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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA
Ed Policy Roundup April 15, 2016:
PA lawmakers won't support Wolf's
education-funding plan
Rally in Harrisburg with the Campaign for Fair Education Funding
on May 2nd 12:30 Main Rotunda!
Public schools in Pennsylvania are a far cry from the
“thorough and efficient” system of education promised guaranteed under our
state constitution. That’s why we want YOU to join Education Law Center and
members of the Campaign for Fair Education Funding in Harrisburg on May 2nd!
Buses of supporters are leaving from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia - please
register below so we can help you arrive on time for the 12:30 press conference
in the Main Rotunda! Questions? Email smalloy@elc-pa.org
for more details.
Community
schools movement has a supporter in Pa. ed chief
At a conference
last week, Rivera detailed ways that he and Gov. Wolf’s administration are
trying to advance a community schools strategy.
The notebook
by Paul Socolar
April 14, 2016 — 12:54pm
In
Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera, supporters of the community schools
concept in Pennsylvania have an enthusiastic advocate in state government.
Rivera was a keynote speaker at last week’s conference of the
Coalition for Community Schools in Albuquerque, N.M., attended by 1,700
participants, including about 70 from Pennsylvania. “Our vision for the commonwealth moving
forward is really going to support the community schools movement in amazing
ways,” Rivera said. He applauded Mayor Kenney’s push for community schools in
Philadelphia and pointed to activity in Pittsburgh, Erie, Lancaster, the Lehigh
Valley, and other smaller communities around the state. In his speech, during a meeting with
conference participants from Pennsylvania, and in an interview, Rivera detailed
a number of ways that he and Gov. Wolf’s administration are trying to advance a
community schools strategy.
Pa., Erie County needs fair school funding
now: Sen. Sean Wiley
GoErie By
SEN. SEAN WILEYContributing writer April 15, 2016 06:29 AM
ERIE,
Pa. -- One of three -- being one of three is typically something sought after,
a prestigious accolade, an honor. In the case of Pennsylvania, being one of
three states that don't utilize a comprehensive education funding formula, one
of three is nothing to celebrate. Pennsylvania
has a shameful number of high-poverty schools with vastly lower per student
spending ratios than their wealthier neighbors. According to the Campaign for
Fair Education Funding, Pennsylvania has the largest funding gap between the
wealthiest and the poorest schools in the country, and, possibly, the widest
economic, racial and ethnic achievement gap in the United States. A class of 25
students in a wealthy Pennsylvania district will be the recipient of almost
$80,000 more than that same class in a poor district. How is it acceptable that
the quality of a child's education is tied to a ZIP code?
Try for a
veto, sign it or punt? What's Gov. Wolf's next move on fiscal code bill?: Thursday
Morning Coffee
By John L. Micek | jmicek@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on April 14, 2016 at 8:07 AM, updated April 14, 2016 at 8:51 AM
Good
Thursday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
If we were Gov. Tom Wolf, we suspect we may have woken this morning wondering why we'd ever left the comforts of our family-owned cabinetry business for the shark tank that is the Pennsylvania Capitol. Alternately, we may have cast a longing eye at the First Jeep, cast another at the calendar, rightfully concluded that this year's Coachella Festival, with a reunited Guns & Roses as the headliner, starts this weekend, grabbed the Missus, put the keys in the ignition and headed west without a backward glance. And those are the more pleasant choices facing the York County Democrat now that the state House and Senate have cast veto-proof majorities on a key piece of Wolf's freshman budget proposal.
If we were Gov. Tom Wolf, we suspect we may have woken this morning wondering why we'd ever left the comforts of our family-owned cabinetry business for the shark tank that is the Pennsylvania Capitol. Alternately, we may have cast a longing eye at the First Jeep, cast another at the calendar, rightfully concluded that this year's Coachella Festival, with a reunited Guns & Roses as the headliner, starts this weekend, grabbed the Missus, put the keys in the ignition and headed west without a backward glance. And those are the more pleasant choices facing the York County Democrat now that the state House and Senate have cast veto-proof majorities on a key piece of Wolf's freshman budget proposal.
“The code would also include construction reimbursement
funds for school districts. The last fiscal code sent to Wolf, HB 1327, was
vetoed because of $2.5 billion in reimbursements that was “never appropriated
in the Republican budget.”
House,
Senate-approved fiscal code would bring more money to schools
By Kevin Tustin, ktustin@21st-centurymedia.com, @KevinTustin on Twitter POSTED: 04/14/16, 10:56 PM
EDT | UPDATED: 3 HRS AGO
A new
fiscal code approved by the state House and Senate on April 13 will provide
public schools with more money after Gov. Tom Wolf implemented his own
distribution formula that saw over 80 percent of schools getting less. House Bill 1589 is the latest fiscal code to
be placed on Wolf’s desk and will pump just over $200 million more in basic
education subsidies and ready to learn block grants that will be distributed in
a fair funding formula approved by the Basic Education Funding Commission. The Senate passed the bill with a veto-proof
of 38-11 and the House passed it 149-45. A veto or signature by Wolf is
pending. If Wolf signs the fiscal code
currently approved from both chambers, 428 districts will now see an uptick in
funding for 2015-16 over 2014-15. In
Delaware County, 13 districts would have lost $2.2 million under Wolf’s plan
while Chester Upland would have had a boost of $14 million, with William Penn
adding $45,000. Now, all
school districts are looking to get more: Chester Upland, $2 million; Chichester,
$385,037; Garnet Valley, $240,496; Haverford Township, $183,322; Interboro,
$341,621; Marple Newtown, $120,198; Penn-Delco, $202,006; Radnor Township,
$115,938; Ridley, $503,765; Rose Tree Media, $107,257; Southeast Delco,
$720,146; Springfield, $195,201; Upper Darby, $1,7 million;
Wallingford-Swarthmore, $152,439; and William Penn, $893,316.
Delco’s
added share totals $6.3 million.
Pennsylvania lawmakers won't support
Wolf's education-funding plan
By Molly
Born / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette April 15, 2016 12:00 AM
A week
after Gov. Tom Wolf announced a plan to hand out hundreds of millions of
dollars in Pennsylvania education money, legislators, including some in his own
party, passed a bill that would effectively quash his efforts. “If he vetoes it today, I’ll be there
tomorrow to do the override,” state Rep. Bill Kortz, D-Dravosburg, said
Thursday. Mr. Kortz represents five school districts he contends would receive
less money under the Democratic governor’s formula than through a bipartisan
one created last year. Both chambers of
the General Assembly voted Wednesday in favor of distributing $200 million in
new state education money for the 2015-16 school year using a funding formula
created and adopted in June by a bipartisan commission studying the issue. The
fiscal code that Mr. Kortz called veto-proof also allows the state to borrow
$2.5 billion to reimburse school districts for construction projects.
Late push
could unlock Pa. school construction funding
Inquirer
by Kathy Boccella and Angela
Couloumbis, STAFF WRITERS Updated: APRIL
15, 2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
When the
Centennial School District embarked on a $140 million building spree in the
mid-2000s, with three new elementary schools and major high school renovations,
officials failed to account for just one thing.
They didn't expect that state government would keep finding ways to
renege, or at least stall, on its promise to help districts pay down
construction debts through its aid program known as PlanCon. That looked to be the case again this year,
when the belatedly approved state budget didn't include money to make the
expected PlanCon payments. Late
Wednesday, the legislature found a work-around, passing a plan to borrow up to
$2.5 billion for PlanCon projects. In an unusual step, it was attached as an
amendment to the Fiscal Code, a budget-related bill that effectively directs
how state money can be spent. Also included was a fair-funding formula that
helps determine allocations for each district.
The measure was the latest battleground over education funding for Gov.
Wolf and the Republican legislature, but it passed with enough votes among
Democrats to override a veto. So as the governor decides his next move - he
vetoed a previous version of the Fiscal Code last month - some educators
breathed a sigh of relief.
Dispelling
some GOP myths about school funding: Megan Healey
PennLive Op-Ed By
Megan Healey April 14, 2016 1:00 PM, updated April 14, 2016 at 2:12
PM
Megan Healey is a deputy press
secretary for Gov. Tom Wolf. She writes from Harrisburg.
A major
part of the 2015-16 budget, which became law last week without Governor Wolf's signature, is
determining how to allocate basic education funding to help to restore the
devastating education cuts by the previous administration and the legislature
in 2011 while making Pennsylvania's funding for schools more equitable. But first, let's take a look back to when the
school crisis in Pennsylvania began.
Legislators
did their part for school funding, now its Wolf's turn: Jennifer Kocher
PennLive Op-Ed By
Jennifer Kocher April 14, 2016 at
2:03 PM, updated April 14, 2016 at 8:17 PM
Jennifer Kocher is chief
spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre. She writes from
Harrisburg.
Lawmakers
have struggled for years to answer the question of how to best meet the
Constitutional mandate to provide a thorough and efficient system of public
education. For too long, the process of developing a funding formula for education
dollars was influenced by politics, rather than good public policy. To ensure education dollars would be
distributed equitably in the future, the General Assembly formed a bipartisan
Basic Education Funding Commission two years ago to study how dollars could be
driven out to schools based on the real factors that drive the cost of
education. After months of public
hearings and cooperation among lawmakers, school administrators, education
advocates, teachers and parents, the panel developed a fair funding formula
that was lauded by education advocates across the state – including Gov. Tom
Wolf. This formula was included in this year's state budget, which devoted an
additional $200 million to education.
Allentown looks to create alternative
education option, add staff members
Jacqueline Palochko Contact Reporter Of The Morning Call April 14, 2016
Allentown School
District looks to create alternative setting for special education students
ALLENTOWN
– In response to the string of violence that rocked the Allentown School
District in the fall, administrators are looking to spend $2 million to create
an alternative setting for special education students and an additional nearly
$2 million to increase staff. At
Thursday's Education Committee meeting, the school district gave a presentation
to the school board about adopting Camelot Education, a national program that
gives instruction to special education students with academic, behavioral
and/or emotional needs. Camelot
Education would have seats for 36 middle school students and 36 high school
students. Middle school students would be housed in the Jackson building, which
currently houses its alternative school for disruptive students. High school
students would be at William Penn, which is where the alternative school for
disruptive students is. A student would
go to Camelot after the district had tried interventions with him or her but
was not successful, said Belinda Miller, director of special education. Camelot
would have a staff trained to deal with students who have emotional and
behavioral issues, Miller said.
Erie School cuts weighed
By RON
LEONARDI ron.leonardi@timesnews.com14 Apr 2016 — Erie
Times-News
Erie
schools Superintendent Jay Badams on Wednesday outlined $9.8 million
in potential 2016-17 school district budget cuts to help balance a deficit
projected at $10 million to $12 million. Badams
and district Chief Financial Officer Brian Polito presented 16 potential budget
cuts at the Erie School Board's committee of the whole meeting. One of the potential cuts involves
eliminating at least five administration positions, which would save the
district an estimated $650,000. Other
potential cost-cutting measures include eliminating programs, five assistant
principals ($400,000), five elementary school positions ($300,000), six
elementary school guidance counselors ($360,000) and full-day kindergarten
($1.1 million), and closing a high school ($900,000). "We've cut already about as much as we
feel we can up to this point,'' Badams said. "Over the last five years,
we've pared the district back to where we spend the least per pupil of any
district in Erie County by far. "There's
really not much left for us to cut, so this process is pretty grim," he
said.
Highlands
strike to end Tuesday
Trib
Live BY TOM YERACE | Thursday, April 14, 2016,
1:21 p.m.
The
Highlands School District teachers' strike will be shorter than expected. “The teachers are back in the classroom on
Tuesday, April 19,” said Matt Edgell of the Pennsylvania State Education
Association, who is working with the Highlands teachers' union. Edgell said the state Department of Education
informed the union that teachers must return to work Tuesday to ensure the
district will complete 180 classroom days by June 15. Superintendent Michael Bjalobok said
Highlands students, who were scheduled to end the school year June 3, will now
be in class through June 15.
Philly District:
Don't renew four city charters
Inquirer
by Martha Woodall, Staff
Writer Updated: APRIL 15,
2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
The
Philadelphia School District on Thursday recommended that four charter schools
with low test scores be shut down or taken over by others. But the changes would not be immediate. They
require hearings, followed by votes by the School Reform Commission. Still, the recommendations by the district's
charter school office are stark, and involve two powerful players in the city's
charter world: Kenny Gamble's Universal Cos. and Aspira of Pennsylvania, which
focuses on Latino youth. Universal operates seven charters in the city while
Aspira has four. The
district's charter office is urging the SRC not to renew the operating
agreements of Universal's Vare Promise Neighborhood Partnership Charter and its
Audenried Promise Neighborhood Partnership Charter, both in South Philadelphia,
and Aspira's John B. Stetson Charter School in Kensington and Olney Charter
High School in Olney.
District
recommends non-renewal of four Philly Renaissance charters
The notebook
by Dale Mezzacappa April 14, 2016 — 4:49pm
The
School District's charter school office is recommending not renewing the
charters of four converted District schools, all run by major local
charter operators. They are
Audenried high school and Vare middle school, run by Universal Companies, and
John B. Stetson middle school and Olney high school, run by ASPIRA. All
four were converted under the District's Renaissance schools turnaround
initiative. Five other schools had their
charters renewed, three with conditions. West Philadelphia Achievement Charter
School, which applied for a renewal, is still awaiting the outcome of its
evaluation.
Critics: Philly
Teacher shortage equals summer school
As of this week,
school officials said, the district had 139 teacher vacancies, a figure they
said represents just 1.6 percent of its 8,443-member teaching force.
Inquirer
by Mensah M. Dean, Staff
Writer Updated: APRIL 15,
2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
Amid
concern that a chronic teacher shortage is impeding student learning, the
Philadelphia School District expects twice as many high school students to fail
courses this year and be required to attend summer school. District officials said this week that they
were bracing for 1,000 high school students in summer classes this July, up
from 500 last year. The expanded summer session will cost the district
$546,000, they said. In addition, the
district expects to spend $1.3 million on what they described as summer
enrichment classes for about 2,500 students in lower grades who score poorly in
reading or math, or who have not had a certified teacher for a third of the
year or longer. The remedial and
enrichment programs, announced this week, come as critics warn that persistent
teacher vacancies in city schools are undermining academic achievement.
Report of Philadelphia City Council State
of Schools Hearing 4/11/2016
Purpose
of Hearings n Authorizing the Committees on Children & Youth and
Education to study the impact of five years of reduced state funding on safety,
essential services, and academic outcomes in Philadelphia schools and on
vulnerable student populations
Graduation
rate flat after years of increases
by the Notebook
April 14, 2016 — 7:49am
The
School District’s graduation rate has hit a plateau after years of steady
increases.
The
four-year graduation rate for 9th graders who started in 2011 and graduated in
2015 is 65 percent – the same as for the previous two classes, those who
started in 2009 and 2010, and slightly lower than the 2008 cohort. To get these
numbers, individual students are tracked over time. The six-year rate for the class that started
in 2009 is 70 percent, meaning an additional 5 percent of students stayed for a
fifth or even sixth year to get a diploma. Six-year rates for the 2010 and 2011
9th graders are not yet available. Officials
have no explanation for why there has been a leveling off after years of steady
progress; a decade ago, less than half the students in District schools
graduated on time.
Blogger note: Mr. Brouilette has been a leading advocate of
all things school choice: charters, cybers, vouchers, EITC tax credits for
private and religious schools
Matt
Brouillette moving on to new advocacy organization that will pack 'a political
punch'
Penn
LiveBy Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
April 14, 2016 at 12:53 PM, updated April 14, 2016 at 2:50 PM
Matt Brouillette surprised many with his sudden
announcement earlier this month that he was soon walking away after 14 years as president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation,
a conservative policy center. Turns out,
it will only be a short walk across State Street to an office that will house a
newly formed issue advocacy organization in Harrisburg. The new organization called Commonwealth
Partners Chamber of Entrepreneurs will be free of some of the Internal Revenue
Service's restrictions placed on the Commonwealth Foundation when it comes to
political activity but will have a similar agenda. Brouillette, who came to be regarded as a
formidable opponent by labor union officials for his work to influence public
policy at the Commonwealth Foundation, will serve as its president and CEO,
starting on July 1.
Even Community
Schools Are Not Enough; We Must Confront Child Poverty
Jan
Resseger’s Blog Posted on April 14, 2016 by janresseger
I am a
fan of wraparound Community Schools. Having pediatric services at a
school-based health clinic would be a lifeline for a single mom and hotel maid
without any paid sick days—a mother whose child needed immunizations or
antibiotics for an earache. For this mother, having Head Start right in the
same building where her older child attends second grade would make everything
simpler. Parents, especially single parents, desperately need services
packaged together to make them accessible.
But sociologists have recently published, in the popular press where we
can all read it, a body of evidence that child poverty is so much deeper and
more prevalent than most of us have understood. We need the services of
Community Schools, but we also need to shatter widespread denial of a child
poverty crisis in an economy that has added primarily low-paid, hourly jobs
with uncertain hours and no paid time off, even sick days. A half century
of evidence demonstrates that children’s school achievement correlates with
their families’ economic circumstances. If we are serious about closing
the gaps in school achievement, we will have to be far more realistic about the
way we define the problems that deny opportunity for our society’s poorest
children.
Breaking: Vergara Ruling Overturned by
State Appeals Court
Education
Week By Anthony Rebora on April
14, 2016 6:20 PM By Emmanuel Felton
A
California appeals court, reversing a trial court's ruling in the
landmark Vergara case, has found that California's
job-protection laws for teachers do not in fact violate the state
constitution's equal protection guarantee.
The appeals court ruled April 14 that the plaintiffs in the Vergara case
had failed to prove sufficiently that the state's teacher-employment laws,
including tenure and termination provisions, "inevitably cause a certain
group of students to receive an education inferior to the education received by
other students." In a unanimous
decision, the panel of three judges ruled that while the job-protection laws
may in fact lead to the employment and retention of more bad teachers, the
statues say nothing about how those ineffective teachers are assigned. "Critically, plaintiffs failed to show
that the statutes themselves make any certain group of students more likely to
be taught by ineffective teachers than any other group of students," wrote
Presiding Justice Roger Boren.
Rally in Harrisburg with the Campaign for
Fair Education Funding on May 2nd 12:30 Main Rotunda!
Public
schools in Pennsylvania are a far cry from the “thorough and efficient” system
of education promised guaranteed under our state constitution. That’s why we
want YOU to join Education Law Center and members of the Campaign for Fair
Education Funding in Harrisburg on May 2nd! Buses of supporters are leaving
from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia - please register below so we can help you
arrive on time for the 12:30 press conference in the Main Rotunda! Questions?
Email smalloy@elc-pa.org for more
details.
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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