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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup December 16, 2015:
In 16-state comparison, Pa.
If you have newly elected members on your school board who would
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Blogger rant: While spending
millions of tax dollars from all 500 school districts on advertising, not one
of PA's cyber charters has achieved a passing SPP score of 70 in either 2012,
2013 or 2014. Most never made AYP under
No Child Left Behind.
In 16-state comparison, Pa.
The Pew Foundation report looks
at charter school governance.
the notebook by Wendy Harris December 15, 2015
Charter schools
in Pennsylvania
are allowed to have a relatively high percentage of uncertified
teachers and they are closed here less often than in other
states, according to a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Pennsylvania also has a
high proportion of students in cyber charters. The 15-page
report, “How
Charter School Governance in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Measures Up,”
examines the rules for starting and operating charter schools in 16
states, drawing comparisons in areas such as authorization process, oversight,
closing rates, extent of waivers from rules governing traditional public
schools, and friendliness to cyber charters.
Feature: Charter school
compliance with right to know laws
The PLS Reporter Author: Andreas Dienner/Tuesday, December
15, 2015
What to do about Pennsylvania ’s charter
schools has been thrown into the fore of the Commonwealth’s protracted budget
debate as the Public School Code portion of the budget-related bills has drawn
concern from both sides of the aisle. As
discussions on how, if at all, to reform Pennsylvania’s charter school system
take place within the legislature, one area of particular concern that could be
resolved in ongoing negotiations is charter school transparency as it applies
to Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law. This
feature takes a look at the history of Pennsylvania ’s
charter schools and their transparency compliance issues.
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY DECEMBER 15, 2015
President Obama last
week signed a bill that weakens federal oversight of public schools and
transfers autonomy to the states. Pennsylvania
Education Secretary Pedro Rivera says the outgoing No Child Left Behind law was
a "cookie cutter" approach that put too much stock in one-size-fits
all testing. Rivera says he's
"extremely pleased" with its replacement, known as the Every Student
Succeeds Act. "By creating the
opportunity for states to create a system of accountability and support that
can be differentiated based on the needs of students is probably most
important," said Rivera. That law
created a national system that judged schools based on math and reading test
scores. Every Student Succeeds erases that system. Instead it lets each
state develop its own methods for judging school quality. The only mandatory standards in NCLB were
state standardized tests. Annually, schools either had to raise scores or face
escalating penalties. Under the new law,
states still must test students grades 3-8 and once in high school, but it
gives states the power to develop their own accountability tools which include
other more holistic measures. Pennsylvania developed
its School Performance Profile measuring stick through a federal waiver to
NCLB. Still, 90 percent of an SPP score comes from test results.
"Asked how discussions
among House Republicans were progressing, Speaker Mike Turzai (R., Allegheny)
offered a one-word assessment. "Interesting," he said, before getting
into an elevator. "I really don't have much more to say than that."
Philly.com by Chris Palmer, HARRISBURG BUREAU. Updated: DECEMBER 16, 2015 — 1:08 AM EST
"The state’s centrist
political culture is no more. The sharp partisan divisions so evident in
Congress have trickled down to Pennsylvania
Plaid Is So Yesterday
New York Times Opinion By TOM FERRICK Jr. DEC. 14, 2015
Philadelphia — Hugh
Scott, the Pennsylvania Republican who served as Senate minority leader during
the Watergate era, was known for his ever-present pipe and his determination to
evade taking a position until he was good and ready. The story goes that once, when asked what his
favorite color was, Mr. Scott replied, “Plaid.”
It’s a joke, but there is truth to it because Mr. Scott represented a
plaid state, not as liberal as Massachusetts ,
not as conservative as Indiana . In Mr. Scott’s day, Pennsylvania trended
Republican. Today, Pennsylvania
trends Democratic. Seen from 30,000 feet, it looks blue. The last Republican
presidential candidate to win here was George H. W. Bush in 1988. This is
mostly because of the populous southeastern part of the state, where 42 percent
of all Pennsylvania voters live, which has
become increasingly Democratic, especially in the Philadelphia suburbs.
A #PaBudget by Christmas?
Here's what could happen and what's happened before: Tuesday Morning Coffee
Penn Live By John L. Micek |
jmicek@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
December 15, 2015 at 8:31 AM, updated December 15, 2015 at 10:54 AM
Good Tuesday
Morning, Fellow Seekers.
For those of you playing along at home, today is Dec. 15, which means a scant 10 days remain until many among us celebrate the birth of the World's Most Famous Carpenter.
For those of you playing along at home, today is Dec. 15, which means a scant 10 days remain until many among us celebrate the birth of the World's Most Famous Carpenter.
But another
anniversary also beckons on this Tuesday morning: We're just seven days from
breaking the standing record for late budgets.
Yep, that's right, it was back on Dec. 22, 2003, that lawmakers and
former Gov. Ed Rendell were able to settle the final pieces of
a spending plan that, as is the case now, saw school districts borrow money to
make ends meet. "I think Christmas
is one of those dates where everyone wants to get this done," said Rep. Mike Vereb R-Montgomery, tells ABC-27. "But I think
you'll find those in our caucus (House GOP) including myself who
are just not interested in voting for a billion dollar tax increase." There are, of course, a couple of differences
between then and now. Let's review, shall we?
"Add that sorry fact to
the list of difficulties spawned by the impasse. Pennsylvania is approaching
the embarrassment of 2003, former Gov. Ed Rendell’s first year in office, when
the complete spending plan wasn’t signed until Dec. 23. That overdue budget was
the second-latest in the modern era, surpassed only by the fight in 1969, when
enactment came 247 days late."
PPG Editorial: Losing favor: Pennsylvania
Post Gazette By the
Editorial Board December 16, 2015 12:00 AM
Five and a half
months after a state budget should have been enacted, the damage done by the
stalemate is really adding up. The
latest fallout from the inability of Harrisburg ’s
polarized negotiators to agree on a 2015-16 spending plan came from Standard
& Poor’s Rating Services, an agency that determines the credit-worthiness,
and thus the interest rates, of borrowers. S&P withdrew
ratings for school districts and community colleges that were based on a state
program that helps them get more favorable loan terms by guaranteeing repayment
to their bondholders. In a damning note issued last week, the agency concluded
that “Pennsylvania ’s
state aid payments are no longer a reliable and stable source of funds.” The change could make it difficult,
impossible or, at a minimum, more expensive for districts and community
colleges to borrow money to keep their doors open until the Legislature and
Gov. Tom Wolf reach agreement on a new state budget.
“The idea of trying to make
resistance to higher taxes something that only the speaker stands for ignores
the fact that he was elected to his position by a unanimous vote of a House GOP
caucus that as a whole, is adamantly against unnecessary tax hikes,” said Rep.
Stephen Bloom, R-Cumberland. “There is a
large majority of our caucus who believe this is about taxes,” said Rep.
Kristin Phillips Hill, R-York. “This has been about taxes from day one.”
Dems cast Turzai as villain in Pa.
By Kate Giammarise/
Post-Gazette Harrisburg
Bureau December 16, 2015 12:00 AM
HARRISBURG — With
tempers at the state Capitol running high as a budget stalemate approaches the
six-month mark, many Democrats are casting House Speaker Mike Turzai,
R-Marshall, as the main obstacle to having a deal. Mr. Turzai allowed a vote on the House’s
alternate budget to the compromise framework hammered out by the Wolf
administration and party leaders, and he canceled sessions Friday and Saturday
that many members hoped would result in a budget. Mr. Turzai, considered to be
more conservative than House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana, is increasingly
becoming the focus as frustration grows over the impasse. But many House GOP
members say Mr. Turzai is speaking for a significant number of people in his
caucus — House members who won’t vote for the tax increases Mr. Wolf is
seeking. Republicans control both the House and Senate by large majorities; 31
to 19 in the Senate and 119 to 84 in the House.
Bill changing Pennsylvania state, school pensions hits
homestretch
Morning Call by Marc Levy Of
The Associated Press December 15, 2015
Pension reform bill gets
House “tweaks”
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Tuesday, December
15, 2015
Senate legislation
that would overhaul Pennsylvania ’s
state-run pension plans that benefit state and public school employees received
the “tweaks” many were anticipating in a Tuesday morning vote by the House
State Government Committee. The
legislation was changed to allow all current state employees—not just elected officials—to
opt-in to the new side-by-side hybrid pension plan, eliminate the artificial
funding collars for FY 2016-2017 the Senate included in the legislation, and
require the Public Employee Retirement Commission to attach an actuarial note
to the legislation as required by law. All
of the changes were agreed-to unanimously, but committee Democrats uniformly
opposed the full measure. “We still are
not satisfied with this legislation,” said committee Minority Chairman Mark
Cohen (D-Philadelphia). “The legislation does not address the unfunded
liability…the plan offers no dedicated revenue stream to cover pension costs in
the future, it does not produce obvious savings to taxpayers, there are
questions of constitutionality.”
"We have been elected to
serve our constituents—and the common good—at the moment what Pennsylvanians
desperately need is a budget. I believe
we have an obligation to stay here in Harrisburg
It's way past make-or-break
time on the #PaBudget: Madeleine Dean
PennLive
Op-Ed By Madeleine Dean on
December 15, 2015 at 11:00 AM
State Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat,
represents the Montgomery County-based 153rd House District.
Among the calls that
my office has been receiving from those affected by Pennsylvania 's budget stalemate, some of the
saddest are from foster parents that have not been getting state aid to care
for the children that they have taken into their homes. With the holiday season approaching, this
Legislature's inability to enact an adequate, responsible budget seems starkly
cruel. The House's failure
to approve a fair and passable budget is a failure on us as legislators.
How do legislative
staffers really feel about the Pa.
Penn Live By Candy Woodall |
cwoodall@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
December 16, 2015 at 7:03 AM, updated December 16, 2015 at 7:23 AM
Normally,
legislative staffers would've received an email by now telling them they could
go home a couple hours early on Christmas Eve.
But this isn't a normal year. The
budget stalemate is crawling through its sixth month, and many staffers say
their lives and holiday plans revolve around ongoing negotiations. "It sucks," said Steve Miskin,
spokesman for the House Republican caucus.
He and other staffers for House and Senate leaders have worked nearly
every weekend since June. Will
Pennsylvanians get a budget before the holiday and will staffers go home for
Christmas? "I sure as hell hope
so," said Miskin, who is often blunt and a self-described
glass-is-half-full kind of guy. The
frustration at the statehouse is palpable.
"Philadelphia schools
were taken over by the state decades ago, but the state has incredibly failed
to magically transform them, so the state would now like to take them over from
the state (you can read more about that foolishness here)."
Curmuducation Blog by Peter Greene Tuesday,
December 15, 2015
We have a budget
problem in Pennsylvania .
You could call it a budget "crisis," but that makes it sound like it
just sort of happened, like a hurricane or male pattern baldness. You could
call it a budget "impasse," but that suggests two grown up sides that
can't find a compromise. Perhaps budget "screwup" or budget
"failure so stupid it is raising the collective blood pressure of the
entire state." If it seems like
we've been budget fiasco for a long time, that's because we have. Today is Day
168 of the ongoing budget not-done-on-time event. There was a time when I would have agreed
with a bi-partisan assessment. In the early stages, the GOP controlled PA House
and Senate wanted to act as if the previous GOP governor had not been
decisively kicked to the curb. Newly-elected Governor Tom Wolf, whose previous
work experience is running a successful family business, did not initially seem
to grasp that he is not a CEO who can order the legislature around as if they
are his minions. But many of the parties
got on a learning curve and seemed to make progress. At first it seemed like a manageable
catastrophe. After all, we're used to this-- we've had five late budgets in ten
years.
"The main achievement
pursued by the recovery plan is to eliminate negative fund balances in the
district budget for two consecutive years so that the district can stand on its
own without additional funding from the state being necessary. In a series of
amended recovery proposals made earlier this year, the district sought a
reduction in its payments to charter schools for special education students.
The three brick and mortar charter schools in the district entered into an
agreement to accept smaller payments and to forgive outstanding payments,
helping the district save millions."
State wants to control Chester Upland
By Vince Sullivan,
Delaware County Daily
MEDIA COURTHOUSE
>> Delaware County President Judge Chad F. Kenney will hold a status
hearing Thursday morning to hear arguments from the Chester Upland School
District and the Pennsylvania Department of Education regarding the
receivership that currently operate the district. The hearing follows a motion filed by the
Department of Education Dec. 1 to extend the receivership for three more years.
The district was placed into receivership in December 2012 for three years,
with the term expiring Tuesday, Dec. 12. Kenney issued an order last week
extending the receivership until a decision was made following Thursday’s
hearing. “... The district’s finances
must become more stabilized before it can exit receivership,” according to the
petition filed by attorney James Flandreau on behalf of the department. The
petition claims that though the district has made great strides over the past
three years, there is more work to be done in order to emerge from receivership
in a strong position to again operate independently.
Parents rally against
converting Philly school into charter but supporters show up too
WHYY Newsworks BY BILL HANGLEY DECEMBER 16, 2015
Supporters and
opponents of the plan to transform Philadelphia 's
Wister Elementary into a Mastery Charter school squared off last night in Germantown . As Mastery
prepared to make its pitch to parents, protesters gathered outside to make
their displeasure known. "They're
trying to ram their educational bullcrap down our throats, and I think it's
unfair," said parent Kenya Nation, who believes that Wister should remain
under control of the Philadelphia
School District
What parents of special ed
and ELL students should know about testing
An interview with Maura
McInerney of the Education Law Center
the notebook by
Brianna Spause December 15, 2015
The Notebook interviewed
Maura McInerney, senior staff attorney for the Education Law
Center
Notebook: What do parents of English Language
Learners and Special Education students need to know regarding standardized
testing?
Maura
McInerney: For both
sets of parents, it’s important for them to know what their rights are.
Students with disabilities and English language learners [ELLs] are entitled to
accommodations on standardized tests. It’s important to discuss these issues
with their schools well in advance of when the testing is taking place.
Late budget could give
teachers extra year to meet professional development requirements
Penn Live By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
December 15, 2015 at 11:47 AM
Financial challenges
that the late
state budget has created for public schools may buy them and their educators
and administrators more time to complete their state-mandated professional
development requirements. Legislation that passed the House Education Committee
on Tuesday by a vote of 24-0 would give public school teachers and
administrators an extra year to complete their continuing education
requirements. A 16-year-old state law
requires educators to complete at least 180 hours of professional development
every five years to maintain their certification. House Bill 1734 would tack on
another year to meet that requirement as well as give school districts four
years, instead of three years, to complete their professional development plan.
Would consolidating Pennsylvania
About $100 million
of taxpayer money could be saved if all public school employees are covered
under a statewide health insurance plan, a new study says. The idea is more than a decade old, and back
then a similar study suggested a statewide health plan could cut costs by
nearly a quarter. That didn’t happen. The new follow-up study found that a lot of
consolidation has happened in the interim, with more than 85 percent of school
districts now getting their health care coverage from 37 health trusts and
consortia. Consequently, the possible
savings have dropped significantly. For
the 2016-17 fiscal year, the study suggests that instituting a single pharmacy
plan could save $74 million, and a single health benefits program could push
the savings up to $107 million. That’s
about 3.6 percent of the total estimated health benefit costs of $2.9 billion,
with a projected rise to about 6 percent over the following few years. The study was
commissioned by the Legislative Budget & Finance Committee, a bipartisan,
joint committee of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Its mandate is to study
and recommend ways of eliminating unnecessary expenditure.
Graduation rates going up across nation; Lancaster County
More students in the
United states are graduating
from high school than ever before, according to the National Center Lancaster County Pennsylvania
students completed high school at a slightly higher rate than the national
total: 85 percent. All of the states
that border Pennsylvania also had rates in the
80s, except for New York ,
which had a graduation rate of 78 percent.
Elsewhere in the country, graduation rates ranged from 60 percent in Washington , D.C. , to 90
percent in Iowa .
National
Graduation Rate Increases to All-Time High of 82 Percent
Education Week Politics K-12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa on December
15, 2015 10:00 AM UPDATED - The graduation rate for the nation's class of 2014
reached a record 82 percent, an increase of 1 percentage point from the class
of 2013's graduation rate, according to data released by the U.S. Department of
Education Tuesday. Graduation
rates for several student demographics rose as well from the class of 2013 to
the class of 2014, except for American Indian and Alaskan Native students, for
whom rates remained virtually flat. Significant gaps remain, particularly
between white students and their black and Hispanic counterparts, although
those gaps have shrunk recently, and economically disadvantaged students also
continue to lag behind. The
graduation rate for low-income students rose by 1.3 percentage points to
75 percent from 2013 to 2014, and black students also saw a relatively notable
increase of 1.8 percentage points, to roughly 73 percent. See the table below
from the Education Department:
GradNation leaders speak out on latest national grad
rate
The Road to
90: A Proud and Sobering Moment
Today, the U.S.
Department of Education announced that the national high school graduation rate
stands at a record high, up from 81.4 percent in 2013 to 82.3 percent
for 2014. Four organizations
leading the GradNation campaign to raise the high school
graduation rate to 90 percent by 2020 – the Alliance for Excellent
Education, America’s Promise Alliance, Civic
Enterprises and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins
University ’s School of Education
“The national high
school graduation rate is at its highest rate ever, thanks in large part to the
progress that has been made by young people and their families, educators,
state and community leaders and organizations, and the business community over
the past 10 years.
“But there are two
issues that give us pause today. First, for the first time in four years, the
country is not on track to reach the national goal of a 90
percent on-time high school graduation rate by 2020, missing by just a few
tenths of a percent. Second, while there have been some significant gains for
key subgroups, the nation continues to suffer from gaps in graduation rates
affecting students of color, students from low-income families, students with
disabilities and English-language learners.
“These are reminders that our
work is not finished, that the last leg of this campaign will be very
challenging, and that we must redouble efforts to reach our goal.
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
Remaining
Locations:
- 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
- Delaware Co. IU 25
— Feb. 1
- 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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