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administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's
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leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations,
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These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for September 10, 2015:
Standardized
testing is failing our students
Make your voice heard at
Education Action Day, Sept. 21
School directors
and administrators from across the state will be converging on the State
Capitol on Monday, Sept. 21 for Education Action Day – your opportunity to push
for a state budget and pension reform. Join PSBA in the Main Capitol-East Wing under the
escalators at 10 a.m. A news conference will be held from 11 a.m.-noon, and
from 1-3 p.m. you may visit with legislators. There is no charge for
participation, but for planning purposes, members are asked to register their
attendance online below. We look forward to a big crowd to impress upon
legislators and the governor the need for a state budget and pension reform
now!
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
"The report notes that Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania education groups push for
more school funding
By
Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette September 9, 2015 11:03 AM
With the
state budget still unresolved, the Campaign for Fair Education Funding today
issued a report intended to draw attention to its call for increased basic
education funding by at least $410 million.
The campaign is composed of more than 50 organizations, including A+
Schools, Allies for Children, Pennsylvania School Boards Association, PennCAN,
Pennsylvania State Education Association, Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers,
League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and the Urban League of Greater
Pittsburgh. The report -- titled
"Lifting All Students: Why Pennsylvania Must Act Now to Fairly Fund Public
Education and Secure Our Future" -- comes after the state missed its
scheduled payment of more than $1 billion to school districts late last month
because of the budget impasse. The
report notes that the bipartisan state Basic Education Funding Commission
approved recommendations for a new formula, but that has not been enacted.
Campaign for Fair Education Funding report
makes case for basic education increase of at least $410 million and a new
funding formula
The
Campaign for Fair Education Funding today released its report, "Lifting
All Students, Why Pennsylvania Must Act Now to Fairly Fund Public Education and
Secure Our Future," demonstrating what is at stake if lawmakers do not act
quickly to adopt a fair public school funding formula and begin making a
significant, long-term and equitable investment in public education. Read the report in full.
The Campaign
– a diverse group of more than 50 organizations committed to improving public
education in Pennsylvania – is calling on state lawmakers to adopt a
budget that increases basic education funding by at least $410
million to help school districts recover from past funding cuts, targeted
at bringing districts back to the 2010 funding level as a base year, and begin
implementation of the new funding formula that was unanimously adopted by the
state's Basic Education Funding Commission.
In late August, the state missed its scheduled payment of more
than $1 billion to Pennsylvania school districts because of
state lawmakers' failure to enact a state budget. With the impasse in its 71st
day, the Campaign's report provides factual support and funding comparisons
supporting the need for fair education funding now. One
proposal – contained in the Governor's proposed budget – increases basic
education funding by $410 million in fiscal year 2015-16, while the
other – included in the budget passed by the Legislature but vetoed by the
Governor – proposes a considerably smaller increase of $100 million. The report lists six examples of how the two
proposals would affect disparate school districts across the state, and the
appendix compares how the two scenarios would affect all 500 school districts. "The Campaign's report shows how the
education funding proposals being debated in Harrisburg play out on
the local level," said Campaign spokesperson Charlie Lyons.
"Whether it translates into smaller class sizes, a wider range of
educational programs, or additional supports for struggling students, full and
fair funding has a real impact on students' lives."
Standardized
testing is failing our students
Philly .com Opinion by ALISON MCDOWELL
POSTED: September 9, 2015, 12:16 AM
STUDENTS,
TEACHERS and parents deserve to savor the exciting possibilities of a new
school year without the dark shadow of standardized testing hanging over their
heads. Labeling nearly half the students in the state "failures"
during the first weeks of school only discourages children from seeing
themselves as capable, curious, engaged learners. What's surprising is not that
nearly 50 percent of Pennsylvania students "failed" the new PSSAs,
but that the percentage of failure wasn't even higher. In states where
"rigorous" standardized tests aligned to the Common Core have been
implemented - including New York, Washington and Connecticut - failure rates of
around 70 percent have become routine. Local
administrators will feel pressured to boost PSSA and Keystone results that were
manufactured via manipulated cut scores, questions on complex texts that
sometimes required students to select multiple correct or incorrect answers,
and questions covering content that may not have matched the curriculum that
was being taught. Many districts will be expected to achieve improvements under
austerity budgets caused by ongoing underfunding by the state. At the same
time, Gov. Wolf's proposed budget allots $58.3 million for administering and
grading state assessments, the same amount allocated by Gov. Corbett last year.
How do PA Cyber Charter SPP Scores compare
with IU1 High School Scores?
Data from paschoolperformance.org
State gives
$5M to pay Chester Upland
teachers
KATHY BOCCELLA, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Wednesday, September 9,
2015, 4:27 PM
Chester
Upland School District has received an infusion of nearly $5 million in state
aid to keep paying teachers and staff while officials work to develop a
financial recovery plan for the struggling school system. At a hearing Wednesday, a district lawyer
also told a Delaware County judge that officials will meet with charter school
operators to discuss a new funding formula. He said they intend to submit the
new plan by late next week. The
announcements came during a hearing in which district and state education
officials gave Judge Chad F. Kenney an update on their efforts to slash charter
school payments and crawl out of debt. Chester
Upland pays nearly $64 million to charter schools, which educate about half of
the district's nearly 7,000 students.
Chester-Upland
teachers paid for now; judge says state must do more
WHYY
Newsworks BY LAURA BENSHOFF
SEPTEMBER 9, 2015
The past
two weeks have been a roller coaster for the Chester-Upland
School District outside of Philadelphia . Today, a district official announced that
debt relief from the state would give some temporary relief on a payroll
crunch. A Delaware
County
"Charter school funding
for special-needs students has been a point of contention in Louisiana
Teachers work
for free as Pa. schools go insolvent, newspaper says
By Jessica Williams, NOLA.com | The
Times-Picayune Follow on Twitter
on September 09, 2015 at 9:40 AM, updated September 09, 2015 at 9:41 AM
A Pennsylvania public
school system is penniless, so the teachers are working for free. About 200
Chester Upland school system employees and teachers union members agreed to
work without pay this school year, The Washington Post reports. The school system faces a $22 million budget
deficit and is not making payroll. Officials blame Chester Upland's near
insolvency on the state's charter school funding law, which requires that
conventional public school systems pay charter schools $40,000 per
special-needs student, regardless of the actual cost of educating that child. A
spokesman for Gov. Tom Wolf said the problem also stemmed from local mismanagement
and state education spending cuts.
Here’s how to
tell your state rep: ‘No budget, no pay’
By Eric Devlin,
The Mercury POSTED: 09/08/15,
6:05 PM EDT
For 71
days, Pennsylvania has been waiting for a new budget to pass out of Harrisburg.
With no
end in sight, some lawmakers have begun refusing their state paychecks as a
signal that they want to speed up this process just as much as their
constituents. To support their efforts,
The Mercury and its sister newspapers in Digital First Media have launched an
initiative on social media called #NoBudgetNoPay. Readers can post messages on the #NoBudgetNoPay
Facebook page demanding legislators forgo their pay until a state
budget has been approved. The Mercury will collect those messages and send them
directly to lawmakers. Posting selfie
portraits along with messages will reinforce that the citizens of this region
stand behind the message. And, posting on Twitter and Instagram, using the
hashtag #NoBudgetNoPay, will spread the word.
There’s “ample precedent” among legislators to give up their pay during
a budget standoff, according to one political observer and pollster.
Pa. is working
harder to make sure schoolkids get healthy meals: Russell Redding and Pedro
Rivera
By Russell Redding and Pedro Rivera PennLive Op-Ed on September
09, 2015 at 1:30 PM, updated September 09, 2015 at 7:27 PM
Russell C. Redding serves as the
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary. Pedro A. Rivera serves as the
Pennsylvania Department of Education Secretary. Both secretaries were nominated
to serve the commonwealth by Governor Tom Wolf in January 2015.
As
parents and educators, one of simplest things we want for our children, is for
them to grow up to be happy and healthy. Part of being healthy includes
learning about proper nutrition and developing good eating habits.
We are grateful that the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 ensures
that children have access to the healthy, nutritious foods they need to
practice good eating habits in order to grow, learn, achieve academically, and
thrive. Thanks to updated standards for
the national school lunch and breakfast programs implemented in 2012, healthier
meals are rapidly becoming the norm for students across our state. Over the past three years, we've learned that
students and parents are appreciative of—and enthusiastic about—menu options
that are both healthy and delicious. Health experts are also applauding. With many kids eating up to half their daily
calories at school, healthy school meals and snacks are a commonsense step to
ensure all children, including those at high risk for
obesity, grow up at a healthy weight.
YourErie.com
By JESSICA DOUDRICK | jdoudrick@wjettv.com Published 09/09 2015 10:23PM
As Pennsylvania awaits the
approval of the state budget, local school districts are in need of financial
help. At Wednesday night's Erie School
Board meeting, the board discussed taking out a loan to keep the district
running as they await the approval of the state budget. Superintendent Dr. Jay Badams says it's a
guarantee that if the budget doesn't pass by the end of September, the district
will need to borrow funds to operate. "We
have to pay the interest on the loan, so that's tax payer money," Dr.
Badams said. "So rather than taxpayer money going to educate children,
it's going to pay interest on a line of credit. " Dr. Badams says the loan would be taken out
as needed and would max out at $30 million. If the budget is settled before the
end of September, a loan may not need to be taken out at all.
Guest Column:
GOP did its part on budget; when will Gov. Wolf step up?
By Scott Wagner , Times Guest Columnist POSTED: 09/09/15, 10:00 PM
EDT
State Sen. Scott
Wagner is a Republican from York
June 30
has come and gone, and while the Legislature met its obligation to pass a
balanced budget by the constitutionally required deadline, here we are two months
later without a budget. Are you still paying taxes? I certainly am. The state is still receiving the revenue
needed to fund state agencies, service providers, and our schools. Yet there is
no authorization to spend that money because Gov. Tom Wolf chose to veto a
budget that was balanced, did not raise taxes, and provided increased education
funding. Notably, two-thirds of the line items were funded at or above the
amount that the governor requested. Gov.
Wolf had the power to use what is called a line-item veto. This means that he
could have chosen to strike out parts of the budget that he did not support,
allowing the rest of the budget to become law. Instead, he has left
organizations in our communities scrambling to stay afloat because he insists
on a tax and spend budget that exacerbates the problem that I continue to call
attention to – Harrisburg does not have a
revenue problem, Harrisburg
has a spending problem.
With Pa.
Education Week By Alyson Klein on September
8, 2015 11:02 AM
And now there are 38
states, plus the District of Columbia —the U.S.
Department of Education just renewed Pennsylvania 's
waiver from many of the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act, for one year. The Keystone State is getting a one-year
renewal only even though some other states have been eligible to hang onto
their flexibility for up to four years. (No word yet on what Pennsylvania has
to do to be eligible for a longer waiver. Watch for an update to this
post.) UPDATE: Pennsylvania will need to submit information to
the Education Department, showing that its teacher evaluation includes
different levels for teacher performance. And it will need to show student
growth is a significant factor in evaluations.
Pennsylvania is taking advantage of the accountability "pause" offered by
the U.S. Department of Education. That pause allows states to freeze
school ratings for one year if they're moving to new tests aligned to the
common core. That officially brings the total of "paused"
states to 25, or exactly half.
Every one of the 42
states that has a waiver applied for renewal, and most have already gotten the
green light to hang onto their flexibility for at least one more year.
Still waiting in the wings: Colorado , Louisiana , and Texas .
(Illinois got its waiver late, so it's a special case, on a different
timeline.)
Strike
by Seattle
New York Times By KIRK JOHNSON SEPT. 8, 2015
Left Behind: The Unintended Consequences Of School
Choice
SEPTEMBER 9,
2015 JENNIFER BERRY HAWES POST AND COURIER
Once a powerhouse
Class AAAA school, North Charleston High can barely field sports teams anymore.
Half of its classrooms sit empty. Saddled with a reputation for fights, drugs,
gangs and students who can’t learn, middle-class families no longer give it a
chance. This is the unintended
consequence of school choice. Two-thirds
of students in its attendance zone now flee to myriad magnets, charters and
other school choices that beckon the brightest and most motivated from
schools like this one. But not all can
leave, not those without cars or parents able to navigate their complex
options. Concentrated poverty is left behind. So is a persistent “At Risk”
rating from the state. The Post and
Courier offers a five-part look at North Charleston High through the eyes of
students tethered to a world of dwindling dreams.
Help fund the statewide
tour of a live documentary play about the struggle to save public education in Pennsylvania
After
standing-room-only shows at Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center in
April, we’re taking this compelling play about the precarious state of public
education back to the people who lent us their voices and stories. This
October, we’re traveling across the state, putting on free performances to
spark conversations and engage citizens.
School Play is a work of grassroots theatre, woven from the
narratives of hundreds of Pennsylvanians affected by our state’s school funding
crisis. The play is entirely crowd-sourced; the script is derived from the
words of students, parents, educators and legislators, and is available online
for anyone to perform. Artists Arden
Kass, Seth Bauer and Edward Sobel created School Play out of
our personal concern for our kids and our communities. The result is a funny,
sad, straight-talking documentary theatre piece, told through the words of real
people. You can read more about School
Play here, here, here and here.
Register Now for the Fifth
Annual Arts and Education Symposium Oct. 29th Harrisburg
Thursday, October
29, 2015 Radisson Hotel Harrisburg Convention Center 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Act
48 Credit is available. The event will be a daylong convening of arts education
policy leaders and practitioners for lively discussions about important policy
issues and the latest news from the field. The symposium is hosted by EPLC and
the Pennsylvania Arts Education Network, and supported by a generous grant from
The Heinz Endowments.
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/>
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
open Aug. 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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