PA Ed Policy Roundup Oct. 2: Only about 8.8% of the state’s basic education aid - that which has been added since 2016 - is being apportioned through the “fair funding” formula

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PA Ed Policy Roundup Oct. 2, 2018

Only about 8.8% of the state’s basic education aid - that which has been added since 2016 - is being apportioned through the “fair funding” formula

SB1095, graduation requirement reforms, was referred to the House Appropriations Committee yesterday. If your House member is on the committee, please consider contacting them to help move this legislation over the finish line before the legislative session ends.

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/cteeInfo/Index.cfm?Code=4&CteeBody=H

11 local schools win coveted National Blue Ribbon prize
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Updated: 12 hours ago
Eleven local schools just received a feather in the cap from the United States Department of Education by being named Monday to the 2018 list of National Blue Ribbon winners. From Philadelphia to Lansdale, schools were highlighted for their excellence — either by virtue of their academic achievements, or their success in narrowing achievement gaps. U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced the winners Monday. The winners are Albert M. Greenfield Elementary and William M. Meredith Elementary, Philadelphia; Ancillae-Assumpta Academy, Wyncote; Mater Dei Catholic School, Lansdale; Our Lady of Mercy Regional Catholic School, Maple Glen; Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic School, Doylestown; Saint Joseph/Saint Robert Catholic School, Warrington; Saint Jude Catholic School, Chalfont; Saint Katharine Drexel Catholic School, Southampton; Saint Mary Magdalen Catholic School, Media; and Saints Peter and Paul Catholic School, West Chester. "We recognize and honor your important work in preparing students for successful careers and meaningful lives," DeVos told the honorees in a video message. "Congratulations on your students' accomplishments and for your extraordinary commitment to meeting their unique needs."
http://www2.philly.com/philly/education/11-local-schools-win-coveted-national-blue-ribbon-prize-betsy-devos-20181001.html

Philly’s Meredith and Greenfield schools earn national Blue Ribbon award
Mayor Kenney, Superintendent Hite and school board members joined the schools in celebration.
The notebook by Greg Windle October 1 — 8:37 pm, 2018
Mayor Kenney joined the school community on the basketball court of Meredith Elementary to celebrate the school earning the prestigious Blue Ribbon award from the U.S. Department of Education, along with Greenfield Elementary. The sea of young faces looked back and forth between the stage and the tables stacked high with soft pretzels and water ice. But they would have to wait until after the speeches. “I can’t tell you how good it makes me feel – after the Eagles lost – to come here and announce the Blue Ribbon award,” Kenney said, looking out over the crowd of students. “Sometimes being mayor is really hard, but when it comes to things like this, and I see all these beautiful faces — all this diversity — this is what Philadelphia looks like. This is what America looks like. And I’m really proud.”
https://thenotebook.org/articles/2018/10/01/meredith-and-greenfield-schools-earn-national-blue-ribbon-award/

How I Talk to My White Preservice Teachers About Diversity
Education Week By Jennifer Rich September 12, 2018
On the first day of every semester, I ask my students, who are aspiring teachers, to define “diversity.” They look at me with blank stares and I am met with silence. I wait, and eventually someone raises her hand (it’s always a young woman) and she whispers “skin color.” This is the answer I expect (it is the same every semester) and I always react the same way. I pause, consider, and say, “Skin color? What do you mean by that, exactly?” The embarrassed young woman, put on the spot, turns a deep shade of red and doesn’t respond. Someone eventually answers, also whispering, “Like, black and white?” This goes on for a long while. Students whispering, me pushing. Eventually I have a board full of words like “skin color, black, white, brown, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, straight or gay, bi, trans, family life, ways to learn, shy or outgoing … ” The list is long and often includes words that are not “politically correct,” since I capture the language my students use. My students hate this exercise. I love it. It lets them know, right off the bat, that in this class we are going to grapple with issues that are going to make them uncomfortable. This is important because they are going to be teachers. It’s especially important because they are mostly young, white women.
https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2018/09/12/white-preservice-teachers-diversity.html

Detailed New National Maps Show How Neighborhoods Shape Children for Life
Some places lift children out of poverty. Others trap them there. Now cities are trying to do something about the difference.
New York Times By Emily Badger and Quoctrung Bui Oct. 1, 2018
SEATTLE — The part of this city east of Northgate Mall looks like many of the neighborhoods that surround it, with its modest midcentury homes beneath dogwood and Douglas fir trees. Whatever distinguishes this place is invisible from the street. But it appears that poor children who grow up here — to a greater degree than children living even a mile away — have good odds of escaping poverty over the course of their lives. Believing this, officials in the Seattle Housing Authority are offering some families with housing vouchers extra rent money and help to find a home here: between 100th and 115th Streets, east of Meridian, west of 35th Avenue. Officials drew these lines, and boundaries around several other Seattle neighborhoods, using highly detailed research on the economic fortunes of children in nearly every neighborhood in America. The research has shown that where children live matters deeply in whether they prosper as adults. On Monday the Census Bureau, in collaboration with researchers at Harvard and Brown published nationwide data that will make it possible to pinpoint — down to the census tract, a level relevant to individual families — where children of all backgrounds have the best shot at getting ahead.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/01/upshot/maps-neighborhoods-shape-child-poverty.html

Commentary: New Board of Ed shows marked change from secrecy, inaccessibility of SRC
"My greatest fear was that we would witness a change in name only, a distinction without a difference. I am delighted to have been proven wrong."
The notebook Commentary by Debra Weiner October 1 — 6:05 am, 2018
As a policy analyst, advocate, and observer of Philadelphia public schools for more than 40 years, I was hopeful but not quite optimistic that the new Board of Education would jettison the secrecy, inaccessibility, and refusal to respond to public questions that were the hallmarks of its predecessor, the School Reform Commission. My greatest fear was that we would witness a change in name only, a distinction without a difference. I am delighted to have been proven wrong.  The meeting of the Academic Performance & Support Committee on Sept. 13 was a real eye-opener: questions to staff from board members showed that they were well-informed, respectful and responsive to residents who testified, and willing to meet at a time that made it easier for working people to participate. Yes, we need longer meetings or shorter agendas to facilitate dialogue. Yes, some meetings need to be held around the city. Yes, the staff needs to be better prepared and focus on avoiding jargon and bromides. Yes, the recent vote on tax breaks for Fishtown developers was both shocking and wrong-headed, especially after the intensive questioning of city officials who could not justify their recommendation.
https://thenotebook.org/articles/2018/10/01/commentary-new-board-of-ed-shows-marked-change-from-secrecy-inaccessibility-of-src/

With Alex Trebek moderating, Gov. Wolf and GOP opponent Scott Wagner debate Pa.’s future
Inquirer by Andrew Seidman, Posted: 7 hours ago
HERSHEY, Pa. — Gov. Wolf and Republican Scott Wagner faced off in the first and only debate of the campaign for governor of Pennsylvania, battling over money in politics, the culture of Harrisburg, and such issues as taxes, the death penalty, and education funding. Sitting on stage next to Alex Trebek, the host of Jeopardy! and moderator for Monday night's debate at the Hershey Lodge, Wolf, a Democrat seeking a second term, pitched himself as an ethical governor who refuses to take gifts, has invested in education, and expanded health coverage for low-income residents. Wagner, a former state senator and owner of a waste management firm, declared himself the "cleanup guy" who would stand up for law enforcement and take on fiscal challenges such as the state's underfunded retirement system.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/news/politics/elections/pennsylvania-governor-race-debate-tom-wolf-scott-wagner-alex-trebek-20181001.html

In the only debate for Tom Wolf and Scott Wagner, voters learned little new
Penn Live By Jan Murphy jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated Oct 1, 11:19 PM; Posted Oct 1, 10:45 PM
The first and only debate between Pennsylvania's gubernatorial candidates could have been as mentally challenging as a game of "Jeopardy!" but it didn't provide voters many answers they didn't already know. Instead, that game show's host Alex Trebek who moderated Monday's long-awaited face-to-face encounter between Democratic incumbent Gov. Tom Wolf and Republican challenger Scott Wagner engaged in a conversation that showcased Trebek's homework from studying up on what's been happening in Pennsylvania politics. But the face-to-face encounter at the 34^th annual Chamber Dinner at the Hershey Lodge allowed the candidates to take a few shots at each other and Trebek took one of his own firing a criticism at inaction by the state Legislature.
https://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/10/voters_learned_little_new_abou.html#incart_river_index

That formula, passed as Act 35 in 2016, is currently used only to allot new state education dollars — previous apportionment levels are locked in under a legislative clause called “hold harmless,” whereby local school districts cannot receive less funding from the state than they did in a previous year. Because of this, only about 8.8 percent of the state’s basic education aid — that which has been added since 2016 — is being apportioned through the “fair funding” formula, according to state Department of Education data.
Governor's Race 2018: Election rhetoric and the education debate
Zack Hoopes The Sentinel Sep 30, 2018
No matter the outcome, the education rhetoric in the Pennsylvania governor’s race has already upended some of Harrisburg’s political orthodoxy. Namely, conservatives have been blindsided by GOP candidate Scott Wagner’s 180-degree turn on education spending, a change to the playbook that some say is obscuring the real issue, one that will be decided by the courts if the governor and Legislature don’t act soon. The election rhetoric on both sides has become really disappointing. It’s become entirely political rather than substantive,” said Marc LeBlond, an analyst for the libertarian-leaning Commonwealth Foundation. “We’re at the point where we can either legislate this, or the court is going to issue an order to do something,” LeBlond said. In addition to his mathematically dubious pledge to put an additional $1 billion of state funding into education without raising taxes, Wagner has gone after Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf for suggesting that the state distribute all of its local education aid through the new “fair funding” formula.
https://cumberlink.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/governor-s-race-election-rhetoric-and-the-education-debate/article_0214a886-7278-5fbf-8b56-363773826b69.html

Failing the Future
Is the way Pennsylvania funds public education the reason some students are left behind?
"I wish my school had..."
Public Source Series on PA School Funding 2018
About this project: In Pennsylvania, a state with 500 school districts, the funding crisis of public education is not a breaking news story. It's been the reality for years. Students study in decaying buildings, can only dream about art classes and fight the stigma of being from "that school." The crisis of funding public education is imminent as the court is set to look into how Pennsylvania funds public education and if it violates the State Constitution. In this series, we explore deepening inequities across school districts and ask: Will the school funding crisis in Pa. ever be solved?
https://schoolfundingpa.publicsource.org/

September State Revenues 6.4 Percent Over Estimates, Up $209.8 Million For Fiscal Year
PA Capitol Digest by Crisci Associates OCTOBER 1, 2018
Pennsylvania collected $3 billion in General Fund revenue in September, which was $183.8 million, or 6.4 percent, more than anticipated, Revenue Secretary Dan Hassell reported Monday. Fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $7.6 billion, which is $209.8 million, or 2.9 percent, above estimate. Overall tax revenue collected in the first quarter of the 2018-19 fiscal year is $608.1 million more, or 8.8 percent, than was collected in the first quarter of the last fiscal year. Sales tax receipts totaled $900.8 million for September, $32.1 million above estimate. Year-to-date sales tax collections total $2.8 billion, which is $67.7 million, or 2.5 percent, more than anticipated.
https://pacapitoldigestcrisci.blogspot.com/2018/10/september-state-revenues-64-percent.html

How Pa. is working to close the gender gap in tech | Opinion
Reshma Saujani and Frances Wolf, For the Inquirer Posted: October 1, 2018 - 6:00 AM
Seventy-two years ago, Philadelphia became home to the first-ever computer. The ENIAC, manually programmed by six brilliant women, would change the course of history and drive technological advancements for years to come. Today, the state that made so many of the most significant early strides in computing history is doing it again by investing $20 million in STEM education, and specifically, STEM education for girls. The commitment from Gov. Tom Wolf is the first of its kind at the state level — and as necessary as ever. Programming jobs, some of the highest paying in the country, are on the rise and yet a vast majority of our nation's public schools still do not offer courses in computer science. Those that do typically do not tailor their curricula to appeal to young women and definitely not to young women of color. Too often, our girls learn about the innovations of men like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg at the expense of the women who pioneered our most revolutionary technology, like the ENIAC women.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/opinion/commentary/women-in-stem-girls-who-code-pennsylvania-technology-computers-engineering-20181001.html

Pa. auditor general cracks down on school districts in recent reports
WHYY By Robert Brod October 1, 2018
Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene DePasquale has targeted two school districts in recent weeks for mismanagement of taxpayer funds. The Scranton School District signed a no-bid contract with a transportation company that resulted in paying an unnecessary $4 million in gas, and a 59% cost increase in busing from 2007 through 2016. DePasquale says the district wasted almost $12 million. “The school districts that do not competitively bid for transportation contracts, it leads to higher cost. It leads to less competition, higher cost, which eventually hurts taxpayers,” he said. The Scranton School District has since mandated all contracts to be reviewed by the school board before work is authorized. DePasquale also discovered malfeasance in the Coatesville Area School District in Chester County. The school board gave its former superintendent three raises from 2011 to 2014. This happened despite the district borrowing money for its operating expenses, and furloughing teachers.
https://whyy.org/articles/pa-auditor-general-cracks-down-on-school-districts-in-recent-reports/

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

From 'Rotten Apples' to Martyrs: America Has Changed Its Tune on Teachers
After years of being blamed for the problems in schools, teachers are now being held up as victims of a broken system. How did the pendulum swing so quickly?
Education Week By Madeline Will September 28, 2018
For years, teachers continually heard the message that they were the root of problems in schools. But in a matter of months, the public narrative has shifted: The nation is increasingly concerned about teachers' low salaries and challenging working conditions. Teachers, it seems, are no longer bad actors ruining schools—they're victims of an unfair system, and the only hope for saving kids. Before, "there seemed to be a lot of teacher blaming going on," said David Labaree, a professor emeritus at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. "You now see a surprising degree of growing sympathy for teachers."
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/10/03/from-rotten-apples-to-martyrs-america-has.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

by The Fellowship: Black Male Educators for Social Justice

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.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2nd-annual-national-black-male-educators-convening-tickets-46322952197

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!

“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 that I may be affiliated with.