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
Editorial: Rally for fair school funding gains momentum
Delco Times May 26,
2019
The fight belongs
in Harrisburg, and it won’t be a short knockout round.
That’s the message
gaining momentum in the towns of this region as school fair funding advocates
mobilize to converge on the capital on June 12. Pottstown School District and
schools in Delaware County are among the most active – and vocal – in the
effort to distribute all school funding in Pennsylvania according to the 2016
Fair Funding Formula. On June 12, those schools are teaming up with POWER
interfaith advocacy group in a Fair Funding Rally in Harrisburg. The stakes are
high: Despite Pennsylvania's standing as the state with the worst school
funding gap between wealthy and poor districts, only about 9 percent of each
year's education funding is allocated through the Fair Funding Formula, leaving
poor districts severely underfunded. In Pottstown, for example, using the
formula to its fullest would erase $13 million in state funding deficit,
providing substantial resources and reduced burden on local taxpayers.
“The Bellefonte
Area School District provides our students with a cyber-learning option. The
average cost for our students to attend BeLA (Bellefonte eLearning Academy) is
$4,000 per student; in contrast, the average tuition bill for one student in a
cyber charter is $16,000.
Opinion: Our children and our communities deserve cyber
charter reform
Centre Daily Times BY
MICHELLE SAYLOR AND JON GUIZAR MAY 27, 2019 08:47 AM
Michelle
Saylor, Ed.D., is the Bellefonte Area School District superintendent. Jon
Guizar is the president of the Bellefonte Area School District Board of School
Directors.
As parents,
teachers, and administrators, we understand that public education is the
foundation of our society, and are charged with preparing students both
academically and for life as full citizens beyond high school. Layered over
this purpose is this question: Is what we are doing good for children, for our
students, and the underlying purpose of education? Initially charter schools
began 25 years ago as a research and development arm for public education, a
sort of clinical classroom where we could all learn from new ideas in teaching
and learning. They were not meant to be competitors with traditional public
schools, but as avenues for collaboration and learning. Unfortunately, they
have not lived up to their original purpose, creating missed opportunities for
our students while placing a heavy burden on our taxpayers. Over time both the
traditional brick and mortar cyber schools, particularly the cyber charter
schools, have fallen short. Perhaps if charter schools were consistently
outperforming their traditional counterparts, were held to the same
accountability and transparency systems, we could make the argument for charter
schools, but they are not. They have failed our children and our communities
are paying for it.
Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2019
National Education Policy Center Report by Alex Molnar, Gary Miron, Najat Elgeberi, Michael K. Barbour, Luis Huerta, Sheryl Rankin Shafer, and Jennifer King Rice May 28,
2019
As proponents
continue to make the case that virtual education can expand student
choices and improve the efficiency of public education, full-time virtual
schools have attracted a great deal of attention. Advocates contend that
this potential for individualization allows virtual schools to promote greater
student achievement than can be realized in traditional brick-and-mortar schools. NEPC
researchers found, however, that the research evidence does not support this
claim. This three-part brief provides disinterested scholarly analyses of the
characteristics and performance of full-time, publicly funded K-12 virtual
schools; reviews the relevant available research related to virtual school
practices; provides an overview of recent state legislative efforts to craft
virtual schools policy; and offers policy recommendations based on the
available evidence.
Ravitch - Pennsylvania: Those Disgraceful, Failing
CyberCharters
Diane Ravitch’s
Blog By dianeravitch May 25, 2019
I recommend that
you get on the email list of the Keystone State Education Coalition if you want
to know what is happening in Pennsylvania. Lawrence Feinberg posts informative
articles about the schools of that state. You can contact him at
lawrenceafeinberg@gmail.com.
One ongoing scandal
in Pennsylvania is the story of cyber charters. Pennsylvania has 14 cyber
charter schools, and 13 of them are on the state’s list of the lowest
performing schools in the state. Cyber charters have low graduation rates, high
attrition, and low scores. While Pennsylvania has many underfunded districts,
the state is very generous with its failing cyber charters. From the years
2013-2016–four years–the state paid $1.6 Billion to these “schools.” In 2016
alone, the state handed out $454.7 million to cyber charters. All of that money
is extracted from the budgets of public schools because the money follows the
student, from good public schools to low-performing cyber charters. Most cyber
charters are operated for profit. And they are very profitable! But not for
their students. Understand that the cyber charters receive full tuition for
every student they enroll, even though they have none of the expenses of
brick-and-mortar schools. No maintenance of grounds, no heating or cooling, no
nurses, no library, no gym, no lunch room, no meals, etc. Yet they collect the
same tuition as real schools.
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 Ed Committee
member @RepGaydos’s school districts in Allegheny County had to send over $1.7
million to chronically underperforming cybers that they never authorized. #SB34
(Schwank) or #HB526 (Sonney) could change that.
|
Data
Source: PDE via PSBA
|
|
|
Avonworth
SD
|
$286,283.20
|
|
Moon
Area SD
|
$746,004.40
|
|
Quaker
Valley SD
|
$310,740.00
|
|
West
Allegheny SD
|
$424,029.00
|
|
|
$1,767,056.60
|
This morning there
are 67 bipartisan cosponsors on this bill; 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
Charter Reform: Pay close attention to House Bills 356
and 357. Tell your legislator charter legislation that removes local authority
and leaves out funding reform has missed the mark! Visit our website to send a
letter to your legislator:
PSBA Website May
14, 2019
Tell your legislator to vote NO on charter bills
fast-tracked for a House vote
Significant concerns, expansion without oversight
Monday the House Education Committee reported out a package of four bills addressing various charter school issues. The package is expected to be positioned on a fast track, with a vote on the House floor to occur as early as this Wednesday, May 15. Unlike attempts in previous sessions to move one omnibus charter “reform” bill, the plan now is to separate issues into a series of bills and push the package as a whole. While PSBA supports two of the bills in the package, the other two present significant concerns and are not supported by PSBA.
Please contact your legislators in the House and tell them to vote NO on the charter package.
Significant concerns, expansion without oversight
Monday the House Education Committee reported out a package of four bills addressing various charter school issues. The package is expected to be positioned on a fast track, with a vote on the House floor to occur as early as this Wednesday, May 15. Unlike attempts in previous sessions to move one omnibus charter “reform” bill, the plan now is to separate issues into a series of bills and push the package as a whole. While PSBA supports two of the bills in the package, the other two present significant concerns and are not supported by PSBA.
Please contact your legislators in the House and tell them to vote NO on the charter package.
Find your State Representative’s Contact Info Here:
Philly charter operator String Theory, turned down by
school board, now consulting for another charter, CHAD
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Updated: May 24, 2019
In its bid to open
a third charter school in Philadelphia, the arts-centered String Theory Schools
has encountered roadblocks from district officials who cite its “mixed
success.” But the charter operator has been extending its reach elsewhere — in
the consulting business. It has signed a $60,000-a-month contract to help
rescue the Charter High School for Architecture and Design, a 20-year-old
charter in danger of being closed by the School District. The struggling
school, known as CHAD, is also prepared to hand over its management to String
Theory, a nonprofit led by mother and son Angela and Jason Corosanite. A
proposed agreement would send 8 percent of the charter’s payments annually from
the School District — which provides the bulk of its $8.7 million budget — to
the company. String Theory and CHAD are represented by the same lawyer, David
Annecharico of Sand & Saidel. The arrangement provides a window into how
charter schools are run; the degree to which the publicly funded schools, which
educate one-third of Philadelphia public school students, are independent; the
role of outside management organizations; and the extent to which the School
District has authority over how the tax dollars that underwrite the schools’
budgets are spent. While the district requires charter schools to get approval
before hiring a manager, CHAD was able to sign the consulting contract on its
own.
“A state report
from late 2017 shows that if the all of the state’s basic education funding was
distributed through its fair funding formula, the district would have received
$4.9 million over its basic education allotment for 2017-18. A similar report
by Equity First for 2018-19 shows the district underfunded by $5 million from
the state. Only new money added to the basic education funding year-over-year
since 2014-15 are allocated through the fair funding formula ($700 million from
$6 billion). Board member Dorothy Gallagher said she is “fully disgusted” by
state legislators for not trying to help.”
SE Delco OKs budget, tax hike, curriculum cuts
Delco Times By Kevin Tustin
ktustin@21st-centurymedia.com May 27, 2019
FOLCROFT — Eight
members of the Southeast Delco Board of School Directors met Saturday evening
to adopt a proposed final budget after five of them rejected a budget at
Thursday’s meeting. In the meeting continuation from Thursday, the board voted
7-1 to pass the same budget agenda they originally rejected by a 3-5 vote.
(They unanimously approved a motion at Saturday’s meeting to reconsider
Thursday’s vote on that agenda item.) The $85.6 million budget for the 2019-20
school year looks to have a deficit of more than $2 million deficit after a 3.4
percent tax increase that will bring in $1.1 million in additional revenues. But
that tax increase is not enough, and a slate of programs and staff positions is
expected to be slashed to meet the $83.4 million in expected revenues for the
next school year.
“The Public
School Employee Retirement System (PSERS) calls for a $212,862 net expenditure
increase for the district. The total mandated PSERS cost is just less than
$11million, half of which is reimbursed by the state. Special education costs,
which are largely mandated as to the type of services provided, will rise about
$1 million. However, the state subsidy is expected to have an increase of less
than $15,000. Special education cost have gone from $9.3 million in 2015-16 to
$12.7 million in 2019-2020, while state subsidies have gone up $100,000 in the
same time period.
Springfield Delco OKs schools budget with 2.25 percent
tax hike
Delco Times By
Susan L. Serbin Times Correspondent May 28, 2019
SPRINGFIELD —
The school board approved the 2019-2020 proposed preliminary budget of $86.8
million with a tax increase of 2.25 percent. A home at the median assessed
value of $146,505, and a millage of 33.7229, will have a school tax bill of
$4,941 - $99 more than the current year. The final page of Executive Director
Don Mooney’s presentation singled out an important factor in this increase,
particularly relevant for taxpayers who focus on costs of the new high school.
Of the $99 increase, $36 can be attributed to “Master Plan Debt Service.” The
proposed preliminary budget presented in January estimated the increase at 2.87
percent. Mooney said revenue which enabled that reduction to 2.25 percent
included a more favorable investment interest rate, adding close to $300,000;
about $140,000 less for transportation costs (now outsourced); and minimal
amounts in a few other categories. The district did not take allowable
“exceptions” for retirement or special education costs which could have added
$1 million. “Our proposed final budget probably won’t change, although there
are still some unknowns in revenues,” said Mooney, referring to no new figures
on state funding with the governor’s budget not yet passed. “This is the
smallest increase we’ve had in the last five years.”
Second case of mumps confirmed at Abington Senior High
School
Inquirer by Bethany Ao, Updated: May 25, 2019
A second case of
mumps at Abington Senior High School -- again affecting a student -- has been
confirmed, principal Angelo Berrios said in a letter to parents Friday. The
discovery, two days after the first, has led the Montgomery County Office of
Public Health to investigate the cases as an outbreak of the viral infection. The
first case affected an age-appropriately vaccinated student, Berrios said. He
did not release details about the second student. Temple
University reported 86 cases of mumps in February and March, prompting free
vaccine clinics. While
measles outbreaks have been on the rise nationally this year, Philadelphia
has only seen mumps, which is much less severe. The infection is characterized by fever, swelling, and tenderness of
one or more salivary glands. An infected person can transmit mumps through
saliva.
How the anti-vaccine movement crept into the GOP
mainstream
'Appeals to
freedom are like the gateway drug to pseudoscience.'
Politico By ARTHUR ALLEN 05/27/2019 08:19 AM EDT
The anti-vaccine
movement, which swelled with discredited theories that blamed vaccines for
autism and other ills, has morphed and grown into a libertarian political
rebellion that is drawing in state Republican officials who distrust government
medical mandates. Anti-vaccine sentiments are as old as vaccines themselves —
and it’s been nearly 300 years since smallpox immunization began in what is now
the United States. Liberal enclaves from Boulder, Colo., to Marin County,
Calif., have long been pockets of vaccine skepticism. But the current measles
epidemic, with more than 880 cases reported across 25 states of a disease
declared eradicated in the U.S. 19 years ago, shows it gaining power within the
GOP mainstream. What’s new about the current anti-vaccine movement is the
argument that government has no right to force parents to vaccinate their kids
before they enter school. While Trump administration health officials and most
Republicans in Congress still back mandatory vaccination, opposition is gaining
steam among Republicans in state legislatures. Among some of these officials,
that libertarian demand for medical freedom has displaced the traditional GOP
view that it’s a civic responsibility to immunize your kids to prevent the
spread of disease.
“The Pennsylvania
Legislature does not limit how much lawmakers and other public officials can
accept from lobbyists and others. Gifts of at least $250 in the aggregate must
be reported, unless the person giving it is a friend or family member.
Lawmakers also must report transportation, lodging or hospitality expenses that
add up to at least $650. Most states limit the amount of gifts lawmakers can
take, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Democratic
Gov. Tom Wolf imposed a gift ban on the executive branch under his authority
after taking office in 2015. Bills pending in the House and Senate would ban
many types of gifts and travel, with exceptions. Such legislation has been
introduced in prior legislative sessions — and then ignored.”
PA Lawmakers report $83K in travel on annual ethics
disclosures
Inquirer by Mark
Scolforo, The Associated Press, Updated: May 27, 2019- 5:34 PM
HARRISBURG, Pa.
(AP) — Pennsylvania state lawmakers' newly filed ethics forms show they
accepted more than $83,000 in free trips last year and collected a variety of
gifts, booze and free meals. That's just the value that lawmakers reported, and
they are not required to disclose everything they accept in a state that does
not limit gifts to public officials. Travel funded by third parties took
legislators to Taiwan, Israel and destinations around the United States, from
Seattle to Key West, Florida. The trips were to attend meetings primarily
organized by groups that push ideological agendas.
OJR School Board weighs 3 options in student sleep study
Pottstown Mercury By
Laura Catalano For MediaNews Group May 27, 2019
SOUTH COVENTRY —
The Owen J. Roberts School Board is working to create several models for
addressing sleep health issues in the high school and middle school. The
board’s pupil services and special education committee has directed
administrators to develop models for three options. All options will consider
how the district can handle concerns over adolescent sleep deprivation due to
early school start times. One option will look at delaying school start times
in all district schools. A second will examine flexible scheduling in the high
school and middle school. The final option will offer pros and cons of keeping
things status quo. The models will be created by the district’s pupil services
department, according to board member Leslie Proffitt, who chairs the pupil
services and special education committee. In creating the models,
administrators will look at how a change will impact a number of factors
including scheduling, transportation, staffing, and of course, costs. The
proposed options were based on ideas and recommendations that came out of a
series of sleep health task force committee meetings held earlier this year.
One of those meetings focused specifically on delayed start times. Another
centered on flexible scheduling.
“The recent
scandal over wealthy parents bribing their children’s way into Ivy League-level
universities intensifies a long-standing anomaly: The curriculum at the United
States’ most selective and expensive private undergraduate colleges has always
centrally been the liberal arts, yet little public attention has been paid to
what in that curriculum has made it so desirable by the children of the wealthy
or those aspiring to wealth.”
The liberal arts are under attack. So why do the rich
want their children to study them?
Washington Post Answer
Sheet By Valerie Strauss Reporter May 26
A
new analysis by two
economists takes issue with those who argue that liberal arts education is not
worth the investment. Catharine B. Hill and Elizabeth Davidson, of the Andrew
W. Mellon Foundation, looked at how much graduates with a liberal arts
education can earn. They found that while liberal arts majors may not earn as
much engineers, they do well, showing that critics are incorrect about the
worth of the degree. That brings us to the post below, written by Donald
Lazere, professor emeritus of English at California Polytechnic State
University at San Luis Obispo, who asks and answers the following question: If
a liberal arts education isn’t worth the money, as critics contend, why do the
United States’ wealthy families want their children to get one? He is
co-author, with Anne-Marie Womack, of the third edition of “Reading and Writing
for Civic Literacy: The Critical Citizen’s Guide to Argumentative Rhetoric,”
forthcoming from Routledge. He is also the author of “Political Literacy in
Composition and Rhetoric,” “The Unique Creation of Albert Camus,” and the
editor of “American Media and Mass Culture: Left Perspectives.”
Break Ground on PlanCon 2.0: Contact Your Senator!
PASBO Website
A year after the
PlanCon Advisory Committee issued it's final recommendations for moving forward
with a new PlanCon program, their recommendations have still not been
implemented. As a result, school districts with school construction needs have
no option for obtaining any state support for their projects, meaning that
needed projects will be deferred or property taxes will increase. Senator Pat
Browne (R-Lehigh)--co-chair of the PlanCon Advisory Committee--is reintroducing
legislation to implement the recommendation of the Committee. Those
recommendations include streamlining the PlanCon funding formula and making it
electronic, developing a small projects grant program targeted to maintenance
needs and requiring guidance on what constitutes a maintenance project for the
purposes of determining prevailing wage applicability.
Senator Browne’s Co-Sponsorship Memo: Plan Con -
Construction and Renovation of Buildings by School Entities and Establishing a
Grant Program for Maintenance Projects
PA Schools Work Capitol Caravan Days Wed. June 5th
and Tues. June 18th
If you couldn’t
make it to Harrisburg last week, it’s not too late. We are getting down to the
wire. In a few short weeks, the budget will likely be passed. Collectively, our
voices have a larger impact to get more funding for Pennsylvania’s students.
Legislators need to hear from you!
Public Citizens for
Children and Youth (PCCY) will be at the Capitol on Wednesday, June 5th and
Tuesday, June 18th for our next PA Schools
Work caravan days. We’d love to have you join us on these
legislative visits. For more details about the caravans and to sign up, go
to: www.pccy.org/k12caravan . Please call Tomea Sippio-Smith at (O) 215-563-5848, ext. 36
or (C) 215-667-9421 or Shirlee Howe at (O) 215-563-5848, ext. 34 or (C)
215-888-8297 with any questions or specific requests for legislative
meetings.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.