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LTE: Invest in our future as a state
Citizens Voice LETTER TO THE EDITOR / PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 23, 2018
JOHN NEURHOR is communications director for the Pennsylvania BUDGET and Policy Center.
The state of Pennsylvania’s schools — and how we fund them — was once again at the forefront in this year’s elections. The voters responded by reelecting Gov. Tom Wolf, who ran on his commitment to fully and adequately invest in public education. With the election behind us, it is time for Gov. Wolf and the legislature to deliver the resources needed so all Pennsylvania students are prepared for college or a career. It is a vital investment. To understand how funding levels affect the quality of education that students receive, hear what some school superintendents recently reported as part of an ongoing lawsuit about the inadequacy and unfairness of state funding for schools: In the Wilkes-Barre School District, 37 teachers were furloughed in 2016-17 alone. There is not enough money to repair the crumbling façade at one of its high schools. Students must come and go from the building through protective sheds. The Greater Johnstown School District, on the other side of the state, closed a middle school last year because it could not afford to repair it. Since 2010, it has cut 50 teaching positions, causing class sizes to grow. William Penn School District, in the Philadelphia suburbs, eliminated 57 teaching positions. The result: 46 elementary school classrooms have more than 30 students. Many classrooms are without basic educational equipment like projectors and white boards; some textbooks are more than 20 years old. Even so, the school district faces higher property taxes year upon year because the state is unwilling to adequately fund local districts.
Rural schools are feeling the pain of the broken state funding system as well.
https://www.citizensvoice.com/opinion/invest-in-our-future-as-a-state-1.2414003
Editorial: Decreased emphasis on standardized testing a positive step
Lancaster Online Editorial by THE LNP EDITORIAL BOARD November 26, 2018
THE ISSUE: According to the latest standardized test scores released by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Lancaster County students, as a whole, are performing above the statewide average. But, compared to the previous school year, students took small steps backward in some subject areas in the PSSAs (for elementary and middle school students) and the Keystone Exams (for high school students). These test results are part of the Future Ready PA Index, the state’s new school accountability tool. But it’s just a tool. With the recent passage and signing of Senate Bill 1095, Pennsylvania students now have multiple options beyond displaying proficiency in the Keystone Exams to fulfill their high school graduation requirements. It’s good to be able to monitor progress. To have accountability and a measuring stick. It’s also good when we aren’t restricted or defined by those assessment methods. There was a mixed bag of results for Lancaster County schools in the latest round of standardized test results, as released by the state and detailed by Alex Geli in last Wednesday’s LNP. The 2016-17 school year test results were compared with the 2017-18 results.
https://lancasteronline.com/opinion/editorials/decreased-emphasis-on-standardized-testing-a-positive-step/article_3accb982-ef7e-11e8-b018-9b2d3c913309.html
Democrats won the midterms in the suburbs. If they can keep them, is it 'game over' in Pennsylvania?
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette CHRISTOPHER HUFFAKER chuffaker@post-gazette.com NOV 22, 2018 11:53 AM
Rachel Meta, 47, a personal trainer from Mt. Lebanon, says she doesn’t usually vote in midterm elections. But this year she did, and she voted for Democrats. “I was trying to vote against Donald Trump,” she said recenty, outside the Panera at the Galleria in Mt. Lebanon. Julie Slaughter, a 34-year-old restaurant manager from Dormont, does not always vote for Democrats. In the 2008 presidential election, for example, she said she voted for John McCain. But in 2018, “I voted straight blue,” she said. “I want to see more consistent checks and balances,” she said. “I think it’s more about making sure [Mr. Trump] doesn’t think he can get away with anything.” Barbara Marasco, 71, of Dormont, said her vote changes election to election, but she “voted for the Democratic slate this time.” Why? “Trump. One guy. I don’t care for him.” Ms. Meta, Ms. Slaughter and Ms. Marasco were part of a wave of suburban voters who swung hard toward the Democratic Party in the the 2018 midterms, giving the party a gain of over 30 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-local/2018/11/22/midterms-democrats-republicans-suburbs-trump-2018-2020-pennsylvania/stories/201811210050
Pennsylvania Democrats have high hopes for redistricting
Trib Live by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS | Sunday, Nov. 25, 2018, 9:18 p.m.
HARRISBURG — The opportunity for Democrats to enhance their prospects in races for legislative and congressional seats for an entire decade is still three years away, but they’re already thinking about it in Pennsylvania. With Gov. Tom Wolf getting elected to a second term and a Democratic majority entrenched on the state Supreme Court, the party now sees itself in the best position since the 1990s to draw post-Census boundaries for seats in Congress and the state Legislature. Every state is required to go through redistricting after a census. The next opportunity comes in 2021. “We’re always aware of it, because we’ve always had bad maps,” said Nancy Patton Mills, Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party chairwoman. In nearly two decades on Republican-drawn maps, Pennsylvania has seen huge majorities of Republicans in its congressional delegation and in the state Legislature, even while Democrats held a sizable edge in voter registration and dominated statewide elections.
https://triblive.com/state/pennsylvania/14336856-74/pennsylvania-democrats-have-high-hopes-for-redistricting
"We obviously think that City Council should do the right thing and eliminate a job-destroying tax that is increasingly being rejected by voters and political leaders across the country," said Anthony Campisi, a spokesman for the American Beverage Association-backed local coalition. On the other side are the city's building trades unions, which benefit from work created by the soda tax, which supports pre-K, community schools, parks, recreation centers, and libraries. These unions, led by Local 98's John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty, were the biggest super PAC spenders for Kenney in 2015
Super PAC spending could overwhelm candidate cash in next year’s Philadelphia City Council races | Clout
Inquirer by Chris Brennan, Holly Otterbein and Andrew Seidman, Posted: November 23, 2018- 5:00 AM
On this Black Friday, Clout bargain-hunts the best political deals for super PACs in the 2019 races in Philadelphia. We're thinking the big money may land on City Council campaigns, not Mayor Kenney's bid for a second term. In the 2015 mayoral primary, super PACs spent more than the six Democratic candidates combined. Next year, they could spend millions in races for Council. The American Beverage Association has already proven it's willing to dig deep to try to overturn the city's soda tax, Kenney's signature achievement. If the soda industry and grocery store retailers launch a super PAC in the mayor's race, former City Controller Alan Butkovitz would be first in line for that support, having declared his challenge to Kenney last week. State Sen. Tony Williams is not far behind; he is considering another try.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/columnists/clout/clout-super-pac-council-races-2019-election-20181123.html
“While the Philadelphia School District has struggled to fix environmental problems amid $5 billion in repair needs, MaST, which like other charter schools is publicly funded, has been buying property and building with proceeds from bonds.”
Riverfront complex, media center, telescope. These are Philadelphia public schools?
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Posted: November 26, 2018
On the second floor of an under-construction school building, John Swoyer stepped onto a deck overlooking the Delaware River and a swath of freshly seeded land covered in straw. "I just envision this place filled with kids," Swoyer said, lifting his phone to take a photo of the future sports fields between I-95 and the river in Tacony. Rather than the Philadelphia School District, the new school will be used by students at multiple campuses of the Mathematics, Sciences and Technology Community Charter School — known as MaST. The nationally recognized Northeast Philadelphia charter school, which opened in 1999 and this year claimed a waiting list of more than 11,000, is growing. MaST II opened in 2016 in rented space in a former Catholic school in Lawncrest; next year, students in two grades will be the first to attend school in MaST II's brand-new building in Tacony. And a third MaST is also opening next year. School leaders are hoping to close on the Crown Holdings Inc. headquarters — which is "in pristine condition," said Swoyer, MaST's CEO. "It's a huge building."
http://www2.philly.com/philly/education/mast-charter-school-philadelphia-school-district-bonds-20181126.html
For newest Rhodes scholar, a journey tied — in many ways — to Philly’s school system
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent November 22, 2018
When Anea Moore was in seventh grade, she gave her mom an ultimatum. For years she’d bugged her parents to let her apply to Masterman, one of Philadelphia’s premier public magnet schools. Her parents worried it was too far — and maybe too challenging. Moore needed her mom’s signature to complete the Masterman application. “I don’t know where I got these guts from, but I said, ‘Mommy, either you sign it or I forge your name on this paperwork,’” Moore said. “But either way, it’s going out.” Moore thought Masterman could push her in ways her neighborhood school, Penrose, couldn’t. Though the teachers there tried to nurture her talent — even sneaking her into advanced math classes — she wanted to learn with the “best of the best.” She also thought at Masterman she’d finally fit in with students. The kids at Penrose bullied her for her bookish ways. She wasn’t rich, but she was “the richest kid in the ‘hood.” She had two loving parents, who between them always earned at least one stable income. Many of her classmates had neither, and they peppered her with taunts of “teacher’s pet” and “goody two shoes.” When the application went out, and Masterman said yes, Moore eagerly accepted.
https://whyy.org/articles/for-newest-rhodes-scholar-a-journey-tied-in-many-ways-to-phillys-school-system/
How To Develop Poised, Thoughtful, Articulate Teenagers
Forbes by Tom Vander Ark Contributor Nov 20, 2018, 02:04pm
Horace (above) is a poised, thoughtful, articulate high school junior. He’s also a Youth Commissioner for the city of Philadelphia, president of a nonprofit organization, and vocal advocate for his school, the Science Leadership Academy (SLA) where he has “Taken on the role of school dad.” Wes (below) is the Youth Poet Laureate of Philadelphia and is working with YouthBuild Philly. He transferred from to SLA from a traditional school in Detroit. “There is more checking into my values and ideals here,” said Wes. With an enrollment of 500, people often wonder how SLA students are represented everywhere in the city. The student leadership apparent across Philadelphia is “because of what is taught at SLA,” said Chris Lehmann, founding principal of SLA, “We want kids to understand that what we do now matters. Right now. Today.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanderark/2018/11/20/how-to-develop-poised-thoughtful-articulate-teenagers/#5cb7f1c0366d
"I went to funerals and thought about how our kids spend their time after school," said Hardy. "Kids need something positive, and if we don't give them that, they'll find something negative."
Lifting Kensington — through soccer
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Posted: November 22, 2018
The athletic fields at Third and Dauphin are not lovely, set on patchy grass amid a stark Kensington landscape. But the things that have grown around them are remarkable, a testament to the strength of a community and one man's dogged belief in it. The fields and the adjacent clubhouse that Philadelphia teacher Jim Hardy rents from a nearby church form the heart of the Kensington Soccer Club. In eight years, the organization has grown from a few volunteers overseeing a handful of pickup games to a community anchor with nearly 1,500 youths served annually in multiple leagues, providing year-round programming, educational activities, even jobs. "Soccer club" only begins to describe an organization that has won local acclaim and attracted national attention. "It gives the community something to hold onto," said Yadelies Prieto, a Kensington Soccer staffer. "It gives us pride."
http://www2.philly.com/philly/education/kensington-soccer-club-teacher-jim-hardy-20181122.html
Non-white teachers have increased 162 percent over the past 30 years, but they are also more likely to quit
New data paints a picture of an increasingly unstable teaching force of rookies
Hechinger Report Column by JILL BARSHAY November 19, 2018
There’s been a lot of hand-wringing over the fact that the U.S. teaching force is mostly white but the students in our classrooms are now mostly black, Hispanic and Asian. Although the latest federal data shows a dramatic surge in the number of black and Hispanic teacher hires, these same teachers continue to be among the most likely to leave the profession, with many churned out soon after they are hired and before they have a chance to develop strong teaching skills. “No, we don’t have parity,” said Richard Ingersoll, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who has been documenting changes in the teaching labor force. “But there’s actually been a massive increase in the numbers and percentages of minority teachers in this country over the last three decades. It’s actually sort of an unheralded victory. It’s all the more remarkable because minority teachers have higher quit rates.” Ingersoll and his colleagues at the Consortium for Policy Research in Education analyzed teacher and school principal surveys, administered every four or so years by the federal government, to paint a picture of the teaching force and highlight trends. Their first 2012 report tracked changes from 1987 through 2008. He and his colleagues have since updated these findings twice, in 2014 and now in 2018, with data through the 2015-2016, which recently became available.
https://hechingerreport.org/non-white-teachers-have-increased-162-percent-over-the-past-30-years-but-they-are-also-more-likely-to-quit/
Casey for president? U.S. senator from Pa. says it could happen
WHYY By Tom MacDonald November 23, 2018
Former Vice President Joe Biden is thinking about it. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker from New Jersey has been visiting Iowa and New Hampshire. Now a third Democrat from the region is considering a run for the White House. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said he has one of the necessities for winning the race for president. “I know we can win this state. I know others can carry this state as well, but if Democrats don’t carry Pennsylvania, we can’t win in 2020, so if you are able to win in this state, you should consider it,” Casey said. On Nov. 6, Casey won his bid for another term by more than 10 percentage points. Applying that math, Casey said, has brought him to the point of seriously thinking about a run for the White House.
https://whyy.org/articles/casey-for-president-u-s-senator-from-pa-says-it-could-happen/
North Allegheny considers later start time for high school
Trib Live by SANDY TROZZO NOV 22, 2018 12:00 AM
The North Allegheny school board will find out next month whether it is logistically possible to change the start time for high school students. A months-long study of bus routes will be presented to the board at the Dec. 12 meeting, and board members may make a decision on the start times in January or February. Beginning the high school day later is one of several avenues district officials are studying in order to combat student stress. Others still being studied include homework and testing. David Christopher, assistant superintendent for secondary education, said 54 percent of high school students get five or six hours of sleep a night. “None of us is excited about the amount of sleep high school students get,” he told board members Nov. 14. High school classes begin at 7:25 a.m. One idea is to begin high school and middle school at the same time, 8 a.m. But officials were unsure about whether their bus fleet could handle doubling up.
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/north/2018/11/22/North-Allegheny-considers-later-start-time-for-high-school/stories/201811190112
Betsy DeVos: It’s time we balance the scales of justice in our schools
Penn Live Guest Editorial By Betsy DeVos oped@pennlive.com Posted Nov 23, 8:15 AM
America's students deserve to attend school focused on learning, with nothing limiting them from reaching their unique potential and preparing to lead successful lives. No student should have their education unfairly derailed. That's why there must be no tolerance for sexual harassment or assault in America's schools - or anywhere else in the country, for that matter. And there should also be no tolerance for adjudicating these matters in a way that denies to any person access to the core principles that underpin our justice system, such as due process. The federal civil rights law known as Title IX protects every student's right to educational opportunities free from sex-based discrimination. Since assuming my role as secretary of education, I have met with survivors of sexual assault, accused students and school administrators. I have heard consistently that we can and must do better - and that we can and must support survivors and ensure fair grievance processes.
https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2018/11/betsy-devos-its-time-we-balance-the-scales-of-justice-in-our-schools.html#incart_river_index
Proposed changes to the way schools handle sexual misconduct claims would be a backward step
Lancaster Online by THE LNP EDITORIAL BOARD Nov 21, 2018
THE ISSUE: The U.S. Department of Education and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos unveiled proposed Title IX rule changes Friday that could transform the way colleges and public schools that receive federal funding handle sexual harassment and assault claims. DeVos and her supporters say the proposed regulation would restore the balance between the rights of alleged victims and alleged offenders — they say it had tipped too far toward complainants during the Obama administration. Victims’ advocates say the proposal would endanger victims on campus and discourage victims from reporting harassment and assault.
The debate over handling sexual assault and harassment on campus often has been framed as an argument between the parents of daughters and the parents of sons. “I want my daughters protected by Title IX when they go to college — I want it to protect my sons from false accusations, too,” read the headline on a Washington Examiner opinion piece earlier this week. “Those who oppose DeVos’ rule are likely, in the case of college rape, conjuring an image of a naive, attractive 19-year-old woman who tried alcohol and sex with a sophomore at the same time one night at a party — only to discover she ended up drunk and raped,” Nicole Russell wrote in that newspaper. “I have daughters. I, too, want them protected. But what about the young men who attend college, looking for a bright future, and end up being falsely accused of rape six months after what he believed to be consensual sex — only to fight for due process for six years and ultimately receive a guilty verdict anyway?” The assumptions Russell makes are misguided.
https://lancasteronline.com/opinion/editorials/proposed-changes-to-the-way-schools-handle-sexual-misconduct-claims/article_0ec9d958-ed19-11e8-a863-f3c9d925b717.html
Pottstown mulls year-round schooling to quell middle school conflicts
Pottstown Mercury by Evan Brandt ebrandt@21st-centurymedia.com @PottstownNews on Twitter November 23, 2018
POTTSTOWN — Still struggling with behavior problems at the middle school, the district is asking the community about whether it would support the idea of year-round school there. Recently School Board member Raymond Rose made a presentation to the school board's Community Relations Committee about the idea of having the middle school educate students for 45 days, followed by 15 days off. The schedule would be staggered so that all 975 students would only be in the middle school building at the same time for 15 out of 60 days, said Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez. He said since Pottstown closed Edgewood Elementary School in 2014 and moved all fifth graders into the middle school on North Franklin Street, there have been ongoing behavior problems.
https://www.pottsmerc.com/news/pottstown-mulls-year-round-schooling-to-quell-middle-school-conflicts/article_3eddac60-edb8-11e8-86e3-bf19f679fdce.html?clearUserState=true
Streamline school application process in Philly | Opinion
Sylvia P. Simms, For the Inquirer Posted: November 23, 2018 - 6:10 AM
Sylvia P. Simms is executive director of Educational Opportunities for Families and a former member of the School Reform Commission.
Go ahead, we dare you. That's what schools all across Philadelphia – public, charter, private schools, and religious schools – say to parents when it comes time to apply for admission for the coming school year. I am the executive director of Educational Opportunities for Families (EOF), and that's what we learned from more than 100 hours of outreach to parents and other stakeholders as EOF developed its latest report, "Finding a Seat: How Families Navigate the School Application and Acceptance Process in Philadelphia." No matter what choice parents make in selecting a K-12 school in Philadelphia, they tell us that the process is often a nightmare of different deadlines, different acceptance dates, and indifferent support from the schools themselves. For parents, especially those in poverty, it feels like schools literally defy them to make the best choices for their children's education.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/opinion/commentary/charter-school-application-process-philadelphia-20181123.html
Blogger note: Who is funding Educational Opportunities for Families? If you’ve been following school choice issues in Philly and Harrisburg, you are probably familiar with these folks…
Excellent School PA “Who we are”
https://excellentschoolspa.org/who-we-are/
“Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor Tom Wolf, who has opposed private school choice, did not block efforts to increase funding for Pennsylvania’s tax-credit scholarship program. The program has bipartisan support and gives tax credits to businesses that fund private school scholarships. The governor’s position on new school choice programs is that vouchers divert funds from public schools.”
Analysis: Where the 2019 governors stand on private school choice
By Bethany Blankley | Watchdog.org Nov 20, 2018
The 2018 midterms ushered in 36 newly or re-elected governors, the majority of whom support private school choice. EdChoice.org produced a summary of the 36 governors’ positions on what EdChoice Board member Virginia Walden Ford argues “is the civil rights issue of our day.” In 2018, voters chose 23 Democrats and 27 Republicans as their governors. According to EdChoice.org’s analysis, the majority of governors who support private school choice are Republicans (16), the majority who oppose it are Democrats (12), and mostly Democrats remain “unclear” about their position (8). “Keep in mind that past support or opposition to K-12 private school choice does not mean a proposal will succeed or fail, but a governor’s position serves as a likely indicator of what will happen if a bill reaches his or her desk,” EdChoice states. “School choice is one of the most controversial and hard-fought public policy debates of the past few decades,” Jeffrey Dorfman writes at Forbes. He explains why the issue appears to fall along partisan lines, saying, “Most liberals, who get significant funding from public school teachers unions, line up against any form of school choice, while many conservatives favor allowing some form of market to introduce competition among schools for education tax dollars.”
https://www.watchdog.org/national/analysis-where-the-governors-stand-on-private-school-choice/article_6555e19e-e914-11e8-b9a9-2b4fe2a6e47a.html
“We know, and can certainly demonstrate, that special education is having a profound, positive impact on the children it serves, and how it enables them to become productive, contributing members of society. In short, special education is a sound investment, not simply another expense. With a new Congress convening soon, this is an excellent time to make that case.”
IDEA: A sound investment by Tom Gentzel
by Thomas J. Gentzel, NSBA CEO & Executive Director. Article first appeared in the December 2018 issue of ASBJ.
Occasionally, Congress addresses education in a meaningful, bipartisan way. Take, for instance, the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act—the long-awaited reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that restored an emphasis on local and state leadership. Then, too, there was this year’s reauthorization of the Carl Perkins Career and Technical Education Act, which also won the backing of legislators from both parties. Both were major advocacy victories for NSBA. The good news in these events is that it is possible for Congress to overcome its normally debilitating partisanship to create statutes with broad support. Celebrating the fact that the lawmaking process can work is faint praise indeed, but it is worth the effort, if only to remind legislators why they were sent to Washington in the first place.
The next major federal education law demanding attention is the tremendously successful Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which is far past due to be updated and reauthorized. NSBA is prepared to offer substantive proposals to improve the support of special education programs, which are deeply embedded in the instructional activities of every school district. These services touch millions of lives, including the children who receive them, the teachers and other professionals who deliver them, the parents and families who have a deeply personal interest in their effectiveness, and ultimately the taxpayers who pay for them.
https://www.nsba.org/newsroom/nsbawire/idea-sound-investment-tom-gentzel?fbclid=IwAR0Wpd2DIVtlgt-QRJ6-49DLwkM7LHzbglMDY3SaLwkqRNHIIAOndtwn25w
New York’s Insurgent Lawmakers Speak Out against School Privatization and a Flawed Testing System
On education issues, newly-elected progressive Democrats are setting a new tone.
The Progressive by Jake Jacobs November 19, 2018
A wave of progressive Democrats elected to the New York Senate will be replacing pro-charter senators from both parties.
In New York, where Democrats decisively took control of the state senate, the battle against charter schools and standardized testing has taken a turn. Incoming lawmakers have expressed strong positions against school privatization, echoing sustained sentiment from parents, students and classroom teachers. This wave of newly elected officials includes those who have themselves seen the harms of school privatization up close—former students who were subject to the standardized testing regime begun in 2002, former teachers and even “opt out moms”. When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez created shockwaves with her win over ten-term incumbent Joe Crowley in the June Democratic Congressional primary, she was asked about K-12 education reform and told PBS that we need to reassess over-reliance on policies like No Child Left Behind, which reduce children to scores on bubble tests and hurt outcomes. Instead, she suggested we re-examine the way current school funding, largely fueled by property taxes, creates a “mad dash” to better schools, leading to profound inequity, determined by zip code. Perhaps just as significant as the Ocasio-Cortez “earthquake” was the September 13th aftershock, where six other insurgent, grassroots-backed New York candidates won primaries in State Senate races against members of the former Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), a controversial group of eight breakaway lawmakers who shared power, perks—and donors—with senate Republicans for over seven years.
https://progressive.org/public-school-shakedown/insurgent-lawmakers-against-school-privatization-181119/
NEW DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS PLANS TO INVESTIGATE BETSY DEVOS ON FIVE FRONTS
Newsweek BY DONICA PHIFER ON 11/24/18 AT 3:44 PM
With Democrats now in control of the U.S. House of Representatives, several members of House-led committees are preparing to challenge Department of Education Secretary Besty DeVos on several policies. POLITICO reports that at least five committees could take DeVos to task next year on some of the more controversial policies enforced by the Dept. of Education. Among them will be the House education committee where Virginia Democrat Bobby Scott is expected to be named chairman. Scott has been vocal about many of the policies enforced by DeVos, including the secretary's rollback of sexual assault policies on college campuses. "The proposed rule creates a new process and evidentiary standard that makes it harder for survivors of harassment, abuse, and assault to achieve the justice they deserve," Scott said in a statement after reports of DeVos' policy plans surface. "Campus sexual misconduct is already underreported and those who do come forward are too often denied respect, compassion, and a fair investigation of their claim."
https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-prepare-challenge-department-education-secretary-besty-devos-1229816
Build on finance, policy, board culture skills at PSBA’s Applied School Director Training
Four convenient locations in December and January
Take the next step in your professional development with Applied School Director Training. Building upon topics broadly covered in New School Director Training, this new, interactive evening event asks district leaders to dive deeper into three areas of school governance: school finance, board policy and working collaboratively as a governance team. Prepare for future leadership positions and committee work in this workshop-style training led by experts and practitioners. Learn how to:
·
Evaluate key
finance documents such as budget and audit materials
·
Review and analyze board policies and administrative regulations
·
Build positive board culture by developing strong collaboration skills
Locations and Dates:Dec.11, 2018 — Seneca Valley SD
Dec. 12, 2018 — Selinsgrove, Selinsgrove Area Middle School
Jan. 10, 2019 — Bethlehem, Nitschmann Middle School
Jan. 17, 2019 — State College
Cost: This event is complimentary for All-Access members or $75 per person with standard membership and $150 per person for nonmembers. Register online by logging in to myPSBA.
https://www.psba.org/2018/11/applied-school-director-training-state-college/
PSBA Board Presidents’ Panel
Nine locations around the state running Jan 29, 30 and 31st.
Share your leadership experience and learn from others in your area at this event designed for board presidents, superintendents and board members with interest in pursuing leadership roles. Workshop real solutions to the specific challenges you face with a PSBA-moderated panel of school leaders. Discussion will address the most pressing challenges facing PA public schools.
https://www.psba.org/2018/11/board-presidents-panel-2/
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
Save the Date: PARSS Annual Conference May 1-3, 2019
Wyndham Garden Hotel, Mountainview Country Club
Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools
https://www.parss.org/Annual_Conference
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.
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