Started in November 2010, daily postings from the Keystone State
Education Coalition now reach more than 4050 Pennsylvania education
policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and
congressional staffers, Governor's staff, current/former PA Secretaries of
Education, Wolf education transition team members, superintendents, school solicitors,
principals, charter school leaders, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher
leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations,
education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory
agencies, professional associations and education advocacy organizations via
emails, website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
If any of your colleagues would
like to be added to the email list please have them send their name, title and
affiliation to KeystoneStateEdCoalition@gmail.com
PA Ed Policy Roundup for Dec. 31, 2019
Happy New Year! School Leaders: Make a resolution to be a
stronger advocate for your students and your schools. Sign up for @PSBA @PASA @PAIU Advocacy Day at the Capitol on March 23rd. For more
information: https://psba.org/event/advocacy-day-2020/… or register at http://mypsba.org
“The school choice wars will only flare
hotter in the weeks and months to come. In January the Supreme Court will hear
arguments in the most consequential voucher case in a generation, Espinoza vs. Montana Department of Revenue. With such right-wing heavies as former Wisconsin governor
Scott Walker weighing in as “friends of the court,” the case takes aim at
constitutional prohibitions on tax-payer funding for religious schools that are
on the books in 35 states, essentially arguing that states must fund
religious education. Meanwhile, Trump’s justice department, joining forces with
Betsy DeVos, is siding with a Christian school that wants public funds but not
gay students. The Espinoza decision, which the Court will hand down this
summer, promises to be maximally disruptive—and not just because of its
height-of-campaign-season timing. Forcing states to fund religious education is
extreme culture-war stuff.”
The Democrats’ School Choice Problem
Charter
schools find their most vocal Democratic support among the least progressive
members of the party: centrists and Wall Streeters.
The Nation By Jennifer C.
Berkshire YESTERDAY
7:00 AM
When seven of the Democratic presidential candidates descended on
Pittsburgh recently for a day-long forum on public education, one of
Pennsylvania’s unlikeliest new political stars was on hand to greet them.
Working Families Party candidate Kendra Brooks, a black single mom from North
Philly, won an at-large seat on the Philadelphia City Council this fall,
stunning the political establishment. At the heart of Brooks’s insurgent
campaign was her resistance to Philadelphia’s two-decade-long experiment with school
privatization, including the explosion of charter schools and the mass closure
of neighborhood schools. “If we as community members don’t commit to this
public institution that we fought so hard for generations ago, we’re going to
lose control of it,” says Brooks. Her message resonated with Philly’s voters,
and thrilled the audience of teachers and activists who were on hand in
Pittsburgh to hear a long list of presidential hopefuls weigh in on the future
of the country’s schools. But just outside of the convention center, on a
rain-slicked plaza, the resistance to the Democrats’ leftward swing on
education was on vivid display. Over 100 charter school parents, part of the
same school choice network that disrupted an Elizabeth Warren campaign event last
month, came armed with a message of their own: Black Democrats support charter
schools. Welcome to the Democrats’ school choice wars.
Blogger note: Education Voters of Pennsylvania is a project of Pennsylvania’s
left-leaning Keystone Research Center.
Education Voters PA
Website Published by EDVOPA on December 28, 2019
On Christmas Eve we
mailed a check for $250.00 to Commonwealth Charter Academy (CCA), one of
Pennsylvania’s largest cyber charter schools. We filed a Right to Know request
in September to learn how much taxpayer money CCA spent on advertising during a
three-year period and how CCA spent this money. In October,
CCA partially granted and partially denied this request stating, “CCA must deny your
request, insofar as it seeks records which would contain or reveal legally
protected trade secrets and confidential proprietary information.”
We appealed this
denial and received a 13-page Final
Determination from the Office of Open Records on December 23rd. On p. 12, it states that the OOR has generally
held that a charter school’s marketing strategy cannot be withheld and
cites Hacke v. Pa. Cyber Charter School, OOR Dkt. AP
2017-1684, 2017 PA O.O.R.D. LEXIS 1773:
“However, the OOR
cannot conclude that the Charter School engages in a trade or that the Charter
School’s marketing plan is the type of information from which economic value
can be derived where the primary activity of the Charter School is providing
the essential governmental service of education and its ‘competitors’ are
primarily other local agencies.”
The OOR determined that CCA is required to
provide us with copies of marketing plans in addition to other materials
requested within 30 days of receiving our payment. At $.25/copy, we expect to receive about 1000 pages of information. We
will share what we learn with you.
Blogger note: The Foundation for Economic
Education (FEE) is a national, right-leaning, libertarian economic think
tank. You might think of it as a big brother to Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth
Foundation. Dr. Antony Davies is the Milton Friedman Distinguished Fellow at
FEE. James R. Harrigan is the F.A. Hayek Distinguished Fellow at FEE.
Public education’s problems won’t be fixed with more
funding | Opinion
Antony Davies and James R. Harrigan, For The
Inquirer Updated: December 30,
2019 - 6:58 AM
Antony Davies is
associate professor of economics at Duquesne University. James R. Harrigan is
managing director of the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom at the University
of Arizona.
For decades,
teachers unions, and the politicians they support have been telling voters that
the key to improving public education is to spend more money. At the beginning
there wasn’t much evidence to go on, but it seemed to sound right to most
people. What little data existed indicated that private schools educated students at a lower
per-pupil cost than public schools while achieving better outcomes (as measured by standardized tests). There were, of course,
reasonable rejoinders to these results. Because higher income households can
more readily afford private school, and because children who grow up in higher
income households tend to perform better academically, the results may have
been simply the result of selectivity bias: private schools performed better
because better students ended up in private schools. But as the decades rolled
by, data accumulated to the point where we no longer have to compare private to
public schools. We can compare public schools in years of less spending to
public schools in years of more spending. Shockingly, though, now that we have
solid data, spending proponents are not only ignoring the data, they are distorting
it.
“PPS District Solicitor Ira Weiss says
the district’s growing budget is largely due to retirement costs, contractual
salary increases, and payments to charter schools. “This school district paid
over $100 million [in 2019] on charter schools. It is an illogical, outrageous
system,” said Weiss. “And it doesn’t appear it’s gonna be fixed very
soon.”
Pittsburgh school
district raises property taxes, cuts costs, dips into savings for 2020 budget
By Sarah
Boden/WESA DECEMBER 28, 2019 | 8:06 AM
(Pittsburgh) — Real estate taxes are going up
for residents of the Pittsburgh Public Schools district, but more must be done
to ensure the district’s
long-term fiscal health.
The PPS
board voted 6-3 on Friday to increase the millage rate from 9.84 mills to 9.95 mills, which means property owners
will now pay an additional $12 each year, per $100,000 of assessed value. Even
with a tax increase, the district must still pull from its rainy-day fund to
cover a budget deficit, which Ronald Joseph, the district’s chief financial
officer, said exceeds $20 million. “Next year we’re still going to be back in
the same position,” said Joseph. “So, throughout the course of this year we’re
going to have to identify [cuts.] Whether it be programs or positions, or just
the way we deliver services.” The district will also be making more than
$800,000 in cuts, mostly to its equipment and supply budgets.
New case tests big question: Can Philly kids sue after
getting sick in school buildings?
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent December 30, 2019
Dean Pagan became a
poster child for Philadelphia’s school infrastructure woes when The
Philadelphia Inquirer featured his case of lead poisoning in an investigative story last year. Pagan’s
tale helped kick-start a storm of controversy and agitation over the conditions
inside Philadelphia’s public schools — one that continues to swell. Now, the
elementary school student from Northeast Philly is at the vanguard again,
testing a critical legal question:
When children like
Pagan suffer life-altering consequences after exposure to toxins in their
public school buildings, can the School District of Philadelphia be held
legally liable?
If the answer is
yes, Pagan’s case could trigger a cascade of similar lawsuits. But the question
is far from settled. Earlier this month, Pagan and his parents filed a federal
lawsuit claiming that the School District of Philadelphia and the City of
Philadelphia “caused a public health crisis” and failed to protect the
then-first-grader from hazardous conditions inside Watson T. Comly Elementary,
the K-5 school he attended in Northeast Philadelphia.
“The more than 2,000 students from the
Bethlehem Area School District attending charter schools are costing the
district or the taxpayer about $30 million a year. That means we pay as much as
$15,000 per student, with no controls over the charter school spending. This is
a lot of money for a high school student, whereas, in the 2018-2019 academic
year public college tuition cost an average of $10,230 annually. The public taxpayer needs answers and some final action from
the Harrisburg legislators to solve these huge problems of school taxes.”
Readers React: Some
parents consider race when choosing charter schools
Letter by Tim
McNally, Bethlehem THE MORNING CALL | DEC 30, 2019 | 1:53 PM
The
Bethlehem Area School Board has issued a statement supporting Superintendent
Joseph Roy, who has come under fire for comments he made regarding charter
schools, poverty and race.
I find myself in
agreement with Bethlehem Area Superintendent Joseph Roy’s suggestion
that race affected some parents’ choices of sending their children to charter schools. Let’s not forget back
when then-Gov.
Ridge was in office and was pushing for vouchers, which never passed the state
House. The reform
if passed would have provided “vouchers” ― public funds that students may have
used for private school tuition. Charter schools are funded by public money but
operate with freedom to act independently. Meaning, for example, if you dislike
a public school you can send your child to a charter school and at times must
bus them to another area.
Top 10
Notebook Stories of 2019
Did your favorite Notebook article make
it on the list?
the Notebook December
30 — 7:35 am, 2019
This past year saw the crisis of the
Philadelphia School District’s aging buildings come to a head as more were
closed due to feared asbestos contamination. The story gained a painfully human
face with the diagnosis of a longtime teacher with a cancer caused by asbestos
exposure. In the face of devastating news, efforts to pry more money from the
state to help the District modernize its infrastructure — from Democratic
legislators, City Council members, advocacy groups and union activists — intensified.
But so far there is no sign that Harrisburg will heed
these pleas by funding programs it has already
enacted to help Philadelphia
and other districts make sure their buildings are free of health hazards. Many
of the most vital stories of the year were also the most popular with Notebook
readers. In April, the District launched its Comprehensive School Planning
Review (CSPR), which was the subject of our winter print edition, and one of
those stories — about progress integrating schools in one of the city’s most
diverse neighborhoods — drew high readership. The CSPR has the potential to
reshape the face of the District as it embarks on this five-year process,
starting in neighborhoods located in South, North, and West Philadelphia.
A tiny Indiana town saw promise in virtual charter
schools. Then things started to unravel.
Chalkbeat By Stephanie Wang December 23, 2019
When Indiana’s
largest charter network collapsed earlier this year after an enrollment
scandal that
triggered state and federal investigations, the resulting mess left hundreds of
students scrambling for transcripts, dozens of teachers
unpaid, and $40
million still owed to the state. The downfall of Indiana Virtual School and
Indiana Virtual Pathways Academy also placed under the microscope Daleville
Community Schools, a tiny rural district that runs just two brick-and-mortar
schools serving fewer than 1,000 students in total. Despite having no
experience as a charter authorizer, Daleville took on an oversight role when
Indiana Virtual School opened in 2011 and, over the years, accepted more than
$3.2 million in state funding to monitor them and ensure their success. Daleville
officials saw it as a unique opportunity to help students who were failing in
traditional schools or those who had medical conditions and needed flexible
schedules. But the district struggled to rein in the fast-growing,
low-performing virtual charter schools, which in July were found by auditors to
be artificially
doubling their enrollment and
collecting state funding for thousands of students who they weren’t educating. A
Chalkbeat review of thousands of pages of charter records and multiple
interviews with the authorizing school district show that, until recently,
Daleville relied largely on informal or undocumented conversations to monitor
Indiana Virtual School.
America’s schools are
more diverse than ever. But the teachers are still mostly white.
Washington Post By Laura Meckler and Kate Rabinowitz Dec. 27, 2019
SANTA ROSA, Calif.
— Ricardo Alcalá’s parents, born in Mexico, carried less than a second-grade
education when they came to California to work the fields. His older siblings
dropped out of high school. One was sentenced to prison for life and killed
behind bars. Ricardo was 13 then, living in poverty. But when he was 14,
something changed. A Latina teacher told him he was too smart for pre-algebra
and should move up. “For some reason, that simple act and belief changed my
entire perception of schooling, and life really,” he said. “She was the first
person who saw something good in me.” Now, Alcalá is a high school Spanish
teacher, looking for the good in his students, most from Latino and poor
families like his. He nudges boys drawn to gangs toward the wrestling team
instead, and serves Mexican hot chocolate on a Monday afternoon, hoping that
small treat will dissuade students from skipping class. Not many teachers at
Elsie Allen High School can connect with students in the same way. While 80
percent of students are Latino, just two of 56 teachers are — 3.5 percent. Nationally,
a Washington Post analysis of school district data from 46 states and the
District of Columbia finds that only one-tenth of 1 percent of Latino students
attend a school system where the portion of Latino teachers equals or exceeds the
percentage of Latino students. It’s only marginally better for black students:
7 percent were enrolled in a district where the share of black teachers matches
or exceeds that for students. Among Asian students, it was 4.5 percent. Meanwhile,
99.7 percent of white students attended a district where the faculty was as
white as the student body, The Post found.
Education Spending: What Democratic Candidates Want vs.
Reality, in Charts
Education Week Politics K12 Blog By Andrew Ujifusa December 27, 2019
Democratic
candidates for president in 2020 are making big promises about what they'll
spend on K-12 education. In fact, four candidates have made the same pledge to
triple Title I, the single-largest program for public schools at the U.S.
Department of Education, which has a $72.8 billion budget. Another candidate
has pledged to quadruple Title I. But what's less prominent is how much those
areas already get in federal funding; quadrupling Title I would bring spending
on that program alone to $65.2 billion. So what are those gaps between grand
plans and reality? We highlighted six Education Department programs and
compared how much money they get now to how much some of the 15 Democratic
presidential candidates want to give them. We focused on four top-tier
candidates based on polling—former Vice President Joe Biden, South Bend, Ind.,
Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren,
D-Mass.—and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who's promised to dramatically increase
funding for a program and who hasn't gotten as much attention. We singled out
their promises on relatively big programs (Title I and special education) and
for a relatively small program (community schools). Figures have been rounded
and are in the millions of dollars.
Testing Resistance
& Reform News: December 18 -24, 2019
Fairtest Submitted
by fairtest on December 24, 2019 - 2:06pm
Seasons Greetings! No matter how you celebrate the end-of-year holidays, the FairTest team
wishes you joy for the final days of 2019 and best wishes for a happy,
successful new year with less testing and more learning.
Join us for Advocacy Day in Harrisburg
to support public education Monday March 23, 2020!
All school leaders
are invited to attend Advocacy Day at the state Capitol in
Harrisburg. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA), Pennsylvania
Association of Intermediate Units (PAIU) and the Pennsylvania Association of
School Administrators (PASA) are partnering together to strengthen our advocacy
impact. The day will center around meetings with legislators to discuss
critical issues affecting public education. Click here for
more information or register at http://www.mypsba.org/
School
directors can register online now by logging in to myPSBA. If you need
assistance logging in and registering contact Alysha Newingham, Member Data
System Administrator at alysha.newingham@psba.org
PA SCHOOLS WORK:
Special Education Funding Webinar Tue, Jan 14, 2020 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM EST
Training: Enhancing
School Safety Jan. 9th, 8 am – 1 pm Council Rock High School South
The training is
provided by the United States Secret Service and the Office PA Rep Wendi
Thomas, in partnership with the Bucks County Intermediate Unit, Bucks County DA
Matt Weintraub and PSEA.
Date: Thursday,
January 9, 2020, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Council Rock High
School South, 2002 Rock Way, Holland PA 18954
This is the
region’s first presentation of the National Threat Assessment Center's (NTAC)
2020 research on actionable plans to prevent violence in schools. The training
is provided by the United States Secret Service (USSS)
and is based on updated operational research conducted by the USSS and the
NTAC. The training will offer best practices on preventing incidents of
targeted school violence. This workshop will focus solely on how to proactively
identify, assess, and manage individuals exhibiting concerning behavior based
on USSS methodologies.
At the conclusion
of the training, attendees will be able to:
· Understand operational research on preventing incidents of targeted
school violence;
· Be able to proactively identify, using USSS methodologies, concerning
behaviors prior to an incident;
· Be able to assess concerning behaviors using best practice standards and
use identified methods to better manage individuals who exhibit concerning
behaviors with the goal of preventing school violence.
Charter Schools;
Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
PENNSYLVANIA
BULLETIN PROPOSED RULEMAKING DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [ 22 PA. CODE CH. 711 ]
The award winning documentary Backpack Full of
Cash that explores the siphoning of funds from traditional public
schools by charters and vouchers will be shown in three locations in the
Philadelphia suburbs in the upcoming weeks.
The film is
narrated by Matt Damon, and some of the footage was shot in Philadelphia.
Members of the
public who are interested in becoming better informed about some of the
challenges to public education posed by privatization are invited to attend.
At all locations, the film will start
promptly at 7 pm, so it is suggested that members of the
audience arrive 10-15 minutes prior to the start of the
screening.
Backpack Full of
Cash hosted by State
Representatives Mary Jo Daley, Tim Briggs, and Matt Bradford
Monday,
January 6, 2020
Ludington
Library 5 S. Bryn Mawr Avenue Bryn Mawr,
PA 19010
PSBA Alumni Forum: Leaving school board service?
Continue your connection and commitment to public education by joining PSBA Alumni Forum. Benefits of the complimentary membership includes:
Continue your connection and commitment to public education by joining PSBA Alumni Forum. Benefits of the complimentary membership includes:
- electronic access to PSBA Bulletin
- legislative information via email
- Daily EDition e-newsletter
- Special access to one dedicated annual briefing
Register
today online. Contact Crista Degregorio at Crista.Degregorio@psba.org with questions.
Register
Today for PSBA/PASA/PAIU
Advocacy Day at the
Capitol-- March 23, 2020
PSBA Advocacy Day
2020 MAR 23, 2020 • 8:00 AM - 2:30 PM
STRENGTHEN OUR
VOICE.
Join us in
Harrisburg to support public education!
All school leaders
are invited to attend Advocacy Day at the state Capitol in
Harrisburg. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA), Pennsylvania
Association of Intermediate Units (PAIU) and the Pennsylvania Association of
School Administrators (PASA) are partnering together to strengthen our advocacy
impact. The day will center around meetings with legislators to discuss
critical issues affecting public education.
Registration: As a
membership benefit, there is no cost to register. Your legislator appointments
will be coordinated with the completion of your registration. The day will
begin with a continental breakfast and issue briefing prior to the legislator
visits. Registrants will receive talking points, materials and leave-behinds to
use with their meetings. Staff will be stationed at a table in the Main Rotunda
during the day to answer questions and provide assistance.
Sign up today
at myPSBA.org.
PSBA: Required School
Director Training
Your trusted and
approved source
The Pennsylvania
Department of Education has named PSBA an approved provider of required school
director training. Your association has more than 100 years of statewide
expertise in school law, policy, finance and ethical governance, so you can be
sure you’re receiving the highest quality learning, relevant to your role. To
learn when you or your board will be required to complete training hours,
please refer to PDE’s
FAQs here
Act 55 and Act 18
Training requirements specific to you:
• Newly elected and appointed school board directors –
• Successful completion of five training hours.
• Re-elected school board directors –
• Successful completion of three training hours.
Training requirements specific to you:
• Newly elected and appointed school board directors –
• Successful completion of five training hours.
• Re-elected school board directors –
• Successful completion of three training hours.
PSBA knows that
everyone has unique scheduling requirements and distinct learning styles.
Therefore, we have created two pathways in meeting state requirements:
PSBA New and Advanced
School Director Training in Dec & Jan
Additional sessions now being offered in
Bucks and Beaver Counties
Do you want
high-impact, engaging training that newly elected and reseated school directors
can attend to be certified in new and advanced required training? PSBA has been
supporting new school directors for more than 50 years by enlisting statewide
experts in school law, finance and governance to deliver a one-day foundational
training. This year, we are adding a parallel track of sessions for those who
need advanced school director training to meet their compliance requirements.
These sessions will be delivered by the same experts but with advanced content.
Look for a compact evening training or a longer Saturday session at a location
near you. All sites will include one hour of trauma-informed training required
by Act 18 of 2019. Weekend sites will include an extra hour for a legislative
update from PSBA’s government affairs team.
New School
Director Training
Week Nights:
Registration opens 3:00 p.m., program starts 3:30 p.m. -9:00 p.m., dinner with
break included
Saturdays: Registration opens at 8:00 a.m., program starts at 9:00 a.m. -3:30 p.m., lunch with break included
Saturdays: Registration opens at 8:00 a.m., program starts at 9:00 a.m. -3:30 p.m., lunch with break included
Advanced
School Director Training
Week Nights:
Registration with dinner provided opens at 4:30 p.m., program starts 5:30 p.m.
-9:00 p.m.
Saturdays: Registration opens at 10:00 a.m., program starts at 11:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m., lunch with break included
Saturdays: Registration opens at 10:00 a.m., program starts at 11:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m., lunch with break included
Locations
and dates
- Saturday, January 11, 2020 — PSBA
Headquarters, 400 Bent Creek Blvd, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
- Saturday, January 25,
2020 — Bucks County IU 22, 705 N Shady Retreat Rd, Doylestown, PA 18901
- Monday, February 3,
2020 — Beaver Valley IU 27, 147
Poplar Avenue, Monaca, PA 15061
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:
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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