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
agencies, professional associations and education advocacy organizations via
emails, website, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA
Ed Policy Roundup April 1, 2016:
PA Gridlock? Check
out these two maps…
PSBA
Advocacy Forum & Day on the Hill
APR 4, 2016 • 9:00 AM - 5:30
PM
Join PSBA and your fellow school directors for the third
annual Advocacy Forum on April 4, 2016, at the State Capitol in
Harrisburg.
Info and Registration: https://www.psba.org/event/psba-advocacy-forum-day-hill/
Campaign for Fair Education Funding - Rally for Public Education
Save the date: May 2nd at the Capitol
“But some believe that partisan practice (gerrymandering)
is now helping take the country over the edge, that extremism and gridlock are
byproducts of politically motivated redistricting.”
Pennsylvania Congressional Districts Map
2013
Iowa Congressional Districts Map 2013
Iowa keeping partisanship off the map
Boston Globe By Tracy Jan GLOBE STAFF DECEMBER 08, 2013
DES
MOINES — In a locked windowless chamber across the street from the Iowa State
House, three bureaucrats sequester themselves for 45 days every decade after
census data is released. Their top-secret task: the “redistricting” of the
state’s legislative and congressional boundaries. But
here, unlike in most other states, every care is taken to ensure the process is
not political. The
mapmakers are not allowed to consider previous election results, voter
registration, or even the addresses of incumbent members of Congress. No
politician — not the governor, the House speaker, or Senate majority leader —
is allowed to weigh in, or get a sneak preview.
Instead
of drawing lines that favor a single political party, the Iowa mapmakers abide
by nonpartisan metrics that all sides agree are fair — a seemingly
revolutionary concept in the high-stakes decennial rite of redistricting. Most other states blatantly allow politics to
be infused into the process, leaving the impression — and sometimes the reality
— that the election system is being rigged. And it has long, maybe always, been
this way. The infamous gerrymander, after all, was coined in 1812 after
Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a law that allowed a
salamander-shaped district that benefited his party. But some believe that partisan practice is
now helping take the country over the edge, that extremism and gridlock are
byproducts of politically motivated redistricting.
The Keystone State Education Coalition is an endorsing
member of Fair Districts PA; so is the Commonwealth Foundation….
Fair Districts PA
Working to Ensure Fair Districts
& Fair Elections for Every PA Voter
Every 10
years, after each national census, the Pennsylvania Legislature redraws
the boundaries of our Congressional, state House and state Senate districts.
The original goal of redistricting was to ensure voting districts remain equal
in population, so that every vote counts.
When
politicians draw the lines to protect incumbents, to favor one political party,
or to dilute the votes of particular citizen groups, everyone loses.
Legislators find themselves listening more to party leadership than to voters,
while voters feel disenfranchised and lose interest in elections.
Because
of political manipulation of electoral boundaries, many of Pennsylvania's
electoral districts are no longer competitive. In fact, a growing number of PA
candidates now run unopposed.
PPG Editorial: New budget battle: Wolf and
Republican leaders just never quit
Post Gazette
April 1, 2016 12:00 AM By the Editorial Board
Pennsylvania’s
budget debacle is the gift that keeps on giving — trouble, that is.
Although
Gov. Tom Wolf acquiesced and signed a $30 billion version last week, nine
months after the deadline, he vetoed the fiscal code. That’s a separate piece
of legislation that routinely accompanies a budget and spells out the details
and formulas that must be used in sending the taxpayers’ money to school districts,
human service agencies and other operations.
But not in this budget round, when nothing has been normal and
everything has become a skirmish in the open warfare between the Republican-led
Legislature and the Democratic administration. Both sides are complicit. The governor is correct that legislators put
some features in the fiscal code that went beyond what should have been included.
It contains provisions that put the brakes on natural gas regulations that have
long been in the works, gives the Legislature too much authority over a Clean
Power Plan prepared by the state Department of Environmental Protection and
plays some tricks with funding for early childhood education and school
construction. The two sides will have to
work out their differences at some point. In the meantime, though, the governor
is ready to overstep his own authority in order to distribute basic education
funding.
County schools still awaiting state funds
- Educators happy state budget passed, but
unsure when money will be distributed to school districts
- Districts used reserve funds to make up
for lack of state funding
- Leaders urge educators, residents to
keep in touch with local legislators about education needs
Centre
Daily Times BY BRITNEY MILAZZO bmilazzo@centredaily.com
MARCH 30, 2016
If there’s
one thing local school district administrators said they learned from the state
budget impasse this school year, it’s that a strong fund balance is important. That’s what helped districts such as
Bellefonte, Penns Valley and State College remain secure financially when state
funding didn’t come through in the time they expected it to. Bald Eagle and Philipsburg-Osceola areas
applied for lines of credit, but didn’t execute them after Gov. Tom Wolf agreed
in January to release partial funding to schools that put more than $6.8
million in BEA’s budget, and $7.364 million into P-O’s budget. But while some school district administrators
are glad the state budget went into effect Monday after a nearly nine- month
impasse, they’re still skeptical about when the remainder of money will come
through.
Test scores
aren't always an accurate predictor of future success: Don Bell
PennLive Op-Ed By
Don Bell on March 31, 2016 at 1:00 PM
Don Bell, an occasional PennLive
Opinion contributor, is the superintendent of schools in the Northern Lebanon
School District.
Schools
across the Commonwealth recently began the process of enrolling the next class
of students with a graduation year of 2029.
While that graduation date may seem to be in the distant future, it is
the duty of all school districts to begin to prepare these children for their
future graduation today. At the same
time districts will soon embark on the annual ritual of PSSA and Keystone
standardized testing. So, what information should school districts utilize to
make sure the 2029 graduates will be ready for their future?
Pa.
Republicans are still using Tom Corbett's strategy to defund public schools:
PennLive letters
Penn Live Letters to the Editor DAVID
L. FAUST, Selinsgrove on March 31, 2016 at 3:00 PM
Former
Gov. Tom Corbett is gone, but the Republicans that still control the state
legislature are using the same strategy; namely defund the local public
schools, especially the poorer rural schools, to make them cut programs and
staff, or else borrow money and raise property taxes sky high in the 2016-17
school year to pay back loans and balance their budgets. Unfortunately, the area state senators and
local state representatives, by their lack of action and leadership, approve of
their party's leadership strategy to starve our public schools financially and
make them fail.
PBPC: AN EXPLANATION OF OUR INFOGRAPHIC,
“ESPECIALLY FOR POOR DISTRICTS, DRASTIC CORBETT EDUCATION CUTS REMAIN”
PA Budget and Policy Center Posted by Marc Stier on
March 31, 2016 9:10 am
So what
difference does a budget actually make? Why should we care that we wound up
with the Republican budget for this year (HB 1801), rather than the bi-partisan
budget agreed to in December 2015 (SB 1073), let alone the budget Governor Wolf
proposed in March 2015? The difference
for the education of our kids is found in this first figure above. The $846
million cut from classrooms in 2011-2012 has never fully been restored. And
because more funding was cut and less funding restored in the districts that
have a higher poverty than a lower poverty rate, state spending per student in
those districts remains substantially behind what it was in 2010-11. We call
the difference between what was spent per student in 2010-11 and what is spent
today the “funding gap.”
Report: A
younger and more diverse Philly still grapples with poverty, struggling schools
Inquirer
by Aubrey Whelan, Staff
Writer Updated: APRIL 1,
2016 — 1:07 AM EDT
Philadelphia
in 2016 is younger, more diverse, and in the midst of a historic, decadelong
population upswing - a city undergoing dramatic change after decades of
decline.
But some
of the city's most enduring problems - poverty, low educational attainment, and
unemployment - remain frustratingly unsolved, according to the Pew Charitable
Trust's State of the City report, released Thursday. The report described Philadelphia as a city
transformed - but one that must use its encouraging growth as a stepping-stone. "Philadelphia has been transformed by
demographic trends that have produced growing populations across much of urban
America," the report said. "The question is whether those trends are
forming a foundation for real progress on the city's most persistent
challenges."
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160401_Report__A_younger_and_more_diverse_Philly_still_grapples_with_poverty__struggling_schools.html#4iQFuXGv0ptwjDIL.99
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160401_Report__A_younger_and_more_diverse_Philly_still_grapples_with_poverty__struggling_schools.html#4iQFuXGv0ptwjDIL.99
Concentrated
poverty grows in Pennsylvania
WHYY
Newsworks BY MARIELLE SEGARRA,
WHYY APRIL 1, 2016
"Someone who's
poor in a poor neighborhood is much more likely to face violent crime, failing
schools, poorer health outcomes, and weaker connections to jobs."
Concentrated
poverty is growing across the country, according to a report from the Brookings Institution. Since the recession, more people live in
neighborhoods where at least 20 percent of residents fall below the poverty
line. The percentage of poor
people living in such neighborhoods has also grown. In the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton
area, about 15 percent more poor people live in these neighborhoods since the
recession. Around Harrisburg-Carlisle, it's nearly seven percent. In the
Philadelphia region, it's about three percent. Living in a poor neighborhood makes things
harder for someone whose income falls below the poverty line, says Brookings
fellow Elizabeth Kneebone.
Commentary:
District's 'turnaround' plan is bad for students
Philly.com
Opinion by Lisa Haver Updated: APRIL
1, 2016 — 3:01 AM EDT
Lisa Haver is a
retired teacher and co-founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools.
IF YOU READ the paper or listen to the news, you probably have some opinions about the issues facing the Philadelphia School District. You know that Harrisburg's repeated slashing of education spending and its failure to come up with a fair and permanent funding formula continue to take a toll. Adding to that problem are questionable district priorities, which have resulted in:
IF YOU READ the paper or listen to the news, you probably have some opinions about the issues facing the Philadelphia School District. You know that Harrisburg's repeated slashing of education spending and its failure to come up with a fair and permanent funding formula continue to take a toll. Adding to that problem are questionable district priorities, which have resulted in:
- More than 160 teacher vacancies, leaving
at least 5,300 students without a full-time teacher this year.
- The substitute fill rate plummeting from
65 percent to below 40 percent after the School Reform Commission's vote
to outsource jobs.
- Lack of support staff, including
counselors and classroom aides, resulting in an increase in serious
incidents in many schools.
- Fewer than eight certified school
librarians in the entire district.
Also,
the physical condition of the buildings themselves, along with the dearth of
full-time nurses, has resulted in higher student absenteeism. The school district, though, has a different
take on the situation: The problem is that teachers and principals are in the
wrong buildings, and that moving them is the solution. Last month, Superintendent William Hite
announced yet another "turnaround plan" for four more neighborhood
schools, the main feature of that plan being the forced transfer of principals
and teachers.
Two Philly
charters singled out for excessive special-ed suspension rates in 2011-12
WHYY
Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY
MARCH 30, 2016
The
Civil Rights Project at UCLA has flagged two Philadelphia charter schools for
suspending special-education students disproportionately and at especially high
rates. Based on 2011-12 federally
reported data, the Civil Rights Project found that Philadelphia Electrical and Technical Charter
High School and Esperanza Academy Charter High School were among 10 charters
nationally with such a disparity. Philadelphia
Electrical and Technical suspended students with disabilities about 25 percent
more of the time than it did those without.
In fact, special-ed students were the only ones that the charter
suspended that year. Esperanza Academy
Charter High School also was flagged for suspending special-needs students 19
percentage points more than it did the rest of its student population.
Thackston
school expects to repay Wagner soon
York Daily Record by Angie Mason, amason@ydr.com7:45
p.m. EDT March 31, 2016
Helen
Thackston Charter School expects to repay its loan from state Sen. Scott Wagner
now that the York school has received funds from the state. Danyiell Newman, the charter school's board
president, said that the school recently received about $1.9 million in overdue
tuition payments. Most of
the school's students come from York City School District, but instead of
receiving payments from the district, the charter school has instead asked that
they come from the state. The state then deducts the tuition from York City's
subsidy. Newman said the school borrowed
a total of nearly $1.2 million from Wagner to keep operations moving while the
state budget impasse stretched on. Almost $500,000 has already been repaid.
Pa. property
tax elimination not feasible (letter)
York Daily Record Letter by 9:44
a.m. EDT March 31, 2016
By Julius C. Green, CPA, JD, President, Pennsylvania
Institute of CPAs
Accountants: Eliminating “all” Pa. school property taxes is not
even remotely possible.
Once
again, there are rumblings in Harrisburg about pushing legislation some lawmakers
and their allies say will eliminate “all” school property taxes. Nobody should
believe that this is even remotely possible. Right now, there is no feasible
and economically prudent proposal on the table that makes up for the nearly $12
billion that comes from local property taxes.
The
Pennsylvania Institute of CPAs, of which I am the current president, adamantly
opposes the short-sighted proposal for several reasons.
Universal
plans to hire 75 new teachers
The charter
operator will likely compete for candidates with the School District, which has
boosted recruiting efforts.
The notebook
by Andre Dienner March 31, 2016 — 2:52pm
The
Philadelphia School District is not alone in putting up a major push in teacher
recruitment. Universal Education Companies, a charter operator of eight
schools in Philadelphia, is seeking to hire 75 new teachers for the 2016-17
school year, part of an effort to reduce class sizes and free up time for
more professional development opportunities for staff. Penny Nixon, superintendent at Universal,
said the goal is a 1 to 25 teacher-to-student ratio, plus setting the
stage for “a rethinking of teaching and learning practices.” She said that
Universal is stressing “student-centered” instruction that requires a shift
from practices that have historically dominated public school
instruction.
“Karen Lewis, president of the 27,000-member Chicago
Teachers Union, said she hopes the disruption puts pressure on Illinois Gov.
Bruce Rauner (R), whose standoff with the Democratic legislature has left the
state without a budget for nine months, squeezing public schools and
universities and low-income students who depend on state-funded scholarships.”
Chicago teachers to strike Friday,
shutting down nation’s third-largest school system
Washington
Post By Kari Lydersen and Emma Brown April
1 at 7:19 AM
CHICAGO — Thousands of Chicago teachers are expected to walk off
the job Friday, a one-day strike that union leaders describe as an
effort to pressure state lawmakers to address the dire financial
outlook of the city’s public schools and colleges. The move by the Chicago Teachers Union comes
amid stalled contract negotiations and means that the city’s nearly
400,000 students will miss class, throwing their families’ daily
routines into disarray. The strike also is likely to snarl traffic for
Chicago commuters thanks to a downtown rally that is expected to draw
thousands of teachers and their allies, including fast-food workers, university
students and professors and community groups.
White teachers and black teachers have
different expectations for black students
Washington
Post By Emma Brown March 31 at 7:00 AM
Many in the education world talk about the power of expectations,
expressing the belief that if adults in a school expect students to succeed,
then students will rise to that expectation, and if adults expect failure —
well, that, too, can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now a new study suggests that race plays a big role
in influencing how teachers see their students’ potential for academic
success, raising questions about whether teachers’ biases could be holding back
black students and contributing to the nation’s yawning achievement gap. When a white (or other non-black) teacher and
a black teacher evaluate the same black student, the study found, the white
teacher is 30 percent less likely to believe that the student will graduate
from a four-year college — and 40 percent less likely to believe the
student will graduate from high school.
The
discrepancy was even greater for black male students.
Mayor de Blasio Meets With Parents Opposed to State Testing
New York Times By KATE TAYLOR MARCH 31, 2016
It has
been a sore point for the leaders of New York City’s opt-out movement that
Mayor Bill de Blasio,
who promised to be an advocate for public-school parents, has not fully
embraced their protest against state tests.
They got the chance on Wednesday to express their concerns to the mayor
directly, when a half-dozen parents and a principal who has criticized the
tests met with Mr. de Blasio at City Hall.
The meeting took place a few hours after opt-out advocates held a news conference on the steps of City Hall, where
they accused the city of failing to inform low-income parents of their right to
refuse to have their children sit for the tests. Ursulina Ramirez, the chief of staff to the
schools chancellor, Carmen Fariña, said in a statement that the mayor believed
the tests were important but that he met with the parents because he wanted to
hear their perspective.
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.
PSBA
Advocacy Forum & Day on the Hill April 4th
APR 4, 2016 • 9:00
AM - 5:30 PM
Join
PSBA and your fellow school directors for the third annual Advocacy Forum on
April 4, 2016, at the State Capitol in Harrisburg. This year’s event will have
a spotlight on public education highlighting school districts’ exemplary
student programs. Hear from legislators on how advocacy makes a difference in
the legislative process and the importance of public education advocacy.
Government Affairs will take a deeper dive into the legislative priorities and
will provide tips on how to be an effective public education advocate. There
will be dedicated time for you and your fellow advocates to hit the halls to
meet with your legislators on public education. This is your chance to share
the importance of policy supporting public education and make your voice heard
on the Hill. Online advanced registration will close on April 1, 4 p.m. On-site
registrants are welcome.
Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators
(PASA) 2016 Education Congress April
6-7, 2016
professional
development program for school administrators
Focus: "The
Myths of Creativity: The Truth about How Innovative Companies Generate Great
Ideas" Featured Presenter: Dr.
David Burkus
April 6-7, 2016 Radisson
Hotel Harrisburg in Camp Hill
The program will
focus on how school leaders can develop and utilize creativity in education
management, operations, curriculum and leadership goals. The second day will
allow participants to select from multiple discussion/work sessions focusing on
concepts presented by Dr. Burkus and facilitated by school leaders who have
demonstrated success in creative thinking and leadership in schools across the
commonwealth.
Deadline for
hotel accommodations: March 15
See the PASA website
for more information at: www.pasa-net.org/2016edcongress.
PenSPRA's Annual Symposium, Friday
April 8th in Shippensburg, PA
PenSPRA,
or the Pennsylvania School Public Relations Association, has developed a
powerhouse line-up of speakers and topics for a captivating day of professional
development in Shippensburg on April 8th. Learn to master data to
defeat your critics, use stories to clarify your district's brand and take
your social media efforts to the next level with a better understanding of
metrics and the newest trends. Join us the evening before the
Symposium for a “Conversation with Colleagues” from 5 – 6
pm followed by a Networking Social Cocktail Hour from 6 – 8 pm.
Both the Symposium Friday and the social events on
Thursday evening will be held at the Shippensburg University Conference
Center. Snacks at the social hour, and Friday’s breakfast and lunch is
included in your registration cost. $125 for PenSPRA members and $150 for
non-members. Learn more about our speakers and topics and register today at
this link:
Briefing:
Public Education Funding in Pennsylvania
TUE, APR 12 AT 8:30 AM, PHILADELPHIA,
PA
Join
attorneys Michael Churchill, Jennifer Clarke and Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg for a
briefing on:
- the current budget impasse
- the basics of education funding
- the school funding lawsuit
- the 2016-2017 proposed budget
1.5
CLE credits available to PA licensed attorneys.
Light breakfast provided.
WHEN:
Tuesday, April
12, 2016 from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM (EDT)
WHERE:
United Way of
Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey - 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
1st Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103
The Network for Public Education 3rd
Annual National Conference April 16-17, 2016 Raleigh, North Carolina.
The
Network for Public Education is thrilled to announce the location for our 3rd
Annual National Conference. On April 16 and 17, 2016 public education advocates
from across the country will gather in Raleigh, North Carolina. We chose Raleigh to highlight the tremendous
activist movement that is flourishing in North Carolina. No one exemplifies
that movement better than the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, who will be the
conference keynote speaker. Rev. Barber is the current president of
the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, the National NAACP chair of
the Legislative Political Action Committee, and the founder of Moral Mondays.
Join the Pennsylvania Principals Association at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 21, 2016, at The
Capitol in Harrisburg, PA, for its second annual Principals' Lobby Day.
Pennsylvania
Principals Association Monday, March 21, 2016 9:31 AM
To register, contact Dr. Joseph Clapper at clapper@paprincipals.org by
Tuesday, June 14, 2016. If you need assistance, we will provide
information about how to contact your legislators to schedule meetings.
Click here for the informational flyer, which includes
important issues to discuss with your legislators.
2016 PA Educational
Leadership Summit July 24-26 State College
Summit Sponsors:
PA Principals Association - PA Association of School Administrators
- PA Association of Middle Level Educators - PA Association of
Supervision and Curriculum Development
The 2016
Educational Leadership Summit, co-sponsored by four leading Pennsylvania education associations,
provides an excellent opportunity for school district administrative teams and
instructional leaders to learn, share and plan together at a quality venue in
"Happy Valley."
Featuring Grant
Lichtman, author of EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education,
Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera (invited), and Dana
Lightman, author of POWER Optimism: Enjoy the Life You Have...
Create the Success You Want, keynote speakers, high quality breakout
sessions, table talks on hot topics and district team planning and job alike
sessions provides practical ideas that can be immediately reviewed and
discussed at the summit before returning back to your district. Register and pay by April 30, 2016 for the
discounted "early bird" registration rate:
Interested in letting our
elected leadership know your thoughts on education funding, a severance tax,
property taxes and the budget?
Governor Tom Wolf,
(717) 787-2500
Speaker of the
House Rep. Mike Turzai, (717) 772-9943
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
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