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Monday, March 25, 2019

PA Ed Policy Roundup March 25: In charter-renewal fight, Philly SD ‘paying for both sides’


Started in November 2010, 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, faith-based organizations, labor organizations, education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory agencies, professional associations and education advocacy organizations via emails, website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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In charter-renewal fight, Philly SD ‘paying for both sides’


“The result is a draft bill that he hopes to introduce to the Senate sometime in April. The new system would give greater weight to a teacher’s classroom observations, making them worth 70 percent of their total assessment score. The remaining 30 percent of the assessment will be based on student performance. That measure will take into account a school’s population of economically disadvantaged students, using a mathematical equation laid out in the bill. The reforms are welcome news to teachers in high-poverty schools, where children who come to school hungry or tired may have a hard time focusing in class. Ney said that impoverished districts also have high populations of transient students, requiring teachers to spend valuable classroom time bringing them up to speed.”
Should student poverty affect teacher evaluations? One senator used to say ‘no’ — but now he’s changed his mind
PA Capital Star By  Elizabeth Hardison March 22, 2019
During a budget hearing last month, state Sen. Ryan Aument did something you don’t often see a politician do in public: He admitted that a law he wrote wasn’t working. Aument, a Lancaster Republican who chairs the Senate Education Committee, revealed during a March 5 hearing with the Department of Education that he’d changed his stance on a key debate in education policy. The question at hand: whether teacher evaluations — which rate a teacher’s effectiveness based, in part, on their students’ standardized test scores — should account for the negative effects of poverty on students. Research shows that students living in poverty have lower standardized test scores than their middle-class or affluent counterparts. They’re also more likely to be mobile, which means they’ll experience ruptures in their education as they move from school to school. Right now, though, those factors have no effect on teacher evaluations, which administrators can use to make decisions about employee furloughs and terminations. As a member of the state House, Aument helped draft the 2012 bill that created the current evaluation system. A copy of its first page now hangs in a commemorative frame in his Senate office. The bill was the subject of months of floor debate in the House and Senate. When a proposal emerged to weigh a teacher’s score based on their school’s poverty level, Aument argued against it. “I didn’t want poverty to become an excuse,” he said Wednesday. “We know there are teachers who have a transformational impact on those students, and I thought it would be useful to identify who they are, what they’re doing, and share those best practices.” He now says that was a mistake. While the intent of the bill was to “unleash the creativity” of Pennsylvania’s teachers and identify their best teaching methods, Aument fears it’s driven talented teachers away from high-poverty schools.

In charter-renewal fight, Philadelphia School District ‘paying for both sides’
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Updated: March 24, 2019
One of the city’s charter-school operators has moved money from one account to another without explanation: no loan agreements, no signatures — “a shell game,” in the words of a Philadelphia School District auditor. Now the School District is shelling out money to try to pull two charters from Aspira — whose school bills are paid by the district — in a legal fight that could end up costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.  “It’s really the district paying for both sides, which is kind of insane,” said Temple University law professor Susan DeJarnatt. “Welcome to Pennsylvania charter school law,” said Auditor General Eugene DePasquale. “It’s unbelievable.” Three years after the district first recommended that the Aspira-run Olney and Stetson charter schools be non-renewed for reasons that included their financial management, lawyers for the school board and the charters are squaring off in weeks-long hearings that still won’t decide the schools’ fate. Pennsylvania law requires the process. To non-renew a charter, school boards must give notice with specific reasons. Evidence must be presented at a hearing, and the board must let the charter school give testimony. After a public comment period, the board can vote on the charter — which then has the right to appeal. Because charter schools are funded largely by school districts, taxpayers are paying not just for the district to make its case but for the charter to defend itself.

“The mock trial team at Penn Wood is one of a number of organizations at the school to gain competitive recognition, including the marching band, the track and field team, and the speech and debate team, all of this coming from a school whose unfortunate reality means a lack of an adequate track for the award-winning runners to practice on, not having the best instruments to play, or even a designated practice area for the mock trial team. These points have come up as William Penn School District navigates the court system as the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit against the state for adequate funding for public education. That suit is scheduled for trial next year in the Commonwealth Court. But as the team members noted, it’s all about the ambition a student, and a desire to achieve despite any difficult circumstances.”
Legal Eagles: Penn Wood team heads to Harrisburg for state mock trial championship
LANSDOWNE — A fair funding lawsuit isn’t the only courtroom attention the William Penn School District is getting across the state. The Penn Wood High School mock trial team is headed to Harrisburg on Friday to compete in the 36th Annual Pennsylvania Bar Association Statewide High School Mock Trial Competition, the first time in more than 20 years Penn Wood has made an appearance in the state-level cutthroat judicial sport of pretend courtroom trial. Penn Wood is one of 14 schools to make it to the state competition, brushing aside all but one other school – Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School in Chester County – in their Region 7 competition area to advance. In total, 287 teams from 242 high schools competed in mock trial competitions this year, according to the PBA. As the school emptied out Friday afternoon the team – made up of students Jefiah Bordley, Charlene Canning, Airrah Dicen, Angel Hinds, Enjie Joseph, John Mabin, Pearl Miller, Josaih Policard, Logyn Rylander and Martinique Shaw – packed into the library for yet another practice session just a week out from the biggest mock trial of their lives to date. Mock trial team adviser Joy Schwartz was ready to help them with their practice, just as she’s done all season long since November.

Blogger note: Total cyber charter tuition paid by PA taxpayers from 500 school districts for 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 was over $1.6 billion; $393.5 million, $398.8 million, $436.1 million and $454.7 million respectively. Over the next several days we will continue rolling out cyber charter tuition expenses for taxpayers in education committee members, legislative leadership and various other districts.
In 2016-17, Senator Michele Brooks’s school districts in Crawford, Erie, Mercer and Warren Counties had to send over $13.7 million to chronically underperforming cybers that they never authorized. #SB34 (Schwank) or #HB526 (Sonney) could change that.
Links to additional bill information and several resources have been moved to the end of today’s postings
Data Source: PDE via PSBA

Commodore Perry SD
$197,743.63
Conneaut SD
$1,560,572.97
Corry Area SD
$595,396.25
Crawford Central SD
$1,611,899.90
Farrell Area SD
$481,413.00
Fort LeBoeuf SD
$462,487.81
General McLane SD
$334,620.12
Greenville Area SD
$194,307.67
Grove City Area SD
$607,084.93
Hermitage SD
$292,597.43
Jamestown Area SD
$136,567.89
Lakeview SD
$338,190.26
Mercer Area SD
$374,019.84
Northwestern  SD
$564,113.31
Penncrest SD
$1,606,652.38
Reynolds SD
$266,874.41
Sharon City SD
$805,525.55
Sharpsville Area SD
$137,288.57
Titusville Area SD
$356,641.07
Union City Area SD
$459,621.60
Warren County SD
$977,795.15
Wattsburg Area SD
$538,068.68
West Middlesex Area SD
$358,731.67
Wilmington Area SD
$537,834.77

$13,796,048.86


“Major property tax relief is possible without eliminating property taxes. Modest increases in the sales and personal income taxes, coupled with elimination of the Delaware loophole for corporate taxes, would fund a dollar-for-dollar local property tax reduction while maintaining local flexibility without giving away the store to wealthy interests.”
Pick reform instead of tax fantasy
Wilkes Barre Citizens Voice by THE EDITORIAL BOARD / PUBLISHED: MARCH 25, 2019
The Independent Fiscal Office, the Legislature’s nonpartisan analyst, continues to interject reality into some lawmakers’ fantasy that they can eliminate school district property taxes while adequately funding public education.  Several lawmakers plan to introduce bills to eliminate school property taxes, even though the IFO already has demonstrated that doing so would have a negative long-term impact on school funding. There also is some sad irony to the issue, in that lawmakers’ refusal to correct a host of problems that drive up local property taxes make it more difficult to eliminate them. In 2014, Pennsylvanians paid $14 billion in school property taxes. Since then, the Legislature has failed to reform the pension system, create statewide insurance for school employees, consolidate tiny districts, and to substantially increase the state percentage of public education funding. Those derelictions of duty increase pressure on local taxes. Since 2014, the amount of school property taxes has risen 7-plus percent, from $14 billion to $15 billion. So, any bill to eliminate property taxes now would have to shift $15 billion to other taxes. And, as the IFO regularly has found, the shift would cover the lost revenue for just a few years.

Can a slate of technical education bills help Pennsylvanians?
WHYY By Katie Meyer, WITF March 23, 2019
Pennsylvania’s Democrats and Republicans have come to a rare detente on at least one economic issue: boosting career and technical education in a bid to get people into higher-paying jobs. The concept was a centerpiece of Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget proposal in February, which was generally well-received by Republicans. And in the first weeks of the legislative session, the Republican-controlled House has already passed — with Democratic support — a good portion of its so-called Workforce Development platform. But a question remains: how much would the proposals do? The package of bills House Republicans have put forward is wide-ranging, but it is fundamentally based on the concept that there are good-paying jobs available in the commonwealth, but employers just can’t find strong enough candidates to fill them. Twelve proposals have made it through the House so far.

“According to PA Schools Work — a coalition of educators, experts and parents — since 2010, Pennsylvania’s special education costs have risen by 29 percent, while state funding for special education has increased by only 4 percent. Harrisburg’s contribution to local special education budgets has sunk to 25 percent from 36 percent in less than a decade. School districts are the funders of last resort, so they are forced to raise local taxes to meet the obligations Harrisburg increasingly neglects.”
LETTER: State needs to increase special education funding
Ambler Gazette Letter by Sean O’Halloran, Upper Dublin March 24, 2019
Kudos to the Special Education Advisory Council of Upper Dublin for hosting a community screening of the documentary “Intelligent Lives” by award-winning director Dan Habib. The film was shown in honor of Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. It highlighted the stories of three young adults with intellectual disabilities (Micah, Naieer and Naomie) who are navigating high school, college, the work force and community life. The film and the discussion featuring local self-advocates who showed us that when these traditionally marginalized students are educated in inclusive settings with the right supports and expectations, they thrive. Unfortunately, funding in Pennsylvania has not kept up with the needs of our students. According to PA Schools Work — a coalition of educators, experts and parents — since 2010, Pennsylvania’s special education costs have risen by 29 percent, while state funding for special education has increased by only 4 percent. Harrisburg’s contribution to local special education budgets has sunk to 25 percent from 36 percent in less than a decade. School districts are the funders of last resort, so they are forced to raise local taxes to meet the obligations Harrisburg increasingly neglects. Too often, the economics of special education eclipse the stories of the students themselves. And just like the ones in Habib’s documentary, there are a lot of stories — one in every six students in Pennsylvania receives special education services.  Let’s move from awareness to acceptance by sufficiently funding special education so that all students have a chance for a meaningful, satisfying future after high school.

“Wolf has not appointed any members to the board since he took office four years ago.”
Philly City Council passes resolution to appoint members to Charter Appeal Board
Philly Tribune Staff Report Mar 22, 2019
City Council passed a resolution earlier this week, urging Gov. Tom Wolf to make appointments to the Pennsylvania Charter Appeal Board, an entity that can review a decision by a local school board to deny a new charter application, denial a renewal or revoke a charter. The resolution, introduced by Councilwoman Helen Gym and supported by Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell and Councilman Bill Greenlee, also calls for a moratorium on the state’s charter appeal board until new members are confirmed. Currently, there is one vacant seat out of the six charter appeal board positions. All of the members serving were appointed by former Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. According to the Charter School Law, appointees are to have terms that do not exceed four years or until a successor is appointed and qualified. The governor appoints members with a consent of the majority of the Senate. “Governor Wolf has received overwhelming support from Pennsylvania voters because of his pro-public education agenda,” said Gym in a statement. “We trust in the governor’s ability to appoint members who will take their role seriously, and who support his vision for strong public schools.”

No teacher-bashing here — just concerned about the costs of chronic teacher absence [editorial]
Lancaster Online by THE LNP EDITORIAL BOARD March 24, 2019
THE ISSUE: In 2015-16, approximately 36 percent of Lancaster County’s 4,888 public school teachers were “chronically absent,” according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education’s biannual Civil Rights Data Collection (the data set includes only days taken for sick leave and personal leave). As staff writer Alex Geli reported in last week’s Sunday LNP, 34 percent of teachers statewide were chronically absent; nationwide, the figure was 28 percent. The School District of Lancaster and Elizabethtown Area School District had the highest numbers of chronically absent teachers — that is, those who were absent more than 10 times in the school year. Let’s state this clearly: We are not here to bash teachers, as some commenters on LancasterOnline have charged. It’s true that teachers have 10 or so weeks off in the summer (and despite continuing education requirements that may eat up some of that time, that’s a very nice perk). But from mid-August to mid-June, teaching can be a grind, even for the vast majority of teachers who love their work and are dedicated to seeing their students succeed. If teaching was a cakewalk, people would be lining up to become teachers. But, as Geli reported, Pennsylvania Department of Education data indicate that fewer people have been pursuing the profession in recent years. “There was a 64 percent drop in teacher certifications issued by the state department of education between 2012-13 and 2017-18,” he noted. Teachers often are in their classrooms well before the yellow school buses arrive. They rarely get bathroom or coffee breaks during the school day. There is paperwork and more paperwork, grading and more grading.

Article was unfair to teachers (letter)
Lancaster Online Letter by Tim Brixius, Marietta Mar 24, 2019
As a reader of your paper, I am disappointed in Alex Geli’s article “Lost learning,” particularly the prominent placement it was given on the front page of the March 17 Sunday LNP. This piece relies on the work of a highly conservative think tank — Thomas B. Fordham Institute — to frame the entire issue without really citing any data that this impacts local students in a significant way. The Fordham Institute is part of the educational reform movement that emphasizes spending more public money on private educational “choices.” While this article does raise some important questions — what makes qualified substitutes and why are they so difficult to find? — I also read it as a clear attack on public educators, of a piece with voices in the right-wing media who paint a picture of teachers as lazy and entitled, with generous benefits that are somehow responsible for bankrupting our public coffers. Of course, anyone who has spent any time learning or working in a public school knows the truth. These teachers work hard, and using their allotted number of sick and personal days is not a significant factor impacting student performance. LNP should spend more time on issues that do affect our schools — poverty, funding inequality, and the ways that private money is influencing the politicians we thought we were electing to work for us and the media we thought we could rely on to tell the truth.

Another Sign Local Journalism is on the Ropes
Digital Notebook Blog by Evan Brandt Sunday, March 24, 2019
"The crisis in local news continues unabated," is what I wrote on my Facebook page when the news broke that The Reading Eagle has entered bankruptcy and is actively seeking a buyer. Although I was less then pleased when the Eagle decided to try to expand their coverage into the Pottstown area a few years ago, just as company that owns The Mercury went through some contractions, in retrospect I think that in many ways it made me a better reporter. Competition does sharpen one's skills and knowing that I was up against a better-resourced news operation hungry to "steal our lunch," as my former editor used to say, I felt more compelled to jump on stories and make sure we didn't get scooped. Now that better-resourced competitor has run up against the same economic reality with which The Mercury has been struggling for many years. It does not make me happy.

“The letter points out that state courthouses and the General Assembly prohibit guns, and says local governments should have the same ability. “Guns are not permitted in Pennsylvania courthouses, nor are they permitted in the Capitol Building in Harrisburg,” the letter states. “Is the protection of our judges and legislators of more concern than the protection of the children who use our parks and libraries?”
PA Senate bill would allow towns to ban firearms on public property
Bucks County Courier Times By Chris Ullery  Posted at 5:00 AM
The bill introduced by Sen. Maria Collett, D-12, of Ambler, would allow towns to prohibit firearms on municipal properties. A proposed bill from a Montgomery County lawmaker would let towns ban firearms on public property without fear of a lawsuit from organizations like the National Rifle Association.  Sen. Maria Collett, D-12, of Lower Gwynedd, said this week her bill primarily gives local officials authority to keep firearms out of public meeting spaces, but would not effect private gun ownership. The bill, for which Collett is currently seeking co-sponsorship from other senators, came after a letter from Horsham’s council in January. The letter from Horsham referenced a shooting in Paradise Township, in Pocono County, in November and another 2013 shooting in Ross Township, Monroe County. David Green, 72, confessed to shooting and killing Paradaise Zoning Officer Mike Triptus, 65, the morning of Nov. 27 in Triptus’ office. Rockne Newell, a Ross Township resident with a long-running feud with officials over a property he owned, was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences – one for each victim – after opening fire at a supervisors’ meeting on Aug. 5, 2013. “In light of these recent tragedies and amidst a groundswell of public support, it is clearly time to update our laws to bolster local elected officials’ ability to keep their constituents safe,” Collett said in a news release earlier this month.

Education activists call on Penn to pay ‘fair share’ to support city schools
WHYY By Aaron Moselle March 25, 2019
Education activists in Philadelphia are at it again. The Our City, Our Schools Coalition and other groups are calling on the University of Pennsylvania to help support the city’s cash-strapped public schools though a “payment in lieu of taxes” — or PILOT — agreement. The state doesn’t require nonprofits — even large, well-endowed universities like Penn — to pay property taxes. The break hits public schools hard since they rely on property tax revenue. Enter the PILOT: a way for nonprofits to voluntarily send money to their local government.  Over the last two decades, more than 117 municipalities in at least 18 states have brokered these agreements with universities, hospitals and other institutions, according to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. At this point, the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University are the only Ivy League schools that don’t contribute PILOTs. That should change, said Kendra Brooks, an activist with the 215 People’s Alliance. “We are the poorest city in the country, so pathways out of poverty are created through education and opportunity,” Brooks said. “Penn should pay their fair share to make sure kids have that pathway.” The coalition wants Penn to pay half of the property taxes the institution would owe the city each year if it weren’t exempt. The group doesn’t have an exact figure, but it’s safe to say that contribution would be in the millions.

We need more teachers of color, so why do we use tests that keep them out of the classroom? | Opinion
By  Capital-Star Op-Ed Contributor Emery Petchauer March 22, 2019
Students of color seldom see teachers who look like them. This is because many aspiring teachers of color are pushed out of the profession before they have a chance to start. It’s not poor performance in college courses or teaching internships that take the biggest toll. It is the standardized tests aspiring teachers must pass to earn a teaching license. Critics say these exams cover too narrow a slice of professional knowledge. They may also function as a culturally biased gatekeeper to the profession. A recent report estimates that each year, the exam screens out approximately 8,600 of 16,900 aspiring teachers of color. This rate of exclusion surpasses that of white aspiring teachers by 27.5 percent. It’s not a new phenomenon, either. The trend goes back to the 1960s when states began to adopt these exams to improve the quality of teachers. In researching my book, “Navigating Teacher Licensure Exams,” I found that aspiring teachers of color who failed their licensure exam multiple times eventually passed once they learned certain time-saving test-taking strategies, such as estimating answers instead of working out problems. They also passed by taking the exam in settings where they felt less stressed, cutting themselves off from negative messages about the exam, and concentrating on narrow slices of material that they did not know well. But I’d argue that what they did to pass the exam has little to do with what makes an effective teacher, raising questions about how useful the exams are in the first place.
https://www.penncapital-star.com/commentary/we-need-more-teachers-of-color-so-why-do-we-use-tests-that-keep-them-out-of-the-classroom-opinion/

“Most of the time, the system works — protecting the rights of the minority from the tyranny of the majority. But when it comes to gun-control measures, from universal background checks to bans on bump stocks and high-capacity magazines, the exact inverse is true. A noisy minority, backed by a powerful lobbying group in the National Rifle Association, has effectively stymied passage of even the most basic modifications in federal law.”
America got schooled by New Zealand on gun control. We’re out of excuses now | Opinion
PA Capital Star By  John L. Micek March 22, 2019
Six days.
That’s how long it took New Zealand’s Parliament, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and with the support of opposition leaders, to ban military-style assault weapons in the wake of last week’s deadly rampage at two mosques in Christchurch that claimed the lives of 50 people. The speed with which the island nation acted was a triumph of political will in the face of unspeakable tragedy. And it holds lessons for American policymakers who have been utterly paralyzed in the face of mass shootings in our own houses of worship, schools and public spaces. Up front, it’s important to acknowledge that there are some material differences between New Zealand’s political system and our own. Notably, there is no equivalent to our Second Amendment, which means New Zealanders have no legal right to own weapons for self-defense, as The Washington Post reported this week. In addition, as The Post further reports, New Zealand’s parliament is unicameral, which means there are far fewer political pinch points to derail such measures.
Compare that the American federal system where bills can — and usually are — derailed at any point in the political process by powerful committee chairpeople; by dueling coalitions in the U.S. House and Senate; by influential and deep-pocketed interest groups spanning the political spectrum; by the president himself, who wields a veto pen; and by the U.S. Supreme Court, which can make the ultimate call on a law’s constitutionality.
https://www.penncapital-star.com/commentary/america-got-schooled-by-new-zealand-on-gun-control-were-out-of-excuses-now-opinion/

Holy accountability! Harrisburg is getting some! | John Baer
Philly Daily News by John Baer | @jbaernews | baerj@phillynews.com Updated: March 25, 2019 - 5:00 AM
As someone who digs into Pennsylvania’s legislature for its lack of institutional accountability – and I mean dig like an archeologist after buried relics – I’m a tad surprised by what, these days, is turning up. It’s as if, after a millennium or so, Harrisburg’s mummified sense of moral behavior and ethical conduct is being unearthed. Could it possibly spring to life? I’m as skeptical as you. (Check that, more so.) But there are twitches of animation. Take action to stop lawmakers convicted of or pleading to felonies from keeping their oversize, taxpayer-paid pensions. An outrageous practice, too long ignored. And now, at last, it’s been addressed. In near-unanimous agreement, the House and Senate last week voted to end paydays for perps by closing loopholes and extending the list of crimes currently triggering pension forfeiture. Low-hanging fruit can still taste sweet.
https://www.philly.com/opinion/john-baer-pennsylvania-legislature-pension-recall-20190325.html

Council Rock officials lay out security measures at forum
Bucks County Courier Times By Chris English  Posted Mar 20, 2019 at 4:04 PM Updated Mar 20, 2019 at 4:04 PM
All the district’s various plans to keep staff and students safe were outlined during Tuesday night’s event at Newtown Middle School in Newtown Township. Like all parents, Northampton resident Scott Smith hopes his children never have to face the horror of someone with bad intentions and a gun roaming around their schools. But if that happens, Smith is at least pleased that the Council Rock School District has moved to what many security experts feel is a more sensible and flexible active shooter protocol called Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate, or ALICE. School district and law enforcement officials covered ALICE and all the various measures they use to keep students and staff out of harm’s way during a safety and security community forum Tuesday night at Newtown Middle School. Rather than the lockdown and stay in place approach used by schools for so many years during an active shooter event, ALICE advocates doing whatever best ensures survival at any point during the event, including escaping or — when no other options are available — yelling, running around or throwing objects at a shooter. Almost all Council Rock staff members have received training in the protocol and students will start to receive instruction next month, Council Rock Superintendent Robert Fraser said Tuesday night. “It just seems like a more proactive approach,” said Smith, one of about 150 who attended the forum. “I think the last 10 or 20 years have shown us that just sitting and waiting is not working,” he added.
https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/news/20190320/council-rock-officials-lay-out-security-measures-at-forum?fbclid=IwAR0SCKECAzVGC-M6fgj2MTbOYgUVQfU6lbohVXrNZ_K-SZ1_c1UDwY3Fryo

A daylong Chester County pitch to hook girls on STEM
Inquirer by Diane Mastrull, Updated: March 23, 2019- 6:19 PM
Inspiration came from the sky and made a soft landing on a field outside Phoenixville Area Middle School Saturday afternoon. More than 1,000 girls cheered as the Sikorsky helicopter piloted by Kim Barwick made a dramatic entrance to kick off the 19th annual Girls Exploring Tomorrow’s Technology, believed to be one of the oldest Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) events for girls in the country. This year’s free forum for girls in grades five through 10 included 85 activities in STEM fields, such as robotics, coding, video gaming, and forensic sciences, and a discussion involving more than 50 female senior executives form business, government, and education, including Vanguard, Cerner, Exelon, GlaxoSmithKline, Bentley Systems, Pfizer, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. GETT, presented by the Chester County Economic Development Council through its Innovative Technology Action Group initiative, was first created as a response to the underrepresentation of young women in STEM careers.
https://www.philly.com/news/stem-girls-exploring-tomorrows-technology-phoenixville-20190323.html

Opinion: Easier to blame teachers for achievement gap than tackle poverty
Atlanta Journal Constitution By Maureen Downey March 222, 2019
A University of Georgia education professor today responds to a recent interview I did with Stanford economist Eric Hanushek about his new study on the achievement gap. Peter Smagorinsky, a frequent contributor to the AJC Get Schooled blog, challenges Hanushek’s comments on the role that teacher quality plays in student performance. He believes Hanushek underplays the effects of poverty  on student performance. By Peter Smagorinsky: Get Schooled recently ran an essay titled “New study: Achievement gap persistent and resistant to reform.” The story summarized economist Eric Hanushek’s dismal view of what is called the “achievement gap between low and high income students in the United States.” The study relies on four sets of standardized test scores over a 50-year timespan, concluding that “A stark opportunity gap persists between America’s haves and have-nots, despite a nearly half century of state and federal attempts to provide poor children with extra resources to catch up. Yet, the gap hasn’t budged.”
https://www.ajc.com/blog/get-schooled/opinion-easier-blame-teachers-for-achievement-gap-than-tackle-poverty/3BQtOo9xQ0V509RElqrq4K/

Why, and Where, Charter School Teachers Unionize
Education Week By Arianna Prothero on March 22, 2019 8:29 AM 
Efforts to unionize teachers in charter schools are picking up in a handful of states and counter efforts by school administrators to tamp them down often backfire, according to a study by the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education. Those trends are among several issues the study explores on unionizing efforts in charter schools, a topic that has generated national headlines recently but one we still don't know a lot about. harter unionization drives and strikes by charter school teachers—such as those recently seen in Chicago and Los Angeles—capture media attention, but they are nowhere near the norm. Only 11.3 percent of charter schools have unionized staff. That's down by 1 percent from 10 years ago.  The vast majority of charter schools are not unionized because state laws exempt charters from a lot of rules, including, in most states, collective bargaining contracts. But while charter schools are not required to be unionized, they're not prohibited, either.  National figures, though, can gloss over the realities in different states. Charter unions have expanded in states that already have a strong union presence, such as Illinois, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. 
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/charterschoice/2019/03/why_and_where_charter_school_teachers_unionize.html

Elizabeth Warren: 'It Would Be Pretty Fabulous' to Have a Teacher in the White House
Education Week Politics K12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa on March 24, 2019 8:45 AM
If you're watching the presidential campaign and hoping for lots of talk about K-12 education, you've probably been pretty disappointed. But it's still worth watching for the times when elementary and secondary schools do get some attention on the stump. Take Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., for example, whose response to a question about public education might have epitomized how K-12 will feature in various candidates' appeals to voters.  Last Wednesday, Warren's campaign posted a video in which the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate took a question from an audience member that went, "What would be your vision for public education going forward, if you were to be elected?" The senior Massachusetts senator put her spin on the question by responding, "So I think what Kristen is asking is, 'What would it be like to have a schoolteacher in the White House?' I think it would be pretty fabulous!" Warren is a former special education teacher—her campaign website states that from the time Warren was in 2nd grade she knew she wanted to be a teacher.  Warren goes on to say what many Democrats are likely to say in some form as long as the 2020 campaign continues: that creating a high-quality education system isn't free and requires serious investment. Next, she details her legislation to provide universal child care and ensuring certain pay requirements for early-childhood education teachers. Then she moves on to K-12. 
https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/campaign-k-12/2019/03/elizabeth-warren-teacher-in-white-house-pretty-fabulous.html


Delco Students for Education Meeting Sat, March 30, 2019 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Location: William Penn School District - Administration Building, 100 Green Avenue – Annex, Lansdowne, PA 19050
Sponsored by Rafi Cave, Yeadon Borough Councilman, The Urban League of Philadelphia & PA Schools Work, the nonpartisan statewide campaign to support equitable public education funding in Pennsylvania.
It's no secret Delco schools are underfunded. Join your peers and education advocates to learn what you can do to work for change in your school community. Ask questions, hear from experts, and meet State Representative Joanna McClinton. Includes breakfast & giveaways!! Don't miss out.
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/delco-students-for-education-tickets-58603126529

The League of Women Voters of Delaware County and the Delaware County Intermediate Unit present: EPLC 2019 Regional Training Workshop for PA School Board Candidates (and Incumbents) April 27th 8am – 4:30pm at DCIU
Ron Cowell of The Pennsylvania Education Policy and Leadership Center will conduct a regional full day workshop for 2019 Pennsylvania School Board Candidates.
Date & Time: Saturday, April 27, 2019, 8am to 4:30pm
Location: Delaware County Intermediate Unit, 200 Yale Ave. Morton, PA
Incumbents, non-incumbents, campaign supporters and all interested voters are invited to participate in this workshop. Registration is $75 (payable by credit card) and includes coffee and pastries, lunch, and materials. For questions contact Adriene Irving at 610-938-9000 ext. 2061.
To register, please visit http://tinyurl.com/CandidatesWksp

PSBA: Nominations for the Allwein Society are welcome!
The Allwein Society is an award program recognizing school directors who are outstanding leaders and advocates on behalf of public schools and students. This prestigious honor was created in 2011 in memory of Timothy M. Allwein, a former PSBA staff member who exemplified the integrity and commitment to advance political action for the benefit of public education. Nominations are accepted year-round and inductees will be recognized at the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference, among other honors.

PSBA: 2019 State of Education report now online
PSBA Website February 19, 2019
The 2019 State of Education report is now available on PSBA.org in PDF format. The report is a barometer of not only the key indicators of public school performance, but also the challenges schools face and how they are coping with them. Data reported comes from publicly available sources and from a survey to chief school administrators, which had a 66% response rate. Print copies of the report will be mailed to members soon.

PSBA Members - Register for Advocacy Day at the Capitol in Harrisburg Monday April 29, 2019
All PSBA-members are invited to attend Advocacy Day on Monday, April 29, 2019 at the state Capitol in Harrisburg. In addition, this year PSBA will be partnering with the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units (PAIU) and Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) to strengthen our advocacy impact. The focus for the day will be meetings with legislators to discuss critical issues affecting public education. There is no cost to attend, and PSBA will assist in scheduling appointments with legislators once your registration is received. The day will begin with a continental breakfast and issue briefings prior to the legislator visits. Registrants will receive talking points, materials and leave-behinds to use with their meetings. PSBA staff will be stationed at a table in the main Rotunda during the day to answer questions and provide assistance. The day’s agenda and other details will be available soon. If you have questions about Advocacy Day, legislative appointments or need additional information, contact Jamie.Zuvich@psba.org  Register for Advocacy Day now at http://www.mypsba.org/
PSBA members can register online now by logging in to myPSBA. If you need assistance logging in and registering contact Alysha Newingham, Member Data System Administrator at alysha.newingham@psba.org or call her at (717) 506-2450, ext. 3420

PSBA Board Presidents’ Panel
Learn, discuss, and practice problem solving with school leader peers facing similar or applicable challenges. Workshop-style discussions will be facilitated and guided by PSBA experts. With the enormous challenges facing schools today, effective and knowledgeable board leadership is essential to your productivity and performance as a team of ten.
Locations & Dates
Due to inclement weather, some dates have been rescheduled. The updated schedule is below.

Pennsylvania schools work – for students, communities and the economy when adequate resources are available to give all students an equal opportunity to succeed.
Join A Movement that Supports our Schools & Communities
PA Schools Work website
Our students are in classrooms that are underfunded and overcrowded. Teachers are paying out of pocket and picking up the slack. And public education is suffering. Each child in Pennsylvania has a right to an excellent public education. Every child, regardless of zip code, deserves access to a full curriculum, art and music classes, technical opportunities and a safe, clean, stable environment. All children must be provided a level chance to succeed. PA Schools Work is fighting for equitable, adequate funding necessary to support educational excellence. Investing in public education excellence is the path to thriving communities, a stable economy and successful students.
http://paschoolswork.org/

Annual PenSPRA Symposium set for March 28-29, 2019
Pennsylvania School Public Relations Association Website
Once again, PenSPRA will hold its annual symposium with nationally-recognized speakers on hot topics for school communicators. The symposium, held at the Conference Center at Shippensburg University, promises to provide time for collegial sharing and networking opportunities. Mark you calendars now!
We hope you can join us. Plans are underway, so check back for more information.
http://www.penspra.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


PSBA Tweet March 12, 2019 Video Runtime: 6:40
In this installment of #VideoEDition, learn about legislation introduced in the PA Senate & House of Representatives that would save millions of dollars for school districts that make tuition payments for their students to attend cyber charter schools.
http://ow.ly/RyIM50n1uHi 

PSBA Summaries of Senate Bill 34 and House Bill 526

PSBA Sample Board Resolution in Support of Statewide Cyber Charter School Funding Reform

PSBA Sample Board Resolution in Support of Senate Bill 34 and House Bill 256

How much could your school district and taxpayers save if there were statewide flat tuition rates of $5000 for regular ed students and $8865 for special ed.? See the estimated savings by school district here.
Education Voters PA Website February 14, 2019


Has your state representative cosponsored HB526?

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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