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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup February 26, 2016:
How do you wake up the PA Legislature to the severity
of its own budget impasse?
PSBA Advocacy
Forum & Day on the Hill APR 4, 2016
• 9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Details/registration: https://www.psba.org/event/psba-advocacy-forum-day-hill/
Area school officials generate budget impasse
reactions at Town Hall event
By Debbie Wachter New
Castle News February 25, 2016
Local school
administrators gathered Tuesday to vent their frustrations about the state
budget impasse, and sought ways to pressure elected officials to pass a budget
quickly. Nearly 60 school directors and
administrators from 12 districts in Lawrence, Butler and Mercer counties met at
the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV in Grove City to discuss ways they could
encourage legislators and the governor restore money to school districts. The meeting was spearheaded by New Castle
Superintendent John Sarandrea, after he blamed the eight-month impasse on state
Rep. Mike Turzai at a recent New Castle Area School Board meeting. Some school districts are getting near to
closing their doors because they do not have the funds to operate, Nathan
Mains, Pennsylvania School Board Association executive director, told the
group. Mains said he is not
suggesting any school district close as a political statement. However, despite
everyone’s best efforts, some districts are going to shut down because they are
running out of money, “and they’re out of options.” One of those is the Erie School District,
where the board of education approved a $30 million line of credit during the
budget impasse. Mains pledged PSBA’s
help in giving all of the districts statewide guidance in taking steps to get
the attention of the legislature so that they see that things are in “crisis.”
Schools to lawmakers: Wake
Up! Administrators fear budget disaster
in Pa.
By Amanda Spadaro Eagle
Staff Writer Butler Eagle 2/25/16
GROVE CITY — How do
you take the entire state Legislature and wake it up to the severity of its own
state budget impasse? That’s the
question more than 50 school administrators and board members sought to answer
this week at the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV, which provides educational
services to schools in Butler, Lawrence and Mercer counties. With the state budget 241 days overdue,
school districts statewide are facing an “unprecedented disaster,” according to
Wayde Killmeyer, executive director of the MIU IV. Nathan Mains, executive director of Pennsylvania
School Boards Association, spoke to the educators about how they could talk to
their legislators about the immediate need to pass a state budget. PSBA
sent out a survey to the 500 school districts in the state and received 200
replies. According to that survey, 21 percent of the districts already have cut
back on programs, and 27 percent are pushing back future projects such as
building maintenance or technology investments because of the state’s financial
uncertainty. At least 29 percent of the
schools surveyed have missed some of their payments to charter schools, pension
funds or vendors. So far, the
state budget impasse has cost districts an average of $13,000 through loans and
interest payments, Mains said. Some schools already have reached an additional
$65,000 in costs. Out of the 200 districts, 168 will need to raise taxes to
handle the current financial crisis, he said.
Blogger note: It is my understanding that PA school
districts have already borrowed over $1 billion to get through the budget
impasse, with over $40 million in tax dollars already spent on interest and
fees, instead of in the classroom.
Allentown schools take out
$50M loan to stay open
Lehigh Valley Live By Sara K.
Satullo | For lehighvalleylive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on February 25, 2016 at 9:48 PM, updated February 25, 2016 at 9:49 PM
The Allentown
School District has to take out a $50 million loan to keep its doors
open.
The school
board voted unanimously to borrow $50 million through a tax revenue
anticipation note since there is still no 2015-16 state budget passed in
Harrisburg. The loan should get the school through the rest of the school year,
CFO Jack Clark said. "If we don't
borrow some money, we won't be able to stay in business for the children of
Allentown," Clark said. This isn't the
district's first loan this year and Allentown is not
alone. A recent Pennsylvania School
Boards Association survey of districts found that 63 percent of respondents
won't be able to make it through the rest of the school year without borrowing
money if a budget is not passed. Of those that had
borrowed money already, the average amount was $3.5 million and the maximum was
$10 million.
"In his recent op-ed for
the Centre Daily Times, state Sen. Jake Corman wrote that Pennsylvania voters
“have repeatedly rejected the governor’s massive tax increases to support more
government spending.” This is a very unfortunate misunderstanding on Corman’s
part. The governor who was rejected by
the people of Pennsylvania was Tom Corbett."
A misunderstanding
Centre Daily Times Letter by MICHAEL BERUBE, STATE COLLEGE
In his recent op-ed
for the Centre Daily Times, state Sen. Jake Corman wrote that Pennsylvania
voters “have repeatedly rejected the governor’s massive tax increases to
support more government spending.” This is a very unfortunate misunderstanding
on Corman’s part. The governor who was
rejected by the people of Pennsylvania was Tom Corbett. Indeed, Corbett was
denied what most of his predecessors had taken for granted, a second term; he
was the first Pennsylvania governor to be ousted by voters since 1971. The reason we rejected Corbett so
emphatically was that he ran up huge deficits driven by tax giveaways to the
wealthy, capped off by his refusal to impose any tax whatsoever on the natural
gas industry — as every other state has done.
We elected Tom Wolf precisely because he promised to close the budget
gap and restore funding to education by making Pennsylvania’s most fortunate
residents pay their fair share for public goods and services. We elected Wolf
resoundingly, by a 10-point margin. He has a clear mandate. Pennsylvania Republicans are determined to
deny this simple fact, because elections apparently don’t matter when Democrats
win them. And they are determined to cut services to Pennsylvania’s pensioners,
schoolchildren and people with disabilities — all to maintain those tax
giveaways to their cronies. But now they are undermining state government
altogether. Corman and his allies should
stop playing games and start serving the people — including the people who put
Wolf into office.
Pennsylvania incumbents feel too comfortable
Bill
White Contact Reporter Morning Call
February 25, 2016
Trump, Sanders
revolutions should spill over to Pennsylvania
The presidential
campaigns of both major parties are reminding us that people of all political
persuasions are sick of politics as usual.
Donald Trump isn't leading because voters have a
yearning for loud-mouthed bullies.Bernie Sanders isn't surging because voters are
intrigued by finger-wagging socialists. Voters
are just tired of seeing politicians grovel before campaign-contributing
billionaires and waffle to suit the moment. They want change, and they seem
willing to blow things up, if necessary, in hopes that something better will
emerge from the rubble. Or at least
something different. Remember that exchange near the end of "GroundhogDay," when Bill Murray/Phil Connors wakes up and
realizes that Andie MacDowell/Rita is next to him and his eons-long repetition
of the same day finally is over?
"Something is …
different," he says.
"Good or
bad?" she asks.
"Anything
different is good."
That's America
speaking. I agree with the yearning for
change, if not with these particular solutions. What's frustrating to me is
that although I routinely hear similar expressions of dissatisfaction with the
status quo in Pennsylvania government, we're headed for another election of
same old same old. Go to the Ballotpedia website
and look at the list of candidates in this year's state House elections. By my count, 81 of the 185 state House
members — including several members of our local delegation — are running
unopposed, barring write-ins. Think
about that for a moment. We're coming off the worst imaginable year in state
government, full of gridlock, corruption, disgrace, even porn. We have no
budget, which has thrown our school districts and social services into
continuing turmoil, with some districts facing fiscal disaster.
How low can you go, Pennsylvania politicians?
Steve
Esack Contact ReporterCall Harrisburg
Bureau February 25, 2016
Zooks!
D’Oh! Sufferin Succotash!
Either one of those
cartoon catch phrases can sum up voters’ increasingly disparate view of state
government and its politicians. Two out
of three registered voters — 67 percent — now believe the state is “on the
wrong track,” according to a Franklin
& Marshall College Poll released to all media on Thursday. That is
5 percentage points higher than the last poll, conducted in October. Nearly half of those
surveyed say that government and politicians are the state’s biggest problems
because of the nearly 8-month-long budget impasse. That’s a 9 percentage point
increase from October (38 percent to 47 percent). As a result, the number of voters who think
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf is doing an “excellent” or “good job” has dropped 5
percentage points to 31 percent. The drop among Democrats plunged 12 percentage
points to 45 percent.
The poll did not ask
voters for their views of the Legislature or individual lawmakers.
"Making things more
complicated, the future of PlanCon is in limbo. Written as part of the fiscal
code that makes up the yet-to-be-finalized state budget, PlanCon payments to
school districts haven’t gone out yet this year. “We owe school districts billions of dollars
in payments that we need to catch up on,” state Rep. Seth Grove (R-York) said. Grove says PlanCon as a whole is “totally
broken” and needs to be reformed. He cites an overbearing application process and
red tape that keeps districts waiting years for cash. While Grove says there is
wide ranging support for the reforms included in his House Bill 210. The bill is awaiting state Senate
approval before becoming part of the official 2015-2016 budget."
PlanCon: State funds for school construction in limbo
By Mike Parker Published: February 24, 2016, 9:50
pm Updated: February 25, 2016, 4:00 pm
HALIFAX, Pa. (WHTM)
— The Halifax Area School District has some decisions to make. A small rural
district in northern Dauphin County, enrollment is dropping and every one of
its school buildings is aging. “We’re
currently performing a district-wide campus consolidation study,”
superintendent Dr. Michele Orner said. “Everyone driving along on Peter’s
Mountain Road has seen the beautiful upgrades we’re making to our
secondary school campus, the middle and high school. The second piece of it is
we’re looking at two elementary schools that we currently have; one that is
(dating back to) 1958, and another that is 1968.” The older of the two schools,
Enders-Fisherville Elementary, currently houses only kindergarten and first
grades. Built when George Leader was governor, the charming school surrounded
by agricultural fields still features outdated slate blackboards, original
asbestos tile flooring, leaky windows and a tattered curtain that hangs above
the stage in the school’s “Audigymacafetorium,” a nickname Orner herself
has given to the school’s multi-purpose room.
Closing a school district
for lack of money? Pa. schools get primer on how to do it
Penn Live By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
February 25, 2016 at 1:26 PM, updated February 25, 2016 at 2:29 PM
A how-to manual on
closing a school district for lack of
funds is not provided in Pennsylvania's Public School Code but the
state Department of Education did its best to compile one in response to
districts' inquiries. The department
this week shared a memo with districts that outlines 11 actions that school
boards would have to consider before taking the drastic step of shuttering
their schools until funding becomes available.
They include such measures as calculating the amount of state funding
that would be lost if they fail to meet the state's mandatory 180-day school
year requirement; developing plan to address payroll requirements and make debt
service payments; considering penalties for breaking contracts with food
services, vendors and others; and giving parents in enough time for them to
find an educational alternative. The
memo (see below) indicates it would take at least 60 days to complete the
process and admits the department's checklist may not be an exhaustive but
points out closing down a district for financial reasons "is an
unprecedented event" that the state's education laws never contemplated. The day districts may be faced with making
such a decision is approaching. On Thursday, they
received their last payment from the $2.5 billion appropriated in the 2015-16 budget that Gov. Tom Wolf enacted on Dec.
29 to help cover district's basic operational costs.
Pa. Dept. of Education
explains why it issued primer on closing school districts
Penn Live By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the
author | Follow
on Twitter on February 25,
2016 at 2:27 PM
The state Department
of Education is not aware of any imminent school district closures but it
issued instructions on how to do shut districts down for
lack of funding as a resource to districts, said a spokeswoman. In an email, spokeswoman Nicole Reigelman
explained that the reasoning behind the memo it distributed through
intermediate units to school districts that are caught in the middle of a unresolved
2015-16 state budget dispute and how it was compiled. The full text of
her email follows:
State advises schools on possible closures due to
funding shortages
By Karen Langley /
Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau February 25, 2016 1:11 PM
HARRISBURG -- With
state funding for schools again scheduled to run out, the Department of
Education has prepared some guidelines for districts considering a closure due
to lack of money. The department has
been receiving inquiries from school districts about what they would need to do
to shut down schools, said Jeffrey Sheridan, spokesman for Gov. Tom Wolf. "We are not suggesting that this means
any school district is going to be closed or that closure is imminent," he
said. In a memo dated Feb. 23, the
department states that the checklist was developed to help guide "school
districts considering a closure." It
says: "However, please note that the closure of a school district for lack
of funds is an unprecedented event that has not been contemplated in the Public
School Code." After half a year of
disagreement over the state budget and related issues left school districts
without funding, Mr. Wolf in late December signed a Republican-passed budget
after reducing it through line-item vetoes in an effort to force legislators
back to the negotiating table.
Budget
crisis prompts state Department of Education to prepare shutdown checklist for
school districts
Trib LIve BY TONY
RAAP | Thursday,
Feb. 25, 2016, 7:45 p.m.
The state Department
of Education has developed a checklist for school districts in case they are
forced to shut down because of a funding shortage. The memo, dated Tuesday, arrived as the state
approaches its ninth month without a complete budget for 2015-16. All school districts rely heavily on funds
from the state, and the budget impasse has forced some to take out loans. The Education
Department drafted the checklist in response to questions from school districts
about what steps they would need to take if they were forced to close. “This is not to suggest that any school
district closures are imminent,” said Jeffrey Sheridan, spokesman for Gov. Tom
Wolf. According to the
memo, “closure of a school district for lack of funds is an unprecedented event
that has not been contemplated in the Public School Code.”
Sen. Wagner wails away
by John Baer, Daily News Political Columnist. Updated: FEBRUARY 25, 2016 — 8:57 AM EST
Whatever good state budget hearings are doing in Harrisburg
-- where there is no budget nor prospects for one -- they are providing York
County Republican Sen. Scott Wagner with something akin to a pigeon shoot. The fiery, anti-tax first-term conservative,
a bane to Democrats and the Wolf administration, is using the hearings to
hammer his message that the state's biggest problems are related to spending. On Monday, he went after Wolf Budget Secretary
Randy Albright over the governor's assertion last year that the
state could save up to $500 million by renegotiating and reducing public
pension management fees. What happened
to that, Wagner wondered? When Albright said the administration's working on
it, Wagner said, "not a good answer."
Then Wagner, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, went after
education dollars.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/growls/Sen-Wagner-wails-away.html#c4aKjOGpyiqS6Y3V.99
Although $88 million might
seem a substantial sum, Monson called it a "modest" fund balance,
"barely two weeks of operating expenses for the district." He said the amount was 3 percent of the $2.9
billion in revenue the district received, but financial experts recommend 10
percent to handle contingencies. "You
can see how important fund balances are with the state budget impasse this
year," Monson said. "Having the funds in hand allowed us to deal with
certain issues around the impasse."
Phila. schools ended
fiscal year with $88M on hand
Inquirer by Martha Woodall, Staff Writer. Updated: FEBRUARY 26, 2016 —
1:08 AM EST
The perennially
cash-strapped Philadelphia School District ended the 2015 fiscal year with $88
million on hand. District officials said
Thursday that the financial cushion stemmed from new revenue, including money
from the city's new cigarette tax. "This
is a positive-ending fund balance," said Uri Monson, the chief financial
officer, who joined the district last month. "It is a good thing, but
people are not used to hearing that from the district." The money the district had on June 30, 2015,
contrasts with the negative $14.8 million balance the year before. The figures were contained in the
comprehensive financial report, released Thursday. The City Charter requires
the district to prepare the report each year. The report is being sent to the
mayor, City Council, and bond holders.
"As I've said many
times, the debate about whether charters are inherently good or bad is a red
herring. The primary issues are how to fund charter and district schools in a
fair and equitable way and how to ensure that all schools, both charter and
district, are quality schools. Many have advocated for a marketplace where
charters and public schools compete and parents are informed about their
options in that marketplace. That only works if funding one does not
disadvantage the other and accountability is fair and uniform. Such is not the
case today in Philadelphia."
Schools suffering death by
a thousand cuts
Philly Daily News Opinion by Marjorie Neff Updated: FEBRUARY 26, 2016 — 3:01 AM EST
Marjorie Neff is the Chair
of the School Reform Commission.
IN FOCUSING on the problems created and solvable by our state legislature, the Daily News editorial board got it right in their editorial "Supreme mess: Ruling will erode Philly school district." For the last several years, schools across Pennsylvania have fallen deeper and deeper into crisis. Drastic funding cuts to school districts across the state have resulted in layoffs of thousands of teachers, counselors, nurses and crucial support staff. AP classes, art, music and extracurricular opportunities have been limited. Philadelphia and other districts with the poorest children are disproportionately affected and we have long since passed the point where we could cut our way out of this crisis. New state revenue and new state laws are essential. As the editorial describes, last week the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a portion of the 2001 law that the State legislature imposed on the Philadelphia School District to cope with the funding crisis that they themselves have created. That law allowed the SRC to suspend parts of the School Code in order to bring about fiscal stability and enhanced educational opportunities within the District. Among the limited actions the SRC took that required suspension of parts of the school code were caps on charter school enrollment.
IN FOCUSING on the problems created and solvable by our state legislature, the Daily News editorial board got it right in their editorial "Supreme mess: Ruling will erode Philly school district." For the last several years, schools across Pennsylvania have fallen deeper and deeper into crisis. Drastic funding cuts to school districts across the state have resulted in layoffs of thousands of teachers, counselors, nurses and crucial support staff. AP classes, art, music and extracurricular opportunities have been limited. Philadelphia and other districts with the poorest children are disproportionately affected and we have long since passed the point where we could cut our way out of this crisis. New state revenue and new state laws are essential. As the editorial describes, last week the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared unconstitutional a portion of the 2001 law that the State legislature imposed on the Philadelphia School District to cope with the funding crisis that they themselves have created. That law allowed the SRC to suspend parts of the School Code in order to bring about fiscal stability and enhanced educational opportunities within the District. Among the limited actions the SRC took that required suspension of parts of the school code were caps on charter school enrollment.
School by school breakdown
of Philadelphia's substitute teacher crisis
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY FEBRUARY 25, 2016
After outsourcing
its substitute teaching services to a private firm, the School District of
Philadelphia appears to have left its schools in a worse position – stressing
an already fragile system plagued by deep needs. School-by-school data obtained by Newsworks
reveal that some schools have been forced to deal with staggeringly low fill-in
rates. More than 50 of the district’s
200-plus schools posted percentage fill-rates in the single digits - meaning
that substitutes were only provided to teach uncovered classes less than 10
percent of the time. In a few cases,
fill rates were effectively zero. In one very troubling example, Luis
Munoz-Marin elementary in Fairhill saw 244 teacher absences and only one
substitute. A slew of other schools
posted similarly distressing rates, calling into question the wisdom of the
district’s decision to outsource the service.
You can see the fill-in rates for all district schools in the
interactive graph below.
House members call school district consolidation bill
a step toward big savings
Beaver County Times By
J.D. Prose jprose@calkins.com Feb 20,
2016
Fayette
County state Rep. Tim Mahoney’s proposal to consolidate school districts into
countywide operations seems to have widespread, if sometimes tentative, support
from several of his House colleagues. “The
first step needs to be the consolidation of administrators,” said state Rep.
Jim Christiana, R-15, Brighton Township.
A House Education Committee member, Christiana said there are 7,400
school district administrators in the state with many in districts such as
those dotting western Pennsylvania that have seen shrinking populations. “The public is saying, ‘Why have we lost
kids, thousands of kids, yet hired more administrators and consolidated just
once?’” Christiana said, referring to the Center Area-Monaca merger that
created Central Valley. If countywide
consolidations were done across Pennsylvania, Christiana estimated that “at
least $1 billion” could be saved in operating costs. House Bill 840, which Mahoney, D-51, South
Union Township, hosted a town hall meeting on Thursday in his hometown, calls
for the state's 500 school districts to be consolidated into countywide
districts governed by a single school board and superintendent.
Proposal to trim education programs draws fire in Penn
Hills
Post Gazette By Tim
Means February 26, 2016 12:00 AM
A proposal for
program reform met stiff resistance Monday night as Penn Hills teachers,
students and parents criticized plans to cut courses in art, foreign languages,
math, robotics, business and social studies.
The plan also proposes that special education students shift into
classrooms, which will replace some special education teachers with aides. Board members voted 6-2 to send the proposal
to the state Department of Education. Erin Vecchio and Pauline Calbrese
dissented. The plan would be implemented once the state approves. Superintendent Nancy Hines said the plan is
part of a comprehensive review of program impacts and options. “Spending is a
strong consideration, but we want to remind everyone that we are in the
business of education. Finance cannot drive what we do,” she said. “We cannot
assume that what we’re doing works, especially when we have more than 700
students attending charter schools.”
“The art of compromise is
dead,” Harhai, 61, of Monessen, who has served 10 terms, told the AP. “It’s a
one-sided political environment and no matter who has that one side, it is not
healthy. It’s just come down to money and redistricting.” “We’re the worst gerrymandered state in the
nation,” Harhai added. Harhai
co-sponsored House
Bill 1344. The first part of the bill looks at forming a Citizen’s
Reappointment Commission modeled after California’s redistricting
commission. Senate
Bill 484 also calls for the formation of a commission."
EDITORIAL: Take back the
power of your vote
York Dispatch Editorial 5:23 p.m. EST February 25, 2016
Every decade, using
updated U.S. Census information, states redraw their legislative and
congressional districts. In nearly 45 of the 50 states, including Pennsylvania,
state lawmakers get to decide how this process will evolve. Those in power draw the lines, creating
wacky-shaped districts that can give them a lock on winning future elections. That means that in 2020, control of the state
Legislature will be crucial to political parties. Not surprisingly, reform bills in the House
and Senate are introduced by those who belong to a party (in Pennsylvania, it’s
the Democrats) that won’t benefit from political gerrymandering.
Pennsylvania Students Now
Able to Choose High School Equivalency Test
PDE Press Release 02/24/2016
Harrisburg, PA - Secretary of Education Pedro A.
Rivera today announced that in an effort to encourage autonomy and provide
Pennsylvanians with choices in obtaining their high school equivalency
certificate, the state has entered into partnerships with Educational Testing
Service (ETS) to offer the HiSET® equivalency exam and with GED Testing
Services (GTS) to offer the GED® exam. “Now,
more than ever, Pennsylvanians need the flexibility to pursue their educational
and career goals in the manner that best meets their needs, and the added
option of the HiSET® exam grants them that opportunity,” said Rivera. “There
are multiple pathways to success in today’s economy and by offering a choice in
measurement tools, more adults and those who did not graduate will have access
to the Commonwealth Secondary School Diploma and, ultimately, the jobs they
hope to obtain in the future.” Under the
agreement, Pennsylvanians who did not graduate from high school will be able to
choose between the HiSET® exam and the GED® exam when taking their high school
equivalency test. Both state-approved tests measure the skills needed to obtain
equivalency and are recognized and accepted by colleges, employers, and the
U.S. military.
Ballotpedia: Pennsylvania House
of Representatives elections, 2016
Elections for the office of Pennsylvania House of Representatives will take place in
2016. The primary election will be held on April 26, 2016, and the general
election will be held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was
February 16, 2016. All 203 seats in
the chamber are up for election in 2016.
Ballotpedia: Pennsylvania State
Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the office of Pennsylvania
State Senate will take place in 2016. The primary election will
be held on April 26, 2016, and the general election will be held on November 8,
2016. The candidate filing deadline was February 16, 2016. A total of 25 seats out of the chamber's 50 seats are up for election in
2016. Pennsylvania state senators serve staggered, four-year
terms and half of the senate is up for election every two
years.
Open eBooks: Now Available: A Library of Opportunity
The White House website FEBRUARY 24, 2016 AT 7:00 AM ET BY R. DAVID EDELMAN
Open eBooks is now available
to millions of students offering unprecedented access to thousands of digital
books. What if we could ensure that
every student, no matter where they live or the income of their parents, could
get access to a great book? What if they had access to not just one book,
but a library of thousands of titles – and could read them from anywhere? We’ve taken a big
step toward that vision thanks to Open
eBooks, a stakeholder-driven project that the President highlighted
last April, and that after months of hard work by a team of libraries,
publishers, and non-profits, is launching nationwide today. For millions of
America’s kids, Open eBooks can be a passport to a world of learning and
opportunity – delivering over $250 million of reading material to students who
need it most, and introducing them to a love of reading.
Eight Things to Know About
the Next Generation Science Standards
Education Week
Curriculum Matters By Liana Heitin on February
23, 2016 8:37 AM
By now you may have
heard that there's a set of common science standards that some states are
adopting called the Next Generation Science Standards. But if that's about
where your knowledge ends, don't worry, you're not alone. The science standards have undoubtedly taken
a backseat to the Common Core State Standards, which have been the subject
of ongoing political and instructional controversy. But as of last week,18 states and the District of Columbia have
adopted the Next Generation Science Standards—meaning millions
of students will soon be learning the new benchmarks in their classrooms. And
many more individual school districts have jumped the gun on their
states, and decided to bring the science standards to their schools
ahead of statewide adoption.
Bipartisan optimism that John King Jr. will be
confirmed as Obama’s education secretary
Washington Post By Emma Brown February
25 at 6:00 PM
While
Washington battles over who should name the next Supreme Court justice, the
Senate education committee held a confirmation hearing Thursday afternoon for
John King Jr., President Obama’s nominee to serve as education secretary for
the administration’s final year. King faced a number
of questions during the two-hour hearing about his vision for implementing the
nation’s new federal education law. Senators also asked about his plans to
ensure that the department’s trillion-dollar federal student loan program
is fair to borrowers and taxpayers; about his plans to fix security weaknesses
in databases that hold sensitive personal information of students and loan
recipients; and about the Obama administration’s oppositions to vouchers. But the tone was
collegial and there appeared to be bipartisan optimism that
King’s confirmation will go smoothly. Sen. Lamar
Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the education committee and former
education secretary under George H.W. Bush, noted at the start of Tuesday’s
hearing that his own confirmation hearing took place 25 years ago this month.
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
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
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
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