Monday, August 14, 2017

PA Ed Policy Roundup Aug 14: State senators to hold property tax reform forum in Upper Darby Tuesday Aug 15, 7 pm

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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup Aug 14, 2017:


How the education world is reacting to racist violence in Charlottesville — and to Trump’s muted response
Chalkbeat BY PHILISSA CRAMER  -  9 HOURS AGO
For educators across the country, this weekend’s eruption of racism and violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, offered yet another painful opportunity to communicate their values to families, colleagues, and community members.  Many decried the white supremacists who convened in the college town and clashed with protesters who had come to oppose their message. Some used social media to outline ideas about how to turn the distressing news into a teaching moment.  And others took issue with President Donald Trump’s statement criticizing violence “on both sides,” largely interpreted as an unwillingness to condemn white supremacists.  One leading education official, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, followed Trump’s approach, criticizing what happened but not placing blame on anyone in particular:

Delco Times by the Times Staff POSTED: 08/11/17, 9:01 PM EDT
Two key state Senate committees will host a forum on Tuesday evening to dive deeper into proposals to eliminate and reform school property taxes in Pennsylvania. The forum will take place at the Upper Darby Township Municipal Building, 100 Garrett Road, on Tuesday, Aug, 15, at 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend and there will be a period for questions from local residents.  At the request of state Senator Tom McGarrigle, R-26 of Springfield, the Senate Majority Policy and Democratic Policy Committees will host a roundtable discussion with organizations interested in school property tax elimination and reform.  Senate Majority Policy Committee Chairman David G. Argall, R-Schuylkill/Berks, who is a sponsor of a bill to eliminate school property taxes, said the issue is too large to ignore.  “We would like to continue the conversation to find the best way forward,” he said. “It does not matter which corner of the state you are in or what political party you identify with, school property taxes continue to dominate the priorities Pennsylvanians want the General Assembly to address. This bipartisan public forum will put a lot of the ideas on the table.”

Editorial: Disorder in the House: Pa.’s budget blues
Delco Times Editorial POSTED: 08/12/17, 10:31 PM EDT | UPDATED: 5 SECS AGO
Here’s a little twist on that old summer homework standby, “What I did on my summer vacation.”  Only this time, we’re not directing this at students.  Instead, we’d like to hear from our duly elected state representatives.  That’s our way of wondering what exactly House Speaker Mike Turzai and his compatriots have been doing the past few weeks.  Back in the last week of July, the state Senate finally got around to signing off on a revenue package to fund the $32 billion budget package agreed to when the Legislature barely beat the mandated July 1 deadline to have a spending plan in place.  Remember, this is Harrisburg. This is not like running the books in your household, or even at work. Deadlines don’t mean all that much in the state Capitol. And you can pass a $32 billion budget when you only have $30 billion in revenue, the math be damned.
If you’re Gov. Tom Wolf, and you see a re-election campaign looming in the near future, you don’t bother to actually affix your signature to the spending plan, which does not exactly cater to your wishes. Instead you let it become law without your imprimatur.
That doesn’t change the math. It still doesn’t add up.

Pa. needs to get its revenue act together | Editorial
Editorial By Express-Times opinion staff Updated on August 13, 2017 at 9:22 AM Posted on August 13, 2017 at 7:00 AM
What's not to like about the Pennsylvania Senate's attempt to balance the state's out-of-kilter budget? Let us count the ways.  Last month the Senate tried to accomplish what the House could not, approving a bill to fill the missing revenue side of the budget. Both houses approved the spending side in time for the June 30 budget deadline.  That's correct: The state of Pennsylvania is paying its bills with no constitutional authority to raise money to do so. Gov. Tom Wolf allowed this devil's bargain to become law without his signature, thinking it would be preferable to a long budget impasse or government shutdown.  The problem isn't just that the Democratic governor and the Republican-controlled Legislature don't see eye-to-eye on budget fixes. Senate and House leaders, who are calling the shots with no input from minority Democrats, are at loggerheads over how to plug a $2 billion budget deficit.

Lancaster County educators welcome standardized test reforms proposed under Pennsylvania's ESSA plan
Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer Aug 12, 2017
For many Lancaster County educators, high-stakes testing in Pennsylvania gets a failing grade.  The state Department of Education, it seems, is in agreement.  In its recently released Every Student Succeeds Act Consolidated State Plan, the Department proposes to reduce time students spend taking standardized tests and lessen the importance of high-stakes tests when assessing schools — reforms, local school leaders say, that are much-needed.  “Standardized testing has a place in education — but not the place,” Manheim Central School District Superintendent Peter Aiken said. “We need to get kids excited about learning. I (have) yet to see a student get excited about PSSA or Keystone testing.”  With No Child Left Behind — an experiment which critics say fell short because of its role in increasing high-stakes tests — being replaced by ESSA in 2015, states now have more flexibility to restructure its curriculum and rating systems.  The commonwealth’s plan calls for reducing testing time for the PSSAs starting in spring 2018. The English language arts exam would be cut from four to three sections, and the mathematics assessment would go from three to two sections.

Charter school finances raise concerns about future
Sarah M. Wojcik Contact Reporter Of The Morning Call August 12, 2017
During its first year of operation, Innovative Arts Academy Charter School has had to weather the resignation of its CEO, low enrollment and blistering public criticism from former employees. But its biggest threat may be the financial burden that has weighed heavily on the fledgling institution, which ended the year with 243 students from 11 school districts enrolled.  With 19 students leaving the school mid-term and projected revenues for the 2016-17 school year down by more than $600,000, according to the latest available data in the May financial report, the Catasauqua school is waging an uphill battle. Working against it is a ballooning lease agreement that has the school paying $800,000 a year by 2019, more than double the rent it paid in this school year.  For help, the Innovative Arts' board of trustees turned to Charter Solutions LLC, a company managed by developer Abe Atiyeh, who also is the manager of Catty School LLC, the company that leases the Howertown Road building to the charter school.

Teachers at Philly charter school vote to unionize
by Martha Woodall, Staff Writer  @marwooda |  martha.woodall@phillynews.com Updated: AUGUST 11, 2017 — 4:29 PM EDT
Teachers at New Foundations Charter High School in Philadelphia’s Holmesburg section have voted to be represented by the Alliance of Charter School Employees.  A vote count Friday at the regional offices of the National Labor Relations Board in Center City showed that 73 percent of the teachers and professional staff  who cast ballots said they wanted to be represented by the union.  New Foundations Charter High School, which opened in 2010, is the fifth charter school in Philadelphia where teachers and professional staff are represented by the alliance, which is an affiliate of AFT Pennsylvania.

Charter school under fire after teachers claim no pay
6ABC Action News Friday, August 11, 2017 05:01PM
NORTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A North Philadelphia charter school is under fire. Teachers are quitting, saying they aren't getting paid. But the school is still getting funding from the city.  Despite the uncertainty, there are hundreds of students signed up and ready to go back to class in less than a month.  The school district's solution at this point appears to be to cut off funding and revoke the school's license.  The Khepera Charter School is the only charter school among 80 citywide that currently faces revocation of its charter.  The landlord for the building at 9th and Sedgley, where the embattled school has been occupying for years, now wants to evict them as the charter continues to drown in hundreds of thousands of dollars in red ink, owing money all over town.  All classes - kindergarten through 8th grade - were shut down a week early in June without warning or ceremony. Teachers say they have resigned en masse and found new teaching posts elsewhere.

From selling drugs to teaching 4th graders: A Philly redemption story
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Staff Writer  @newskag |  kgraham@phillynews.com Updated: AUGUST 14, 2017 — 3:01 AM EDT
Quamiir Trice was a 15-year-old high school sophomore with a report card full of F’s when his time as a Philadelphia School District student abruptly ended: Arrested for selling crack, he was banished to the city’s juvenile justice center.   Last week, his career as a School District teacher began. Trice completed his new-educator orientation Friday. In a few weeks, he steps before a class full of fourth graders at Bethune Elementary in North Philadelphia.  “I’m not running away from my past,” said Trice, 23, whose astonishing rise came complete with mentors, personal pep talks from President Barack Obama, and multiple college degrees. “I’m using it as a teaching tool.”  Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. recruited Trice as part of a push to attract more teachers of color — specifically, black male teachers. For the school system, he is an astonishing catch, as he was recruited aggressively by districts around the country.  Schools across the U.S. struggle to hire teaching forces that reflect their students’ diversity. About 2 percent of the teachers nationally are black males. In Philadelphia, that number is slightly better, but still just 5 percent – to teach a student body made up primarily of black students.


“The white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan staged their largest rally in decades to “take America back,” displaying Confederate and Nazi flags as they targeted every minority in the United States. Given that the population of students in America’s school are now majority-minority, that’s a lot of young people.”
The first thing teachers should do when school starts is talk about hatred in America. Here’s help.
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss August 13 at 10:28 AM 
#CharlottesvilleCurriculum: That’s the new Twitter hashtag for educators, parents and anyone else looking for resources to lead discussions with young people about the violence that just erupted in Charlottesville, when white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members marched and clashed with counterprotesters. One woman was killed and 19 were injured when a car rammed into the counterprotesters, and two state police officers assisting in the response died when their helicopter crashed on the outskirts of town.  The 2017-2018 school year is getting started, and teachers nationwide should expect students to want to discuss what happened in Charlottesville as well as other expressions of racial and religious hatred in the country.  While such discussions are often seen as politically charged and teachers like to steer clear of politics, these conversations are about fundamental American values, and age-appropriate ways of discussing hatred and tolerance in a diverse and vibrant democracy are as important as anything young people can learn in school. Civics education has taken a back seat to reading and math in recent years in “the era of accountability,” but it is past time for it to take center stage again in America’s schools.

“She has made things harder for herself by acting as the secretary for school choice instead of the secretary of education,” said Mike Petrilli, president of the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute. “She has missed the opportunity to make it clear that she wants to see all schools succeed.”
After 6 months on job, education chief still highly divisive
AP By MARIA DANILOVA August 13, 2017
WASHINGTON (AP) — Among the paintings and photographs that decorate Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ sunlit, spacious office is the framed roll call from her Senate confirmation. It’s a stark reminder of the bruising process that spurred angry protests, some ridicule and required the vice president’s tie-breaking “yes” vote.  Six months on the job, DeVos is no less divisive.  Critics see her as hostile to public education and indifferent to civil rights, citing her impassioned push for school choice and her signing off on the repeal of some protections for LGBT students.  Conservatives wish she had been less polarizing and more effective in promoting her agenda, noting that the department’s budget requests are stalled in Congress and no tangible school choice plan has emerged.  DeVos is undeterred.  “We have seen decades of top-down mandated approaches that protect a system at the expense of individual students,” DeVos told The Associated Press. “I am for individual students. I want each of them to have an opportunity to go to a school that works for them.”  In her first comprehensive sit-down interview with a national media outlet since taking office, DeVos touched on some of the most pressing issues in K-12 and higher education.

“DeVos has also made clear that school choice is her priority and that “accountability” is more about offering parents private options than about how well those options provide services to students.”
This ALEC state report card speaks volumes about Betsy DeVos’s education agenda
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss August 13 
Quoting from the late British Prime Minister Margaret “Iron Lady” Thatcher, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos recently said that there is “no such thing” as society, trashed the federal government and hailed the spread of school “choice.” She was speaking at the annual conference of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and espoused a philosophy that mirrored that of the powerful conservative organization.  If you don’t know about ALEC, you should. It is a member organization of corporate lobbyists and conservative state legislators who craft “model legislation” on issues important to them and then help shepherd it through legislatures. It describes itself as being dedicated to promoting “limited government, free markets and federalism,” though the New York Times called it essentially a “stealth business lobbyist.”  When it comes to big education issues, there appears to be no light between DeVos and ALEC, so let’s take a look at how ALEC views individual states and their schools.


PSBA Officer Elections: Slate of Candidates
PSBA Website August 2017
PSBA members seeking election to office for the association were required to submit a nomination form no later than June 1, 2017, to be considered. All candidates who properly completed applications by the deadline are included on the slate of candidates below. In addition, the Leadership Development Committee met on June 17 at PSBA headquarters in Mechanicsburg to interview candidates. According to bylaws, the Leadership Development Committee may determine candidates highly qualified for the office they seek. This is noted next to each person's name with an asterisk (*).

The deadline to submit cover letter, resume and application is August 25, 2017.
PSBA seeking experienced education leaders: Become an Advocacy Ambassador
POSTED ON JUL 17, 2017 IN PSBA NEWS
PSBA is seeking applications for six Advocacy Ambassadors who have been involved in day-to-day functions of a school district, on the school board, or in a school leadership position. The purpose of the PSBA Advocacy Ambassador program is to facilitate the education and engagement of local school directors and public education stakeholders through the advocacy leadership of the ambassadors. Each Advocacy Ambassador will be an active leader in an assigned section of the state, and is kept up to date on current legislation and PSBA position based on PSBA priorities to accomplish advocacy goals.  PSBA Advocacy Ambassadors are independent contractors representing PSBA, and serve as liaisons between PSBA and their local and federal elected officials. Advocacy Ambassadors also commit to building strong relationships with PSBA members with the purpose of engaging the designated members to be active and committed grassroots advocates for PSBA’s legislative priorities.  This is a 9-month independent contractor position with a monthly stipend and potential renewal for a second year. Successful candidates must commit to the full 9-month contract, agree to fulfill assigned Advocacy Ambassador duties and responsibilities, and actively participate in conference calls and in-person meetings

CONSIDER IT: SCHOOL CHOICE AND THE CASES FOR TRADITIONAL PUBLIC EDUCATION AND CHARTER SCHOOLS
September 19 @ 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM Hilton Reading
Berks County Community Foundation
Panelists:
Carol Corbett Burris: Executive Director of the Network for Public Education
Alyson Miles: Deputy Director of Government Affairs for the American Federation for Children
James Paul: Senior Policy Analyst at the Commonwealth Foundation
Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig: Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and the Director of the Doctorate in Educational Leadership at California State University Sacramento
Karin Mallett: The WFMZ TV anchor and reporter returns as the moderator
School choice has been a hot topic in Berks County, in part due to a lengthy and costly dispute between the Reading School District and I-LEAD Charter School. The topic has also been in the national spotlight as President Trump and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos have focused on expanding education choice.  With this in mind, a discussion on school choice is being organized as part of Berks County Community Foundation’s Consider It initiative. State Sen. Judy Schwank and Berks County Commissioners Chairman Christian Leinbach are co-chairs of this nonpartisan program, which is designed to promote thoughtful discussion of divisive local and national issues while maintaining a level of civility among participants.  The next Consider It Dinner will take place Tuesday, September 19, 2017, at 5 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Reading, 701 Penn St., Reading, Pa. Tickets are available here.  For $10 each, tickets include dinner, the panel discussion, reading material, and an opportunity to participate in the conversation.


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.

Using Minecraft to Imagine a Better World and Build It Together.
Saturday, September 16, 2017 or Sunday, September 17, 2017 at the University of the Sciences, 43rd & Woodland Avenue, Philadelphia
PCCY, the region’s most influential advocacy organization for children, leverages the world’s greatest video game for the year’s most engaging fundraising event for kids. Join us on Saturday, September 16, 2017 or Sunday, September 17, 2017 at the University of the Sciences, 43rd & Woodland Avenue for a fun, creative and unique gaming opportunity.

Education Law Center’s 2017 Annual Celebration
ELC invites you to join us for our Annual Celebration on September 27 in Philadelphia.
The Annual Celebration will take place this year on September 27, 2017 at The Crystal Tea Room in Philadelphia. The event begins at 5:30 PM. We anticipate more than 300 legal, corporate, and community supporters joining us for a cocktail reception, silent auction, and dinner presentation.  Our annual celebrations honor outstanding champions of public education. This proud tradition continues at this year’s event, when together we will salute these deserving honorees:
·         PNC Bank: for the signature philanthropic cause of the PNC Foundation, PNC Grow Up Great, a bilingual $350 million, multi-year early education initiative to help prepare children from birth to age 5 for success in school and life; and its support of the Equal Justice Works Fellowship, which enables new lawyers to pursue careers in public interest law;
·         Joan Mazzotti: for her 16 years of outstanding leadership as the Executive Director of Philadelphia Futures, a college access and success program serving Philadelphia’s low-income, first-generation-to-college students;
·         Dr. Bruce Campbell Jr., PhD: for his invaluable service to ELC, as he rotates out of the chairman position on our Board of Directors. Dr. Campbell is an Arcadia University Associate Professor in the School of Education; and
·         ELC Pro Bono Awardee Richard Shephard of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP: for his exceptional work as pro bono counsel, making lasting contributions to the lives of many vulnerable families.Questions? Contact Tracy Callahan tcallahan@elc-pa.org or 215-238-6970 ext. 308.

STAY WOKE: THE INAUGURAL NATIONAL BLACK MALE EDUCATORS CONVENING; Philadelphia Fri, Oct 13, 2017 4:00 pm Sun, Oct 15, 2017 7:00pm
TEACHER DIVERSITY WORKS. Increasing the number of Black male educators in our nation’s teacher corps will improve education for all our students, especially for African-American boys.  Today Black men represent only two percent of teachers nationwide. This is a national problem that demands a national response.  Come participate in the inaugural National Black Male Educators Convening to advance policy solutions, learn from one another, and fight for social justice. All are welcome.

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

Save the Date! NSBA 2018 Advocacy Institute February 4-6, 2018 Marriott Marquis, Washington D.C.
Registration Opens Tuesday, September 26, 2017


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