Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
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administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's
staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, Wolf education transition
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These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup November 6, 2015:
Today, nine out of 10
school-age children attend America
Contact
your legislator now! Demand your state
legislator and Governor Wolf take action to resolve the budget stalemate now
and provide adequate state funding to our public schools.
PA School Boards Association, PA Association of School Administrators,
PA Association of School Business Officials, PA Principals Association
Register for PSBA Budget
Action Day on Monday, Nov. 16 — Join us!
Pennsylvania Department of Education
for 2013, 2014 and 2015
Source: www.paschoolperformance.org
A score of 70 is considered passing. No cyber
charter achieved a score of 70 in either year. Additionally, most cybers
never made AYP under No Child Left Behind during the period 2005 thru 2012. Here are the 2013, 2014 and 2015 SPP scores
for Pennsylvania
School 2013
2014 2015
Achievement House
CS
39.7 37.5 44.8
Agora Cyber CS 48.3 42.4 46.4
ASPIRA Bilingual CS
29.0 39.0 38.4
Commonwealth Connections Academy CS 54.6 52.2 48.8
Esperanza Cyber CS 32.7 47.7 31.7
Solomon Charter School
Inc.
36.9
Susq-Cyber
CS
46.4 42.4 45.5
Curmuducation Blog by Peter Greene Thursday,
November 5, 2015
If you were feeling
badly about the poor beleaguered cyber schools that took a drubbing earlier
this week (from both a report suggesting they are no more effective than a long nap and the many charter
fans who piled on to excoriate them), take heart. Someone did run to their
defense. And an alleged journalist paved the road so that the run would be
easy. The Wall Street Journal's Opinion
Journal posted a five minute infomercial for the cybers, featuring Center for Education Reform Senior Fellow and
President Emeritus Jeanne Allen. The Center for Education Reform is a full-on
advocacy group for the charter school industry, used to float every imaginable
argument in support of sweet, chartery goodness. Allen was there to blunt the
impact of the study, and the WSJ host was there to help her do it. "A small study on online charter schools
is creating a big controversy," our hostess leads, suggesting that the
study was neither large nor important, and suggesting that there is actually
some sort of debate over the uselessness of cybers, and not just a whole lot
folks from all across the ideological spectrum declaring that cyberschools are
a big expensive waste of time.
"Including a move to
eliminate the Act 1 exceptions; that would mean that any and all tax increases
would need to go to voter referendum"
PSBA 60-Second Update: Budget impasse
PSBA is doing a lot
over the next several days/weeks related to the 4-month+ budget impasse. Watch
this 60-Second Update to learn more.
Letters to the editor:
Pass budget now
Center Daily Times Letter by JANE REESE PORT MATILDA November 4, 2015
To all those
business owners that just paid their third-quarter payroll taxes, especially
state taxes:
Do you wonder how
Pennsylvania lawmakers can justify not passing a budget — which is really not
paying their bills — while we the business owners do not have this choice?
Pass the budget or
don’t cash my check until you do!
"We have a divided government,”
Wolf told me. “I've made huge compromises, and now I'm waiting for them.” Funny thing is, Republicans say much the same
thing about Wolf. And it’s possible both sides think they’re right about this."
Tom Wolf Defends His Choices in Pennsylvania
A growing
narrative suggests he can’t compromise. The governor pushes back.
PhillyMag.com BY JOEL MATHIS | NOVEMBER
5, 2015 AT 11:31 AM
Tom Wolf wants you to
know he’s not overly stubborn. He wants you to know he’s fighting for the right
things. He wants you to know that he can, in fact, govern the state of Pennsylvania .
Or, at least, he
wants me to know. You
might remember that about three weeks ago, I wrote a column with the headline,
“No, Tom Wolf Can’t Govern Pennsylvania.”
I basically argued that the state’s budget standoff had gone on too long, and
that it was time for the governor to make some compromises, accept a “half a
loaf” victory, get a budget passed, and move on. The column wasn’t
greeted well in Harrisburg .
I got a call from the governor’s spokesman about an hour after it published at
PhillyMag.com, and he gave me an earful. And that, I figured, was probably
that. Until Wednesday, that is.
That’s when Gov. Wolf called me up for a short chat. It was cordial but
pointed: My three-week-old column was still sticking in his craw.
His basic message was a familiar one though: He has made
compromises — and he needs the GOP-controlled Legislature to do the same in
order to finally get a budget passed, months after mid-summer deadline for
doing so.
Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/11/05/tom-wolf-budget-compromise/#qHuVEKsyI8W9X5uD.99
Inky Editorial: Republican
leaders at fault for Pa.
POSTED: Friday, November 6, 2015, 1:08 AM
Harold Jackson is
The Inquirer's editorial page editor.
Forgive Pennsylvanians for not realizing that the most important election in the state last year was not the one that Tom Wolf won. In hindsight, it's clear that the public should have paid more attention to who Republicans were choosing to be their legislative leaders. They're the engineers of the five-month stalemate that has blocked Wolf's proposed budget. Wolf was confident when asked during his campaign whether he could handle a legislature with Republicans in control of both chambers. But that was before the governor had actually experienced the lack of leverage that he and his Democratic colleagues have inHarrisburg .
His veto of an alternative GOP budget doesn't mean they won't try to pass
another one.
Forgive Pennsylvanians for not realizing that the most important election in the state last year was not the one that Tom Wolf won. In hindsight, it's clear that the public should have paid more attention to who Republicans were choosing to be their legislative leaders. They're the engineers of the five-month stalemate that has blocked Wolf's proposed budget. Wolf was confident when asked during his campaign whether he could handle a legislature with Republicans in control of both chambers. But that was before the governor had actually experienced the lack of leverage that he and his Democratic colleagues have in
Does Pa.
the notebook By Greg Windle on Nov 5, 2015
11:26 AM
Last Monday, the National Constitution Center Education
Law Center
Editorial: Revenge of the
school boards?
The state budget
stalemate has now entered its fifth month. And while Pennsylvania 's 500 school districts may have
figured out how to make up what they're not getting in state funding, what they
can't make up is the interest they're not earning on the state funds they
normally bank until needed. The
way Centennial school board member Michael Hartline figures it, school
districts overall have lost maybe $100 million in interest payments since state
government missed the June 30 budget deadline. That's based on the approximate
$10 billion the state spends on education annually. Central Bucks
School District
"We have a line
item in our budget for interest income," Hartline explained. "I want
compensation in interest income that the district has lost by essentially
providing an interest-free loan to the state." As part of a strategy
to obtain compensation, Hartline said the district should sue Gov. Wolf and
possibly the state Legislature for the interest income the state is accruing by
withholding the district's subsidy.
DuBois school director
wants district to endorse lawsuit
DuBois Courier Express By Elaine Haskins ehaskins@thecourierexpress.com
Posted: Thursday, November
5, 2015 7:59 am | Updated:
8:01 am, Thu Nov 5, 2015.
DuBOIS — On Oct. 21,
2015, the Pennsylvania School Board Association filed in the Commonwealth Court
a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the state
Treasurer, challenging the unlawful diversion of Property Tax Reduction
Allocation funds from the Gaming Fund/Property Tax Relief Fund that were due to
be paid to school districts on Oct. 22 for the benefit of taxpayers. DuBois Area School District Director Roland
Bechtel said he will “respectfully move that our DuBois Area
School District
Shorter grace period sought for Pa.
By Kate Giammarise /
Post-Gazette Harrisburg
Bureau November 5, 2015 10:59 PM
"About 91 percent of
kindergartners starting school in Pennsylvania
Trib Live By Wes
Venteicher Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015, 3:33 p.m.
Pennsylvania wants to tighten vaccine requirements at schools to raise the state's vaccination rate to the national average, officials announced Thursday. A proposal from the state's Health and Education departments would require students to have all their shots within five days of starting school or provide a medical certificate saying when they would receive the inoculations, according to a news release from the departments. Current law gives students eight months to finish vaccination regimens as long as they have the first dose in the regimen by the time they start school. Under the proposal, they would still have to have the first shot by the time they start. The proposal would also set a requirement that students entering grade 12 get a pertussis vaccine and a shot to protect against meningitis.
Pennsylvania wants to tighten vaccine requirements at schools to raise the state's vaccination rate to the national average, officials announced Thursday. A proposal from the state's Health and Education departments would require students to have all their shots within five days of starting school or provide a medical certificate saying when they would receive the inoculations, according to a news release from the departments. Current law gives students eight months to finish vaccination regimens as long as they have the first dose in the regimen by the time they start school. Under the proposal, they would still have to have the first shot by the time they start. The proposal would also set a requirement that students entering grade 12 get a pertussis vaccine and a shot to protect against meningitis.
"Composting at W.B.
Saul, the city's only agriculture high school, is a relatively recent undertaking.
Less than five years ago, the school was paying to haul away the farm waste and
buying compost made on mushroom farms in Kennett Square
'Big pile of poop' a key
ingredient of Philly farm students' education
BY NEEMA ROSHANIA NOVEMBER 5, 2015
It's just before 8
a.m. on a drizzly autumn morning at the W.B. Saul High School Weavers Way to the school's compost piles
— towering mounds that stretch about 240 feet.
Already the Philadelphia Zoo has dumped 3,000 pounds of manure, hay and
leftovers. Blunks pauses and takes
a deep breath. "In the
morning you get a little stinky," he said. "That's zoo stuff that
hasn't been mixed in yet." That
"zoo stuff" will be mixed in with the scraps from Weavers Way, spent grain
from local breweries and coffee bean chaff — the husk that falls off beans
during roasting — from coffee roasters.
WEST CHESTER
>> Like students who take standardized tests, some Chester County school
districts showed well and others didn’t when it came to the results of the
School Performance Profile scores released Wednesday by the state Department of
Education. According to the Associated
Press, the Department of Education released its 2015 Building Level Academic Scores,
based upon the overall performance of 11th graders during the 2014-2015 school
year. The scores –
measured along a 100-point scale with 70 being average – rely heavily on state
assessment scores such as the standardized Keystone Exams. Other factors
include availability of advanced placement classes, graduation and attendance
rates and measured academic growth. Elementary
and middle schools did not receive scores because the 2014-2015 PSSA Core
assessments were placed on a one-year waiver so districts could adjust to more
stringent standards. Now in its third
year, the SPP is based heavily on state assessment scores, but also includes
college readiness tests, industry standards-based assessments, graduation,
promotion, and attendance rates, as well as evidence of offering rigorous
courses as other factors in the calculation.
|
Walton Family Foundation Education Grants to Teach
for
|
|
2009 through 2014
|
|
Source: Walton Family Foundation Website
|
|
http://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/about/2013-grant-report
|
|
2009
|
7,209,746
|
|
2010
|
16,652,436
|
|
2011
|
12,572,500
|
|
2012
|
11,445,000
|
|
2013
|
1,727,500
|
|
2013
|
2,020,000
|
|
2013
|
15,050,000
|
|
2014
|
2,430,000
|
|
Total:
|
69,107,182
|
(In
addition to the $69 million already spent,) Walton Family Foundation Gives Another
$50M to Teach for America
New York Times By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NOV. 5, 2015, 8:22 A.M. E.S.T.
BENTONVILLE, Ark. —
The Walton Family Foundation says it will donate $50 million over three years
to Teach for America to support 4,000 new teachers nationwide. Teach for America , which is celebrating its
25th anniversary, recruits college graduates to teach for two years in schools
in high-poverty areas. The foundation,
which was created by Wal-Mart's founders, says the grant will support the
recruitment, training and professional development of about 4,000 new teachers
in Atlanta, Arkansas and the Mississippi River Delta region; the San Francisco
Bay Area; Camden, New Jersey; Houston; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Memphis,
Tennessee; New Orleans; San Antonio; and Washington, D.C. The grants also funds
new teachers in Colorado and Massachusetts . The Mississippi Delta region, one of the
poorest areas of the country, will get 800 new teachers under the grant.
"Our team performed a
statistical analysis of that data and produced this map showing the estimated
percentage of homes, at the state, county and census tract levels, with more
than 100 books."
BOOKS IN THE HOME: United
States Interactive Book Desert
Unite for Literacy
It’s becoming a
well-known fact that the number of books in the home is a reliable predictor of
children's academic success. What is less known is the geographic distribution
of book ownership. We created this first Book Abundance Atlas* to make the
challenges of book scarcity visible. Our purpose was to initiate a conversation
about the root causes of book scarcity in order to focus community efforts to
create book abundance. *We looked at the
number of books in 4th graders’ homes, community income, ethnicity, geography,
and home language data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and
the American Community Survey. Our team performed a statistical analysis of
that data and produced this map showing the estimated percentage of homes, at
the state, county and census tract levels, with more than 100 books. Pull down
the Legend to see the map key.
"Public education," declares
Pickler in his Comcast interview, "is America America America
American Public Education Foundation a Comcast
Newsmaker
American Public Education Foundation (26 Oct. 2015 – Collierville , TN
The new American Public Education Foundation (APEF) is profiled in the
National edition of Comcast Newsmakers®, in an "Education and Engaged
Citizenship" segment featuring APEF President and Co-founder David A.
Pickler. The 5-minute interview airs publicly online and across the U.S. on Comcast
(subscribers only) now through January 31, 2016. The home page of the APEF
website – www.theapef.org -
also airs the thought leader segment. "We operate against a 'big tent' mindset – if you are a public
education advocate ready to inspire the next generation, partner with
APEF," said American Public Education Foundation President David A.
Pickler. "APEF is a 'hub' where community leaders, corporations, and
individuals who support public education can join forces to ensure that every
child in America – regardless of zip code – gains access to a world-class
education and becomes an engaged citizen."
In an area where less than 15% of adults have
a B.A., Alabama
Hechinger Report by MEREDITH KOLODNER
November 4, 2015
As states focus on increasing the number of low-income students who go to
college, Alabama
has added another target group – their parents.
Last year, Alabama
promised 10,000 sixth and seventh graders at more than 50 schools in a poor
area of the state free community college tuition, along with extra tutoring and
mentoring. This fall, state officials are holding meetings at six community
colleges in the region to recruit the parents of those students, who will also
be able to enroll tuition-free. “We
believe this to be a real game-changer,” said Lawrence E. Tyson, a professor
who is leading the initiative. “One way to change the culture of not just a
community, but also a home, is to involve the parents.” The schools whose families are receiving this
offer are in a region of Alabama
known as the Black Belt, which historically has had some of the highest poverty
rates and lowest levels of formal education in the nation.
Hundreds of Common Core
test questions have just been made public. Can you solve them?
Curious about the Common Core tests that have generated so much
debate and so many low scores in recent months? Now you can check them out
yourself.
The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or
PARCC, has released
hundreds of test questions that were given to students in 2015 —
roughly equivalent to a full test’s worth for each grade level and subject.
One type of charter school
has an 'overwhelming negative impact' on students
Business Insider by Abby Jackson Nov. 4, 2015
Charter schools — which are publicly funded but privately run — have
proliferated across the US
since they first
emerged as an alternative to traditional public schools (TPS) in the
early 1990s. In recent years, online charter schools have proliferated in the US , too. Online
charter schools, also referred to as cyber or virtual charter schools, offer
K-12 education where all the classes are provided online. Students log into their computers to receive
instruction from teachers, but much of the learning is also independently
driven, with students reading passages and completing work on their own. But new research conducted by Stanford University
"Hedge funds and other private
businesses are particularly interested in the growth and success of charter
schools. The growth of charter networks around the US
Gates, Walmart family
teaching hedge funds how to profit from publicly funded schools
Business Insider by Abby Jackson Mar.
17, 2015, 12:44 PM
Charter Schools are drawing promoters from a place you might not think
of: Walmart.
The Walton Family Foundation — the philanthropic group run by the Walmart
family — sponsored a symposium at the Harvard Club for investors interested in
the charter school sector, last week. The event, hosted in Manhattan ,
was called "Bonds
and Blackboards: Investing in Charter Schools," and was
cosponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. With the explicit intent of helping investors
"Learn and understand the value of investing in charter schools and best
practices for assessing their credit," the event featured experts on
charter school investing from Standard & Poor's, Piper Jaffray, Bank of
America, and Wells Capital Management, among others.
Register for PSBA Budget Action Day on Monday, Nov. 16
— Join us!
For more than four months Pennsylvanians have gone without a state
budget, and school districts are feeling the pain. As the budget stalemate continues, many
school districts across the state are depleting savings or borrowing to meet
expenses. In addition to loan interest payments and fees, schools are taking
many other steps to curtail spending and keep school doors open.
PSBA is asking you to join us at the Harrisburg Capitol on Monday, Nov.
16 to take action. Let our legislators know that a state budget is critical to
the education of our public school children in Pennsylvania . Budget Action Day, Capitol
Building , Harrisburg , PA
WESA Public Forum:
Equitable Education Funding Nov. 9, 7 pm
Pittsburgh
WESA By EBAISLEY • October
27, 2015
Governor Tom Wolfe
has proposed spending 6.1 billion dollars on basic education, yet Pennsylvania is one of
just three states that does not use a formula to distribute funding to local
school districts. What is the best and most equitable way to allocate state
education funding? How can educators and lawmakers ensure a fair education for
all students?
90.5 WESA will convene a "Life of
Learning" community forum November 9 at the Community Broadcast Center on
the south side. to discuss the Basic Education Funding Commission’s
proposed funding formula as well as strategies used in the state’s
history. Doors open at 6:30; forum starts at 7. It will be recorded for later broadcast. The
event is free, but space is limited; registration is recommended.Register online to attend.
Panelists include State Senator Jay Costa, member of the Basic Education Funding
Commission; Ron Cowell, President of the Education Policy and Leadership
Center; Linda Croushore, Executive Director of the Consortium for Public
Education; and Eric Montarti, Senior Policy Analyst for the Allegheny
Institute for Public Policy; and Linda Lane, superintendent of Pittsburgh
Public Schools. 90.5 WESA’s Larkin Page-Jacobs will moderate.
WHAT: Community Forum on Equitable Education
Funding
WHEN: November 9, 2015, 7 PM
WHERE: Community Broadcast Center, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh PA 15203
COST: Free. Register to attend.
WHEN: November 9, 2015, 7 PM
WHERE: Community Broadcast Center, 67 Bedford Square, Pittsburgh PA 15203
COST: Free. Register to attend.
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.
PASBO 61st Annual
Conference and Exhibits March 8 - 11, 2016
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
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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