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 April 15, 2020
COVID-19 impacts budget talks significantly, as PA
legislators head back into session
CBS21 by Andrea Finney Tuesday, April
14th 2020
HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania lawmakers
resume session Wednesday, and some are working on solutions to address state
loss amid COVID-19. Pennsylvania is estimated to lose about $4 billion in
revenue. Legislators in the commonwealth, like many others across the country,
hope Congress will pass a $500 billion stimulus package to help state and local
governments. "It's just not a state budget issue. It's going to be at the
county level and the municipal level where there's been lost revenue,"
said Sen. Jay Costa, (D) Pennsylvania Senate Minority Leader. Ideas have been
floated on how to recover additional funding. "Folks have talked to us
about the expansion of the sale and extraction tax, looking at that as a
revenue stream," Costa said. It's potentially $300 - $400 million. Taxing
marijuana could collect another $400 - $500 million. But, even with taxes,
rainy day funds, and reserves, some lawmakers believe cuts are inevitable.
The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare Pa.’s education
inequities. Here’s what to do next | Opinion
By Andrea Custis Capital-Star Op-Ed Contributor April 15,
2020
Andrea Custis is the CEO of the Urban League
of Philadelphia.
COVID-19 has impacted our economy in an
unprecedented manner, not just locally, but nationally and internationally,
grabbing many news headlines, and rightfully so. Meanwhile, with less fanfare,
COVID has brought light to gaps in our education system. COVID-19 brought
myriad business closures. Employees were forced to work from home and schools
shut the doors and sent students home. The impact of these closings has been
significant. Teachers have to develop plans to deliver remote lessons. Parents
have to plan for daily childcare, a real challenge for single parents or those
who still work every day, like healthcare and public transit workers. It
is especially difficult for low-income parents, who now have more
mouths to feed in addition to themselves. Children are home indefinitely,
robbing them of the social interactions with friends or family that help
physical and emotional development. This shift has laid bare systemic
inequities. A 2019 School District of Philadelphia study found that only 52 percent of
Philadelphia public school students in grades three to twelve had home internet
access, including only 45 percent of grades three to five. Only 46 percent of
black students and 44 percent of Hispanic students had home internet access.
Susan Spicka: We must ensure
equity in remote learning for students
TRIBUNE-REVIEW | Tuesday, April 14,
2020 11:00 a.m.
Susan Spicka is executive director of
Education Voters of PA, a statewide policy and advocacy organization that
supports strong public schools in every community.
For many Pennsylvanians, the covid-19
pandemic became real on March 13 when Gov. Tom Wolf ordered
Pennsylvania’s schools to close. The
governor’s recent announcement that schools
will not reopen this school year has
brought sadness and a deep sense of loss to students, families and educators,
who will be wholly reliant on remote education until school is out for summer. Fortunately,
the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed legislation to
provide stability and clarity for Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts. Schools
remain funded at pre-pandemic levels; school employees remain on duty for
teaching, counseling and food distribution activities; and the secretary of
Education has flexibility to respond quickly in the ever-changing environment. School
leaders and educators have been working tirelessly to transform to a new system
of remote learning. Consider the challenge — keeping fidgety first-graders
engaged, helping fourth- and fifth-graders, old enough to feel their parents’
anxiety, remain interested in science and social studies, and keeping
high-schoolers on track for graduation. We should acknowledge the urgency and
creativity of teachers and administrators responding to this challenge. We must
also acknowledge the tremendous inequities in
school districts’ ability to provide remote learning to
students in Pennsylvania’s urban and rural school districts.
Guest column: Online learning opportunities should be
equal for all Pa. students
Ambler Gazette By Tomea A. Sippio-Smith,
Public Citizens for Children and Youth April 14, 2020
Montgomery County, like the rest of the
country, is in crisis mode. In this unprecedented era, millions of students are
at home when they should be in school learning. We appreciate the efforts of
local school district leaders to ensure that our students don’t go hungry while
they are out of school. We also applaud every principal and teacher working
tirelessly to instruct our students by any means necessary to keep our students
learning. Your commitment to our children is undeniable. As the parent of two children
in Montgomery County public schools, I sincerely thank you. In contrast, we are
incensed by the harsh realities confronting many of our students as they
attempt to return to “class”. Many districts and schools in our region lack the
infrastructure and resources to educate students outside of the classroom.
While the Commonwealth has known for years that Pennsylvania has the greatest
educational disparities in the nation, it has taken a crisis to reveal what
many have already known – you can’t educate students if you don’t have the
necessary resources to do it. Not in a building and certainly not online. Not
surprisingly, when the Governor ordered schools to close, better resourced
districts like Abington, where I live, could provide families in need with
devices so that they could keep learning during the crisis while students in
districts without adequate resources or funding like Pottstown have to wait. It
didn’t have to be this way. The state of Pennsylvania has had years to remedy
this situation by adequately funding our public schools and has failed to do so
time and time again.
Bridging digital divide: Local groups work to get
computers for schools
Getting computer equipment into the hands of
students is vitally important to maintaining their education cycle
THE EDITORIAL BOARD Pittsburgh Post-Gazette APR
15, 2020 4:45 AM
With Pennsylvania’s schools officially closed
through the remainder of the academic year, the implementation of remote
learning is now the highest priority for school districts. Unfortunately, there
are thousands of students locally — and even thousands more statewide — who
don’t have access to a computer and an internet connection, tools necessary for
online instruction. It is against that backdrop that a coalition of area
nonprofits, universities and technology companies have banded together to find
a solution to this “digital divide” and bring both computers and internet
access to students who lack those important educational tools. It’s another
shining example of Pittsburgh organizations working to find solutions to the
challenges presented by the COVID-19 outbreak.
High schools across Lehigh Valley area will salute Class
of 2020 athletes, local heroes with Friday night lights
By KEITH GROLLER THE MORNING
CALL | APR 14, 2020 | 2:34 PM
Nothing galvanizes the local sports community
better than Friday night football games at area stadiums. So, in an effort to
show their support for the senior athletes who will not get to participate for
their spring sports teams due to the coronavirus pandemic and to salute the
nurses, doctors, and first responders on the front line of the COVID-19 battle,
area schools will be lighting up their stadiums between 7 and 9 p.m. Friday,
the normal hours of a high school football game in the fall. According to a
release sent out by Northwestern Lehigh Athletic Director and District 11
football chairman Jason Zimmerman, the idea came from several schools in Texas
where attending games under the Friday night lights are a way of life. The
salute is in conjunction with the national “Porch Light Campaign.” According to
Zimmerman, scoreboards will be displaying the score as 20-20 in honor of this
year’s graduating class, while 4th Down and 19 Yards to Go will be displayed as
the down and distance signifying COVID-19 is on its final down. High school sports are canceled, but Athlete
of the Week will still recognize spring athletes »
Residents are not permitted on stadium
grounds during this ceremony and should remain at home. School personnel will
be posting pictures and/or videos on their social media sites and media
coverage will be allowed.
Schools should use pandemic to teach important lessons
"Now is the time to break the rules
[and] plunge students into what will likely be the most important event of
their lifetimes."
The notebook Commentary by Huntly
Collins April 14 — 3:47 pm, 2020
Around the globe, school closures have
affected more than 1.5 billion elementary and secondary students, including
more than 202,000 in Philadelphia. As the shutdown of school buildings
stretches from days into weeks and weeks into months, the question on the minds
of many parents is not whether the lives of their children are endangered by the
COVID-19 pandemic, but whether their children will lose academic ground when
they learn online. The concern is understandable given our culture’s obsession
with academic credentials, but the worry is misplaced. A larger concern should
be whether schools are rising to their potential and making the most of the
pandemic to teach important lessons. Judging by the plans put forward by public
school systems across the country, the schools are trying to carry on as usual,
albeit by computer. They are adhering to state-mandated curricular goals,
teaching to the achievement tests aimed at measuring those goals, and taking
care to maintain retention and graduation rates. Although all of that may be
important, now is not the time to go by the rule books. Now is the time to
break the rules, plunge students into what will likely be the most important
event of their lifetimes, and come up with creative ideas for helping students
observe and explore the dramatic changes in the culture – and in their own
lives – resulting from a virus that has reached every continent in the world.
Coronavirus and Schools: “Compensatory Services” in a
Post-Pandemic World
Sweet Stevens CORONAVIRUS UPDATE Posted
on Apr 13, 2020 in Press Releases and Announcements
We have begun to receive a number of
questions concerning “compensatory services” for students with disabilities who
suffered or will suffer some loss of educational benefit as a result of the
school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The phrase—compensatory services—is
the invention of the United States Department of Education and is somewhat
misleading. Implicit in the use of the word “compensatory” is the idea that the
services in question are intended to redress some wrongdoing or error on the
part of the LEA. We tend to think of “compensatory education” as a remedy that
a hearing officer or court awards to a child and his or her parents when it
finds something lacking in the LEA’s program or placement for the child—either
in its original design or in the lack of progress it enabled the child to
realize once implemented. That is not the meaning of the phrase as USDE uses it
to describe our potential post-pandemic obligations to students with
disabilities. The purpose of “compensatory services” is not to remedy a problem
in the child’s FAPE but rather to ensure that the child remains where he or she
would have been educationally but for the interruption and disruption caused by
the pandemic-related closure of schools.
Philly teachers are being asked to donate their stimulus
checks to the needy, including some colleagues
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Updated: April
14, 2020- 6:03 PM
With steady paychecks and the ability to work
from home, teachers are among the workers likely to fare better during the
COVID-19 pandemic and related economic downturn. A group of Philadelphia
teachers and other school-based employees is calling for colleagues in a
position to do so to donate their federal stimulus checks to people in need —
including some of their fellow school staff. The Caucus of Working
Educators, a group focused on
social-justice issues within the Philadelphia Federation of
Teachers, began the campaign this week. In two days, 50 people have signed on
to hand over all or part of their portion of the federal stimulus package, said
Adam Bailey, a teacher at Hunter Elementary in North Philadelphia.
“Following are 10 key insights from our most recent survey, a
nationally representative, online poll of 1,720 educators administered April 7
and 8. Stay tuned for future survey results: Our next poll is scheduled to
launch April 22nd.”
National Survey Tracks Impact of Coronavirus on Schools:
10 Key Findings
Education Week By Holly Kurtz April 10,
2020
The disruption in K-12 education due to the coronavirus is way
more than anyone could have imagined just a couple of months ago. A system that
has relied primarily on face-to-face interactions in school buildings for
generations is now operating almost entirely virtual. That big, rapid shift has
dampened morale among both teachers and students, and it has exposed huge
equity problems in K-12 schools. At the same time, it has forced educators to
learn how to use new technologies, such as video conferencing, very quickly.
That rush to use new technologies, though, opened the doors for a wave of data
privacy and security problems, especially with the wildly popular Zoom
videoconferencing platform. The EdWeek Research Center, the research arm of
Education Week, is also pivoting quickly in this environment, conducting
twice-monthly national surveys of teachers and district leaders to help the
K-12 system navigate these unprecedented times. The surveys provide an evolving
view of how schools are addressing challenges around communication, equity,
attendance, and academic performance as well as the eventual reopening of
school buildings.
DeVos Could Recommend Waiving IDEA Protections
Disability Scoop by Michelle Diament |
April 13, 2020
As schools remain closed due to COVID-19,
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is weighing whether they should be
temporarily freed of some of their special education obligations. DeVos must
decide in the coming weeks whether to recommend that Congress allow portions of
special education law to be waived in response to the coronavirus pandemic. As
part of the stimulus bill passed in
late March, DeVos was given 30 days to issue a report to Congress with
recommendations for any waivers she believes are necessary under the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to “provide limited flexibility” to
states and school districts during the emergency. DeVos is not authorized under
the law to issues waivers — that would require further action from federal
lawmakers — but the report could be a first step toward that end. Disability
advocates are resoundingly opposed to opening up any waiver authority, which
they say would be unprecedented.
The Coronavirus Just Might End School Privatization
Nonsense
The pandemic has boosted appreciation for
public schools. The next step is greater funding
Education Week Opinion By Diane Ravitch April
10, 2020 | Corrected: April 13, 2020
The vast majority of the nation’s
schoolchildren are out of school because of the deadly coronavirus. Parents are
frantically trying to figure out how to keep their children engaged in
learning, and many districts are providing online instruction or recommending
resources for lessons. After teaching her two children for a week, Shonda
Rhimes, the creator and producer of hit TV shows, tweeted, “I think teachers
should be paid a billion dollars a year. Or a week.” Another parent forced into
homeschooling joked, “Is there any way I can get one of my children transferred
to someone else’s class?” Most parents don’t feel qualified to teach their
children at home, especially since museums, libraries, and other public spaces
are also closed. They don’t long to be home schoolers; they long for schools to
reopen. It turns out that parents and students alike really appreciate their
local schools, really respect their teachers, and can’t wait for schools to
restart.
Court Strikes Down Trump Rollback of School Nutrition
Rules
A federal district judge has ruled that the Agriculture
Department’s regulation easing sodium and whole-grain standards in school meals
violated regulatory law.
New York Times By Lola
Fadulu April 14, 2020
WASHINGTON — A federal court has struck down
a 2018 Agriculture Department rule that reversed nutrition standards for sodium
and whole grains in school meal programs once championed by the former first
lady Michelle Obama. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland vacated the rule, concluding
that it violated the Administrative Procedure Act because the 2018 rule
differed significantly from the administration’s 2017 interim rule setting up
the final standards. The school breakfast and lunch rule is only the latest in
a series of Trump administration regulations that have been struck down for
violating the legal procedures that Congress set out for approving new regulations.
“The court concludes that the rule is not inconsistent with federal law, it
does not reflect unexplained and arbitrary decision making, it does not
represent an unacknowledged and unexplained change in position, and the
U.S.D.A. appropriately responded to public comments,” ruled U.S. District Judge
George J. Hazel, a nominee of President Barack Obama. “The court does find,
however, that the final rule is not a logical outgrowth of the interim final
rule, so it must be vacated.”
NSBA: Responding to the Coronavirus
NSBA continues to diligently monitor the coronavirus
pandemic and its impact on schools, students, and everyone across the country. We
advise public schools and education leaders to follow federal, state, and local
health authorities’ guidelines on current measures to prevent and respond to
the coronavirus. Below you will find resources and information that we hope you
will find helpful. We will continue to update this page as new resources and
information become available.
Billie Holiday - April In Paris (1956)
Youtube Runtime: 3:02
You can watch the Philadelphia Orchestra as it celebrates
Beethoven's birthday
Delco Times Apr 13, 2020
As part of the ongoing celebration of
Beethoven in his 250th birth year, and as part of the Virtual Philadelphia
Orchestra’s growing catalogue of content, Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin
and The Philadelphia Orchestra will offer a week of BeethovenNOW programming
April 13–18. New and previously unreleased content will be part of the
Orchestra’s three virtual endeavors — WATCH, LISTEN, LEARN — and will be
available at www.philorch.org/virtual. The
Virtual Philadelphia Orchestra is generously funded, in part, by the William
Penn Foundation. Audiences can watch a specially curated program of chamber
music performed by members of The Philadelphia Orchestra from their homes April
16, at 8 p.m. Violinists Julia Li and Christine Lim, violist Che-Hung Chen, and
Assistant Principal Cello Yumi Kendall will perform the first movement of
Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 6; First Associate Concertmaster Juliette Kang,
violist Burchard Tang, Associate Principal Cello Priscilla Lee, Principal Horn
Jennifer Montone, and Associate Principal Horn Jeffrey Lang will perform the
first movement of Beethoven’s Sextet in E-flat major, Op. 81b; Kang, Tang, and
Lee will also perform Beethoven’s Serenade in D major, Op. 8; and Concertmaster
David Kim and pianist Jeffrey DeVault will perform Beethoven’s Violin Sonata
No. 1, Op. 12, No. 1.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.