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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup February 29, 2016:
Calls to opt-out of school
testing on the rise
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/
"The Erie Times-News
asked people with a stake in the state budget process the following question:
"What does an incomplete state budget mean?"
Here is what they said."
8 Months of impasse
By KEVIN FLOWERS
kevin.flowers@timesnews.com28 Feb 2016 — Erie Times-News
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. During a joint session of the House and
Senate on Tuesday morning, Wolf argued that billions of dollars in funding for
prisons, hospitals and schools are in flux, and tax increases are necessary to
close a massive budget gap.
"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.
YouTube videos from United Opt Out Conference held in
Philly this past weekend
Did you catch our weekend
postings?
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
Art Museum a critical
resource for arts-deprived schools
the notebook by
Andre Dienner February 26, 2016 — 2:02pm
As arts education in
Philadelphia public schools continues to suffer, the Philadelphia Museum
of Art is looking to fill the void by offering a wide array of arts programs,
from afterschool clubs to workshops for teachers. Students don’t receive enough exposure to
arts without school programs, said Ah-Young Kim, manager of school visits
for the museum. “Most students don’t visit the museum with their families,
so school is a critical resource for that exposure,” she said. “We want to
inspire kids to be creative and make art.” Kimberly Gavin, a teacher at Overbrook High
School, said the museum’s education department is a big help for teachers and
students. “They have tapped into a new paradigm for education, a new way
of thinking,” she said. “Not just about art, but about learning as well.”
Blogger note: Mr. Paul
correctly identifies pension payments as the biggest cost driver and points to
pension reform legislation that would reduce those costs "in the
future". Unfortunately, that
"future" is 20 or 30 years away, coincidentally about the time that
implementation of the pending Basic Education Funding Formula will adequately
address the underfunding of high poverty districts (assuming that hold harmless
stays in place and the formula, as is being proposed, applies only to new
money).
No, we're not underfunding
public schools: James Paul
PennLive
Op-Ed Opinion By James Paul on
February 28, 2016 at 12:00 PM
James Paul is a senior policy analyst for
the Commonwealth
Foundation, a conservative think-tank in Harrisburg.
Are Pennsylvania's
public schools underfunded?
That's been the
central question in Pennsylvania politics for a half-dozen years. But from Gov.
Tom Corbett's first budget to Gov. Tom Wolf's election—and since—myths have
dominated the debate. During his
campaign, Wolf ran on the myth that his predecessor "cut $1 billion"
from public schools. The reality, however, is federal funding always known
to be temporary expired. Those funds were never designed to be included in the
permanent education budget. Late last
year, Wolf claimed the legislature cut $95 million from education, when
lawmakers actually voted to increase funding by $400 million. Most recently, the governor threatened
that 23,000
teachers will be laid offunless his budget is enacted. PolitiFact
PA rated this claim "mostly false." Looming over the five-and-a-half hours of
discussion was the empty memory of the agreement many thought they had reached
in mid-December. But what about the big
question: Are we underfunding public education?
In Philadelphia's
education crisis, who is harmed?
WHYY Newsworks COMMENTARY BY BESSAM IDANI FEBRUARY 29, 2016 ESSAYWORKS
Bessam Idani is the head staff writer
for Omaat.org (One Miracle at at
Time), a nonprofit and arts media group.
For years now, an
ongoing budget crisis has plagued the Philadelphia School District, with
disastrous repercussions to students and faculty. In the continued insolvency
of the District can be heard echoes of this efforts in our nation's history to
deny education and opportunity to poor and African-American communities. Two years ago, 23 Philadelphia public
schools, or 10 percent of all public schools in the city, were
shut down in response to a crippling budget deficit. The New York
Times reported that police arrested 19 protesters at the contested sites. That same year, I followed the story of
the severe
cutbacks in departmental fundingin the remaining schools, nicknamed “the
doomsday budget.” These cuts included mass faculty layoffs, reduction of
materials and athletics programs, and the complete elimination of arts and
music programs. Despite these cuts, and
despite the
allocation of an increased cigarette tax to education last year, the
budget problem persists. In December, Superintendent
William Hite announced that because of the state budget gridlock, the
district would only be able to make payroll until the end of January, after
which city schools faced shutdown. In
any such crisis, it is worth examining the exact effect upon the citizens. Who
ultimately pays for these shortages in funding?
Editorial: Pennsylvania's looming teacher shortage and
current substitute teacher shortage must be addressed
Lancaster Online The
LNP Editorial Board Feb 28, 2016
THE ISSUE - The
number of Pennsylvanians who want to become teachers has fallen to alarmingly
low levels, an LNP analysis shows, and a teacher shortage now looms. Lancaster
County school districts already have experienced a lack of substitute teachers.
But educators say they expect to feel the full impact of a
teacher shortage in about a year and a half. The number of in-state
residents seeking teacher certifications has plummeted 62 percent since 2012,
Pennsylvania Department of Education data show. In 2015, only 6,215 sought
certification, down from 16,361 three years earlier.
The comments on
LNP’s Facebook page and LancasterOnline.com about
last Sunday’s LNP story
on the looming teacher shortage conveyed all the usual sentiments
about the teaching profession. Teachers
have summers and weekends off; teachers spend countless hours doing paperwork
and spend their summers planning. Teachers
are overpaid and have lavish pensions; teachers are underpaid and
spend a lot of their own money on their students and classrooms. And that’s just a
sampling. Few professions inspire the
kind of public debate that teaching does, but there’s a reason for this:
Teacher salaries and benefits are paid for with taxpayer dollars, so
taxpayers have a stake in that debate.
"Community-school
directors like Guevara play a key role in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan
to revitalize 94 of New York City’s low-performing schools—including
M.S. 50, where just one in 10 students passed last year’s state English tests,
and 40 percent of students are considered chronically absent. The mission of
community schools is to treat students’ physical or emotional ailments so they
can focus on learning. Each director is responsible for coordinating the
activities, social services, and parent workshops that the mayor is hoping will
help set the schools on a different path."
Community Schools: Why
Non-Academic Needs Matter, Too
A day in the life of a new kind
of educator who’s tasked with revitalizing one of New York City's campuses by
supporting kids' health, attendance, and family lives
The Atlantic by
Patrick Wall February 26, 2016
Around 4 p.m. on a
recent Friday, Fiorella Guevara got around to eating her lunch. Then she leaned
back in the student-sized chair where she was sitting in an empty classroom and
let out a long sigh. “Oh man, I’m tired,” said Guevara, the new
community-school director at M.S. 50 in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood.
“This is why I never sit down for too long.”
Instead, she bounds from room to room, checking on the classes she
oversees, meeting with the principal or calling up parents, pausing just long
enough to hug one of the students whose affection she’s earned in her few
months on the job. “She is a fireball,”
said Franklin Tapia, the parent of an eighth-grader at M.S. 50, whom Guevara
recently hired to work as a mentor and soccer coach. “I don’t know how she does
it. She’ll come in 9 o’clock in the morning sometimes. and she won’t leave
until 9:30, 10 o’clock at night.”
Scott Kelly poised to set NASA record for consecutive
days in space
Post Gazette By
Kenneth Chang / The New York Times February 29, 2016 12:23 AM
In less than a week,
Scott Kelly will once again feel weight.
On Tuesday, he is to
turn over command of the International Space Station to his fellow NASA
astronaut Timothy Kopra and climb into a Russian Soyuz capsule. A few hours
later, he will land in Kazakhstan, ending 340 consecutive days in space — a
record for a NASA astronaut. The previous record
was 215 days, reached by Michael Lopez-Alegria during a trip to the space
station in 2006 and 2007. Counting his three previous trips to space, Mr. Kelly
will have spent a total of 520 days in orbit.
“We’ll learn a lot about longer-duration spaceflight,” Mr. Kelly said
during a news conference Thursday broadcast on NASA Television. “I’d like to
think this is another of many steppingstones to landing on Mars sometime in our
future.” Some of the memorable sights
from space included auroras and Hurricane Patricia in October, Mr. Kelly
said. “The more I look at
Earth, at certain parts of Earth, the more I feel more of an environmentalist,”
Mr. Kelly said. “There are definitely areas where the Earth is covered with
pollution almost all the time, and it’s not good for any of us.” Until now, astronauts have spent six months,
give or take, on the International Space Station. By studying Mr. Kelly and
Mikhail Kornienko — a Russian astronaut who is also part of this nearly
one-year mission and who will be one of two Russians riding back with Mr. Kelly
this week — scientists hope to gain a better understanding of what health
issues astronauts might encounter during the six to eight months a trip to Mars
would take.
Yes! I would like to be part of the March
1, 12:30 pm conference call to learn more about the school funding lawsuit.
Education
Voters PA
Attorneys
from the Education Law Center and the Public Interest Law Center of
Philadelphia will provide an update on the status of the lawsuit, Education
Voters will share resources that can be used to increase awareness of the
lawsuit, and callers will have time for Q & A with the attorneys.
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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