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Blogger note: we have been having intermittent issues with email. If you did not receive yesterday’s PA Ed Policy Roundup you can catch it here:
PA Ed Policy Roundup April 30: Editorial: Public schools in a fight to stop voucher proposal Senate Bill 2
https://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2018/04/pa-ed-policy-roundup-april-30-editorial.html
Why Are We Still Testing
Curmudgucation Blog by Peter Greene Thursday, April 12, 2018
It's the season of testing again, a season that has no come so many times that lots of folks don't even question it any more? But it's a question that needs to be asked about the Big Standardized Test-- why, exactly, are we still doing this? We've had a variety of answers over the years-- let's see how they hold up.
http://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2018/04/why-are-we-still-testing.html
“ESSA will also do away with the state’s School Performance Profile, which gave each school a score on a scale of 1-100 based on a variety of factors. Instead, now there will be a “dashboard,” called the Future Ready Index that is far more complicated for ordinary person to follow but, Olanoff argues, provides a wealth of additional information of parents and other stakeholders. Pennsylvania is among six states that have decided to use this dashboard instead of a single number to rate a school. Outside groups that have been evaluating state ESSA plans for the most part give the state high marks for how it has refocused judging school effectiveness and student achievement, especially its career-readiness indicator and emphasis on student growth.”
Under ESSA, the newest federal K-12 education law, parents will get more information about their kids' schools
The Every Student Succeeds Act replaces No Child Left Behind, the controversial plan that caused upheaval in some schools.
The notebook by Dale Mezzacappa WHYY NEWS April 30, 2018 — 9:33pm
Within in the next two years, parents and advocates will get significantly more information about their schools and school districts, going far beyond demographics and test scores to include reporting on everything from absenteeism rates to new details on how schools actually spend their money. That is a result of the Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA, the newest incarnation of the main K-12 federal education law. ESSA is the successor to the previous reauthorization, dubbed No Child Left Behind, or NCLB, the 2002 legislation that imposed a highly controversial accountability and intervention regime on schools -- requiring annual testing, mandating that results be disaggregated by student subgroups, and causing upheaval in schools not making the grade. The federal government’s control over education is minimal but its influence is substantial. Both NCLB and now ESSA are reauthorizations of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the major federal education law signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. At the time, Johnson said that the “first national goal” should be “educational opportunity for all.”
http://thenotebook.org/articles/2018/04/30/under-essa-the-newest-incarnation-of-the-main-federal-k-12-education-law-parents-will-get-more-information-about-their-kids-schools
“Though districts are not required to track the number of kids they remove from school, through a series of Right-to-Know requests, WHYY found 37 of 63 suburban districts recorded the number of disenrollments from 2014 to 2017. Those 37 districts disenrolled a combined 1,603 students. To do that, districts paid social workers, hired investigators, tailed students, ran data searches, and monitored bounced mail — all in the service of determining who belonged in their schools — and who didn’t.
Suburban schools’ residency enforcement disproportionately affects kids of color
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent May 1, 2018 Listen 6:39
Every year, hundreds of kids are kicked out of suburban Philadelphia school districts for residency fraud. Maybe even thousands. This little-discussed corner of the K-12 world contains so many of the issues that shape education in Pennsylvania today. WHYY explored the topic of disenrollment in our series, “Kicked Out.” This is part one. In part two, we’ll look at what school districts do when they suspect students of residency fraud. To listen to the radio versions of this story, click on the play button above to hear part one. To listen to part two, click the play button below.
https://whyy.org/segments/suburban-schools-residency-enforcement-disproportionately-affects-kids-of-color/
“After changing the language, Metcalfe quickly adjourned the meeting without calling a vote to pass the measure. The Butler County Republican said if a version of the bill comes up again, he'll do the same thing. "If they want to debate a proposal, they will debate this proposal in this committee," he said.”
GOP guts another independent redistricting commission bill
WITF Written by Katie Meyer, Capitol Bureau Chief | Apr 30, 2018 9:58 PM
(Harrisburg) - For the second time this month, a state House panel has stripped a bill that would have established an independent redistricting commission made up of citizens, and replaced it with language that gives the legislature even more power over the process. GOP House State Government Committee Chair Daryl Metcalfe called the surprise meeting Monday, because the bill's supporters were trying to circumvent his panel to get the measure to the House floor. A number of lawmakers complained they were only given about ten minutes' notice of the amendment. Metcalfe's version of the bill would put six lawmakers in charge of the redistricting process. That's one more than current law allows. It would also get rid of the governor's ability to sign or veto the maps, and it would allow the Commonwealth Court to be a final arbiter of disputes, not the state Supreme Court.
http://www.witf.org/state-house-sound-bites/2018/04/gop-guts-another-independent-redistricting-commission-bill.php
Pa. House approves bills to boost interest in high-demand career and technical fields
Penn Live By Jan Murphy jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated Apr 30, 6:37 PM
A bi-partisan package of eight bills that aims to address business and industry workforce shortages and alleviate the mis-perception attached to career and technical education won House approval on Monday. While a four-year college degree might be right for some students, the lawmakers who introduced the pieces of legislation said career and technical education can lead to a career path with lower or no debt and a family-sustaining wage. "There is no one-size-fits-all with it comes to education issues," said House Education Committee Chairman David Hickernell, R-Lancaster County, at a recent news conference. The package of bills now go to the Senate for consideration. The legislation grows out of two years of work by a House select committee that traveled the state and gathered information about career and technical education and employers' needs for skilled labor.
http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/04/pa_house_approves_bills_to_boo.html#incart_river_index
SB1000/HB2253: Governor Wolf, Legislators Introduce New Bipartisan Severance Tax Legislation
Gant Daily Posted on Tuesday, May 1, 2018 by Gant Team in Local News, Top Stories
HARRISBURG – On Monday Gov. Tom Wolf was joined by a bipartisan coalition of legislative members to announce the introduction of legislation that will create a reasonable, commonsense severance tax in Pennsylvania. Senate Bill 1000, and its companion House Bill 2253, will give Pennsylvania’s citizens their fair share of revenues from the natural gas industry. “Since day one of my term as governor, I have fought to enact a reasonable severance tax that would give Pennsylvanians their fair share of the energy boom that is powered by resources that belong to all of us,” said Wolf. “I, along with this bipartisan coalition, am here to call on the House and Senate to pass these bills and get them to my desk so that they can become law and Pennsylvanians can begin to get the benefits that other states have had for years.” Pennsylvania is the only gas-producing state in the nation without a severance tax. Other major gas producing states like Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Alaska are collecting billions from the oil and gas industries to help fix roads, build schools, and keep taxes low. According to the Governor’s Office, Pennsylvania is blowing most other states out of the water when it comes to production and by joining every other gas-producing state and passing a severance tax, the commonwealth could realize billions in new revenue. The proposed severance tax would generate an estimated $248.7 million in the next fiscal year alone to address critical budget needs and would also keep the current impact fee in place, ensuring that this important revenue source for local municipalities stays intact.
https://gantdaily.com/2018/05/01/governor-wolf-legislators-introduce-new-bipartisan-severance-tax-legislation/
Wolf, bipartisan legislators propose natural gas severance tax
Beaver County Times By J.D. Prose Posted Apr 30, 2018 at 5:00 PM Updated Apr 30, 2018 at 7:31 PM
A natural gas severance tax proposed by Gov. Tom Wolf and a bipartisan band of state legislators on Monday immediately drew criticism from industry groups warning that it would threaten jobs in Pennsylvania. Wolf said new bills in the House and Senate offer a “reasonable, common sense” severance tax on natural gas that would not harm jobs and allow the state to pursue much-needed investments in schools, bridges and roads. Based on production and market prices, the severance tax would have an effective tax rate of 4 percent. A statement from Wolf’s office said a tax would generate about $250 million in the next fiscal year. Pennsylvanians are paying for infrastructure improvements in other states with severance taxes, Wolf said, but not benefiting when gas is extracted here and shipped out of state. He said 80 percent of a severance tax would be paid by out-of-state consumers who would “pay their fair share” just as Pennsylvanians have been for gas from other states.
http://www.timesonline.com/news/20180430/wolf-bipartisan-legislators-propose-natural-gas-severance-tax
“To further press the case, the administration has enlisted the aid of two southeastern Republicans: state Sen. Tom Killion, of Delaware County, and Rep. Bernie O'Neill, of Bucks County to do the legislative heavy lifting.”
Is the fourth time a charm for Wolf and the severance tax? He thinks so | John L. Micek
Penn Live By John L. Micek jmicek@pennlive.com Updated Apr 30, 5:11 PM
So just how predictable have affairs become in Pennsylvania's annual scramble to slap a severance tax on natural gas drillers? Predictable enough that the Marcellus Shale Coalition, the powerful industry trade group, had a full op-Ed written and ready to go nearly an hour before Gov. Tom Wolf strapped on his walking boots and got ready to push the severance tax boulder up to the hill for another budget season. redictable enough that, after four years, the arguments that Democrat Wolf made on behalf of the tax now have a Mad Libs-y familiarity to them.
http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2018/04/is_the_fourth_time_a_charm_for.html#incart_river_index
Dems eye Pennsylvania to win back US House
Daily Local By Marc Levy, Associated Press POSTED: 04/30/18, 4:22 PM EDT
HARRISBURG >> A longtime congressional stronghold for Republicans, Pennsylvania is emerging in dramatic fashion as a source of hope for Democrats in their quest to take control of the U.S. House in November’s mid-term elections. For years, Pennsylvania has hosted one of the nation’s biggest Republican congressional delegations. Now, what had been a 13-to-5 Republican advantage in Pennsylvania’s 18-member delegation could get wiped out. It’s been seven head-spinning months. First, five Republican congressmen decided not to run again, including one — suburban Pittsburgh’s Tim Murphy — who resigned last October amid a sex scandal. Those openings created opportunities for Democrats. Then the state Supreme Court, ruling in a gerrymandering lawsuit, junked Pennsylvania’s six-year-old district boundaries that were drawn by Republicans to get Republicans elected. The court’s Democratic majority redrew the boundaries, improving Democrats’ chances in five districts in particular.
http://www.dailylocal.com/general-news/20180430/dems-eye-pennsylvania-to-win-back-us-house
Possibly cutting full-day kindergarten to half day, three years tax hikes, looms for Harrisburg schools
Penn Live By Steve Marroni smarroni@pennlive.com Updated Apr 30, 9:56 PM
HARRISBURG - Could full-day kindergarten be on the chopping block? As the Harrisburg School District tries to bandage what's looking like a financial hemorrhage, two options are on the table - three years of program cuts and three years of tax increases. And the first program under consideration is reducing full-day kindergarten to half day. While that cut alone can save nearly $1 million per year, many in the audience of 30 were not having it. They were passionate about keeping this educational step in place, and those passions broke into a brief yelling match between the audience and one board member. At Monday night's budget presentation, the Harrisburg School District's finance team discussed the outlook for the school district's next five years of budgets. While things look OK right now with a $30 million fund balance, that fund balance quickly diminishes.
http://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/04/full_day_kindergarten_harrisbu.html
KLINE’S KORNER, The annual struggle ... the school budget
Waynesboro Record Herald Opinion by Dr. Tod Kline Posted Apr 30, 2018 at 9:00 AM
Editor’s Note: Dr. Tod Kline is superintendent of the Waynesboro Area School District. This is one in a series of regular Kline’s Korner columns in The Record Herald.
Every year at this time, school districts across the state of Pennsylvania are struggling to balance a budget. It is a process. It really is like balancing your budget at home in some ways, and continuing to be a challenge. For years, schools seemed to be able to have money to spend. It appeared to be tax and spend. Some of that statement is true, and some is just perception. Nevertheless, schools have had to become much more cost effective and budget conscious than ever before. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Through political platforms and economic downturns schools have started to become much more cost efficient and effective than perhaps ever before. Ten years ago, the U.S. economy began to take a nose dive. Schools struggled on two fronts. Those fronts were the political pressures to be more economically responsible and the annual revenues the schools were used to having were disappearing. Programs were abolished or whittled down to a minimum, and people were furloughed. PA Code provides very few scenarios for furloughing staff. One is through the elimination of or changes in programs. Reducing programming was a way to reduce the cost of staffing. Sixty to seventy percent (60-70 percent) of a school district’s budget usually makes up personnel costs.
http://www.therecordherald.com/news/20180430/klines-korner-annual-struggle--school-budget
Letter: Charter schools are public schools
Delco Times Letter by Richard Abraham, Haverford POSTED: 04/30/18, 9:04 PM EDT
To the Times: In your article you claim that “SB2 benefits private and charter schools and hurts public schools”.” Charter schools are public schools, free to the students that attend and paid for by taxpayers. They would not benefit in any way from SB2. Although I support charter schools because I view them as better run public schools I oppose all voucher schemes that divert money to private and parochial schools and harm all public schools, including charters.
http://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/20180430/letter-charter-schools-are-public-schools
Time to pop the cork on reform bills bottled up in Harrisburg | Editorial
by The Inquirer Editorial Board Updated: MAY 1, 2018 — 5:47 AM EDT
This is The Agenda, an ongoing series examining key issues facing the region and Pennsylvania. Talk to us at agenda@phillynews.com.
Pennsylvania voters entrust state legislators with plenty of power. They can help or hinder people, industries, and special interests. They can also exploit that power, accepting gifts, side jobs, and unlimited campaign contributions. Why do we put up with this embarrassment? State senators and representatives can accept gifts of up to $249 in value without having to publicly report who paid for them. Members of the nation’s largest full-time legislature can hold side jobs without reporting those salaries on their annual statements of financial interests. Pennsylvania also is one of just 11 states with no limits for campaign contributions for state elected offices. It’s all so cozy, with little to break the amorous embrace of legislators and generous gift-givers. And it comes in all sizes. Pennsylvania legislators have been tripped up in criminal cases for gifts worth thousands of dollars and, in one instance, $750 in money orders. It leaves the General Assembly with a sullied reputation for corruption.
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/editorials/time-to-pop-the-cork-on-reform-bills-bottled-up-in-harrisburg-editorial-20180501.html
STANDING UP FOR PUBLIC CONTROL OF SCHOOLS
Cloaking Inequity Blog Posted on April 30, 2018 by Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig
A Walton funded “non-profit” has publicly and surreptitiously been trying to organize for charters. I first wrote about this in the post WALTON FUNDED ORGANIZATION SEEKING “ORGANIZE” AND “INNOVATE” We are noticing that education “reformers” are increasingly calling their ideas community-based and sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund astroturf (fake grassroots) organizations to push for school privatization and private control. Yesterday two parents published the following op-ed about is approach in the San Francisco Examiner.
https://cloakinginequity.com/2018/04/30/standing-up-for-public-control-of-schools/
IT DOESN’T JUST HAPPEN AT STARBUCKS. TEACHERS NEED RACIAL BIAS TRAINING TOO.
Philly’s 7th Ward Blog BY ZACHARY WRIGHT APRIL 30, 2018
Recently, two Black men were arrested for sitting in a Starbucks here in Philadelphia. They were waiting for a friend who arrived shortly after his friends had been handcuffed. The men were supposedly “causing a disturbance” and “refused to buy anything.” It is easy for supposedly non-racist White people like myself to read stories like this and feel disgusted by such blatantly racist behavior. But before we get too proud of our post-racial selves, I’d like to challenge us to truly investigate our own implicit racial biases. Would we have called the cops on the Black men in Starbucks? Probably not. Does that mean we are free of bias and racism? Absolutely not. A few years ago, I sat with my colleagues for the first of many cultural context professional development sessions. I was aggressively disengaged and reflexively defensive. I felt I was being told how, as a White man, I was automatically biased, and probably even racist.
http://phillys7thward.org/2018/04/doesnt-just-happen-starbucks-teachers-need-racial-bias-training/
Survey says: WPIAL heavily favors separate tournaments for private and public schools
MIKE WHITE Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mwhite@post-gazette.com APR 30, 2018 11:42 AM
About nine out of 10 schools in the WPIAL would like to see separate high school playoff tournaments for public and private/Catholic/charter schools. At least that’s what the results of a recent WPIAL survey revealed. The league last week sent a six-question survey to all of its 138 schools. The main question was whether schools would like separate playoffs for boundary (public) and non-boundary schools (private/Catholic/charter). The survey was prompted by mounting complaints from coaches, athletic directors and superintendents around the state that non-boundary schools have a competitive advantage because they can draw students from anywhere, while public schools can only take students from its geographical district. A total of 108 WPIAL schools responded to the survey by this past Friday’s deadline, and 86 percent (93 schools) said they would favor separate tournaments for boundary and non-boundary schools. A total of 15 non-boundary schools responded to the survey and four of them said they would favor separate tournaments.
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/highschool/2018/04/30/wpial-survey-results-piaa-transfer-rule-private-public-schools/stories/201804300127
Six Reasons Why School Choice Won't Save Us
Forbes Opinion by Natalie Wexler , CONTRIBUTORI write about retooling K-12 education to address social inequality. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. APR 29, 2018 @ 03:20 PM
Proponents of school choice often argue that it’s the path to a better education system. While it’s a path that works for some children, it can end up leaving others even farther behind. School choice comes in a variety of forms: charter schools, vouchers parents can use at private schools, and traditional public school systems that don't restrict students to neighborhood schools. The justifications for choice also vary. Some advocates, like former teachers’ union president Albert Shanker, have seen charter schools as laboratories for experimentation. Others regard choice as a matter of social justice. Why, they ask, should wealthy parents have the option of moving to an area with good schools or paying for private schools, while their lower-income counterparts are restricted to the possibly dysfunctional school in their neighborhood? The most committed advocates of school choice also see it as a way to improve education for all through the free market. Let schools compete for students, they argue, and eventually only the best schools will survive. Others acknowledge that free-market competition alone won’t do the trick. But, they say, what does work is a choice-based system that incorporates governmental regulation. In D.C., for example, the Public Charter School Board subjects charter applicants to rigorous scrutiny, monitors school performance, and shuts down charters that fail to meet specified goals. That kind of oversight generally yields better results than unfettered choice. But there are at least six problems that are inherent in any system that relies on choice.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2018/04/29/six-reasons-why-school-choice-wont-save-us/#5842e1e0142ell
Reader: The Non-Miracle of Success Academy’s Graduating Class of 17 Students
Diane Ravitch’s Blog By dianeravitch April 29, 2018 //
The senior class at Success Academy’s Liberal Arts High School has 17 members.
When they started in kindergarten, there were 73 students.
By the end of eighth grade, there were 32 students.
Four years later, there were 17, all of whom were admitted to college.
Gary Rubinstein wrote recently that we can’t be sure of the real attrition rate because some of the original 73 might have been excluded and replaced; unlike real public schools, Success Academy does not admit new students after third grade. So impressed was SA’s board chairman, billionaire Dan Loeb, by the “success” of the high school with 17 graduating seniors that he gave Eva Moskowitz $15 million to add more high schools. But one of our regular readers, who signs in as New York City Public School Parent, says the media should look to the public schools to find schools that consistently achieve success for far greater numbers of students who are poor, African American and/or Hispanic:
https://dianeravitch.net/2018/04/29/reader-the-non-miracle-of-success-academys-graduating-class-of-17-students/?platform=hootsuite
Our Public Schools Our Democracy: Our Fight for the Future
NPE / NPE Action 5th Annual National Conference
October 20th - 21st, 2018 Indianapolis, Indiana
We are delighted to let you know that you can purchase your discounted Early Bird ticket to register for our annual conference starting today. Purchase your ticket here.
Early Bird tickets will be on sale until May 30 or until all are sold out, so don't wait. These tickets are a great price--$135. Not only do they offer conference admission, they also include breakfast and lunch on Saturday, and brunch on Sunday. Please don't forget to register for your hotel room. We have secured discounted rates on a limited basis. You can find that link here. Finally, if you require additional financial support to attend, we do offer some scholarships based on need. Go here and fill in an application. We will get back to you as soon as we can. Please join us in Indianapolis as we fight for the public schools that our children and communities deserve. Don't forget to get your Early Bird ticket here. We can't wait to see you.
Electing PSBA Officers: Applications Due by June 1st
Do you have strong communication and leadership skills and a vision for PSBA? Members interested in becoming the next leaders of PSBA are encouraged to submit an Application for Nomination no later than June 1, 11:59 p.m., to PSBA's Leadership Development Committee (LDC). The nomination process
All persons seeking nomination for elected positions of the Association shall send applications to the attention of the chair of the Leadership Development Committee, during the months of April and May an Application for Nomination to be provided by the Association expressing interest in the office sought. “The Application for nomination shall be marked received at PSBA Headquarters or mailed first class and postmarked by June 1 to be considered and timely filed.” (PSBA Bylaws, Article IV, Section 5.E.).
Open positions are:
In addition to the application form, PSBA Governing Board Policy 302 asks that all candidates furnish with their application a recent, print quality photograph and letters of application. The application form specifies no less than three letters of recommendation and no more than four, and are specifically requested as follows:
https://www.psba.org/2018/03/electing-psba-officers/
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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