Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
reach more than 3900 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors,
administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's
staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, Wolf education transition
team members, Superintendents, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher
leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations,
education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory
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These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup March 13, 2016:
Pennsylvania’s shame:
Public schools shouldn’t have to sue to stay open
PA Legislature Joint public hearing-on
Federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Monday, March 14; 10:30 am
PA
House and Senate Education Committees
03/14/2016 10:30 AM
Hearing Room #1 North Office Bldg
Schools to join Spring-Ford in march on
Harrisburg Monday, March 14
Capitol Rotunda 11 am
“Although many state departments were
fully funded, school districts have had to borrow a collective $1 billion and
have been given little more than lip service in response to their concerns over
how to pay their employees, keep the utilities on in their buildings and
somehow provide state-mandated educational services to their children. Even the
prospect of school districts closing their doors has not caused any movement in
this political battle.”
PPG Editorial: Pennsylvania’s
shame: Public schools shouldn’t have to sue to stay open
Post Gazette By the Editorial Board March 13, 2016 12:00 AM
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association, which represents the elected
members of public districts, went back to Commonwealth Court in frustration on
Wednesday. No wonder.
The state’s school boards have been unable to plan, and in many cases
unable to pay their bills on time, because of the standoff between the
Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf. In January, the
PSBA filed a lawsuit seeking the release of federal and state funds that
districts are owed plus compensation for the cost of borrowing that many have
undertaken in order to stay open. They
did get six months’ worth of funding, which covered them through December, but
now they’re seeking special relief for the future: They want the state to send
them the sums they were due on Feb. 25 and to keep making payments on a regular
basis so they get at least as much as they received in the 2014-15 school year.
Worsening budget mess
awaiting lawmakers
Citizens Voice BY ROBERT SWIFT Published:
March 13, 2016
HARRISBURG — Lawmakers return to session Monday to face the fiscal
problems they left behind a month ago before the budget hearings started. Those
problems have only grown more serious during their absence from Harrisburg. Standard & Poor’s Rating Services
recently warned that Pennsylvania’s AA- credit rating could be downgraded by
month’s end if the budget impasse that’s left the state with a built-in revenue
deficit and a partial $23 billion budget shaped by Gov. Tom Wolf’s veto isn’t
resolved. Then the Pennsylvania School
Boards Association filed a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court seeking immediate
release of a missing Feb. 23 state subsidy payment for school districts. Wolf
provided only a half year of subsidy payments to schools in the partial budget
that he signed. PSBA has an underlying lawsuit seeking compensation for schools
for $1 billion in total borrowing since last July.
Welcome to Pennsylvania.
Budget optional. | Editorial
By Express-Times opinion staff on March 13, 2016 at 6:00
AM
No one in Harrisburg has found a way to resolve the state's eight-month
budget standoff, but at least the state has a new tourism catchphrase: "Pennsylvania. Pursue your happiness." And a boost in the minimum wage for state workers, compliments of
Gov. Tom Wolf. Given the sense of
gridlock and the public's weariness over recurring crises, this breakdown over
finances is looking like the new normal. Or, as the tourism sloganeers might
have phrased it, "Who needs a budget to be happy?" Well, the bills are coming due. Loans have to
be repaid. And if you thought last year's slippage from one budget year to the
next was just a temporary political disagreement, this year's budget
deadline promises layoffs, early closure of school in some districts, and probably
denial of services. A government shutdown seems inevitable if lawmakers
and Wolf can't resolve the current-year budget dispute and find agreement for
2016-17.
It's time for both sides to split their differences and find a way out —
to get through this budget year and find a stabilization route to the next few
years.
Upper Darby School
District addresses budget impasse, possibility of closure this summer
Delco Times By Kevin Tustin, ktustin@21st-centurymedia.com, @KevinTustin on
Twitter POSTED: 03/12/16, 10:23 PM EST | UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO
With no budget from the state, the Upper Darby School District is
beginning to weigh options on what to do come July 1 if a full budget is not
adopted by lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf.
District Superintendent Rick Dunlap Jr. said the district may be forced
to shut down in the summer without all of the proper funds from the state. It
could borrow $25-$30 million dollars to stay open, but that would ruin the
district’s credit rating and slow down its efforts to raise student
achievement. He said this wasn’t to be
used as a scare tactic to the community, but a reality. “This threat is very real and is being faced by every school district in
the commonwealth,” he said. If the district borrows in upward of $30 million to stay open, it will be
secured by the 2016-17 FY tax collections. Financing would meet the district’s
contractual payroll requirements and commitments, meet medical insurance costs
and defer default on governmental bond obligations.
Budget Impasse Stories –
Is your district on this list?
PSBA website March 11, 2016
As the budget impasse lingers on, more districts are coming forward with
their stories of impact on them and their students. From a distance, the impact
is hard to see, but get on the ground and in the schools and you start to
understand that the lack of state funding is real and impacts real people. PSBA
is gathering these stories and will be sharing them weekly with the media.
Depending on their individual financial situations, schools are reaching into
reserves, taking out loans, adjusting budgets, cutting programs and potentially
deciding what bills can be postponed. All of this is being done while still
providing the highest quality of education for Pennsylvania’s most important
asset – its students. We are asking legislators and the governor to find a
compromise and pass a state budget.
Here's how we can
bridge the #PaBudget divide: Madeleine Dean
PennLive Op-Ed By Madeleine Dean on March 11,
2016 at 1:00 PM, updated March 12, 2016 at 8:29 AM
State Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat,
represents the Montgomery County-based 153rd House District.
It took only one or two of the presidential debates to see that the
political divide in the United States is becoming a chasm. Here in Pennsylvania, we are seeing a similar
political divide. The current budget stalemate—the longest in the
Commonwealth's history—is evidence of this disunity, and the rhetoric around
the next budget is becoming increasingly antagonistic.
This ideological digging-in of heels from leadership on both sides has
brought us to this impasse and, I fear, jeopardizes this Commonwealth's
prosperity. Last December, we
were moments away from a budget that was agreed-to by the majority of
rank-and-file legislators; both sides had made concessions; it was not perfect.
But it was responsible and it was a compromise. At the last moment, House Republican Leadership decided no, cancelled the
vote, and sent an older, lesser, unbalanced budget bill to Governor. It was Newton who taught us: "For
every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." A serious, nasty, and debilitating budget deadlock that
boils over into a second calendar year should be the catalyst for fundamental
reforms of the state budget process. The
inaction and failure to pass adequate funding for last year requires an equally
aggressive and ambitious budget proposal for the coming year.
“As stated in the resolution, PENNCREST
School District “declares it supports the plaintiffs in the William Penn School
District lawsuit, as they seek to enforce Pennsylvania’s constitutional
guarantee of ‘a thorough and efficient system of public education,’ that it
requests the governor and General Assembly withdraw their opposition to
independent judicial review of their compliance with the Constitution, and
urges the General Assembly to provide school districts, in a timely manner,
with adequate revenues in accordance with a fair and predictable formula
calculated to enable students across the commonwealth to have the resources
necessary to become productive citizens and meet the academic standards set by
the commonwealth.”
PENNCREST leaders approve
resolution showing support for changes to way state's schools are funded
By Lorri Drumm Meadville Tribune March 11, 2016
TOWNVILLE — PENNCREST School Board members approved a two-page resolution
showing support for changes to the way schools in Pennsylvania are funded. The resolution was approved by a 6-3 vote at
Thursday’s meeting. The board action shows support for school districts serving
as plaintiffs in a school funding lawsuit.
Voting yes to the resolution were President Jason Bakus, Vice President
Chris Kondzielski, and board members Gerry Deane, Mark Gerow, Kyle Wensel and
Laura Wright. Voting no were board members Luigi DeFrancesco, Bill
Mantzell and Fred McDermott.
“To keep PSERS solvent and involved in
hundreds of investments, Pennsylvania taxpayers pay a surcharge of 30 cents a
year on every dollar that is paid school employees. The cost is split between
state taxpayers and local school district property-tax payers. Rapid increases
in the subsidy for retired school employees has squeezed school budgets across
the commonwealth.”
Pennsylvania school
pension system lost money in 2015
Inquirer by Joseph N. DiStefano @PhillyJoeD
Updated: MARCH 12, 2016 — 1:07 AM EST
The $52-billion-asset Pennsylvania Public School Employees'
Retirement System lost money last year, trailing the performance of the
Pennsylvania and New Jersey state worker pension investment returns for 2015,
according to a report the system released Friday. PSERS reported losing 1.8 percent for the 12
months ended Dec. 31. SERS, the Pennsylvania state workers' fund,
last month reported a gain of 0.5 percent for 2015.NJDI, the New Jersey
Division of Investment, reported a gain of 0.6 percent. All three trailed far behind the 7 percent to
8 percent annual fund targets as stock and commodity values plunged. PSERS's extra losses reflected its unusually
large bets on commodity fund managers. The system posted a 33 percent loss for
funds invested in "Master Limited Partnerships" (typically oil and
gas investments), an 18 percent loss for commodities investments, and an 8
percent loss in "risk parity" investments, which can look a lot like
hedge fund strategies.
Letter: With Pa. budget
stalemate, volunteers fill a void
Inquirer Letter by Catherine Conahan Updated: MARCH 13, 2016 — 1:08
AM EST
During this time of budget battles over public school funding, a civic
group has circumvented politics and reopened libraries in West Philadelphia
public schools by staffing them with volunteers when funds were not available
to hire librarians. I have been
volunteering with the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC) for six
months and have seen the difference that books can make in the lives of
children in underserved communities. "Reading Buddies," who work with
children who are struggling to read, and library volunteers develop literacy
and critical-thinking skills, encourage responsibility in caring for books, and
reinforce the enjoyment of reading. Since
our state legislators can't put politics aside to invest in the lives of
children, we need to set an example by donating to or volunteering with
organizations that do. Visit wepac.org or contact board member Heather Farber
at heather@wepac.org to
see how you can help.
|Catherine Conahan, Havertown, ckconahan@gmail.com
Manheim Township school
board member wants to pull public meeting notices from LNP
Lancaster
Online by SUSAN BALDRIGE | Staff Writer March 12,
2016
The Manheim Township school board, which vowed earlier this year to be
more transparent in dealing with the public, is planning to stop publishing
advance notice of its board meetings and agendas in LNP. The move follows the newspaper’s extensive
reporting on the embattled board’s use of closed-door meetings leading
up to the abrupt resignation of the district’s superintendent,
and its acknowledgment that it violated the state Sunshine Act. School board member Mark Anderson, who is
proposing to pull the district’s legally required public notices out of LNP,
said Thursday night he wants to switch to a newspaper that “better represents
the community.”
He did not say where the district would publish the notifications. Under
state law and the Pennsylvania school code, the board is required to
advertise its meetings in newspapers of general circulation. The law requires advertisements be placed in
newspapers that are “sold at fixed prices” to subscribers and readers. Anderson
did not return phone calls Friday. Acting Superintendent Martin Hudacs said he
believed Anderson’s intention was to identify and publish the notices in “the
paper with the highest circulation rate in our area.” LNP has the largest paid circulation and
broadest distribution of any paid newspaper based in Lancaster County. It is
also the only local newspaper covering Lancaster County that publishes seven
days a week.
York City reviews charter
schools
York Daily Record by Angie Mason,
amason@ydr.com12:54 p.m. EST March 12,
2016
Three charter schools in York City are considered in good standing, and
one is being monitored, a district official told the school board last week. Lulu Thomas, the district’s director of pupil
services, told the board that Lincoln Charter School, Crispus Attucks Charter
School, and York Academy Regional Charter School are all in good standing. York Academy Regional Charter School’s
renewal request is being reviewed, she said. An annual review was done in
October, the school’s renewal application was reviewed and the district
solicitor has been looking at proposed renewal paperwork, Thomas said.
Statewide decrease in PSSA
scores spurs extra training for teachers
- Teachers’ training to help
students better understand Text Dependent Analysis
- Curriculum that aligns
with tests already instilled at some schools
- Educators think more
training for new parts of test is step forward in helping students succeed
Centre Daily Times BY BRITNEY MILAZZO bmilazzo@centredaily.com
March 12, 2016
Area teachers are on the forefront of finding enhanced ways to teach —
and help students succeed — on the PSSAs in April.A portion of the test will
make up for about a fifth of the score for the first time this year. Teachers are undergoing training on ways to
help students get a better understanding of the section called Text Dependent
Analysis — a literacy aspect that encourages students to answer questions with
more evidence and interpretation of a passage.
The extra training comes on the heels of a commonwealthwide decrease in
test scores reported last year.
And local administrators said it’s only a matter of time for a turnaround
in state standardized test scores that could come with a more transparent state
Department of Education, and a realistic approach to raising the bar. This year’s Pennsylvania System of School
Assessments might be the turning point.
Blogger note: we will be running
articles highlighting past/present school directors and educators who are
running for legislative offices. Gordon
Marburger is a member of the Mars Area School District board.
Mars Area School Board member Marburger taking 2nd
shot at incumbent state Rep. Metcalfe
Trib Live BY MELISSA DANIELS | Saturday, March 12, 2016,
11:00 p.m.
BUTLER — Joan Chew still lives in the house she grew up in on Center
Avenue, on a corner lot with a six-foot white lattice fence around the yard,
just a few blocks from the county offices where she worked for 16 years as
county treasurer and two as county commissioner. At 86, Chew remains rooted in Republican
politics, the dominant brand in Butler County. She thinks this could be the
year someone unseats incumbent Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, the Cranberry firebrand
whose far-right politics have earned him the loyalty of Pennsylvania's most
conservative partisans and the enmity of almost everyone else. Metcalfe faces a primary rematch from Gordon
Marburger, a fourth-generation farmer and school bus driver whose 2014 write-in
campaign came within 566 votes of booting Metcalfe from Harrisburg. “I think with Gordon on the ballot, Daryl's
got a problem,” Chew said. “It's a whole different ballgame.” Marburger, whose tenure as a school board
member and community college trustee have earned him a reputation as a public
servant, was removed from the ballot after failing to file an ethics form, but
his write-in campaign squeezed Metcalfe into the tightest margin of victory in
his career.
Donald Trump thinks Ben
Carson is an education expert. Oy vey.
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss March 11
Trump:
Carson is ‘right-on’ on education
You thought Ben Carson was an expert in neurosurgery, because he is,
well, a world-renowned neurosurgeon. But, it turns out, he is also an education
expert, or so says Donald Trump, who just welcomed Carson’s endorsement for the
Republican presidential nomination and declared that Carson was going to help
him with education issues because he knows so much about them.
At a news conference on Friday, Trump said that he spent some time
talking with Carson and was pleasantly surprised to learn how much he knows
about education. “I was most impressed
with his views on education. It’s a strength. It’s a tremendous strength,” he
said. So Carson is “going to be involved with us,” particularly on health and
education. [Ben Carson’s endorsement: He says there are ‘two different’ Trumps, one
of them more ‘cerebral’ In
fact, Carson has some, well, interesting ideas about education and about
history.
Pi Day · Celebrate Mathematics on March 14th
Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th (3/14) around the world. Pi (Greek
letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the
ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately
3.14159. Pi has been calculated to over
one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As an irrational and transcendental
number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern. While only a
handful of digits are needed for typical calculations, Pi’s infinite nature
makes it a fun challenge to memorize, and to computationally calculate more and
more digits.
Ravitch: Help Us Raise Money to Help Our Allies
Diane Ravitch’s Blog
March 6, 2016
The Network for Public Education Action Fund
exists to help friends of public schools compete for election to state and
local school boards, as well as other elected offices. We can't match the spending of our
adversaries, but our numbers are far greater than theirs. If we get our friends
and neighbors to vote, if we get every parent and teacher to vote, we would win
every seat.
We have the
power to reclaim and rebuild our schools, making them palaces of learning
rather than dreary places to take tests.
You can help us by opening this link.
PSBA
Advocacy Forum & Day on the Hill April 4th
APR 4, 2016 • 9:00
AM - 5:30 PM
Join
PSBA and your fellow school directors for the third annual Advocacy Forum on
April 4, 2016, at the State Capitol in Harrisburg. This year’s event will have
a spotlight on public education highlighting school districts’ exemplary
student programs. Hear from legislators on how advocacy makes a difference in
the legislative process and the importance of public education advocacy.
Government Affairs will take a deeper dive into the legislative priorities and
will provide tips on how to be an effective public education advocate. There
will be dedicated time for you and your fellow advocates to hit the halls to
meet with your legislators on public education. This is your chance to share
the importance of policy supporting public education and make your voice heard
on the Hill. Online advanced registration will close on April 1, 4 p.m. On-site
registrants are welcome.
Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators
(PASA) 2016 Education Congress April
6-7, 2016
professional
development program for school administrators
Focus: "The
Myths of Creativity: The Truth about How Innovative Companies Generate Great
Ideas" Featured Presenter: Dr.
David Burkus
April 6-7, 2016 Radisson
Hotel Harrisburg in Camp Hill
The program will
focus on how school leaders can develop and utilize creativity in education
management, operations, curriculum and leadership goals. The second day will
allow participants to select from multiple discussion/work sessions focusing on
concepts presented by Dr. Burkus and facilitated by school leaders who have
demonstrated success in creative thinking and leadership in schools across the
commonwealth.
Deadline for
hotel accommodations: March 15
See the PASA website
for more information at: www.pasa-net.org/2016edcongress.
PenSPRA's Annual Symposium, Friday
April 8th in Shippensburg, PA
PenSPRA,
or the Pennsylvania School Public Relations Association, has developed a
powerhouse line-up of speakers and topics for a captivating day of professional
development in Shippensburg on April 8th. Learn to master data to
defeat your critics, use stories to clarify your district's brand and take
your social media efforts to the next level with a better understanding of
metrics and the newest trends. Join us the evening before the
Symposium for a “Conversation with Colleagues” from 5 – 6
pm followed by a Networking Social Cocktail Hour from 6 – 8 pm.
Both the Symposium Friday and the social events on Thursday evening
will be held at the Shippensburg University Conference Center. Snacks at the
social hour, and Friday’s breakfast and lunch is included in your
registration cost. $125 for PenSPRA members and $150 for non-members. Learn
more about our speakers and topics and register today at this link:
Briefing:
Public Education Funding in Pennsylvania
TUE, APR 12 AT 8:30 AM, PHILADELPHIA,
PA
Join
attorneys Michael Churchill, Jennifer Clarke and Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg for a
briefing on:
- the current budget impasse
- the basics of education funding
- the school funding lawsuit
- the 2016-2017 proposed budget
1.5
CLE credits available to PA licensed attorneys.
Light breakfast provided.
WHEN:
Tuesday, April
12, 2016 from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM (EDT) - Add to Calendar
WHERE:
United Way of
Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey - 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
1st Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103 - View Map
The Network for Public Education 3rd
Annual National Conference April 16-17, 2016 Raleigh, North Carolina.
The
Network for Public Education is thrilled to announce the location for our 3rd
Annual National Conference. On April 16 and 17, 2016 public education advocates
from across the country will gather in Raleigh, North Carolina. We chose Raleigh to highlight the tremendous
activist movement that is flourishing in North Carolina. No one exemplifies
that movement better than the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, who will be the
conference keynote speaker. Rev. Barber is the current president of
the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, the National NAACP chair of
the Legislative Political Action Committee, and the founder of Moral Mondays.
2016 PA Educational
Leadership Summit July 24-26 State College
Summit Sponsors:
PA Principals Association - PA Association of School Administrators
- PA Association of Middle Level Educators - PA Association of Supervision
and Curriculum Development
The 2016
Educational Leadership Summit, co-sponsored by four leading Pennsylvania education associations,
provides an excellent opportunity for school district administrative teams and
instructional leaders to learn, share and plan together at a quality venue in
"Happy Valley."
Featuring Grant
Lichtman, author of EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education,
Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera (invited), and Dana
Lightman, author of POWER Optimism: Enjoy the Life You Have...
Create the Success You Want, keynote speakers, high quality breakout
sessions, table talks on hot topics and district team planning and job alike
sessions provides practical ideas that can be immediately reviewed and
discussed at the summit before returning back to your district. Register and pay by April 30, 2016 for the
discounted "early bird" registration rate:
Interested in letting our
elected leadership know your thoughts on education funding, a severance tax,
property taxes and the budget?
Governor Tom Wolf,
(717) 787-2500
Speaker of the
House Rep. Mike Turzai, (717) 772-9943
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
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