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Friday, August 18, 2017

PA Ed Policy Roundup Aug 18: PA Budget: “a vacation from a fundamental responsibility”

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
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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup Aug 18, 2017:


Reminder: The public is invited to review and comment upon the state’s proposed ESSA plan.  Public comments are due by August 31st.
PENNSYLVANIA'S CONSOLIDATED STATE ESSA PLAN 
The Pennsylvania Department of Education is pleased to offer the proposed Consolidated State Plan to give Pennsylvanians an opportunity to review the plan and provide comments, ask questions, or make suggestions.
​PowerPoint Guide to the Plan (PDF) (English)
PowerPoint Guide to the Plan (PDF) (Spanish) 
Webinar Guide to the Plan (YouTube) (English)
You are invited to access an online survey to comment. This survey is also available in Spanish. This opportunity for formal public comment will close on August 31. If you have any questions while completing this survey, please contact PDE staff at RA-edESSA@pa.gov. You may also submit written comment at this address.  Thank you for your interest in this important work. We look forward to hearing from you! 

Video of this public forum is now posted
Alternative Solutions to our Existing School Property Tax System
Senate Majority Policy Committee PUBLIC FORUM held on August 15, 2017 | 7:00 p.m. Upper Darby Township Municipal Building
http://policy.pasenategop.com/081517-2/

Higher turnover, less experience—how charter schools compare to the districts and what it means for students
Public Source By Eleanor Chute AUG. 17, 2017
PART OF THE SERIES The Charter Effect|
Parents have told Propel Schools officials over and over again in focus groups and conversations: The teachers and staff are what matters. Students form bonds with them, develop trust. It’s common sense that these kinds of relationships are catalysts for learning.  So should schools and parents worry about teacher turnover?  Several experts told PublicSource that while turnover may bring fresh ideas, consistency in teaching staff at a school often yields strong results.  Propel CEO/Superintendent Tina Chekan agrees. “We know when teachers stay with us for a longer period of time, our students have more success.”  Chekan is one of the original Propel teachers. She joined Propel as a kindergarten teacher when it opened its first charter school in Homestead in 2003 and has risen through the ranks as Propel has expanded to 13 schools this fall.  Her career with Propel, however, is unusual—among Propel Schools and the other brick-and-mortar charter schools in Allegheny County.

Blogger note: one year later, still no action on cyber charter reform.  The only significant updates to this piece are that now not one of Pennsylvania’s cyber charters has achieved a passing SPP score of 70 in any of the four years (instead of three) that the SPP has been in effect, and we have spent another $463,584,396 on cyber charter tuition for 2016.
Reprise Aug. 18, 2016: How can we improve the performance and accountability of Pennsylvania cyber charters?
The notebook  Commentary by Lawrence A. Feinberg August 18, 2016 — 10:04am
If it sometimes seems as if “tuition-free” cyber charter ads are running non-stop, consider that in just one year, tax dollars paid for 19,298 local TV commercials for Agora Cyber Charter, just one of Pennsylvania’s 13 cyber charters. And far from being tuition-free, total cyber tuition paid by Pennsylvania taxpayers from 500 school districts for 2013, 2014 and 2015 was $393.5 million, $398.8 million and $436.1 million respectively.
Those commercials were very effective, especially if you were an executive at K12 Inc., a for-profit company contracted to manage the cyber school. According to Agora’s 2013 IRS tax filing, it paid $69.5 million that year to K12 Inc. According to Morningstar, total executive compensation at K12 in 2013 was $21.37 million.
What the ads don’t tell you is, first, that they are paid for with your school tax dollars instead of that money being spent in classrooms and, second, that academic performance at every one of Pennsylvania’s cyber charters has been consistently dismal. The Pennsylvania Department of Education considers a score of 70 to be passing on its School Performance Profile (SPP). Agora’s score for 2013 was 48.3, for 2014, it was 42.4, and the 2015 score was 46.4.
In fact, not one of Pennsylvania’s cyber charters has achieved a passing SPP score of 70 in any of the three years that the SPP has been in effect. 

“Harrisburg's dereliction of its budget-completion duty is obvious. At some point, Mr. Wolf and lawmakers will rush to just get something done. But they should have been working all along — in public, not behind closed doors — on this issue, not taking what looks to taxpayers, and to Wall Street credit-rating agencies, too much like a vacation from a fundamental responsibility.”
Editorial: Pa.'s M.I.A. budget: Any day now?
TRIBUNE-REVIEW Editorial Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017, 10:57 p.m.
On Wednesday, state Treasurer Joe Torsella announced a “troubling development”: release of a $750 million loan that the state must repay, with interest, within a week. He'd earlier said the money will “prop up the General Fund,” absent a revenue plan closing the $2.2 billion gap in the $32 billion budget. Since that budget's passage, Harrisburg's biggest story has been nothing — as in what Gov. Tom Wolf and lawmakers have done regarding budget-process completion. As of Wednesday, online calendars showed the House last doing business July 22; the Senate, July 27. The governor's online schedule, tweets and news releases showed he'd done nothing explicitly related to budget completion this month, though the issue likely arose in a couple of interviews listed. And the newest story on PennLive's “Pennsylvania Budget” page was three weeks old. Absent Harrisburg doing what it should, Mr. Torsella says, “the General Fund balance will again fall below zero by August 29th. Treasury continues to project a need for … borrowing of as much as $3 billion.” And he warned against assuming “that Treasury will continue to backstop the General Fund”

Editorial: Our view: Vacation’s over, time to finish the budget
GoErie By the Editorial Board Posted at 2:00 AM August 17, 2017
Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled Legislature passed a $32 billion 2017-18 spending plan on time with no opposition from Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, who let it lapse into law without his signature. The figure was not far off his initial proposal.  Left undone, however, was the revenue plan to cover a $2.2 billion shortfall in the budget.  The Senate acted late but responsibly to put forward a revenue plan in July that contains a modest shale gas extraction tax supported by a majority of Pennsylvanians, along with an assortment of less savory remedies, including utility tax hikes, a gambling expansion and borrowing more than $1 billion against a fund meant for tobacco-related education and health.  The House, led by Speaker Mike Turzai, rejected it.  We’d like to say House GOP leaders have been working since then to resolve differences with Senate GOP leaders, but we can’t.  House lawmakers decamped Harrisburg for a six-week vacation and are not due back officially until Sept. 11, though there have been reports that they might resume their jobs late this month.  In the meantime, the state continues to cut checks, as of Monday, with the cover of an emergency $750 million line of credit approved by state Treasurer Joe Torsella on Aug. 3.  The state’s solvency and services are not only in jeopardy, Torsella, a Democrat, warned, but also its credit rating.  This is unacceptable.

Seriously, Pennsylvania, pass a severance tax already
Inquirer by Joel Naroff Updated: AUGUST 18, 2017 — 3:01 AM EDT
Like the Energizer Bunny, Pennsylvania’s budget mess keeps going and going and going, as the politicians in Harrisburg cannot agree on a way to fund the spending that they have already approved. One of the sticking points is the unwillingness to implement a severance tax on natural-gas production.  Very simply, there is almost no defensible economic or financial reason not to impose the tax. It should be passed immediately, so the state can get on with its business.  What is a severance tax? It’s a tax imposed on companies that extract/mine/pump nonrenewable natural resources. Oil and natural gas are the most common products taxed, but not the only ones. Typically, the tax is based either on the volume or dollar value of the resource extracted. As is widely known, Pennsylvania is the only state that doesn’t impose a severance tax on its natural-gas producers. That doesn’t mean the state doesn’t tax the industry — there are impact fees and the usual business taxes.  The impact fees, though, have raised maybe one-fourth what a reasonable severance tax would have raised, and they are set to decline precipitously over the next decade.  More important, impact-fee revenues don’t go into the general treasury. The law requires that 60 percent of the funds go to those counties and municipalities where drilling takes place. As a result, the revenues cannot be used for general purposes, which is a major problem for a state that has major financial problems.

New Pa. plan could help 220,000 students attend private school
The proposal could put a fifth of the state public school budget at risk.
The notebook by Kevin McCorry Newsworks August 17, 2017 — 12:18pm
A powerful coalition of Pennsylvania lawmakers is promoting a forthcoming education savings account (ESA) bill that would allow thousands of students in the state to use public money to pay for private school tuition.  The proposal could dramatically alter the state's K-12 education landscape, potentially siphoning away about a fifth of the state's overall support for public schools.  With this savings account plan, funds now allocated for support of public schools would be deducted from state coffers and made directly available to parents to help cover the cost of a list of education-related expenses, including private school tuition, textbooks, industry certifications, and tutors.  "The people of the United States have decided to fund education in a public manner, but they have not given the government authorization to decide where children go to school," said John DiSanto, R-Dauphin County, the bill's lead sponsor. "The world's changing."
The plan aligns with the priorities set forth by President Trump and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.  Eligibility would be limited to parents who have a student now attending a public school who lives within the catchment of a public school deemed by the state to be in the bottom 15 percent of quality, based on standardized tests.  Funds would be distributed and overseen by the state treasury. Each student would be entitled to $5,700 per year, the average total per pupil allotment that Pennsylvania school districts receive from state government.

Latest enrollment numbers inspire confidence in charter school leaders
Sarah M. Wojcik Contact Reporter Of The Morning Call August 18, 2017
After a rocky first year, leaders at the Innovative Arts Academy Charter School expressed confidence with the start of the second school year on the horizon and more than 400 students enrolled to attend.  Principal Douglas Taylor announced during Wednesday’s trustee meeting that 402 students are enrolled at the school and some grades are very close to requiring a wait list. For instance, with 81 students signed up for next year, the school’s sixth grade class is four student away from capacity.  “They are overwhelmingly excited,” Taylor said of the students, who he said were the driving force in the school’s climbing enrollment figures. “Word of mouth has been the biggest thing that has gotten us this far.”  School begins Aug. 28 at the charter school, which serves grades sixth through 12th and focuses on immersing students in career-driven courses including culinary arts, fashion and graphic design and journalism.

SRC ignores pleas to take a vote on disbanding itself
The notebook by Darryl Murphy August 17, 2017 — 11:45pm
Speakers at the SRC action meeting continued to press the commission to disband, and expressed concerns over the District’s redesigned website.
The School Reform Commission’s August action meeting was shorter than most, but not without tension: community members once again urged the five members to vote themselves out of existence and complained that they can’t find crucial information on its redesigned website. Advocates had argued that the SRC needed to begin the process of dissolving itself this month so the District could be back under local control before the 2018 election, when a Republican could recapture the governorship.  The SRC failed to oblige.  Parent Aileen Callaghan and two other speakers asked the Commissioner Farah Jimenez directly if they’d propose a resolution today to abolish the SRC, but got no answer each time.  During the awkward silence, Callaghan said, “This is our future. I need this. You guys cannot protect us. You guys are controlled by the state. The state is not here for Philadelphia. We deserve local control. We demand local control.” The SRC, with a majority of commissioners appointed by the governor, has run the District since 2001.  Though Jimenez and the other commissioners didn’t respond to the request, after the meeting was adjourned she said while it is good for people to speak up and express their opinions, “there’s a process by which this needs to happen.”

Editorial: State Department of Education makes the right move in de-emphasizing standardized testing
Lancaster Online by The LNP Editorial Board August 17, 2017
THE ISSUE: In its recently released Every Student Succeeds Act Consolidated State Plan, the Pennsylvania Department of Education proposes to reduce the time students spend taking standardized tests. It also aims to lessen the importance of high-stakes tests when assessing schools, as LNP's Alex Geli reported Sunday.The commonwealth’s plan calls for reducing testing time for the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests starting in spring 2018. Long-term goals  include increasing the four-year graduation rate, bolstering college and career readiness, and slashing in half the number of students not proficient on PSSAs and Keystone Exams.  Remember learning? American history, civics, art and music, career preparation? They were all squeezed into a corner of the classroom while students and teachers cleared a space for the World Series of standardized tests.  “Standardized testing has a place in education — but not the place,” Manheim Central School District Superintendent Peter Aiken told LNP. “We need to get kids excited about learning. I (have) yet to see a student get excited about PSSA or Keystone testing.”  Well said.  No one seems particularly excited about the annual battery of state exams, not students, teachers, not parents.  It’s long past time for Pennsylvania to de-emphasize high-stakes standardized tests that, while not without some merit, fail to engage students on an individual level. There’s so much more to education than test-taking.

Centre County educators react to new state plan to limit standardized test time in 2018
Centre Daily Times BY BRITNEY MILAZZO bmilazzo@centredaily.com AUG 17, 2017 5:24 PM
A group of teachers cheered earlier this week when Gov. Tom Wolf announced his administration’s plans to reduce the amount of classroom time devoted to standardized tests by 20 percent.  For some local schools, that could mean gaining up to two days of instruction time, which is a “big win for our students,” said Sharon Balban, a Penns Valley Elementary and Intermediate School sixth-grade teacher. “We create learning experiences for mastery of the standards all year long,” she said. “By reducing the disruption of continuous learning, our students have their time invested in what is proven to yield growth — direct instruction time.”  Many educators in Centre County said the new state proposal is a step in the right direction toward limiting standardized testing, but reform still needs to be made.

Gov. Wolf's PSSA testing overhaul gets high marks from educators, parents
Trib Live by EMILY BALSER  | Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017, 2:03 p.m.
Local educators and parents on Thursday praised Gov. Tom Wolf's plan to reduce the time students spend taking the PSSA exams during his stop at a Pittsburgh school.  Wolf announced the plan Monday and outlined the specifics of it during the stop at Morrow PreK-8.  Under the new plan, students in grades 3 through 8 will spend on average 20 percent less time on statewide testing. Some sections of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests have been removed and other sections have been shortened.  The PSSAs are administered in grades 3 through 8 in English language arts and math. Science is tested for some grades.  "This is not taking away from the idea of accountability," Wolf said. "All we're all talking about is trying to make the methods that we use tailored to the needs of our students, and our teachers and our parents — who are in the best position to know what our kids need."

“While some on the right suggest that teachers are getting a “sweet deal,” the numbers tell a different story. If teaching in Pennsylvania were such a sweet deal, we wouldn’t be facing a looming teacher shortage. The reality is that there aren’t enough qualified people who want to take on the social, intellectual, and financial challenges of our job.”
Two Philly teachers: If we are overpaid and underworked, why is there a teacher shortage? | Opinion
Inquirer Letter by Kathleen Melville & Steve Petro, For Philly.com Updated: AUGUST 17, 2017 — 11:06 AM EDT
In a recent op-ed, “The myths of the underpaid and overworked teachers in Pa,” the authors argue that because teachers make more than some workers in Pennsylvania, we should be prepared to take cuts. In reality, an enormous number of Pennsylvania’s workers, not just teachers, are underpaid and overworked, and none of us should be asked to take pay cuts.
As public school teachers, we see the realities of the underpaid and overworked every day. The United States has one of the highest rates of child poverty among developed nations, and in Pennsylvania, forty percent of children are growing up in low-income families. Almost all of them attend public schools. We know parents who care deeply about their children’s education but can’t help with homework or make it to conferences because they work two or three low-paying jobs. We know kids who are smart, curious, and passionate but cannot stay awake in school because they have too many responsibilities at home. The challenges of the working poor in Pennsylvania make it harder for our students to learn and harder for us to teach. We know Pennsylvania’s families deserve better, and that’s why we are fighting for more funding for public education as well as for housing and healthcare.

“Erik Arneson, director of the Office of Open Records, acknowledged that this was the first appeal of a records denial his office has received about a Facebook page of an elected official. He recalled receiving a previous appeal involving information that appeared on a Facebook page of a police department, which his office also ruled was a public record.  "Social media is new in terms of the Right to Know Law," he said. "We haven't had very many cases at all that deal with it but we expect to have more and believe in a lot of cases it's going to be ruled as a public record subject to the same exemptions as any public record ... but a public record nonetheless."
Ruling says public officials' Facebook pages are public record in Pa.
Penn Live By Jan Murphy jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated on August 17, 2017 at 5:07 PM Posted on August 17, 2017 at 4:50 PM
A Chambersburg woman's fight to have a mural painted on a downtown retaining wall may have broken new ground in establishing that what appears on a public official's Facebook page is subject to the state's Right to Know Law.  The state Office of Open Records on Wednesday issued a final determination granting Noel Purdy her request for the Borough of Chambersburg to provide her with the posts and associated comment threads, including deleted comments, that appeared on Mayor Darren Brown's official Facebook page where he identifies himself as a public figure.  The Borough of Chambersburg initially denied her June request for those records, which prompted her appeal to the open records office.  Purdy, a community activist who is a former president of the Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce, was gratified by the office's decision, as well as the precedent it set.  "Public officials shouldn't be able to sit behind a computer screen deleting public comments from their social media pages in an effort to manufacture a narrative that fits their agenda," Purdy said in a statement.

As school days loom, officials working to get word out about new vaccine requirements
Intelligencer By Jenny Wagner, staff writer August 18, 2017
Back-to-school time is always busy, but some Pennsylvania families will have one more thing on their to-do lists this year because of new child vaccination requirements.  Within the first five days of school, parents will have to provide proof that their children have updated vaccinations or have a plan signed by their physician showing they’re in the process of doing so. If not, they can't attend school.  Pennsylvania children entering kindergarten through 12th grade must be immunized against tetanus, diphtheria, polio, hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox. Children entering seventh grade need additional doses of meningococcal conjugate vaccine, and tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis, also known as the Tdap vaccine. The new requirements also add a dose of meningococcal vaccine for high school seniors. Previously, students were allowed to attend school for up to eight months even if they weren't fully immunized or hadn't turned in the proper paperwork.

Some Allegheny County school districts still in contract negotiations as classes near
ELIZABETH BEHRMAN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Lbehrman@post-gazette.com 12:00 AM
AUG 18, 2017
A handful of Allegheny County school districts will start the 2017-18 school year with expired contracts for teachers or paraprofessionals.    The Gateway, Duquesne City and Deer Lakes districts, along with the Forbes Road Career and Technology Center in Monroeville, have teachers’ contracts that expired this summer, said Matt Edgell, regional spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association.   The Elizabeth Forward School District, which reached an agreement with its teachers union last week, is still working on contracts with both of its paraprofessional unions. The Woodland Hills, Avonworth and Brentwood districts also continue to negotiate with their paraprofessionals’ unions.  Plum Borough School District and Mt. Lebanon School District continue to negotiate with their secretaries and aids.   The North Hills School District is still working on a contract with its paraprofessionals, who have been working without a new agreement since 2016, Mr. Edgell said.   The number of ongoing negotiations is “pretty average” for this time of year, he said.  “We always prepare for the worst and hope for the best, and most of the time it settles out closer to the best than the worst,” he said.

Students from Russia, Hempfield work together to eliminate stigma surrounding people with special needs
Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer Aug 17, 2017
Four Russian high school students visiting Lancaster County on Wednesday wanted to accomplish two things: Learn more about how people with disabilities are treated in the United States, and eat at Taco Bell.  “He’s been waiting for this all day,” Hempfield High School senior Kayleigh Gallagher said, looking at Arseniy Kolosov, who gave a thumbs up as his bag full of tacos sat on the table in front of him.  Kolosov, 15, was one of four Russian students who came to Lancaster to learn more about how people with special needs are integrated into society in the United States. He and three others — Kseniya Kaminskaya, 18; Katya Chehomova, 15; and Matvey Safin, 16 — from the Russian city of Yekaterinburg are collaborating with four Hempfield High School students this year on a new, online-based television program promoting awareness for those with disabilities.  The platform — Disabilities Partnership TV — was developed by the US-Russia Social Expertise Exchange, an initiative led by the Eurasia Foundation.

Owen J. Roberts High School becomes IB World School
Daily Local By Digital First Media Staff Report POSTED: 08/16/17, 4:22 PM EDT
SOUTH COVENTRY >> Following a rigorous two-year process, Owen J. Roberts High School has been authorized to offer an International Baccalaureate Career Program (IBCP). “The aim of International Baccalaureate programs is to develop internationally-minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world,” according to the International Baccalaureate learner profile. The IBCP is a two-year certificate program which combines courses from the International Baccalaureate’s highly regarded Diploma Programme of coursework in connection with Owen J. Roberts High School’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math), Life Sciences, and/or NJROTC coursework, and the IBCP Core. The IBCP Core consists of four components: Community Service, a Personal and Professional Skills course, Language Development, and a Reflective Project.

After rejecting 1 deal, Philly principals have a tentative contract
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Staff Writer  @newskag |  kgraham@phillynews.com Updated: AUGUST 17, 2017 — 2:01 PM EDT
Philadelphia’s principals’ union has a tentative contract, officials confirmed Thursday.  The Teamsters Local 502, Commonwealth Association of School Administrators’ deal was signed just before noon, union president Robin Pleshette Cooper said.  “We believe it’s something that our membership will like,” Cooper said. “There were some hard decisions that had to be made, but we believe we fought hard for the membership.”  She declined to disclose terms of the contract.
Kevin Geary, a schools spokesman, said the deal would run through 2021. He said the district would have no further comment until members ratify the contract.

Sleep patterns: Later start times for high schoolers make sense
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by THE EDITORIAL BOARD 12:00 AM AUG 17, 2017
Old habits die hard, and that’s probably one reason many school districts cling to traditional daily schedules. Pittsburgh Milliones 6-12 has broken the mold and seen positive results with a later morning bell for its high school students. Now, the Quaker Valley School District is going to pilot slightly later starting times for its middle- and high-school students, with the aim of getting them into classrooms well-rested and ready to learn.  Officials at Milliones and Quaker Valley should be applauded for taking a practical step to improve achievement and for recognizing that current research suggests a better way of doing things. Quaker Valley superintendent Heidi Ondek had it right when she said educators “have to pay close attention to research that is credible and respond to it.” If educators aren’t willing to stretch their minds and embrace new information, they can hardly expect their students to do so.

Later start time for teens improves grades, mood, and safety
New research shows that high school students benefit in many ways from later start times.
Kappan Online By Kyla L. Wahlstrom Originally published in December 2016/January 2017
It all began with a phone call 20 years ago to the Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) at the University of Minnesota in August 1996. The superintendent of Minnesota’s Edina School District was reaching out to CAREI, seeking to discover if the new change in the start time of their high school — from 7:20 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. — would have any effect. I took that call. When I learned the reason for the change — namely, that the district’s later start time purported to address developmental changes in the teenage brain related to sleep — I was skeptical. As a former teacher, school principal, and district office administrator in special education, I thought I had heard it all when it came to explaining teenage behavior. This association between brain development and teenagers was new to me.  But as we started our yearlong study, the evidence began piling up. Our research team found amazing changes were happening. Students were now awake the first hour of class, the principal reported fewer disciplinary incidents in the halls and lunchroom, and students reported less depression and feelings of greater efficacy. Over 92% of the parents said their kids were “easier to live with.”


Education Community Takes Trump to Task for Charlottesville Remarks
Education Week Politics K12 Blog By Alyson Klein on August 17, 2017 2:01 PM
Like the rest of the country, school leaders are coping with the fallout from a far-right rally last weekend that drew white supremacists and other extremists to Charlottesville, Va., and resulted in the death of at least one counterprotestor and injuries to more than a dozen others people. And many have singled out President Donald Trump's response for harsh criticism.  Several K-12 organizations and leaders emphatically condemned the Unite the Right rally, which included racist and anti-semitic participants, and descended on Charlottesville to protest the planned removal of a statue of Conferate General Robert E. Lee. And several of them spoke out against Trump's contention that "both sides," including counterprotestors, were to blame for the violence. 

Betsy DeVos Rebukes 'Racist Bigots' After Recent Violence, But Not Trump's Rhetoric
Education Week Politics K12 Blog By Alyson Klein on August 17, 2017 5:17 PM
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos sent a letter to agency staff Thursday decrying racist, anti-Semitic demonstrators in Charlottesville, Va., in the wake of last weekend's violent protests. "The views of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other racist bigots are totally abhorrent to the American ideal." DeVos wrote to department employees. "We all have a role to play in rejecting views that pit one group of people against another. Such views are cowardly, hateful and just plain wrong."  She said the Education Department and, in particular, its office for civil rights, "exists to ensure all students have equal access to a safe, nurturing, quality learning environment free from discrimination or intimidation."  DeVos, who did not release her statement publicly, was silent on President Donald Trump's own rhetoric about Charlottesville, even though numerous groups and individuals in the education community have sharply criticized the president's response as a failure to denounce racist views. Groups condemning Trump include Success Academy school founder Eva Moskowitz, a DeVos supporter, and 50CAN, a state advocacy organization where acting assistant secretary Jason Botel once worked.


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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