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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA
Ed Policy Roundup April 12, 2016:
Perhaps we should trust in God to fully
fund our schools…
Campaign for Fair Education Funding - Rally for Public Education
Save the date: May 2nd at the Capitol
Bill lets
'God' back in public schools
Penn
Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
April 11, 2016 at 3:02 PM, updated April 12, 2016 at 2:13 AM
Legislation
to encourage public schools to post the national motto, "In God We Trust," inside their buildings is
once again on the move in the state House.
The House Education Committee voted 19-6 on Monday to approve the legislation that would allow
schools – but not mandate them – to post the motto in classrooms, the library,
cafeteria, or anywhere in their buildings. The House passed a similar bill in the last legislative
session by an overwhelming 172-24 vote but the measure died due
to inaction in the Senate. Rep. Cris
Dush, R-Jefferson, who is sponsoring the legislation, said it is his hope that
schools that post the 60-year-old motto might inspire some students to ask
questions about its origin. But Rep. Jim
Roebuck, D-Philadelphia, questioned the need for the legislation since nothing
prevents schools from posting the motto now.
“While I continue to advocate for the Basic Education
Commission’s funding formula to be applied across the commonwealth, we must
restore cuts first so that we do not work from a baseline that locks in decades
of inequitable school funding in Pennsylvania.”
Haywood: Education Funding Formula Must Start
from Equitable Baseline
Senator
Art Haywood April 11, 2016
State
Senator Art Haywood issued the following statement in advance of a Pennsylvania
Senate vote on school funding:
HARRISBURG, 11 April 2016: “This week, the Senate will
decide whether or not to continue allowing unfair funding for our children’s
schools. Last year, the U.S. Department of Education announced that
Pennsylvania was the worst in the nation in fairness of funding to high poverty
schools. This week we will vote to distribute school funding in a way that
either continues or puts an end to these inequalities. Governor Wolf recognizes that we must reverse
the decades long inequitable funding of schools in Pennsylvania. U.S. Education
Secretary Duncan has said that Pennsylvania is a state where low-income
families in districts like Philadelphia are “being shortchanged when it comes
to state and local education funding.” In Pennsylvania, the difference between
high poverty and no poverty districts is 33% – the highest in the nation and
more than double the national average. Governor
Wolf’s funding formula is aimed at restoring the deep cuts from the Corbett
years in order to begin to reverse Pennsylvania’s unjust school funding scheme
that discriminates against high poverty students.
Blogger comment: I’m
not certain I would call these “rewards”.
To the best of my knowledge the following numbers are
accurate; please do not hesitate to correct me if that is not the case. If
Pennsylvania were providing adequate funding to school districts we would not
be pitting districts and kids against each other.
Statewide total education budget cuts in 2011-2012
were $1,079,971,607
Philadelphia
school district’s share of that was $291,150,546
Pittsburgh
school district share was $34,096,531
Chester
Upland school district share was $18,616,518
Gov. Wolf
rewards 3 school districts, snubs the rest | Opinion
By Mario Scavello Express-Times guest columnist on
April 11, 2016 at 10:40 AM
Taxpayers
in Monroe and Northampton counties are painfully familiar with the effects of
unfair and inequitable state education funding.
Unfortunately, despite his promises of "schools that teach," Gov. Tom Wolf has unilaterally decided to continue this trend
of underfunding and to ignore the educational needs of our students. For years our growing schools have been
shortchanged as urban school districts have received a wealth of new funds
under an outdated school funding formula.
Recognizing the severe disparity among schools, a bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission was established to
develop a new, fairer funding formula to equitably distribute new education
dollars. After months of public hearings and cooperation between lawmakers,
school administrators, education advocates, teachers and parents, a new formula
was established.
Lancaster County schools get $4.5 million
less in Wolf's distribution than commission's formula
Lancaster
Online KARA NEWHOUSE | Staff Writer April 11, 2016
The
2015-16 state budget fight is not over. The battlefield has merely shifted. And the casualties on the sidelines are
school officials who say they can’t plan if they can’t trust the numbers
they’re hearing. Last month Democratic
Gov. Tom Wolf allowed a budget to pass without his signature.
At the same time, he vetoed a bipartisan plan that Republican legislators
proposed to use for divvying up education funding among
schools. This week, Wolf announced his
own plan for distributing the money. “Normally,
when a budget got approved, (the Department of Education) would send out a
spreadsheet so everybody knew what they were getting,” Hempfield Chief
Operating Officer Dan Forry said. “We have not seen any of that yet.” What school officials have seen are competing
spreadsheets from Wolf’s office and GOP legislators. The governor says money will be distributed
through his “restoration formula.” Republicans, who say Wolf doesn’t have the
authority to do that, are considering a lawsuit to stop him.
Governor's
funding plan disses Lebanon
Lebanon Daily News by John Latimer, johnlatimer@ldnews.com10:23
p.m. April 11, 2016
After
campaigning to restore the education cuts made by his predecessor and engaging
in a futile nine month budgetary stalemate with the Republican-controlled
legislature, Gov. Tom is now supporting an education funding formula that could
cost the Lebanon School District $850,000 this year. Wolf’s education funding formula, part of his
pledge to restore the cuts made by Gov. Tom Corbett, is directing millions of
dollars to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Chester Upland school districts this
year at the expense of Lebanon and other smaller urban districts, like York,
Lancaster and Allentown, Superintendent Marianne Bartley told the school board
Monday night. “While
we understand that these (larger) cities need that money, there is no
question that the rest of the urban schools need that money and it isn’t coming
at this point,” Bartley said.
State funds
for schools less than districts anticipated; concern numbers may change
By CARA MORNINGSTAR (cmorningstar@sungazette.com) , Williamsport
Sun-Gazette April 10, 2016
School
funding numbers have been released by the state, and while more money will be
heading to local districts than what was received last year, it appears to be less
than local officials anticipated when they adopted budgets in June. Moreover, a letter from the Pennsylvania
Association of School Business Officials sent to school districts this past
week, just after the governor released the funding amounts, states:
"Please be aware that there is a good potential that ... this amount will
change." At least two school
officials here in Lycoming County believe the calculations contained errors. Meanwhile, local officials again are having
to review their budgets that were passed in June and based on higher numbers
than the ones released this past week.
Hanover Area
School Board will have to borrow money
By Camille Fioti - For Times Leader First Posted: 5:30 pm - April
9th, 2016
HANOVER TWP. — The Hanover School District will have to borrow money to make ends meet, district Business Manager Tom Cipriano said on Friday. “We may need to borrow, but at least we know the money is coming,” he said. The district may not see $210,000 in promised state reimbursements for construction work performed more than a decade ago until the 2016-17 school year. “We don’t want to borrow now,” Cipriano said. “It’s not fair to the current taxpayers to pay the fees (associated with borrowing) because Harrisburg is not sending the money quick enough or regular enough. There is no timetable that we can find that says when we’re going to get the next allotment of basic education funding. We don’t know when these next payments are coming.” Cipriano said the district has received basic education funding “forever” five times a year at very regular intervals. “This doesn’t help districts like ours that have increased poverty, English language learners and an over reliance on school property taxes because we get less from the state,” he said.
HANOVER TWP. — The Hanover School District will have to borrow money to make ends meet, district Business Manager Tom Cipriano said on Friday. “We may need to borrow, but at least we know the money is coming,” he said. The district may not see $210,000 in promised state reimbursements for construction work performed more than a decade ago until the 2016-17 school year. “We don’t want to borrow now,” Cipriano said. “It’s not fair to the current taxpayers to pay the fees (associated with borrowing) because Harrisburg is not sending the money quick enough or regular enough. There is no timetable that we can find that says when we’re going to get the next allotment of basic education funding. We don’t know when these next payments are coming.” Cipriano said the district has received basic education funding “forever” five times a year at very regular intervals. “This doesn’t help districts like ours that have increased poverty, English language learners and an over reliance on school property taxes because we get less from the state,” he said.
Baer: Pa.'s
tax burden — meh
by John
Baer, Daily News Political Columnist Updated: APRIL
11, 2016 — 8:55 AM EDT
As we
approach the April 15 noxious annual taxpayers' deadline and as Harrisburg gets
set for its equally noxious annual battle over taxes and spending, now comes a
new report on how Pennsylvania stacks up against the other states in terms of
state tax burden. And guess what? The
findings provide grist for those, such as Gov. Wolf, arguing that a little more
taxes wouldn't be so bad; and for those, such as the entire
Republican-controlled Legislature, arguing enough is enough, we got it just
about right. That's because the
financial website WalletHub on Monday released data measuring each state's
take on property taxes, income taxes and sales and gross receipts taxes.
Pennsylvania's ranked right smack dab in the middle at 25th most noxious.
Read
more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/growls/Pas-tax-burden----meh.html#VcmFGfxiUKF9ztyu.99
PCN On the
Issues: Education Funding with Nathan Mains of PA School Boards Association,
Wednesday at 9 pm
Nathan
Mains is the Executive Director of the PA School Boards Association. The
group met recently to talk about the damage that had been done to schools by
the state budget impasse. At the same time, Governor Wolf had announced
that he had distributed overdue education funding to school districts according
to his own "restoration formula." But Republicans say he's not
authorized to do that.
“Petrosky and other Democrats also cite redistricting,
which was controlled by Republicans after the 2010 census, as creating
districts that consolidated political support for one party over another. “It's been a deterrent to finding good
candidates,” Petrosky said. “They think, ‘Why bother? I don't have a chance.' ”…..
But G. Terry Madonna, a pollster and political scientist at Franklin &
Marshall College in Lancaster, said the extreme polarization both in the
Legislature — and among voters — cannot be discounted. There are fewer
pragmatists today than there were in 2006, he said. “The polarization has weakened personal
relationships. They don't like each other, and they don't trust each other,”
Madonna said. “Now if the other party wins, they feel the future of the
republic is at stake.”
Political
frictions dissuade candidates for open seats in Pa. Legislature
Trib
Live BY KARI ANDREN | Monday, April 11, 2016,
11:00 p.m.
Retiring
state Rep. Nick Kotik said a legislative session in Harrisburg now feels like
his own version of the movie “Groundhog Day.”
Each day the fiscally conservative Democrat wakes up and goes through
the same routine: Shower, get dressed, go to the state Capitol and get voted
down. “The majority party votes you down
on just about every issue you promote,” said Kotik about contending with a
35-seat Republican advantage in the House.
After three or four days of that routine, he goes home to Coraopolis for
a few days before returning to Harrisburg to repeat the whole thing. “It kind of wears you down to a point,
mentally,” said Kotik, 65.
Philly District
offering summer school for students who lacked certified teachers this year
City Council grills
officials on their spending priorities.
The notebook
by Dale Mezzacappa April 11, 2016 — 6:19pm
The
School District will offer more than 2,500 kindergarten through 7th-grade
students three weeks of reading and math enrichment in July because they
did not have a highly qualified teacher for at least two-thirds of the year. The lack of qualified substitutes and a
high teacher vacancy rate this year were one of the main topics at a
City Council hearing Monday about conditions in the District, convened by
the Committee on Children and Youth and the Education Committee. Councilwoman Helen Gym, chair of the Children
and Youth Committee, framed the issue in the cash-strapped District as one of
“basic human rights,” in which many schools – most serving the most vulnerable
students – lack essential services, including enough counselors and nurses,
updated curricula, modern classrooms, and safe buildings.
Education
officials, City Council focus on state of education in Philly public schools
WHYY
Newsworks BY TOM MACDONALD
APRIL 11, 2016
Philadelphia
public schools are supposed to have more nurses and counselors next year.
At a
City Council hearing, school district officials said they can't make promises
beyond that that. Philadelphia
Councilwoman Helen Gym led the Monday hearing, saying education suffers when
every school doesn't have a nurse and there aren't enough counselors. "The shocking loss of counselors in
schools has had a very devastating impact on students," she said. Marjorie Neff, who leads the School Reform
Commission, had some good news and bad news for Council. "We're
not coming to City Council this year asking for money from the city," she
said. "But there's a point at which we will no longer be able to sustain
what we are doing with the funds we are receiving and that has to be
addressed." The district officials
can afford nurses and counselors for next year, but after that funds might not
be there.
Phila. School
District still struggling to fill teacher vacancies
Inquirer
by Mensah M. Dean, Staff
Writer Updated: APRIL 12,
2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
With
little more than two months remaining in the academic year, more than 100
teacher vacancies remain across the Philadelphia School District, resulting in
thousands of students' being taught by uncertified teachers, it was disclosed
during a City Council hearing Monday.
Following
the joint hearing of the Education Committee and the Children and Youth
Committee, a district spokesman said there are 139 vacancies, which represents
1.6 percent of the district's 8,443 teacher positions. "Our goal is to seek zero vacancies. We
know we have a lot of work to do," said spokesman Fernando Gallard. In the meantime, the district will offer a
variety of summer classes to help those students who did not have a regular
teacher for more than one-third of the school year.
Keeping
misbehaving students off the streets, but not off the hook
Inquirer
by Kathy Boccella, Staff
Writer Updated: APRIL 11,
2016 — 1:07 AM EDT
The
incident was a classic teen Romeo caper: A Chester High School senior sneaked
on a bus for a field trip he wasn't supposed to take, all because he wanted a
girl's "digits" - her phone number.
He told administrators he expected to be suspended, the usual punishment
for breaking the rules. But they had a surprise for him. Instead of getting
booted out, he'd have to perform school service, whether helping out with
maintenance, sorting books, organizing closets, even working events such as the
senior girls' tea. "We used to be a
place where, quite frankly, children were treated like criminals. It wasn't
just the norm, it was the expectation," said Chester Upland Superintendent
Gregory Shannon, who before taking the helm of the Delaware County district in
2013 was deputy chief of student discipline for the Philadelphia schools. Shannon and his team have tried to toss that
expectation out the window in the poverty-plagued district. Chester Upland has
joined a growing number of districts across the state, and the nation, in
abandoning the "zero tolerance" policies that proliferated in the
wake of the deadly mass school shooting at Columbine in 1999. At first intended
to keep weapons out of schools, the policies were broadened to include lesser
violations, becoming the norm in the 2000s.
CPI students serve Gov. Wolf a gourmet
meal
- Students from Bellefonte, Bald Eagle
Area and Penns Valley cooked dinner at the Governor’s Residence
- Centre County legislators, educators
attended
- First students to cook for governor
Centre Daily Times BY CATE HANSBERRY chansberry@centredaily.com April 11, 2016
A group
of high school students from the culinary program of the Central Pennsylvania
Institute of Science and Technology went to the Governor’s Residence on Monday
to cook dinner for the governor, first lady and guests from their home county. Students from Bellefonte, Bald Eagle and
Penns Valley area high schools came prepared to put their best dishes forward. And Centre County educational administrators
and legislators came to try them. CPI
President Richard Makin said he was excited, proud and “maybe a little nervous”
to see his students prepare dinner for the governor. But at the end of the dinner, all he had to
say was, “Job well done!” The students
prepared a Waldorf salad with an entree of rack of lamb, minted couscous and
roasted spring asparagus — not to mention the hors d’oeuvre and dessert. “This is a milestone in your career,” Makin
said to the students. “This is something you’re going to look back on. We are
so proud of you.” Hank Yeagley, chairman
of the CPI board of trustees, said in his 19 years on the board, this was the
first time CPI students have come to the Governor’s Residence. “It’s really awesome,” he said. “It’s such a
great opportunity to show off our students.”
SAT to the
rescue? Why Delaware and other states are embracing a new role for an old test
WHYY
Newsworks BY AVI WOLFMAN-ARENT
APRIL 11, 2016
On April
12, Delaware’s high school juniors will take a standardized test. That in
itself isn’t remarkable. Every year millions of kids across the country take
statewide standardized tests. It’s a fact few students enjoy, and some adults
decry. Delaware, however, is one of five
states trying a new exam that many hope will combat the anti-testing malaise.
And in this case, that new exam is actually an old one: the venerable SAT. Delaware, Maine, Connecticut, Michigan and
New Hampshire will all require schools to administer the SAT this spring--and
will then judge those schools based on how their students perform. Three states
will do the same with ACT. Three others will use either the PSAT or its ACT
equivalent, a test called ACT Aspire 10.
The moves mark a new era in high school assessment and establish a new
front in the decades-old battle between SAT and ACT for testing supremacy. They
also figure to appease students, parents, and staff frustrated with the purpose
and volume of federally-mandated standardized tests. But a larger question lingers: Will any
of this help states better gauge how much their kids know?
ESSA
Negotiators Dig Into Regulatory Details
Proposed new rules cover tests,
spending
Education Week By Alyson Klein Published Online: April 11, 2016
Much of
the federal education policy community got behind the Every Student Succeeds
Act, which replaced the much-maligned No Child Left Behind Act. But that doesn't mean it will be easy to get
a diverse group of educators, advocates, and experts—as well as the U.S.
Department of Education—to agree when it comes to regulations on testing and a
funding issue known as "supplement-not-supplant." A panel charged with writing regulations on
those pieces of the law has met for six days over two separate sessions and had
not yet reached agreement on proposed new regulations. The issues under discussion are deep in the
policy weeds, but many of them—including how testing for students in special
education and English-learners should work under ESSA—could have major
implications for implementation of the law for years to come.
“APEC isn’t just new to Tondo or Manila. It’s a different
kind of school altogether: one that’s part of a for-profit chain and relatively
low-cost at $2 a day, what you might pay for a monthly smartphone bill here.
The chain is a fast-growing joint venture between Ayala, one of the
Philippines’ biggest conglomerates, and Pearson, the largest education company
in the world. In the US, Pearson is best
known as a major crafter of the Common Core tests used in many states. It also
markets learning software, powers online college programs, and runs
computer-based exams like the GMAT and the GED. In fact, Nellie already knew
the name Pearson from the tests and prep her sister took to get into nursing
school.
But the company has its eye on much, much more. Investment
firm GSV Advisors recently estimated the annual global outlay on education at
$5.5 trillion and growing rapidly. Let that number sink in for a second—it’s a
doozy. The figure is nearly on par with the global health care industry, but
there is no Big Pharma yet in education. Most of that money circulates within
government bureaucracies.
Pearson would like to become education’s first major
conglomerate, serving as the largest private provider of standardized tests,
software, materials, and now the schools themselves.”
PEARSON’S QUEST TO COVER THE PLANET IN
COMPANY-RUN SCHOOLS
WIRED by
AUTHOR: ANYA KAMENETZ 04.12.16.04.12.16
FOR
DECADES, THE major landmark of Balut, Tondo, a densely populated slum
squeezed against Manila’s North Harbor, was a monumental pile of
often-smoldering trash nicknamed Smokey Mountain. “It used to be sort of
pretty, actually,” says Nellie Cruz, a lifelong resident. She points to the
spot, now bulldozed, across a reeking, garbage-strewn canal from where we stand
with her 13-year-old son, Aki. The scene
is humble, yes, but Nellie, a single mother, isn’t destitute or desperate.
She’s a modern, upwardly mobile megacity dweller, the kind you’re equally
likely to meet in Shanghai or São Paulo, except with better English skills—the
legacy of the Philippines’ history as a US colony and one key to its current
economic growth. APEC is a different
kind of school—one that’s part of a for-profit chain and relatively low-cost at
$2 a day. Both
Nellie and Aki carry iPhones, for example, though the devices were given to
them by Nellie’s sister, a nurse, who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. The
Cruzes’ immaculate, doll-size family compound has a caged rooster in the front
yard, Christian inspirational wall decals, and a strong Wi-Fi signal. In
contrast to the screen-time panic among US parents, Nellie is OK with her only
child spending time in his attic bedroom, gaming and browsing science pages on
Facebook, rather than out on the street exposed to the pounding sun, the
omnipresent filth, and the drug gangs on the corner.
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.
Electing PSBA Officers – Applications Due
by April 30th
All
persons seeking nomination for elected positions of the Association shall send
applications to the attention of the chair of the Leadership Development
Committee during the month of April, an Application
for Nomination to be provided by the Association expressing interest
in the office sought. “The Application for nomination shall be marked received
at PSBA Headquarters or mailed first class and postmarked by April 30 to be
considered and timely filed. If said date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or
holiday, then the Application for Nomination shall be considered timely filed
if marked received at PSBA headquarters or mailed and postmarked on the next
business day.” (PSBA
Bylaws, Article IV, Section 5.E.).
Open
positions are:
- 2017 President
Elect (one-year term)
- 2017 Vice
President (one-year term)
- 2017-19 Central Section at
Large Representative – includes Regions 4, 5, 6, 9 and
12 (three-year term)
In
addition to the application form, PSBA Governing
Board Policy 302 asks that all candidates furnish with their
application a recent, print quality photograph and letters of application. The
application form specifies no less than two and no more than four letters of
recommendation, some or all of which preferably should be from school districts
in different PSBA regions as well as from community groups and other sources
that can provide a description of the candidate’s involvement with and
effectiveness in leadership positions. PSBA Governing
Board Policy 108 also outlines the campaign procedures of candidates.
All
terms of office commence January 1 following election.
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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