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
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
According to the PA Department of State’s Campaign Finance
Website the largest donor to the PA House Republican Campaign Committee for
2018 so far is Chester Community Charter School operator Vahan Gureghian. The largest donor to Senate Majority Leader
Jake Corman’s Build PA PAC is also Vahan Gureghian.
How did public school students do in the 2018-2019 PA budget?
Education Voters PA Website POSTED JUNE 23, 2018 EDVOPA
As we head into summer, public education advocates should be proud that their hard work over the past year has paid off. The thousands of phone calls you made and emails you sent from every corner of the commonwealth have kept anti-public education legislation from becoming law in Pennsylvania.
·
Senate Bill 2, the
education savings account school voucher bill, has languished.
·
House Bill 97, the
charter school expansion bill, did not come up for a vote.
·
Senate Bill 1198,
legislation that would have mandated continuing to label schools as successful
or failing based primarily on students’ standardized test scores using the
School Performance Profile (SPP), did not see action.
Unfortunately,
anti-public education lawmakers were able to muscle into the budget a $25
million increase in funding for private/religious school vouchers through PA’s
Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program. Budget negotiations were
held behind closed doors and powerful legislative leaders insisted on this
increase in funding in exchange for their support of the budget deal. To learn more, read our Myth Busting PA’s EITC/OSTC
Programs.After this increase, the EITC program and its companion the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program (OSTC) will provide a whopping $160 million/year for vouchers to unaccountable private/religious school that are legally allowed to discriminate against students. And, thanks to an increase in maximum household income, children in a family of 4 that earns $116,000 will be eligible for voucher. This increase in funding is disappointing and we will need to work hard to prevent future increases. However, all-in-all, this was a good budget for PA’s public school students. Below find highlights from the budget, school code, and school safety legislation.
http://educationvoterspa.org/blog/how-did-public-school-students-do-in-the-2018-2019-pa-budget/
STATEMENT: PSBA pleased that education, school safety remains a priority in state budget
PSBA Website June 22, 2018
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) is pleased that the 2018-19 state budget adopted by the General Assembly this afternoon contains increases for education and school safety. The spending plan retains Gov. Wolf’s original request of $100 million for the basic education subsidy and increase of about 1.7 percent from the current year. It also contains $20 million more for pre-K programs, a $15 million increase for special education, and an additional $30 million for career and technical education. “PSBA and school districts statewide thank the General Assembly for their efforts to produce this timely budget that prioritizes education, and we encourage Governor Wolf to sign it,” said PSBA Chief Executive Officer Nathan G. Mains. “Investing in the success of our students is key to the health of our commonwealth.” The bill also includes $60 million to fund school safety initiatives, and increases funding for school safety grants to $10 million. In the light of several recent violent incidents at schools in other states, Pennsylvania schools are also evaluating efforts to maintain the safety of students and staff.
https://www.psba.org/2018/06/statement-2018-19-state-budget/
Tweet from Speaker Mike Turzai @RepTurzai June 22, 2018
Proud that the #PaHouse expanded the EITC program in PA to help students attend the schools that best meet their needs and prepare them for success
Pennsylvania Constitution Article III, Section 15
§ 15. Public school money not available to sectarian schools.
No money raised for the support of the public schools of the Commonwealth shall be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school.
** EITC gets $25 million ** Budget is approved with EITC funding increase
REACH Foundation Email June 25, 2018
Gov. Tom Wolf has signed the 2018-2019 state budget; the budget includes a $25 million increase for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program. The increase in funding brings the new Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) Program and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) Program totals to $210 million, combined. All $25 million will go towards the K-12 Scholarship Organizations component of the EITC Program. Below is a breakdown of current EITC & OSTC funding:
·
OSTC - $50 million
·
EITC - $160 million, with the following for
each category:
o
$110 million for
K-12 Scholarship Organizations
o
$12.5 million for
Pre-K Scholarship Organizations
o
$37.5 million for
Educational Improvement Organizations
·
Combined OSTC and EITC Totals - $210
million
New state budget contains $60 million for school security
Post-Gazette by GILLIAN MCGOLDRICK Harrisburg Bureau JUN 23, 2018 1:19 AM
HARRISBURG — Starting this fall, school districts and community groups can apply for a chunk of $60 million in new funding to improve safety and security on their campuses. The funding, approved Friday by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf, was a key piece of the $32.7 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 and comes after another year of fatal school shootings and other violence. The funding is meant to be proactive and reactive, lawmakers said. School districts can use the money for hiring police officers or school psychologists, adding metal detectors, or paying for violence-prevention programs or other initiatives. Many of the programs are required to take into account how violence and other trauma affects children. Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, said school safety funding was the Legislature's "No. 1 priority" in the budget, noting that his own children attend public school.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2018/06/23/New-state-budget-contains-60-million-for-school-security/stories/201806220222
Pennsylvania gets a budget, and it's not late, and not entirely great, but it's progress (if only fleeting)
Lancaster Online by THE LNP EDITORIAL BOARD June 26, 2018
THE ISSUE: Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf signed a $32.7 billion spending package Friday — more than a week before the new fiscal year begins July 1 — “avoiding the partisan acrimony and protracted fights of his first three years in office,” The Associated Press reported. The AP noted that the budget package, “negotiated behind closed doors between the Democratic governor and Republican majority leaders, won overwhelming support in both chambers. ... It was the first full spending bill signed by Wolf, who is running for a second term in the November general election. In 2016, he let a Republican-written spending bill lapse into law after effectively losing a nine-month budget stalemate. Last July, he let a bipartisan spending bill that he supported become law despite lacking legislation to fully fund it, and it took another three months to get House Republicans to agree on how to balance it.” If it weren’t for the campaign ads, we might be tempted to wish that every year were a gubernatorial election year. Apparently, it takes the prospect of a crucial statewide election — for not just governor, but all 203 House seats and half the senatorial ones — to focus minds in Harrisburg. We have a budget that’s not only on time, but was signed more than a week early. The fact that the governor signed it at all was, for our dysfunctional commonwealth, a promising development. We’d like to think that our elected officials have learned their lesson, and have turned the corner from Partisanship Place to Cooperation Avenue. We’d urge them to savor the satisfaction they felt at completing the budget in June and store that feeling so they can summon it again next year. Even members of a newspaper editorial board can dream, right? Of course, this budget — like any other, especially any other Pennsylvania budget — is far from perfect.
https://lancasteronline.com/opinion/editorials/pennsylvania-gets-a-budget-and-it-s-not-late-and/article_809473ca-78db-11e8-95d0-77260d0e6531.html
PSBA applauds Senate for passage of bill to provide key reforms to high school graduation requirements
PSBA Website June 22, 2018
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) applauds the state Senate for the unanimous passage of Senate Bill 1095, legislation introduced by Senator Thomas McGarrigle (R-Chester/Delaware) that expands opportunities for students by providing multiple pathways to demonstrate readiness for high school graduation in addition to Keystone Exams. The association urges the House of Representatives to take swift action on the bill. Senate Bill 1095 is the culmination of extensive discussion and collaboration with leaders in the Senate and the education community, including PSBA, and recommendations from the Department of Education. Under this proposal, measures of success include meeting local grade-based requirements and demonstrating competency through completion of one of four options that use a variety of tests and other strategies to measure academic success. PSBA extends its thanks to the Senate, including Senators McGarrigle, John Eichelberger (R-Blair), Andy Dinniman (D-Chester) and Robert Tomlinson (R-Bucks), for supporting this opportunity to revise Pennsylvania’s one-size-fits-all mandate to pass three Keystone Exams to receive a diploma.
https://www.psba.org/2018/06/psba-applauds-senate-for-passage-of-bill-to-provide-key-reforms-to-high-school-graduation-requirements/
Gov. Wolf signs $32.7 billion budget for 2018-19
PennLive By The Associated Press Updated Jun 23; Posted Jun 22
Pennsylvania has budget peace, for now, and spending authorization intact a week early for the upcoming fiscal year. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf on Friday signed a $32.7 billion budget package, avoiding the partisan acrimony and protracted budget fights of his first three years in office. Wolf's signatures came in the hours after the Republican-controlled Legislature sent a flurry of budget bills to his desk, barely three days after first details of the no-new-taxes package were unveiled. This budget contains no broad-based tax or fee increases, but boosts spending through the state's main bank account by $700 million, or 2 percent, largely for schools, social services, pensions and prisons.
https://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/06/gov_wolf_signs_327_budget_for.html#incart_2box_politics
Pa. House exits, leaving for fall decisions on several key bills
Penn Live By Jan Murphy jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated Jun 25, 9:03 PM; Posted Jun 25, 8:26 PM By Jan Murphy and Charles Thompson, Pennlive.com
The state House of Representatives acted more like it was the last day of school on Monday seemingly more focused on getting on with their summer than tackling some weighty government reform and criminal justice issues that were ripe for a vote. And it left a lot of disappointment in its wake. The chamber recessed until the House Speaker's call although no one seemed optimistic they would return before mid-September. That killed the chances of getting proposed constitutional amendments to reduce the size of the House and reform the way redistricting is done in time for the reapportionment after the 2020 census.
https://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/06/house_of_representatives_leave.html#incart_river_index
Board of Education releases public’s top concerns
Members spent two months on a listening tour.
The notebook by Hannah Melville June 25 — 2:02 pm, 2018
More than 400 people who attended five public listening sessions for incoming Board of Education members outlined myriad concerns about the School District, from inadequate funding to student bullying to communication with parents. The report by the Penn Project for Civic Engagement (PPCE) on the sessions was released Monday, two weeks before the nine-member board is scheduled to have its first meeting and less than a week before it formally takes over governance of the District from the School Reform Commission, which is disbanding. The listening tour, which took place during April and May, included five public listening sessions and small group conversations facilitated by PPCE at locations all over the city. Eleven key themes arose during the tour: transparency; accountability; community engagement; funding and equity; charter schools; facilities; climate and culture; educational quality and programs; behavioral health, discipline and bullying; special education; and support for immigrant communities.
http://thenotebook.org/articles/2018/06/25/board-of-education-releases-top-concerns-of-public/
The new Philly school board convenes next month. What do people want members to know?
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Staff Writer @newskag | kgraham@phillynews.com Updated: JUNE 25, 2018 — 2:51 PM EDT
The new Philadelphia Board of Education on Monday announced its first public session, and it wants to meet you. The much-heralded nine-member board will take the reins of the Philadelphia School District July 1, after the School Reform Commission officially dissolves. Members will elect officers, offer remarks, and appoint committees and committee chairs at the board’s first meeting, scheduled for 5 p.m. July 9 at School District headquarters, 440 N. Broad St. Immediately after the meeting, board members Julia Danzy, Leticia Egea-Hinton, Mallory Fix Lopez, Lee Huang, Maria McColgan, Christopher McGinley, Angela McIver, Wayne Walker, and Joyce Wilkerson will hold a meet-and-greet with the public. Those who wish to speak at the meeting should register by calling 215-400-4180 by 10 a.m. that day. The board soon will accept applications for a nonvoting student representative and an alternate student representative. Applications for the student seats will open July 1. Members of the public provided a taste of what they expect from the new school board in a citywide listening session this spring. The Mayor’s Office of Education released a 100-page report outlining the highlights Monday.
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/philadelphia-school-board-first-meeting-report-listening-sessions-suggestions-20180625.html
On final meeting day, SRC approves charters, extends suspension ban, says farewell
Commissioners share their thanks at the end and caution that a change of governance is welcome, but will not solve all the District's problems.
The notebook/WHYY NEWS Dale Mezzacappa and Avi Wolfman-Arent June 21 8:51 pm, 2018
Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission held what most likely was its last set of meetings Thursday, packing a flurry of important decisions into its final public gathering. The SRC renewed or approved more than a dozen charter schools, voted against renewal for one other, approved grade truncation at a neighborhood high school, and barred suspensions for 1st and 2nd graders except in cases when they cause bodily injury. The SRC also left some business on the table, failing to reach agreements with 25 charter schools that say the commission’s terms are too restrictive. When the new Board of Education takes control next month, roughly a quarter of the schools in Philadelphia’s growing charter sector will be without mutually acceptable, valid agreements. It’s been nearly 17 years since the SRC first convened, starting an experiment in state control over Pennsylvania’s largest school district. With three of the commission’s five members selected by the governor and approved by the state Senate, Harrisburg enjoyed unprecedented say in District affairs. Under the SRC, charter schools expanded and graduation rates improved. But the District was dogged by financial troubles, activists resented the reduced local power in major school decisions, and enrollment in the traditional public system plummeted.
http://thenotebook.org/articles/2018/06/21/on-final-day-commission-approves-charters-extends-suspension-ban/
6,019 days after the SRC first convened, a final meeting
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Staff Writer @newskag | kgraham@phillynews.com Updated: JUNE 21, 2018 — 9:11 PM EDT
Amid songs and signs, with cheers, jeers and wistful words, the School Reform Commission took its final public actions Thursday night, capping 17 tumultuous years of governing the Philadelphia School District. The SRC sunsets on June 30; the next day, a local board of education will assume power over a school system that enrolls 200,000 students in traditional public and charter schools, and controls a $3 billion budget. SRC Chair Estelle Richman briefly broke into applause when she noted that the commission was holding its final meeting. Its four remaining members — the others are Fran Burns, Bill Green, and Marge Neff — now will be cheering from the sidelines, she said. “All of us will be hoping for the very best as we hand the reins over to the new Board of Education,” she said. Among the members of the public present, there was little warmth for the SRC and the state takeover that created it. To them, the meeting was a celebration, the culmination of years of agitating for an end to the state-created panel that weathered school closings and budget crises, labor woes and state Supreme Court battles. “Few of us could have imagined the devastation wrought by this body,” said Lisa Haver, a retired district teacher who attended the first SRC meeting 6,019 days prior and many in between. “The SRC has been anathema to the democratic process.”
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/src-final-meeting-philadelphia-20180621.html
In high-tax Upper Darby, school bills going up again. The district has plenty of company.
Inquirer by Meghan Bobrowsky, Staff Writer @BobrowskyMeghan mbobrowsky@phillynews.com Updated: JUNE 22, 2018 — 5:06 PM EDT
Property owners in the Upper Darby School District — where local tax rates already are among the highest in the region — will pay even more starting July 1. With officials warning of a potentially dire financial situation and complaining of inadequate funding from Harrisburg, school board members in Upper Darby, one of the state’s largest districts with almost 13,300 students, voted, 6-2, Thursday night to approve a 2.5 percent increase in the real estate levy, or $67 more for the owner of an average-assessed home, at $75,000. More than 75 percent of the state’s school districts intend to raise property taxes this year, according to a study conducted this month by the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials. (Last year’ figure was 70 percent.) As with other districts, Upper Darby officials cite rising pension, charter school, salary, and special education costs. “We cannot sustain recurring costs,” said Superintendent Dan Nerelli last week, explaining that a tax increase would help the district, in Pennsylvania’s most populous township, stay in operation. The increased revenue might be accompanied by a one-time cash infusion of $3.5 million from Harrisburg, school officials said. But it’s not for certain, as the bill was still working its way through the legislature this week.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/upper-darby-school-tax-increase-harrisburg-20180622.html
Bill would require court approval to take conserved land, like farm CV wants for school
Penn Live By Charles Thompson cthompson@pennlive.com Updated Jun 23; Posted Jun 23
The Pennsylvania General Assembly has acted swiftly and decisively on a bill designed to bolster protections for certain types of conserved land. And, if it's signed by Gov. Tom Wolf in the coming days, it could also put a new wrinkle in Cumberland Valley School District's plans to grab a preserved farm in Silver Spring Township for its uses. Introduced on June 6, House Bill 2468 moved at lightning speed through the legislature, winning final passage votes in both the Senate (37-12) and the House (177-15). The bill would force school districts and other governmental entities eyeing any land subject to private conservation easements to win prior court approval before starting condemnation proceedings. As part of that process, the bill states, a judge must find "there is no reasonable and prudent alternative ... for the project" besides the targeted tract. That's a marked changed from the status quo, in which public takings can generally go forward, and then the burden is on the holder of the easements to fight a rear-guard action to block it.
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/06/state_house_passes_bill_requir.html#incart_2box_politics
Stoneleigh garden may be saved from Lower Merion school district by new law
Inquirer by Kathy Boccella, Staff Writer @Kathy_Boccella | kboccella@phillynews.com Updated: JUNE 25, 2018 — 2:26 PM EDT
Inspired by the uproar over the Lower Merion School District’s push to seize a sliver of land from a newly opened Stoneleigh garden, Pennsylvania lawmakers have moved with unusual speed to enact a law to make such seizures more difficult. The legislation, successfully pushed by three suburban lawmakers and signed by Gov. Wolf within weeks, would prevent government entities such as school districts from seizing land that is under easement without court approval. “I’ve been here 17 years, that was the fastest I’ve seen anything move,” said Rep. Kate Harper (R., Montgomery), a co-sponsor of the House legislation with Reps. Warren Kampf (R., Chester) and Marcy Toepel (R., Montgomery). “We had to make it move. We were very much afraid if we left for summer recess, the Lower Merion School District would condemn the land. We pushed and pulled and wiggled to do everything we can to keep it going to approval.” The bill was introduced by Kampf on June 6, and voted through the House on June 19 and through the Senate three days later. Gov. Wolf signed it into law on Sunday.
http://www.philly.com/philly/education/stoneleigh-garden-new-law-lower-merion-school-district-harper-kampf-toepel-20180625.html
Apply Now for EPLC's 2018-2019 PA Education Policy Fellowship Program!
Applications are available now for the 2018-2019 Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP). The Education Policy Fellowship Program is sponsored in Pennsylvania by The Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC).
With more than 500 graduates in its first eighteen years, this Program is a premier professional development opportunity for educators, state and local policymakers, advocates, and community leaders. State Board of Accountancy (SBA) credits are available to certified public accountants.
Past participants include state policymakers, district superintendents and principals, school business officers, school board members, education deans/chairs, statewide association leaders, parent leaders, education advocates, and other education and community leaders. Fellows are typically sponsored by their employer or another organization. The Fellowship Program begins with a two-day retreat on September 13-14, 2018 and continues to graduation in June 2019.
Applications are being accepted now.
Click here to read more about the Education Policy Fellowship Program.
The application may be copied from the EPLC web site, but must be submitted by mail or scanned and e-mailed, with the necessary signatures of applicant and sponsor.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of the Fellowship Program and its requirements, please contact EPLC Executive Director Ron Cowell at 717-260-9900 or cowell@eplc.org.
Nominations for PSBA’s Allwein Advocacy Award due by July 16
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/
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.
2nd Annual National Black Male Educators Convening, Oct. 12-14,
Philly
Teacher diversity works. Increasing the number of Black
male educators in our nation’s teacher corps will improve education for all our
students, especially for African-American boys.Today Black men represent only
two percent of teachers nationwide. This is a national problem that demands a
national response. Come participate in the 2nd National Black Male Educators
Convening to advance policy solutions, learn from one another, and fight for
social justice. All are welcome. Register to attend. Nominate a speaker.
Propose a workshop. Sponsor the event.
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!
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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