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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup March 14, 2016:
Threat of mass school
closings might compel Harrisburg to finally pass state budget
PA Legislature Joint public hearing-on
Federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Monday, March 14; 10:30 am
PA
House and Senate Education Committees
03/14/2016 10:30 AM
Hearing Room #1 North Office Bldg
Schools to join Spring-Ford in march on
Harrisburg Monday, March 14
Capitol Rotunda 11 am
“When the kids are supposed to be
graduating and the school is not even functioning for them to graduate,” state
Rep. Tarah Toohil predicted, “that’s when you’ll have the budget you need. But
it really is a travesty that it’s going to take the ultimate pressure.” Toohil, of Butler Township, is a Republican,
and had been convinced that a Thanksgiving compromise was a sure bet. She and
other area legislators have thrown up their hands when it comes to predicting a
conclusion. Both parties have blamed the other, but
a revealing moment came at the roundtable when state Rep. Mike Carroll,
D-Avoca, put the fault of a failed Christmas compromise at the feet of the
Republican leadership. Toohil and fellow Republican Aaron Kaufer, of Kingston,
did not disagree.”
Our Opinion: Threat of
mass school closings might compel Harrisburg to finally pass state budget
Times Leader Opinion First Posted: 10:30 pm - March 13th, 2016
Would it be a good idea – and it’s tragic this is becoming a viable option – for local school districts to publicly set definite dates each will close if Harrisburg doesn’t resolve the budget impasse? The protracted battle, now unbelievably in its ninth month, between Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled Legislature is beyond fiasco. Failure to enact a 2015-16 budget, due June 30 last summer, spreads misery to every corner of the Keystone State. Municipalities, counties and social service agencies all get some money from Harrisburg. But there is a strong argument to be made – and it was made during a Feb. 29 roundtable discussion hosted by the Luzerne Intermediate Unit – that school districts bear the brunt, and thus are uniquely positioned to force an end to the recalcitrance under the rotunda.
Would it be a good idea – and it’s tragic this is becoming a viable option – for local school districts to publicly set definite dates each will close if Harrisburg doesn’t resolve the budget impasse? The protracted battle, now unbelievably in its ninth month, between Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled Legislature is beyond fiasco. Failure to enact a 2015-16 budget, due June 30 last summer, spreads misery to every corner of the Keystone State. Municipalities, counties and social service agencies all get some money from Harrisburg. But there is a strong argument to be made – and it was made during a Feb. 29 roundtable discussion hosted by the Luzerne Intermediate Unit – that school districts bear the brunt, and thus are uniquely positioned to force an end to the recalcitrance under the rotunda.
Did you catch our weekend Roundup?
PA Ed Policy
Weekend Roundup March 13: Pennsylvania’s shame: Public schools shouldn’t have
to sue to stay open
“Public schools have already borrowed $1
billion to keep their doors open. But some districts need to borrow more.
Meanwhile, exasperated rating agencies may again lower the state's credit
rating, which will make it more expensive for every town, school district, and
government agency to issue bonds.”
Inquirer Editorial: Better
leaders would end state's budget impasse
Inquirer Editorial Updated: MARCH 13, 2016 — 8:54 AM EDT
The spectacular failure of Gov. Wolf and the legislature to deliver a
budget has put every home, business, and school in Pennsylvania at risk. Without a better resolution to Pennsylvania's
nine-month budget crisis, there are only bad choices to make: Raise property
taxes. Cut programs for the most vulnerable citizens - the elderly, disabled,
and young. Lay off school workers, and perhaps shutter schools, before June. It's been weeks since legislative leaders and
Wolf met face to face. Staffers and some legislators are meeting, they say, but
there can be no agreement without the principal players at the table. Instead of negotiating, the state's top
elected officials mostly have been pointing fingers at each other. Republicans
say Wolf should cut the budget before trying to hike taxes and boost school
funding. Wolf says voters elected him because they are tired of seeing schools
and public services wither. Their inability to find middle ground is expensive.
“The
district spends less per student than 80 percent of all other districts in the
state, but it ranks near the top when it comes to percentage of poor students,
English language learners, and charter enrollment. It ranks near the bottom --
485th out of 500 districts -- in median household income: $33,007, according to
the most recent figures.”
Badams to meet with Wolf
on fair funding for schools
By Erica Erwin 814-870-1846 Erie Times-News
March 14, 2016 12:28 AM
ERIE, Pa. -- Erie schools Superintendent Jay Badams will meet with Gov.
Tom Wolf today, but this time the discussion won't be about the state budget
stalemate. Badams' focus has shifted to
the topic of fair funding for education and what he says is the chronic
underfunding of the Erie School District.
Badams, district Chief Financial Officer Brian Polito and state
legislators from the Erie area -- state Sen. Sean Wiley and state Reps. Pat
Harkins, Flo Fabrizio and Ryan Bizzarro -- will meet with Wolf at 2:30 p.m. "Having an audience with the governor
allows for a face-to-face exchange of the criticality of this issue,"
Wiley said. "Addressing the inequity in public school funding is another
component of a completed 2015-2016 commonwealth budget, and it is essential to
keep those conversations going." Badams
said he plans to discuss a recent analysis by Polito that shows the district
could face a deficit as high as $8.9 million in 2016-17 and that the district
is underfunded compared with others in the region and state.
"This is not unique at all to
Quakertown," board President Paul Stepanoff said. "It is happening
across the state." Indeed,
Pennsylvania districts have borrowed more than $1 billion to stay afloat and
the governor had the state Department of Education put together a manual on
steps to take to close a school district.
Locally, Centennial, New Hope-Solebury and Souderton Area have joined
Quakertown Community School District to freeze spending.”
Shorted by state,
Quakertown eyes 4 potential budgets
By Gary Weckselblatt, staff writer Posted: Monday, March 14, 2016
5:30 am
The Quakertown school board has directed its superintendent to develop
four budgets with a varying amount of state funding for the panel to consider. Two of the budgets may contain furloughs and
program cuts, while a lowered bond rating may be in the district's future.
The set of problems comes as the state continues to hold onto more than
$3 billion in basic education subsidies that isn't being released to schools
following Gov. Tom Wolf's line item veto.
“The district has received $9,709,878 in
payments from the state to date, with another $6,379,827 not received yet.
"If everything remains equal with our 2016-17 preliminary budget, we will
use $6,508,324 million of the fund balance, with $823,412 remaining,"
Harner said. "This is significantly better than what we told you at the
last board meeting, but far short of putting QCSD in a healthy position for the
next fiscal year." The board directed the administration at the Feb. 25
meeting to freeze Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS)
contribution payments of $5 million, excluding the amount the district
withholds from employees, and charter school payments of $796,000, as well as
curtail all spending, including filling vacant positions, in an effort to
conserve cash.”
Quakertown SD to develop
alternative budget scenarios to conserve cash
Mark Reccek , WFMZ.com Reporter, news@wfmz.com Published: 12:29 PM
EST Mar 11, 2016 QUAKERTOWN, Pa. - Quakertown Community School District is
doing what it can to ensure its cash flow remains as stable as possible through
the remainder of this fiscal year, and into 2016-17. District Superintendent
Dr. William Harner presented a $5 million cash conservation plan at the board's
Thursday evening meeting in front of an audience consisting of district
teachers, staff and residents. According to Harner, the district's fund balance
at the end of fiscal year 2015-16 is estimated at $7,331,736. QUICK CLICKS
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Harner said QCSD was recently informed by the Pennsylvania Association of
School Business Officials and comptrollers office it will receive an additional
$8,175,897 in state revenue.
Read more from WFMZ.com at: http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/quakertown-sd-to-develop-alternative-budget-scenarios-to-conserve-cash/38463698
Read more from WFMZ.com at: http://www.wfmz.com/news/news-regional-southeasternpa/quakertown-sd-to-develop-alternative-budget-scenarios-to-conserve-cash/38463698
Does Pa. budget impasse
warrant outside mediator?
WHYY Newsworks BY MARY
WILSON MARCH 14, 2016
State budget hearings for the governor's most recent spending proposal
have drawn to a close, but not without an unusual bit of advice from a House
lawmaker. Rep. Pam DeLissio,
D-Philadelphia, said it's time for legislative leaders and the governor's
office to bring in some outside help to end the budget impasse: a third-party
mediator. "I am calling for
mediation," said DeLissio, testifying to the final, sparsely attended
budget hearing by the House Appropriations Committee Thursday. "I am
concerned that things have been said that cannot be unsaid." Without mediation, DeLisso said she expects the next round of budget
talks to be a "rinse and repeat of the past eight months," when
Republicans and Democrats hardened their stances on taxes and spending, and
tentative compromise after tentative compromise collapsed.
Schools innovate around behavior as suspensions fall
into disfavor
Trib Live BY ELIZABETH BEHRMAN | Sunday, March 13, 2016,
11:00 p.m.
Saying the “F-word” during class used to mean an automatic out-of-school
suspension for students in Woodland Hills.
Not anymore.
“It's 2016,” said Superintendent Alan Johnson. “That shouldn't get you
suspended.”
Cursing will get the student removed from the classroom, he said, but
school staff take more time to consider the circumstances before making a
decision about whether it's worth kicking that student out of school. Education advocates have been taking a hard
look at suspension numbers after national data showed that schools were
suspending students at alarming rates. After being named among 10 school
districts in the nation with the highest number of suspensions for elementary
school students, Woodland Hills has joined others across the country that are
attempting to reduce their out-of-school suspension numbers. Districts are
increasing mental health services, expanding alternative education programs,
updating their student conduct policies and exploring the effects of
“restorative practices,” which focus on building relationships with students in
an effort to come up with a resolution other than being removed from school.
Blogger note: If you have links for
local press coverage of current/former school directors and educators running
for legislative office please forward them to me so I may include them in the Roundup. Thanks!
Teacher launches write-in
campaign for PA House
York Daily Record by Flint L. McColgan, fmccolgan@ydr.com9:43 p.m. EDT March 13, 2016
Shawn Little's stated priority is to restore
funding for education and to pass a state budget.
An Eastern York Middle School teacher launched a write-in campaign for
the 93rd Pennsylvania Legislative District on Saturday. His stated
priority is to pass a state budget. Shawn
Little, 29, was born and raised in York County and graduated from West York Area
School District, he said. He now makes his home in York Township with his wife,
fellow teacher Michelle Little, and their seven-month-old daughter. He has
taught eighth grade language arts at the Eastern York for six years and
previously served as a substitute teacher at York City School District.
Senate to vote on Obama's
pick for education secretary Monday
Washington Examiner By SUSAN FERRECHIO (@SUSANFERRECHIO) • 3/11/16 9:01 PM
The Senate will vote Monday on President Obama's nominee for secretary of
the Department of Education. Republicans
are moving swiftly to confirm John King, the current acting Education
Department secretary. King was approved Wednesday by the Senate Health
Education Labor and Pensions Committee by a vote of 16-6. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell,
R-Ky., scheduled the confirmation vote after meeting with King in his Senate
office last week. McConnell has not
indicated whether he will vote for King's confirmation, said his spokesman Don
Stewart. If confirmed, King would
replace Arne Duncan, who resigned in January.
King will likely win confirmation. Only 51 votes are needed for Obama's
lower court and executive branch nominations thanks to a 2013 change in the
rules that lowered the threshold from 60 votes.
These Christian teachers
want to bring Jesus into public schools
Washington Post By Emma Brown March
12
Finn Laursen believes millions of American children
are no longer learning right from wrong, in part because public schools have
been stripped of religion. To repair that frayed moral fabric, Laursen and his
colleagues want to bring the light of Jesus Christ into public school
classrooms across the country — and they are training teachers to do just that. The Christian Educators Association
International, an organization that sees the nation’s public schools as “the
largest single mission field in America,” aims to show Christian teachers how
to live their faith — and evangelize in public schools — without running afoul
of the Constitution’s prohibition on the government establishing or promoting
any particular religion. “We’re not
talking about proselytizing. That would be illegal,” said Laursen, the group’s
executive director. “But we’re saying you can do a lot of things. . . . It’s a
mission field that you fish in differently.” Not everyone agrees that it’s acceptable for teachers to “fish” in public
schools, where government officials are not allowed to promote or endorse any
particular faith.
Pi Day · Celebrate Mathematics on March 14th
Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th (3/14) around the world. Pi (Greek
letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the
ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately
3.14159. Pi has been calculated to over
one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As an irrational and transcendental
number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern. While only a
handful of digits are needed for typical calculations, Pi’s infinite nature
makes it a fun challenge to memorize, and to computationally calculate more and
more digits.
Ravitch: Help Us Raise Money to Help Our Allies
Diane Ravitch’s Blog
March 6, 2016
The Network for Public Education Action Fund
exists to help friends of public schools compete for election to state and
local school boards, as well as other elected offices. We can't match the spending of our
adversaries, but our numbers are far greater than theirs. If we get our friends
and neighbors to vote, if we get every parent and teacher to vote, we would win
every seat.
We have the
power to reclaim and rebuild our schools, making them palaces of learning
rather than dreary places to take tests.
You can help us by opening this link.
PSBA
Advocacy Forum & Day on the Hill April 4th
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.
Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators
(PASA) 2016 Education Congress April
6-7, 2016
professional
development program for school administrators
Focus: "The
Myths of Creativity: The Truth about How Innovative Companies Generate Great
Ideas" Featured Presenter: Dr.
David Burkus
April 6-7, 2016 Radisson
Hotel Harrisburg in Camp Hill
The program will
focus on how school leaders can develop and utilize creativity in education
management, operations, curriculum and leadership goals. The second day will
allow participants to select from multiple discussion/work sessions focusing on
concepts presented by Dr. Burkus and facilitated by school leaders who have
demonstrated success in creative thinking and leadership in schools across the
commonwealth.
Deadline for
hotel accommodations: March 15
See the PASA website
for more information at: www.pasa-net.org/2016edcongress.
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:
Briefing:
Public Education Funding in Pennsylvania
TUE, APR 12 AT 8:30 AM, PHILADELPHIA,
PA
Join
attorneys Michael Churchill, Jennifer Clarke and Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg for a
briefing on:
- the current budget impasse
- the basics of education funding
- the school funding lawsuit
- the 2016-2017 proposed budget
1.5
CLE credits available to PA licensed attorneys.
Light breakfast provided.
WHEN:
Tuesday, April
12, 2016 from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM (EDT) - Add to Calendar
WHERE:
United Way of
Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey - 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
1st Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103 - View Map
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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