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
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These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
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PA Ed Policy Roundup for April 14, 2020
Charter’s 98% college acceptance rate is awesome but what
does it mean if 40% of 9th grade cohort never made it to graduation?
Thanks to Pandemic, Last Month Was First
March Since 2002 Without a US School Shooting
Some NEPA schools will soon require students to attend
online classes
Scranton Times-Tribune BY SARAH HOFIUS HALL,
STAFF WRITER / PUBLISHED: APRIL 12, 2020
Education in Northeast Pennsylvania has moved
out of the classroom and onto the computer. Most students began voluntary
enrichment and review work in the last two weeks, but work for some students
becomes mandatory starting Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic continues and
schools stay closed for the rest of the academic year. Abington Heights middle
and high school students will start required online learning this week, with
elementary lessons beginning next week. North Pocono also will start mandatory
work April 20, and Valley View plans to announce a more structured schedule
soon. With schools shuttered, educators must move lessons online, assure access
to technology and meet the unique needs of all children as required by federal
law.
“This is absolutely unprecedented,” state
Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera said last week. “Schools are still
operating, though they don’t look the same as they did a month or two ago. ...
They’re working in new and innovative ways.” School leaders must submit
“continuity of education” plans to the state Department of Education and then
post the plans to district websites. Before Gov. Tom Wolf’s school closure
announcement Thursday, most districts planned to offer voluntary work for
review and enrichment. Pennsylvania schools have been closed since March 16. With
the extended closure, “a few months of review and enrichment” will not be
enough, Rivera said. Schools need to find ways to provide ongoing instruction,
and the public must hold districts accountable, he said. Educators must ensure
accessibility and equity.
Millions of public school students will suffer from
school closures, education leaders say
Post-Gazette by The Washington Post by LAURA
MECKLER, VALERIE STRAUSS AND JOE HEIM APR 13, 2020
Only weeks after the coronavirus pandemic
forced American schools online, education leaders across the country have
concluded that millions of children’s learning will be severely stunted, and
are planning unprecedented steps to help them catch up. In Miami, school will
extend into the summer and start earlier in the fall, at least for some
students. In Cleveland, schools may shrink the curriculum to cover only core
subjects. In Columbia, Missouri, this year’s lessons will be woven into next
year’s. Some experts suggest holding back more kids, a controversial idea,
while others propose a half-grade step-up for some students, an unconventional
one. A national teachers union is proposing a massive national summer school
program. “We have to have a recovery plan for education,” said Eric Gordon,
chief executive for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. “I’m really
worried that people think schools and colleges just flipped to digital and
everything’s fine and we can just return to normal. That’s simply not the
case.”
Statewide school closure calls for new approaches to
education
Pottstown Mercury by Sen. Andrew Dinniman Apr
13, 2020
Andy Dinniman, of West Whiteland, is State
Senator for Pennsylvania's 19th District and serves as minority chair of the
Senate Education Committee.
Although the majority of students in our area
have access to the tools and resources necessary to fully participate in online
learning, across the Commonwealth that is not the case. In our urban and rural
districts, many students lack access to computers or adequate broadband. The
fact is not every child or family is equally equipped to take advantage of
remote learning opportunities. Furthermore, simply distributing Chrome books,
laptops, or iPads to students is not necessarily going to bridge that gap; it’s
not enough. We have an obligation to work with students and parents in the
districts that are in the most need to ensure that can continue to learn during
this unprecedented public health crisis. The Pennsylvania Department of
Education is making available equity grants for financially distressed school
districts. This will help, but not solve the problem. Still, there is more we
can do during this difficult time to addresses these obstacles and bridge the
economic and digital divide. That includes:
School’s out. We know that. The rest of it is a mess. |
John L. Micek
PA Capital Star Commentary By John L. Micek April 13,
2020
My daughter was off school on Monday. For
some reason.
Just days after Gov. Tom Wolf declared that
he was shuttering Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts until the end of the
school year, Pennsylvania’s public schools were acting like school was in
session by giving students a well-deserved day off from all the days off
they’ve already had since Pennsylvania went into lockdown a month ago. And as a
parent, sitting here wondering how to salvage what’s left of my bright
14-year-old’s freshman year with a mix of classwork assigned by her local
school district; mandated reading time here at home, limited walks, current
events discussions over dinner, and some quality Dad/daughter time spent
watching ancient history documentaries on YouTube and the History Channel, I
know one thing for sure: I am not remotely qualified to homeschool my child.
And my hat is doffed to all those parents who take it upon themselves to do so.
But it also feels like I’m not doing any worse at the moment than
Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts, which have been frustratingly scattershot
in their approach to public education during the pandemic. For my daughter,
casual review ended last week, with more formalized instruction now underway.
But even that has seemed improvised, at best.
“In a recent year the federal government reported in the Common
Core of data that in 2014 the Boston public schools graduated 85% of its grade
9 students. But the “City on A Hill” Charter school graduated 46% of its grade
9 class; while the “Boston Preparatory Academy,” “Boston Collegiate Charter,”
and “Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter” each graduated about 60% of its 9th
grade class. Culling in charters seems to be widespread. Another example comes
from Philadelphia’s Boys Latin Charter, as analyzed by Jersey Jazzman in his
column of July 28th, 2017. Boys Latin proudly boasted that 98% of its students
were accepted into college. But in the years 2011-2015 the school graduated
about 60% of its 9th grade class, culling approximately 40% of its student body,
and thus allowing the school to make a claim that 98% of its students are
accepted to college.”
David Berliner: How “Successful” Charter Schools Cull and
Skim Students They Don’t Want
Diane Ravitch’s Blog By
dianeravitch April 13, 2020 //
I recently wrote an article that referred to
charter schools that succeed by excluding students with disabilities, English
learners, and others unlikely to get high scores. The editor questioned if this
claim was accurate. I turned to several expert researchers to ask their view,
and they all agreed with my assertion. David Berliner of Arizona State University—one
of the nation’s pre-eminent researchers and statisticians—had data to back it
up, and I invited him to write an essay addressing this issue. He wrote:
Culling, Creaming, Skimming, Thinning: Things
We Do to Herds and School Children
To cull is to select things you intend to
reject, often in reference to a group of animals. An outbreak of hoof-and-mouth
disease can cause authorities to order a cull of farm pigs. An outbreak of
low-test scores or a meeting with undesirable parents can promote the culling
of charter students. To cream is to remove something choice from an aggregate,
such as selecting the best and the brightest appearing students and families
for acceptance to a charter or private school. Diane Ravitch was recently
criticized for writing that charter schools, supported by public tax money,
engage in skimming and creaming students and families. Ravitch, however is
right! Public charter schools, and private schools that accept public monies
through vouchers, admit only certain students, often those predicted most
likely to succeed and whose parents are “acceptable.” And, if these schools
choose “wrong,” they cull the herd later. Between selective admissions and
culling the student body, the data ordinarily used to describe a school’s
accomplishments will make charter and voucher schools look quite good.
Zogby gets Pa. Senate job; Erie schools wait on monitor
GoErie By Ed
Palattella @etnpalattella Posted
at 5:11 AM Updated at 5:31 AM
Erie School District’s former financial
administrator, who left abruptly in February, hired as aide for GOP on
stimulus.
The Erie School District’s former financial
administrator has taken another state job at the same time Harrisburg inches
closer to picking a new person to monitor the school district’s fiscal
recovery. Charles Zogby, who abruptly left his $148,000-a-year post in Erie in
February, is getting paid $110,000 as a special assistant on budget issues for
the Republican majority in the state Senate. Spotlight PA, whose partners
include the Erie Times-News, reported on Friday that
the state Senate’s GOP leadership had hired Zogby as a special assistant,
starting on March 26.
Legislative officials told Spotlight PA that
Zogby will focus on analyzing the impact of the $2.2 trillion federal CARES Act
stimulus legislation meant to help the economy recover from the COVID-19
pandemic. He is expected to work closely with the powerful Senate
Appropriations Committee. In his new job, Zogby, 58, is an employee of the
Senate Republicans. He was an employee of the state Department of Education
when he was the Erie School District’s financial administrator, a position he
had held for nearly two years when he left it, unannounced, in early February. The
department never commented on the reasons for his departure, and Zogby has been
unable to be reached for comment, including for this article. Spotlight PA
reported that he declined to comment about his new post.
‘Can we get a refund on school taxes?’ Readers react to
Pennsylvania schools closed through summer
THE MORNING CALL | APR 10, 2020 | 7:00
PM
Many readers are wondering if they will be
getting a school tax refund because Pennsylvania schools will remain closed for
the rest of the school year. One said: “Also from the Governor’s Office: A
school tax refund check will be distributed late summer. ... April Fools for
next year!” Buildings will be closed but because of the coronavirus pandemic,
but districts are strongly encouraged to provide instruction for students,
state officials announced Thursday. Read the story here. One reader
was hopeful, saying this generation will grow stronger from this challenge:
“There are many life lessons being learned in this time away from school."
Here are the best reader comments posted on
Facebook:
'Heartbreaking Statistic': Thanks
to Pandemic, Last Month Was First March Since 2002 Without a US School Shooting
"All it took was a pandemic and closing
all the schools."
By Eoin Higgins, staff writer Published
on Monday, April 13, 2020 By Common Dreams
The nationwide lockdown to stem the rise of
the coronavirus has had one silver lining—March 2020 was the first March since
2002 without a school shooting. "Depressing on multiple
levels," said New
York Times reporter Annie Karni. Washington Post reporter
Robert Klemko made the observation Monday morning on Twitter. "Heartbreaking
statistic," tweeted the Wall Street Journal's Robbie Whelan in
reply. Schools around the country were ordered or recommended closed in
mid-March to attempt to stem the spread of the disease, which has already
infected a reported 576,695 Americans so far and killed 23,068. "All
it took was a pandemic and closing all the schools," tweeted Bloomberg editor
Mark Gongloff. Shelter in place orders have been issued in some states and
cities, including New York City. Author and activist Naomi Klein on Monday drew
a connection between the language of both the national pandemic lockdown and
the school shooting drills children around the country take part in.
"So many abnormal normals these kids are
expected to adapt to," said Klein.
Andrea Bocelli: Music For Hope - Live From Duomo di
Milano on Easter
Youtube•Streamed live on Apr 12, 2020 Runtime
24:56
On Easter Sunday (April 12, 2020), by
invitation of the City and of the Duomo cathedral of Milan, Italian global
music icon Andrea Bocelli gave a solo performance representing a message of
love, healing and hope to Italy and the world.
Peter Gabriel - In Your Eyes (Secret World Live)
Youtube 9,897,143 views •Apr 25, 2016 Runtime
10:03
This performance of 'In Your Eyes' is taken
from Peter Gabriel's 'Secret World Live' concert film and features the late,
great Papa Wemba.
PSBA Board Presidents Panels April 27, 28, 29 and 30
(depending upon the size of your district)
This annual event supports current and
aspiring school board leaders through facilitated discussion with colleagues in
leadership. 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.
Due to current social distancing
requirements, this annual program will shift from a series of in-person
regional events to a digital platform using Zoom Meetings. Participants of each
of the four sessions will meet in small groups using virtual breakout rooms.
Experienced facilitators will guide discussions on attendees’ unique
challenges, solutions and experiences related to board leadership during the
COVID-19 school closures.
This year’s program will be organized to
group together leaders from schools of similar enrollment sizes for relevant
conversation. Members may register for one or two nights to participate in all
of the topics offered. If your district's average enrollment is above 3,500,
you are invited to join the sessions on Tuesday, April 28 and/or Thursday,
April 30. If your district's average enrollment is below 3,500, opt to join the
sessions on Monday, April 27 and/or Wednesday, April 29.
The New York Times is available to high schools across
the U.S. — for free.
Enjoy free digital access from April 6
to July 6.
Helping people understand the world has
always been the cornerstone of our mission at The Times. And as the world
continues to rapidly evolve, it’s more important than ever.
That’s why The Times is working with Verizon
to provide high schools with three free months of digital access from April 6
to July 6 — helping students stay connected to the world, even as they learn
remotely.
Request@PSBA.org: PSBA establishes
channel to answer COVID-19 questions
POSTED ON MARCH 19, 2020 IN PSBA
NEWS
In light of statewide school closings and as
the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve, PSBA is here to provide support to
members and answer questions regarding how schools will operate, meet
instructional requirements and provide services both now and in the future.
Please send your questions to request@psba.org with
your name, district and contact information. A member of PSBA staff will
respond directly or will funnel your inquires to the Pennsylvania Department of
Education. PSBA will act as your voice and ensure you receive the answers and
information you need to make decisions at this crucial time.
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.
Rescheduled: Join us for Advocacy Day in Harrisburg to support public
education Monday May 11, 2020! (subject to change)
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
Cancelled: PARSS Annual Conference April 29 – May 1, 2020
in State College
Due to current conditions caused by the
coronavirus pandemic, we have cancelled the 2020 PARSS Conference, scheduled
for April 29 through May 1, 2020. Please read our cancellation letter for
important information.
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!
Network for Public Education 2020 Conference in Philly Rescheduled
to November 21-22
NPE Website March 10, 2020 7:10 pm
We so wanted to see you in March, but we need
to wait until November!
Our conference will now take place on November
21 and 22 at the same location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Please
read the important information below.
Registration: We will be rolling over our
registration information, so there is no reason to register again. You will
be automatically registered for the November dates. If you cannot attend in
November, we ask that you consider donating your registration to absorb some of
the costs associated with rescheduling the conference. If you feel you cannot
make such a donation, please contact: dcimarusti@networkforpubliceducation.org.
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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