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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup March 4, 2016:
What is happening with the
PA school funding lawsuit?
Campaign for Fair Education Funding
Pennsylvania has the largest funding gap between wealthy and poor
schools of any other state in the country.
State funding in recent years has not kept pace with necessary school
costs.
Schools are excessively dependent on local wealth for funding. In fact,
the state's contribution to education funding is only 36%, among the lowest in
the U.S.
Pa. needs a fair school
funding formula, now | Opinion
By Express-Times guest columnist Michael
Faccinetto on March 01, 2016 at 3:14 PM
Michael Faccinetto is president of the Bethlehem Area School Board.
Thanks to a
nearly nine-month budget stalemate, Pennsylvania state government
began 2016 without a full budget, leaving the short- and long-term needs of
every school — and every student — up in the air. In the short term, the
partial spending plan signed by Gov. Tom Wolf provided desperately needed money
for schools and human services, but only enough to stave off closures and
further cuts for a few months. Because of inadequate funding in recent
years, many districts have eliminated programs, laid off teachers, or reduced
academic support for students. The budget deadlock only made things worse.
Scores of districts have borrowed emergency funds to keep the
doors open and many have depleted their reserves, which will only prolong the
amount of time it will take for them to recover. In the long term, the
budget gridlock means that one of the fundamental issues facing Pennsylvania —
fixing our broken public school funding system — remains unresolved.
Blogger note: At last
night’s board meeting the Haverford Township school board passed a resolution
in support of the school funding lawsuit now pending before the PA Supreme
Court.
EdVotersPA Opinion: Enough
is Enough. The Courts Must Intervene.
What is happening with the school funding lawsuit?
Education Voters PA Posted
on March 2, 2016 by EDVOPA
On November 10,
2014, six school districts, the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small
Schools, the NAACP – PA State Conference, and families whose children attend
under-funded and under-resourced schools filed a case in the Commonwealth Court
asking the court to:
- Declare that the current system of
funding our schools does not comply with the state constitution;
- Order the defendants to cease using a
funding system that does not provide adequate funding where students can
meet state standards and which discriminates against low wealth districts;
and
- Order the defendants to create and
maintain a constitutional school funding system that will enable all
students to meet state academic standards and does not discriminate
against low-wealth school district.
In April 2015, the
Commonwealth Court decided to dismiss the case on the grounds that it presents
a political question that cannot be addressed through the court system. In
September 2015, the petitioners filed a brief asking the Supreme Court to send
the case to a full trial. They contend that the Commonwealth Court erred in
dismissing the lawsuit against legislative leaders and state education
officials. The appeal is now fully briefed by all parties, and the high
court is expected to hear argument in the case in 2016. The Supreme Court will hear oral argument
from both sides sometime later this year.
After hearing the argument, the Supreme Court will decide whether or not to
allow the school funding lawsuit to proceed to a full trial.
State Budget Hearings on Education Funding, Tuesday
March 8
League of Women Voters
by LWVCC on February 26,
2016
Make your voice
heard on March 8 – call your legislators to ask for fair funding for every
student in PA.
Senate
Appropriations Committee, 10 AM, Capitol Complex, North Office Building,
Hearing Room 1
Streaming
links/details posted closer to date at: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/cms/index.cfm?chamber=S
House
Appropriations Committee, 1:30 PM, Main Capitol Building, Room 1
Streaming
links/details posted closer to date at: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/cms/index.cfm?chamber=H
The Campaign for
Fair Education Funding will hold a press conference in Harrisburg on March 8 at
1:30 PM. More information at www.fairfundingpa.org
Pennsylvania
governor Wolf's spending amid budget impasse baffles lawmakers
Trib Live BY BRAD BUMSTED | Wednesday, March 2, 2016,
11:05 p.m.
HARRISBURG — The
state budget dispute is puzzling enough, but what baffles Rep. Matt Gabler,
R-DuBois, the most is Gov. Tom Wolf spending money that he cut from the budget.
“He uses the
line-item veto, and then spends the money he vetoed,” Gabler said. Welcome to the latest round of zaniness in
the Harrisburg budget follies, starring Wolf, a liberal Democrat, sparring with
a conservative Republican-run legislature.
After a six-month impasse and a broken-down framework agreement that
failed to become law, the House and Senate sent Wolf a $30.3 billion budget in
December. The governor cut $6 billion from the budget through his line-item
veto. Meanwhile, he's
trying to get lawmakers to approve a 2016-17 budget to address a $2 billion
deficit. He's seeking an income tax increase to pay for closing the deficit and
for higher education spending.
PERC temporarily restored
through bipartisan agreement
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Thursday, March 3,
2016
The Public Employee
Retirement Commission—a recent source of contention between Republicans and the
Wolf administration after the latter disbanded the commission and scattered its
functions throughout state government—is temporarily restored to full function
Thursday in a bipartisan agreement. The
bipartisan agreement reached between the Wolf administration, Office of
Attorney General, and petitioners Representatives Seth Grove (R-York) and Steve
Bloom (R-Cumberland) only restores PERC and its functions until an en
banc panel of the Commonwealth Court rules on whether the Wolf
administration exceeded its authority in eliminating the commission. That hearing is scheduled for May in
Philadelphia. Representatives Bloom and
Grove were quick to react to the news of the agreement Thursday.
State auditor general launching in-depth financial
review of Manheim Township schools
Lancaster Online SUSAN
BALDRIGE and KARA NEWHOUSE | Staff Writers March 3, 2016
The state auditor
general is launching an in-depth financial review of the Manheim Township
School District, whose embattled board has been under fire for violating Pennsylvania’s open-meetings law and operating
in secret. In an interview with LNP on
Wednesday, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said the media organization's ongoing reporting about the school
board’s behavior and curriculum cuts in recent years raise questions about how
the district is being run. "When you see
possible Sunshine Law violations, it compels us as auditors to dig deeper and
find out if there is a culture of openness or a culture of concealment,"
DePasquale said. "And any time art and music go away, regardless of the
district, I get concerned." The
Manheim Township school board approved sizable cuts to elementary art, music
and gym classes in 2012, citing financial constraints and a need to focus on
academic subjects such as math and reading. Elementary library instruction was
eliminated completely. Parents with
students in the district have been protesting those cuts ever since.
Philly SRC asks top court
to reconsider school code case
Inquirer by Martha Woodall, Staff Writer. March 3,
2016
In a bid to undo
last month's devastating state Supreme Court ruling that the Philadelphia
School Reform Commission has no power to suspend parts of the state school
code, the SRC has asked the court to reconsider its decision. The SRC said in documents filed with the
court Monday that the decision "invalidated an essential tool provided by
the legislature to address the School District of Philadelphia's ongoing
financial and educational crisis at a time when the district is struggling to
carry out its constitutional obligation to provide a thorough and efficient
education" to city public school students.
By a 4-2 vote in mid-February, the court declared that a provision in state
law that the SRC had used to cancel parts of the school code was
unconstitutional. The commission had relied often on this special power in the
last few years to close schools, bypass seniority in teacher assignments, and
limit charter school growth. The ruling
came in response to a suit filed by West Philadelphia Achievement Charter
Elementary School that contended that the part of the state takeover law the
SRC used in 2013 to force charters to agree to enrollment caps was
unconstitutional.
Firm providing substitutes
in Philly schools improves dismal performance
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY MARCH 3, 2016
The private company
the School District of Philadelphia hired to handle substitute teaching
services has continued to make improvements, but still severely misses expectations. Last week, NewsWorks published a story based on Right-to-Know data that detailed the
distressing rates at which Source4Teachers has staffed substitutes in most of
the district’s 200-plus schools. In
response, District officials rushed to provide updated data showing that the
Cherry Hill-based firm has made some significant strides. The original story focused on data from Sept.
8 through Dec. 23 – the beginning of the school year through winter break. In that time, Source4Teachers filled
vacancies only 10 percent of the time or less at 62 district schools. When substitutes don’t show, teachers at the
affected school scramble to fill-in by sacrificing their preparation periods. The updated data – which extends to Feb. 19 –
shows that Source4Teachers provided substitutes for the majority of the district’s
schools less than half the time they were needed.
Philly SRC pushes for
stronger school advisory councils
The notebook by Dale Mezzacappa
March 3, 2016 — 3:26pm
The auditorium at
District headquarters was full, with people dragging in additional chairs and
tables, as more than 200 people gathered at a School Reform Commission
meeting Wednesday night to discuss the expansion and empowerment of School
Advisory Councils. School Reform
Commissioner Sylvia Simms, who has led the effort to expand and empower
SACs, welcomed the group, describing how giving parents more
power can lead to better schools. Her message was seconded by SRC Chair
Marjorie Neff, a former District principal.
Simms, a lifelong resident of North Philadelphia, explained that her
school involvement began when she was a bus attendant for students
with disabilities. "I saw how
important it was for families to educate themselves about the system, so that they
could advocate for themselves and have a voice in their children’s
education," she said. The
meeting was called because the SRC wants the District "to have a policy
that puts a school advisory group in every single District school," she
said. "We’re asking you to help us understand what that should look
like." Neff, who said she was
speaking for the entire SRC, said collaborative decision-making is essential
for schools. “No one person has all the answers.” The participants included parents and
advocates, as well as school principals, District officials, and SRC members.
Mayor pitches soda tax to
help pay for pre-K and community schools
The notebook by Fabiola Cineas
March 3, 2016 — 3:01pm
Mayor Kenney, in his
first budget address, proposed $400 million in new money over five years to pay
for a handful of priority initiatives, including universal pre-K and
community schools. The funding, he says,
would come from a 3-cents-per-ounce tax on soda, a measure that has twice
before been struck down by City Council.
Universal pre-kindergarten is a top goal for the mayor. With almost half
of Philadelphia’s children entering kindergarten unprepared, the mayor said,
his proposed $256 million investment would help create 25,000
high-quality pre-K seats over the next five years. Investing in pre-K would have
both long-term and more immediate effects on the economy, he said.
Raising the number of pre-K slots would create jobs both inside and
outside of early childhood education. Having every child in pre-K would
also stabilize the workforce, because parents can be more successful at
work when they have reliable child care, he said.
In addition to
pre-K, the mayor proposed that $39 million from the soda tax revenue go toward
his plan to create 25 community schools in his first term. These schools would
act as neighborhood centers, integrating social services and health care into
the school, while boosting parental and community engagement.
Kenney delivers $4 billion
spending plan with call for soda tax
WHYY Newsworks BY TOM MACDONALD MARCH 3, 2016
There were no major
surprises in Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney's first budget address Thursday. "It feels really good to be home … I've
spent half of my life in this chamber," said the new mayor of the City
Council chambers where he served for 23 years.
Then he delved into the details of his more than $4 billion spending
plan. He told his former colleagues a
tax on sugary drinks is the only way to raise the funding for citywide
pre-K, fixing recreation centers and libraries as well as bolstering the
sagging city pension fund. "There
is simply nowhere else to find this revenue," he said. "We all know
we can't raise property taxes again, we've already raised them four times in
the last five years." Despite the
call for a new tax, City Council members said they will seriously consider the
spending plan.
Ex-teacher acquitted of
most charges in cheating case
Inquirer by Mensah M. Dean, Staff Writer. Updated: MARCH 4, 2016 — 1:08 AM
EST
A sense of relief
washed over Ary Sloane's face Thursday after a Philadelphia jury found the
former teacher, ensnared in a test-cheating scandal, not guilty of three of
four charges she faced. "Today was a
great day for justice. I really appreciate what the jury did, and I really
appreciate how the criminal justice system worked for this innocent woman,
whose only crime was to be working at a place where bad people were
administrators," her attorney, Michael Coard, said after leaving the
courtroom. Sloane, 58, who was a
program-support teacher at Cayuga Elementary in Hunting Park before her arrest
in May 2014, had been charged with tampering with public records or
information; forgery; tampering with records or identification; and criminal
conspiracy. On the third day of
deliberations, the Common Pleas Court jury of seven women and five men found
Sloane not guilty of all charges except criminal conspiracy.
US News and World Report Rankings of PA High Schools
ESSA and the States:
Florida, Kentucky Have Their Own Ideas on Accountability
Education Week
Politics K-12 By Andrew Ujifusa on March
3, 2016 11:34 AM
Ever since the Every
Student Succeeds Act was signed into law last December, policy wonks and others
have wondered exactly how states would react to the new version of the
Elementary and Secondary Act, which in several respects is a significant
departure from the much-maligned No Child Left Behind Act. While for the most
part it's too early to broadly characterize those reactions, bills in at least
two states show that getting states entirely on board with ESSA might be a
challenge. First, let's go to Florida. As our colleague Catherine Gewertz reported
March 2, Sunshine State lawmakers are considering a bill, Senate
Bill 1360, that would allow districts the option of administering the ACT
Aspire exam instead of the state standardized exam, the Florida Standards
Assessment, in grades 3-8, beginning in the 2016-17 school year. Districts
could then choose to administer the ACT Aspire in grades 3-8, for example,
and students would take that exam, unless parents notified the district that
they preferred their student to take the Florida Standards Assessment
instead.
Snow geese flock to Middle
Creek Wildlife Management Area
Penn Live By Dan Gleiter | dgleiter@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
March 03, 2016 at 7:00 PM, updated March 03, 2016 at 7:51 PM
Snow geese numbers are building at the Pennsylvania Game
Commission's Middle Creek Wildlife Management area on the Lancaster-Lebanon
county line near Kleinfeltersville.
Snow geese, tundra
swans and Canada geese are part of the annual waterfowl migration at Middle
Creek. In recent years, more than
100,000 snow geese, 10,000 tundra swans, 10,000 Canada geese and a variety of
ducks have stopped at Middle Creek while pushing north to their breeding
grounds.
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.
PASBO 61st Annual
Conference and Exhibits March 8 - 11, 2016
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania
PA Legislature Joint public hearing-on
Federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) March 14
PA House
and Senate Education Committees
03/14/2016 10:30 AM Hearing
Room #1 North Office Bldg
PSBA
Advocacy Forum & Day on the Hill
APR 4, 2016 • 9:00
AM - 5:30 PM
Join
PSBA and your fellow school directors for the third annual Advocacy Forum on
April 4, 2016, at the State Capitol in Harrisburg. This year’s event will have
a spotlight on public education highlighting school districts’ exemplary
student programs. Hear from legislators on how advocacy makes a difference in
the legislative process and the importance of public education advocacy.
Government Affairs will take a deeper dive into the legislative priorities and
will provide tips on how to be an effective public education advocate. There
will be dedicated time for you and your fellow advocates to hit the halls to
meet with your legislators on public education. This is your chance to share
the importance of policy supporting public education and make your voice heard
on the Hill. Online advanced registration will close on April 1, 4 p.m. On-site
registrants are welcome.
PenSPRA's Annual Symposium, Friday
April 8th in Shippensburg, PA
PenSPRA,
or the Pennsylvania School Public Relations Association, has developed a
powerhouse line-up of speakers and topics for a captivating day of professional
development in Shippensburg on April 8th. Learn to master data to
defeat your critics, use stories to clarify your district's brand and take
your social media efforts to the next level with a better understanding of
metrics and the newest trends. Join us the evening before the
Symposium for a “Conversation with Colleagues” from 5 – 6
pm followed by a Networking Social Cocktail Hour from 6 – 8 pm.
Both the Symposium Friday and the social events on
Thursday evening will be held at the Shippensburg University Conference
Center. Snacks at the social hour, and Friday’s breakfast and lunch is
included in your registration cost. $125 for PenSPRA members and $150 for
non-members. Learn more about our speakers and topics and register today at
this link:
The Network for Public Education 3rd
Annual National Conference April 16-17, 2016 Raleigh, North Carolina.
The
Network for Public Education is thrilled to announce the location for our 3rd
Annual National Conference. On April 16 and 17, 2016 public education advocates
from across the country will gather in Raleigh, North Carolina. We chose Raleigh to highlight the tremendous
activist movement that is flourishing in North Carolina. No one exemplifies
that movement better than the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, who will be the
conference keynote speaker. Rev. Barber is the current president of
the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, the National NAACP chair of
the Legislative Political Action Committee, and the founder of Moral Mondays.
2016 PA Educational
Leadership Summit July 24-26 State College
Summit Sponsors:
PA Principals Association - PA Association of School Administrators
- PA Association of Middle Level Educators - PA Association of
Supervision and Curriculum Development
The 2016
Educational Leadership Summit, co-sponsored by four leading Pennsylvania education associations,
provides an excellent opportunity for school district administrative teams and
instructional leaders to learn, share and plan together at a quality venue in
"Happy Valley."
Featuring Grant
Lichtman, author of EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education,
Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera (invited), and Dana
Lightman, author of POWER Optimism: Enjoy the Life You Have...
Create the Success You Want, keynote speakers, high quality breakout
sessions, table talks on hot topics and district team planning and job alike
sessions provides practical ideas that can be immediately reviewed and
discussed at the summit before returning back to your district. Register and pay by April 30, 2016 for the
discounted "early bird" registration rate:
Interested in letting our
elected leadership know your thoughts on education funding, a severance tax,
property taxes and the budget?
Governor Tom Wolf,
(717) 787-2500
Speaker of the
House Rep. Mike Turzai, (717) 772-9943
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
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