Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
reach more than 4050 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, Instagram and
LinkedIn
These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA
Ed Policy Roundup July 13, 2017:
Gerrymandering: Fair Districts PA
Statewide Calendar of Events
Pennsylvania charter schools need real
reform
Bill White Contact Reporter Of The Morning Call July 12,
2017
Legislators should go back to drawing board for real charter
school reform I've written a lot about
bad or struggling charter schools. I've
made no secret of my feeling that although I recognize there are
high-performing charter schools with specialized offerings that make sense, our
state's terrible charter school law also has paved the way for some really
low-performing, poorly run ones that have drained needed resources from the
public school system, are insufficiently accountable to anyone and were created
for their money-making potential, not any educational need. Most recently, the focus has turned onto the
Innovative Arts Academy Charter School in Catasauqua, which moved into the
building vacated by the defunct Medical Academy Charter School and has been a
source of controversy for at least the past year. Catasauqua Superintendent Robert Spengler,
whose board was unhappy that charter school representatives stayed away from
the last special meeting called to discuss the school, told me, "They're forgetting who's in
charge." But while Bethlehem Area
School Superintendent Joseph Roy, who has been a particularly outspoken critic of Pennsylvania's handling of
charter schools, agrees that's how the system should work, he said it doesn't.
"The school districts aren't in charge," he said.
"That's the problem." He said
the system has transferred power over millions in taxpayer funds from elected
school boards to unelected charter school boards and officials, resulting in a
loss of local control of education. "The local boards don't really have a
lot of leverage over charters because of the way the law is written."
New
community schools coming to West, Northeast Philly
Inquirer by Kristen
A. Graham, Staff Writer @newskag | kgraham@phillynews.com Updated:
JULY 12, 2017 — 9:29 AM EDT
Gompers Elementary, in Overbrook, and George Washington High
School, in the Northeast, will join the nine existing community schools, which
embed social services and other supports inside existing Philadelphia School
District buildings. Officials had hoped
to tap more schools to join the program, but said the ongoing soda-tax
litigation hampered their ability to add more to the fold. The program’s
roughly $3.75 million budget is covered by the sugary-drink tax. Flanked by Superintendent William R. Hite Jr.
and City Council President Darrell L. Clarke, Kenney made the announcement
Wednesday at City Hall. He has said he plans to spend $40 million in four years
on the program. “We’d love to add more,
but have to be mindful of expansion,” said Otis Hackney, Kenney’s Chief
Education Officer. “We thought we could add two schools without significant
impact to our budget.” Kenney ran on a
pledge to create 25 community schools over four years. Hackney said that even
with the small number of schools added in year two, the city would still be on
track to reach that goal. Come
September, Gompers and George Washington will get a city-paid coordinator each
to assess student and family needs and match them to resources in the community.
Washington
High, Gompers added to community schools
That makes 11 total. Fewer schools were chosen than originally
planned, due to continued litigation over the soda tax.
Newsworks by Dale Mezzacappa and Avi
Wolfman-Arent July 12, 2017 — 4:52pm
The city and School District named two more community schools
Wednesday, expanding the network to 11. Gompers
Elementary in West Philadelphia and George Washington High School in the Far
Northeast were added. The initiative,
which has been a priority for Mayor Kenney's administration, is an effort
to make schools into neighborhood hubs for social services and other assistance
for students and their families. Originally, the city had hoped to add five
schools this year, but it cut back its plans due to continued litigation over
the tax on sugary beverages, which is the source of funds for the program. The
initiative costs about $3 million a year.
Kenney made the announcement at City Hall, along with Council
President Darrell Clarke, School Superintendent William Hite, and Otis Hackney,
chief of the city’s Office of Education.
“We’re losing time over this stupid legal challenge,” Kenney said. “The
only way to overcome the cycle of poverty is through education.” The beverage industry has sued over the tax.
The city won the first two rounds, but the case could head to the Supreme
Court. Kenney’s goal is to have 25
community schools within four years. He’s following the theory of a
growing national movement that says addressing health and social-emotional
needs of children and families in schools can create better learning conditions
by mitigating the effects of poverty and stabilizing communities.
2014-2015 Pennsylvania School District
Medicaid Reimbursements for School Based ACCESS Services
Source: Education Voters PA via Senator Casey’s Office
For nearly 30 years, schools across Pennsylvania have used
Medicaid to fund the School Based ACCESS program to cover certain
health-related services for Medicaid eligible children. Children covered by
Medicaid may receive primary or preventive services in a school-based center,
such as hearing and vision screenings. Pennsylvania also uses Medicaid dollars
to help schools provide services described in a child’s special education plan
under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This includes
services such as occupational and physical therapy, nursing, mental health, and
aides in the classroom. Medicaid also covers health services for eligible
children through the Early and Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment
Services (EPSDT). 2014-2015 Pennsylvania School District Medicaid
Reimbursements for School Based ACCESS Services In Fiscal Year 2014-2015, the
Federal share of Medicaid funding for Pennsylvania School Based ACCESS services
was nearly $145 million. Under the Republican plan to cap Medicaid
expenditures, state elected officials may be forced to cut funding to schools
that provide special education services to students with disabilities. Below
you will find a district by district breakdown of PA school-based Medicaid
funding
Wolf
says he's optimistic, insists he's doing 'right thing'
AP State Wire By MARC LEVY July 12, 2017HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday he was optimistic about getting a good budget agreement and that his administration was acting legally in waving through a budget that lacked the tax collections to sustain it for the entire fiscal year, the second time in two years. This year, however, is different than last year, when lawmakers remained in Harrisburg and negotiators hammered out a revenue deal within two days after an unbalanced budget bill became law. Lawmakers this week were sent home to their districts and officials had no progress toward a deal to report Wednesday, the 12th day of a budget stalemate.
Pa.
governor optimistic that lawmakers will agree on funding new budget
BY KATIE
MEYER, WITF JULY 12, 2017
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said he's optimistic that lawmakers
will approve a spending plan for the already approved state budget, which
went into effect on July 1. Wolf said Wednesday it's not a done deal, but it
will be done. “Let me just make it
clear,” he said. “I’m negotiating. We are negotiating the same way we’ve
negotiated all these things that have gotten some very good, responsible
legislation done in the past, and I’m very optimistic that we’re going to get
to a very good, balanced budget revenue option here in Pennsylvania.” But when reporters asked if he’d say which
budget items were close to completion, the answer was firm. “No,” Wolf said.
Delco
State reps react to Pa. budget and Medicaid votes
By Kathleen
E. Carey, Delaware County Daily Times POSTED: 07/13/17, 4:32 AM EDT | UPDATED: 21 SECS
AGO
As state legislators grapple with a budget that doesn’t contain
the revenue to pay for it, some say the environment harkens to the legendary
stalemate two years ago, except this time Pennsylvania’s credit may tank into
the junk bond status if a resolution doesn’t come soon. A $32 billion spending plan became law at midnight on July 10
without the governor’s signature after the General Assembly passed it June 30.
At issue is a way to pay for that $32 billion, something that has not yet been
determined, in the face of a $2 billion budget gap and a stern warning by
Standard & Poor’s that the state’s credit rating is in jeopardy of
downgrading because of “financial mismanagement.”
“Former
House Speakers Bill DeWeese, D-Greene County, and John Perzel, R-Philadelphia,
former House Democratic Whip Mike Veon of Beaver County and former Senate
Majority Leader Joe Loeper, R-Delaware County, are all convicted ex-lawmakers
turned lobbyists.”
Editorial: Felonious
ex-lawmakers lobbying: Time for long, hard look
TRIBUNE-REVIEW | Wednesday, July
12, 2017, 11:00 p.m.
Prison time for abuse of office should mean permanent disgrace,
but it doesn't in the State of Corruption. Some ex-lawmakers with criminal
records are lobbying in Harrisburg — a practice that deserves a long, hard look
by the Legislature. Pennsylvania law requires
one year's wait before those who leave the state payroll can lobby. Interest
groups, which have a right to lobby, value ex-lawmakers' knowledge. And even
convicted ex-lawmakers have a right to seek employment once they've paid their
debt to society. But should those
convicted of abuse-of-office felonies continue influencing, as lobbyists, the
business of the public, whose trust they violated so egregiously? Former House Speakers
Bill DeWeese, D-Greene County, and John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, former House
Democratic Whip Mike Veon of Beaver County and former Senate Majority Leader
Joe Loeper, R-Delaware County, are all convicted ex-lawmakers turned lobbyists.
In their clients' eyes, their insider connections apparently outweigh their
baggage. But their lobbying blunts the deterrent effect that their convictions
should have on sitting lawmakers. And it doesn't ease voters' suspicions about
the Legislature and influence-peddling in its orbit.
Past calls to ban Harrisburg lobbying by felonious ex-lawmakers
have gone nowhere. The time has come to reconsider this practice, which
reinforces Pennsylvania's status as the State of Corruption.
GOP
House members seek to cut education budget — but not nearly as deeply as Trump
proposed
Washington Post By Emma
Brown July 12 at 7:25 PM
House Republicans are seeking to cut the Education Department’s
budget by $2.4 billion, or 3.5 percent — a substantial reduction, although far
smaller than the $9.2 billion in cuts that President Trump proposed. The House GOP also appears to have largely
rejected Trump’s proposals to expand private- and public-school choice,
according to education advocates who have studied an Appropriations Committee
bill released Wednesday afternoon. Expanding school choice is a key priority
for the White House and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. “One big takeaway is
that people know that what the president pushed for is not at all feasible,”
said Kelly McManus, director of government affairs for the Education Trust, an
advocacy organization that has been critical of Trump’s education agenda. Trump had sought $1 billion to encourage
public school districts to adopt choice-friendly policies, and another $250
million to expand private school voucher programs. The GOP budget bill appears
to leave out both. Jennifer Hing, a
spokeswoman for the Appropriations Committee’s Republican majority, declined to
confirm that the two programs would not be funded, saying that would become
clear next week when the committee publishes its bill report. House Republicans would increase funding for
charter schools by $28 million, to $370 million. Trump had proposed a far
larger bump to $500 million.
House
Education Spending Plan's Cuts Less Severe Than Trump Budget
Education Week By Andrew Ujifusa on July 12, 2017 5:28
PM
The House spending bill that would fund the
U.S. Department of Education for the coming budget year seems to mostly ignore the school
choice proposals put forward by President Donald Trump and would cut
overall spending at the U.S. Department of Education by less that the president
proposes. The bill, released on
Wednesday, would provide $66 billion for the department, down $2.4 billion from
the current budget. By contrast, the Trump adminstration wanted a $9.2 billion
cut, down to $59 billion. However, at least a few big-ticket K-12 programs are
saved from the budget ax. The legislation would not fund the $1 billion public
school choice program the president proposed in his fiscal 2018 spending
blueprint. Nor does it appear to provide any money to the $250 million in state
grants to support private school choice that Trump also sought. State grants for special education,
meanwhile, would get a $200 million increase from this year (fiscal 2017) up to
$12.2 billion, while traditional Title I funding for districts would
essentially remain flat at $15.9 billion. Trump and U.S. Secretary of Education
Betsy DeVos are seeking a small cut for special education grants, while they
sought to keep traditional Title I aid at $14.9 billion, separate from the $1
billion choice program they want under Title I.
Senate Republicans, Preparing New Health Bill, Have
No Votes to Spare
New York Times By ROBERT PEAR and THOMAS KAPLAN JULY 12, 2017
WASHINGTON — The likely defection of two Senate Republicans has
left their leaders no margin for error as they move on Thursday to unveil
another version of their bill to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act —
without an assurance that they have the votes even to begin debate next week. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky
flatly declared on Wednesday that he would not vote to take up the bill, which
he said left too much of President Barack Obama’s health law in place.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine has gone almost as far, saying that
the bill cuts too much and that only major revisions could win her over. The loss of a single additional senator would
doom, at least for now, the Republicans’ effort to make good on their
seven-year promise to uproot the health law. Unity is proving elusive. A lunch
meeting of Republican senators on Wednesday ended with no clear consensus.
Click
the PA-School-Based-ACCESS-Medicaid-Reimbursement-Data to see how much your school
district received in Medicaid reimbursements in 2015.
From an Education Voters PA Email
At the federal level, in order to provide a massive tax cut to the
wealthiest Americans, the Republican healthcare plan in the Senate would strip nearly
$145 million in annual Medicaid reimbursements from school districts in PA
and gut Medicaid funding for children with
disabilities. The Republican healthcare plan ends a nearly 30-year commitment
that the federal government has made to provide schools with guaranteed
Medicaid reimbursements to help pay for vital healthcare services for eligible
students with disabilities, including nursing care, physical therapy, mobility,
vision, and audiology services, and many more.
Under the Republican healthcare plan, Medicaid funding is capped and
federal Medicaid reimbursements for students with disabilities will no longer
be guaranteed to our schools.
Senator Casey (202) 224-6324 opposes the Senate
Republican healthcare plan, Senator Toomey (202) 224-4254 supports it.
If you oppose stripping Medicaid funding from schools, now is the
time to call your senator. If you wait, you may be too late.
Why
Pat Toomey has become a key voice on GOP health bill
Inquirer by Jonathan
Tamari, Washington Bureau @JonathanTamari | jtamari@phillynews.com Updated: JULY 12, 2017 — 12:31 PM EDT
WASHINGTON — Within a divided Senate Republican caucus, resistance
to the party’s high-stakes health bill has come from Ohio, West Virginia, Maine
and Nevada – states like Pennsylvania that have expanded Medicaid to hundreds
of thousands and seen the grim opioid epidemic up close. And yet Pat Toomey has been one of
the bill’s most vocal advocates. While GOP senators from those other states have decried spending
cuts that they say could cost their constituents health coverage and undermine
substance abuse treatment, Pennsylvania’s Republican Senator has argued that
there are no cuts at all — and has authored a plan to scale back Medicaid even
more. In doing so, Toomey has
been one of the most vocal and visible advocates for a controversial bill that
could affect health care for millions. He
has vouched for the plan repeatedly on national television, including on a
sprint through Fox News, Fox Business, MSNBC and CNBC on Monday. He
touted it in a USA Today column and defended the proposal
last week in a question-and-answer session televised on several Pennsylvania
stations.
His critics accuse Toomey of putting conservative ideology ahead
of Pennsylvania’s interests, and of threatening health care for hundreds of
thousands of constituents. The senator
rejects those predictions and has defended the bill by standing on the themes
that have driven much of his public career: a smaller, leaner government.
Testing Resistance & Reform News: July
4 - 11, 2017
FairTest Submitted by fairtest on July 11, 2017 -
1:23pm
Continuing a slow but steady movement, several more states have
eliminated testing requirements and others are considering rolling back
mandates. There's still a long way to go to end test misuse and overuse, but
signs of progress should not be downplayed.
Gerrymandering:
Fair Districts PA Statewide Calendar of Events
Apply Now for EPLC's 2017-2018 PA Education Policy Fellowship
Program!
Education Policy and Leadership Center
Applications are available now for the 2017-2018
Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP). The
Education Policy Fellowship Program is sponsored in Pennsylvania by The
Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC). Click here for the program calendar of sessions. With more than 500 graduates in its
first eighteen years, this Program is a premier professional development
opportunity for educators, state and local policymakers, advocates, and
community leaders. State Board of Accountancy (SBA) credits are available
to certified public accountants. Past participants include state policymakers,
district superintendents and principals, school business officers, school board
members, education deans/chairs, statewide association leaders, parent leaders,
education advocates, and other education and community leaders. Fellows are
typically sponsored by their employer or another organization. The Fellowship Program begins with a two-day
retreat on September 14-15, 2017 and continues to graduation
in June 2018.
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.
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
Save the Date: PASA-PSBA
School Leadership Conference October 18-20, Hershey PA
Registration now open for the
67th Annual PASCD Conference Nov. 12-13
Harrisburg: Sparking Innovation: Personalized Learning, STEM, 4C's
This year's conference will begin on Sunday, November 12th
and end on Monday, November 13th. There will also be a free pre-conference on
Saturday, November 11th. You can
register for this year's conference online with a credit card payment or have
an invoice sent to you. Click here to register for the conference.
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/PASCD-Conference-Registration-is-Now-Open.html?soid=1101415141682&aid=5F-ceLtbZDs
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/PASCD-Conference-Registration-is-Now-Open.html?soid=1101415141682&aid=5F-ceLtbZDs
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.