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Tuesday, January 16, 2018

PA Ed Policy Roundup Jan. 16: PA Supreme Court to hear Gerrymandering case on Wednesday

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, charter school leaders, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations, education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory agencies, professional associations and education advocacy organizations via emails, website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

Keystone State Education Coalition



SB2 Education Savings Accounts: The Pa. Senate's latest voucher plan would drain $500 million from public schools



“On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court — which has a 5-2 Democratic majority — will hear arguments in the 7-month-old case urging the court to throw out Pennsylvania’s congressional districts as an unconstitutional gerrymander that unfairly favors Republicans.”
Gerrymandering case sows doubt in big year for Pennsylvania House races
Delco Times By Marc Levy, The Associated Press POSTED: 01/15/18, 2:28 PM EST 
HARRISBURG >> Lots of people want to run for Congress in Pennsylvania this year, but they may not yet know which district they live in. The prospect that the state Supreme Court could decide a high-profile gerrymandering case by ordering new boundaries for Pennsylvania’s 18 congressional districts, including one that has been described as looking like “Goofy kicking Donald Duck,” is sowing uncertainty barely a month before candidates begin circulating petitions. Primary fields could be jam-packed, driven by Democrats’ anti-Trump fervor and a rush to fill the most open seats in Pennsylvania in decades. More than 60 people, including 14 sitting U.S. House members, are either committed to running or are kicking the tires on a run, even as district boundaries could get a major overhaul. “It’s on everybody’s mind, because it leaves big questions of how’s this going to work out,” said Elizabeth Moro, a Democrat and first-time candidate from southeastern Pennsylvania who wants to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan. For comparison, there were 41 U.S. House candidates, including 16 incumbents, on Pennsylvania’s primary ballots in 2016.

Thanks to the North Carolina case, partisan gerrymandering's day of reckoning may soon be upon us | Opinion
Penn Live Guest Editorial By Christopher Beem Updated Jan 15, 10:02 AM
Gerrymandering was already shaping up to be an important issue this year, with huge implications for American democracy. But after the ruling this week on the North Carolina congressional map, the stakes have been raised still higher. For the first time, a federal panel of judges ruled that a state's map of its congressional districts was unconstitutional. The North Carolina map didn't just give an advantage to Republicans - it manifested "invidious partisan intent." The panel directed the state to draw the districts again by Jan. 24. Politicians are always looking for partisan advantages, and the constitutional mandate to redraw district boundaries every 10 years provides an irresistible opportunity. When that mandate falls to a state legislature that is controlled by one party, well, you can imagine what those boundaries look like.

It's time for the state Legislature to downsize and reduce the number of House seats
Lancaster Online Editorial by The LNP Editorial Board January 16, 2018
THE ISSUE - Pennsylvanians are closer than ever to being granted the power to cut the size of their 203-member House of Representatives, LNP reported Monday. Republican Rep. Jerry Knowles, of Schuylkill County, said House leaders have assured him his bill that will put the question before voters is “going to fly” early enough in 2018 to get it on the November ballot, LNP’s Sam Janesch and The Caucus’ Brad Bumsted reported. The size of the House and Senate — which make up the largest full-time Legislature in the United States — hasn’t changed in nearly 150 years. By any standard, 150 years is a good run. And now it’s over, we hope. It certainly should be. Pennsylvania’s Legislature has been and is bloated and costly. And its robust waistline is one of the reasons — and there are many we realize — things don’t get done. Knowles said his bill would save taxpayers millions of dollars and foster a closer, more cooperative environment in the House. It’s worth a shot because, at the moment, it seems the environment can’t get much less cooperative. It’s hard to believe this is actually going to happen — lawmakers voting themselves out of a job — but we’ve never been this close.

Pennsylvania bill, if approved, will let voters decide whether or not to cut size of 203-member House of Representatives
Lancaster Online by SAM JANESCH and BRAD BUMSTED | The Caucus January 16, 2018
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvanians are closer than ever to being granted the power to cut the size of their 203-member House of Representatives, an idea that has been pitched and rejected time and again over the decades. A Republican state lawmaker said House leaders have assured him his bill putting the question before voters is “going to fly” early enough in 2018 to get it on the November ballot. The lawmaker, Rep. Jerry Knowles of Schuylkill County, said his bill would save taxpayers millions of dollars and foster a closer, more cooperative environment in the House. “Any time you can save $10 million or $15 million it’s helpful in terms of budgeting. But the bigger picture is when you have a smaller body there will be better debate and discussion and more opportunity for a member to have his or her voice heard,” he said. Critics, however, argue the move would harm constituents. And they point out the savings would have little impact on the state’s budget problems and could force the remaining House members to hire more workers given their larger districts.

“Grounded in the landmark Abbott v. Burke New Jersey Supreme Court rulings that steered resources into poorer districts, the formula directs added money for students who are poor, have disabilities, or aren’t proficient in English. It determines how much in education costs a district can afford to raise locally and how much state money is needed. But the state hasn’t spent the required money. Murphy has priced full funding at an additional $800 million to $1 billion — although the formula currently caps aid to growing districts. If those caps are removed, districts are short about $2 billion, or close to 6 percent of the $34.7 billion state budget, according to legislative staff.”
Phil Murphy's billion-dollar challenge: N.J. school funding
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Staff Writer  @maddiehanna |  mhanna@phillynews.com Updated: JANUARY 15, 2018 — 9:29 AM EST
As the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Phil Murphy pledged to “fully fund” New Jersey’s schools, vowing to end years of failure by the state to abide by its own funding law.
To keep that promise, all he’ll have to do is find a spare billion or two after he becomes Gov. Murphy on Tuesday. How Murphy plans to accomplish that remains unclear. He hasn’t spelled out how he will ramp up state aid; a key tax proposal, which targets the wealthy, has been endangered by the Trump tax plan; and lawmakers aren’t racing to legalize marijuana, another potential revenue source. Murphy will be the latest governor to take on what has been a challenge for states all over the country: how to pay for public education adequately and fairly. The issue has continued to vex states as they try to move past band-aid solutions employed during the recession. “School funding is often a queen-size sheet on a king-size bed. If you pull it over to one corner to cover it up, you pull it away from another corner,” said Mike Griffith, a school finance consultant with Education Commission of the States. “The way states make these changes palatable is by putting more money into the system.” In Pennsylvania, where the state Supreme Court last year reinstated a lawsuit challenging the school funding system, per-pupil spending increased 3.4 percent in 2014-15, according to a report last week by the National Center for Education Statistics. In New Jersey, spending fell slightly. Average per-pupil spending in New Jersey was $18,838 compared with $14,405 in Pennsylvania.

“Although students should be free to make up their own minds about controversial public questions, they should not be allowed to malign entire peoples or nations. They can agree with President Trump about immigration, if they’d like. But they can’t talk like him, at least not in school.”
Teaching in Trump's America: Debating with decency isn't easy when the president is profane | Opinion
by Jonathan Zimmerman, For the Philadelphia Inquirer Updated: JANUARY 15, 2018 3:39 PM
Let’s suppose you’re teaching a current-events lesson at an American public school. The talk turns to President Trump’s comments last Thursday at a discussion with members of Congress, where Trump questioned whether the United States should accept immigrants from “shithole countries”—particularly those from Haiti and Africa — rather than from places like Norway. A student in the class defends the president’s remarks. “Norwegians are wealthier and better educated,” the students says. “We need more people like that.” What should you do? Here’s what you shouldn’t do: dismiss the student’s statement as racist. The question of who should become an American is one of the most hotly contested issues in the United States, across our history and into the present. Decent and reasonable people can differ on whether we should favor more more skilled and educated immigrants, which is what Canada and many other democracies do. But decent and reasonable people do not call poor countries “shitholes,” ever.

“It's only going to benefit wealthy families because working class and poor families aren’t going to have excess money to put into an account.— Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters of Pa.”
GOP tax plan now allows parents to tap 529 for private K-12
The new Republican tax overhaul includes a change that will expand the benefits of a college savings plan to include private K-12 schools, allowing parents to use the plan to pay for up to $10,000 per child in tuition. Advocates of the new provision say it gives a break to families who are forking over the cost of a private school education. Opponents say it’s another tax break for the rich and undermines public education. Families have used 529 plans to help save money to pay the cost of college. The plan allows parents to receive a state income tax deduction for their contributions, and investments made in these accounts to grow free of federal and state income taxes. Expanding the provision helps families who are paying private school tuition, which that can range from $9,000 to $28,000 a year in the Lehigh Valley. “It’s a win for families who are choosing private education for their kids,” said Nathan Benefield, vice president and chief operating officer of the free-market think tank Commonwealth Foundation, which is based in Harrisburg.

50 years ago Dr. King told these Philly kids to lay a blueprint, and they did
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent January 15, 2018
Dennis Kemp didn’t know who was going to climb out of the limousine.
Kemp was a ninth-grader at Barratt Junior High School in October of 1967 when his vice principal asked him and other members of the stage crew to greet a guest arriving for a special assembly. Kemp, who played on the school’s basketball team, thought the mystery celebrity might be Philadelphia 76ers behemoth Wilt Chamberlain. Then the car door swung open, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stepped out onto South 16th Street. “It was amazing,” Kemp said. “I’ll never forget it.” King was in town for a star-studded rally at the Spectrum, the since-demolished sports arena King would describe that day as a “new, impressive structure.” Thanks to a connection made by legendary Philly DJ Georgie Woods (the “guy with the goods”), King stopped first at Barratt, which has since been shuttered.

Not an excuse, but yes, family income impacts test outcomes
Times Leader By Mark Guydish - mguydish@timesleader.com | January 13th, 2018 7:13 pm
WILKES-BARRE — Lean and bit boyish with a buzz cut, Brian Costello can’t help but get wonky when he talks about Wilkes-Barre Area’s poor results on state standardized tests. “This is not an excuse in any way,” Costello said more than once as he waded through state data, “I want our schools to be number one. But when you compare our test results to our peers, we do better.” The “peers” he’s referring to are schools that have similar percentages of students deemed “economically disadvantaged.” Studies have long shown that family income correlates with standardized test results. The lower the income, the lower the test scores. The link is statistically so strong that one common yardstick of academic success is a “regression analysis”: A school’s test results are predicted based on the student poverty rate. If a school exceeds the prediction — regardless of how the score looks compared to other schools — it is deemed a success. Costello raised the peer group comparison issue at a Nov. 15 school board meeting. Low state test scores had dominated the public comment section of several board meetings including that one. “If students aren’t learning what we’re teaching,” frequent critic Richard Holodick warned, “we better start teaching how they learn.” “We need a conversation that’s been missing for far too long,” Gabby Richards urged. “How do we develop high-quality, high-performing schools in high-poverty and under-performing schools?”

Norwin School District caps any property tax that could come next school year
Trib Live by JOE NAPSHA  | Monday, Jan. 15, 2018, 9:15 p.m.
Any real estate tax hike that the Norwin School District implements for the 2018-2019 school year will be capped at a maximum of 3.1 percent as a result of the school board on Monday setting that limit on any tax increase. The maximum tax hike that the school board unanimously agreed to for next school year is based on the inflation-based index determined by the state Department of Education. Norwin had raised property taxes for the current school year by 3.3 percent to balance the $68.6 million budget. Norwin raised property taxes by 2.4 mills to 77.6 mills. School officials said the additional revenue from the tax hike was needed to prevent cuts in the education program and teacher layoffs.

Book explores the business of school segregation
The author of "Cutting School" coins the term "segrenomics" to describe trends in school privatization. She draws heavily on Philadelphia's recent history to make her point.
The notebook Commentary by Ian Gavigan January 15, 2018
School segregation is big business – and it’s been that way throughout American history, according to Cutting School: Privatization, Segregation, and the End of Public Education by Noliwe Rooks, director of American Studies and associate professor of Africana Studies and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Cornell University. For Rooks, educational inequality cannot be explained outside of a framework that brings together segregation, economics, and politics. Inspired by conversations with her own privileged Ivy League students who sought to make a career of “fixing” educational inequality, Rooks explores the long history of U.S. elites, the vast majority of whom are white, devising policies that allow some to profit from racial segregation while upholding deep inequalities. She gives this arrangement a name: segrenomics. The story of segrenomics opens in the American South after Reconstruction, where northern industrialists offered black communities assistance to build schools – on the condition that the impoverished workers raise significant sums of money and hew to limited curricula. Southern leaders were explicit that these schools be limited in order to guarantee a continued supply of cheap black labor.



Register now for PSBA Board Presidents Panel 
PSBA Website January 2018
School board leaders, this one's for you! Join your colleagues at an evening of networking and learning in 10 convenient locations around the state at the end of January. Share your experience and leadership through a panel discussion moderated by PSBA Member Services team. Participate in roundtable conversations focused on the most pressing challenges and current issues affecting PA school districts. Bring your specific challenges and scenarios for small group discussion. Register online.

NSBA 2018 Advocacy Institute February 4 - 6, 2018 Marriott Marquis, Washington D.C.
Register Now
Come a day early and attend the Equity Symposium!
Join hundreds of public education advocates on Capitol Hill and help shape the decisions made in Washington D.C. that directly impact our students. At the 2018 Advocacy Institute, you’ll gain insight into the most critical issues affecting public education, sharpen your advocacy skills, and prepare for effective meetings with your representatives. Whether you are an expert advocator or a novice, attend and experience inspirational keynote speakers and education sessions featuring policymakers, legal experts and policy influencers. All designed to help you advocate for your students and communities.

REGISTER TODAY! ELECTED. ENGAGED. EMPOWERED:
Local School Board Members to Advocate on Capitol Hill in 2018     
NSBA's Advocacy Institute 2018 entitled, "Elected. Engaged. Empowered: Representing the Voice in Public Education," will be held on February 4-6, 2018 at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C. This conference will convene Members of Congress, national thought-leaders, state association executives and well-known political pundits to provide local school board members with an update on key policy and legal issues impacting public education, and tactics and strategies to enhance their ability to influence the policy-making process and national education debate during their year-round advocacy efforts.
WHAT'S NEW - ADVOCACY INSTITUTE '18?
·         Confirmed National Speaker: Cokie Roberts, Political Commentator for NPR and ABC News
·         NSBA will convene first ever National School Board Town Hall on School Choice
·         Includes General Sessions featuring national policy experts, Members of Congress, "DC Insiders" and local school board members
·         Offers conference attendees "Beginner" and "Advanced" Advocacy breakout sessions
·         NSBA will host a Hill Day Wrap-Up Reception
Click here to register for the Advocacy Institute.  The hotel block will close on Monday, January 15
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Registration is now open for the 2018 PASA Education Congress! State College, PA, March 19-20, 2018
Don't miss this marquee event for Pennsylvania school leaders at the Nittany Lion Inn, State College, PA, March 19-20, 2018.
Learn more by visiting http://www.pasa-net.org/2018edcongress 

SAVE THE DATE for the 2018 PA Educational Leadership Summit - July 29-31 - State College, PA sponsored by the PA Principals Association, PASA, PAMLE and PASCD.  
This year's Summit will be held from July 29-31, 2018 at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel, State College, PA.

Any comments contained herein are my comments, alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any other person or organization that I may be affiliated with.


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