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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA
Ed Policy Roundup May 24, 2017:
Here's how PA lawmakers are trying to
'rebrand' school vouchers
Senate Education and House Education Committees
WEDNESDAY - 5/24/17 9:00 a.m., Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
“These education savings accounts do not
improve educational opportunities for all students. Instead, they are an underhanded attempt to
re-brand extremely unpopular school voucher programs that remove taxpayer
dollars from public schools and use them to provide subsidies to families that
choose to send their children to private and religious schools. With this hearing about school vouchers,
Eichelberger and others are following in the footsteps of House Speaker Mike
Turzai.”
Here's how lawmakers are trying to
'rebrand' school vouchers: Susan Spicka
PENNLIVE OP-ED By Susan Spicka
Posted on May 23, 2017 at 6:45 AM
Susan Spicka is the executive director of Education Voters of
PA.
Making taxpayers foot the bill
for private and religious school tuition payments has emerged as a top priority
among leaders in the Pennsylvania Legislature.
But ensuring all students in Pennsylvania's public schools have a shot
at a decent education has not been priority.
On Wednesday, state Sen.
John Eichelberger, R-Blair, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee,
will co-chair a public hearing about "education savings accounts" or
ESAs. These are a new generation of
school vouchers on steroids that have been supported by Education Secretary
Betsy DeVos and enacted in other states.
These accounts provide parents with a pre-loaded debit card filled
with taxpayer dollars that have been removed from public schools. Parents may
use this card to pay for their children's educational expenses, including
private school tuition, tutors, college savings, and more.
“Vitulli estimated an annual cost of
$2,500 to educate a single, nonspecial student in the district cyber program.
He did not have an exact figure available, he said.
Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Bader
said cyber academy costs are included in district’s other expenses; however, he
estimated the program costs less than $4,000 a year per student.
Right now, the district pays charter
schools $12,735 for each student or $29,731 for each special education student. In October 2015, East Stroudsburg school
district had 202 students enrolled in nine different cyber charter schools,
according to Pennsylvania Department of Education records. That total includes
51 special needs students, who have higher tuition costs.”
Cyber schools cost district millions
Pocono Record By Bill Cameron Posted
May 23, 2017 at 7:56 PM
Editor’s note: This is part 1 of
a 2-part story. More tomorrow.
East Stroudsburg Area School
District and its taxpayers paid cyber charter schools $3.7 million last year.
That total has climbed consistently for at least the last five years. The Pennsylvania school code requires that
all state funding follow a student regardless of his or her choice of school.
Funds are allocated directly to public school districts. Then, charter schools
seek a tuition reimbursement from the district that sends the student. Public schools are obligated to pay, but
institutions have clashed on how much. Calculations are currently based on the
expenses of the sending school. They do not consider what it actually costs the
charter school to educate a student. “In
my opinion, it’s destructive to the public education system,” said Principal
Bill Vitulli of Smithfield Elementary School. “Is it reasonable to pay cyber
charter schools who don’t have nearly the same costs we do?” Vitulli also manages the district’s own cyber
program, East Stroudsburg Area Cyber Academy. It currently has about 90
students enrolled full-time and closer to 60 attending part-time, he said. All
classes are taught by district instructors.
“Cyber charter schools don’t really have any different expenses than we
do in our program,” he said. “They might have to hire more staff, but they
don’t have all the costs of building maintenance, sports teams or after-school
activities.”
What class is like for the
millions of high-schoolers now taking courses online.
Slate
By Stephen Smiley May 23, 2017
This article is part of the Big Shortcut, an eight-part series
exploring the exponential rise in online learning for high school students who
have failed traditional classes.
After she failed English her
junior year at Riverbend High School in Spotsylvania, Virginia, 17-year-old
Amelia Kreck had to retake the class. It took her two days. In the classroom, Amelia had struggled with
essay writing. But the online course her school directed her to take as a
replacement had no essays. Nor did Amelia have to read any books in their
entirety. Unsurprisingly, she says, she never had to think very hard. That’s
because she skipped out of most units through a series of “pretests” at the
start, which she says contained basic grammar questions as well as some short
readings followed by multiple-choice sections. Amelia says she enjoyed some of
the readings in the online version of the class, created by for-profit
education company Edgenuity, including excerpts from Freakonomics and
the writings of the theoretical physicist Michio Kaku. She also appreciated the
flexibility to work from home—until after midnight on one of the two days it
took here to recover her credit. But “there was a big component of the original
class that was missing from credit recovery,” she says. “Most of it was on the
shallow side.” She finished so quickly, she says, that “I didn’t improve in the
areas that needed improvement.”
More on PA’s costly and chronically
failing cyber charters in our postings from last week…
No PA cyber school has met the state’s academic benchmarks in 4
years. Great! Let's open another one.....Keystone State Education Coalition PA Ed Policy Roundup May 19, 2017:
Senate Education Committee Meeting MONDAY - 6/5/17 10:00 a.m., Hearing Room 1, North Office Building
Public
hearing on the Keystone Exams
Senate Education
Committee Meeting FRIDAY - 6/2/17 12:30 a.m., West Chester University, West
Chester
Make education equity a reality in Pa.
Inquirer Opinion by Pedro Rivera & Mairi Cooper Updated: MAY 24,
2017 — 3:01 AM EDTPedro Rivera is Pennsylvania's secretary of education. @pedroarivera2
Mairi Cooper is the 2015 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year. @patoy2015
Too often in policy debates, each
side comes to the table with talking points and an agenda, rather than an open
ear and a commitment to find common ground. When it comes to schools, whatever
differences we may have on issues like Common Core, testing, and
accountability, our unifying goal must always be to ensure that all children
receive a quality education, regardless of zip code, and to find solutions that
accomplish that. In order to move
educational equity from a shared priority for policymakers and practitioners to
a reality for students in our state, education leaders and advocates have
pushed for more intentional conversations and actions to address the underlying
problems that prevent so many of our students from working on a level playing
field. This commitment to equity
reflects many of the recommendations outlined earlier this year in the joint
report from the Aspen Institute and the Council for Chief State School Officers
titled "Leading for Equity: Opportunities for State Chiefs." The
suggested policy and engagement actions include pushing for greater funding,
investing in professional development, and proactively engaging and listening
to communities so they can hold state leaders more accountable in meeting
goals.
“Everyone who owns property in
Pennsylvania is affected because PSERS contributions eat up bigger pieces of
school district budgets with each passing year. They accounted for an estimated
11.5 percent this year compared with 2 percent in 2008-09, according to the
Pennsylvania School Boards Association. School districts pass those hikes on to
taxpayers, who have not seen wages keep up with tax growth. The trend isn't expected to stop anytime
soon. Districts are expected to contribute more than a third of their total
payrolls to PSERs by 2021-22. During the same time period, the Independent
Fiscal Office projects total school property tax revenue to increase nearly 4
percent annually, by which time it will hit $16 billion.”
School
property tax reform an anger-driven substitute to addressing pension debt
Andrew Wagaman Contact
Reporter Of The Morning Call May 20, 2017
Is Property Tax Independence Act
a good alternative to school property tax?
Larry Kratzer believes Pennsylvania
is compromising his golden years to cover crazy retirement promises made to
public school employees. This upsets him.
Kratzer, 68, will pay nearly $2,800 in property taxes this year to the
East Penn School District, which will raise taxes by 2.9 percent for the
2017-2018 school year. About $72 of the $80 hike to Kratzer's bill will go
toward the district's ever-increasing obligations to the Pennsylvania School
Employees Retirement System, based on information
the school board provided this month.
Since retiring six years ago from a security job with Lutron
Electronics, Kratzer has lived on modest savings from investments plus
$1,200-a-month Social Security payments that have grown much slower than his
property taxes levied by the borough and Lehigh County. His effective tax rate
is more than twice the national median. Kratzer
is not sure how long he can afford to keep his home, assessed at $157,000, but
he's certain he will break before the state Legislature reckons with its
pension crisis.
“Educational
Apartheid” in Pennsylvania must end, activists say
ABC27 By Dennis
Owens Published: May
23, 2017, 6:10 pm Updated: May 23, 2017, 6:50 pm
HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Schools
in Pennsylvania are separate but not equal.
Or more accurately, according to
study after study, the way schools are funded in the commonwealth in
inequitable. “We are experiencing here
in Pennsylvania educational apartheid,” said Reverend Gregory Holston,
Executive Director of POWER, an advocacy group based in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, according to the US Department
of Education, is the worst in the US when it comes to funding differences
between the HAVE districts and the HAVE NOTS. “We are the worst,” said Senator
Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia). “And not the worst by a little bit, but the
worst by a lot.” Hughes, and activists,
called for change in the way schools are funded in PA. He pointed out that
Overbrook High School, in his legislative district, spends $12,000 per pupil
while Upper Dublin HS, also in his legislative district, spends $24,000, twice
as much. Hughes calls that wrong legally and morally. “Every child, no matter what zip code they
live in, is as equal and important as every other,” Hughes said. A fair funding formula has been created
by the legislature, but only six percent of education funds flow through
it. That means some schools get more than they should, others get less.
The Education Law Center created a graph showing the districts that are winners
and the districts that are losers. They produced a second graph showing the
racial make-up of those winners and losers. Nearly all of the mostly-white
districts were above the line, nearly all the schools below were districts
predominately of color.
Pennsylvania school districts (still)
hoard your tax dollars
Newly-released state data shows school district reserve
funds continue to grow.Inquirer Opinion by John Baer, Political Columnist baerj@phillynews.com Updated: MAY 22, 2017 — 6:29 AM EDT
Let’s talk about your tax dollars
and public education. Let’s talk about
school districts across Pennsylvania holding reserve funds of your tax dollars
in interest-bearing accounts. State
Department of Education data puts the total at the end of the 2015-16 fiscal
year at $4.4 billion. That’s with a “B.” And it’s an
amount equal to 75 percent of the state budget for basic education this fiscal
year. Almost every school district (485
of 500 districts; 97 percent) shows reserves. They grow annually. In just five
years, they grew by more than $1 billion. They even grow in districts that seek
to raise taxes. To me, this raises some
basic questions – again. I write about this every year.
Every year, I get pretty much the same answers.
Districts need reserves in case
of state budget delays. Districts face uncertain futures with regard to
construction costs and ever-escalating pension costs. Reserves make it easier
to borrow since moneylenders like reserves.
Fine. Some reserves are OK, even necessary. But every year, I’m told reserves are being
spent and next year’s totals will go down. Yet they never do. Not even after
Gov. Corbett’s 2011 billion-dollar education cut.
Charter school wins legal battle for 5
more years
BY SARA K. SATULLO ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com, For lehighvalleylive.com Updated on
May 23, 2017 at 2:47 PM Posted on May 23, 2017 at 1:47 PM
Ending months of legal wrangling,
Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School has been granted a five-year
charter extension by the state. The
Hanover Township, Northampton County, K-12 charter school announced late Friday
that it won't be subject to any enrollment caps. The Bethlehem
Area School District approved an extension of the school's charter in
December, but sought to place limits on student enrollment in hopes of saving $1
million annually. Charter schools are independent public schools
funded by taxpayer dollars funneled from an enrolled student's home district. Bethlehem wanted the charter school to cap
its enrollment of district students at 60 percent of the total enrollment. As a regional charter school, Lehigh Valley
Academy must get charter extension approval from both Bethlehem and the Saucon
Valley School District, which in January
signed off on an agreement without enrollment caps. Lehigh Valley Academy
filed an appeal with the state Charter Appeals Board and also filed
a suit in Northampton County court seeking an extension without
enrollment limits.
Innovative
Arts Academy authorizes $30,000 loan from landlord at unadvertised meeting
Sarah M. Wojcik Contact
Reporter Of The Morning Call Monday, September 12, 2016.
Innovative Arts Academy
Charter School Board of Trustees voted to borrow $30,000 from its landlord at a
meeting that was not advertised to the public as required under the state's
Sunshine Act. Aldo Cavalli, a consultant
for the career-focused Catasauqua charter school serving grades six through 12,
said the school failed to advertise the May 10 meeting. He attributed the
failure to a mistake on the part of the administration. The May 10 meeting took place a week earlier
than the date agreed upon at the April meeting, but Cavalli said he didn't know
why. Among the action items at the
meeting was a vote to borrow $30,000 from Catty School LLC, an entity that is
owned by Abe Atiyeh. The prominent Lehigh Valley developer also serves as the
landlord for the school at 330 Howertown Road and has lent the school money in
the past. Principal Douglas Taylor and
trustee President Kelly Bauer did not respond to messages seeking information
on the scheduling change and lack of public notice.
Are charter schools widening racial
divides?
Inquirer by Mandy McLaren, Washington Post Updated: MAY 23, 2017 — 9:27 AM
EDT
VACHERIE, La. — At the new
public charter school in this Mississippi River town, nearly all students are
African-American. Parents seem unconcerned about that. They just hope their
children will get a better education. "I
wanted my girls to soar higher," said Alfreda Cooper, who is black and has
two daughters at Greater Grace Charter Academy.
Three hours up the road, students at Delta Charter School in Concordia
Parish are overwhelmingly white, even though the surrounding community is far
more mixed. As the charter school
movement accelerates across the country, a critical question remains unanswered
— whether the creation of charters is accelerating school segregation.
Federal judges who oversee desegregation plans in Louisiana are wrestling with
that issue at a time when President Donald Trump wants to spend
billions of dollars on charter schools, vouchers and other "school
choice" initiatives.
Let Memphis Street Academy continue to
thrive
Inquirer Opinion by Sandra Farmer Updated: MAY 24,
2017 — 3:01 AM EDTSandra Farmer is president of the Memphis Street Academy Board of Trustees.
Imagine living in a neighborhood
with a constant fear of destruction of property. On many Philadelphia streets this
is the norm. A few years ago, in certain
sections of Kensington, residents feared even leaving a flower pot on their
stoop, not because of neighborhood gangs but because of the destructive
behavior from the middle-school students who attended J.P. Jones. Think about a school where police
officers were stationed at every corner, every day, during dismissal in order
to try to keep the peace between hundreds of students, many prone to getting in
street wide brawls. This was the situation at what is currently Memphis Street
Academy. When schools find themselves in
this situation, the district gets involved. Under the Renaissance Initiative,
troubled schools are turned over to education management organizations tasked
with improving the climate, the culture, and academics. Chosen to manage Jones in May 2012 was
American Paradigm Schools (APS), an organization that has successfully turned
around three other district schools since 2011. When APS was given
responsibility for Jones, their charge was to salvage what had become one of
the most perpetually violent schools in the state.
Blogger note: Speaker Turzai and his PAC
have received large campaign contributions from Betsy DeVos’ American
Federation for Children and PA’s Students First PAC in support of school
privatization.
Pa. House Speaker Mike Turzai discusses
potential bid for governor at Press Club luncheon
BY CHARLES
THOMPSON cthompson@pennlive.com Posted on May 22,
2017 at 3:51 PM
Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike
Turzai released a couple more trial balloons regarding his potential candidacy
for the 2018 Republican gubernatorial nomination Monday. In an appearance before the Pennsylvania
Press Club, Turzai positioned himself as a "reformer with results." He then proceeded to tick off a few,
including:
* A 'no' vote as a junior House
member against the double-digit, 2005 pay legislative raise, a moment in recent
state history that led to the ouster of several senior legislative leaders
attacked the next year as being insensitive to taxpayers.
* Leading the
legislative defense against Gov. Tom Wolf's proposed increases in personal
income and sales taxes
in 2015, and then holding
firm after other Republicans had agreed to compromise.
* Successfully crusading
for the sale of limited amounts of wine and beer at groceries and
convenience stores.
Turzai, 57, has been a member of
the state House since 2001, and has been in senior House leadership positions
since 2011.
“Problem is, Pennsylvanians have listed
“government, politicians” as the state’s biggest problem in seven consecutive
Franklin and Marshall College polls since August 2015. So once Turzai thinks it through, once he
gets past consultants looking to make money off him, I think some things could
give him pause.
For one, know the last person elected
Pennsylvania governor directly from the legislature? That would be State Sen. George Leader, a
York County Democrat elected governor in 1954 – more than six decades ago.”
Will Mike Turzai really run for governor?
There are some political reasons that could give him pause.Inquirer by John Baer, Political Columnist baerj@phillynews.com Updated: MAY 23, 2017
Despite recent written and spoken
suggestions that he’s in the Republican race for governor, I doubt House
Speaker Mike Turzai actually will run. Don’t
get me wrong. I hope he does. A three-way (at least) primary
featuring longtime legislative insider Turzai, rabble-rousing first-term Sen.
Scott Wagner, and outsider biz-guy Paul Mango offers a smorgasbord for voters
and a cage match for media. Turzai and
Wagner, both high-voltage types, would be the main event. I’m seeing elbows and
kneecaps. But I imagine Mango, a West Point grad turned Army Ranger, wouldn’t
turn down a dance. It’s almost too much
to hope for. Turzai sure sounds like
he’s in. He wrote to state Republican committee folks saying he’s “seriously”
considering. And Monday, he told a Pennsylvania Press Club lunch crowd, “I’m
that person” Pennsylvania’s looking for to get things done. Maybe he is: a Notre Dame grad, a Duke law
grad, with a pro-growth, pro-jobs, low-tax, and end-the-booze-monopoly agenda
that resonates with lots of voters. He
raises money like Iowans raise corn. And he knows a thing or two about
government and politicians.
“John George, 56, a former Warwick
superintendent and career educator, said he decided to run for political office
for the first time because of what he sees as an “attack on public education,”
health care and the working class by President Donald Trump and
members of the Republican-controlled Congress.”
Former Warwick superintendent John George will challenge US Rep.
Lloyd Smucker
Lancaster Online by SAM JANESCH | Staff Writer
May 24, 2017
Another Democrat has announced
plans to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker in 2018. John George, 56, a
former Warwick superintendent and career educator, said he decided to run for
political office for the first time because of what he sees as an “attack on
public education,” health care and the working class by President Donald
Trump and members of the Republican-controlled Congress. “Watching what's been playing out in
Washington, D.C., has made me more angry and more frustrated each day,” said
George, who served as superintendent of Warwick School District from July 2006
to August 2008. He joins Manheim Township pharmacist Charlie Klein in what could
become a crowded Democratic primary motivated by frustrations with the Trump
administration.
“More than 80 percent of Parkland's revenue
comes from local sources, including 70 percent from property taxes, he said.
That's one reason Parkland officials have been adamantly against efforts in
Harrisburg to abolish local property taxes.
The state contributes about 14 percent
of Parkland's revenue and another 2 to 3 percent comes from the federal
government, Vignone said. The school
district's budgeting also benefited from no increase in expected health care
costs in 2017-2018. Parkland is part of the Lehigh County Health Consortium,
which kept the costs down, Vignone said.
The district was not nearly so lucky in holding down payments to charter
and cyber charter schools. Parkland projects it will spend $3.6 million in
payments to charters, which is nearly an $800,000 increase over this year, he
said. In 2016-2017, the school district
paid $23,122 for each special education student who attended charter schools
and $11,534 for non-special education students.”
Parkland
school board OKs 1.89 percent tax hike
Special to The Morning Call May
23, 2017
Parkland taxpayers can expect a
1.89 percent tax increase when the school board passes the final 2017-2018
budget next month. That's lower than
district officials were projecting in April when the board was eyeing a 2.5
percent tax hike, which is the state's Act I Index. School officials said
higher than expected tax assessments on commercial and industrial properties
helped to bring down the overall tax increase.
The school board Monday voted unanimously — with Director Barry Long
absent — for the proposed budget which will increase the district millage rate
from 14.85 mills to 15.13 mills. At the new millage, a homeowner with
Parkland's average assessment of $226,595 would pay $3,428 in property taxes,
an increase of $63 over 2016. The value of the
Homestead/Farmstead gaming credit is expected to be $108 for approved
properties, according to district officials.
York
Dispatch by Junior Gonzalez ,
505-5439/@JuniorG_YD12:32
a.m. ET May 24, 2017
The West York School Board passed
a budget Tuesday night by a close margin as board members argued on a proposed
property tax increase. The $56.8 million
budget has essentially the same programs and allocations as last year’s budget,
according to district superintendent Emilie Lonardi. It passed by a board vote
of 6-3. She said there were no major
additions or cuts to the new budget, but costs went up for existing programs
and services. The millage rate at West
York will increase by 3.2 percent to 24.2238 mills. The maximum increase the
district was allowed based on the index given to them by the Department of
Education was 3.2 percent. For a home assessed at $100,000,
the tax hike will equate to about $72 more in taxes from last year’s millage rate
of 23.4727.
York
Dispatch by Junior Gonzalez ,
505-5439/@JuniorG_YDPublished
12:07 a.m. ET May 23, 2017 | Updated
12 hours ago
Residents in York Suburban's
district will see an increase on their property taxes next year after school
board members approved a final budget Monday night. The proposal has $54.8 million in expected
revenues and $55.7 million in expenditures, leaving a $923,000 deficit to be covered
in part by the district’s unassigned general fund and other leftover funds. Property taxes will increase by 1.5 percent,
from 22.41 mills to 22.74 mills. The
district had the opportunity to raise taxes by as much as 2.5 percent without
exemptions, a limit set by the Department of Education. Before the board’s unanimous vote
in the affirmative, board member and treasurer John Posenau thanked
administrators for producing the budget.
“It represents an opportunity to provide everything that the students
need while providing some relief to the taxpayer,” he said. For the average home in the area
assessed at $136,710, a resident would pay $3,110 in property taxes, about $52
more than last year.
Trib Live by TORY
N. PARRISH | Monday, May 22, 2017, 5:15 p.m.
Organizers of the Westinghouse
Arts Academy Charter School envision a performing arts hub that will help
change the tide in Wilmerding. It's
already changing Gionna D'Alessandro's life. Dancing is so important to the
South Park teen that she became home-schooled two years ago so her schedule
would allow her more time to participate in competitions and practices. Now Gionna, 13, is once again going to attend
a brick-and-mortar school, because her parents plan to enroll her in
Westinghouse Arts Academy, which will offer specialized training in dance;
literary, studio and digital arts; music; and theater when it opens in the
fall. “I'm so excited,” Gionna said at
the recent groundbreaking ceremony for the school that included Wilmerding
Mayor Greg Jakub, East Allegheny Superintendent Don MacFann and other
officials. The academy being developed
by RPA Holdings LLC will open in the East Allegheny School District's former
Westinghouse Elementary School building, which closed at the end of the 2007-08
school year.
At North Philadelphia school, education
issues were "On the Table"
Across the city, groups gathered
to share a meal and tackle thorny community problems.
The notebook by Darryl Murphy May
23, 2017 — 4:51pm
Throughout the day
today, thousands of people across the city participated in a series of
roundtable discussions about the challenges facing Philadelphia communities. “On The Table,” a citywide discussion series
managed by the Philadelphia Foundation and the Knight Foundation, assembled 162
community organizations throughout the city to bring people together for a
conversation over a meal about specific issues concerning their neighborhoods. From breakfast until dinner, approximately
3,000 local residents met in libraries, businesses, homes, and other local
venues to talk about issues such as the beverage tax, local food and healthy
food access, growth strategies for the city, affordable housing, and education. “The Philadelphia Foundation is very pleased
that so many organizations and individuals are taking advantage of this
powerful opportunity,” said Pedro Ramos, president and CEO of the Philadelphia
Foundation. “The rich conversations
among neighbors, colleagues, and new acquaintances will lift up an array of
greater Philadelphia’s needs and aspirations,” he said. In North Philadelphia, Parent Power, an
education advocacy group for parents, hosted a breakfast discussion about the
impact race, class, and privilege has on education. Former School Reform Commissioner and
co-founder of Parent Power Sylvia Simms invited her former colleague Marjorie
Neff, who resigned from the SRC in November 2016, former chief education
officer Dr. Lori Shorr, and a group of about 15 residents from different parts
of the city to T.M. Pierce Elementary School.
Philly District to appeal reinstatement
order of principals in cheating scandal
The notebook by Dale Mezzacappa
May 22, 2017 — 4:38pm
The School District is appealing
an April Commonwealth Court order to reinstate two principals who lost their
jobs as part of the cheating scandal that rocked the District several years
ago. Michelle Burns was principal of
Tilden Middle School and Marla Travis-Curtis led Lamberton Elementary when
forensic analyses showed statistically improbable numbers of wrong-to-right
erasures in PSSA test booklets between 2009 and 2011. Both were terminated by the District in 2014.
But an arbitrator, brought into the case by the Commonwealth Association of
School Administrators (CASA), ruled that although cheating occurred under their
watch, there was no evidence that they had an active part in it. A Common Pleas
Court judge later overturned that decision, but the Commonwealth Court panel
agreed with the arbitrator. In a
statement, the District said that they are appealing to the state Supreme Court
because of “clear evidence that Dr. Burns and Ms. Travis-Curtis knew or should
have known of the widespread, systematic cheating at their schools for at least
two years.”
Trump Budget Would Slash Education Dept.
Spending, Boost School Choice
Education Week Politics K12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa on May
23, 2017 1:45 PM
UPDATED President Donald Trump's full budget proposal for the U.S.
Department of Education, released on Tuesday, includes big shifts in
funding priorities and makes cuts to spending for teacher development,
after-school enrichment, and career and technical education, while ramping up
investments in school choice. A $1
billion cash infusion for Title I's services for needy children would be
earmarked as grants designed to promote public school choice, instead of going
out by traditional formulas to school districts. These would be called
Furthering Options for Children to Unlock Success (FOCUS) grants, according to a summary of the department's budget, that
would provide money to school districts using weighted student funding formulas
and open enrollment policies. That would
bring Title I grants up to $15.9 billion in all. However, in Trump's budget,
states would lose out on the $550 million increase in formula-based funding
that Congress approved in a budget deal earlier this year. Total Title I
grants to districts through those formulas would be funded at $14.9 billion in
Trump's proposed budget. And charter
school grants, which currently get $342 million in federal aid, would get
nearly a 50 percent increase and get $500 million. Finally, a program
originally tailored to research innovative school practices would be retooled
to research and promote vouchers, and get a funding boost of $270 million,
bringing it up to $370 million. Grants
for special education, which also go out by formula, get $12.7 billion in
Trump's budget, a decline of about $112 million from the amount in the fiscal
2017 budget deal. The biggest single line-item to be eliminated is $2.1 billion
for supporting teacher development and reducing class size under Title
II.
Trump Spending Plan Triggers Many Negative
Reactions From K-12 World
Education Week Pollitics K12 Blog
By Andrew Ujifusa on May
23, 2017 5:45 PM
President Donald Trump's spending plan for the upcoming
budget year represents a big change of direction, both because of its
proposed cuts to numerous U.S. Department of Education programs and its $1.4
billion in new funding for public and private school choice.
Many of the responses from
education organizations focus around overall funding—Trump's proposed budget
would cut about $9.2 billion from the current spending level, about a 13
percent reduction—as well as the $158 million increase in charter school
grants, new $250 million program to research private school vouchers, and a $1
billion public school choice program under Title I. Meanwhile, there's also been strong positive
and negative reaction to proposed cuts to teacher training, career and
technical education grants, literacy grants, and a new block grant under Title
IV, among other programs. Below,
we've included some reactions from prominent education groups and individuals
to the $59 billion budget plan. Keep in mind that Congress can and will
draw up its own spending proposals for education—many, if not most, of Trump's
ideas might be left out of those.
“If politicians in a state block
education choice, it means those politicians do not support equal opportunity
for all kids,” Mrs. DeVos said during a speech Monday night at a policy summit
for the American Federation for Children, a group that advocates for school
choice that she once chaired. “They’ll
be the ones who will have to explain to their constituent parents why they are
denying their fundamental right to choose what type of education is best for
their child,” she said.”
Trump Budget Proposal Cuts Work Study,
Bolsters School Choice
Blueprint envisions 13.5%
decrease in education funding overall
Wall
Street Journal By Tawnell D. Hobbs and Josh Mitchell Updated
May 23, 2017 4:42 p.m. ET
A significant cut to college
work-study programs and elimination of funding for certain teacher training and
after-school programs are among $9.2 billion in cuts proposed for the U.S.
Department of Education, with some savings shifting to help fund school-choice
initiatives. Details of the Trump
administration’s proposed 2018 budget were released Tuesday and
show $59 billion in discretionary funding for education—a 13.5% decrease. The budget would bolster school choice
through about $400 million for expansion of charter schools and vouchers for
low-income students to attend private and religious schools. An additional $1
billion in Title 1 funding, typically targeted for schools with high-poverty
rates, would be used for a new grant program focused on open-enrollment to
allow students to attend the public school of their choice. The administration’s plan is to
ramp up to eventually invest $20 billion annually for school choice. President Donald
Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos are ardent supporters of school
choice, which they say allows parents to play a greater role in the education
of their children by providing options outside of their neighborhood public
school. Mrs. DeVos has said it is time to reduce the role that the federal
government plays by empowering parents and states.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-budget-proposal-cuts-work-study-bolsters-school-choice-1495571128
Blogger note: Billionaires
Trump and DeVos have had no direct experience with public education for
themselves or their children. If you
value democratically governed public education please reach out to your members
of Congress and let them know.
.@Esquire: “DeVos finding ways to fulfill her life's dream of
destroying public education & monetizing all those bright shiny faces.”
DeVos to testify on Trump’s budget, her
first time before Congress since rocky confirmation hearing
Washington Post By Emma Brown May
24 at 6:00 AM Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is expected to travel to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to testify about the Trump administration’s proposed budget, her first public appearance before Congress since her rocky confirmation hearing in January. DeVos will be tasked with explaining a spending plan that has drawn criticism from both ends of the political spectrum. She is scheduled to field questions from members of a House appropriations subcommittee during a hearing that begins at 11 a.m. President Trump has proposed slashing $10.6 billion from federal education initiatives, including after-school programs, teacher training and career and technical education, and reinvesting $1.4 billion of the savings into promoting his top priority: School choice. The administration is also seeking far-reaching changes to student aid programs, including elimination of subsidized loans and public service loan forgiveness and a halving of the federal work-study program that helps college students earn money to support themselves while in school.
The president's proposal for next year's federal spending calls for more than $1 trillion in cuts to social programs, including farm aid.
Politico By ANDREW RESTUCCIA , MATTHEW NUSSBAUM and SARAH FERRIS 05/22/2017 09:00 PM EDT
Donald Trump, whose populist
message and promises to help American workers propelled him to the White House,
issued a budget proposal
on Tuesday that instead takes aim at the social safety net on which many of his
supporters rely. Rather than breaking
with Washington precedent, Trump’s spending blueprint follows established
conservative orthodoxy, cutting taxes on the wealthy, boosting defense spending
and taking a hatchet to programs for the poor and disabled – potentially hurting
many of the rural and low-income Americans who voted him into office. The budget proposal underscores
the wide gulf between campaigning and governing, even for a president who
promised to rewrite the presidential rule book.
The president’s budget plan calls for more than $1 trillion in cuts to a
wide range of social programs with millions of beneficiaries, from farm
subsidies to federal student aid. That includes a $600 billion cut to Medicaid
over 10 years, despite Trump’s repeated promises on the campaign trail not to
cut the program. The budget also takes an ax to the federal food stamp program
and Social Security Disability Insurance.
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss May 22
If President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have made one thing clear when it comes to education policy, it is this: Their priority is expanding “school choice.” What is that, exactly? This is a primer about the school choice movement, which supporters say seeks to expand alternatives to traditional public schools for children who have poor educational options in their neighborhoods and to give parents a choice in their children’s education. Critics argue that using public funds to support choice schools is undermining the traditional public system, which educates the majority of America’s school-age children, and that it is ultimately aimed at privatizing the most important civic institution in the country. Whatever the intent, the Trump administration is taking the movement into a new era, elevating it to the center of the national education policy debate after years, under presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, of school “accountability” taking center stage. DeVos’s Education Department is planning to spend an unprecedented amount of public money — well over $1 billion — to expand school choice in the 2018 proposed budget, and it is said to be considering other ways to promote choice. The secretary has not been shy about expressing disdain for the traditional public school system by calling it a “dead end” and a “monopoly.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/05/22/what-school-choice-means-in-the-era-of-trump-and-devos/
The Little-Known Statistician Who Taught Us to Measure Teachers
New York Times by Kevin Carey MAY 19, 2017
Students enroll in a teacher’s classroom. Nine months later, they take a test. How much did the first event, the teaching, cause the second event, the test scores? Students have vastly different abilities and backgrounds. A great teacher could see lower test scores after being assigned unusually hard-to-teach kids. A mediocre teacher could see higher scores after getting a class of geniuses. Thirty-five years ago, a statistician, William S. Sanders, offered an answer to that puzzle. It relied, unexpectedly, on statistical methods that were developed to understand animal breeding patterns. Mr. Sanders died in March in his home state, Tennessee, at age 74, with his name little known outside education circles. But the teacher-assessment method he developed attracted a host of reformers and powerful lawmakers, leading to some of the most bitter conflicts in American education.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/upshot/the-little-known-statistician-who-transformed-education.html
Nominations for PSBA Allwein Advocacy Award due by July 16th
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. In addition to being a highly respected lobbyist, Timothy Allwein served to help our members be effective advocates in their own right. Many have said that Tim inspired them to become active in our Legislative Action Program and to develop personal working relationships with their legislators. The 2017 Allwein Award nomination process will begin on Monday, May 15, 2017. The application due date is July 16, 2017 in the honor of Tim’s birth date of July 16.
https://www.psba.org/2017/05/nominations-allwein-advocacy-award/
Electing PSBA Officers; Applications Due June 1
All persons seeking nomination for elected positions of the Association shall send applications to the attention of the chair of the Leadership Development Committee, during the months of April and May an Application for Nomination to be provided by the Association expressing interest in the office sought. “The Application for nomination shall be marked received at PSBA Headquarters or mailed first class and postmarked by June 1 to be considered and timely filed.” (PSBA Bylaws, Article IV, Section 5.E.).
Open positions are:
·
2017-19 Central Section at Large
Representative – includes
Regions 4, 5, 6, 9 and 12 (for the remaining two years of a three-year
term)
·
2018-20 Western At Large Representative – includes Regions 1,
2, 3, 13 and 14 (three-year term)
In addition to the
application form, PSBA Governing Board Policy 302 asks that all candidates
furnish with their application a recent, print quality photograph and letters
of application. The application form specifies no less than three letters of
recommendation and no more than four, and are specifically requested as
follows:
o
One from superintendent or school director of home entity
o
One from a school director from another school district
o
Other individuals familiar with the candidate's leadership skills
PSBA Governing Board Policy 108 also outlines the campaign
procedures of candidates.All terms of office commence January 1 following election.
https://www.psba.org/about/governance/electing-psba-officers/
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!
Pennsylvania Education Leadership Summit
July 23-25, 2017 Blair County Convention Center - Altoona
A three-day event providing an
excellent opportunity for school district administrative teams and
instructional leaders to learn, share and plan together
co-sponsored by PASA, the
Pennsylvania Principals Association, PASCD and the PA Association for Middle
Level Education
**REGISTRATION IS OPEN**Early
Bird Registration Ends after April 30!
Keynote speakers, high quality breakout
sessions, table talks on hot topics, and district team planning and job-alike
sessions will provide practical ideas that can be immediately reviewed and
discussed at the summit and utilized at the district level.
Keynote Speakers:
Thomas Murray, Director of Innovation for Future Ready Schools, a project of the Alliance for Excellent Education
Kristen Swanson, Director of Learning at Slack and one of the founding members of the Edcamp movement
Thomas Murray, Director of Innovation for Future Ready Schools, a project of the Alliance for Excellent Education
Kristen Swanson, Director of Learning at Slack and one of the founding members of the Edcamp movement
Breakout session strands:
*Strategic/Cultural Leadership
*Systems Leadership
*Leadership for Learning
*Professional and Community Leadership
*Strategic/Cultural Leadership
*Systems Leadership
*Leadership for Learning
*Professional and Community Leadership
CLICK HERE to access the Summit
website for program, hotel and registration information.
Save the Date
2017 PA Principals Association State Conference October 14. 15, 16, 2017
Doubletree
Hotel Cranberry Township, PA
Sometimes, it is confusing to see that law is closely connected with the educational process. Sometimes educational process shouldn’t be bothered with politics or law, but if it happens, some very interesting issues are being raised for discussion. This is what happened with the situation described in the post. All that teachers and parents want is to see their kids happy and smart, either with the help of traditional school or with Myessayservice.com internet learning website. I hope to see this issue resolved very shortly.
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