Started in November 2010, daily postings from the Keystone State
Education Coalition now reach more than 4050 Pennsylvania education
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Choice: Instead of investing
an additional $100 million in funding their own formula, Pa. lawmakers push
bigger tax credits for private school scholarships
Education Committee Chairman Curt Sonney’s Cyber Charter
Funding Reform Bill HB526 now has over 50 cosponsors
Has your state
representative cosponsored HB526?
Has your state
senator cosponsored SB34?
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2019&sind=0&body=S&type=B&bn=34
EITC/OSTC HB800: Pa. lawmakers push
bigger tax credits for private school scholarships; public ed advocates
object
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, April 30, 2019
About 50,000
Pennsylvania students get private school scholarships funded by businesses.
Those businesses also get something for their donations: state tax credits. Pennsylvania’s
education tax credit programs are some of the country’s largest and have been
contentious among public-education advocates. But their proponents say they
should be bigger, citing unmet demand from both students and businesses. On
Monday, the House Education Committee approved a bill sponsored by Speaker Mike
Turzai (R., Allegheny) that would expand Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement
Tax Credit program by $100 million — a boost that would nearly double the
current scholarship program. That’s not all: The bill has a provision that
would allow for automatic increases in future years. And it would raise the
income limits for participating families. A Democrat on the committee called it
a “totally budget-busting proposal.” Here’s a look at the issue.
EITC/OSTC HB800: Speaker Mike Turzai calls for boost in
tax credits for private schools
Trib Live by DEB ERDLEY | Monday, April 29, 2019 6:30 p.m.
A bill to increase
the amount Pennsylvania forgoes in taxes to underwrite private school
scholarships and public school foundations from $160 to $260 million a year is
moving through the state House. House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods,
penned the measure that was reported out of committee Monday with 43 Democrats
and Republicans signing on as co-sponsors. It comes just one year after Turzai
championed a measure that boosted the amount of tax credits available for the
program from $125 to $160 million a year. Each year since 2001, the Legislature
has approved a figure the state will forgo in taxes that businesses can divert
to support the program. Although lawmakers have battled fiercely over funding
public schools and colleges, the Education Improvement Tax Credit cap
consistently has grown from $30 million in the first year to $160 million this
year.
EITC/OSTC HB800: School choice is a necessary complement
to public schools | Opinion
Mike Turzai, For
the Inquirer Updated: April 29, 2019 - 2:34 PM
Mike Turzai is
Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Every student in
Pennsylvania deserves the best education possible; one that fits the individual
needs of each student. When it comes to serving these individual needs, we know
that one size does not fit all. So, I have introduced House
Bill 800 to bring the
best of what other states have done to Pennsylvania and to continue to lead the
way on school choice and innovation. Each year, the largest expenditure in
Pennsylvania’s state budget is dedicated to primary and secondary education –
more than $11 billion to support every public school in the Commonwealth. When
added to local spending, we devote more than $30 billion annually to funding
our public-school districts. In return for this great investment, Pennsylvania
boasts many of the best public schools in the nation, providing immense benefit
to our students and our communities. But, for a variety of reasons unique to
each individual, these great public schools are not always the right fit for
every child or every family. Recognizing this, in 2001 we were among the first
states to establish a school choice tax credit scholarship program, allowing
businesses to donate directly to support preK-12 education in place of a
portion of their tax bill. Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit
(EITC), and the later Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC), have provided
scholarships empowering hundreds of thousands of low- and middle-income students
to attend the school that is right for them.
At Capitol rally, educators call for charter school
funding reform, better oversight
Penn Capital Star By
John L. Micek April 29, 2019
Pennsylvania school
officials didn’t gather in the Capitol rotunda Monday to praise charter and
cyber-charter schools. Nor did they come to bury them. Instead, realizing
they’re stuck with the taxpayer-funded alternatives to traditional public
schools, they called on state lawmakers to reform the way the state pays for
them, and to insist on better academic performance from institutions that now
serve tens of thousands of Keystone State school children. To that end, about
200 educators rallied on behalf of legislation sponsored by Senate
Appropriations Committee Chairman Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, that sets up a new
state commission charged
with reviewing charter school funding. Among the panel’s duties would be
“[calculating] the actual cost of educating a child in a charter and cyber
school,” according to a March 20 memo the Allentown lawmaker circulated among
his colleagues, seeking support for the plan. “Charter school reform that
doesn’t address cost is missing the mark,” said Nathan Mains of the
Pennsylvania School Boards Association, which helped organize the lobbying
effort. The educators, who were primarily school administrators, also called
for passage of companion House and Senate bills that would require parents to pick up the check for their
children’s cyber-charter education if their hometown school district offers
full-time online education of its own.
Scarnati Announces Changes to Senate Standing Committee
Chairs for 2019-2020
Senator Scarnati’s
Website Posted on Apr 29, 2019
(HARRISBURG) – Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-25) today announced
changes to the Republican Chairs for several of the 22 Senate Standing
Committees for the remainder of the 2019-20 legislative session.
Senate Standing Committee Chair Assignments.
Committees with a new Chair are marked with an *:
- *Education – Senator
Wayne Langerholc (R-35)
Roebuck publishes new charter school reform report
Rep. James R.
Roebuck Jr. Press Release April 29, 2019 | 4:45 PM
HARRISBURG, April 29 – State Rep. James Roebuck, D-Phila., Democratic chairman of the
House Education Committee, issued his 5th consecutive report on
charter and cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania. The report calls for strong
reforms to charter schools. "We need to fix the problems with
Pennsylvania's outdated charter school law,” Roebuck said. “They should be
treated the same way as public schools since they receive taxpayer money.” The
report is available online here. One highlight is an update on the performance of charter and cyber
charter schools in Pennsylvania, including:
- For 2016-2017, the last year the Pennsylvania
School Performance Profile (SPP) reported scores, based on a score of 100,
the average SPP score for traditional public schools was 69.6, for charter
schools 58.8 and for cyber charter schools 46.7.
- None of the 14 cyber charter schools had SPP
scores over 70, which is considered the minimum level of academic success,
and 10 of them had scores under 50.
- 51% of public schools reached a score of at
least 70, while only 20% of brick-and-mortar charter schools reached that
goal.
- There were only 10 high performing charter schools
with SPP scores above 80 in 2016-17, a sharp drop from 28 high performing
charter schools in 2012-13.
- 43 charter and cyber charter schools, nearly
one in five, have closed due to academic and/or financial reasons, some
due to fraud and financial irregularities.
Charter and Cyber Charter School Reform Report
Democratic House
Education Committee Representative James Roebuck
April 2019 Fifth
Edition
“School districts statewide spent $4.6
billion on special education during the 2016-17 school year — an increase of
$1.5 billion over nine years. The state only contributed an additional $72 million
during that time period.”
As special education costs soar, state fails to keep up
Wilkes Barre
Citizens Voice BY SARAH HOFIUS HALL, STAFF WRITER / PUBLISHED: APRIL 28, 2019
Special education
costs in Northeast Pennsylvania school districts increased by $110 million over
nine years — straining budgets as districts try to deliver the education they
are legally required to provide. School districts received little additional
help from the state. During that time period — from the 2008-09 to the 2016-17
school years — state funding for special education in 37 NEPA school districts
increased by only $7 million, according to a report from Education Law Center-
Pennsylvania and PA Schools Work. That means that on average, for every
additional $15 a district spent on special education, the state only provided
$1. In Wilkes-Barre Area School District, special education costs spiked 114% —
the sixth-largest percentage hike statewide. The district spent $20.7 million
in special education costs in the 2016-17 school year compared to about $9.7
million in the 2008-09 school year. State funding during that time frame rose
just $640,808. See
how your school district compares.
School officials
identified more students who need special education services, particularly with
increased awareness of autism and other special needs, said Bob Makaravage,
director of instruction and special education. “We added additional autistic
support classrooms to stop sending students out of the district,” Makaravage
said. “Our expenses are mandated by state and federal law.”
New study: Pa. teachers’ pay lags other college-educated
workers | Monday Morning Coffee
Penn Capital Star By
John L. Micek April 29, 2019
Good Monday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
Over the last four
years, the weekly pay for Pennsylvania teachers has fallen 13.5 percent lower
than other college-educated workers, according to a new report by the Economic Policy
Institute. Keystone State
educators finished 12th in the national pack, according to the progressive
think-tank, and in about the middle of surrounding states. Wages for teachers
nationwide were lower than other college-educated workers, the report found. Teachers
in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and West Virginia, made 10.1
percent, 8.2 percent, 3.8 percent, 12.2 percent, 16.5 percent, and 18.3 percent
less, respectively, than other college-educated workers, the report found.
State takeover of Harrisburg schools may not produce the
results advocates seeks
Penn Live By Jan Murphy |
jmurphy@pennlive.com Posted Apr
29, 5:30 AM
Calls for the state
to take over the troubled Harrisburg School District grew louder last week as
tensions continue to mount among local leaders over fiscal management concerns,
questionable hirings, high teacher turnover, and persistently poor test scores.
Harrisburg Mayor Eric
Papenfuse is calling for the state to step in and put the district into receivership -- essentially giving a
state-appointed receiver control of district operations. Republican
Sen. John DiSanto and Democratic Rep. Patty Kim, both of whom represent the city, support that move. And at least one
elected school board member, Ellis
Roy Jr., is
saying it’s time to surrender local control over the school system. State
takeovers of school districts have been occurring for more than three decades
in this country with mixed results. Leaving a community voiceless in the
running of its schools is not a matter to be taken lightly, and takeovers tend
to last longer than most local folks would like. But those who advocate this
last resort option hope it will kickstart a turnaround, starting in the
district’s central office.
McKeesport Area School District allows creation of black
student union after dispute
MATT MCKINNEY Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette mmckinney@post-gazette.com APR 29, 2019
McKeesport Area
School District and ACLU officials have agreed to a settlement that would allow
for the creation of a black student union after a previous dispute over its
leadership structure. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed
a civil rights lawsuit this month on behalf of students who claimed that the
district had denied them permission to create the club. District officials said
they objected to the club’s proposed structure, not its stated mission. Under
the group’s original charter, it would have had on its executive committee two
non-student advisers who would have voted on all decisions. But attorneys for
the district argued that such a structure would have breached federal law and
district policy.
Northampton school board advances plan to hike taxes
2.69%
By KEVIN DUFFY
| THE MORNING CALL |APR 30, 2019 | 6:30 AM
Maintaining status
quo and not cutting programs is the direction in which the Northampton Area
School District board is leaning as it moves toward finalizing next year’s
budget. Seven out of eight school board members voted on Monday in favor of the
administration’s recommendation to increase taxes by 2.69% – below the Act 1
index cap of 2.8% for the district – during an informal poll intended to give
district officials direction in preparing their preliminary budget for
2019-’20. The board will
formally vote on the spending plan during its 6:30 p.m. business meeting May 6
at the district offices on Laubach Avenue. Next week’s vote will give the
district 30 days to advertise the final budget for adoption on June 10 and
allows the document to be available for public inspection, district Business
Administrator Terry Leh said. It will also give the board and staff time to go
over final numbers and decide exactly how much taxes will ultimately increase.
Millcreek school board sends message with budget vote
GoErie By David Bruce Posted Apr 29, 2019 at 10:15 PM Updated at 5:24 AM
Board
members approved a proposed final budget by a 5-4 vote but expressed concerns
about the plan.
Millcreek Township
School Board members narrowly approved a proposed final version of the school
district’s 2019-20 budget but they also sent Superintendent William Hall a
message. School directors voted 5-4 Monday night to send the $102.9 million
spending plan to a final vote on May 28. The vote was closer than Hall expected,
however, and it came after lengthy questions about whether the district should
increase taxes by the maximum amount allowed and if the board could receive
assurances that any extra money would go toward items such as capital projects
or teacher salaries. “I don’t have confidence that we are doing enough to
safeguard these tax dollars,” school director Gary Winschel said during the
nearly two-hour board meeting. The proposed budget calls for a 2.8-percent
increase in property taxes, the highest allowed by the state based on the
district’s demographics and inflation. It would raise Millcreek’s millage to
just over 14.5 mills and would cost township taxpayers an additional $39 for
each $100,000 of assessed property value. It still would cover only about $1.5
million of the district’s projected $2.6 million deficit for 2019-20. Another
$1.1 million would come from the district’s fund balance, or savings, to pay
for increased salaries and retirement costs and anticipated technology
improvements.
Philly DHS announces Family Empowerment Centers to
stabilize at-risk families
The new
centers are designed for intervention and prevention.
The notebook by Maya
Wernick April 29 — 11:49 am, 2019
The Philadelphia
Department of Human Services (DHS) announced the opening of two new Family
Empowerment Centers, with the goal of child abuse prevention for at-risk
families. These programs, which will be fully operational on Wednesday, May 1,
seek to reduce the number of children placed with the department by diverting
families to prevention services before something happens that would result in
them getting involved with DHS. They are specifically targeting families who
may have had previous negative experiences with social services, child
welfare, or government offices. The DHS recognizes that such experiences can be
a barrier to accessing services that help parents better care for their
children, so family engagement is the keystone of these new programs. “The
idea here is making sure that [the] family is stabilized so that we can help
reduce the number of kids that are coming into our system,” said Waleska
Maldonado, deputy commissioner for Community Based Prevention Services.
Meet the 35 live tilapia swimming around a Fishtown
classroom
Kids at
Adaire love the 300-lb. aquaponics tank — and teachers think all schools should
have one.
MICHAELA WINBERG /
BILLY PENN Michaela Winberg Apr. 27, 2019, 8:30 a.m.
How do you get a
classroom full of distracted middle schoolers to pay attention? A 300-gallon
tub of live fish helps do the trick. In a lab on the second floor of the Adaire Alexander School in Fishtown, roughly 35 tilapia swim, splash and amuse Bill McGeehan’s
seventh-graders. It takes a bunch of effort to maintain — including daily tasks
like checking the pH of murky water and changing a septic tank full of, well,
crap. But McGeehan said the project is more than worth it. In tandem with
helping students learn biology and environmental science in real time, the
aquaponic farm has the potential to generate hundreds of pounds of food each
year — which could eventually be donated to hunger nonprofits. Aquaponics
is a model that’s
gaining traction worldwide, spreading
from its origins as a DIY tactic into the commercial agricultural industry. The
farming method uses less water than traditional systems, and has the potential to produce food on a
large scale in
much smaller spaces.
Lancaster County's top high schools (according to U.S.
News & World Report): How does yours rank?
Lancaster Online
April 30, 2019
Here's a look at
the top schools in Lancaster, Chester, Lebanon and York counties, according
to U.S.
News & World Report's 2019
rankings. All 17 of Lancaster County's public high schools, as well as a
charter school, are listed according to rankings in the county, state and
nation. (Schools below a certain threshold are assigned a range for state
results rather than a ranking.) Statewide, 673 schools were ranked. Nationally,
17,245 were ranked. For Chester, Lebanon and York county schools, the top
three are listed.
Here’s how Lehigh Valley high schools fare against the
best in the country, per U.S. News
By Sara K. Satullo |
For lehighvalleylive.com Today 7:00
AM
U.S. News just
released its most comprehensive ranking of America’s public high schools.
Here’s how the Lehigh Valley’s schools fared. The 2019 Best High School
rankings ditched the gold, silver and bronze medals U.S. News previously used
to distinguish the nation’s top schools in favor of ranking thousands more
schools with a new methodology. The top ranked schools must serve all student
populations well and produce quantifiable academic outcomes in support of that
mission. “Our mission with the Best High Schools rankings has always been to
educate families about the schools in their district,” said Anita Narayan,
managing editor of Education at U.S. News. “By evaluating more schools than
ever before, the new edition expands that focus so all communities can see
which schools in their area are successfully serving their students – including
historically underserved populations.”
Defying Trump, Democrats Propose $4.4 Billion Boost for
Education Spending
Education Week
Politics K12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa on April 29, 2019 5:17 PM
House
Democrats want a $4.4 billion spending increase for the U.S. Department of Education in the coming fiscal year,
including notable increases for special education, educator training, and a
$260 million initiative focused on social-emotional learning. The
spending legislation unveiled Monday would provide $75.9 billion in discretionary funding for the
department in fiscal 2020, compared to the $71.5 billion it currently receives
in fiscal 2019. A host of programs would receive additional funding, whereas
the budget request submitted last month by President Donald Trump seeks to
slash Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos' budget by 10 percent. Title I, the
biggest pot of K-12 cash, which is intended for disadvantaged students, would
get $16.9 billion in fiscal 2020, $1 billion more than what it gets now.
Special education grants to states would also rise by $1 billion, up to $13.4
billion.
School Funding Briefing Thursday, May 23, 2019 6:30 –
8:00 PM
Drexel Hill Middle School, 3001 State Road,
Drexel Hill, PA 19026
In 2019, the Public
Interest Law Center is celebrating 50 years of fighting for justice, and
preparing for 50 more, through a series of 50th anniversary events.
As part of this
series, the Upper Darby School Board is pleased to host the Public Interest Law
Center at Drexel Hill Middle School on Thursday, May 23rd, for a School Funding
Briefing.
Pennsylvania has
the largest funding gap in the country between low-wealth and high-wealth
school districts. Pennsylvania is also ranked 46th in the share of funding that
comes from the state, leaving local taxpayers to take on rising costs. How did
we get here? At the briefing, you will learn the basics of education funding
and how it works in Pennsylvania, as well as ways you can get involved in
advocacy for fully funded public education. You will also learn about the
latest developments in the Law Center's school
funding lawsuit.
Afterward, you will
have a chance to meet Law Center attorneys working on this landmark case, as
well as mingle with other interested in Pennsylvania education.
Wyndham Garden Hotel, Mountainview Country Club
Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools
https://www.parss.org/Annual_Conference
Do you have strong communication and leadership skills and a vision for
PSBA? Members interested in becoming the next leaders of PSBA are encouraged
to submit an Application for Nomination no later than
May 31 to PSBA's Leadership Development Committee (LDC).
The nomination process: All persons seeking nomination for elected
positions of the Association shall file with the Leadership Development
Committee chairperson an Application for Nomination (.PDF) on a form to be
provided by the Association expressing interest in the office sought. The
Application for nomination shall be marked received at PSBA Headquarters or
mailed first class and postmarked no later than the application deadline
specified in the timeline established by the Governing Board to be considered
timely-filed.” (PSBA
Bylaws, Article IV, Section 6.E.). Application Deadline: May 31, 2019
Open positions are:
- 2020 President-Elect
(one-year term)
- 2020 Vice
President (one-year term)
- 2020-22
Central At-Large Representative – includes Sections 2, 3, 6, and
7 (three-year term)
- 2020-21
Sectional Advisors – includes Sections 1, 3, 5 and 7 (two-year term)
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
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2019&sind=0&body=S&type=B&bn=34
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.