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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA
Ed Policy Roundup March 30, 2016:
Requests to
opt out of PSSA tests increase
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
BLOG: Financial Institutions Agree – PA is
Facing a Fiscal Cliff (ROUND-UP)
Governor Wolf’s Blog March 29, 2016 By: Eryn Spangler
Governor
Wolf announced last week that he would allow the general appropriations and
non-preferred appropriations bills sent to him by Republicans to become law, as
is, without his signature. However, we still face enormous problems that this
budget does not even pretend to address. The math in the Republican budget
still does not work and the massive multi-billion dollar deficit is left
unaddressed. One day after Governor
Wolf’s announcement, PNC released
a statement warning of a potential credit downgrade due to the deficit the
budget failed to begin fixing. “We do not expect the budget to come close to
solving Pennsylvania’s fiscal pressures, including its structural budget gap,
which is sizable and growing,” PNC stated. The
following day, S&P and Moody’s also
provided statements stating their concerns that Pennsylvania is on track for a
fiscal catastrophe. In their statement, Moody’s said the looming deficit “only
brings to the fore a likely new stalemate over the budget for the fiscal year
that starts July 1 and ongoing questions over the state’s progress toward
structural balance over the long term.” “The
outlook is negative,” S&P’s statement read. “By failing to address
long-term structural balance in fiscal 2016, lawmakers have pushed difficult
fiscal decisions to the fiscal 2017 budget…Our negative outlook rather reflects
our view that the state’s fiscal issues lie in lack of political will to solve
them in a timely manner.” Take a look at
the additional coverage below:
BLOG: You
Support These Issues. Why Doesn’t Your State Representative?
Governor Wolf’s Blog March 29, 2016 By: Sarah Galbally, Secretary of
Policy and Planning
What do
education funding, the minimum wage, a severance tax, and medical marijuana all
have in common?
They all
have the support of the majority of Pennsylvanians. Take a look at the stats:
- 57% of Pennsylvanians listed education
funding as their top priority.
- 70% of Pennsylvanians support raising the state’s minimum wage above $7.25
- 67% of Pennsylvanians support a severance tax on natural gas.
- 90% of Pennsylvanians support medical marijuana legalization.
We know
what Pennsylvanians highlight as their priorities. And we know almost nothing
is accomplished in Harrisburg. Governor
Wolf came to Harrisburg to change the status quo, bring a fresh start, and
fight for what Pennsylvanians actually care about each and every day. The only
way we can bring change to Harrisburg is to change how it works. And changing
how Harrisburg works starts with reforming the influence special interests have
on government. Special
interests still wield too much power and influence in Harrisburg, which is one
of the reasons why it has been, and continues to be, broken.
“The bulk of the affected school funding in the fiscal
code, $289 million, stems from Wolf's veto
of promised state reimbursements for school construction projects (commonly referred
to as "PlanCon" in
legislative circles). …Republicans also
took aim at what they said what was the freezing of $150 million in additional
school funding that would have been distributed according to recommendations
put together by the state's Basic
Education Funding Commission.”
As Wolf's
fiscal code veto takes full effect, Republicans spoil for a fight: Tuesday
Morning Coffee
Penn
Live By John L. Micek |
jmicek@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
March 29, 2016 at 8:31 AM, updated March 29, 2016 at 8:32 AM
Good
Tuesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
As you've probably heard by now, Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed the "Fiscal Code," a piece of legislation that pretty much provides the formal instructions on how to spend the money appropriated by the General Fund budget. On Monday, as the effects of the veto officially set in, Senate Republicans released a statement blistering Wolf for running his veto pen across what they said was more than $400 million in funding for public education. As a reminder, the $6 billion appropriation bill approved by the House and Senate lapsed into law on Sunday night without Wolf's signature, a rare executive action that came in the face of escalating tensions between the York County Democrat and the Republican-controlled House and Senate.
As you've probably heard by now, Gov. Tom Wolf has vetoed the "Fiscal Code," a piece of legislation that pretty much provides the formal instructions on how to spend the money appropriated by the General Fund budget. On Monday, as the effects of the veto officially set in, Senate Republicans released a statement blistering Wolf for running his veto pen across what they said was more than $400 million in funding for public education. As a reminder, the $6 billion appropriation bill approved by the House and Senate lapsed into law on Sunday night without Wolf's signature, a rare executive action that came in the face of escalating tensions between the York County Democrat and the Republican-controlled House and Senate.
Pa. Budget Battle: Gov. Wolf blinked
Times News Monday, March 28, 2016 by Bruce
Frassinelli
After
being a record 271 days late, Pennsylvania finally has a 2015-16 budget, now
that Gov. Tom Wolf blinked. While the
freshman Democratic governor from York believed he had right on his side
throughout this nasty nine-month stalemate, the Republicans prevailed by
showing that they had might on theirs. With commanding leads in both houses,
Republicans refused to yield to Wolf’s call for an increase in the state income
tax and an extraction tax on drillers in the Marcellus Shale area. In the end, Wolf was caught between a rock
and a hard place. His threat to veto the latest GOP budget was likely to be
overridden with support from weary Democrats who were hearing the cries of
angry school officials. Schools, welfare agencies and other institution
desperately need the money to, in some cases, keep their doors open. Wolf did not sign the budget; instead, he
tried to save as much face as possible — and it wasn’t much — by letting the
budget measure take effect at 12:01 a.m. today,10 days after arriving on his
desk. The Democratic leadership told
Wolf it could no longer hold party members in line in the face of enormous
pressure. In the process, they laid out the facts of political life for Wolf:
If Wolf vetoed this part of the budget again, it is likely that enough
Democrats would vote to override the veto.
Education
secretary: There is always concern another budget impasse may be in the offing
Joseph Cress The Sentinel March 29, 2016
Matthew Ulmer is worried
history may repeat itself and saddle school districts across Pennsylvania with
yet another state budget crisis. “I’m a
first-year business manager,” he told Pedro Rivera before asking the state
secretary of education. “Are you concerned there may be just as long of an
impasse next year?” “It’s always a
concern,” Rivera responded, adding how the 2015-2016 budget stalemate was about
as bad as it gets. That crisis was only recently resolved after funding
shortfalls reached the point where some school districts were looking to close
their doors.
On
"Schools that Teach" Tour, Secretary Rivera Discusses the Future of
Education in Pennsylvania
PR
Newswire Mar 29, 2016, 16:09 ET from Pennsylvania
Department of Education
BOILING
SPRINGS, Pa., March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today
during a "Schools That Teach" tour stop, Secretary of
Education Pedro A. Rivera met with officials at Boiling Springs High
School to talk about the need for a robust state investment
for Pennsylvania's 500 school districts and other educational institutions. "Chronic underfunding for several years
continues to have a negative impact on classrooms across the
commonwealth," Rivera said. "In order to meet their critical mission
of educating our students, schools need a significant investment. Pennsylvania is
facing two paths: fund our schools and fix the deficit or see additional
damaging cuts to education. We can't leave our schools behind; we must choose
the path that provides the needed resources for schools without the reliance on
property tax increases."
Requests to
opt out of PSSA tests increase
Republican Herald BY SARAH HOFIUS HALL Published:
March 27, 2016
When
more than 750,000 students take state exams next month, Zachary and Connor
MacBain will not be filling in any answer sheets. Like thousands of other parents, the
Tunkhannock Area students’ mother is opting her children out of the test. With concerns that schools have become too
focused on testing, a growing number of parents statewide are attempting to
prompt change by keeping their children from taking standardized exams. Requests to “opt out” of taking Pennsylvania
System of School Assessment tests nearly tripled from 2014 to 2015, and is
expected to climb even higher for the tests that will begin in April. Just in
five years, parental requests grew from 624 in 2011 to 7,890 in 2015. Using a three-step process to opt out, the
parents claim the PSSA is against their religious beliefs, which forces the
school to excuse their child from the test.
“Something is broken here,” said Holly Arnold, the mother of the Wyoming
County students — and a member of the district’s school board. “We’re over
testing and have gotten away from inspiring kids to learn. We’re more focused
on coaching kids to perform.”
“Every one of these politicians from Obama to
Duncan to Emanuel to King have had their children enrolled in schools outside
the wrath of their own education policies. These progressive institutions have
resolutely rejected corporate school reforms. We have politicians who lobby for
high-stakes standardized testing, the busting of teachers unions, school
closures, value-added teacher evaluations, drill-kill-bubble-fill instruction,
and authoritarian classrooms, yet would never send their own kids to a school
with such practices. In their worldview, small class sizes, play, experiential,
hands-on learning opportunities, qualified, unionized teachers, lavish
resources and facilities, and little to no standardized testing are only
appropriate for the offspring of the rich and powerful.”
These
Politicians Think Your Kids Need High-Stakes Testing—but Not Theirs
These politicians send their own
kids to progressive schools that eschew rote learning.
The Nation By Nikhil Goyal March 29, 2016
President Obama’s two daughters
attend Sidwell Friends School, a private elite Quaker school in Washington.
Vice President Biden’s grandchildren are also students there. And Chelsea
Clinton and former vice president Al Gore’s son Albert Gore are alumni of the
institution. Tuition is $37,750 for the lower, middle, and upper schools and a
hot lunch is even included in the price. Class sizes are small and the
student-teacher ratio is 10-12 students for each teacher. The educational
philosophy of the school is progressive and child-centered: “We are committed
to the joys of exploration and discovery.” Students neither sit for any
standardized tests nor are teachers’ evaluations tied to test scores. In the
upper school, the school’s site explains, “The curriculum provides a broad
foundation in the humanities and sciences, develops critical and creative
thinking, stresses competence in oral and written communication and
quantitative operations, and stimulates intellectual curiosity.”
Testing Resistance & Reform News: Mach
23 - 29, 2016
FairTest
Submitted by fairtest on March 29, 2016 - 1:56pm
As the
standardized exam season gets underway in many states, this week's
"Testing Resistance & Reform News" includes many excellent
examples of testing resistance campaign materials from across the nation. Also,
be sure to check-out and use FairTest's tools for getting involved in
assessment reform -- http://fairtest.org/get_involved/tools
Sen. Scott
Wagner wants Senate GOP to do more than hold on to the seats it has: Election
2016
Penn
Live By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
March 29, 2016 at 11:48 AM, updated March 29, 2016 at 11:49 AM
As
Senate Republican Campaign Committee chairman, Sen. Scott Wagner, R-York
County, is not looking just to keep the 13 Republican-held seats up for
election this year in the GOP's hands. He wants more. "I'm working on getting more
[Republican] senators. We're going to get a supermajority," Wagner told
PennLive. The GOP will have to flip at
least four Democratic seats to achieve that 34-seat goal and Wagner knows which
four he wants. "I'm focused on the
Teplitz seat," referring to the 15th state senatorial
district representing parts of Dauphin and Perry counties held by Sen. Rob Teplitz, who was elected in 2012 and was the first
Democrat to win that seat in 76 years. He
also has his eye on getting Republicans elected to the 19th senatorial
district seat representing part of Chester County held by Sen. Andy Dinniman
for the past 10 years; the 49th senatorial district seat held
by Sen. Sean Wiley who is completing his first four-year term representing part
of Erie County; and the 35thsenatorial district seat representing
Bedford, Cambria and part of Clearfield counties held by five-term incumbent
Sen. John Wozniak.
Penn Hills school board approves furloughs
for 43 teachers
Of the 43
positions, 23 are special education teachers
By Molly
Born / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette March 29, 2016 10:54 PM
In a 7-2
vote, the board of the Penn Hills School District on Tuesday approved
furloughing 43 teachers at the end of the school year. What was bound to be an already tense meeting
was made worse when Penn Hills police turned away several people -- including
three special education teachers -- at the door over capacity concerns. More than 175 people crammed into the Linton
Middle School music room, and nearly 20 listened outside through cracked
windows for the first 20 minutes before they were allowed in. Parents, students, alumni and others
addressed the board in a sometimes-emotional public comment period on the plan,
which also will cut more than 20 classes. Of the 43 teachers to be furloughed,
23 are in the district's special education department. The changes follow a series of financial
struggles at the district. Leaders had to borrow $20 million last year and
expect a nearly $9 million cumulative deficit by the end of this school year.
Bethlehem
school's water 'safe for use,' district says
By Kurt
Bresswein | For lehighvalleylive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
March 29, 2016 at 8:08 PM, updated March 30, 2016 at 12:40 AM
The Bethlehem
Area School District on Tuesday declared the tap water safe for use at
Northeast Middle School. District officials
on Monday closed off the building's water fountains and said the water there
would not be used for cooking following a media report about a purportedly high
lead reading. Working with a Lehigh
University professor known for his work on water purity, WFMZ-TV 69
published a report alleging lead levels above acceptable federal levels in the
water at Northeast and two Allentown schools: Allen High and Union Terrace
Elementary.
"I have no problem with charter schools. I have
friends who send their kids there and I've known people who graduated from
charter schools. I believe parents should have choices, however my issue is
with charter school funding," Pintabone said. "The state is allowing
public schools to be decimated to fund charter schools and it's not
right."
Charter school proposed for former
newspaper building in Easton
Christina
Tatu Contact Reporter Of The Morning
Call March 29, 2016
Charter
school for the arts proposed for former Express-Times building in Easton.
EASTON –
An elementary charter school for the arts has been proposed for the former
Express-Times building on North Fourth Street in Easton. The kindergarten-through-fifth-grade charter
school would occupy all three floors of the former newspaper office, said
Thomas Lubben, who has shepherded arts charter schools in Bethlehem, Allentown
and Salisbury Township. He hopes to open the Easton site by September 2017. The property is owned by developer Lou
Pektor, who plans to build the city's new, 29,765-square-foot police station
next door. Lubben said he is under agreement to lease the building from Pektor.
As of Tuesday, plans for the charter school have yet to be submitted to the
city, Lubben said.
“A recent study,
conducted by the Center for Civil Rights Remedies, part of UCLA’s Civil Rights
Project, found that Philadelphia Electrical & Technology Charter
and Esperanza Academy Charter School were among the nation’s
10 public charter schools with the largest discipline gaps when it comes
to suspending students with learning disabilities.”
2 Philly
charters cited for disproportionately suspending students with learning
disabilities
The
notebook by Greg Windle
March 29, 2016 — 1:39pm
Two
Philadelphia charter schools have been cited in a national report for
suspending students with disabilities at a far higher rate than those without
disabilities. A recent study,
conducted by the Center for Civil Rights Remedies, part of UCLA’s Civil Rights
Project, found that Philadelphia Electrical & Technology Charter
and Esperanza Academy Charter School were among the nation’s
10 public charter schools with the largest discipline gaps when it comes
to suspending students with learning disabilities. Looking at the country’s more than 95,000
public schools and 5,250 charter schools, researchers analyzed disciplinary
data for disparities in how charter schools suspend students. Overall, they
found that charters suspended students at a slightly higher rate than
traditional public schools. The data
focused on out-of-school suspensions during the 2011-12 school year, when all
schools were required to report that information. The data included more
than 70 charter schools in Philadelphia.
Local charter
school network approves 2 Muslim holidays
PhillyTrib by Wilford Shamlin III Tribune Staff
Writer Posted: Tuesday,
March 29, 2016 12:00 am
Mastery
Charter Schools, one of the region’s largest charter school operators with 20
schools in Philadelphia and Camden, N.J., has voted to permanently add two
Muslim holidays of Eid to the academic calendar, starting in September 2016.
Those two days are considered to be among the most holy for Muslims. City Councilman Curtis Jones has been a
strong advocate for adding the holy days to all Philadelphia public schools.
Josh Cohen, a spokesperson for the councilman, said Jones introduced a
nonbinding resolution to recognize the Eid holidays, which was approved by the
Council earlier this year. Negotiations must take place between the unions and
the school district before the Eid becomes an official holiday for city
employees and school district employees.
“The charter has been led by new administrators and a new
board after the school's founding CEO and board president were indicted on
federal fraud charges. Ina Walker, the
founding CEO, and Hugh Clark, the founding board president, went to federal
prison in 2012 after admitting they stole $522,000 in taxpayer money to prop up
a restaurant, a health-food store, and a private school they controlled, and
for defrauding a bank.”
New Media
Technology Charter to close in June
Inquirer
by Martha Woodall, STAFF
WRITER Updated: MARCH 29,
2016 — 12:57 PM EDT
New
Media Technology Charter School, which has had a troubled history, has
announced that it will close in June rather than continue to fight to remain
open in the face of allegations of poor test scores and financial problems. The school, located at 8034 Thouron Ave., enrolls
481 students from sixth through 12th grades.
The board that oversees the school had voted at its most recent meeting
to dissolve the school as of June 30th and surrender its operating charter. A notice
posted on the school's website informs parents of the transition plan that the
district's charter school office had developed with New Media officials to help
students find new placements for the fall.
The school's top administrator did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
Supreme Court deadlocks over public
employee union case; Calif. teachers must pay dues
Washington
Post By Robert
Barnes March 29 at 11:45 AM
The
Supreme Court on Tuesday said it was unable to resolve a major challenge to
organized labor, and the result was a defeat for a group of California teachers
who claim their free speech rights are violated when they are forced to pay
dues to the state’s teachers union. The
court said it was split 4 to 4 on the issue, following the death of Justice
Antonin Scalia. It was the most important case yet in which the eight-member
court was unable to reach a decision. At
oral argument, the court’s conservatives appeared ready to junk a decades-old
precedent that allows unions to collect an “agency fee” from nonmembers to
support collective-bargaining activities for members and nonmembers alike. Organized labor considered it the most vital
Supreme Court case of the year, and one of a clutch of politically charged
cases that puts the justices in the spotlight as the nation turns its attention
to the elections of 2016.
Tied 4-4 after
Scalia's death, high court gives unions a win
Inquirer
by SAM HANANEL, The
Associated Press Updated: MARCH
29, 2016 — 1:40 PM EDT
WASHINGTON
(AP) - In the clearest sign yet of the impact of Justice Antonin Scalia's
death, U.S. labor unions scored a major victory Tuesday with a tie vote in a
high-profile Supreme Court case they had once seemed all but certain to lose. The 4-4 split, in a case that sharply divided
the court's liberal union supporters and their conservative opponents,
demonstrated how much is riding on President Barack Obama's effort to replace
Scalia with a judge who could tilt the balance on the high court for years to
come. Senate Republicans say they won't consider any nomination until a new
president takes office. The vacancy
helped the liberals this time. The deadlocked vote came in a case that
considered whether unions representing government employees can collect fees
from workers who choose not to join. California teachers backed by a
conservative group said being forced to pay union fees violated the free-speech
rights of nonmembers who disagree with the union's policy positions. The split vote left in place an appeals court
ruling that upheld the collection of "fair share" fees from
nonmembers.
New Education Secretary: Bold Agenda. Just
10 Months To Get It Done
NPR by ERIC
WESTERVELT March 26, 201610:00 AM ET
John B.
King Jr was recently confirmed by the Senate as the new U.S. Secretary of
Education for the remainder of President Obama's term, succeeding Arne
Duncan. With a slew of pressing
issues from pre-K to college debt, I wanted to find out what King thinks he can
get done in such a short window of time. Here's our conversation.
You've
got just 10 months left in President Obama's term to help close the equity and
achievement gaps, promote access and opportunity, and implement the Every
Student Succeeds Act. Good luck with that!
We
definitely have an ambitious agenda for the next 10 months. But, you know, the
president often tells us big things happen in the fourth quarter. I think
that's exactly right. So we expect to get a lot done over the next 10 months.
“Preparing students
for today's entry-level careers and freshman-level college courses is among the
goals of the new Every Student Succeeds Act. The role education needs to play
in making for a functioning democracy, one Thomas Jefferson saw as crucial, is
not mentioned. The Common Core State Standards appear silent on the skills and
knowledge needed to have informed views on issues such as economic policy,
global warming, the clash of civilizations, globalization, immigration,
technological change, and the risks of terrorism.”
Creating
Informed Citizens Should Be Education's Goal
Education Week COMMENTARY By Arnold Packer Published Online: March 15,
2016
In his
final State of the Union speech earlier this year, President Barack Obama told
the audience: "[F]ix our politics ... uphold your duties as a citizen ...
vote ... speak out." Halt our "downward spiral," former Senate
majority leaders Trent Lott and Tom Daschle urge in a recent Washington Post op-ed.
"Democracy requires active engagement, mindfulness, and tolerance,"
they write. Active engagement surely includes voting, even in nonpresidential
years and on local matters. It may include serving in public roles. It also
includes staying abreast of local, national, and international issues and,
perhaps, communicating with elected officials.
Many observers, here and abroad, warn that the United States cannot meet
its domestic and international responsibilities unless more Americans are
better informed on the issues and exercise their right to vote.
Michelle Rhee's StudentsFirst will merge
with education advocacy group 50Can
Los Angeles Times Joy
Resmovits Contact
Reporter March
29, 2016
Just
several years after its glitzy launch, StudentsFirst, the Sacramento-based
education group started by former Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee, is merging with another education
advocacy organization, 50Can. Some of
StudentsFirst's remaining chapters will be absorbed into 50Can, which has
similar goals. The most well-known objective of Rhee's group was to become a
counterweight to teachers unions. StudentsFirst expects to cut its staff
significantly but will maintain a small presence in its national office. Jim
Blew, the group's president, confirmed the news Tuesday morning. “The cause goes on, we are moving ahead and we
have a lot to do in the next several years,” Blew said. Blew will step aside from the national
organization, and the merged group will be called 50Can, though each group's
local offices will retain their own names. Blew will lead StudentsFirst
California, the merged group's state presence, and will focus on litigation and
issues such as school accountability. The combined group will be led by 50Can
Chief Executive Marc Porter Magee.
News! Michelle
Rhee is Merging StudentsFirst with 50CAN
Diane
Ravitch’s Blog By dianeravitch March
29, 2016 //
The
world of rightwing corporate reform is ever-changing. It seems like only yesterday
that Michelle Rhee announced her intention to challenge teachers’ unions,
destroy tenure, and take away due process from teachers across the nation. She
said she would raise $1 billion in a year and gather 1 million members for her
new organization, which she called StudentsFirst, because (she said) teachers
don’t care about students, only billionaires really care. She did raise some
money–only $7 million or so, far from $1 billion–and she spent it trying to
elect Tea Party Republicans and others who support charters and vouchers. Her
organization turned into the public voice of anti-teacher, anti-public school
activism. But in 2014, she stepped back from the national stage to help her
husband Kevin Johnson, the Mayor of Sacramento (whom she married in 2011), and
joined the board of Scott’s Miracle-Gro. She also assumed the chairmanship of
her husband’s charter chain, St. Hope.
"Portfolio"
approach shifts decision-making away from local leaders
Great
Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice March 29, 2016
EAST
LANSING, Mich. (Mar. 29, 2016) — A new concise policy brief considers the research
evidence of "portfolio" districts. According to the brief, the
approach shifts decision-making away from local school district leaders.
Despite concerns, the approach is now being used in several large urban districts
across the country. The brief, The
"Portfolio" Approach to School District Governance, is part
of a series of short policy briefs produced by the National Education Policy
Center (NEPC), with funding from the Great Lakes Center for Education Research
and Practice. William J. Mathis and Kevin Welner, University of Colorado
Boulder, author the brief. According to
Mathis and Welner, there exists a very limited body of generally accepted
research about the impact of "portfolio" district reform. However, they
do find that research evidence does exist for four reform strategies associated
with the model: (1) school-level decentralization of management decisions; (2)
reconstitution or closing "failing" schools; (3) expansion of school
choice, primarily through charter schools; and (4) performance- or test-based
accountability. After investigating the
available research on these portfolio-related strategies, the authors concluded
that there is little promise of meaningful benefits associated with the
governance changes.
“In sum, the schools subject to the state’s turnaround
program exhibit worse or no better student outcomes than comparable untreated
schools,” the researchers said.”
Some NC schools in ‘turnaround’ program
declined, study finds
The program was
funded by a federal Race to the Top grant
Research co-author
was Helen Ladd of Duke
In a separate
study, a researcher concluded that the program worked overall
The News
& Observer BY LYNN BONNER lbonner@newsobserver.com
March 26, 2016
An
effort to improve struggling schools in North Carolina – funded by a federal
Race to the Top grant – did not work in some of them, two researchers have
concluded. Jennifer A. Heissel of
Northwestern University and Helen F. Ladd of Duke University analyzed results
from some of the schools in the state’s “turnaround” program under Race to the
Top. The state assigned schools that were in the bottom 5 percent to the
program. The analysis concluded that the
schools in the turnaround program ended up worse than comparable schools that
weren’t in it, the researchers wrote. The study looked at the best elementary
and middle schools that were in the turnaround program and at comparable
schools that were just above the cutoff point for entry. Reading and math test scores for the schools
in the turnaround program declined, the researchers wrote. They also found
evidence that student suspensions increased in the turnaround schools in 2012.
The analysis looked at results from 2012 to 2014.
Trump
(Possibly, for a Moment) Names Education as a Top Federal Priority
Education
Week Politics K-12 By Andrew Ujifusa on March
29, 2016 11:32 PM
Remember
when several education policy advocates said that they were largely uncertain
about how Republican presidential
candidate Donald Trump would handle federal education policy?
During a GOP town hall event in Milwaukee on Tuesday hosted by CNN, Trump threw
what many people might think is a real K-12 curveball. The
real estate developer was asked by a voter what he thinks are the top three
functions of the federal government. After naming national security, Trump also
cited education and health care as the top priorities. When CNN moderator Anderson Cooper
subsequently reminded Trump that he'd previously expressed opposition to the
federal government's role in education (more on that in the moment), Trump
seemed to shift his position. He said that he wants education policy power to
devolve to the states, and added that he saw education as a top issue for the
nation.
So
what's the broader context for Trump's statements at the town hall?
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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