PA Ed Policy Roundup April 3: Teachers in the Streets: West Virginia, Arizona, Kentucky, Oklahoma

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Keystone State Education Coalition

PA Ed Policy Roundup April 3, 2018

Teachers in the Streets: West Virginia, Arizona, Kentucky, Oklahoma

PSBA Legislative Forecast: Spring Edition webinar APR 4, 2018 • 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Learn the latest updates on the highest legislative priorities in this free webinar for members, presented by the PSBA Government Affairs team. Hear suggestions for how school leaders can most effectively advocate for their districts and communities. Also, get a forecast of the spring legislative session, mapping what to expect from bills moving in the House and Senate.

Register online here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5069552736480739585

Investing in public education earns high marks for greater upward mobility
Penn State News by Matt Swayne March 28, 2018
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Investing in education may help boost economic opportunities for the next generation, according to a team of economists. In a study, researchers suggest that investing in public education can lead to more upward economic mobility and lower teen pregnancy rates, as well as provide a way to ease income inequality. "It's something we've long suspected, but this study really confirms that there's a strong link between the quality of the schools you go to and the opportunities you have later in life," said Stephan Goetz, professor of agricultural and regional economics, Penn State and director of the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development. "The better your school, the better your economic opportunities." The study, which focused on public spending in education and returns from education, as well as taxation, indicated that communities that invested more in education had lower drop-out rates and fewer teen pregnancies. The researchers, who released their findings in a recent issue of Economic Development Quarterly, added that reducing the high school dropout rate had nearly twice the beneficial effect on upward mobility as on reducing teen birth rates. 
http://news.psu.edu/story/511311/2018/03/28/research/investing-public-education-earns-high-marks-greater-upward-mobility

March State Revenues $274.2 Million Less Than Anticipated, Still 0.9% Above Estimates For Fiscal Year
PA Capitol Digest by Crisci Associates April 2, 2018
Pennsylvania collected $4.3 billion in General Fund revenue in March, which was $274.2 million, or 6 percent, less than anticipated, Revenue Secretary Dan Hassell reported Monday. Fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $25.3 billion, which is $221.7 million, or 0.9 percent, above estimate. The Independent Fiscal Office also reported Monday March revenues were $121 million or 2.7 percent below its revenue estimates and for the Fiscal Year General Fund revenues are $498 million or 2 percent above the IFO’s updated official estimate. A House Republican Appropriations Committee March Economic Brief released Monday agreed with the Department of Revenue’s numbers.
http://pacapitoldigestcrisci.blogspot.com/2018/04/march-state-revenues-2742-million-less_34.html

Wolf fundraising in 2018 leaves him with $14.7M cash on hand
AP State Wire Published: Yesterday
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Pennsylvania's incumbent governor raised nearly $5 million for his re-election during the first three months of the year, leaving him with more than $14.7 million in the bank for the election that's now seven months away. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's campaign said Monday he took in $4.96 million between Jan. 1 and March 26. His campaign says 91 percent of his donations were of $250 or less, and nine out of 10 donors live in Pennsylvania. Wolf spent more than $32 million, including about $10 million of his own money, in winning the governorship in 2014. He doesn't have an opponent in the Democratic primary. Three Republicans are competing for their party's nomination to take him on. Wolf plans to file his campaign finance report with the state on Tuesday.
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_268748/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=nONNT2I0

Employers are desperately seeking young, skilled workers, so why aren't more high school students attending the Lancaster County CTC?
Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer April 2, 2018
Jaylea Barnes wants to pursue a career in nursing after graduating from Manheim Township High School this year. She’s already working as a patient care assistant at Homestead Village, a retirement community near the school’s campus. But instead of attending traditional classes with most of the other seniors in Neffsville, she’s enrolled full-time at the Lancaster County Career & Technology Center. “The skills that I’m learning here I use at my job,” she said. “It’s really helpful.” Barnes is among a growing number of high school students preparing to enter a local workforce desperate for skilled workers — computer systems analysts, carpenters, construction workers, electricians, plumbers, truck drivers and, yes, nurses. But while demand for career and tech education surges, community and school leaders say there’s still not enough CTC students here to meet the demands of the job market. And they say educators, counselors and parents should focus on crafting a college or career plan that align with the needs of the local workforce.
http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/employers-are-desperately-seeking-young-skilled-workers-so-why-aren/article_89335220-3458-11e8-85e2-03a89808e700.html

Erie students press Kelly for public town hall on guns
GoErie By Ed Palattella Posted at 12:01 AM Updated at 6:15 AM
Congressman has offered to meet in private. Student organizers petitioned his office on Monday.
Local high schools students concerned about gun violence have received an offer from U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly to discuss the issue with him in private. The students are considering Kelly’s offer, but they want something more. They want Kelly, of Butler, R-3rd Dist., to hold an in-person public town hall meeting on gun violence and school safety. Kelly’s office said such a public meeting, which would be rare for him, is not in his plans, and that a private meeting with the students “will allow for a much more ‎constructive conversation.” A group of Erie students wants U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly to hold a public town hall meeting on gun violence. Kelly, R-3rd Dist., has offered a private meeting with the students. “We want it to be public,” said Erin Fleming, 16, a Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy junior and an organizer of the local student group seeking the town hall meeting. “As a representative, he should be willing to meet face to face with the people he represents and listen to the issues that affect their daily lives.”“I would like Mike Kelly to understand how important this issue is,” said Fleming, who said she wants the government to restrict the sale of certain firearms. “I don’t think he understands the gravity of the issue of gun violence in Erie.” Fleming said she and the other students do not want Kelly to hold a telephone town hall meeting, in which constituents call in, and Fleming said the students will consider the offer of an in-person private meeting.
http://www.goerie.com/news/20180403/erie-students-press-kelly-for-public-town-hall-on-guns

Our opinion: Step out from behind the curtain
If you want public support for schools during this transition to a Board of Education, let the public see the process. Back-room dealing will not do.
The notebook Commentary April 2, 2018 — 8:17pm
Why does it feel like the transition from the School Reform Commission to a soon-to-be-constituted Philadelphia school board is a fast shuffle – now you see it, now you don’t?
The SRC has run public education in Philadelphia since the state government took over the school system 16 years ago. On June 30, the SRC will go out of business and a new school board, to be appointed by Mayor Kenney this week, will take over, giving the city control of its schools again. One big complaint about the SRC has been that Philadelphia residents don’t have enough influence over the education their children receive. So you would think that everything about this transition would be done out in the open, where people can see the changes being made and gain confidence in the new arrangement. However, the day after schools closed for spring break, two members of the SRC resigned — apparently because they’re likely to be among the nine members of the new school board, although nobody’s saying that. Immediately, the mayor appointed two people to replace them on the SRC, and the governor appointed one of the remaining members to be the new chair
http://thenotebook.org/articles/2018/04/02/our-opinion-step-out-from-behind-the-curtain

KIPP Philadelphia gets $945,000 grant for expansion this fall
The notebook by Staff report April 2, 2018 — 3:43pm
The Philadelphia School Partnership announced it will award $945,000 to KIPP Philadelphia for the startup of the organization’s latest school, set to open this fall in North Philadelphia. KIPP North will contain an elementary and middle school, though KIPP Philadelphia treats those as separate schools to get access to an additional $300,000 grant from the national KIPP Foundation — grants awarded by the foundation to any local KIPP operator for every elementary, middle, and high school that's approved to open through 2019. It will open with an enrollment of 200 students in kindergarten through 1st grade and expand to 860 students in K-8 by the time it reaches full capacity in the 2022-23 school year. The school will share space with KIPP Philadelphia's original elementary and middle school at 2539 N. 16th St. — the former school building of M.H. Stanton Elementary, which the School Reform Commission voted to close in 2013. The elementary school was approved by the SRC, and the middle grades were approved"with conditions."
http://thenotebook.org/articles/2018/04/02/kipp-expansion-continues-this-fall

Ears on the SRC: March 22, 2018
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools by Diane Payne April 2, 2018
Three of the remaining four commissioners were present for this special budget meeting of the SRC: Chair Wilkerson and Commissioners Richman and McGinley.  Farah Jimenez departed the position abruptly and without explanation in January leaving four commissioners; Governor Wolf said he will not appoint a replacement.  Commissioner Bill Green has assumed a laissez-faire attendance record since April 2017.  It is not uncommon for Green to be absent, come in late in time to vote on resolutions (often totaling millions of dollars), miss staff presentations and public speakers, or leave early and call in to vote.  This is now the seventh time he has been absent since April 2017.  In the waning months of this lame duck SRC, Green continues to exhibit a pattern of behavior that would not be acceptable in the students whose welfare he has been charged to oversee.
https://appsphilly.net/ears-on-the-src-march-22-2018/

Millcreek Twp. School District mulls tax hike
Erie News Now By Matt Knoedler Posted: Apr 02, 2018 9:46 PM EDT
ERIE, Pa. - Property owners in the Millcreek Township School District can expect to pay more for their home next year should the preliminary budget released Monday pass this summer. That's about $40 more for a $100,000 home. "The state thinks that we have more money and we should rely more heavily on our local resources as compared to a district such as (the Erie School District)," said Aaron O'Toole, the district's finance and accounting director, referencing the revised Fair Funding Formula. The tax hike would generate about $1.5 million to help offset the $2.5 million deficit facing the district. Without the extra money, the district could cut higher-cost curriculum areas such as science and technology, according to Superintendent Bill Hall. "We've been saying every year that we know we have to generate about $2.5 million of new revenue," Hall said. Inside the $100.6 million budget includes the planned security and safety upgrades at the district's ten schools, including McDowell and McDowell Intermediate High Schools. The security resource officer will remain at McDowell. Funding for the enclosed walkway between the two schools and improved surveillance cameras are also included, O'Toole said.
"We don't have funding for additional security resource officers," he added.
http://www.erietvnews.com/story/37864093/millcreek-twp-school-district-mulls-tax-hike

Why are some banned Pa. educators still collecting pensions?
MATT MCKINNEY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mmckinney@post-gazette.com APR 2, 2018
2:14 PM
Henry South served as technology director for McKeesport Area School District, until investigators found child pornography on his personal and district-issued computers.
Jarold Winkleblech directed the East Allegheny High School band, until he professed his love to a 15-year-old student, whom he hugged and kissed in his music classroom on a daily basis, the student testified in court. Nicholas Salvo worked with his wife at Mt. Lebanon High School, where he coached tennis, until he sent a sexually explicit video to an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old online. All three men receive public pension benefits.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2018/04/02/Pennsylvania-educators-teachers-banned-convictions-felonies-working-in-schools-collect-state-pensions/stories/201803300166


Will Urban School Districts Have a Voice in the Debate Over Gun Violence?
Education Week District Dossier Blog By Denisa R. Superville on March 30, 2018 4:45 PM
The main advocacy group for the country's largest school districts, the majority of them urban school systems, is calling on the federal government to step up efforts on gun violence and school safety. Wading into the charged debate on gun control since last month's shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Fla., which left 17 students and educators dead, the Council of the Great City Schools wants Congress to ban assault-style weapons and "large-capacity ammunition cartridges" (except those needed for law enforcement or military uses), expand universal background checks for gun buyers, and close the so-called gun-show loophole.  The group is also calling for the federal government to expand Gun-Free School Zones. It wants $1 billion in grants for states and school districts to beef up counseling and mental-health services for students and another $1 billion to local school systems to improve security measures, including retrofitting buildings and enhancing safety training for school employees and law enforcement officials.  
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2018/03/will_urban_school_districts_have_a_voice_in_the_gun_violence_debate.html


Teacher Strikes Are Spreading Across America With No End in Sight
They started in West Virginia, then Oklahoma and Kentucky. Now, Arizona could be next.
Bloomberg News By Josh Eidelson April 2, 2018, 2:58 PM EDT
One month after a teachers’ “wildcat” strike ended with a deal to hike pay for all West Virgina state employees, teacher strikes are spreading fast across the country, with no clear endgame in sight. In Oklahoma, teachers on Monday made good on their threat to shut down hundreds of schools throughout the state, preventing students from taking tests that are required by the end of the school year to ensure federal funding. In Kentucky, schools are closed as well—many because of spring break, others because teachers have swarmed the state capitol building in Frankfort. And in Arizona, teachers last week gathered at the statehouse in Phoenix with buttons reading “I don’t want to strike, but I will.” In each case, teachers are pushing Republican governors and GOP-controlled legislatures to hike their pay, saying declining real wages threaten to drive staff out of the public school system. Educators see leverage in tight private sector labor markets and inspiration in West Virginia, where strikers defied union leaders by holding out for a better deal. They’re reviving the tactics of an earlier era: In the five years that followed World War II, as teachers felt left behind amid crowded classrooms and accelerating private sector wage growth, there were around 60 teacher strikes across the U.S.—many without legal protection or official union support.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-02/teacher-strikes-are-spreading-across-america

Fed up with school spending cuts, Oklahoma teachers walk out
Washington Post By Moriah Balingit April 2 at 7:15 PM Email the author
MUSKOGEE, Okla. — In Monday’s damp predawn darkness, teachers gathered in front of Muskogee High. But instead of heading to their classrooms, they piled on to a bus painted with the school’s mascot — the Roughers — and headed 150 miles west to Oklahoma City. The 30 or so teachers joined tens of thousands at the state Capitol, part of a statewide walkout that has shuttered schools across the state. Teachers in Muskogee, where the gym roof is so leaky that volleyball games get “rained out,” arrived to urge lawmakers to restore education funding, which has fallen 30 percent over the last decade. Many of them came bearing a threat: Increase education funding, or teachers will not return to work. “I’m fed up,” said Rusty Bradley, a high school technology teacher whose classroom computers are more than a decade old, as the bus rumbled toward the state Capitol. After nearly 28 years on the job, he has witnessed state lawmakers repeatedly pledge to give teachers raises and restore education funding, only to be disappointed. “I want them to get off their butts and do something.” The walkout in Oklahoma — which could stretch for days — is part of a wave of educator revolts striking states where tax cuts have drained state funding for schools.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2018/04/02/fed-up-with-school-spending-cuts-oklahoma-teachers-prepare-to-walk-out/?utm_term=.148c0fe99203

Teachers have had it. Why they’re revolting against low pay and inadequate school funding.
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss April 3 at 6:00 AM Email the author
Public schoolteachers in the entire state of West Virginia went on a nine-day strike recently, shutting down schools to demand livable wages. They won a 5 percent raise. In Arizona, thousands of teachers took to the streets in Phoenix, Tucson and other cities last week to demand a 20 percent pay hike and increased school funding — and are threatening a strike if their demands are not met. In Kentucky, thousands of teachers and supporters marched Monday to the Capitol to protest school funding cuts and changes to their pensions. That was after the Republican-led legislature attached a pension plan to a sewage bill. The Lexington Herald-Leader quoted art teacher Jeffrey Peeno saying: “When they pass this with the sewage bill, it tells us exactly what we need to know about what they think of us.” And in Oklahoma, teachers walked out across the state Monday seeking better classroom conditions and higher pay in a protest that, remarkably, has the support not only of the teachers union but of district officials, including the Tulsa schools superintendent. Underpaid and under-resourced teachers have had enough. Tired of struggling to pay their bills and educating students without sufficient resources — or, in some places, heat to keep kids from freezing in the winter  — teachers are suddenly rebelling in places not known for union activism.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2018/04/03/teachers-have-had-it-why-theyre-revolting-against-low-pay-and-inadequate-school-funding/?utm_term=.aaec8ae20187


2018 PSBA Advocacy Day April 16, 2018 Harrisburg
Join PSBA and your fellow school directors for the annual Advocacy Day on Monday, April 16, 2018, at the State Capitol in Harrisburg. PSBA is partnering with Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units to have a stronger voice for public education. Hear how advocacy makes a difference in the legislative process and the importance of public education advocacy. Government Affairs will take a deeper dive into the legislative priorities and will provide tips on how to be an effective public education advocate. There will be dedicated time for you and your fellow advocates to hit the halls to meet with your legislators on public education. This is your chance to share the importance of policy supporting public education and make your voice heard on the Hill. This event is free for members; registration is required.
Register online here: http://www.mypls.com/Default.aspx?tabid=3753
https://www.psba.org/event/2018-psba-advocacy-day/

NPE: Join us in a Day of Action April 20^th to Stop Gun Violence in our Schools
Network for Public Education February 16, 2018 by Darcie Cimarusti
After the slaughter of students and staff in Parkland, Florida, the time for action has never been more urgent. The politicians sit on their hands as our children and their teachers are murdered in their schools. We will be silent no more! The failure to enact rational laws that bar access to guns designed for mass shootings is inexcusable. It is past time to speak out and act. Pledge your support to stop gun violence here. We call for mass action on April 20, the anniversary of the horrific shootings at Columbine High School. We urge teachers, families, students, administrators and every member of the community to engage in acts of protest in and around their schools. Create actions that work best in your community.  Organize sit-ins, teach-ins, walkouts, marches–whatever you decide will show your school and community’s determination to keep our students safe. One elementary teacher suggested that teachers and parents link arms around the school to show their determination to protect children.
https://networkforpubliceducation.org/2018/02/join-us-day-action-stop-gun-violence-schools/

PASA Women's Caucus Annual Conference "Leaders Lifting Leaders"
May 6 - 8, 2018 Hotel Hershey
**REGISTRATION NOW OPEN**
Featured Speakers...
*Dr. Helen Sobehart - Women Leading Education Across Continents: Lifting Leaders from Here to There
*Dr. Tracey Severns - Courageous Leadership
*Dr. Emilie Lonardi - Lead and Lift: A Call for Females to Aspire to the Superintendency
*Deputy Secretary Matt Stem - Update from the PDE
Registration: https://www.pasa-net.org/wcconf

Gerrymandering: Fair Districts PA Statewide Calendar of Events

https://www.fairdistrictspa.com/events

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! Join the PA Principals Association, the PA Association of School Administrators and the PA Association of Rural and Small Schools for PA Education Leaders Advocacy Day at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 19, 2018, at the Capitol in Harrisburg, PA.  

A rally in support of public education and important education issues will be held on the Main Rotunda Steps from 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.
Visits with legislators will be conducted earlier in the day. More information will be sent via email, shared in our publications and posted on our website closer to the event.

To register, send an email to Dr. Joseph Clapper at clapper@paprincipals.org before Friday, June 8, 2018.

Click here to view the PA Education Leaders Advocacy Day 2018 Save The Date Flyer (INCLUDES EVENT SCHEDULE AND IMPORTANT ISSUES.) 

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.

http://dlvr.it/Q5d0c8 

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.