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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA
Ed Policy Roundup September 27, 2016
K-12
Education Shut Out of Presidential Debate
SuccessStartsHere @SuccessStartsPA
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Thanks to Keystone Crossroads, WHYY,
WITF, WESA and WPSU for hosting yesterday’s education funding forum
Education funding forum: Top takeaways
Keystone Crossroads/WHYY
Newsworks BY EMILY PREVITI, WITF
SEPTEMBER 27, 2016
About 40 education advocates and
leaders met Monday in Harrisburg to talk about ... well, how people in
Pennsylvania are talking about paying for public schools — and how to do it
better. The discussion at WITF focused
on how policy debates are framed by reporters and the people informing the
coverage: the attorneys, statehouse employees, immigration rights groups,
parents and religious leaders who attended the forum.
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/97522--education-funding-forum-top-takeaways
K-12 Education Shut Out of the
Presidential Debate Spotlight
Education Week Politics K12 Blog By Alyson Klein on September
26, 2016 11:19 PM
K-12 education barely merited a
mention in the first presidential debate Monday night. But child-care access
got a quick—and early—shout-out. Hillary
Clinton, the Democratic nominee, said that her prescription for improving the
economy includes expanding access to child care to help working families. Donald Trump, the Republican contender, said
he agreed with her on the child-care issue in general, even though the two
might differ on "numbers and amounts."
“House Bill 1858 would require all
public schools — including charters and cybercharters — to administer to
students the same 100-question test used by Homeland Security's U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Services, starting in 2020-21. If approved, passing
the test would be a requirement to obtain a high school diploma or GED
equivalency.”
Students could face citizenship test in Pennsylvania
Trib Live BY NATASHA
LINDSTROM | Monday, Sept. 26, 2016, 11:21 p.m.
Pennsylvania students who can't
name an American Indian tribe, the war during which Dwight D. Eisenhower was a
general, or the territory the U.S. bought from France in 1803 could find it
tougher to get a high school diploma, under a proposal debated Monday in
Harrisburg. “Adding another test is not
the answer,” Jerry Oleksiak, vice president of the Pennsylvania State Education
Association, the state's largest teachers union, told lawmakers during a joint
hearing of the House education and veterans affairs committees. “Good education cannot be reduced to an exit
test.” State lawmakers and veterans
advocates clashed with education officials on whether Pennsylvania should glom
onto the latest national trend in standardized testing: requiring students to
pass a U.S. citizenship exam in order to graduate from high school.
WITF Written by Radio Pennsylvania | Sep 24, 2016 9:31 AM
(Harrisburg) -- The current class of high school seniors in Pennsylvania was supposed to be the first required to pass the Keystone Exams for graduation. Lawmakers have pushed that back two years, but one lawmaker believes the Keystone Exams need further scrutiny before they can be used as a graduation requirement. Democratic Representative Leanne Krueger-Braneky says schools across the state have had trouble implementing the Keystone Exams and it's had a negative impact on students. The lawmaker says she has heard concerns from parents, teachers, and students about high-stakes testing. "Just last week I was on the phone with a mom who's son graduated from a middle school last year, failed his Keystone algebra exam even though he is in honors classes and taking AP classes," she said. Krueger-Braneky says hitting pause on the tests as a graduation requirement isn't enough. She says the legislature needs to figure out a way to support teachers so students can learn necessary information and not be focused on one set of tests.
The Intelligencer By Gary
Weckselblatt, staff writer September 26, 2016
The would-be director of a
proposed charter school in the Hatboro-Horsham School District said he is not
discouraged by the school board's second denial of his application. "Almost from the moment we filed this
thing, we felt Hatboro-Horsham would deny us," David Secouler said.
"We knew we would address whatever issues they had and they would deny us
again." Secouler, an attorney in
East Norriton, hopes to be director of the Good Earth Charter School, which has
applied to set up a Waldorf-Methods school on 10 acres at 800 Welsh Road in the
Maple Glen section of Horsham. A Waldorf
education, according to the school's website, goodearthcharter.org,
emphasizes the role of imagination in learning and focuses on educating each
child through a hands-on, holistic approach. Subjects are taught artistically,
using movement, drawing, painting, music, storytelling and rhyme. The school's next step, following its two
denials from the district, is to generate 1,000 signatures within 60 days in
support of its application from Hatboro-Horsham residents and appeal to the
Pennsylvania Charter School Appeal Board.
Blogger note: Young Scholars is one of 160 USA charter schools linked
to Turkish exile Fetullah Gulen
Young
Scholars CEO: All for transparency, accountability
Centre Daily Times BY BRITNEY
MILAZZO bmilazzo@centredaily.com
SEPTEMBER 23, 2016
STATE COLLEGE
- At least one local charter school
leader is reminding the community that not all charter schools are bad. It comes on the heels of a report the state
Auditor General’s Office released Thursday afternoon regarding noted problems
at some state charter schools including the misuse of taxpayer dollars. “There
are good charter schools and there are bad charter schools like there are good
public school (districts) and bad public school (districts),” Young Scholars of
Central Pennsylvania Charter School CEO Levent Kaya said. “I agree with the
auditor general that we need a system in which public funds are spent in a
responsible manner to the expenses that these funds are allocated for. We are
all for transparency and accountability. We are upset to read such reports
about charter schools, which gives all charter schools a bad reputation when,
in fact, (a) majority of them work very hard to provide the best they can for
the students.” In the report, Auditor
General Eugene DePasquale called out three schools, including the Beaver
County-based PA Cyber Charter School that educates at least 77 students in
Centre County.
Pa.
auditor general calls for charter school reforms
Centre Daily Times BY
BRITNEY MILAZZO bmilazzo@centredaily.com
September 22, 2016
The state auditor general is
calling for charter school reform, including that of PA Cyber Charter School,
which educates more than 75 students from Centre County. It comes on the heels of a longtime audit led by Auditor General Eugene
DePasquale that he said showed “how poorly” charter school law is protecting
students and taxpayers. The goal for
reform, DePasquale said, is to ensure education dollars help students learn,
instead of help individuals profit. “The bottom line is this: Nearly 20 years have
passed since charter schools were authorized to be established,” DePasquale
said in a prepared statement. “We need to revisit Pennsylvania’s charter school
experience, and act now — not later — to overhaul the charter school law and do
a very thorough tune-up on all aspects of charter school oversight and
regulation.” A report released by the
state Thursday said auditors found leaders of some charter schools “had
intermingled relationships that put individual self-interests above student
needs while controlling hundreds of millions of taxpayer education funds from
nearly every district in the state.”
Lancaster Online KARA NEWHOUSE | Staff
Writer September 26, 2016
From Donald Trump Jr.'s tweet about Syrians and Skittles to a profile of Idaho high-schoolers in the New York Times
Magazine, refugees have been in the news a lot lately.
Including in Lancaster. Six refugee students sued the School District of Lancaster this
summer over issues such as enrollment delays, language barriers and a punitive
school climate. They won a preliminary ruling, but the case is far from
over. The judge has ordered both sides back to court this week to clarify
the extent of the ruling. The district also is pursuing an appeal of the decision.
As the case has unfolded, LNP readers have asked questions about the
concentration of refugees in School District of Lancaster and what's happening
in other districts. Here are some answers.
One year after substitute teacher crisis,
Philly schools see improvement with new contractor
WHYY Newsworks BY AVI WOLFMAN-ARENT SEPTEMBER 26, 2016So far this school year, Building 21, an experimental high school in North Philadelphia, has requested substitute teachers to cover three school days. Much to the school’s delight, substitute teachers have showed up all three times. “We have been thrilled to get subs every time we’ve had a teacher call out,” said Principal Laura Shubilla. During the first two-and-a-half months of the prior school year, Building 21 received a sub just six percent of the time it requested one. In fact, so far this school year Building 21 has covered more absent teacher days (3) than it did in the entire run up to winter break last year (2).The school’s struggles were part of a district-wide substitute teacher crisis that drew headlines and criticism. One year later, Philadelphia schools appear to be in much better shape.
Guest Column: Why education is such a
crucial investment
Delco
Times By Thomas P. Foley, Times Guest Columnist POSTED: 09/26/16, 8:38 PM EDT
Thomas P. Foley is president of
Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, Pa.
Almost 50 years ago, a Harvard
president said that “if you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Most
of us agree — “hitting the books” is important and education has intrinsic
value. It is hard to find anything else
about education where public opinion is either uniform or unanimous. The legion
of laments seems limitless — Google “education problems” and more than 86
million articles appear in under a second. While there is no question that
problems persist at every level of education in this country, two truisms should
be front of mind as political campaigns dissect education over these next two
months. Preschool and post-secondary
education, often viewed as “optional” steps on the education continuum, yield
lifelong benefits to individual learners, and provide important benefits to
society at large. The evidence for these “bookends” of education in America is
simply irrefutable.
Donald
Trump's Plan For America's Schools
In speeches and appearances,
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has called for more
choice, ending Common Core, and gutting the U.S. Education Department.
LA
Johnson/NPR September
25, 20166:00 AM ET
"I'm a tremendous believer
in education." So begins a campaign ad for Republican
presidential nominee Donald J. Trump.
But what does that mean? What
does Trump believe about how we should fund and fix our
schools, train and pay our teachers, and, most importantly, educate every child
whether they're rich or poor, fluent in English or anything but, learning
disabled or two grades ahead? To these
questions the candidate has offered few clear answers. "Donald Trump's policy positions are
performance art." That criticism comes not from the left but from Rick
Hess, who studies education policy at the right-leaningAmerican Enterprise Institute.
And, Hess says, "it is an immense mistake to take any of it all that
seriously." Hoping to flesh out
Trump's education ideas ahead of tomorrow's big presidential debate, we asked
his campaign for help. They never got back to us. We also reached out to the two men who, as reported by Education
Week, have been named to the candidate's presidential transition team for
education. Both said they could not talk without permission from the Trump
campaign, permission that was not granted.
And so, in trying to get a picture of his education platform, we're left
mostly with the candidate's own words.
Cloaking Inequity Blog Posted on September 26, 2016 by Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig
Today, in response to a nationwide attack on public education, supporters of high-quality, democratically controlled, neighborhood public schools are holding events at the first presidential debate in New York, demanding that the candidates respond to concerns about school privatization and unfair funding, and releasing a national public education platform.
The organizers of the debate protests belong to Journey for Justice Alliance (J4J), a national network of more than 40,000 active members of grassroots community organizations led primarily by people of color in twenty-four U.S. cities. The presidential debate events are co-sponsored by the Network for Public Education Action, a national organization led by Diane Ravitch.
Why we probably won’t hear much about K-12
education in tonight’s debate
Brookings BROWN CENTER CHALKBOARD by Jon Valant Monday, September 26, 2016Tonight, for the first time, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will share a stage for a presidential debate. If the debate is anything like this election more generally, we probably won’t hear much about K-12 education. While it is tempting to bemoan the silence on K-12 issues, it’s instructive to consider why they have received so little attention. Let’s look at three possible explanations, including one that probably hasn’t received the attention it deserves.
Shorter days means its time for star
parties; here are Pa.'s October stargazing events
Penn Live By Marcus Schneck |
mschneck@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
September 26, 2016 at 9:18 AM, updated September 26, 2016 at 9:22 AM
Astronomy organizations,
observatories and parks across Pennsylvania will host stargazing events
throughout October across Pennsylvania. Most of the events include assistance
by volunteers or staff, and telescopes and star charts for use by the public. Many of the events are held only when skies
are clear enough for good viewing and the sponsoring organization will announce
cancellations on their websites or Facebook pages.
Thursday, September 29, 2016 at 5:30 PM
The Crystal Tea Room, The Wanamaker Building
100 Penn Square East, Philadelphia, PA
Honoring: Pepper Hamilton LLP, Signe Wilkinson, Dr. Monique W. Morris
And presenting the ELC PRO BONO AWARD to Paul Saint-Antoine & Chanda Miller
of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
The Public Interest Law Center invites you
to its 2016 Annual Event: “Of the People, By the People, For the People.” Thursday,
Oct 6, 2016 at 6:00 PM
FringeArts 140 N. Columbus Blvd.,
Philadelphia, PA
Honoring: Soil
Generation, Nicholas Chimicles, and Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP
http://www.pubintlaw.org/2016event/Coffee and Networking - 9:30 a.m. Program - 10:00 a.m. to Noon
Technical College High School
(Brandywine Campus) - 443 Boot Rd., Downingtown, PA 19335
RSVP by clicking here. There is no fee, but a RSVP is
required. Please feel free to share this invitation with your staff and
network. SPEAKERS:
An Overview of the EPLC Report on High School CTE will be presented by:
Ron Cowell, President, The
Education Policy and Leadership Center
Statewide and
Regional Perspectives Will Be Provided By: Dr. Lee Burket, Director, Bureau of Career & Technical Education, PA Department of Education
Jackie Cullen, Executive Director, PA Association of Career & Technical Administrators
Dan Fogarty, Director of Workforce Development & COO, Berks County Workforce Development Board
Kirk Williard, Ed.D., Director of Career, Technical & Customized Education, Chester County Intermediate Unit
Registration
for the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference Oct. 13-15 is now open
The conference
is your opportunity to learn, network and be inspired by peers and
experts.
TO REGISTER: See https://www.psba.org/members-area/store-registration/ (you must be logged in to
the Members Area to register). You can read more on How to Register for
a PSBA Event here. CONFERENCE WEBSITE: For
all other program details, schedules, exhibits, etc., see the conference
website:www.paschoolleaders.org.
The 2016 Arts and Education Symposium will be held on October 27 at the Radisson Hotel Harrisburg Convention Center. Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Arts Education network and EPLC, the Symposium is a Unique Networking and Learning Opportunity for:
·
Arts Educators
·
School Leaders
·
Artists
·
Arts and Culture Community Leaders
·
Arts-related Business Leaders
·
Arts Education Faculty and Administrators in Higher Education
·
Advocates
·
State and Local Policy Leaders
Act 48 Credit is
available.Program and registration information are available here.
PA Principals Association website Tuesday, August 2, 2016 10:43 AM
To receive the Early Bird Discount, you must be registered by August 31, 2016:
Members: $300 Non-Members: $400
Featuring Three National Keynote Speakers: Eric Sheninger, Jill Jackson & Salome Thomas-EL
SAVE THE DATE LWVPA Convention 2017 June
1-4, 2017
Join the
League of Women Voters of PA for our 2017 Biennial Convention at the beautiful
Inn at Pocono Manor!
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