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PA Ed Policy Roundup Sept. 30, 2019
Blogger note: here are a couple articles
that provide some historical context for Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools:
“Zogby became policy director for Ridge
in 1995 and then state Education Secretary in 2001 under his successor, Mark
Schweiker. Along the way, Zogby had a major hand in crafting some of the most
impactful pieces of legislation the state’s educational landscape has seen:
Pennsylvania’s charter and cyber charter laws….The K12 years: Between his government gigs with Schweiker and Corbett,
Zogby was senior vice president of education and policy for K12 Inc., the
nation’s largest for-profit operator of online public schools. In January 2003,
as Rendell was about to swear-in, Zogby left Harrisburg on a Friday and went to
work for K12 Inc. the next Monday – a job he kept until January 2011, when Tom
Corbett’s tea-party wave brought him back through the big green dome’s
revolving door. K12 Inc. has garnered widespread criticism – spurred in part by
a lengthy 2011 article in the New York Times that took the company to task for
low academic output, questionable enrollment practices and its ability to
generate large profit margins on the backs of taxpayers. “A portrait emerges of
a company that tries to squeeze profits from public school dollars by raising
enrollment, increasing teacher workload and lowering standards,” the New York
Times wrote. In Pennsylvania, K12 Inc. was a contractor for Agora Cyber Charter
until 2014. Ex-employees there gave testimony supporting
the criticisms in a lawsuit filed against K12 Inc. by its investors in 2012.
School founder Dorothy June Brown faced fraud charges in a case in which a jury
deadlocked on most counts.”
Reprise Jan. 2015: In the final days of Corbett, budget
chief Zogby reflects on his quest for school reforms
WHYY By Kevin McCorry January 13, 2015 Listen
As the Corbett
administration draws near its final days, perhaps the departure of Pa.
Budget Secretary Charles Zogby marks a radical shift in education
philosophy. It’s a cold December day in Harrisburg, where the streets and the
echoing halls of the state Capitol lie dormant between legislative sessions. In
a handsome executive-wing office of mahogany and leather, a copy of the Wall
Street Journal sprawled across his desk, state Budget Secretary Charles Zogby
has already begun boxing up his belongings. “Don’t make me out to be the
villain,” he says, half joking, referring to his supposed image among
traditional public school advocates. As the Corbett administration draws near
its final days, it’s Zogby’s departure that perhaps best marks the radical
shift about to occur in executive-level education philosophy. To his
ideological opposites, Zogby’s a union buster, a privatizer, a profiteer.
But the way Zogby sees it – through three governors and an eight-year
foray in the private sector – it’s always been all about the children. “Anything
that I’ve done, it’s really been trying to help those most in need get a better
shot at a better education,” he says. In Pennsylvania, if you had to craft a
short list of the players who best advanced the conservative public school
agenda over the past two decades, Zogby’s name would be on it. “Who else will
be left that eats, sleeps and breathes school reform?” he asks.
Reprise Dec. 2011: Profits and Questions at Online
Charter Schools
New York Times By STEPHANIE
SAUL DEC. 12, 2011
By almost every
educational measure, the Agora Cyber Charter School is failing.
Nearly 60 percent
of its students are behind grade level in math. Nearly 50 percent trail in
reading. A third do not graduate on time. And hundreds of children, from
kindergartners to seniors, withdraw within months after they enroll. By Wall
Street standards, though, Agora is a remarkable success that has helped
enrich K12 Inc., the publicly traded company that manages the school. And the entire
enterprise is paid for by taxpayers. Agora is one of the largest in a portfolio
of similar public schools across the country run by K12. Eight other for-profit
companies also run online public elementary and high schools, enrolling a large
chunk of the more than 200,000 full-time cyberpupils in the United States.
The pupils work from their homes, in some cases hundreds of miles from their
teachers. There is no cafeteria, no gym and no playground. Teachers communicate
with students by phone or in simulated classrooms on the Web. But while the
notion of an online school evokes cutting-edge methods, much of the work is
completed the old-fashioned way, with a pencil and paper while seated at a
desk. Kids mean money. Agora is expecting income of $72 million this school
year, accounting for more than 10 percent of the total anticipated revenues of
K12, the biggest player in the online-school business. The second-largest,
Connections Education, with revenues estimated at $190 million, was bought this
year by the education and publishing giant Pearson for $400 million.
Attendance, graduation rates, test
scores…..
Are cyber schools stacking up?
Charter officials challenge notion that
students struggle
Altoona Mirror by RUSS
O'REILLY Staff Writer roreilly@altoonamirror.com SEP 29, 2019
In the Altoona Area
School District alone, there were 253 students in cyber charter schools last
year. One of them, Amylee Gill, 11, of Altoona, has been attending Agora Cyber
Charter School since kindergarten. “I get to do school in my pajamas,” she
said at Fairview Park with her parents. After talking with a reporter, she ran
off to play with her brother, Brayden, 13, who also attends Agora, and a girl
they made friends with at the park. Brayden, 13, now attends Agora after
leaving traditional brick-and-mortar school last year, parents Kelli and Torae
Gill said. The school district could not strike the right balance of academic
rigor for Brayden, who has autism, Kelli Gill said. “He was not being
challenged enough in school. He came home one day saying his tests had pictures
of fish on them. He said, ‘I need to be challenged more,'” Kelli Gill
said. And at other times he would come home frustrated to tears because of
homework that made no sense to him, she said. Amylee has been attending Agora
since her year after preschool because she has food allergies that are
touch-sensitive. A mere sneeze by a student next to her who had eaten something
she was allergic to could have been a danger. “They wouldn’t let her carry
an EpiPen in school because it was considered a weapon,” Kelli Gill
said. With the Gills at the park were Agora Cyber Family Coach Coordinator Pam
Keth and middle school principal Heather Bianconi. Both Keth and Bianconi have
children but none are in cyber charter schools. However, “I would not
hesitate to go for cyber charter if an issue arises,” Bianconi said.
School Vouchers And Federal Support For Discrimination
Forbes by Peter Greene Senior Contributor Sep 28, 2019,
11:36am
I look at K-12
policies and practices from the classroom perspective.
School voucher
programs are becoming one of the major fronts in a federal battle to safeguard
discrimination by religious organizations. Some flaps created by private
religious schools seem minor, like the pastor at a Catholic school who banned
Harry Potter books because he
believes the books contain “actual
curses and spells.” But earlier this year, the Catholic Archdiocese of
Indianapolis touched off a flurry of excitement by requiring Catholics schools
in the archdiocese to fire all gay teachers. Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School
refused, and was
stripped of its Catholic identity. To avoid a similar fate, Cathedral High School terminated a teacher in
a decision it called “agonizing.” The teacher settled
with the school, but has
since sued the archdiocese. This might be a matter of Catholic internal
business, except that in Indianapolis, as in many areas around the
country, the
Catholic school system is now funded in part by school vouchers, a system of using public tax dollars for tuition t0 private schools.
Indiana has been aggressive
in pursuing school choice policies, particularly under then-Governor Mike Pence, who in
his 2013 inaugural address said,
“There’s nothing that ails our schools that can’t be fixed by giving parents
more choices.” Indiana’s voucher program directs taxpayer dollars primarily
to religious schools, and the
majority of those are Catholic schools. Cathedral High School participates
in both Indiana’s
voucher and tax credit scholarship programs. There was a time when private religious schools might
have resisted taking government dollars, even indirectly, for fear of having the government push its rules on
the institutions. But now we are seeing that the lever can be pushed in the
other direction, and it’s the government that may have to bend to the will of
private religious institutions.
“This is the second straight year that
the state has provided additional funding to the Pottstown School District,
which is underfunded by more than $13 million every year due to Harrisburg's
failure to fully enact its own fair education funding formula.”
State to provide
Pottstown schools with $1.5 million windfall
Pottstown Mercury
by Evan Brandt
ebrandt@21st-centurymedia.com @PottstownNews on Twitter Sep 26, 2019
POTTSTOWN —
Pottstown schools are in line to get another cash infusion from Harrisburg. A
grant providing $1.5 million to the district is expected to be awarded once a
contract is signed and other paperwork completed, according to the office of
state Sen. Robert Mensch, R-24th Dist. This is the second straight year that
the state has provided additional funding to the Pottstown School District,
which is underfunded by more than $13 million every year due to Harrisburg's
failure to fully enact its own fair education funding formula.
At about this time last year, Mensch
was joined by state Rep. Tim Hennessey, R-26th Dist., and former Rep. Tom
Quigley in announcing a $1 million grant made to help compensate the district for the loss of tax
revenue due to Pottstown Hospital being removed from the tax rolls. Mensch
recognized that the fair funding formula's failure to be fully implemented has
left Pottstown taxpayers in a tough spot. “Superintendent (Stephen) Rodriguez
truly has the educational and financial best interests of the district’s
students and parents at heart — he cares deeply about the quality of education
in Pottstown School District," Mensch said in a release from his office.
‘We are broke:’
Allentown school director says no more spending on conferences and dinners
By JACQUELINE PALOCHKO THE MORNING CALL | SEP 27, 2019 | 8:35 AM
When the Allentown
School Board approved a controversial $10 million loan in the spring to avert a
financial crisis, director Ce-Ce Gerlach pledged to vote against any future
spending on conferences and dinners for board members. Months later, Gerlach,
who voted for the loan, is still holding to that promise. At Thursday’s meeting, she voted against spending more than $2,000
to send directors Phoebe Harris and Lisa Conover to a Pennsylvania School
Boards Association conference in Hershey next month. Gerlach was the only
director out of the nine to vote against the conference, so Harris and Conover
will attend. The costs cover registration, hotel rooms and meals. It’s common
for school directors and administrators to attend conferences for professional
development in-state and even out-of-state. After the meeting, Gerlach her vote
wasn’t personal toward Harris and Conover; she just wants the cash-strapped
district to reign in its spending. “We are broke,” she said. “We don’t have
money to waste.” In the spring, the district discovered its 2018-19 budget was
almost $8 million in the hole because it spent more on salaries than was
budgeted. In a narrow 5-4 vote, the board decided to take out a $10 million
loan to cover that deficit. Conover, Harris, Robert E. Smith and Cheryl Johnson
Watts voted against the loan.
$29.6B of Philly real estate is exempt from property
taxes. Should nonprofits be asked to pay up?
Inquirer by Laura McCrystal, Updated: September 30, 2019- 5:00 AM
The Philadelphia
Museum of Art. Lincoln Financial Field. The former Aramark Tower. Together,
those Philadelphia landmarks are worth $794 million, according to city
assessment records. But they are among the nearly 23,000 properties in
Philadelphia exempt from paying property taxes because they are owned by
nonprofit or government institutions. In sum, the $29.6 billion value of all
exempt properties account for 17% of the city’s total real estate value,
according to an Inquirer analysis. Their combined tax breaks equal about $414
million annually. It’s not unusual for cities like Philadelphia, with a high
concentration of universities and hospitals, to have a large amount of untaxed
property. Adam Langley, who studies tax exemptions at the Lincoln Institute of
Land Policy, a Massachusetts-based think tank, said he often cites the city
when referring to places with lots of tax-exempt properties. Still, Langley
said, Philadelphia is “kind of an outlier” because it does not seek payment in
lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements with its largest nonprofit institutions, a
step that has enabled other cities to recoup millions in extra revenue.
District: Governor’s
Visit Gave Us Chance to Share Views
By Richard
Finch Jr. | Posted in: News |
September 27, 2019 | The Tube City Almanac
Pennsylvania Gov.
Tom Wolf’s visit this month to
Twin Rivers Elementary gave
McKeesport Area School District a chance to share its views on charter schools,
Superintendent Mark Holtzman said. During Wednesday’s school board meeting,
Holtzman discussed the Sept. 4 joint news conference with Wolf. “We were able
to talk about some of the things that need to change when it comes to charter
schools,” Holtzman said. At the press conference, Wolf discussed charter school
reform including what he called a “fee-for-service model,” that will charge
charter schools to resolve payment disputes with local districts, enabling the
Pennsylvania Department of Education to recoup costs they are currently
incurring from charter schools. Advocates of the governor’s plan claim it will
allow more tax dollars to go toward education. Holtzman said McKeesport Area
School District spends about $7 million on charter school payments for 600
district students who attend either brick-and-mortar or cyber charter schools.
Riverview shows off
STEAM curriculum to Gov. Wolf
Trib Live by JAMIE MARTINES | Friday, September 27, 2019 3:50 p.m.
Gov. Tom Wolf
visited Riverview Junior-Senior High School in Oakmont on Friday to learn about
the district’s efforts to prepare students for jobs in fields of STEAM — that’s
science, technology, engineering, arts and math — and to tout his own plan for
growing the workforce in those fields, PAsmart. “I want to continue to invest
the millions of dollars that we need to invest in STEM and STEAM, because I
want to make sure that our kids take good-paying jobs that sustain their
families, but even more important, sustain the economy of this commonwealth
moving forward,” Wolf told school officials following a tour of seventh-grade
classrooms participating in coding, robotics and computer science activities. The
Riverview School District was recently the recipient of a $35,000 PAsmart grant
to support teacher training and computer science coursework for students in the
district. “Investing in STEAM
experiences helps equip our students with the tools they will need to be
successful in a global economy,” Eric Hewitt, Riverview Junior-Senior High
School Principal, said in a statement. The PAsmart program, led by the Wolf
administration over the past two years, supports STEM programs in schools, job
training facilities and other community partners.
Pa. Senate seat drawing a crowd of potential candidates
Penn Live By Jan
Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated Sep 27, 7:41 PM; Posted Sep 27,
4:41 PM
More than a dozen
people have expressed interest or are at least considering a run for the open
state Senate seat in the 48th District, officials said. The group includes some
people who already hold public office as well as individuals who are seeking an
elective office for the first time. The district represents all of Lebanon
County and parts of Dauphin and York counties. The seat was vacated last week
upon the
sudden resignation of former four-term Sen. Mike Folmer, a Lebanon County Republican who was charged with possession of child
pornography. Folmer, 63, remains free on $25,000 bail with a preliminary
hearing scheduled for Oct. 31. The Republican and Democratic parties will
choose nominees. The individuals chosen as their party’s nominees will face off
in a
special election that Lt. Gov. John Fetterman has set for Jan. 14. The winner will finish out the remainder of Folmer’s term, expiring
in November 2022. State Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon County, is among those
considering seeking his party’s nomination for this seat. Diamond said he’s not
surprised at the high level of interest in this post that currently pays a
nearly $89,000 salary and the potential for lifetime health benefits as well as
a pension.
As long as he’s chair, no ‘red flag’ gun laws will get
through the Pennsylvania house | PennLive Editorial
By PennLive
Editorial Board Today 8:25 AM
Shira Goodman is
right. It’s going to take a real fight to stay alive in Pennsylvania. Despite
increasingly louder calls for laws to prevent another mass shooting,
Pennsylvania’s House Judiciary
Committee Chairman Rob Kauffman, a Republican from Franklin County, can’t hear
them. The
Republican from Franklin County can’t hear the mothers with Moms Demand Action
and the increasingly angry voters with Ceasefire PA yelling in the Capitol
Rotunda for what they call “commonsense gun laws.” He can’t hear the teenagers
marching and protesting, demanding something be done about the very real fear
they feel when they step into their schools. And he can’t hear the cries of the
battered women – and yes, men, too – who don’t want their home-grown terrorist
to be able to stalk them with an assault weapon. Rep. Todd Stephens, R-Montgomery County, (at
podium) called for passage of his legislation that would establish an extreme
risk protection order, or red flag, law in Pennsylvania at a Moms Demand Action
rally at the Capitol on Tuesday. Kauffman is standing in the way of getting
what millions of very reasonable people are demanding as a logical step to
reduce gun violence – passing “red flag" laws. Kauffman’s committee would
have to act on the legislation before it can go to the full House for a vote.
His decision to not allow that move creates a major obstacle to what many see
as a vital step to help prevent needless deaths from gun violence. “We will not
be considering 'red flag’ in the House Judiciary Committee so long as Chairman
Kauffman is chairman," Kauffman said last week. Kauffan also said he will
not allow his committee to consider any other gun-control measures during this
legislative session. The legislative session runs through 2020, so if that’s
accurate, it means Kauffman won’t bring up any gun-control bills for the rest
of this year and all of next year.
On a red flag law for
Pa.: It’s the start of the fight in the House — not the final word | Opinion
By Capital-Star Op-Ed
Contributor Shira Goodman September 29, 2019
Shira Goodman is the executive director
of CeaseFire Pennsylvania, the
advocacy arm of CeaseFirePA, a Philadelphia-based group whose mission is to end
the epidemic of gun violence across the Commonwealth and the country through
education, coalition-building and advocacy.
As Maya Angelou
famously said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first
time.” This past week in Harrisburg, we got a real good look at the people who
are trying to block the efforts to solve Pennsylvania’s gun violence crisis.
And now that we know where they stand, we know what we have to do. First, House
Judiciary Chair Rob Kauffman, R-Franklin, made himself absolutely clear in
comments following a meeting in which the committee voted to: allow gun lobby
groups and gun owners to sue Pennsylvania cities; impose more mandatory minimum
sentences; allow more people to drive around with guns in their cars; and
permit the civilian use of tasers. Kauffman said other proposed gun laws
including background check expansion, safe storage and Extreme Risk Protection
Orders might will not receive a vote this session. In fact, he said “We will
not be considering red flag in the house judiciary committee. .. So long as
Chairman Kauffman is chairman.'” Some considered Kauffman’s statements —
especially his claim that the committee’s actions would make us safer — a source
of anger and frustration. To me, Kauffman’s words were fighting words, not the
final word. He just gave us his roadmap for the next year and half of session,
and now we know exactly where our efforts need to be focused. Every
Pennsylvanian needs to hear what he said, and we will be making clear to him
that we believe this “promise” is a dereliction of duty and an abdication of
his role as chairman.
Rep. Bernstine’s language creating school-to-work program
folded into approved bill
Elllwood City Ledger By J.D.
Prose Posted Sep 28, 2019 at 5:00 PM
Language from
bipartisan legislation co-introduced by state Rep. Aaron Bernstine was included
in a more-sweeping education bill that passed the state Senate on Thursday and
should be signed by Gov. Tom Wolf. Under the legislation, the state would
create a pilot grant program that would encourage schools and businesses to
partner on work-based learning opportunities for high school students,
including apprenticeships, internships and job options. “This innovative pilot
program would bring our business leaders and students together to transform our
education system and prepare Pennsylvania students for jobs right here at
home,” Bernstine, R-10, New Beaver, said in a joint statement with his
colleagues. “We need to do a better job of communicating all opportunities to
students before they exit high school and embark on their careers, and this
program will help us do that,” he said. In March, Bernstine, Rep. Kate Klunk,
R-York County, and Rep. Jared Solomon, D-Philadelphia, introduced a bill — the
Schools to Workforce Pipeline Act — establishing the program. That
bill passed the House in June, but it’s language was eventually incorporated into House Bill 265,
which addresses education issues.
House Bill 265 was
unanimously passed by the Senate on Sept. 25 and then the House unanimously
concurred with amendments on the same day, sending it to Wolf’s desk to be
signed.
York Academy charter's new CEO strengthens foundation
Lindsay C VanAsdalan, York
Dispatch Published 8:06 p.m. ET Sept. 29, 2019
York Academy
Regional Charter School hopes to move to the next level with a new CEO who has
a strong background in the International Baccalaureate program. After working
in an urban-suburban community in Texas, Angela Sugarek is practiced in
serving a blended school community, said board President Nancy Ahalt. Though
this is her first time at a charter, Sugarek said its management is not
too different from a public school — the main differences being a
charter's management is more independent, costs are higher for a
smaller student body and growth is limited. "Part of the problem in
perception is the idea that they are that different," she said.
Nurses association wants to open charter high school in
central Pa.
Penn Live By Jana Benscoter | jbenscoter@pennlive.com Updated Sep
27, 2019; Posted Sep 27, 2019
Four Dauphin County
school districts could offer its students specialized courses in nursing at the
Pennsylvania Nurses Middle College Charter School in September 2020 if its
proposal is approved. The regional charter would enroll 100 students in grades
9 through 12 from Harrisburg, Central Dauphin, Susquehanna Township and
Steelton-Highspire school districts, according to Pennsylvania State Nurses
Association Chief Executive Officer Betsy Snook. Students would enter the
charter through an open enrollment, she explained. "When a classmate goes
home with strep throat, we want another student in this program to say, ‘wow,’
I know what that looks like under a microscope,” Snook said. The idea of the
charter has been kicked around for about four years, but actionable steps
toward making it a reality began last year. The state’s nurses association
hired New York City-based Talbot Consulting, which has had success helping to
open charter schools in the Empire State. The idea of the charter school
birthed out of a report published in 2010 by the Robert Wood Foundation and The
Institute of Medicine — "The Future of Nursing” — that revealed 36 percent
of registered nurses have a baccalaureate degree or higher. And, it showed that
the occupation lacked diversity in gender and ethnicity.
'We live for these
moments': Educators use Trump impeachment inquiry to teach valuable lessons in
class
Lancaster Online by
ALEX GELI | Staff
Writer Sep 29,
2019
Fletcher McClellan
was a college student during the impeachment proceedings against President
Richard Nixon in the 1970s. Now, he’s teaching about an impeachment inquiry
against President Donald Trump at Elizabethtown College. McClellan, an E-town
political science professor, is among the college and high school educators
using this week’s headlines
surrounding Trump as
fodder for classroom discussion and instruction. Educators interviewed Thursday
and Friday by LNP said the situation creates an important teaching opportunity.
Students, they said, are itching to learn more about how impeachment works,
what an impeachable offense is and, ultimately, whether there’s enough evidence
to impeach the current president. And it’s the instructor’s job, they said, to
help students make sense of it all. But that’s not always easy, especially
given today’s heated political climate. Teaching critical thinking - “My
goal isn’t to say that one side is right or wrong,” said Kyle Kopko, an
associate professor of political science at Elizabethtown College. “My job is
to get you to think critically and understand how to evaluate competing planes
(of thought) effectively.”
Mars Area High School among four schools in southwestern
Pa. to win national Blue Ribbon awards
Central
Elementary, Dutch Ridge Elementary and Sunset Valley Elementary also win awards
Post-Gazette by SANDY TROZZO SEP 27, 2019 3:43 PM
Four schools in
southwestern Pennsylvania have been named 2019 National Blue Ribbon School by
the U.S. Department of Education. They include Mars Area High School in Butler
County, Central Elementary School in Allegheny County, Dutch Ridge
Elementary School in Beaver County, and Sunset Valley Elementary School in
Westmoreland County. This is the first time that a Mars Area School District
school has been named to the national list of high-achieving schools. The 2019
list was announced Sept. 26. “Being recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School
is a testament to the hard work of all the members of our school community,”
said Lindsay Rosswog, high school principal. “Mars Area High School could not
have accomplished this without the foundation established by our dedicated
teachers and staff members, our determined administrators, and the endless
support of parents and community members combined with the hard work of our
students,” The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes schools in two
categories: high performing schools and schools that have made significant
progress in closing achievement gaps over the past five years.
Norwin elementary
school given Blue Ribbon Award
MEGAN TOMASIC | Friday, September 27, 2019 12:51 p.m.
Pennsylvania
schools given the National Blue Ribbon Award in 2019:
- Afton Elementary School — Yardley, Bucks County
- Ann Letort Elementary School — Washington Boro,
Lancaster County
- Cardinal John Foley Regional Catholic School —
Havertown, Delaware County
- Central Elementary School — Elizabeth,
Allegheny County
- Dutch Ridge Elementary School — Beaver, Beaver
County
- Eisenhower Elementary School, Indiana, Indiana
County
- G.W. Carver High School of Engineering and
Science — Philadelphia
- Jefferson Elementary School — Jefferson
Township, Butler County
- Joseph J. Greenberg Elementary School —
Philadelphia
- Mars Area High School — Mars
- Mary, Mother of the Redeemer School — North
Wales, Montgomery County
- Sabold Elementary School — Springfield,
Delaware County
- St. Pius X School — Broomall, Delaware County
- St. Thomas the Apostle School — Glen Mills,
Delaware County
- Ss. Colman-John Neumann School — Bryn Mawr,
Montgomery County
- Sunset Valley Elementary School — North
Huntingdon, Westmoreland County
- West Vincent Elementary School — Chester
Springs, Chester County
- Windber Area High School — Windber, Cambria
County
A Norwin elementary
school was given the National Blue Ribbon Award for academic excellence,
becoming the first school in the district to win the award. Students at Sunset
Valley in
kindergarten through fourth grade erupted into cheers Friday morning as
Principal Jason Cendroski announced the achievement, which was given to more
than 360 schools across the country this year, with 18 in Pennsylvania,
including Central Elementary School in Elizabeth. “It’s recognition of the
great place that we have here at Sunset Valley — the wonderful community, the
parents, the teachers and students and all of their hard work,” Cendroski
said. “It’s great recognition from the Department of Education to recognize
Sunset Valley as one of the top schools in the country, and we certainly
appreciate receiving this honor and we look forward to sharing our information
with other schools across the county and across the commonwealth.”
Letort Elementary
among seven Pa. schools recognized for closing achievement gaps by US
Department of Education
Lancaster Online by
ALEX GELI | Staff
Writer Sep 28,
2019
An elementary
school in Lancaster County is one of the best in the country at closing student
achievement gaps. That’s according to the U.S. Department of Education, which
on Thursday announced this year’s Blue Ribbon Schools. Letort Elementary School, in Penn Manor School District, was one of
only seven Pennsylvania schools recognized as an Exemplary Achievement Gap
Closing School. “The faculty and administration of Penn Manor have engaged in
ongoing efforts to ensure that the education our schools provide to all
children is world class,” Penn Manor Superintendent Mike Leichliter said,
adding that the recognition is “representative of the education across all Penn
Manor schools.” The federal program annually highlights schools that “serve as
models of effective school practices for state and district educators and other
schools throughout the nation,” the Education Department’s website states. In
total, 362 schools in 46 states were recognized.
“Picciotti-Bayer interviewed Brittany
and other parents of children benefiting from tuition assistance for an amicus
brief just filed at the U.S. Supreme Court. The brief was filed by the Catholic
Association in support of a challenge to a Montana Supreme Court decision that
religious schools cannot benefit from public tuition aids -- including tax
credits for people donating to private scholarship funds. (The Institute for
Justice is representing moms of Montana.) The case, Espinoza v. Montana Dept.
of Taxation, has the potential to throw out anti-Catholic Blaine amendments
that remain in many state constitutions. Such a decision could change
children's lives in America.”
Kathryn Lopez:
Catholic schools are a lifeline for many families
Delco Times Opinion
by Kathryn Lopez September 28, 2019
(Kathryn
Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large
of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA.
As a second grader,
Raeyln Sukhbir used to cry every night. She was being bullied
"unmercifully" in the public school she was attending. Life at home
was miserable because the poor girl was so anxious and despondent -- which had
her parents worried about how bad things must have been the rest of the time. Raelyn
"did not want to be around other kids, and was clingy whenever we would
visit friends," her mother told lawyer Andrea Picciotti-Bayer. "She
did not want to participate in any activities or sports." Her father, a
retired Army veteran who was injured in Afghanistan, talked to the teachers and
administrators, but there was no improvement. Brittany and Kyle Sukhbir had
heard good things about St. Mary's, a Catholic school in their area with a
"zero-tolerance policy" about bullying. Picciotti-Bayer writes that
"the Sukhbirs did not think that they could afford private school, but the
daily bullying simply became too much for Raelyn to bear."
They contacted the
school just before Christmas, and Raelyn spent a day "trying on" the
school. "Every single teacher knew her name, and every student was excited
to meet Raelyn and play with her," her mother said.
“Is it unfair?” Pondiscio asks. “Of
course it’s unfair. Children shouldn’t be penalized or disadvantaged for
the actions or inactions of their parents.” And yet, he defends Success as an
entitlement of determined, low-income parents — just as wealthy and
middle-class parents move to the suburbs or pay for private schools for the
sake of their children’s education. “If you demand that engaged and committed
parents send their children to school with the children of disengaged and
uncommitted parents, then you are obligated to explain why this standard
applies to low-income black and brown parents — and only to them,”
Pondiscio writes. Some charter school critics dub this argument “the lifeboat
theory of education reform,” in that the majority of children are left to sink
on the big ship. With this morally disturbing conclusion to his unsparingly
honest book, Pondiscio implicates all of us in the unforgivable neglect of
children and education in our poorest communities.”
The Secret to Success
Academy’s Top-Notch Test Scores
New York Times Book Review By Dale
Russakoff Sept. 10, 2019
HOW THE OTHER HALF LEARNS
Equality, Excellence, and the Battle Over School Choice
By Robert Pondiscio
Equality, Excellence, and the Battle Over School Choice
By Robert Pondiscio
Every fall,
astonishing news emerges from Success Academy, the largest and most
controversial charter school network in New York City. With considerable fanfare, the network announces
that its predominantly low-income and minority students have once again defied
their demographics, earning consistently impressive scores on the state’s
standardized tests. Not only do they dramatically
outperform children across the city, erasing the achievement gap between white and black, rich and
poor, they
even beat the privileged kids in suburban Scarsdale and Chappaqua. Divining the secret to Success’ success has been an obsession for years
in media and education circles. That is partly because its founder and leader
is the former New York City Council member Eva Moskowitz, whose hardball
politics and support of punitive consequences for noncompliant students and
parents have stirred public backlash. In 2016, the New York Times reporter Kate
Taylor posted a hidden-camera
recording of a Success
teacher ripping up a first grader’s incorrect math work, then ordering her off
the classroom rug. (The teacher was briefly suspended.) Robert Pondiscio, a
former public-school teacher in the South Bronx who became an education writer,
won Moskowitz’s permission to embed himself for a year inside one of her more
than 40 schools to discover once and for all how Success does what it does. A
senior fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, Pondiscio is allied with the
education reform and charter movements, but not hesitant to criticize them.
Register now for PSBA’s
Sleep & Student Performance Webcast OCT
31, 2019 • 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 27,
2019 IN PSBA
NEWS
Our students face
many issues today, but who would have imagined sleep deprivation could be a
significant issue? The Joint State Government Commission established an
advisory committee to study the issues, benefits and options related to school
districts instituting later start times in secondary schools. Register now to hear from the executive director of the Commission, Glenn
Pasewicz, commission staff and David Hutchinson, PSBA’s appointee to the
commission, on the results of their study and work.
According to state
law, all school directors must complete training. How many hours are required
if you are a new school director? What about if you’re re-elected? Get the
answers to these and other related questions in this episode of PSBA’s #VideoEDition.
Information about the
education sessions for the 2019 @PasaSupts @PSBA School Leadership Conference are now live on our
website! We hope to see you there! #PASLC2019
What: Informal
discussion on cyber charter schools
When: 9 a.m.
refreshments, 9:30 a.m. panel, Oct. 7
Where: Central
Pennsylvania Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, 800 E. Park Ave., State College
AAUW State College
Branch invites you to attend an informational panel discussion to learn more
about background and issues connected with cyber charter schools. Join us on Oct.
7, at the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau, 800 E. Park
Ave., State College (visitor center off Porter Road). Refreshments, 9 a.m.;
panel discussion, 9:30 a.m.
The American
Association of University Women State College Branch is part of a nationwide
network of about 1,000 branches that are dedicated to advancing equity for
women and girls.
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
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!
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.
