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U.S. says 463 migrant parents may have been deported without kids
Reuters by Tom Hals, Reade Levinson July 23, 2018
(Reuters) - More than 450 immigrant parents who were separated from their children when they entered the United States illegally are no longer in the country though their children remain behind, according to a joint court filing on Monday by the federal government and the American Civil Liberties Union. The absence of the 463 parents, which U.S. government lawyers said was “under review,” could impede government efforts to reunite separated families by Thursday, the deadline ordered by a federal judge. The filing did not say why the 463 parents had left the country, but government officials previously acknowledged that some parents had been deported without their children. As of Monday, 879 parents had been reunited with their children, according to the filing. About 2,500 children were separated from their parents after the Trump administration announced a “zero tolerance” policy in April aimed at discouraging illegal immigration. The policy was ended in June amid an international outcry about the government’s treatment of immigrant children. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego ordered last month that the government had to reunite the children with their parents in a case brought by the ACLU.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration/u-s-says-463-migrant-parents-may-have-been-deported-without-kids-idUSKBN1KE029
Philly flaunts early literacy approach for national audience
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent July 24, 2018
Amid the clinking of iced tea glasses and salad forks, Philadelphia officials welcomed a group of more than 700 teachers, experts, bureaucrats, and foundation executives to the Logan Hotel in Center City Tuesday for a conference called GLR week. Their goal: to sell Philadelphia as a city on the vanguard of early childhood education and, in particular, early literacy. “We hope you’re inspired by today’s presentations and that you want to support Read by 4th here or to replicate it elsewhere,” said Janet Haas, board chair of the William Penn Foundation, at the kickoff event. GLR stands for “Grade-Level Reading” and this annual conference of education bigwigs is run by the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, a coalition dedicated to boosting the number of low-income children reading proficiently by the end of third grade. The campaign has major backing. Its “investors” include names like Ford, Kellogg, Buffett, Zuckerberg, and Bezos. That means GLR’s guest list features people with direct lines to some of the nation’s largest checkbooks. With the conference in Philly this year, local leaders have a chance to show off Philly’s approach and perhaps attract more dollars to their early literacy push.
https://whyy.org/articles/philly-flaunts-early-literacy-approach-for-national-audience/?utm_source=dlvr&utm_medium=twitterauto&utm_campaign=social-inbound
Op/Ed: How mandates raise your local school taxes
Chester County Times By Lisa Longo, President, Phoenixville Area School District Board of Education Jul 24th, 2018
Do you wonder sometimes why property taxes increase? I did and I decided to start attending school board meetings to understand. That was seven years ago. Now, as a member of our school board, I can share what I have learned. I discovered a large part of a school district budget is mandated. Congressional and state legislators impose regulations that dictate many of the services school districts must provide. Sadly, many of these mandates are not funded, or are only partially funded. This is why they are known as “unfunded mandates”. School districts are forced to raise taxes locally because by law they must balance their budget. So every time Congress or State legislatures mandate a service or test, or they cut education funds but not the mandate, they force a local tax increase. And while the claim is that testing is to ensure schools are meeting basic standards, or that charters and vouchers simply offer “choice” when public schools aren’t “performing’, the fact is, these cost taxpayers millions, stress our students and some say, waste both time and money. Certainly we need to question why funds are being diverted from public schools to for-profits, especially cyber charter for-profit entities which aren’t meeting even basic standards. If the argument is that charters are needed because schools aren’t performing, why are we funding charters that aren’t performing? And tuition to charter schools is a very large unfunded mandate in many school districts, costing more than standardized testing in many cases.
http://chescotimes.com/?p=26294
“The biggest increase in spending, districts reported, came in the area of pension costs. In 2018-19, districts are required to pay 33.43 percent of payroll into the state educators retirement system. PASBO estimates that districts have paid an additional $2.04 billion in pension payments between 2012-13 and 2016-17.”
School tax bills increase for 11 Beaver County districts
Beaver County Times By Daveen Rae Kurutz Posted Jul 23, 2018 at 4:00 PM Updated Jul 24, 2018 at 3:39 PM
Residents in 11 Beaver County school districts will see higher tax bills this year.
Just three districts — Big Beaver Falls Area, Midland and Riverside — did not raise taxes. The other 11 — Aliquippa, Ambridge Area, Beaver Area, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Freedom Area, Hopewell Area, New Brighton Area, Rochester Area, South Side Area and Western Beaver — raised taxes by between 1.75 and 3.92 percent. In western Allegheny County, the Cornell, Moon Area and Quaker Valley school districts raised taxes while West Allegheny did not. In Lawrence County, Ellwood City Area also did not raise taxes. In districts where there was a tax increase, the average homeowner will see an increase of almost $50 annually. “It is a burden for our taxpayers,” said Jeff Fuller, superintendent at Freedom. “It’s almost impossible to get a budget together without raising taxes to the index at least.” School boards are permitted to raise their tax rates to an index, a state-set percentage increase. Of the districts raising taxes, all except Ambridge, Blackhawk, South Side and Cornell raised taxes last year, as well. Annual school tax increases are inevitable, officials say. Act 1, the legislation that uses gambling revenue as property-tax relief, restricts how much a district can raise the tax rate each year, and it’s become more common for districts to have small tax increases annually because of that limit.
http://www.timesonline.com/news/20180723/school-tax-bills-increase-for-11-beaver-county-districts
Pennsylvania fair funding formula not a liberal plot
Bill White Contact Reporter Of The Morning Call July 23, 2018
I’ve long since come to accept the fact that the trolls who comment regularly on my online columns are convinced that pretty much everything I write about is a liberal plot. So it was with my Sunday column about Pennsylvania’s fair funding formula and why I believe we’re shortchanging many school districts in the Lehigh Valley and elsewhere around the state by applying it only to new funding. Even though the Legislature approved the formula in 2016, it decided it wanted to apply the state’s traditional “hold harmless” policy to the districts that otherwise would lose money under the formula for a variety of reasons. So their allocation can’t be reduced. The problem with that is that it guarantees the districts that should be receiving more money because of their growth and/or economic challenges — $80.6 million more in the case of Allentown and $23 million more for Bethlehem, among many others — will continue to struggle for the foreseeable future. At least in this election year, Gov. Tom Wolf seems to be OK with that, preferring to see the struggling schools helped by increasing overall school funding and making sure they get their fair share of that. His opponent, state Sen. Scott Wagner, has opposed “hold harmless” in the past, but jumped on an ambiguous Wolf statement by claiming the governor wants to cut $1.2 billion from 362 school districts” by immediately applying the formula to all funding. I argued that we should begin incrementally applying the fair funding formula to all public school funding, in large enough increments that we get rather quickly to 100 percent.
http://www.mcall.com/opinion/white/blog/mc-opi-pennsylvania-liberal-plot-white-20180723-story.html
New report blasts Pennsylvania policy on school district mergers
ELIZABETH BEHRMAN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Lbehrman@post-gazette.com JUL 24, 2018 6:00 AM
The saga of the Midland Borough School District and its struggles to find a place for its high school students is highlighted in a new report about how some states "strand" students in impoverished schools. EdBuild, a New Jersey-based think tank that researches school funding and equity issues across the country, released a report Tuesday that explores state policies regarding district mergers and consolidations. Pennsylvania is one of 39 states that allows districts to consolidate if both school boards agree, and does not offer any incentives or have a policy that allows the state mandate that districts do so. "As a result, the more fortunate district holds the power to throw a lifeline or to withhold one," the report states. "And without the prospect of any real benefit, the well-off districts will almost certainly choose to maintain the status quo, leaving their neighbors stranded." Researchers pointed to the Midland district in Beaver County as an example of how a failed merger can play out in Pennsylvania. In 1983, the district had sent merger requests to all the other school districts in Beaver County without any positive response, according to the EdBuild report. The district closed its high school in 1985, and for a time paid tuition for its older students to attend high school in the Beaver Area School District. That agreement ultimately fell through, and with no other options, the Midland district began paying tuition for its students to attend school in Ohio. In 2015, the East Liverpool School District in Ohio terminated the agreement, and Midland students are now spread between charter schools and Beaver Area schools, the result of a smaller new agreement.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2018/07/24/Pennsylvania-school-district-mergers-Midland-Beaver-County-EdBuild-consolidation-students-report/stories/201807240048
Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School Founder Gets 20 Months in Prison for $8M Tax Scheme
Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Pennsylvania Press Release Tuesday, July 24, 2018
PITTSBURGH - The founder and former CEO of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School has been sentenced in federal court in Pittsburgh to 20 months in prison on a charge of tax conspiracy, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today. Nicholas Trombetta, 63, of East Liverpool, Ohio, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Joy Flowers Conti. "Protecting the public trust is a top priority of our Office," stated U.S. Attorney Brady. "School districts across the Commonwealth sent funds to the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School to educate their students. Over $8 million of those funds were diverted by Trombetta to other companies he covertly controlled, including a portion which went to a company in his sister’s name to hide the fact that he was the ultimate recipient. In the course of the scheme, he defrauded the IRS of $437,632 by shifting his income to the tax returns of others. The sentence imposed today should serve as a reminder that violating the public trust has serious consequences for public officials." "This money should have been going to educate our children," said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Chad Yarbrough. "Parents put their kids and their trust in this school and its leaders. Instead, Mr. Trombetta funded his own lavish lifestyle. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will always hold those accountable to abuse their positions for their own personal profit."
https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdpa/pr/pennsylvania-cyber-charter-school-founder-gets-20-months-prison-8m-tax-scheme
Cyber Charter founder Trombetta is sentenced to 20 months in prison
PAULA REED WARD Pittsburgh Post-Gazette pward@post-gazette.com JUL 24, 2018 7:49 PM
Nicholas Trombetta’s attorney stood before a federal judge Tuesday and asked her not to base his client’s sentence on “his worst day,” an “aberration of an otherwise exemplary life.” But the lead prosecutor in the tax conspiracy case against the founder of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School in Beaver County countered, “Dr. Trombetta’s worst day lasted quite a while.” From 2006 to 2012, it turns out. Trombetta, who pleaded guilty in August 2016 to a tax conspiracy charge, will serve 20 months in federal prison. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Trombetta siphoned $8 million from the school to a network of businesses he created and failed to pay $437,632 in taxes. In addition to his prison term — which Chief U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti said she would recommend he serve at a minimum security facility in Morgantown, W.Va. — Trombetta must also serve three years of supervised release and perform 40 hours of community service. He must also pay restitution for the tax loss.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2018/07/24/Cyber-Charter-founder-Trombetta-sentenced-20-months-prison-8-million-midland-beaver-county/stories/201807240110
“The concept drew criticism from some leaders in traditional school districts — including ones that had refused to accept Midland students — because state law required the districts to pay PA Cyber thousands of dollars for each child enrolled in the charter school who resided in their districts. With lower overhead than traditional schools, the money that flowed into PA Cyber helped Trombetta build an empire that would grow to include spinoff enterprises such as the former National Network of Digital Schools, a nonprofit founded in 2005 to offer curriculum and management services, and the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School, which today has an enrollment of more than 700. By the time Trombetta left his role with PA Cyber in 2012, it had more than 11,000 students, eight offices and a budget of more than $100 million.”
Former PA Cyber CEO Nick Trombetta gets 20 months in prison for tax fraud
Trib Live by MEGAN GUZA | Tuesday, July 24, 2018, 12:45 p.m.
Five years after a grand jury indicted Nick Trombetta on charges of tax evasion and conspiracy, the founder and former CEO of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison, ending a saga that saw Trombetta fall from education pioneer to convicted felon. “In the end, I failed,” Trombetta, 63, said Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti handed down the sentence. “I let a lot of people down, but I am here today to try to set things right.” Trombetta and his attorneys proposed a sentence of house arrest and community service at Trails Ministry in Beaver County, a nonprofit that helps felons transition back to life outside. Trombetta had already been volunteering there. In making that pitch, Trombetta’s attorneys stressed his willingness to take responsibility for his actions and claimed that he never once tried to blame anyone else. Trombetta pleaded guilty in August 2016 to conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service from collecting income taxes, siphoning $8 million from the charter school he created to spend on houses, a plane and other luxuries.
https://triblive.com/local/regional/13897590-74/former-pa-cyber-ceo-nick-trombetta-gets-20-months-in-prison-for
Fair Districts PA says independent commission bills are dead, but reform effort continues
Beaver County Times By J.D. Prose Posted at 2:01 AM July 25, 2018
In a letter to supporters, Fair Districts PA’s chairwoman acknowledged that the legislative prospects for creating an independent commission to draw electoral maps are “dead” in the current session, but the fight for reform will continue into the fall and 2019. “We did all we could to get a fair hearing and vote on a constitutional amendment to create an independent redistricting commission,” Carol Kuniholm said. “Despite an amazing amount of good work by supporters, advocates and legislative allies, our bills were buried in legislative dysfunction and the House leadership’s failure to negotiate consensus.” That last sentence is a reference to two maneuvers by Republicans to derail a clean bill to create an independent commission. Legislation to take the drawing of electoral maps away from state lawmakers would amend the state constitution, so bills need to pass during consecutive sessions before the question would go to a statewide referendum. In April, state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-12, Cranberry Township, chairman of the House State Government Committee, gutted a bill before his committee so that legislators retained their power in the process. Then in June, a Senate bill to create an independent commission was amended by Republicans to include new judicial districts for statewide courts, a move seen by Democrats as retaliation for the Democratic-majority state Supreme Court throwing out Pennsylvanian’s former congressional districts map for unfairly favoring Republicans. Many groups backing the legislation pulled their support after the amendment was passed.
http://www.timesonline.com/news/20180725/fair-districts-pa-says-independent-commission-bills-are-dead-but-reform-effort-continues
Pa. school districts decry what they see as growing disparity in state sports competitions
WHYY By Sara Hoover July 24, 2018
More than 150 public school districts in Pennsylvania are meeting in State College Tuesday to come up with solutions to what they see as a growing disparity in middle and high school sports competitions. The districts claim sporting events have become less competitive since charter and private schools joined traditional public schools in state playoffs. They point to state tournaments, where private and charter schools have been winning more often than their traditional public school counterparts. And they blame the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association or PIAA, which governs middle to high school sports, which failed to include them in a public hearing last week where the organization outlined ideas to address the situation. Catholic and charter school representatives were included. Now, the public schools will have their opportunity to air their grievances at what they’re calling the Playoff Equity Summit. PIAA representatives were not invited to the meeting. Since 2008, private and charter schools have won the state football championship half the time, with an even better record for girls’ and boys’ basketball championships. These lopsided wins have led some district administrators and coaches to claim that private and charter schools have an unfair advantage since they can recruit from anywhere, while public schools can only draw from kids living in their catchment areas.
https://whyy.org/articles/pa-school-districts-decry-what-they-see-as-growing-disparity-in-state-sports-competitions/
Groller: Key to solving PIAA athletic inequity issue is Act 219
The demand for separate tournaments for traditional public and schools of choice was meeting's focal point.
Keith Groller Contact Reporter Of The Morning Call July 24, 2018
This was not a modern version of the Continental Congress that met at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center Tuesday morning, although the passion and anger in the room may have rivaled what was felt on July 4, 1976. There was no Declaration of Independence from the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to be signed either. Instead, the majority of the more than 300 representatives of about 150 public school districts who came for what was labeled as the PIAA Playoff Equity Summit wanted to send a message. They wanted it to be heard in both Mechanicsburg and Harrisburg. That message was the current PIAA format for its state championship tournaments is vastly unfair and will remain unfair as long as it includes a mix what they called schools of choice and traditional public schools. “The current system is broken and needs to be fixed,” said retiring New Castle superintendent John Sarandrea, one of the meeting’s organizers. Their message wasn’t intended just for the PIAA’s board of directors. It was intended more so for the state legislature, which, they feel, has the power to overturn, reinterpret or at least amend Act 219. It was Act 219, passed and signed in October of 1972, that allowed private schools to join the PIAA. What has never been made clear is the full interpretation of that law.
http://www.mcall.com/sports/varsity/mc-spt-new-piaa-discussion-meeting-20180724-story.html
PA-17: Poll shows Lamb up big on Rothfus; analyst changes rating to ‘lean Democratic’
Beaver County Times Online By J.D. Prose Posted at 3:07 PM Updated at 3:47 PM July 24, 2018
Democratic U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb’s campaign got a boost Tuesday when a new poll showed him leading Republican U.S. Rep. Keith Rothfus by double digits in the 17th Congressional District race and a national political handicapper changed its rating in his favor. According to a Monmouth University poll, Lamb, D-18, Mount Lebanon, leads Rothfus, R-12, Sewickley, 51 percent to 39 percent among potential voters, with 9 percent undecided. Under a Democratic surge model, Lamb’s lead grows to 54 percent to 39 percent in the only House racing pitting two incumbents against each other. The new 17th District includes Beaver County, part of Cranberry Township in Butler County and a large portion of Allegheny County, including Sewickley, and Moon, Crescent, Findlay and North Fayette townships. David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report cited the Monmouth poll’s results in shifting the rating on the 17th District race from “toss-up” to “lean Democratic,” saying that the poll “corroborates data parties have seen privately.” Wasserman described the district as “close to Lamb’s dream district. It unites almost all of suburban Allegheny County, including his home and political base of Mount Lebanon, with Beaver County, which has a strong blue-collar Democratic heritage.” While that may be true, Beaver County, which still has a majority Democratic registration, has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since John Kerry in 2004 and it has voted for Rothfus in his two races against Democrat Erin McClelland in 2014 and 2016.
http://www.timesonline.com/news/20180724/poll-shows-lamb-up-big-on-rothfus-analyst-changes-rating-to-lean-democratic
Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Candidate Scott Wagner Called Me “Young and Naive”
I feel like I can make a difference. That’s why I’m not giving up now.
Teen Vogue by ROSE STRAUSS JUL 23, 2018 2:30PM EDT
In this op-ed, youth climate activist Rose Strauss writes about her experience with Scott Wagner, a Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor. Wagner called Rose “young and naive” after she asked a question at one of his campaign events.
“Young and naive”. That's how I was dismissed by Pennsylvania’s GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner when I confronted his baseless claims about climate change. I stood up to ask a simple question — Pennsylvanians are concerned about climate change and you say it’s caused by body heat. Does this have anything to do with the $200,000 you’ve taken from the fossil fuel industry? His response to my question shocked me. I was the first young women to come up to the mic. The first thing Scott Wagner did when I got up to speak was to interrupt me — “Hey, how are you?” He didn’t do this to anyone else who asked a question. I could hear the crowd giggle in response, almost approving of his interruption. My hands started sweating and I got confused. All of a sudden, I forgot the question I had prepared. Despite the distraction, I knew what I was there to figure out: Scott Wagner’s connection to the fossil fuel executives responsible for sewing climate change denial and inaction for decades. I study environmental science in school and have been studying environmental issues since I was 12 years old. I’m intimately aware of earth systems, the greenhouse effect, and the damage warming gases have on our climate, oceans, and people. I wanted to see Scott Wagner look a young woman in the eyes and reckon with his reckless stance on climate change, an issue that threatens very life on earth.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/pennsylvania-gubernatorial-candidate-scott-wagner-called-me-young-naive
Montour School District is planning what it says is a first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence curriculum
MATT MCKINNEY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mmckinney@post-gazette.com JUL 24, 2018 7:21 PM
As Justin Aglio watched youngsters tinker Tuesday morning with video game controllers behind the warm glow of a computer screen, he saw something bigger than kid doldrums of late July and early August. He saw the future of the Montour School District — and perhaps public education everywhere. The students, who traveled from around the globe, are in Pittsburgh for the World Artificial Intelligence Competition for Youth at Carnegie Mellon University. Mr. Aglio, Montour’s director of K-4 academic achievement and K-12 innovation, was there to observe and take lessons back to his own district. “What if we don’t teach them this?” he said of the fast-expanding world of artificial intelligence, from self-driving cars to robots. “That’s what scares me.” Mr. Aglio is helping lay the groundwork for Montour this fall to launch what it says will be the nation’s first artificial intelligence curriculum in a public school. The program will start at David E. Williams Middle School, with the potential to eventually expand to all grades if things go well, Mr. Aglio said. The curriculum will include data literacy, autonomous robotics, ethics, career awareness and so-called moonshot thinking — in essence, striving to do what’s never been done. Montour will partner with CMU and numerous technology companies, including Google and Amazon.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2018/07/24/Montour-School-District-artificial-intelligence-curriculum-public-school-stem-classes-pa/stories/201807240158
AASA Cheat Sheet on 2018 Perkins CTE Reauthorization Accountability
Every district’s CTE program will be judged on how successfully they meet state targets for the following metrics:
1. Graduation rates (based on the ESSA four-year rate with an option to also use the extended year rate should a state choose to do so).
2. Academic attainment rates (largely the same as current law and based on ESSA state identified academic standards and related assessments).
3. Student placement two quarters after exiting secondary education in further postsecondary education or training including, which can include military service, a service program, the Peace Corps or employment.
4. A measure of “CTE program quality”1 that must include one of the following: a. student attainment of recognized postsecondary credentials b. student attainment of postsecondary credits in their CTE program/program of study c. percentage of students participating in work-based learning d. any another measure if it is statewide, valid, reliable, comparable across the state
5. The percentage of CTE concentrators in CTE programs that lead to nontraditional fields.
http://aasa.org/uploadedFiles/AASA_Partners/_files/AASAPerkinsCheatSheet.pdf
Fired KIPP Co-Founder Mike Feinberg to Help Start New Schools
Education Week Charters & Choice Blog By Arianna Prothero on July 24, 2018 3:30 PM
After being fired from KIPP over allegations of sexual misconduct, the network's co-founder Michael Feinberg has launched an organization in Texas to start new schools. The Texas School Venture Fund says on its websitethat its mission is to expand the number and diversity of "great" schools by helping educators create new schools and by assisting single-site schools and existing networks of schools in opening new campuses. The website doesn't say whether those will be charter schools or include other types of schools. But Howard Fuller, a long-time school choice advocate and board member for the new group, told Chalkbeat, which first reported the news, that the venture fund will work at least in part with KIPP alumni who want to start their own schools. Feinberg, along with his fellow Teach for America alumna David Levin, launched KIPP, or the Knowledge Is Power Program, in Houston in 1994. A few years later, they took their school model to New York City. The charter network has since grown into the largest of its kind in the country with more than 200 schools. In addition to Fuller, a former superintendent in Milwaukee, the Texas School Venture Fund's governing board includes a couple of other heavyweights from the charter school movement. One is Chris Barbic, the founder of the YES Prep charter school network. After his stint with YES Prep and a later turn as the superintendent of the state-run Tennessee Achievement School District, Barbic now works for the Arnold Foundation, which is partially based in Houston.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/charterschoice/2018/07/fired_kipp_co-founder_mike_feinberg_launches_new_group.html
Even fishing and coal mining are not losing jobs as fast as the newspaper industry
Boston Globe By Evan Horowitz GLOBE STAFF JULY 03, 2018
The newspaper industry has declined faster and fallen further than some of the most famously collapsing sectors of the American economy. Coal mining, steel manufacturing, fishing: They can’t match the job losses and wage erosion in the newspaper business over the past few decades. At the dawn of the 21st century, when the Internet was young and print advertising was still a viable source of revenue, newspapers employed more than 400,000 people across the country, in every state. The business was bigger than the motion picture industry, with as many total workers as you find in such coast-to-coast fixtures as bars and hair salons. Since 2000, however, newspaper employment has fallen by more than 60 percent. That’s as big a fall in 18 years as the coal mining industry has suffered over the last 27 years. And while the job losses in steel and other much-eulogized American manufacturing sectors have started to level off, or even turn around, in recent years the newspaper industry has continued to shed roughly 1,000 jobs per month.
The real-world consequences of this collapse are increasingly clear: Nearly 300 English-language daily newspapers have disappeared from the US landscape in the past 20 years, cutting two-paper towns down to one while some smaller markets lose local coverage altogether.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/07/03/even-fishermen-and-coal-miners-are-faring-better-than-newspaper-employees/snK5o6ritw8UxvD51O336L/story.html
Testing Resistance & Reform News: July 18 - 24, 2018
Submitted by fairtest on July 24, 2018 - 12:03pm
FairTest is pleased to announce that Andre Green will take over as Executive Director later this summer when Dr. Monty Neill retires. For details about Andre's background and early information about a November event to honor Monty and welcome Andre:
http://www.fairtest.org/andre-green-be-new-fairtest-executive-director-whe
National Questions and Answers About ESSA's Testing Requirement
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2018/07/essa_testing_funding.html
http://www.fairtest.org/testing-resistance-reform-news-july-18-24-2018
Become a PSBA Advocacy Ambassador
PSBA Website July 18, 2018
PSBA is seeking applications for three open Advocacy Ambassador positions. This is a part-time, 9-month (September 2018-May 2019) independent contractor position with a monthly stipend and potential renewal for a second year. The individuals should have previous experience in day-to-day functions of a school district — on the school board or in a school leadership position. The purpose of the PSBA Advocacy Ambassador program is to facilitate the education and engagement of local school directors and public education stakeholders. Each Advocacy Ambassador will be an active leader in an assigned section of the state and is kept up to date on current legislation and PSBA positions based on the association’s Legislative Platform and Priority Issues to accomplish advocacy goals. The current open positions are for PSBA Section 1; Sections 3 and 4; and Section 8. (see map). Advocacy Ambassadors are independent contractors who serve as liaisons between PSBA and their state legislators, and who also work with local school officials in their section to advance PSBA’s public education advocacy mission. To complete the application process and upload required documents go to PSBA’s Career Gateway to create an account and apply. Career Gateway questions can be directed to Michelle Kunkel at 717-506-2450, x-3365. Questions and information regarding the specific duties of the Advocacy Ambassador position should be directed to Jamie Zuvich at 717-506-2450, x-3375. The deadline to submit cover letter, resume and application is August 10, 2018.
All other required documents must be submitted upon successful application.
https://www.psba.org/2018/07/become-an-advocacy-ambassador/
PA Superintendent of the Year nominations requested by July 27th
PASA and the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) are seeking nominations for 2019 Pennsylvania Superintendent of the Year. Candidates will be judged on the following criteria: leadership for learning, communication, professionalism and community involvement. The nomination deadline is Friday, July 27. For more information, visit the AASA website, http://soy.aasa.org.
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.
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.
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