on natural-gas wells, here are five things to keep in mind:
If you have been following the political question of whether Pennsylvania should pass an extraction tax on natural-gas wells, here are five things to keep in mind:
Under
Gov. Wolf's proposed budget, the severance tax would be used to help fund our
schools and develop sustainable energy. Without the tax, not only will our
schools suffer, but we will lose an important opportunity to move toward a
sustainable future. Taxing natural-gas
wells is not a contentious issue in other states. Pennsylvania is the only state
that has large reserves of natural gas and/or oil that does not have a
severance tax. States led by Democratic officeholders, like California, tax
natural-gas wells, but so do states led by Republicans. Texas, Louisiana, and
Oklahoma, all states led by self-described conservative Republicans, tax
natural-gas wells. So do Wyoming, Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, and Utah. Other
states with a similar tax are Ohio, North Dakota, West Virginia, Colorado, and
New Mexico. Even Kansas, which many believe has the nation's most conservative
governor in Sam Brownback, has a severance tax on natural-gas wells. Only in
Pennsylvania is the extraction tax considered a partisan idea.
Ads seek to
mobilize public opinion in Pennsylvania budget battle
Lancaster Online By TIM STUHLDREHER |
Staff Writer Posted: Sunday, August 2, 2015 5:45 am
“Don’t raise taxes on Pennsylvania-made
energy,” urges an ad from Citizens to Protect PA Jobs. “Tell
the legislature to get serious and pass a real budget,” says one from America
Works USA. With
Republican legislators and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf stalemated on the state
budget, interest groups on both sides are waging ad campaigns to win the hearts
and minds of voters. Citizens
to Protect PA Jobs is an offshoot of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and
Industry. America Works USA is affiliated with the Democratic Governors
Association. The two
organizations have each spent more than $1 million so far on their Pennsylvania
media campaigns, primarily on television spots, spokesmen said.
“They were able to pass and do well last year and the
teachers were able to teach last year and do well, but all of a sudden they
weren’t good teachers anymore and they weren’t good students,” she said. In a letter recently sent to state lawmakers,
Rivera said comparing this year’s scores with previous year’s is not a “valid”
comparison and may not “provide an accurate depiction of student learning or
school performance,” and that scores will steadily rise in the future as
students and staff get accustomed to new standards and resources.
“It is important to remember these scores represent a
snapshot in time and meant to determine a baseline for measuring future
growth,” Rivera stated in the letter.”
Upper Darby
PSSA proficiency level at 41 percent
Delco Times By Kevin Tustin, ktustin@delconewsnetwork.com, @KevinTustin on Twitter
POSTED: 08/02/15,
11:37 PM EDT | UPDATED: 49 SECS AGO
Only 41
percent of Upper Darby’s elementary and middle school students from the past
year have performed at the proficient level on the spring Pennsylvania System
of School Assessment tests based on data released early to the district. Of the approximately 5,000 third- through
eighth-grade students tested in English/language arts and math on the
standardized tests, 47 and 23 percent, respectively, were proficient. This
equates to 2,400 and 1,100 students who earned passing marks on the respective
sections. The science test portion of
the test yielded its highest proficiency score of the three subjects. Taken
only by fourth- and eighth grade-students, 53 percent (897 students of 1,700)
scored proficient or advanced. Fourth-grade students were 63 percent proficient
while eighth-graders were 43 percent proficient. The PSSAs administered in the spring were the
first to fully incorporate the more “rigorous” PA Core Standards, which were
adopted in the fall of 2013. Pennsylvania
Department of Education Secretary Pedro Rivera had expected the scores to be
lower due to these new core standards, but said the department was “committed”
to help increase student achievement.
“The reason for the downgrade
is our lack of fund balance,” said Mid Valley Board Vice President Paul
Macknosky. “The lack of a fund balance exists because the commonwealth owes us
nearly $1 million in back payments.”
Mid Valley
School District bond rating plummets
Scranton Times-Tribune by KATHLEEN BOLUS, STAFF
WRITER Published: August 1, 2015
Facing
rising pension costs and delayed state reimbursement for a construction
project, Mid Valley School District saw its bond rating significantly
downgraded by a major rating agency.
Mid
Valley’s rating fell three notches from A3 negative, a prime rating, to Baa3
negative, which is still an investment grade rating, but in the lower medium
grade category. A bond rating is an evaluation of credit risk that grades the
chance of a bond defaulting. Bonds with the highest rating — AAA — carry the
least amount of risk and the lowest interest rates.
In a
Moody’s Investor Service Report released July 20, Mid Valley was highlighted
along with eight other districts across the state for its severe financial
stress.
Hazleton Area
awaits $2.5M PlanCon payment from state
Standard Speaker by MARIA JACKETTI Published: July
30, 2015
Pennsylvania
still does not have a budget, and for school districts such as Hazleton Area
that are waiting for reimbursement on building projects, it means no checks are
in the mail — and won’t be until the stalemate is resolved. Robert Krizansky, the district’s assistant
business manager and treasurer, said the PlanCon payments are figured into the
district’s budget and normally would have been received in June. Hazleton Area is awaiting approximately $11
million in reimbursement for work done on Maple Manor Elementary/Middle School,
McAdoo/Kelayres Elementary/ Middle School and Hazleton Area Academy of
Sciences. “We don’t get all the money
back at one time,” Krizansky said, “but we have a $2.5 million scheduled
reimbursement coming for the new academic year.”
Western
Pennsylvania school districts brought down by pension debt
By Yaël
Ossowski / July 31, 2015 Watchdog.org
A frank
assessment from Moody’s rating agency this week has given
several Pennsylvania school districts sour financial notes, and western
PA’s schools top the list. Schools in
Allegheny, Washington, and Fayette County have all been downgraded to junk
status, according to the rating service’s latest report, deemed “unlikely to
recover” and it seems exploding pension costs may be to blame. Allegheny County alone has four separate school
districts that have been downgraded since March, including McKeesport Area,
East Allegheny, West Mifflin Area and Penn Hills school districts. They, along
with the other school districts mentioned in Moody’s report, have a particular
problem with mounting costs mandated by law.
The Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and the
Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials put out a report last month detailing costs for the
state’s school districts. They took special note of the costs that are
mandated, including charter payments, health benefits, special education and
costs related to retirement plans of school district employees. According to school districts surveyed,
pension costs account for 22 percent of all mandatory spending increases.
Charter school spending, the next highest category, is set to increase by 11
percent on average.
Beaver County
judge temporary stops seven PA Cyber school layoffs
Beaver County Times By David Taube dtaube@timesonline.com Posted: Friday, July 31,
2015 5:00 pm | Updated: 9:15
pm, Fri Jul 31, 2015.
MIDLAND
-- A Beaver County judge has temporarily stopped layoffs for seven of 43
employees let go last week from the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School after
questions were raised on whether its board executed the action properly. Beaver County Judge Deborah Kunselman
temporarily nullified part of the layoffs Friday after a hearing between
the employees and the Midland-based school.
The school announced layoffs for 43 people on July 21, and a group of
three individuals filed a motion for injunctive relief on Thursday with
attorney John Havey. That group was extended to seven people, which ranges from
administrative to teaching staff, who are nonunion employees, Havey said. Havey said the layoffs were improperly
conducted. In the initial petition, he argued the board violated state
open-meeting law by taking a vote behind closed doors July 20 on the layoffs,
thereby leading a director of technology, Carl Humes, and another PA Cyber
employee to shut down computers of the laid-off individuals the following day.
The
school also announced the layoffs in an email to employees that morning,
according to an email provided by Havey.
Pa. Teacher of
the Year finalist makes sure kids have a ball while they're learning
WHYY
Newsworks BY SARA HOOVER AUGUST
3, 2015
Yoga
balls have helped one Delaware County teacher become a finalist for this year's
Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year. Pam
Gregg, a language arts teacher at Springton Lake Middle School in Media, is
among a dozen teachers up for the honors.
As class begins, Gregg's students bounce on yoga balls as they wait for
the team activity that will soon have them running around the room. The ball
chairs and academic lessons that include physical activity help the students become
less fidgety and more focused, Gregg said.
"I incorporate movement into the lessons because, you know, they're
middle school -- they need to move," she said. "They'll be more
engaged and take in more information when they can move."
Op-Ed: Gov.
Wolf – Politics before People
North
Central PA By Sen. Gene Yaw
(R-23) JULY 31, 2015
Like
many of my colleagues in the Pennsylvania Senate, I was deeply disappointed
that Governor Wolf chose to veto a $30.18 billon, no-tax, balanced state budget
plan that would have made new investments in education, improved the funding
mechanism for our schools and provided funding for critical state services. The
Governor’s impractical veto of the entire spending plan leaves us no closer to
an agreement now than when he first introduced his budget proposal in March,
which is a true disservice to the people who elected him on the promise of a
“fresh start.” The real question here: What is the Governor’s motive? The only thing to be gained by threatening an
interruption of government services is political leverage. To put the
well-being of millions of state residents at risk for the sole purpose of
getting his own way is unbelievably arrogant and thoughtless. In pursuing this
scorched-earth policy, the Governor has jeopardized funding for numerous
programs and services relied upon by millions of state residents. He has done
so not for the sake of good public policy, but rather for the worst of reasons
– politics and a perceived political advantage.
"As you can see, four of
the original six schools are still in the bottom 5% while the other two have
now ‘catapulted’ to the bottom 6%. Perhaps this is one reason that Chris
Barbic recently announced he is resigning at the end of the
year.
Throughout the country, there
are states that are considering creating their own ASD based on the supposed
success of this one and the Recovery School District in Louisiana, on which
this one is based. Senate Democrats actually tried, and failed, to get an
amendment into the reauthorization of the ESEA that would mandate that the
bottom 5% of schools in each state become an ASD, essentially. I hope
that my very simple calculations are compelling evidence that the ASD does not
live up to the hype. Getting two out of six schools from the bottom
5% to the bottom 6% has not earned them the right to replicate around the
country."
The
Underachievement School District 2015 Edition Part I
Gary
Rubenstein's Blog Posted on July 31, 2015by garyrubinstein
Three
years ago, the Achievement School District (ASD) in Tennessee began their
mission, summarized in the
statement on their website under the heading ‘Building the Possible.’
“The
Achievement School District was created to catapult the bottom 5% of schools in
Tennessee straight to the top 25% in the state.” The timetable for this goal is just five years from the
time the school enters the ASD. As I wrote to current ASD superintendent, Chris Barbic, who
I’ve known for over 20 years from back in the days when we were both TFA
teachers in Houston at the same time, this is not a feasible goal. It
isn’t that I don’t think schools or teachers are capable of improvement, I just
think that there is a limit to what can be accomplished by only focusing
on replacing teachers and giving schools over to charters.
Childhood
Trauma: What’s Missing in Education “Reform” ?
Lucid
Witness Blog by Daun Kauffman 2014
The child – the customer – is what is
missing from Education “Reform” discussions.
Specifically, the massive incidence of childhood
trauma, and its laser-like connection to cognition and education is
missing. The scope of childhood trauma is measured in a range,
from 25% to 50% of children, seemingly highest in urban settings,
as detailed below. (Also see
“Failing Schools or Failing Paradigm ?”).
Not only is the child missing, but Education “Reform” is
often ANTI-child in its effect, at least for our most vulnerable
children. (See
“Danny goes to school”)
Conference Process to
Rewrite ESEA Gets Underway
Education Week
Politics K-12 Blog By Lauren Camera on July 30, 2015 11:43 AM
The conference
process for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act began in
earnest Thursday morning, as a bipartisan "Gang of Four" met to lay
out the groundwork for brokering a proposal that can pass both the U.S. House
of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
All the expected
characters were at the table: Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray,
D-Wash., chairman and ranking member of the Senate education committee who
co-authored the bipartisan bill that passed the Senate with overwhelming
support, and Reps. John Kline, R-Minn., and Bobby Scott, D-Va., the chairman
and the ranking member of the House education committee. The four released a statement after their
meeting, which didn't contain too many specifics, though that didn't stop us
from reading between the lines. "There
is a lot of work to do in the coming months, and I am confident we will be able
to craft a bicameral education bill that reduces the federal role, restores
local control, and empowers parents and education leaders," said Kline.
"Those are the kind of education reforms the American people expect and we
must deliver." Alexander went a
step further, throwing down the gauntlet with a fall deadline.
Books in home as important as parents' education in
determining children's education level
Science Daily Source: University
of Nevada, Reno May 21, 2010
Whether rich or
poor, residents of the United States or China, illiterate or college graduates,
parents who have books in the home increase the level of education their
children will attain, according to a 20-year study. Whether rich or poor, residents of the United
States or China, illiterate or college graduates, parents who have books in the
home increase the level of education their children will attain, according to a
20-year study led by Mariah Evans, University of Nevada, Reno associate
professor of sociology and resource economics.
For years, educators have thought the strongest predictor of attaining
high levels of education was having parents who were highly educated. But,
strikingly, this massive study showed that the difference between being raised
in a bookless home compared to being raised in a home with a 500-book library
has as great an effect on the level of education a child will attain as having
parents who are barely literate (3 years of education) compared to having
parents who have a university education (15 or 16 years of education). Both
factors, having a 500-book library or having university-educated parents,
propel a child 3.2 years further in education, on average. Being a sociologist, Evans was particularly
interested to find that children of lesser-educated parents benefit the most
from having books in the home. She has been looking for ways to help Nevada's
rural communities, in terms of economic development and education. "What kinds of investments should we be
making to help these kids get ahead?" she asked. "The results of this
study indicate that getting some books into their homes is an inexpensive way
that we can help these children succeed."
Save the Date: School Funding Forum in Pittsburgh
August 6th
School Funding
Forum in Pittsburgh, PA Thursday August 6th 2-4pm
With Hear Me and our western PA
partners in the Campaign
for Fair Education Funding, the Education Law Center is convening a school
funding forum with a focus on the most at-risk students. Join us to hear
stories of students directly impacted by a lack of education resources and to
discuss the latest updates from Harrisburg. While fighting for fair and
adequate school funding impacts all children, we’re excited to use this forum
to highlight the importance of school funding for the most at-risk students
whom ELC serves, including students experiencing homelessness or in foster
care, English language learners, and students with disabilities.
Location: Gates
Hillman Center at Carnegie Mellon University. Room 8102. Suggested parking is in
the East Campus Garage. Here’s a
map of walking directions from the garage to the room.
To join us, please
email Staff Attorney Cheryl Kleiman at ckleiman@elc-pa.org.
- See more at: http://www.elc-pa.org/2015/07/22/save-the-date-school-funding-forum-in-pittsburgh-august-6th/#sthash.WoqgfaCJ.dpuf
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.
Save the Date 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 will be live soon!
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.