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PA Ed Policy Roundup July 16, 2019
Follow the Money: Campaign
Contributions by Vahan Gureghian 2013-2019; the intersection of money,
politics, government and schools
Blogger commentary: In an effort to gain
a better understanding of the dynamics in Harrisburg, from time to time over the years we have published “Follow
the Money” charts using data from the PA Department of State’s Campaign Finance
Reporting website:
We’ll leave it up to our readers to draw their own conclusions
regarding how such contributions may or may not influence policymakers as they
go about the people’s business in Harrisburg.
The chart below
lists over $470,000 in campaign contributions made by Mr. and Mrs. Gureghian for
PA state offices from 2013 through 2019.
Highlights
include $205,000 to the House Republican Campaign Committee, $37,000 to the
Senate Republican Campaign Committee, $30,000 to House Speaker Mike Turzai, $82,000
to Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman’s Build PA PAC, $85,000 to Senate
President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and$16,000 to House Majority Leader Bryan
Cutler.
While school district budgets, check
registers and salaries are public information, charter school management
companies like Gureghian’s CSMI are not required to provide any details on how
they spend taxpayers dollars. CSMI runs Chester Community Charter School, the
state’s largest brick and mortar charter. CSMI's founder and CEO is Vahan
H. Gureghian of Gladwyne, a
lawyer, entrepreneur and major Republican donor –the largest individual
contributor to former Gov. Tom Corbett. And though CSMI's books are not
public – the for-profit firm has never disclosed its profits and won't
discuss its management fee – running the school appears to be a lucrative
business. State records show that Gureghian's company collected nearly $17
million in taxpayer funds just in 2014-15, when only 2,900 students were
enrolled.”
Over the years, Gureghian has spent well over $1
million on political contributions in Pennsylvania.
“As previously reported by the (Palm Beach) Daily News, the buyers in this week’s sale are Philadelphia attorney and
businessman Vahan Gureghian and his attorney wife, Danielle. Two weeks ago,
they sold their never-lived-in oceanfront mansion on 2 acres at 1071 N. Ocean
Blvd. for more than $40 million. That 35,992-square-foot mansion had been on the market for
about four years. ….Vahan Gureghian is involved in a number of businesses, he
said, including management and consulting in the charter-school industry
through a company he founded, CSMI Education Management. His wife provides legal counsel for his business ventures, he
said.”
Exclusive: Palm Beach mansion lost by developer in
bankruptcy sells for $30.275M
Palm Beach Daily news By Darrell
Hofheinz July 12 Posted at 5:46 PM Updated at 6:32 PM
Mortgage-holder
sells former home of Robert V. Matthews to couple who just sold a Palm Beach
mansion for more than $40 million. As developer Robert V.
Matthews awaits sentencing on
felony conspiracy and money-laundering charges in Connecticut, the Palm Beach
seaside mansion he completed in 2006 has changed hands for a recorded $30.275
million. The deed recorded today shows the house at 101 Casa Bendita was sold
by Singer Island Tower Suite LLC, which took title in April via a bankruptcy
judge’s order in Matthews’ Chapter 11 case. The seller is identified in court documents as an “assignee” of a
Deutsche Bank affiliate owed $31 million from a mortgage it held on the
property. Matthews moved out of the mansion with his wife, Mia, shortly after
the bankruptcy court’s March 31 order. Matthews developed the long-troubled,
never-finished — and since-sold — Palm House hotel-condominium at 160 Royal
Palm Way, which is a focus of his federal criminal case in Connecticut. The
six-bedroom, two-story residence on Casa Bendita has 15,849 square feet of
living space, inside and out, on nearly an acre. With about 188 feet of beachfront,
the property lies about a three-quarters of a mile north of Royal Palm way.
Following data is from the Pennsylvania Department of
State Campaign Finance website: http://www.campaignfinance.state.pa.us/ContributionSearch.aspx
Selected State Level
Campaign Contributions by Vahan Gureghian 2013 - 2019
|
Recipient
|
Date
|
Amount
|
|
TURZAI,
MIKE FRIENDS OF
|
9/5/2013
|
$10,000.00
|
|
HOUSE
REP CAMPAIGN COM 2004, INC
|
3/18/2014
|
$75,000.00
|
|
HOUSE
REP CAMPAIGN COM 2004, INC
|
9/16/2014
|
$27,500.00
|
|
HOUSE
REP CAMPAIGN COM 2004, INC
|
10/31/2014
|
$25,000.00
|
|
TURZAI,
MIKE LEADERSHIP FUND
|
10/4/2014
|
$10,000.00
|
|
SENATE
REP CAMPAIGN COM
|
4/14/2015
|
$25,000.00
|
|
SENATE
REP CAMPAIGN COM
|
3/10/2015
|
$12,727.91
|
|
SCARNATI,
JOSEPH FRIENDS OF
|
10/31/2016
|
$25,000.00
|
|
SCARNATI,
JOSEPH FRIENDS OF
|
10/31/2016
|
$25,000.00
|
|
BUILD
PA PAC
|
6/15/2016
|
$10,000.00
|
|
CORMAN,
JAKE FRIENDS OF
|
10/26/2016
|
$10,000.00
|
|
SCARNATI,
JOSEPH FRIENDS OF
|
11/9/2017
|
$10,000.00
|
|
BUILD
PA PAC
|
6/22/2017
|
$10,000.00
|
|
CORMAN,
JAKE FRIENDS OF
|
10/16/2017
|
$2,500.00
|
|
FUND
FOR A BETTER PENNSYLVANIA
|
6/8/2017
|
$5,000.00
|
|
HOUSE
REP CAMPAIGN COM 2004, INC
|
8/29/2017
|
$2,750.00
|
|
HOUSE REP
CAMPAIGN COM 2004, INC
|
11/2/2017
|
$3,000.00
|
|
HOUSE
REP CAMPAIGN COM 2004, INC
|
11/2/2017
|
$2,000.00
|
|
CUTLER,
BRYAN FRIENDS OF
|
6/15/2018
|
$5,000.00
|
|
SCARNATI,
JOSEPH FRIENDS OF
|
10/31/2018
|
$25,000.00
|
|
TURZAI,
MIKE FRIENDS OF
|
9/12/2018
|
$10,000.00
|
|
BUILD
PA PAC
|
6/4/2018
|
$25,000.00
|
|
BUILD
PA PAC
|
7/25/2018
|
$25,000.00
|
|
BUILD
PA PAC
|
10/17/2018
|
$10,000.00
|
|
HOUSE
REP CAMPAIGN COM 2004, INC
|
4/24/2018
|
$5,000.00
|
|
HOUSE
REP CAMPAIGN COM 2004, INC
|
5/1/2018
|
$20,000.00
|
|
HOUSE
REP CAMPAIGN COM 2004, INC
|
7/20/2018
|
$10,000.00
|
|
HOUSE
REP CAMPAIGN COM 2004, INC
|
9/18/2018
|
$10,000.00
|
|
HOUSE
REP CAMPAIGN COM 2004, INC
|
10/26/2018
|
$25,000.00
|
|
SAYLOR,
STAN CITIZENS FOR
|
5/29/2018
|
$5,000.00
|
|
BUILD
PA PAC
|
3/29/2019
|
$2,000.00
|
|
CUTLER,
BRYAN FRIENDS OF
|
4/3/2019
|
$1,000.00
|
|
CUTLER,
BRYAN FRIENDS OF
|
5/28/2019
|
$10,000.00
|
|
|
|
$478,477.91
|
Mansion of embattled Palm Beach developer sells for $30M
(Photos)
By Brian Bandell – Senior Reporter, South Florida Business Journal Jul
15, 2019, 12:31pm EDT Updated Jul 15, 2019, 12:44pm EDT
Philadelphia
businessman Vahan H.
Gureghian paid
$30.275 million for the Palm Beach mansion that belonged to embattled Palm
Beach developer Robert V.
Matthews. Singer
Island Tower Suite LLC, part of DB Private Wealth Mortgage, sold the nearly
16,000-square-foot home at 101 Casa Bendita to Gureghian. The lender seized the home in
April under orders of U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Matthew’s personal Chapter 11
filing. DB Private Wealth Mortgage, part of Deutsche Bank, had a $27.4 million
loan on the property. The bank provided a $25.67 million mortgage to Gureghian
to help him buy the property. Matthews built the oceanfront home on the
0.88-acre site in 2006. The mansion has six bedrooms, eight bathrooms, two half
bathrooms and a pool. Gureghian, the founder and CEO of CSMI, which invests in
the charter school industry, can immediately occupy the home.
“The decision means staff and parents at
the state's largest bricks-and-mortar charter – already slated to receive more
than $55 million in taxpayer funds this school year – won't have to worry
about its fate for nearly a decade, even if its test scores continue to fall
far short of state benchmarks. It also guarantees that CSMI LLC, a for-profit
education management company that operates the K-8 school with 4,200 students,
will receive millions of dollars in revenue for nine more years. Chester
Community's extension comes as school districts across the commonwealth and
nation are wrestling with the growth of charter schools, more privatization in
education and the impact on traditional public schools. It also renews
lingering questions about the intersection of politics, government and schools.
Reprise Dec. 2017: How Chester Community Charter School
got a 9-year deal
Inquirer by Martha Woodall, Posted: December
22, 2017
For years, charter
school proponents have been trying to change Pennsylvania law so that operating
agreement renewals could be extended from five years to
10. They
haven't succeeded in Harrisburg. But that didn't deter Chester Community
Charter School. One year into Chester Community's latest five-year agreement,
Peter R. Barsz, the court-appointed receiver who oversees the financially
distressed Chester Upland School District and wields nearly all the powers of a
school board, took the unprecedented step of extending the Delaware County
school's term for five more years to 2026. Barsz contends that the move was
designed to protect Chester High School: In return, Chester Community, which
already enrolls about 70 percent of the primary grade students in the
struggling district, agreed not to open a high school.
“The Pennsylvania Department of
Education is questioning the Chester Upland School District's decision to renew
its operating agreement with the state's largest brick-and-mortar charter
school through 2026 while the school was just one year into its current
five-year term.”
Reprise April 2018: Judge, state question quick renewal
for Chester charter school
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Posted: April
20, 2018
The
Pennsylvania Department of Education is questioning the Chester Upland School
District's decision to renew its operating agreement with the state's largest
brick-and-mortar charter school through 2026 while the school was just one year
into its current five-year term. "If charters are going to be renewed right out of the chute, …
they've already been approved before they've even performed," said James
Flandreau, a lawyer for the department, at hearings this week ordered by a
Delaware County Court judge. "Certainly, one year is way too early to
evaluate any charter's performance." Kevin Kent, a lawyer for Chester
Community Charter School, said the court-appointed receiver and school district
could reevaluate the charter school at any point. "Nothing's been
compromised," he said. Peter Barsz, the receiver for the financially
distressed district, testified on Thursday that he had reviewed audits and
school performance records and had support from the district's school board
before approving the renewal request last year that allowed the
charter school to operate through 2026.
Philly charter founded by indicted labor leader plans new
school at slain developer’s South Kensington site
Inquirer by Jacob Adelman, Updated: July 15, 2019- 11:00 AM
A charter high
school co-founded by indicted labor leader John J. Dougherty plans a new $21.1
million academic building on a South Kensington lot where developer Sean
Schellenger had planned apartments with co-working offices for local entrepreneurs
before his stabbing death near Rittenhouse Square. The board of the
Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development is scheduled to vote Tuesday
on a bond issue of up to $30 million to finance the Philadelphia Electrical and
Technology Charter High School (PETCHS) project at 1525 N. American St. The tax-exempt
financing would pay for the $3.6 million acquisition of the half-acre site,
along with the school’s construction costs and other expenses related to the
deal, said John Grady, president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development
Corp., which oversees the authority. The authority’s
board approved $22 million in bonds for the project in April, but the larger
issue was now being sought “due to higher-than-expected construction costs,”
according to the resolution on the
agency’s website. The school, which currently occupies the upper stories of a
historic Center City office building, was founded in 2002 by Dougherty,
business manager of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers; Michael Neill, director of Local 98′s apprentice training program; and
Dougherty’s daughter, Erin Dougherty, who serves as the school’s chief
executive.
Editorial: Property
tax hikes a sign of what's to come
Delco Times
Editorial Jul 14, 2019
Property tax bills
have arrived in homeowners’ mailboxes, and for many, this year’s sticker shock
has gone up despite an increase in state funding for schools and despite local
school boards weighing program cuts. That squeeze -- weighing students’ needs
against taxpayer resources -- is about to get worse with a divide that
threatens more than half the 500 school districts in Pennsylvania with
financial crisis in five years. In the next five years, 60 percent or more of
school districts in Pennsylvania will be in fiscal distress, according to a June 28 report by
MediaNews Group staff writer Evan Brandt. Brandt’s report detailed the findings
of a study, “A Tale of Haves and Have-Nots," released earlier this year by the Temple University Center on
Regional Politics. Study authors
William Hartman and Timothy J. Shrom illustrate how unfunded mandated costs —
retirement and charter school tuition in particular — will soon exceed the
amount of state aid many districts receive. Districts are left with no choice
but to raise local property taxes to balance their budgets. With the Act 1
Index tax cap on those increases, it may still not be enough, and many will
have to resort to cutting programs to balance their budgets, Brandt reported. .
“And then there’s the item on our 2019
wish list that just sits there, the ignored elephant in the room. We wrote of
the urgent need “for our state lawmakers to work hard and swiftly on
Pennsylvania’s intertwined broken systems of educational funding and local
property taxes. There must be an aggressive timetable to fully implement the
bipartisan fair funding formula for all school districts. And, regarding property
taxes, there must be relief for all (especially senior citizens) who receive
these oft-crippling annual bills.”
Editorial: Harrisburg
must not wait any longer on school property tax reform [opinion]
THE LNP EDITORIAL
BOARD July 15, 2019
THE ISSUE: With school officials citing the
costs associated with special education, pensions, charter schools, health
insurance and construction projects, LNP’s Alex Geli reported
July 6 that all but one of the county’s
17 school districts are raising property taxes for 2019-20. The increases range
from 1.22% in Octorara Area (which straddles Lancaster and Chester counties) to
3.54% in Penn Manor. Warwick is the only school district that is not hiking
taxes. Just past the
halfway point of 2019, it’s a good time to look back on the LNP Editorial
Board’s wish list for this year. We are pleased to see progress on numerous items, such as state and
local efforts in battling the opioid crisis; financial help for Pennsylvania’s volunteer fire companies; assistance for our state’s farmers; and fast-tracked legislation that allows Lancaster County municipalities to bar video gambling
machines from truck stops within their borders. We are less pleased at the lack
of progress toward a retroactive window to allow survivors of child sexual abuse to seek justice in Pennsylvania civil court. And we are appalled that the climate
crisis remains more of a political football than a nonpartisan legislative
priority. Our leaders and lawmakers must come together without
haste to enact and support strong initiatives to protect our environment.
“The school, which currently occupies
the upper stories of a historic Center City office building, was founded in
2002 by Dougherty, business manager of Local 98 of the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Michael Neill, director of Local 98′s apprentice
training program; and Dougherty’s daughter, Erin Dougherty, who serves as the
school’s chief executive.”
Philly charter founded by indicted labor leader plans new
school at slain developer’s South Kensington site
Inquirer by Jacob Adelman, Updated: July
15, 2019- 11:00 AM
A charter high
school cofounded by indicted labor leader John J. Dougherty plans a new $21.1
million academic building on a South Kensington lot where developer Sean
Schellenger had planned apartments with co-working offices for local
entrepreneurs before his stabbing death near Rittenhouse Square. The board of
the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development is scheduled to vote
Tuesday on a bond issue of up to $30 million to finance the Philadelphia
Electrical and Technology Charter High School (PETCHS) project at 1525 N.
American St. The tax-exempt
financing would pay for the $3.6 million acquisition of the half-acre site,
along with the school’s construction costs and other expenses related to the deal,
said John Grady, president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp.,
which oversees the authority. The authority’s
board approved $22 million in bonds for the project in April, but the larger
issue was now being sought “due to higher-than-expected construction costs,”
according to the resolution on the
agency’s website.
Readers React: Put
charter school funding misconceptions to rest
THE MORNING CALL | Letter by Terry E. Richwine JUL 14, 2019 | 10:30 AM
The recent Town
Square op-ed by Ana Meyers concerning charter schools perpetuated several myths about school funding. The first myth is
that public school districts are funded on a per pupil basis, which they are
not. While charter schools are funded based on the per pupil cost at the
sending districts, districts receive funding from several sources, but none on
a per pupil basis. The second myth is that charter school funding is 75% of the
sending schools’ per pupil cost, implying that charter schools are forced to
provide the same services with less funding. The funding formula, as outlined
in the law, removes expenses that are not incurred by charter schools, such as
student transportation as well as special education, which is subject to a
separate calculation. It should be noted that the special education funding
formula has resulted in charter schools receiving more for special education
than their actual costs. These myths have existed since the introduction of
charter schools. It is time that they be put to rest.
Should Pa. dump its Keystone Exams for high school
students and save millions? One state official thinks so.
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Updated: July 15, 2019- 5:19 AM
Every spring,
thousands of Pennsylvania high school students take the Keystone Exams,
standardized tests given at public schools in the commonwealth. The tests come
with a hefty price tag: Over the last decade, the state has paid a Minnesota
company $425 million for the Keystones and for a second test, the Pennsylvania
System of School Assessment (PSSA) exams, administered to third through eighth
graders. Pennsylvania Auditor General Eugene A. DePasquale thinks that the
state should scrap the Keystones and replace them “with a different
standardized test statistically proven to help students realize their potential
for higher education, careers or other callings.” DePasquale, a Democrat
preparing to run for Congress, suggests that Pennsylvania pivot to using the
SAT or ACT — the exams accepted or required by many colleges. He was joined at
a recent news conference on the topic by State Sen. Andy Dinniman (D.,
Chester), a longtime critic of the Keystone Exams.
PA Officials Want to Replace Bad Keystone Exams with Bad College
Entrance Exams
Gadfly on the Wall
Blog by Steven Singer July 15, 2019
Pennsylvania
officials are scandalized that the Commonwealth is wasting more than $100
million on unnecessary and unfair Keystone Exams. They’d rather the state spend slightly less on biased college entrance
exams. State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale and State Sen. Andy Dinniman held a joint press conference last week to introduce a new
report compiled by
DePasquale’s office on the subject which concludes with this recommendation. Replacing
bad with bad will somehow equal good? Under the proposal, elementary and middle
school students would still take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment
(PSSA) tests. However, instead of requiring all high school students to take
the Keystone Exams in Algebra I, Literature and Science, the report proposes the same
students be required to take the SAT or ACT test at state expense. This is
certainly an improvement
over what the state demands now, but it’s really just replacing one faulty test with another – albeit at
about a $1 million annual cost savings to taxpayers. The report does a good job
of outlining the fiscal waste,
lack of accountability and dubious academic merits of the Keystone Exams, but it fails to note similar qualities in its own
proposal.
Report urges improvements in policies for pregnant and
parenting teens
The Education
Law Center found that more academic supports are needed. It wants the Board of
Ed to review the District's policy, even though it was revised last year.
The notebook by Dale Mezzacappa July 15 — 3:24 pm,
2019
A new report from
the Education Law Center says the School District of Philadelphia and many
charters need to alter their policies and practices for pregnant and parenting
teens in order to help them persist and succeed in school. While teen pregnancy
rates have declined nationally, Philadelphia’s rate has remained stubbornly
high. At 35.2 per 1,000 teens, it is higher than the national rate of 22.3 per
1,000 and nearly twice the Pennsylvania rate of 17.7 per 1,000 15- through
19-year-olds, the report said. It is highest among African American and Latinx
teens; higher pregnancy rates are strongly correlated with higher poverty
rates. The report, called “Clearing the
Path: Creating School Success for Pregnant and Parenting Students and Their
Children,” is based
on a survey of students and stakeholders, interviews, and focus groups
conducted over the last two years. Young women who were pregnant while in
school said they were not accommodated and were often stigmatized, the report
found, with consequences that perpetuate multi-generational poverty and
squander human potential. The young women reported that they received inadequate
supports from schools while pregnant and that they lacked any connection with
school for four to six weeks after giving birth; 88 percent reported that they
received no homebound instruction or other academic support during that time.
As a result, when they returned to school, they lagged far behind their peers.
Harrisburg School District can find hope for revival in
Reading: 7 lessons
Penn Live By Ron Southwick | rsouthwick@pennlive.com Updated 12:31 PM; Today 5:00 AM
Chris Celmer knows
what it’s like to come into a failing school district and try to make sense of
the finances. Celmer, the new chief operating officer in the Harrisburg School
District, served as an assistant superintendent in the Reading School District
for five years. “There’s financial unrest in Harrisburg that’s very similar to
what we walked into in Reading in 2014,” Celmer said. “Our first week in
Reading we were worried about even making payroll.” Celmer said they were able
to cut checks for the staff in Reading and he doesn’t foresee a problem with
paying Harrisburg’s staff. But he sees a host of problems in Harrisburg that
won’t be solved quickly. A blistering audit of the Harrisburg school district revealed $5 million
in questionable costs. His
experiences in Reading have prepared him for what’s to come. Over the past five
years, the Reading school district has earned praise for improved academics and
more stable finances under its current leadership team. Celmer hopes to be part
of a similar turnaround in the Harrisburg School District, which is now under
state oversight. The state Department of Education won approval to take over Harrisburg’s school system, mired in years of poor academic performance and financial woes. Celmer
joins John George, the director of Harrisburg’s financial recovery plan, as
part of the district’s new leadership team. George, the executive director of the Montgomery County Intermediate
Unit, helped stabilize the Reading school system and position it for its
comeback.
Citing technicality, central Pa. school district scraps
first-of-kind policy to arm teachers
Tamaqua was
the first school district in Pennsylvania to pass a policy to let teachers
carry guns, but a school board has recommended the board scrap the policy.
Penn Live By Avi Wolfman-Arent | PA Post July 15, 2019 Updated 12:40 PM; Today
11:53 AM
The Tamaqua Area
School District in Schuylkill County will scrap a groundbreaking policy that
would have allowed teachers and staff to carry weapons anonymously on school
grounds. The school board’s Security Committee recommended the policy be rescinded at a meeting last
week. School
board president Larry Wittig confirmed that the board will heed that recommendation
and overturn the policy. “The old policy is dead,” Wittig said. Tamaqua Area
was the first school district in Pennsylvania to create a rule that would have allowed staff members to carry guns, and the policy’s passage last fall triggered debates and legal challenges. But Wittig said a change in state law
ultimately scuttled the proposal and sent local officials back to the drawing board.
That new law, Senate Bill 621, inspired its own controversy because some advocates thought its
vagaries would ultimately permit school districts to arm teachers. The bill’s
sponsor said that wasn’t the intent, and Governor Tom Wolf even argued that the
bill would explicitly bar staff members from carrying weapons in school.
States are ratcheting up reading expectations for
3rd-graders
WHYY By Alexandra Starr July 14, 2019
Changes in
education policy often emanate from the federal government. Think Common Core,
the set of standards established in 2010 for what U.S. students should know.
But one policy that has spread across the country came not from Washington,
D.C., but from Florida. “Mandatory retention” requires that third-graders who
do not show sufficient proficiency in reading repeat the grade. It was part of
a broader packet of reforms proposed by former Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002. Now 19
states have adopted the policy, in part because Bush has pushed hard for it.
Not all children who perform poorly on reading tests are retained: Generally
students with special needs and kids who have been in the country less than two
years are exempted. And studies have shown that a child’s early literacy skills
can have long-term implications. One out of six students who are not reading
proficiently by fourth grade, according to a study by the
Annie E. Casey Foundation, don’t
graduate from high school on time. That rate is four times greater than that of
proficient readers. At the same time, forcing children to repeat a grade is
stigmatizing and can damage their self-esteem. Multiple
studies have
found that flunking a grade makes it much more likely students will fail to
graduate from high school. Some parents and educators have organized against
mandatory retention and advocate for children to sit out high-stakes exams. A
group of parents in Florida unsuccessfully
challenged the policy in court.
Smucker, Toomey among
few Republicans to criticize Trump's 'racially-motivated statements'
Lancaster Online by
GILLIAN
McGOLDRICK | Staff Writer July 15,
2019
Pennsylvania
Republicans are among the first and few criticizing President Donald Trump’s
attacks on four Democratic congresswomen to “go back to where they came from.” Lancaster’s
Rep. Lloyd Smucker, R-Pa., criticized President Donald Trump -- without
mentioning him by name -- for “racially-motivated comments or behavior”
regarding his tweets about four Democratic congresswomen. A spokesperson
confirmed on Monday that Smucker was referencing Trump’s comments. Smucker
added that he disagrees with his Democratic colleagues in the House for their
“veer toward socialism and recent left-wing approach on national security,
immigration and health care.” Sen. Pat
Toomey, R-Pa., was one of the very first to condemn the president, doing so
during the lunch hour. Since then, few Republicans have issued statements
regarding Trump’s statements -- varying from his most conservative followers
saying his comments were not racist, to other Republicans calling for him to
apologize. “President Trump was wrong to
suggest that four left-wing congresswomen should go back to where they came
from,” Toomey said. “Three of the four were born in America, and the
citizenship of all four is as valid as mine."
Republican Pat Toomey: Trump tweet attacking Democratic
congresswomen ‘was wrong’
Inquirer by Jonathan Tamari, Updated: July 15, 2019- 1:00 PM
WASHINGTON —
Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey became one of the few Republicans to
criticize President Donald J. Trump’s tweets assailing four Democratic members
of Congress — all women of color — and urging them to “go back” to the
countries they came from. “Three of the four were born in America and the
citizenship of all four is as valid as mine,” Toomey said in a statement Monday
afternoon. "I couldn’t disagree more with these congresswomen’s views on
immigration, socialism, national security, and virtually every policy issue.
But they are entitled to their opinions, however misguided they may be. We
should defeat their ideas on the merits, not on the basis of their ancestry.” Few
Republicans have spoken out against tweets that have been widely condemned as
racist. Toomey did not directly touch on the racial implications of Trump’s
comments, though other lawmakers (almost entirely Democrats) have. One
exception, Rep. Will Hurd (R., Texas) called Trump’s tweets “racist”
and “xenophobic” and described the president’s behavior as "unbecoming of
the leader of the free world.”
2 Indiana virtual schools received lots of public money.
Now, the state wants $40 million of it back.
Washington Post Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss July 15 at 12:29 PM
Indiana state
investigators said two virtual charter schools took up to $40 million in public
money based on highly exaggerated enrollments — and now officials want the
money back. A student who died in 2016 appeared on an enrollment list a year
later, according to the State Board of Accounts audit led by State Examiner Paul Joyce. The review also determined that a
majority of students at both schools were not in any class for at least half of
2017 and that a number of students who left the school were not removed from
enrollment records. Percy Clark Jr., superintendent of Indiana Virtual School
and Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy, said in a July 5 letter to the State
Board of Education that the findings were inaccurate and challenged the method
investigators used to reach their conclusions, saying investigators did not
look at enough student records. Joyce said in an affidavit: “I believe that it
is reasonable to conclude that the schools reported at least two times as many
students as they should have based on their student engagement policies and
applicable statutory standards.” And he told the State Board of Education at
its Wednesday meeting that such actions could be considered criminal, according to the Indianapolis Star. “How did we miss this?” State Board of Education Chairman B.J. Watts
asked during the meeting, the Associated Press reported. The investigators’
findings mark the latest controversy surrounding charter schools and virtual
schools, some of which are charters, including the ones in Indiana. About 6
percent of American schoolchildren attend charter schools, which operate in
most states and are publicly funded but privately operated. California has the
most charters and the most charter school students.
Dems’ busing debate puts a spotlight on increasing
segregation in America’s schools
Post-Gazette by SEEMA MEHTA AND MICHAEL
FINNEGAN Los Angeles Times JUL 16, 2019
Nearly 50 years
have passed since Kamala Harris joined the legions of children bused to schools
in distant neighborhoods as the United States attempted to integrate its
racially segregated public schools. Yet the consequences of racial and economic
segregation remain a fact of daily life for millions of black and Latino
children. Ms. Harris’ attack on her Democratic rival Joe Biden over his
opposition to federally mandated busing in the 1970s was a rare case of school
segregation emerging as a flashpoint in a recent presidential race. The
emotionally raw clash on a Miami debate stage between a black U.S. senator of
California and a white former vice president raised the question of what, if
anything, the Democratic candidates would do to promote racial integration of
America’s schools. In the aftermath of the social upheaval wrought by the
forced busing of the 1970s, the federal government all but walked away from
school desegregation, with only lax enforcement of court-ordered integration
and token programs to encourage voluntary desegregation. “For more than a
generation, little has been done to address the issue,” said Gary Orfield, the
co-director of the Civil Rights Project at UCLA. “It is crucial that we act.”
Where's the Senate's Education Spending Bill? Will the
Holdup Affect Schools?
Education Week
Politics K12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa on July 14, 2019 9:11 AM
The House spending
bills, including an all-time high for federal education aid, have generated a great deal of interest this year. It's the first time
in a decade Democrats control the chamber, and they want to draw sharp
distinctions between their priorities and the Trump administration's. But with
all that done and dusted weeks ago, you might be wondering: Where's the Senate
school funding bill for fiscal 2020? Good question. By late June last year, the
Senate appropriations committee had already passed its legislation to fund the
U.S. Department of Education, along with other agencies, for fiscal 2019. Fast
forward to today, and we don't even have an education spending bill for the
Senate subcommittee that handles K-12 funding to consider. If you're looking at
Washington politics from the outside, it might seem odd. So what's the
holdup? In plain English, the problem lies with figuring out caps on
federal spending. That's the legacy of a 2011 deal in Congress that applies
automatic spending cuts to both defense and non-defense programs, unless
lawmakers can agree to new limits on both types of federal spending. (Here's some background on that issue from early 2018.) The deals have lifted these caps over time; the last deal covered
fiscal years 2018 and 2019.
PCCY: 2 seconds for
$200,000 and a game-changing opportunity for kids
PCCY needs
your votes! We are in the running for a $200,000 Key to the Community
Grant from the Philadelphia Foundation! Our idea is simple – give more parents in the Greater Philadelphia
region tools, resources and networks to amplify their voices in advocacy and
policy impacting our children. To launch the Parent Advocacy Accelerator, we
need your help. The Philadelphia Foundation is running an on-line voting
contest. The idea that gets the most votes in a category, wins the grant. Voting
is quick and easy at https://www.philafound.org/vote/. Just scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page and vote for the
project listed as the Parent Advocacy Accelerator under the “Community and
Civic Engagement" category, Every vote, every day counts. VOTE
EVERY DAY UNTIL JULY 26! Share with your networks in Pennsylvania, New York,
New Jersey, or Delaware and ask them to vote every day, too.
Thank you for your
votes and support!
In November, many boards will be
preparing to welcome new directors to their governance Team of Ten. This event
will help attendees create a full year on-boarding schedule based on best
practices and thoughtful prioritization. Register now:
PSBA: Start Strong:
Developing a District On-Boarding Plan for New Directors
SEP 11, 2019 • 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
In November, many
boards will be faced with a significant transition as they prepare to welcome
new directors to their governance Team of Ten. This single-day program
facilitated by PSBA trainers and an experienced PA board president will guide
attendees to creating a strong, full year on-boarding schedule based on best
practices and thoughtful prioritization. Grounded in PSBA’s Principles for
Governance and Leadership, attendees will hear best practices from their colleagues
and leave with a full year’s schedule, a jump drive of resources, ideas for
effective local training, and a plan to start strong.
Register online at MyPSBA: www.psba.org and click on “MyPSBA” in the upper right corner.
The deadline to
submit a cover letter, resume and application is August 19,
2019.
Become a 2019-2020 PSBA Advocacy Ambassador
PSBA is seeking
applications for two open Advocacy Ambassador positions. Candidates
should have experience in day-to-day functions of a school district,
on the school board, or in a school leadership position. The purpose of the
PSBA Advocacy Ambassador program is to facilitate the education and engagement
of local school directors and public education stakeholders through the
advocacy leadership of the ambassadors. Each Advocacy Ambassador will
be responsible for assisting PSBA in achieving its advocacy goals. To
achieve their mission, ambassadors will be kept up to date on current
legislation and PSBA positions on legislation. The current open
positions will cover PSBA Sections 3 and 4, and
Section 7.
PSBA Advocacy
Ambassadors are independent contractors representing PSBA and serve
as liaisons between PSBA and their local elected officials. Advocacy
Ambassadors also commit to building strong relationships with PSBA members with
the purpose of engaging the designated members to be active and committed
grassroots advocates for PSBA’s legislative priorities.
PSBA: Nominations for The Allwein Society are open!
This award program
recognizes school directors who are outstanding leaders & advocates on
behalf of public schools & students. Nominations are accepted year-round
with selections announced early fall: http://ow.ly/CchG50uDoxq
EPLC is accepting
applications for the 2019-20 PA Education Policy Fellowship Program
Education Policy & Leadership Center
PA's premier education policy leadership program for education, policy
& community leaders with 582 alumni since 1999. Application with program
schedule & agenda are at http://www.eplc.org
2019 PASA-PSBA School
Leadership Conference Oct. 16-18, 2019
WHERE: Hershey Lodge and
Convention Center 325 University Drive, Hershey, PA
WHEN: Wednesday, October
16 to Friday, October 18, 201
Registration is now open!
Growth from knowledge acquired. Vision inspired by innovation. Impact
created by a synergized leadership community. You are called upon to be the
drivers of a thriving public education system. It’s a complex and challenging
role. Expand your skillset and give yourself the tools needed for the
challenge. Packed into two and a half daysꟷꟷgain access to top-notch education
and insights, dynamic speakers, peer learning opportunities and the latest
product and service innovations. Come to the PASA-PSBA School Leadership
Conference to grow!
NPE Action National
Conference - Save the Date - March 28-29, 2020 in Philadelphia, PA.
The window is now open for workshop proposals for the Network for Public
Education conference, March 28-29, 2020, in Philadelphia. I hope you all sign
on to present on a panel and certainly we want all to attend. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NBCNDKK
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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