Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
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Keystone State
Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup
March 17, 2016:
GOP leaders ponder budget veto override chances
Redistricting reform is
answer to ending government gridlock in Pa., lawmakers say
Penn Live By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on March 16, 2016 at 3:01 PM
The gridlock over finalizing a 2015-16 budget and a GOP-dominated
congressional delegation in a state that has more registered Democrats than
Republicans are signs that redistricting
reform is needed in Pennsylvania, a bi-partisan group of rank-and-file
state lawmakers say. Legislation is
pending in the state House and Senate to propose a constitutional amendment to
change the way that legislative and congressional district boundaries are
drawn. They are calling for a system
that is built around a cornerstone that would have an independent citizens
commission handle the task in an open and impartial fashion that would respect
political subdivisions and make districts as equal in population as possible. Currently, the state constitution grants
redistricting authority to a Legislative Reapportionment Commission comprising
the House and Senate majority and minority leaders and an appointed fifth
member who is often a legal expert.
VIDEO: Legislative work
group focuses on redistricting reform
The PLS Reporter Author: Alanna
Koll/Wednesday, March 16, 2016 Runtime: 4:28
Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-Northampton) was joined by State Representatives and
Senators from both sides of the aisle to announce agreement on redistricting
reform principles.
Blogger note: The Keystone State Education Coalition is an endorsing
member of the Fair Districts PA Coalition
Fair Districts PA: Working
to Ensure Fair Districts & Fair Elections for Every PA Voter
Fair Districts PA website
Fair Districts PA is a coalition of citizens and
organizations who believe that in American democracy, elections should
represent the will of all the people, not just the
politicians, and should provide citizens with meaningful choices in electing
representatives. When partisan
politicians manipulate voting maps to keep themselves and their parties in
power, they shape election outcomes before the first vote is cast. When
that happens, voters feel they have no voice, and legislators feel less need to
listen to constituents. We believe
Pennsylvania needs to reform its redistricting rules and make the process of
drawing districts impartial, transparent and accountable - promoting
competitive elections and partisan fairness so our government truly is of, by
and for the people.
Pa. school districts borrow and borrow as Wolf plans
another budget veto
Trib Live BY ELIZABETH
BEHRMAN | Wednesday, March 16, 2016, 11:00 p.m.
Another doomed budget proposal in Harrisburg will likely push school
districts deeper into financial trouble as they borrow millions of dollars to
compensate for a ninth month without a state budget, school officials said. “We're treading water at this point,” said
Terry DeCarbo, superintendent of the Sto-Rox School District. “That's unfair
because this is the only senior year our twelfth graders will have. This is the
only kindergarten year our kindergarteners will have. It's unfair that their
educational experience this year has been impacted by a political debate.” Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday that he plans to veto a $6 billion spending
bill crafted by Republican lawmakers, arguing that it does not provide enough
funding for schools or address a looming $2 billion deficit. DeCarbo said Sto-Rox has used about $2
million of a $7.3 million line of credit it was forced to take out months ago.
Without a state budget, he expects the district next month will have to use
another $1 million and incur $9,000 in fees.
His district is not alone. Many borrow to pay salaries and cover daily
operating expenses.
“House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R-Indiana) said the governor should
reconsider his options. “I understand he
may have more leverage if schools close down, but the fact of the matter is
there’s no revenue to be had this year unless he has the votes for a
retroactive personal income tax increase, and that’s not going to happen,” he
said. “Let’s close out this year, let’s
keep schools open, and let’s get to the business immediately—the very next
day—of negotiating 16-17 and get both of these budgets done ideally by Memorial
Day.” He said bringing up a veto
override vote is a consideration for “immediately” after the governor’s veto.”
Gov. Wolf vows veto of
latest GOP attempt to finish fiscal year’s budget
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Gov. Tom Wolf Wednesday afternoon vowed to veto the latest attempt by the
Republican-led legislature to bring about a conclusion to the FY 2015-2016
budget process after they sent a $6 billion-plus supplemental bill to his desk. With the supplemental added in, the total
budget for the fiscal year will ring in at $30.025 billion. “The math in the latest version still does
not work. Even using the Republicans’ questionable math and assumptions, the
budget creates a $1.6 billion deficit that will prompt massive cuts to
education, teacher layoffs, higher property taxes, and cuts to vital programs
for seniors," he said. "This
budget not only does nothing to address Pennsylvania’s challenges, but by
continuing to kick the can down the road, it further exacerbates our
problems." As part of the promised
veto, Gov. Wolf also said he will reject appropriations to Pennsylvania’s
state-related universities and other non-preferred appropriations.
Governor Wolf Issues a Statement on Vetoing the
Republican Budget
Governor Wolf’s website March 16, 2016
Harrisburg, PA – Governor Wolf released the following statement:
“Despite repeated efforts by my administration to work with Republican
leaders to find compromise, including over the last couple days, Republican
leaders are once again insistent on passing another irresponsible and
unbalanced budget that does not fund our schools or fix the deficit. “This is further indication that the
Republican leaders have no intention of working together with me to produce a
final budget. This is the third time they have attempted to pass an unbalanced
budget with no consultation with the administration. This is simply
unproductive and a waste of taxpayer resources.
“The math in the latest version still does not work. Even using the
Republicans’ questionable math and assumptions, the budget creates a $1.6
billion deficit that will prompt massive cuts to education, teacher layoffs,
higher property taxes, and cuts to vital programs for seniors. This budget not
only does nothing to address Pennsylvania’s challenges, but by continuing to
kick the can down the road, it further exacerbates our problems,
“In its current form, I will veto this budget, and I urge Republicans in
the legislature to stop the partisan games and come back to the table to
negotiate a final budget that funds our schools and eliminates the nearly $2
billion deficit. I look forward to working with both parties in the legislature
to finally end this impasse, fix our schools, and eliminate the deficit.”
With growing Democratic
support for Pa. budget closure bill, GOP leaders ponder veto override chances
Penn Live By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
March 16, 2016 at 10:11 PM, updated March 16, 2016 at 11:00 PM
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a series of
Republican-authored budget bills with some bipartisan support Wednesday,
setting the stage for a possible veto override battle with Democratic Gov. Tom
Wolf next week. Wolf said earlier in the
day he is not satisfied with the latest budget proposal - a set of supplemental
appropriations designed to finalize the 2015-16 budget at just over $30
billion - and that he expects to veto it. Democratic leadership sources downplayed the
prospect of a successful veto override. But Republicans, as of Wednesday night,
appeared emboldened by their success in peeling away Democratic votes. In a series of votes that included general
fund appropriations and separate votes earmarking funds for Penn State, Pitt
and Temple, anywhere from 13 to 28 House Democrats voted with the Republican
majority.
A veto override - which would start in the House on this bill - needs 134
votes based on the House's current 200-member makeup (118 R, 82 D). That would
require a minimum of 16 Democratic votes.
Penn Live Earlier Wednesday, the bill had passed the Senate, 31-18. with
one Democratic vote.
Pa. Senate passes $30
billion budget bill; House action to follow this afternoon
Penn Live By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on March 16, 2016 at 2:54 PM, updated March 16, 2016 at 3:06 PM
The Pennsylvania Senate voted 31-18 Wednesday to pass a Republican-built,
$30 billion budget bill that supporters hope provides a template to settle the
nine-month stalemate over school funding and taxes. That hope seemed to be flickering at best
this afternoon, however, as Gov. Tom Wolf reacted to the Senate vote with an
immediate veto threat. The bill passed
with yes votes from all 30 Republicans and one Democrat, Sen. Andy Dinniman of
Chester County. It now moves to the state House, where it is expected to be
considered later Wednesday. The Senate
debate was delayed for part of the day for a last-ditch effort by Democrats to
engage GOP leaders in a new round of negotiations.
Pennsylvania House sends
$30 billion budget bill to Gov. Wolf
Penn Live By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
March 16, 2016 at 7:13 PM, updated March 16, 2016 at 7:51 PM
The state House of Representatives has passed a $30 billion budget with a
128-63 vote, sending the next shot to get closure in Pennsylvania's unyielding
budget impasse to Gov. Tom Wolf's desk. The
budget bill passed with 115 Republican and 13 Democratic votes. Wolf has treatened to veto the plan, which he
has said is not a serious effort to address the state's long-term fiscal
problems. But supporters have said this
plan - which includes no tax increases - is the best way to solve pressing
needs without hurting Pennsylvanians on Main Street, and then hitting a reset
for discussions on longer-term needs with the 2016-17 budget.
Wolf vows to veto latest
GOP budget bill
Inquirer by Angela Couloumbis, HARRISBURG BUREAU Updated: MARCH
16, 2016 3:06 PM
HARRISBURG - In yet another turn of what has become the political
carousel that is the state budget, Gov. Wolf said Wednesday that he will veto
the latest spending plan the Republican-controlled legislature is preparing to
send his way. "Republican leaders
are once again insistent on passing another irresponsible and unbalanced budget
that does not fund our schools or fix the deficit," the governor said in a
statement. "This is further indication that the Republican leaders have no
intention of working together with me to produce a final budget." Both the House and the Senate are expected to
approve a $30 billion spending plan Wednesday that would increase funding for
public schools, but would not raise any new revenue through increases to the
sales or income taxes.
'Is the sky falling?
Somewhat': How school districts are getting by without a state budget
Penn Live By Julianne Mattera
| jmattera@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
March 16, 2016 at 11:50 AM, updated March 16, 2016 at 1:13 PM
As legislators consider the most recent round of legislation to belatedly
divvy out education funding, some school districts are considering increasingly
dire measures to stay afloat.
And school officials make one thing clear: Time is of the essence. Today, the GOP-controlled
Legislature is planning to send Gov. Tom Wolf legislation to increase
funding for school districts across the state. So far, districts have received
about a half a year's worth of funding. In December, lawmakers sent Wolf a budget that would have provided for
$5.6 billion for basic education, but Wolf, through line-item vetoes, reduced
that to $2.5 billion to keep schools from closing and to use that as leverage
to try to get the Legislature to put closer to $6 billion toward basic
education. While the back and forth
continues in Harrisburg, school districts across the state are facing
increasing pressure from the lack of funding.
Education Voters of PA’s
Statement on HB 1801, the Supplemental Appropriation Bill
Posted on March 16, 2016 by EDVOPA
Susan Spicka, Director of Education Voters of PA, made the following
statement about HB 1801,
“We are disappointed that Republican leadership is moving yet another
irresponsible, unbalanced budget that contains wholly inadequate funding for
schools. HB 1801 will not allow schools to begin to heal from the damage caused
by years of underfunding and inequitable distribution of state dollars; instead
this budget proposes once again to shift the cost of paying for schools onto
local taxpayers and will result in the loss of more vital programs and services
in our children’s schools. “Because
lawmakers chose not to reimburse school districts for the extraordinary
interest payments and fees they have been incurring as a result of the budget
impasse, more than 25% of the very modest $200 million increase in Basic
Education Funding in this budget will be sent to banks instead of children’s
classrooms.
“The budget significantly reduces grant funding for college
students, underfunds medical assistance and corrections costs by $110
million, and creates a structural deficit of $1.6 billion in the ’16-’17
budget. “In addition, Republican
leadership has also proposed a separate fiscal code bill that would add to the
Commonwealth’s debt significantly by floating $2.5 billion in bond debt in
order to have enough money to provide school districts with promised
reimbursements for their construction projects.
“It is deeply troubling that so many lawmakers in Harrisburg continue to
shirk their fundamental responsibility of ensuring that there is sufficient
revenue in the budget to pay for the investments that we need them to make in
the Commonwealth.
“It is deeply troubling that so many lawmakers in Harrisburg continue to
defend Pennsylvania’s appalling state funding system for schools that that
systematically underfunds and hurts vulnerable students and communities the
most.
STATEMENT: PSBA calls upon
governor and General Assembly to pass state budget – March 16, 2016
On behalf of the 4,500 elected officials who govern the commonwealth’s
public school districts, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) is
requesting the immediate action of the General Assembly to pass and the
governor to sign into law House Bill 1801, which was recently amended to
contain an education budget for fiscal year 2015-16. “No longer can the state hold schools and
students hostage to politics,” said PSBA Executive Director Nathan Mains. “We
need a state budget now before schools close.”
PSBA believes it is unfortunate that it took schools nearing the brink
and PSBA suing the state several times before a possible resolution was
presented. To ensure that school
districts are not forced into a similar financial crisis in future years, PSBA
also calls on the legislature and the governor to:
- Take swift
action in implementing an equitable and predictable basic education
funding formula as recommended by the Basic Education Funding Commission
in 2015.
- Approve an
appropriation or pass the agreed-to borrowing legislation to fix the
broken school construction reimbursement system.
- Pass both
short- and long-term pension reform that would provide cost control and
saving measures for school employers.
- Provide
adequate funding moving forward through timely completion of the 2016-17
state budget by June 30, 2016.
- Reimburse
districts for any and all interest payments they have made, or will have
to make, as a result of borrowing money due to the state’s lack of fiscal
responsibility.
School boards group seeks
release of state funds while Wolf calls latest GOP-led budget 'irresponsible'
Intelligencer By Gary Weckselblatt, staff writer Posted: Wednesday,
March 16, 2016 7:00 pm
With school districts in financial pain as Harrisburg sits on $3 billion
targeted for basic education, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association is
calling for the money to be released. "No
longer can the state hold schools and students hostage to politics," said
PSBA Executive Director Nathan Mains. "We need a state budget now before
schools close." On Wednesday, as
the Republican-led House passed bills for an amended 2015-16 budget, Gov. Tom
Wolf called the funding measure "irresponsible and unbalanced" and
said he would veto it.
York City School Board
approves recovery plan
York Daily Record by Angie
Mason, amason@ydr.com9:57 p.m. EDT March 16, 2016
The York City School Board approved its
revised recovery plan, which sets out goals and priorities for the district for
the next several years.
The York City School Board approved its revised recovery plan, which sets
out goals and priorities for the district for the next several years. The board has seen the draft of the plan
multiple times, and on Wednesday, chief recovery officer Carol Saylor
presented it with some slight updates from the state department of education.
The plan, required because the district was declared in financial recovery a
few years ago, lays out a framework for improving district infrastructure and
sets academic goals related to test scores and graduation rates. The plan still projects future deficits, if
there are no major funding changes, and it includes some savings to
be pursued by improving the district's cyber academy and reviewing
the special education and English language learner populations to ensure there
was no improper overlap.
Nazareth teachers plan
strike district calls illegal
Sarah
M. Wojcik Contact
Reporter Of The Morning Call March 16, 2016
Nazareth teachers intend to strike Friday
NAZARETH — Nazareth Area School District teachers, who got a show of
support from dozens of parents and students this week, say they will go on
strike Friday — a move that is coming on the day the school board plans to vote
on a proposed contract born out of mediation.
Hours after the teachers' announcement Wednesday, the district, long
quiet on its position on a bargaining impasse, issued a nine-page news release
saying it is reviewing legal options for preventing a walkout they said is
possibly illegal. The district further
blasted the teachers union for calling the walkout on the first day school
directors could legally vote on the mediators' recommendations on salaries,
health care and other provisions. The school board plans to vote at 9 a.m.
Friday on a four-year deal.
Outsourcing opponents
crowd Garnet Valley meeting
Delco Times By Susan L. Serbin, Times
Correspondent POSTED: 03/15/16, 10:08 PM EDT
CONCORD >> An overflow crowd, mostly members of the Garnet Valley
Education Support Professionals Association, filled the school board’s meeting
room Tuesday night in a show of solidarity against outsourcing. T-shirts
sported by many read “I am 1 of 144.” In
late September 2015, the Garnet Valley School District began discussing
outsourcing certain services. The district’s support groups represent eight
departments of 409 employees, but the investigation is focused on food
services, custodians and transportation, numbering 144 individuals. The union’s
current contract expires June 30. The
board and administration are still exploring options; they say no decisions
have been made. Christine Jaep spoke to
the board about concerns she has as a taxpayer, parent, employee and the union
president. “Outsourcing, contracting
out, subcontracting and privatization, on the surface, may have seemed like an
answer to solving the pension crisis and other administration woes. The support
professionals didn’t cause the (state pension) problem, nor are they the reason
for administrative issues. These dedicated, loyal and long-time employees will
be the ones to pay for others’ mistakes,” said Jaep.
Phila. schools launch
effort to fill 800 teaching positions
Inquirer by Martha Woodall, Staff Writer Updated: MARCH 17,
2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
To try to make sure there's a teacher in every classroom in every
Philadelphia public school in the fall, the School District has launched an
ambitious new early-hiring strategy. The
goal is to ensure that principals have their teaching staffs chosen by June 30. "We are looking to hire at least 800
teachers," Kendra Lee-Rosati, the district's acting chief talent officer,
said Wednesday.
To fill the posts, the district wants to have 5,000 applications so that
it can select from the best candidates. "We
want really good people to apply," said district spokesman Fernando
Gallard.
"Great teachers and staff are critical to our focus on building a
more equitable system of schools across our city," Superintendent William
R. Hite Jr. said in a statement. "We are committed to hiring educators and
support staff who believe deeply in the potential of all students."
Court disagrees with
arbitrator in test-cheating cases
The principals' union, which is appealing the
decision, called the ruling "a gross overstep."
The notebook by David
Limm March 16, 2016 — 3:11pm
A Philadelphia court has overruled decisions by arbitrators to reinstate
two former principals who were implicated in the city’s standardized-test
cheating scandal and fired for failing in their duties as school leaders. The principals' union is appealing the
judge's ruling, citing procedure and contract language in arguing that
they should be reinstated. Marla
Travis-Curtis, former principal of Lamberton Elementary, and Michelle Burns,
former principal of Tilden Middle School, were sanctioned by the School
District in the multi-year investigation of widespread cheating that led
to statistically improbable gains on PSSA exams at
some schools.
Early-Ed. Measures
Percolate at State, Local Levels
Education Week By Christina
A. Samuels Published Online: March 15, 2016
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has a sweet idea to boost early-childhood
education in his cash-strapped city. In
his first budget address, the freshman mayor proposed a 3 cents-per-ounce tax
on sugary drinks that he says would generate $400 million over the next five
years, more than half of which would be allotted to universal prekindergarten
in the city. "There is simply
nowhere else to find this revenue. We all know we can't raise property taxes
again," said Kenney in his March 3 address. Philadelphia's proposal to expand
prekindergarten is just one of several ideas percolating among city and state
leaders around the country during this legislative year. According to the
National Conference of State Legislatures, about
450 bills with some tie to early childhood are pending in 46 states. At this early stage, it's unclear how many of
those proposals will be enacted into law. But if local and state lawmakers
follow the trend of previous years, many places will see increased
early-childhood investment.
Five Things to Ponder for
Negotiations Over ESSA's Testing Regulations
Education Week Politics K-12 Blog By Alyson Klein on March 16, 2016 7:39 AM
Soon, a team of education practitioners and advocates
will spend at least a half-dozen eight-hour days at the U.S. Department of
Education, hashing out the rules under the Every Student Succeeds Act for
supplement-not-supplant (a spending issue that Andrew wrote about here) and assessment (aka testing and tests). The process, which is known as "negotiated rulemaking," requires the
department to sit down with folks in the education community and flesh out
sometimes vague or unclear language in the law.
To be sure, assessment, and supplement-not-supplant are not the main
events when it comes to ESSA regulation. In fact, if the new law is
Thanksgiving dinner, these are the hot rolls and maybe the green bean
casserole. Accountability, the turkey-and-stuffing of ESSA, will be dealt with
through the regular rulemaking process.
So why is the department going through negotiated rulemaking on just
these issues? Because it has to, under ESSA. The process is mandated in the law
for supplement-not-supplant and assessment, but not for accountability. If the
process of regulating on supplement-not-supplant and assessment fails, the department
will use the normal regulatory process for those pieces of the law—it just has
to try negotiated rulemaking first.
Charter
Schools Suspend Black and Disabled Students More, Study Says
New York Times By MOTOKO RICH MARCH 16, 2016
Black students are four times as likely to be suspended from charter schools as white
students, according to a new analysis of federal education data. And students
with disabilities, the study found, are suspended two to three times the rate
of nondisabled students in charter schools.
These inequities are similar
to those in traditional public schools, where black and disabled students
are disproportionately disciplined for even minor infractions, and as
early as preschool — although on average, charter schools suspend
pupils at slightly higher rates than traditional public schools. The analysis of charter school data from the
Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights of close to 5,000 charters
was done by the Center
for Civil Rights Remedies at the University
of California, Los Angeles, a nonprofit civil rights research and policy
organization. Still, the report is
likely to fuel an often fierce debate about disciplinary practices in charter
schools, which are publicly funded but privately run. Some charter networks
have come under fire for “no excuses” behavioral codes, under which students
can be suspended for offenses like clothing violations.
The ‘Walmartization’ of
public education
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss March
17 at 4:00 AM
The Walton Family Foundation — which says it
has given some $1.3 billion in K-12 education across the country over the last
two decades — announced early this year that it is committing $1 billion
over the next five years to help expand charter and other school choice options
across the country. What the effect of that financial support will be on public
education is explored in this post, by Jeff Bryant, director of the Education
Opportunity Network, a partnership effort of the Institute for America’s Future
and the Opportunity to Learn Campaign. He has written extensively about public
education policy. This appeared on
AlterNet, and I am republishing it with permission.
Education researchers
blast Common Core standards, urge ban on high-stakes tests
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss March
16 at 2:31 PM
More than 100 education researchers in California
have joined in a call for an end to high-stakes testing, saying that there is
no “compelling” evidence to support the idea that the Common Core State
Standards will improve the quality of education for children or close the
achievement gap, and that Common Core assessments lack “validity, reliability
and fairness.” The California Alliance
of Researchers for Equity in Education, a statewide collaborative of
university-based education researchers, recently released a research brief (see
in full below below) describing concerns with the Common Core standards and the
assessments being given to millions of students in California and other states
around the country this spring.
What can happen when a
neighborhood school is forced to share its space with a charter
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss March
17 at 5:00 AM
One of the features of the charter school movement
that may be unknown to many is what is called “co-location,” when a
charter is permitted to open up in a traditional school building to share space
with a functioning school. The schools are run independently but resourced
differently. In this post, Carol Burris, a former New York high school principal
who is now executive director of the nonprofit Network for Public Education,
explains how co-locations work and problems they can create. She was named the
2010 Educator of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York
State, and in 2013, the same organization named her the New York State High
School Principal of the Year.
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)
WHERE:
United Way of
Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey - 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
1st Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103
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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