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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup October 21, 2015:
Editorial: Time’s up, Harrisburg :
Enact a budget for Pa.
Wolf offers possible path
to help Erie
Penn Live By David Wenner | dwenner@pennlive.com
Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
October 20, 2015 at 8:29 PM, updated October 20, 2015 at 9:10 PM
The Gov. Tom Wolf
administration on Tuesday night said it wants to help Erie and other
school districts hurt by the state budget impasse, and is
considering steps to help them obtain low interest loans, and to pay districts'
interest costs once a budget is passed. A
statement from the administration said, "The administration is working to
assist districts in any way we can. Our administration is working with
districts and Treasury to offer intercept agreements to school districts that
will guarantee loans for districts and enable them to obtain lower interest
rates on the loans. Governor Wolf also supports an appropriation in the final
budget that reimburses districts for any interest accrued on loans taken
out as a result of the impasse. The administration will continue to work with
districts to mitigate the effects of the impasse and he will continue working
toward a final agreement on a budget. The governor's budget makes schools
a priority by investing $500 million additional dollars in K through 12
education, an important step in restoring the funding that was cut from schools
over the past four years."
End the budget impasse,
superintendents tell state
ARCHBALD — School
superintendents around the state called for state legislators to end the budget
impasse and uphold every student’s right to a fair and funded education.
On Tuesday,
Carbondale Area Superintendent Joseph Gorham joined Erie City School District
Superintendent Jay D. Badams, Ph.D., and Solicitor Tim Wachter and Western
Beaver County School District Superintendent Robert H. Postupac, Ed.D., on a
webcast to discuss how severely the lack of a state budget is impacting their
districts. Seated at the Northeastern
Educational Intermediate Unit with Business Manager David Cerra and board
member Paul Kaczmarcik, Mr. Gorham addressed the other administrators who
shared similar concerns. Other state intermediate units and districts were
listened in on the webcast. All three
districts are relying on local revenue and had to take loans to get their school
systems through the new year.
Editorial: Time’s up, Harrisburg :
Enact a budget for Pa.
THE ISSUE: Today Pennsylvania Pennsylvania
Compromise is
needed, and it looks like Pennsylvanians are going to have to demand it.
Tom Wolf, our
Democratic governor, and the Republican leaders of our House and Senate seem
incapable of even acting like they want to compromise. There’s been lots of activity. The governor
proposed a budget. Republicans passed their own. The governor vetoed it. Republicans sought to override portions of
Wolf’s veto; the vote failed. Republicans passed a stopgap budget, which the governor also vetoed. Then Republican leaders agreed to
give the governor a vote on his budget, and it failed in the House.
It’s been a
political reality show, and not at all entertaining.
What’s needed is a
serious effort at compromise.
'UTTERLY
IRRESPONSIBLE': Neshaminy joins growing number of school districts in
calling on governor, state lawmakers to enact a budget
NESHAMINY >>
The failure of Pennsylvania lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf to work out a budget
compromise is keeping much-needed state dollars from school districts, most of
which are feeling the fiscal pinch, including Neshaminy. At its Oct. 13 work session, the school board
voted 9-0 vote to pass a resolution calling on the governor and General
Assembly to pass a budget so that state education money can be released. “This is government gone bad,” School Board
Member Mark Shubin complained. “It’s utterly irresponsible.” He also urged the public to write their state
lawmakers demanding that a budget be immediately enacted. By law, a state budget was to have been in
place July 1, but dickering over taxes and other line items have delayed
lawmakers and the governor from reaching a compromise. “The budget impasse needs to end so that the
children in Neshaminy and the Commonwealth can be served efficiently,” Board
Member Anthony Sposato read from the resolution.
Gov. Wolf says he will not allow funds to go toward
struggling school districts until budget is passed
By Ed Blazina / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
October 20, 2015 1:07 PM
Gov. Tom Wolf said
this morning that he will not authorize the state Department of Education to
release funds to individual school districts that claim a hardship during the
state budget stalemate. Speaking at the
opening of the new Hulton Bridge between Oakmont and Harmar, Mr. Wolf said he
met with officials from the Erie
school district on Monday. The district had asked the state treasury for an
advance on its state subsidy, but treasury officials said they needed
authorization from the Department of Education to release any money. Mr. Wolf said he understands the struggles
that school districts and nonprofit social service agencies are having during the
three-month budget battle, but he won't authorize individual payments to them
until a full budget is passed. The Democratic governor is at loggerheads with
Republicans who control both houses of the Legislature and don't support his
call for tax increases to resolve what he considers chronic revenue shortfalls
in the budget. "It's a problem. I
understand that," Mr. Wolf said of funding for schools and nonprofits.
"I'm holding out for a budget that's realistic.
"We are trying
to do what's right in the long run."
Gov. Wolf rejects school
district's request for advance from state Treasury: Report
By Teresa Bonner | tbonner@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter on October
20, 2015 at 2:33 PM, updated October 20, 2015 at 2:34 PM
Gov. Tom Wolf,
during an appearance in Pittsburgh ,
said he will not allow the state Department of Education to release funds
to school districts claiming a hardship, the Post-Gazette is
reporting. Erie School District
Superintendent Jay Badams on Monday sent a letter to Treasury asking for a $47
million no-interest loan that would be repaid when the 2015-16 state budget is
enacted. In his letter, he
cited a "loan" from Treasury to House Democrats to
covers its payroll after the caucus ran out of money last
month. Treasury spokesman Scott Sloat
said the Treasury doesn't make loans, but if the state education department
determined that payments to schools were justified as "a critical and
necessary function of state government," Treasury would consider making a
payment. The Post-Gazette reported that
Wolf said he is sympathetic to the plight of school districts who are not
receiving state subsidies due to the budget impasse, but won't authorize any
such payment until a budget is in place.
Wolf says he cannot advance
money to strapped public schools
ANGELA COULOUMBIS
AND CHRIS PALMER, INQUIRER HARRISBURG BUREAU LAST
UPDATED: Wednesday, October 21, 2015, 1:08 AM POSTED: October 20,
2015, 7:14 PM
HARRISBURG - Gov.
Wolf said Tuesday that his administration will not advance aid to public
schools that appeal for assistance as the budget impasse threatens to drag into
a fifth month. During a stop in Pittsburgh , Wolf told
reporters that while he understands school districts are struggling
financially, he cannot authorize payments to them until a new spending plan is
in place, said spokesman Jeff Sheridan. The state has been operating without a
fiscal blueprint since July 1, holding up critical state aid to public schools,
counties, and nonprofits that provide social services. "We'd like to get them a final budget
that fully invests in education," Sheridan
said Tuesday. Wolf's comments came a day
after the Erie
school district asked the governor's office for a $47 million, no-interest
advance so that it could keep its doors open without taking out bank loans.
"Our view is that unless
a union is actually breaking the law and making illegal contributions to
political campaigns, union fees and the issue of how unions spend those fees is
a matter better left between unions and their members, not something that needs
political intervention. Opponents call
the legislation "a solution in search of a problem." We call it a
waste of time, a bill that takes away from the serious business the legislature
should be tackling – that of finding a way out of the financial crisis Pennsylvania
Editorial: Paycheck
protection bill a waste of time
With the state more
than halfway into the fourth month of its fiscal year without a budget, you
would think the state legislature could think of better things to argue about
than the misnamed "paycheck protection" bill. Like, for instance, making a serious effort
to solve the state's financial crisis. But
instead the Senate passed an amended SB-501, a bill that looks suspiciously
like a union busting effort. The bill,
also known as "Mary's Law," is named after Pennsylvania teacher Mary
Trometter, who gained statewide attention last year when she filed a complaint
with the state's labor relations board over a campaign mailer urging her
husband to "join Mary" in voting for Tom Wolf, who in January became
Pennsylvania's governor. Mary apparently
was not a Wolf supporter and objected to the Pennsylvania State Education
Association's use of her name in the mailing.
The school funding lawsuit is moving forward and it is
time for Pennsylvanians to get involved!
Education Voters PA website
The courts matter and with an important Supreme Court election coming up
on November 3rd, it is critical that Pennsylvanians get involved in the
discussion of the role the courts play in ensuring that our state government
fulfills its constitutional obligation to provide a "thorough and efficient"
system of public education for all children in the Commonwealth.
In September, the petitioners filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to
send the case to a full trial. On November, 2 the state, which has previously
argued that simply opening school doors and keeping the lights on constitutes a
“thorough and efficient” public school system in PA, will file its own brief. It is time for Pennsylvanians who care about
public education to get involved and to show strong support for a system of
public education that gives every child in PA an opportunity to learn. You can
write a letter to the editor,pass a resolution in support of the school funding
lawsuit and participate in social media advocacy (info about this will be
coming soon).
Click
HERE to Learn more about the school funding lawsuit from the Lawsuit
FAQs.
Click HERE to learn about passing a resolution in support of the school funding lawsuit.
Click here for a sample resolution in support of the school funding lawsuit.
Click HERE for a tool that will allow you to write and submit a letter to the editor in support of the school funding lawsuit.
Click HERE to learn about passing a resolution in support of the school funding lawsuit.
Click here for a sample resolution in support of the school funding lawsuit.
Click HERE for a tool that will allow you to write and submit a letter to the editor in support of the school funding lawsuit.
Curmuducation Blog by Peter Greene Wednesday,
October 21, 2015
PA House Bill 1634 is as short as it is sweet. It adds
the following language to the section of PA law that require the Keystone exams
(our own version of the Big Standardized Test).
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no child may be required to take a Keystone Exam if the parent or guardian of the child notifies in writing the superintendent or chief administrator that the parent or guardian wishes for the child not to take the Keystone Exam.
(c) No student may be penalized by a school district, the State Board of Education or the Commonwealth for failing to take a Keystone Exam if the parent or guardian of the child has provided notice under subsection (b).
(d) No student may be required to take a Keystone Exam as a condition for high school graduation.
Currently,Pennsylvania
families can opt out of testing only for religious reasons. The state cannot
ask you what your religious reasons are, and so the effect is that PA parents
can opt out any time they want to. But this makes the opt-out less equivocal,
and it reduces parents' need to stand up for their principles by lying about
their principles (The test makes me want to holler "God damn it" so,
it's kind of a religious objection).
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, no child may be required to take a Keystone Exam if the parent or guardian of the child notifies in writing the superintendent or chief administrator that the parent or guardian wishes for the child not to take the Keystone Exam.
(c) No student may be penalized by a school district, the State Board of Education or the Commonwealth for failing to take a Keystone Exam if the parent or guardian of the child has provided notice under subsection (b).
(d) No student may be required to take a Keystone Exam as a condition for high school graduation.
Currently,
Two Lancaster
County
When it comes to the
state budget, Damaris Rau thinks that Pennsylvania 's
politicians could use a lesson from kindergarten. "Let's talk about it. Let's solve this
problem with our words," the School
District of Lancaster Lancaster
is one of two local school districts where officials are taking steps to borrow
money as the state exceeds 110 days without a budget. Columbia Borough School District Lancaster
also is considering program cuts to deal with delayed state payments. Rau, along with other school and city
leaders, called on lawmakers to pass a state budget during a press conference
at King Elementary School Lancaster County
Phoenixville district
protests property tax relief reductions
By Eric Devlin, The Mercury POSTED: 10/20/15, 7:03 PM EDT | UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO
Phoenixville
>> In an ongoing dispute rooted in the state’s failure to pass a budget,
the Phoenixville Area School Board is protesting the latest move by the state
to appropriate charter school funding that could cost property owners $99,000
in tax relief. The Phoenixville Area School District sent a letter of protest last
week to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, opposing the two
appropriations, which will reduce the amount of tax relief available through
the Homestead
tax relief program. The program is
budget-neutral for the district, and works by taking state refunds and passing
them through to registered homesteads in the form of property tax reductions. “That is local taxpayer money,” Phoenixville
Superintendent Alan Fegley said of the money the state took. “We think this is
illegal.” But Pennsylvania Department of
Education officials told The Mercury Tuesday that although they don’t
agree with the law authorizing the state to take the money, they have no choice
but to follow it.
Elementary students press
Philly mayoral candidates on playgrounds, arts, guns
WHYY Newsworks by
Kevin McCorry OCTOBER 20, 2015
What civic issues
press on the minds of the city's fourth- and fifth-graders?
The two top mayoral
candidates got a chance to find out Tuesday at an event held at Philadelphia School District
headquarters and hosted by the Rendell
Center West
Kensington reminded Democrat Jim Kenney and Republican Melissa
Murray Bailey on the need for more extracurriculars in schools. Fourth-grader Abdul Luna read a letter he
wrote to the candidates. "We could
really benefit from art, music, gym, sports, recess games and many more things
too," said Abdul. "First, I think we should have these things because
it will make our students more social and active with each other." Murray Bailey pledged to the children that
she'd return needed resources to schools, no matter action at the state level. "It's really important that we invest in
those, and that means sometimes we're not going to be able to do other things
that we used to do in the city," she said. "But it's really important
to fund the schools, because if we don't do that, then you guys aren't going to
be able to reach the potential that I know you can."
A plot to 'charterize'
Philly schools? Kenney sees one
KRISTEN A. GRAHAM, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST
UPDATED: Tuesday, October 20, 2015, 1:52 PM POSTED: Tuesday, October
20, 2015, 12:41 PM
Students asked Philadelphia mayoral
candidates Tuesday about playgrounds and guns, about jobs and drugs. And one group of Philadelphia schoolchildren asked about
charter schools. Democratic nominee
Jim Kenney wasn't shy. "I believe
in my heart that there was an effort to make every school a charter
school," he said. It was a state effort, Kenney said, a plan to
deliberately make the Philadelphia
School District Rendell Center
"If Hite's plan
represented real reforms, maybe it would be worth the $20 million price tag.
But the facts show they are not. Overnight expansion has been a disaster for
Roosevelt and other schools. Transformation schools, so far, show little more
than cosmetic changes. Data on Renaissance schools clearly show that the whole
program should be scrapped. Hite is a lifelong educator, and he knows what real
reform entails: smaller class size; one-on-one reading interventions; a library
in every school; full support staff including classroom aides for students with
special needs, English language learners and kindergarten. They have always
been worth investing in."
Rushed reforms fail our
schools
Philly.com Opinion
by LISA HAVER POSTED: Wednesday, October 21, 2015, 12:16 AM
Lisa Haver is a retired Philadelphia
teacher and co-founder of the Alliance
THE SCHOOL FORMERLY
known as Roosevelt Middle School in East Germantown landed at the bottom
of the list of Philadelphia
schools' Pennsylvania System of School Assessment reading-proficiency scores
this year. Math-proficiency scores are 0.3 percent. It pains me to say that,
because I taught there for four years in the '90s. It wasn't a bad school then.
We had a good principal who respected teachers, many of whom had been there
almost 20 years. There was a full-time librarian, a full-time nurse and two
full-time counselors. A committee of teachers developed a series of innovative
project-based curricula. Roosevelt has made it through serial budget cuts and
district neglect. But the most recent, perhaps fatal, wound was inflicted by
the School Reform Commission's decision two years ago to convert it to a K-8.
School transfer plan to remain secret until Wilkinsburg votes
By Clarece Polke / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
October 20, 2015 10:39 PM
The final details of
a proposed partnership between Pittsburgh
Public Schools and the Wilkinsburg School District
won't be available to the public until after the Wilkinsburg
board votes on it next week. Community
members who attended the Wilkinsburg school board’s workshop session tonight
raised questions about a lack of communication of the details of the proposal
to send Wilkinsburg students in grades 7-12 to Pittsburgh Westinghouse 6-12 in Homewood . Wilkinsburg board president Ed Donovan said the public
would not have access to the final proposal before next Tuesday's meeting, the
same meeting during which board members are to take a final vote. Pittsburgh school
directors will vote the next night, Oct. 28.
Details of the plan,
Mr. Donovan said, are still "in progress."
Testing Resistance & Reform News: October 14- 20,
2015
Submitted by
fairtest on October 20, 2015 - 1:49pm
National Tell
Congress: End Federal Test-and-Punish Policies Now
http://www.fairtest.org/tell-congress-keep-federal-accountability-mandates
National Time to Move On From Evaluating Teachers by Student Test Scores
http://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2015/10/13/its_time_to_move_o...
National U.S. Schools Would Benefit From Less Testing, More Equitable Funding
http://neatoday.org/2015/10/09/u-s-public-schools-could-benefit-from-les...
http://www.fairtest.org/tell-congress-keep-federal-accountability-mandates
National Time to Move On From Evaluating Teachers by Student Test Scores
http://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2015/10/13/its_time_to_move_o...
National U.S. Schools Would Benefit From Less Testing, More Equitable Funding
http://neatoday.org/2015/10/09/u-s-public-schools-could-benefit-from-les...
The Evidence That White Children Benefit From
Integrated Schools
NPR by ANYA KAMENETZ
OCTOBER 19, 2015 6:04 AM ET
Recently a
neighborhood in Brooklyn made national
headlines for a fight over public schools. Lots of affluent, mainly white
families have been moving into new condos in the waterfront area called DUMBO,
and the local elementary school is getting overcrowded. The city wants to redraw the zones in a way
that would send kids from this predominantly white school to a nearby school
where enrollment is over 90 percent black and Hispanic and which draws many of
its students from a public housing project. Some parents on both sides of the
line balked. "Liberal hypocrisy,"
was the headline in the conservative National Review. The tacit assumption was that
sending children to a majority-minority school would entail a sacrifice, one
that pits their own children against their (presumably) progressive ideals. But there's plenty of evidence that suggests
the opposite: White students might actually benefit from a more diverse
environment.
Here are three
reasons why.
PASBO 61st Annual
Conference and Exhibits March 8 - 11, 2016
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center,Hershey , Pennsylvania
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center,
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 hosts two conversations
exploring these questions.
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 No. 1 say
about education and our national debates.
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/>
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.
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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