Monday, May 21, 2018

PA Ed Policy Roundup May 21: #SB2: Senate Ed Committee to vote on voucher bill Tuesday morning


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 4050 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, Wolf education transition team members, superintendents, school solicitors, principals, charter school leaders, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations, education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory agencies, professional associations and education advocacy organizations via emails, website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
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#SB2: Senate Ed Committee to vote on voucher bill Tuesday morning



The new voucher proposal is back on the table, with the PA Senate Education Committee poised to consider it AGAIN on Tuesday, May 22!!!!

Their meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 22nd at 10:30am in Room 8A East Wing of the Capitol Building.

Please consider taking action today to oppose this legislation.

Senate Bill 2 (sponsored by Sen. DiSanto, R-Dauphin) provides ESAs to students in the attendance boundary of low-achieving schools (schools in the bottom 15% of all district schools based on math and reading scores--click here for a list of impacted schools, based on the list used for the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program)--and ALSO to students entering kindergarten or first grade, regardless of whether they are in the attendance boundary of a low-achieving school. These students can use the money in their ESAs to attend private schools. The money to fund these ESAs is deducted from the resident school district's state subsidies. Click here for a summary of the bill.

The Senate Education Committee is the first step in this process (click here to see if your Senator is on the Committee)...if your Senator is on the Education Committee, please CALL him or her asking for opposition to the bill (click here for contact information).

If your Senator is NOT on the Education Committee, he or she still needs to hear from you on this issue now. Email, call, text, tweet at them to make sure they understand that Senate Bill 2 is a voucher bill that has no positive impact on public education.

*The current language in the bill will expand ESA’s to thousands of students beyond the 15% lowest performing schools.

* Education Savings Account Vouchers will drain desperately-needed funding from public schools and reduce access to educational opportunities for all students in order to fund the private education of a few. Estimates show that SB 2 could siphon more than $500 million from the state's 500 school districts.

* Education Savings Account Vouchers allow discrimination against Pennsylvania’s children into law. Education Savings Account Vouchers enable the re-segregation of public schools and allow private schools accepting taxpayer dollars to discriminate on the basis of gender, religion, and disability status. Students with disabilities, if they are permitted to enroll in a private school, give up their rights under Federal law to an appropriate education.  Most parents don’t understand this until it is too late.

* Education Savings Account Vouchers are expensive to administer and financial oversight and accountability are limited, leaving taxpayer dollars ripe for waste, fraud, and abuse. Arizona, which has had Education Savings Account Vouchers for six years, has seen families use ESA funding to make non-educational purchases and other fraud. Once families spend these taxpayer dollars, it is almost impossible to recover them.  Taxpayers deserve to have oversight of all public dollars that are used for non-public education.

* Education Savings Account Vouchers can impact any school district, not just districts with low performing schools. Amazingly, a student who receives an ESA is eligible for an ESA for the rest of his K-12 school career, regardless of their school district of residence. When students with ESAs move to another district, their new school districts will have state funding reduced by the amount that is deposited into the student’s ESA, even if they are not on the low performing school district list.

* There is little academic oversight or accountability for private schools that would receive public funding. SB 2 does not require private schools to administer the PSSA or Keystone exams or require any regulation or oversight over the education that private schools provide students. 

More info on SB2 here:



After Texas attack, a look at other U.S. school shootings
Post-Gazette by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MAY 18, 2018 1:31 PM
Authorities say an attack at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, on Friday killed several people, including students, and that two people were detained. Here’s a look at some recent U.S. school shootings and some of the deadliest of years past:
▪ Feb. 14, 2018: Authorities say a former student killed 17 people, including 14 children and three staff members, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Nikolas Cruz, 19, faces 17 counts of first-degree murder in the attack, which sparked student walkouts throughout the country calling for tougher gun restrictions.
▪ Jan. 23, 2018: Two students were killed and 14 were wounded by gunfire when a student opened fire before classes began at Marshall County High School in western Kentucky, authorities said. Gabriel Ross Parker, who was 15 at the time of the attack, is charged with two counts of murder and 14 counts of assault.
▪ Dec. 7, 2017: Two students at Aztec High School in New Mexico were killed by a 21-year-old gunman disguised as a student. Police said the shooter later killed himself.
▪ Sept. 13, 2017: A 15-year-old boy was killed at Freeman High School in Rockford, Washington, and three female students were wounded when authorities say another 15-year-old boy opened fire with a handgun. A suspect was arrested.
▪ April 10, 2017: A gunman opened fire in the special education classroom of his estranged wife at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino, California, killing her and an 8-year-old boy, and wounding another child. The gunman then fatally shot himself.
▪ Sept. 28, 2016: A 6-year-old boy was fatally shot on the playground of Townville Elementary School in South Carolina by a 14-year-old boy who had just killed his father, authorities said. Another child and a teacher were struck by bullets but survived. The teen was charged with murder.
▪ Sept 8, 2016: A 14-year-old girl died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after shooting and wounding another female student at Alpine High School in West Texas.
▪ Dec. 14, 2012: A 20-year-old gunman killed 20 first-grade children and six educators inside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and then killed himself. He also fatally shot his mother before entering the school.
▪ Feb. 27, 2012: Three students were killed and two wounded in a shooting that started in a school cafeteria in Chardon, Ohio, as students waited for buses to other schools. Police charged a suspect, 17 at the time, as an adult.
▪ April 16, 2007: Twenty-three-year-old Seung-Hui Cho fatally shot 32 people in a dorm and a classroom at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, and then killed himself.
▪ April 20, 1999: Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before killing themselves in the school’s library.
▪ Dec. 1, 1997: Three students were killed and five wounded at a high school in West Paducah, Kentucky. Michael Carneal, then 14, later pleaded guilty but mentally ill to murder and is serving life in prison.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/nation/2018/05/18/Texas-attack-US-school-shootings-timeline-list/stories/201805180136

“In Pennsylvania, voter registrations across age groups increased sharply in March and April before the primary last week, but registrations of young voters increased the fastest, jumping to 45 percent in March and more than half in April, from fewer than 40 percent of voters in January and February.”
Young People Keep Marching After Parkland, This Time to Register to Vote
New York Times By Michael Tackett and Rachel Shorey May 20, 2018
WASHINGTON — The pace of new voter registrations among young people in crucial states is accelerating, a signal that school shootings this year — and the anger and political organizing in their wake — may prove to be more than ephemeral displays of activism. They could even help shape the outcome of the midterm elections. If voters in their teens and 20s vote in greater numbers than usual, as many promised during nationwide marches for gun control this spring, the groundswell could affect close races in key states like Arizona and Florida, where there will be competitive races for governor, the Senate and a number of House districts in November. The deadly shooting on Friday at Santa Fe High School in Texas will probably add urgency to the efforts. Hours after the carnage, young organizers mobilized by the February mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., were vowing a political response.  “Santa Fe High, you didn’t deserve this,” Emma González, an organizer from Parkland, posted on Twitter. “You deserve peace all your lives, not just after a tombstone saying that is put over you. You deserve more than Thoughts and Prayers, and after supporting us by walking out we will be there to support you by raising up your voices.”
Their voices have already risen. The question is whether they will vote. Even some Republicans are beginning to believe they will.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/20/us/politics/young-voters-registration-parkland.html

Oliver North, incoming NRA chief, blames school shootings on 'culture of violence' and Ritalin
Morning Call by Frances Stead Sellers and Michael Scherer Washington Post May 20, 2018
Two days after a 17-year-old opened fire in his Texas high school, killing at least 10, incoming National Rifle Association president Oliver North said students "shouldn't have to be afraid" to go to school and blamed the problem on "youngsters who are steeped in a culture of violence" in which many young boys have "been on Ritalin" since early childhood. "They've been drugged in many cases," he said. Appearing on "Fox New Sunday," the retired marine best known for his role in the Iran-contra scandal in the 1980s said, "You are not going to fix it by taking away the rights of law-abiding citizens." Instead, he said, schools should look at fortifying their campuses, considering ingress and egress points and people's ability to enter buildings carrying weapons.
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/ct-texas-school-shooting-nra-20180520-story.html

Pa. women poised to make history in congressional delegation after primary victories
By Lindsay Lazarski, WHYY May 18, 2018
Eight women running for congress in Pennsylvania advanced to the general election ballot on Tuesday, setting a record for the state. For the past few years, only men have been in Pennsylvania’s 18 member congressional delegation in Washington, D.C.  But after Tuesday’s primary, that’s almost guaranteed to change in 2019. In its history, Pennsylvania has only elected seven women to the U.S. House of Representatives — ever. Three of those women won special elections to fill vacancies left by their husbands.   No woman in Pennsylvania has ever been elected to the U.S. Senate, or to the Governor’s office. “This is more than a little overwhelming,” said Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat, in her victory speech on Tuesday night. She’s running in the newly drawn 5th congressional district comprised of mostly Delaware County and parts of South Philadelphia.
https://whyy.org/articles/pa-women-poised-to-make-history-in-congressional-delegation-after-primary-victories/

Editorial: Year of the Woman resounds across primary ballots
Delco Times POSTED: 05/19/18, 4:45 PM EDT | UPDATED: 2 HRS AGO
This much we know for sure: Come November, Pennsylvania’s all-boys club also known as the Keystone State’s congressional delegation will come to an end. And you can thank the voters of Delaware County and the new 5th District for the welcome change. Voters here will choose between Democrat Mary Gay Scanlon, an attorney and former president of the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board, and Republican Pearl Kim, a former county assistant district attorney and deputy state attorney general. Thus will end the all-male makeup of Pennsylvania’s 18 seats in Congress. That’s correct — not one of them is currently held by a woman. In fact over the past quarter of a century, Pennsylvania has sent just four women to represent citizens in the U.S. House. There have only been seven women U.S. reps from Pennsylvania in the state’s history. The first three to do so won special elections to fill the seats of their husbands, who died in office. No woman has represented Pennsylvania since Democrat Allyson Schwartz represented a suburban district from 2005 to 2014.
http://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/20180519/editorial-year-of-the-woman-resounds-across-primary-ballots

John Fetterman will make Pennsylvania's odd couple of politics worth watching | John Baer
Philly Daily News by John Baer, STAFF COLUMNIST  baerj@phillynews.com Updated: MAY 20, 2018 — 8:53 PM EDT
By any measure, Braddock Mayor John Fetterman’s road traveled is different. As is the man himself. When I wrote of him in 2016, he was running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, a candidate like few seen in American, let alone Pennsylvania, politics. I wrote he doesn’t look like a politician, act like a politician, work a room or talk in platitudes. He just shows up and makes sense. He didn’t win. But he made an impact that set up his win last week. He’s now the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, paired with Gov. Wolf in November. And, despite common thinking that LG candidates make no difference, can only hurt and not help in a general election, I’d argue that Fetterman helps Wolf. Because there’s nothing common about Fetterman. And because he’s known to make a difference. Yes, his primary win was fueled by incumbent Lt. Gov. Mike Stack’s incinerating his own reelection chances. You know the story: boorish behavior by Stack and wife toward state employees and state troopers assigned to their care and security, leading Wolf to strip the Stacks of the bulk of such taxpayer-provided service. So, an office that gets no attention got plenty, and Stack got four primary opponents, including Philly’s Nina Ahmad, who outspent the field.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/john-fetterman-tom-wolf-governor-election-20180521.html

In Pennsylvania, Rep. Barletta faces skeptics in Senate race
Penn Live By Marc Levy The Associated  Press Updated May 20, 8:32 AM
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Long before he got into politics, Lou Barletta was an aspiring professional baseball player who, he says, flunked a tryout with Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds because he couldn't hit a curveball. Now that he's challenging two-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey in the fall election, Barletta will need to hit a lot of curveballs, politically speaking. There is no independent poll that puts Barletta within striking distance of Casey. The four-term Republican congressman hasn't received any outside help to boost his image or name, now just under six months until the general election. And he is nagged by questions about whether he is too closely tied to President Donald Trump to make his race about anything else.
http://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/05/in_pennsylvania_rep_barletta_f.html#incart_river_index

This Pa. House bill would prevent local solutions to local problems | Opinion
Penn Live Guest Editorial By William Peduto, Rich Fitzgerald and Jim Kenney Updated May 18; Posted May 18
Bill Peduto is the mayor of the city of Pittsburgh. Rich Fitzgerald is the elected County Executive of Allegheny County. Jim Kenney is the mayor of Philadelphia. All three are Democrats.
On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives  is expected to give second consideration to a measure that should be of concern to every municipality in the Commonwealth -- particularly cities and towns that try to find solutions to their own challenges, without seeking help from Harrisburg. Legislation (HB2241) sponsored by Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Allegheny, seeks to bar local communities across Pennsylvania from implementing local fees or taxes on the distribution of food and beverages. Specifically, the bill would kill the Philadelphia Beverage Tax -- a program that was enacted to fund free, quality preschool education for children; expand community schools in high-needs neighborhoods; and a capital improvement program for the City's parks, recreation centers, and libraries. The needs of the residents of Philadelphia and Allegheny County may not always be aligned: neither Allegheny County nor the City of Pittsburgh are seeking a beverage tax, for instance.   But all three operate under Home Rule, a key principle of which is local control and the independence to make important decisions that affect citizens right where they live. This legislation is an unprecedented attack on the authority of local governments, and its passage would cast aside Pennsylvania's the long history of vesting decision-making authority in local governments.
http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2018/05/this_pa_house_bill_would_preve.html#incart_river_index

“One of the most frequent concerns that charter school critics cite is the way they are funded in Pennsylvania. School districts pay “tuition” based on what they spend per pupil for each of their students enrolled in a charter school. School districts often blame charters for being a financial drain on their already cash-strapped budgets.”
2 new Pittsburgh charter schools appealing rejection of applications
ELIZABETH BEHRMAN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Lbehrman@post-gazette.com MAY 21, 2018 6:00 AM
Two charter schools whose applications were denied by the Pittsburgh school board intend to appeal the decision, taking their turn in the often predictable back-and-forth struggle over new charter schools in Pennsylvania. Representatives from Catalyst Academy and Career Tech Charter High School said they are in the early stages of the process to contest the school board’s unanimous rejection of their applications in February. Catalyst Academy, a proposed kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school that would open in East Liberty, completed the first step in the appeals process earlier this month when it submitted more than the required 1,000 signatures from city residents expressing their support. The district has 30 days to contest the signatures and then the charter school plans to file a formal appeal to the state Charter Appeals Board, school leaders said.  Career Tech also is “working toward an appeal,” the school’s founder, Maureen Anderson, said. “This is like watching the same movie,” said Ira Weiss, who is the solicitor for Pittsburgh Public Schools and several other local school districts. Per the Pennsylvania Charter School Law, the local school board acts as the authorizer for proposed brick-and-mortar charter schools within its district. If a school board denies a charter, the proposed school can turn to the state appeal board.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2018/05/21/Pittsburgh-Public-charter-schools-Pennsylvania-charter-law-career-tech-catalyst-students-appeal/stories/201805170021

1 in 3 Philly students doesn't graduate on time. To fix that, high schools focus on freshmen
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Staff Writer  @newskag |  kgraham@phillynews.com Updated: MAY 21, 2018 — 5:00 AM EDT
Destiny Kobel had a vague idea of what high school would be like, and, frankly, she was frightened before she launched into her freshman year at Kensington High in September. “I thought it was going to be scary,” said Kobel, 14. “I thought it was going to be hard.” But things have gone much better than planned; classes have been manageable, with teachers she can relate to, trips and activities, and a constant push to stay on target academically and personally. She chalks that up to her experience in Kensington’s ninth grade academy — essentially a school within a school, where freshmen have a dedicated group of specially selected teachers and extra supports. For the Philadelphia School District, ninth-grade academies are an area of focus and a planned $7.2 million investment next school year. In the race to high school graduation, ninth grade is make-or-break time: Finishing freshman year on schedule is the strongest predictor of whether a student will earn a diploma in four years, research shows. And in a city where one-third of all high school students do not graduate on time, strategies to get teens to the finish line are important.
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/1-in-3-philly-students-doesnt-graduate-on-time-to-fix-that-high-schools-focus-on-freshmen-20180521.html

Pottstown School Board OKs $62.7M budget with 3.5% tax hike
By Evan Brandt, The Mercury POSTED: 05/18/18, 4:10 PM EDT | UPDATED: 19 HRS AGO
POTTSTOWN >> For the first time in four years, school taxes in Pottstown are set to go up after June 30. With a 7-2 vote Thursday night, the Pottstown School Board adopted a preliminary $62.7 million budget that will raise taxes by 3.5 percent — the maximum allowed by the state inflation index. Board members Kurt Heidel and bonita Barnhill voted against adoption of the budget.  For a home assessed at $78,890 — the borough median — that means a $98.56 tax hike for those which have been registered for the homestead exemption tax relief. The chief culprit driving the hike are challenges to property assessments, according to Business Manager Maureen Jampo. According to the budget presentation she made to the board Thursday night, reductions in assessments and re-funds on re-assessed properties cost Pottstown taxpayers a combined $2,188,607 in revenues.
http://www.pottsmerc.com/general-news/20180518/pottstown-school-board-oks-627m-budget-with-35-tax-hike

Fleetwood School Board OKs final budget with tax increase
Under the approved budget, expenditures are at $46.19 million and millage is at 33.093, a millage increase of 0.533.
Reading Eagle FRIDAY MAY 18, 2018 12:00 AM
FLEETWOOD, PA — The Fleetwood School District has approved a proposed final budget by a vote of 7-2 that comes with a property tax increase of a little over a half-mill. Board Vice President Kevin L. Manmiller and members Lisa J. Bogacki, Cindy Fowler, Robert K. Gore, Michael D. Noll, Gary A. Reinert and James M. Younker voted for it. Board President Timothy M. Heffner, and Richard R. Kaskey voted against the plan. Under the approved budget, expenditures are at $46.19 million and millage is at 33.093, a millage increase of 0.533. That means the owners of a property assessed at $100,000 would pay about $3,309 in property taxes, a roughly $50 increase from the previous year.
http://www.readingeagle.com/news/article/fleetwood-school-board-oks-final-budget-with-tax-increase#.Wv6qTwBWgLM.twitter

Don't allow new Stoneleigh garden to be taken over for Lower Merion schools | Opinion
by Carla Zambelli Mudry, For the Inquirer Updated: MAY 18, 2018 — 1:57 PM EDT
Year after year as so many Main Line properties have been sold off and carved up, Stoneleigh, a beautifully wooded property in Lower Merion Township, has survived. This bucolic swath of land – 42 glorious acres of amazing natural gardens  that just last week opened to the public– is the former home of the Haas family.  A lot of people recognize Stoneleigh as the place where the iconic rabbit woodcarving by wood sculptor Marty Long stands on County Line Road. The house, classified as a Tudor Revival mansion is ringed with shrubs including Magnifica”Winterthur” azaleas, and the grounds are home to 10 of the largest of their respective species in the entire state. In 1996, a conservation easement was placed on the property by the late John and Chara Haas with Natural Lands. It was their wish to preserve the property.  In 2016, their adult children donated the property, their birthright, to Natural Lands, and transferred the conservation easement to the Lower Merion Conservancy.  This was to ensure preservation for future generations and not to fall prey to a developer’s ax and bulldozer. But now Stoneleigh is facing a grave threat to its very existence: the Lower Merion School District.
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/dont-allow-new-stoneleigh-garden-to-be-taken-over-for-schools-commentary-20180518.html

“The main political issue is that nearly half the funds that Trump wants rescinded — $7 billion of the $15.4 billion total — come from two accounts in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The administration, backed up by an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, says the rescissions would not impact CHIP spending over the next decade. But for imperiled House Republicans, voting to remove funds from a children’s health account provides easy fodder for attack ads.”
CHIP: Trump's plan to claw back spending hits wall in Congress
The Hill BY JORDAIN CARNEY AND NIV ELIS - 05/20/18 08:00 AM EDT 44
President Trump’s plan to claw back more than $15 billion in spending is on life support on Capitol Hill.  GOP leaders insist they are open to Trump’s proposal, which comes after Republicans faced a backlash for passing a mammoth, $1.3 trillion spending omnibus that shredded federal budget caps.  But despite the GOP’s broad desire to cut spending, it increasingly appears unlikely that the legislation will reach Trump’s desk, with Republicans in both chambers expressing opposition. House moderates are worried, their colleagues say, that Democrats could weaponize the package against them in the midterm elections — an election where many of them are already facing steep headwinds.  “I could see some competitive seaters saying, ‘Why, why?’” said Rep. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.). “The messaging, you just give to the Democrats and say, ‘Here, hammer us with this,’ because it’s an idiosyncratic accounting issue.”
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/388409-trumps-plan-to-claw-back-spending-hits-wall-in-congress?__twitter_impression=true

Obama’s education secretary: Let’s boycott school until gun laws change
Washington Post By Perry Stein May 19 at 7:45 PM Email the author
Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan pushed a radical idea on Twitter: Parents should pull their children out of school until elected officials pass stricter gun control laws. His tweet came hours after a shooting rampage at a Houston-area high school Friday killed 10 people — a mass shooting that came just three months after 17 students and staffers were slain at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. When Peter Cunningham, a former education department employee, tweeted that it may be time for parents to pull their children out of school until gun laws are changed, Duncan, the education secretary under Obama, responded that his family “is in.” “This is brilliant, and tragically necessary,” Duncan tweeted. “What if no children went to school until gun laws changed to keep them safe? My family is all in if we can do this at scale. Parents, will you please join us?” Duncan said in an interview Saturday that the idea was intended to be provocative but that an aggressive approach like a school boycott is needed if gun laws are ever going to change. He has school-age children and said if this idea were to gain traction, his family would participate. “It’s wildly impractical and difficult,” Duncan said. “But I think it’s wildly impractical and difficult that kids are shot when they are sent to school.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/obamas-education-secretary-lets-boycott-school-until-gun-laws-change/2018/05/19/5ce3ebb0-5bab-11e8-8836-a4a123c359ab_story.html?utm_term=.489af3b0c10e

What Explains U.S. Mass Shootings? International Comparisons Suggest an Answer
New York Times By MAX FISHER and JOSH KELLER NOV. 7, 2017
When the world looks at the United States, it sees a land of exceptions: a time-tested if noisy democracy, a crusader in foreign policy, an exporter of beloved music and film. But there is one quirk that consistently puzzles America’s fans and critics alike. Why, they ask, does it experience so many mass shootings? Perhaps, some speculate, it is because American society is unusually violent. Or its racial divisions have frayed the bonds of society. Or its citizens lack proper mental care under a health care system that draws frequent derision abroad. These explanations share one thing in common: Though seemingly sensible, all have been debunked by research on shootings elsewhere in the world. Instead, an ever-growing body of research consistently reaches the same conclusion. The only variable that can explain the high rate of mass shootings in America is its astronomical number of guns.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/world/americas/mass-shootings-us-international.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes


Join with EdVotersPA and PCCY for Capitol Caravan Days and fight for our public schools! When: 9:00-3:00 on June 12 or June 20 (your choice!)
Where: The Harrisburg Capitol
Why: To show state lawmakers that their constituents expect them to support public school students in the '18-19 budget
Education Voters of PA joining together with Pennsylvania Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) for a lobby day in Harrisburg. Join a team and meet with your state legislators and legislative leaders to talk about how the state can support K-12 students in the state budget.
Register Here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdrk24gH61bp7Zjy_JFpIELPYcEvXx05Ld4-_CPltQYyqLSPw/viewform

EquityFirst #CivilFundingWar Meeting on Education Funding
EquityFirst and The Citizens for Fair School Funding
Harrisburg, PA Monday, June 4, 2018 from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
PENNSYLVANIA KNOWINGLY UNDERFUNDS POOR, MINORITY SCHOOL DISTRICTS BY MILLIONS
Harrisburg School District is underfunded by $31.77 million $38 million! Every Year in Basic and Special Education Funding
JOIN US FOR A PUBLIC MEETING TO LEARN ABOUT HOW WE CAN FIX THIS!
Monday, June 4, 2018 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Meeting Light Refreshments will be served.
Living Water Community Church 206 Oakleigh Avenue, Harrisburg, PA
For more information contact: Shelly@SupportEquityFirst.org or 717.623.0909 or visit www.SupportEquityFirst.org.
Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/equityfirst-civilfundingwar-meeting-on-education-funding-tickets-46197055637

Press Conference on the Needs of Urban School Districts in Pennsylvania
All media outlets are invited to attend a press conference in the Main Rotunda of the Pennsylvania State Capitol, Harrisburg on May 22, 2018 at 2:30 p.m. 
MEDIA ADVISORY Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators
CONTACT: Mark D. DiRocco, Executive Director - 717-540-4448 - mdirocco@pasa-net.org
Several urban school district superintendents will speak to the need for resources and assistance to adequately educate the children in their schools.  The press conference will feature:
•           Dr. Juan Baughn, Superintendent of Chester Upland School District
•           Dr. Stephen Butz, Superintendent of Southeast Delco School District
•           Dr. Sybil Knight-Burney, Superintendent of Harrisburg School District
•           Mr. Stephen Rodriguez, Superintendent of Pottstown School District
•           Mr. Alan Johnson, Superintendent of Woodland Hills School District
•           Dr. Khalid Mumin, Superintendent of Reading School District
We encourage media representatives to attend this event to learn more about the unique needs and challenges of Pennsylvania’s urban public school districts.

Nominations for PSBA’s Allwein Advocacy Award
PSBA Website May 14, 2018
The Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award was established in 2011 by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and may be presented annually to the individual school director or entire school board to recognize outstanding leadership in legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of public education and students that are consistent with the positions in PSBA’s Legislative Platform. In addition to being a highly respected lobbyist, Timothy Allwein served to help our members be effective advocates in their own right. Many have said that Tim inspired them to become active in our Legislative Action Program and to develop personal working relationships with their legislators. The 2018 Allwein Award nomination process will begin on Monday, May 14, 2018. The application due date is July 16, 2018 in the honor of Tim’s birth date of July 16.
Download the Application
https://www.psba.org/2018/05/nominations-allwein-advocacy-award/

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/

the notebook Annual Celebration - June 5, 2018 - New Location!
Please join us on June 5, 2018, at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia! Please note the new location!
Buy your tickets today!
Every June, 400 public school supporters gather in celebration at the end of the school year. This festive event features awards for outstanding high school journalism, talented local musicians, a silent auction, and the opportunity to speak with the most influential voices in the local education community. This year, the Notebook staff and board of directors would like to honor public education advocates who are committed to our mission of advancing quality and equity in our city’s schools.
Our Honorees:
Debra Weiner - A longtime advocate for public education at a variety of nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions, and a member of the Notebook’s editorial advisory board
Mary Goldman - Former 27th Ward Leader and advocate for children and public schools
Our City Our Schools - A coalition of local grassroots organizations that campaigned to return the school board to local control
The event will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 5, at the National Museum of American Jewish History.
http://thenotebook.org/annual-fundraiser

BRIEFING: PUBLIC EDUCATION FUNDING IN PENNSYLVANIA
IN PHILLY, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 2018, 8:30-10:00 A.M.
Join Law Center attorneys Michael Churchill, Jennifer Clarke, and Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg for a free briefing on the state of education funding in Pennsylvania. They’ll cover the basics of education funding, our fair school funding lawsuit, the property tax elimination bill, the 2018-2019 state budget, and more! RSVP online here. The briefing will be held on Wednesday, June 13th at 8:30 a.m. at 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
Download a flyer for this event.
https://www.pubintlaw.org/events/briefing-public-education-funding-in-pennsylvania-2/


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.

Save the Dates PASA/PSBA School Leadership Conference – Hershey, Oct. 17-19, 2018 
Mark your calendar! The Delegate Assembly will take place Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, at 2:30 p.m.
Housing now open!

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.


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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