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.
These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
In 2016-17, taxpayers
in House Majority Whip Kerry Benninghoff’s school districts in Centre &
Mifflin Counties had to send over $1.9 million to chronically underperforming
cybers that they never authorized.
Join @PAIU @PasaSupts & @PSBA for Advocacy Day on April 29th at the state
Capitol! The focus for the day will be meetings with legislators to discuss
critical issues affecting public education.
For
more information and registration: https://t.co/Nth5oGZH19
Warren County School board votes for cyber charter school
funding overhaul
Times Observer by Lorri
Drumm Staff Reporter ldrumm@timesobserver.com Apr 9, 2019
Warren
County school board
members sent a united message to Harrisburg at Monday’s board meeting — find a
better way to fund cyber charter schools.
Board members voted
unanimously to approve a resolution supporting Senate Bill 34 and House Bill
526 that support school districts who provide their own cyber learning program
and reforms funding for cyber charter schools statewide. Board President Donna
Zariczny said that one bill stipulates if a school district has its own cyber
program and a student chooses to go elsewhere that tuition is not funded. The
other bill deals with how cyber charter schools are funded and has been
addressed in the past. “It’s good to reestablish our numbers because
they change over time,” she said. Resolution 19-04-02 states that it
is: “a resolution petitioning the Pennsylvania General Assembly to take
immediate action to correct the tuition expenses paid for regular and special
education students to cyber charter schools so that it is based on the actual
costs of education their students and relieves the financial burden on school
districts and local taxpayers.”
With the exception
of the 2016-17 school year, the district has spent more than $1 million each
year in total tuition payments to cyber schools. The total tuition payment for
the 2016-17 school year was $977,795. This year’s figures are $852,195 in
regular education payments for cyber schools and $500,548 in special education
for a total of $1,352,743. According to the resolution, the current funding
formula for cyber charter schools is based on school district expenditures with
no relationship to the actual instructional costs of the students attending a
charter school.
The current charter
school payment system causes school districts to overpay for special education
costs, with charter schools receiving a $100 million windfall that is growing.
Whitehall-Coplay School board approves cyber school
resolutions
Whitehall-Coplay
Press Wednesday, April
10, 2019 by ERIN THOMAS Special
to The Press
At the Whitehall-Coplay School Board meeting April 8, board
members voted to approve a resolution supporting Senate Bill 34 and House Bill
526. “Since Whitehall-Coplay School District does provide our own cyber
program, Whitehall-Coplay Virtual Learning Program, our district would save
approximately $600,000 in the 2019-20 budget were these bills to pass,” WCSD
Superintendent Dr. Lorie Hackett said. Though WCSD has its own program, the
district and local taxpayers are currently paying for WCSD students to attend
other cyber schools. The resolution emphasizes that most Pennsylvania cyber
schools place in the bottom 5 percent for educational performance and have
lower-than-average graduation rates, while district-run cyber programs offer
high-quality curriculum, appropriately certified teachers, various support such
as tutoring and career counseling, and extracurricular activities. According to
the resolution, “Senate Bill 34 and House Bill 526 support school districts
that provide their own cyber charter school, enabling them to retain critical
funding in the district for the benefit of all students.” A second resolution,
Statewide Cyber Charter School Funding Reform, was also approved.
Sayre School Board formalizes support for cyber charter
tuition reform
The Daily Review By MATT HICKS
Editor-in-Chief April 16,
2019
Sayre School Board
Vice President Ron Cole talks about the costs of cyber charter schools on the
school district before reading a resolution that called on lawmakers to support
reform to these tuition costs. The Sayre School Board approved a resolution
Monday, formalizing its support for reform to the cyber charter school tuition
costs currently shouldered by school districts.
Tyrone Area School Board officially accepts
superintendent's retirement, calls for cyber charter reform
By DAVID SNYDER For
The Daily Herald Apr 10,
2019
Last night at the
regular session meeting of the Tyrone Area School Board, board members
officially received Superintendent Cathy Harlow and physical plant supervisor
Thomas Muir’s retirements effective June 30, 2019, as reported in an article
last Wednesday.
Greater Latrobe SB discusses cyber charter reform,
teacher retirements
BY GREG REINBOLD Latrobe
Bulletin Staff Writer April 10, 2019
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. We
will continue rolling out cyber charter tuition expenses for taxpayers in
education committee members, legislative leadership and various other
districts.
In 2016-17, taxpayers
in House Majority Whip Kerry Benninghoff’s school districts in Centre and
Mifflin Counties had to send over $1.9 million to chronically underperforming
cybers that they never authorized. #SB34 (Schwank) or #HB526 (Sonney) could
change that. Data source: PDE via .@PSBA
Links to additional bill information and several resources have been
moved to the end of today’s postings
|
Bellefonte
Area SD
|
$652,488.93
|
|
Mifflin
County SD
|
$449,239.26
|
|
Penns
Valley Area SD
|
$237,235.29
|
|
State
College Area SD
|
$578,985.29
|
|
|
$1,917,948.77
|
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
Has your state representative
cosponsored HB526?
Educators fill Philly City Council calling for end to
10-year tax abatement
“Instead of
lining the pockets of supposed condo-kings and wannabe real estate moguls, that
money should be going to our children’s education," said Erica Almeron.
The notebook by Greg Windle April 15 — 8:00 pm, 2019
Kathleen Melville
testifies before City Council about toxic conditions in her school, while
inviting them to tour every school. She offers Council a fan, which they will
need in most schools due to a lack of air conditioning. Teachers and parents
stormed City Council during budget hearings today to present thousands of
petition signatures demanding the city end the ten-year real estate tax
abatement and use that new revenue to repair toxic conditions in the city’s
schools. They called for hearings on all five bills currently before Council
that would end or curtail the abatement. “The ten-year tax abatement has
allowed wealthy developers to line their pockets while starving our schools of
tax revenue they desperately need,” said Kathleen Melville, a 10thgrade
teacher at the Workshop School in West Philadelphia and organizer with the
Working Educator caucus. She gifted each council member a small fan. “We would
like to invite you to spend a day in one of our classrooms this spring,”
Melville told Council in her testimony. “And since we know that you are used to
offices that have air conditioning, we are providing you with these necklace
fans so that you’ll be ready to join us in one of our many, many classrooms
that do not have air conditioning.” The abatement
currently exempts $61 million in tax revenue that would go to
the city’s schools, and
another $50 million that would go into the city’s budget.
Cancel your tax abatement, help Philly schools, and check
your privilege | Opinion
Inquirer Opinion by
Alison Stohr Updated: April 15, 2019 - 9:30 AM
We are an educator
and an organizer in the labor movement, respectively. Both of us were born in
the Philly area, and both have us have lived elsewhere. But we both found our
way back here, and have settled down in the Point Breeze section of South
Philadelphia. And, because we both bought rehabbed rowhouses, we both have
10-year tax abatements. Or, at least, we did. Our paid work and volunteer
organizing in our neighborhood and beyond have shown us that there is intense
inequality all over the world, including here in Philadelphia, and especially
in Point Breeze. A quarter of
Philadelphians live in poverty, and 14 percent live in deep poverty. But if you watch the development in the city, you may not know it. On almost every
block in our neighborhood, new houses are being built. In many ways, that’s great: Our city is growing, and we need to
provide housing that keeps up with interest in our wonderful, far-too-forgotten
city. But the vast majority of new housing is being built for the wealthy. And
in our neighborhood, the only homes being built or rehabbed are unaffordable
for the average Philadelphian. A new development, 2100 Kimball, will provide 40 luxury townhouses at the edge of Graduate Hospital. The
starting price is $975,000, and each home comes with a 10-year tax abatement.
The idea that someone who purchases a million-dollar home needs or deserves a
tax break is laughable.
Elanco approves hot-button bathroom and locker room
policy despite constitutionality concerns
Lancaster Online by
ALEX GELI | Staff
Writer April 16,
2019
During a tense,
three-hour meeting Monday night, the Eastern Lancaster County school board
approved a policy that intends to bolster privacy for all of the district’s
students. The policy, dubbed “Physical Privacy,” calls for what will most
likely be a multimillion-dollar project to replace boys and girls restrooms and
locker rooms with secure, single-user, gender-neutral facilities districtwide. It
was crafted by a four-member committee of the board that was formed in January
in response to a public outcry over the district’s decision to allow a
transgender student who identifies as male to use the boys facilities at Garden
Spot High School. The school board, in front of about 300 residents in
attendance, voted 6-2 in favor of the policy. One board member was absent. Some school board members — Vice President
Rodney Jones, in particular — expressed concern over an addendum in the policy
that would essentially reverse the district’s previous decision to accommodate
the transgender student. “While the renovation plan for the facilities is being
reviewed and executed,” the addendum states, “we recommend that where ever we
cannot provide private single user facilities when changing or using the
bathroom facilities, the students are to use the facilities based on their biological
sex.” Jones said the district could be at-risk of a lawsuit due to the
addendum’s recommendation that students use the facilities based on their
biological sex rather than their gender identity.
Mighty Writers brings mindfulness training to its
students
In addition
to bringing calm and self-awareness, the practice unleashes curiosity,
according to Amy Perez.
The notebook by Maya
Wernick April 15 — 10:40 am, 2019
Mindfulness is a buzzword used more and more frequently in youth programs, but
what does it really mean? Merriam-Webster dictionary defines mindfulness as
“the quality or state of being conscious or aware of something,” but for Amy
Perez, the new mindfulness director at Mighty Writers, it is a lot more than
that. “For me, mindfulness is a way of being. While it can be defined as a tool
to help with mental focus, presence, and awareness, mindfulness also embodies
the presence of the body. Being mindful means being present, in the moment, and
not being overly reactive or getting overwhelmed with things in the past or
future,” Perez said. Mighty Writers is an after-school program that offers free
writing programs to neighborhood children, from toddlers to teenagers. It has
seven locations — six in the greater Philadelphia area and one in Camden, New
Jersey. Mighty Writers uses practices such as journaling, yoga, and meditation
during its programs to help the students focus. “The kids come in to us during
after-school hours, or after 3 p.m., and when they are coming in from a long
day of school and being there for eight hours, they tend to come in scattered,”
said Perez. She says that the mindfulness helps to make the students “a bit
happier” and “enhances their views of the world around them.” The Mindfulness
in Schools Project (MiSP)
is a national, not-for-profit organization aiming “to improve the lives of a
generation of children and young people by making a genuine, positive
difference to their mental health and well being.” MiSP says that mindfulness
can be used to help reduce stress and prevent recurrent depression.
Ohio School Districts Sue Facebook Over Failed Online
Charter School
Education Week By Doug
Livingston, The Akron Beacon Journal April 14, 2019
Cuyahoga Falls,
Woodridge and six other Ohio school districts are suing Facebook for about
$250,000 in public education funding lost when the Electronic Classroom of
Tomorrow imploded last year. The districts, which may never be made whole for
state funding they lost when ECOT inflated attendance, are alleging that
Facebook knew the online charter school was financially failing when it sold
ads to help ECOT boost enrollment. That, under Ohio law, would be an illegal
and “fraudulent transfer.” Founded in 2000, ECOT grew to be the largest charter
school in Ohio, claiming 15,239 students enrolled in 2016 when the Ohio
Department of Education ran an attendance audit. The virtual headcount found
students spending as little as an hour a day on home computers. But the state
was funding the charter school, using tax dollars diverted from local school
districts, as if kids were attending full time. The attendance scandal forced
ECOT founder Bill Lager, who had donated $2.1 million to school choice
supporters, to return $2.5 million monthly until taxpayers got back the $80
million the school overbilled the state in just 2016 and 2017. ECOT folded in
January 2018 before making the first repayment.
Rewarding Failure
An Education Week Investigation of
the Cyber Charter Industry
With growing
evidence that the nation's cyber charter schools are plagued by serious
academic and management problems, Education Wee kconducted a
months-long investigation into what is happening in this niche sector of K-12
schooling. The result is a deep-dive account of what's wrong with cyber charters. Education
Week uncovered exclusive data on how rarely students use the learning
software at Colorado’s largest cyber charter, the questionable management
practices in online charters, and how lobbying in scores of states helps keep
the sector growing.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar Turns 50: 'It's [a]
Message of Hope,' Says Author Eric Carle
The book has
sold more than 50 million copies in 62 languages worldwide
People By Kate Hogan March 20, 2019 11:43 AM
If you ask author Eric Carle, he can’t quite tell you why The Very Hungry Caterpillar is
still so popular today. “I believe most children can identify with the
helpless, small, insignificant caterpillar, and they rejoice with it when it
turns into a beautiful butterfly,” he muses to PEOPLE. “It is an affirmation to
all children. It says: I too can grow up. I too can unfold my wings and fly
into the world. I think it’s this message of hope.” That hope has turned into
success some can only dream of: The Very Hungry Caterpillar turns
50 this year, and since its release has been translated into 62 languages,
selling more than 50 million copies worldwide. “It is very moving to me that my
books have been enjoyed by generations of readers,” 89-year-old Carle says.
“The storyline is surprisingly universal.”
Diane Ravitch Speaking at Penn State Harrisburg April 25th
at 7:00 p.m.
777 West Harrisburg Pike, Harrisburg, PA
Mukund S. Kulkarni Theatre, Student
Enrichment Center
Join Diane Ravitch
as she presents "The End of the Faux Reform Movement." Ravitch is the
author of the national bestseller "Reign of Error The Hoax of the
Privatization Movement" and the "Danger to America’s Public
Schools." There will be a book signing opportunity after the event.
For more
information, contact Dr. Hannah Spector at hms22@psu.edu.
Electing PSBA Officers – Application Deadline is May 31st
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)
Success Starts Here is a multi-year public awareness campaign
sharing positive news in PA public education.
.@PSBA .@PasaSupts .@PAIU .@PenSPRA1 .@PSEA .@PAPRINCIPALS .@SuccessStartsPA Read more stories and share your own on http://www.SuccessStartsHere.org .
Together we can harness the power of all to make a difference in our schools and communities! Hear from the experts and learn how to advocate! Free breakfast & givewaways. Don't miss out!
Sponsored by Norristown Men of Excellence, The Urban League of Philadelphia & PA Schools Work.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/norristown-parents-students-for-education-tickets-59590097586
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.
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
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/
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
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.
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