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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA
Ed Policy Roundup October 7, 2016
THIS
PALM BEACH VILLA IS A BARGAIN AT $74.5M
“In an environment where resources for
schools are extremely limited and where home and business owners are facing
increased pressure from property taxes, it is critical that state lawmakers
ensure that taxpayer dollars being sent to charter schools are being used to
educate children, not to boost the profits of charter school management
companies and CEOs.”
The
problem with charter school funding
Centre Daily Times BY SUSAN
SPICKA OCTOBER 5, 2016 8:30 PM
Charter schools are a part of
Pennsylvania’s educational landscape, and high-quality charter schools have a
place in the commonwealth. However,
charter schools are not “tuition free,” as ubiquitous advertisements may claim.
In fact, school districts send nearly $1.5 billion in tuition payments to
charter schools each year, significantly reducing the resources available to
students who remain in traditional public schools and creating considerable
increased costs for taxpayers. In 2014-2015, Centre County school districts
sent more than $8,422,544 in tuition payments to charter and cyber charter
schools.
LUXURY REAL ESTATE OCTOBER 4, 2016
Are you thinking about to invest
in the luxury real estate market? If so here is your
chance to own one of the most incredible mansions in the United States
available to buy right now. And The Most Expensive
Homes‘ team is ready to show everything about this mesmerizing Palm Beach
Villa. Take a look! Located
at 071 N Ocean Boulevard, Palm Beach, this brand new
Mediterranean-style mansion sits on a very exclusive oceanfront stretch, with 2
acres of land and 242′ of direct ocean frontage, and offering
some of the most jaw-dropping ocean views you could even imagine. This luxurious home has 35,000 square foot
of incredible decorations and amenities, and even though it was initially
listed at a staggering $84.5 million, while it was still in construction, it’s
now for sale at “just” $74.5 million, which might be considered a
total bargain by some of the world’s wealthiest people. The lavish Palm Beach villa is
apparently owned by Vahan & Danielle Gureghian, who purchased the land
alone for $28.9 million a couple of years ago. The mansion includes a
bowling alley, home theater, pub room, as well as an 8 car garage, but the
impressive list of amenities could go on forever. There are also 8 bedrooms,
17 bathrooms, and of course, only the best materials and fixtures have
been used throughout the home, to make sure everything is as close to
perfection as possible.
“The owner is a trust linked to
Philadelphia lawyer and charter-school entrepreneur Vahan Gureghian and his
lawyer wife, Danielle, who purchased the land last year for $28.9 million.”
BRAND NEW MEDITERRANEAN-STYLE
MANSION, PALM BEACH ON SALE FOR JUST $74.5 MILLION
Extravaganzi
written by Slamchica October 3, 2016
Now’s your chance to
purchase a brand new estate home in a very exclusive oceanfront stretch of Palm
Beach, Florida. The recently finished 35,000 square foot Mediterranean mansion
had come on the market for a staggering $84.5 million during
construction, but it can now be yours for $74.5 million. The
palatial residence sits on 2-acres of land with 242′ of direct ocean frontage
providing jaw-dropping views from many of the home’s formal rooms. The listing notes that it includes a bowling
alley, home theatre, pub room, an 8 car garage, as well as 8 bedrooms, and 17
bathrooms.
http://www.extravaganzi.com/brand-new-mediterranean-style-mansion-palm-beach-sale-just-74-5-million/
“DePasquale said when they look at the
tax records of a school district, “we just go in an audit it,” but the tax
records private companies, which have a large influence in charter schools, are
not publicly available regardless of the fact that public tax dollars provide
the funding.
…“Any adult, whether it’s happening in
Chester or not, if they’re stealing money for public gain and not putting that
money in the school, there’s a special place in hell for them,” DePasquale
said.”
Auditor General: Pa. charter school law is
‘absolute worst’
Delco
Times By Rick Kauffman, rkauffman@21st-centurymedia.com, @Kauffee_DT on Twitter
POSTED: 10/06/16,
8:54 PM EDT | UPDATED: 34 SECS AGO
BROOKHAVEN >> A visit to
Brookhaven by the Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale highlighted
some key issues within the charter school laws in Pennsylvania on Thursday. This comes days after a national audit
questioned the allocation of funds within the Chester Community Charter School,
which the school on Thursday denied any wrongdoing in a statement, and
contested the claims made in a published report. “The article mistakenly alleges that CCCS
made payments to its manager without approval by its Board of Trustees, when in
fact all payments from the school were explicitly approved by the board,” read
the statement attributed to David Clark, the CEO of CCCS. Thursday at the Brookhaven Community Center,
invited by state Rep. Leanne Krueger-Braneky, D-161 of Swarthmore, DePasquale
detailed the roadblocks that the Auditor General’s often faces when
investigating non-profit charter schools managed by for-profit, private
companies.
Report: Chester charter school CEO wrote
$11 million check to himself
Delco
Times By The Associated Press POSTED: 10/05/16, 6:07 AM EDT
CHESTER >> Federal auditors
say several Philadelphia-area schools are examples of schools that are
susceptible to fraud, including one where they say a CEO wrote $11 million in
checks to himself without board approval.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports (http://bit.ly/2d1PkPc ) U.S. Department of Education
auditors say the CEO of the management group for an unidentified Chester school
wrote checks to himself in 2008-09. The
report says a lawyer for the school reported that the board must now authorize
such payments. Auditors say the school couldn’t provide written procedures to
support the change. Auditors say they
also found several conflicts of interest examples at a Philadelphia charter
school, including in the makeup of the charter’s nine-member school board and in
payments the charter made to a vendor associated with the school’s management
company. Information from: The
Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.inquirer.com
Reprise 2011: Follow the Money: Contributions by Vahan Gureghian 1/1/07 - 5/31/11
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2011/06/follow-money-contributions-by-vahan.html
“A
state forensic analysis found that the odds that erasure patterns were random
on the reading portion of Chester Community Charter School seventh-graders’
2009 PSSAs were between one in a quadrillion and one in a quintillion. Analyses
done in 2010 and 2011, according to the Department of Education, also found “a
very high number of students with a very high number of wrong-to-right
erasures.” But the state left the charter to investigate itself. “
Reprise
2013: How Pennsylvania schools erased a cheating scandal
Please note: This article is
published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not
affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an
alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition
was published on October 8, 2015.
City Paper By Daniel Denvir
| Published 07/18/2013
CSMI, a
management company to which the school, according to a 2012 Inquirer article,
pays $16.7 million (more than 41 percent of the charter’s budget), is run by
businessman and political powerhouse Vahan Gureghian, Gov. Tom Corbett’s top
campaign contributor and a member of his education transition team. The charter
enrolls the majority of Chester Upland district’s
kindergarten-through-eighth-grade students. In December, the chronically broke
Chester Upland district was placed under state control; they had just exited 16
years of state control in 2010.
Gureghian
unsuccessfully sued the Inquirer over a 2008 investigation
that examined “whether the school is spending too much of its budget on
administration and too little on teaching.” The next year, he sued the
18-year-old proprietor of a blog, Homes of the Rich, for posting a photo of his
10-bedroom, $13.5 million, Main Line mansion. It is surrounded by a moat. So,
it appears, is his school.
Governor Wolf Makes Schools That Teach
Stop in Pittsburgh
Governor’s
Website October 06, 2016
Pittsburgh, PA – As
part of his statewide ‘Schools That Teach’ Tour, Governor Tom Wolf visited
today with students and staff at Allegheny K-5 School in Pittsburgh. In the
2016-17 budget, Governor secured over $3 million in increased classroom
funding for the Pittsburgh School District, making for a total increase of over
$6 million to Pittsburgh schools over his first two budgets. We have made great strides over the last two
years in restoring the massive hit schools took due to state budget cuts in
2011, but we still have a lot of work to do,” Governor Wolf said. “The
Pittsburgh School District is one of many across the commonwealth that
continues to struggle for adequate funding while working hard to provide the
best possible education to students.”
Lancaster Online by The LNP
Editorial Board October 6, 2016
THE ISSUE - The Pennsylvania
General Assembly is mulling over House
Bill 1858 — co-sponsored by Republican state Rep. Bryan Cutler of
Peach Bottom — which would require high school students beginning in the
2020-21 academic year to pass a civics test before graduating. The exam would
be similar to those taken by immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship. To pass,
students would need a score of at least 60 percent.
Many of us have fond memories of
civics lessons in school. We watched videos of cartoon characters singing about
how each branch of government works or how a bill becomes a law. Admit it: You’re humming the “I’m
just a bill” song right now. But,
starting a few years from now, students may not be humming as much as groaning
at the mention of civics. Because as if
there wasn't already enough pressure on students today, 46 state
representatives have come up with the bright idea to add another high-stakes
exam. We are strongly opposed to this
idea. As Conestoga Valley
Superintendent Gerald Huesken pointedly asked in Monday’s LNP, “With all the negative backlash that we are
testing too much, why is the answer always to add another test?” Excellent question.
Penn GSE profs examine school funding in
Pa.
Penn Current by Lauren Hertzler October 6, 2016
In a recent study, Matthew
Steinberg and Rand Quinn, both assistant professors in the Graduate School of
Education, explored how low property tax and high property tax districts
responded differently to the introduction of statewide school finance reform.
From 2008 to 2011, Pennsylvania
enacted Act 61, an adequacy-based reform that attempted to align per pupil
spending for students across the state’s 500 public school districts. It
provided additional state aid to districts spending below state-determined
adequacy targets. Although the funding ceased
earlier than planned with a new gubernatorial administration, Matthew Steinberg and Rand Quinn, both assistant professors at Penn’s Graduate
School of Education (GSE) knew the effort was important to
study. “We’re talking about public
resources going to public education, so of course it’s of great importance,”
says Steinberg. “Obviously resources are scarce, so it’s necessary to
understand the implications of a public investment that the state makes and how
that improves the opportunities for local school districts.”
WE CAN HANDLE IT
Why Philadelphians can, despite the conventional wisdom, be
trusted to elect a competent school boardThe Philadelphia Citizen BY JIM SAKSA MAY. 12, 2015
It is election time again in Philadelphia, a season where condescending attitudes over the average voter return with all the regularity of the swallows of Capistrano. A large subset of Philadelphia’s politicians and media buy into a persistent and pernicious myth that Philly voters are a mix of the indolent, the injudicious and the iniquitous; that many elections are won by buying the right ward leaders and union bosses with job promises, even when they show no promise for city jobs. It is assumed that voters, universally and always, will do precisely as they’re told by little pieces of paper handed to them by a stranger hanging out next to the polls. There are plenty of bygone reasons for these foregone conclusions about Philly’s sheep-like electorate. But more recent events and a serious look at the assumptions underpinning this viewpoint make it as untenable as it is unattractive.
Unhappy anniversary
It's been two years since the SRC
canceled the teachers' contract. It's time to end the standoff.
The notebook by Dale Mezzacappa October
6, 2016 — 5:14pm
Departing School Reform
Commission Chair Marjorie Neff says her worst moment on the beleaguered
commission was voting to cancel the contract with the Philadelphia Federation
of Teachers. “Absolutely. That was
horrible,” said Neff, a longtime District principal who was once a member of
the PFT and whose son is a member now. “What can I say – in
hindsight, it was such a different context. It’s easy for me to look back
and say we never should have done that. It was horrible, difficult, and painful.” That vote
to cancel the already expired contract occurred exactly two years ago
today – Oct. 6, 2014. Since then, the SRC and the PFT have managed to
remain locked in combat, with no end in sight to a historic four-year impasse
that is shattering teacher morale and making it harder to recruit young talent.
It is also depriving teachers, primarily younger ones, of raises that have been
earned under the terms of the current agreement as they accumulate experience
and degrees.
“Pine-Richland acquired the dubious
distinction Thursday of being the first school district in
Pennsylvania to be sued for discriminating against transgender students.”
Pine-Richland sued over bathroom policy for transgender studentsBy Michael A. Fuoco / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette October 7, 2016 12:19 AM
Pine-Richland acquired the
dubious distinction Thursday of being the first school district in
Pennsylvania to be sued for discriminating against transgender students. Three transgender students filed a federal
discrimination lawsuit for the district’s implementation of a “sex-specific”
policy requiring students to use restrooms that match the sex they were
assigned at birth. As an alternative, transgender students also can use a
unisex bathroom or the private bathroom in the nurse’s office. For years, the district had a practice that
allowed transgender students to use the bathroom that matched the gender with
which they identify, but a school board resolution narrowly passed Sept. 12
supported the new restrictions and the administration implemented them.
Transgender students sue Pennsylvania
district restroom rule
Inquirer by JOE MANDAK, The Associated Press Updated: OCTOBER 6, 2016 — 12:56
PM EDT
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Three
transgender seniors at a Pennsylvania high school, including the oldest sibling
of teen singing star Jackie Evancho, have sued their school district for making
them use restrooms corresponding to their biological sex. The Pine-Richland School District in suburban
Pittsburgh wasn't commenting on the federal lawsuit filed Thursday in response
to a school board resolution passed last month requiring students to use such
restrooms or unisex facilities. Previously, the district had allowed
transgender students to use the restroom corresponding to their "gender
identity." The district
"attempted to erase their identity" and changed the rule due to
"misunderstanding, fear and a lack of empathy," said Omar
Gonzalez-Pagan, the New York-based attorney who filed the lawsuit. He works for
Lambda Legal, a group that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
individuals,
Soda
group suspends payments to dietitians opposing new tax
The American Beverage Association
says it is suspending payments to health experts to oppose soda taxes through
posts on social media.
Morning
Call by Tribune
news services
October 6, 2016
An industry group that represents
Coca-Cola and other drink makers says it is suspending payments to health
experts to oppose soda taxes through posts on social media. The move by the American Beverage Association
comes after Coke asked it to review such work. That followed a health advocacy
group noting that dietitians were opposing soda taxes on Twitter this week, and
asking whether they were paid by Coke. Tweets included disclosures to note the
posters were being paid, but didn't specify by whom. After facing criticism for its work with
health experts last year, Coca-Cola had said that it was no longer paying
experts for such media work and that it was reviewing its various efforts to be
more transparent.
“Democratic
vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine joined a walk-in at the K-8
Spring Garden School in Philadelphia, using the opportunity to speak about his
running mate Hillary Clinton’s priorities for K-12 education, including
providing teachers with stronger professional development, bringing community
services into schools to help students with issues from hunger to health care,
and bolstering computer science classes and career and technical education.
Kaine’s attendance at the walk-in was
the latest evidence of a close relationship between teacher unions — who have
been sharply critical of the Obama administration’s approach to standardized
testing, charter schools and other issues — and the top of the Democratic ticket.”
Parents and teachers rally for public
education funding at schools across the country
Washington Post By Emma Brown October
6 at 1:12 PM
Parents,
teachers and students came together for “walk-ins” at schools
across the country Wednesday morning, rallying for
more funding for public education and against harsh discipline policies,
overtesting and the expansion of charter schools. Thousands of people were expected to
participate in events at more than 2,000 schools in more than 200 cities,
according to the Alliance to Reclaim our Schools, which organized the event.
The alliance is a coalition of groups including the nation’s two largest
teachers unions.
“the Walton Family Foundation in
Arkansas has financed nearly every ballot initiative for vouchers since 1993”
When Billionaires Become Educational
Experts
“Venture philanthropists” push for the privatization of
public education.
American Association of
University Professors By Kevin K. Kumashiro May-June 2012
For years, critics have pointed
to the decreasing ability of health-care professionals to make decisions and
provide services because of the demands of insurance companies and
health-management organizations to sustain profits. Health-care decisions are increasingly
being made by the wrong people and for the wrong reasons. So, too, with public education. Current
reforms are allowing certain individuals with neither scholarly nor practical
expertise in education to exert significant influence over educational policy
for communities and children other than their own. They, the millionaires and
billionaires from the philanthropic and corporate sectors, are experimenting in
urban school districts with educational reform initiatives that are not
grounded in sound research and often fail to produce results. And yet, with
funding for public education shrinking, the influence of these wealthy
reformers is growing. There is also much
profit to be earned from public education. The American educational system
today is a $500–600 billion enterprise, funded overwhelmingly by public
dollars, with billions of dollars in services and products being outsourced,
and with political lobbying groups like the Democrats for Education Reform,
financed by hedge-fund millionaires, leading the push to further outsource.
How 10 mega-donors already helped pour a
record $1.1 billion into super PACs
Washington Post By Matea Gold and Anu Narayanswamy October
5 at 8:04 PM
Super PACs seeking to influence
the 2016 elections have collected more than $1 billion, a record haul driven
by jumbo-sized contributions from rich donors on both sides of the aisle. Just 10 mega-donor individuals and couples contributed
nearly 20 percent of the $1.1 billion raised by super PACs by the end
of August, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal campaign finance
reports. The total exceeds the $853 million that super PACs collected in
the entire 2012 cycle. In a reflection
of how once-reluctant Democrats have fully embraced the big-money system, the
top givers were split roughly equally along party lines, with five Republicans,
four Democrats and one independent, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Prop.
59 would put Californians on record against Citizens United
San Francisco Chronicle By Carolyn Lochhead
October 5, 2016 Updated: October 5, 2016
California voters are being asked
Nov. 8 to push their elected officials to do whatever they can to overturn the
U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision that unleashed a torrent of money into
politics by allowing corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts on
political activity. Proposition 59 would have no force
of law. Instead, it is a longshot effort to urge Congress to seize back control
over election spending by supporting a constitutional amendment to overturn the
ruling. The 5-4 Citizens United
decision, with the late Justice Antonin Scalia in the majority, held that
corporations and unions have a constitutional right of free speech to spend
money for political purposes. The decision allowed these entities, along with
other organizations and individuals, to spend unlimited sums on elections, so
long as the expenditures were not specifically directed at candidates. The decision gave rise to super PACs, known
technically as independent expenditure-only committees. These can spend
unlimited funds to advocate for or against candidates, but they may not give directly
to or coordinate with candidates.
Super PACs have dramatically
changed modern campaigns, weakening political parties and greatly enhancing the
ability of billionaires, particularly, to influence elections.
Want to help strengthen public education
in the commonwealth? Join with EdPAC, a political action committee that
supports the election of pro-public education leaders to the General Assembly.
Help support the election of pro-public
education leaders
Partner with EdPAC - fundraising reception Friday, Oct. 14 from 5-6
p.m. at the 2016 PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference
Want to help strengthen public education in the commonwealth? Join with EdPAC, a political action committee that supports the election of pro-public education leaders to the General Assembly. EdPAC will hold a fundraising reception Friday, Oct. 14 from 5-6 p.m. at the 2016 PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference. Visit the website to register online and learn more.
Want to help strengthen public education in the commonwealth? Join with EdPAC, a political action committee that supports the election of pro-public education leaders to the General Assembly. EdPAC will hold a fundraising reception Friday, Oct. 14 from 5-6 p.m. at the 2016 PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference. Visit the website to register online and learn more.
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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