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
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principals, charter school leaders, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher
leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations,
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PA Ed Policy Roundup for April 8, 2020
In a country with a porous safety net, schools are often
the only public community institution where children’s needs are served.
“That schools play a central role in the lives of children,
families and communities should not be a revelation. In a country with a porous
safety net, schools are often the only public community institution where
children’s needs are served. Children must mitigate hunger, trauma and other
life challenges in order to learn and thrive.”
Wendy Lecker: A daily decay of American education during
coronavirus
Stamford Advocate By Wendy Lecker Updated 3:53 pm
EDT, Saturday, April 4, 2020
Wendy Lecker is a columnist for the Hearst
Connecticut Media Group and is senior attorney at the Education Law Center.
Health care workers across the country are
correctly being hailed as heroes during this pandemic, struggling to serve a
massive influx of patients with insufficient personal protective equipment,
ventilators and hospital beds. What should also be noted is that years of
health care policies left hospitals underprepared for this emergency, putting
health care workers and patients at risk. A relentless focus on cost cutting
and efficiency drastically reduced hospital beds, causing today’s shortage.
Allowing profit to rule in what should be a public good — health care — has
also undercut the nation’s ability to fight COVID-19. A Philadelphia hospital
serving mostly needy patients was cost-cut to closure by its owner, a private
equity firm, who then demanded the city pay $1 million a month to re-open it
during this crisis. The New York Times reported that the federal government
tried unsuccessfully to build a stockpile of ventilators, starting in 2007 by
contracting with a small company. After that company was bought out by a larger
competitor, the new owners decided the venture promised insufficient profit and
derailed the contract. Years of focus on profit and efficiency stymied the
nation in our moment of dire need. Perhaps this crisis will lead us to refocus
health care policy on the welfare of all rather than the profit of a few.
A parallel phenomenon is playing out in
public education — which is a recognized public good. As states closed public
school systems, the nation at large saw the wide range of necessary services schools
provide to students in addition to instruction. Public schools, serving 50
million students, also provide meals, health and social support essential to
child welfare and development. School districts are now attempting to deliver
instruction from a distance, but also to maintain the vital personal connection
teachers and other staff provide, especially to their most vulnerable students.
Teachers read bedtime stories online, tutor students from outside the students’
front doors and drive by students’ homes to check in. Counselors make
themselves available through any electronic means possible.
“It’s been 10 years since Lower Merion School District decided
that every student needed a laptop. Since then, as Philadelphia has struggled
through funding crises and charter school controversies, some suburban
districts have been quietly integrating online learning with the traditional
classroom experience. That leaves the students who are already online with a
massive – and unjust – advantage, Cooper said. “They had a 10-year head
start on urban and poor districts that didn’t have any money to buy technology,”
said Cooper. “That’s the root of the problem.”
Online equity would require more than Chromebooks
Wealthier districts have a "10-year head
start" on devices, online access, and virtual curriculum.
The notebook by Dale
Mezzacappa and Bill
Hangley Jr. April 7 — 4:18 pm, 2020
Some well-funded school districts in
Pennsylvania have barely missed a beat as they’ve transitioned to virtual
education after schools were closed due to COVID-19. Students have devices;
families have internet access; schools have well-established online classes and
resources. Not so in Philadelphia, where a month into the shutdown, some
students still can’t even get online. Some of those are almost certainly in
Mattie Davis’ 1st-grade class at William Dick Elementary School in North
Philadelphia. Of her 23 students, a good number of them live in Raymond Rosen
Manor, run by the Philadelphia Housing Authority. She knows that many families
do not have access to the internet. “I’m going to be on them about that,” said
Davis, and by “them,” she meant the city, the Philadelphia School District, and
the region’s internet providers. Davis grew up in North Philadelphia, still
lives there, and has taught in its schools for 29 years. She’ll soon be calling
her councilman, who happens to be City Council President Darrell Clarke, with a
message: Because traditional schooling is quite possibly finished for the year,
all of the city’s students must have the opportunity to learn online.
Crisis shows need for Pa. school funding reform: Letters
to the editor
GoErie Letter by Susan Spicka, executive
director, Education Voters of Pa. Posted at 12:03 AM
Students’ educational resources shouldn’t
depend on where they live. In his recent column (“Virus
reveals Erie-area school inequity, March 30), Ed Palattella highlighted the
differences among Erie County school districts in their ability to transition
to online instruction while their school buildings are closed to prevent the
spread of COVID-19. He noted that more affluent school districts in the county
have been better able to make the switch to virtual instruction because those
districts can afford to provide computers to students who do not have their
own. This is, of course, not unique to Erie County. There is a wide disparity
in the technology available to students across Pennsylvania’s school districts.
This is a symptom of Pennsylvania’s inadequate and uneven school funding
system. The impact goes well beyond technology, as important as that is being
shown to be during this crisis. It also shows up in differences in course
options, availability of counselors and librarians, class sizes, textbooks and
other resources and opportunities for students. Which school district a student
attends has too great a bearing on his or her access to computers and
technology, but also on so many other critical elements of their education.
Once Pennsylvania and the U.S. emerge from the current crisis, and before we
are faced with another, we must set our sights on making sure that all students
have the resources they need to achieve, no matter where they live.
“In Pennsylvania, the Sunshine Act that requires public bodies
to have open meetings is not optional. It’s pretty clear that current emergency
laws were intended to address disasters like floods, massive snowfalls or
wildfire, said Erik Arneson, the executive director of the state’s Office of
Open Records. “When you have an emergency where a key component of it is that
people need to be physically distant from each other, that is a very different
kind of emergency,” Arneson said. “Agencies are faced with a challenge because
they need to continue conducting public business.”
Open meetings are a challenge for municipalities during
coronavirus social distancing
By MICHELLE MERLIN THE MORNING
CALL | APR 07, 2020 | 2:18 PM
A much-anticipated zoning meeting about a
controversial ropes course in Upper Saucon Township was postponed from its
original date at the end of March. An Easton Area School Board meeting was held
via Zoom, a Lower Macungie commissioners meeting held in person, but no
residents were in attendance. In Upper Macungie, meeting room chairs were kept
6 feet apart, allowing for up to 19 attendees at the supervisors meeting
Thursday. Only one resident attended, while the township streamed the meeting
on YouTube. Residents could email any questions or comments to the township
secretary up until 5 p.m. of the meeting day; none were received, Robert Ibach
Jr., township manager, said in an email. A recent South Whitehall Township
meeting was held via GoToMeeting, with more than 30 people in attendance and
reminders for nonspeakers to mute their mics. Those are a few of the ways
public bodies in the Lehigh Valley are trying to navigate an open meetings law
that doesn’t clearly define how to act when everyone is shut inside.
Chris Kelly: The first of many bitter pills
Times Tribune KELLY'S WORLD / PUBLISHED:
APRIL 8, 2020
No one elected a doctor from Delaware Valley
to run the Scranton School District, but Candis Finan, Ed.D., showed Monday
that she has learned a lesson lost on generations of careless voters: Never
trust a Scranton School Board to make hard choices, let alone own those choices
when the consequences prove unpopular. Days after asking the board to vote on
whether to eliminate the district’s storied preschool program, the
state-appointed chief recovery officer decided there was no need for elected
directors to weigh in. In a statement quietly released Friday night, the board
said Finan would “exercise her authority” to eliminate the program for
3-year-olds this fall. The program for 4-year-olds will be axed in 2021.
Pittsburgh Tech companies help pay for laptops for 7,000
city students
Post-Gazette by BOB
BAUDER | Tuesday, April
7, 2020 4:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh’s technology sector is pulling
together to provide computers for more than 7,000 city school children who need
them for virtual learning during the coronavirus pandemic. The Pittsburgh
Technology Council organized a teleconference and group
chat on Tuesday where Gerardo Interiano, who heads government relations for
Pittsburgh-based self-driving vehicle company Aurora, laid out a partnership
called PGH Beyond the Laptops. Local tech companies plan to provide
$200,000 as a matching grant for computer purchases. Neighborhood Allies, a
nonprofit community development organization, is handling computer acquisition
and community fundraising. To release the grant, the organization must raise
$200,000 and is collecting donations through the Beyond the Laptops website.
“While business owners like Purkis pivot to stay afloat,
teachers in almost every district in Bucks are doing all they can to stay in
touch with students. As part of the Read to Me
Neshaminy YouTube channel, Pearl Buck Elementary School Principal
Brian Kern and Herbert Hoover Elementary Principal David Glennon have created
nearly a dozen videos so far to keep kids engaged. Along with Neshaminy,
Bensalem, Central Bucks, Pennridge and Pennsbury school districts have created
similar online centers where teachers can read to their students while each are
stuck at home.”
Businesses, teachers going online to keep kids engaged
during coronavirus pandemic
Bucks County Courier Times By Anthony
DiMattia @dailydimattia Posted
Apr 7, 2020 at 6:10 PM
Many businesses owners and educators
throughout Bucks County are keeping children engaged through alternative means
while schools and nonessential businesses are closed to help prevent the spread
of COVID-19. Bringing art into the homes of the community is personal for
Leanne Purkis. Even the closure of her Falls studio due to the coronavirus
pandemic hasn’t stopped her from sharing her passion to children interested in
learning. “I’ve always felt very strongly tied to the community, I’m not just
in it to make money,” said Purkis, holding back tears. “They’ve been wonderful,
and it’s just incredible because I feel so strongly apart of this community and
I don’t want to lose that.” Purkis is one of many businesses owners and
educators throughout Bucks County keeping children engaged through alternative
means while schools and nonessential businesses are closed to help prevent the
spread of COVID-19. Like others, Purkis has switched her focus to online
learning by offering free classes Mondays and Fridays at facebook.com/Leanne.MagicArtsStudio/. “It makes
me feel great,” she said. “People are so grateful that I’m bringing them
something to do. I’ve had a wonderful response from the community. Everyone is
so excited.” To keep her business afloat, Purkis also is offering paid classes
on Zoom accessible through magicartsstudio.com/calendar-.html that
include art kits with all the supplies needed to complete a project. ″(Parents)
are so happy just to give kids something different to do,” she said.
Bucks IU printing face masks during coronavirus school
closure
Bucks County Courier Times By Chris
Ullery @ulleryatintell Posted
Apr 7, 2020 at 9:56 AM
The area resource hub for public schools
makes the masks on 3-D printers from its mobile fabrication lab.
School might be out, but a hi-tech
fabrication lab on wheels in Bucks County isn’t idling during the coronavirus
outbreak. The Bucks County Intermediate Unit used its Mobile FAB LAB to
make 80 plastic face masks for county health care workers, with production of
hundreds more to come. The lab, one of only 50 in the country, is typically
used by area public and private schools for students to learn on its high-tech
manufacturing equipment. Lindsey Sides, the unit’s supervisor for its Science,
Technology, Engineering, Art, Math (STEAM) Education Unit, set to work on
production of personal protection equipment after contacting medical
researchers and similar mobile lab units in the country.
State College Area School District braces for revenue
shortfalls due to COVID-19 pandemic
Centre Daily Times BY
BRET PALLOTTO April 7, 2020
The sprawling economic challenges presented
by the coronavirus pandemic have the State College Area School District bracing
for revenue shortfalls. Three SCASD administrators projected the 2019-20 budget
would need to be reduced by about $2 million and expect an about $9 million
revenue shortfall for the 2020-21 budget. To make up the shortfall in the
current year’s budget, the district is planning to decrease its transfer to the
capital reserve fund significantly and use the funds instead for general operations
for the rest of the fiscal year, according to a release sent after Monday’s
board of directors meeting.
Zoom bombing: Lancaster County school boards use
videoconferencing apps despite privacy risks
Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer April 8,
2020
Penn Manor had some uninvited guests at its
school board meeting last week. Twenty minutes into the session, which was held
remotely on the videoconferencing program Zoom, a handful of users with
inappropriate names hijacked the meeting, yelling into their microphones and
causing mischief for about two minutes before the district’s director of technology
removed them. The school board was Zoom bombed – an-ever present threat school
districts face as they dramatically change their operating procedures amid the
coronavirus pandemic. School board meetings are normally held at buildings on
campus, with audience space for community members. But now, with restrictions
on gathering in one place, school boards have turned to Zoom, despite security
risks. “It was very dramatic for a very small period of time,” said Penn Manor
director of technology Charlie Reisinger, who’s now looking for an alternative
to Zoom. “There’s no airtight, perfect option,” he said. “Any human-made
software is going to have flaws. But, again, I’m looking for an alternative for
us that will maximize security for our board members and for our community.” Despite
the risks, Zoom does have its benefits. Among them: the ability to livestream
and record meetings, tally votes, take public comments, and it’s accessible for
people with disabilities.
An Unexpected Tool for Remote-Learning During
Coronavirus: Public TV Stations
Education Week By David Saleh Rauf April 6,
2020
Amid the flurry of new technologies used by
K-12 schools to fire up remote learning in recent weeks, a piece of seemingly
antiquated technology is playing a key role: the television. School districts
are getting help from an old school tech solution—television stations—that
includes a cross-country public broadcast initiative to deliver remote
e-learning activities while the unprecedented wave of school shutdowns
affecting more than 55 million students continues. On Monday, public television
stations in New Jersey and the Washington D.C., metro region started featuring
the at-home learning program, which is now set to air in all 50 states. In
other cases, school districts are producing new original educational
programming on their own local cable stations.
Charter Schools Eye Coronavirus Relief Aimed at Small
Businesses
Education Week By Evie Blad on April
7, 2020 5:00 PM
Some charter schools may qualify for programs
in the federal coronavirus relief package that aim to aid small businesses
affected by the pandemic, advocacy groups have said. But as the organizations
that manage charter schools consider applying for the aid, they've faced some
pushback from charter critics who believe those funds should be directed to
businesses—like restaurants and retail stores—that have had to close their
doors and lose revenue as the nation tries to slow the spread of the virus. It's
unclear how many charter schools, if any, have applied for the recently
launched programs, which are not options for traditional public school
districts. The discussion comes as education groups representing all
sectors suggest Congress should do more to help schools meet students' needs
during unprecedented closures due to the pandemic and to help offset
anticipated steep drops in state revenue. Groups like the National Alliance for
Public Charter Schools and state-level associations have urged charter schools, which are
independently operated and publicly funded, to consider applying for the $349
billion Paycheck Protection Program, a
short-term loan program designed to help businesses cover payroll expenses. If
recipients use the money for a qualifying purpose and avoid layoffs, those
loans will later be forgiven, essentially converting them into grants. Charter
schools may also be eligible for Economic Injury Disaster Loans created
through the $2 trillion CARES Act, the organization said in guidance on its website.
A complete list of what to do — and not do — for everyone
teaching kids at home during the coronavirus crisis
Washington Post By Valerie Strauss Reporter
April 7, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. EDT
With most of the world’s schools shut because
of the coronavirus crisis,
you can now find a lot of advice on the Internet about the best ways to carry
out distance learning at home, where more than 1.5 billion students are now
supposed to be getting their lessons. I’ve even published some, from a teacher
and former home-schooler, which you can see here. But if you
want a thorough rundown of what to do and not to do, read the following 19
strategies from renowned master educator Andy Hargreaves.
Bonnie Raitt Pays Tribute To John Prine With "Angel
From Montgomery" | 2020 GRAMMYs Performance
PSBA FAQ Sheet Regarding Closure of School Due to
Coronavirus
PSBA has compiled answers to your most
pressing questions surrounding school closures due to the #coronavirus outbreak.
View this resource here:
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
PSBA Board Presidents Panel April 27, 28 and 29; Multiple
Locations
Moving to a virtual format; details to come
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.
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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