Thursday, March 5, 2020

PA Ed Policy Roundup for March 5, 2020 Elk Lake Board calls for charter school funding changes


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.

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PA Ed Policy Roundup for March 5, 2020


.@PSBA .@PASA .@PAIU school leaders: join us for Advocacy Day in Harrisburg to support public education Monday March 23, 2020!



“The documents show expenses that include:
● $850,000 on August 8, 2018, for TV, radio, print, and digital marketing to boost enrollment in the fall of 2018 (unredacted) (attached).
● $7 million on March 1, 2016, for services (redacted) from the Bravo Group.
● $2.3 million on March 1, 2017, for services (redacted) from the Bravo Group and $7.9 million for advertising and promotion expenditures in 2017-18 in an unredacted invoice schedule (attached).
● $6.4 million in redacted invoices for the 2018-19 school year. (No contracts with the Bravo Group provided.)
● $6.2 million on March 1, 2019, for services (redacted) from the Bravo Group.”
THIS is what charter school "transparency" looks like under Pennsylvania’s broken charter school law.
Education Voters PA March 4, 2020
Six months ago, we set out with a simple goal—to find out how a single cyber charter school in Pennsylvania spends millions of taxpayer dollars on advertising each year. We filed a Right to Know request with Commonwealth Charter Academy, one of Pennsylvania’s largest cyber charter schools, requesting this information.
In the end, we received hundreds of heavily-redacted documents and learned that in the absence of substantial reforms to PA’s charter school law, anyone who wants to learn how charters spend money on advertising will face an army of lawyers representing the charter industry and the lobbying and PR firms that benefit from the current system.
Today we sent this memo to members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly detailing the how we ended up receiving hundreds of pages of redacted documents instead of meaningful information. Read the memo HERE.

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.

Blogger note: charter funding reform is not simply an urban/suburban school district concern…
Susquehanna County independent POSTED BY: REGGIE SHEFFIELD MARCH 1, 2020
The Elk Lake School Board has sent to local legislators a resolution calling for “meaningful” changes in the way Pennsylvania funds charter schools. Elk Lake and many school districts across the state have bemoaned the heavy financial burden they are faced with to pay for students who choose not to attend traditional public school but instead attend independent charter schools supported by public school funding. During a January 14 hearing before the House Education Committee, members discussed a bill authored and sponsored by committee chairman Rep. Curt Sonney (R-Erie), which would eliminate all 14 of the state’s cyber charter schools serving 37,000 students and would require home school districts to create their own cyber education programs.  Critics have called the bill an “overreaction” which would eliminate parent choice in sending students to a cyber charter school or return them to a school district in which they have lost faith. Here in Susquehanna County, Elk Lake superintendent Kenneth Cuomo expressed the displeasure he and other school superintendents have with the state’s current funding system. “Our governor summed it up best in his direct quote: ‘We have this cyber charter law in the state of Pennsylvania which is the worst in the nation.’   The funding system is broken and it is breaking the backs of local school districts and — many people don’t see this — breaking the backs of taxpayers and I’m just going to say this very bluntly, breaking the backs of the students who are involved,” Cuomo said during last week’s school board meeting.

Pennsylvania’s plan for toxic schools raises questions
Legislators agree that Pennsylvania’s toxic schools – plagued with lead, asbestos and mold – need remediation, but House Republicans said that increasing the state’s debt load to do it seems like the wrong way to fix the problem. In January, Gov. Tom Wolf suggested lawmakers authorize $1 billion in additional borrowing power through the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RCAP), a funding source traditionally reserved for economic and cultural revitalization projects across the state. In the three decades since its inception, the RCAP budget cap grew from $400 million to just over $4.5 billion, with recent curtailments in 2013 and 2017 bringing it back down to $3.35 billion. If Wolf’s plan wins majority support, lawmakers must again raise the cap. “I don’t know why we are going through RCAP,” Rep. George Dunbar, R-Westmoreland, said during a House Appropriations Committee meeting Monday. “RCAP was not designed for schools, and it’s very specific about what it’s designed for. Nobody wants to send kids to schools with asbestos and lead, let’s not kid ourselves, but let’s find a proper way of doing this.”

Blogger note: Senator Vincent Hughes is minority chairperson of the Senate Appropriations Committee
Schools across Pennsylvania are crumbling and toxic.
Senator Hughes Website
The most notable examples are unfortunately found in my home city of Philadelphia. However, our problem spans the commonwealth. I have seen similar conditions in places such as McKeesport and Allentown. I have also read reports of numerous schools fighting issues with lead, asbestos, mold, carbon dioxide poisoning and more. Pennsylvania’s schools are quite literally fail in regards to lead safety. And because of aging infrastructure and a lack of a comprehensive asset management plan, crumbling and toxic schools will continue to be the norm for districts with lower funding resources. We cannot let that continue because crumbling and toxic schools are a public health issue. I am calling on my colleagues in Harrisburg to step up and make our children’s health and safety our top priority. We have fought and secured millions for immediate cleanups in Philadelphia, but we must do more and expand the scope to benefit all of our schoolchildren.

Pa. Senate officials scrub details from financial records, raising alarm among open records advocates
Inquirer by Angela Couloumbis of Spotlight PA and Brad Bumsted and Sam Janesch of The Caucus, Updated: March 4, 2020- 3:55 PM
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan newsroom powered by The Philadelphia Inquirer in partnership with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and PennLive/Patriot-News. Sign up for our free weekly newsletter.
HARRISBURG — Top officials with the Pennsylvania Senate scrubbed thousands of detailed explanations about its expenses from official records provided to two news organizations, raising alarm among open records and good-government advocates. In turning over the documents, requested by The Caucus and Spotlight PA, Senate officials did not black out the explanations, but instead edited them out, making it appear as though they never existed. The officials also did not disclose that they had removed the information. “You can’t just delete things from public records,” said Terry Mutchler, the first director of the state’s Office of Open Records and a prominent First Amendment lawyer. “It is absolutely flabbergasting. It’s a new level of anti-transparency. We are now in the anti-transparency Olympics.” The records were requested as part of an ongoing effort to document exactly how the nation’s largest full-time legislature spends the roughly $360 million in taxpayer money it receives each year, including more than $100 million allocated to the Senate.

“Pund laid out five major areas in the plan that he said should be explored as soon as possible: Outsourcing transportation, facilities and finance; outsourcing management and operations of schools; completing a facilities assessment; reducing special education costs; and assessing leadership. “Everything needs to be looked at in an out-of-the-box way, because you don’t know if there’s potential savings and efficiencies without evaluating it,” he said. It was the second recommendation that has drawn the most attention during the pendency of the plan, as both proponents and opponents of charter schools questioned what “outsourcing” might look like on the ground. Under the language of Act 141 of 2012, which dictates Chester Upland’s “Financial Recovery Status,” the district could convert an existing school or schools to charters if doing so would result in financial savings.”
Chester Upland recovery plan discussed at hearing
Delco Times by Alex Rose March 5, 2020
MEDIA COURTHOUSE — A proposed "Financial Recovery Plan" for the Chester Upland School District still needs to be revised after an audit is performed for the district’s two past fiscal years, according to testimony delivered this week before Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Barry Dozor. Exactly how much the audit will impact the plan remains to be seen, but the Pennsylvania Department of Education is not recommending the judge adopt it at this time, according to attorney John Flandreau. John Pund, a certified public accountant who put together the plan with the help of PDE, district administration and others, described it as a “work in process” that can be updated with new financial information as it becomes available. Pund told the judge Tuesday that the 2017-18 financials need to be restated to take into account $4.9 million in payments to charter schools ordered by the Commonwealth Court, which is expected to take about seven weeks. Auditors will not begin work on the 2018-19 audit until the prior year is complete, Pund said, and estimated that could take another 90 days. Chester Community Charter School, which was a party to the evidentiary hearings this week, filed a petition in November asking the court to direct the district and PDE to issue requests for proposals on charters taking over elementary schools in the district as part of the plan. 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.

Mayor Jim Kenney’s budget would make community college free for thousands of Philadelphians
Inquirer by Susan Snyder, Updated: March 5, 2020- 12:01 AM
Mayor Jim Kenney on Thursday will propose significant new investment in students who attend the Community College of Philadelphia: $63 million over five years for scholarships that could make it tuition-free for thousands of people. City residents from low- and moderate-income families who attend full time and who graduated from a Philadelphia high school — public, private, cyber, or home school — would be eligible. The scholarships would cover tuition not already paid for with state or federal aid, as well as $1,500 per semester for food, books, and transportation. The college also would provide students with enhanced coaching, academic advising, and tutoring to keep them on track to get their associate degrees within three years. City officials estimate the aid would help 6,500 students over five years — 2,300 of them in 2020-21. That’s equivalent to nearly half of the college’s full-time enrollment in fall 2019, which was 4,763.

Teachers at Baldwin Township charter school plan labor protest at board meeting
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE MAR 4, 2020 5:23 PM
Teachers from the Young Scholars of Western Pennsylvania Charter School in Baldwin Township plan to picket Thursday outside a school board meeting for what they said was a “lack of progress” over 18 months of contract negotiations.  The group of about 40 teachers represented by the Pennsylvania State Education Association said they will start to protest at 5:30 p.m. ahead of a scheduled 6 p.m. board meeting being held at the school. “The school is not negotiating in good faith and has continually stonewalled the process by refusing to agree to many of the most basic contractual items,” Matt Edgell, PSEA region advocacy coordinator, said in a statement. “Another issue that appears to be prolonging the negotiations is the fact that none of the school’s representatives at the bargaining table have any involvement in the day to day operations of the school. They don’t know what’s going on.”

Nonbinary student, parent sue Bethlehem school district, IU 20 over misuse of pronouns, name
By JACQUELINE PALOCHKO THE MORNING CALL | MAR 04, 2020 | 4:49 PM
A 15-year-old student who identifies as nonbinary and their mother filed a federal lawsuit against Bethlehem Area School District and Colonial Intermediate Unit 20, alleging that the student was “repeatedly tormented and abused” by being referred to with the wrong pronouns and name. The lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court, claims the district and IU 20 subjected the student, identified as “Roe,” to discrimination because of Roe’s gender identity. In addition to the district and IU 20, the lawsuit names Randy Alan Herzon, a licensed counselor with IU 20, and James McDonald, a licensed social worker and director of behavioral health services with IU 20. The lawsuit also claims that the student has an individual education plan for their mental health challenges, but the defendants failed to fully implement the IEP and, by harassing and discriminating against Roe, worsened the student’s gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as a conflict between a person’s physical or assigned gender and the gender with which he/she/they identify.

 ‘Friends’ of public education? Study examines ‘paradox’ behind Philly school fundraising groups
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent March 5, 2020
At first glance, there is nothing “shadowy” about the rise of fundraising organizations tied to Philadelphia public schools. Often known as “Friends of” groups — as in “Friends of Adaire” or “Friends of Chester Arthur” — these independently run nonprofits are typically associated with the sunny side of public education: new playgroundssilent-auction fundraisers, and 5K fun runs. But researchers Ryan Good and Katharine Nelson say there is a central paradox embedded in these “Friends of” groups, which have burst onto the scene in many wealthy or gentrifying parts of Philadelphia. While those who contribute to these groups are ideologically committed to public education and the notion of equal education for all, Good and Nelson say their fundraising efforts can exacerbate inequities among public schools. They argue in a paper released last month in the Journal of Education Policy that the higher-income families who seem most committed to the idea of public schools are supporting them in a way that undermines their publicness.

Another round of school tax hikes, no sign of reform | Letter
By Ed Kihm, Quakertown Express-Times Letters to the Editor Posted Mar 04, 2020
Another season of school property tax increases is approaching in Pennsylvania, and you can bet that at least 95% of the 500 school districts will be raising taxes — many of them above the useless Act 1 limit. Legislators would rather have you sing “do that to me one more time, once is never enough” while they raise your taxes with a smile on their face, letting the bully-thugocracy continue. The reality is that most state legislators like the system as it is. They enjoy having their campaigns generously financed by the labor unions and large amounts of “uncoded” contributions. All of this can be verified through FollowTheMoney. org. Just enter your legislators’ names and you can easily find how much they benefit at your expense. Many of them continue to cite the property tax as a stable way of financing the public schools while there’s clear evidence of the opposite. Thousands of delinquent tax claims are filed annually in every county, and some schools can’t afford basic essentials like paper. That’s exactly what happened at the Sto-Rox School District in western Pennsylvania. Imagine that, billions of dollars spent annually on public schools in Pennsylvania and yet there are poor struggling districts. Public school funding needs to be modernized by completely eliminating the property tax and removing the tax authority of the school districts, so all districts can be fully and fairly funded without forcing people out of their homes.

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib Seeks 'Necessary Oversight' of Charter Schools
Education Week By Andrew Ujifusa on March 4, 2020 11:46 AM
Legislation from a high-profile freshman in Congress would require charter schools to disclose whether they are managed by a for-profit or nonprofit entity, the salary of each executive at charter management groups, and how much charter-management agencies are spending on schools versus their own operations. However, critics of the bill written by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, R-Mich., say charters already report some of the information the bill focuses on, and that it attempts to bring under federal control what's best left to state and local communities to figure out.  The Charter Oversight, Accountability, and Transparency (COAT) Act, introduced late last week, would require charter-management organizations to hold "publicly disclosed and publicly accessible meetings" if they have contracts with school districts. It would also require CMOs to specify the amount of money they spend on advertising and marketing, as well as "any other cost exceeding one percent" of the organization's budget. The COAT Act, which has 34 original co-sponsors (those who signed onto the bill before it was introduced) in Congress and is backed by the two national teachers' unions and other education groups, represents the latest pushback to charter schools from national Democratic Party politicians.

Education Dept. Reverses Plan to Cut Rural School Funding
The reversal, which followed a bipartisan backlash, will last for only a year unless Congress permanently changes the program’s eligibility requirements.
New York Times By Erica L. Green March 4, 2020
WASHINGTON — Facing a bipartisan backlash led by Republican lawmakers, the Trump administration is backing off a bookkeeping change that would have drastically cut federal funds for rural schools — at least for a year. Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, will allow states to more easily qualify for funding under the Rural and Low-Income School Program, after hundreds of districts faced cuts when the department abruptly began using eligibility requirements it had not enforced in 17 years. During a program review, the department discovered that schools had been receiving funding based on the number of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals rather than poverty data from the census, as is required by law. But Ms. DeVos determined that she had the authority to allow the use of alternative data for an additional year, said Angela Morabito, a department spokeswoman. The department has also proposed language for Congress to permanently change the data source in the law. “We hope they act quickly,” Ms. Morabito said. The new requirements would have kicked an estimated 800 schools out of the program next school year, and superintendents were bracing for budget cuts of $30,000 to $100,000.


Webinar: Rising Mandated Costs for School Districts
PASchoolsWork Lunch & Learn Webinar Tuesday, March 10th 12:00 – 12:30 p.m.
Mandated costs are rising for school districts across PA. Join us next Tuesday at Noon to learn more about what exactly these costs are and what their impact is on school districts. Register for our Lunch & Learn webinar here:

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

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

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.

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. We hope you will join us and be part of the conversation about education in Allegheny County.

Event: Transparency in Pennsylvania Cyber Charter Schools
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

Register now for Network for Public Education Action National Conference in Philadelphia March 28-29, 2020
Registration, hotel information, keynote speakers and panels:

NSBA annual conference -- April 4-6, 2020 Chicago
Registration for the 2020 NSBA Annual Conference is now open. The event will be held April 4-6 in Chicago


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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