Tuesday, May 17, 2016

PA Ed Policy Roundup May 17: Study calls for at least $3.2 billion in added Pa. school funding


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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup May 17, 2016:
Study calls for at least $3.2 billion in added Pa. school funding



Make the new funding formula permanent; pass a budget for 2016-17 that increases funding for public schools by at least $400 million
Pennsylvania has the widest funding gap between wealthy & poor schools in the country.
Contributing only 36%, PA is ranked 46th in the US for its share of education funding.
Campaign for Fair Education Funding Website



Joint public hearing on Every Student Succeeds Act Wednesday May 18th
PA House and PA Senate Education Committees
Harrisburg Wednesday May 18th 9:00 AM Hearing Room #1 North Office Building

“The Law Center's report finds that if the tenets of the new formula are applied to the average instructional costs of schools statewide, a "conservative" estimate shows the need for $16.5 billion dollars in added support — $3.2 billion of which it says should come from the state.  To put that in context, the state spent $5.72 billion in 2014-15 on regular education.  To reach this $3.2 billion figure, The Law Center and other advocates are pushing for a $400 million increase in each of the next eight years.”
Study calls for at least $3.2 billion in added Pa. school funding
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY MAY 17, 2016
The advocacy group Public Interest Law Center says the commonwealth's own data point to the need for at least $3.2 billion in added state funding.  When the state's bipartisan basic education funding commission published its report last year, it came up with a new formula for distributing new state education dollars. The formula acknowledges that districts face added burdens, for instance, when educating students in poverty, or those still learning English.  But the panel very specifically avoided a crucial question: how much money would it take for all students to score proficient on state tests?  So the Public Interest Law Center did its own analysis.  "Nobody has been actually talking about what districts really need," said staff attorney Michael Churchill.

Report: PA Needs to Spend at Least $3.2 Billion more to Educate Students
PA BASIC EDUCATION FUNDING COMMISSION FORMULA MEANS DISTRICTS NEED AT LEAST $3.2 BILLION MORE IN STATE FUNDING
Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia Website May 16, 2016
Early this year, Pennsylvania joined 47 other states in the nation when the legislature passed a formula for funding public education. It adopted the formula created in 2015 by the bi-partisan Basic Education Funding Commission. The Commission’s formula was based upon a number of factors described below, to equitably distribute state education dollars.[1] Although the Commission provided a guide for how to distribute state funds, it did not provide an answer to another crucial question: how much actual state funding do all Pennsylvania schools need to properly educate their students? We call this the State Adequacy Cost.
This report uses the Commission’s own formula to answer that question. It concludes that in order for districts to have adequate funding to enable their students to meet state standards, the state must provide school districts with between $3.188 and $4.280 billion in additional funding.

Take Note: Is Pennsylvania Breaking Its Promise To Provide A "Thorough And Efficient" Education?
WPSU By EMILY REDDY • MAY 13, 2016 Audio runtime: 29:00
A current lawsuit alleges that Pennsylvania has broken its constitutional obligation to provide a "thorough and efficient system of public education."  As part of a collaborative series for NPR, the new education reporter for Keystone Crossroads has been looking into education funding.  WPSU's Emily Reddy talked with Kevin McCorry, who says there are huge funding disparities among Pennsylvania's 500 school districts and with Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, an attorney at the Public Interest Law Center in Philadelphia, which is a part of the lawsuit.   

Here's why Gov. Wolf should veto that teacher layoff bill: Jerry Oleksiak
PennLive Op-Ed  By Jerry Oleksiak on May 16, 2016 at 12:00 PM
Jerry Oleksiak, a special education teacher in the Upper Merion Area School District, is president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association.
Pennsylvania's 500 school districts faced a substantial funding cut under former Gov. Tom Corbett, resulting in the loss of thousands of education jobs. And the General Assembly's response is  ... to make things worse?  Sometimes it's just hard to make sense of what some lawmakers call "education policy."  The last few days have been one of those times.
Last week, the state Senate sent a bill to the governor's desk to make it easier to get rid of teachers who have a lot of classroom experience.  Think about that.
This bill would make it easier to fire experienced teachers – after legislators have neglected to provide adequate or equitable funding to school districts, creating a situation where many are struggling just to keep the doors open for students.  Pennsylvanians are still reeling from the chaos caused by nearly $1 billion in school funding cuts five years ago - cuts that increased classroom sizes, slashed student programs, and eliminated 27,000 education jobs.

Biennial budgeting is bipartisan solution to annual impasses
Lancaster Online Opinion by LT. GOV. MIKE STACK AND SEN. RYAN AUMENT | SPECIAL TO LNP May 15, 2016
To the frustration of many Pennsylvanians, the 2015-16 state budget took almost nine months to complete.  While this was the longest budget impasse in our commonwealth’s history, it certainly was not the first time Pennsylvania struggled to enact a timely annual spending plan.  In fact, over the past 2 1/2 decades, four other state government budget impasses have lasted longer than 10 days: in 2009, 2007, 2003 and 1991. And over the last 10 years, Pennsylvania has seen only three budgets enacted on time.   What do all these late budgets have in common?  For one thing, they all occurred in years when state government was split between a governor of one political party and at least one chamber of the General Assembly controlled by the other party. For another, they all occurred in years that did not involve elections for either the Legislature or governor.  Clearly, there is a pattern that, if left unaddressed, will likely continue to be repeated.

“The 2.26 mill increase would generate $1.2 million, all of which would be taken up by a one-year increase in contributions to the underfunded Pennsylvania State Employee Retirement System.”
Norwin schools' budget includes tax increase
Post Gazette By Anne Cloonan May 16, 2016 11:48 PM
The Norwin school board tonight passed a preliminary budget for the 2016-2017 school year that would raise school real estate taxes by 2.26 mills.  If the budget is approved by the end of June, it would raise the tax of a home with a median assessed value of $21,630 by $48.88 per year.  Interim business Manager Jude Abraham said expenses in the preliminary budget are $67.4 million, and income is projected to be $66.2 million.

“Expenditures total more than $2.85 million over the current year, with the majority of the increase coming from a mandated 4.19 percent, or nearly $1 million increase in the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System; $506,204 more in salaries; and nearly $400,000 more, or an 18 percent increase, in medical insurance.  Even with the proposed tax increase, the district will need to pull $4.1 million from its fund balance to balance the budget, leaving a projected $7.4 million as of June 30, 2017.”
Susquehanna Township School District proposed budget calls for 3 percent tax increase, position eliminations and additions
By Tricia Kline | Special to PennLive on May 16, 2016 at 10:26 PM
SUSQUEHANNA TOWNSHIP—The Susquehanna Township School Board on Monday night voted 7-1 to display and advertise a $50.8 million proposed final budget for 2016-17 with a 3 percent tax increase.  Member Cole Goodman voted against the proposed budget, and member Helen Spence was absent from the meeting. The board plans to vote on the final budget June 20.  The tax increase, which includes exceptions to raise the rate above the Act 1 index, would equal $57.47 more each year for the average assessed property value of $112,550.  The district has raised taxes only once before in the last four years—1.07 percent in 2014-15—and remains the second lowest tax rate among districts in Dauphin County, according to business manager Oslwen Anderson.

No tax hike in draft Pottstown schools budget
By Evan Brandt, The Mercury POSTED: 05/15/16, 2:00 AM EDT |
POTTSTOWN >> For the second year in a row, the Pottstown School Board is poised to adopt a budget that will not raise taxes.  The news came just two days after the neighboring Pottsgrove School Board voted for a zero tax hike budget as well.  Business Manager Linda Adams delivered the good news for Pottstown taxpayers Thursday at a meeting of the school board’s finance committee.  She said the primary reason for the zero tax hike is a 12 percent drop in health insurance costs — worth more than $1 million — that are a result of the district “self-insuring” through a regional cooperative rather than traditional private health insurance.

Highlands School District furloughs 3 teachers
BY TOM YERACE | Monday, May 16, 2016, 11:20 p.m.
Three teachers at Highlands High School were furloughed Monday because of declining enrollment, according to district officials.  The layoffs came as the school board also approved its 2016-17 preliminary budget, which holds the line on real estate taxes.  In an 8-0 vote with board member Eric Miles absent, the board approved the furloughs of English teacher Lindsay Cable, math teacher Jessica Faish and science teacher Michael O'Toole.  Superintendent Michael Bjalobok said all three are first-year teachers.  Solicitor Ira Weiss said the teachers could be called back contingent on retirements by their colleagues.  Along with the furloughs, Business Manager Jon Rupert said two more teaching positions at the middle school will be cut through attrition because of retirements.  Rupert said overall, cutting the five teaching positions will save the district about $480,000.

Dozens of Erie district teachers intend to retire
By Erica Erwin  814-870-1846 Erie Times-News May 14, 2016 06:35 PM
ERIE, Pa. -- Fifty-five Erie School District teachers have indicated their intent to take advantage of retirement incentives the district is offering in an attempt to whittle a 2016-17 budget deficit that could be as much as $12 million.  Friday was the deadline for employees to submit a revocable notice of intent to take advantage of the offer, approved by the Erie School Board in April.  Employees have until June 13 to submit irrevocable notice.  "We are not happy to lose this level of experienced teachers, but in order to avoid more painful cuts (to the students), this was the reality," said Daria Devlin, the district's coordinator of grants and community relations.  Erie schools Superintendent Jay Badams in April outlined $9.8 million in potential budget cuts, including eliminating full-day kindergarten and closing a high school. The Erie School Board will discuss budget options at its next meeting, set for Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the district's administration building, 148 W. 21st St.

'Top priority' to negotiate fair contract with Harrisburg teachers, board member says
Penn Live By Julianne Mattera | jmattera@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on May 16, 2016 at 11:49 PM, updated May 16, 2016 at 11:52 PM
Harrisburg School Board members on Monday night overwhelmingly spoke in support of wrapping up contract negotiations with the teachers, and that gave the union's president hope.  Jody Barksdale, president of the Harrisburg Education Association, said she was "pleasantly surprised" after school board members voted in favor of adding a resolution to the agenda that called for the district to negotiate a "fair teacher contract as expeditiously as possible."  The resolution said a teacher contract was "long overdue" and the school board recognized that the district could "afford a fair contract with our committed educators."  Board members said they understood that teachers jobs weren't easy, and they wanted parties to work together for a new contract. The union, which represents the district's teachers, nurses, counselors and others, has been negotiating a new contract from more than 1,400 days. Union officials say 400 union members have left the district in the past four years.

Phoenixville Area School Board OKs 3-year teacher contract
By Eric Devlin, The Mercury POSTED: 05/15/16, 11:41 AM EDT | UPDATED: 1 DAY AGO
PHOENIXVILLE >> For the first time in six years, teachers in the Phoenixville Area School District will head into summer vacation knowing they are under contract once school starts up again next fall.  The Phoenixville Area School District and Phoenixville Area Education Association reached an early-bird, collective bargaining agreement at Thursday night’s school board meeting following the school board’s unanimous approval. The 3-year contract between the district and the teachers union is effective from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2019.  With this agreement, all represented groups in the district are under contract for the next three years. This unique position allows the school district to set plans for the future while providing financial stability and continuing to grow the district, a press release states.  There are several noteworthy changes within the new contract. With this new contract, all district employees will be in a high deductible health care plan starting with the 2016-17 school year. This mirrors most industry standards, and is a first for Chester County school districts, the release states.

Peters Township teachers, district ratify new contract
By Janice Crompton / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette May 16, 2016 10:03 PM
After a contentious school year of tense contract negotiations -- including a 21-day strike -- teachers in the Peters Township School District tonight have a new contract.  The agreement, ratified tonight by the district and the Peters Township Federation of Teachers, comes after a series of meetings that took place today at the request of an arbitration panel that had worked with both sides for months to resolve the impasse.  The new six-year pact is retroactive to Aug. 31, 2015 -- when the last five-year deal expired -- and runs through June 30, 2021.

PPS teachers, other employees OK new contracts, board of education to vote Wednesday
Trib Live BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Monday, May 16, 2016, 11:45 p.m.
The union representing Pittsburgh public school teachers and other employees says members have voted overwhelmingly to ratify extensions to the contracts with the Pittsburgh School District through June 2017.  The Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers said Monday that the professional unit contract was accepted by a nearly 8-to-1 margin. The union said the paraprofessional unit contract was accepted by a more than 12-to-1 margin, and the technical-clerical unit contract was accepted unanimously.  The new agreements extend the five-year contracts that expired in June 2015.  Union president Nina-Esposito Visgitis said officials look forward to negotiating “a longer-term contract that is in the best interests of our educators and our students.”

Charter School Students, Parents and Supporters Join Lawmakers in State Capitol to Rally in Support of Preserving School Choice in Pennsylvania
Students urged lawmakers to support fair funding for charter school students
Keystone Alliance for Public Charter Schools Press Release May 16, 2016
Harrisburg – More than 1,200 public brick-and-mortar charter school students, parents, leaders, educators and supporters from across Pennsylvania today filled the state Capitol Rotunda and were joined by Sen. Ryan Aument (R-Lancaster), Rep. Bill Keller (D-Philadelphia) and other lawmakers to call for fair funding of charter school students and the importance of preserving public school choice across the commonwealth.  “The whole premise of public school choice is focused solely on doing what is in the best interest of students,” said Tim Eller, executive director of the Keystone Alliance for Public Charter Schools. “Regardless of one’s political ideology, we have a moral responsibility to ensure that every single child across Pennsylvania has access to a high-quality education in a safe and secure environment, whether it’s a public charter school or a traditional public school.”  For nearly 20 years, brick-and-mortar charter schools have served as high-quality public school alternatives for thousands of students and families across the commonwealth. In the communities where charter schools are located, charter school students often perform academically better than students who attend nearby traditional public schools.

Pennsylvania school choice foes agree charter reform is needed
Watchdog.org By Evan Grossman  /   May 13, 2016  /   News  /   No Comments
One of the most successful elementary schools in Pennsylvania is a charter school.
Despite fantastic academic performance and high demand among local parents, Souderton Charter School Collaborative is unable to expand. A major hurdle is Pennsylvania’s existing charter school law that allows only local districts to approve new charters.  Souderton Area School District seems unwilling to let the school expand and public comments made by the local school board indicate a bias against school choice. Charter advocates have supported changing the law to allow multiple authorizers and a bill is currently working its way through Harrisburg that would reform how charters are managed.

Pine-Richland bathroom policy for transgender students stands
Trib Live BY TONY LARUSSA  | Tuesday, May 17, 2016, 2:52 a.m.
Despite several hours of debate on Monday night, the Pine-Richland School Board passed on voting for a measure that, if approved, would have scrapped the district's practice of letting transgender students use bathrooms of the gender with which they identify.  The failure to take a vote on the resolution offered by Vice President Greg DiTullio effectively lets stand the board's previous announcement that it would work to develop a policy on transgender students in time for the start of the 2016-17 school year.  The school board has been discussing issues involving transgender students during the past several weeks after parents began questioning the district's current practice of giving transgender students the option of using a private bathroom, a unisex facility or a bathroom that matches their sexual identity.

Philly District releases sustainability plan
It includes more "green" schools and healthy environments.
The notebook by Staff report May 16, 2016 — 6:52pm
The School District announced a five-year "sustainability" plan Monday that will reduce its environmental footprint by more effectively conserving resources, decreasing consumption and waste, and creating more "green" schools and healthy indoor environments.  Called Green Futures, the plan seeks to "enhance our children's well-being and preserve our limited resources for future generations." In addition to changes in its generally old building inventory, the initiative will also seek to engage students in issues such as climate change and prepare them for careers in a new "green" economy that focuses on renewable energy, among other technologies.  The plan is based on Greenworks, the city's sustainability framework. Mayor Kenney attended the press conference announcing Green Futures and praised the District for the effort, which has five-year targets and a roadmap of 60 actions to reach them. 

What's next for the Philly WE caucus?
The Working Educators advocate for "deep organizing," not "shallow mobilizing."
The notebook by Greg Windle May 16, 2016 — 1:34pm
The Caucus of Working Educators appeared in headlines during February when it ran against the incumbent leadership of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. It was the first time since 1992 that the leadership was challenged by a full slate of 35 educators running for all the contested positions.   Although they lost the election, with 30 percent of the vote, members of the WE caucus say it is not going away. The group is determined to change the way that the PFT does business, mobilize more rank-and-file teachers, and focus more visibly on social and racial justice issues.  The caucus is a member of UCORE, a network of 20 locals and caucuses within both the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.  UCORE’s members consider themselves social justice unionists working to create more equitable school districts, and, as Michael Gunderson wrote in Labor Notes, “keep public schools in the hands of communities rather than private enterprises.”

“The lawmakers said they are most concerned about the proposal to change the eligibility threshold for the Community Eligibility Provision — a program that allows schools and local educational agencies with high poverty rates to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students — from 40 percent of students to 60 percent.  “To say this change would be detrimental would be an understatement,” their letter said. “Raising the threshold to 60 percent would lead to far fewer schools qualifying for the program and more low-income children going hungry every day.”
Dems call for changes to child nutrition bill
The Hill By Lydia Wheeler - 05/16/16 04:11 PM EDT
House Democrats are pushing for changes to legislation they claim will weaken the first lady’s prized school lunch standards and make it more difficult for low-income and minority children to access meal programs.   In a letter led by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), 111 Democrats asked House Education and the Workforce Chairman John Kline (R-Minn.) and ranking member Bobby Scott (D-Va.) to strengthen proposed legislation to reauthorize the 2010 Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act that they say now includes “misguided changes.”  The letter was also addressed to the chairman and ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, Reps. Todd Rokita (R- Ind.) and Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio).

Girls outscore boys on inaugural national test of technology, engineering skills
Washington Post By Emma Brown May 17 at 12:01 AM 
Girls outperformed boys on a national test of technology and engineering literacy that the federal government administered for the first time in 2014, according to results made public Tuesday.  Among eighth-grade students in public and private schools, 45 percent of girls and 42 percent of boys scored proficient on the exam, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. Overall, 43 percent of all students were proficient.  The test was designed to measure students’ abilities in areas such as understanding technological principles, designing solutions and communicating and collaborating. Girls were particularly strong in the latter.  There also were large racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps, mirroring results on standardized tests in other subjects. Just 25 percent of students who received free and reduced-price lunch scored proficient, compared to 59 percent of more affluent students. Eighteen percent of black students and 28 percent of Latino students scored proficient, for example, compared to 56 percent of white and Asian students.

The Nation’s Report Card: 2014 | Technology & Engineering Literacy (TEL)
An Innovative Assessment in an Era of Rapid Technological Change
In 2014, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) administered the first-ever nationally representative assessment of technology and engineering literacy. Eighth-grade students were presented real-world scenarios involving technology and engineering challenges. Students were asked to respond to questions aimed at assessing their knowledge and skill in understanding technological principles, solving technology and engineering-related problems, and using technology to communicate and collaborate. Students also were surveyed on their opportunities to learn about technology and engineering in and out of school.
Highlights of what we learned about eighth-grade students include the following:

Automatic Voter Registration in Oregon Is Revolutionizing American Democracy
The state’s new registration system is a model for the rest of the country.
The Nation By Ari BermanTwitter May 16, 2016 12:42 PM
Oregon’s presidential primary is tomorrow, but the bigger story is how many new voters there are in the state.  More than 100,000 new voters have registered so far in 2016, over half through the state’s new automatic voter registration system. The 51,558 voters signed up through automatic registration is an average of 12,889 new voters per month, three times higher than the average of 4,163 monthly registrants in 2012.   “It looks like it’s going to be a big success,” says Nikki Fisher, executive director of The Bus Project, which helped conceive of the program. The number of voters registered has been higher than initial projections and half of new registrants are under 35. “All indications are that new people are being brought into the system,” Fisher says.  This year Oregon became the first state to automatically register eligible citizens who request or renew a driver’s license through the DMV. They are sent a card informing them of their registration status and have 21 days to opt out from the voting rolls. The burden of registration shifts from the individual to the state.

44 Colleges to Participate in Pell Grant Dual-Enrollment Experiment
Education Week Politics K-12  By Daarel Burnette II on May 16, 2016 4:08 PM
The U.S. Department of Education Monday named the 44 colleges chosen to participate in an experiment to provide low-income high school students with Pell Grant money to take college courses.   The program will allow more than 10,000 high school students to tap into $19 million of the $67 billion in federal money typically reserved for such students to take college courses. Department officials hope that by providing low-income students with money to participate in dual-enrollment programs, the program will help curtail skyrocketing college costs and start working earlier toward the completion of an associate or bachelor's degree.    A growing body of reserach shows that low-income high school students who participate in dual-enrollment programs are more likely to boost their high school GPA, less likely to drop out of high school, and more likely to earn either an associate or bachelor's degree. But even as dual-enrollment opportunities have expanded in recent years (more than 1.4 million students participated in the 2010-11 school year), low-income students have been reluctant to participate because of the tuition and transportation costs. 


Nominations now open for PSBA Allwein Awards
PSBA Website POSTED ON MAY 16, 2016 IN PSBA NEWS
The Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award was established in 2011 by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and may be presented annually to the individual school director or entire school board to recognize outstanding leadership in legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of public education and students that are consistent with the positions in PSBA’s Legislative Platform. The 2016 Allwein Award nominations will be accepted starting today and all applications are due by July 16, 2016. The nomination form can be downloaded from the website.

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:

“NATIONAL ANTHEM “SING-A-LONG”
When: September 9, 2016, 10:00 am PST/1:00pm EST
Where: Schools across America
Sponsor: American Public Education Foundation (APEF)
The National Anthem “Sing-A-Long” is a movement to teach K-12 students the words, meaning,
music and history of the Star-Spangled Banner. This annual event is held each year on the
second week of September to honor 9/11 families, victims and heroes and celebrate the historic
birthday of the National Anthem on September 14. Those who join the “Sing-A-Long” are singing in unison at the exact same time at multiple sites across the U.S. The APEF has also created a robust, companion curriculum recognized by numerous State Departments of Education, available online at www.theapef.org (see the “Educate” tab) for free download.
The Foundation hopes to have the support of the Alabama Department of Education as we
commemorate the 15th Anniversary of 9/11 this year. Teachers are encouraged to sign up
before the end of the school year at www.theapef.org. Also online is a "how-to" guide on
holding an event at your school and sample press release. If you do not wish to hold a full
ceremony at the school, your students can simply stand up and sing at 10 am PST/1:00pm EST.
The Star-Spangled Banner Movement is a simple, elegant way to honor 9/11 while also teaching students how the world came together in the days, weeks and months after the September 2001 terrorist strikes. The APEF also offers a host of other free educational material on its website, including polls, contests and grant information.

Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children (PPC), a statewide children's advocacy organization located in Harrisburg, PA has an immediate full-time opening for an Early Learning and K-12 Education Policy Manager.  PPC's vision is to be one of the top ten states in which to be a child and raise a child. Today, Pennsylvania ranks 17th in the nation for child well-being. Our early learning and K-12 education policy work is focused on ensuring all children enter school ready to learn and that all children have access to high-quality public education. Current initiatives include increasing the number of children served in publicly funded pre-k and implementing a fair basic education formula along with sustained, significant investments in education funding.

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

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