Tuesday, May 3, 2016

PA Ed Policy Roundup May 3: 200 Ed Advocates at Capitol: Make Funding Formula Permanent; Increase BEF by $400M

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

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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup May 3, 2016:
200 Ed Advocates at Capitol: Make Funding Formula Permanent; Increase BEF by $400M



See guest PA Sec of Education Pedro Rivera next Sunday May 8 at 3:00 pm on EPLC's "Focus on Education" on PCN



“Ultimately, ensuring that every student has a high-quality education is not just a federal responsibility, it’s a state and local one, too,” King said. “Pennsylvania, I think, has not invested adequately in public schools for some time.”
Pennsylvania has underfunded schools, U.S. education official says
Ellwood City Ledger By Daveen Rae Kurutz Calkins Media Tuesday, May 3, 2016 4:00 am
BOSTON -- Pennsylvania isn’t pulling its weight when it comes to funding education, U.S. Secretary of Education John King said Monday.  When asked about special education being an “unfunded federal mandate” by a Philadelphia-based reporter during the 2016 Education Writers Association national seminar, King said the financial burden of educating all students doesn’t fall solely on the federal government.  “Ultimately, ensuring that every student has a high-quality education is not just a federal responsibility, it’s a state and local one, too,” King said. “Pennsylvania, I think, has not invested adequately in public schools for some time.”
He pointed to the nine-month budget impasse that caused most Beaver County schools to take out loans to pay bills and make payroll. Last year, the Pennsylvania Basic Education Funding Commission recommended the state change how it funds its 500 districts based on wealth, local tax rates, enrollment and geographic placement, among other factors.  State officials agree that Pennsylvania's funding formula needs revamping. State Department of Education spokeswoman Nicole Reigleman said it's a problem that has been haunting the state since the previous administration.

“The $150 million in additional funding for basic education that was included in this year's recently finalized state budget barely put dent in the need districts have to educate all students to meet the state standards.   If the state continues to limit funding increases to the level approved in this year's budget, infants in their cribs today will be out of high school by the time we achieve a fully funded and fair public school funding system," said campaign member Joan Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children.”
Public school advocates call for bigger investment in education
Advocates who are part of the Campaign for Fair Education Funding gathered at the Capitol on Monday to call on state lawmakers to invest $400 million more in basic education in the 2016-17 budget and to distribute the money using the state's new school funding formula
By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com  Email the author | Follow on Twitter  on May 02, 2016 at 5:14 PM, updated May 02, 2016 at 8:34 PM
With the 2016-17 state budget-making season now upon us, a coalition of advocates from across Pennsylvania came to the state Capitol to call on lawmakers to increase the state's investment in public education by $400 million.  Rallying for more education funding in 2016-17 Parents, grandparents, school board members and administrators, and public officials gathered in the Capitol Rotunda on Monday to call for $400 million more in public school funding to be driven out through the state's new funding formula.  And the Campaign for Fair Education Funding advocates want that money distributed using what they hope will become a permanent education funding formula that was used for the first time this year. It distributes dollars based on factors that include student enrollment and need.  Among those participating in the rally were school board members and administrators, parents, grandparents, a mayor and others who said dramatic increases in education are needed to close the gap between the wealthiest and poorest school districts, which is widest of any state in the country.

“The two big things we’re pushing for are to obtain $400 million in additional funding in the upcoming year and to disburse it according to the fair-funding formula that has bipartisan support,” said the 40-year-old Yeadon resident after the rally.”
Delco school board members rally for more state funding
By Patti Mengers, Delaware County Daily Times POSTED: 05/02/16, 10:12 PM EDT
Barely a month has gone by since the long-overdue 2015-2016 state budget passed without Gov. Tom Wolf’s blessing, but representatives of the education community are wasting no time in lobbying legislators for what they feel is fair funding in the 2016-2017 budget due July 1.  More than 200 school board members, administrators and municipal officials assembled in the rotunda of the state Capitol in Harrisburg Monday afternoon for a rally organized by the Campaign for Fair Education Funding, a coalition that includes more than 50 advocacy organizations.  Among the speakers at the rally that began at 12:30 p.m. and lasted for half an hour was Rafi Cave, vice president of the William Penn School District School Board who attended the event with school board President Jennifer Hoff.

“CFEF calls for $400 million more in school funding to be pushed through the state’s new fair education funding formula which was approved last month.”
State educators, parents and advocates call for equitable funding
A group of over 200 people from across the state traveled to Harrisburg to push for more funding for public schools in Pennsylvania.  The Campaign for Fair Education Funding (CFEF), an education public interest group in Pennsylvania gathered local school officials, parents and advocates at the state’s capital to demand from lawmakers a focus on the education funding as they begin to look at the next budget.  "An equitable basic education funding system is good for students and the state's economy, but if the state continues to limit funding increases to the level approved in this year's budget, infants in their cribs today will be out of high school by the time we achieve a fully-funded and fair public school funding system in Pennsylvania," said Joan Benso, president and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children in a statement.  It was not until March that Harrisburg finally agreed to pass the budget that was supposed to fund the state through June. A nine-month impasse between legislators and Gov. Tom Wolf led to a severe delay in funding for the state’s public schools amongst other things. Wolf broke the stalemate saying it was time to “move on.”

“The Campaign for Fair Education Funding called on the Legislature and Wolf to spend an additional $400 million on education and distribute the new money via a formula built on annual weighted measures that rely on U.S. Census records and data from the state revenue and education departments, among others.”
Budget season starts in the Pennsylvania state Capitol
Steve EsackContact Reporter Call Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG — The voices of schoolchildren on tour echoed through the Capitol. The cadence of lawmakers passing budget and education bills rose in committee rooms. The calls of advocates seeking more classroom money played in the Rotunda.  Those noises could mean only one thing: Monday was the public start of spring budget season in Harrisburg.  As tours wove through the ornate rooms of the Capitol in the morning, the House Education Committee passed two bills Republicans say would lessen the chances that a protracted budget fight would hurt schools, but Democrats say would make the budgeting process worse.  At midday, a coalition of school advocates urged the Republican-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to spend more money on schools and to distribute the funds fairly.  By afternoon, the House took another step toward setting up a final vote on the first budget bill for the 2016-17 fiscal year that begins July 1. That final House vote could come Tuesday or Wednesday and if a bill is approved, it would move on to the Senate, which does not return to session until next week.  The House budget bill is a carbon copy of the current budget, and serves as a legislative place holder for the final budget that will be negotiated behind closed doors later this spring and summer — if the players stick to the traditional timeline.

Advocates want a permanent education funding formula
WITF Written by Ben Allen, General Assignment Reporter | May 2, 2016 3:17 PM
The state's been distributing some money for public schools a bit differently for almost a year now.  Advocates say more funding should be allocated this way going forward, as they see it as a way to bring more equality to basic education.  $150 million was pushed through the newer funding formula this fiscal year.  Advocates say an additional $400 million should follow the same route next year, and the formula should become permanent.  It's meant to send more money to rural and poorer districts, using factors like the poverty level, the percentage of students who aren't fluent in English, and the amount of taxable land in a district.  Joan Benso with the Campaign for Fair Education Funding says they want to create an even playing field.  "Every school district, every school district, regardless of their local community wealth, should have adequate resources to ensure that their children can achieve to our standards," says Benso.

With two months left in year, districts finally get state budget figure
By Mark Guydish - mguydish@timesleader.com POSTED ON MAY 2, 2016 BY TIMESLEADER
With two months left in the fiscal year, the state education budget is finally final(ish), and area districts know how much money they can expect from Harrisburg. The good news: Luzerne County school districts ended up with bigger increases in state money under the funding formula used by the Legislature than they were going to get under the formula Gov. Tom Wolf intended to use.  The bad news, of course, is that districts had to spend 10 months not knowing what they were going to get as Democrat Wolf and the Republican-controlled Legislature battled over the numbers.  That battle seemed to end March 28 when Wolf allowed the Legislature’s final proposal to pass without his signature, but the money hit a roadblock on the way from Harrisburg to local coffers. Wolf planned to dole out the money using a formula create by his administration, and the Legislature balked, contending he had to use a new formula drawn up by a bipartisan commission.  The Legislature sent Wolf a new “Fiscal Code” that spelled out how money would be spent, and it used the bipartisan formula for any education spending increase over last year’s budget. Wolf again let the proposal pass without signing it, but districts still had no clear idea what they would get.  That changed Monday when the Department of Education released spreadsheets showing how much districts would get from three primary sources: Basic Education Funding, the much smaller Right To Learn grants, and Special Education Funding.

Final school budget favors York County
York Daily Record by  Angie Mason, amason@ydr.com5:25 p.m. EDT May 2, 2016
After disagreement over the distribution of funds, new numbers have been released.
York County school districts will fare better in state funding for 2015-16, to the tune of nearly $4 million, than they would have if funds were given out the way Gov. Tom Wolf had wanted.  The state education department posted updated state budget information on Monday, showing how new 2015-16 school funds will be distributed.  About $150 million more in statewide basic education dollars will be given out using a new funding formula recommended by a state commission. That formula was designed to create a more fair system statewide and considers factors such as district wealth, local tax levels, district enrollment and more.  olf supports that formula but had not wanted to use it for 2015-16. He'd planned to distribute the additional funding differently, saying he wanted to restore budget cuts districts had experienced in the past.

Blogger note: If anybody knows which, if any of the spreadsheet links on this site actually contain final numbers – please enlighten me. Thanks!
PA Department of Education Website – Education Budget

DePasquale warns of costs of Pa. budget stalemate
Why Newsworks BY MARY WILSON MAY 1, 2016
The state's top fiscal watchdog says another budget impasse would lead to a "backdoor tax increase" in Pennsylvania.  Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said Thursday that if lawmakers and the governor allow another lengthy budget stalemate to take place without "dealing" with the state's projected structural deficit, the commonwealth will receive another credit downgrade, hiking the cost of borrowing.  "Every road project, every school construction project, every time a school district or the state want to take out a loan ... that money will not go as far," said DePasquale at a press conference in the Capitol.  Pennsylvania has received multiple credit downgrades over the past few years. Rating agencies have cited the state's growing pension debt, the use of one-time money sources to balance its budget, and, more recently, partisan gridlock.

John Finnerty | Next budget battle may be worse than the last, says auditor general
Tribune Democrat By John Finnerty jfinnerty@cnhi.com May 2, 2016
State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale speaks Thursday, April 7, 2016, at The Tribune-
HARRISBURG – As bad as the budget situation has been, there have always been a few states in worse shape.  Maybe not for long, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale warned this week.  If Gov. Tom Wolf and lawmakers can’t get together to bridge the gap between the state’s collections and the money it spends, DePasqaule said the state’s credit rating will slip.  That means public dollars won’t stretch as far when the state or school districts borrow to pay for construction.  Pennsylvania now has an AA-minus bond rating - the same as California and Michigan - from Standard & Poor’s.  Illinois, New Jersey and Kentucky are the only states with lower ratings from the agency.  Standard & Poor’s dropped Pennsylvania’s bonds to their current level two years ago, citing concerns about pension liabilities.  The rating was AA for at least a decade before that, according to an analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts.  The nine-month budget impasse that ended in March left no long-term strategy to pay the state’s bills.  The next budget, due in just two months, must include plans to bring the state’s income in line with the money it spends, DePasquale told reporters Thursday.

“Gov. Wolf still wants a broad-based tax increase to raise enough money to close the deficit and increase funding for public schools. Republicans who control the Assembly still say that tax increases should be a last resort and that a mix of cuts and smarter budgeting would produce a good plan.”
Bill would fund schools through another budget impasse
Inquirer and Post Gazette by Karen Langley and Angela Couloumbis, HARRISBURG BUREAU Updated: MAY 3, 2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
HARRISBURG - The next state budget is not due for two months, but after last year's gridlock, legislators on Monday took a step toward preventing a repeat of the stalemate that kept school funding bottled up for months.  Returning after a two-week recess, members of the House Education Committee approved a bill that would keep school funds flowing if a budget is not enacted by Aug. 15 - six weeks after the next fiscal year starts July 1.  The governor's office and Republican legislative leaders were not admitting the need for such an insurance policy. One opponent suggested the measure might lessen the pressure to pass a spending plan on time this year.  But one thing is certain: Neither side appears to have moved away from the hard-and-fast positions staked out during the historic impasse.

April PA State Revenue Down $24.8 Million From Estimates, Still Up For Year
PA Capitol Digest by Crisci Associates MAY 2, 2016
Pennsylvania collected $3.7 billion in General Fund revenue in April, which was $24.8 million, or 0.7 percent, less than anticipated, Secretary of Revenue Eileen McNulty reported Monday.
Fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $25.9 billion, which is $122.6 million, or 0.5 percent, above estimate.

“Given that this measure doesn't force schools to do anything, Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Delaware, commented on the House floor, "It's a bill about nothing. That's very Seinfeld-esque."
Bill that lets 'God' back in school on its way to state Senate for consideration
The state House on Monday passed legislation that allows schools to post the national motto, "In God We Trust," as well as the Bill of Rights in classrooms and other locations in their buildings.
Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com    Email the author | Follow on Twitter  on May 02, 2016 at 6:28 PM
While its fate remains uncertain in the Senate, the state House on Monday voted 179-20 to allow public schools to post the national motto in classrooms or other locations within their buildings.  The last time the House sent a similar bill to this one over to the Senate it died due to inaction.  Like the one it passed in the last legislative session, the legislation doesn't make the posting of "In God We Trust" a requirement to be posted. Rather it is intended to expose students to the phrase that carries historical significance while allaying concerns that some school officials had about whether it was permitted to post a slogan that has religious overtones in public school buildings.  The legislation was amended to include allowing the Bill of Rights to be posted  in schools as well.

Pittsburgh Public Schools to vote on protection measures for transgender students
Trib Live BY ELIZABETH BEHRMAN  | Monday, May 2, 2016, 11:30 p.m.
The Pittsburgh Public Schools board plans to vote June 22 on a districtwide policy that would protect transgender students from discrimination.  If it is approved, the district plans to implement the policy by next school year.  The board, during a nonvoting meeting Monday night, discussed a draft of the policy posted on the district's website last month. It would provide guidance to teachers and students about students who identify with a gender other than their sex at birth. The eight-page policy would allow all students to use the bathrooms, wear the clothing and use a name appropriate to their gender identity.  District employees would not be required to notify the student's parent about the child's transition.  “I'm glad to see that Pittsburgh Public Schools continues to do what's right by law and protect all students,” board member Sylvia Wilson said.  Transgender rights have been a controversial topic across the country following the passage of laws in some states that require citizens to use bathrooms that correlate with their biological sex.  Last month, the Springfield School Board in Montgomery County became the first in Pennsylvania to pass a formal policy on transgender students and the Lower Merion School District, also in Montgomery County, had a first reading of its policy.

Commentary: Phila. behind peer cities in education funding
Inquirer Commentary By Max Weiss and Wendell Pritchett Updated: MAY 3, 2016 3:01 AM EDT
Max Weiss, a graduate of Julia R. Masterman School and a former teacher, is a third-year student at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. weissmax@pennlaw.upenn.edu
Wendell Pritchett, a presidential professor of law and education at Penn Law, is a former member of Philadelphia's School Reform Commission. pritchet@law.upenn.edu
Over the past five years, the funding crisis in the School District of Philadelphia has become well known to everyone in the region, as well as many people across the country. As a result of cuts in state and federal funding during the summer of 2011, the district faced a deficit in excess of $600 million for fiscal 2012. In preparing the fiscal 2013 and 2014 budgets, the School District faced gaps in excess of $300 million.  While the district has secured funding (mostly from the city) to reduce these gaps, it has been forced to lay off several thousand people and eliminate many important programs. In 2011, the total staff of the district was 23,943. In 2015, the staff had decreased to 16,833.  Children, parents, teachers, advocates, School District leaders, and local officials might disagree on many aspects of the public school system in Philadelphia, but they all agree that the declines in state and federal support have crippled the district's ability to educate our children.

Report: Local School Funding: A Comparison of Philadelphia and Other Major Cities Over the Past Decade
Authors Max Weiss University of Pennsylvania Law School ‘Wendell E. Pritchett Presidential Professor of Law and Education University of Pennsylvania Law School 16 April 2016

“It’s real simple,” Demalis said. “The PSERS (Public School Employees’ Retirement System) retirement rate is jumping to 30.03 percent. That is how much of the salary goes into retirement that we’re paying. It was 25.84 percent. That increase is $351,835, so pretty much all of our budget increase is PSERS. There are other pieces of the pie going up and down, but that is the biggest piece. At least 60 percent of our millage is to cover the deficit in special education. By deficit, I mean the difference of the special education expense versus the special education subsidy, and that’s by law.”
Shenandoah Valley OKs tentative budget
Republican Herald BY JOHN E. USALIS Published: May 3, 2016
SHENANDOAH — The Shenandoah Valley school board tentatively adopted its 2016-17 fiscal year budget that includes a real estate tax increase of 2.085 mills to deal with a deficit due to pension cost increases and lack of funding from state and federal sources.  The proposed general operating budget plan of $18,124,150 includes an increase of $346,599, or 1.95 percent, over the budget in the current fiscal year — $17,777,551 — that will end June 30.  Real estate taxes will increase from 54.89 to 56.975 mills. Each mill brings in about $73,000.  “At this point this is tentative. It is not the final budget,” district Acting Superintendent/Business Manager Anthony P. Demalis Jr. said. “The budget as proposed, and it will probably end up changing somewhat, is 1.95 percent higher than last year.”  Demalis said there are expenses that have increased in which the school district has no control.

“The proposed budget, which represents a 4.5 percent increase from last year's budget of $51.5 million, includes $1.6 million for increases in the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement and $800,000 in salary increases, he said.”
Penn-Trafford adopts tentative budget containing tax increase
Trib Live BY MARY PICKELS  | Monday, May 2, 2016, 9:27 p.m.
Penn-Trafford School Board on Monday adopted a $53.8 million tentative budget with a 2.4-mill increase in real estate taxes for 2016-17.  The increase would bring the millage rate to 80.25 in Westmoreland and 16.92 in Allegheny County.  The district raised taxes 1 mill last year. One mill will bring in $275,000 in tax revenue.  “Even though you may not like what you end up hearing tonight, I think we're in a lot better position than a lot of other districts because we've used a lot of foresight over the years to put ourselves in a position where the budget remains at a reasonable level,” schools Business Manager Brett Lago said during his presentation.  “We don't have any extravagant spending. We've maximized our revenues, and we've faced some challenges in terms of what both the state and federal governments have done to us in terms of our funding levels,” Lago said.  The preliminary budget for 2016-17 was presented on the same day that the district received its latest state update on the 2015-16 budget, he said.

Riverside School District in a budget bind
Times Tribune by KATHLEEN BOLUS, STAFF WRITER Published: May 3, 2016
The Riverside School District will continue to look for ways to balance its 2016-17 budget a week after voters turned down a referendum to raise taxes in the district.  Over the next three to four weeks, the board and administrators will reach a final budget despite receiving final state subsidy amounts for the 2015-16 school year from the state Department of Education only on Monday, Superintendent Paul Brennan said.  “We’re looking for answers in other areas,” he said. “The scraping and clawing with our budget is at a new intensity.”  On the April 26 primary election ballot, the district asked taxpayers from Moosic and Taylor if they’d approve hiking school district real estate taxes by an additional 4.47 mills, or 3.93 percent. A mill is equal to $1 in tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value.  A “yes” outcome could have resulted in an increase of as much as 8.93 mills, or 8.16 percent, during the 2016-17 school year. More than 90 percent of ballots cast — about 3,370 voters — were against the tax increase, while 308 were in favor, according to unofficial results.  Seeking the yes vote was another way for Riverside to explore options to balance its budget, Mr. Brennan said.  Riverside is still able to raise taxes 4.46 mills for the 2016-17 school year under the state’s Act 1 Index, which limits the amount a district can raise property taxes.

NEWS RELEASE: PSBA releases recommendations for ESSA implementation in Pennsylvania
An Every Student Succeeds Act Study Group (ESSA), convened by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA), has released recommendations on how the new ESSA should be implemented in the commonwealth. ESSA was signed into law in December 2015 and replaces the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). A report with recommendations was developed by a diverse group of more than 80 school directors, school administrators and subject experts.
All states, including Pennsylvania, are now in the process of crafting new state plans that are expected to be submitted for approval to the U.S. Department of Education in Fall 2016 and take effect beginning in 2017-18.  “We are pleased to make these recommendations on behalf of the participants of the study group,” said PSBA Executive Director Nathan Mains. “The study group, all education experts, had very thoughtful and probing conversation around ESSA implementation. We strongly encourage the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to take these recommendations into consideration as it moves forward with the state’s plan.”
The ESSA has been heralded by many for returning accountability to the states. These changes mean that individual states will bear more responsibility for implementing the law and its new requirements. PSBA convened the study group to begin the process of making recommendations to PDE, Gov. Tom Wolf and the General Assembly.
The report is the result of several weeks of discussion and preparation by study group members, culminating in a two-day meeting held March 2-3, 2016, during which attendees reviewed and discussed the new law in subgroups from four perspectives: assessment, schools identified as being in the “bottom 5%,” educator effectiveness, and charter school issues and solutions.
Within these topics, subgroups developed key areas of recommendations. The full list of recommendations and details for each can be found in the full report online. The goal of the study group and PSBA is that the recommendations will be taken into consideration as PDE begins convening its own study groups on April 28. Highlights from each group are listed below:


Kansas Supreme Court Says Schools Could Close If System Doesn't Change
NPR Morning Edition by Sam Zeff May 2, 2016
In 13 states, parents and school districts are suing, saying schools aren't getting enough money to serve the needs of students.  In no other state are the courts more baked in to school funding than in Kansas, though.  There, the state Supreme Court will hear arguments on the latest funding case within the next week. If justices don't approve of the legislators' fix to the system, the court could shut down public schools on June 30.  One of the plaintiffs in that case is the Kansas City school district. "I understand that people want to paint us as money-grubbing mongers," says district Superintendent Cynthia Lane.  "But really what we want is adequate resources to do the job we know how to do."  Lane's students are poor: 80 percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Most, she says, live in homes without computers or books. That's why her district is suing the state.

A teacher’s reading assignment for legislators — and there will be a test
Washington Post By Valerie Strauss May 2 at 11:30 AM 
Stuart Egan is an English teacher in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School system in North Carolina. He has taught all grades and levels of high school English, and currently teaches AP English Language and Composition and Shakespeare 101 and 102. On his blog,Caffeinated Rage, Egan writes often about the assault on public education by legislators in his state who have lowered teachers’ pay, cut per-pupil spending, removed due-process rights for some teachers as well as class size requirements, among many other things. In the following post, he gives a literary assignment to North Carolina lawmakers for some reading over the summer. His hope is that these policy-makers will come to better understand people who don’t live or look like they do.

Teacher protests close most Detroit schools again Tuesday
Washington Post By Emma Brown May 3 at 7:39 AM 
More than 90 of the city’s roughly 100 public schools are closed Tuesday, according to the district’s Facebook page. About 46,000 students attend the city’s schools, and the second day of closures left some parents scrambling to find alternatives for their children.  The Detroit Federation of Teachers is seeking to pressure state lawmakers to pass a bailout plan for the city’s troubled school system. Without action at the statehouse, the district has said it won’t be able to pay teachers over the summer. That would leave some teachers, who receive their salaries throughout the year, unpaid for their work during the school year.


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:

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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