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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA
Ed Policy Roundup March 29, 2016:
Up in the Air: Basic Ed Funding
Distribution & PlanCon $. And Forget
About that $50 Million Spent on Interest
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.
Info and Registration: https://www.psba.org/event/psba-advocacy-forum-day-hill/
Campaign for Fair Education Funding - Rally for Public Education
Save the date: May 2nd at the Capitol
“Wolf said the legislation has a school funding
distribution formula he considers one of the most unfair in the country and
that bond borrowing was being expanded without addressing the state's
structural deficit. Jeff Sheridan, the
governor's spokesman, said last week the administration will pass out school
subsidies "in the most appropriate manner possible, just as we did in
December when the governor signed a partial general appropriations bill that
was without an accompanying fiscal code because the legislature did not pass
one."
School
funding, borrowing trigger Wolf veto of spending bill
by MARK SCOLFORO, The Associated Press Updated: MARCH 28, 2016 — 2:41
PM EDT
HARRISBURG,
Pa. (AP) - Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed legislation that passed along with the
Pennsylvania budget, citing concerns about how it divides money for schools,
borrows $2.5 billion, affects greenhouse gas emissions at power plants and
regulates oil and gas drilling.
The
101-page fiscal code bundles together a variety of items to implement the state
budget. Wolf's one-page letter to state representatives sent the bill back to
the House. House Republican spokesman
Steve Miskin said the veto was being reviewed and leaders were talking with
their Senate colleagues to determine if they will take any action. He said no
decision has been made about whether to seek to override Wolf's veto. "There's nothing new in the fiscal code
and there are things the administration has agreed to previously," Miskin
said. "Also, some of their assumptions are just wrong, but we're reviewing
and will make decisions later."
Governor’s
Fiscal Code veto draws mixed reaction
The PLS
Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Monday, March 28,
2016
Gov. Tom
Wolf made his promised veto of House Bill 1327 a reality Friday, sending the
disapproved Fiscal Code bill back to the House of Representatives. The Fiscal Code bill serves as the spending
and policy roadmap for the budget and is traditionally a piece of legislation
needed to close the circle on any given fiscal year’s budget. The reasons for the veto laid out by the
governor in his veto message accompanying the legislation’s return to the House
are varied. In terms
of education funding, the governor laid out two reasons for his veto. The first being that the legislation would
only serve to perpetuate a basic education funding distribution that he says
“is one of the most inequitable in the nation.”
“[T]he bill’s provisions permit the reduction of funds to certain school
districts, which would otherwise be available, based solely on how the
districts were funded earlier this year,” the governor said. “My veto of this
bill ensures that the school districts will not be subject to this underserved
treatment from a funding perspective.” Second,
he said the $2.5 billion bond issuance in the legislation “is not a responsible
course of action” since it takes out the bond without addressing the structural
deficit. According to a release from the
administration last week, the bond concerns funding PlanCon school construction
reimbursement projects and "would be prohibitively costly to issue due to
inflated debt costs resulting from the lack of any concrete steps in the
current budget to address the structural deficit."
Pat Cuneo: Late state budget merits plenty
of blame
By Pat Cuneo 814-870-1699 Erie
Times-News March 29, 2016 05:38 AM
ERIE,
Pa. -- So, we finally have a state budget, and it's as flawed as any passed in
modern state history, thanks to our dysfunctional, paralyzed politics. I bring this up not to add to your state of
depression about politics, but to make a few observations: - Gov. Tom Wolf's political loss with the
budget is obvious on some levels. He didn't get his way or fulfill his election
mandate to substantially increase education funding, reform property taxes, and
shift the income tax burden toward the upper middle class and wealthy. - Not only did he not get what he wanted, our
schools, nonprofits and some of the people they serve were made to suffer
because the budget was passed almost nine months late. Most agencies and many
school districts had to cut services and float loans to continue operating. At
the very least, all had to eat up their emergency funds for no good reason.
2015-16: The
Year of the Budget Battle
PoliticsPA Written by Jason Addy, Contributing
Writer March 28, 2016
Gov.
Tom Wolf and GOP leaders said there would be a budget by Thanksgiving, before moving the goalposts to Christmas. Turns out, they
meant to say Easter. It was a 37-week
war over the future of the Keystone State, but now it is finally over (at least
until negotiations soon begin anew on next year’s budget.) Last April, Gov. Tom Wolf made it very
clear he knew the fight would be onto enact his spending
priorities, telling the Inquirer at the time, “I’m planning on spending the
summer here. And the fall, and the winter.”
Wolf’s prediction was spot-on, with PA’s 9-month budget impasse set to end on Sunday, just a week after the start of
spring.
SRC pits 'my
babies' against the needs of all Philadelphia students
WHYY
Newsworks COMMENTARY BY DAUN KAUFFMAN MARCH 28, 2016 ESSAYWORKS
Daun
Kauffman lives in the Hunting Park neighborhood of North Philadelphia, serving
children and families in urban schools for more than 15 years. Earlier,
Kauffman earned an M.Ed. from Temple University, and an MBA from Harvard
University Graduate School of Business. Daun blogs at LucidWitness.com.
New
editions of Keystone Cops just keep coming from the “School Reform Commission.”
Same storyline, same ending, but the characters take turns embarrassing us.
Public education suffers. Charter schools expand. Local control is gone. State
level integrity is rated 45th in the nation. Misfeasance is rampant. Sylvia Simms is the new lead character, with
self-focused loose lips. In a recent episode, after dark, when many school kids
were in bed sleeping, and in a direct slapstick move on the quiet leading man,
William Hite, Simms railroaded a motion to eliminate another public school for
Mastery Charter. Her own recently released email illuminates possible motive,
containing divisive racial overtones. In it, she asks for "people to have
[her] back" while she works "especially for [her] babies," the
people she represents and who look like her. (Read the full text here, page 87.)
Penn Hills schools may cut 43 teachers, 20
courses
By Molly
Born / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette March 29, 2016 1:10 AM
The Penn
Hills school board will vote tonight on a proposal that, if passed, would
furlough 43 teachers and eliminate more than 20 courses next school year. The plan has been met with resistance by the
Penn Hills Education Association, which has already filed 15 grievances against
the district, citing an agreement between the parties that the teachers’ union says
does not permit furloughs. Although its
approval was not required, the Pennsylvania Department of Education reviewed
and signed off on the 2016-17 program changes on March 21, nearly a month after
the district sent the department its proposal, a department spokeswoman said. The district’s precarious financial position
is likely what’s driving the changes: Leaders had to borrow $20 million last
year and expect a nearly $9 million deficit by the end of this school year. How much the proposed cuts would save,
however, is unclear. Superintendent Nancy Hines did not respond to an interview
request Monday, and district spokeswoman Teresita Kolenchak said in an email
that the district is “not commenting or answering any questions in regard to
the furlough plan.”
Allentown, Bethlehem school districts
check lead level in water at schools
Jacqueline Palochko Contact Reporter Of The Morning
Call March 28, 2016
The
Allentown and Bethlehem Area school districts on Monday ordered independent
tests of water at three schools after receiving a claim of high lead levels. Allentown spokeswoman Kim Golden-Benner said
the district had the water tested at Union Terrace Elementary and Allen High
schools by certified professionals. She said the district ordered the tests
after WFMZ-TV alerted the district that water samples tested by a Lehigh
University professor had shown high lead levels. "Until we receive the results of this
accurate analysis, both schools will refrain for using the water for
consumption," Golden-Benner said in a statement. "The safety and
well-being of our students and staff are our top priority."
3 Bethlehem,
Allentown schools suspend water access after lead report
By Kurt Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com Email the
author | Follow on Twitter on March 28, 2016 at 6:01 PM, updated March
28, 2016 at 7:11 PM
The Bethlehem Area
and Allentown school districts said Monday they are cutting
off access to drinking water from the plumbing at three schools and testing
water quality in response to a news report about lead levels. WFMZ-TV 69 on Monday published a report with
testing performed by a Lehigh University professor of environmental
engineering, on drinking water at Bethlehem's Northeast Middle School and
Allentown's Allen High School and Union Terrace Elementary School. Profressor Arup SenGupta's testing showed lead in the schools' drinking water at
three times the federal standard for what is acceptable,
according to the report. The Bethlehem
Area School District in a statement said Northeast does not have lead pipes and
water fixtures, such as fountains, meet required guidelines.
New Jersey
Dems want all schools to test water for lead
WHYY
Newsworks by Phil Gregory MARCH 28, 2016
A bill
proposed by Democrats in the New Jersey's Senate would require all schools in
the state to test drinking water for lead contamination. Lead is coming from the pipes that carry
water into the schools, said Senate President Steve Sweeney. "You have schools in Newark that were
built back when Lincoln was president. There was lead when they put the pipes
together," he said Monday. "We know we have a problem, but the costs
of not poisoning our children, you can't worry about that, and we have the
ability to fund it." Sen. Teresa
Ruiz said the legislation would allocate $3 million from the state to reimburse
school districts for the testing. Another $20 million from the Clean Energy
Fund would cover installation of a water filter or treatment device to
remove lead from school water fountains and sinks.
Schools Nationwide Still Grapple With Lead in Water
New York Times By MICHAEL WINES, PATRICK McGEEHAN and JOHN SCHWARTZ MARCH 26, 2016
JERSEY
CITY — Anxious parents may wonder how a major school system like Newark’s could
overlook lead in the drinking water of 30 schools and 17,000 students. The
answer: It was easy. They had to look only a few miles away, at the century-old
classrooms of the schools here, across the Hackensack River. The Jersey City Public Schools district
discovered lead contamination in eight schools’ drinking fountains in 2006, and
in more schools in 2008, 2010 and 2012. But not until 2013 did officials
finally chart a comprehensive attack on lead, which by then had struck all but
six schools. This winter’s crisis in Flint, Mich.,
has cast new attention on lead in water supplies. But problems with lead in
school water supplies have dragged on for years — aggravated by ancient
buildings and plumbing, prolonged by official neglect and tight budgets, and
enabled by a gaping loophole in federal rules that largely exempts schools from
responsibility for the purity of their water.
Children are at greatest risk from lead exposure, and school is where
they spend much of their early lives. But cash-starved school administrators
may see a choice between spending money on teachers or on plumbing as no choice
at all.
“The author of the analysis also puts forth a
provocative argument: Because of this historical pattern, private schools that
take public money (via vouchers and voucher-like programs) should not be able
to select the students they admit. Instead, those schools should have to admit
anyone who applies, just like public schools do, said Steve Suitts, who
wrote the study as a senior fellow at the Southern Education Foundation. “The public-school system is built on the
bedrock notion that we want each child to have a chance for a good education,”
said Suitts, now an adjunct professor at Emory University. “And if private
schools do not wish to advance that national purpose, then they ought not
receive public funding.”
The overwhelming whiteness of U.S. private
schools, in six maps and charts
Washington
Post by Emma Brown March 29 at 7:00 AM
Students in the nation’s private schools are
disproportionately — and in some states overwhelmingly — white. While that’s not entirely surprising, a new analysis
from the Southern Education Foundation quantifies the continued
segregation of white students in private schools, particularly in the South,
where private-school enrollment jumped in the 1950s and 1960s as white families
sought to avoid attending integrated public schools. Here’s a snapshot of the study’s findings:
What ‘white
folks who teach in the hood’ get wrong about education
PBS Newshour BY KENYA DOWNS March 28, 2016 at 2:29 PM EDT
“There’s
a teacher right now in urban America who’s going to teach for exactly two years
and he’s going to leave believing that these young people can’t be saved,” says
Dr. Chris Emdin, associate professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College.
“So he’s going to find another career as a lawyer, get a job in the Department
of Education or start a charter school network, all based on a notion about
these urban youth that is flawed. And we’re going to end up in the same
cycle of dysfunction that we have right now. Something’s got to give.” Emdin, who is also the university’s associate
director of the Institute for Urban and Minority Education, has had enough of
what he calls a pervasive narrative in urban education: a savior complex that
gives mostly white teachers in minority and urban communities a false sense of
saving kids. “The narrative itself, it
exotic-izes youth and positions them as automatically broken,” he says. “It
falsely positions the teacher, oftentimes a white teacher, as hero.” He criticizes the “white hero teacher” concept as
an archaic approach that sets up teachers to fail and further
marginalizes poor and minority children in urban centers.
Boston’s charter schools show striking
gains
Test scores surpass traditional public schools, counterparts
nationwide
Boston Globe By Peter Schworm GLOBE STAFF MARCH
18, 2015
Boston
charter school students outperformed their counterparts at traditional public
schools and at charter schools in other urban areas by a striking margin over a
recent six-year span, a Stanford University study found. The strides at Boston charter schools — in
both math and reading — equaled what students would have learned if they had
been in school hundreds of additional days each year, researchers said in the
report, released Wednesday. The
disparity held true for black, Hispanic, and low-income students in both math
and reading, and was particularly strong for black and Hispanic students who
live in poverty. “Boston charter schools
have done exceptionally well improving the academic growth of their students,”
said James Woodworth, a research analyst with Stanford’s Center for Research on
Education Outcomes.
Racial aspects tinge Mass. charter debate
Boston Globe By David Scharfenberg GLOBE STAFF MARCH
28, 2016
When the
campaign to create more charter schools kicked off with a State House rally
last fall, black and Latino charter school parents gave emotional testimony
about the importance of the schools to their families. Political operatives at the rally agreed,
saying that bringing high-quality education to urban areas is the civil rights
issue of our time. But
when charter school opponents formally launched a campaign of their own on the
State House steps two weeks ago, the first speaker was the president of the New
England Area Council of the NAACP. Juan Cofield warned that charter schools are
sapping resources from the traditional schools that serve most minority
students, and creating a two-track system.
“As Brown vs. the Board of Education taught us,” he said, invoking the
landmark school desegregation case, “a dual school system is inherently
unequal.” The high-stakes fight over
lifting the state’s cap on charter schools has become highly racialized, making
one of the most contentious political contests in Massachusetts’ recent history
even more tense.
Is Common
Core's Effect on Achievement Fading?
Education Week By Liana Heitin Published Online: March 24, 2016
The
common core’s impact on student achievement may have peaked early and already
tapered off, according to a new analysis of national test
scores by the Brookings Institution’s Brown Center on Education Policy. “Most people when they think about common
core, they think we won’t see an impact for 10 years,” said Tom Loveless, a
nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author of the
report. “This is telling me the opposite.”
Most states adopted the common standards in 2010, although they may not
have fully implemented them in classrooms for some time after. According to
this year’s Brown Center Report on American Education, 4th and 8th grade
students in states that adopted the Common Core State Standards outperformed
their peers on the National Assessment of Educational Progress between 2009 and
2013. But between 2013 and 2015, students in non-adoption states made larger
gains than those in common-core states. This
means that “common core may have already had its biggest impact,” said
Loveless.
Is the Common Core past its peak and
heading toward oblivion?
Washington
Post By Jay Mathews Columnist March 27 at 5:12 PM
Intelligent
discussion of schools has disappeared from the presidential campaign, replaced
by low comedy, such as Sen. Ted Cruz’s promise to repeal every word of the
Common Core State Standards. Cruz would have to persuade many state officials
who loathe him to do this, as the standards are largely immune to presidential
decree. But his vow passed so quickly that few remember what he said. For deep insights on the Common Core, the
leading education reform of the day, I depend instead on Tom Loveless, a non-resident
senior fellow of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings
Institution. Loveless is neither a supporter nor an opponent of the Common
Core. He is simply a realist, an endangered political species. Jay Mathews is an education columnist and
blogger for the Washington Post, his employer for 40 years.View Archive
When I
hear from teachers and parents who like the Common Core’s enhancement of
educational content and emphasis on writing and thinking, I say, “Why not give
it a try?” But I also remember Loveless’s studies showing that new standards in
general have rarely produced significant gains in student achievement in the
countries and U.S. states that have tried them.
In Loveless’s latest annual Brown Center report,
new data indicate that the Common Core may already have passed its peak and
begun the slow decline into oblivion, to which most U.S. school reforms
succumb.
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.
Join the Pennsylvania Principals Association at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 21, 2016, at The
Capitol in Harrisburg, PA, for its second annual Principals' Lobby Day.
Pennsylvania
Principals Association Monday, March 21, 2016 9:31 AM
To register, contact Dr. Joseph Clapper at clapper@paprincipals.org by
Tuesday, June 14, 2016. If you need assistance, we will provide
information about how to contact your legislators to schedule meetings.
Click here for the informational flyer, which includes
important issues to discuss with your legislators.
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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