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 March 11, 2020
PSBA Webinar: Prepare
for Advocacy Day – A discussion on charter reform, PlanCon; school funding – Today
at Noon
MAR 11, 2020
• 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Info and registration: https://www.psba.org/event/webinar-prepare-for-advocacy-day/
Allegheny County
Legislative Forum on Education March 12
by Allegheny Intermediate Unit Thu, March
12, 2020 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM EDT
Join us on March 12 at 7:00 pm for the
Allegheny Intermediate Unit's annual Allegheny County Legislative Forum. The
event will feature a discussion with state lawmakers on a variety of issues
impacting public schools.
NPE: Due to Covad-19 Concerns,Our March 28-29 Conference
in Philly will be Rescheduled. We Will Announce Details Shortly
The Network for Public Education Website
March 10, 2020
Rep. Longietti: Charter School Funding Needs Reform
Pa. House Video•Mar 10,
2020 Video Runtime 1:34
Pa. state Rep. Mark Longietti attended a
public hearing on charter school funding in Pennsylvania.
Rep. Ciresi Supports Charter School Reform Plan
Pa. House Video •Mar 10,
2020 Video Runtime 34 seconds
During a House Democratic Policy Committee
Hearing, Pa. state Rep. Joe Ciresi showed his support for a charter and cyber
charter school reform plan that would help save taxpayers $300 million while
leaving school choice intact for Pennsylvanians.
Rep. Ullman Initiates Dialogue on Charter School Funding
Pa. House Video•Mar 10,
2020 Video Runtime 43 seconds
Pa. state Rep. Wendy Ullman hosted the Pa.
House Democratic Policy Committee to discuss reforming charter schools and
public school funding.
Let’s be honest about public charter school funding
Post0Gazette Opinion by David Fair MAR 11,
2020
DAVID FAIR of Franklin Park is the president
of the Propel School Board.
Education reform is certainly needed in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, but doing so at the expense of public charter
schools will only force thousands of children to return to traditional public
schools that their families fled seeking better educational outcomes. While
Gov. Tom Wolf is focused on instituting significant cuts that will adversely
affect public charter schools, anti-charter school voices are empowered to
spread untruths and blame public charter schools for their inability to manage
the tax dollars allocated to them. The truth about funding is that charter
schools receive only a portion of the per-pupil allocation given by state
government. School districts on average keep 25% of every charter student’s
allocation. This leaves brick-and-mortar charters like Propel fewer dollars to
complete its mission of providing high-quality education to a largely
underserved student population. Propel is a public charter school system
serving more than 4,000 students in 13 brick and mortar schools located in
eight districts.
County schools settle on pandemic action plan
Delco Times By Loretta Rodgers Times
Correspondent March 11, 2020
Delaware County school superintendents and a
representative from Episcopal Academy on Monday met with county officials in
person or via conference call to discuss a path forward in preparing for a
potential outbreak of coronavirus. Lori Devlin, director of InterCommunity
Health, Medical Countermeasures Coordinator for the Pennsylvania Department of
Health; Delaware County Intermediate Unit; county council Vice Chairman Dr.
Monica Taylor and county Emergency Services Director Timothy Boyce were on hand
for the planning session. “I am very happy with how Monday's meeting went,”
Boyce said. “All of the superintendents arrived with plans already in place for
their respective districts and we spent quite a bit of time discussing what is
in the best interest of the districts' students and staff.” Upper Darby School
Superintendent Dr. Dan McGarry sent a message to parents outlining steps the
district will be taking including asking the school board to declare Friday as
an in-service day. “As a unified County response to the Coronavirus/COVID-19,
school districts throughout Delaware County have agreed to hold planning and
preparation meetings with their staffs,” McGarry said. “Upper Darby
School District will be asking our school board of directors to designate this
Friday, March 13, as an in-service day for our teachers and staff. Similar to a
regular in-service day, students will not report to school on March 13, but
staff will report on that day. The March 13 planning and preparation day
will provide teachers and staff time to prepare to deliver instruction to our
students K-12 if we are required to close our district. At this time, all
afternoon and evening school district activities will continue, but we are
monitoring these activities closely.”
Some Delco public schools to close for a day to prepare
for coronavirus
Delco Times By Kathleen E. Carey
kcarey@21st-centurymedia.com @dtbusiness on Twitter March 11,
2020
At least six of Delaware County public school
districts are planning to close for one day - most are picking Friday or Monday
- to test their preparedness in the wake of the coronavirus' arrival here in
Delaware County and in Pennsylvania. Superintendents from all the county school
districts met with representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Health,
county Council Vice Chairman Dr. Monica Taylor and county Emergency Services
Director Timothy Boyce Monday to discuss the situation. "From yesterday's
meeting ... every school left that meeting with the idea that we're going to do
a readiness day," Boyce said. "This is going to get worse before it
gets better." He explained that each district will chose which day it
plans to close but that the purpose is to exercise policies and best practices,
such as testing online education procedures.
Western Pennsylvania school districts prepare for
coronavirus
Post Gazette by JAMIE MARTINES | Tuesday,
March 10, 2020 6:30 p.m.
Western Pennsylvania school districts are
making plans to continue instruction in the event schools close temporarily
because of the spreading covid-19 coronavirus. “We are not in a position at
this point to say that there’s a need to send kids home,” said Jenny Webb,
spokeswoman for South Butler County School District, where teachers were
instructed this week to prepare 10-day lesson plans that students can work on
remotely in the event the district must close its doors temporarily. There had
been 12 presumed positive cases of covid-19 reported in Pennsylvania as of
Tuesday afternoon, including eight in Montgomery County and one each in
Philadelphia, Delaware, Monroe and Wayne counties, all in the eastern part of
the state.
Philly cancels St. Patrick’s Day parade, warns against
large gatherings after first coronavirus case; Bucks identifies first two cases
Inquirer by Oona Goodin-Smith, Anthony R. Wood, Maddie Hanna, Laura McCrystal, Anna Orso and Susan Snyder Ongoing Corona Virus Coverage
The Philadelphia Health Department is now
recommending that city residents consider not attending public gatherings with
more than 5,000 expected attendees.
Voter Registration Update: Pa.’s blue and red divide
deepens as April primary approaches | Analysis
PA Capital Star By Nick Field March 11,
2020
Since our last voter registration update former
Vice President Joe Biden enjoyed a Democratic primary season
resurgence, President Donald Trump got impeached and a potential pandemic broke
out across the globe. Given this frenetic pace, it seemed necessary to write a
new installment before Pennsylvania’s April 28 primary. After all, who knows
what will transpire between now and then? Before diving into the regions,
I did want to lay out the top-line numbers, with the commonwealth currently
sitting at 8,533,170 total voters. Among them are 4,058,718 Democrats and
3,256,004 Republicans, resulting in an 802,714-voter advantage for
Democrats. Now to look at the various corners of the state and dig in to
see the trends underneath.
“Understanding how our economy works is not a luxury. It is now
time for Pennsylvania to join the 25 other states that require economics and
the 21 states that mandate instruction in basic personal finance in our
schools.”
What you don’t know about money can hurt you | Opinion
Penn Live Letter By Michael A. MacDowell Posted
Mar 10, 2020
Michael A. MacDowell is President Emeritus of
Misericordia University and a Trustee of the Calvin K. Kazanjian Economics
Foundation.
There are few topics that generate more
spirited conversation than economics. Policy makers, politicians, and pundits
all have opinions on the state of the American economy and the forthcoming
presidential election. This virtually assures that the future economic health
of the country will be discussed daily. Yet there are few subjects about which
people are more emotional and yet less informed. On the personal finance level
a survey conducted by Annamaria Lusardi of George Washington University and
Oliva S. Mitchell of the University of Pennsylvania found that 40 percent of
the respondents knew little or nothing about the impact of compound interest;
65 percent did not understand how inflation can harm their future buying power
and 60 percent did not know about the importance of diversification in their
retirement planning.
Equal approach, unequal results at CSPR public meetings
Parent engagement was the highest for popular
and threatened schools. Questions emerged about the data used and the process.
The notebook by Bill
Hangley Jr. March 10 — 12:58 pm, 2020
The School District of Philadelphia has
completed its first round of public forums as it gathers information for its
sweeping initiative to realign schools with city population trends. The forums
attracted hundreds of attendees, but they were marked by uneven parent turnout,
incomplete data, and uncertain next steps for the ambitious process. Officials
said they were happy with the three forums – “a lot of good dialogue, a lot of
good feedback,” said Vanessa Benton, head of the District’s Comprehensive
School Planning Review (CSPR) team – but acknowledged that the limited parent
attendance did not appear to fully represent the communities involved. “I feel
like we got representation from the people who were able to come at that time,”
said Benton. “It’s a difficult time for families to be able to come out.” Observers
at the forums said that failing to equitably engage families could undermine the CSPR process, a
multi-year effort launched in November
with a price tag of
$1.3 million. “If you want to keep this process legitimate, you have to have
parents,” said Charlene Samuels, a leader of North Philadelphia’s Logan Civic
Association and a staffer for City Councilwoman Helen Gym, as she sat in a
school working group session that included no parents at all.
Sheppard supporters crowd CSPR forum to defend their
school
Closing the North Philadelphia school is an
option being considered, but plans are not final.
The notebook by Bill
Hangley Jr. March 10 — 12:59 pm, 2020
Among the 21 schools discussed at the
Comprehensive School Planning Review public forums, only one school community
bucked the process entirely: North Philadelphia’s Sheppard Elementary, a
neighborhood fixture on Cambria Street since 1898. Sheppard supporters, faced
with the closure of the school as one of their study area’s planning options,
spent weeks organizing in the neighborhood. School staff and local activists
from the Philadelphia Liberation Center – a
community organization with a socialist bent that is focused on “solidarity,
education, and the fight for justice” – knocked on doors on weekends and raised
about $130 from teachers and staff to rent a school bus to bring parents to the
CSPR forum, a 1.5-mile journey. “The stakes are monumental,” said organizer
Steven Powers. “That school is truly an anchor in an otherwise abandoned
neighborhood.” The result of their efforts was a crowd of about 40 people,
chanting on the sidewalk in support of Sheppard before the CSPR forum began. It
was the only organized protest of its type at the three meetings.
PSBA report finds correlation between strong boards and
student achievement
POSTED ON MARCH 10, 2020 IN PSBA
NEWS
In 2001, the Iowa Association of School
Boards (IASB) conducted a groundbreaking study to examine the impact school
boards have on student achievement. In the fall of 2018, PSBA refreshed the
Lighthouse Inquiry research with the goal of discovering the impact school
board governance and leadership has on student achievement in the commonwealth.
Utilizing data available within the state and with the help of an outside
research firm, PSBA was able to uncover supporting evidence that the actions
and behaviors of school boards impact the performance of students in the
district. CEO Nathan Mains recently sat down with Chief Member
Services Coordinator Dr. Britta Barrickman to discuss the highlights of the
study and explain the impact of the findings. To view this video, please click here. If you are
interested in reading the full report, login to myPSBA and click on Resources.
“The declines equate to a student who was performing at an
average level (50th percentile) sinking to the 35th percentile in math and the
40th percentile in reading, Berends said. It didn’t make much of a difference
which virtual charter school they attended or which teachers they had,
according to the study. And the negative effects weren’t just due to the
disruption of switching schools — unlike students who transferred to
brick-and-mortar charter schools, students’ scores didn’t bounce back after the
transition.”
Indiana virtual charter schools linked to a decline in
student test scores, a new study shows
Chalkbeat By Stephanie
Wang March 10, 2020
Faced with low academic results at online
schools across the country, supporters often defend virtual education because
it provides a haven for struggling students. But a new study in Indiana found
that students fell further behind after transferring to virtual charter
schools. The findings suggest that online schools post low outcomes not simply
because the students they serve face challenges, but because of problems with
how online learning works — and the shortfalls of not having a physical
classroom. The new research, to be published in the journal Educational
Researcher, is in line with other studies that have shown that students who
transfer to virtual charter schools saw significant drops in their math and
reading scores. “Parents need to know that as they’re making these choices,”
said Mark Berends, director of the University of Notre Dame’s Center for
Research on Educational Opportunity. Berends, along with three other
researchers, tracked seven years of recent test scores to look at how Hoosier
students in grades 3-8 performed before and after they transferred to virtual
charter schools. The study compares students at virtual charters to peers in
brick-and-mortar classrooms with similar profiles at the same academic level.
Shut Down by Coronavirus, Schools Scramble to Feed
Students
Education Week By Corey Mitchell March 9,
2020
With school closures stemming from the novel
coronavirus escalating, school leaders across the country must wrestle with
another dilemma: if schools shut down, their students may not have access to
meals. Millions of students, in school districts big and small, rely on the
free or discounted meals they eat at school. Advocates worry that as more
schools close their doors, more children will go hungry. “These meals are a
very big deal,” said Joel Berg, chief executive officer of Hunger Free America,
a New York-based nonprofit. “Almost 30 million kids a day rely on government
subsidized school meals. If schools are shut down for weeks at a time, we’re
going to have a serious child hunger crisis.” As of Monday, 507 U.S. schools
had been closed or are scheduled to close, affecting 363,357 students,
according to Education Week’s tracking of coronavirus-related shutdowns.
EdVotersPA: Take action now to support charter school reform
in PA!
Education Voters PA Published by EDVOPA on February 25, 2020
We have helped build a movement to fix
Pennsylvania’s worst charter school law in the nation in every corner of the commonwealth.
Now it is time to take this movement to Harrisburg! Please click HERE and sign a letter to
your state representative and senator calling on them to support charter school
reform. Ed Voters’ volunteers will hand deliver each constituent letter to
state lawmakers’ offices in mid-March. Make sure yours is included! We will need to deliver thousands of letters
to send a strong message that Pennsylvanians expect lawmakers to take action
this legislative session.
PSBA Board Presidents Panel April 27 & 28; Multiple
Locations
Offered at 10 locations across the state,
this annual event supports current and aspiring school board leaders through
roundtable conversations with colleagues as well as a facilitated panel of
experienced regional and statewide board presidents and superintendents. Board
Presidents Panel is designed to equip new and veteran board presidents and vice
presidents as well as superintendents and other school directors who may pursue
a leadership position in the future.
Info and registration: https://www.psba.org/2020/01/board-presidents-panel/
PSBA: Coronavirus Preparedness Guidance
In the last few weeks, the novel coronavirus
(SARS-CoV-2), which causes the respiratory illness COVID-19, has become a topic
of concern nationwide. Although the virus is not widespread in Pennsylvania at
this time, that status could change. Being proactive is key to prevention and
mitigation. Below, you will find a list of resources on all aspects of
preparedness, including guidance on communication planning, policy, emergency
management and disease control. Use these resources to help you make decisions
regarding the safety and health of those in your school district.
Bucks County Intermediate Unit: FLU AND CORONAVIRUS
RESOURCES
Resources for School Leaders; Bucks County
Intermediate Unit Website
This page contains a collection of news articles,
health agency resources, and school system templates related to the Flu and
Coronavirus. This page is by no means exhaustive and in no way serves as
an endorsement for specific resources. Instead, it serves as a
collection point for school leaders seeking resources and exemplars.
Please contact Dr. Mark Hoffman with
any additional documents or links to post!
Blogger note: support Governor Wolf’s proposed charter reforms:
Reprise: PA Ed Policy Roundup for Feb 10, 2020
1. Adopt resolution for charter funding
reform
2. Ask your legislators to cosponsor HB2261
or SB1024
3. Register for Advocacy Day on March 23rd
Adopt: the 2020 PSBA resolution for charter school funding
reform
PSBA Website POSTED ON FEBRUARY 3,
2020 IN PSBA
NEWS
In this legislative session, PSBA has been
leading the charge with the Senate, House of Representatives and the Governor’s
Administration to push for positive charter reform. We’re now asking you to
join the campaign: Adopt the resolution: We’re asking all school
boards to adopt the 2020 resolution for charter school funding reform at your
next board meeting and submit it to your legislators and to PSBA.
Cosponsor: A 120-page
charter reform proposal is being introduced as House Bill
2261 by Rep. Joseph Ciresi (D-Montgomery), and Senate Bill 1024,
introduced by Senators Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny) and James Brewster
(D-Allegheny). Ask your legislator to sign on as a cosponsor to House Bill
2261 or Senate Bill 1024.
Register: Five compelling reasons for .@PSBA .@PASA .@PAIU school leaders to come to the Capitol
for Advocacy Day on March 23rd:
Charter Reform
Cyber Charter Reform
Basic Ed Funding
Special Ed Funding
PLANCON
For more
information: https://www.psba.org/event/advocacy-day-2020/
Hear relevant content from statewide experts, district practitioners and
PSBA government affairs staff at PSBA’s annual membership gathering. PSBA
Sectional Advisors and Advocacy Ambassadors are on-site to connect with
district leaders in their region and share important information for you to
take back to your district.
Locations and dates
- Wednesday,
March 18, 2020 — Section 7, PSBA
Headquarters, 400 Bent Creek Blvd, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
- Tuesday,
March 24, 2020 — Section 1, General McLane
High School, 11761 Edinboro Rd, Edinboro, PA 16412
- Tuesday,
March 24, 2020 — Section 4, Abington
Heights School District, 200 East Grove Street, Clark Summit, PA 18411
- Wednesday,
March 25, 2020 — Section 3, Columbia-Montour
AVTS, 5050 Sweppenheiser Dr., Bloomsburg, PA 17815
- Wednesday,
March 25, 2020 — Section 6, Bedford County
Technical Center, 195 Pennknoll Road, Everett, PA 15537
- Thursday,
March 26, 2020 — Section 2, State College
Area High School, 650 Westerly Pkwy, State College, PA 16801
- Monday,
March 30, 2020 — Section 5, Forbes Road
Career & Technology Center, 607 Beatty Road, Monroeville, PA 15146
- Monday, March 30, 2020 — Section 8, East Penn School District, 800 Pine St, Emmaus,
PA 18049
- Tuesday, April 7, 2020 — Section 5, Washington School District, 311 Allison
Avenue, Washington, PA 15301
- Tuesday, April 7, 2020 — Section 8, School District of Haverford Twp, 50 East Eagle
Road, Havertown, PA 19083
Sectional Meetings are 6:00 p.m. -8:00 p.m. (across all locations). Light
refreshments will be offered.
Cost: Complimentary for
PSBA member entities.
Registration: Registration is
now open. To register, please sign into myPSBA and look for
Store/Registration on the left.
A Free Educational Event Hosted at Capitol
Building in Harrisburg, March 16, 2020
CONTACT Holly Lubart EMAIL HollyL@PANewsMedia.org PHONE 717-703-3032
A Free Sunshine Week Educational Event Hosted
at Capitol Building in Harrisburg, Pa.
Guest Speaker: Sarah Hofius Hall, Education
Reporter, The Times-Tribune
Guest Speaker: Representative Curt
Sonney, Chairman, House Education Committee
Guest Speaker from the Wolf Administration
To register for this event, please complete
the form below.
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
PSBA Board Presidents Panel April 27, 28 and 29; Multiple
Locations
Offered at 10 locations across the state,
this annual event supports current and aspiring school board leaders through
roundtable conversations with colleagues as well as a facilitated panel of
experienced regional and statewide board presidents and superintendents. Board
Presidents Panel is designed to equip new and veteran board presidents and vice
presidents as well as superintendents and other school directors who may pursue
a leadership position in the future.
PARSS Annual Conference April 29 – May 1, 2020 in State
College
The 2020 PARSS Conference is April 29 through
May 1, 2020, at Wyndham Garden Hotel at Mountain View Country Club in State
College. Please register as a member or a vendor by accessing the links below.
Register today for the 2020 PASA/PA Principals
Association PA Educational Leadership Summit, August 2-4, at the Lancaster Marriott
at Penn Square
(hosted by the PA Principals Association and
the PA Association of School Administrators). Participants can earn up to 80
PIL hours (40 hours for the Summit and - for an additional cost of $50 -
40 hours for EdCamp) for
attending the conference and completing program requirements. Register
early to reserve your seat! The deadline to take advantage of the Early Bird
Discount is April 24, 2020.
Click here to
register today!
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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