Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup September 28, 2015:
Researchers from the National Center
Did you catch our weekend
postings?
PSSA Scores Tank; Researchers from the
National Center for Educational Statistics rank PA students as among the best
in the nation.
PA Ed Policy Roundup September 27, 2015:
GOP will allow tax vote, if Democrats secure enough
support
AP State Wire By MARC LEVY Published: Yesterday
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Leaders of the Pennsylvania
Legislature's Republican majorities will allow a floor vote on a budget package
that includes an income or sales tax increase if Democrats can secure enough
support to pass it, officials said Friday.
House Minority Whip Mike Hanna, D-Clinton, said Democrats are actively
pursuing the avenue in a bid to break a nearly three-month-old budget
stalemate. Republicans opened the door to such a floor vote during a
closed-door meeting Thursday with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. "This is an interesting challenge that
they've issued," Hanna said. "'If you guys think you have the votes,
go get them and we'll run them.'" Until
Thursday, House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, and Senate Majority
Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, had said they would not agree to a budget package
that included an increase in the sales tax or income tax. That refusal has
created a significant obstacle to Wolf's pursuit of a multibillion-dollar tax
increase that he says is necessary to wipe out the GOP's funding cuts for
schools and human services enacted under Wolf's Republican predecessor, Tom
Corbett, and eliminate the deficit. Still,
Reed and Corman do not believe Democratic minority leaders can win over enough
Republicans or, for that matter, Democrats.
Hope for Pennsylvania budget breakthrough as local
groups look for solutions
By John Guerriero 814-870-1690 Erie Times-News September 27, 2015
01:14 AM
ERIE, Pa. -- The Republican-controlled Legislature in
Harrisburg passed an $11.2 billion stopgap budget that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf
is expected to veto. That would
seemingly put the legislative and executive branches of state government back
to square one in the 89-day budget impasse, and keep school districts,
nonprofit agencies and others that rely on state revenue in a precarious
funding situation. But there's some
hope.
While Wolf and House and Senate leaders from both parties
met Thursday with "really no developments," another meeting is
planned Monday, said Wolf's spokesman, Jeffrey Sheridan. Sheridan said the legislative leaders had
questions about Wolf's liquor- and pension-reform proposals. Sheridan said the
governor hopes they "find them to be workable solutions and want to keep
talking about them."
Pennsylvania budget impasse baffles school officials
Greene County Bureau Chief Published: September 25, 2015
The ongoing failure of Gov. Tom Wolf and legislative leaders
to reach a budget agreement has school officials on edge. West Greene Superintendent Thelma Szarell
found irony in receiving six letters from the state Department of Education
over the past three months reminding the school district it needs to stay up to
date on employee pension payments to the state.
“It’s kind of an odd thing that the (state) budget hasn’t been passed,
but we’re expected to make the payments we owe to the state while they can’t
even take care of their own school districts,” Szarell said.
The budget impasse has lasted nearly three months as
negotiations between the Republican-controlled state Legislature and Democratic
Gov. Tom Wolf ground to a halt. Meanwhile, school districts across the state
watch with “uncertainty” as they wait to see when the budget will be passed to
allow school funds to be released, Szarell said. The issue over the Public School Employee
Retirees’ System, or PSERS pension fund, hit a boiling point in Upper St. Clair
when the school board there votedMonday night to authorize its finance
director to withhold payments related to the employer’s obligations, but not
the employees’ withholding.
Budget impasse squeezes some school districts’
payments to charters
PSBA website By Christen Smith, Staff Reporter,
Capitolwire Reposted with permission
As of Thursday more than two dozen school districts have
shortchanged or suspended tuition payments to charter schools amid the ongoing
budget stalemate. While the decision
isn’t unexpected, a charter school advocate and former Corbett administration
spokesman says it is, in fact, illegal. “The
Charter School Law does not permit school districts to withhold funding from
charter schools in the absence of a state budget,” said Tim Eller, executive
director of the Keystone Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “The bulk of
funding for charter schools is funneled through school districts, and with many
of them refusing to pay, charter schools are being financially strangled. This
is affecting thousands of students who attend charter schools across the
state.” Current state law requires
districts to funnel 12 equal monthly tuition payments to charters by the fifth
day of each month, however, no provisions exist for how to proceed during a
budget impasse.
Harrisburg School District
cuts charter payments during budget stalemate
Penn Live By M. Diane McCormick | Special to
PennLive on September 24, 2015 at 1:06 PM,
updated September 24, 2015 at 2:42 PM
Harrisburg School District will withhold half its charter
school payments as long as the state budget is in standoff, under a school
board vote Monday night. The board voted
to cut in half its monthly charter school payments of about
$900,000 until state funding materializes for the 2015-16
school year. Until a budget is adopted,
districts can cut charter school payments by the same ratio the state pays
toward their budgets, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association has advised
its members. In Harrisburg, the cut is
50 percent "because that's approximately proportional to the percentage of
our revenue that comes from the basic education subsidy," said board Vice
President James Thompson. "When that
basic education subsidy is paid, then the school district will pay the other 50
percent," Thompson said. "That's
what a lot of school districts across the Commonwealth are choosing to do
because there has been no passage of the state budget," added board member
Lola Lawson.
Poor credit puts crunch on
Pa. school districts
Trib Live By Katelyn
Ferral Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, 9:00 p.m.
Pennsylvania
ranks second nationwide for the number of school districts with credit ratings
that are the equivalent of “junk,” highlighting the challenges of a dwindling
tax base coupled with increasing pension payments amid a state budget
stalemate. The state has four districts,
three of them in Western Pennsylvania, whose credit was downgraded to
“speculative,” the equivalent of junk, this year by Moody's. Michigan leads the
country with seven districts. “It's a
black eye on the whole state of Pennsylvania,” Auditor General Eugene DePasquale
said. East Allegheny, McKeesport, Penn
Hills and the Philadelphia school district carry junk ratings. Five districts
in the state have ratings just above junk: Charleroi Area, Frazier, West
Mifflin, Mid Valley and York City, according to Moody's. Abysmal credit ratings make it more expensive
for districts to borrow money, a cost taxpayers will eventually pay. They can restrict districts' ability to
borrow, a challenge more could have as they seek short-term loans to pay
employees because of a budget impasse that's freezing state funding.
Penn Live Letters to the Editor by
Gene Barr on September 24, 2015 at 3:00 PM, updated September 24, 2015 at
3:01 PM
GENE BARR is president
and CEO, PA Chamber of Business and Industry, Harrisburg
A strong education system is a priority on which everyone
can agree. However, continuing to throw more money at education without
addressing the reasons why schools are diverting tax dollars from the classroom,
as Susan Spicka recently advocated for in her column, is not a
responsible policy solution. According
to U.S. Census Bureau data, Pennsylvania ranks in the top 10 in the nation for
overall K-12 per-pupil spending. Pennsylvania is not suffering from a lack of
tax dollars going toward education. What we are suffering from is the ability
to ensure those tax dollars are reaching students. With an unfunded liability of more than $53
billion, Pennsylvania's pension debt represents the greatest fiscal challenge
the state and school districts. Until elected officials enact
substantial, structural public pension reforms, more and more taxpayer dollars
will be directed towards growing pension obligations instead of to resources
for students and teachers.
Nearly all Pa. legislators
accept pay during state budget gridlock
Trib Live By Melissa
Daniels Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, 12:01 a.m.
State Rep. Mark Mustio began saving for this day in January. He planned to forgo collecting his $85,338-a-year salary in the event of a budget stalemate between newly elected Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled Legislature, and he wanted to be prepared financially.
State Rep. Mark Mustio began saving for this day in January. He planned to forgo collecting his $85,338-a-year salary in the event of a budget stalemate between newly elected Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled Legislature, and he wanted to be prepared financially.
“I thought it would be the proper thing to do,” said Mustio,
a Republican from Moon. The last
paycheck he took was issued July 1. The day before, Wolf vetoed an on-time, $30
billion Republican-passed spending plan.
“I didn't collect it this month. I won't do so in October or November or
December, until we have a budget,” he said.
By PennLive.com Follow on Twitter on September 24, 2015 at 9:10 PM
Mifflin County SD Board
approves borrowing funds
Line of credit allows district to obtain over
$5.2 million to maintain operations
By joe cannon -
Special to The Sentinel , Lewistown Sentinel September 25, 2015
LEWISTOWN - The
Mifflin County School District, beginning to feel the crunch being brought on
by the lack of a state budget, is entering into an agreement with Juniata
Valley Bank to borrow up to $5,225,000 through a line of credit, following
action taken Thursday by the district's board of directors.
"The goal is to graduate
kids who have options. They can go on to a community college or a four-year
degree program. They can also start a career with a marketable skill and three
years of training behind them, making them more likely to secure a job and
higher wages, instead of floundering out in the job market, where more
than 10 percent of young adults with only a high school diploma are
unemployed and more than 20
percent live in poverty, according to Pew Research Center."
A High School Where
College Is Not the Goal
At Randolph Technical High School in
Philadelphia, students are learning about carpentry, culinary arts, and auto
repair. Has the system given up on them, or has it saved them?
The Atlantic by GILLIAN B. WHITE SEP 24, 2015
Eighteen-year-old
Johnika Tavares just graduated from Randolph in June with a specialization in
health care. She’s now taking classes at a nearby college and working as a home
health aide. She’s able to grasp the concepts and medical terminology easily,
she says, because she’s seen most of it already during her time at Randolph.
Joe Williams, who
now runs Randolph’s welding program, is another former student. Last year, he
says, he had a 100 percent success rate—all of his seniors got jobs. The
profession is so highly in demand that he’s been able to help secure partnerships
with five outside companies, creating a job pipeline for students. “You’ll have
a 17-year-old graduating making $45,000 or $50,000 a year as opposed to working
for a fast food company, flipping burgers,” he says.
Don't believe the (lack
of) hype - the 2015 Supreme Court elections are a big deal: Rick Bloomingdale
PennLive Op-Ed By
Rick Bloomingdale on September 25, 2015 at 1:00 PM,
updated September 25, 2015 at 7:47 PM
Rick Bloomingdale is president of the
Pennsylvania AFL-CIO. He writes from Harrisburg.
Most of us probably
don't think that off-year elections matter. Between all the other
statewide and national campaigns that come through Pennsylvania, it would be
easy to let elections in odd numbered years go by with little notice. This year, however, Pennsylvanians have a
crucial choice to make about the direction of the commonwealth. The outcome of the election for state Supreme
Court will determine many issues that impact working people and their ability
to sustain their families. The top
posts in our judicial branch of government are responsible for the final say on
important matters of economic justice and worker rights. Deciding everything from redistricting,
public education, pensions, worker safety, voting rights and women's issues- it
would be hard to find a single Pennsylvanian who doesn't have a stake in the
outcome.
'The READ! by
4th campaign is reaching out to area schools of education to help them
provide teachers-in-training with deep knowledge of evidence-based
instructional methods – the knowledge that embodies the rocket science needed
to promote early literacy. That challenge is the topic of an upcoming workshop."
Preparing teachers to
deliver high-quality reading instruction
the notebook By
Nancy Scharff on Sep 25, 2015 12:28 PM
Teaching
reading is rocket science! And Philadelphia’s citywide
campaign to get all 4th graders reading at grade level, READ! by 4th, is
committed to delivering that "rocket science" preparation for our
city’s teachers. The campaign is working in partnership with the School
District of Philadelphia to meet this major challenge. This past summer, with support from the
William Penn and Lenfest Foundations, the District embarked on a three-year
effort to ensure that all K-3 teachers have access to the highest-quality
professional development and instructional materials – the knowledge and
materials needed to help students become proficient readers and writers. More
than 500 teachers and principals participated in a weeklong literacy institute
designed to support them in implementing evidence-based literacy instruction.
Teacher feedback was strongly positive. But
the summer literacy institutes are only a first step. To ensure that
teachers arrive in schools fully prepared, we need to enhance the quality and
content of the preparation in literacy instruction that teacher education
programs offer.
Queen Village Neighborhood
Association shares good news about Philly Schools
When parents consider the curriculum offered at local public schools, science
labs, after school academic clubs, art, music, a garden and Spanish classes
don’t always fit into the equation.
But that’s not the case for students enrolled at the George W. Nebinger
Elementary School, 601 Carpenter Street. Nebinger offers all of the above as
well as cultural and economic diversity to its students. "The narrative out there is that the
Philadelphia School District is in free fall. And why would any sane person
stick around when they had kids?" Jeff Hornstein, President of the Queen Village
Neighborhood Association (QVNA) asked rhetorically during a general membership
meeting at the Nebinger School Thursday, September 17th. "We know on the
ground that that’s not the case. We have amazing neighborhood schools. And
they’re amazing because they have great principals, great community support and
great partnerships." Hornstein’s
comments on support and partnerships provided a good framework for last week’s
meeting. It demonstrated how schools in Queen Village like Nebinger and the
William H. Meredith School, through community support and partnerships with
organizations such as the Walnut Street Theater, Philadelphia Reads, and Drexel
University, are able to offer more than what the cash-strapped school district
can provide.
Videos portray charter school students encouraging
walkouts in Allentown
By Jacqueline
Palochko Of The Morning Call September 25, 2015
Videos shared on
social media show a teacher has been preparing students from the Medical
Academy Charter School during school hours to participate in a campaign against
the Allentown School District that includes protests at board meetings and a
student walkout every day for a week. Michael
Frassetto posted videos on his Facebook page that show students in charter
school uniforms in a classroom at the Catasauqua school telling people to show
up at Thursday's Allentown School Board meeting. About 50 students and parents turned out.
Chaos erupted when students rattled glass windows and demanded to be let in
when the school board locked them out, saying the meeting room was full. The
group also marched into an Allentown City Council committee meeting, demanding
to be heard.
House Speaker Boehner, Key
Architect of NCLB, to Resign From Congress
Education Week
Politics K-12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa on September 25, 2015 9:55
AM
UPDATED: Speaker of the House John Boehner will resign
from his position and give up his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives at
the end of October, the New York Times reported Friday.
Boehner, an Ohio
Republican, was elected House Speaker in 2010. He was the chairman of the House
Education and the Workforce committee when Congress passed the No Child Left
Behind Act in 2001, and played a key role in
shepherding NCLB through the legislative process. At certain
points, foreshadowing subsequent battles he would have with conservative tea
party representatives while serving as speaker, he had to overcome objections
from conservative GOP colleagues that the bill that became NCLB gave too much
influence to the federal government on education policy. Boehner will be the last of the four lead
authors of NCLB in Congress to leave, following former Rep. George Miller,
D-Calif., late Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and former Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.
(hat-tip to Michael Petrilli of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute). However, Boehner fell short of his original
objective to include a voucher program in the NCLB bill.
Before retiring, Jan
Resseger staffed advocacy and programming to support public education
justice in the national setting of the United Church of Christ—working to
improve the public schools that serve 50 million of our children; reduce
standardized testing; ensure attention to vast opportunity gaps; advocate for
schools that welcome all children; and speak for the public role of public
education. Jan chaired the National Council of Churches Committee on
Public Education for a dozen of those years.
Charter Sector Sucks
Public Funds Out of Underfunded Public Schools
Jan Resseger's Blog Posted
on September 25, 2015 by janresseger
Now that charter
schools have been operating for two decades, our collective experience with
these publicly funded and privately managed schools is increasingly raising
questions about their impact on the traditional public school districts of
which they are supposedly a part. The deep fiscal threat is far more
basic than the scandals arising from place to place due to lack of regulation
by state legislatures. Charter schools serve only about 6 percent of
children across the United States. Here
are four recent reports in the press.
If You Thought Charter
School Funders Might Be Losing Steam, Think Again
Inside Philanthropy by 
Stefanie Garden
September 24, 2015
Stefanie Garden
September 24, 2015
Over the past 15
years, funders have poured a fortune into backing charter schools. And while
there is fierce debate over the effectiveness of such schools, one point seems
less controversial: The rise of charters, with the attendant choice and market
competition, hasn't spurred a revolution in public schools writ large, as
many funders had hoped. The share of school kids in public charters has risen
nearly five-fold since 2000—yet is still below 5 percent.
That's not exactly a
solution on the fast track to scale, and as the scholar Jay Greene has pointed
out, even the biggest ed funders like Walton and Gates wield puny resources
compared to the size of the K-12 system—a mammoth $600 billion-a-year
enterprise. Meanwhile, some notable ed reform disappointments, such as those in
Newark and Milwaukee, have underscored the obstacles that charter proponents
can face in trying to remake entire urban school systems.
All of which is why
we've been on the lookout for signs that ed philanthropists may be losing steam
when it comes to pushing charters, choice, and competion. We've speculated that
some recent initiatives to improve how students learn may signal a shift to
other priorities among funders. Now,
though, news out of Los Angeles makes it clear that the charter movement still
has plenty of energy and ambition.
"Opt Out has spread
across the state of New York Long Island . In 2015, the number
was in excess of 200,000 test refusals—which meant that 20%
of all possible test takers’ parents said, “not my child”.
The Power of Opt Out to
Preserve Public Education
Network for Public Education Feature by Carol Burris September 27, 2015
Jeanette Deutermann
did not intend to become the leader of the most effective opt out organization
in the United States .
She was a suburban mom trying to figure out why her son no longer wanted to go
to school. The year that Long Island Opt
Out began, Tyler Deutermann was an unhappy fourth grader with school anxiety
that was increasing every day. During the month of February of 2012, Jeanette
began investigating why her son who once loved school so much, now hated it.
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.
"This will be an opportunity for the
community to discuss its collective aspirations for our next
superintendent. We hope you'll join us for an evening of learning and
discussion about how we as a community can support our Board in its search for
our schools next leader."
Getting a Great
Superintendent
Pittsburgh, PA Wednesday, October 7, 2015 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
A+ Schools and its partners are hosting a community discussion
about innovative talent search models that have attracted high quality leadership
to key roles in the City of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Public Schools
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.
School Leadership Conference
online registration closes Sept. 25
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:
Registration is open for the 19th Annual
Eastern Pennsylvania Special Education Administrators’ Conference
on October 21-23rd in Hershey.
Educators in the
field of special education from public, charter and nonpublic schools are
invited to attend. The conference offers rich professional development
sessions and exceptional networking opportunities. Keynote speakers are
Shane Burcaw and Jodee Blanco. Register at https://www.paiu.org/epaseac/conf_registration.php
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.
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/>
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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