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 February 23, 2016:
School funding in Pennsylvania: We have a plan; now we
need action
RSVP Today for EPLC’s Education Policy Forum Series on
Governor Wolf’s 2016-17 State Budget Proposal in Pittsburgh
Thursday, February 25, 2016 - Pittsburgh
A warning to college profs from a high school teacher
Washington Post Answer
Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss February 9, 2013
For
more than a decade now we have heard that the high-stakes testing obsession in
K-12 education that began with the enactment of No Child Left Behind 11 years
ago has resulted in high school graduates who don’t think as analytically or as
broadly as they should because so much emphasis has been placed on passing
standardized tests. Here, an award-winning high school teacher who just
retired, Kenneth Bernstein, warns college professors what they are up against.
Bernstein, who lives near Washington, D.C. serves as a peer reviewer for
educational journals and publishers, and he is nationally known as the blogger
“teacherken.” His e-mail address is kber@earthlink.net. This appeared in Academe, the journal of the American Association of University Professors.
By Kenneth Bernstein
You are a college
professor.
I have just retired
as a high school teacher.
I have some bad news
for you. In case you do not already see what is happening, I want to warn you
of what to expect from the students who will be arriving in your classroom,
even if you teach in a highly selective institution.
PA must do its share to
fund schools
Opinion by Susan Spicka Chambersburg Public Opinion 10:13 a.m. EST
February 22, 2016
Susan Spicka is Interim Director,
Education Voters of PA
Pennsylvania is at a
crossroads and state lawmakers will soon be choosing the path the Commonwealth
will follow. Lawmakers who believe our children and communities need and
deserve strong schools must do the difficult job of governing and ensure that
there is sufficient, new, recurring revenue in the state budget both to close
the $2 billion deficit and to invest additional state money into education. Our
children and communities will pay a steep price if they don’t. Recent articles and editorials in the Public
Opinion have clearly demonstrated that our area lawmakers and Governor Wolf
have sharply different visions for the future of the Commonwealth and for how
our state government should deal with an unfinished 2015-2016 budget and a very
real $2 billion budget deficit in the 2016-2017 budget. What has been lost in the political posturing
and talking points coming out of Harrisburg, however, is a genuine, honest
conversation about the appropriate role our state government should play in
funding our schools and the impact Harrisburg’s budget decisions have on our
children and our communities.
School funding in Pennsylvania: We have a plan; now we
need action
Lancaster Online
Editorial by LNP Editorial Board February 22, 2016
THE ISSUE: Pennsylvania,
for more than 25 years, has been one of the few states without a reliable
school funding formula, leaving school districts to set their annual budgets
without knowing how much funding they would receive. Last year, the state’s
Basic Education Funding Commission offered a bipartisan proposal for an equitable funding plan.
Nearly nine months later, the formula hasn’t been implemented.
Frustration from
educators, parents and taxpayers over the current school funding system is
skyrocketing. In an LNP op-ed published a year ago, Martin Hudacs, now
the newly appointed acting Manheim Township superintendent, described the
“broken” system as one that “lacks consistency, predictability, sustainability,
adequacy and fairness.” That’s about
right. Thankfully, three months later,
lawmakers made a crucial step in the right direction, as the 15-member Basic
Education Funding Commission — including Lancaster’s own Republican state Sen.
Lloyd Smucker, Democratic Rep. Mike Sturla and Education Secretary Pedro Rivera
— proposed a solution: a funding formula based on number of students, with a
variety of student- and district-based factors, such as the number of
impoverished students and the district’s size.
The proposal was lauded by the LNP Editorial Board then
and still is today. “It’s a sound and
transparent formula, and we hope the General Assembly passes it as part of the
budget process this summer,” we said last year.
As we hoped, Smucker authored the proposal into Senate Bill 910 and later attached it to the state
budget. But that’s where it gets messy.
When it comes to educating
kids, state is tragically irresponsible
Philly Daily News Opinion Updated: FEBRUARY 22, 2016 — 3:01 AM EST
A number of districts -
Philadelphia included - are not sure they can keep the schools open until June.
YOU ARE a
small-business owner who depends heavily on an influx of orders and money from
a large customer. The customer used to
be reliable, but no more. A few years ago, he suddenly cut back on his orders,
leaving you with smaller profits. Then, he decided to delay payments and you
had to get loans to tide you over. Lately,
he's become more erratic. He won't let you know how much he intends to order or
when. In exchange for a year's worth of your product, he only makes partial
payments - and won't return your calls when you try to find out when the rest
of the money will arrive. What do you
do? As a business owner, you begin to pull your hair out - or you might even
have to close your business. You can't take out more loans and you are in the
red. In a nutshell, that
is the situation facing Pennsylvania's 500 public school districts. Their big
customer is the state, which lays out more than $10 billion in aid to schools
each year.
A free public
education is mandated by the state Constitution, and the state is supposed to
help pay for it. But it has become erratic.
Pennsylvania state budget
hearings open Monday, and it feels like relationship counseling
Penn Live By Charles Thompson | cthompson@pennlive.com Email the
author | Follow on Twitter
on February 22, 2016 at 7:39 PM,
updated February 22, 2016 at 9:48 PM
Pennsylvania Budget
Secretary Randy Albright's marathon appearance before the Senate Appropriations
Committee Monday probably could have used a good relationship counselor.
Looming over the
five-and-a-half hours of state budget discussion was the empty memory of the
agreement many of the senators and Gov. Tom Wolf, Albright's boss, thought they
had reached in mid-December. And it very
much made this kick-off to the state's annual cycle of budget hearings feel
like the suit-and-tie version of a Taylor Swift break-up song.
“All told, Wolf is seeking a two-year spending increase of
$4.3 billion, or 14 percent, to $33.3 billion from the last full-year, enacted
budget. Wolf wants the extra spending to
close a long-term deficit that has damaged Pennsylvania's credit rating and to
boost aid to public school systems that have among the nation's biggest funding
gaps between wealthy and poor districts. Big increases for pension obligations,
human services and prisons are also helping drive the increase.”
Gov. Tom Wolf's
administration is defending his $33.3 billion budget proposal to the
Republican-controlled Legislature
By MARC LEVY Published:
2/22/16 4:45 pm EST - Updated: 2/22/16 4:46 pm EST
HARRISBURG,
Pennsylvania — Gov. Tom Wolf's administration began its defense of a $33.3
billion budget proposal Monday, with the Democrat confronting Pennsylvania
government's worst budget gridlock in decades and a Republican-controlled
Legislature that is hostile to the election-year tax increase he wants. Republicans faced off with Wolf's budget
secretary, Randy Albright, at the first Senate Appropriations Committee hearing
over Wolf's warnings of local tax increases and steep school layoffs if
lawmakers choose to close a $2 billion-plus projected deficit by spending cuts
alone. "That's a nice math game,
but come on," Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre. Corman pointed out that Republicans had
backed increased aid for schools before Wolf vetoed billions in education aid,
and that the rate of school property tax increases has slowed in recent years. Albright responded that Wolf's warnings are
both accurate and realistic, citing the impact of a deep cut in state aid to
schools in 2011.
"It's not
rhetoric, it's math," Albright responded to Corman.
Start of budget hearings
puts lawmakers in “uncharted territory”
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Monday, February
22, 2016
The House and Senate
Monday started their three-week-long budget hearing process, and right out the
gate it was apparent the deep divides and differing views on budgeting that led
to the ongoing FY 2015-2016 budget impasse remain as eyes turn toward the next
fiscal year’s spending plan. Senate
Appropriations Committee Chairman Pat Browne (R-Lehigh) began that committee’s
process by noting the strange nature lawmakers find themselves. “We’re going to embark over the next three
weeks on somewhat of an unusual and uncustomary process, reviewing components
of spending plans over essentially two fiscal years,” he said. “The governor is
proposing his 16-17 spending plan in somewhat of a modified process.” He said while the committee will focus on the
FY 2016-2017 budget proposal, the governor has made that proposal assuming a
sizable supplemental appropriation is enacted, so a look at that supplemental
increase is warranted.
House GOP launches effort
to uncover savings in state government
Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
February 22, 2016 at 6:47 PM
House Republicans
are the latest to launch a crusade to ferret out waste in state government and
to identify inefficiencies. Through a
initiative called PennSAVE (that stands for savings, accountability, value, and
efficiency), a House Majority Policy subcommittee plans to research potential
cost-saving measures and is inviting state employees and taxpayers to share
their ideas for reducing waste. The
launching of this effort coincides with this week's start of departmental
budget hearings and policy committee Chairman Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, said
he expects to issue an update on the group's work in a couple months. "The state government budget process
should begin not with conversations about spending and higher taxes but by
first looking for ways to reduce government waste and cut unnecessary
costs," Benninghoff said. "That should be step No. 1 every
time." Among the areas that the
group will look include the agency and program consolidation, unaddressed audit
findings identified by the Auditor General's office, government procurement
policies and "corporate welfare," he said. This initiative parallels other efforts
underway to identify possible areas where savings might be found, including
Gov. Tom Wolf's GO-TIME and a website Sen. Scott Wagner, R-York
County, recently launched.
With current Pennsylvania budget unfinished, hearings
for 2016-17 underway
Pennsylvania is operating under a partial
state budget for the year that ends June 30.
By Karen Langley /
Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau February 23, 2016 12:00 AM
HARRISBURG — When
budget hearings began Monday, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations
Committee set a ground rule: Members could ask one round of questions on the
unfinished Pennsylvania state budget, but then they should move on to Gov. Tom
Wolf’s proposals for the year to come. Legislators
are embarking on “somewhat of an unusual and uncustomary process” as they
review state spending proposals for two fiscal years, Sen. Pat Browne,
R-Lehigh, said as the House and Senate began three weeks of appropriations
hearings. Pennsylvania is
operating under a partial state budget for the year that ends June 30 after Mr.
Wolf in December signed into law most of a Republican-supported spending plan
but vetoed about half a year’s worth of funding for the main K-12 education
line and for state prisons. He has said that he expected legislators to quickly
move to complete the budget, but that hasn’t happened.
Lines drawn in the sand,
Pa. budget process gets underway
WHYY Newsworks BY MARY WILSON FEBRUARY 22, 2016
Budget hearings got
off to a testy start in Pennsylvania's Capitol as the Wolf administration
defended the governor's spending proposal on Monday, the first day of three
weeks of scheduled hearings. The Capitol
hasn't fully emerged from last year's budget stalemate over taxes and spending,
but lawmakers are launching into this year's planning process, even if it's not
clear how the Democratic governor and Republican-controlled Legislature can
meet in the middle. House Appropriations
Committee Chairman Bill Adolph, R-Delaware, asked to keep the focus of
questions on the next year's budget proposal — even as the current year's
spending is unresolved. "It is safe
to say that we will discuss the '15-'16 budget in this room, and those
discussions hopefully will continue, but I don't know if we're going to be able
to come to any type of resolution," said Adolph. s the Senate Appropriations Committee dug in,
the back-and-forth quickly veered into decisions in budgets past.
Election might perpetuate
state budget fiasco
Times Tribune BY ROBERT SWIFT Published: February 21, 2016
HARRISBURG — The long-running state budget fight is colliding with an
election year in which many lawmakers seek re-election. A look at the election calendar could be
useful to determine when the budget fight will reach a climax or enter periods
of limbo. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and
the Republican-controlled Legislature are poles apart on the governor’s
proposed $33.3 billion budget for fiscal 2016-17. They also have yet to agree
on a complete budget for the current fiscal year. The House and Senate appropriations
committees will hold weeks of budget hearings starting on Monday, with
agency chiefs appearing to answer questions about their spending priorities. Under the partial, $24 billion budget in
place, school districts, publicly supported universities and the corrections
department only have a half-year worth of state funding covered. This means the
school districts most dependent upon state aid will have to seek bank loans
starting in midspring if no deal is reached to complete the budget, state
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said last week. The next important date on the election
calendar is April 26, primary day when a handful of senators and House members
will face challengers for renomination. The House and Senate are in recess from
mid-April to early May to give members time to campaign. It’s unlikely that
anybody on the ballot, facing opposition or not, will want to cast a
controversial budget vote before April 26 that could boomerang
against them.
First-year councilwoman bringing Philly school
hearings to the streets
City
Councilwoman and long-time Philly public school activist Helen Gym said that
after an eye-opening hearing on school conditions, she will be seeking public
input in a series of upcoming community meetings.
Metro by Sam
Newhouse February 22, 2016
As part of the
process of studying what services the School District of Philadelphia actually
offers the city's children, City Councilwoman Helen Gym will be hosting
three community meetings around Philly next month to get input from the public. It's all part of a process the first-term
councilwoman said is intended to help the District figure out its priorities
while City Council prepares for budgeting season. "We’ve gotten too abstract about funding
and accountability. ... We’ve lost sight about what concretely we can do
on a school district-wide level," Gym told Metro. "We need to
drill down and be more specific and hold the district to their promises.
We can unify our city and our school district around a common set of
priorities and objectives."
Wolf's war on charters
hurts our neediest students: Ken Kilpatrick
PennLive Op-Ed By
Ken Kilpatrick on February 22, 2016 at 2:00 PM, updated February
22, 2016 at 2:01 PM
Ken Kilpatrick is CEO of Sylvia Marketing
& Public Relations, a consultancy that specializes in marketing services
for public charter schools, private schools, and higher education.
Next year will mark
the twentieth anniversary of the creation of Pennsylvania's Charter School Law. However, if Gov Tom Wolf has his way, there
will be little or perhaps nothing left to celebrate. Since taking office, Wolf has locked his
sights on charter schools, effectively declaring war on many of the
Commonwealth's most vulnerable children.
During his first budget proposal, Wolf sought to slash public cyber
charter school funding to a dollar amount that would make it impossible for a
cyber to operate. Rather than studying what the real costs are to operate a
cyber charter school, Wolf decided that choosing an arbitrary funding limit
would be best. That number was chosen
based upon what it costs a certain Intermediate Unit to deliver a limited
online program that does not come close to offering the comprehensive
educational experience that a cyber charter school provides. Wolf's war is not limited to cyber charter
schools. He is seeking to destroy all charters.
Blogger note: In response to the charter marketing piece above
I would offer this prior KEYSEC posting.
No PA cyber charter has achieved a passing PA School Performance Profile
score of 70 in any year. Additionally,
most cybers never made AYP under No Child Left Behind during the period 2005
thru 2012. The “Intermediate Unit
program” cited happens to be the one that generally has the highest scores of
any cyber in the state.
PA Ed Policy Roundup Feb 5: Walton Family Foundation,
patron saints of charter school funding, backing off on cyber charter support
Huskey: Wolf’s clothing
made from our tax dollars
By Stan Huskey,
The Times Herald POSTED: 02/22/16,
2:00 AM EST
Making sure credit
is given where credit is due is always in the back of my mind when I sit down
to write about local happenings. Giving
criticism where criticism is due is just as important, and I’d like to think
that I have no problem dishing out the disparaging remarks no matter the
intended target. I spent last week
expounding on my complete and utter disbelief that our state legislature has
but one job to do each year and they can’t even get that right. As you know, I only have so many words for
this column, and when it comes to our elected officials there never is enough
words, but even so, I would be remiss if I didn’t continue last week’s rant
with another. This one being
pointed squarely at the governor. But
before I do, a little back peddling is in order. One of our local
state legislators, Kate Harper, R-61st Dist., sent me a well-worded email last
week to remind me that the General Assembly did indeed offer three budgets to
the governor. And he did sign one
of them, that is, after he took a machete disguised as a pen to it, lopping off
massive chunks of the spending bill that he did not like.
“Wolf has similar arrows in his quiver. Football is king in
much of Pennsylvania, too, along with other sports. The prospect of losing a
season would be more than some voters could bear. That might shake loose a few
legislative votes as fans clamor for compromise and a return to the games. Closing the state's liquor stores would
surely get some voters beating a path to their legislators' doors. But this
would make no economic sense. The state stores are profit centers and, since
Pennsylvanians are unlikely to drink more to make up for lost time, that
revenue would be lost forever. There are
services that, if closed, might hasten a budget deal. Social service agencies
and parks make life better; it would be hard to lose them. Closing public schools would affect
everybody. Many parents struggle on the occasional snow day. Private school
parents no longer would enjoy public school transportation.”
Pennsylvania should look to Louisiana for budget
stalemate solution
Trib Live Opinion BY JOSEPH SABINO MISTICK | Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016,
9:00 p.m.
Pennsylvania Gov.
Tom Wolf and Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards are both Democrats trying to get
their state's annual budgets approved by Republican legislatures. Wolf is
approaching seven months without a budget. Edwards is just starting down that
path. Both states face huge deficits.
Both governors have called for new taxes, arguing that there is no way to cut
their way out of their states' financial quagmires. And both governors plan to
improve education and other essential government services. But the similarity
ends there. “This crisis is not about
politics at all. This is about math. Pennsylvania faces a $2 billion budget
deficit,” Wolf said in his budget address. “That's not a Democratic fact or a
Republican fact. It's just a fact.” But
Edwards, facing a $2 billion deficit next year, believes that facts alone will
not carry the day. In his televised budget address last week, he bluntly called
for new taxes. And he targeted the non-believing legislators, motivating them
with a little promised pain. Declaring
that legislative inaction will lead to the cancellation of classes at the
state's universities, Edwards said “many students will not be able to graduate,
and student athletes across the state at those schools will be ineligible to play
next semester.” Adding the kicker, he said, “That means you can say farewell to
college football next fall.”
Pa.
lawmakers want audit of Wolf's spending as $37.5B spent in impasse
Trib Live BY BRAD BUMSTED | Monday, Feb. 22, 2016,
10:57 a.m.
HARRISBURG — Gov.
Tom Wolf's administration has spent $37.5 billion since July 1, even though no
state budget was in place for six months, and House and Senate leaders asked
the state's fiscal watchdog to audit the spending. Lawmakers authorized a budget of only $23.4
billion in December. Wolf is spending as
if he has “an open checkbook,” Senate Republican spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher
said Monday as lawmakers began budget hearings for the next fiscal year. “We're
concerned about the checks and balances.”
The amount spent during the impasse was $24.7 billion. Since Jan. 1, the
Wolf administration spent about $12.8 billion, according to the Treasury
Department. Auditor General Eugene
DePasquale, a York County Democrat like Wolf, said he is reviewing the audit request.
According to a September 2015 report from The Philadelphia
Public School Notebook, 174 of 218 total Philadelphia public schools have a
visual art teacher and 25 have an instrumental music teacher on site.
Students reach out with
arts education
Artists Striving to End Poverty
will visit public schools once a week.
Temple News by Keeland Bowers 09 February 2016
Cindy Paul said she
wants to bring the arts to a community that wouldn’t normally have access to
them—public school students in Philadelphia.
According to a September 2015 report from The Philadelphia Public School
Notebook, 174 of 218 total Philadelphia public schools have a visual art
teacher and 25 have an instrumental music teacher on site. To help combat what The Notebook calls
Philadelphia public schools “starving for arts education,” Paul founded the
Temple chapter of Artists Striving to End Poverty this semester. ASTEP is an international nonprofit that uses
performance and visual art to inspire underserved youth around the world. It’s
the brainchild of Broadway Musical Director Mary-Mitchell Campbell and students
from The Juilliard School. Temple’s chapter will specifically serve
Philadelphia public school students.
Praise, concerns voiced at
public hearing on Philly pre-K
Inquirer by Julia Terruso, Staff Writer. Updated: FEBRUARY 23, 2016 —
1:07 AM EST
The Mayor's
Commission on Universal Pre-Kindergarten heard three hours of feedback Monday
on its proposed plan for Philadelphia's 3- and 4-year olds. More than 20 people spoke at the hearing at
City Hall, commending the goal of universal pre-K while expressing concern over
how to fund the initiative, ensure quality, and prevent the exclusion of
smaller neighborhood providers. Monday's hearing
will be followed by 10 community meetings through March 7 and several
roundtable discussions around the city through March 23. The commission will issue a final report with
its recommendations April 15. Several
teachers and principals testified that kids who attend pre-K go to school more
prepared for kindergarten. "When we
build a house, we lay a strong foundation, and when we build from the bottom
up, the house will remain sturdy for years," said Fatima Rogers, principal
of Charles W. Henry Elementary School in West Mount Airy. Rogers said kindergartners at her school who
went to pre-K have less separation anxiety and tend to start reading earlier.
Erie schools to work with financial consultant
By Erica Erwin 814-870-1846 Erie Times-News February 23, 2016 12:42 AM
The Erie School
District will ask a consulting firm to take a fresh look at the district's
financial future. Erie schools
Superintendent Jay Badams on Monday said he will follow the suggestion of
Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera and ask Public Financial Management, an
independent financial consulting firm, to examine the district's finances. Badams, district Chief Financial Officer
Brian Polito, state Sen. Sean Wiley and state Rep. Pat Harkins met with Rivera
in Harrisburg on Monday to discuss a recent analysis that shows the district
facing a deficit of as much as $8.9 million in 2016-17. The analysis also compares the district to
others in Erie County and to similar districts statewide and, Badams and Polito
say, shows the district is underfunded by the state. The services of Public Financial Management
are free to districts. "We're eager to
do that," Badams said after the meeting. "To have one more set of
eyes review our finances and validate our study will be great." Rivera also offered to have the Department of
Education review Erie's financial situation in particular "to figure out
if there's anything that can be done in the short term," Badams said.
Northampton Area will either tap into reserves or
borrow to get through school year
Kevin Duffy Special to The
Morning Call February 22, 2016
How will Northampton
Area School District get through the school year?
With no end to the
state budget impasse in sight, Northampton Area School District officials will
soon decide whether to tap into their general fund to stay afloat until the end
of the fiscal year or borrow against the tax revenue they hope will be generated
eventually. Finance Director Terry Leh
told the school board Monday that a Tax Revenue Anticipation Note
would have to be paid back by June 30 should the district decide to
go that route. And with no certainty
that state dollars will be flowing into the district by then, school directors
will soon be asked to choose between siphoning from the general fund or
securing the loan. "If the board
decides to move in this direction it's a one-month process to do this,"
Leh said of applying for a loan. Superintendent
Joseph Kovalchik said the board will have to decide between drawing down from
the $15 million pool of designated and undesignated funds or expending
additional dollars — anywhere from $10,000 to $12,000, Leh estimated — just to
obtain the loan. That amount would
include bank and attorney fees, plus interest, he said. Or, he continued, the district might consider
tapping about $12 million of the $15 million to get through the rest of the
fiscal year.
Scranton school leader:
Plan can increase achievement, decrease deficit
Times Tribune BY
SARAH HOFIUS HALL Published: February 23, 2016
The future of the
Scranton School District could include a math and science academy, consolidated
schools and a smaller budget deficit. Alexis
Kirijan, Ed.D., presented a draft of the district’s vision, “Scranton One:
Strategic Plan 2020,” to the school board’s education committee meeting Monday.
The plan calls for transformation — from creating a curriculum that is rigorous
and meaningful, to allocating resources to serve students best. “Our hope is that the entire city joins with
us in executing this plan,” she said. Since
her appointment as district leader nearly a year ago, Dr. Kirijan met with many
school and community members, evaluated achievement and budgets and began the
process of drafting the plan she calls a “road map.” The “Scranton One” name reflects the idea
that to best serve the students, “one system” and “one community” must work
together to serve the number one focus, which are students.
Penn Hills schools audit shows nearly $10M shortfall
By Molly Born /
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette February 23, 2016 12:00 AM
The Penn Hills
School District’s audit for the 2014-15 school year showed a nearly $10 million
shortfall, confirming expectations about its financial picture for that period. The 2013-14 school year left the district
nearly $9 million in debt, and its negative fund balance, or cumulative
deficit, amounts to nearly $18.9 million for the year ending June 30, 2015,
according to the audit findings.
The board last fall
completed a bond issue approaching $20 million to cover that two-year debt
total. The school board acknowledged
receipt of the audit at its regular board meeting Monday. The document will be
posted on the district’s website this week.
Penn Hills proposes
teacher layoffs, class cuts to help budget deficit
WTAE UPDATED 11:22 PM
EST Feb 22, 2016
PENN HILLS, Pa. —The Penn Hills School Board voted 5-2 to send
a budget cut proposal to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for approval
before the board takes a final vote. Penn
Hills School District board members approved a controversial plan to borrow $18
million Wednesday night to pay for day-to-day expenses. he district is facing a $13 million budget
deficit in the last three years. Teachers,
students and taxpayers packed Linton Middle School's auditorium Monday night to
fight the budget cuts which would include teacher layoffs. When the meeting opened for public comment,
the first citizen to speak said, "we're bleeding a lot of cash."
The cuts include
roughly 25 classes such as art, science and special education. It's not clear how many teachers would be
affected if proposed program cuts are approved. The teachers union said they
were blindsided by this.
NSBA and national groups call for increased investment
in education
NSBA on
February 22, 2016 Charlotte Blane
The National School
Boards Association today joined a group of over 660 organizations in a letter to the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations
Committees expressing support of the Department of Labor, Health and Human
Services (HHS), and Education and related agencies, and calling for increased
investments in the agencies’ programs and services in fiscal year 2017. The
group cite several effects of underfunding these programs and urge lawmakers to
put education and related programs first and increase the appropriations
allocation. “Despite their
profound impact on health and well-being, child development, educational and
skills attainment, and productivity, programs and services of the “Labor-HHS”
spending bill continue to be short-changed in the annual appropriations
process,” the group state in the letter. “Without an increase, it will be
virtually impossible to meaningfully increase investment in important
initiatives—without deep cuts in other equally important initiatives.”
For more information
please read the letter in its entirety.
- See more at: https://www.nsba.org/newsroom/nsba-and-national-groups-call-increased-investment-education#sthash.xzOyKSHk.dpuf
Under ESSA, Governors
Should Guard States' Rights, Sen. Lamar Alexander Says
Education Week
Politics K-12 Blog By Daarel Burnette II on February
21, 2016 10:33 PM
This post was written by Daarel Burnette II and originally posted in State EdWatch.
Washington - In a spine-stiffening rallying cry, U.S. Sen. Lamar
Alexander, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate education committee, told dozens of
governors gathered here Sunday to push back against any attempt by the federal
government to shape education policy in the coming years. The recently-passed Every Student Succeeds
Act, which he helped author, gives governors and state legislators wide
latitude to design their own teacher and school accountability systems, among
other things, he said during the annual National Governors Association winter
meeting. "The federal government has
defined power under this law," he said. "States have numerous and
infinite power. We should adhere to the principles of federalism here." The speech at the JW Marriott came just days
before the Senate education committee is to hold a confirmation hearing for
acting U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr., who President Barack Obama
has nominated to be secretary. "I urged him to appoint somebody and I told
him I'd make sure he was confirmed," Alexander said.
National Benchmarks for State Achievement Standards
American Institutes
for Research Report by Gary Phillips22 FEB 2016
State achievement
standards represent how much the state expects their students to learn in order
to reach various levels of academic proficiency. In the past, these achievement
standards were used by each state to report adequate yearly progress under No Child
Left Behind federal legislation, and are now being used for federal reporting
under the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015.
This report uses national benchmarking as a common metric to examine
state achievement standards and compare how high these standards are compared
to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) achievement levels.
The study also benchmarks the achievement standards of Smarter Balanced, PARCC,
and ACT Aspire.
After 45 years of conservative rulings, here’s what a
liberal Supreme Court would do
Washington Post By Linda
Hirshman February 19
Linda Hirshman is
the author of “Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O’Connor and
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World.”
Nothing separated
the odd couple of the Supreme Court — the late Justice Antonin Scalia and his best buddy, Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg — more than their visions of the Constitution they both loved. Scalia
saw the Constitution as a “dead” document, limited to the meaning of the original words
at the moment the ink was dry, a moment when white, propertied men ruled.
Ginsburg’s Constitution, by contrast, is the expansive charter of an evolving
society. She celebrates “the extension (through amendment, judicial
interpretation, and practice) of constitutional rights and protections to
once ignored or excluded people: to humans who were once held in
bondage, to men without property, to the original inhabitants of the
land that became the United States, and to women.” While Scalia’s originalism certainly has its
disciples among conservatives, with his death, Ginsburg’s vision of a living
Constitution becomes more likely to prevail. President Obama (or his successor)
has a chance to appoint at least one more liberal to the Supreme Court. That would
give the court a liberal majority for the first time since 1971. It would allow
the court to resume the progressive push — on issues including school desegregation, reproductive
rights, organized labor and voting rights — that stalled almost a half-century
ago. It would enable a revival of a dramatically different role for the court:
as an institution that drives social change instead of halting it.
How Meaty Are the
Presidential Candidates' Online K-12 Positions?
Education Week Politics
K12 By Andrew Ujifusa on February 22, 2016 10:48 AM
Nearly six months
ago, we noted that for the most part, presidential candidates' websites were pretty skimpy when it came
to education issues. Since that blog post, 12 Republican
hopefuls and two Democrats have dropped out of the race. But as the remaining
candidates have had a lot more time to beef up their ideas and plans for the
online public, are they now more sumo wrestler or scarecrow? We've checked back in with candidates'
official campaign websites to see what they've put up about education. In
addition, for this check-up, we've also scanned their Facebook pages since
Sept. 1 of last year to see what, if anything, they've said about
education. This isn't a
comprehensive look at all the forums where candidates might have mentioned
education, including other places on the Internet and in debates (the results for
the latter are pretty thin, though). But for these two major Internet sources,
here is what we've found from each of the five remaining Republicans and
the two remaining Democrats. Here's one interesting discovery: All the
candidates except one have posted something education-related on their Facebook
pages since September. So which one posted a goose egg? Read on.
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
PENNSYLVANIA EDUCATION
POLICY FORUM
“Western Region Forum Series” – Thursday,
February 25, 2016
Wyndham Pittsburgh University Center – 100
Lytton Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Continental Breakfast – 8:00 a.m. Program – 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
An Overview of the Proposed 2016-2017 State Budget and Education Issues Will Be Provided By:
Representative of The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center
Ron Cowell, President, The Education Policy and Leadership Center
Continental Breakfast – 8:00 a.m. Program – 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
An Overview of the Proposed 2016-2017 State Budget and Education Issues Will Be Provided By:
Representative of The Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center
Ron Cowell, President, The Education Policy and Leadership Center
Statewide and
Regional Perspectives Will Be Provided By:
Karina Chavez, Executive Director, Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education
Dr. Jeffrey Fuller, Superintendent, Freedom Area School District
Cheryl Kleiman, Staff Attorney, Education Law Center
Nathan Mains, Executive Director, Pennsylvania School Boards Association
Karina Chavez, Executive Director, Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education
Dr. Jeffrey Fuller, Superintendent, Freedom Area School District
Cheryl Kleiman, Staff Attorney, Education Law Center
Nathan Mains, Executive Director, Pennsylvania School Boards Association
RSVP
for the Pittsburgh forum by clicking here.
While there is no registration fee, seating is limited and an RSVP is required.
While there is no registration fee, seating is limited and an RSVP is required.
'Beyond Measure' to be
shown Feb. 24 at Bucks County Community College
Bucks County Courier Times Joan Hellyer, staff writer Sunday, February 14, 2016 11:45 pm
The general public
is invited to a free screening of "Beyond Measure," a documentary
about education reform, on Feb. 24 at Bucks County Community College,
organizers said. The movie, from Vicki
Abeles, director of the award-winning film "Race to Nowhere," begins
at 7 p.m. in the Zlock Performing Arts Center on the BCCC campus at 275 Swamp
Road in Newtown Township.
In "Beyond
Measure," Abeles examines public schools across the country that are
working to "create a more equitable, empowering, student-centered
education culture from the ground up," event organizers said. The college’s Department of Social and
Behavioral Science, Future Teachers Organization, and Amy McIntyre, founder of
the Council Rock Parents Facebook page, are sponsoring the free event. Register online at tinyurl.com/BCCCBeyondMeasure.
For more information call 215-504-8545 or send an email to Kate.DAuria@bucks.edu.
Blogger note: this conference
is SOLD OUT
Attend the
United Opt Out Conference in Philadelphia February 26-28
United
Opt Out: The Movement to End Corporate Reform will hold its annual conference
on Philadelphia from February 26-28.
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.
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
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
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
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.