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Pittsburgh school board votes against arming district police
ELIZABETH BEHRMAN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Lbehrman@post-gazette.com OCT 24, 2018 9:17 PM
The Pittsburgh Public Schools board on Wednesday voted down a controversial proposal to arm the school district’s police force. The board voted 8-1 against changing the current policy, which prohibits the 22 school police officers from carrying weapons of any type. Board member Cynthia Falls cast the lone vote in favor of arming the officers. The outcome was expected, as a majority of board members said during a public workshop earlier this month that they would not support changing the policy. Advocates with the Education Rights Network staged a protest against the proposal ahead of the school board’s monthly public hearing on Monday, and, in July, the school board passed a resolution opposing firearms in schools and proposals to arm teachers and support staff. “Our vote tonight does not mean we are not supportive of our security staff,” board President Regina Holley said. “Our vote tonight will be one in which we are telling our security staff, ‘Continue doing the work that you’re doing,’ but for me it does not mean I'm going to let you strap a gun to your side.”
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2018/10/24/Pittsburgh-Public-Schools-board-armed-police-security-Chick-fil-A-marathon-vote-students/stories/201810240116
Pittsburgh Public Schools board nixes proposal to arm school police with guns
Trib Live by NATASHA LINDSTROM | Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018, 8:21 p.m.
Pittsburgh Public Schools will not be arming its school police officers with guns. On a 1-8 vote Wednesday night, the board that oversees the district of about 24,000 students nixed a proposal to provide guns to school officers stationed at high school campuses as well as in mobile units that respond to incidents across the district’s 54 schools. Board member Cynthia Falls, the sole yes vote, said she wanted to arm officers to give them more tools to keep students safe. She cited mass school shootings in recent years, past incidents when she feared for students’ safety as a teacher and a recent incident in which a student brought a gun to a youth football game. “A safe learning environment is a prerequisite before any learning can take place,” Falls said. “Our trained school police have earned our respect … and have the right to go home safely to their families every night.” Two school board members — Sala Udin and Kevin Carter — suggested that if school resource officers and employees believe they can’t do their job without guns, they should consider working elsewhere. Carter said part of keeping students safe involves cultivating a welcoming and trusting environment.
https://triblive.com/local/allegheny/14210520-74/pittsburgh-public-schools-says-no-to-guns-for-school-police
Science scores soar, but all other Pa. test scores flat in 2018
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent October 24, 2018
Student performance on Pennsylvania’s suite of standardized tests didn’t change much in 2018, with the exception of science scores, which shot up 12 percentage points. The results, released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, show no improvement in math and reading tests given annually to elementary and middle school students. Similarly, there was little change in how high school students fared on algebra, literature, and biology Keystone Exams. The one major change came in science tests given to 4th and 8th graders. In 2017, 52.7 percent of students scored advanced or proficient on those PSSA tests, meaning they performed at least at grade level. This year, the percent of students passing the science PSSA jumped to 64.8 percent. Everywhere else, scores flatlined.
https://whyy.org/articles/science-scores-soar-but-all-other-pa-test-scores-flat-in-2018/
“Normally midterm elections are almost always a referendum on the incumbent president, even incumbents that try to stay out of them. But few if any midterms have generated more voter interest, nor polarized more voters than the current one. Trump has jumped in with both feet, holding dozens of raucous rallies across the country, while seeking to obliterate the middle ground many voters normally find in a mid-term. He has made a de-facto referendum on the president into a virtual one, possibly producing more straight party voting among both parties than seen in many decades, while driving turnout to record heights.”
Madonna & Young: The new normal in politics
Pottstown Mercury Opinion October 24, 2018
G. Terry Madonna is professor of public affairs at Franklin & Marshall College, and Michael Young is a former professor of politics and public affairs at Penn State University and managing partner of Michael Young Strategic Research. Madonna and Young can be reached, respectively, at terry.madonna@fandm.edu and drmikelyoung@comcast.net
On election night analysts try to make sense of the results, put them in some sort of context, and describe whatever patterns and forces have produced electoral outcomes. Good luck following that script in 2018. Indeed, the 2018 election is not following any normal midterm script. Turnout expectations illustrate the non-normal character of this year’s election. By consensus, the turnout of Pennsylvania voters in the Nov 6 will be close to or set a new midterm record. But that record turnout won’t be driven as might be expected by hotly contested top of the ticket statewide races — or even the usual hot button issues infusing national politics. That’s because there are none. In the governor’s and senate race, the only two statewide contests, the Democrats have commanding leads in races widely panned as among the most boring in state history. Normally the governor’s race dominates midterm elections in the state, reaping the lion’s share of media coverage as well as fundraising and spending. Not this year. Not even close. The U.S. Senate race has been equally soporific as well as equally underwhelming.
https://www.pottsmerc.com/opinion/madonna-young-the-new-normal-in-politics/article_a52f23e6-d7f0-11e8-a82c-83b6ca705e22.html
In Luzerne County, other bellwethers of Pa., voters divided ahead of midterms
Keystone Crossroads By Jen Kinney October 25, 2018
In downtown Wilkes-Barre, a man named Tom is sitting outside at a table watching CNN on his phone. He’s mistrustful of what he calls “the liberal media,” and doesn’t want to give his last name. He’s a registered Republican, but has a lot of criticism for the party. He’s a firm supporter, though, of President Donald Trump. “When Trump got involved, I was like, ‘This guy is hilarious. He’s frank. He keeps it real,’” said Tom. “I registered to vote specifically for Trump.” He had been supportive of President Obama at first, too, though he didn’t vote for him. Then, in Obama’s second term, Tom soured on the president. The Iran nuclear deal, the Obama administration’s directive on bathroom access for transgender people — suddenly Tom didn’t like where he thought the country was going.
https://whyy.org/articles/in-luzerne-county-other-bellwethers-of-pa-voters-divided-ahead-of-midterms/?utm_source=The+Context&utm_campaign=19b9fd19b7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_10_25_10_06&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8b2b040438-19b9fd19b7-86454001
Special ed students fill needs, learn life skills in West York district
This year, students with disabilities were hired for food service positions in West York Area High School for the first time.
Lindsay C. VanAsdalan, York Dispatch Published 2:42 p.m. ET Oct. 23, 2018 | Updated 3:28 p.m. ET Oct. 23, 2018
It's not every day that students have the opportunity to get on-the-job experience in their own school, but the West York Area School District changed that this fall. Through the state's Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, which helps individuals with disabilities find and maintain employment, the district hired its own students to fill open food service positions. Three days a week, two students are working morning assistance jobs in the Bulldog Café — the high school's cafeteria — and two are working as dining attendants in the afternoon. "We're really proud of the partnership," said Traci Stauffer, director of special education and pupil services. Often in high school, students learn how to be good workers in a classroom setting (which West York students already do in Life Skills) where they can make mistakes, get evaluated and grow from there — but after graduation they don’t have that luxury, she said.
https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/2018/10/23/special-ed-students-fill-needs-learn-life-skills-west-york-district/1694477002/
School Bus Safety Week!
By: Anja Whitehead Posted: Oct 23, 2018 02:01 PM EDT Updated: Oct 23, 2018 02:01 PM EDT
WBRE/WYOU-TV) About 1.5 million kids ride school buses in Pennsylvania every day. Parents put their trust in bus drivers to get them there safely. This week is National Bus Safety Week and Eyewitness News Reporter Anja Whitehead learns what's being done to ensure students' safety. Before the sun comes up parents put their children's safety into the hands of others to make sure they get to and from school. Their safety on those busses begins long before they head to the bus stop. "We just make sure we do our pre-trip bus inspections inside and out. And just to make sure the bus is in proper working order on a daily basis. To ensure the safety of our students." Said John Cruger, Bus Driver North Pocono School District. "You open the door and that's when the red light will come on." added Mike Berk, Executive Director Pennsylvania School Bus Association "We do education training, we do online webinar and we can have anywhere from the contractors themselves to there hiring people to their mechanic's"
https://www.pahomepage.com/news/school-bus-safety-week-/1544455924
Teachers to vote next week on possible strike at 19 Chicago charter schools
Chicago Sun Times By Mitchell Armentrout @mitchtrout | email10/24/2018, 08:24pm
Teachers at 19 Chicago charter schools will hold strike authorization votes next week that could open the door to the first-ever work stoppage at any charter school in the nation. Votes will be cast Oct. 30 by teachers at the city’s 15 schools in the Acero network, the largest unionized charter operator in Chicago Public Schools. Teachers will vote Nov. 2 on a possible strike at four Chicago International Charter School locations: ChicagoQuest North, Northtown, Wrightwood and Ralph Ellison. Charter school teachers united as ChiACTS have voted to authorize a few strikes over the last two years — including at Acero schools when the network was known as UNO — but this would mark their first strike vote since merging last year with the Chicago Teachers Union. More than 700 teachers could hit the picket line. After their contract with Acero expired in August, union leaders say they’re pushing for pay raises, smaller class sizes and improved special education resources.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/charter-school-strike-chicago-teachers-union-ctu-acero-cics/?utm_campaign=ChicagoSunTimes&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_content=1540431069
“Much of Tuck’s contributions have come from billionaires who support charter schools and many who live out of state. Wealthy donors include Michael Bloomberg of New York; Eli Broad of Los Angeles; and Alice Walton of Texas, who has donated millions of dollars to his campaigns over a period of years. Netflix chief Reed Hastings and Gap founder Doris Fisher have also donated. And, not surprisingly, he is backed by the California Charter Schools Association (which celebrated the controversial 2017 confirmation of Betsy DeVos as U.S. education secretary).”
$43 million and attack ads. It’s the race for California schools chief — and it’s between two Democrats.
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss October 24 at 2:13 PM
One of the loudest and most expensive state races in the country is between two Democrats vying to win the nonpartisan position of superintendent of public instruction in California. More money is being spent on the race — for a position that has no independent policymaking power — than in most U.S. Senate campaigns. The fight — the costliest in the state’s history for this post, with more than $43 million in campaign contributions, according to EdSource — is between state legislator Tony Thurmond and Marshall Tuck, a former charter school network president. Thurmond, who was elected to the California State Assembly in 2014 from the East Bay, has been a teacher, social worker, city councilman and school board member. Tuck is a former banker who became the first president of the Green Dot network of charter schools in Los Angeles. After that, he founded a nonprofit that used privately donated money from the wealthy to help turn around troubled traditional public schools. Four years ago, he ran unsuccessfully for state superintendent in a race that cost some $30 million (with a lot of it coming from billionaires backing Tuck).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/10/24/million-attack-ads-its-race-california-schools-chief-its-between-two-democrats/?utm_term=.eda7e9b0275d
NSBA 2019 Advocacy Institute January 27-29 Washington Hilton, Washington D.C.
Register now
The upcoming midterm elections will usher in the 116th Congress at a critical time in public education. Join us at the 2019 NSBA Advocacy Institute for insight into what the new Congress will mean for your school district. And, of course, learn about techniques and tools to sharpen your advocacy skills, and prepare for effective meetings with your representatives. Save the date to join school board members from across the country on Capitol Hill to influence the new legislative agenda and shape the decisions made inside the Beltway that directly impact our students. For more information contact federaladvocacy@nsba.org.
2019 NSBA Annual Conference Philadelphia March 30 - April 1, 2019
Pennsylvania Convention Center 1101 Arch Street Philadelphia, PA 19107
Registration Questions or Assistance: 1-800-950-6722
The NSBA Annual Conference & Exposition is the one national event that brings together education leaders at a time when domestic policies and global trends are combining to shape the future of the students. Join us in Philadelphia for a robust offering of over 250 educational programs, including three inspirational general sessions that will give you new ideas and tools to help drive your district forward.
https://www.nsba.org/conference
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