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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA
Ed Policy Roundup May 20, 2016:
Find out how much PA needs to spend to educate its
students & download a spreadsheet for specifics on your SD
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
“Just a few years ago, schools paid about 5.5 percent of
employee salary to the pension fund. This year, they must pay 21 percent. Next
year, they'll pay 26 percent. The rate will peak at 32 percent in 2019.”
State pension crisis: How
did we get here?
WHYY
Newsworks/Keystone Crossroads BY KEVIN
MCCORRY MAY 19, Pick your favorite issue or cause in Pennsylvania:
public education, services for the poor, tax breaks for businesses. Chances are, there's going to be less money
for any of these moving forward because the state's public employee pension
bill is growing exponentially, with a current unfunded liability of $53
billion. To keep up with rising costs,
school districts across the state have been making tough choices — either
cutting programs or hiking property taxes.
School budget wonks are reeling from the massive pension payment spikes
that have been hitting lately. In
Philadelphia, for instance, the district has been cut to the bone, and because
leaders lack taxing authority, there's only thing to do each year: beg and
plead for more from the city and the state.
"When you have these fixed mandated costs, it handcuffs you in your
ability to meet the needs of students because so much of your money is going
towards a certain fixed cost item," said Matt Stanski, chief financial
officer of the Philadelphia School District.
“Mr. Wolf said he believes the evaluation process is too
reliant on the results of standardized testing. That’s a legitimate concern.
Innumerable factors, rather than teachers’ competence alone, determine student
performance as reflected in standardized tests. Socioeconomic disparities
between different districts and schools, family involvement, available school
resources and many other issues matter. The
current evaluation process was adopted in 2012 but not for the purpose of
governing layoffs. It was meant to help administrators identify individual
teachers’ weaknesses and, therefore, to improve overall instruction.”
Up to Wolf on evaluations
Citizens Voice BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD Published: May 20, 2016
In vetoing a bill
this week that would have stripped seniority protections from public school
teachers, Gov. Tom Wolf raised a valid concern.
The bill, which passed the Republican-controlled Legislature along
predictable party lines, would have allowed districts to lay off teachers for
general economic reasons rather than for specific declines in enrollment, as
the law requires now. And, it would have ended the practice of using seniority
as the sole basis for teacher layoffs. Instead, it would have mandated the use
of teacher evaluations as the basis for layoffs. Republicans called it
rewarding competence; Democrats called it union-busting.
Find out how much PA needs to spend to educate its
students & download a spreadsheet for specifics on your school district
Public Interest Law
Center Website
Fifth graders school Philly
City Council on importance of adequate education funding
WHYY Newsworks COMMENTARY BY MCCALL ELEMENTARY 5TH GRADE STUDENTS MAY 19, 2016 ESSAYWORKS
On Wednesday, May
18, Joanna Bottaro's fifth grade class from McCall Elementary School spoke to
Philadelphia City Council about school funding at the invitation of Councilwoman Helen Gym.
The students chose the topic after examining several important issues in their
community, deeming funding the most important. The research and resulting
speech were part of an ongoing project supported through Need in Deed, a
youth-oriented civic engagement nonprofit.
The speech in its
entirety is below.
Surprises, twists in SRC
meeting dominated by charter votes
Wister turned over to Mastery.
Great Oaks pulls out of Cooke. No votes on the nonrenewal proposals for
Audenried, Vare, Olney and Stetson. And, oh yes, District hires Kelly to
provide substitute services
The notebook by Dale
Mezzacappa and Kevin McCorry May 19, 2016 — 9:25pm
The School Reform
Commission voted on Thursday to turn over John Wister school in
Germantown to Mastery Charter, but did not take votes to begin the process of
pulling the plug on four other Renaissance charters that are operated by
two major community organizations in the city, ASPIRA and Universal Companies. It was prepared to turn over another school,
Cooke elementary in Logan, to the New York-based Great Oaks Foundation.
But at the last minute, Great Oaks pulled out -- citing the loss of
anticipated startup funding which it said would hinder its ability to
"adequately do the job that was expected of us." The letter from Great Oaks CEO Michael Duffey
did not specify the source of the grant. But DawnLynne Kacer, head of the
charter office, later confirmed that it was $1 million from the Philadelphia
School Partnership. Almost lost in the
manuvering was its vote on a two-year, $42 million contract to hire Kelly
Services to provide substitute services to the District, replacing
Source4Teachers, which failed to improve the District's own rate of filling
classrooms left empty due to teacher absences.
Charter schools sue state, public schools over change
in reconciliation process
Sarah M. Wojcik
Contact Reporter Of The Morning
Call May 19, 2016
The Pennsylvania
Department of Education says it will no longer take the reins on the
end-of-the-year reconciliation process — a move that would leave charter
schools and public school districts on their own to resolve tuition billing
discrepancies. A handful of charter
schools are challenging the state's new stance on the process, saying that it
could clog courts with annual lawsuits as charter schools fight for payments
from districts that simply refuse to pay.
Bob Fayfich, executive director for the Pennsylvania Coalition of Public
Charter Schools, said that by stepping away from the reconciliation process,
the state is shirking its responsibility to guarantee a fair education to the
Commonwealth's students. "It's a
problem that could strangle funding for every charter school in the
state," Fayfich said. "If the PDE drops out of the reconciliation
process and a school district says we're just not going to pay, then the only
recourse the charter school has is to negotiate with the school district or sue
the district and that theoretically could happen every year." But some public school districts might have a
different perspective.
Pa. lawmakers rail against
'unconstitutional' transgender bathroom rule in letter to Obama
WHYY Newsworks BY LAURA BENSHOFF MAY 19, 2016
Ninety-seven
Republican state representatives in Pennsylvania — including several from the
Philadelphia region — have signed off on a letter to President Barack Obama,
calling the new federal directive to make public schools transgender-inclusive
"unconstitutional" and an "extreme outrage." Led by state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler,
lawmakers argue in their letter that the new federal guideline "sacrifices
... fundamental privacy rights," endangers young children and usurps the
lawmaking powers of Congress. "Plainly,
this directive will allow men to go into legally sex-separated bathrooms with
young girls," it states. "The parents of these young girls are
rightly concerned about your policy and its implications for their daughters'
safety." Transgender rights
advocates call that argument a "red herring," not borne out by an actual
uptick in predatory behavior in places that have had transgender-inclusive
bathroom policies.
Interboro School Board
eyes job cuts, tax hike to ease $3M budget crunch
Delco Times By Kevin Tustin, ktustin@21st-centurymedia.com, @KevinTustin on Twitter
POSTED: 05/19/16,
9:48 PM EDT | UPDATED: 4 HRS AGO
The Interboro School
District is looking at job cuts and a stiff tax hike as they try to keep heads
above a rising tide of red ink. Over 20
positions are proposed to be furloughed or cut back to make up for a
multi-million dollar deficit in the 2016-17 budget. The districtwide personnel cutbacks are part
of the proposed $65 million final budget passed by the school board at their
Wednesday evening meeting and will save the district about $2.3 million. The
budget was approved by a 6-3 vote with school board members Ed Harris, Michael
Burns and Deborah DiBattista voting no. The
proposed final spending plan also includes a 3.2 percent tax increase and
$809,000 of fund balance usage. Still, a
gap pushing $1 million still lingers in the budget.
Rising pension
contributions and healthcare costs are the driving forces behind the budget
gap.
Green Woods Charter looks
to improve diversity, special-needs curriculum with new CEO
WHYY Newsworks BY JOHN CORRIGAN MAY 18, 2016
On March 24, Jean
Wallace announced her resignation as CEO of Green Woods Charter School. In an email, Wallace
said that "in twelve years, Green Woods has gone from a simple vision to a
comprehensive, successful and respected school program known for
excellence." She lauded the school's "academic success and fiscal
responsibility," "effective implementation of an EIC
curriculum," and the "many parents who have shared with me your
personal stories." Wallace did not
explain why she was leaving the school, but according to several members of the
Green Woods Charter School PTA, it had everything to do with those personal
stories. "She refused to work with
us. She refused to work with the teachers. She refused to acknowledge the
blips," said Bonnie Emelius, treasurer of the PTA.
SRC gives struggling
charter schools a reprieve
Inquirer by Mensah M. Dean, Staff Writer Updated: MAY 20, 2016 — 1:08 AM
EDT
Two charter school
operators that were expected to lose two schools each, due to various academic
and governance shortcomings, instead received temporary lifelines at Thursday
night's School Reform Commission meeting.
Aspira Inc., the North Philadelphia nonprofit dedicated to educating
Latino children, was given one week to persuade the SRC to allow it to continue
managing two of its struggling schools. Leading
Aspira's effort is former City Solicitor Ken Trujillo, who was hired recently
and pledged during the meeting that he would answer all outstanding questions
about Olney Charter High School and John B. Stetson Charter School. Two members of the five-member SRC abstained
and one voted against resolutions to not renew the operating agreements for the
two schools run by Universal Companies, the South Philadelphia community
development nonprofit founded by the record producer Kenny Gamble.
'Why can't we get some of
our money back?': Harrisburg teachers question financial plan
Penn Live By Julianne Mattera | jmattera@pennlive.com Email the
author | Follow on Twitter on May 19, 2016 at 11:23 PM, updated May
20, 2016 at 1:14 AM
Camp Curtin reading
specialist Judy Conyers wanted to know: Why does Harrisburg School District
hire administrators as consultants at $60 an hour after they retire? With the district's eye's set on financial
stability, Karina Goldsmith, a teacher at Ben Franklin School, asked why was
the district's proposed recovery plan budgeted for a CFO with a total
compensation of $199,544 and five years of raises? And a frustrated Rowland Academy teacher Donald J. Reisch, who took to the
public comment microphone for the second time in two days, told school
officials and recovery team members sitting before the audience: "I don't
trust you." Citing $30M difference,
union president asks if teachers can get money backJody Barksdale, president of
the Harrisburg Education Association, speaks during an informational meeting
May 19, 2016 on Harrisburg School District's proposed amended recovery plan. For the third time this week, teachers,
school nurses and others returned en masse to the school board room in the
district's Lincoln Administration Building in Harrisburg. The informational
meeting on the school district's proposed amended recovery plan drew dozens of
heated questions related to finance, staffing and building conditions from
Harrisburg Education Association union members who haven't seen a raise in five
years.
Plum school
officials turned 'blind eye to obvious signs' of misconduct
Trib Live BY MEGAN GUZA | Thursday, May 19, 2016,
8:54 a.m.
Plum school district
administrators turned “a blind eye to obvious signs of teacher misconduct” that
allowed a “suspected serial child predator” to remain a Plum High School
teacher for years before his arrest, according to a damning 100-page grand jury
report released Thursday. The Allegheny County
grand jury's investigation into the actions of district administrators and
school police followed the arrests of two high school teachers on sex assault
allegations and uncovered evidence of sex abuse by a third teacher. What was
uncovered wasn't enough for the jury to recommend charging “derelict” school
officials.
Penn Hills School District
$167 million in debt; criminal probes urged
Inquirer by The
Associated Press Updated: MAY
19, 2016 — 1:57 PM EDT
PENN HILLS, Pa. (AP)
- A state audit shows a school district's long-term debt has increased from $11
million to $167 million in five years, and criminal investigations are being
urged, the state auditor general announced.
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said the Penn Hills School District
audit, released Wednesday, is the worst he's ever seen. "It will take a Herculean effort to turn
the district around," he said. The
western Pennsylvania district floated $135 million in bonds for capital
improvements in 2010 with no plan to pay back the money, fueling its gargantuan
long-term debt, but it's clear other expenditures and procedures haven't been
closely tracked, DePasquale said. Among
other things, the audit found that a school bus contractor might have stolen
nearly $385,000 from the district, and $22,000 in athletic ticket proceeds was
never deposited.
Penn Hills school audit shows much work to be done
By Molly Born and
Karen Kane / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette May 20, 2016 12:00 AM
Two members of the
Penn Hills school board said the state auditor general’s scathing report on the
district’s finances this week did not come as a surprise, but said it provides
a stark assessment of just how much work the district must do to get itself out
of its financial predicament. State
Auditor General Eugene DePasquale on Wednesday released the results of an audit
that showed the district had built up a deficit by last year of $18.8 million,
a figure he described as “shocking,” and said his review of the district’s
finances was among the worst of his tenure.
Pauline Calabrese, a board member since January 2013, said the auditor’s
announcement had been previewed for the board a few weeks ago. She said the problems facing the district now
are rooted in financial oversight issues from years ago, due partly to a
decision to construct two school buildings with no definitive plan to cover the
costs of construction.
Council uncertain on
taxes, not pre-K
Inquirer by Tricia L. Nadolny and Julia Terruso,
STAFF WRITERS MAY 20, 2016 —
1:08 AM EDT
As friction over
Mayor Kenney's sugary drinks tax emerged in City Council on Thursday, momentum
still seemed to be moving in one direction - toward funding an expansion of
prekindergarten. An alternative revenue
stream was proposed. Members opposed to Kenney's tax said that option, a
beverage container tax, was one they could stomach. And Council President Darrell L. Clarke vowed
that the body would reach consensus - while introducing his own competing plan
for how pre-K should be implemented. "We'll
get there, bottom line," Clarke said. "We'll make a decision, and
we'll make it soon. The clock is ticking."
Kenney's administration, which has asked Council to pass a
three-cent-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages, quickly said the options emerging
in Council did not reap enough revenue or provide enough pre-K seats. "We can keep talking," Kenney
said. "But in the end, it's got to be the sugar-sweetened beverage at that
number, or we can't pay what we need to pay for."
“Throughout the Altoona-Johnstown
Diocese
$1,717,328: total contributions in the 2014-15 fiscal
year
$1,637,234: total awarded scholarships in the 2015-16
academic year
1,694 total scholarships awarded
$966 average scholarship amount”
Catholic schools get funds from local businesses
EITC program gives tax breaks
to businesses that help fund local schools
Local Catholic schools use
Second Century Scholarship Fund to help financially assist families
Centre Daily Times BY
BRITNEY MILAZZO bmilazzo@centredaily.com
May 18, 2016
A fund through the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown is helping families with a tuition
break at local Catholic schools. And
money going into the Second Century Scholarship Fund is
coming from local businesses. Through
the commonwealth’s educational improvement tax credit program,
businesses can contribute funds to local schools for a chance at a tax break.
The initiative was
established in the spring of 2001 through the state’s Department of Community
& Economic Development. Credits
can be applied against tax liability of a business for the year when the
contribution was made. According to the
EITC website, that includes personal income, capital stock and foreign
franchise, corporate net income, bank shares, title insurance and trust company
shares, insurance premium, mutual thrift and malt beverage tax.
“As it is currently, the community eligibiity provision
allows schools to offer free meals to all students if at least 40 percent of
the children it enrolls are directly certified in the federally subsidized
meals program…..Among other changes, the bill approved by the House committee
Wednesday would raise that threshold from 40 percent to 60 percent.”
School-Nutrition Bill
Scaling Back Federal Role Passed by House Ed. Committee
Education Week By Andrew
Ujifusa on May 19, 2016 11:35 AM
The House Committee
on Education and the Workforce advanced a bill Wednesday that would raise the
threshold for a school's participation in the community eligibility provision,
a relatively new option that has allowed high poverty schools to provide free
lunches and breakfasts to all of their students without requiring income
verification from their families.
The bill would also
provide "block grants" for up to three states, which would be
released from following federal nutrition standards in exchange for
accepting a fixed pot of money to cover their needs, and it would ease up on
controversial school nutrition standards championed by first lady
Michelle Obama. Republicans on the
committee said the Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act
of 2016 is necessary to beat back what they see as an oversized federal role in
school meals, but a broad range of groups, including child hunger groups and
the School Nutrition Association,
voiced opposition to the measure, calling it "reckless."
Nominations now open for PSBA Allwein Awards (deadline
July 16)
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
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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