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PA Ed Policy Roundup for May 15, 2020
Michigan court rules students have a constitutional right
to a ‘basic’ education, including literacy
Blogger note: I watched the Bucks County event last week; the
students were eloquent. A similar event is being planned with Delaware County
teens and legislators on May 22nd at 11 am. We’ll keep you posted.
PCCY'S MONTGOMERY COUNTY VIRTUAL TEEN TOWN HALL with
Congresswoman Madeline Dean - May 15th at 11 AM
Congresswoman Madeleine Dean will join State
Lawmakers from Montgomery County to hear from students experiencing
firsthand the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on their education. Please don’t miss this virtual TEEN TOWN HALL, allowing
students a platform to discuss challenges facing their public schools during
COVID-19 shutdown. Decisions on stimulus legislation and budgets are being made
now and all voices matters!
After registering, you will receive a
confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Michigan settles suit after landmark right to read ruling
Lancaster Online By COREY WILLIAMS Associated
Press May 14, 2020 Updated 11 hrs ago
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — Gov. Gretchen
Whitmer will ask the Michigan Legislature to provide at least $94.4 million to
Detroit's public schools to settle a lawsuit that describes the city's schools
as “slum-like” and incapable of delivering access to literacy. The settlement
agreement was signed Thursday and comes weeks after a federal appeals
court issued a groundbreaking decision recognizing
a constitutional right to education and literacy. Under the settlement, Whitmer
must propose legislation to fund literacy-related programs and other
initiatives for the Detroit Public Schools Community District. The state must
also provide $280,000 to be shared by seven students named as plaintiffs in the
lawsuit, to be used for a high-quality literacy program or other ways to
further their education. The state also agreed to provide about $2.7 million to
the district to fund literacy projects. Education advocates have been trying
for decades to win a case like this, said Derek W. Black, law professor at the
University of South Carolina. “The kids in Detroit finally won,” he said. “Now
we have precedent. The principle in this case is so important to not only the
children in Detroit, but also to the hopes of children elsewhere.” Whitmer will
ask the Michigan Department of Education to advise school districts statewide
on their strategies, initiatives and programs to improve literacy, with special
attention to reducing class, racial, and ethnic disparities.
Michigan settles historic lawsuit after court rules
students have a constitutional right to a ‘basic’ education, including literacy
Washington Post By Valerie Strauss May
14, 2020 at 12:50 p.m. EDT
(This post was updated with details of
settlement)
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) settled a
historic lawsuit early Thursday after a federal appeals court’s ruling that
students in the low-performing Detroit school system have a constitutional
right to expect to learn to read and write in their public schools. Whitmer’s
office announced the settlement with plaintiffs in the lawsuit — known as Gary
B., et al. v. Whitmer, et al. — filed on behalf of students in some of
the lowest-performing schools in the long-troubled Detroit Public Schools
system. Their underlying case was based on the due-process and equal-protection
clauses of the 14th Amendment. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
ruled 2 to 1 last month in favor of the students, a decision that sent the
lawsuit filed against Michigan state officials in 2016 back to a federal judge
in Detroit who had dismissed it in 2018. With the settlement, the legal case is
over. The U.S. Supreme Court has never decided the issue of whether the
Constitution provides a fundamental right to “a basic minimum education,” and
advocates for the plaintiffs were concerned the high court, now with two
justices nominated by President Trump, would not uphold the appellate decision.
PA Receives $523 Million in One-Time Federal Emergency
Funds to Support Schools
BCTV May 14, 2020
Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf
announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has approved
Pennsylvania’s application for $523.8 million in one-time federal emergency
funds to help schools respond to COVID-19 impacts. “Our schools and educators
have been working tirelessly to help students and their families during this
crisis,” said Governor Wolf. “These efforts must be paired with investments
that reflect the unprecedented scale of this challenge. USDE’s approval of
Pennsylvania’s application is an important first step in securing those
investments.” The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) submitted its
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund application to
USDE last week. Beginning today, local education agencies (LEAs) can apply to PDE to receive their allocation of
the funding and can expect to start receiving funds
within the next several weeks. “As educators, our top priority has always been
to ensure the health and safety of staff and students,” said Secretary of
Education Pedro A. Rivera. “The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented
change to our school communities, and school leaders across the state have
stepped up to ensure students and families continue to be served. These funds
will provide vital assistance during this critical time.” Under the
federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, at least 90
percent, or $471 million, of the funds will flow through to traditional public
schools and charter schools. Each entity will receive an amount proportional to
federal Title I-A funds received in 2019 under the Every Student Succeeds Act
(ESSA).
Letter to the editor: Addressing school injustices
Letter by Cheryl Kleiman, South Side TRIBUNE-REVIEW | Friday,
May 15, 2020 5:00 a.m.
The writer is staff attorney for the
Pittsburgh-based Education Law Center.
The article “School districts plan summer learning,
fearing learning loss from time outside classroom” (May
5, TribLIVE) highlighted the huge toll that school closures have on students’
learning and well-being. For many students of color and students living in
poverty, public schools may be the only place they can turn to for meals,
physical and mental health care, and social supports. While our schools try to
rise to the challenge, the pandemic illustrates again how students with the
highest needs are too often shortchanged by Pennsylvania’s unfair school
funding system. These are injustices that our organization, the Education Law
Center, has been highlighting and challenging for years — as has the statewide
PA Schools Work coalition. Getting students through this crisis is going to be
a struggle, but we cannot neglect to address the underlying inequities.
Structural racism is baked into our employment, health, housing and education
systems, denying equal opportunities. Addressing these challenges will take a
true movement, where schools and communities come together. It will require
that public education be fully and equitably funded. The emergency school aid
committed to date is far less than what’s needed to address the costs of the
pandemic and replace plunging tax revenues. Let’s remind state and federal
leaders to invest in this vital public good now so students emerge from this
crisis attending schools that are more just.
Drive-through diplomas, time slots for the stage: Schools
revamp graduations amid pandemic
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna and Kristen A. Graham, Updated: May
15, 2020- 5:00 AM
“Pomp and Circumstance” will still play over
a loudspeaker at Ridley High on graduation day, but there will be no students
marching across the Delaware County school’s football field. Instead, on June
9, students will join a different procession: a parade of cars circling the
school’s parking lot, carrying students who will collect their diplomas from
masked administrators as their names are announced. The event will likely take
hours, with time slots so not all 470 seniors arrive at the same time, said
principal Ken Acker, who struggles to call the event graduation. “It’s so
different,” he said. Across the country, traditional high school graduations
have been scuttled by the coronavirus. In the Philadelphia region, with
stay-at-home orders still in place, schools are wrestling with how to graduate
students whose final year has been transformed by the pandemic. With state
guidance shifting rapidly, schools are getting creative — and some are pushing
back, asking those in power to reconsider bans of in-person graduations and
other senior gatherings.
EDITORIAL: Thumbs up for creativity in high school
graduations
York Dispatch Editorial Board Published 5:03
a.m. ET May 15, 2020
Thumbs up to the
principals, teachers, students and families working to create a special time
for high school graduates this year. During this unprecedented pandemic spring,
local high schools are faced with a dilemma: With no way to hold a traditional
commencement ceremony for hundreds of graduating seniors, what is the next best
thing? Local school districts are coming up with creative solutions.
Susquehannock High
School plans to hold a traditional graduation
ceremony on Aug. 7, with the hope that by then we will be in a more normal
situation and the graduates will be able to all come together for a final
hurrah before heading their separate ways. "Our goal and our focus
was to do everything we could possibly do to celebrate this class,"
Southern York Superintendent Sandra Lemmon said, adding students thought
there was a better chance York County would be "in green" by then.
West York is
opting for videos of individual graduations that will be released on the
original commencement date of June 5, with an in-person cap-tossing at the
homecoming game next fall for all graduates who can attend.
Northeastern is
planning to bring graduates to the stadium with their families individually on
May 29, with graduates' names showing on the scoreboard and photo ops set up. A
reunion for the class is being planned for next spring. "We miss you
terribly, and this isn’t the way we wanted it to go," Northeastern
principal Matthew Gay said.
Some seniors are saying Red Lion's plan to have a
virtual graduation slideshow without bringing students to the campus, paired
with an "open house" June 19 if it's possible, won't suffice. More
than 1,200 signatures had been added to a Change.org petition by Thursday
afternoon calling for a more meaningful ceremony. While that doesn't sound
anything like the usual pomp that surrounds a high school commencement, it is
at least an attempt to bring students together for their event during this most
unprecedented graduation season.
A bittersweet celebration after a 'really strange year':
Here's what Penn Manor's semi-virtual commencement looks like
Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer May 15,
2020
Walking toward the stage draped in his cap
and gown with “Pomp and Circumstance” playing in the background, this almost
felt like a traditional commencement for Penn Manor High School senior John
Harrold. Almost. Tradition began to dissolve when his high school principal
greeted him wearing a Philadelphia Eagles mask covering half his face. And the
song Harrold heard came not from a loudspeaker but a smartphone his brother,
trailing closely behind him, held over his head. Harrold isn’t one to be
sentimental. So his brother, Paul Harrold, 23, felt the need to step in. “That’s,
I think, how we show love,” Paul Harrold said after the ceremony. “So it’s all
about being like, ‘Hey, proud of you,’ and also like, ‘You thought you could
escape a real graduation. Well, I’m gonna embarrass you right now.” John
Harrold and about 364 other seniors will graduate from Penn Manor this year,
but, because of the coronavirus pandemic and its unprecedented influence, their
commencement ceremony shifted to a semi-virtual format. Penn Manor was
the first to announce the
move. Schools throughout the county have since announced traditional commencement
alternatives. Beginning Wednesday, Penn Manor
seniors and their families, by appointment, came to Comet Field, just down the
road from the high school in Millersville, and participated in the in-person
portion of the ceremony. They walked across the stage with a diploma, recorded
a video message for those who have supported them over the years, and took
pictures with family and friends. The district will compile the footage into a
video available to watch on May 28.
School District of Philadelphia to host virtual
graduation for Class of 2020
Special to the Capital-Star By Chanel
Hill May 14, 2020
Chanel Hill is a reporter for the
Philadelphia Tribune, where this story first appeared.
The School District of Philadelphia will hold
a virtual graduation ceremony for the senior class of 2020. “We know that no
virtual program will ever replace the live senior experience of prom and
graduation, but we’re doing all that we can to honor those seniors that have
worked so hard,” Superintendent William Hite said Thursday. The ceremony will
be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 9, and will be broadcast across a number of
platforms including PSTV and the district’s social media accounts. The ceremony
will include a keynote speaker, remarks from Mayor Jim Kenney and several
students, an original performance by a senior, and a collage showing some
special moments from the senior class. The district also will host a virtual
after party from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Hite said the district will announce more
details in the coming weeks.
Who’s showing up for school during the pandemic? In
Philly, it’s just over half of students.
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Updated: May
14, 2020- 9:16 PM
In the Philadelphia School District’s first
week of graded teacher-led instruction since schools were shut down in March by
the pandemic, 57% of students participated in school remotely, officials said
Thursday. At the elementary-school level for the week of May 4, fewer than half
of students logged on, completed paper packets, or otherwise showed evidence of
participation — 48% of students in K-8 schools were marked present. In middle
and high schools, the figure was 73% of students participating. An analysis of
district data show that for the 2018-19 school year, for all schools, average
daily attendance was 92%. District chief of staff Naomi Wyatt, who presented
the pandemic participation data at a school board committee hearing Thursday
night, said she did not believe the numbers were a full reflection of student
efforts. In some cases, students making contact with school staffers other than
their teachers were not captured, Wyatt said. “It’s important to note that this
is early participation data. It’s not fully representative of student
participation,” said Wyatt. She said the process is new, and teachers and staff
are still learning.
Just over half of Philly students participating in school
online, early data says
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent May 14,
2020
Just over half of students in the School
District of Philadelphia have participated so far in online learning, far less
than attend school under normal circumstances. But officials say the data could
be heavily influenced by the way educators are recording it. According to
preliminary data presented Thursday to a school board subcommittee, 57% of
students participated in remote learning at some point last week — which was
the first week of graded, online instruction in Philadelphia’s traditional
public schools. Participation was better in middle- and high-schools, where 73%
of students logged on at some point during the week of May 4-8. In the
district’s K-8 schools, only 48% of students participated. Participation could
be registered in a “variety of ways” said Naomi Wyatt, the school district’s
chief of staff, “including by text, phone call, sending pictures of work or
entering the Google Classroom.” District leaders attributed the difference to
the way participation is logged at different grade levels. Older students can
mark themselves present, while the participation of younger students must be
logged by teachers.
Pittsburgh City schools still uncertain about reopening
and preparing 'multitude' of options for fall
ANDREW GOLDSTEIN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette agoldstein@post-gazette.com MAY 14,
2020
The Pittsburgh Public Schools is preparing
for the possible return of students in the fall, but it remains unclear if
in-person instruction will happen. Superintendent Anthony Hamlet said Thursday
during a video conference that the district was waiting for more guidance from
the state before making major decisions on what schools may look like in the
fall. “There is an expectation [that schools will reopen], but we don’t
know,” Mr. Hamlet said. “We’re preparing for full online implementation of a
robust synchronous environment if need be, but we’re also preparing for
brick-and-mortar and possible scenarios in between.” Pedro A. Rivera,
Pennsylvania’s secretary of education, said earlier this week that he expects
schools to reopen in the fall in some form. He said the Department of Education
was working to create strategies that schools can use to keep students and
staff safe amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Hamlet said the district has
considered splitting student schedules and using partial in-person and remote
instruction as potential methods to bring students back in the fall. “We’re
looking at a multitude of scenarios right now to make sure that we’re prepared
to respond once we get those guidelines,” he said.
East Penn School District cuts costs to balance near $6M
budget shortfall
Louis Gombocz May 12,
2020 Updated May 12, 2020
EMMAUS, Pa. -- The East Penn School District
is trying to figure out how to fill a nearly $6 million budget shortfall for
the upcoming school year. During its virtual meeting Monday night, the school
board discussed a possible 1.5% school tax hike. The district is also cutting
its payroll by not replacing retiring teachers and staff. District
Superintendent Kristin Campbell said because of the COVID-19 pandemic, East
Penn's budget for its 2020-21 fiscal year, which begins in July, is different
right now from what it was just two months ago. "Cuts are difficult
especially when you're trying to preserve the quality of student
programs," she remarked. Specifics on the near $1.2 million in payroll
costs include not replacing three elementary school teachers, most likely
resulting in larger class sizes for fourth and fifth grades. At the high school
level, four teaching positions will not be replaced, in addition to further
reductions in support staff, Campbell said. She also said out-of-town
conferences for teachers will be cut next year, eliminating associated travel
and substitute teacher expenses. However, since the schools closed in mid-March
this year because of the pandemic, the maintenance department work planned for
over the summer months has already been completed this spring, Campbell pointed
out. Other initial attempts rounding out the first phase of cuts include
reductions of $500,000 each in the capital reserves and "rainy day"
general fund accounts, according to Campbell and Robert Saul, business
administrator. He explained how the district could save another $950,000 next
year by restructuring its bond debt. He said that would not affect its capital
projects lineup.
Polito freezes own pay as Erie schools brace for crisis
GoErie By Ed
Palattella @etnpalattella Posted
May 13, 2020 at 6:56 PM
Superintendent volunteers to forgo hike as he
raises the possibility of seeking labor concessions to counter virus fallout.
The pandemic’s financial impact has prompted
Erie School District Superintendent Brian Polito to make an unusual move
regarding his own salary. He froze his pay for 2020-21. At Polito’s request,
the Erie School Board on Wednesday unanimously amended Polito’s contract to
eliminate the 2% pay raise that he was automatically to receive effective July
1. The change comes as Polito has said the Erie School District likely will seek to negotiate wage
freezes with its 1,273 employees to offset
losses due to lower tax collections and other revenue drops related to the
financial fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak. “I cannot in good conscience ask
our employees for wage concessions and at the same time accept an increase of
my own,” Polito said in an interview. Hired as superintendent in 2017, Polito
got a new five-year contract in 2018 with a base
salary of $180,336. The contract, which the School Board approved, tied his
annual salary increases to the annual increases for the members of the Erie
Education Association teachers’ union, though Polito’s annual increase cannot
exceed 2%, no matter what the EEA members receive.
Millcreek School Board votes to furlough school aides
GoErie By Valerie
Myers @etnmyers Posted
May 14, 2020 at 12:03 AM
The district does not plan a 2020-21 tax
increase. Cuts to occur when schools reopen.
The Millcreek Township School District’s
proposed 2020-21 budget is a collection of moving parts. But one cost-cutting
measure is settled. School directors voted 6-3 Monday to furlough eight
attendance aides and a central administration office secretary when schools
reopen. Emergency legislation approved by unanimous vote of the state House
and Senate in March requires school districts to
continue to employ and pay all staff members while schools remain closed due to
the coronavirus. The cuts will go into effect when Millcreek school buildings
reopen. Technology rather than staff will track attendance when the schools
reopen, said co-acting schools Superintendent Aaron O’Toole, who doubles as the
district’s director of finance and operations. “There are scanners that kids
might use to scan their IDs. Parents also will have the ability to upload
absences online through our student information system,” he said. Several
school directors objected to furloughing attendance staff, including some who
also handle cafeteria duties and other work. “I think we’re making a mistake by
always aiming at the front line where students are,” Shirley Winschel said. “I
think taking away people at the front line is a mistake. I know cuts are
painful no matter where they are made, but front-line cuts directly affect kids
and teachers.”
Harrisburg School District officials talk about
distancing learning for the following year
WHP by Asia Tabb Thursday, May 14th 2020
HARRISBURG, PA. — Parents and students
are concerned about the upcoming school year and what learning will look like
moving forward. Governor Wolf closed all Pennsylvania schools in mid-march amid
coronavirus concerns, leading to the start of distance learning. The district
provided computers for all students in grades 9-12, in the beginning of April. "Really
our push right now over the next couple of weeks is to finish our technology
device distribution roll out. We did receive a grant from the PA Department of
Education, "said Chris Celmer, Acting Superintendent. The school district
was awarded a Department of Education Equity Grant that totaling, $261,582 that
will help with learning over the summer break. "Our plan is to hopefully
do some enrichment activities virtually over the summer to keep our students
more engaged and we want them prepared at the end of August. If we have to have
a platform where there's a virtual component to it that the devices are in
their hands and we're ready to go immediately, "said Celmer. Meanwhile,
the district is also working to make sure students have internet access for
those devices. "It is our understanding there may be conversations to
federal level regarding Erate program and maybe being more lenient to support
hotspots and those types of initiatives for school districts, "said
Celmer. He adds, he's looking into ways to help students and parents transition
back into the classroom should schools open for the fall.
Philly students can now officially change their school
district names, thrilling LGBTQ advocates
The move is an unexpected side effect of the
switch to remote learning.
Billy Penn by Michaela Winberg Yesterday, 9:30 a.m.
Students in Philadelphia can now officially
change their first names and pronouns in the school district system without
parental consent, solving a longstanding hurdle for many queer teens. While
teachers will use alternate names if advised during roll call, the district has
always maintained the legal monikers in its records. Before now, there’s been
no clear way to change that, leading to the kind of misidentification that’s
been shown to fuel depression and suicidal thoughts. On
Tuesday, in a move spurred by remote learning, school officials sent an email
to principals informing them students can now make a system-wide name change. “For
transgender and gender nonconforming students, the challenge to participate in
Google Classroom is real as their dead name appears on the screen for all to
see and the student to feel the negative impact,” the district’s letter reads. “All
students, even those under 18, have the right to change their name in our
district’s student information system, and thus in all of our systems that
receive data from the SIS, without parental consent and without a court order.”
The issue became apparent in the online learning system adopted during
quarantine. Even if a teacher is cooperative, the student’s dead name is still
displayed constantly in the Google Classroom system — right next to a student’s
face while they’re participating via video chat.
Blogger note: Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Foundation is one of
the pro-voucher groups listed.
50 pro-voucher groups
sent a letter to the Hill asking for a 50% tax credit for families that send their
kids to private schools or a change to tax law allowing tuition payments to
private schools to be considered a charitable tax deduction.
Tweet from Sasha Pudelski AASA @SPudelski May
14, 2020
DeVos Funnels Coronavirus Relief Funds to Favored Private
and Religious Schools
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, using
discretion written into the coronavirus stabilization law, is using millions of
dollars to pursue long-sought policy goals that Congress has blocked.
New York Times By Erica
L. Green May 15, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos
is using the $2 trillion coronavirus stabilization law to throw a lifeline to
education sectors she has long championed, directing millions of federal
dollars intended primarily for public schools and colleges to private and
religious schools. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic
Security Act, signed in late March, included $30
billion for education institutions turned upside down by the pandemic
shutdowns, about $14 billion for higher education, $13.5 billion to elementary
and secondary schools, and the rest for state governments. Ms. DeVos has used
$180 million of those dollars to encourage states to create “microgrants” that
parents of elementary and secondary school students can use to pay for
educational services, including private school tuition. She has directed school
districts to share millions of dollars designated for low-income students with
wealthy private schools.
Adopt the 2020 PSBA resolution for charter school funding
reform
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.
Over 220 PA school boards adopt charter reform
resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 220 school boards across the state have adopted a resolution
calling for legislators to enact significant reforms to the Charter School Law
to provide funding relief and ensure all schools are held to the same quality
and ethics standards. Now more than ever, there is a growing momentum from
school officials across the state to call for charter school funding reform.
Legislators are hearing loud and clear that school districts need relief from the
unfair funding system that results in school districts overpaying millions of
dollars to charter schools.
The school boards from the following
districts have adopted resolutions calling for charter funding reform.
Know Your Facts on Funding and Charter Performance. Then
Call for Charter Change!
PSBA Charter Change Website:
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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