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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup September 29, 2015:
Progress on a state budget
deal? Maybe. At least the sides are meeting
Budget meetings to start
fresh Tuesday
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Monday, September
28, 2015
Gov. Tom Wolf and legislative leaders opted to start
negotiations fresh on Tuesday, calling off plans to possibly meet for a third
time to discuss the Commonwealth’s ongoing budget stalemate Monday. After two meetings, the wording used was
cryptic, but optimistic coming from House Majority Leader Dave Reed
(R-Indiana). “We’d like to try to get a
budget done sooner rather than later,” he said on the prospects of a third
meeting after the second of the day broke up around 5:00 p.m. “If we can meet
tonight and find some common ground, I think that would be a good thing.” While he was elusive about what common ground
he might be speaking of, he did note that both sides are “trying to work
through some numbers.” As Republicans
and Democrats split up among themselves to discuss the day’s unrevealed
movement, Gov. Wolf briefed the press saying both sides are discussing budget
numbers. “We all want a budget, that’s
our common ground,” he said. “We’re still talking.”
Early afternoon budget
meeting has negotiators looking hard at numbers
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Monday, September
28, 2015
While budget negotiators pouring out of Monday’s early-afternoon
budget meeting said they were still nowhere close to a deal, leaders in
attendance went back to their respective corners in earnest to get a better
feel for numbers of what is needed for a General Fund budget package and
supporting revenue. “We have some other
data we need to accumulate,” House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R-Indiana)
quickly told reporters gathered outside the negotiating session before quickly
heading down the stairs out of the governor’s office. House Speaker Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) said
the meeting included “a very detailed” discussion looking at a cost-to-carry
budget and what that would entail. “We
need to get through that in the first instance,” he said. When asked if negotiators were on the brink of a
breakthrough, House Appropriations Committee Majority Chairman Bill Adolph
(R-Delaware) responded, “No, not at all.”
He added this is a necessary discussion before moving on to other
budgetary related matters. House
Minority Leader Frank Dermody (D-Allegheny) said it was “a pretty good sign”
that negotiators met for nearly 90-minutes.
He added it is important to take care of the deficit for the current
fiscal year while also trying to figure out how to avoid having one for the
coming fiscal year.
Legislative leaders meet
with Gov. Tom Wolf on stalled Pennsylvania
Delco Times By The
Associated Press POSTED: 09/28/15, 4:26 PM EDT
Progress on a state budget
deal? Maybe. At least the sides are meeting
Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter on
September 28, 2015 at 7:04 PM, updated September 28, 2015 at 8:28 PM
While it is hard to read the tea leaves from the second
round of state budget talks on
Monday, some might find reason to think that the sides may be picking up
intensity in their quest to end the budget impasse in its 90th day on Monday. House Republican leaders left that meeting
sounding somewhat optimistic that some common ground could be found with the
Democratic administration on some of the spending and revenue number that serve
as a building block for a finalized budget.
They initially planned to meet for a third time Monday with their Senate
Republican and House and Senate Democratic counterparts and Gov. Tom Wolf
after first meeting earlier
in the day but instead, that meeting got pushed off until
Tuesday.
Deadline for Pennsylvania
Delco Times By The
Associated Press POSTED: 09/28/15, 2:55 PM
School bond ratings
scraping bottom in Pa.
WHYY Newsworks BY ASSOCIATED PRESS SEPTEMBER 28, 2015
Quakertown Board withholds pension payment to state
Bucks County
Herald
Following through on a promise made this spring “to create
some civil disobedience,” six members of the Quakertown School Board were on
hand recently to deposit a “check” for $3.4 million in a “lockbox” at the
district’s administrative offices in Milford Township.
While acknowledging the move is largely symbolic, board
members said they are protesting the state’s lack of movement toward a solution
to the pension crisis by withholding the district’s quarterly payment to the
Pennsylvania State Employee Retirement System (PSERS). Instead, the payment
will be withheld from the district’s Basic Education Subsidy, which they said
is legal under state law. “We need to
start somewhere,” said school board President Paul Stepanoff. “We’re expressing
the frustration everybody has. In a wide
ranging news conference, board members criticized teachers, state legislators,
the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Gov. Wolf, and the Pennsylvania
Department of Education for failing to solve the problem. They said said increasing
pension burden is crippling its efforts to improve education and putting an
undue burden on taxpayers.
- See more at: http://buckscountyherald.com/regional/category/quakertown-school-district/#sthash.7r9UiLpR.dpuf
No pension fix, no pension
payment
Just like virtually every other school district in Pennsylvania , the Quakertown Community
School District
It’s easy to see where this is leading: Taxpayers are and
will continue to be held up year after year at tax time, while little if any of
the additional revenue will be used to improve the quality of education. This
was the prediction years ago, when the pension debacle first appeared on the
radar screen. Many people fretted, including lawmakers whose poor decisions
created the mess. But nothing substantial has been done to address the problem:
a now $53 billion problem in the form of unfunded liability in PSERS and SERS,
which serves state employees.
Reading School Board
suspends payments to charter schools, retirement system
The Reading Eagle, Sept. 25, 2015 (Subscription required.)
The Reading Eagle, Sept. 25, 2015 (Subscription required.)
The Reading
SD
http://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/reading-school-boartd-suspends-payments-to-charter-schools-retirement-system#.VgWLTPlVhBd
http://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/reading-school-boartd-suspends-payments-to-charter-schools-retirement-system#.VgWLTPlVhBd
The district is missing about $1.4 million in expected
funding from the state since July, officials say
York Daily Record By
Lillian Reed lreed@eveningsun.com @LillianEReed
on Twitter UPDATED: 09/28/2015 09:28:38 PM EDT
More than 90 days have passed since Pennsylvania
has had a state budget, and Hanover
Public School
District
Budget impasse explained
AIU moves to shore up its finances because of budget
impasses
By Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette September 28, 2015 9:17 PM
Like school districts throughout the state having trouble
making ends meet as a result of the state's budget impasse, the Allegheny
Intermediate Unit board Monday approved a $28 million revenue anticipation note
to meet its day-to-day expenses. The AIU
currently has about $7 million on hand, which is about a half month's worth of
expenses, said Chuck Cronin, assistant director of finance. Mr. Cronin said funds the AIU has not
received because of the budget impasse include $5 million for alternative
education, $4 million in IDEA funds and $1.6 million in core funding.
Budget impasse impacts Alle-Kiski Valley
Trib Live By Staff Report Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015,
12:01 a.m.
Property owners who paid their taxes are helping school
districts weather the budget standoff between the governor and state lawmakers. But with millions in state funding missing,
district officials say they can only get by for so long on local tax revenue
and their reserves. No state money has been released to school districts since Gov.
Tom Wolf vetoed the budget sent to him by the Legislature on June 30, when
lawmakers missed the deadline to get a spending plan in place. Federal funding that is funneled through the
state is being held up, too. Crunch time varies from district to district. For a few,
it's here already, or not far away.
They may take out
lines of credit or have staff go without pay
York Daily Record By
Angie Mason amason@ydr.com @angiemason1 on Twitter UPDATED: 09/28/2015 04:37:15 PM EDT
Two charter schools in York
are looking at taking out lines of credit or the possibility of staff going
without pay because of the state budget impasse, their principals say. The leaders of Lincoln and Thackston charter
schools said Monday that they are about to hit rough times, because their major
sources of funding are tied up at the state level. The state has not adopted a
2015 budget, so funding for school districts and other agencies has not been
released. When a student attends a
charter school, the student's home district pays a tuition rate, set by state
formula, to the charter school. In most cases, the charter schools bill the
districts directly.
Watchdog.org By Evan
Grossman / September 28, 2015
Pennsylvania charter schools are being “strangled” by the
state budget impasse that’s dragged on for three months and has cut off funding
to school districts, says one charter school advocate. The
Keystone Alliance for Public Charter Schools is demanding school
districts release necessary funding to charters, despite the budget stalemate
that’s held up any state spending. The impasse has already delayed more than $1
billion in school funding, but the Keystone Alliance argues holding up tuition
payments to charter schools is a violation of state law. “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.”
Stopgap budget? Wolf says
'no'
Passing stopgap spending legislation is a popular exercise
in Washington .
When Congress, or Congress and the president, cannot agree on critical funding,
very often a temporary budget agreement is reached to buy time while a
permanent solution can be worked out. Such stopgap measures amount to an
admission of guilt by lawmakers that they could not settle their differences
and had to result to a form of gimmickry to keep money flowing.
With Pennsylvania’s budget stalemate almost three months old
and state funding to school districts, counties and social service providers
hanging in the balance, the Republican-controlled Legislature in Harrisburg has
taken a page out of Washington’s “how not to govern” book. On Thursday, the
House sent Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf a temporary budget to lessen the impact of
the impasse. The Senate passed the measure earlier in the month. The $11
million bill would give the state authority to spend until the end of October
and would be retroactive to July 1, when a new spending plan should have been
in place.
"You can't tell me my
kid, in a span of 12 months, drops that low. Something's not right
there." It's a scene playing out in
homes around Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
Parents alarmed over
plummeting math scores in Pennsylvania
Philly.com MICHAEL
RUBINKAM, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS POSTED:
September 28, 2015, 7:26 PM
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:
Medical professionals help
ensure students are on track
Yet many Philadelphia
the notebook By Paul Jablow on Sep 28, 2015 04:38 PM
Dr. Dan Taylor, a pediatrician at the Center for the Urban
Child at St. Christopher's Hospital, hands a book to six-year-old Aniyah
Weddington as part of the Reach Out and Read program. Here’s how it’s supposed to work.
Responsibility for a newborn child’s medical care is
assigned to a pediatrician soon after birth. Any conditions, such as vision problems, that could threaten
the child’s learning are quickly spotted and explained to the parents or
guardians. Checkups screen not only for physical ailments, but also for issues
with language development and learning. The child sees a pediatrician at least
once a year for a regular examination. Prescribed
medications are taken regularly. Parents monitor the child for signs such as
sitting too close to the TV, which could mean nearsightedness, or persistent
lethargy, which could signal something as serious as lead poisoning from
flaking paint. Later, if a condition
flares up when the child is at school, a nurse is there to deal with it, and
often the child can return to class. If it’s more serious, the parents are
informed, and they notify their pediatrician and seek appropriate care. Sitting at the nurse’s desk at William Dick
Elementary School in North
Philadelphia , where she has worked for almost a decade, Pat
Westerfer talked about how it actually works in a low-income, urban district.
“Sometimes the nurse in the building is the only medical
practitioner the kids see,” said Westerfer, who is at Dick only on Tuesdays and
Fridays.
Local colleges join
coalition to broaden access to low income students
Inquirer by Susan
Snyder POSTED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2015, 2:46 PM
A coalition of more than 80 public and private colleges plan
to roll out new online tools to ease the admissions process for students from
low incomes families and other groups that traditionally are underrepresented
on campus, the schools announced Monday.
The goal of the national Coalition for Access, Affordability and
Success, the group said, is to broaden access to higher education for students
who have struggled with financial aid and other elements of the application
process and encourage more students to consider college. The effort, they say, should help level the
playing field for students from all backgrounds. Among the universities participating are: the
University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Rutgers University New
Brunswick, Pennsylvania State University, Swarthmore College, Haverford
College, Bryn Mawr College, the University of Pittsburgh and Franklin &
Marshall College.
Tuesday night, Garnet
Valley School District to consider outsourcing food, custodial, transporation
services
By Susan L. Serbin,
Delco Times Correspondent POSTED: 09/28/15, 10:33 PM EDT
Times Tribune BY
SARAH HOFIUS HALL Published: September 29, 2015
If Rosemary Boland had her way, the Scranton School District
“I’d rather them be in the classroom with the students,” the
president of the Scranton Federation of Teachers said, taking a break from
supporting and cheering for her union members, who started their
strike Friday after school. But
after four weeks without a new contract, Ms. Boland said teachers have little
choice. Starting at 7
a.m. Monday, teachers wearing red “standing up for public education”
shirts walked in front of their schools. The teachers carried “no contract, no
work” signs last used when teachers went on strike in 1998. In front of the Administration Building
Hundreds walk out of Allentown
By Jacqueline Palochko, Christina Tatu and Sarah M. WojcikOf The Morning Call contact the reporters
September 28, 2015
Hundreds of students marched out of
school Monday morning under the leadership of a bullhorn-carrying
charter school teacher who says they need to make their voices heard because the
Allentown School District
"With the addition of
Monday’s grants, the department has awarded more than $3 billion to charter
schools since fiscal 1995. Federal dollars find their way to charter schools
through two routes. In most cases, the federal government awards money to a
state, and the state hands out grants to charter schools. In some instances,
the federal government directly awards money to a public charter school. But the federal government has not tracked
how its dollars have been used by charter schools, nor has it studied their
academic performance."
Charter love: Feds give $157 million to expand charter
schools
The U.S. Department of Education announced Monday it would
give $157 million to create and expand charter schools throughout the nation,
despite criticisms by its inspector general in the past that the agency has
done a poor job of overseeing federal dollars sent to charter schools.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan made a passing reference to
oversight problems during a media call with reporters. “Some have had to fold,
some are struggling to find their way,” he said, referring to poor-performing
charter schools. “We know we have to strengthen oversight… The good news is
that the sector has proven it can improve.”
Education Dept. to Charter
Schools: Here's Millions in Grants, Be More Responsible
Education Week Charters and Choice Blog By Arianna
Prothero on September 28, 2015 6:25 PM
The U.S. Department of Education announced the latest round
of Charter School Program grants to fund new charters and
expand high-performing networks.
However, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says despite what he calls
some impressive recent progress by charters, he continues to be concerned about
fiscal oversight within the charter sector.
"We still see too many reports of unscrupulous behavior of charter
schools and their authorizers," Duncan
said in a press call with reporters. Along
with the $157 million in grant dollars, the Education Department is also asking
recipients to closely monitor school quality, both on fiscal and academic issues.
And states will be required to reevaluate charter schools at least every five
years. To further underscore its focus on oversight, the Education
Department released an open letter to all states urging them to improve
oversight and outlining ways to do it (see below).
"But after all these
years, charters still have nothing to teach public school. Not one pedagogical
technique, not one educational innovation to point at that has spread into
public education. What charters have "discovered" is what public
schools have always known-- if you don't have to accept every single student in
your neighborhood, without exception, without excuse, AND if you have ample
funding and facilities, AND if you can also narrowly define "success"
(as, say, a pair of scores on a single standardized test)-- then you can do
much better than schools that don't have all those advantages. None of this is
news to anybody."
Curmuducation Blog by Peter Greene Monday, September 28,
2015
Charter boosters continue trying to muster some sort of
argument against the decision in Washington
State
Her son began hating school. What happened when she
found out why.
The
movement among parents to refuse to allow their children to take Common
Core-aligned standardized tests has been growing for several years in states
around the country, with some 20 percent of eligible students refusing to take
them this past spring in New York
and tens of thousands more sitting out the exams in other states as well.
Here’s why and how one mother began the opt-out movement in New York .
This was written by Carol Burris, the executive director of the
nonprofitNetwork for Public Education Fund.
Burris retired in June as an award-winning principal at a New York high school, and she is the author
of numerous articles, books and blog posts (including on The Answer Sheet)
about the botched school reform efforts in her state. She was named New York ’s 2013 High
School Principal of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New
York and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. In 2010, she
was selected as the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School
Administrators Association of New York State.
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.
SPECIAL
ANNOUNCEMENT: School Play is going on tour! Click below for more
information about tour dates in your county. All performances are FREE!
School
Play, a documentary-based live theatre piece, is here to put school funding
center stage. Compiled from a series of interviews, the play premiered in Philadelphia in April,
2015 and is now available for free for performances around the
Commonwealth.
"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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