Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
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administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's
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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 September 22 , 2015:
Parents, School Districts
Ask Pennsylvania
Blogger Rant: Ubiquitous radio
ads notwithstanding, there's no such thing as a "tuition-free" cyber
school.
Every dollar that goes to
cybers via the state's convoluted funding scheme is a dollar taken away from
the remaining students in the school district paying the tuition bill. In the Philly radio marketplace we continue
to be barraged with cyber charter commercials (paid for with our school tax
dollars that should be spent in classrooms).
Not one of Pennsylvania
Reprise: How do Pennsylvania
The numbers are low.
Some of the lowest.
And it's not golf, so that's not a good thing.
“We are asking Pennsylvania courts to
exercise their weighty responsibility to ensure that state officials abide by
Constitutional commands, just as courts in many other states have done.,” said
Jennifer Clarke, executive director of the Public Interest Law Center. “We hope
that this Supreme Court will step up because the disparities between wealthy
and poor school districts in Pennsylvania
Parents, School Districts
Ask Pennsylvania
Thorough and Efficient Blog by bgrimaldi2015 September 21, 2015
Harrisburg, Pa. – In a brief filed Friday, public
school parents, school districts, and two statewide associations continued
their legal challenge of Pennsylvania’s broken school funding system, telling
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that the availability of a high-quality public
education in Pennsylvania will continue to be a “function of community wealth
rather than a constitutional guarantee” unless the Court agrees to hear the
legal challenge.
The petitioners are asking the court to send the case to a
full trial and allow them to present evidence that the state legislature has
failed to adequately and equitably fund the state’s public schools, thereby
violating the legislature’s constitutional requirement to provide a “thorough
and efficient system of public education” and to prohibit discrimination in
state programs and services.
AMICI URGE PA COURTS TO HEAR EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY CASE
State says courts
should not hear the evidence
"While Kenney mulls the
most recent proposal from Barnes that calls for a reduction in charter school
tuition payments from $40,000 to $16,000, negotiations are happening between
the largest charter school in the state and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Kirkland
By Vince Sullivan,
Delaware County Daily
HARRISBURG >> A sea of orange cascaded down the steps
to the State Capitol Monday morning as more than 80 supporters of the Chester
Upland School District rallied for the passage of a proposed bill that would
bring the distressed school system out of a decades-long deficit. Organized by the school board, elected officials, students,
parents and teachers spoke in the East Wing Rotunda about fair school funding
and then emerged to the Capitol steps to loudly proclaim where they are from
and what they want. “We’re excited about
you all coming to Harrisburg
and fighting for our school district,” said state Rep. Thaddeus Kirkland,
D-159, at a press conference Monday morning in the East Wing Rotunda. “Chester students do
matter. We don’t have the financial wherewithal of other school districts ...
But our students and our teachers still come to school each and every day.” Kirkland
has submitted a bill, HB 1521, that would provide a $25 million payment from
the state to lift the district out of its structural deficit. On July 1, that
deficit stood at $23.8 million. Over the last five weeks, Chester Upland Receiver
Francis V. Barnes has proposed reducing the amount of money paid to charter
schools for special education students. His original proposal was denied by
Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Chad F. Kenney, and a second
proposal seeking the same reduction, along with the $25 million extraordinary
payment, is currently being considered by the judge.
"The partisanship he
reads about in Harrisburg
School board questions
lawmakers' commitment to education
Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter on
September 21, 2015 at 4:09 PM
Cut off from state funding since July 1, school boards are
getting restless about when astate budget will get
finalized and when they might see dollars from Harrisburg start flowing again.
But that wasn't the only thing on the minds of school board
members from Montgomery County's Spring-Ford Area School District, who came to
state Capitol on Monday to discuss the impact of the now 83-day budget impasse
with state lawmakers as well as deliver a legislative wishlist. Their list includes fairer school funding
system, a different way of funding charter schools,
rising pension costs,
and property tax reform but also near or the top of their list is a different
school district budget year.
Guest Columnist:
Lawmakers: Forego stunts and pass a Pa.
By Brendan
Finucane, Delco Times Guest Columnist POSTED: 09/21/15, 9:43 PM EDT
Brendan Finucane is
professor of economics at Shippensburg
University
Simply stated, Pennsylvania
needs a structurally sound balanced budget that achieves what polls show people
want — increased school funding with a fair tax on natural gas drillers and
property tax relief. When do we need it?
Now would be a good time! Instead, we’re
getting delaying tactics from some legislative leaders in Harrisburg who appear to be trying to
duplicate the gridlock and dysfunction that the Republican-controlled Congress
in D.C. has perfected since 2010. Here
in Pennsylvania
we can, and we must, do better. Rather
than negotiating a compromise budget deal, the Republican-controlled Senate
last week passed stopgap funding for schools and some programs. Republicans in
the House intend to pass the bill this week. Gov. Tom Wolf has wisely promised
to veto it. Does this sound familiar? It
brings to mind the budget gridlock in Washington ,
D.C.
Stop-gap budget chugs
along in House
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Monday, September
21, 2015
With its ultimate fate already widely known, a temporary
funding measure continued to move through the General Assembly Monday as it
passed along party lines out of the House Appropriations Committee. There, familiar arguments met the spending
bill and related legislation that tore through the Senate last week. House Appropriations Committee Minority
Chairman Joe Markosek (D-Allegheny) said during Monday’s committee meeting that
the passage of the legislation would take away the pressure currently facing
legislators to get a budget done, which is being brought by public schools and
social service agencies who are lacking critical state funding. “It buys us a little bit of time, but it
really doesn’t solve the budget problem,” he said. “What we are doing here
today is essentially using precious time…to go through an exercise that is
essentially meaningless.” Meanwhile, Chairman
Bill Adolph (R-Delaware) noted the pain that brings the pressure is what the
spending plan is trying to alleviate. “The impact is real, the impasse is real,” he said. “I’m
sure you’ve heard from these service providers, from your school boards, and
the employees of the school district of what their needs are going to be in the
next few weeks.”
Stopgap budget bills
headed to House amid Wolf's veto threat
Penn Live By The Associated Press on
September 21, 2015 at 4:47 PM
Republicans should take
Wolf's offer on booze, pensions: John Hanger
PennLive Op-Ed By John Hanger on September 21, 2015
at 11:00 AM, updated September 21, 2015 at 11:10 AM
If you needed another example of how broken Harrisburg has become, look no further than
this past Wednesday. Not long after Wolf
put historic compromises on the table for Republican leaders' biggest
priorities – pension reform with a 401K-style component and liquor
privatization – Sens. Jake Corman, R-Centre, and Joe Scarnati,
R-Jefferson, took to the Capitol rotunda to score political points. Rather than being accurate about Gov. Tom
Wolf's proposed historic reforms on these priorities, Corman and Scarnati
misrepresented what had been discussed in budget negotiations. The governor remains committed to helping
middle class families in Pennsylvania
by reversing Republican cuts to education and human service providers,
providing property tax relief and fixing our mess of a budget deficit without
gimmicks or games.
Despite #PaBudget
setbacks, we're still looking for an agreement with Gov. Wolf: Jake Corman
PennLive Op-Ed By Jake Corman on September 21, 2015
at 11:00 AM, updated September 21, 2015 at 2:16 PM
Frustration with the budget negotiation process continues to
mount – both inside and outside the Capitol dome. With proposals for changing
both the state's pension and liquor systems on the table Gov. Tom Wolf began to
personally attack Republicans in both the Senate and House. When
we asked him for details, Wolf ranted on social media that we rejected his
offer. We simply asked Wolf for additional detail. The bullet-point descriptions that we
received of both plans do not provide enough detail for us to be able to say
yes or no. While I look
forward to returning to the negotiating table and learning the details of
Wolf's proposals, others such as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have condemned the
plans saying they offer legislative leaders "no compromise at
all."
DN Editorial: MIND THE
STOPGAP
Philly Daily News
Editorial POSTED: Monday, September 21, 2015, 12:17 AM
AFTER 2 1/2 MONTHS of stalemate over the state budget, push
has come to shove in Harrisburg . The Republican-led Legislature appears ready
to pass a so-called stopgap budget to temporarily fund state government. The
Senate passed the bill last week. The state House is due to debate it this week
and almost certainly will pass it. It's
a tempting proposition. The bill would appropriate $11 billion to keep the
state operating until the end of October, thus giving Gov. Wolf and the
Legislature extra time to come up with an agreement on the issues dividing
them. It would certainly be a relief to
local governments and school districts, who depend on regular infusions of
state aid to keep their operations up and running. Many are facing the option
of curtailing services or borrowing money to make up the hole. Despite this, we strongly urge the governor
to veto the stopgap bill. Although it
will provide short-term relief for local governments and school districts, it
does nothing to settle the larger, long-term issues facing state government.
"Wolf
should agree to liquor privatization. Republicans should give on the severance
tax. And then, with those two compromises in hand, the sides should quickly
resolve to pass a responsible budget that commits to increasing the state’s
share of education funding. That’s a responsible plan worthy of our state. And
Wolf needs to move to make it happen or risk losing the support he still has."
LNP Editorial: Time for Wolf to make a serious
concession
THE ISSUE: The Pennsylvania Pennsylvania ’s public
schoolchildren, the governor should give on liquor privatization to get state
budget negotiations on track toward a responsible resolution. Forget his proposal last week to offer a
long-term lease to manage the state liquor stores; private firms would bid on a
contract to manage the system, which would stay under state ownership. If Gov. Wolf can make a deal with Republican
leaders that would make good on his promise to boost funding for Pennsylvania ’s public
schools, he should choose our children over the unions that oppose
privatizing our state-owned liquor stores. If he fails to do so, he could lose
the support of those who elected him because they’re rightly frustrated with
the human costs of the ongoing budget impasse.
As an organization that endorsed Wolf for governor in the November 2014 election,
we resist calling on Wolf to sign the Republican stopgap budget.
By Erica Erwin 814-870-1846 Erie
Times-News September 22, 2015 12:12 AM
The Erie School Board on Monday unanimously gave Erie schools
Superintendent Jay Badams the authority to close schools if needed as the state
budget impasse continues. Badams
stressed that a districtwide shutdown is a last resort, and said the district
is still exploring other avenues, including borrowing money to allow the
district to keep operating beyond Oct. 2, the day it will run out of funds
unless it receives any additional tax revenue.
"It's preparing for any event," Badams said. He said the district will aim to give
employees and families a two-week notice before any shutdown, a massive and
logistically complicated undertaking that would affect the families of nearly
12,000 students. Employees could be
asked to work without pay for a time before a shutdown, depending on if and
when additional revenue comes in.
By Sara K. Satullo | For
lehighvalleylive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on September 21, 2015 at 8:34 PM,
updated September 22, 2015 at 12:46 AM
A year into outsourcing its substitute teacher staffing,
the Bethlehem Area School District isn't
sold it's been a worthwhile change. The
district is reviewing how its first year outsourcing substitute teacher
staffing went. The district is entering
the second year of its contract with Substitute Teacher Services and evaluating
how the switch has gone thus far. The
district pays the company a fee, 28 percent of the wages paid to subs, but
avoids having to pay health benefits or retirement costs. "Are we really getting our money's worth
out of this?" board President Michael Faccinettto asked during a Monday
night school board committee
meeting. The company's 2014-15
substitute teacher fill rate was actually 1 percent behind the district's rate
the prior year.
Results of the 2015 NOCTI
exams for Philly CTE students, school by school
the notebook By Paul Socolar, graphic by David Limm on
Sep 21, 2015 11:54 AM
Students in career and technical education (CTE) programs take
a competency exam in their field during their senior year. It's called
the NOCTI, or National
Occupational Competency Testing Institute, and it provides one tool for judging
the quality of a CTE program. Overall,
the pass rate in Philadelphia
schools on NOCTI exams was about 70 percent in 2015. For the first time this fall, the Notebook obtained
and published NOCTI competency rates school-by-school for its annual high
school guide. Here you find a more detailed breakdown of the results for Philadelphia schools.
Sen. Pat Toomey fights against 'passing the trash'
Reform of the federal Crime Victims Fund wasn’t the only initiative
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R.-Pa., highlighted during his
Monday appearance in Lancaster. Toomey
has authored legislation that would ban a practice known as “passing the
trash,” in which a school or school district helps a known pedophile find
another teaching job. You wouldn’t think
someone could possibly recommend a child predator as a teacher, but “it’s all
too common a phenomenon,” he said. The Senate included the ban in the Every Child Achieves Act,
which it passed in July. The U.S. House
has passed similar legislation, and Toomey said he’s “cautiously optimistic” a
final bill will get to President Barack Obama’s desk.
Analysis | Test expert
worries kids are turning into robots
Teach to the Test: The challenge of ever-changing
Keystone exams
Cumberlink September 20, 2015 8:15
am • Jake
Austin The Sentinel
For many area school districts, Keystone exams signify a
variety of changes: A change in structure, a change in approach, and, at the
moment, an apparent change in the quality of student exam scores, scores that
were released to district administrators and are projected to be low. The exams, which replaced Pennsylvania System
of School Assessment exams (PSSAs) at the high school level during the
2012-2013 school year, are aligned to new Pennsylvania core standards, which
the Pennsylvania Department of Education says are still new to both
students and teachers. PSSAs continue to
be offered to students in grades 3-8 now under full alignment to new state
standards. However, a recent news release from Gov. Tom Wolf confirmed that
PSSA results have been granted a one-year break from inclusion in School
Performance Profile (SPP) scores as elementary and middle schools adapt to
standard changes. But Keystones were not
overlooked this year — a decision that is believed to have contributed to a
current decline in some schools’ recorded SPP scores. According to the
PDE, those scores will be officially released at the end of September.
"For example, an art
teacher in New York
I asked if Obama, Duncan
A focus of the Obama administration’s
education reform effort has been the remaking of teacher evaluation systems to
include student standardized test scores. States that wanted to receive federal
funding in President Obama’s $4.3 billion Race to the Top education funding
contest had to commit to linking test scores to teacher evaluation, and the
same was true for those states that wanted to receive a federal waiver from the
most onerous parts of No Child Left Behind. Most states wound up passing laws
linking scores to evaluation, even though assessment experts — including the
American Statistical Association — have warned against the “value-added
measurement” method being used to make that linkage. This linking has had some unusual
consequences. Because there are standardized tests only in math and English
Language Arts are tested, policymakers determined to evaluate all teachers on
the scores devised ways of getting around the problem. They did this by, for
example, evaluating teachers on the average scores of all students in a school,
or grouping subjects together as they appear to relate to math or English
Language Arts and evaluating teachers on those scores. For example, an art
teacher in New York
is
assessed by his students’ standardized math scores. The result:
teachers are assessed on the test scores of students they don’t have and/or
subjects they don’t teach.
Wondering whether President Obama and Education Secretary Arne
Duncan knew that their policies had led to this state of affairs, I asked both
the White House and the Education Department to respond to individual versions
of this question:
"As I wrote earlier,
such critics didn’t have any actual evidence to back up their argument against
school board as authorizers. I pointed to the fact that while critics
constantly claimed school boards were reluctant to allow charter schools into
their districts, school boards actually had a higher acceptance rate than other
authorizers such as state boards of education and independent state charter
boards. In the years since, not much has changed. The most recent data from
the National
Association for Charter School Authorizers showed that school boards
had the second highest approval rate out of the five authorizing types.
Moreover, only two other authorizing types had higher closure rates as well. As
I argued previously, if school boards were so threatened by charter schools why
are they more likely to approve a new charter school’s application and less
likely to close them?"
School boards as charter
school authorizers
Center for Public
Education The EDifier by Jim Hull September 21, 2015
The issue of charter schools got thrust back into the
spotlight with the recent
court decision from Washington
State
Blogger note: looks like it helps to live in the wealthiest school
districts in the state….
"Students in New York and Pennsylvania
The 20 Best School
Districts in the U.S.
Philly.com Business
News Written by: Caroline Nolan 09/19/15 - 11:51 AM EDT
These surveys were used to grade each school district on
factors including Academics, Health & Safety, Student Culture &
Diversity, Survey Responses, Teachers, Resources & Facilities,
Extracurriculars & Activities and Sports & Fitness.
"K-12 has been a
"tricky" issue for Democratic presidential candidates because of the
divide between the "reform" wing of the party and teachers' unions on
issues like ending teacher tenure and expanding charter schools. It's easier to
focus on the areas where most primary voters are in agreeement, like ending
student loan debt, McGuinn wrote. Finally,
this past year has seen a big backlash around the federal role in education and
Obama's K-12 agenda, particularly when it comes to the common core and
standardized testing. "I don't think any of the Dem candidates want to be
too closely associated with all that," McGuinn wrote."
Why Aren't Democratic
Presidential Contenders Talking About K-12 Policy?
Education Week Politics K-12 Blog By Alyson Klein on September
21, 2015 7:27 AM
Former U.S. Secretary of State and White House contender Hillary Clinton
has proposals to eliminate
college-debt and expand
universal pre-kindergarten. And two of her rivals for the Democratic
presidential nomination, Sen.
Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and former Maryland Gov.
Martin O'Malley, have also put out far-reaching proposals for significantly
boosting access to higher education. Edu-experts
have picked apart and prodded at the higher-ed plans, and even Josh
Earnest, a White House spokesman, said it would good for the country to have
a "robust
debate" on college access.
Missing from all this discussion of the bookends of education? Any sort
of comprehensive proposal, from any of the leading Democratic candidates, on
how they would like to reshape K-12 policy.
Campbell Brown’s website
pays well, got help from anti-tenure group
Politico New York By CONOR SKELDING 5:25 a.m. |
Sep. 21, 2015follow
this reporter
Tax filings from
former CNN anchor Campbell Brown’s nonprofit education site, The Seventy Four,
detail its salary structure for top editorial employees and payments for public
relations, as well as help in setting up that it got from an anti-teacher
tenure group. The top editor earns about
$200,000, two other editors earn about $150,000 and $125,000, respectively, and
a reporter earns about $90,000, according to The Seventy Four's application to
the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status. (Salaries more than $50,000
were listed as estimates and without names because the January 2015 application
was filed before the staff was hired.)
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.
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.
School Leadership Conference
online registration closes Sept. 25
Register Now for PASA-PSBA School
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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