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“How have state lawmakers responded to Parkland?
At least 16 bills in the House and four bills in the Senate have begun circulating in Harrisburg as a direct result of the Feb. 14 school shooting, an LNP review found. Roughly two dozen other bills, introduced earlier, are also attempts at alleviating violence in schools and could gain new momentum in the coming months. Those include Republican Sen. Don White’s often-discussed Senate Bill 383, which would allow school districts to arm teachers and staff.”
Pennsylvania lawmakers look at dozens of bills to improve school safety after Parkland
Lancaster Online SAM JANESCH | Staff Writer April 5, 2018
In the last seven weeks of intense local and national debate about school safety, Pennsylvania lawmakers have discussed armed security guards and bullet-proof glass, metal detectors and mental health screenings. One animated hearing in the state Capitol touched on a school districts’ efforts to equip students and staff with rocks to throw at intruders. Few options have been left off the table. Lawmakers have introduced or given new life to dozens of bills intended to make schools safer in the aftermath of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting that left 17 dead. Up for debate now will be which ones move forward in a General Assembly that often struggles to pass major legislation — and how lawmakers will fund any changes in a state consistently criticized for not giving schools the money they say they need. “I guarantee you there will be action,” said Lee Derr, director of the Senate Education Committee, which is working on a package of school safety-related bills to present later this month.
https://lancasteronline.com/news/politics/pennsylvania-lawmakers-look-at-dozens-of-bills-to-improve-school/article_2078eba2-3848-11e8-a76c-d3bc3f2e2c95.html
Elected officials must act to make Pennsylvania schools safer
Lancaster Online by DOLORES MCCRACKEN | Commentary April 5, 2018
Dolores McCracken is the president of PSEA, which is an affiliate of the National Education Association. PSEA represents approximately 181,000 future, active and retired teachers, school employees and health care workers in Pennsylvania.
Like hundreds of thousands of Americans, I joined a “March for Our Lives” event on March 24. As I stood on the steps of the state Capitol, waiting to speak to the crowd, I listened to two impassioned high school students and an eloquent English teacher. With a strength of conviction that was truly beautiful to behold, those young adults and that dedicated teacher stood up, urged lawmakers to act and made a simple request. All they want, all that they’re asking for, is to be safe in their schools and not live in fear of becoming the next victims of a school shooting. In the aftermath of the tragic February school shooting in Parkland, Florida, countless Americans have spoken out about the urgency of doing everything possible to ensure that our public schools are the safe havens for learning that we all expect them to be. As an educator, I feel overwhelming grief, sadness and anger when I witness these horrible events. But when I see students and adults speak out together to prevent these horrors from ever happening again, I look to the future with hope. Like it or not, educators are, quite literally, on the front lines. Three of our colleagues lost their lives in Parkland, protecting their students. While this is a frightening notion, it is also a fact. And it makes the 181,000 Pennsylvania State Education Association members I represent experts on what needs to be done to keep our schools safe. So, a few weeks ago, I asked PSEA members to share their ideas. And I was pleased to receive nearly 1,000 specific recommendations. I shared many of them with Gov. Tom Wolf, and I summarized them in a report to the state House Education Committee when I testified about school safety on March 14. You can find that report at psea.org/schoolsafety.
https://lancasteronline.com/opinion/columnists/elected-officials-must-act-to-make-pennsylvania-schools-safer/article_312399e2-3790-11e8-87e5-7b7c4cfe8fcf.html
PA students deserve better than buckets of rocks and more guns in their schools. The PA House Education Committee must hold an additional hearing on school safety.
Education Voters PA POSTED MARCH 27, 2018 EDVOPA
While students throughout PA have been begging adults to take action to make their schools safer, some Republican lawmakers were in Harrisburg laughing and joking about wanting to watch students train to throw rocks at an active shooter in their classrooms. This appalling behavior took place on March 15th during the House Education Committee hearing on school safety after a superintendent explained that every classroom in his district is equipped with a bucket of river stones that students are instructed to throw if a gunman enters their room. The testimony presented to lawmakers at the last hearing was inadequate to allow them to make informed and responsible decisions about their legislative and funding priorities to increase school safety. Republican leaders invited a teacher to testify in favor of school staff carrying concealed weapons in schools. However, lawmakers did not adequately hear other perspectives; they did not invite any organization that could provide extensive evidence that adding thousands of guns to our children’s schools will dramatically raise the odds that students will be accidentally hurt or killed by firearms.
http://educationvoterspa.org/blog/pa-students-deserve-better-buckets-rocks-guns-schools-pa-house-education-committee-must-hold-additional-hearing-school-safety/
Pennsylvania's Republican gubernatorial fight goes big ugly
Morning Call by Steve Esack Contact Reporter Call Harrisburg Bureau April 5, 2018
Slumlord? Deadbeat dad? Polluter? Those are just three of several harsh claims Paul Mango’s campaign makes in a statewide television ad targeting his main rival, Scott Wagner, in the Republican primary race for Pennsylvania governor. Titled “Faded Neon,” Mango’s ad was released Wednesday and it sent shock waves through the state’s political circles for the way it tears into Wagner’s personal life and business decisions since the 1970s. “It’s one of the harshest negatives I’ve seen in contemporary politics,” said G. Terry Madonna, longtime political pundit and pollster from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster. “This is a no-holds-barred primary.”
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-nws-scott-wagner-paul-mango-campaign-20180405-story.html
Black students punished more than white students in public schools, government watchdog says
Inquirer by Michael Boren, Staff Writer @borenmc | mboren@phillynews.com Updated: APRIL 5, 2018 — 4:25 PM EDT
Black students in the nation’s public schools are disciplined more often and more severely than white students, a government watchdog found in a report issued this week. The U.S. Government Accountability Office analyzed national civil rights data from the U.S. Department of Education for the 2013-14 school year, the most recent available. In some cases, black students received harsher punishment than white students for the same offense. Consider these examples mentioned in the report:
·
In Kentucky, a black 10th-grader was
assigned a one-day out-of-school suspension for skipping school. A white
12th-grader was assigned a conference with the principal for the same offense.
The black student had 19 previous disciplinary referrals, while the white
student had 28 previous disciplinary referrals.
·
In Mississippi, among several students who were
disciplined for the first offense of using profanity, black students were the
only ones suspended from school, while white students received warnings and
detention for substantially similar behavior.
Nationally, more black students received
out-of-school suspensions than white students — even though white students made
up a much larger portion of the overall student population.http://www.philly.com/philly/education/students-suspensions-bias-discrimination-philadelphia-public-schools-gao-20180405.html
K-12 EDUCATION: Discipline Disparities for Black Students, Boys, and Students with Disabilities
U.S. Government Accountabilty Office GAO-18-258: Published: Mar 22, 2018. Publicly Released: Apr 4, 2018.
What GAO Found
Black students, boys, and students with disabilities were disproportionately disciplined (e.g., suspensions and expulsions) in K-12 public schools, according to GAO's analysis of Department of Education (Education) national civil rights data for school year 2013-14, the most recent available. These disparities were widespread and persisted regardless of the type of disciplinary action, level of school poverty, or type of public school attended. For example, Black students accounted for 15.5 percent of all public school students, but represented about 39 percent of students suspended from school—an overrepresentation of about 23 percentage points (see figure).
https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-18-258
What teachers can do to help black boys overcome our racist society | Opinion
by Sharif el-Mekki, For the Inquirer Updated: APRIL 5, 2018 — 3:01 AM EDT
Sharif el-Mekki is the principal of Mastery Charter-Shoemaker. He blogs at Philly’s 7th Ward.
A recent study, reported on in the New York Times under the headline “Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach of Racism for Black Boys,” and facilitated by researchers at Stanford, Harvard, and the Census Bureau, found that while white boys who grow up rich are likely to stay rich, black boys are more likely to become poor regardless of how rich their families are. Anyone who is surprised by this is choosing to ignore the systems and structures — law enforcement, housing, and health-related services — that were created to maintain the supremacy of one group and the subservience of another. It would be a colossal failure to not look at schools as another system that works to maintain the American nightmare for black people. In order for black boys to survive and thrive in America, our schools need to value and uplift them. Here’s how educators can better serve black boys:
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/commentary/black-boys-racism-schools-education-new-york-times-data-20180406.html
Bethel Park students hope to take part in National School Walkout on April 20
Post-Gazette by DEANA CARPENTER APR 5, 2018 1:24 PM
The Bethel Park school board wants to hear from high school administrators and students about what exactly will be happening at a planned April 20 school walkout before the board gives its approval. The board is expected to vote April 17 on whether to allow high school students to participate in the National School Walkout, which is set for 10 a.m. April 20, the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting. Schools across the country will be participating in the walkout, according to the National School Walkout website. The Bethel Park school board had previously approved a school walkout that was scheduled for March 14, when thousands of students stage a walkout in support of victims of the high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., but it was postponed due to weather. Board president Donna Cook said in a statement the board approved its students to participate in the March 14 National School Walkout Day and said April 20 was selected as a rain date because it is the day before the students are holding a THON-style dance at the high school. The proceeds from the dance will be donated to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2018/04/05/Bethel-Park-National-School-Walkout-April-20/stories/201803290019
These Philly-area teens got 100 classmates to register to vote. Now, they're taking the next step
Inquirer by Anna Orso, Staff Writer @anna_orso | aorso@phillynews.com Updated: APRIL 5, 2018 — 10:51 AM EDT
Jahnavi Rao was 6 when a friend’s father predicted she’d one day be president. She remembers brushing it off, figuring she’d more likely be a musician or an FBI agent or a mermaid. More than a decade later, Rao is a senior at Conestoga High School, where last year she led an effort to get more than 100 of her classmates to register to vote by enlisting dozens of volunteers to go to homerooms and hound eligible friends. The club, started in part as a response to the 2016 presidential election, has swelled to more than 50 members at the Tredyffrin Township school and has connected with students from 90 other schools across the country so they, too, can run successful voter registration drives. “Never again will our interests be ignored due to a lack of voter registration,” said Rao, 17, who heads the 2018 New Voters initiative in between taking advanced classes, leading her section in the marching band, and deciding whether she wants to accept a college admission offer from Harvard, Stanford or Princeton.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/weare18-conestoga-high-school-vote-2018-new-voters-20180405.html
IB: At Mayfair Elementary, fusing diversity with challenging curriculum to create world citizens
The notebook by Dale Mezzacappa April 5, 2018 — 3:37pm
Mayfair Elementary School, with nearly 1,800 students, is by far the largest elementary school in Pennsylvania. As other schools around the city cope with shrinking populations, Mayfair just added two colorful new additions, which house classrooms and a new cafeteria with a full kitchen, to its original 1949 building in the Mayfair section of Northeast Philadelphia. The K-8 school's enrollment has exploded from just over 1,000 only six years ago. Mayfair, a complex of buildings sprawled across a city block and surrounded by neat rowhomes, now has a new distinction. It is one of only three schools in the state, and the only public school, that is certified to offer the International Baccalaureate curriculum in both primary and middle grades. Last week, Mayor Kenney, Superintendent William Hite, and City Councilman Bobby Henon visited the school to celebrate the achievement, which took years of preparation and required the buy-in of its 130-member staff. ‘When I came in 2012, I noticed that kids were asking to put what they were learning in context,” said principal Guy Lowery. “They were saying, ‘We learn all these great things. Now what?’” Plus, his students’ families come from all over the world – more than 60 countries, which makes it one of the most diverse in the state. Almost a quarter of Mayfair’s students are English learners; among the languages spoken are Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, and Albanian. So Lowery investigated IB, with its inquiry focus and commitment to creating world citizens.
http://thenotebook.org/articles/2018/04/05/at-mayfair-fusing-diversity-with-challenging-curriculum-to-create-world-citizens
APPS: Who–and What–Does the New School Board Represent?
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools By Deb Grill, Karel Kilimnik and Lisa Haver April 4, 2018
APPS biographies of the nine members of the new Philadelphia School Board.
Unlike the other 500, Philadelphia is the only school district in Pennsylvania whose voters cannot elect a school board. We’ve had town halls, online surveys, and pronouncements from city politicians, but it all comes down to this: The government officials who will decide the future of the city’s public schools, and who will control a $3 billion budget, have been chosen by one person, Mayor Kenney. His decision has been based, in part, on the opinions of the thirteen people selected by him to be on the Nominating Panel. It has also been based on the wishes of the influential individuals, organizations and corporations who have lobbied him to represent their interests on the board. Two built-in lobbyists on the Nominating Panel, Stephanie Naidoff and Bonnie Camarda, are members of the board of the Philadelphia School Partnership, which funnels millions every year from private investors into schools of their choice for the programs of their choice, mostly charters. All of the deliberations of the Panel were held in secret. None of the district’s stakeholders, or the city’s taxpayers, were able to express their opinions about any of the candidates, whether pro or con, or to raise concerns about possible conflicts of interest. APPS did everything we could, short of legal action, to open up this process.
https://appsphilly.net/2018/04/04/who-and-what-does-the-new-school-board-represent/
Ridley OKs new five-year contract with teachers’ union
Delco Times By Barbara Ormsby, Times Correspondent POSTED: 04/05/18, 8:27 PM EDT
RIDLEY TOWNSHIP >> Ridley School District teachers are getting a raise.
The Ridley School Board and the Ridley Education Association have reached an agreement on a new five-year contract – including a 1.9 percent salary increase for teachers each year.
Starting salary for teachers with a bachelor’s degree in the Ridley School District is $45,641. For a teacher at the top of scale, with a master’s degree and 45 credits beyond a master degree, and at least 15 years experience, the salary is $105,729 in the first year of the new agreement. According to Superintendent Lee Ann Wentzel, 45 percent of district teachers are at the top of scale. The negotiations that led to the new deal stand in sharp contrast to collective bargaining efforts four years ago when teachers, who had been working without a contract for more than six months before an agreement was reached, conducted informational picketing at various school sites. The school board signed off on the new deal at its March meeting. “It took us only three meetings to reach a contract,” school board President Mike Capozzoli commented. “The teachers and professional staff and the (school) board team acted in conjunction with each other.” The contract will run from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2023, and calls for a 1.9 percent salary increase for teachers at the maximum of scale in each of the five years of the contract. Others will receive an average of $1,000 to $1,900 a year.
http://www.delcotimes.com/general-news/20180405/ridley-oks-new-five-year-contract-with-teachers-union
In School Shootings, Most Guns Come From Home
Statistics suggest that a lack of gun safety at home also has played a big role in school shootings
Wall Street Journal By Tawnell D. Hobbs April 5, 2018 5:30 a.m. ET
A striking detail stands out in nearly three decades of American mass school shootings: The killers mostly use guns owned by a family member, not purchased on their own. As Congress, statehouses, school districts, retailers and various groups debate how to prevent a school shooting after a 19-year-old who legally bought guns left 17 dead in Parkland, Fla., much discussion centers on whether to raise the minimum age for gun purchases. But statistics suggest that a lack of gun safety at home also has played a big role in school shootings. Guns in the home “is a very important element that has been lost in the current debate,” said J. Reid Meloy, a forensic psychologist and longtime FBI consultant. He sees the problem in the combination of a troubled adolescent, unsecured firearms, general disorganization at home, and “then you increase the risk, of course, of him being able to easily access a weapon.” The Wall Street Journal reviewed all school shootings with at least three victims dead or injured since 1990 and found 32. Most shooters are white male teenagers. In 25 of the cases, the shooters were teenagers or younger. In 17 of the 20 of those cases where details were available on where the shooter got the gun, they were sourced at home, with a few also getting some weapons from relatives. About 42% of U.S. adults say they live in households with a gun, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2017.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-school-shootings-most-guns-come-from-home-1522920600
Top U.S. Senators for Education Pitch Youth Prevention to Fight Opioid Epidemic
Education Week Politics K12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa on April 5, 2018 2:36 PM
A new blueprint for fighting opioid addiction from Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., focuses in part on preventing addiction in young people and helping children recover from opioid-related trauma. The senators' proposals were included in a draft of the Opioid Crisis Response Act of 2018 released earlier this week. Alexander and Murray are the chairman and ranking member, respectively, of the Senate education committee. They're also proposing to create a task force that would create programs to help children cope with trauma related to opioids. Much of the legislation focuses on issues beyond children. But here is the section of the draft that deals with youth recovery programs, and would require the involvement of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos:
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2018/04/senators_for_education_proposals_fight_opioid_epidemic.html
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 20th 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
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.
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.
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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