Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
reach more than 3850 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors,
administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's
staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, Wolf education transition
team members, Superintendents, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher
leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations,
education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory
agencies, professional associations and education advocacy organizations via
emails, website, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup January 23, 2016:
Is the Philadelphia
School District
BLOG: Q&A with Governor Wolf on the Unfinished
Republican Budget
January 22, 2016 he
Office of Governor Tom Wolf Video Runtime: 2:18
Watch our Q&A
with Governor Wolf on the unfinished Republican budget for more on why
it’s so important for legislators to get back to work and finish the job:
Speaker Turzai, and Winter
Energy Prices on Pennsylvania
Video ally aired on
January 24th, 2016
This week’s Pennsylvania
Newsmakers features an interview with the Speaker of the Pennsylvania
House, Rep. Mike Turzai, (R-28), for a discussion of the
state budget, liquor privatization, and pensions. Then, joining host Terry
Madonna is Terry Fitzpatrick, President and CEO
of the Energy Association of Pennsylvania, for a discussion of energy prices
and households without heating.
"Long story short,
incumbent Republicans prefer not to run for reelection on the immediate heels
of a tax increase and incumbent Democrats would probably prefer not to have to
go to their base for fundraising after changes to core issues like public
pensions."
GAVELED OUT: An odd
situation for an even-numbered year
The PLS Reporter Author
Jason Gottesman/Friday, January
22, 2016/Categories: Features
There’s generally one
simple rule for governing in Pennsylvania: do the heavy lifting in odd numbered
years. Even numbered years in
Pennsylvania’s state government are usually ones in which some
of the more controversial—also known as attention getting—topics get pushed
aside and budget fights do not linger too far past June 30. The answer as to why is fairly obvious: in
even numbered years half the state Senate and the entire House of
Representatives is running for reelection. Every four years there is a
gubernatorial election. Not
surprisingly, the time as well as the emotional and mental distance from tough
slogs in policy and/or budgeting during odd-numbered years allows some cover
for those entering tough election fights in even-numbered years.
Centre Daily Times
Opinion BY KERRY BENNINGHOFF JANUARY 22, 2016 8:37 PM
Kerry Benninghoff
represents the 171st District in the state House of Representatives.
To tax you more or
to hold the line on spending? That has been the question before the
Pennsylvania General Assembly since Gov. Tom Wolf gave his first budget address
last March and called for a nearly $5 billion in new spending this year alone,
which would be more than $12 billion in higher taxes over the next two years. To put his ask into context, former Gov. Ed
Rendell, who was never shy about growing government, increased spending by
$7.74 billion, but it took him eight years to do it. Wolf’s plan would have increased the state
personal income tax by 21 percent and increased the sales and use tax by 10
percent. Wolf also wanted to collect taxes on many products and services used
by everyday working Pennsylvanians, like nonprescription drugs, diapers, day
care and nursing home care.
Education chief stresses
need for diversity in visit
Philly Trib by Wilford Shamlin III Tribune Staff Writer Posted: Friday, January 22, 2016 12:00
am
More than 200 people
gathered in an auditorium at the city’s High School of the Future on Thursday
for a town hall meeting with the new Acting U.S. Secretary of Education John
King Jr. King called for more
leadership and partnership with educators to do more to achieve equity in
America’s public schools and elevate the teaching profession. He urged more
must be done to help Black and Latino students in addition to students from
low-income households who fall into the bottom of most measures of student
achievement. He said a generation ago, U.S. schools were performing higher. “We need a more diverse and racially and
linguistically diverse population of teachers,” King told the crowd. He said the majority of students in public
schools are students of color, with one of 10 students speaking languages other
than English. In contrast, Black and
Latino teachers account for 15 percent of the U.S. teaching workforce, and 2
percent are Black males. King has parents who are Black and Latino.
"Philadelphia has HALF
the per student funding that Lower Merion, one of the state’s top districts,
has to spend. Until that gaping hole is addressed, we’ll continue to shuffle
deck chairs as if when properly aligned on deck they’ll somehow provide lift."
Three new charters, same old problem
Public Citizens for
Children and Youth January 22, 2016
With continued
pressure on the District from from Harrisburg to
convert more public schools into charters (and the PSD dependent on support
from Harrisburg
for its under resourced schools), we’ll continue to see charters presented as a
solution for the City’s lowest performing schools. But it’s hard to imagine any
school, public or charter, succeeding as long as one simple fact remains: Per
student funding is far below what is desperately needed and has been for quite
some time. You might see PSD as managing
a fleet of boats, scrambling to keep each vessel on course as they navigate treacherous
waters. But it’s more apt to recognize the District as the Titanic listing
after slamming into a behemoth iceberg, called underfunding.
"Council President
Darrell L. Clarke was livid.
"Decisions regarding our neighborhood public schools should be made
in broad daylight with those directly impacted at the table, not by fiat with
no advance notice after 10 o'clock at night. No public authority in America , including the City Council of Philadelphia
Sylvia Simms, the SRC
member who changed the fate of a school
Inquirer by Kristin A. Graham, Staff Writer. Updated: JANUARY 23, 2016 — 1:07
AM EST
Sylvia Simms rarely
speaks publicly at School Reform Commission meetings.
But nearly five hours
into a contentious session on Thursday night, the former Philadelphia School
District bus aide dropped a bombshell, offering a walk-on resolution that
altered the fate of a struggling Germantown public school. "I have pent-up emotions about the way the
district has allowed many of our schools in low-income neighborhoods to fail
our students and their families," Simms said. "Families are literally
crying for alternatives, and they have shown us by their choices that they are
not pleased by the way we are educating their children." The last-minute resolution overruled the
wishes of Superintendent William R. Hite Jr., beginning a process likely to
culminate in Wister Elementary being taken over by Mastery Charter Schools. Hite had first called for Wister, Huey, and
Cooke Elementary Schools to be taken over by charter companies, but the
superintendent reversed course this month after Wister demonstrated some growth
in school-performance data.
"Is the School District better off today, or worse off, after 15
years of State management?"
AN EPIC BATTLE
JANUARY
23, 2016 Lucid Witness Blog by DAUN KAUFFMAN
Daun Kauffman has taught . . .
(actually, mostly learned) in Philadelphia
Governor Tom Wolf is
battling for fair funding for Public Education. It’s an epic battle in Pennsylvania and part of the war on Public Education
across America .
It involves us all.
In spite of the
facts that legislators have failed to propose an acceptable budget, and that
the budget is 7 months overdue, Governor Wolf is standing strong against
politicians’ attempts to further slash public education. It’s not just about the money. It’s
also about how the budget is allocated to districts. It’s also about
politicians trying to link requirements for their increasing
micromanagement of individual schools. State-level
politicians have a clear, 15-year track record since they took over the School District of Philadelphia
District counsel issues
opinion that Simms had no conflict on Wister-Mastery vote
the notebook by Dale Mezzacappa
January 22 — 10:59pm
School District
General Counsel Michael Davis has found that Sylvia Simms had no conflict of
interest when she introduced a last-minute resolution to pair Wister Elementary School
in Germantown
with Mastery Charter late in Thursday night’s School Reform Commission meeting. Simms’ sister,
Quibila Divine, works for Citizen Consulting Group, a public relations and
public engagement firm that has a contract with Mastery. “Upon reviewing the facts I have determined
that no conflict of interest exists on the part of Commissioner Simms due to
her sister, Quibila Devine’s [sic] relationship with Citizen Consulting Group,”
Davis wrote in
an opinion released by District spokesman Fernando Gallard after the Notebook asked
for it. Davis
came to that conclusion because Simms had nothing to do with Divine’s hiring,
according to his opinion. Gallard said that Davis reviewed the
situation Friday – after the meeting – because he had not been aware of the
issue previously. Public officials are supposed to ask for an opinion before
taking an action that could fall under ethics rules. It is not customary to get
an opinion on past conduct. Simm’s move
stunned the hundreds of people at the tense meeting, because it defied
Superintendent Hite’s recommendation.
http://thenotebook.org/articles/2016/01/22/district-counsel-gives-opinion-that-simms-had-no-conflict
Phoenixville board OKs
2.4% tax hike, blames state budget impasse
By Eric Devlin,
The Mercury POSTED: 01/22/16,
8:50 AM EST | UPDATED: 22 MINS AGO
Phoenixville
>> Property owners may need to pony up a few more bucks in real estate
taxes, thanks to Harrisburg’s failure to pass a budget. Yet officials say there
is still plenty of work that needs to be done before anything is set in stone,
and plenty of time to do it. The school
board unanimously approved the 2016-17 preliminary budget, calling for a 2.4
percent tax increase Thursday. That’s the limit, under the Act 1 index, the
district can raise taxes without holding a voter referendum. A final budget
will be passed in June. With a
preliminary budget of $89.29 million and millage rate of 29.58 mils, the owner
of a home assessed at the median average $133,540 would pay an additional $92 a
year, for a total of $3,950 in real estate taxes, according to District Finance
Director Chris Gehris. A mill is equal to $1 for each $1,000 of assessed
property value. A final budget is expected to be adopted May 26. The administration said it was forced to make
certain assumptions regarding the preliminary budget, given the lack of a state
budget.
How much will Easton Area
school taxes rise this year?
By Rudy Miller
| For lehighvalleylive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
January 23, 2016 at 6:33 AM, updated January 23, 2016 at 6:34 AM
If the Easton
Area School Board wants to raise taxes next year, it shouldn't raise
them more than 3.1 percent. That's the
recommendation from the district's chief operating officer, Michael Simonetta. At the most recent school board meeting,
Simonetta said the state-set index for the school district for 2016-17 is 3.1
percent. If the district wants to raise taxes above the index, it needs to
either go to a voter referendum or seek exceptions from the state.
Here's How the
Education World Thinks the Feds Should Regulate Under ESSA
Education
Week Politics K-12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa on January
22, 2016 7:26 AM
How
should the U.S. Department of Education regulate under the Every Student
Succeeds Act? People got a chance to share their thoughts with the department
face-to-face during two hearings this month. But the public also got a chance
to submit public comments on the Internet. The comment period for those
submissions just closed Thursday. And as of about 6 p.m. that day, there were more than 200 comments filed. So what were some of the highlights? You
probably won't be surprised to learn that accountability took up a lot of the
oxygen in the comments. And testing issues like how to handle opt-outs were
also expounded upon. Plus, school turnaround issues and funding got some
attention. We've tried to organize
the highlighted comments into several categories where there was a lot of
input. Confession: We haven't been through all 200-plus comments. But don't
worry, this isn't the last time we'll take a look at what folks want to see in
ESSA regs.
"The company’s
announcement said those factors reduced its operating profit by about $328
million. It did not mention problems in the U.S. standardized testing
market — in which Forbes says Pearson has a stake of possibly as much as
60 percent — with a move toward fewer tests and the rejection by a number of
states of a major Pearson-created Common Core test known as the PARCC."
Pearson, world’s largest education
company, laying off 10 percent of workforce
Pearson, the largest education company in the world and a big
target of school reform critics because of its major presence in the U.S.
standardized testing market, has not made as much money as it was hoping and
just announced that it is embarking on a restructuring that includes a layoff
of 10 percent of its workforce. Pearson said
the restructuring — the second since John Fallon became executive
director in 2013 — is required by “cyclical and policy related challenges in
some of our largest markets” that “have been more pronounced and extended than
we expected when we outlined our plans three years ago.” They include falling
college enrollment in the United States, fewer students in England and Wales
taking vocational courses and lower-than-expected textbook purchases in South
Africa.
Education
Bloggers Daily Highlights 1-23-16
PSBA New School Director Training 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/
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
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.