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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for September 18, 2015:
Republicans still mulling
Gov. Wolf’s pension, liquor reform proposals
"Hanger said the
governor is focused on overhauling the state's scandal-plagued cyber charters,
which have drawn unwanted national attention, but pledged that Wolf also would
seek broader reforms to the state's educational system, including charter
lending. "The story underlines that
there are more parts of how charter schools are operating that require more
tightening and oversight,"
Charter debt 'stunningly
bad'
RYAN BRIGGS &
ALEX WIGGLESWORTH, PHILLY.COM Friday,
September 18, 2015, 12:16 AM
NEARLY $500 MILLION in expensive and lightly regulated
borrowing by Philadelphia charter schools uncovered this week contains some
spending that is "not defensible" and "stunningly bad,"
according to Gov. Wolf's top policy official.
A Philly.com investigation published Monday online and in the Daily
News found that numerous charters are saddled with millions of dollars
of debt after using a city financing agency to tap into public bonds. One
charter, String Theory Schools, borrowed $55 million to buy a Center City
Republicans still mulling
Gov. Wolf’s pension, liquor reform proposals
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Thursday,
September 17, 2015
Despite contentions made
by Gov. Tom Wolf to the contrary, Republicans claimed Thursday that they have
not rejected the pension and liquor reform proposals made by Gov. Wolf at a
budget meeting yesterday. In fact,
Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) told reporters he has not seen
the proposals in writing so that he can discuss them fully with members of his
caucus. Wednesday, in response to
Republican criticism over Gov. Wolf not accepting their offer for basic
education funding proposal in exchange for pension reform, the governor held a
news conference where he relayed that he put on the table new proposals to
provide for pension reform and to allow the state liquor system to be run by a
private manager.
Senate GOP Moves Ahead With Stopgap Budget In Face Of
Wolf Veto
PA Capitol Digest
September 17, 2015
The Senate
Appropriations Committee Wednesday reported out the Republican stopgap
budget package by a party line vote in the face of a direct veto threat by Gov.
Wolf.
The bills include Senate
Bill 1000 (Browne-R-Lehigh) General Fund Stopgap Budget Bill (summary
and Senate Fiscal Note); Senate
Bill 1001 (Browne-R-Lehigh) Fiscal Code Stopgap Bill (summary
and Senate Fiscal Note); and amended House
Bill 224 (Christiana-R -Beaver) with the Education Code Stopgap Bill (summary
and Senate Fiscal Note). The stopgap
budget is about $11 billion of the $30.2 billion General Fund budget passed by
Republicans in June and included the so-called "agreed-to" budget
provisions included in the vetoed
House Bill 1192 General Fund budget bill in June. It also included
the pass-through of federal funding to state agencies and organizations reliant
on that money. The new Fiscal
Code bill has project funding and other special provisions legislators put in
the original Fiscal Code bill--
Senate Bill 655-- vetoed by Gov. Wolf in June. “I sympathize with the human service agencies
at the county level and the nonprofits,” said Wolf. “What they
(Republicans) are doing is a very cynical, hypocritical attempt to make people
believe that they are actually trying to make human services agencies’ lives
easier. They’re not. This stopgap is not that. This stopgap is a poke in
the eye and I am treating it as such, and I am going to veto it.” Gov. Wolf also floated two new proposals on
pension reform and liquor privatization to Senate and House Republicans on
Wednesday saying they were “historic proposals.”
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)
- The Pennsylvania Senate’s Republican majority is poised to pass an $11
billion short-term spending plan to break an entrenched budget stalemate with
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who’s vowed to veto it. The Senate’s Friday session was scheduled for
10 a.m. Action in the Republican-controlled House was scheduled for next week. The $11 billion is four months of funding,
retroactive to the July 1 start of the fiscal year. Republicans say the measure
also would release billions in federal funds. However, Democratic lawmakers
oppose it, and Wolf says Republicans are trying to pretend that they’re helping
the schools and social services organizations for which they cut funding in
recent years.
How do you know when a
budget offer is rejected? It's hard to tell in Pa.
Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter on
September 17, 2015 at 5:04 PM, updated September 17, 2015 at 6:32 PM
The state budget
disagreement between Republican lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf apparently has
gotten so bad they can't even tell whether an offer is rejected or not. Gov. Tom Wolf's office tweeted out on
Thursday But Senate Majority Leader Jake
Corman, R-Centre County
Wolf’s latest budget plan gets chilly reception
By Karen
Langley/Post-Gazette Harrisburg
Bureau September 17, 2015 11:17 PM
"The details are still
being ironed out but the rough plan is to meet at the capitol at 11 a.m. before
speaking with reporters about their budgetary concerns, he said. Anyone
interested in attending the march should check the district’s website for more information.
They will also need to provide their own transportation, as bussing will no
longer be provided."
Spring-Ford march on
Harrisburg scaled back, still happening Monday
By Eric Devlin,
The Mercury POSTED: 09/17/15,
5:53 PM EDT | UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO
While it will no
longer be a statewide event, Spring-Ford
Area School
District officials say they still plan to hit the road to Harrisburg in order to
make their voices heard this Monday. Last month, school board member Joe Ciresi announced a march on
the state capitol to protest the lack of a state budget and the budgetary
process as a whole. Shortly after, he was contacted by representatives
from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association asking if the district would lead a march it was planning of all
500 school districts. Since then, however, it appears plans have
changed once again. The PSBA canceled
the official event after only 37 districts agreed to participate, Ciresi told
The Mercury Thursday. But that won’t
stop him and others from making the trek to the capitol anyway. “We’re still going,” he said, admitting he
was disappointed by the lack of support from around the state. “We started
this, we’re going to finish it.”
"Elsewhere in
Pennsylvania, the following districts are withholding full or partial payments
to charter schools until a state budget is passed, according to media
reports: Bethlehem Area (Lehigh and Northampton
counties); Parkland, (Lehigh County); Salisbury (Lehigh County); and Smethport Area (McKean County). Some districts in Chester
County are withholding partial pension payments, according to The Pottstown Mercury.
The Pennsylvania
School
State budget impasse: 2 Lancaster County
Two Lancaster County
school districts — Lancaster and Elizabethtown — are the first to take what may
become a common step to deal with financial issues as the state budget
stalemate drags on. Public schools in Pennsylvania are paying the bills with local revenue while they await a state
budget and its accompanying subsidies. On Tuesday night, school boards
in Lancaster and Elizabethtown voted to withhold charter
school payments until a state budget is passed. Similar moves are
being taken or considered elsewhere in the state, but no other local districts
reported such plans as of Wednesday. Charter
funding - Charter schools in Pennsylvania
receive 100 percent of their public funding through school districts. When a
student enrolls in a charter school, the student’s home school district must
pay tuition to the charter school for that child. School
District of Lancaster
"Is it fair to pick on
charter schools, and in SDL’s case, cyber charter schools, in particular? Well, yes — for three key reasons.
— Despite having fixed
per-student costs, cyber charter schools get to charge school districts an
average of the district’s per-pupil cost. As part of his budget, Gov. Tom Wolf
proposed setting a
cap on per-pupil funding for cyber charter schools— a plan that would save
Lancaster County’s 16 school districts $4.5 million per year, reducing annual
payments by SDL and Columbia Borough School District by more than
$760,000 and $309,000, respectively.
— Cyber charters are among
the lowest scorers on Pennsylvania
— And, as noted in a 2014 review by
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, there is a lack of oversight and
accountability regarding Pennsylvania
Desperate times (for school districts) call for
desperate measures (like withholding payments)
THE ISSUE: School District of Lancaster
and Elizabethtown
Area School
District
The Lancaster district’s unanimous decision
Tuesday was to withhold payments only to cyber charter schools — thus sparing
La Academia, the only brick-and-mortar charter school serving district
students. The Elizabethtown district is withholding payments
to both charter schools and the Public School Employees’ Retirement System. At least a half dozen other school districts
across the state are withholding payments to charters, PSERS or both. And, if the now 79-day-old budget stalemate
continues, other districts will no doubt do the same. Penn Manor might discuss cyber charter
funding as soon as Monday. And, in
Solanco, while there have been no discussions yet, “That could change if
there’s no budget in place by the end of November,” according to spokesman
Keith Kaufman.
Otto-Eldred school
directors discuss state budget issues, curriculum efforts
By undesignating all
remaining reserved funds, the district can operate through October with
anticipated revenue and all remaining funds. A line of credit would be needed
to meet obligations in November, however, officials said.
“The state has an obligation
to maintain a thorough and efficient public school system,” he said. “This
requires a budget, which requires cooperation of the governor and Legislature,
which will only happen if they are in session. The Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
School districts near
financial danger zone
Bradford Era By ALEX DAVIS Era Reporter a.davis@bradfordera.com Posted: Wednesday, September 16, 2015
10:00 am
As the state budget
impasse continues, area school districts are being pushed ever closer to the
financial danger zone. While the first
wave of local tax dollars are helping to carry districts through the budget
stalemate, officials could be forced to borrow money — as early as October. “Without a budget it
makes it extremely difficult to operate,” Galeton Area School District
Superintendent Brenda Freeman told The Era on Tuesday. “We are using
our fund balance currently to pay our bills. That will only last until
December.” She said school officials
have made a move to look into a tax and revenue anticipation note, money which
would need to be acquired in November. “Spending
has been restricted and materials that were budgeted for are now on hold,” she
said. “We continue to strive to do what is best for our students, but a budget
impasse is making it very difficult.” When
no state money gets doled out, Freeman said the students get hit the hardest. “Our focus is on maintaining operations
locally for our students,” Otto-Eldred School District Superintendent Matt
Splain said. “If the state cannot make its obligations, why should districts
still need to do so?”
PSSAs aren't the only
measure of student competence | Editorial
By Express-Times opinion staff on
September 16, 2015 at 6:00 AM, updated September 16, 2015 at 9:52 AM
Get ready for a new
round of hand-wringing about the state of American education — at least in Pennsylvania , where
the results of the 2015 PSSA exams will be
released in the next few weeks. The early returns indicate just
about everyone has taken a nose dive, compared to last year. Get ready, too, for
another round of Common Core-bashing. The standardized testing based on Common
Core curriculum has changed the way the students, school districts and teachers
are measured. None of this is new.
The "teach to the test" debate has
been going on for more than a decade. As the tests have gotten tougher, the
debate has shifted to whether the quest for "rigor" induces a deeper
level of learning, or turns students in better regurgitators and dot-fillers on
standardized forms. (Or, the case of math, whether students need to be able to
explain in words how they solved a problem, rather than simply doing it.) This year there's an added wrinkle: The bar
was raised on PSSA standards, and the result is lower scores. The tests are
given to third- through eighth-grade students in math and reading.
Group applauds PDE for ESEA waiver
Cumberlink by Debbie
Chestnut September 16, 2015 12:02 am • For
The Sentinel
HARRISBURG —
Education Voters of Pennsylvania, a statewide organization dedicated to
supporting policies that strengthen and support great public schools in every
community to ensure opportunities for all children, applauds the delay in the
use of Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores to calculate School
Performance Profile scores and educator evaluations. “It is very encouraging that the current
administration sought this waiver from the U.S. Department of Education and
understands that raising the bar that measures what students should know
through the implementation of the new PA Core Standards on the PSSA test is a
process,” said Susan Spicka, of Shippensburg, advocacy coordinator. “Because
this is a new test, aligned to new standards, this is a baseline year, and it
would be inappropriate to use these results to determine if a school or
educator is doing better or worse than in the past. This is ‘Year 1’ in terms
of getting data on how schools are doing at meeting the new standards.” In March 2014 as part of a nationwide
movement to create new standards (called the Common Core), the Pennsylvania
Board of Education replaced the state’s academic standards with new
Pennsylvania Core Standards, the first revision in 10 years. Spicka said these
are very rigorous standards that significantly changed the content that
students in Pennsylvania
learn in public schools.
WESA 90.5 NPR Pittsburgh By MARK NOOTBAAR • September
17, 2015
In a joint move
Wednesday night, the Wilkinsburg district
announced it will close its grades 7-12 school building and send those
200-plus students to Westinghouse 6-12 next year. The plan is still
pending approval next month by the boards of both districts. “After learning of the challenges facing the
Wilkinsburg School District, and out of care and concern for its students, we
felt it was our responsibility as educators to determine if we could create a
cross-district partnership that serves both districts well and provides a
better educational program for Wilkinsburg’s seventh through twelfth grade
students,” said Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Linda Lane. “It was
important that we ensured that any agreement brought before our Board does not
adversely impact our service to Pittsburgh ’s
children and at minimum has a cost neutral impact on our budget.”
SRC votes down new Belmont
the notebook By Dale
Mezzacappa on Sep 17, 2015 09:34 PM
Superintendent Hite
said at Thursday night's School Reform Commission meeting that the $34 million,
contract with a private firm to find and place substitute teachers is "in
jeopardy" unless the company rapidly improves the rate at which it is able
to fill empty classrooms. Hite
expressed his "personal regret" that schools experienced a
"poor start" due to Source4Teachers' problems. Over the vociferous
objections of the teachers' union, the SRC hired the Cherry Hill-based firm on
a two-year deal last spring in hopes of substantially increasing the District's
own "fill rate" of only 55 to 65 percent of empty classrooms. "I will be watching and managing this
partnership closely to ensure we receive the performance we contracted
for," Hite said. The firm promised
a 75 percent fill rate in September and 90 percent by January. But the best it
has managed in the first six days of schools is 15 percent. Hite said the District is asking
Source4Teachers to bring in a subcontractor, increase its daily rates, beef up
its recruiting staff, and streamline the hiring process. It has already altered
daily rates, paying $110 a day for all certified teachers, not just those
certified in special education. Before, the rate for certified regular
education teachers was $90.
SRC warns substitute-teacher
contractor it must do better
KRISTEN A. GRAHAM, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITER September 17, 2015, 9:40 PM
The firm hired to
staff Philadelphia
classrooms with substitute teachers has been put on notice: "Continued
poor performance puts this partnership in jeopardy," Superintendent
William R. Hite Jr. said Thursday night.
Source4Teachers was awarded a $34 million contract to provide
substitutes, promising it would fill 75 percent of vacancies on the first day
of school. It has done no better than about 15 percent to date. School Reform Commission Chair Marjorie Neff
also said the Cherry Hill company's work
"has been unacceptable," and said the SRC took full responsibility
for its vote to approve the contract. The
SRC's move "was not about cutting costs," Neff said. "It was
about solving a crucial problem." Under
district management, the substitute "fill rate" was about 60 percent. Hite said the district was working closely
with Source4Teachers, immediately bumping up substitute pay for certified teachers
to $110 daily, exploring the use of a subcontractor to fill some jobs, using
more recruiters, and streamlining the hiring process.
Local Leaders Show Off
Acting Skills To Highlight
School
CBS Philly By Justin Udo
September 17, 2015 5:14 AM
Arden Kass is one of
the co-creators of School Play.
She says the drama consists of verbatim interviews they did with 100
Pennsylvanians involved in the education system. “School Play is about telling the
stories behind the numbers and political arguments that we hear on the radio
and that we see in the newspaper and making it relatable to more people by
telling real stories.” says Kass. Philadelphia
School Superintendent Dr. William Hite was one of the local leaders to show off
his acting chops Wednesday night. “Advocacy
around getting additional monies for public schools across the common wealth I
think is really important thing that we hope to convey with this performance.”
Old Forge teachers to
strike Monday
OLD FORGE — Teachers
in the Old Forge School District Lackawanna County
"Our current belief in
high-stakes testing manufactures failure by labeling the schools serving a
disproportionately high number of ESL students, special-needs students, and
impoverished students as "failing.” Instead of using these tests (which essentially tell
us nothing but how white and wealthy a school is) to signal a necessary
influx of additional resources to these children, we penalize the schools by
taking away funding, diminishing the agency of leaders and teachers, and
villainizing the communities in which the students live. This mass
disinvestment induces flight to charters and thus underenrollment in district schools,
necessitating school closures. While Le Bok Fin perhaps benefited from a cool
roof deck, it had nothing to do with these systemic issues.
Our elected officials, on the
other hand, could do something. Instead they have done nothing to step up in
order to right these issues. We
are quickly approaching our third month without a state budget. Our schools
are teetering on disaster. We don’t have sufficient nurses or counselors. We’ve
cut the arts, sports teams, and anything that makes education marginally
enjoyable for children."
Scapegoating Le Bok Fin
missed the real problem for Philly schools
WHYY Newsworks COMMENTARY BY KRISTYN STEWART SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 ESSAYWORKS
Kristyn Stewart
is currently a Ph.D. student in urban education at Temple University
Everyone has
an opinion
about Le Bok Fin — calling it everything from a form of symbolic
violence to "Philly’s hottest new rooftop bar." This once successfulvocational
school-turned-beer-garden has become a constant source of disagreement
and rage across our city, but we need to let it go and concentrate on the real
problems facing Philadelphia
public schools.
Yes, the images
strewn across social media are not only insensitive and pretentious, but also
deeply disheartening to educators, parents and students who are fighting each
day to resurrect a school system that has suffered severe disinvestment and
societal neglect.
Yes, the building
would have been underutilized otherwise, and perhaps the stunt will generate
further economic investment. I argue, however, that while opportunities to
highlight social justice issues have been missed.
Debt chokes charters
INQUIRER EDITORIAL BOARD POSTED: Thursday,
September 17, 2015, 1:08 AM
"Profit-minded
businesses are destroying whatever moral authority the education reform
movement had."
3 Huge Problems With theCharter
School
3 Huge Problems With the
The big risks and
high costs of a fast-growing, ad hoc charter system.
PhillyMag Citified BY PATRICK KERKSTRA | SEPTEMBER
17, 2015 AT 9:22 AM
Philly.com has a story this
week that distills many of the troubling qualities of the
charter school movement down to a disturbing essence. Yes, it’s that bad.
This deeply reported
piece by Alex Wigglesworth and Ryan Briggs zooms in on one school and one deal:
the academically well-regarded String
Theory Charter
School
Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/citified/2015/09/17/charter-school-problems/#5eVq6wVFkDApaoGd.99
Diane Ravitch's Blog
By dianeravitch September
17, 2015 //
An investigation in
Philadelphia
finds that some charters now spend more on paying down the debt of lavish
facilities than they spend on instruction.
“THREE FRANKLIN
Plaza
Diane Ravitch's Blog
By dianeravitch September
17, 2015 //
What would you
rather be? A mid-level bureaucrat monitoring fiscal matters in the school
district or a millionaire? Find the
answer to this question in this
article about Philadelphia .
“MANY OF the recent
charter bond deals have been helped by Santilli & Thomson, a New Jersey-based
firm that has made millions off consulting contracts and bond fees. “The firm, run by ex-School District of Philadelphia finance
officials Gerald Santilli and Michael Thomson, touts on its website “more than
50 years of combined experience in municipal school management.” “There is no way to
know exactly how much Santilli & Thomson has earned in taxpayer-funded
contracts from charter schools, according to a district spokesman. The firm did
not respond to numerous requests for comment.
“However, a Philly.com analysis of financial documents for several
charter schools that received municipal bonds found that Santilli & Thomson
has billed at least $5 million since 2010….
"Lately I’ve just grown weary of us
all talking about how bad it is to be a teacher. I am not talking about
“teacher bashing” but “profession bashing.” We’re all guilty of this profession
bashing, everyone from education reformers to union leaders—spending a lot of
time talking about all the reasons why no one who is sane should consider a
career in teaching. I am worrying a lot
lately that our negative portrayal of the job may be doing more to dissuade
people from considering it as a career than any of the other factors we have
put on the table. For those of us in the
education-reform camp, we advance our agenda by reminding everyone about how
broken the system is."
Curmuducation Blog
by Peter Greene Thursday, September 17, 2015
Earlier this week
the Wall Street Journal convened a trio of educational experts to discuss the
question "How Do We Raise the Quality of Teachers." I'm not sure what got into them, exactly, but
reporter Leslie Brody actually included a teacher in her trio of experts. In
fact, not just a teacher, but New
York teacher, activist and writer Jose Luis Vilson. I have
huge respect for Vilson for a variety of reasons (the man teaches math to
middle school students!), not the least of which is his calm and focus and
ability not to get caught up in opposing things, but always clearly
articulating what he is for. It's a skill not all of us have mastered. Vilson is teamed up in the conversation with
Daniel Weisberg, honcho of the New Teacher Project (TNTP) and Kate Walsh of the
national Council on Teacher Quality. So, well. That makes one more teacher in
one of these conversations than we usually get. Brody edits the conversation by
topic, so we'll do the same here.
"And here's one very
important lesson a decade after Dover
Elections matter. School board elections matter. We all get caught up in debating national and
statewide issues — especially as a presidential election looms. But unpaid, volunteer school board members
have a huge impact on your life: Negotiating teacher contracts. Setting
property tax rates. Hiring and firing administrators. Meddling in academic
affairs. Setting your district on a course of costly litigation. That's what happened in Dover
Is your school board
intelligently designed? (YDR opinion)
York Daily Record editorial UPDATED: 09/16/2015 01:47:09 PM EDT
Ten
years after the Dover Intelligent Design controversy, what have we learned?
Well, a number of
things. Judge John E. Jones III's
decision that teaching intelligent design as an alternative to evolution
violates church/state separation still stands.
It's not the law of the land because the case was never heard by the
Supreme Court, but its precedent has proved influential in courts outside the
federal Middle District of Pennsylvania. The decision cast a pall over the
intelligent design movement, as there have not been similar cases of Dover 's stature. Judge Jones
considers his ID ruling the pinnacle of his judicial career — and that's saying
something, considering he also issued Pennsylvania 's
same-sex marriage decision.
Education a no-show at GOP
debate
Politico Morning Education By CAITLIN EMMA 09/17/15, 10:00
AM EDT
With help from Allie Grasgreen, Kimberly Hefling, Maggie
Severns, Adam Sneed and Aubree Eliza Weaver
Education didn’t just take a backseat during Thursday
night’s GOP presidential debate — it wasn’t invited along for the ride. There
were zero questions about education over the course of the second, three-hour
debate hosted by CNN. And none of the Republican candidates focused on the
issue in any substantial way. Education only received fleeting mentions amid a
debate heavy on immigration, national security, defense and other issues. (Your
Morning Education author could swear a Common Core question was coming when
moderator Hugh Hewitt asked Jeb Bush about the “elephant in the room.” But
alas, no.) POLITICO fact-checked the candidates on a range of issues
here: http://politi.co/1W4gnHQ.
And here are a few highlights from education’s sudden and short-lived moment in
the spotlight:
"The $250 million Preschool
Development Grants program was funded as part of the budget deal
agreed to last January. That money was awarded to 18 states as part of a
four-year grant to help them build new preschool programs or expand existing
ones. But the funding was only paid out for the first year, putting the entire
program in jeopardy. Both fiscal 2016
spending proposals from the House and Senate would eliminate the program. And
as Congress negotiates yet another stopgap funding measure, Vitter and Casey
are pushing to let the grant program run its course."
Senators (Casey and
Vitter) Push to Maintain Pre-K Grant Program
Thousands of children are in jeopardy of
losing preschool services, the lawmakers warn.
US News By Lauren Camera Sept.
17, 2015 | 12:01 p.m. EDT+ More
As Congress mulls
ways to stave off a government shutdown with the close of the fiscal year
looming, a bipartisan duo in the Senate is urging appropriators to reinstate
funding for a federal preschool program that would otherwise mean a loss of
services for more than 100,000 children. "There is a
tremendous unmet need for high-quality early learning throughout the
country," Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Robert Casey, D-Pa., wrote in a
letter sent to Senate colleagues Thursday. "Currently, fewer than 3 in 10
4-year-olds are enrolled in a high-quality preschool program, and many states
do not have the resources to provide such opportunities to the children most
at-need for these programs."
"Complicating matters:
Neither of the bills to revise the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
making their way through Congress would continue to require states to develop
teacher-evaluation systems that rely on student test scores. So it's unclear
just how many states and districts will continue with the policy if that
legislation passes–or even if reauthorization falters and a new administration
is in place."
Teacher-Evaluation Reins
Loosen Under NCLB Waivers
Earlier hard-line
approach giving way to flexibility
By Alyson
Klein Published
Online: September 15, 2015
Perhaps no single
K-12 policy is more closely associated with the Obama administration than
teacher evaluations tied to student test scores, which the president and U.S.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have championed, first through Race to the
Top, and then through No Child Left Behind Act waivers. And perhaps no policy has been as difficult
to implement, particularly as states make the transition to new tests aligned
to the Common Core State Standards. The
administration initially took a hard line on evaluations, asking states to roll
them out over a specific time period and to include state test scores as part
of the mix. But over the past year and a
half, the U.S. Department of Education has offered states more and more
flexibility when it comes to getting evaluations aligned to common-core tests
in place and using them to make personnel decisions.
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/09/16/teacher-evaluation-reins-loosen-under-nclb-waivers.html
De
Blasio’s Plan to Lift Poor Schools Comes With High Costs and Big Political
Risks
New York Times By KATE TAYLOR SEPT. 16, 2015
There was $75
million a year for second-grade reading specialists.Advanced Placement
classes got $51 million. Every eighth grader can take algebra thanks
to $19 million. And $15 million was proposed to provide more than 16,000
students with dedicated counselors from sixth through 12th grade. On Wednesday, Mayor
Bill de Blasio made his biggest commitment yet to his education
philosophy. He announced a half-dozen programs that focus on New York City ’s poorest students, in a speech
that framed the proposals as a way to address income inequality, a touchstone
issue of his administration. The cost of
Mr. de Blasio’s programs is high, and the political risks are great.
Republicans in the State Legislature are already skeptical of the mayor’s
approach to education, and the results of his new programs will not be known
for years.
PSBA launches an alumni
network
Are you a former school director or in your final term? Stay connected through the PSBA Alumni Network. Your interest in public education continues beyond your term of service as a school director. And as a PSBA alumnus, you have years of experience and insight into the workings of public education and school boards. Legislators value your opinions as a former elected official. Take that knowledge and put it to work as a member of the PSBA Alumni Network.
For a nominal yearly fee of $25 a year or $100 for a lifetime membership, you will receive:
Are you a former school director or in your final term? Stay connected through the PSBA Alumni Network. Your interest in public education continues beyond your term of service as a school director. And as a PSBA alumnus, you have years of experience and insight into the workings of public education and school boards. Legislators value your opinions as a former elected official. Take that knowledge and put it to work as a member of the PSBA Alumni Network.
For a nominal yearly fee of $25 a year or $100 for a lifetime membership, you will receive:
- Electronic access to the PSBA
Bulletin, the leading public education magazine in Pennsylvania
- Access to legislative information
pertaining to public education and periodic updates via email.
To join, complete
the registration below. For more details or questions, contact Member
Engagement Director Karen Devine at Karen.devine@psba.org or (800)
932-0588, ext. 3322.
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:
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
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