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
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup February 28, 2016:
30 million word gap; To overcome the effects of
poverty on student achievement, we have to begin reaching children before they
even arrive at school
PSBA Advocacy
Forum & Day on the Hill APR 4, 2016
• 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Auditor General says Cash-poor school districts could
be headed for more trouble
Written by Radio
Pennsylvania | Feb 27, 2016 9:49 AM
(Harrisburg) --
Pennsylvania's Auditor General is warning of more problems ahead for school
districts as the budget impasse continues. In testimony before the House Appropriations
Committee this week, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said that districts
borrowed an estimated one billion-dollars before Governor Tom Wolf released
partial funding in December. Now that money is
running out, and DePasquale says districts who once again turn to the
banks may have a problem. "Banks
today cannot guarantee that there's going to be a state budget. So school
districts that have depleted their fund balances and already had one loan, I
believe now the second go-around, their interest rate will either be
significantly higher or they may not get the loan," DePasquale said. An updated report is due in April. As for his
own office, Depasquale says they're completing audits at a faster rate than at
any three-year period in the agency's recent history.
PPG Editorial: Looming closure: Keep schools open;
shut down Harrisburg
Post Gazette By the
Editorial Board February 28, 2016 12:00 AM
It has come to this.
Eight months into a fiscal year without a completed state budget, the
Department of Education is advising Pennsylvania school districts on how to
shut down if they run out of money. Under
the nebulous heading of “Considerations for School Districts,” the 11-point
checklist of “suggested activities” is recommended for administrators,
solicitors and other school officials who may be contemplating closure. Among
the tips are: Figure out how to meet the 180-day instruction minimum while
being closed, make a plan for how to address payroll and give families enough
notice to enroll their students in other schools. It’s in very matter-of-fact language, yet
there is nothing matter-of-fact about the failure of Democrats and Republicans
in Harrisburg to approve a 2015-16 spending plan. Pennsylvania’s fiscal year
begins on July 1, yet here it is almost March 1 and the $23.39 billion partial
budget approved by Gov. Tom Wolf in December is about to peter out for public schools.
Maybe that explains his record low approval rating, now at 31 percent.
Time and money at a rate
of $143 a second
WHYY Newsworks BY MARY WILSON FEBRUARY 28, 2016
"Unfunded
liability" rolls off the tongue about as easily as "high
cholesterol," "structural deficit," and "negative cash
flow." It may not sound dire, but it's a slow and silent killer. A few activists in the state Capitol have
endeavored to make the state's pension unfunded liability a little less silent
— or at least a little more visible. The
device they unveiled looks like a wood-encased digital clock that shows a $63
billion figure ticking up at a rate of $143 a second. The clock represents the
state's growing unfunded obligation to its two pension systems. "Take a 20-minute coffee break ...
that's $172,000 that it went up," said activist Barry Shutt, who
commissioned the clock. He said he'll reprogram it if the pension systems'
money situation changes. For now, he's got its growth rate memorized:
"Take an hour for lunch. That's $517,000 it went up." Shutt has become a fixture outside the
Capitol cafeteria, where he's sat with a fold-up chair and poster-board for a
year and a half — a one-man demonstration to reckon with Pennsylvania's pension
debt.
Quakertown Community School District to suspend March,
June contributions to PSERS
Mark Reccek ,
WFMZ.com Reporter, news@wfmz.com Published: 5:06
PM EST Feb 26, 2016 QUAKERTOWN, Pa. - The Quakertown Community School District
School Board unanimously passed a motion Thursday evening to suspend
the district's contribution payments to the Public School Employees' Retirement
System (PSERS) fund, excluding the amount the district withholds from employees,
in an effort to save roughly $5 million. The board agreed the suspension of
payments is effective until the district receives its share of state subsidies.
According to Assistant to the Superintendent Nancianne Edwards, every district
employee has 7.5 percent of salary, or a higher percentage for some newer
employees, and 6.5 percent for some longer term employees, withheld from every
paycheck. QUICK CLICKS Parkland eyeing fourth straight district crown Nazareth
wins second straight District 11 title Area wrestlers advance in District 3
tournament Becahi, Saucon Valley shine on day one of district tournament Gov.
Mifflin falls in District 3 championship game "Those funds that are
withheld from employee paychecks would still be remitted to PSERS," Edwards
said. "The district's contribution to PSERS is what would not be
remitted." Board Vice President Charles Shermer, prior to the discussion
and motion, asked his colleagues to consider possible alternatives to conserve
district funds. "We need to start reserving cash and start to explore some
of our options," he told the board.
Read more from WFMZ.com at: http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/Quakertown-Community-School-District-to-suspend-March-June-contributions-to-PSERS/38216992#.VtGgyAj--PM.twitter
Pennsylvania's pension
crisis, in retrospect
Zack Hoopes The
Sentinel February 27, 2016
Pennsylvania’s
government pension crisis should come as a surprise in the same way as does
one’s car seizing up after not having changed the oil for 15 years.
Shocking, but not
unexpected if you have an understanding of how it works.
The often-cited
number is that the state currently has $53 billion in unfunded pension
liability. This is roughly correct — one could say, actually, that the number
is about $28 billion more, since it doesn’t include the coming years’ routine
per-paycheck contributions from both employer and employees, a level known as
‘normal cost.’ Assuming, however, that
the state continues to make its normal cost, it still has $53 billion in future
estimated expenses that there is no built-in funding for. As of the 2014 year-end valuation, the State
Employees Retirement Plan (SERS) has $44.8 billion in liability not covered by
normal costs, and a trust fund of only $26.6 billion to pay for it. The Public
School Employees Retirement Plan (PSERS) is likewise looking at covering $92.5
billion with a $57.3 billion fund. These
expenses, it should be noted, have already been discounted to reflect an
average 7.5 percent investment gain on the trusts that pay for them — meaning
that gains will only happen if the state adds to the principal. Pennsylvania did not get so far behind
overnight. The most critical part of understanding the pension crisis, experts
say, is to know that while the liabilities for employee retirement costs have
always existed, they are just now actually showing up on the state’s balance
sheets.
"State Sen. Andy Dinniman
(D., Chester), who cosponsored the bill delaying the Keystones, said he has
watched a surprising bipartisan consensus emerge as parents in more affluent
suburban districts complain about the number of days devoted to testing, while
poverty-stricken communities say they lack the money to implement the changes. "It wasn't helping anyone,"
Dinniman said of the Keystone requirement. "All we were doing was stamping
failure on the backs of students in impoverished areas where there weren't any
resources to pass these exams."
As protests rise over
high-stakes tests, more students likely to opt out
Inquirer by Kathy Boccella, Staff Writer. Updated: FEBRUARY 28, 2016 —
6:53 AM EST
Last year, a small,
angry band of parents and teachers in the Lower Merion School District took on
a big challenge: convincing their neighbors that the intensifying emphasis on
high-stakes standardized tests was harming their children's education. This year's challenge: coming up with enough
yard signs so converts to the cause can broadcast their displeasure with the
coming Pennsylvania System of School Assessment, or PSSA, tests given in grades
three through eight. Their opt-out message - "Our kids & schools are
more than a score" - has popped up on curbsides around the affluent Main
Line suburb. Danielle Arnold-Schwartz, a
Lower Merion teacher and local chapter leader of the national education
activist group Parents Across America, said about 100 yard signs were snapped
up for $1 each after a recent Villanova University screening of a documentary
critical of high-stakes testing. "There
are people still asking for more," she said, "and it's not fully
testing season yet." The protest
signs are a leading indicator that across the region, the parent-led push to
opt out of standardized tests - whether the PSSAs, or Pennsylvania's
controversial Keystone Exams, or New Jersey's year-old PARCC (Partnership for
Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) - may be nearing a tipping
point.
Online Charter Schools Tested by Setbacks and
Self-Inflicted Blows
NBC News February
22, 2016 by MIKE BRUNKER
Online charter
schools have soared in popularity in recent years, based on a deceptively
simple promise: delivering quality instruction — anytime and anywhere — to any
student with an Internet connection. But
new questions about the quality of that education, and how the schools operate,
are threatening to stifle that growth. Supporters
of traditional public school systems say the online schools lack accountability
and are too dependent on for-profit school managers. High-profile scandals have
added to the perception. The criticism
has sharpened since an October 2015 study of 200 online charter schools that
serve approximately 200,000 students in 26 states. It found that charter
students who received instruction exclusively via the Internet achieved
"significantly weaker academic performance" in math and reading,
suffered from larger class sizes and received far less attention from teachers
than those in traditional schools. The study — funded
by the pro-charter Walton Family Foundation and comprised of three separate
reports by Stanford's Center
for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), the
Center for Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) at the University of
Washington and Mathematica,
a private policy research company — found the education deficit was
"exacerbated by high student-teacher ratios and minimal student-teacher
contact time." CRPE Director Robin
Lake said the results came as little surprise to anyone who had followed
student testing in individual states that hosted online charter schools.
ANNUAL: Schools grapple
with state education funding
Joshua Vaughn The
Sentinel February 27, 2016
At the heart of much
of the contention surrounding recent budget debates is education funding. How
much is enough and are schools being funded fairly? “(Education) is funded from both state money
and local money and to a smaller extent federal money,” Joseph Bard, executive
director of the Pennsylvania Association for Rural and Small Schools, said.
“The state money is what is most at issue right now.” Education as a category topped $11 billion
and made up about 40 percent of the state’s enacted 2014-15 fiscal year. That number has been touted to indicate the
state is spending enough on schools, but likely only tells part of the story. The category includes things like basic and
special education funding for elementary and secondary schools but also
includes state appropriations for the school employees’ retirement system,
social security contributions and appropriations for public colleges. Pennsylvania ranked 13th highest for the
amount of money spent per pupil on education in 2012 but only 21st in state contribution
and 6th in local, according to factcheck.org. “We rely on property taxes for the majority
of local funds,” Bard said. “That’s a good source of money. There’s a lot of
people that would do away with property taxes, and we’d be happy to replace it,
but it would really take a hike in the personal income tax to about the level
of what Gov. Wolf is proposing. There really is no other source of revenue that
is as dependable or as assured as the (income tax) or property tax.”
A return to local control
would not solve schools' ills
Inquirer Opinion by William
Green Updated: FEBRUARY 28,
2016 — 3:01 AM EST
William Green is a member of
Philadelphia's School Reform Commission
Calls for a return
to local control of the School District of Philadelphia, in many cases prompted
by the recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision on the School Reform
Commission's powers, are based on a misdiagnosis of what ails the city's public
schools. There can be no question that
sufficient, predictable, recurring funding is desperately needed to provide our
students with the educational opportunities they deserve. However, local
control without taxing authority would do nothing to provide the necessary
funding. But even with a governing board
that had taxing authority, we cannot lose sight of the need for appropriate
state funding for our schools. Local tax
support for Philadelphia's schools has increased by more than $400 million over
the last five years, but these resources have not translated to widespread
investments in classrooms, as they have been consumed by increasing, recurring
fixed costs (such as pensions and benefits) and plugging the hole left by
reduced state support. A structural
deficit is the terminal disease our School District is battling. Rather than
banding together to find a cure, entrenched interest groups and activists are
aiming their fire at the SRC and School District leadership, blaming them for
not spending funds we neither have nor can compel.
Local leaders back suit
against state for inadequate school funding
Philly Trib by Wilford Shamlin III Tribune Staff Writer Posted: Thursday, February 25, 2016 1:42
pm
Public school
advocates are hoping the Pennsylvania Supreme Court orders a full trial on
whether the state has fulfilled its constitutional obligation to support
“thorough and efficient” education for all students. Former Gov. Ed Rendell spoke out in support
of changing the state school funding system this week, but conceded state
lawmakers must grapple with how to provide aid to 500 school districts fairly
and adequately. The former mayor who
spearheaded an effort that put a fairer school funding formula on the books
suggested reinstating the formula implemented during his administration. “We need that formula back in operation as
soon as possible,” he said. The
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court refused to intervene in a ruling last spring,
leaving the matter to be settled in the political process. William Penn School District, which filed the
petition in November 2014, was joined in the case by five other school
districts — including Philadelphia — and two other organizations, the
Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools and the NAACP Pennsylvania
State Conference.
Here's how uncompetitive
elections result in endless budgets: Berwood Yost
Why don't we have a
state budget? The answer to that question is neither short nor simple.
Pennsylvania's
current budget impasse is the direct result of three state policy failures: the
failure to find reliable funding sources state government needs to operate, the
failure to reduce spending growth that existing laws require, and the failure
to support reforms that make elections more competitive. Corporate taxes as a share of general fund
revenues have steadily declined because the amount of money generated by
corporate taxes has remained, in inflation adjusted terms, unchanged since
1988. Revenue based on consumption
taxes, such as the state sales tax, has grown by 27 percent and revenue from
other sources, such as the personal income tax and table games, has grown by 87
percent. This is policy failure
one: finding a sustainable revenue stream to replace money lost because of
changes to corporate taxes.
PA House bill would bring
secretive campaign groups out of the dark: PennLive letters
Penn Live Letters to the
Editor by STATE REP. NEAL P.
GOODMAN, D-Schuylkill, 123rd Legislative District on February 26,
2016 at 3:00 PM, updated February 26, 2016 at 11:22 PM
The April 26 primary
election in Pennsylvania is fast approaching, and advertisements that aim to
shape voters' opinions are beginning to appear on television, in newspapers and
in mailboxes. Some of these
advertisements come from dark money groups – organizations that can raise
unlimited amounts of money without disclosing the sources of their
finances. I believe voters should
have access to as much information as possible, including the identities of
people who spend money to shape the outcome of elections. That's why I introduced House Bill 1695, which would require dark money groups to
file campaign finance reports listing the names of donors contributing $100 or
more, and details of spending that exceeds $1,000. In addition, my bill, which
has bipartisan co-sponsors, would require ads from these organizations to
include a statement informing people where they can review their campaign
finance reports.
Here's why a recent
Supreme Court decision in Philly is worth heeding: Alan F. Wohlstetter
Alan F. Wohlstetter is a shareholder and head
of the Public Finance and Charter School practices at Zarwin Baum DeVito Kaplan
Schaer Toddy, P.C.
On Feb. 16, by a 4-2
vote, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the Philadelphia School Reform
Commission's statutory right to suspend portions of the Public School Code was an
unconstitutional delegation of power from the General Assembly. Under the decision, the school reform
commission and the School District of Philadelphia were permanently enjoined
from taking further action based upon that unconstitutional delegation of
authority. The impact of this
decision could potentially invalidate a number of commission policies based
upon its suspension of provisions of the Public School Code, including: (i) any
enrollment caps imposed upon charters; (ii) criteria for non-renewal of a
charter beyond those set forth in the Charter School Law; and (iii) any
additional charter renewal conditions imposed on charters granted renewal other
than those set forth in the Charter School Law. As a result of this decision, the legal basis
upon which the commission and the District have relied to regulate, limit
and close Philadelphia charter schools has been surgically removed.
Commonwealth Court: School for children with dyslexia
meets requirements to be a charter
By Paula Reed Ward /
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette February 26, 2016 5:08 PM
Pennsylvania's
Commonwealth Court today affirmed an earlier decision finding that Provident
Charter School for Children with Dyslexia has met the requirements necessary to
be granted a charter. A seven-judge
panel of the court found against the Pittsburgh Public Schools, which had
appealed a February 2015 decision of the state Charter School Appeal Board. The board voted 4-2 to overturn the school
district's decision denying the application.
the school, which emphasized serving dyslexic children, would be open to
all. The Commonwealth Court found that
Provident demonstrated it had sustainable support, will provide students and
parents with expanded educational choices; will provide comprehensive learning
experiences to students and has appropriately explained how community groups
will be involved in its planning process.
Commitment to pre-K
education pays big dividends
Intelligencer Opinion By JAMIE HADDON and WILLIAM E. HARNER Posted: Friday, February 26, 2016 12:15
am
Jamie Haddon is president and CEO of
United Way of Bucks County. William E. Harner is superintendent of
the Quakertown Community School District.
“It gets late early
out there.”
Yogi Berra said it
about the conditions at Yankee Stadium, but it sure sounds like he was talking
about early childhood education. At United Way of
Bucks County, we work to advance the quality of early education and provide
hundreds of prekindergarten scholarships through your generous contributions.
UW Bucks has a long history of investing in early learning and school
readiness. It is one of our top priorities. In 2016, we are convening a panel
to help guide and deepen our commitment to this area.
At Quakertown
Community School District, our board demonstrated its commitment to early
childhood education — and a great start for our community’s children — by
offering full-day kindergarten to all students who are not “ready to learn” at
grade level. Now, through the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts grant, Quakertown is
partnering with LifeSpan School and Day Care to give low- and moderate-income
children access to a high quality, full-day, preschool program at no cost to
their families. We invest for one
reason: It “gets late early.” By age 5, 90 percent of a child’s brain is
developed. It is a small window of opportunity with huge possibilities and
potential, but it closes quickly. We also know high-quality pre-K is not
accessible to many of our young learners who need it. Bucks County is home to
14,000 3- and 4-year-olds. Only a small fraction of these children are enrolled
in publicly funded pre-K programs. Many of those missing out are those at
greatest risk of academic failure. In fact, last year, 4,446 kids in Bucks
County lacked access to a publicly funded, high-quality pre-K program.
Closing the 30 million
word gap
eSchool News BY DENNIS PIERCE February 22nd, 2016
To cancel the effects of poverty, school
systems are extending literacy programs to the larger community
Mention Napa County,
Calif., and what comes to mind for most people are rows of sun-splashed
grapes—and well-tanned couples sipping wine under the shade of a vine-covered
pergola. But Napa has its
share of poverty, too. More than half of the student population is Latino, and
many of these students come from poor households where English isn’t spoken.
“Most of our
preschool kids who are native Spanish speakers come to school without anybody
having read to them,” said Napa County Superintendent of Schools Barbara Nemko.
“Most of the parents of those children are not even literate in Spanish, so
they’re not reading books of any kind.” Nemko
and her staff were aware of the “30 million word gap”: the research-backed idea
that children who grow up in poverty come to school having heard 30 million
fewer spoken words than their peers from middle-class or upper-class homes
putting them at a sharp disadvantage in terms of their language skills. This gap is even wider when students grow up
in non-English speaking households. Nemko and her staff knew they had to do
something dramatic to close it.
Five years ago, the
Napa County Office of Education piloted the use of Footsteps2Brilliance,
a digital platform for building early literacy skills, with a small group of
preschool students.
Parent makes case for
full-day kindergarten
By Lois Puglionesi, DCNN Correspondent POSTED: 02/27/16, 9:16 PM EST
HAVERFORD >>
Jennifer Metz of Havertown addressed the school board last week to advocate for
full-day kindergarten, a topic that has come to the fore in recent months. Haverford has traditionally offered half-day
programs only, from 8:35 a.m.-11:20 a.m., and 12:45-3:30 p.m. Metz highlighted the
benefits of full-day programs for young children with allergies and other
medical conditions, including autism spectrum disorder, diabetes and epilepsy,
in addition to educational advantages for all children. Further identifying herself as a working
mother and “food allergy mom” with children in fifth grade and pre-school, Metz
said public schools like Haverford have a “food allergy and medical issue
management advantage,” which she attributed to presence of school nurses and a
safe foods list. Metz said Haverford has “led the way” in this area. Additionally, Haverford has implemented staff
training consistent with the Emergency Access to Epinephrine Act of 2014. “That
training is groundbreaking because most first aid training does not include
symptoms of anaphylaxis,” Metz said. She
noted that the Emergency Access Act does not apply to day care/aftercare
programs and camps. And Metz maintained
that full-day kindergarten offers behavioral benefits, as children thrive in a
“less hectic environment,” with fewer transitions.
All-day kindergarten 'gift
of time' to teachers, students
Kindergarten teacher
Courtney Weikert has told the parent of a child who knows only two letters of
the alphabet that they know too much to qualify for a seat in her full-day
class. That's because the other children
looking to enroll in the Bethlehem
Area School District's full-day kindergarten program for at-risk
children might've only known one letter -- or none. Teachers across the district's 16 elementary
schools were annually asked to choose one impoverished child over another,
knowing a seat in their class could change a child's future. "It broke my heart every year,"
said Weikert, who teaches at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. "There's
something universally broken when a parent hopes their child scores low enough
to get into a class for at-risk kids."
Bethlehem students attend full-day kindergartenJamie Lynn
Corrado works with students as they attend full-day kindergarten students as
they learn math, and reading on Feb. 25, 2016, at Donegan Elementary School in
Bethlehem. When only 14
of the district's 48 kindergarten sections were all day, the demand
regularly outpaced the space. And for teachers in the half-day sections, there
was never enough time to get to know their students or cover the material. "The pace was just so ridiculous,"
said Lori Stom, a Clearview Elementary teacher. "We were trying to cram
into two hours what we now do in six."
This school year, Bethlehem made
the switch to all-day kindergarten in all 16 elementary schools. Many
Lehigh Valley schools are following suit next school year.
What does 'incomplete' Pa. budget really mean?
ERIE, Pa. -- While
Gov. Tom Wolf recently unveiled a new, multibillion-dollar budget plan for Pennsylvania's
legislators to consider, his previous state spending proposal lingers. The first-term Democrat on Feb. 9 announced a
$33.3 billion budget proposal for 2016-17 that includes proposals for
multimillion-dollar tax increases to fund a variety of programs and
initiatives. However, the state still
has no complete budget in place for the fiscal year that began July 1. Wolf in late
December did sign a $30.3 billion 2015-16 state budget plan backed by the
GOP-controlled state Legislature. But he also vetoed portions of the plan,
which included $500 million less than what Wolf had sought for education and
social services.
Needed: 100 men to read to
kids
York daily Record Angie
Mason, amason@ydr.com11:20 a.m. EST February 26, 2016
Men are being sought to read to students for
the 5th Annual Reading Is Essential: 100 Men Reading program.
Men are being sought
to read to students for the 5th Annual Reading Is Essential: 100 Men
Reading program, according to a news release.
My Brothers' Keeper York is working on the program, which aims to have
100 or more men volunteer in York City schools to read to students in
kindergarten to grade 12, according to a news release. Men interested in participating should report
to William Penn Senior High School in York, at the auditorium entrance on
College Avenue, at 7:30 a.m. March 21. There will be a light breakfast,
orientation and assigned reading locations, and the event lasts until
11:30 a.m. For more information, contact
Marquez Mitchell at marquez.mitchell16@yahoo.com or visit www.yorkcity.org for a registration
form.
Legislators: ‘School
closing checklist’ is an outrage
Two local lawmakers
are asking if a “school closing checklist” is really what Gov. Tom Wolf’s staff
should be focusing on in this eighth month of the state budget impasse. On Friday, Rep. Matt Gabler, R-DuBois, and
Rep. Marty Causer, R-Turtlepoint, expressed outrage that Wolf’s administration
has sent administrators of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts a checklist detailing
the process by which a district should close due to insufficient funding. The checklist was disseminated by the
Department of Education and follows the governor’s Dec. 29 line-item vetoes,
which included over $3 billion in cuts to public schools. In response to the announcement of the “how
to” list, Gabler said, “Disagreements in Harrisburg should never interrupt the
education of our children. That is why I have taken every action in my power to
ensure that our schools have the resources they need to stay open and teach our
kids. “All we needed from Gov. Tom Wolf
was one signature that would have stopped any possibility of school closings in
Pennsylvania. Instead, he used his veto pen to cut over $3 billion in school
funding that is desperately needed to finish the school year.” Yet Wolf spokesman Jeff Sheridan lays the
blame squarely on the former Gov. Tom Corbett and the Republican-controlled
legislature.
Memo on how to close
schools distributed by PA Board of Ed
Dive Brief:
·
In a
memo responding to inquiries from various school districts about
funding, the Pennsylvania state Department of Education has offered
formal guidance on how districts should shut down schools.
·
The memo
calls for 11 actions for school boards to consider before temporarily
shuttering schools for lack of funds, Penn Live reports, a process that takes around 60 days.
·
Schools
in PA received their final payment for basic operational
costs on Dec. 29, 2015; lawmakers have not yet offered alternative funding
sources or solutions.
Dive Insight:
It's been a long,
complicated road for Pennsylvania school districts. Fiscal woes in the state
have ranged from the fall 2015 budget impasse that cost school districts more
than $11.2 million in borrowing fees and interest to lawsuits over the failure to find solutions
to funding formulas. Last month, a suit filed
by The Pennsylvania School Boards Association alleged that state
officials unfairly held up money for schools while other parts of
state government didn't see the same treatment.
Pa. charter
schools seek state-level changes to gain foothold
When the Montour
School Board approved an application by Propel Schools to open a new high
school, the charter school leaders were pleased. Propel, the largest operator of charter
schools in the area with almost 3,600 students, has appealed to the state eight
times since 2004 after multiple districts denied its applications for new
charters and expansions. The Montour district was one of them, records show. “We're fortunate,” said Propel spokeswoman
Kelly Wall. “Propel has a good story, and we're doing good things in the
community.” Although Propel is
celebrating its recent victory, other operators said the charter school
environment in Western Pennsylvania is contentious at best. Charter schools are privately run but
publicly funded through school districts. Advocates hope for state-level
changes that would streamline the charter application process and provide them
with better access to school district facilities. In the meantime, schools have
had to get creative to garner community support and ensure success. PennCAN, a
state education advocacy group, hosted a “charter school fair” in November in
Pittsburgh to provide parents with more information about options in the area.
All 10 Propel schools participated, as did schools such as Environmental
Charter School, Urban Pathways and City Charter High School.
NBC News: Students Fall
Behind in Virtual Charters; For-Profits Rip Off Taxpayers
NBC News has
caught on to one of the biggest hoaxes of the corporate reform movement:
the failure of virtual charter schools. About 200,000 students are currently
enrolled in virtual charters. The attrition rates are high, but the industry
spends taxpayer dollars constantly recruiting to increase their numbers. It is
good to see the mainstream media catching on to what critics of virtual
charters have known for a few years. Some
sharp eyed person in their news department learned about the CREDO study last
fall that showed that students enrolled in these stay-at-home schools lose
ground academically. In the case of math, they lose a full year of instruction
for every year they are enrolled. In reading, they also lose ground, as much as
72 days.
Who’s Raking in the Big
Bucks in “CharterWorld”?
Here’s a thought:
What if school administrators were paid on a per-pupil basis? The
salaries could be computed based on total enrollment, or, if you want to use
VAM, a value-added measure, then the $$-per-pupil could be based on the
number of students successfully completing the year. For fun, let’s compare the pay pulled down by
public school superintendents with the money paid to the CEO’s of some charter
school networks. Before you read on, write down your hunch: which school
CEO/Superintendent is raking in the most on a per-student basis? And who’s the
lowest paid on a per-student basis? Let’s
begin with Chicago, where the public school enrollment (including charter
schools) has dipped to 392,000 students. The Chicago school leader (called the
CEO) is paid $250,000. That means he’s paid 64 cents per pupil.
Factor out the 61,000 students in charter schools, and Forrest Claypool’s
wages per student go up to 76 cents per kid. One of Chicago’s leading charter networks,
the nationally recognized Noble Network of Charter Schools, paid its CEO and
founder Michael Milkie a salary of $209,520 and a bonus of $20,000. NNCS,
which received the Broad Prize last year, enrolls 11,000 students, meaning that
Mr. Milkie is paid $21.00 per student.
"In
addition to the NGA, the network is made up of the National Association of
State Boards of Education, the National School Boards Association, AASA, the
School Superintendents Association, the National Association of Elementary
School Principals, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the
American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the
National PTA. "
NGA Organizes Coalition of
Education Groups to Monitor ESSA Implementation
As state governments
work to build new teacher and school accountability systems under the Every
Student Succeeds Act, members of a newly formed coalition of prominent
education lobbying groups want to make sure the U.S. Department of
Education doesn't overstep its authority by tagging on additional requirements
to the law and misinterpreting its text.
The ESSA Implementation Network includes the National
Governors Association, the National PTA, and the nation's largest two teachers
unions. The network's main mission will be to guard states' flexibililty
under the new law and fend off federal intrusion. "ESSA replaces a top-down accountability
and testing regime with an inclusive system based on collaborative state and
local innovation," the coalition said in a letter earlier this month
addressed to acting U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. "For this
vision to become a reality, we must work together to closely honor
congressional intent. ESSA is clear: Education decisionmaking now rests with
states and districts, and the federal role is to support and inform those
decisions."
Election Guide: 5 Education Takeaways From the
Presidential Candidates
Education Week Published
Online: February 23, 2016
The major party hopefuls
still in the race as of last week boasted widely varied records and stances on
K-12. (Download as a PDF.)
Mexico documents big rebound in monarch butterflies
Investigators say Monarch
butterflies have made a big comeback in their wintering grounds in Mexico after
suffering serious declines
Post Gazette By Mark
Stevenson / Associated Press February 27, 2016 1:46 AM
MEXICO CITY —
Monarch butterflies have made a big comeback in their wintering grounds in
Mexico, after suffering serious declines, experts said Friday. The area covered by the orange-and-black
insects in the mountains west of Mexico City this season was more than three
and a half times greater than last winter. The butterflies clump so densely in
the pine and fir forests they are counted by the area they cover rather than by
individual insects. The number of
monarchs making the 3,400-mile migration from the United States and Canada
declined steadily in recent years before recovering in 2014. This winter was
even better. This December, the
butterflies covered 10 acres, compared to 2.8 acres in 2014 and a record low of
1.66 acres in 2013.
While that’s
positive, the monarchs still face problems: The butterflies covered as much as
44 acres 20 years ago.
The Pennsylvania Budget
and Policy Center will host its Annual Budget Summit on Thursday, March 3, 2016
9:00 - 3:30 at the Hilton Harrisburg.
PA
Budget and Policy Center website
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, and local
communities. The Summit will focus on the leading issues facing the
commonwealth in 2016, with workshops, lunch, and a legislative panel
discussion. Space is limited, so fill
out the form below to reserve your spot at the Budget Summit.
Thursday, March 3,
2016 Hilton Hotel, Harrisburg Pennsylvania
The event is free,
but PBPC welcomes donations of
any size to help off-set costs.
PASBO 61st Annual
Conference and Exhibits March 8 - 11, 2016
Hershey Lodge and Convention
Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
PA Legislature Joint public hearing-on
Federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
PA House
and Senate Education Committees
03/14/2016 10:30 AM Hearing
Room #1 North Office Bldg
PSBA
Advocacy Forum & Day on the Hill
APR 4, 2016 • 9:00
AM - 5:30 PM
Join
PSBA and your fellow school directors for the third annual Advocacy Forum on
April 4, 2016, at the State Capitol in Harrisburg. This year’s event will have
a spotlight on public education highlighting school districts’ exemplary
student programs. Hear from legislators on how advocacy makes a difference in
the legislative process and the importance of public education advocacy.
Government Affairs will take a deeper dive into the legislative priorities and
will provide tips on how to be an effective public education advocate. There
will be dedicated time for you and your fellow advocates to hit the halls to
meet with your legislators on public education. This is your chance to share
the importance of policy supporting public education and make your voice heard
on the Hill. Online advanced registration will close on April 1, 4 p.m. On-site
registrants are welcome.
PenSPRA's Annual Symposium, Friday
April 8th in Shippensburg, PA
PenSPRA,
or the Pennsylvania School Public Relations Association, has developed a
powerhouse line-up of speakers and topics for a captivating day of professional
development in Shippensburg on April 8th. Learn to master data to
defeat your critics, use stories to clarify your district's brand and take
your social media efforts to the next level with a better understanding of
metrics and the newest trends. Join us the evening before the
Symposium for a “Conversation with Colleagues” from 5 – 6
pm followed by a Networking Social Cocktail Hour from 6 – 8 pm.
Both the Symposium Friday and the social events on
Thursday evening will be held at the Shippensburg University Conference
Center. Snacks at the social hour, and Friday’s breakfast and lunch is
included in your registration cost. $125 for PenSPRA members and $150 for
non-members. Learn more about our speakers and topics and register today at
this link:
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