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PA Ed Policy Roundup October 15, 2015
Is this the "Trade Secret" that has been
used to ignore Right-To-Know requests for several years?
Penn Live By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on October
14, 2015 at 10:20 PM
Can Pennsylvania 's stalled
state budget talks find some new momentum?
We're about to find out. Staffers
from the four House and Senate caucuses began meeting at the Capitol Wednesday
in an effort to see if a new, legislative-driven effort can produce a
compromise that's acceptable to Gov. Tom Wolf.
No details from the first round were available Wednesday night, and it
seemed as if most participants were making a conscious effort to keep details
out of the press to see if any momentum could be generated. But the staff level talks are expected to
continue on Thursday and Friday, hopefully setting up new leadership meetings
and full- caucus briefings by early next week.
Concessions not enough for
GOP rivals, Pa. Gov. Wolf says
Trib Live By Jason
Cato and Tom Fontaine Wednesday
- Oct. 14, 2015
Gov. Tom Wolf said
Wednesday he's made $1 billion in concessions from his original spending plan
but Republicans haven't reciprocated to help end Pennsylvania 's budget impasse, in its 107th
day. “I have taken $1 billion out of my
original March 3 proposals … because I want to get to an agreement. That
agreement has to be mathematically sound,” Wolf said during a stop at the
Washington County Courthouse. His administration did not provide specifics on
how the governor came up with that figure.
House GOP spokesman Stephen Miskin disputed Wolf's claim and said that
given the governor's proposal to raise taxes by $4 billion to $5 billion,
“Moving $1 billion is not really that much.”
Budget reality and new
revenue possible in coming weeks?
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Wednesday, October
14, 2015
As budget
negotiations continued on the staff level Wednesday, GOP leaders pointed out
that they are expecting their Democratic counterparts to come around to the new
reality of what it will take to get a budget done - particularly as it relates
to the unviable prospects of increasing sales and personal income taxes - but
also did not close the door on the use of new recurring revenue sources to plug
budget holes. “I think the word to use
now is ‘reality’,” Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-Jefferson)
told The PLS Reporter in a brief interview. “I’ve had Senate
Democrats coming to me with recognizing the reality that a sales tax increase
and a personal income tax increase did not have all the votes in their caucus
and I think the governor has found that out with the vote last week.” He relayed Senate Republican leadership will
be updating their caucus next week on the fiscal and financial condition of
where the Commonwealth currently is and preparing them to look “at what the
reality is.”
"If the charter schools
are now willing and able to get by being compensated $27,000 for each special
education student, why was Chester Upland , one of the poorest districts in Pennsylvania
Editorial: One
last chance for Chester Upland
Delco
Times Editorial POSTED: 10/15/15, 12:26 AM EDT
This
might be the Chester
Upland School
District
After
decades being under state control, none of which seem to have stemmed the tide
of red ink and financial mismanagement that has been the district’s calling
card, Chester Upland is getting one more chance. This time the district needs to make it work.
Delaware
County Common Pleas Judge Chad Kenney placed the paddles on Chester Upland’s chest
and jolted them back to a life with two critical measures, jolt of new state
funding (of course) and a new formula for reimbursement to local charter
schools for special education students.
Chester
Upland and the three major local charter schools have been at odds over the
cost of educating special education students for years. Just weeks before the start of the school
year, the state’s appointed receiver, Francis Barnes, went into court with
still another revised financial recovery plan aimed at putting the perennially
broke district back on an even fiscal footing.
'Trade
secret' - Randi
J. Vladimer, an attorney representing the charter school, said in the appeal,
filed Monday in Delaware County Common Pleas Court, that the management
company's records were not covered by the Right to Know Law because it was a private
business.
She also argued that the
Office of Open Records made a technical error in the timing of its decision
that invalidated it. Further, she said the records were a "trade secret or
confidential information" that could hurt the management company's
competitive position if disclosed."
Charter
school appeals to block release of records
(Blogger note: this
posting is several years old; originally posted on the Inquirer's website, it
is no longer there; I do not have the publication date)
The Chester Community Charter
School
The Delaware County
Here's Dan
Hardy's coverage of the same issue from 2012:
Inquirer
By Dan Hardy, Inquirer Staff Writer
POSTED: FEBRUARY
06, 2012
As Delaware County 's
financially troubled Chester Upland School District
School
districts pay charters to teach their children, using a complicated formula set
by state law. About 45 percent of Chester Upland's students attend charters.
Chester
Upland's payments are based on the previous year's expense of educating
students in its own schools, minus some costs charters do not incur.
For
regular-education Chester Upland students this year, that figure is $9,858 per
child.
But
flaws in the state charter-school law, district officials say, make payments to
charter schools for special-education students much higher, costing Chester
Upland about $8 million more than is reasonable.
Chester
Upland's per-student special-education charter-school payment this year is
$24,528, more than twice as much as for regular students and thousands per
student more than the state average.
KEYSEC Posting Monday, August 24, 2015
PA
Ed Policy Roundup Aug 24: $40,316 per speech/language special ed child: Two
possible reasons special ed funding reforms that would have addressed this
outrageous charter tuition rate were not adopted in 2014
"The owner is a trust
linked to Philadelphia lawyer and charter-school entrepreneur Vahan Gureghian
and his lawyer wife, Danielle. Three years ago, she told town officials the
house was the couple’s dream home, but their plans appear to have changed."
North End
mansion listed at $84.5M
Listed at $84.5 million, a
mansion under construction at 1071 N. Ocean Blvd. has entered the market as the
most expensive property for sale in Palm Beach, according to the local multiple
listing service.
By Darrell
Hofheinz Palm Beach
Daily News Real Estate Writer March 30, 2015
Priced
at $84.5 million, a direct-oceanfront mansion under construction on the North
End has entered the market as the island’s most expensive property, according
to the local multiple listing service. Sporting
its own bowling alley, the French-style house is rising on the double lot –
expansive even by Palm Beach
standards – that measures about 2 acres with 242 feet of beachfront at 1071 N. Ocean Blvd. With about 35,000 square feet of living
space, inside and out, the house should be ready for occupancy some time next
season, according to listing broker Christian J. Angle of Christian Angle Real
Estate. Angle’s sales listing showed up
Friday in the Palm Beach Board of Realtors MLS. The roughly H-shaped floor plan
includes six bedrooms in the main part of the house plus a pair of two-bedroom
guest apartments with ocean views. The house stands a third of a mile north of
the Palm Beach Country Club.
- See
more at: http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/news/local/north-end-mansion-listed-at-845m/nkhyf/#sthash.N9r3D4gt.dpuf
The Tenuous
Fate of Pennsylvania’s Public Schools
The legislature’s budget
disagreements could mean that many of the Keystone State
The
Atlantic by MAREESA NICOSIA
OCT 13, 2015
NEIU warns
employees it will run out of cash by December
ARCHBALD
— About 300 employees of the Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit were
told they might not get paid starting in December because of the ongoing state
budget stalemate. Executive
Director Robert McTiernan said the intermediate unit has enough money to meet
payroll for the immediate future, but the situation will soon become dire. He
called an employee meeting Wednesday afternoon to give workers sufficient time
to plan for a worst-case scenario. “The
bottom line is you know we have a budget impasse. We have zero money coming
through,” Mr. McTiernan told a standing-room-only crowd of teachers and other
staff during the meeting at its headquarters on Line Street in Archbald. “Without
additional borrowing, we project we are going to run out of cash somewhere
around first payroll in December.” The NEIU
provides special education services to 20 area school districts. The NEIU
board, like many area school districts, took out a $6 million loan in June to
cover the revenue shortfall caused by a lack of state funds. It’s already spent
about $2.8 million of the loan to cover payroll and health care benefits, which
cost about $2 million a month, Mr. McTiernan said.
Pennsylvania
Senate OKs limits on union dues, PAC collection
Penn
Live By The Associated Press on October
14, 2015 at 1:32 PM
WHYY
Newsworks BY MARY WILSON
OCTOBER 14, 2015
On the
enrollment form for the largest teachers union in Pennsylvania , you can check a box that
allows an annual, automatic deduction from your paycheck to go to political
action committees that support "friends of public education." The entire section would have to be erased
under a proposal passed by the state Senate Wednesday and headed to the House
for consideration. The approved measure would prohibit funneling an automatic
deduction from a public employee's wages to any political activity. Republican supporters say a government
payroll system shouldn't be assisting in a money transfer that furthers
political goals. "They certainly
can continue to collect money to represent these people in their role as a
union," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Blair, who has
been a foe of labor unions. "Where we have to draw the line, which seems
very reasonable, is that they cannot any longer collect political money." Democrats
call the plan a cynical attempt to bust public worker unions, as the lack of
automatic deductions is expected to make it harder for unions to collect full
dues and political contributions.
PCN will re-air the debate at
3 p.m. on Saturday.
State Supreme Court candidates debate as
pivotal election nears
Chris Potter/Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette October 15, 2015 12:00 AM
Several
of the candidates running for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court agree there’s at
least one thing that panel can’t judge: itself.
Three Democrats, three Republicans, and one independent appeared in a
debate aired by public-affairs cable channel PCN Wednesday night. It was the
first time all seven candidates have appeared together, and will likely be the
last. With an unprecedented three seats up for grabs, the Nov. 3 election could
shape the seven-member court for a generation, and ethics issues have taken
center stage.
Get to know the candidates for state
Supreme Court
On Nov.
3, Pennsylvania
will elect an unprecedented three new justices to the state Supreme Court,
making it an election with far-reaching and lasting consequences. The state Supreme Court, in recent years, has
been rocked by scandal. One former justice was convicted on campaign corruption
charges; two judges engaged in a prolonged, public and highly personal feud;
and one was embroiled in the state's pornographic email scandal, and stepped
down from the bench after four of his fellow justices voted to suspend him. Repairing the reputation of the court will be
a priority for those elected to it. In
an effort to help voters get to know the candidates, the LNP Editorial Board
has invited them in for separate 45-minute interviews. These videos are
intended to help you make your choice Nov. 3.
The first interviews took place Wednesday, Oct. 7. More will follow so
please check back for more videos.
Education adrift: A tough audit says Pennsylvania
Post
Gazette By the Editorial Board October 8, 2015 12:00 AM
The terrible
financial hit that Pennsylvania ’s
schools absorbed wasn’t the only form of neglect inflicted by the state during
the four-year term of former Gov. Tom Corbett. Administrators in Harrisburg also fell down
on the job in performing fundamental duties that had little to do with money. State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale’s
comprehensive review of five years of records called out the state Education
Department, and by extension the state Board of Education, for a long list of
failures. The most prominent example of
irresponsibility was the employment of Mr. Corbett’s former Cabinet secretary,
Ron Tomalis, in a do-nothing job with a salary of $139,542. Beyond Mr. Tomalis’
case, the department also failed to properly oversee other contracted workers, including
retirees who were retained for specific tasks after they left the department.
Although their work was supposed to be limited and on an emergency basis, the
89-page report revealed that 14 of the 38 workers were employed in three or
more years; one person worked during all five years covered by the audit, 2010
to 2015.
By Rich
Lord / Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette October 14, 2015 12:26 PM
Those
apps and websites the kids bring home from school — which access everything
from their grades, attendance and essays to lunch preferences — would get new
scrutiny under legislation introduced Wednesday in Harrisburg .
Under a two-bill package, schools could still use education technology
products that amass, sell or share student data — but only after notifying
parents and allowing them to opt out. That approach should strongly deter the
use of technology that doesn’t respect student privacy, without stifling
classroom innovation, said bill authors Reps. Dan Miller, D-Mt. Lebanon, and
Tedd Nesbit, R-Grove
City
Nazareth district officials, teachers
returning to bargaining table
Sarah
M. Wojcik Contact Reporter Of The Morning
Call October 14, 2015
The Nazareth School District
Mastery gets
$9.6 million federal grant to expand
the notebook By Greg Windle on
Oct 14, 2015 05:56 PM
The U.S.
Department of Education (DOE) has awarded
Mastery Charter Schools a $9.6 million federal grant with the goal of
opening 12 new schools over the next five years as a part of the department’s
Replication and Expansion for High-Quality Charter Schools program. These new schools would serve an estimated
6,800 students. Mastery now serves about
12,000 students in grades K-12 in its schools in Philadelphia
and Camden . The
charter management organization operates 17 schools in the two cities, 11 of
which are turnarounds of low-performing public and charter schools. "The quality of the education and the
teaching Mastery provides starts with the expectation that our kids have
unbounded potential,” Mastery CEO Scott Gordon said in a
press release. “The DOE award validates the effort and results our students
have attained."
Mastery's
grant proposal says the goal is to have schools in Delaware
and Washington , D.C. ,
in addition to Pennsylvania and New Jersey . The money will be used to plan, design, and
implement new charter programs, but Mastery said it will also be using the
money to evaluate the effectiveness of its existing charters.
Hite 'out of
patience' with sub firm
Inquirer
by Kristen Graham POSTED: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2015, 3:46 PM
The
official business was a City Council hearing: Philadelphia School
District
Read
more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/school_files/Hite-out-of-patience-with-sub-firm.html#ex4Ayw3Q4XGG5vvY.99
"According to Farnese, a
budget that looks forward includes the fair funding formula for state public
schools as well as increasing funding for education and human services. On the fair funding formula, Farnese
referenced recommendations made in June by the Basic Education Funding
Commission. “The commission recommended a series of factors to determine how
schools should be funded such as the number of children living in poverty,
density and special needs,” Farnese explained."
State Senator
Farnese engaged with residents at Center City Town Hall
Approximately
sixty center city residents filled the Broad Street Ministry for a town hall
styled meeting with Pennsylvania ’s
First District State Senator Lawrence Farnese Thursday, October 8th. The Republican and Democratic stalemate over
the state budget underscored Farnese’s discussion. Nonetheless, Farnese also
reviewed other priorities and answered constituent questions. Farnese’s top
priorities included the Fair Funding Formula, SLAPP Legislation, the PA
Fairness Act and gun control. Constituent questions ranged from gun laws to the
state introducing legislation that would allow Philadelphia to tax commercial property
owners at a higher rate than residential and small business owners.
Philly charter schools getting by during
budget impasse — for now
WatchDog.org
By Evan Grossman / October 14,
2015
Advocacy group
to Gov. Wolf: Get rid of SRC member
A LOCAL
GROUP of education advocates has sent Gov. Wolf a letter asking for the removal
of Farah Jimenez from the School Reform Commission because of her husband's
association with charter schools. The Alliance for Philadelphia
Public Schools says it is also concerned about Jimenez's oversight of the
school district's Charter School Office, which she details on her LinkedIn
page. The group alleges in an Oct. 8
letter obtained by the Daily News that Jimenez, who was
appointed to the SRC in February 2014 by former Gov. Tom Corbett, "has
taken actions which raise additional problems with her continuing as a
Commissioner." SRC Chairwoman Marjorie
Neff calls the alliance's contentions "misplaced allegations."
Inaugural cohort of Fellowship in School
Governance recognized at PASA-PSBA conference
PSBA
website October 15, 2015
Twenty
school board directors from across the state were recognized at the 2015
PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference Oct. 14 for their completion of the
Fellowship in School Governance program. The program was started by The
Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) in early 2015 and is a capstone
program for interested school board members who wish to go “above and beyond”
in their commitment and professional preparation. Program graduates will received pins at the
conference and will deliver an education session outlining the findings of a
team project. The Fellowship program
requires a time commitment over the course of a program year (January-October).
Candidates are expected to actively participate and contribute to the work of
the cohort for the entire program year.
Foltz receives PSBA advocacy award
PSBA website
October 14, 2015
The
Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) today awarded Lynn Foltz, school
director from Wilmington
Area School
District Lynn
speak on many occasions at numerous venues, and only walk away more impressed
each and every time.” Foltz is a PSBA
Region 2 Director, serves on the board at Midwestern Intermediate Unit 4
and co-chairs the Keystone State Education Coalition, a non-partisan public
education advocacy group. In the past, she has been a member of the PSBA Board
of Directors.
NSBA Advocacy
Institute 2016; January 24 - 26 in Washington ,
D.C.
Housing and meeting registration is open for Advocacy Institute 2016. The theme, “Election Year Politics & Public Schools,” celebrates the exciting year ahead for school board advocacy. Strong legislative programming will be paramount at this year’s conference in January. Visit www.nsba.org/advocacyinstitute for more information.
Housing and meeting registration is open for Advocacy Institute 2016. The theme, “Election Year Politics & Public Schools,” celebrates the exciting year ahead for school board advocacy. Strong legislative programming will be paramount at this year’s conference in January. Visit www.nsba.org/advocacyinstitute for more information.
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.
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
REGISTER TODAY for
the Conference and Act 45 PIL program/s at:
Back to School Special Education Seminar October 20th
Join us on October 20, 2015, from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. for our first special education conference of the 2015-2016 school year!
Building on last
year’s successful Back to School seminar, this year you will hear about the
current state of special education law and engage in dialogue about today’s
most pressing matters.
Topics
- Early Intervention
- Inclusion
- Assistive Technology
- General update on the state of special
education, both in
Presenters
- HUNE
- The
- Sonja Kerr
Our “Know
Your Child’s Rights” Special Education workshops aim to educate
parents, educators, attorneys and advocates so that they can advocate for the
rights of children with disabilities. CLE credit is available for attorneys in Pennsylvania that attend
the seminar in person. Questions?
Email mberton@pilcop.org or call 267.546.1303.
- See more at: http://www.pilcop.org/backtoschool2015/#sthash.W9zA7fZg.dpuf
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.
SCHOOL CHOICE: THE ROLE OF THE
CONSTITUTION AND THE COURTS IN IMPROVING EDUCATION
Free for
Members • $7 teachers & students • $10 public
Become a Member today for free admission to this program and more!
Click here to join and learn more or call 215-409-6767.
Become a Member today for free admission to this program and more!
Click here to join and learn more or call 215-409-6767.
Does the
Constitution guarantee an “equal education” to every child? What do the U.S. and
Pennsylvania Constitutions say about school choice, teacher tenure,
standardized testing, and more? The Constitution
Center
In the
first discussion, education policy experts—Donna Cooper of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, Mark Gleason of the Philadelphia School
Partnership, Deborah Gordon Klehr of the Education Law
Center, and Ina Lipman of the Children's
Scholarship Fund Philadelphia—examine the state of Philadelphia public
education, what an "equal education" in Philadelphia would look like,
and their specific proposals for getting there. They also explain what, if
anything, the Pennsylvania
state constitution says about these questions, and how state government
interacts with local government in setting education policy.
In the
second discussion, James Finberg of Altshuler Berzon
and Joshua Lipshutz of Gibson Dunn—two
attorneys involved in Vergara v. California, a landmark dispute
over the legality of teacher retention policies—present the best arguments on
both sides and discuss what's next in the case. They also explain what the U.S.
Constitution and major Supreme Court cases like Brown v. Board of
Education, San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez and Parents
Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle
School District
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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