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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA
Ed Policy Roundup April 5, 2016:
#PABudget wars: the drama continues…..
Campaign for Fair Education Funding - Rally for Public Education
Save the date: May 2nd at the Capitol
The drama continues even as state budget
impasse concludes
Lancaster
Online Editorial LNP Editorial Board April 4, 2016
THE
ISSUE: Gov. Tom Wolf allowed the remaining portion of the state
Legislature’s 2015-16 budget to become law March 23, without
his signature. The governor vetoed the accompanying fiscal code, because it
“contains unconstitutional provisions, guts important environmental regulations
and tries to establish legislative authority over issues that fall under executive
jurisdiction,” according to a press release from Wolf's spokesman, Jeff Sheridan.
Pennsylvania’s
budget impasse has come to an end. A $30 billion spending plan is in place. So
we can stop talking about it, right? We’re
afraid not. The fiscal battle may be
finished, but the war between Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled
Legislature may have just begun. By
choosing to let it become law without his signature, Wolf washed his hands of
the budget, which he described as unbalanced. The murky conclusion was a
microcosm of a messy nine-month tug of war.
Somebody needed to compromise. In the end, it was the governor — kind
of. The exception: his decision to veto the fiscal code. The fiscal code is legislation that
accompanies the appropriations bill (the budget) that indicates how portions of
the budget will be distributed, including among K-12 schools. Call it a
101-page instructions packet. Without
the fiscal code — the instructions — those dollars cannot be legally
appropriated, because there is no signed agreement on how new funds can be
spent.
FY 2016-2017
budget discussions in infancy, House GOP leaders say
The PLS
Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Monday, April 4,
2016
Tom Wolf said just a few short weeks ago that he was going to be letting
the supplemental budget bill sent to his desk become law, all parties were
eager to begin the discussions for how to solve the issues facing the next
fiscal year’s spending plan in a serious way sooner rather than later. In talking with The PLS Reporter Monday,
the first day legislators returned to voting session since that announcement,
two House Republican leaders said the discussions are taking place, but are
only in the beginning stages. “We’ve
been having five-party discussions at a staff level, particularly on defining
what the parameters for the budget for ’16-’17 are, if a deficit exists what is
the interpretation of that deficit, trying to get everyone to agree on the
numbers as we look to try and get that budget done,” said House Majority Leader
Dave Reed (R-Indiana). “It’s a
numbers-focused discussion right now,” he added lso lingering to be looked at by legislators
is what to do with the Fiscal Code bill vetoed by Gov. Wolf that accompanied
the budget supplemental bill that recently became law.
Impending
deficit could cripple Philly schools
The state charter
formula is driving the District toward bankruptcy, State Sen. Vincent Hughes
says.
The notebook
by Dale Mezzacappa April 4, 2016 — 11:45am
Superintendent
William Hite has released the District’s new five-year plan, including
significant new investments in schools and an internal turnaround strategy that
relies on receiving a significant infusion of state aid –- a chancy prospect
given the budget gridlock in Harrisburg. But
Philadelphia needs more than an agreement between the governor and General
Assembly on how to raise and distribute basic education aid. The District’s
solvency also hinges on making major changes to the way funds are distributed
to charters, which now educate about a third of the city’s students. Right now, the charter funding formula –
coupled with recent court decisions restricting the power of the School Reform
Commission to limit charter growth – is putting Philadelphia and some other
districts on the path to bankruptcy, according to one state senator.
“This
whole setup is broken,” said State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D-Phila.) in a phone
interview. “It is designed to fail. The charter school financing law bankrupts
local school districts, and we’ve got to be frank, upfront, and honest about
that.”
VIDEO: PSBA
discusses impact of the budget impasse and pushes for on-time 2016-17 budget
The PLS
Reporter Author: Alanna Koll/Monday, April 4, 2016
Runtime 4:46
The
Pennsylvania School Boards Association held a press conference in the East Wing
Rotunda to discuss the ongoing need for pension reform, adoption of the Basic
Education Funding formula, PlanCon reimbursement funding, reimbursements to
districts for interest payments due as the result of borrowing money during the
budget impasse, and passing a 2016-17 state budget by June 30.
"These are sacrifices, sacrifices that the school
districts, students, parents, community and personnel had to endure from our
Legislature and our governor not working together," Thompson said, at a
Capitol news conference on Monday.”
School
officials remind lawmakers of the consequences of the late state budget
Penn
Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
April 04, 2016 at 2:57 PM, updated April 04, 2016 at 3:17 PM
Even
though closure was brought to the 2015-16 state budget,
school district officials from around the state gathered at the Capitol to
remind Gov. Tom Wolf and state lawmakers that their work is not
done. While districts were
able to get through a nearly nine-month state budget debaclewithout having to close their doors, it
wasn't without consequences that left
some districts still teetering on the edge of a financial disaster. More than $1 billion was borrowed and
districts incurred, on average, $12,642 in interest charges and fees that must
be paid without state help, said Stacey Thompson, a board member at Keystone
School District in Clarion County. Districts
depleted reserves, leaving some 175 school districts facing the possibility of
having to raise taxes above the state-set inflationary index for 2016-17.
Additionally, 35 school districts' credit ratings were downgraded.
State school
board group threatens state with lawsuit over construction money
Pennsylvania school
official threatens state with breach-of-contract lawsuit over construction
money
Morning
Call by Steve Esack Contact Reporter Call Harrisburg
Bureau April 4, 2016
HARRISBURG
— The leader of a statewide organization of school directors threatened Monday
to file a lawsuit against the state for breaching its contract to pay for a
portion of construction costs. Gov. Tom Wolf and the Legislature
need to work together to provide school the $306 million the districts are owed
under a state law that guarantees Harrisburg will reimburse a portion of their
costs to fix and construct school buildings, said Nathan Mains, executive
director of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. If Wolf and lawmakers do not provide the
money, Mains said, the association will consider filing a lawsuit to compel the
state to abide by its legally binding agreements known as PlanCon. "That
is certainly one way to go … if they are not honoring their contracts,"
Mains said. Mains spoke at a news
conference at the Capitol, during which school directors from the Lehigh Valley
were among those pleading for passage of a 2016-17 budget without the partisan
fights that caused the 2015-16 budget to be finished nine months late and
without the promised construction money.
School directors discuss pension reform,
Basic Education Funding formula and on-time 2016-17 state budget at State
Capitol
PSBA NEWS RELEASE April 4, 2016
Dozens
of school directors from across Pennsylvania gathered at the State Capitol on
April 4 to meet with legislators and discuss several issues of concern,
including the following:
- The ongoing need for pension reform
- Adoption of the Basic Education Funding
formula
- PlanCon reimbursement funding
- Reimbursements to districts for interest
payments due as the result of borrowing money during the budget impasse
- Passing a 2016-17 state budget by the
deadline of June 30
During a
news conference in the East Wing Rotunda, PSBA Executive Director Nathan Mains applauded public school officials as the real heroes of
the last nine months as policymakers battled over a state budget.
Pa. Supreme
Court hands Phila. School District huge setback
Inquirer
by Martha Woodall, Staff
Writer Updated: APRIL 5,
2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
The
Philadelphia School Reform Commission has come up empty in its bid to undo a
recent, devastating state Supreme Court ruling that curtailed powers it thought
it had. The state's top court Monday
turned down the SRC's request to reconsider a ruling it handed down in February
that said the commission had no power to suspend parts of the state school
code. The court said that a provision about special powers in the law that led
to the state takeover of the city schools in 2001 was unconstitutional. The commission had relied on those special
powers in the last few years to close schools, bypass seniority in teacher
assignments, and limit charter school growth. In a
petition filed last month asking the court to reconsider, the SRC warned that
the ruling could have potentially "catastrophic" consequences for the
district, especially if it was required to fund unrestricted growth at the 83
charter schools in the city.
Arbitrator:
Philly Schools owe money to former nonteaching assistants
Inquirer
by Martha Woodall, Staff
Writer Updated: APRIL 5,
2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
An
arbitrator has ruled that the School District of Philadelphia owes money to
former nonteaching assistants who took assignments in special-education
classrooms. Ralph Teti, an attorney for
the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, received the arbitrator's decision
Friday. He said the ruling would affect
50 to 60 staffers and could cost the district more than $1 million. District spokesman Fernando Gallard said he
could not comment because it was an active legal matter. In the past, the district has appealed some
arbitration decisions to the Court of Common Pleas. The district eliminated the post of
nonteaching assistant and laid off many of the people who had worked outside
classrooms, monitoring hallways and lunchrooms.
“Citing the likelihood of another impasse over the next
state budget, Moody's Investor Services has affirmed its negative credit rating
for the Philadelphia School District.”
Philly schools
retain 'junk bond' rating
Inquirer
by Martha Woodall, Staff
Writer Updated: APRIL 5,
2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
Citing
the likelihood of another impasse over the next state budget, Moody's Investor
Services has affirmed its negative credit rating for the Philadelphia School
District. Moody's highlighted the
district's recent efforts to stabilize the finances of the city's schools. But
the credit opinion released Friday said that the continued "Ba3"
rating for the district's debt "reflects the continued uncertainty
surrounding" the state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and
the potential impact it could have on the district's finances and ability to
borrow money. The "Ba3" rating
means that the district's bonds are below investment grade, carry a high risk,
and are within "junk bond" territory.
If the district receives new sources of stable funding, its credit
rating would improve.
Charting
School Discipline
Susan DeJarnatt Temple University - James E.
Beasley School of Law
Kerrin C. Wolf Stockton University
Mary Kate Kalinich Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law
March 30, 2016 The Urban Lawyer (Forthcoming)
Kerrin C. Wolf Stockton University
Mary Kate Kalinich Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law
March 30, 2016 The Urban Lawyer (Forthcoming)
Abstract: Exclusionary school discipline can steer students away from
educational opportunities and towards the juvenile and criminal justice
systems. As many public school systems have turned to exclusionary school
discipline practices over the past two decades, they have also increasingly
adopted charter schools as alternatives to traditional public schools. This
research is examines the student codes of conduct for the charter schools in
the School District of Philadelphia to consider the role of their disciplinary
practices and the potential effects on charter students. We analyzed every disciplinary code provided
to the Philadelphia School District by charter schools within Philadelphia
during the 2014-2015 school year. Our goal was to examine the provisions relating
to detention, suspension, and expulsion, along with other disciplinary
responses, to determine what conduct can result in disciplinary consequences,
what responses are available for various types of misbehavior, and whether the
code language is clear or ambiguous or even accessible to students or potential
students and their parents or caregivers. We conclude that too many of the
codes are not well drafted, and too many follow models of punitive discipline
that can be used to push out non-compliant or challenging students. Some codes
grant almost complete discretion to school administrators to impose punitive
discipline for any behavior the administrator deems problematic. We hope that this work will spur future
research on implementation of charter school discipline policies to illustrate
how charter schools are using their codes. Further, we hope to see the charter
sector develop model disciplinary codes that move away from a zero tolerance
punitive model towards disciplinary systems based on restorative principles.
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.
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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