Thursday, June 30, 2016

PA Ed Policy Roundup June 30: Happy Fiscal New Year’s Eve; HB530 Charter Bill Moving Today

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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Weekend Roundup June 30, 2016:
Happy Fiscal New Year’s Eve; HB530 Charter Bill Moving Today



URGENT–Lawmakers and Governor Wolf MUST oppose HB 530–legislation that would make PA’s charter school law even WORSE
Education Voters PA Posted on June 29, 2016 by EDVOPA
The PA House is moving charter school legislation today that would make PA’s charter school law even WORSE than it already is.
HB 530 is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It is NOT a genuine effort to improve the quality of education children in the Commonwealth receive, but instead, a massive giveaway to charter schools that would damage school districts throughout the Commonwealth and undermine the quality of education children in all schools receive.



Blogger Commentary: In addition to charter provisions, HB530 would also increase the limit for the EITC program, which primarily diverts public tax dollars to unaccountable private and religious schools, from $150 million to $175 million.  These are tax dollars that are not available for the general fund.
Speaker Turzai, members of REACH foundation urge support of House Bill 530
Speaker of the House Rep Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) along with Executive Director of the REACH Foundation, Otto V. Banks, help a press conference at the McCormick Riverfront Library to urge the passage of House Bill 530.  This legislation would increase the educational improvement tax credit (EITC) program and other programs from $150 million to $175 million allowing for more scholarships and education for children inside and out of the REACH foundation.
CLICK HERE to read the full story from The PLS Reporter.(paywall)

This is a PA House GOP list of proposed budget distribution estimates by county by school district; this is not finalized yet
Proposed 16-17 Basic Education Funding (BEF) Distribution Estimate

“The Senate version kept the underpinnings of the House plan - namely, more money for public schools, including $200 million for K-12 classroom education - but added slightly less than $40 million for higher education. The House had not included any new aid for state system universities, community colleges, and the four state-related universities.  The changes have to be approved by the House before going to Wolf for his signature. Both houses are controlled by Republicans.”
Inching toward budget deal? Pa. Senate OKs $31.5B spending plan
Inquirer by Angela Couloumbis and Karen Langley, HARRISBURG BUREAU Updated: JUNE 30, 2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
HARRISBURG - The Republican-controlled legislature appears determined to beat the clock and send Gov. Wolf a budget before the start of the new fiscal year.  Less than 24 hours after the House passed a $31.5 billion spending plan, the Senate on Wednesday tweaked the proposal and swiftly passed it in a 47-3 floor vote. The measure won the vote of every Democrat - a strong signal that it has tacit support from the Democratic governor.  "We've learned from our past, not to repeat it but to move forward," said Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.), referring to last year's nine-month impasse. "We learned from the fact that this is a divided government, learned from the fact that incremental gains are gains nonetheless."  Getting a spending plan to the governor before the Friday start of the fiscal year is a big step toward achieving an on-time budget, but does not guarantee one. The House and Senate have yet to finalize how to pay for the plan, and there's no assurance that Wolf will sign off.

Pa. Senate OKs $31.6 billion budget; how to pay for it is next
The Senate has passed the budget, which now returns to the House.
Steve Esack Contact Reporter Call Harrisburg Bureau
State Senate OKs $31.6 billion budget; how to pay for it comes next  HARRISBURG — The state Senate voted Wednesday to approve a $31.6 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins Friday. That's about $95 million more than what the House had approved Tuesday night, when other spending is adjusted.  A big chunk of the Senate's proposed increase would provide an additional $40 million for a college loan program and all taxpayer-supported universities. That would be a 2.5 percent increase for the publicly funded higher education system, which the House had flat-lined while increasing spending in all other education categories.  The Senate's 47-3 vote moves the budget back to the House, which must reconcile the differences between the two chambers and move a final spending package to Gov. Tom Wolf for his signature or veto.
After the Senate vote, Wolf thanked the leadership, saying in a statement: "As the budget moves through the process, I look forward to continuing to engage with the Legislature to discuss a sustainable revenue package."

State Senate advances House budget bill, with funding in limbo
Delco Times By Marc Levy, The Associated Press POSTED: 06/30/16, 5:40 AM EDT
HARRISBURG >> The Pennsylvania Senate took quick action on the House’s just-passed budget package Wednesday, a day before the state government’s fiscal-year deadline, although divisions remained over how to pay for the nearly $31.6 billion spending plan.  The Republican-controlled Senate voted 47-3 after making changes to the plan the House passed a day earlier with bipartisan support.  Both chambers adjourned Wednesday, to return Thursday. House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, said his chamber would move quickly to review the Senate’s changes, but did not say how his chamber would handle it.  The swift movement comes barely two months after the end of a record-breaking stalemate that marked the first budget between Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and the Republican-controlled Legislature.

$31.5 billion Pa. state budget goes back to House's woodshed, at least for a day, after Senate changes
Penn Live By Charles Thompson | cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on June 29, 2016 at 9:23 PM, updated June 29, 2016 at 11:51 PM
With some deft accounting, the state Senate came up with more money for Pennsylvania's public colleges and universities Wednesday, even as it lowered total spending from a budget bill passed by the state House a day before.  The winners are the state-related universities (Penn State, Pitt and Temple), the 14 members of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and the state's 14 community colleges.  All stand to receive a 2.5 percent bump in 2016-17 state allocations that had been frozen by the House at current-year levels.  To create the head room for that $40 million increase, the Senate took a $95.3 million annual expense for bond-funded, economic development projects out of the general fund budget

“Only three Senators—Sen. Scott Wagner (R-York), Sen. John Eichelberger (R-Blair), and Sen. Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango)—opposed the spending plan.”
Senate returns budget to House with increased higher education funding, lower spend number
The Senate Wednesday afternoon returned to the House the budget that chamber passed less than a day earlier, but increasing higher education funding by 2.5 percent and lowering the overall spend number to $31.53 billion.   Only three Senators—Sen. Scott Wagner (R-York), Sen. John Eichelberger (R-Blair), and Sen. Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango)—opposed the spending plan.  The spending plan voted on by the Senate Wednesday found its $40 million increase to be shared by Pennsylvania’s state-related schools by shifting money from lines said not to be priorities to the House or the governor and was able to obtain its bipartisan support by increasing funding in areas like the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.
Read the full story from The PLS Reporter HERE. (paywall)

These are the five biggest things to know about the #PaBudget: Wednesday Morning Coffee
Penn Live By John L. Micek | jmicek@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on June 29, 2016 at 7:35 AM, updated June 29, 2016 at 7:52 AM
THE MORNING COFFEE
Good Wednesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
As some of you may have heard by now, Pennsylvania could be on track to an on-time state budget for the first time in Gov. Tom Wolf's young administration.  But before you break out the party hats and start planning celebrations for 12:01 a.m. on July 1, here are the five things you need to know about where things stand:

Five more things to know about the #PaBudget: Thursday Morning Coffee
Penn Live By John L. Micek | jmicek@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on June 30, 2016 at 7:37 AM, updated June 30, 2016 at 7:39 AM
THE MORNING COFFEE
Good Thursday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
Today is June 30, which means it's the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year is nearly upon us.
And, at midnight tonight, state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, festooned with garland and blinking lights, will make a 60-second descent down the Commonwealth statue at the top of the Pennsylvania Capitol, officially ringing in the start of the 2016-17 fiscal year at 12:01 a.m. on Friday.  Okay ... so it doesn't really happen like that ... but how cool would it be if it did?
But one part is true: Lawmakers and Gov. Tom Wolf do have until midnight tonight to pass a new state budget. And, all things being equal, it looks like they might (more or less) pull it off.
So, with that in mind, here's five more things to know about what's happening:

Chester County lawmakers applaud state budget
By Ginger Dunbar, Daily Local News POSTED: 06/29/16, 9:50 PM EDT
HARRISBURG >> As the clock ticks toward the state budget deadline, several Chester County legislators have shown their support for the $31 billion spending plan.  The House voted 132-68 Tuesday to approve the budget bill that has a Friday deadline as the fiscal year ends on July 1. The state Senate then voted on the 2016-17 budget, which includes additional educational funding, Wednesday.  All state representatives from Chester County voted in favor of Senate Bill 1073 except state Rep. John Lawrence, R-13, of West Grove, and state Rep. Dan Truitt, R-156, of East Goshen. Lawrence faces Democrat Nancy Dean of London Grove in the Nov. 8 election; Truitt faces West Chester Mayor Carolyn Comitta, a Democrat.

Budget peace in Harrisburg? The political reasons for the calm
Lancaster Online by John Baer | Philadelphia Daily News Jun 29, 2016
As Harrisburg moves toward a new state budget, let’s take a look at the short- and long-term politics involved.  You might want to sit down. This gets dizzying.  First, the budget is getting done more or less on schedule without any big-time personal taxes and amid a new cordiality under Harrisburg’s Big Top.  I sense you have questions:  Didn’t the last budget take forever because our Democratic governor and Republican Legislature are ideological opposites, and isn’t that still the case?  Yes.  Hasn’t our Democratic governor for two years called for higher personal income taxes, increased or expanded sales taxes, taxes on natural gas, all while claiming the state’s in “crisis,” tumbling into fiscal hell?  Yes.  And isn’t his argument that taxes are needed because there isn’t revenue to meet “the math” for a constitutionally mandated balanced budget, and didn’t he tell lawmakers just a few months back that they should get serious or “find another job?”  Correct.  Well, then, how to explain a fairly sudden — shall we say friendly? — shift in thinking?

Court dismisses PSBA suit over budget-fight holdup of school aid
Inquirer by The Associated Press Updated: JUNE 29, 2016 — 6:19 PM EDT
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania judge is dismissing a lawsuit over held-up state and federal school aid during a record-breaking budget stalemate.  In Wednesday's decision, Commonwealth Court Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt said the Pennsylvania School Boards Association lawsuit is effectively moot because of budget legislation that became law March 28.  The school boards association had asked the court to prevent the state from withholding the dollars in the future, and it asked for damages for the districts' borrowing costs and loss of investment income on dried-up reserves.  In her decision, Leavitt wrote that a challenge to the constitutionality of delayed budget legislation requires current evidence. She also wrote that such a stalemate is unlikely to happen again, but the issue could be litigated should another occur.
A school boards association spokesman says it's too soon to say whether it will appeal.

Commentary: 'Reform' plan doesn't fix Pa. pension crisis
Inquirer Commentary By Richard C. Dreyfuss Updated: JUNE 30, 2016 — 3:01 AM EDT
Richard C. Dreyfuss is an actuary and business consultant.
Someone once quipped that a camel is a horse designed by committee. A perfect example of this metaphor is the "stacked-hybrid" public pension plan passed by the Pennsylvania House in mid-June. Rather than fixing our broken state pension system, this plan keeps all the problems that led to billions in debt and continues to avoid paying for the promises made to public employees.  Pennsylvania taxpayers already face an unsustainable $63.2 billion pension debt - 730 percent more than just 10 years ago. This threatens future plan solvency and transfers costs to future generations. Those seeking to live, work, or invest in our state will not be pleased at a welcome committee holding out a bill for billions in unfunded pension liabilities.  Though lawmakers should be applauded for making this critical issue a priority, this latest attempt at pension reform isn't the short- or long-term solution Pennsylvanians have been waiting for.

Blogger commentary: based upon their consistent, dismal academic performance over several years, it seems to me that cyber schools have already severely impacted their students, not to mention the taxpayers who have to fund them.
Funding cuts to cyber schools in Pa. would severely impact students: PennLive letters
Letters to the Editor  by TILLIE ELVRUM, president, PublicSchoolOptions.org, Colorado Springs, Colorado  on June 29, 2016 at 3:00 PM, updated June 29, 2016 at 7:31 PM
As the Pennsylvania General Assembly considers the state budget, parents with children in public cyber charter schools hope they won't be treated like second-class citizens again.  Funding cuts ignore that cyber charters already begin with an average of 25 percent less in funding than traditional district schools, although they are required to provide an equal education. That's even more perplexing when you consider that many of our students come from traditional public schools that have failed them. They're often behind their peers and turn to cyber schools for help.  Funding cuts would severely impact our cyber schools' ability to properly educate our children, especially those with specialized needs, causing them to only fall further behind.

School funding in Pa, NJ
WHYY Radio Times with Marty Moss-Coane June 28, 2016
Guests: Kevin McCorry, Donna Cooper, John Mooney runtime 48:58
Pennsylvania has adopted a new school funding formula, yet the state still distributes money largely without regard for the actual needs of students. In fact, the state gives the most funding per student to districts where enrollment has dropped sharply over the last 25 years. We’ll talk about the funding formula and how the state divides up its education cash, with KEVIN McCORRY, a statewide education reporter for Keystone Crossroads.  We’ll hear from DONNA COOPER, executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth as well. And we’ll get an update on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s school funding plan from JOHN MOONEY, education reporter and founding editor and CEO of NJ Spotlight.

PA's rural schools are at a precipice
City and State PA By:  RYAN BRIGGS JUN 29, 2016 AT 12:29 PM
Along the maze of state roads that wind through Pennsylvania’s remote Northern Tier, wildflowers are blooming white and purple, and the canopy of trees glows verdant across the folds of endless rolling hills. On Route 6, the main road into Potter County, a wooden sign proclaims, “Welcome to Potter County: God’s Country.”  To the seasonal tourists and anglers, it must seem to be so. But behind this idyllic facade, God’s country is dying.   “The economic base is pretty poor here, so we lose all our best people,” says Jerry Sasala, superintendent of Austin Area School District. “A lot of retired people move in because the land is so cheap, but it’s not putting money in the economy. Everything is being hollowed out. We’re killing ourselves just to try and keep the schools up.”  Sasala’s class size is down 20 percent from a decade ago, mirroring the county’s flagging birth rate. His special education costs are way up, in backwards lockstep with a faltering local economy – 42 percent of his students come from families living near the federal poverty line. It’s a district where fracking wells, once viewed as an economic boon, now sit idle, victims of cratering petroleum prices. Longtime factory employers have shuttered – the  Piper Aircraft factory down the road from Austin was long ago converted into a state prison. Drug overdose rates in the county have doubled over the last 10 years.  But the problems in this remote school district are easy for outsiders to ignore, as might be expected for the commonwealth’s smallest school district, which graduated just 12 students this year. 

Nearly all Philly teaching positions filled, district says
The notebook/WHYY Newsworks BY AVI WOLFMAN-ARENT JUNE 28, 2016
The School District of Philadelphia announced Wednesday it has filled 99 percent of its teaching positions, a notable accomplishment given the district’s endemic vacancy woes.  The announcement follows a sustained and public push to fill every teaching position by Friday. The district will fall short of that goal, but only barely. By the end of this week, just 45 vacancies will remain, according to district superintendent William Hite. Before hiring began, 1,940 positions were open.  The district has approximately 8,100 total teaching slots — down about 300 from last year.  “We made a commitment to fully staff all schools by the start of the school year, and we plan to meet that goal,” said Hite.  In 2015, 118 positions were open when the school year began, and the shortage continued throughout the school year. When school let out just a week ago, the district had 132 unfilled teaching slots, said district spokesman Fernando Gallard.

Hite: 99% of Philly teacher positions filled
Inquirer by Martha Woodall, Staff Writer Updated: JUNE 30, 2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
Philadelphia School Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. announced Wednesday that the School District had filled 99 percent of its teaching positions and was on target to have all filled by the start of the school year.  "These classrooms are empty right now for the summer, but come September, they will be full of teachers," Hite said at a news conference at Roxborough High School.  "Last year there were too many vacancies in our schools," he said. "We recognized the problem; we took action with an aggressive recruitment and hiring strategy. We made a commitment to fully staff all of our schools by the start of the school year, and we plan to meet our goal. Families can rest assured that schools will be ready and completely staffed to welcome students in September."  Hite said the district expected to have only 45 vacancies left by week's end.

Pittsburgh school board won't rescind contract with new superintendent
Trib Live BY ELIZABETH BEHRMAN  | Wednesday, June 29, 2016, 6:54 p.m.
The majority of the Pittsburgh Public Schools board reaffirmed its support of the district's next superintendent, with the board president saying an independent investigation found Anthony Hamlet did not intentionally embellish his record or plagiarize a part of his resume.  The board voted 7-2 in a special meeting Wednesday night to allow Hamlet to be sworn in as superintendent Friday.  “We're hopeful the community will come together to welcome him on the job,” said board President Regina Holley, who voted to protect his contract. “The work that he will do is too important to continue debating over Dr. Hamlet's resume.”  Hamlet did not attend Wednesday's meeting, but the district released a statement on his behalf after the vote: “I regret the concern this situation has caused and I apologize to the parents and communities for this unintended distraction. My focus has always been the children.”  The board unanimously approved Hamlet's five-year, $210,000 contract May 18. He has been embroiled in controversy since plagiarism and apparent data embellishments were revealed in his resume, with several education-advocacy and civil rights groups calling on the school board to conduct a new search.

“Factors affecting the district's budget in the future include its contributions to the Public School Employees' Retirement System, to which Chartiers Valley will contribute $4.5 million in 2016-17. In 2010-11, by comparison, Chartiers Valley's contribution totaled about $712,000.”
Chartiers Valley reverses course, votes to raise taxes
Trib Live BY JIM SPEZIALETTI | Wednesday, June 29, 2016, 12:09 p.m.
Chartiers Valley School District officials had a change of plans with the district's $62 million budget for 2016-17.  Instead of dipping into savings to balance the budget, board members approved, by a 7-2 vote, the final budget with a 0.39-mill property tax increase.  “We really worked hard not to have a millage increase,” Superintendent Brian White said.  The property tax increase is the first for the district since 2010. The new millage is 16.6067 mills, which is lowest among Allegheny County school districts. For residents who own property assessed at $100,000, their increase will amount to $38.92. It will generate $884,000 for the district.  In May, the board approved a preliminary budget with no property tax increase by using $1.3 million in savings. Since the preliminary approval, administrators trimmed $500,000 in expenses.

“A major increase in expenditures comes from what the district must contribute to the Public School Employees' Retirement System. Districts contribute a percentage based on salaries. This year's rate is 30.03 percent, meaning South Fayette must contribute $6.45 million to the pension fund, an increase of $883,743 from last year.”
South Fayette raises taxes, uses savings to balance final budget
Trib Live BY JIM SPEZIALETTI | Wednesday, June 29, 2016, 6:00 p.m.
The South Fayette School Board approved a $52.75 million budget for 2016-17 that increases property taxes by 0.58 mills and uses nearly $1.75 million in savings.  The new property tax rate is 26.7 mills. The average value of a home in South Fayette is $143,000, translating to an increase of $83.54.  Board members had asked Director of Finance Brian Tony previously presented three other options: no tax increase while using $2.47 million in savings; a 0.5-mill increase while using $1.85 million in savings; and raising the millage up to the index allowed by the state, which is 0.8357 mills, and taking $1.4 million from savings.  By increasing the rate 0.5832 mills, the district will generate $727,253 more in revenue. The district's savings now will total $16.5 million.

“The 2016-17 budget is about $1 million larger than the previous year and most of the increase, about $877,000, comes from mandatory pension increases.”
Greensburg Salem school board raises property taxes, OKs $43.5 million budget
Trib Live BY JACOB TIERNEY  | Wednesday, June 29, 2016, 11:00 p.m.
Greensburg Salem School District residents' property tax bills will go up 2.7 mills this year after a 5-4 school board vote Wednesday.  This brings the total millage to 87.22, and will fund the district's 2016-17 budget of about $43.5 million. The budget also passed 5-4 Wednesday.  Board members Frank Gazze, Rick Payha, Robin Savage, Stephen Thomas and Barbara Vernail voted for the budget and the tax increase, with Charlotte Kemerer, Ronald Mellinger, Jeffrey Metrosky and Nick Rullo opposing both.  “This is for the betterment of our students and the quality of education at Greensburg Salem,” Vernail said.  The increase is the maximum allowed by the state and will cost the average taxpayer about $52 more a year. This is not enough to cover all expenses, so the district will use about $281,000 from its reserves to cover the cost.

Neshannock OKs school budget, tax increase
By Nancy Lowry New Castle News June 29, 2016
A budget featuring  $18.7 million in expenses and $17.9 in revenue was adopted Tuesday night by the Neshannock Township School Board.   The budget includes a 0.4261 mill property tax increase, setting the new millage rate at 15.118.  To further support the budget, board members voted to continue the one-half percent earned income tax which is shared with Neshannock Township; retained a one-half real estate transfer tax, also shared with the township and continued a $10 per capita ta, a $5 per capita tax and a $10 emergency and municipal services tax.  The budget was adopted by a unanimous 7-0 vote of the board. Voting for it were members David Antuono, Melissa Johnson, Karen Houk, James McFarland, Amy Na, Raymond Omer, and board president P.J. Copple. Absent were Dr. William Cosgrove and Larry Keith.  The district cut $13.3 million from its initial spending plan which anticipated a $2 million deficit last month.
Following Tuesday’s special meeting, Superintendent Dr. Terence P. Meehan said the difference in revenue and expenses will be made up from the district’s fund balance. He said he also anticipates the district will receive more in 2016-17 from the state than it received in the school year just finishing.

Wilkinsburg passes budget with no tax increase
By Molly Born / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette June 29, 2016 4:55 PM
The Wilkinsburg school board unanimously passed a 2016-17 budget Tuesday night that includes no tax increase.   The property tax rate will remain at 32.63 mills. The vote came a week after the board approved furloughing 20 teachers as part of the official closing of the district’s high and middle schools.   About 270 students from Wilkinsburg’s middle and high schools will move to Pittsburgh Westinghouse 6-12 on a tuition basis starting next school year, making Wilkinsburg a pre-K-6 school district this fall. 


Education Secretary Spars With Senators Over School Ratings, ESSA Timeline
Education Week Politics K12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa on June 29, 2016 1:41 PM
Washington The top GOP Senate lawmaker for education criticized accountability proposals from the U.S. Department of Education that would require summative ratings for schools, saying such a requirement is not found in the Every Student Succeeds Act and would infringe on state autonomy.  Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the Senate education committee chairman, told Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. in a hearing here Wednesday that he was also worried that the proposed ESSA accountability rules might give the department improper oversight over states' content standards. And both Alexander and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the committee's ranking member, expressed concerns the draft rules would make states and schools shift to the new law too quickly.   The meeting was the first time Alexander, one of ESSA's main architects, shared concerns about specific policies in the draft ESSA accountability rules, which were released late last month.

Oklahoma teachers fight education cuts by winning elections
Washington Post By Sean Murphy | AP June 29 at 7:26 PM
OKLAHOMA CITY — Inner-city high school English teacher Mickey Dollens was fed up with low pay and cuts to public education, so he decided to run for the state Legislature to fix the problem.
Then the 28-year-old from Oklahoma City became a casualty of those cuts and was laid off. He has since become a poster boy for a movement of teachers, parents and other supporters of public education trying to elect candidates who will resist cuts imposed by majority Republicans.
The group passed its first major hurdle with flying colors on Tuesday when candidates it backed knocked off two incumbent House Republicans and came close to beating a third, a rarity in Oklahoma politics. Only three GOP incumbents have lost to a primary challenger in the last 16 years.  “They’ve already cut some sports and extra-curriculars like a welding program,” said Dollens, who won his Democratic primary with more than 90 percent of the vote and now faces a Republican in November. “Then my principal brought me in and said we have to let you and 19 other teaches go.

Education Bloggers Daily Highlights 6/30/2016

Testing Resistance & Reform News: June 22 - 28, 2016
Submitted by fairtest on June 28, 2016 - 12:54pm 
A number of states are already moving to take advantage of the flexibility to overhaul assessments included in the new, federal Every Student Succeeds Act. But proposed U.S. Department of Education regulations could inhibit reforms that help improve learning and learning. If you have not weighed in already, now is the time to submit a comment -- it's easy; just click on the first link below


Appointment of Voting Delegates for the October 15th PSBA Delegate Assembly Meeting
PSBA Website June 27, 2016
The governing body boards of all member school entities are entitled to appoint voting delegates to participate in the PSBA Delegate Assembly to be held on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016. It is important that school boards act soon to appoint its delegate or delegates, and to notify PSBA of the appointment.
Voting members of the Delegate Assembly will:
1.     Consider and act upon proposed changes to the PSBA Bylaws.
2.     Receive reports from the PSBA president, executive director and treasurer.
3.     Receive the results of the election for officers and at-large representatives. (Voting upon candidates by school boards and electronic submission of each board’s votes will occur during the month of September 2016.)
4.     Consider proposals recommended by the PSBA Platform Committee and adopt the legislative platform for the coming year.
5.     Conduct other Association business as required or permitted in the Bylaws, policies or a duly adopted order of business.
The 2016 Delegate Assembly will meet on Saturday, Oct. 15, at the conclusion of the regularly scheduled events of the main PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference.

Apply Now! EPLC’s 2016-2017 Pennsylvania Education Policy Fellowship Program

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.
https://www.psba.org/2016/05/nominations-now-open-allwein-awards/

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:
https://s3.goeshow.com/seee/PAEdLeadershipSummit/ereg312499.cfm?clear

PA Supreme Court sets Sept. 13 argument date for fair education funding lawsuit in Philly
Thorough and Efficient Blog JUNE 16, 2016 BARBGRIMALDI LEAVE A COMMENT
https://edfundinglawsuit.wordpress.com/2016/06/16/pa-supreme-court-sets-argument-date-for-fair-education-funding-lawsuit/

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