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
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These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
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Tell your PA House member we need
graduation reforms under SB 1095, which was unanimously passed by the Senate in
June and unanimously voted out of the House Education Committee on Monday:
PSBA Legislative Alert August 27, 2018
Deadline
to register to vote is October 9. How to
Use Pennsylvania’s Online Voter Registration:
To
vote in the next election, you must complete your application by 10/09/2018
SB1095: Bill freeing Pa. students from standardized test graduation requirement advances in Statehouse
WHYY By Robert Brod September 27, 2018
A new bill would scrap the idea that high school students in Pennsylvania need to score proficient on state standardized tests in order to graduate. That plan, as originally signed into law in 2010, required students to pass Keystone Exams in Algebra, Literature and Biology. It was supposed to go into effect for the class of 2017, but lawmakers pushed it back multiple times with concerns about student pass rates and the added costs districts were shouldering based on remediation.
Currently, it’s still set to affect the class of 2020. Now, lawmakers want to offer students three other paths to a state-certified graduation, including one asking students to secure a letter guaranteeing full-time employment or the completion of an internship. “We were getting a lot of concern from students, parents, school boards, teachers about this,” said State Sen. Tom McGarrigle, R-Delaware, sponsor of Senate Bill 1095. “One-size-fits-all just doesn’t work today with these children.” Another option would ask students to score “proficient” on one exam and “basic” on the other two. Another allows students to graduate if they pass coursework in Algebra, Literature and Biology and also get a satisfactory score on the SAT, ACT, or an industry-based exam like the NOCTI or NIMS. McGarrigle said much of the push-back he received about the Keystone Exams came from students accepted to Ivy League schools who had “extreme difficulty” passing them.
https://whyy.org/articles/bill-freeing-pa-students-from-standardized-test-graduation-requirement-advances/
Poll: ‘Blue Wave’ may swamp Republican nominees for governor, U.S. Senate, in Pa.
Inquirer by Chris Brennan | @ByChrisBrennan | brennac@phillynews.com Posted: 47 minutes ago
Democratic voter enthusiasm could swamp and then sink the Republican campaigns for the U.S. Senate and governor in Pennsylvania, according to a new Franklin & Marshall College Poll. The "blue wave" projected to help the Democratic Party in the midterm general election is being propelled in great part by President Trump's actions and administration, according to G. Terry Madonna, the poll's director. "The blue wave that we see nationally is in this state," Madonna said of his poll results, released Thursday. "The only question is on Nov. 6 will it be light blue, medium blue or heavy blue?" With the general election 40 days away, the Republican candidates are still unknown to about half the voters in the state.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/news/politics/elections/pennsylvania-governor-senate-poll-tom-wolf-scott-wagner-lou-barletta-bob-casey-franklin-marshall-20180927.html
The Franklin & Marshall Poll Results
Latest F&M Poll Results
September 17 - 23, 2018 Franklin & Marshall College Poll
The September 2018 Franklin & Marshall College Poll finds that three in five (60%) of the state’s registered voters say they are “very interested” in the 2018 elections, which is higher than in our August survey. At the moment, more Democrats (64%) than Republicans (58%) or independents (49%) say they are “very interested,” although interest is higher among all three groups than it was in August. Voters’ evaluations of how well key political figures are doing their jobs have remained remarkably stable compared to prior surveys. About one in two (50%) registered voters in Pennsylvania believes Governor Wolf is doing an “excellent” or “good” job as governor. Two in five (42%) registered voters believe Senator Casey is doing an “excellent” or “good” job as the state’s US Senator. About one in three (37%) registered voters in Pennsylvania believes President Trump is doing an “excellent” or “good” job as president.
https://www.fandm.edu/fandmpoll
Three Polls Show Casey and Wolf Up Double-Digits
PoliticsPA Written by John Cole, Managing Editor
Three polls, three sizable leads.
Over the last 7 days, new polls released from Rasmussen Reports, Morning Call/Muhlenberg College, and Reuters/Ipsos/University of Virginia Center for Politics show Democratic incumbents Gov. Tom Wolf and Sen. Bob Casey maintaining double digit leads over their GOP challengers, Scott Wagner and Rep. Lou Barletta. The polling also indicated that President Donald Trump is playing a factor in how people will vote in November. The first poll of the bunch, released last Wednesday from Rasmussen Reports, shows Casey leading Barletta 52% to 38% among likely voters, with 8% undecided and 2% likely supporting another candidate. This poll was conducted by telephone and online survey.
http://www.politicspa.com/three-polls-show-casey-and-wolf-up-double-digits/88966/
Wagner received $1M from DeVos-affiliated PAC, report shows
Logan Hullinger, York Dispatch Published 1:51 p.m. ET Sept. 26, 2018 | Updated 4:45 p.m. ET Sept. 26, 2018
Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner's most recent campaign finance report shows that in July his campaign received $1 million from a political action committee affiliated with U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. The Students First PAC was co-founded in 2010 by Joel Greenberg, a board member of the American Federation for Children, a Koch brothers-backed national group once chaired by DeVos. The Students First PAC touts its partnership with the federation on its website. Since being approved as the Secretary of Education in January, DeVos has come under fire for promoting her "school choice" education platform at the expense of traditional public schools. The platform entails increased financial support of charter schools and other nontraditional schools as well as school voucher programs.
https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/local/2018/09/26/wagner-received-1-m-devos-affiliated-pac-report-shows/1432431002/
Oversight, Charter Schools, and a Thorough and Efficient System of Public Education
South Carolina Law Review (Forthcoming) by Susan DeJarnatt Temple University - James E. Beasley School of Law Date Written: September 26, 2018
Abstract
What does accountability mean in the context of public education? Many charter school advocates often argue that charters are superior to traditional public schools because they are more accountable but do not identify how they are accountable or to whom. This article interrogates the meaning of “accountability” in the conversation about charter schools, particularly in the context of Philadelphia, where over one third of the public school population is enrolled in charters and charter funding occupies approximately 40 percent of the Philadelphia School District budget. I argue that accountability should go beyond simply market accountability in the form of parental choice. Oversight of charters is essential if the Commonwealth is to fulfill its obligation to provide a thorough and efficient system of public education to the residents of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania has a primary constitutional obligation to provide public education. To the extent those in government decide to include charters in the mix of how that education is provided, they must ensure oversight of the funds provided for charters to avoid use of public funds that are spent to the detriment, not the benefit, of Pennsylvanians. This article provides a granular examination of the charter application process in Philadelphia.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3255688
State College Area School District to seek civil action against Wonderland Charter School
Center Daily Times BY LAUREN MUTHLER lmuthler@centredaily.com September 25, 2018 01:39 PM Updated September 25, 2018 01:43 PM
The State College Area school board at its meeting Monday night authorized district solicitor Scott Etter to pursue civil action against the former Wonderland Charter School and its founders and senior administrators, Harold and Marilyn Ohnmeis. The Ferguson Township-based charter school voluntarily closed its doors and gave up its charter in July, after the SCASD board voted to send Wonderland’s charter renewal to a public hearing. The civil action, according to the motion from Superintendent Bob O’Donnell and Business Manager Randy Brown, is to recoup $49,140 that was given to Wonderland in July as a monthly tuition payment intended for instruction during the 2018-19 school year. Etter was also authorized to seek to collect other assets and resources funded by taxpayer money. Etter told the board that after Wonderland closed, Brown wrote a letter on behalf of the district to the Ohnmeises “requesting or demanding that that money be returned,” and have so far not gotten any money or response.
https://www.centredaily.com/news/local/education/article218929575.html
Haverford schools to face charges of racial harassment at public forum
Inquirer by Kathy Boccella, September 26, 2018
Gigi Peterkin said she had planned to raise her two kids in Haverford Township because "it was a great school district," but by 2017, she felt the climate was so hostile toward her biracial children that the family packed up and moved. Peterkin said her children were called the N-word, and her son was punished for the same behavior as white kids but they weren't sanctioned. "You're hitting a kid in a primal place when you're hitting them in their identity," said Peterkin, whose son is now "thriving" as an eighth grader in the Upper Darby School District, more racially diverse than predominantly white Haverford. "There's something to be said for inclusion." Peterkin's issues with the Haverford School District were highlighted in an April report by the activist group Havertown-Area Community Action Network, or H-CAN, that claimed widespread racism in the Delaware County community and focused on issues within the schools, including bullying and hate crimes, an absence of nonwhite teachers, and lack of diversity in the curriculum. The Human Relations Commission of Haverford has slated its first-ever public forum — Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. at the township's administrative building — to discuss the issue and launch a more productive conversation around race.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/education/haverford-schools-racism-public-forum-20180926.html
Flooding at Palumbo: When it rains, it pours
Additional water damage happened two weeks after flooding in the school was discovered Sept. 11. The teachers' union took issue with how the District allocates its resources.
The notebook by Greg Windle September 26 — 4:17 pm, 2018
It rained inside Academy at Palumbo again last night. This came after weeks of work repairing water damage in the 80-year-old school that was caused by flooding discovered on Tuesday, Sept. 11, after a three-day weekend. The sixth floor of Palumbo, a high school that formerly was an elementary school at 11th and Christian Streets, didn’t just flood, according to an inspector from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. The water cascading down through the building carried chunks of plaster coated in a layer of lead paint. And as that water seeped down through several floors of the school, it was soaked up by other walls and ceilings. The resulting water damage caused more paint to flake and peel. Students at Palumbo are no strangers to water intrusion, given the school’s long-leaking roof. Staff members have been reporting rainwater in classrooms for years. And the District already had put Palumbo on the list of schools to receive paint and plaster stabilization after Gov. Wolf announced that the state would send the city over $7 million for such work. The flooding was caused by clogged roof drains.
https://thenotebook.org/articles/2018/09/26/when-it-rains-it-pours/
Enforcing school bus stopping law would get an assist from stop-arm cameras
Even though it's illegal to pass a stopped school bus when children are boarding or unloading, it happens. The state Senate passed legislation on Wednesday aimed at better enforcement of this law through the use of stop-arm cameras.
Penn Live by Jan Murphy jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated Sep 26, 8:56 PM; Posted Sep 26, 6:03 PM
Legislation that seeks to crack down on drivers who illegally overtake stopped school buses and put the safety of schoolchildren at risk passed the state Senate on Wednesday.
The bill, which was approved by a 48-0 vote, allows school boards to decide if they want to have cameras installed on their school bus stop arms to capture images of vehicles that ignore a bus's flashing red lights and activated stop arm. It now goes to the House of Representatives for consideration in their final days of this legislative session.
https://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/09/enforcing_school_bus_stopping.html#incart_river_index
Jeff Bezos Cites a Big Number, but Few Details, in Plan for Low-Income Montessori Preschools
New York Times By Dana Goldstein Sept. 21, 2018
When Jeff Bezos announced last week that he and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, would create and operate a national network of Montessori preschools, few were more surprised than Montessori organizations and leaders themselves. In a statement released on Twitter, Mr. Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon and the wealthiest person in the world, said the preschools would be “in underserved communities.” He continued, “We’ll use the same set of principles that have driven Amazon. Most important among those will be genuine, intense customer obsession. The child will be the customer.” News of the initiative, called the Bezos Day One Fund, came with an eye-popping commitment: $2 billion, some of which will support organizations that help homeless families. But with high-profile education gifts from tech titans like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg not always going according to plan, Mr. Bezos’ announcement, the corporate language he used in it and the many unanswered questions it raised have made some in the education world wary. Leaders of a half-dozen prominent Montessori groups said that although they were excited by Mr. Bezos’ commitment to Montessori, they had not yet spoken to the Bezos family or their representatives, and did not know which Montessori experts, if any, were advising the project.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/21/us/bezos-montessori-preschool.html
EdPAC reception helps support election of pro-public education leaders
Do you want to help strengthen public education in the commonwealth? Join with EdPAC, a political action committee that supports the election of pro-public education leaders to the General Assembly. EdPAC will hold a fundraising reception at the 2018 PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference on Wednesday, Oct. 17 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in Cocoa 2-3. More details to come! Visit the conference website to register online.
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/
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.
Any comments contained herein are my comments, alone, and
do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any other person or organization
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