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,
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These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
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In
the last decade, PA state’s share of Special Education funding has fallen from
36% down to 25%
Stat of the day via @PASchoolsWork. With costs for special education services rising,
Pennsylvania's share of the funding for those services has been going down.
This leaves local school districts stretched to cover the shortfalls.
PA Senate Remaining Scheduled Session Days 2018
September 24, 25, 26
October 1, 2, 3, 15, 16, 17
November 14
PA House Remaining Scheduled Session Days 2018
September 12, 13, 24, 25, 26
October 1 (NV), 2 (NV), 9, 10, 15, 16, 17
November 13
Twelve weeks from midterm, liberal billionaire Steyer ups his Pa. presence | Monday Morning Coffee
Penn Live By John L. Micek jmicek@pennlive.com Updated Aug 13, 1:14 PM; Posted Aug 13, 8:18 AM
Good Monday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
With just weeks to go before the mid-term elections, progressive billionaire Tom Steyer is tripling down on his effort to turn Pennsylvania a deep shade of Democratic blue. Steyer, the head of NextGen America, has already committed to spending $3.5 million on key congressional races throughout the state. And starting this week more than 100 paid staffers will be on 70 college campuses across the state to greet returning students. "It's a huge opportunity for us," spokesman Will Simons told PennLivein a recent interview. "We're playing in the six competitive districts we announced earlier this year, as well as statewide. We've been active since late last fall. Now we're really ramping up heading into November." More astute readers will recall that Democrats need to flip 23 states to win back control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November. Pennsylvania could be responsible for as many as a quarter of those seats. Steyer's group is eyeing three seats around Philadelphia for a takeover, as well as the Lehigh Valley-based 7th District (old Charlie Dent seat); the 17th District in western Pennsylvania, and the 10th District in central Pennsylvania. "We've registered about 13,000 [young voters] so far," Simons said. "We're looking to double that by the end of August. It's constant contact and young people feel like they have an outlet to get involved."
https://www.pennlive.com/capitol-notebook/2018/08/twelve_weeks_from_midterm_libe.html#incart_river_index
Yes, Bob Casey is boring. In 2018, that's good news for Democrats | Tuesday Morning Coffee
Penn Live By John L. Micek jmicek@pennlive.com Updated 7:28 AM; Posted 7:26 AM
Good Tuesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
If there's thing Pennsylvanians know about U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., it's that the scion of Scranton is never in any danger of stealing the show from one of his more charismatic congressional colleagues. Next to U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who has seemingly two settings: Loud and Ridiculously Loud; or the dryly funny Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., who christened the 45th president of the United States "Cadet Bone Spurs," Casey seems like that reliable, if slightly unglamorous, older sibling. The who will help you with your homework and urge you to not to drive too fast. But as Josh Voorhees of Slate notes, because Casey, who's running for a third term in November, is getting the job done in a state that President Donald Trump carried by a slender percentage point in 2016, that's freed up Democrats to worry about campaigning in states that are on the bubble in November.
https://www.pennlive.com/capitol-notebook/2018/08/yes_bob_casey_is_boring_in_201.html#incart_river_index
How To Profit From Your Nonprofit Charter School
Forbes by Peter Greene Contributor Aug 13, 2018, 11:43am
Occasionally politicians and policy leaders will try to thread the needle on charter schools by saying that they support nonprofit charters, but not those for-profit ones. Candidate Clinton tried that trick for keeping both sides happy back in 2016. But it's a distinction without a difference. Running a nonprofit charter school can still be a highly lucrative undertaking-- all financed with taxpayer dollars. Here's how to make a bundle with your nonprofit charter school.
The Real Estate Business: There is such a thing as a business that specializes in charter schools and real estate. In some states, the government will help finance a real estate development if it's a charter school, and in general developers have noted an abundance of cash. Though, as one charter real estate loan bond financier told the Wall Street Journal, "There's a ton of capital coming into the industry. The question is: Does it know what it's doing?" Many states have found a problem with charters that lease their buildings from their own owners as well. Why such interest in charter real estate? One reason: the Clinton-era Community Tax Relief Act of 2000 made it possible for funds that invested in charter schools to double their money in seven years. And the finance side can become so convoluted that, as Bruce Baker lays out here, the taxpayers can end up paying for a building twice-- and the building still ends up belonging to the charter company.
Management Companies: Once you've set up your nonprofit charter school, hire yourself as a for-profit charter management organization. Over the last decade, there have been numerous examples of this arrangement, sometimes called a "sweeps contract," where the charter school hands as much as 95% of its revenue off to a for-profit management organization. As with real estate, there have been instances where the school's assets (books, furniture, computers, etc) have been ruled to be the property of the management company-- so even if the school tanks, the organizers walk away with assets they can cash in.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2018/08/13/how-to-profit-from-your-non-profit-charter-school/#235c64f03354
Lancaster County schools are in better shape for second year of tougher immunization requirement
Lancaster Online by HEATHER STAUFFER | Staff Writer August 14, 2018
A regulatory change taking effect for the 2017-18 school year shortens the immunization grace period for students from eight months to five days.
Last year, Lancaster County schools had to keep hundreds of students out of classes when they failed to meet a tough new requirement of being immunized within the first five days of school. This year, as the first day of classes approaches, things are looking a lot better. Districts have had longer to prepare, and they say awareness is higher. With about 11,300 students, School District of Lancaster is the county’s largest district and accounted for the bulk of the exclusions last year. Despite strenuous efforts including free in-school clinics, individualized letters, radio ads, phone calls and even home and work visits, it had almost 2,000 who hadn’t met the requirement by the end of August and roughly 600 excluded by the seventh day of school. When LNP asked last week, district spokeswoman Kelly Burkholder said only about 4 percent — roughly 452 students — hadn’t yet met the requirement, with roughly two weeks remaining before classes start.
https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lancaster-county-schools-are-in-better-shape-for-second-year/article_2bd352fe-9f35-11e8-b338-570b4283c0ff.html
These PIAA solutions should ensure fairness for all | Joe Scarnati
Penn Live Guest Editorial By Joe Scarnati Updated Aug 10; Posted Aug 10
State Sen. Joe Scarnati, a Republican, is President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania State Senate. He represents the Jefferson County-based 25th Senate District and writes from Harrisburg.
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) was created more than a hundred years ago to provide fair, uniform standards governing high school sports. The body was expanded in 1972 to include private schools to end the separation of schools from different backgrounds. The intent of the 1972 law was clear. Lawmakers sought to end the segregation of non-public schools in order to allow all schools and students to compete for state championships. While this system is not perfect, the organization works tirelessly to ensure the competitive balance between public, private and charter schools is preserved. The PIAA has come under fire in recent weeks from critics who claim that the current system provides an unfair advantage to private and charter schools since public schools are restricted to fielding only those student-athletes who live within the geographic boundaries of the school district.
https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2018/08/these_piaa_solutions_should_en.html#incart_river_index
Pennsylvania labor secretary swings by Allentown CareerLink to highlight job training initiatives
Jon Harris Contact Reporter Of The Morning Call August 13, 2018
Gerard Oleksiak, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, has been all over the state lately to visit CareerLink offices and discuss PAsmart, a new workforce development initiative. Among his stops so far: Chester County, Blair County and Erie County. His stop in Allentown on Monday was memorable from the start, when Nancy Dischinat greeted the teacher-turned-union-official-turned-labor-secretary with a poem that made light of the miserable, rainy weather outside. It was a poem about how the rain will create roses. “It’s typical of how she sees the opportunity even on rainy day,” Oleksiak said of the Workforce Board Lehigh Valley executive director. And that’s really what his stop was about — seeing the opportunities that have been created for the Lehigh Valley’s available workers and discussing the ones to come. He toured CareerLink Lehigh Valley’s Air Products Resource Center, where about 200 job-seekers a day stop in to use the facility’s phones and computers. He peeked in at a class focused on fine-tuning a resume, and then he was introduced to the Career Linking Academy, a group of middle-school students who informed Oleksiak that 97 percent of Lehigh Valley businesses have 99 employees or less.
http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-biz-gerard-oleksiak-visits-allentown-careerlink-20180813-story.html
Stoneleigh’s likely safe but Lower Merion landmarks are still under siege | Opinion
by Kathleen Abplanalp and Paul Steinke, For the Inquirer, Posted: August 14, 2018
Paul Steinke is executive director of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. Kathleen M. Abplanalp is director of historic preservation for the Lower Merion Conservancy. The Preservation Alliance holds the façade easement on Stoneleigh's mansion and the Lower Merion Conservancy holds the conservation easement on the 42-acre property.
The ongoing threat to Stoneleigh's natural garden and historic mansion was reduced but not eliminated by swift action by the Pa. General Assembly and Gov. Wolf earlier this summer. On June 24, the governor signed a bill (HB 2468) that will test the power of authorities vested with eminent domain rights to condemn land that is protected by conservation easements. HB 2468, which had bipartisan support in the General Assembly, was prompted by the Lower Merion School District's proposal to condemn Stoneleigh, a 42-acre free and public garden in Villanova, for its new middle school. Fortunately, the provisions of HB 2468, which require authorities to demonstrate that there is no "reasonable and prudent alternative" to condemnation, greatly diminish the probability that the school district can spoil Stoneleigh's natural garden or imperil its historic Tudor Revival mansion. Stoneleigh is part of collection of historic assets in the township that dates from the late 17th century to the mid-20th century. This collection complements and completes the architectural portfolio of the region and of Philadelphia, recognized as a World Heritage City. In its continued search for a middle school site, however, the School District has not retreated from its hard stand that historic properties in the township are disposable.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/opinion/commentary/stoneleigh-clairemont-lower-merion-preservation-villanova-20180814.html
Comcast broadening reach of Internet Essentials
The focus this time is military veterans.
The notebook by Sam Haut August 13 — 4:40 pm, 2018
Six members of the Veterans Multi-Service Center received free laptops from Comcast's David Cohen at Monday's event announcing the expansion of the Internet Essentials program. Comcast official David L. Cohen, speaking to a room full of military veterans, politicians, and his company’s personnel, detailed the expansions being made to Comcast’s program that offers internet access to low-income people. The program, called Internet Essentials, now will include all low-income veterans, 36,000 of whom live in Pennsylvania. Previously, the program was restricted to households that include children eligible for the National School Lunch Program or that receive federal housing assistance. The company said Monday it had added nearly 20,000 low-income Philadelphia households and 2 million households nationally over the last year. Helping to promote the expansion were Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux-Morando, twin sisters and gold medalists from the 2018 U.S. women’s ice hockey team. They are the latest athletes to sign on as official spokespeople for Internet Essentials to help expand awareness of the program. Jocelyne stressed that low-income households in both urban and rural areas have an issue with obtaining internet access. The twins are from North Dakota.
https://thenotebook.org/articles/2018/08/13/comcast-broadening-reach-of-internet-essentials/
Tracking the House Races to Watch in the 2018 Midterm Elections
House Race Ratings by the Cook Political Report By THE NEW YORK TIMES AUG. 13, 2018
218 seats needed for House majority
Democrats must flip at least 23 Republican-held seats to retake the House this November. There are currently 62 highly competitive seats — those considered a tossup between the two parties or leaning slightly toward one — according to race ratings provided by the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/us/elections/house-race-ratings.html?hpw&rref=us&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well
PSBA Officer Elections: Slate of Candidates
PSBA members seeking election to office for the association were required to submit a nomination form no later than June 1, 2018, to be considered. All candidates who properly completed applications by the deadline are included on the slate of candidates below. In addition, the Leadership Development Committee met on June 17 at PSBA headquarters in Mechanicsburg to interview candidates. According to bylaws, the Leadership Development Committee may determine candidates highly qualified for the office they seek. This is noted next to each person's name with an asterisk (*). Voting procedure: Each school entity will have one vote for each officer. This will require boards of the various school entities to come to a consensus on each candidate and cast their vote electronically during the open voting period (Aug. 24-Oct. 11, 2018). Voting will be accomplished through a secure third-party, web-based voting site that will require a password login. One person from each member school entity will be authorized as the official person to register the vote on behalf of his or her school entity. In the case of school districts, it will be the board secretary who will cast votes on behalf of the school board. A full packet of instructions and a printed slate will be sent to authorized vote registrars the week of August 7. Special note: Boards should be sure to add discussion and voting on candidates to their agenda during one of their meetings in August, September or October before the open voting period ends.
https://www.psba.org/2018/07/psba-officer-elections-slate-candidates/
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.
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!
“Not only do we have a superstar lineup of keynote speakers including Diane Ravitch, Jesse Hagopian, Pasi Sahlberg, Derrick Johnson and Helen Gym, but there will be countless sessions to choose from on the issues you care about the most. We will cover all bases from testing, charters, vouchers and school funding, to issues of student privacy and social justice in schools.”
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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