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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup January 20, 2016:
High Stakes Testing Runaway Train Ready to
Run Off the Tracks in PA without a Single Vote in Opposition
Blogger note: In sharp contrast to partisan battles over
the PA budget, legislation to delay using the Keystone Exams as a graduation
requirement for two years appears poised to clear the final hurdles to become
law. Approved by the PA Senate on 6/15/15 by a vote
of 49-0 and by the House on 11/23/15 by a vote of 196-0, Senate
Bill 880 says: "the use of the Keystone Exam as a graduation
requirement or as a benchmark for the need for participation in a project-based
assessment shall be delayed until the 2018-2019 school year."
"Gov. Tom Wolf has
indicated that if the Senate sends him a bill calling for a two-year delay in
the start of using the Keystone Exams as a graduation requirement, as is
expected on Wednesday, he will sign it."
Wolf on board
with delaying Keystone Exams graduation testing requirement
By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
January 19, 2016 at 5:50 PM, updated January 19, 2016 at 5:52 PM
Legislation
to delay the launch of using the Keystone Exams as a
graduation requirement for two years appears poised to clear the final
hurdles to become law. The Senate is
expected to take action on the bill on Wednesday that if approved as expected,
would go to Gov. Tom Wolf for enactment. Wolf has said he would sign it. This would push the start of using the exams
to determine graduation eligibility back to at least 2018-19. "I think the Keystone Exams have led to
some concerns among the education community that it's a part of a high-stakes
test environment. And that's a problem," Wolf said at an unrelated event
in Harrisburg on Tuesday.
State
graduation requirement could be delayed
Intelligencer by Joan Hellyer, staff writer Posted: Tuesday, January 19,
2016 5:00 am
The
state Senate could act as early as Tuesday to temporarily delay requiring high
school students to pass three standardized tests, known as Keystone Exams, in
order to graduate, officials said. As it
stands now, high school juniors who are members of the Class of 2017 have to
take and pass the end-of-course exams in Algebra 1, literature and biology to
be eligible for their diplomas. Students who do not demonstrate that they are
learning at grade level on the exams could be eligible to take project-based
assessments (PBA) to qualify for graduation, officials said. However, there have been problems with
implementing the alternative options, which are online assessments that can
take 30 hours to complete, the officials said. State
Senate Bill 880 would delay implementation of the graduation requirement to
2019. Sen. Robert "Tommy" Tomlinson, R-6 of Bensalem, and Sen.
Stewart Greenleaf, R-12, of Upper Moreland ,
are among the lawmakers who are sponsoring the legislation.
Keystone Exams
Could Be Put To Vote Today In Pennsylvania
CBS
Philly January 19, 2016 4:53 AM By
Kim Glovas
Testing Resistance & Reform News:
January 13 - 19, 2016
FairTest
Submitted by fairtest on January 19, 2016 - 1:06pm
As the
first of this issue's headlines makes clear, momentum is rapidly building
across the U.S. for major assessment reform campaigns. The stories that
follow -- from 15 states in a holiday-shortened week of news clips -- show the
breadth and depth of grassroots activity.
"As 2016 begins,
lawmakers must tap into the same spirit of bipartisanship and compromise that
guided the (Basic Education Funding) Commission, and adopt its formula into
law. In addition, because schools have suffered from insufficient funding over
the last several years, the final budget must include a significant new
investment of funding so public schools can begin to reverse or avert layoffs
and education program cuts. The governor and legislators should pass a budget
that contains at least $350 million to help restore funding and begin
implementing the BEFC's fair funding formula."
Broken public
school funding system needs repaired
Bradford Era By MATTHEW SPLAIN
Superintendent Otto-Eldred
School District
Thanks
to a seven-month budget stalemate, Pennsylvania state government begins 2016
without a full budget, leaving the short and long term needs of every school —
and every student — up in the air. In
the short term, the partial spending plan recently signed by Gov. Tom Wolf will
provide desperately needed money for schools and human services, but only
enough to stave off the consideration of school closures and program cuts for a
few months at the most. Because of
inadequate funding in recent years, many school districts have eliminated
programs; laid-off teachers; or reduced academic support for students. The long
budget deadlock only made things worse: scores of districts were forced to
borrow emergency funds and drain reserve funds just to keep the doors open. It
will be up to each local community to pay borrowing costs for these loans as
well as consider property tax increases to fill the gap created by inadequate
funding.
In the
long term, the budget gridlock means that one of the fundamental issues facing
Pennsylvania — the need to fix our broken public school funding system
— remains unresolved.
Gov. Wolf
talks education funding, school choice
The PLS
Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Tuesday, January
19, 2016
Gov. Tom
Wolf took a scheduled appearance on 1410AM KQV radio Tuesday morning to address
issues concerning education funding and school choice options. Speaking first to education funding, Gov.
Wolf said the so-called framework budget encapsulated in Senate Bill 1073
provided for an investment in education “I thought we had all agreed on. Before it ran into legislative roadblocks in
the House, the bill was said include $350 million in increased education
funding. The governor also said he is
trying to work on a new funding distribution formula that was agreed to by the
bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission.
“There was a bipartisan commission, a fair funding commission, chaired
by a Republican Senator and Republican House member that I supported,” he said.
“Part of what I’m trying to do is make sure we have adequate funding for
education at the state level, because the alternative of course is the local
level, and that just drives property taxes higher.” The rate of funding and the formula being
used to drive out those dollars has been a bone of contention between Gov. Wolf
and some Republicans who claim that the line-item vetoed budget spends
education dollars at a rate higher than ever before since that budget would’ve
increased funding by $100 million. The
Wolf administration has contended that due to PlanCon funding changes, the
budget actually provides a $92 million cut to education.
VIDEO: Corman
gives budget update
The PLS
Reporter Author: Alanna Koll/Tuesday, January 19,
2016 Video Runtime: 3:40
Senate
Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-Centre) gives a budget update after today's
Rules Committee meeting.
Senate starts
working on piecemeal appropriations as complete budget deal remains elusive
The PLS
Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Tuesday, January
19, 2016
The
Senate began working toward sending piecemeal budget appropriations to the
governor’s desk Tuesday as a final budget deal that will satisfy all parties
continues to remain elusive. The work
began with the Senate Appropriations Committee passing a supplemental
appropriations bill to fund the Department of Corrections for the remainder of
the year at a level that was said to be agreed upon by all parties. According to Senate Majority Leader Jake
Corman (R-Centre), without the supplemental appropriation, the department is
set to run out of money within a matter of weeks.
Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Wolf urged to rethink refusal to negotiate new budget deal
HARRISBURG
>> A senior Pennsylvania Senate Republican is suggesting that Democratic
Gov. Tom Wolf will need to be willing to negotiate changes to a bipartisan
budget agreement struck last fall. Senate
Majority Leader Jake Corman said Tuesday that “taking our marbles and going home”
won’t resolve a 7-month-old budget fight.
Tuesday’s Senate voting session was the first of 2016, and Wolf is three
weeks from delivering his budget proposal to lawmakers for the fiscal year that
begins next July 1. For the current
fiscal year, Wolf authorized about $23 billion from a House Republican bill he
opposed. However, Wolf vetoed billions for public schools to keep pressure on
the Republican-controlled House to pass the bipartisan deal. That deal included a $1 billion-plus tax
increase to deliver a record boost in school aid and to fix a long-term
deficit.
Adolph Letter
to the Editor: GOP sent sensible Pa. budget to Gov. Wolf
Delco
Times Letter by POSTED: 01/19/16, 8:31 PM EST | UPDATED: 2 HRS
AGO
Rep. William F.
Adolph, Jr., R-165 of Springfield, House Appropriations Committee Majority
Chairman
To the
Times:
Early in
December I stood on the House floor and stated that the budget contained in
House Bill 1460 was the “art of the possible.” The budget that the House and
Senate sent the governor before Christmas is a full 12-month budget. It is a
budget that meets the needs of Pennsylvania without overburdening the working
families of Pennsylvania with large tax increases. The governor, sadly, does
not see it this way. We have worked
diligently to end this impasse. We passed a balanced budget in June, which Gov.
Tom Wolf made the unprecedented move of vetoing in its entirety. We passed a
stop-gap budget in September that, once again, the governor vetoed so he could
keep students, nonprofits, and human service agencies as hostages for more
taxes. And now we have passed House Bill 1460, which is a full 12-month budget
that adds $405 million more for PreK-12 education. The reason that there is
funding going to our schools, nonprofits, and county human service agencies is
because the Legislature did its job.
"In one holistic
proposal, Wolf sought to close a deficit, solve equity in school funding,
recast the tax landscape in a way designed to reduce reliance on local property
taxes and deal with Pennsylvania's public pension hangover. One problem. The budget called for the
largest tax increases most members of the new legislature had ever been asked
to consider. It was clear there was going to be a battle."
Gov. Wolf at
one year: Political gridlock erases memories of a fast start
By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
January 19, 2016 at 7:00 AM, updated January 19, 2016 at 12:43 PM
Rocky
starts are something of a tradition for Pennsylvania governors, and Gov. Tom Wolf has
certainly done his part. After opening
with a series of assertive moves on several campaign promises, Wolf's agenda
was pretty much blocked for the second half of the year by a lengthy battle
over taxes and spending with legislative Republicans. That record budget
standoff over school funding levels - and the taxes needed to support
them - has now spilled into Year Two of the Wolf administration, and poses at
least the threat of defining the York businessman's term. Voters
gave Wolf a ready-made excuse: He was elected last November alongside
historically large Republican majorities in the state House and Senate. But the results, for a non-traditional
politician who prided himself on his abilities to get things done, have to be
frustrating.
Here's
some of the major themes of Wolf 1.0.
Budget battle dominated Tom Wolf’s first
year in office
Long
impasse overshadows start of his term; GOP cites lack of cooperation
By Kate
Giammarise / Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau January 20, 2016 12:14 AM
HARRISBURG
-- Exactly a year ago, his hand on a mid-19th century family Bible, on
another cold January day, Gov. Tom Wolf took the oath of office, pledging jobs
that pay, schools that teach and a government that works. Now, Mr. Wolf is mired in a months-long
standoff with the Legislature, more than halfway through a fiscal year that
started July 1 and still without a completed spending plan. “This [year] was all about the budget. The
fight over the budget made progress on other things very difficult,” said
former Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat like Mr. Wolf. Mr. Rendell spent much of his
first year in 2003 in a battle over education spending with the Legislature
that ended with a tax hik
"Sen. Aument’s
appointment comes from the resignation of Sen. Dominic Pileggi, who was
recently elected to the Delaware
County
Aument
Appointed to Senate Education Committee
Senator
Aument's website January 19, 2016
HARRISBURG
– Senator Ryan Aument (R-Landisville) received notification from the President
Pro Tempore of the Senate today that he has been appointed to the Committee on
Education. “I am
thrilled to have an opportunity to participate in one of the most important
debates facing Pennsylvania today,” said Sen. Aument. “Education is one of the
cornerstones to creating a society where every Pennsylvanian has an opportunity
to succeed in life.”
"Stopping in his
hometown, Rivera gave a thumbs up to the Kenney education agenda, which places
priority on both prekindergarten and community schools, a concept that would
cluster social services inside city schools as a way to both serve neighborhoods
and bolster academics."
Spend more on
early childhood, Kenney says, and less on prisons
Inquirer
by Kristen A. Graham, STAFF
WRITER. Updated: JANUARY
19, 2016 — 4:21 PM EST
First,
Mayor Kenney handled the important business: reading a picture book called My
Friendsto a group of spellbound four year olds. Next, he talked about what he calls one of
the biggest priorities of his administration: opening prekindergarten seats to
"as many children as we can reach."
Kenney and Pedro Rivera, Pennsylvania's top education official, traveled
Tuesday to a Northeast Philadelphia early childhood education center to tout
the recent release of state funds that will pay for 1,500 new prekindergarten
seats. That dovetails with Kenney's
yet-to-be-finalized early-childhood plan, whose initial price tag is $60
million and would, he said, be funded through a combination of city, state, and
private money. Details of that should come by March, the mayor said. The impetus is clear, said Kenney: invest in
early childhood now, and spend less on remedial education and even prisons
later. "If we get children a good
start - a really, really good start - when they get to kindergarten and first
grade, our teachers have the ability to make them blossom," he said.
Kenney engages
pre-K stakeholders during school tour in Northeast Philly
WHYY
Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY
JANUARY 19, 2016
Philadelphia
Mayor Jim Kenney has pledged to provide free, quality preschool to all city 3-
and 4-year-olds by the end of his first term.
On Tuesday, the mayor gathered with students and stakeholders at Kinder
Academy — a highly rated preschool in the Northeast — to read stories and
learn how to best implement his $60 million vision. Kenney and his staff met with about a dozen
people who operate some of the city's top-rated preschools — picking their
brains about how to expand quality options in areas of need without duplicating
service. It was the first such formal
meeting between the Kenney administration and quality pre-K providers. "We're not here to supplant you, or to
tell you what to do, or to change your operations," Kenney told them.
"You know, better than I would ever know, how to do what you do." Kenney aims to help quality providers expand,
boost the performance of those who want to do better, and draw students from
low-quality providers that, the administration says, don't have the best
interests of children at heart.
With time
ticking, parents fight for their school
Inquirer
by Kristen A. Graham, STAFF
WRITER. Updated: JANUARY
19, 2016 6:54 PM EST
Days
before the School Reform Commission makes a decision on whether to turn two
Philadelphia public schools over to charter providers, parents gathered in the
bitter cold Tuesday to say: Don't let our voices go unheard. Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. has
recommended the district hand over Cooke Elementary in Logan, and Huey
Elementary in West Philadelphia, to outside organizations to run as charters.
Wister Elementary had been slated to be handed to a charter, but Hite reversed
course on that decision, citing academic progress at the Germantown school. The SRC is scheduled to seal the schools'
fates with a vote Thursday. Huey and
Cooke parents took heart at the Wister decision, they said at a news conference
held outside Cooke. While Hite has clearly made up his mind about what to do
with the struggling schools, they said, perhaps they have a shot at swaying the
commission and keeping their schools part of the Philadelphia School District.
Blogger note: When is the
last time, if ever, that you saw a public meeting notice or any press coverage
of a charter school board meeting?
The
Manheim Township School Board met behind closed doors twice in December. It didn't disclose any details of the
meetings afterward. And nearly a month
later, the board president wouldn't even confirm when, exactly, one of the
meetings took place. "We had an
executive session on personnel back in December," Bill Murry said at a
public work session Thursday. And that
was it. The most recent executive
session continued the board’s six-month-long pattern of convening behind closed
doors and providing little information to the public.
How Jeb Bush wants to shake up education
from pre-K through college
Former
Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) has laid out the most detailed education plan of any
presidential contender in either party, offering a battery of free-market ideas
affecting preschool through college and beyond.
“I firmly believe that ensuring every individual has access to a quality
education is the great civil rights challenge of our time,” Bush wrote in a
post on Medium on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday. Bush’s 10-page plan echoes many longstanding
Republican ideas: cutting the federal influence in local schools, consolidating
individual federal programs into block grants to states, allowing federal tax
dollars to be used for tuition at private schools, and expanding charter
schools as an alternative to traditional public schools. First as governor and then through an
education foundation he created after he left office, Bush has sought to
influence education policy around the country. Despite polls that show voters care
about education, the issue has garnered only passing attention from most of the
Republican field to date.
Money Matters
for K-12 Education
Center on Budget and Policy
Priorities by Nick
Albares Policy Analyst nalbares@cbpp.org JANUARY
15, 2016 AT 1:30 PM
A
careful study reaches a conclusion that comports with common
sense: better funding for schools leads to better long-term outcomes for
students. With state legislative sessions beginning around the country
this month, that’s a timely and important message, especially in the many
states that haven’t restored funding cuts they enacted due to the Great Recession. The
study, by researchers from Northwestern University and the University of
California, Berkeley, examined data on more than 15,000 children born between
1955 and 1985. During these children’s school years, some states raised
funding for high-poverty schools due to court orders and other states didn’t,
creating a fruitful environment for studying the impact of increased
funding. After controlling for
such factors as enrollment growth and economic conditions, the researchers
found that poor children whose schools were estimated to receive a 10 percent
increase in per-pupil spending each year for all 12 years of public school had
10 percent higher earnings — and 17 percent higher family income — in adulthood
(see chart). They also were likelier to complete high school and less likely
as adults to be poor.
Remaining Locations:
- 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
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
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.
Save
the Dates for These 2016 Annual EPLC Regional State Budget Education
Policy Forums
Sponsored
by The Education Policy and Leadership
Center
Thursday, February
11 - 8:30-11:00 a.m. - Harrisburg
Wednesday, February 17 - 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. -Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania )
Thursday, February 25 - 8:30-11:00 a.m. -Pittsburgh
Wednesday, February 17 - 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. -
Thursday, February 25 - 8:30-11:00 a.m. -
Invitation
and more details in January
Save the Date | PBPC Budget Summit March 3rd
Pennsylvania
Budget and Policy Center
The
2015-2016 budget remains in a state of limbo. But it's time to start thinking
about the 2016-17 budget. The Governor will propose his budget for next year in
early February.
The
Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center will hold our annual Budget Summit on
March 3rd. Save the date and join us for an in-depth look at
the Governor's 2016-17 budget proposal, including what it means for education,
health and human services, the environment and local communities. And, of
course, if the 2015-2016 budget is not complete by then, we will also be
talking about the various alternatives still under consideration.
As in
year's past, this year's summit will be at the Hilton Harrisburg. Register today!
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.
2016 PA Educational
Leadership Summit July 24-26 State College
Summit Sponsors:
PA Principals Association - PA Association of School Administrators
- PA Association of Middle Level Educators - PA Association of
Supervision and Curriculum Development
The 2016
Educational Leadership Summit, co-sponsored by four leading Pennsylvania education associations,
provides an excellent opportunity for school district administrative teams and
instructional leaders to learn, share and plan together at a quality venue in
"Happy Valley."
Featuring Grant
Lichtman, author of EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education,
Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera (invited), and Dana
Lightman, author of POWER Optimism: Enjoy the Life You Have...
Create the Success You Want, keynote speakers, high quality breakout
sessions, table talks on hot topics and district team planning and job alike
sessions provides practical ideas that can be immediately reviewed and
discussed at the summit before returning back to your district. Register and pay by April 30, 2016 for the
discounted "early bird" registration rate:
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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