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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for September 8, 2015:
Schools brace for impact of Pa. budget impasse
Make your voice heard at
Education Action Day, Sept. 21
School directors
and administrators from across the state will be converging on the State
Capitol on Monday, Sept. 21 for Education Action Day – your opportunity to push
for a state budget and pension reform. Join PSBA in the Main Capitol-East Wing under the
escalators at 10 a.m. A news conference will be held from 11 a.m.-noon, and
from 1-3 p.m. you may visit with legislators. There is no charge for
participation, but for planning purposes, members are asked to register their
attendance online below. We look forward to a big crowd to impress upon
legislators and the governor the need for a state budget and pension reform
now!
Interested in letting our elected leadership know your thoughts on
education funding, a severance tax, property taxes and the budget?
Governor Tom Wolf, (717) 787-2500
Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Turzai, (717) 772-9943
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
Schools brace for impact of Pa. budget impasse
WITF
State House Sound Bites Written by Mary Wilson | Sep 7, 2015 6:20 PM
(Harrisburg )
-- The school year has already begun in many districts across the commonwealth,
but stalled budget negotiations in Harrisburg
mean there's no sign of when state funding will start flowing again. State budget gridlock has ensnared funding
for social services and schools. For Chester-Upland School
District in Delaware
County , which has had
money problems for years, the frozen funding has left teachers without
paychecks. Steve Robinson of the
Pennsylvania School Boards Association says more schools may have problems
depending on how long the impasse continues.
"We're starting to hear from some of the districts that probably
have a higher state aid ratio that they're very concerned about being able to
make payroll for staff in the near future if the budget isn't resolved
soon," he says. Robinson says other
schools may soon find themselves in the same situation.
No
breakthroughs in quiet talks means, for Pa.
legislators, it's on to a stopgap budget
Penn
Live By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
September 04, 2015 at 8:04 PM, updated September 04, 2015 at 10:33 PM
After two weeks of shuttle
diplomacy on Pennsylvania 's
budget stalemate came up short on breakthroughs, Republican legislative leaders
are starting to turn their attentions to a second track: a stopgap budget bill. Top aides to House and Senate Republican
leaders confirmed Friday they are working jointly on a new bill to get
short-term funding to all manner of human service agencies, local governments
and school districts that, in some cases, have been forced to do without
anticipated state aid since July 1. Aides
stressed the effort is only preparatory at the moment, and any final decision
to bring the measure to the floor will be contingent on progress in the ongoing
negotiations with Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf.
"Besides safety net
services, public schools also are weathering a loss of state aid during the
stalemate, which is hitting particularly hard in one of Pennsylvania's poorest
school districts. Chester Upland School
District, just south of Philadelphia, said it cannot meet a scheduled payroll
Tuesday. Teachers and support staff, including bus drivers and secretaries, returned
to school last week and voted to continue working if they are not paid."
Stopgap bill may ease Pennsylvania budget impasse
Morning Call By Marc Levy Of The Associated Press
Wolf says Pa. stopgap funding 'extreme
hypothetical'
WHYY Newsworks BY MARY WILSON SEPTEMBER 7, 2015
Gov. Tom Wolf is mum
on whether he would sign a short-term funding measure to get state money
flowing again to Pennsylvania
schools and social services providers that have been cut off since July. State Senate Republicans have said they plan
to be in session later this month, and could consider stopgap funding
proposals. But on Friday, Wolf wouldn't say whether he would sign such a
measure if it landed on his desk. "I
sort of avoid hypotheticals," said Wolf, "and this is the most
extreme hypothetical I've heard in a long time." His spokesman has said in recent weeks that
the governor doesn't endorse the short-term funding approach because it doesn't
solve the state's long-term funding problems.
Meanwhile, a recent report from rating agency Moody's notes
"chronically late budgets" have socked Pennsylvania with a
below-average credit rating, which means it faces higher borrowing costs than
do other states.
"Pre-K for Pa., an advocacy group, is
comprised of: Jodi Askins, Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young
Children; Joan Benso, Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children; Cara Ciminillo,
Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children; Donna Cooper,
Public Citizen's for Children and Youth; Bruce Clash, Fight Crime: Invest in
Kids; Steve Doster, Mission Readiness - Military Leaders for Kids; Kevin Dow,
United Way of Greater Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey; Blair Hyatt,
Pennsylvania Head Start Association; Sharon Easterling, Delaware
Valley Association for the Education of Young Children, and Steve Wray,
Economy League of Greater Philadelphia."
When they talk budget,
Wolf and lawmakers can't forget early childhood education: As We See It
Penn Live By John L. Micek | jmicek@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter on
September 04, 2015 at 2:00 PM, updated September 04, 2015 at 2:04 PM
By The Members of Pre-K for Pa.
The sharp elbows of
politics can sometimes be bruising, however unintentional the bump. As Pennsylvania 's budget
impasse stretches into its third month, across the commonwealth the impact of
political gridlock is beginning to be felt.
As PennLive's Jan Murphy notes
in "Cash flow woes: Schools
feeling the pinch of the Pa. budget impasse" (PennLive, Aug. 31), small business
owners and non-profits who operate high-quality Pre-K Counts and Head Start
classrooms across the commonwealth are being forced to make a hard decision. And that's this: Either take out loans (and
pay the interest) to open their doors to eager young learners or close
state-funded classrooms We urge Gov. Tom
Wolf and the Legislature to work together to craft a budget that resolves this
hardship. But their negotiations
regarding pre-kindergarten funding can't only be about preserving state funding
levels from last fiscal year for pre-k and getting those grants out the door.
Schools in Phila., dozens
of towns face ratings cuts, higher costs if Pa. budget drags on
Inquirer by Joseph N. DiStefano POSTED: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2015,
2:56 PM
State-funded public
schools and senior agencies face higher funding costs due to Pennsylvania elected officials' failure to
settle on a budget. Moody's Investors Services warns it is preparing to
downgrade the following debt: - On
Friday, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it plans to cut bond
ratings for Philadelphia, Bristol, Chester Upland, Coatesville, Morrisville and
dozens of other struggling Pennsylvania school districts and community colleges
unless the state's budget "impasse" between Gov. Wolf and Republican
leaders is resolved with a new tax and spending plan by November. (See full
list of districts below.)
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/Pa-schools-.html#3amlGvSvOxIMtJEq.99
Rivera on 'Radio Times':
Education can 'build a village again around our children'
By the
Notebook on Sep 4, 2015 03:09 PM Audio Runtime 48:57
Pennsylvania
Education Secretary Pedro Rivera appeared on Radio Times (WHYY-FM)today
to discuss budgets, equitable school funding, PSSA score drops, community
(non)investment, and how rigorous academic standards like the Common Core and
PA Core standards "are based on upper-class, middle-class values."
"The crisis of
desperately deprived schools is shockingly clear on the crowd-funding website,
donorschoose.org, where hundreds of Philadelphia classroom teachers personally
beg the public to fund pencils, paper, books and other essentials because the
school district stopped paying for bare-bones needs years ago."
Reborn music program
nurtures souls of Waring
School kids
DAN GERINGER, DAILY NEWS
STAFF WRITER GERINGD@PHILLYNEWS.COM,
215-854-5961 POSTED: Tuesday, September 8, 2015, 12:18 AM
SEATED IN A circle
behind their 15 African drums last spring, the Laura Waring School kids smiled
when Mary Schumacher, their music teacher, said, "OK, we're going warp
speed, right?" She set a blistering
pace. Her young drummers stayed right with her. Then, each child took a turn on
the lead, drumming out his or her own beats that the other kids echoed,
call-and-response style. The '50s-era
public school classroom, on Green Street near 18th in Spring Garden, rocked
with hard-driving rhythm, intense furrowing of young brows and satisfied grins
all around at the end. The little
drummers of Waring are a big miracle at a time when chronically cash-strapped Philadelphia public
schools have been stripped of their music and arts programs and turned into
creativity deserts that offer no artistic stimulation to young minds hungering
for it.
Excitement, but also
funding concerns as kids return to Philly schools
SOLOMON LEACH, DAILY NEWS
STAFF WRITER LEACHS@PHILLYNEWS.COM,
215-854-5903 POSTED: Tuesday, September 8, 2015, 12:18 AM
LIKE CLOCKWORK, tens
of thousands of students will descend on the city's public schools today,
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after saying goodbye to summer. But another all-too-familiar tradition is the
lingering concern about the district's funding - this time, due to the fact
state lawmakers have not adopted a budget, meaning it cannot dispense dollars
to the commonwealth's 501 school districts.
Superintendent William Hite has said if the budget is not passed this
month, the district could eventually run out of money. For parents like Elizabeth Roberts, they can
only hope saner heads prevail. "[It
is] very much a concern for the safety of the school, teachers, and
students," said Roberts, whose son will attend Wilson
Middle School in Northeast
Philadelphia . "I know [lack of funding] really affects art
and music and extracurricular activities. Those are the first things to get
whacked."
A school year starts in
Philly with unfamiliar optimism
KRISTEN A. GRAHAM, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2015, 1:07 AM
Poised to enter his
fourth year as superintendent Tuesday, William R. Hite Jr. said this
back-to-school cycle feels different. "This
is the first year since I've been in Philadelphia
that I'm excited about more things than I'm nervous about," said Hite. Even with potentially bruising fights for
funding in Harrisburg and City Hall still ahead,
a newly decided court ruling that could allow for explosive, unplanned charter
growth, and a tough two-plus years without a teachers' contract, the Philadelphia School District chief believes he can
finally spend much of his time focusing, he said, "on the stuff that
matters." That is: getting
students' reading levels on target by fourth grade, funneling more kids into
Advanced Placement classes and readying them for college or career; and, above
all for Hite, equity - ensuring pupils have "a great school close to home,
no matter where they live."
EDITORIAL: The poster
child for Pa. ’s
failed school funding
They rang the bells
and opened the doors to classrooms as 3,500 students went back to school in the
Chester Upland
School District in Delaware County . They did so in large part thanks to the
largesse of the troubled district’s dedicated teachers and staff. They reported
to work despite the fact that they won’t be paid. That’s the extent of the good news in Chester
Upland. It’s an old story, one that’s been repeating itself for decades. The district once again is broke, unable to
pay its bills - or make payroll. Actually the district is beyond broke. They’re
drowning in a sea of red ink. Again. The
district currently is staring at a $23 million deficit. Left unchecked, it is
expected to grow to $40 million by the end of the school year. Chester Upland did not get into this
financial morass overnight; it is not going to claw out of it right away,
either. The district, which has been under some form of state control since
1990, has endured decades of financial mismanagement.
No less than $75
million in additional state funding poured into the district in the last five
years has failed to stop the hemorrhaging.
Judge calls Pa. back to court to account for Chester
Upland 's
finances
WHYY Newsworks BY LAURA BENSHOFF SEPTEMBER 4, 2015
The court has
spoken, and the Chester
Upland School
District needs a roadmap toward financial
stability. In a 10-page order released
Thursday, Judge Chad Kenney of the Delaware Court of Common Pleas asked Chester
Upland receiver Francis Barnes and the Pennsylvania Department of Education to
share information about an updated financial recovery plan. He called for the state to account for why it
had not already submitted an updated recovery plan, a timeline for submitting
and implementing a new plan, and a status update. In 41 separate points, Kenney
also asked for detailed historical information about the district and its
budget, as well as for information about any old debts owed by the district.
“It’s long past time for both sides to come
together,” said Lyons, “to enact a fair funding formula and to pass a budget
that increases education funding by at least $410 million to address the impact
of prior cuts and begin implementing the new formula so all students have an
opportunity for success no matter where they live.”
Budget impasse leads to missed payments
Philly Trib by Damon C.
Williams Tribune Staff Writer Posted: Friday,
September 4, 2015 12:00 am
As the state
capital budget impasse between Republican state lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf has
dragged on throughout the summer, the impact on education funding will soon be
felt, said officials with the Campaign for Fair Education Funding. According to spokesman Charlie Lyons, the
state has missed a $1 billion payment to public schools and districts
throughout the state. “Schools are now
starting to feel the impact of the extended state budget impasse,” Lyons said. “If a budget
had been enacted by now, Pennsylvania
would have distributed more than $1 billion to the state’s public schools
today, just in time for students starting the school year. Instead, that
payment won’t happen, and it’s the children who will ultimately feel the
pinch.” Lyon
said the “state’s delay in passing a budget only aggravates the current
education inequities,” and the students with the greatest needs that are most
affected by the failure to pass a budget.
At school districts,
turnover at the top
KATHY BOCCELLA AND CAT COYLE, INQUIRER
STAFF WRITERS LAST UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2015, 1:07 AM
It's become a ritual
as much a part of fall as the Eagles' opener and growing piles of leaves - a
brand-new superintendent greets students on the first day of classes, often bearing
big promises. Some come with a
flourish of pomp and circumstance, such as Council Rock
School District 's new
chief, Robert Fraser, whose tenure started with a theatrically staged assembly
centered on the theme of "hope and dreams." Others promise a quiet transition, such as
Samuel Lee at the Bensalem
School District , who
said, "If I wasn't here, things would have opened up exactly the same as
if I was." For all their different
approaches, school superintendents have shared a common trait: They have tended
not to stay very long - despite generous compensation packages.
Turnaround: A Year Inside
a Strawberry Mansion Elementary School
WHYY Newsworks by
Kevin McCorry September 7, 2015
In this three part
series, Newsworks/WHYY education reporter Kevin McCorry documents a year he
spent tracking the progress of James G. Blaine elementary school, a chronically
low-performing school in the Strawberry
Mansion section of North
Philadelphia . With dozens of interviews and many hours of
observation at the school, he grapples with this pivotal question: Can the
school district find a path to revitalize its neediest schools in the midst of
an ongoing budget crisis?
Will there be enough teachers?
Fewer earn Pa. certificates, but expert says
predictions of shortages miss the full picture
Over the past few
weeks, as the start of the academic year approached, school districts across
the nation scrambled to fill teacher vacancies, sparking warnings about
shortages of qualified personnel. Urban
districts in Tennessee , Oklahoma
and Kentucky
were looking high and low, the New York Times reported last month. California
was trying to fill 21,500 vacancies, even as the number of people entering the
state’s teacher preparation programs has dropped by more than half, the Times
said. In Pennsylvania , “we’re not hearing any
widespread concern” regarding the supply of teachers, said Steve Robinson,
spokesman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. But could that be about to change?
There are some
statistics that might lead you to think so.
Educators can spot emotional baggage
By Clarece Polke / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
September 8, 2015 12:00 AM
An unlikely catalyst
inspired Milton Lopez to go back to school to earn a GED diploma.
Mr. Lopez, now 40,
of Coraopolis dropped out of high school in the 11th grade and has worked full
time ever since. His young son inspired him to finish his diploma more than a
decade after leaving school. “Every day
of my life, I regret the dumb mistakes I made back then,” he said, recalling
his childhood growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y. “Education and school should’ve been
my No. 1 interest, but I got caught up in the streets instead. How can I ask
something of my son that I myself didn’t do? You’ve got to be a better person
and set an example for your kids.” He
wants his son, Milton Andrew Lopez II, who is now 12 and attends Cornell Junior High School , to not only graduate
high school with honors but also go on to the college of his choice. The not-so-secret weapon educators agree can
make every difference in a student’s academic achievement is not printed in a
textbook or written on a whiteboard. An actively involved parent can be a
tutor, cheerleader, enforcer and advocate wrapped into one. Some public schools are encouraging parents
to participate in their children’s learning and trying to remove long-standing
barriers to involvement. Schools and agencies are seeking stronger
relationships with families — some that have one parent in the household,
others with parents working multiple jobs and some with little or no parental
figures in the students’ lives at all.
School districts outsourcing
substitute placements
Outsourcing
substitute teaching jobs could save area school districts thousands of dollars
this year. Local districts, including Abington Heights ,
Lakeland , North Pocono
and Valley View, will not employ their own substitute teachers and instead will
rely on a staffing agency to fill vacancies. Riverside is also considering the option. The move is not only expected to save money,
but will ensure districts have the subs needed to fill classroom absences and
meet provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
“Across the nation, this has been an emerging trend,” said Michael
Mahon, Ph.D., Abington
Heights superintendent. The districts have entered into contracts
with Kelly Services, which offers substitute teaching services across the
country. Instead of being
employees of the school district, the subs work for Kelly. The districts will
pay Kelly their daily sub rate, plus a service fee of between 30 and 40 percent.
Kelly then pays the subs. The change
means districts no longer have to worry about tracking the number of hours a
substitute works in a week. Under the Affordable Care Act, employees who work
more than 30 hours a week must be offered health insurance. If substitute
teachers work more than four days a week, they will work more than 30 hours.
Tracking hours will now be the responsibility of Kelly. Last year, as districts
prepared to meet the act’s provisions, substitutes were limited to how much
they could work in a week, even though districts experienced shortages.
New details of tentative pact show how Saucon Valley
teachers, district reached compromise
By Jacqueline
Palochko Of The Morning Call
September 7, 2015
New details of a
tentative deal show the Saucon Valley School District
and its teachers each made concessions that will increase salaries but still
not make teachers the highest paid in the Lehigh Valley . The two sides announced a tentative deal last
week. The union voted Aug. 27 to accept it, and the school board is expected to
vote on it at a meeting Tuesday. It looks likely the bitter, nearly four-year
impasse could be over. "Any
solution after a long and stressful negotiation will leave both parties shorted
on their expectations and goals," District solicitor Jeff Sultanik said in
a news release. "Pending the Board's acceptance of the tentative
agreement, both parties are committed to the opportunity to move the district
forward." Sultanik said Friday
neither side would comment on the tentative agreement until Tuesday, but late
Sunday he issued a press release detailing the tentative six-year deal, which
shows the starting salary increasing from $44,232 in the first year to $50,882
in the last year of the contract. While
the tentative deal puts Saucon Valley near the top of the pay scale in the Lehigh Valley ,
it's still lower than what Parkland teachers
will bring home.
15% starting salary hike:
Proposed Saucon Valley teachers contract detailed
By Kurt Bresswein | For
lehighvalleylive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
September 07, 2015 at 12:19 PM, updated September 07, 2015 at 4:18 PM
The starting salary
for Saucon Valley School District teachers
would increase 15 percent, while their maximum earnings would increase 5.4
percent, over the course of a proposed six-year contract. School board labor attorney Jeffrey Sultanik
on Monday issued a news release, approved by the board and Saucon Valley
Education Association, detailing the proposal. Any solution after a
long and stressful negotiation will leave both parties shorted on ...
expectations and goals." The union approved the deal Aug. 27, and the pact goes
before the school board for a vote Tuesday night. Teachers in Saucon Valley
have worked under an expired contract since July 2012. Word of the tentative
agreement emerged Friday, and the board and union initially said no details
would be released until Tuesday's board meeting.
Pennsbury, teachers agree
on new contract
Philly.com by Chris Palmer LAST UPDATED: Tuesday, September 8, 2015,
1:08 AM
A New Moment in Education
Huffington Post by Linda Darling-Hammond
Posted: 09/03/2015 1:18 am EDT Updated: 09/03/2015 1:59 pm EDT
President & CEO, Learning Policy
Institute, Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University
The annual
back-to-school moment calls up recurring traditions of new moments for
students: shiny new shoes and notebooks, yellow buses wending their way to
scrubbed classrooms, new books and bulletin boards. But there is another kind of new moment for
education that needs to be acknowledged as well: The quantity of human
knowledge is exploding. According to UC Berkeley researchers, between 1999 and
2002, there was more new knowledge created in the world than in the
entire history of the world preceding.
The pace of knowledge growth accelerates every year, with technology
information now doubling every 11 months. Our world is being transformed by these
new technologies, as well as shifting demographics and the demands of a global
economy. An estimated 65 percent of teens and 20-somethings will ultimately
work in careers that don't exist today. Our children need to be prepared for this new
world and all its complex realities. And that requires new approaches to
learning.
"Mayor Bill de Blasio
and his schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, at the lectern, during a news
conference in Manhattan
on Aug. 12. Ms. Fariña has made parent engagement a key component of public
schools’ annual ratings. It is a marked
contrast to the Bloomberg administration, which was more focused on trying to
identify weak teachers, principals and even whole schools and then replacing
them."
A
Door-to-Door Push to Get Parents Involved at Struggling Schools
New York Times By KATE TAYLOR SEPT. 8, 2015
At Public School 298
in Brooklyn , where the principal invites
parents to visit classrooms once a month, typically fewer than 10 percent of
them will. The New
Millennium Business
Academy Middle
School in the Bronx spent
much of the summer trying to track down the families of incoming sixth graders
to invite them to an orientation. Just over half of the families turned up,
which the principal considered a victory.
At DeWitt Clinton
High School in the Bronx ,
attendance at parent association meetings was so paltry that the school began
raffling off Thanksgiving turkeys and supermarket gift cards to entice people
to turn up. With the second full school
year of his administration beginning on Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio is already
under pressure to show improvement at these schools, which are among 62
low-performing schools targeted
by the state for possible takeover. One of the keys to transforming them,
his administration believes, is to get parents to show up more by turning
schools into one-stop community centers offering services like medical
and dental clinics, adult courses and counseling.
Rep. John Kline Won't Seek
Re-Election; Adds Pressure on ESEA Rewrite
Education Week By Lauren
Camera on September 3, 2015 12:07 PM
Rep. John Kline,
R-Minn., chairman of the House education committee, announced Thursday that he
will not be seeking re-election in 2016.
"Strengthening our nation's classrooms and workplaces has been at
the forefront of the committee's agenda since I was first selected to serve as
chairman, and it will continue to be my leading priority in the months
ahead," he said in a press release. "Whether it's replacing No Child
Left Behind, holding the Obama administration accountable for its harmful
policies, or strengthening higher education, there is a lot of work to do over
the next 16 months." Kline is the
author of the Republican-backed Elementary and Secondary Education Act
reauthorization, which cleared the House on a party-line vote in July.
His forthcoming departure puts added pressure on lawmakers in both
chambers to come to an agreement on their respective ESEA overhauls before the
end of the year.
By John Higgins Seattle
Times education reporter September 4, 2015 at 4:31 pm Updated
September 5, 2015 at 12:43 pm
After nearly a year of deliberation, the
state Supreme Court ruled late Friday afternoon that charter schools are not
constitutional.
After nearly a year
of deliberation, the state Supreme Court ruled 6-3
late Friday afternoon that charter schools are unconstitutional, creating chaos
for hundreds of families whose children have already started classes. The ruling — believed to be one of the first
of its kind in the country — overturns the law voters narrowly approved in 2012
allowing publicly funded, but privately operated, schools. Eight new charter schools are
opening in Washington this fall, in
addition to one that opened in Seattle
last year. It was not immediately known
what would happen with the schools that are already running. The parties have
20 days to ask the court for reconsideration before the ruling becomes final.
Charter school law funded by Bill Gates in Washington state ruled
unconstitutional
Test prep for 5-year-olds is a real thing. Here’s what
it looks like.
It’s
no secret that for some years now, kindergarten, once a time when youngsters
spent the day learning through structured play, has become focused on
academics, forcing young kids to sit in their chairs working for far longer than
many are developmentally ready to handle. Along with that work has come tests
and more tests, some standardized, some not. What you may not have heard much
about is test prep for these youngsters. Yes, test prep for 5-year-olds
is a real thing. Phyllis Doerr, a kindergarten teacher in New
Jersey , explains what it looks like in this post, a version of
which appeared in the News Record, the local paper of South Orange and Maplewood , NJ .
Fight in Chicago : The
all-too familiar story of school closures in America ’s cities
A
dozen people have
been staging a hunger strike in Chicago
for weeks to save a high school and have it transformed into a green technology
school for students in the historic Bronzeville area on the city’s South Side.
The city, under pressure from the activists, announced on Friday that Dyett High
School would remain open as an arts school — but
the hunger strikers were not impressed and are continuing their action. The city,
which had scheduled a hearing this month to hear community proposals to
transform Dyett, preempted itself with the announcement that ignored all of the
plans on the table. The fight over Dyett
is, as Carol Burris, the executive director of the nonprofit Network for Public
Education Fund, writes in this post, “part of the growing pushback against
neighborhood school closures both within and beyond Chicago .” Here’s a post she wrote about what
is happening to neighborhood schools in an era of school reform in which
privatization of public education has been a central theme. 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.
Trib Live By Rege
Behe Sunday, Sept. 6, 2015, 4:19 p.m.
A little more than 100 years ago, human flight was considered impossible. When Wilbur and Orville Wright, two staid, but determined, brothers from Dayton, Ohio, proved otherwise at Kitty Hawk on Dec. 17, 1903, their feat was deemed miraculous, even by the naysayers who said man would never fly. Today, the Wrights should be universally acknowledged as brilliant aviation pioneers. But David McCullough, thePittsburgh native,
historian and author of “The Wright Brothers” (Simon & Schuster, $30),
meets too many people who aren't aware of their contributions. “I'm astonished by how many exceedingly
well-informed, well-connected people have no idea who they were and what they
did,” says McCullough, who visits the Senator John Heinz
History Center in the Strip District on Sept. 10. “They changed the
world, they changed history, far more than Edison
with his light bulb or Alexander Graham Bell with his telephone, or the
telegraph or the elevator or any of those other things.”
A little more than 100 years ago, human flight was considered impossible. When Wilbur and Orville Wright, two staid, but determined, brothers from Dayton, Ohio, proved otherwise at Kitty Hawk on Dec. 17, 1903, their feat was deemed miraculous, even by the naysayers who said man would never fly. Today, the Wrights should be universally acknowledged as brilliant aviation pioneers. But David McCullough, the
Register Now for the Fifth
Annual Arts and Education Symposium Oct. 29th Harrisburg
Thursday, October
29, 2015 Radisson Hotel Harrisburg
Convention Center 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Act 48 Credit is available. The event
will be a daylong convening of arts education policy leaders and practitioners
for lively discussions about important policy issues and the latest news from
the field. The symposium is hosted by EPLC and the Pennsylvania Arts Education
Network, and supported by a generous grant from The Heinz Endowments.
The John Stoops Lecture
Series: Dr. Pasi Sahlberg "Education Around the World: Past, Present &
Future" Lehigh University October 8, 2015 6:00 p.m.
Baker Hall |Zoellner Arts
Center | 420 E. Packer Avenue | Bethlehem , PA 18015
Baker Hall |
Free and open to the
public! Ticketing is general admission -
no preseating will be assigned. Arrive early for the best seats. Please plan to stay post-lecture for an open
reception where you will have an opportunity to meet with students from all of
our programs to learn about the latest innovations in education and human
services.
Register now for the
2015 PASCD 65th Annual Conference, Leading and Achieving in an Interconnected World, to be
held November 15-17, 2015 at Pittsburgh Monroeville Convention
Center.
The Conference
will Feature Keynote Speakers: Meenoo Rami – Teacher and Author
“Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching,” Mr. Pedro Rivera,
Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, Heidi Hayes-Jacobs – Founder and President
of Curriculum Design, Inc. and David Griffith – ASCD Senior Director of Public
Policy. This annual conference features small group sessions focused on:
Curriculum and Supervision, Personalized and Individualized Learning,
Innovation, and Blended and Online Learning. The PASCD Conference is
a great opportunity to stay connected to the latest approaches for innovative
change in your school or district. Join us forPASCD 2015!
Online registration is available by visiting www.pascd.org <http://www.pascd.org/>
Slate of
candidates for PSBA offices now available online
PSBA website July 31, 2015
PSBA website July 31, 2015
The
slate of candidates for 2016 PSBA officer and at-large representatives is now
available online, including bios, photos and videos. According to
recent PSBA Bylaws changes, each member school entity casts one vote per
office. Voting will again take place online through a secure, third-party
website -- Simply Voting. Voting will
open Aug. 17 and closes Sept.
28. One person
from the school entity (usually the board secretary) is authorized to register
the vote on behalf of the member school entity and each board will need to put
on its agenda discussion and voting at one of its meetings in August or
September. Each person authorized to register the school entity's votes has
received an email on July 16 to verify the email address and confirm they are
the person to register the vote on behalf of their school entity.
Register Now for PASA-PSBA
School Leadership Conference Oct. 14-16, 2015 Hershey Lodge & Convention
Center
Save the date for the
professional development event of the year. Be inspired at more than four
exciting venues and invest in professional development for top administrators
and school board members. Online registration is live at:
Register Now – PAESSP
State Conference – Oct. 18-20 – State College, PA
Registration is now
open for PAESSP's State Conference to be held October 18-20 at The
Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel in State College, PA! This year's
theme is @EVERYLEADER and features three nationally-known keynote
speakers (Dr. James Stronge, Justin Baeder and Dr. Mike Schmoker), professional
breakout sessions, a legal update, exhibits, Tech Learning Labs and many
opportunities to network with your colleagues (Monday evening event with Jay
Paterno). Once again, in conjunction
with its conference, PAESSP will offer two 30-hour Act 45 PIL-approved
programs, Linking Student Learning to Teacher Supervision and Evaluation
(pre-conference offering on 10/17/15); and Improving Student Learning
Through Research-Based Practices: The Power of an Effective Principal (held
during the conference, 10/18/15 -10/20/15). Register for either or both PIL
programs when you register for the Full Conference!
REGISTER TODAY for
the Conference and Act 45 PIL program/s at:
Apply
now for EPLC’s 2015-2016 PA Education Policy Fellowship Program
Applications are
available now for the 2015-2016 Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP). The Education Policy Fellowship Program is sponsored in
Pennsylvania by The Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC). With more than 400 graduates in its
first sixteen years, this Program is a premier professional development
opportunity for educators, state and local policymakers, advocates, and
community leaders. State Board of Accountancy (SBA) credits are available
to certified public accountants. Past
participants include state policymakers, district superintendents and
principals, charter school leaders, school business officers, school board
members, education deans/chairs, statewide association leaders, parent leaders,
education advocates, and other education and community leaders. Fellows
are typically sponsored by their employer or another organization. The Fellowship Program begins with a two-day
retreat on September 17-18, 2015 and continues to graduation in June
2016.
Click here to read about
the Education Policy Fellowship Program.
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