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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup November 20, 2015:
Kenney heading to
Cincinnati to study Community Schools
Community Schools: Kenney
heading to Cincinnati
by Kristen A. Graham, Inquirer Staff
Writer NOVEMBER
19, 2015 12:31 PM EST
Mayor-elect Jim
Kenney is hitting the road to learn more about one of the key tenets of his
education platform: expanding community schools. Kenney, City Council President Darrell L.
Clarke, and others will travel to Cincinnati
on Friday to explore that city's acclaimed community schools model, which
concentrates social and health services inside school buildings. Clustering community
partners and city services inside schools is a way to boost student achievement
and engage families, proponents say. Cincinnati
has done so at very little cost to its school system, with the bulk of costs paid
for by nonprofit partners who either bill Medicaid for services or dip into
their own coffers. Kenney has pledged 25
community schools in Philadelphia
by the end of his first term. Also
making the trip will be Otis Hackney, current principal of South Philadelphia
High and Kenney's newly-named Chief Education Officer. Hackney was part of a
team that also traveled to Cincinnati in
September; what he has assembled at "Southern" during his five-year
tenure is the closest thing Philadelphia
currently has to a community school.
Need some background on Community Schools?
On state budget, 'devil's in the details'
19 Nov
2015 — Erie Times-News
Pennsylvania's
Legislature and Gov. Tom Wolf say they have agreed to a framework for a
compromise on the state budget. With a
Republican-controlled Legislature and a Democratic governor, the need for
compromise should have been apparent and compelling well before the June 30
budget deadline. Now legislators will have to act in haste to pass bills that
will change the state's tax structure, without sufficient time to figure out
how those tax changes will affect our most vulnerable citizens. We agree that it's necessary to increase
spending on public education, a move that could have been accomplished by some
combination of increasing the state income tax and the state sales tax to more
equitably distribute the burden of higher taxes. Instead, the proposed framework raises the
state sales tax from 6 percent to 7.25 percent in exchange for reductions in
property taxes. The increase in the sales tax will hit poor people the hardest.
And that tax would hit Erie's poor just as community efforts to make more
families self-sufficient and to reduce our high poverty rate are starting to
see some success. High property taxes
are decimating Erie and other Pennsylvania cities. But it's unclear at this
stage how and where property taxes will be reduced. Urban areas clearly need
substantial relief.
School officials warn of
fiscal peril
Republican Herald BY ROBERT SWIFT, HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF Published:
November 17, 2015
Pa. Districts Anxiously
Await End to Budget Standoff
Education Week By Daarel Burnette II Published Online: November 18, 2015
Pennsylvania school
administrators are hoping a five-month budget standoff that’s held up state
education funding will end soon, even as they tally the toll of the
belt-tightening measures they’ve been forced to endure since the 2015-16 school
year began. Already, districts around
the state have pulled most of the money left from their reserves and borrowed millions of dollars in
emergency loans from banks, withheld paying essential bills, and
shuttered dozens of preschool and after-school programs. At least one charter school has gone to
holding classes just four days a week, and a handful of districts
say they soon won’t be able to make payroll.
“This forces us to live on very thin money because we’re so reliant on
state revenue,” said Jay Badams, the superintendent of Erie ’s school district, which has 12,000
students. His board recently gave him authority to borrow up to $30 million to
pay its staff members. “We’ve been able to hold off from borrowing, but we
can’t put it off for much longer. We’re already in a precarious financial
situation. To take on additional debt is just bad management. This diverts
resources that we desperately need in the classroom.”
C-L board concerned about
bill to freeze tax
Lisa Chenoweth, For The Lebanon
Daily News3:58 p.m. EST
November 17, 2015
The proposed bill would freeze property tax
increases at the local level and instead put any tax increases to a referendum
vote by residents.
The Cornwall-Lebanon
School Board and administration voiced concern Monday night regarding proposed
state legislation that includes freezing property tax increases at the local
level and instead putting any tax increases to a referendum vote by residents. As the state budget stalemate is coming to a
close, said director Richard Weiss, the board’s representative to the
Pennsylvania School Board Association, an alert has been issued urging
concerned citizens to contact their senators. There are many reasons to be
concerned, he said. Chief among them – schools would be underfunded and school
boards would lose control of the budgeting process. Superintendent
Philip Domencic, accompanied by board members Glenn Achey, Susan Dieffenbach
and Ruth Schlegel, and business manager Kurt Phillips joined a
rally in Harrisburg
Monday sponsored by the PSBA and the Secondary Schools Principals Association,
and took the opportunity to speak with locally elected state representatives.
Fitzpatrick, Chaput call
on Wolf to resolve budget issues
Intelligencer By Peg Quann, staff writer Posted: Thursday, November 19, 2015 7:00 pm
Congressman Mike
Fitzpatrick and Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput are calling on
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to stop the budget impasse. Fitzpatrick, a Republican from Middletown , wants Wolf to
release all federal funding the state is holding for education as the budget
impasse continues. "I am calling on
Gov. Wolf to immediately release all federal education funding appropriated by
Congress. Those funds have been disbursed to Pennsylvania
and it's improper for the governor to hold federal education funding
hostage," said Fitzpatrick, whose district encompasses Bucks County
and parts of Montgomery
County Harrisburg .
He's hurting our children by denying them their due educational opportunities." Fitzpatrick made his comments as school
districts said they are using local funds to cover budgetary shortfalls created
by the federal and state funds not being disbursed due to the impasse. Chaput said the state Department of Community
and Economic Development "is currently unwilling to issue authorizations
to firms ready to make contributions to qualified scholarship
organizations."
Audit faults Infinity Charter School
Penn Live By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
November 19, 2015 at 6:05 PM
An audit of Infinity Charter
School in Penbrook uncovered a policy that gave preferential
enrollment to children and grandchildren of its employees and board members
last year and this year. That created an
unfair advantage to those students which violates the letter and intent of the
state's charter school law, said state Auditor General Eugene
DePasquale. "The reason why that
law is there is basically it's supposed to be a fair enrollment process for
anyone to get into a charter school," DePasquale said on Thursday.
Outsourcing: N.J. sub firm
won't lose Phila. schools contract
by Kristen A. Graham and Martha Woodall, Inquirer Staff Writers Updated on NOVEMBER 20, 2015 —
1:08 AM EST
Despite months of missing goals and leaving classrooms unstaffed, the
Cherry Hill firm charged with handling city schools' substitute-teaching
services will keep most of its Philadelphia
School District Philadelphia had more than 500 short-term
absences and vacancies for the firm to fill. At its high point , this week, Source4Teachers filled
roughly 30 percent of the jobs. It had
promised to staff 70 percent of vacancies on the first day of school, and 90
percent by January.
Black male educators seek
to offer support, inspiration in Philly
by SOLOMON LEACH, Daily News Staff
Writer leachs@phillynews.com,
215-854-5903 Updated on NOVEMBER
20, 2015 — 3:01 AM EST
WHEN SHARIF El-Mekki
was looking for ways to get involved with at-risk black youths about 20 years
ago, he looked at obvious career choices such as social work and counseling.
Not once did
teaching cross his mind until a friend's mother suggested it. He initially
balked at the idea. "Both my
parents were Black Panthers, my mom was a retired teacher. Being in that
proximity it never dawned on me to use the classroom as a vehicle to
freedom-fighting," said the principal at Mastery Charter's Shoemaker
campus in West Philadelphia .
"I just didn't
look at it that way." The ability
to engage students and help shape their thinking resonated with El-Mekki, an
educator for 22 years, a journey that began at the former Turner Middle School U.S. , despite
accounting for about 6 percent of the total population. Experts say the lack of
diversity not only hurts students of color, but also their white counterparts.
Fund for School
District kicks off early literacy, classroom library campaign
the notebook By Fabiola Cineas on Nov 19,
2015 12:21 PM
The city is fueling
its mission to put kids on track to reading on grade level by 4th grade.
On Tuesday,
Superintendent William Hite, Mayor-elect Jim Kenney, and 30 other city leaders
convened at Clara Barton Elementary School
to launch the $3.5 million Right Books Campaign that aims to place leveled
libraries in classrooms and comprehensive literacy coaches in every public
elementary school in Philadelphia . “We have until 2017 to raise [the money], but
we know with the generosity of Philadelphians that we will do that much
sooner,” said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, the president and CEO of the Fund for the
School District
of Philadelphia Philadelphia
public education system in early literacy, school safety, and high school
redesign.
Penn Live By Elizabeth Gibson |
Special to PennLive on November 19, 2015 at 7:40 PM,
updated November 19, 2015 at 9:08 PM
Nancy Fishman's
school director seat was vacant last night, and the Carlisle Area
School Board president won't be returning. Interim President Linda Manning was at the
helm, instead. Fishman resigned
saying that her job duties as the new deputy director for the Washington , D.C.
Why today’s college students don’t want to be teachers
Teacher
shortages around the country have been big news in the education world this
year, as has Teach For America’s recruitment issues and stories about fewer
applicants to some college of education. What’s going on? In this post, Stephen
Mulcher, who directs the Bard College Master of Arts Teaching Program in Los Angeles , looks at the
declining interest among college students in going into the teaching profession
and suggests how to turn that around. He assesses the impact that the modern
school reform movement — which has put teachers in the crosshairs — is having
on this dynamic and makes suggestions about how to turn it around.
PSBA New School Director
Training
School boards who will welcome new directors after the election should
plan to attend PSBA training to help everyone feel more confident right from
the start. This one-day event is targeted to help members learn the basics of
their new roles and responsibilities. Meet the friendly, knowledgeable PSBA
team and bring everyone on your “team of 10” to get on the same page fast.
- $150 per
registrant (No charge if your district has a LEARN Pass. Note: All-Access
members also have LEARN Pass.)
- One-hour lunch
on your own — bring your lunch, go to lunch, or we’ll bring a box lunch to
you; coffee/tea provided all day
- Course
materials available online or we’ll bring a printed copy to you for an
additional $25
- Registrants
receive one month of 100-level online courses for each registrant, after
the live class
Nine locations
for your convenience:
- Philadelphia
area — Nov. 21 William Tennent HS, Warminster (note: location changed from
IU23 Norristown)
- Pittsburgh
area — Dec. 5 Allegheny IU3, Homestead
- South Central
PA and Erie areas (joint program)— Dec. 12 Northwest Tri-County IU5,
Edinboro and PSBA, Mechanicsburg
- Butler area —
Jan. 9 Midwestern IU 4, Grove City (note: location changed from Penn State
New Kensington)
- Allentown area
— Jan. 16 Lehigh Career & Technical Institute, Schnecksville
- Central PA —
Jan. 30 Nittany Lion Inn, State College
- Scranton area
— Feb. 6 Abington Heights SD, Clarks Summit
- North Central
area —Feb. 13 Mansfield University, Mansfield
Register here: https://www.psba.org/2015/09/new-school-director-training/
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.
PASBO 61st Annual
Conference and Exhibits March 8 - 11, 2016
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
The Network for Public Education 3rd
Annual National Conference April 16-17, 2016 Raleigh , North Carolina
The
Network for Public Education is thrilled to announce the location for our 3rd
Annual National Conference. On April 16 and 17, 2016 public education advocates
from across the country will gather in Raleigh, North Carolina. We chose Raleigh to highlight the tremendous
activist movement that is flourishing in North Carolina. No one exemplifies
that movement better than the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, who will be the
conference keynote speaker. Rev. Barber is the current president of
the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, the National NAACP chair of
the Legislative Political Action Committee, and the founder of Moral Mondays.
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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