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
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These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
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PA Ed Policy Roundup for Jan. 9, 2020
On Tuesday, February 4, Gov. Tom Wolf
will present his 2020-21 state budget proposal before a joint meeting of the
Senate and House of Representatives, beginning at 11:30 a.m.
The PA House Education
Committee has scheduled a public hearing on Tuesday, January 21 at 11:00 a.m.
in Room G50, Irvis Office Building, regarding House Bill 1897 (Rep. Sonney, R-Erie) that requires school districts to offer
full-time cyber education programs by the 2021-22 school year.
“Opponents of the charter’s proposal
have argued that it could be financially devastating to the district, which is
already struggling because it sends a lion’s share of state funding on to
charters – about 75 percent of per-pupil funds and more for special education
students. They also argue granting the petition would remove any choice for
parents who do not want their children to go to charters, which are
outperformed on state tests by their public school counterparts.”
Hearing date set for Chester Upland recovery plan
Delco Times by Alex Rose January 9, 2020
MEDIA COURTHOUSE — Delaware County Common Pleas
Court Judge Barry Dozor has set evidentiary hearings for March 3 and 4 on a
Revised Financial Recovery Plan for the Chester Upland School District, which
is expected to include consideration of a proposal to open up all elementary
schools in the district to being run by charters. The Chester Community Charter
School, the largest brick-and-mortar charter school in the state with more than
4,300 students, already educates more than half of the district’s elementary
school children. The charter school filed a petition in November asking the
Delaware County Common Pleas Court to direct the district and
Pennsylvania Department of Education to issue requests for proposals for
charters to educate the remaining elementary school students in the district. Chester
Upland is currently in “Financial Recovery Status” under the language of Act
141 of 2012. The charter school filed its petition pursuant to language in that
statute, which allows the district to convert an existing school to a charter
school as part of its recovery plan if doing so would result in financial
savings.
Dozor denied the petition as too vague and premature
at a Dec. 4 hearing, but left open the possibility that it could be filed
again. With the Dec. 20 plan now in hand, the judge has ordered the district, the
state, Receiver Gregory Thornton and “all parties thereto” to show cause why
the plan adequately complies with the language of Act 141.
Blogger note: Mr. Gureghian is the
Founder and CEO of Charter School Management (CSMI), a for profit company that
has managed the Chester Community Charter School (Pennsylvania’s largest brick
and mortar charter) since its inception.
PA Ed Policy
Roundup for Dec. 20, 2019: Follow the Money: Selected 2007 - 2019 Campaign
Contributions by Vahan Gureghian
Asbestos in Schools: Parents, lawmakers rally for
Philly students' safety
6abc.com By Katherine Scott Wednesday, January
8, 2020 2:32PM
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Elected officials, educators,
and parents called on Governor Tom Wolf Wednesday to prioritize facilities
funding in this year's budget to address health and safety concerns in
Philadelphia schools. "The money is there. We know where it is. It is now
about an issue of political priorities," Pennsylvania State Senator
Vincent Hughes said. They are asking for $170 million. This wasn't the first
plea to the state and it likely won't be the last. "There is a rainy day
fund that exists in Harrisburg. Well, we're saying it's raining in Philadelphia
right now," Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of
Teachers, said. The group congregated outside Carnell Elementary School in
Oxford Circle, which has been closed since before winter break. Six schools
this school year alone have been temporarily shuttered for asbestos concerns.
“We’ve got over $300 million in the
state’s rainy day fund. Let’s make it rain for these school buildings, and take
some of that money and put into these buildings to fix them up," State
Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.) said during a news conference outside Carnell
Elementary Wednesday.
Philadelphia
wants money from Pennsylvania to deal with dangerous asbestos in schools
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Updated: January
8, 2020- 2:27 PM
As Philadelphia continues to grapple with asbestos
hazards in its schools, state and local elected officials joined with teachers
and parents Wednesday morning to demand state money to make repairs. Standing
outside Carnell Elementary in Oxford Circle, which has
been closed since Dec. 20 due to damaged asbestos, speakers at
the news conference organized by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers said
the state needed to step up with funding. “We’ve got over $300 million in the state’s
rainy day fund. Let’s make it rain for these school buildings, and
take some of that money and put into these buildings to fix them up,” said
State Sen. Vincent Hughes (D., Phila.). Rep. Joe Hohenstein (D., Phila.) said
Gov. Tom Wolf “gave away a lot of power in the last budget,” and “has to put
this issue, and the infrastructure for public schools around the state, into
the priorities of his budget.” The district has closed six schools since
September following the discovery of damaged asbestos. While asbestos is
present in most of the district’s buildings, it doesn’t pose a health risk
unless it is disturbed, allowing it to release fibers that can cause cancer and
other illnesses if ingested.
Editorial: Addressing asbestos in our public schools
Philadelphia Tribune Editorial Dec 22, 2019
Asbestos has closed another Philadelphia public
school.
The Franklin Learning Center on North 15th Street is
now the fourth Philadelphia school to close after the discovery of asbestos. FLC
is closed until January. It joins a handful of schools to close this school
year due to asbestos. Benjamin Franklin High School and Science Leadership
Academy were shut down for weeks for repairs. T.M. Peirce Elementary School in
North Philadelphia also closed this fall after asbestos was found at the
school. Staff at the Franklin Learning Center reported at least 50 potential
health hazards, including crumbling walls and damaged paint. The asbestos was
discovered at the bottom of an air shaft that provides heat to the entire
building. Asbestos is a hazard when it’s airborne. When asbestos products are
damaged or wear down over time, they put students, teachers and other school
employees at risk of asbestos exposure. The concern is that the asbestos could be
picked up and distributed throughout the building as part of the heating system
in the air. The latest school closings underscore the need for a recurring
funding source for a long-term plan to remediate contaminants in Pennsylvania
schools, including the removal of lead paint from the many aging buildings
throughout the Philadelphia school district.
Blogger note: In 2017, incumbent Harrisburg
Senator John DiSanto (R-15) was the lead sponsor of a bill that would have created
“Education Savings Account” school vouchers.
“Scott also said he doesn’t support the
expansion of school voucher programs like the one proposed by state House Speaker Mike Turzai, R-Allegheny, which
would require the Harrisburg City School District to make tuition payments on
behalf of district students who choose to enroll in private schools. DiSanto
has voiced support for Turzai’s bill, which remains stalled in the House.
Scott said the bill would divert funds away from the troubled school district
just as it’s started making progress under a state-appointed receiver. Scott
said many voters in the 15th District share a desire for better public schools
— including more funding for public education. Scott knows he’d want to address
those concerns in the Capitol. But he couldn’t yet say whether he’d support
bigger appropriations for K-12 education, or advocate for larger, structural
changes such as a shift to the state’s fair funding formula.”
Exclusive: ex-Democratic Congressional candidate
George Scott is running for state Senate seat in Harrisburg
PA Capital Star By Elizabeth Hardison January 8, 2020
When he knocked on doors in central Pennsylvania’s
10th Congressional District in 2018, George Scott asked Dauphin County voters
to send him to Washington to replace incumbent U.S. Rep. Scott Perry. After
narrowly losing that race, the Lutheran pastor and Army veteran is now seeking
an assignment closer to home: a seat in Pennsylvania’s state Senate. Scott, an
Adams County native who relocated from York County to downtown Harrisburg this
fall, announced on Tuesday his campaign to unseat state Sen. John DiSanto, the
Republican currently representing the state’s 15th Senate district. The
district covers most of Dauphin County — including the capital city of
Harrisburg — and all of neighboring Perry County. “It’s a kind of a
microcosm of Pennsylvania, as a whole, in the sense that you’ve got a mix of
urban, suburban and rural, all within one district,” Scott said Tuesday. The
campaign marks Scott’s return to politics since his Congressional bid, where he
emerged from a crowded Democratic primary to come within two points of
unseating Perry in the November general election.
“In 2016, Ciresi was narrowly defeated by incumbent Republican
Thomas Quigley, but two years later, Ciresi won the re-match. Prior to that, he was a member of the Spring-Ford School Board
for 12 years, several as both board president for three years and vice
president for three years.”
Ciresi seeks reelection for PA House 146th Dist. seat
Pottstown Mercury by Evan Brandt
ebrandt@21st-centurymedia.com @PottstownNews on Twitter January 8, 2020
State Rep. Joe Ciresi made official Wednesday what
many of his supporters already knew, that he will seek a second term
representing the 146th District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Ciresi,
a Democrat, made his announcement just two days after his only announced
opponent, Limerick
Supervisors chairman Thomas Neafcy, said he will seek the Republican nomination
to run. The 146th District includes the boroughs of
Trappe, Royersford and part of Pottstown, as well as Limerick, Lower Pottsgrove
and Perkiomen townships. In his announcement, Ciresi, 49, noted that in his
first term he has introduced eight bills and co-sponsored 607 during his first
term in office. "He has supported legislation including a freeze on local
property taxes for seniors (HB 1672 and 1675); an expansion of the property
tax/rent rebate program (prime sponsor of HB 797), full fair funding for
education, and charter school accountability and reform (HB 526),"
according to his release.
West Shore
attorney announces bid for Pa. House seat
Camp Hill defense attorney Sean Quinlan has
announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the 87th state
House District seat in the April 28 primary.
Penn
Live By Jan
Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com January 8, 2020
Camp Hill defense attorney Sean Quinlan announced he
intends to seek the Democratic nomination for the 87th state House district
seat, representing portions of the West Shore, in the April 28 primary. Quinlan,
46, is running for the seat now held by three-term Republican incumbent Greg
Rothman, who announced last month his intention to seek re-election to a fourth
term. Those two first faced off in the November 2018 election for this same
House seat when Rothman beat Quinlan by 13 percentage points. Quinlan, who also
ran unsuccessfully for Cumberland County District Attorney last year, said he
thinks Pennsylvania can do better on many fronts and that is why he is running
for the state House. He pledges to fight for “common sense reforms to our gun
laws for firearm violence prevention.” He also supports raising the minimum
wage, strengthening CHIP and Medicaid, expanding and enhancing family leave,
protecting Planned Parenthood, more state funding for public schools, and
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The 87th state House district includes Camp
Hill, East Pennsboro and Hampden Townships, and a portion of Silver Spring
Township.
Midstate school district will require coaches to use
app to reach student athletes
WITF by Rachel McDevitt DECEMBER 27, 2019 |
3:53 PM
(Harrisburg)
— A midstate school district is changing the way its coaches can talk
electronically with student athletes. The move comes after an area newspaper
made a Right-to-Know request for texts and emails between coaches and students.
The Daily Item’s review of
coaches’ communication with students throughout the Susquehanna Valley found
all were following each district’s policies. Coaches at Shikellamy School
District in Northumberland County were using a free version of an app called Remind
to talk to athletes. But the district had no way of tracking those messages. Shikellamy
recently bought an enhanced version of the Remind app that Superintendent Jason
Bendle said will create of record of all messages. He said that will give the
district more oversight. “If we got a complaint that, you know, this was said
or that was said, I can simply look at that now,” Bendle said. “I think it goes
to protect all parties involved and I think it’s just best practice.” The
app will cost the district just under $9,000 a year for three years. District
coaches are now required to use Remind to communicate with students and their
parents. Messages have to be sent to the entire team, not individuals.
Ridley School taxes to follow Act 1 mandate
Delco Times By Barbara Ormsby Times Correspondent
January 8, 2020
RIDLEY TOWNSHIP — School taxes for the 2020-2021
Ridley School District budget will not increase in excess of the Act 1 Index
set by the state Department of Education for the upcoming school year,
according to a report at the recent school board meeting by Ridley Schools
superintendent Lee Ann Wentzel. The index has been set at 3.4 percent. "By
passing this resolution, our school district will not be eligible to apply for
Act 1 exceptions, for which the district qualifies, that would allow us to
exceed the Index," Wentzel said. The Index is set each year by the DOE and
school districts may not exceed property tax increases beyond the
state-mandated inflation index without voter approval. But Act 1 does allow
exceptions for exceeding the Index to school districts who claim exemptions for
high costs of such items as special education programs or pension costs. Ridley
has not claimed exemptions for at least the past five years. "Every year
it gets more and more difficult to stay within the index," Wentzel
acknowledged. Wentzel stated previously the district has been able to stay away
from claiming exemptions through trimming costs and applying for alternative
funding streams through grants. The proposed final budget will be presented for
school board action in May with final adoption set for June.
Applications are due by Thursday,
January 23, 2020.
Apply for the Philly Board of Education
January 7, 2020 Sarah
Peterson Mayor’s Office of
Education, Office of the Mayor
As required at the start of a new mayoral term, the
Educational Nominating Panel will convene in January 2020 to consider
applications for the Board of Education of the School District of Philadelphia.
Applications are due on January 23, 2020. The Board of Education is
charged with the administration, management, and operation of the School
District of Philadelphia. As part of the Board of Education, members will be
expected to work collectively to oversee all major policy, budgetary, and
financial decisions for the School District. Among other duties, the Board of
Education will appoint and evaluate the Superintendent of Schools, adopt the
annual operating and capital budgets, authorize the receiving or expending of
funds, and authorize charter schools. In addition, Board of Education members
will be expected to attend regular monthly public meetings, biannual meetings
with members of City Council and the Mayor, hearings, committee meetings, and
regular visits to public schools. This is an unpaid position which demands many
hours of dedicated service each month, both at in-person meetings and in
preparation for meetings.
Students hit
all the right notes at Philly’s Nebinger school
WHYY By Chanel Hill, The Philadelphia Tribune January
8, 2020
This article originally appeared on The Philadelphia
Tribune.
Singing songs, reading music notes, and playing an
instrument are just some of the things that students at the George W. Nebinger
School at 601 Carpenter St. are doing on a daily basis in their music program. “We
have an amazing music program at Nebinger,” said seventh-grader Azore Durant.
“Since being a student at Nebinger I’ve taken full advantage of the program. I
sing and play the violin, piano, and cello. I’ve been singing since I was
two-years-old. “I love to sing because it’s a great way to express my
feelings,” she added. “I enjoy singing all different kinds of genres. I’ve
grown so much personally and musically since being in my school’s music
program.”For the last five years, the music program at Nebinger has been led by
Marc Dulberg. He’s the music teacher for all grades at the K-8 school. “Every
student at Nebinger, except for a couple of kindergartners plays an
instrument,” Dulberg said. “Kindergartners and first graders are playing the
violins. Second and third graders are playing the recorder. From fourth to
seventh grade, students are playing the keyboards and my eighth-grade class are
playing the guitars. It’s a lot of work, but I absolutely love it.
Kenney wants
to ‘deliver’ on local control of Philly schools through more investment, service
coordination
He plans a new Office of Children and
Families to better coordinate services and will pursue more aid for community
college students.
The notebook Dale Mezzacappa January 6 — 3:11
pm, 2020
Updated with information about the appointment
of Cynthia Figueroa as head of the Office of Children and Families.
Starting his second term on Monday, Mayor Kenney
promised to continue increasing the city’s support for the School District,
working to make Community College of Philadelphia more affordable, and
coordinating city services better through a new Office of Children and
Families. “We must follow the rest of the civilized world and make the investments
necessary to improve the quality of education available to all of our kids,”
the mayor said. “This isn’t just the right thing to do; our city’s future
depends on it. … It’s a new era, and we will not fail another generation of our
kids.” Kenney and City Council members took their oaths of office at the newly
restored Met Philadelphia opera house, 858 N. Broad St. Among the four new
Council members is education activist Kendra Brooks, who became the first
person elected to Council outside the two major parties. She ran with the
Working Families Party. The other new Council members are Democrats Jamie
Gauthier, Katherine Gilmore Richardson, and Isaiah Thomas. Kenney promised
to expand his administration’s initiatives on universal pre-K, community schools,
after-school programs, and behavioral health services for students. “Over the
next four years, we’ll continue growing our city-led PHLpreK, community schools
and out-of-school time initiatives that have become lifelines for students and
their families. We’ll drastically expand behavioral health supports across all
schools,” he said.
“That’s why any effort to increase
teacher diversity has to focus as much on what happens after teachers reach the
classroom as before, says Travis Bristol, a professor at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education.”
'I Feel That
I’m Needed': An Effort to Keep Male Teachers of Color in the Classroom
KQED California Report by Vanessa Rancaño Dec 18, 2019
Fabian Flores wants to be a third grade teacher because
of a study he read. The
research, out of Johns Hopkins University, found that for some students of
color, having a single teacher who looked like them by third grade could change
the trajectory of their lives, making them more likely to finish high school
and go to college. Flores knows California’s
teachers don’t reflect the diversity of the state’s students. Male teachers of
color are especially rare, making up less than 10% of the workforce. So as
uncomfortable as it can feel to be one of the only men in his education classes
at CSU Dominguez Hills, he knows he’s needed. Flores said he wants to teach in
the community where he grew up in South Central Los Angeles. But he worries
about what awaits him after he finishes his teacher-training program. “What
scares me is getting a job at an elementary school where I don’t have a mentor
who shows me the ropes, where administration and teachers are not on the same
page,” he says. “What scares me is not having the resources other schools in
richer communities have.” He has reason to worry. Flores’s mentor teacher, Los
Angeles Unified’s Darryl McKellar, has seen a lot of new teachers come and go in
his two decades on the job. “Especially young black, young brown teachers don’t
choose to stay because they don’t feel supported,” McKellar says.
PA SCHOOLS WORK:
Special Education Funding Webinar Tue, Jan 14, 2020 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM EST
School Leaders: Register today for @PSBA @PASA @PAIU Advocacy
Day at the Capitol on March 23rd and you could be the lucky winner of my school
board salary for the entire year.
Register now at http://mypsba.org
For more information: https://www.psba.org/event/advocacy-day-2020/
Charter
Schools; Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
PENNSYLVANIA BULLETIN PROPOSED RULEMAKING DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION [ 22 PA. CODE CH. 711 ]
PSBA New and Advanced
School Director Training in Dec & Jan
Additional sessions now being offered in
Bucks and Beaver Counties
Updated location for Mechanicsburg on
January 11th
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 — Eagle View Middle
School, 6746 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050 Room:
Performing Arts Center
- 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
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
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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