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PA Ed Policy Roundup August 21, 2019
Poor school districts are funding the state’s cyber
charter schools, research shows. That wasn’t always the case
On Radio Times at 10:00 this morning: School shootings
spark drastic safety proposals
WHYY Radio Times Air
Date: August 21, 2019 10:00 am
Guests: Avi Wolfman-Arent, Jen Kinney
In the wake every
school shooting, parents are rightfully rattled and concerned about how to
better protect their children. But the answer as to how schools can improve
security is a murky one and has led to some controversial methods being
proposed and implemented. Beefed-up surveillance tactics, armed guards, and
even arming teachers and administrators are all ideas that have been put on the
table in recent years. Today on the show, we’ll talk about how the mass shooting
epidemic, and the reactions to it, are shaping schools in Pennsylvania. Joining
us is WHYY reporter AVI WOLFMAN-ARENT, and freelance reporter, JEN
KINNEY.
“Also unexpected was the fact the
majority of the reports had more to do with emotional and mental health
concerns about individual students then they had to do with direct threats of
violence. "We investigated them all and some were unfounded, some were
founded," Harney said. Those investigations, and the follow-up that comes
along with it — meeting with the student, the student's parents,
teachers, guidance counselors and psychologists — is time-consuming and the
people whose times is most consumed are a building's principal and assistant
principal.”
Threat tip line
taxing Pottsgrove Middle School resources
Pottstown Mercury
by Evan Brandt
ebrandt@21st-centurymedia.com @PottstownNews on Twitter August 20, 2019
UPPER
POTTSGROVE — When Pennsylvania became the first state to mandate a school
threat reporting system, the response was overwhelming. "The Safe2Say
Something program" began in January, "and that's when everything
changed," said Pottsgrove Assistant Superintendent Robert Harney. The
program requires public and private schools adopt the violence prevention
initiative. Safe2Say Something allows anonymous tips to be submitted to a
reporting system when students or parents see signs that someone could be a
threat to themselves or others. "Warning signs could include bullying,
bragging about an upcoming attack, depression, social isolation or substance
abuse," according to USA Today. Two months after being put into place in
January, USA
Today reported that Pennsylvania schools had received more than 6,200 tips.
And in the
Pottsgrove School District, where 40 tips were logged in six months, that
presents a significant workload. That's particularly true at Pottsgrove Middle
School, the school board was told last week. "We got about 40 reports, and
a lot of them were from the middle school," Harney said. "It was a quite
a lot more than we expected."
PA Capital Star By Elizabeth Hardison August 20, 2019
As nearly 2 million
children across Pennsylvania return to school this month, thousands will do so
from behind computer screens. Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools —
taxpayer-funded, privately managed schools that offer their curriculum online —
enrolled close to 39,000 students in the 2018-19 academic year, according to a
Capital-Star analysis of state Department of Education data. More likely than
not, those students come from poorly funded districts where adults have low
levels of education, recent research shows. A study of enrollment trends
in Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools between 2002 and 2014, published in the American Journal of Education, found that poor
districts disproportionately funded the state’s cyber charter sector, which
reliably produces low test scores and graduation rates for its students.
Researchers David
Baker of Penn State University and Bryan Mann of the University of Alabama say
the trend jeopardizes public school quality across the state, since the
districts losing the most students to cyber charter competitors are also the
least able to afford it. In the face of mounting concerns over charter
school funding in Pennsylvania, Gov. Tom Wolf announced in early August a slew of executive
actions to
increase charter school accountability, including an executive order allowing
districts to limit enrollment at low-performing cyber charter schools.
While locally
elected public school boards grant charters to brick-and-mortar schools, the
state Education department grants charters to cyber schools, giving the agency
greater regulatory power over the sector. But in both cases, public school
districts must pay charters a per-pupil tuition rate for each of their students
that decides to enroll there.
A Republican lawmaker
wants to eliminate Pa.’s property tax by targeting retirement income. Will his
bill gain traction this session?
PA Capital Star By Stephen Caruso August 20, 2019
A Republican
lawmaker on Tuesday officially released his plan to address the evergreen issue
of local property tax elimination, with one new twist — a tax on retirees’
income. Rep. Frank Ryan, R-Lebanon, held a Capitol press conference to roll out
his bill, which would also increase income and sales taxes to replace the
estimated $15 billion that state property owners currently pay. “If we don’t
resolve this problem this session, it’s not going to end,” Ryan said. The plan
would establish a 1.85 percent local income tax, on top of the Pennsylvania’s
current 3.07 percent income tax. Ryan’s plan also calls for a 2 percent local
sales tax, on top of the current 6 percent state sales tax. Both of these
new funding streams would go directly to schools without entering the state
government’s coffers. Most controversially, the plan also calls for a nearly 5
percent tax on retirement income — 3 percent of which would go to the state,
and 1.85 percent to schools.
Lawmaker aims to tax retirement income and food as a way
to eliminate school property taxes; 'This is not going to be an easy sell’
Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated Aug 20, 3:23 PM; Posted Aug 20,
3:00 PM
Rep. Frank Ryan is
looking to move Pennsylvania in a direction it has resisted for decades in order
to eliminate school property taxes. He wants to tax retirement income and he
wants to make food and clothing subject to a sales tax. The Lebanon County
Republican discussed his
proposal at a Capitol
news conference on Tuesday. It calls for replacing the $15 billion that was
raised from school property taxes this year – a
tax deemed the most hated in Pennsylvania by far – with an assortment of new taxes. The most radical aspect of
Ryan’s proposal entails placing a 4.92% personal income tax – with 3.07% going
to the state and 1.85% going to the local school district – on retirement plan
withdrawals excluding whatever portion the employee contributed to the plan.
Social Security benefits also would be excluded. Ryan’s plan also would provide
for a 2% local sales tax on the same items already subject to the state sales
tax, plus food and clothing. Currently, food and clothing are exempt from the
state’s sales tax. Under Ryan’s plan, those receiving public assistance would
be exempted from the tax on food. His plan also includes a 1.85 percent local
personal income tax, which would be in addition to the 3.07% rate the state
charges.
Retirement tax still
on table to lessen property tax load, Pennsylvania lawmaker says
By FORD TURNER THE MORNING CALL | AUG 20, 2019 | 5:05 PM | HARRISBURG
State Rep. Frank
Ryan, author of a controversial proposal to eliminate the school property tax
by increasing other taxes and instituting a new tax on retirement income, said
Tuesday he will continue to promote the concept despite stiff resistance in the
Lehigh Valley. Ryan held a press conference in the Capitol Rotunda to field
questions about the concept, which was publicized about a month ago even though
the Lebanon County Republican has not formally filed a bill. Ryan said he will
drop the proposal if he does not get significant support from senior citizens.
Feedback he has received to date, he said, indicates about half of seniors have
a favorable view of the concept, but the percentage of seniors who are opposed
is greater in the Lehigh Valley than elsewhere. Ryan has attributed that
pushback in part to misunderstanding of the proposed retirement income tax,
which he said will exclude Social Security and the original amount contributed
to a retirement plan, taxing only the earnings on the original contributions. One
component of his tax-shift scheme is a local personal income tax of 1.85% to be
paid directly to the local school district, in addition to the 3.07% personal
income tax already paid to the state.
“Gamble said $67.9 million has been
spent from the city’s general fund through June. Of that, $56.8 million has
gone to pre-K, $8.1 million has been spent on community schools, and $3 million
has gone to the Parks and Recreation Department for the Rebuild program for
libraries, recreation centers, and parks. During the current fiscal year, the
city is increasing the number of community schools from 12 to 17 and adding 1,050 preschool seats, expanding
that program to a total of 3,300 slots.”
Philly soda tax: Here’s how much money it has raised, and
how it’s been spent
Inquirer by Laura McCrystal, August 21, 2019
Philadelphia’s tax
on sweetened beverages has been in effect for 2½ years, withstanding legal
challenges, continued opposition by the beverage industry, and Democratic
primary challenges to Mayor Jim Kenney as he seeks a second term. The amount of money it will raise has
also been a bit of a moving target, as the city has made a few reductions to
its revenue estimates. The latest adjustment is reflected in the city’s
preliminary total for fiscal year 2019: $76.9 million, a revenue official said
last week. That amount is a bit less than the $78 million that the city had
initially budgeted for the year — an estimate that Kenney’s
administration adjusted down
before the year ended, attributing the difference to a lack of available data
about similar taxes and a decline in soda consumption. Meanwhile, the programs
that the tax funds — pre-K, community
schools, and
improvements to parks, recreation centers, and libraries — are growing.
Here’s an update on
the tax, the money it has raised, and where that money is going.
A tax-rate typo created savings for parents and headaches
for officials in a Bucks school district
Inquirer by Vinny Vella, Updated: August 20, 2019- 2:13 PM
A slip of a finger,
a single keystroke, is saving taxpayers in one Bucks County school district $32
each in property taxes this year. But the typo also cost the school district
about $895,000. Officials at Pennsbury — a 10,000-student school district based
in Falls Township — said late last week that a June 20 school-board resolution
incorrectly set the millage rate for this school year at 170.076 mills. It
should have been 171.076, one digit accidentally substituted for another by an
interim business administrator while drafting the resolution’s language. No one
caught the error in time, because the actual millage rate was not read aloud
during the June meeting. But technically, the language of the resolution is
binding, according to Christopher Berdnik, the district’s current chief
financial officer. Berdnik said he discovered the typo after starting his
position July 1. By then, it was too late: Tax bills had been mailed, and the
district’s solicitor felt a retroactive change would open the door to
litigation.
Blogger note: nice coverage of May 2019 charter
school hearing by Norristown High School students in their school newspaper. The
applicant, Norristown Academy Charter, affiliated with Vahan Gureghian’s CSMI,
is expected to continue efforts to locate in Montgomery County.
Norristown Academy
Charter School Withdraws Application after Tense Public Hearing
Norristown Area
High School Wingspan by Gabrielle
DeFrangesco and Christinna
Longenecker May 7, 2019
The Norristown Academy Charter School withdrew its application to develop a new charter school in Norristown on Monday, May 6th, at 9:15pm during a public hearing for the approval of the addition of said charter school. Norristown Academy Charter (NACS) wants to open as a new charter school in Norristown, and it is required by PA Charter School law to hold a public hearing.The NACS board previously withdrew an application from March 1st but re-submitted the same application on March 29th. The public hearing began around 6:30 but members of the community and the school board congregated around 6:00 pm in order to get proper seating. Eventually, the boardroom of the administration building became jam-packed, parents and faculty spilling into the main office. The large number of bodies accumulated very high temperatures, increasing the tension within. The hearing started off right away with Alan Kessler, representing NACS, requesting to discuss a “..threatening…” email from a member of the community to Greays Mendoza, a member of the NACS School Board. Kessler read from the email aloud, “…I just know what you’ll be facing next Monday. I hope you take a strong stand against the people who will be coming after you.” Attorney, Peter Amuso, representing Norristown Area School District, established that this letter came from an individual in the community, and not a representative of the Norristown Area School District School Board legal team. Amuso then questioned the involvement of CSMI, a for-profit educational management and consulting firm that, is working with NCAS. It was noted that founder and CEO of CSMI, Vahun Gureghian, was included in the chain of the letter received.
The Norristown Academy Charter School withdrew its application to develop a new charter school in Norristown on Monday, May 6th, at 9:15pm during a public hearing for the approval of the addition of said charter school. Norristown Academy Charter (NACS) wants to open as a new charter school in Norristown, and it is required by PA Charter School law to hold a public hearing.The NACS board previously withdrew an application from March 1st but re-submitted the same application on March 29th. The public hearing began around 6:30 but members of the community and the school board congregated around 6:00 pm in order to get proper seating. Eventually, the boardroom of the administration building became jam-packed, parents and faculty spilling into the main office. The large number of bodies accumulated very high temperatures, increasing the tension within. The hearing started off right away with Alan Kessler, representing NACS, requesting to discuss a “..threatening…” email from a member of the community to Greays Mendoza, a member of the NACS School Board. Kessler read from the email aloud, “…I just know what you’ll be facing next Monday. I hope you take a strong stand against the people who will be coming after you.” Attorney, Peter Amuso, representing Norristown Area School District, established that this letter came from an individual in the community, and not a representative of the Norristown Area School District School Board legal team. Amuso then questioned the involvement of CSMI, a for-profit educational management and consulting firm that, is working with NCAS. It was noted that founder and CEO of CSMI, Vahun Gureghian, was included in the chain of the letter received.
Here’s a rerun of Diane Ravitch’s piece
on Gureghian’s CSMI…
Pennsylvania: The State’s Largest Charter
School—Low-Performing But Profitable
Diane Ravitch’s
Blog By dianeravitch July 23, 2019 //
Chester Community
Charter School is the largest brick-and-mortar charter school in Pennsylvania,
with more than 4,000 students. It is a for-profit charter school owned by a
wealthy lawyer named Vahan Gureghian, who was the largest individual
contributor to former Governor Corbett. It is hard to know how much money CCCS
makes, because its books are not open to the public. It must be doing very
well, because his 36,000 square-foot oceanfront house in Palm Beach was recently sold for
$60 million. But
his profits are less important than the fact that CCCS now enrolls 70% of the
primary students in the Chester-Upland school district. And it is not because
the charter is an academic success. Its test scores are very low. Only 16.7%
were proficient in English language arts, compared to a state average of 63%.
Only 7% were proficient in mathematics, compared to a state average of 45%. By
most metrics, this charter school is a failing school, yet it gets preferential
treatment. The scores in the charter school are below those of the remaining
public schools in the district. The district, one of the poorest in the state,
is in receivership, and the receiver—who exercises total control over the district—decided
in 2017 to take the unprecedented step
of extending the charter to 2026. No charter in the state has ever had a nine-year extension. The
receiver said he did it in exchange for a promise by the charter that it would
not open a high school to compete with the Chester High School, but would
remain satisfied to enroll 70% of its primary students. Why might the receiver
make this unusual decision? Surely it would not be because he was treasurer of
Governor Corbett’s campaign. So, from 2017 to 2026, there is no
accountability for this low-performing for-profit charter school. The charter
corporation is now recruiting young students from Philadelphia with an
aggressive marketing campaign. Currently, more
than 1,100 students from Philadelphia ride a school bus that takes from 2-3 hours to reach the school in the morning and another 2-3 hours to
return home each day.
Elizabeth Forward classes delayed until next week due to
bus contract dispute
Judge sets
three-week deadline to reach agreement
MATT MCKINNEY Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mmckinney@post-gazette.com AUG 20, 2019
Elizabeth Forward
School District will open classes a few days late as it aims to resolve a bus
contract dispute that affects more than 2,300 students who were set to return
to school this week. Students are now set to start school next Monday instead
of this Thursday, as had been planned. Pennsylvania Coach Lines and the
district have three weeks to agree on a contract, and the company will
transport students while they negotiate, according to a ruling Tuesday by
Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge Christine Ward. Bus service will end
if they do not reach an agreement within three weeks. The stopgap measure comes
after the district and company debated the legitimacy of a contract extension
the school board approved last year. The McKeesport-based company said that it
never agreed to the contract renewal approved by the board last October, and
that the district owed it more than $1 million for past service. The company
notified the district on Aug. 2 that it would not abide by the contract to
transport students.
“In 2018, Baylor University researchers
published a study showing Pennsylvania is among a dozen states that have seen
an increase in the number of parents choosing not to vaccinate their children
against measles and other infectious diseases. In May, the first official
measles outbreak in Pennsylvania in a decade was recorded, including five cases
in Allegheny County.”
Parents who don’t
vaccinate children would get yearly medical counseling under proposed state law
Trib Live by PAUL GUGGENHEIMER | Tuesday, August 20, 2019 6:57 p.m.
State Reps. Dan
Frankel, D-Squirrel Hill, and Bridget Kosierowksi, D-Lackawanna, announced
Tuesday the introduction of legislation to increase the vaccination rate of
Pennsylvania children. The bill would require parents who seek nonmedical
exemptions for their children meet with a doctor every year to learn about the
risks of not getting vaccinations. It also would mandate that Pennsylvania
schools publish online the number of vaccinated and unvaccinated students. In
Pennsylvania, if a parent wants to exempt a child from getting a vaccination,
he or she is required only to sign a waiver acknowledging a philosophical or
religious objection. Frankel said his legislation will make sure that accurate
information gets into people’s hands. “There is an enormous amount of
inaccurate information that’s being pushed out on the internet that is playing
on people’s fears and making them question their confidence in traditional
health care,” Frankel said. “That’s playing out most with this vaccination
issue. People are opting not to have their children vaccinated because of this
misinformation and that’s putting many other families and their children at
risk.”
Republican David Rowe
wins special election for state House seat formerly held by U.S. Rep. Keller
PA Capital Star By Stephen Caruso August 20, 2019
Republican David
Rowe won a three-way special election for an open seat in the Pennsylvania
House on Tuesday. Rowe garnered 63 percent of the vote in the 85th District,
according to unofficial results from the Department of State. Rowe, a Crossfit gym owner and
township supervisor, bested Democrat Jennifer Rager-Kay, a UPMC doctor, and
write-in candidate Clair Moyer, a registered Republican, to represent the
Susquehanna River Valley district in Harrisburg. Rager-Kay received roughly 37
percent of the vote. The district includes most of Union and Snyder
counties, including Lewisburg, home of Bucknell University, as well as
Mifflinburg and Selinsgrove. Rowe will replace former state Rep. Fred Keller, a
Republican who is now serving in Congress after winning a special election in
May. Running as a conservative’s conservative, Rowe earlier told the
Capital-Star he is the “pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, pro-business” candidate
who favors keeping taxes low and cutting regulations. Tuesday’s election means
the lower chamber will be back at its full complement of 203 lawmakers when
Rowe is sworn in. Republicans hold a 110-seat majority.
Democrats spending millions to try to take back
statehouses
WHYY By Associated Press Brian Slodysko and Paul J. Weber August 20, 2019
Democrats still
shaken by the 2010 tea party wave that netted Republicans six governors’
offices, flipped 21 statehouse chambers and drove nearly 700 Democratic state
legislators from office are mounting a comeback, pouring millions of dollars
into state-level races. In a longtime Republican district covering a wealthy
enclave of Dallas, Democratic challenger Shawn Terry has raised $235,000, an
eye-popping amount for a statehouse race that’s more than a year away. In
Virginia, where the GOP holds a slim majority, Democrats have outraised
Republicans for the first time in years. Democrats are even putting some money
in deeply Republican Louisiana. The cash deluge shows how the consequences of
next year’s elections run far deeper than President Donald Trump’s political
fate. The party that controls state legislatures will take a leading role in
the once-in-a-decade redistricting process that redraws congressional maps.
Newly empowered Republicans used that process to their favor following the tea
party victories, and Democrats want to use the same playbook.
Guest Column: Yes,
there are limits to your Second Amendment rights
Delco Times Opinion
By Rep. Mike Zabel Times Guest Column August 21, 2019
State Rep. Mike
Zabel represents the 163rd Legislative District (Havertown, Upper Darby,
Clifton Heights, and Aldan).
One of the greatest
obstacles to enacting meaningful laws addressing the gun violence epidemic in
our country is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Second Amendment of the
United States Constitution. The misapprehension lies on all sides, whether it is
a recent op-ed in the local paper about the need to repeal the Second Amendment
in order to pass gun laws (we don’t) or a constituent who came to me concerned
that an assault weapons ban would violate his constitutional rights (it
wouldn’t). This debate needs to end. We can take on gun violence with a broad
range of legislation that fully comports with the Second Amendment.
The individual
right to bear arms, enshrined in the Second Amendment and recognized by the
United States Supreme Court in the case District of Columbia v. Heller, is a
limited right. As Justice Scalia explained in the Heller majority opinion, it
is “not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner
whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”
Other
constitutional rights work the same way For example, the right to free speech -
a constitutional right as revered as any other - is subject to all sorts of
qualifications. You cannot threaten someone’s life or actively incite others to
violence and you cannot knowingly publish lies about someone else. Our right to
free speech does not give us license to injure other people or put them in
danger. Neither does our right to bear arms.
NASCAR team owner Richard Childress resigns from NRA, the
sixth board member to exit since May
Inquirer by Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post and Bet
Reinhard, Washington Post, Updated: August 20, 2019- 3:21 PM
A prominent board
member resigned from the National Rifle Association this week, the sixth to
step down in recent months, deepening the upheaval at the longtime gun rights
powerhouse. The departure of Richard Childress, a well-known NASCAR team owner
based in North Carolina, came after he and then-NRA President Oliver North
privately urged the group's leaders in a letter this year to more carefully
review spending decisions under chief executive Wayne LaPierre, particularly
legal fees totaling tens of millions of dollars. In his resignation letter
Monday, Childress made no mention of those issues and emphasized that he had
chosen to leave the NRA board to focus on his private business. He said he was
resigning from the board and all NRA committees he served on effective
immediately, "with great regret and a heavy heart." Childress wrote
that he had "reached the point" where he could no longer fully commit
his time to the organization.
Adolescent Health and
School Start Times: Science, Strategies, Tactics, & Logistics
Workshop Nov 13, Exton
Join school administrators and staff, including superintendents, transportation directors, principals, athletic directors, teachers, counselors, nurses, and school board members, parents, guardians, health professionals and other concerned community members for an interactive and solutions-oriented workshop on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 9:30 am to 3:00 pm
Join school administrators and staff, including superintendents, transportation directors, principals, athletic directors, teachers, counselors, nurses, and school board members, parents, guardians, health professionals and other concerned community members for an interactive and solutions-oriented workshop on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 9:30 am to 3:00 pm
Clarion Hotel in
Exton, PA
The science is clear. Many middle and high school days in Pennsylvania, and across the nation, start too early in the morning. The American Medical Association, Centers for Disease Control, American Academy of Pediatrics, and many other major health and education leaders agree and have issued policy statements recommending that secondary schools start no earlier than 8:30 am to allow for sleep, health, and learning. Implementing these recommendations, however, can seem daunting. Discussions will include the science of sleep and its connection to school start times, as well as proven strategies for successfully making change--how to generate optimum community support and work through implementation challenges such as bus routes, athletics, and more. Register for the workshop here: https://ssl-workshop-pa.eventbrite.com Thanks to our generous sponsors, we are able to offer early bird registration for $25, which includes a box-lunch and coffee service. Seating is limited and early bird registration ends on Friday, September 13.
For more information visit the workshop website www.startschoollater.net/workshop---pa or email contact@startschoollater.net
The science is clear. Many middle and high school days in Pennsylvania, and across the nation, start too early in the morning. The American Medical Association, Centers for Disease Control, American Academy of Pediatrics, and many other major health and education leaders agree and have issued policy statements recommending that secondary schools start no earlier than 8:30 am to allow for sleep, health, and learning. Implementing these recommendations, however, can seem daunting. Discussions will include the science of sleep and its connection to school start times, as well as proven strategies for successfully making change--how to generate optimum community support and work through implementation challenges such as bus routes, athletics, and more. Register for the workshop here: https://ssl-workshop-pa.eventbrite.com Thanks to our generous sponsors, we are able to offer early bird registration for $25, which includes a box-lunch and coffee service. Seating is limited and early bird registration ends on Friday, September 13.
For more information visit the workshop website www.startschoollater.net/workshop---pa or email contact@startschoollater.net
EPLC/DCIU 2019 Regional Training Workshop for PA School
Board Candidates Sept. 14th
The Pennsylvania
Education Policy and Leadership Center will conduct a regional Full Day Workshop
for 2019 Pennsylvania School Board Candidates at the DCIU on September 14,
2019.
Target Audience: School Board Directors and
Candidates, Community Members, School Administrators
Description: Full Day Workshop for 2019 Pennsylvania School Board Candidates. Incumbents, non-incumbents, campaign supporters and all interested voters are invited to participate in this workshop. The workshop will include Legal and Leadership Roles of School Directors and School Boards; State and Federal Policies: Implications for School Boards; School District Finances and Budgeting; Candidates and the Law; Information Resources; "State and Federal Policies" section includes, but is not limited to:
K-12 Governance
PA Standards, Student Assessment, and Accountability
Curriculum and Graduation Requirements
K-12 State Funding
Early Education
Student Choices (Non-Public, Home Schooling, Charter Schools, Career-Technical, and more)
Teacher Issues
Linking K-12 to Workforce and Post-Secondary Education
Linking K-12 to Community Partners
***Fee: $75.00. Payment by Credit Card Only, Visa or Mastercard, PLEASE DO NOT SELECT ANY OTHER PAYMENT TYPE*** Registration ends 9/7/2019
Description: Full Day Workshop for 2019 Pennsylvania School Board Candidates. Incumbents, non-incumbents, campaign supporters and all interested voters are invited to participate in this workshop. The workshop will include Legal and Leadership Roles of School Directors and School Boards; State and Federal Policies: Implications for School Boards; School District Finances and Budgeting; Candidates and the Law; Information Resources; "State and Federal Policies" section includes, but is not limited to:
K-12 Governance
PA Standards, Student Assessment, and Accountability
Curriculum and Graduation Requirements
K-12 State Funding
Early Education
Student Choices (Non-Public, Home Schooling, Charter Schools, Career-Technical, and more)
Teacher Issues
Linking K-12 to Workforce and Post-Secondary Education
Linking K-12 to Community Partners
***Fee: $75.00. Payment by Credit Card Only, Visa or Mastercard, PLEASE DO NOT SELECT ANY OTHER PAYMENT TYPE*** Registration ends 9/7/2019
Join @RepBrianFitz and @CongBoyle at this complimentary focus
meeting to talk about the critical need to modernize and fully fund the federal
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Register for Federal
Focus: Fully funding IDEA at William Tennant HS Wednesday August 21st,
7-9 pm
PSBA News July 30, 2019
Join U.S. Representative Brian
Fitzpatrick (R-01) and other IDEA Act co-sponsors at this complimentary focus meeting to
talk about the critical need to modernize and fully fund the federal
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Learn about bipartisan
efforts now in the U.S. Congress to ensure that special education funding is a priority
in the federal budget, and how you can help bring this important legislation to
the finish line. Bring your school district facts and questions. This event
will be held Aug. 21 at 7:00 p.m. at Centennial School District in Bucks Co.
There is no cost to attend, but you must register through myPSBA.org. Questions
can be directed to Megan McDonough at (717) 506-2450, ext. 3321. This
program is hosted by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) and the
Centennial School District.
“Each member entity will have one vote
for each officer. This will require boards of the various school entities to
come to a consensus on each candidate and cast their vote electronically during
the open voting period (Aug. 23 – Oct. 11, 2019).”
PSBA Officer
Elections: Slate of Candidates
PSBA members
seeking election to office for the association were required to submit a
nomination form no later than June 1, 2019, to be considered. All candidates
who properly completed applications by the deadline are included on the slate
of candidates below. In addition, the Leadership Development Committee met on
June 15th at PSBA headquarters in Mechanicsburg to interview candidates.
According to bylaws, the Leadership Development Committee may determine
candidates highly qualified for the office they seek. This is noted next to
each person’s name with an asterisk (*).
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.
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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