Friday, September 8, 2017

PA Ed Policy Roundup Sept. 8: Poor bond rating costs PA taxpayers additional $142 million in borrowing costs annually

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

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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup Sept. 8, 2017:



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



Education by the Numbers
Statistics show just how profound the inequalities in America’s education system have become.
New York Times Magazine By ALICE YIN SEPT. 8, 2017
There are as many American public school educations as there are students. One shared factor that affects a vast number of them, however, is race. Its impact drives the four narrative features in this week’s Education Issue. But numbers can tell their own stories too. The statistics here suggest how much has changed — and not changed — in the more than 60 years since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education was supposed to make education equally accessible to all Americans.

“Never again should legislators be allowed to take the summer off while the people’s business waits on their suntans.”
Editorial: Time to budge: Zero hour for state budget is near: Get cracking
Post Gazette by THE EDITORIAL BOARD 12:00 AM SEP 8, 2017
Four days and four nights.” That, state Treasurer Joe Torsella pointed out, is how much time the Legislature will have to pass a revenue package next week before the state runs short of money to cover all of its bills.  The House returns to session Sept. 11, and the cash crunch is due to begin Sept. 15. At that point, Mr. Torsella noted, “real people are going to be impacted.” Cuts to services and programs will be the immediate fallout. Damage to the state’s reputation and a credit downgrade are possible down the road. Beyond the crisis is the need to overhaul Pennsylvania’s budget process. Never again should the revenue and spending portions be divorced from each other. Never again should legislators treat the Treasury as — to use Mr. Torsella’s turn of phrase — “overdraft protection for the General Fund.” 

“Bad fiscal policies over the past few decades resulted in multiple credit downgrades during the Corbett administration, and just recently Standard and Poor’s warned that if Pennsylvania continues down its current fiscal path, additional downgrades are imminent. The state’s current poor bond rating costs the commonwealth’s taxpayers an additional $142 million in borrowing costs annually.”
It's easy to see where the blame lies for state's fiscal failures
Lancaster Online Opinion By State Rep. P. Michael Sturla | Special to LNP September 7, 2017
State Rep. P. Michael Sturla, whose district includes all of Lancaster city and parts of Lancaster and Manheim townships, is chairman of the Pennsylvania House Democratic Policy Committee.
 We’ve passed the fiscal year budget deadline of June 30, the July Fourth holiday, and now Labor Day. So why has no revenue plan been approved for Pennsylvania? In spite of all that Pennsylvania has going for it, the state is in some dire financial straits. Through a series of bad decisions that have compounded over the years, Pennsylvania has descended from near the top of the heap when compared to other states, to near the bottom when it comes to state finances and our ability to attract outside investment, businesses and jobs. So that begs the question, who is to blame? Looking back over the last 24 years, we’ve had multiple governors, both Democrats and Republicans — in fact, twelve years for each party. First blush says to blame all politicians regardless of political party. But a closer look is much more enlightening. Any governor (executive branch), Republican or Democrat, needs to deal with the co-equal branch of government, the Legislature — the House and Senate. On this mark, the culprit is pretty clear. Republicans have controlled the Senate for the entirety of the past 24 years, including all the way back to 1981. In the House, the Republicans have been in control for 20 of the last 24 years, with the brief exception of 2007-10, when Democrats had a one-vote and then five-vote edge compared to the Republicans’ current 39-vote edge. Ironically, the Republican House and Senate leaders continue to place blame on other factors instead of coming to the realization that their fiscal policies are the problem.
http://lancasteronline.com/opinion/columnists/it-s-easy-to-see-where-the-blame-lies-for/article_bb5af806-9355-11e7-a984-1f34ea8c1243.html

Area school districts not feeling state budget strain –– yet
Bradford Era By ALEX DAVIS Era Reporter a.davis@bradfordera.com Sept. 7, 2017
Top of Form
Bottom of Form
School districts across the four-county region aren’t feeling the strain of the state budget impasse –– at least for now. But Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials says that districts should expect to see no subsidy payments after Sept. 15 until the budget situation is settled. For the Otto-Eldred School District, the pressure would not felt until December as long as property tax revenues are typical, Otto-Eldred School District Superintendent Matthew Splain said. “We are watching developments from Harrisburg closely,” he told The Era on Tuesday. “Last Thursday, we received our most recent subsidy payment.” The attention should be concentrated on educating students, instead of funding the state spending plan, Splain said. Otto-Eldred gets about 75 percent of its funding from the state, he explained. “That is a significant amount compared to most districts in the Commonwealth,” Splain said. “The lack of action in Harrisburg we have endured two of the three past years disproportionately affects districts like O-E compared to wealthier districts that have a much larger tax base.”
http://www.bradfordera.com/news/area-school-districts-not-feeling-state-budget-strain-yet/article_669021ee-9291-11e7-80c9-3718ddbed707.html

Republican lawmaker proposes income tax increase to solve Pennsylvania's budget puzzle
Penn Live By Charles Thompson cthompson@pennlive.com Updated on September 7, 2017 at 6:18 PM Posted on September 7, 2017 at 6:00 PM
As Pennsylvania's budget "un-crisis" continues to slowly unfold in Harrisburg, a Bucks County lawmaker Thursday put his name behind a solution that, to date, there has been something of a gentleman's agreement to avoid. Rep. Eugene DiGirolamo called for an increase in the state's personal income tax from 3.07 percent to 3.32 percent - an increase of about 8.1 percent - as the main plug in a $2.2 billion budget hole. That hike would raise the tax bill of a Pennsylvanian making $50,000 an extra $125 per year, from $1,535 to $1,660.  DiGirolamo would marry that with a 3 percent tax on Marcellus Shale natural gas production - on top of existing drill-site impact fees; authorization of a string of satellite casinos in second-tier markets around the state and several hundred million in fund transfers. The combination, he said, would solve this year's funding problem without borrowing, and set the state up for long-term stability because of the more than $1.5 billion in recurring revenues.
http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/09/republican_lawmaker_proposed_i.html#incart_river_index

Congressman Charlie Dent will not seek re-election in 2018
Morning Call by Laura Olson Contact Reporter Call Washington Bureau Sept. 7, 2017
Top of Form
Republican U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent stunned his colleagues and constituents Thursday evening when the seven-term Lehigh Valley lawmaker announced that he will not seek re-election next year. An outspoken figure within the dwindling center-right of the Republican Party, Dent has gained national prominence for this role within what he describes as the “governing” wing of the party. He is a co-chairman of the Tuesday Group, a caucus of moderates within the GOP, and from that post, he has called out colleagues who he views as blocking action in CongressHe also told President Donald Trump — whom Dent declined to support in last year’s election — that he would not support the White House’s first major legislative push on health care. Dent, 57, said his decision against an eighth term was one that had been building since 2013 and became final in mid-summer, after consulting with his family, close friends and senior staffers.
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/capitol-ideas/mc-nws-charlie-dent-will-not-seek-reelection-in-2018-story.html

'It's been the honor and privilege of a lifetime': U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent will not seek re-election
Penn Live By John L. Micek jmicek@pennlive.com Updated on September 7, 2017 at 9:04 PM Posted on September 7, 2017 at 7:54 PM
U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, a veteran Allentown Republican, who's represented the Lehigh Valley-based 15th Congressional District since 2004, will not seek re-election in 2018.  Dent, who has emerged as a voice of Republican moderation, had been considering hanging up his spurs for some time. On Thursday night, he made it official. The insider site City & State Pa. first reported Thursday evening that Dent would stand down in 2018, as he faced a brutal primary challenge from state Rep. Justin Simmons, a firebrand conservative from suburban Allentown.  Dent, 57, has frustrated conservatives with his opposition to the repeal of Obamacare and his vocal criticism of President Donald Trump's travel ban. In multiple television appearances, Dent groused that the erratic Trump White House was standing in the way of the House GOP's legislative agenda.
http://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2017/09/its_been_the_honor_and_privile.html#incart_2box_politics

“Critics say PSP puts charter schools over traditional public schools, working to weaken the public system through its advocacy and giving. Few, though, doubt the organization's influence. That means regardless of one's ideological orientation, it's worth paying attention to the priorities PSP laid out Thursday.”
Major Philly education group looks to expand reach
WHYY Newsworks BY AVI WOLFMAN-ARENT SEPTEMBER 7, 2017
One of the most influential education organizations in Philadelphia announced plans to raise and distribute $60 million over the next three years. Since its founding in 2011, the Philadelphia School Partnership has doled out $80 million — $58 million in the form of direct contributions to schools. With this latest round of fundraising, PSP will create 15,000 more "high-quality" seats across the city.  The organization, which said it's already raised $15 million, on Thursday announced it will give $2.5 million from that initial bounty to five schools:
·         Vaux Big Picture High School ($835,000 to get a new public high school off the ground);
·         Russell Byers Charter School ($650,000 to expand the Center City charter);
·         Folk Arts Cultural Treasures Charter School ($300,000 to grow its Chinatown campus);
·         KIPP Philadelphia Charter Schools ($690,000 to help the charter network manage growth as it opens five new schools);
·         Science Leadership Academy at Beeber ($75,000 to help a public high school incorporate middle grades).
That profile of schools is about consistent with PSP's track record. In PSP's first round of giving, 62 percent of its school-based grant money went to charter schools. Public schools received another 28 percent of the funds, with the remaining 10 percent going to Catholic schools.
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/107009-major-philly-education-group-looks-to-expand-reach?_topstory

Here’s a link to the list of individuals, corporations and foundations that have funded the Philadelphia School Partnership:
https://www.philaschoolpartnership.org/who-we-are/investors/

Group wants to raise $140 million for city's charter, parochial and public schools
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Staff Writer  @newskag |  kgraham@phillynews.com  SEPTEMBER 7, 2017 — 9:46 AM EDT
The Philadelphia School Partnership, a powerful nonprofit that has raised and distributed $80 million to city charter, parochial and public schools since its inception in 2011, wants to raise $60 million more, it announced Thursday. The nonprofit (PSP), already the Philadelphia School District’s largest private funder, aims to expand its reach. Its investments have already affected 25,000 students, the organization says; the new initiative would reach 15,000 more. It has launched a new fund still centered on its initial goal — creating and expanding educational opportunities for low-income students, with an emphasis on rewarding innovation. But it is now investing in different ways — in career and technical schools; in teacher development and retention; and in helping growing schools and charter networks scale up with management expertise.
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/this-group-wants-to-raise-140m-for-citys-charter-parochial-and-public-schools-20170907.html

“The school offers instruction in performing arts — such as dance, theater and music — as well as studio arts, digital arts, literary arts and more. About 60 percent of their academic work will be done online, freeing up the remaining time to focus on whichever course of arts study they choose.”
Westinghouse Arts Academy charter school opens in Wilmerding
ELIZABETH BEHRMAN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Lbehrman@post-gazette.com 12:00 AM SEP 8, 2017
When her daughter began to show a love for theater and performing at a young age, Dawn Frank said her family considered moving from North Versailles into the city so she could qualify to audition for Pittsburgh CAPA.  But they wound up staying in the East Allegheny School District so her son could finish at their neighborhood high school, and decided to bolster Emma’s arts education with as many extracurricular activities as she wanted to do. They joke now that the opening of the new Westinghouse Arts Academy charter high school in Wilmerding, which welcomed its first students this week, was a sign that Emma was meant to attend.  “This school has been such a blessing that happened to open right in our laps,” Ms. Frank said.  As of last week, 103 students had enrolled in the new high school, principal Amy Heathcott said. The school will occupy the former Westinghouse Elementary School building, which was sold in the spring to RPA Holding Company LLC, which is renovating and leasing the building to the charter school. 
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/east/2017/09/08/Westinghouse-Arts-Academy-charter-school-Wilmerding/stories/201709040003

Amid the challenge of expansion, CTE thrives
The program is growing, but not as quickly as District officials had hoped. Equipment costs, for one thing, can be high.
The notebook by Darryl C. Murphy September 7, 2017 — 2:29pm
Five years after receiving a $5.7 million grant from John S. and Leigh Middleton to revamp its career and technical education program, the Philadelphia School District continues to strive to give students a head start in finding gainful employment after graduation. The program now offers training in 40 career fields through 117 programs at 30 schools in the District, where career-focused students can learn from industry professionals and gain hands-on experience that can lead to industry certification and college credits. Students can choose from such fields as business and administration, horticulture, animal science, fashion, auto technology, and much more. According to School District data, interest in CTE has been rising, with a 41 percent year-over-year increase in the number of program applicants in the fall of 2015. In addition, enrollment in CTE is on an upward trend. In the 2014-15 academic year, 5,542 students enrolled in CTE programs; in the following year, 5,886 students enrolled.
http://thenotebook.org/articles/2017/09/07/amid-the-challenge-of-expansion-cte-thrives

Philly's new head of behavioral health: We want to help improve grad rates
The notebook by Paul Jablow September 7, 2017 — 11:38am
David Jones, the new head of the city’s behavioral health system, has a two-word description of what will be at the top of his personal report card in evaluating his work with the city’s public schools: “Graduation rates.” Jones, named in July as commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS), says he wants to keep expanding the department’s role beyond helping students with learning disabilities and mental health issues to include helping with overall school climate. Graduation rates, he says, will be the best measure of success. As part of this change, his department, the City of Philadelphia, and the School District of Philadelphia announced recently that full-time social workers would be placed in 22 public schools in a pilot program that would be expanded to include other behavioral health workers.
http://thenotebook.org/articles/2017/09/07/new-head-of-behavioral-health-we-want-to-help-improve-grad-rates

Later school start times could save U.S. $9 billion a year
GoErie By Christopher Ingraham / The Washington Post Posted at 2:00 AM Sept. 7, 2017
 A study by the Rand Corp. says that delaying school start times to 8:30 a.m. would have economic benefits that outweigh costs, such as the price of reorganizing bus schedules.
The United States would realize roughly $9 billion a year in economic gains by instituting a simple, nationwide policy change: starting public school classes no earlier than 8:30 a.m.
That’s according to an exhaustive new study by the Rand Corp., the first of its kind to model the nationwide costs and benefits of later school start times. The economic benefits would come primarily from two sources: greater academic performance (and hence, lifetime earnings) among more well-rested students, and reduced rates of car crashes among sleepy adolescent drivers. Those benefits would greatly outweigh the annual costs of implementing the policy change, which include the price of reorganizing school bus schedules (estimated at $150 per student per year) and a flat, one-time cost of $110,000 per school to install additional infrastructure, such as lighting, to support later dismissals, sports team practices and other student activities.
http://www.goerie.com/entertainmentlife/20170907/later-school-start-times-could-save-us-9-billion-year

Schools around the US are finally pushing back their start times — and it's working
Business Insider by Chris Weller Sep. 4, 2017, 10:15 AM
·         Schools in 45 states have pushed their start times back to fall in line with research that looks at the biological clock of adolescents.
·         Administrators have found short-term roadblocks but long-term rewards for students, parents, and teachers.
·         A greater appreciation for the benefits, not the downsides, of starting school later could help more schools help their students.
Rick Tony teaches math at Solebury School, in New Hope, Pennsylvania, but he's well aware of the science of sleep. For the 2016-2017 school year, Tony, who also works as the boarding and day school's director of studies, led the charge on moving Solebury's 8:00 a.m. start time half an hour later to 8:30 four days of the week. On Wednesdays, the first bell doesn't ring until 9:00 a.m. Now a year into the policy, Tony said, students are less stressed and performing just as well if not better in their classes. A survey he issued schoolwide showed students and teachers are widely in favor of the policy. He's gotten similar feedback from parents saying an 8:30 start time makes for a less hectic morning. "It's a no-brainer," Tony told Business Insider of renewing the policy for this coming academic year. "We would do it again in a heartbeat."
http://www.businessinsider.com/school-start-times-are-finally-getting-pushed-back-2017-8

“The current head of the U.S. Department of Education, Betsy DeVos, has been silent on the president's DACA decision.”
Five Former Education Secretaries to Congress: Save the 'Dreamers'
Education Week Politics K12 Blog By Alyson Klein on September 7, 2017 4:43 PM
Five former education secretaries, who served both Democratic and Republican presidents, are calling on congressional leaders to come up with a legislative fix to save hundreds of thousands of so-called "Dreamers" from potential deportation, now that President Donald Trump has rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The letter sent to congressional leaders Wednesday was signed by the last five education secretaries, including both of President Barack Obama's secretaries—Arne Duncan and John King—and both of President George W. Bush's secretaries—Rod Paige and Margaret Spellings. Also signing was President Bill Clinton's only education secretary, Richard Riley. DACA, which grew out of an executive order signed by President Barack Obama in 2012, gave about 800,000 people who came to the U.S. as children the chance to get a two-year work permit and remain in the country legally. The program has certain eligibility requirements. Enrollees must have been 16 or younger when they arrived in the U.S. and must have lived here since 2007. 
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2017/09/five_education_secretary_DACA.html

CHIP: Will Congress Continue Health Care For 9 Million Children?
NPR by PHIL GALEWITZ September 6, 20175:38 PM ET
A popular federal-state program that provides health coverage to millions of children in lower- and middle-class families is up for renewal Sept. 30. But with a deeply divided Congress, some health advocates fear that the Children's Health Insurance Program could be in jeopardy or that conservative lawmakers will seek changes to limit the program's reach. Other financial priorities this month include extending the nation's debt ceiling, finding money for the Hurricane Harvey cleanup and keeping the government open. "With all that is on Congress' plate, I am very worried that a strong, wildly successful program with strong public support will get lost in the shuffle and force states to begin the process of winding down CHIP," said Bruce Lesley, president of the advocacy group First Focus. The program covers more than 9 million kids — typically from families not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, the state-federal program that covers health care for people with low incomes.
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/09/06/548951827/congress-weighs-future-of-children-s-health-insurance

Trump School Choice Proposals, K-12 Cuts Again Rebuffed by Senators
Education Week Politics K12 Blog By Alyson Klein on September 7, 2017 1:08 PM
Senators doused more cold water on U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' vision of a big new investment in school choice, approving legislation that seeks to bar the administration from using federal funding for vouchers or public school choice. The legislation received bipartisan support from the full Senate appropriations committee Thursday, a day after a subcommittee overseeing K-12 policy made the same call. It also rejects the Trump administration's plans to dramatically slash spending at the U.S. Department of Education. It would continue funding for two high-profile programs the Trump administration is seeking to scrap entirely: Title II, which provides $2.05 billion in federal funding to hire and train educators, and 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which provides $1.2 billion for after-school and school and summer programs.
But the teacher training program isn't out of the woods just yet. The House of Representatives spending bill, which will have to be conferenced with the Senate measure, would seek to scrap that program entirely. The House's version of the bill would provide $1 billion for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, meaning it is almost certain to stick around in the 2018-19 school year. 
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2017/09/senators_reject_cuts_teacher_choice.html?cmp=RSS-FEED&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EducationWeekWidgetFeed+%28Education+Week%3A+Free+Widget+Feed%29

Gerrymandering: Bipartisan, forward-looking solutions on redistricting
The Hill BY REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-PA.), OPINION CONTRIBUTOR 09/07/17 05:00 PM
The Framers of our Constitution intended the House of Representatives to be the ‘People’s House’—an institution directly accountable to the electorate through more frequent, localized elections. In Federalist 56, James Madison wrote, a representative should possess “a local knowledge of their respective districts” and remain “acquainted with the interests and circumstances of his constituents.” The House was seen as an integral part of a representative government of citizen-legislators, selected by their peers to work on their behalf, serving honorably, and driven towards solutions for a young nation. These citizen-legislators would return home to live under the laws they’ve passed, making way for a new generation of leadership with innovative ideas and a fresh perspective.  Unfortunately, we as a nation have strayed from this vision of our founders. Too many of my constituents now see a system of career politicians and elite insiders more focused on preserving the status quo than addressing our most pressing challenges. Extreme partisan redistricting – or gerrymandering – has undermined community-focused representation by forcing lawmakers to ideological extremes and exacerbating electoral complacency that causes lawmakers to focus on accumulating power rather than serving constituents.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/349704-bipartisan-forward-looking-solutions-on-redistricting

The false narrative behind a glitzy live television show about school reform
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss September 7 at 12:53 PM 
If you are watching television on Friday night and happen to look at one of the four big networks — NBC, CBS, ABC or Fox — you will see something rather extraordinary: the same live show about a school reform project funded by Laurene Powell Jobs, the billionaire widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Jobs is using the occasion to promote the “XQ: The Super School Project,” an initiative to which she gave $50 million to “disrupt” the American high school and redesign it for the 21st century. On hand to help promote the initiative will be Tom Hanks, along with Jennifer Hudson, Samuel L. Jackson, Common and other celebrities, as well as students, parents and educators. The executive producers of the show: Oscar-winner Viola Davis and her actor-producer husband, Julius Tennon. The XQ Institute was co-founded by Jobs and Russlynn H. Ali, who previously worked in the Obama administration as the Education Department’s assistant secretary for civil rights. It is leading a competition in which teams of people, including educators, inventors and people in other fields, are invited to design a high school that can “give our students the education they deserve,” the website says. Jobs is also the founder of Emerson Collective, an organization that advocates for education and immigration reform, social justice and environmental conservation. Here’s a post about what author Jack Schneider says is the mistaken premise behind the initiative and the television show.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/09/07/the-false-narrative-behind-a-glitzy-live-television-show-about-school-reform/?utm_term=.9cb14c1260e3


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
Jonathan Cetel: Founding executive director of PennCAN
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.


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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