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PA Ed Policy Roundup for Oct. 28, 2019
Absentee ballot
applications for the November 5 election must be received by your county
election office by 5pm on Tuesday, October 29, 2019.
Voters have
until tomorrow to apply for an absentee ballot for the Nov. 5 election. You can
now apply online & receive the ballot by mail. For voters w/ illnesses or
disabilities or those who will be away on business, at out-of-state colleges,
& others.
“This isn't a new problem. There is a better way to fund charter
schools, and it's not rocket science.
- If school districts could deduct their charter
school tuition from the tuition calculation to ensure that it didn't
unfairly ratchet up the tuition rate from year to year, it would save them
$450 million.
- If school districts could use their actual
percentage of special education students in the special education charter
school tuition calculation instead of a fictitious number, it would save
them $65 million.
- If school districts could cap the annual charter
school tuition rate growth at their Act 1 index to mitigate annual cost
increases, it would save them $96 million.
- If the state would take on the cost of cyber
charter school tuition since the state is responsible for authorizing and
overseeing cyber charter schools, it would save school districts $520
million.
We need an honest conversation that leads to a real, meaningful
and immediate solution, and we need it this fall. We all have to be at the
table and agree that the charter school funding status quo can't continue.
Failing to address this critical issue cancels out the education increases in
the newly enacted state budget and ensures that the burden on school districts
and taxpayers gets worse.”
Reprise July 2019: PASBO URGES CHARTER SCHOOL FUNDING
REFORM; PRIORITIZE SAVINGS TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS, TAXPAYERS
Pennsylvania
Association of School Business Managers Website By: PASBO On: 07/01/2019
School districts
across the state will usher in a new fiscal year with much-needed boosts for
state basic education funding, special education funding and school safety as a
result of the newly enacted state budget. The PA Association of School Business
Officials (PASBO) applauds Governor Wolf and the General Assembly for their
efforts in providing additional education resources in the new
budget. However, our work is not done. PASBO remains committed to
addressing charter school tuition costs when the General Assembly returns this
fall. Without remedying charter school funding policy, the positive impact of
the increases for education in the 2019-20 budget will be negated, and the $160
million increase in basic education funding for school districts will go
directly to charter schools. PASBO does not debate the existence of charter
schools nor the important role they play in providing an alternative public
education option for Pennsylvania students. However, charter school reforms are
long overdue, and there is no reform need greater than the 22 year-old charter
school tuition calculation.
As debate continues,
reforms possible for charter schools
Tines-Tribune BY
SARAH HOFIUS HALL, STAFF WRITER / PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 27, 2019
SCRANTON — At
Lackawanna County’s charter schools this month, students wrote poetry outside,
built a cave while studying the Stone Age and practiced their Spanish-speaking
skills. Outside the classrooms, the debate about charter school funding,
transparency and accountability grows, as the governor pushes for charter
school reform. Superintendents say the reform is overdue. Advocates for public
school choice call the proposals “an attack,” and rally for fair funding and
respect. “The whole notion of choice is that parents have a right to make
decisions based on knowledge and knowing their children,” said Marie George,
Ph.D., CEO of the Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligence Charter School in
Scranton. “We are public schools. And, I believe every city should have an
excellent public school system. This is not an either/or. This is a both/and.” During
the 2017-18 school year, 1,010 Lackawanna County students attended charter
schools. Some enrolled at Howard Gardner School on East Mountain, others at
Fell Charter School in Simpson and a majority in cyber charter schools —
another option free for families, which allows students to learn from a
computer at home. Commonwealth Charter Academy, a statewide cyber school with a
center in Dickson City, also has a growing presence in the region. In the seven
Northeast Pennsylvania counties — Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike,
Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties — 3,940 students opted for charter
school education in 2017-18. Those 37 districts spent a combined $61.6 million
in tuition to charter schools. Since the inception of charter schools in
Pennsylvania 20 years ago, school district officials blame budget problems on
the independent public schools. With many districts experiencing an increase in
students choosing charters, the debate grows and the bills become larger.
Ignorance is not bliss: Child homelessness must be
acknowledged, addressed
Meaningful
action can come only after an issue has been properly recognized
THE EDITORIAL BOARD Pittsburgh Post-Gazette OCT 28, 2019 6:00 AM
Ignorance may be
bliss for some, but ignorance of our community to the plight of homeless
children is far from blissful for the kids. A poignant display by the Homeless
Children’s Education Fund and Duquesne University captured attention and
stripped the issue of any cloak of blissful ignorance. The unveiling of the
display in Market Square in mid-October featured participants standing in one
of Downtown’s most heavily trafficked areas, holding up illustrations of
children’s faces to represent the thousands of local students who experienced
homelessness in the past year. More than 4,100 children in Allegheny County
experienced homelessness during the 2017-2018 school year — a 16% increase from
the previous year, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. All
43 school districts in Allegheny County have homeless students.
Philly Board of Ed’s vote to end Aspira’s charters a nail
biter
It was
"shocking" that some board members seemed to favor a troubled charter
organization over the system they preside over .
Commentary by Lisa Haver October 28 — 5:48 am, 2019
Lisa Haver is a
retired Philadelphia teacher and co-founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia
Public Schools (APPS).
It looked to be the
last stop on a runaway train, a failed experiment that had misdirected hundreds
of millions of taxpayer dollars over the past nine years. The Board of
Education — after multiple annual evaluations, 16 days of legal hearings, and
seemingly indefinite postponements — would take the final vote to deny renewal
to Aspira Olney and Aspira Stetson Renaissance charters. The 2016 Charter
Schools Office (CSO) recommended non-renewal after the schools failed to meet standards in all categories; the
CSO made the same recommendation this year after the schools failed to make the
necessary improvements. Hearing examiner Rudolph Garcia, having presided over
those legal hearings, reviewing the testimony of numerous witnesses and over
250 documents, echoed the
recommendation for non-renewal. Aspira’s transgressions had been well documented over the past six
years. The Daily News reported on phony contractor invoices and violations of the Labor Relations Act.
Both Fox 29 and the Inquirer told of the many sexual harassment lawsuits brought against Aspira
CEO Alfredo Calderon, one settled for over $300,000. Notebook stories examined Aspira’s financial mismanagement, ethics violations,
and low academic performance. The City Paper analyzed Aspira’s
political connections. City and State PA questioned the SRC’s many postponements in light of the company’s
substandard performance across the board. And last year, PA Auditor Anthony
DePasquale held a news conference to shine a light on Aspira’s fraudulent activities.
‘When they see you, they see themselves’: Newark’s male
teachers of color
WHYY By Devna Bose,
NJ Spotlight October 27, 2019
This article
originally appeared on NJ Spotlight.
Even in Newark,
where some 90% of students are black or Hispanic, male educators of color make
up just 13% of the district’s teaching force. “We cannot stand for that, we
cannot stand for that,” a group of teachers, all men of color, were prompted to
chant as they gathered last Friday for a happy hour at the TRYP Hotel in
downtown Newark. They numbered more than 100 and had come representing local
traditional, charter, and independent schools. Across the country, about 20% of
teachers are people of color, and black men make up a mere 2% of U.S. teachers.
In Newark, that percentage is slightly higher, around 8%, but Roger León —
Newark Public Schools’ first Latino superintendent, who was at the gathering —
acknowledged that there’s much more work to do.
Editorial: Time for schools
to wake up to later start times
Delco Times October
27, 2019
The movement to
later school start times planted three years ago in Chester County by an
intermediate unit student study has continued to gain traction, culminating
last week with a report supporting the change as a means to address a “public
health crisis of epidemic proportions.” The report summarizes a study conducted by a special Pennsylvania Joint State
Government Commission advisory committee. The study states that sleep
deprivation among adolescents adversely affects academic performance,
attendance and lateness, risk of motor vehicle accidents, athletic injuries and
overall student safety. Delaying secondary school start times “ has the
greatest potential to impact large numbers of students at the same time,” the
report states, and has been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and
the American Medical Association. The ideal start time for secondary school
students — grades six through 12 — is 8:30 a.m. or later, according
to the study, and a
review of the 500 districts in Pennsylvania reveals that the majority of
districts begin the school day between 7:30 and 7:59 a.m. The committee found
that at least 25 of Pennsylvania's 500 school districts delayed their secondary
school start times between 2011 and 2019, at least 28 were publicly engaged in
researching the matter and at least 15 more were having informal discussions at
the administrative level about the possibility of delaying school start times. Among
those that have made
the switch are Phoenixville Area, Unionville-Chadds Ford, Tredyffrin-Easttown and Radnor districts. The
Owen J. Roberts School District has been discussing
a start times change for at
least three years and held a public meeting last Thursday to review findings.
“The district’s recommendation is now
before the Board of School Directors. However, Copeland says the later start
times could disrupt after-school sports and activities, childcare plans and
much more. For that reason, the school board is hosting four Community
Listening Sessions in December to gauge the community’s support for the
potential change. If all goes well, the board is planning a vote for the spring
of 2020 on whether to implement the new start times.”
Lower Merion School District Proposes Pushing School
Start Times Back Nearly An Hour
By CBS3 Staff October 24, 2019 at 5:20 pm
LOWER MERION, Pa.
(CBS) — Lower Merion School District officials have proposed pushing back
school start times at all district middle schools and high schools. The
proposal came in a letter to the community from Superintendent Robert Copeland.
Copeland states that after reviewing several studies and recommendations from
health officials, the district is recommending pushing high school start time
back from 7:30 a.m. to 8:25; the start of the day at middle schools would
pushed be from 8:15 a.m. to 9:05 a.m.; and elementary schools would begin at
7:45 a.m. In the letter, Copeland mentions studies from the American Academy of
Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease
Control, which found that adolescents should not begin school before 8:30 a.m. Health
officials say teens’ circadian rhythms shift so that they get tired later in
the day and typically wake up later than younger children or adults.
OJR parents raise
questions about delaying school start time
Pottstown Mercury By
Laura Catalano For MediaNews Group Oct 25, 2019
About 140
people attended an Owen J. Robets School District public meeting to discuss
delaying the start of school so students could get more sleep. Another 150
people viewed the session on Facebook.
SOUTH COVENTRY — A
proposal to delay the start of the school day by 30 minutes, beginning in
2019-20, drew a crowd of about 140 to a special Owen J. Roberts public meeting.
During the two-hour meeting Thursday in the high school auditorium, parents and
residents raised questions and concerns about the proposal. Many questions
focused on the estimated $1.1 million cost of the proposal, traffic concerns,
and the overall impact on elementary school students and on after-school sports
and activities. Questions were also taken from the more than 150 people who
viewed the meeting on Facebook Live. The meeting was led by Director of Pupil
Services Richard Marchini. Prior to the question-and-answer session, he gave a
brief overview of three options being considered by the school board to address
sleep health concerns. The school board has been grappling for several years
with concerns about early start times in the high school and middle school,
which start at 7:30 a.m.
Harrisburg needs to
shed light on the dark money spent by state lawmakers' campaigns [editorial]
Lancaster Online
Editorial by THE LNP EDITORIAL BOARD October 27, 2019
THE ISSUE: A yearlong investigation
by The Caucus and Spotlight PA found
that Pennsylvania lawmakers across the state “are shielding sometimes lavish campaign
spending by not reporting the details to the public, making
it extremely difficult for voters and donors to assess how the money was spent
and if that spending was appropriate.” The investigation found that from 2016
through 2018, “state House and Senate candidates spent nearly $3.5 million that
cannot be fully traced based on the information they publicly disclosed,
according to thousands of pages of records obtained by the news organizations.”
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The
Philadelphia Inquirer. Its partners include LNP Media Group and The Caucus,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and PennLive/The Patriot-News. The Caucus is an LNP
Media Group watchdog publication that focuses on state government. The four
Caucus staff members who carried out this investigation were Caucus bureau
chief Brad Bumsted, Mike Wereschagin, Sam Janesch and Paula Knudsen. They were
joined by Angela Couloumbis of the Inquirer/Spotlight PA. The people you trust with your money — your spouse, close relatives,
perhaps your financial adviser — surely do not hide what they do with it. If,
for instance, they ran up credit card bills without detailing their expenses,
you wouldn’t trust them anymore, right? That’s essentially what state lawmakers
have done with the cash donated to their campaigns.
School board
discusses possible tax increase over $9.2M budget shortfall for Coatesville
Area
Lancaster Online by
DEBBIE WYGENT | LNP Correspondent
The Coatesville
Area School District is facing a potential 2020-21 budget shortfall of $9.2
million, meaning taxpayers could see up to an 11.8% tax increase, Interim
Superintendent Rick Dunlap Jr. told citizens Tuesday, Oct. 22. “The information
is bleak,” said Dunlap as he and Charles Linderman, interim business manager,
offered the school board and citizens a first look at a draft $189 million
budget they say is negatively impacted by charter school enrollment costs. “Legislators
need to fix that,” Linderman said. Since the 2014-15 school year, Coatesville
has lost more than 1,500 students to competing charter schools, but by law must
fund its own program and tuition for students whose families choose to enroll
them in charters. Gov. Tom Wolf’s office recently announced a plan for charter
school reform but did not respond to a reporter’s question about whether he
followed through on establishing, as recently announced, a commission to work
on charter funding reform. Dunlap said he would meet this week with regional
state legislators, but he called on residents to summon community pride and
work together to help him put in place supports to bring students back into the
district.
“These residents spend a full academic
year embedded in a Philly public school—receiving a salary, benefits, and
tuition support from the School District of Philadelphia—and become an integral
part of the school team. University of Pennsylvania and Temple University have
similar programs—Ulrich says that our Philly institutions are all committed to
solving this problem together—though Drexel is the only local university that’s
part of the National Center for Teacher Residencies, a network of residencies throughout the country that works to
develop and test best practices.”
JASON KELCE’S EAGLES EDUCATION SEASON WEEK
8
Each week this season, the Super Bowl-winning
offensive lineman compares Philly schools to those of our on-field
competitors—and celebrates a local education innovation. This week, he looks at
Buffalo
Philadelphia
Citizen BY JASON KELCE October 25, 2019
We’re heading to
Buffalo this weekend, where teacher shortages are just as much of an obstacle as they are elsewhere in the U.S.
I’ve been so fortunate in my life to have awesome teachers (and to
be married to an instructional aide). And here in Philly, Drexel University,
among other institutions, is doing really innovative work to attract—and
retain—teachers. See, nationally, nearly 50 percent of teachers leave
the profession within the first five years, explains Sarah Ulrich, associate
dean for Teacher Education at Drexel’s School of Education. In large urban
districts like Philadelphia, she goes on, it is closer to three
years. That leaves districts that are already struggling with gaps and a
disproportionate number of teachers who lack experience and expertise, as their
more seasoned peers leave to work in more affluent districts or other fields.
“What we’re focused
on is not just teacher shortages, but the fair and equal distribution of
teacher talent,” says Ulrich. To that end, Drexel offers two undergraduate
and one graduate-level teacher residency program, with the goal of preparing
quality teachers who can be ready on Day One, after graduation, to serve our
students. “The research shows that teachers that are prepared through residency
models are more likely to remain in urban settings beyond those three years,”
says Ulrich.
Availability of menstrual products in Philly schools
still dependent on charity and chance, not policy
A rally was
held Tuesday in Harrisburg to promote several bills mandating free availability
in bathrooms in public buildings, including schools.
The notebook Joseph
Staruski October 25 — 7:23 am, 2019
When cities like
Boston and New York passed legislation to provide menstrual products to
students in their schools, Lynette Medley, a counselor for young women who
charitably delivers such products to Philadelphia schools in her spare time,
expected some relief. She is still waiting. Boston officially started providing
the products in school bathrooms this fall through a $100,000 program funded by
the city. “I can see how it has evolved in every other area, in every other
state,” said Medley. “But in Philadelphia, it is still not treated as an
essential necessity for the well-being of our young people. It is still for
charity.” In fact, menstrual products are free in schools in California,
New Hampshire, New York state, Illinois, and cities in Massachusetts including
Brookline, Cambridge, and Boston. Bills that address the issue are also
making their way through state legislatures throughout the country. Some remove
the tax on menstrual products, and many would provide the products for free in
school. Pennsylvania House
Bill 1708 would
provide them for free in schools; it was referred to the House Education
Committee in July. On Tuesday, supporters of the legislation – one of four
bills mandating menstrual products in public spaces in Pennsylvania, including
colleges and prisons – held a rally in
Harrisburg, Medley
among them. State Rep. Maria Collett (D-Bucks), one of the sponsors, noted that
Pennsylvania only mandated toilet paper in all public bathrooms in 1921. On the
national level, H.R. 1882 would require schools receiving federal funding to provide free
menstrual products, and it would cover the products’ cost under Medicaid.
Wolf Administration Highlights How Restore Pennsylvania
Will Help Broadband Issues in Pennsylvania’s Rural Schools
WESTOVER, PA — Governor’s Office of Broadband Initiatives Acting Executive
Director Sheri Collins and Department of Education Deputy Secretary for
Commonwealth Libraries Glenn Miller recently visited Harmony Area School
District in Clearfield County to discuss how lack of access to high-speed
internet hurts students’ ability to learn, and how the Restore Pennsylvania
proposal will help to close the digital divide. “Students lacking access to
critical tools–like the internet–face challenges and barriers that students residing
in different zip codes don’t experience,” said Acting Executive Director
Collins. “Fixing this inequity is a commonsense way to level the playing field
between all students, so that we can ensure their growth and success, both in
and out of the classroom.” Restore Pennsylvania is a statewide plan to
aggressively address the commonwealth’s vital infrastructure needs, and the
$4.5 billion bipartisan funding proposal will completely bridge the digital
divide in every community in Pennsylvania. Funding will be available to support
the installation of infrastructure to bring high-speed internet to every corner
of the commonwealth.
Pa. commission to rule on Neshaminy ‘Redskins’ team name
WHYY By Aaron Moselle October 27, 2019
The Facebook logo
for Neshaminy High School’s football team features a helmet stamped with the
profile of a Native American warrior and the squad’s decades-old nickname:
“Skins.” Come Monday, a highly anticipated ruling by a state commission could
spell the end for the controversial combo. Four years after it first filed
suit, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission is expected to decide whether
the Neshaminy School District can continue using the word “Redskins” to
describe its sports teams. The commission says the term — axed by dozens of
other schools across the country — is a racial epithet that discriminates
against Native Americans and creates a “hostile educational environment” for
students. “It’s not only racial and insensitive, it’s polarizing,” executive
director Chad Dion Lassiter said earlier this year. The Bucks County district,
home to more than 9,400 students, declined to comment, but it has denied the
commission’s allegations in the past, calling them “unfounded.” Either side can
appeal the commission’s ruling to Commonwealth Court. Monday’s decision comes
nearly a year after a weeklong public hearing that pitted parents, former
students, and teachers against school administrators and district experts, who
argued the school’s mascot is rooted in pride, not prejudice.
North Hills waiting for OK to let kids do classwork at
home on snow days
Trib Live North Journal by Tony
LaRussa Friday, October 25, 2019 | 2:14 PM
Snow days could go
the way of the fountain pen and dodge ball if the state OKs a request by the
North Hills School District to replace them with Flexible
Instruction Days that
allow students to do classwork at home. The board of education approved a
request earlier this month for the district to apply for the program, which is
being used locally in the Seneca Valley and Elizabeth-Forward school districts,
according to school officials. If North Hills is accepted into the program, as
many as five Flexible Instruction Days would replace snow days or other
unplanned school closings, according to the district. Students would perform
classwork at home, the day would count as a school day and a make-up day would
not be required. “This is going to be quality instruction,” said Superintendent
Patrick Mannarino. “I don’t want to have any wasted days in education. I’m
looking for these to be quality instruction or we’re not going to do them.” On
days when classes would otherwise be cancelled, students would be required to
log onto a website to access class assignments for the day. Students in grades
5 through 11 currently have district-issued iPads to complete assignments, with
plans to provide the devices to seniors next year.
Garnet Valley to
begin classes before Labor Day
Delco Times By
Susan L. Serbin Times Correspondent October 28, 2019
CONCORD — The
Garnet Valley School District will break with decades of tradition after the
board approved the calendars for both the 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 school years.
The instructional year for all students will begin before Labor Day. Assistant
Superintendent Leslie Hutchinson spearheaded discussions involving teachers and
administrators on the subject. Hutchinson described them as “very spirited
conversations.” The question of a start date was raised again in preparation
for the next school year because 2020 Labor Day occurs on Sept. 7, the latest
possible date. Even the loss of four days at the start of the school year could
have repercussions at the end, especially if closure was necessary due to
weather or other unavoidable conditions. “We were about evenly split on the
change, but the move to before Labor Day won out in the end,” said Hutchinson. In
addition to district personnel considering the concept and impact,
Superintendent Marc Bertrando queried parents via the district’s communication
system. “We did not receive a great deal of feedback from parents. The few
emails I did receive supported starting before Labor Day,” said Bertrando. “A
few years ago we sent out a survey and our parents were split 50-50 regarding
starting prior to the holiday. I think that the fact that it is so late next
year, made the change seem logical.”
Cherry Hill’s school lunch debacle can serve a purpose |
Editorial
The Inquirer Editorial Board | opinion@inquirer.com October 28,
2019
With presidential
candidates, a
governor, and
even the BBC weighing in on Cherry Hill’s school lunch controversy, a suburban
township long known regionally for its mall is on the global map, and not in a
good way. But the firestorm the Cherry Hill school board ignited while trying
to work within a state requirement to collect overdue lunch money should also
spark a larger conversation about the role of school nutrition programs in
lessening food insecurity as well as about the tension between public and
private responsibilities for the well-being of children. Cherry Hill has been
caricatured if not demonized on social media as a white-privileged enclave
cluelessly trying to force poor kids to eat stigmatizing sandwiches. In
reality, the township is a mixed-income, multicultural community of 71,000
where nonwhite people, many of them immigrants, make up more than one-quarter
of the population and just under half of the school district’s enrollment of
11,000 students — about 20% of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Meanwhile,
three members of the nine-seat school board are people of color, including the
president. Overheated accusations against them on Facebook notwithstanding,
they do not appear to be motivated by a lust for political power, let alone a
desire to “shame” students. And a majority of the 340 students whose accounts
collectively were more than $14,000 overdue at the end of the 2018-19 school
year were from families who either had not applied, or didn’t qualify, for
reduced-price lunches.
Philadelphia is getting ready for the next recession
Inquirer by Laura McCrystal, Updated: October 28, 2019- 12:00 AM
As some economists
warn of a looming recession, Philadelphia officials are starting to prepare for
shortfalls in tax revenue and budget cuts even as the need for city services
would increase. Officials boast that the city made its first-ever deposit this
summer to a rainy-day fund and also exceeded end-of-year surplus goals. The
city’s annual financial report, being released Monday, shows $439 million in
leftover cash in the general fund at the end of the fiscal year. But those
reserves won’t suffice if a recession hits: $439 million would cover just 33
days of city expenses, officials said. Based on national best practices, the
city should have a fund balance of about $821 million. “Even though we’ve been
making great progress … we’re really trying to get our hands around what is
going to be the scale of the problem, or what are the possible scenarios we
might face in the next recession,” city budget director Marisa Waxman said.
How much homes are selling for in each Lehigh Valley
school district
By Pamela Sroka-Holzmann | For
lehighvalleylive.com October 28, 2019
Rising average sales
Home prices
continue to skyrocket in the Lehigh Valley. Year-to-year median Lehigh Valley home sales price broke new records last summer. The median sales
value in June increased 5.6% to $216,500 compared to June 2018 -- the highest
the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors group has seen since it began gathering data
more than two decades ago. In July, it jumped 6.5 percent to $223,630 –
breaking June's record. The Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors group tracks the
market throughout Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties. Its September report says the median sales price rose
7.7% to $210,000. The median home sat on the market for 34 days, up 9.7% from
September 2018.
Runner disqualified because she didn't have waiver for
hijab
Education Week October
25, 2019
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) —
The association that oversees high school sports in Ohio said Thursday that
it's considering changing its rules after a high school runner was disqualified
from a cross country meet because she didn't have a waiver allowing her to wear
a hijab. Noor Abukaram said she felt humiliated after being disqualified last
weekend following a race in which she posted her best time for the season. "My
heart dropped, I felt like something horrible had happened," she told
WTOL-TV. "I think I was mostly embarrassed." Her coach at Sylvania
Northview High School told The Blade newspaper he made a mistake by not getting
the waiver, but he didn't think it was needed because no one had raised the
issue at her previous 10 races this year. Abukaram, 16, said she was not upset
with her coach, only the rule. The Ohio High School Athletic Association's
rulebook doesn't specifically mention hijabs but does ban most head coverings
and caps. It also says anyone requiring an exception because of religious or
other reasons must get a waiver. The athletic association previously discussed
dropping the waiver requirement for religious headwear, but the
disqualification has now brought the issue to the forefront, said Tim Stried, a
spokesman for the organization.
Cory Booker’s School Choice Dilemma
School
choice is a tricky issue for Democrats: many voters support it, unions don’t.
US News By Lauren Camera, Senior
Education Writer Oct. 24, 2019, at 4:59 p.m.
WHEN DEMOCRATIC presidential contender
Sen. Cory Booker was mayor of Newark, New Jersey and a city council member
there, he supported school
choice policies, like
charter schools and private school vouchers, which he said provided important
escape hatches for children tethered to failing schools because of their zip
codes. The stance wasn't – and to some degree still isn't – unusual for leaders
of cities dealing with intractable issues of poverty, unemployment and crime,
where the public schools are often low-performing and have succumbed to decades
of underfunding. For Booker, his support of school choice was business as
usual. The school choice camp has long been an amalgam of strange bedfellows,
drawing support from both sides of the political aisle and from a diverse
cross-section of the education, philanthropic and business communities. And
that's just the type of whatever- and whoever-it-takes coalition that Booker
leaned on during his time as mayor to tackle problems.
GAO Finds Uneven Landscape of State Rules for Tax-Credit
Scholarships
Education Week By Evie Blad on October 27, 2019 1:24 PM
New data from a
government watchdog shows that 17 states operated 22 tax-credit scholarship programs as of January 2019, and that some of those programs provided
inaccurate information on the rights of students with disabilities, despite
previous warnings. Those programs—which provide tax credits in exchange for
contributions to scholarship organizations that allow students to attend
private schools— received over $1.1 billion in contributions, providing awards
to about 300,000 students in 2017, says a new report from the Government
Accountability Office. Those programs operate under widely varying
requirements, the nonpartisan federal agency found. For example, just 14 of the
22 scholarship programs require participating schools to be accredited by a
state-approved entity. And half don't require participating schools to assess
their students through standardized testing. The report was requested by Sen.
Patty Murray, D-Wash., the ranking member of the Senate's education committee;
Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat and ranking member of the Senate finance
committee; and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, after the Trump
administration proposed $5 billion in federal tax credits for tax-credit
scholarships.
Charter Schools Are
an Opportunity for Impact Investors
High
interest rates are a barrier to buying new facilities, even though such loans
have proved a safe bet.
Wall Street Journal
By Mark Medema Oct. 27, 2019 4:44 pm ET
With more than
three million students in charter schools nationwide, and an estimated five
million families who would send their child to a charter if a spot were
available, why aren’t many more of them opening? One reason is the higher cost
of capital they bear compared with traditional public schools. While both types
of school receive public funding for operating expenses, charter schools cannot
issue general-obligation bonds to purchase or construct their properties. That
forces charter schools to find facilities, and the funds to renovate or build
them, on the open market.
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.
Film Screening: PERSONAL STATEMENT with director Julie Dressner
Penn C89 Sat, November 9, 2019, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM EST
Location: Zellerbach
Theatre, Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, 3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia,
PA 19104
Please join us for
a free screening and panel discussion of PERSONAL STATEMENT. This award-winning
documentary film created by a Penn alumna features three inspirational high
school seniors who are working as college counselors in their schools and are
determined to get their entire classes to college, even though they are not
sure they are going to make it there themselves. Screening will be followed by
a panel discussion with director Julie Dressner (C’89), cast member Enoch
Jemmott, Netter Center founding director Dr. Ira Harkavy (C'70 GR'79), and
others. Free and open to the public! (Registration strongly encouraged but not
required.)
Webinar: Introduction
to PSBA’s Equity Toolkit
NOV 12, 2019 • 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
The equity toolkit
supports school entities as they incorporate equity into district practice.
This webinar will offer a walk-through of the components of the toolkit, from
the equity lens approach to the equity action plan. Participants are encouraged
to ask questions and share experiences throughout the webinar.
Facilitator: Heather Bennett J.D., Ph.D., director of equity services
Pennsylvania School Boards Association
Pennsylvania School Boards Association
Registration URL: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1261156731797681154
*Note: registration closes one hour prior to the event.
*Note: registration closes one hour prior to the event.
UPDATE: Second Workshop Added Thursday, November
14, 2019 9:30 am to 3:00 pm: Adolescent Health and School Start Times:
Science, Strategies, Tactics, & Logistics Workshop in Exton, PA
The first workshop on November 13 sold out in
less than 4 weeks. Thanks to recent additional sponsorships, there will
be a second workshop held on Thursday, November 14. Register HERE.
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 a
second interactive and solutions-oriented workshop on Thursday, November 14, 2019 9:30 am to 3:00 pm Clarion
Hotel in Exton, PA. The science is clear. Many middle and high schools 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.
For more information visit the workshop
website www.startschoollater.net/workshop---pa or
email contact@startschoollater.net
Congress, Courts, and
a National Election: 50 Million Children’s Futures Are at Stake. Be their
champion at the 2020 Advocacy Institute.
NSBA Advocacy
Institute Feb. 2-4, 2020 Marriot Marquis, Washington, D.C.
Join school leaders
from across the country on Capitol Hill, Feb. 2-4, 2020 to influence the
legislative agenda & shape decisions that impact public schools. Check out
the schedule & more at https://nsba.org/Events/Advocacy-Institute
Register now for
Network for Public Education Action National Conference in Philadelphia March
28-29, 2020
Registration, hotel
information, keynote speakers and panels:
Know Your Facts on Funding and Charter Performance. Then
Call for Charter Change!
PSBA PA Charter
Change Website September 2019
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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