Friday, November 18, 2016

PA Ed Policy Roundup Nov 18: Wolf Admin. issues directives to help schools fight hate and racial incidents

Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 3950 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, school solicitors, principals, 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 Nov 18, 2016
Wolf Admin. issues directives to help schools fight hate and racial incidents



Blogger note:  The 7th of 9 BEF workshops has been completed. Almost 200 sites statewide connected to yesterday’s webcast. Thanks to school leaders for joining the webcast.
Regional Basic Education Funding Formula Workshops
PASA, PSBA, PAIU, PARSS, the PA Principals Association and PASBO are traveling around the state to conduct regional workshops for school leaders to provide them with more information on the new basic education funding formula. Register below to attend a regional workshop to learn more about the new formula and what it means for your school district and for the state. Please note that capacity is limited at each location and registration is required. These regional workshops are being supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016 @ 9:00 am: Luzerne IU 18
(368 Tioga Ave, Kingston, PA 18704)
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 @ 6:00 pm: Chester County IU 24
(455 Boot Road, Downingtown, PA 19335)



Wolf Administration issues directives to help schools fight hate and racial incidents
Penn Live By Ivey DeJesus | idejesus@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on November 17, 2016 at 6:50 PM, updated November 17, 2016 at 6:51 PM
The Wolf Administration on Thursday issued directives aimed at addressing the troubling incidents of racism and religious intolerance that have played out across Pennsylvania schools in the wake of the election.  The administration has directed schools to contact the Pennsylvania Department of Education Safe Schools office and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission whenever an incident of hate or intolerance takes place. State offices will dispatch counselors to the school and along with commission staff take appropriate measures to provide assistance. The Pennsylvania State Police will also play a role, monitoring threats and providing support to victims and other law enforcement agencies.

Wolf Administration Develops Safe Schools Response Plan In Wake of Intolerant, Racist Incidents
Governor Wolf’s Website November 17, 2016
Harrisburg, PA – Following several incidents involving racism and religious intolerance at Pennsylvania schools, the Wolf Administration developed a response plan that includes outreach from the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) Safe Schools office and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC).  When an incident occurs, the Wolf Administration has directed school districts and officials to contact the Office of Safe Schools, who can send counselors to the schools and work with the PHRC to determine if additional resources are needed. Pennsylvania State Police will continue to monitor threats and take action as appropriate in support of victims and other law enforcement agencies.  The PHRC’s goal is to ensure students have the right to equity in schools and an education free from illegal discrimination. The PHRC will continue to partner with the PDE to address any incidents that may occur throughout the state and provide assistance when appropriate.

Where have the moderates gone in the Pennsylvania legislature?
Abc27 By Dennis Owens Published: November 17, 2016, 6:21 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – It was just days before last Christmas and Rep. Mike Vereb (R-Montgomery) was shopping in a Harrisburg-area mall. He recognized no one and was missing his family during what should be a joyous time of the year.  He was still in the capital city fighting over a budget that wasn’t done. It was there and then that Vereb decided he was done.  “This is a June 30th deadline, three days before Christmas, still not resolved,” Vereb recalls. “It was completely frustrating.” The lawmaker, considered a moderate Republican, decided to retire after 10 years in the legislature. So did Sen. Pat Vance (R-Cumberland/York), who worries that most of the moderates are mostly gone.  “The idea that you would work across the aisle and come to a reasonable solution is gone,” Vance said Wednesday, her last session day at the Capitol after 26 years (14 House, 12 Senate) in the General Assembly. She fears compromise has become a dirty word in Harrisburg politics.

“We will continue to uncover waste, fraud and abuse of state funds,” DePasquale said, noting that over the last four years, his office set an example of government efficiency by streamlining its operation and identifying more than $320 million in misspent or potentially recoverable state funds. More than $230 million of that was in local school districts and charter schools.”
Auditor General DePasquale Prepared to Advance Efforts to Help Address State’s Fiscal Woes; Outlines Second Term Agenda
Discusses six areas of focus for performance audits in second term
Auditor General Press Release HARRISBURG (Nov. 17, 2016) – Auditor General Eugene DePasquale said today the state’s financial challenges and voters’ demand for change put greater importance on his office’s fiscal watchdog role.   “In the midst of ongoing budget deficits, there are still enormous problems facing our state that need to be addressed — education, opioids, jobs and infrastructure,” DePasquale said during a news conference to outline his agenda for the next four years.   “In addition to the thousands of audits we do each year to improve government efficiency, my team will focus on performance audits in six broad areas to help make government more accountable and more efficient to reduce the burden on residents.”

“The SRC must now be more forthcoming about the purposes of its executive sessions, telling members of the public which specific cases it discussed if legal matters come up.  It also agreed to post on the Philadelphia School District's website full SRC resolutions two weeks before meetings. The exception is quasi-judicial resolutions.  Resolutions presented less than 48 hours before a regular meeting will be made available to the public and clearly marked as walk-on matters. The SRC also promised to allow interested people to speak about walk-on resolutions without advance registration, and agreed to not take any votes until the public has had the chance to comment.”
SRC agrees to more transparency
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Staff Writer Updated: NOVEMBER 18, 2016 1:08 AM EST
The meeting was held early in the morning, called with minimal notice. Barely any members of the public were present, and no one registered to speak.  But the School Reform Commission took an unprecedented step - voting to cancel its teachers' contract - on Oct. 6, 2014.  The Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, an activist group, sued, alleging the SRC violated the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act with this under-the-radar move. More than two years later, it has settled the case against the SRC and then-Chair Bill Green, winning a promise of more transparency from the commission. 

SRC receives five new Philly charter applications
Three of the new schools are proposing to open in September, and two want to open for the 2018-19 school year.
The notebook by Dale Mezzacappa November 17, 2016 — 3:20pm
Five organizations have submitted applications seeking to open new charter schools in Philadelphia, the School Reform Commission announced Thursday.  The applications range from a proposed new KIPP elementary school in Parkside to a high school focused on aerospace and aviation in Strawberry Mansion. If approved, they would add 1,000 students to the rolls next year and more than 3,000 new students in six years.  Three of the new schools are proposing to open in September, while two plan 2018-19 openings.  The five applications were submitted by the Nov. 15 deadline.  For many years, the SRC had stopped taking applications for new charters, citing financial difficulties. But when the General Assembly passed legislation in 2014 authorizing a $2-per-pack cigarette tax for the schools, it required the SRC to end its moratorium on new charters.  In February 2015, five new schools were approved out of 39 applications. Last year, three new schools were approved, all proposed by existing charter operators.

Mastery Charter Schools to pay $2,000 to settle city ethics complaint
Inquirer by Martha Woodall, Staff Writer Updated: NOVEMBER 18, 2016 — 1:08 AM EST
Mastery Charter Schools has agreed to pay the city's Board of Ethics $2,000 to settle a complaint stemming from a campaign this year to convert Wister Elementary into a charter school.  According to the Ethics Board, Mastery paid several individuals to help organize parents and community members in Wister's East Germantown neighborhood to urge the School Reform Commission to allow Mastery to manage Wister as a Renaissance charter school.  Because Mastery spent more than $2,500 on the effort during the first two quarters of 2016, the board said, the nonprofit should have registered with the Ethics Board and filed expense reports.  The board also said Cecelia Schickel, a community organizer who was paid more than $2,500 for the work, should have registered as a lobbyist and filed expense reports.  To settle the complaint, Mastery agreed to pay $2,000, register as a lobbyist, and file expense reports for the first two quarters of the year.

Proposed charter school sale causes controversy in East Allegheny School District
Post Gazette By Anne Cloonan November 18, 2016 12:00 AM
A proposal to sell the former Westinghouse Elementary School in Wilmerding to a charter school is creating some controversy in the East Allegheny School District.  At Monday night’s school board meeting, teachers’ union President Robin Highlands objected to the proposal.  “We would absolutely lose students to this charter school,” she said.  Ms. Highlands said she is “very upset” with the plan and that she doesn’t know how the school board could support it if they support public school education.  Board President Gerri McCullough said school directors have had some of the same concerns about the proposal, and they haven’t made any final decision on a sale yet. After the meeting, school Director Michael Paradine said a public hearing on the proposed sale will be held at 6 p.m. Dec. 12 in the school board meeting room.

Blogger note: Third term incumbent Dan Truitt is a member of the House Education Committee and has been a strong supporter of cyber charter schools.
Outcome of 156th state House race could hinge on provisional ballots
The status of some provisional ballots is yet to be determined in the race between Democratic West Chester Mayor Carolyn Comitta, left, and state Rep. Dan Truitt, R-156. 
By Lucas Rodgers, lrodgers@21st-centurymedia.com, @LucasMRodgers on Twitter
POSTED: 11/17/16, 4:29 PM EST | UPDATED: 10 HRS AGO
All eyes are on the provisional ballots that were cast in Pennsylvania’s 156th state Legislative District, which includes the borough of West Chester and some neighboring municipalities, while the validity of these ballots is determined.  The final status of these provisional ballots, along with the absentee ballots from Americans living overseas or serving in the military, could potentially affect the outcome of the election between state Rep. Dan Truitt, R-156, of East Goshen, and Democratic West Chester Mayor Carolyn Comitta – a race Truitt was winning by a close margin of 78 votes, according to unofficial election results posted on Chester County’s website on the evening of Election Day. Truitt garnered a total of 18,196 votes on Election Day; Comitta received a total of 18,118 votes, according to the unofficial results.  However, Comitta is currently ahead of Truitt by 18 votes, according to an email from an anonymous official in the Chester County Democratic Party that was sent to supporters of Comitta Thursday, after Comitta’s campaign reviewed 107 provisional ballots, as well as military and overseas ballots, which had an extended deadline to be received by Tuesday.

A Trump-a-like for Pa. governor?
WHYY Newsworks DAVE DAVIES OFF MIC  A BLOG BY DAVE DAVIES NOVEMBER 17, 2016 
Will Donald Trump's success in Pennsylvania inspire copy-cat campaigns for governor? Looks like we already have one.  If you haven't heard of state Sen. Scott Wagner yet, trust me, you will.  He's a wealthy waste-management entrepreneur who beat the Republican establishment to get into office, and he's already said he'll run for governor in 2018.  Wagner was for years a conservative outsider in York County, criticizing mainstream Republicans as soft on conservative principles and beholden to special interests.  He'd often finance the campaigns of conservative challengers to GOP incumbents, not the kind of thing that endears you to party leaders.  Two years ago, Wagner ran against the party-backed candidate in a special election and won his seat with write-in votes, a stunning achievement not unlike Trump beating a Republican presidential field stocked with establishment candidates.  Wagner's win put the outsider on the inside in Harrisburg, and party leaders soon learned he wouldn't be a quiet member of the Senate caucus.
"I'm going to be sitting in the back room with a baseball bat, and leadership's going to start doing things for Pennsylvania that needs done," Wagner said in a November 2014 appearance on Dom Giordano's radio show.

Erie school district closer to deciding how much to seek from state
Go Erie By Ed Palattella November 16, 2016
The Erie School Board made a big decision and got closer to making another on Wednesday night.  The board unanimously approved a resolution that prohibits the closing of any of the Erie School District's four high schools in the 2017-18 academic year.  The board also received more information from Superintendent Jay Badams on how much additional state aid the district will request in its state-mandated financial recovery plan, which Badams wants to submit to the state Department of Education as early as Dec. 1.  At a public session after Wednesday night's board meeting, Badams said the district would need at least $38 million more from the state annually, starting in 2017-18, for the district to regain full financial stability and provide its 11,500 students the same type of educational resources that students in Erie County's more affluent school districts receive.  Badams said his administration will work down from the $38 million figure to decide how much to request from the state. He emphasized the final figure will not be $38 million. He said he cited that number to illustrate what the district sees as the severity of its underfunding at the state level.

“If a school district wishes to raise taxes a percentage over its mandated index, it can be voted on by district residents by referendum, or a referendum exception may be filed with PDE if the need to raise taxes higher due to retirement contributions, special education expenditures or school construction debt. Filing for an exception does not automatically mean a district will ultimately raise taxes over its index.”
2017-18 Act 1 tax caps released for Delco school districts
Delco Times By Kevin Tustin, ktustin@21st-centurymedia.com, @KevinTustin on Twitter
POSTED: 11/17/16, 9:52 PM EST | UPDATED: 4 HRS AGO
School districts in the county have an idea how high they are allowed to raise property taxes for the 2017-18 school year after the Pennsylvania Department of Education released Act 1 indices for approximately 500 districts.  The Act 1 index is used to determine the maximum tax increase percentage a district can levy before going to a ballot referendum or filing a referendum exception with PDE.  As usual, the same seven districts in the county will be held at the Act 1 base level, which increases .1 to 2.5 percent: Garnet Valley; Haverford; Marple Newtown; Radnor; Rose Tree Media; Springfield and Wallingford-Swarthmore.  The eight other districts received the following indices: Chester Upland, 4.0; Chichester, 3.4; Interboro, 3.4; Penn-Delco, 3.0; Ridley, 3.3; Southeast Delco, 3.7; Upper Darby, 3.6; and William Penn, 3.7.  Districts have free rein to raise taxes any amount up to their index.

“To have this conversation, we have to get one thing out of the way. If you believe (and I think some school reformers sincerely do) that the only reason that teachers oppose the current high stakes test-and-punish status quo is because their self-serving union tells them to, you are blinding yourself to some real issues.  First, there is a real gulf between national union leadership and rank-and-file teachers precisely because union opposition to reformer policies has usually been tepid. Teacher opposition to testing comes first and foremost from teachers who have been watching testing become a toxic, destructive element in our classrooms that interferes with our ability to deliver real education. It’s detrimental to our students. And it is used in many places to deliver a professional verdict on our schools and ourselves with an accuracy no greater than a roll of the dice.”
PA Teacher Peter Greene: Why we don’t need a single standardized test
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss November 17 at 4:15 PM 
If you are tired of reading about Donald Trump, take a look a this. Peter Greene,  a veteran teacher of English in a small town in Pennsylvania, wrote on his  lively Curmudgucation blog that he has found himself in conversations about standardized testing that go something like this: people who like standardized testing defend it to the max while he counters that the number of standardized tests necessary for students to take is zero.  For taking that position he writes, he has been called a “union shill,” lectured that data from these tests are the life blood of education, and asked to be explain what the alternative to standardized testing is. Here in this post, he explains his thinking. This is a shortened version of the original, which you can find here.

Kids take charge in student-led conferences
York Daily Record by Angie Mason , amason@ydr.com8:03 a.m. EST November 17, 2016
Sean Brubaker pointed to different parts of the terrarium he and his classmates have assembled in their second grade classroom - rye grass, a spider plant and wheat.  "How did you grow these, Sean?" asked his mom, Jessica Brubaker.  "With time," he said, sparking some chuckles.  Sean, a second-grader at York Academy Regional Charter School, walked his parents through several stations in his classroom on Thursday morning for a student-led conference, a different take on the traditional parent-teacher conference.  Student-led conferences give students more ownership of their own learning, said David Goodwin, dean of students at the International Baccalaureate school. The conferences are held twice per year, with students as young as kindergarten-age.

Listen: Kara Newhouse talks with civil engineer Samy Leisenring for Women in STEM podcast
LANCASTERONLINE | Staff November 17, 2016
For this week's episode of the Women in STEM podcast, reporter Kara Newhouse interviews civil engineer Samy Leisenring. At Rettew engineering firm, Leisenring is part of the team responsible for the design, investigation and construction of public and private bridges in Pennsylvania and neighboring states.

Philly's pre-K chief leaves job
Inquirer by Julia Terruso, Staff Writer Updated: NOVEMBER 18, 2016 — 1:08 AM EST
As Philadelphia's pre-K program readies to launch in classrooms across the city this January, its director will shift from working for kids to parents.  Anne Gemmell, director of pre-K in the mayor's Office of Education, left the post this month to take a job in the Office of Adult Learning as director of family literacy.  Gemmell, appointed by Mayor Kenney in December to the newly created post, is an advocate for early childhood education. Kenney has credited her with drawing his attention to the importance of pre-K  "It's bittersweet. I'm really proud of how far I've taken early education along with so many others and gotten pre-K to such a great place, but I'm not sad," Gemmell said. "I'm confident it's in really good hands and excited to be focused on this new project that will focus on parents."

After 2 years of negotiations, Daniel Boone School District reaches 4-year deal with teachers
By Evan Brandt, The Mercury POSTED: 11/16/16, 5:36 PM EST | UPDATED: 18 HRS AGO
AMITY >> After two years of negotiations, a four-year agreement between the school district and teachers union that includes a two-year wage freeze has been reached with the help of a third-party.  In a press release announcing the agreement, the district announced the school board and the Daniel Boone Area Education Association had both agreed to contract terms recommended by a “fact-finder.”  The 15-page report issued Oct. 31 by William W. Lowe was “overwhelmingly approved” by the 246 members of the union, president Amy Hicks told Digital First Media Wednesday.  In addition to a two-year wage freeze — which essentially encompasses the two years negotiations have been ongoing — Lowe recommended that a $500 raise be added to the salary schedule in year three of the contract — the 2017-2018 school year.  In the fourth year — 2018-2019 — all teachers except those at top of scale receive raises by progressing up the steps of the salary schedule, but no money is added to those steps.

Chester Upland teachers rally for new contract
Delco Times POSTED: 11/18/16, 5:38 AM EST
CHESTER >> Teachers in the Chester Upland School District who have been working without a raise send a message to the school board Thursday: Enough.  Teachers held a rally outside the school board before its regularly scheduled meeting.  Teachers have been working without a contract since their last deal with the economically challenged district expired more than three years ago. They have not had a raise in five years.  Teachers have not disrupted classes while trying to negotiate a new deal with the district.  More than 50 teachers, education professionals and support staff in the Chester Upland District took part in the rally outside the high school on West Ninth Street, then joined the audience inside a packed meeting room to get their point across to the school board.  “We understand the district is in a difficult position to secure the revenue needed to reach a new agreement, but after five years without a pay increase, our members are beyond frustrated,” said Chester Upland Education Association President Michele Paulick. “Is the board going to Harrisburg to ask for the revenue it needs? Are they talking to state officials about it?


North Carolina just countered Tennessee’s findings on pre-K fadeout. Here’s the difference, according to researchers.
Chalkbeat BY GRACE TATTER  -  2 DAYS AGO
Policymakers across the country have debated how to build effective public prekindergarten programs.
A new study suggests that Tennessee might want to up spending and look toward its neighbor to the east if it wants to get prekindergarten right.  This week, Duke University released research showing that North Carolina’s investment in public pre-K programs led to better outcomes for its students. Its researchers found that the positive effects — including higher test scores, less grade retention, and fewer special education placements — grew or held steady over the years.
At first glance, the findings seem to contradict those released last year by Vanderbilt University researchers about Tennessee’s public pre-K programs. That study’s authors concluded that by third grade, the students who attended pre-K actually fared worse academically, calling into question how much return states and communities can expect from their investments in early childhood education.  “Money does matter,” said Helen “Sunny” Ladd, a co-author of the Duke study. “It’s important that (it’s) used well. But if something is important, like preschool, it seems to make sense to spend money on it and keep improving it.”

“The big difference between the long-term findings in North Carolina and Tulsa and the fade out in Tennessee, researchers say, is the quality of the preschool program.  Having a high-quality program is key, says Dodge. "The long-term impact," he says, "depends entirely on quality and how well elementary schools build on the foundations set in pre-K."
A Lesson For Preschools: When It's Done Right, The Benefits Last
NPR by ELISSA NADWORNY November 17, 201611:00 AM ET
Is preschool worth it? Policymakers, parents, researchers and us, at NPR Ed, have spent a lot of time thinking about this question.  We know that most pre-kindergarten programs do a good job of improving ' specific skills like phonics and counting, as well as broader social and emotional behaviors, by the time students enter kindergarten. Just this week, a study looking at more than 20,000 students in a state-funded preschool program in Virginia found that kids made large improvements in their alphabet recognition skills.  So the next big question to follow is, of course, Do these benefits last?  New research out of North Carolina says yes, they do. The study found that early childhood programs in that state resulted in higher test scores, a lower chance of being held back in a grade, and a fewer number of children with special education placements. Those gains lasted up through the fifth grade.  The research, published this week in the journal Child Development, studied nearly 1 million North Carolina students who attended state-funded early childhood programs between 1995 and 2010, and followed them through fifth grade.

“Congress would have to amend the Every Student Succeeds Act or the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Trump couldn't just snap his fingers and make the proposal a reality. He would have to go through Congress, which would have to pass the change by amending either ESSA or IDEA. That may not be easy. The Senate rejected a (somewhat similar) proposal from Sen.Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., last year when Republicans controlled more seats than they will in the new Congress. Trump and his allies would have to put it way up at the top of their priority list—or significantly expand the GOP ranks in Congress—for it to have a chance of passing.”
How Workable is Trump's $20 Billion School Choice Proposal?
Education Week Politics K12 Blog By Alyson Klein on November 17, 2016 1:55 PM
President-elect Donald Trump's biggest education pitch during the presidential campaign was for a $20 billion voucher program that students could use at both public and private schools. So, now that he's been elected, how feasible is that? And would states even be interested in it?
The money would have to come from somewhere. Trump said during the campaign that he'd like to use existing federal funds to support his big school choice program, even though he didn't say, specifically what pot of money he was referring to. The department's current budget is about $70 billion, with roughly $15.5 billion going to Title I grants for districts, and $12 billion going to state grants for special education.  Both programs have been absorbed into the blood stream of school district budgets, so re-directing the money would be a big deal.  "Twenty billion dollars is a lot of money," said Vic Klatt, a principal at Penn Hill Group in post-election event sponsored by the Education Writers Association. "Finding that will be an interesting challenge for them. I'm not quite sure how they do it."


Webinar: PSBA Board President’s Forum DEC 7, 2016 • 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Join fellow board presidents and superintendents for the latest topics affecting public education in this new webinar series hosted by 2016 President Kathy Swope.  After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

PASBO is seeking eager leaders! Ready to serve on the board? Deadline for intent letter is 12/31.
PASBO members who desire to seek election as Director or Vice President should send a letter of intent with a current resume and picture to the Immediate Past President Wanda M. Erb, PRSBA, who is chair of the PASBO Nominations and Elections Committee.

Regional Basic Education Funding Formula Workshops
PASA, PSBA, PAIU, PARSS, the PA Principals Association and PASBO are traveling around the state to conduct regional workshops for school leaders to provide them with more information on the new basic education funding formula. Register below to attend one of 8 regional workshops to learn more about the new formula and what it means for your school district and for the state. Please note that capacity is limited at each location and registration is required. A webcast option is also available. These regional workshops are being supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016 @ 9:00 am: Luzerne IU 18
(368 Tioga Ave, Kingston, PA 18704)
Tuesday, December 6, 2016 @ 6:00 pm: Chester County IU 24
(455 Boot Road, Downingtown, PA 19335)

Public Forum: Who should run Philadelphia's schools? Thursday, Dec. 8, 6-7:30 p.m. Drexel University - Behrakis Grand Hall
Join us for a public forum featuring state, city and civic leaders sponsored by Philadelphia Media Network, the Philadelphia Public School Notebook and Drexel University's School of Education.
Creese Student Center 3210 Chestnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19104
It's been 15 years since the state took control of Philadelphia's schools and created the School Reform Commission. Since then, the SRC has been a polarizing presence in the city.
With the recent resignation of two members of the commission and the term of a third expiring soon, the future of the SRC and the issue of school governance is once again at the forefront of the civic dialogue. Is the SRC the only model to consider?  Should Philadelphia create an elected school board, or should the governing body be controlled by the Mayor? Are there models in other cities that could help us rethink our own school governance?   The Philadelphia Public School Notebook, Philadelphia Media Network -- owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News and philly.com, and Drexel University's School of Education are hosting a public forum on this critical issue.
RSVP - Admission is free, but you must register in advance. Register now, and find out more about the panelists and other details at our registration page.  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/who-should-run-philadelphias-schools-tickets-28926705555
NSBA Advocacy Institute 2017 -- Jan. 29-31, Washington, D.C.
Join school directors around the country at the conference designed to give you the tools to advocate successfully on behalf of public education.
  • NSBA will help you develop a winning advocacy strategy to help you in Washington, D.C. and at home.
  • Attend timely and topical breakout sessions lead by NSBA’s knowledgeable staff and outside experts.
  • Expand your advocacy network by swapping best practices, challenges, and successes with other school board members from across the country.
This event is open to members of the Federal Relations Network. To find out how you can join, contact Jamie.Zuvich@psba.org. Learn more about the Advocacy Institute at https://www.nsba.org/events/advocacy-institute.

Register now for the 2017 NSBA Annual Conference 
Plan to join public education leaders for networking and learning at the 2017 NSBA Annual Conference, March 25-27 in Denver, CO. General registration is now open at https://www.nsba.org/conference/registration. A conference schedule, including pre-conference workshops, is available on the NSBA website.

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!
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/SAVE-THE-DATE--LWVPA-Convention-June-1-4--2017.html?soid=1102026610927&aid=sie1JiXCxws


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