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Tuesday, November 21, 2017

PA Ed Policy Roundup Nov. 21: PA House OKs children’s health insurance bill without argument

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 Nov. 21, 2017:
PA House OKs children’s health insurance bill without argument


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Philadelphia takes control of schools, but state still owes pupils
Inquirer Commentary by Vincent Hughes Updated: NOVEMBER 20, 2017 — 7:00 PM EST
State Sen. Vincent Hughes represents portions of Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties. He is the Democratic chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Mayor Kenney said he wanted to end state oversight of the School District of Philadelphia as a necessary step toward reclaiming local control of our public schools.  Now, with the action by the School Reform Commission to disband, control of the schools will be placed in local hands. This move is overdue.  It’s time for our city to take ownership. Putting the school district under the direct control of the mayor allows for a central point of accountability.  Evidence from other cities shows that performance increases with direct accountability. Under local control, the city can better integrate new services into the schools.  Counselors, health professionals, librarians, school building repairs, and more can be provided for the schoolchildren.  That’s a good thing, because our children deserve more. Be clear, local control does not take the state off the hook for properly funding schools. This is the fundamental issue.  No matter who controls, the state has the constitutional responsibility to fund the schools adequately and equitably.

Pa. House leaders strip transgender controversy from Children's Health Insurance Program renewal
Penn Live By Charles Thompson cthompson@pennlive.com Updated 4:43 PM; Posted 3:52 PM
This post was updated at 4:43 p.m. with comments from Gov. Wolf's office and news of action by the House Health Committee on a related bill.
Leaders of the state House of Representatives have taken steps to defuse a looming fight over transgender services that could have imperiled health insurance coverage for tens of thousands of Pennsylvania children. The House Rules Committee Monday voted to strip out language in a Childrens Health Insurance Program reauthorization bill that would have barred CHIP coverage for gender reassignment surgery. The deletion leaves the CHIP program in position - assuming final House and Senate passage - to be reauthorized as is through 2019 with no fear of a potential veto from Gov. Tom Wolf, whose administration expanded the program last year to include transgender services.

Delco Times By The Associated Press POSTED: 11/20/17, 8:21 PM EST 
HARRISBURG >> The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is advancing legislation to reauthorize the federally subsidized Children’s Health Insurance Program after removing wording to prohibit coverage for gender or sex reassignment surgery. The House unanimously passed the bill Monday and sent it to the Senate. The Senate had inserted the Republican-penned prohibition three weeks ago, sparking opposition by Democrats. The bill reauthorizes the program for 2018 and beyond. It currently covers 177,000 children in Pennsylvania. Senate Republicans say Pennsylvania can’t legally extend coverage for gender reassignment surgery. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration says it expanded the coverage last year to comply with a new Obama administration rule. That rule is on hold in federal court and isn’t being enforced by the Trump administration. Separate legislation is now pending in the House to prohibit the coverage.

Less is more when it comes to the Pennsylvania Legislature
Lancaster Online by The LNP Editorial Board November 21, 2017
THE ISSUE - In Pennsylvania’s last legislative session, the state House and Senate approved legislation calling for a state constitutional amendment that would reduce the size of the House from 203 to 151 seats. If both chambers approve it again during the 2017-18 session, voters will get to decide the matter in a statewide referendum. House Bill 153 was introduced by Rep. Jerry Knowles, a Schuylkill County Republican. One of the co-sponsors is Rep. Steve Mentzer, a Republican whose district includes Lititz, all of Warwick Township and most of Manheim Township. Sometimes bigger is better — a piece of pie, your high-definition TV, a first-class seat on an airplane. But sometimes bigger equals bloated, excessive and unnecessary. Such is the condition of our oversized state Legislature. Pennsylvania has the second largest legislature in the nation, trailing only New Hampshire. This is not a good thing. The push to reduce the size of the General Assembly is not new. Lawmakers tried it in 2012 and 2013. Like just about everything else in Harrisburg, it’s a complicated process.

Radio Times: SRC ends, Philly schools get local control
WHYY Radio Times Guests: Donna Copper and Bill Green Air Date: November 21, 2017
After nearly 16 years of contentions debates, including walkouts and other forms of demonstrations by political leaders, education advocates, parents and students, the School Reform Commission (SRC) has voted to end its control of the School District of Philadelphia. On Thursday, the five-member body approved an end to the commission after this academic year. On July 1, the District will return to a local Board of Education which will be made up of nine members. So, what comes next? In this hour, Marty talks with DONNA COOPER, executive director of Public Citizens for Children and Youth, and BILL GREEN, SRC commissioner about the history of the state takeover, charter school expansion and the future of Philadelphia’s schools.

Departing Suburban board members say public education is under threat
York Dispatch Junior Gonzalez, 505-5439/@JuniorG_YD Published 3:53 p.m. ET Nov. 20, 2017 | Updated 3:53 p.m. ET Nov. 20, 2017
Among the changes occurring at the York Suburban School district are changes to the district’s school board. Three longtime members — President Lynne Leopold-Sharp, Vice President Cathy Shaffer and Emily Bates — are attending their final school board meeting Monday, Nov. 20, at the Ronald H. Provard Education Center starting at 7 p.m. With their departures come many questions regarding the exit of former district superintendent Michele Merkle, who resigned on Sept. 25, 11 days after she took a medical leave of absence. While repeated requests for comment from board members have not been returned or were deferred to a district administrator, the three departing members accepted a request for questions asking them to reflect on their nearly 60 years of collective experience on the York Suburban school board.

Long-serving Jeannette board members step down
TRIBUNE-REVIEW by DEBRA ERDLEY  | Sunday, Nov. 19, 2017, 11:00 p.m.
The Vietnam War was raging and Americans were cheering the Apollo 11 moon landing when Bill Brasco made his first bid for election to the Jeannette school board in 1969. “My kids were starting school, and I wanted to make sure everything was just right. So, I thought I'd give it a shot,” he said. Brasco, 84, stepped down Monday from the board after 48 years, ending his run as the second longest-serving school board member in Pennsylvania — trailing only Arden Tewksbury, who has logged 56 years on a school board in Wyoming County, according to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association. Morrison “Moe” Lewis, who also retired from the board Monday, might have beat Brasco's record. But the 81-year-old lawyer, who was elected to the board in the early 1960s, left the board temporarily to serve as an assistant district attorney in the 1970s.

Central York schools head named Pa. Superintendent of the Year
York Dispatch Junior Gonzalez, 505-5439/@JuniorG_YD Published 1:19 p.m. ET Nov. 20, 2017
The superintendent of the Central York School District was given the year’s top honor by the statewide association for public school administrators. Michael Snell, now in his eighth year leading Central York schools, was named the 2018 Pennsylvania Superintendent of the Year by the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA). Snell was recognized for the award at a PASA luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 16, in Harrisburg, the release states. The award is selected by a panel of school administrators. In a news release by PASA, Snell is praised as a leader in an educational concept known as mass customized learning (MCL), which uses teachers’ expertise to come up with individualized learning plans for students. Snell will be the Pennsylvania honoree for the American Association of School Administrators’ National Conference on Education in Nashville. He is now eligible for the national AASA Superintendent of the Year Award.

Temple gets its first Rhodes Scholar: A North Philly kid
Inquirer by Susan Snyder, Staff Writer  @ssnyderinq |  ssnyder@phillynews.com Updated: NOVEMBER 19, 2017 — 8:51 PM EST
Hazim Hardeman’s mother wanted a better school than the family’s North Philadelphia neighborhood could offer her son. So she falsified the family’s address and sent him to Shawmont in Roxborough. “For her, it was a life-and-death situation,” said Hardeman, now 23. “She understood that having access to this education at such an early age would really be formative and could shape or even determine the trajectory that my brother and I would be on.” For Hardeman, a 2017 magna cum laude graduate of Temple University, her choice might have been life-altering. This weekend, Hardeman was awarded the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship – the first student in Temple’s history to receive the honor. He will pursue his studies in sociology or political theory next fall at Oxford University in England.

“Studies since the 1950s have consistently shown that segregated schools largely serving minority students tend to produce weaker academic results, which limit students’ opportunities to succeed later in life. That’s not because the students are black or brown. It’s because apartheid schools typically are found in impoverished communities with limited resources to spend on public education.”
Why 'apartheid schools' have become common in Philly and NJ | Editorial
by The Inquirer Editorial Board Updated: NOVEMBER 20, 2017 — 7:28 PM EST
More than 60 years after the Brown v. Board of Education  decision, segregated schools persist across America. They can be found in largely white rural and suburban towns, in minority-majority cities like Philadelphia, and in supposedly progressive, ethnically diverse states like New Jersey, where what a new study calls “apartheid schools” have become common. Apartheid, the legal term for the system of segregation that once existed in South Africa, was used by the UCLA Civil Rights Project to describe schools in which less than 1 percent of the students are white. More than a quarter of New Jersey’s black students attend apartheid schools, said the report, released last Wednesday. That ranks it sixth among states with the highest segregation of black students and seventh in segregation of Latinos.

Honoring the 50th anniversary of a pivotal student protest in Philadelphia
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent November 20, 2017
On Nov. 17, 1967, thousands of students rallied outside the old Board of Education building along Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia. It wasn’t the first student protest, and it would hardly be the last. But the happenings that day — now 50 years in the rearview — have lingered in the city’s collective consciousness like few other education-related events. That’s in part because the cause that brought students out that day — increased representation for African-Americans in the curriculum and the classroom — remains. But it’s also because of how the authorities responded to the November ’67 protest, and what would become of the man who directed that response.

Commission Overseeing Philly Schools Votes to Disband. What Happens Next?
Education Week District Dossier Blog By Denisa R. Superville on November 17, 2017 12:01 PM
Cheers, chants, and applause broke out in Philadelphia on Thursday night after a majority of the members on the School Reform Commission—the state created body that oversees the city's school system—voted to dissolve. "The people united, will never be defeated, the people united, will never be defeated," meeting attendees chanted after the 3-1-1 vote to dissolve the School Reform Commission on the grounds that the district was no longer in "distress." That was the term the state used 16 years ago, when then-Republican Gov. Mark S. Schweiker and Democratic Mayor John F. Street agreed to a state takeover of the school system. The move to dissolve the School Reform Commission, which had become increasingly unpopular in recent years, jumped into high gear about two weeks ago when Philadelphia's Democratic Mayor James Kenney publicly called for the SRC to dissolve itself and return the school board to local governance.  But Kenney is not proposing an elected school board—which some speakers at the meeting on Thursday said was their ultimate goal. Instead, the mayor is proposing a return to the kind of board outlined in the city's charter, in which a nominating committee will recommend potential board members to the mayor. The city council has called for getting a say in who gets to serve on the board.

Another View: A call to stand against some school ‘progress’
Delco Times Letter by John Haenn, Delaware County POSTED: 11/20/17, 7:52 PM EST
To the Editor We’d like to believe that governmental bodies all the way from our local school boards to the looming federal level have the best interests of the people in mind. In some cases, they do. In some cases, the intent is good but the execution gets botched. Common is this result when many minds are contributing to one end. Pennsylvania is beginning to tackle one of these issues, and local school boards are faced with a tough question. Progressive legislation has been introduced that would allow people to use male/female facilities in places of public use based on the gender that they identify with. This is the polite way of saying that the legislation will allow girls and boys to use any locker room or bathroom that they choose. And it’s already happening.

“The federal government has a unique role to play, mainly in reducing the cost of capital for them to acquire these buildings,” Christy Wolfe, senior policy adviser at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, told The 74. But three of those key programs — tax-exempt private activity bonds for nonprofits, New Markets Tax Credits, and Qualified Zone Academy Bonds — would be eliminated under the tax reform the House passed last week.”
Educators Warn of ‘Devastating’ Consequences for Charter Schools in New GOP Tax Bill
The74 by Carolyn Phenice November19, 2017
When KIPP Academy of Opportunity in Los Angeles opened its doors at the start of this school year, its 400 students were, for the first time in several years, all under one roof. The school opened in 2003, but Los Angeles’s tight real estate market forced the network to split the students, fifth- through eighth-graders, between two campuses, three miles apart, for the past six or seven years. That meant higher costs to operate two buildings, stress on kids who had to change buildings frequently, and logistical woes for administrators stretched between two campuses, Marcia Aaron, CEO of KIPP LA, told The 74. Charter schools in Los Angeles, and around the country, usually must find — and pay for — their own facilities, a tricky prospect given their specific design needs and the high cost of real estate in big cities where many charters are located. Instead of taxpayer-backed bonds that school districts can float, charters that are ready to construct their own schools rely on a mix of financing tools, often aided by federal tax breaks, to fund construction of their schools.

“More than three million children attend charter schools in 44 states and the District of Columbia. The charters include national business chains, questionable “non-profits,” mysterious cyber-schools, “mom and pop” small schools, and far too few innovative quasi-public schools. About 20% of the charters operate directly to make a profit off of children and local governments. But there are many ways for charters to make money including high salaries to sponsors, sub-contracting to friendly vendors, and elaborate real estate ruses that allow charters to essentially rent facilities at exorbitant rates from their corporate partners.”
Network for Public Education Study Exposes Charter School Scams
Huffington Post by Alan Singer, Contributor 11/20/2017 06:30 am ET
Six months into its first year of operation, Innovative Arts Academy Charter School in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania was forced to restructure its leadership when student enrollment dropped. It replaced another charter school in the same building. The previous tenant, Medical Academy Charter School closed because of financial problems and low enrollment. The just released Network for Public Education (NPE) report, Charters and Consequences, documents charter school scams supported by wealthy “philanthropists,” powerful political interests, and an assortment of entrepreneurs looking to make money off of education. Eleven studies look at the charter school assault on public education from Oakland, California to Brooklyn, New York with stops in Arizona, Texas, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC. Operating “behind a wall of secrecy,” the dark side of the charter movement includes “mismanagement, failure, nepotism or outright theft and fraud” and “abuse of taxpayer funds.” The full report is available online. Unless otherwise noted, information in this blog comes from the report.

NPE: Charter Effects Are Alarming
Curmuducation Blog by Peter Greene Sunday, November 19, 2017
We can talk all day about the intentions of charter operators, about the possible ramifications of various charter policy decisions. Heck, on occasion I can talk about the conditions under which I would welcome charter schools (because I don't automatically default to the position that they're a Bad Thing). There is a pattern in the ed reform movement. Reformsters hold up a bright shiny polished reform idea, people hop up to say, "Wow, that looks great! Let's have some of that!" And then something else entirely is delivered. So when we talk about any reform policy, we need to talk about what is actually happening on the ground. And what is happening on the ground is fairly alarming. The Network for Public Education has now done that for charter schools. Full disclosures-- first, I'm a member of NPE and second, NPE is not predisposed to be kind to charter schools. Nevertheless, I recommend you read their new report Charters and Consequences and judge for yourself. NPE has taken a look at what is actually happening in the charter world, and it's not good. The report is a collection of eleven separate pieces of investigation, created over the span of a year

Court throws out landmark SC school equity lawsuit
The State BY JAMIE SELF AND BRISTOW MARCHANT jself@thestate.com, bmarchant@thestate.com NOVEMBER 20, 2017 01:04 PM
After 24 years of court battles, a landmark school equity lawsuit aimed at improving education opportunities in the state’s poorest, rural schools has been dismissed. The S.C. Supreme Court closed the case in a 3-2 order, praising state lawmakers for responding in “good faith” to the court’s 2014 mandate to find ways to fix South Carolina’s failing public schools. State House leaders, who asked the court to dismiss them from the case, applauded the ruling. “Today’s order confirms that the Supreme Court is satisfied by the House’s transformative efforts to improve South Carolina’s education system,” House Speaker Jay Lucas said after the court’s decision was handed down Friday. . “Providing every child in every part of our state access to a 21st century education has and will continue to be a priority for the South Carolina House of Representatives.” Meanwhile, the ruling was disappointing to an attorney representing the more than 30 poor, rural school districts that sued the state in 1993, arguing they did not have the money or resources to provide children with a quality education.

Stuff They Don't Want You to Know episode: The Gulen Movement 
Stuff Network Podcast Runtime 1:01 POSTED SEP 29, 2017
What do private schools and revolution have in common? The answer may surprise you. Join the guys as they bring on their intern Sam Teegardin and for a firsthand look at a strange and insidious conspiracy reaching from the Eastern US seaboard and journeying through locations across the world to fundamentally rock the political foundations of the Turkish state.



Register for New School Director Training in December and January
PSBA Website October 2017
You’ve started a challenging and exciting new role as a school director. Let us help you narrow the learning curve! PSBA’s New School Director Training provides school directors with foundational knowledge about their role, responsibilities and ethical obligations. At this live workshop, participants will learn about key laws, policies, and processes that guide school board governance and leadership, and develop skills for becoming strong advocates in their community. Get the tools you need from experts during this visually engaging and interactive event.
Choose from any of these 10 locations and dates (note: all sessions are held 8 a.m.-4 p.m., unless specified otherwise.):
·         Dec. 8, Bedford CTC
·         Dec. 8, Montoursville Area High School
·         Dec. 9, Upper St. Clair High School
·         Dec. 9, West Side CTC
·         Dec. 15, Crawford County CTC
·         Dec. 15, Upper Merion MS (8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m)
·         Dec. 16, PSBA Mechanicsburg
·         Dec. 16, Seneca Highlands IU 9
·                              Jan. 6, Haverford Middle School
·         Jan. 13, A W Beattie Career Center
·         Jan. 13, Parkland HS
Fees: Complimentary to All-Access members or $170 per person for standard membership. All registrations will be billed to the listed district, IU or CTC. To request billing to an individual, please contact Michelle Kunkel at michelle.kunkel@psba.org. Registration also includes a box lunch on site and printed resources.

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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