Monday, January 22, 2018

PA Ed Policy Roundup Jan. 22: #SchoolChoice: Instead of funding its own Basic Education Funding Formula, PA Legislature chooses to push SB2 voucher scheme

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Keystone State Education Coalition
#SchoolChoice: Instead of funding its own Basic Education Funding Formula, PA Legislature chooses to push SB2 voucher scheme



Blogger Commentary:

In 2016 Pennsylvania adopted a fair funding formula  to distribute Basic Education appropriations to school districts. That formula takes into account changes in the number of students enrolled in a district, how many are in poverty, how many are English language learners, as well as other factors related to the cost of funding students and the ability of a district to raise funds locally. The formula, which was identical to that proposed by a bi-partisan Basic Education Funding Commission, applies only to new funds, and thus does not apply to the $5 billion of funding already in place in 2014-15.

Using the legislature’s own formula, the Public Interest Law Center
estimated that in order for districts to have adequate funding to enable their students to meet state standards, the Commonwealth must provide school districts with between $3.036 and $4.073 billion more in additional funding than it distributed for the 2016-17 school year.  

Instead of seeking ways to address that funding shortfall, the legislature is pushing SB2, a voucher scheme that could take $500 million from Pennsylvania public schools, which educate 90% of our kids, and give it to unaccountable private and religious schools.
Contact your state senator here:
Contact your state representatives here:



“Upper Darby also receives less state aid than more affluent counterparts: It ranks among the bottom third of Pennsylvania’s districts in wealth, yet got less money per pupil from the state than two-thirds of districts in 2015-16, according to state data. It spent less that year than every other district in Delaware County — $13,943 per student, compared with $18,047 in Haverford and $24,402 in Radnor. Such disparities are at the heart of a lawsuit reinstated by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court last year challenging the state’s school-funding system. While the state has implemented a funding formula that sends more money to districts with needs like Upper Darby’s — where about 1,000 of the district’s nearly 13,000 students are English-language learners — it applies only to new spending.”
As budget season nears, school districts face formidable foe: Fixed costs
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Staff Writer  @maddiehanna |  mhanna@phillynews.com Updated: JANUARY 20, 2018 — 3:01 AM EST
The West Chester Area and Upper Darby School Districts operate in separate economic realities: West Chester is among the wealthier districts in the region, while Upper Darby is one of the poorer. Yet as the school budgeting season gets underway in the coming weeks, they do share one thing in common: Most of the 2018-19 budget already is spoken for. After fixed costs such as already-negotiated increases in benefits, state-required pension payments, and special-education placements, Pennsylvania school officials say there’s little wiggle room. An Inquirer and Daily News analysis based on data from the state and the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials found that on average, about 85 percent of all costs for the state’s 500 school districts are set before budget hearings even begin. “That’s probably the Number One shock of new school board members,” said Jay Himes, executive director of the school business officials association. “By the time you look at the budget and look at something you could do unilaterally … there’s not a heck of a lot there.”

Pa. could eliminate property taxes this year, senators say
Inquirer by Laura McCrystal, Staff Writer  @LMcCrystal |  lmccrystal@phillynews.com Updated: JANUARY 22, 2018 — 6:39 AM EST
After years of property owners’ complaints, this might be the year that Pennsylvania dramatically changes its real-estate tax system —  if a few state senators have their way. A decade-long effort to eliminate or reduce property taxes has gained new momentum, after a constitutional amendment passed in November that allows the state to exempt owner-occupied homes from real estate levies. Now, the legislature could use that exemption to eliminate school property taxes. A group of senators is working to find a bill that has a chance at succeeding, said Sen. David Argall (R., Schuylkill). “We’re taking a headcount to see which version the members prefer,” Argall said. “And then once we have a solid count then we hope to move forward on the issue.” Despite the success of the amendment, their efforts are sure to confront opposition. School districts and the State Association of School Business Officials have raised concerns about the proposals, and a majority of voters in the southeast region of the state rejected the constitutional amendment. Gov. Wolf, who supports property tax relief, has also been against the details in previous plans.

Litigation and activism required to change hearts, minds, and Congressional maps | Opinion
by David Thornburgh & Chris Satullo, For the Philadelphia Inquirer Updated: JANUARY 19, 2018
David Thornburgh is the president and CEO of the Committee of Seventy. Chris Satullo is the organization’s civic engagement consultant.
One of the more improbable (and encouraging) developments in President Trump’s America has been the rise of public interest in the arcane art of gerrymandering. The term gerrymandering — denoting efforts to draw political maps in a way that strongly benefits one faction or party — dates back nearly to the dawn of the republic.  Patrick Henry was one of the earliest practitioners of this dark art.  What changed recently is that new mapping software and the rise of Big Data now enable political operatives to engage in laser surgery that produces jagged, grotesque districts sorting voters with diabolical precision. The outcry has thrust the issue into the courts.  So many court cases are percolating, you need a scorecard to keep them straight:

“Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters of PA and a member of the Shippensburg School Board, said the lawmakers, who once limited such proposals to low-income families, have moved on to bigger things with this bill. “They used to pretend this was about providing opportunities for low-income students who couldn't afford private education. But this bill doesn't have any income limits. It's really about getting public dollars in private pockets,” she said.
Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Hollidaysburg, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, has little sympathy for sentiments like that. “They cry about things like that, and it's nonsense,” he said. “What do they do if they have a few less children or a family moves out? They don't contain their expenses very well.” Eichelberger said lawmakers are retooling the bill in hopes of picking up some bipartisan support and re-introducing it later this year. But he defended the premise of the proposal. “If you want to keep a child trapped in a failing school, you should get out of the education business,” said the state senator, who is making a primary bid for a congressional run in the 9th District.”
SB2 Vouchers: School districts snap back at latest subsidy proposal
Trib Live by DEBRA ERDLEY  | Friday, Jan. 19, 2018, 5:24 p.m.
Public education advocates say a plan to offer education savings accounts to students from low-performing Pennsylvania public schools is little more than a frontal attack on public education, and they're fighting back. The proposal that surfaced late last year in Harrisburg as Senate Bill 2 would give parents living in the lowest performing 15 percent of the state's public schools education savings accounts of about $5,700 a year to send a child to a private school or provide home schooling. The money would be subtracted from the public school's state subsidy. Last month, the bill that fell one vote short of making it out of the Senate Education Committee would have offered education savings accounts to students leaving those districts as well as any student who lives in the district and had attended the public school for as little as a single semester.

SB2 Vouchers: Greater Johnstown, Salisbury-Elk Lick among districts affected by private school savings plan
Tribune Democrat By John Finnerty jfinnerty@cnhi.com January
HARRISBURG – Public school advocates say new education savings accounts proposed in Senate legislation will amount to vouchers on steroids and drive as much as $500 million out of public schools and into the coffers of private schools. Under the plan, the state treasury would oversee a program that would allow parents to open savings accounts funded by $5,700 in tax dollars per child, to be used to cover educational costs of private schools. The state would deduct the $5,700 per student from the subsidy sent from the Department of Education to the low-performing school districts targeted by the legislation. To be eligible, students would have to live in one of 71 school districts in the state that had the worst scores on state tests. According to estimates by the Pennsylvania State Education Association, that includes the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh school districts, along with schools around the state. Among them are the Greater Johnstown School District and the Salisbury-Elk Lick School District.

SB2 Vouchers: Mifflin County School District Board of Directors oppose Senate voucher program bill
Proposed initiative would fund private school tuition
JOE CANNON Special to The Sentinel sentinel@lewistownsentinel.com JAN 19, 2018
LEWISTOWN — Citing the potential to lose considerable amounts of basic education subsidy, the Mifflin County School District Board of Directors on Thursday adopted a resolution in opposition of Senate Bill 2, which proposes to establish a school voucher program to fund private schools.
“This is another bill put forth that proposes putting money into the budget to siphon money away from public schools to pay for private school tuition,” Superintendent James Estep stated. Estep said the bill, if passed, would take approximately $500 million from public school districts and give that to parents to help pay for private school educations if they so wish. “I’m opposed to that,” Estep said. “It’s your taxpayer dollars going to fund people’s private education.” The board voted 6-2 in favor of adopting the resolution with members Beth Laughlin and Noah Wise voting against. Laughlin said she didn’t feel comfortable voting against the Senate bill without having had the opportunity to read it in full. Wise said he believes parents should be able to have choices in regard to their children’s education. Estep said he didn’t have a problem with parents having a choice. “There already was choice,” he noted. “There’s always been families that choose private school. Now they want to take money from public schools to fund it. That’s what I’m opposed to.”

SB2 Vouchers: HOMER-CENTER BOARD OPPOSES ESA VOUCHER PROGRAMS
WDAD POSTED BY VIPOLOGY ON JANUARY 18, 2018 IN LOCAL NEWS
The Homer-Center school board passed a resolution opposing the education savings account voucher programs outlined in Senate Bill 2. The board’s Vicki Smith spoke to the impact such programs have on public schools: “I think it’s a continued attack on public education and the lack of funding for our school districts and it needs to be considered that way. There are more public school students who deserve to be properly funded, and we’re not properly funded now, and this is going to take even more money away from our districts.” Smith’s sentiments were shared by Superintendent Koren and other members of the school board, and the resolution was passed unanimously. In other news, discussions on changing school day start times in the district are changing direction. A study by Smith Bus Co. revealed that running all bus routes at the same time would require 14 bus runs instead of 9, and could incur additional costs upwards of $193,000 to the district, Board President Michael Bertig said. The discussion will continue at next month’s Academic Committee meeting.

Did you catch our late Friday postings?
Keystone State Education Coalition PA Ed Policy Roundup Jan. 19, 2018:
School Directors voice opposition to SB2 school voucher plan

Congress: Do your job and renew CHIP program
Delco Times Letter by Joannie Yeh, MD FAAP, Media POSTED: 01/19/18, 7:28 PM EST 
To the Times: Many parents don’t know and may not have opened their envelopes bearing the bad news. I am writing to spread the word to parents who didn’t check that plain-looking envelope notifying them that their kids may be at risk of losing their health insurance. Congress failed to renew the Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) by Sept. 30, 2017. CHIP provides free or low-cost insurance coverage for all legal resident kids up to 19 years old in the state of Pennsylvania. Some 180,000 kids in Pennsylvania and 9 million kids nationwide are covered by CHIP and risk losing their medical, dental, and vision coverage if Congress fails to extend funding. As a pediatrician, I know that parents will put their kids first. Parents may scramble to get alternative coverage during the 30 days notice that the state will provide if CHIP doesn’t get renewed. However, this means that they may forego their own health needs, forego car or mortgage payments, electricity or gas bills, or groceries — all things that are vital to a child’s health too. The consequences of not renewing CHIP are scary.

What Happens When CHIP Funds Run Out
NPR Heard on All Things Considered January 20, 20186:17 PM ET Listen·3:56
One of the central issues of the shutdown battle is the Children's Health Insurance Program. NPR's Michel Martin talks with Alabama CHIP Director Cathy Caldwell about the program, which covers 9 million low-income kids across the U.S.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: We'd like to turn now to one of the main issues caught in the middle of the spending battle in Congress - the Children's Health Insurance Program, also known as CHIP. This program helps state insure about 9 million children whose parents can't afford health insurance but make too much to qualify for Medicaid. At the moment, the program is operating on a temporary funding extension that's expected to dry up in March, but several states say they could run out of funding before then. One of those states is Alabama. And joining us now is Cathy Caldwell. She is the director of Alabama's CHIP program. She's speaking to us from Prattville, Ala. Cathy Caldwell, thank you so much for speaking with us.

DePasquale says legislators need to step in to help Sto-Rox, Aliquippa districts
ELIZABETH BEHRMAN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Lbehrman@post-gazette.com JAN 18, 2018
The Pennsylvania auditor general found a number of troubling issues in recent audits of the Sto-Rox and Aliquippa school districts.  Both are struggling to dig out of hefty budget deficits and are making sizable tuition payments to charter schools that are siphoning their students. The Aliquippa district in Beaver County — where 20 percent of residents live at or below the poverty level — experienced a large decline in its tax base since 2000, according to the audit report. Sto-Rox has failed to multiple times to make the required payments to its retirement funds.  But Auditor General Eugene DePasquale pointed at the audits not as evidence of district mismanagement, but rather at the need for state intervention to assist Pennsylvania’s struggling districts.  “We need solid and sustainable school funding and charter school reform now,” he said in a news release. 

Another Obama-era initiative under attack: Equity in school discipline
The notebook Commentary by Deborah Gordon Klehr January 19, 2018 — 5:01pm
Deborah Gordon Klehr is executive director of the Education Law Center.
In 2012, following the lead of other school districts across the country, the School District of Philadelphia wisely began rethinking its punitive, zero-tolerance approach to discipline. One component of the changing approach has been a scaling back of the widespread use of out-of-school suspensions. That shift has recently run into opposition from outside sources. In December, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute published “The Academic and Behavioral Consequences of Discipline Reform: Evidence from Philadelphia,” arguing that reduced suspensions were harming “the rule-abiding majority.” This was followed by an Inquirer op-ed and an article in The74 from conservative polemicist Max Eden of the Manhattan Institute, who cherrypicks and manipulates data to make the sensational claim that this one policy change has caused a “school climate catastrophe” in Philadelphia. Eden, a booster of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and an advocate of deregulation of charter schools, has lately been crusading for a reversal of the Obama administration policies on school discipline that redressed bias against students of color and students with disabilities. DeVos has not yet overturned the Obama guidelines, but this month, Breitbart News also urged her to do so, attacking what they pejoratively refer to as the “Obama-era ‘Black Lives Matter’ school discipline policy.”

Dave Reed tells party officials he'll run for Congress: report
Penn Live By Marc Levy The Associated Press Updated Jan 19; Posted Jan 19
HARRISBURG -- Dave Reed, the majority leader of the state House of Representatives, has told Republican Party officials he plans to run for Congress to succeed U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster. Reed, in office since 2003 and majority leader for three years, would face a crowded Republican Party primary in the solidly Republican 9th District, where Donald Trump won 70 percent of the vote for president. Arnold McClure, the Huntingdon County Republican Party chairman, said Reed called him this week to tell him of his plans. "Dave Reed is running in the 9th District," McClure said Thursday. Two other Republican Party officials also said Reed informed them of his plans to announce his candidacy. They said they would speak to The Associated Press only on the condition of anonymity because Reed wants to make a formal announcement next week. Reed, of Indiana County, was expected to do that Monday. In an email Thursday, Reed, 39, said his family will make a decision over the weekend on whether he should run for Congress or his state House seat "and announce the path forward next week." Other Republicans running in the 9th District include third-term state Sen. John Eichelberger and Art Halvorson, a Coast Guard veteran and a tea party-backed conservative who lost narrowly to Shuster in 2016.

Scott Wagner remains favorite in the run-up to the Pa. GOP endorsement vote for governor
Penn Live By Jan Murphy jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated 7:40 AM; Posted Jan 20, 1:54 PM
Scott Wagner continues to build on his lead in his bid for the Republican Party's endorsement for governor as did his running mate Jeff Bartos for lieutenant governor and U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta for U.S. Senate. Wagner, a state senator from York County, won 40 of the 78 votes cast in Saturday's straw poll of GOP state committee members from the five southeastern counties that often decide statewide elections - although in the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton carried all five counties but Donald Trump emerged as the winner in Pennsylvania when all the votes were counted. House Speaker Mike Turzai got support from 32 committee members from Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties in the straw poll while the two other candidates also from Allegheny County, retired Allegheny County business executive Paul Mango got six and attorney Laura Ellsworth received none.

Pa. Sen. Chuck McIlhinney of Bucks to retire
Inquirer by Angela Couloumbis, Harrisburg Bureau  @AngelasInk | acouloumbis@phillynews.com
Updated: JANUARY 19, 2018 — 3:23 PM EST
HARRISBURG — Republican State Sen. Chuck McIlhinney of Bucks County, who chaired the powerful committee that oversaw changes to the state’s liquor laws, announced Friday that he will retire when his term ends this year. McIlhinney, 50, said in a statement that it was “time to move on and allow a new leader to take over.” It was not immediately clear what he will do once he leaves office at the end of November. “I entered public service to make a difference for my community and the people who live here,” McIlhinney said. “I can look back proudly at my time in office and my accomplishments.” He could not be reached for comment Friday. McIlhinney, a onetime Doylestown Borough Council member, has been a state lawmaker for 20 years, first as a member of the House of Representatives and since 2006 as a senator.

Philly BOE Nominating panel convenes for first meeting
Elects officers, determines process, hears about ethics. Activists raise concerns about transparency.
The notebook by Greg Windle January 19, 2018 — 7:21pm
The Mayor’s education nominating panel, charged with recommending candidates to serve for the Board of Education, met for the first time Friday to elect officers and set rules of procedure. Wendell Pritchett, a former member and acting chair of the School Reform Commission, was elected chair. Jamie Gauthier, executive director of the Fairmount Park Conservatory and mother of two public school students, was elected vice-chair. Bonnie Camarda, Divisional Director for the Salvation Army and on the board of Nueva Esperanza, was elected secretary. The session, held in the Mayor’s Reception Room at City Hall, was billed as open to the public. But it appeared that decisions had been made it advance --  the votes on officers were taken quickly and without discussion as the 13 members sat in a semicircle facing away from the those who attended. Several education activists are arguing that the state Sunshine Act requires the panel to hold all its meetings in public, and were not happy about how the first meeting went.

Philly schools can't hire enough plumbers. So they're growing their own
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Staff Writer  @newskag |  kgraham@phillynews.com Updated: JANUARY 21, 2018 — 9:16 AM EST
Robert Hunter has a problem: In a strong economy, he can’t find enough steamfitters, plumbers, and other tradespeople to keep up with the demands of maintaining the Philadelphia School District’s 200-plus buildings. So he’s growing his own. The Philadelphia School District, which has 206 skilled blue-collar workers and 52 more open jobs for them, in the fall launched a state-sanctioned program that hires graduates of its vocational high school programs as apprentice plumbers and electricians. The apprentices earn a paycheck while they learn – and after four years, emerge debt-free with solid jobs paying about $50,000 annually to start, plus pension and benefits. “It’s a way to build the pipeline,” said Hunter, executive director of the school system’s maintenance department. “It’s a career for our graduates, and it’s filling a need for us, putting us on a path to sustainability with our trades mechanics.”

Sixers join push to accentuate the positive at Philly school
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent January 22, 2018
At John Hartranft School in North Philadelphia, staff stay vigilant. Teachers and administrators at the K-8 school aren’t on the lookout for transgressions. Instead, they’re trying to catch students in the act of doing something right. “We catch the students and recognize them at every chance we get for doing something positive and productive,” said fourth-year principal Jason Lytle. artranft’s approach to school management is called PBIS — or positive behavioral intervention and supports — and it’s among a growing set of Philly schools to embrace the strategy. In practice, PBIS is like a painstakingly structured reward system, where the traditional mode of discipline and boundary setting is flipped on its head. Hartranft students are taught, repeatedly, how to be safe, responsible, and respectful. If a teacher “catches” a student embodying one of those characteristics, he or she gives that student a token that can be exchanged later for a reward in an internal school economy. Even teachers can earn plaudits that lead to payoffs. The underlying theory is that good behavior must be taught and positively reinforced.

Allentown Headstart program focuses on kids dealing with trauma
WHYY/Keystone Crossroads By Kyrie Greenberg January 22, 2018  Listen 04:57
In a space that used to be an abandoned state hospital, Lora Lesak has created an early childhood classroom filled with natural light and comfortable chairs — a room designed to feel like a home. As director of Developmental Health Services for Allentown’s Community Services for Children, she says that’s exactly what children who’ve experienced trauma need. “We have gotten children that have needed to remain in the hospital for two weeks to be weaned of substances — whether it’s cocaine, whether it’s opiates, whether it’s prescription drugs,” said Lesak. “Sometimes we get a one- or a two-year old because a parent who was doing well is no longer doing well. Sometimes we get a one-, two-, or even two-and-a-half year old who was introduced to Children and Youth because the parent was actively using and the child was severely neglected.” As the rate of opioid-related deaths and overdoses has rapidly risen in Pennsylvania in recent years, the crisis has caused spillover effects on young children across the state. 

PA7: Rep. Meehan denies misconduct claim; ethics probe may follow
Morning Call by Marc Levy Of The Associated Press January 20, 2018
House Speaker Paul Ryan called for an Ethics Committee investigation Saturday after the New York Times reported that U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan used taxpayer money to settle a complaint that stemmed from his hostility toward a former aide who rejected his romantic overtures. The story, published online Saturday, cited unnamed people who said the Republican Pennsylvania representative used thousands of dollars from his congressional office fund to settle the sexual harassment complaint the ex-aide filed last summer to the congressional Office of Compliance. In a statement, Ryan's spokeswoman said the allegations must be investigated "fully and immediately" by the House Ethics Committee and that Meehan would immediately submit himself to the committee's review. Meehan is being removed from his position on the committee, and Ryan told Meehan that he should repay any taxpayer funds that were used to settle the case, Ryan's spokeswoman said. The Times did not identify the accuser and said she did not speak to the newspaper.

Interboro will not raise taxes over state allowance
Delco Times By Kevin Tustin, ktustin@21st-centurymedia.com@KevinTustin on Twitter
POSTED: 01/21/18, 8:20 PM EST | UPDATED: 31 SECS AGO
PROSPECT PARK >> Interboro is the latest school district committed to not raising its school property taxes over the state-mandated limit for 2018-19. A 7-0 vote by the school board last Wednesday approved a resolution to not exceed the Act 1 index rate of 3.2 percent for the next school budget, even with preliminary numbers in a $68 million budget showing a deficit of over $3.3 million dollars before any sort of tax increase. Director Kelly Boyle was absent from the meeting. Of the figures released at the board’s finance meeting from Jan. 11, salaries and benefits are projected to increase $1.9 million from last year. Some reductions were reported in local and state revenues.


Ohio's Largest Cyber Charter Closes Mid-Year
Education Week By Benjamin Herold on January 19, 2018 9:44 AM
After a protracted fight with state officials over student attendance and funding, one of the largest full-time online charter schools in the country will shutter its doors mid-year, sending as many as 12,000 students scrambling to find new schools. The closure of Ohio's Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow is effective today, following a 3-0 vote by the board of the school's sponsor on Thursday evening. In a statement posted on Facebook Thursday, ECOT officials blasted the decision, saying the Ohio Department of Education should have come to an agreement that would have allowed the school to remain open through the end of the school year. "By rejecting an offer that would have allowed our current students to finish the year, Governor Kasich, State Superintendent Paolo DeMaria, Diane Lease, and company showed they were more interested in settling a political score than in doing what's best for students," school spokesman and lobbyist Neil Clark in the statement. The closure comes because ECOT is running out of money, the result of efforts by the Ohio Department of Education to recover roughly $80 million in disputed funds.

The GOP’s Biggest Charter School Experiment Just Imploded
How a washed-up lobbyist built a charter school empire and siphoned millions from public schools.
Mother Jones by JAMES POGUE JAN. 19, 2018 2:20 PM
Bottom of Form
The west side of Columbus, Ohio, is a flat expanse of one-story houses, grimy convenience stores, and dark barrooms, and William Lager, in his business wear, cut an unusual figure at the Waffle House on Wilson Road. Every day, almost without fail, he took a seat in a booth, ordered his bottomless coffee, and set to work. Some days he sat for hours, so long that he’d outlast waitress Chandra Filichia’s seven-hour shift and stay on long into the night, making plans and scribbling them down on napkins. The dreams on the napkins seemed impossibly grandiose: He wanted to create a school unlike anything that existed, a K-12 charter school where the learning and teaching would be done online, and which would give tens of thousands of students an alternative to traditional public schools across the state. It would offer them unheard of flexibility—a teen mom could stay with her child and study, while a kid worried about being bullied could complete lessons at home. And it would be radically cheaper than a traditional classroom, since there would be no buildings to maintain, no teachers’ unions to bargain with. At the time—the late 1990s—it was a revolutionary idea. Lager called it, in the heady days when the internet seemed to promise a solution to every problem, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow.

We Choose Our Democratic Public Schools
Diane Ravitch’s Blog By dianeravitch January 21, 2018
DONT BE HOAXED BY PRIVATIZERS AND PROFITEERS!
 January 21-27 is School Choice Week, a multi-million dollar campaign funded by right-wing groups like the Koch Brothers, The American Federation for Children, ALEC and the Walton Foundation. The endgame is to replace public education with privatized systems of schooling. Read what the Center for Media and Democracy had to say here about School Choice Week.
We need YOU to help us tell the public the truth about so-called School Choice. And so we created a powerful campaign for you to use and share here.

Testing Resistance & Reform News: January 10 -16, 2018
FairTest Submitted by fairtest on January 16, 2018 - 2:33pm 
As the number of colleges and universities implementing ACT/SAT-optional admissions policies tops 1,000 (http://fairtest.org/actsat-testoptional-list-tops-1000-colleges-univer), many more state policy makers are getting the message that standardized exams are not needed to assess the educational quality of K-12 students, teachers, or schools. 



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

PSBA Closer Look Series Public Briefings
The Closer Look Series Public Briefings will take a deeper dive into concepts contained in the proposed Pennsylvania State Budget and the State of Education Report. Sessions will harness the expertise of local business leaders, education advocates, government and local school leaders from across the state. Learn more about the fiscal health of schools, how workforce development and early education can be improved and what local schools are doing to improve the State of Education in Pennsylvania. All sessions are free and open to the public.

Connecting Student Success to Employment
Doubletree by Hilton Hotel – Pittsburgh Green Tree Feb. 27, 2018, 7-8:45 a.m.
More than eight out of 10 students taking one or more industry-specific assessments are achieving either at the competent or advanced level. How do we connect student success to jobs in the community? What does the connection between schools and the business community look like and how can it be improved? How do we increase public awareness of the growing demand for workers in the skilled trades and other employment trends in the commonwealth? Hear John Callahan, PSBA assistant executive director, and Matt Smith, president of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, give a free, public presentation on these topics followed by a Q&A period.


A Deeper Dive into the State of Education
Crowne Plaza Philadelphia – King of Prussia March 6, 2018, 7-8:45 a.m.
In the State of Education Report, 40% of schools stated that 16% to 30% of students joining schools at kindergarten or first grade are below the expected level of school readiness. Learn more about the impact of early education and what local schools are doing to improve the State of Education in Pennsylvania. A free, public presentation by local and legislative experts will be followed by a Q&A period.


Public Education Under Extreme Pressure
Hilton Harrisburg March 12, 2018, 7-8:45 a.m.
According to the State of Education Report, 84% of all school districts viewed budget pressures as the most difficult area to manage over the past year. With so many choices and pressures, school districts must make decisions to invest in priorities while managing their locally diverse budgets. How does the state budget impact these decisions? What investments does the business community need for the future growth of the economy and how do we improve the health, education and well-being of students who attend public schools in the commonwealth in this extreme environment? Hear local and legislative leaders in a free, public presentation on these topics followed by a Q&A period.

Registration for these public briefings: https://www.psba.org/2018/01/closer-look-series-public-briefings/

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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