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
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PA Ed Policy Roundup for May 22, 2020
Delaware County Teen Town Hall Virtual
Meeting Friday May 22nd 11 am
Join Congresswoman Mary Gay
Scanlon along with State Lawmakers and Students from Delaware County. CLICK HERE TO
REGISTER VIA ZOOM
‘Searching for a New Normal’: NJSBA Releases
Special Report on Reopening Schools
The New Jersey School Boards Association will
release a special report on Wednesday exploring issues facing districts when
schools reopen following the closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the two months since the COVID-19
pandemic forced the closure of our public schools, New Jersey’s education
community has made a valiant effort to transition our students to digital
learning,” said Dr. Lawrence S. Feinsod, NJSBA executive director. “Now, as we
look toward the reopening of schools, the education community faces even
greater challenges.”
“Searching
for a ‘New Normal’ in New Jersey’s Public Schools: How the Coronavirus Is
Changing Education in the Garden State” will
provide information on the safe reopening of schools, students’ mental health,
academic and extracurricular programs, budgetary issues, and preparations for
the future. NJSBA announced plans to develop the special
report on April 16. “The report draws on the viewpoints of New
Jersey’s local school officials, research by experts in education, medicine and
public health, and the experiences of other nations in reopening schools,”
explained Feinsod. “It is designed to help school districts further define
challenges in these areas and develop strategies to meet them.”
The report recommends 10 strategies for local
school districts and the state and federal governments, including the
following:
- Provide
school districts with accurate financial data reflecting the impact of the
pandemic on the New Jersey’s economy, state aid to education and school
budgets.
- Engage
in early, sustained communication with parents, students, and school
district staff about the steps being taken to ensure a healthy and safe
environment.
- Revise
plans to ensure a smooth transition to full online instruction if schools
are again closed due to health and safety considerations.
- Include
a “menu of options” in any statewide plan for the reopening of schools so
that districts can select the strategies that would work best for their
communities.
- Provide
an adequate pool of educators by enabling teacher candidates to complete
training, such as classroom observations, which was disrupted due to the
health emergency.
Other recommendations address strategies to
meet the mental health and emotional needs of students and staff; policy on the
use of personal protective equipment (PPE); modification of the state’s school
district evaluation system—the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability
Continuum—so that districts are not penalized for actions necessary to address
the pandemic; administration of tests to identify the need for remediation, and
adequate funding to provide such programs.
Kids need to go to school online. Why isn’t the internet
a public utility?
WHYY By Devren Washington May 22, 2020
Devren Washington is a senior policy
organizer at Movement Alliance Project. Devren focuses on building power in
marginalized communities to bring equity and inclusion to the people who need
it most. With a focus on digital justice, he uses his experience as a founding
member of the Philadelphia Community Bail Fund and organizer with Black Lives
Matter Philadelphia to organize directly impacted communities around issues
pertaining to technology, surveillance, and internet access.
When the coronavirus landed in Philly, we
at Movement Alliance Project worried
about the health and safety of our communities, especially around the key issue
of connectivity as life moved online. Knowing that Philadelphia has the
second-worst broadband access rate of any big city in the United States,
primarily because of poverty, we moved fast for changes in access. We pushed
Comcast — the biggest internet provider in the nation and our Philadelphia
neighbor — to make their program free, stop turning off service for nonpayment,
open public WiFi and expand data. But after the school district closed and
struggled to offer online education, we saw the dire implications become a grim
reality. The digital divide is a public health crisis, especially in the
poorest large city in the country. Our students, the unemployed, medically
vulnerable, non-English speakers, and undocumented folks need access to the
internet to receive vital information from our local and state governments and
to access social services and community resources. The public utility of the
internet is especially clear now during the pandemic when most of the city’s
official communications and resources are accessible only online.
We can’t let Harrisburg
cut funding for education or use our federal funding to meet state obligations.
Tweet from Philadelphia Schools @PHLschools
Visit http://philasd.org/fundourschools to learn
how you can TAKE ACTION TODAY! #FundOurSchools #PHLed
Lincoln High School wins 2020 Prom Challenge
Through outreach and social media, students
registered 65% of their school's eligible voters, a feat that earned them the
national recognition.
The notebook by Shayleah Jenkins May 21 —
5:53 pm, 2020
Abraham Lincoln High in Northeast
Philadelphia is among 20 high schools across the nation honored for their efforts to
register young voters through the My School Votes program, part of the When We All
Vote initiative that is sponsored by Michelle Obama and MTV. As a winner of the 2020 Prom Challenge, the
Lincoln High team will participate in a national virtual prom hosted by MTV on
Friday. The students at Lincoln distributed personalized birthday cards
and gift bags, along with voting rights information, to students just before
their 18th birthdays. Through this outreach and social media efforts, they
registered 65% of the eligible voters, a feat that earned them the national
recognition. They got involved in the registration drive through the school’s
chapter of the business and leadership club DECA. “We have a group of leaders
at our school that are very committed to taking any opportunity that is
available to them and working as a group to further that opportunity,” said
senior Doha Ibrahim, who was involved in the effort.
Draft York City school budget would ax 32 teachers
Lindsay C VanAsdalan, York
Dispatch Published 3:16 p.m. ET May 21, 2020 | Updated 4:27 p.m. ET May
21, 2020
York City School District would
eliminate 32 teaching positions next year under a preliminary budget
approved Wednesday by the school board. The cuts are part of a
$6.2 million, district-wide effort to reduce spending that includes
the elimination of 44 positions, as officials grapple with the fallout of the
COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty-two teachers from the art, music, Spanish
and physical education departments would be axed. So, too, would 10 from
the Cornerstone behavioral program. Eleven aides and an assistant
principal are also on the list of cuts. "I can say without hesitation that
this pandemic journey has been one of the most challenging experiences we have
faced or will likely ever face," said Superintendent Andrea Berry. The
draft budget also includes salary freezes for teachers and administrators. It
restructures several programs to reduce costs. The
district's Cornerstone and Restorative Justice programs would be cut
entirely. The staffing reductions alone would save about $3.7 million,
officials said. York City Education Association President Jeff Werner
urged the board not to rush into a budget plan that he said would have negative
repercussions that could last years. His statement is also listed as a petition signed by district staff on the
association's website.
Preliminary Sharon school budget OK’d
By MELISSA KLARIC Sharon Herald Staff Writer May
21, 2020 Updated 36 min ago
SHARON – Sharon City School
Board approved a preliminary 2020-21 budget that calls for spending $39.6
million, but does not set property tax rates. Superintendent Michael Calla
called the budget “a work in progress.’ The board will hold budget hearings
at 6 p.m. May 28, June 4 and June 25. Board members will devote these
sessions on closing an estimated $2 million gap between expenditures and expected
revenues. School officials received approval from the state Department of
Education to increase property taxes by more than the state-mandated maximum.
At previous meetings, school board members had previously discussed raising
taxes by as much as 6 mills, or about 7.5%. Last year, the board raised taxes
to the annual index maximum, increasing the millage to 80.01 from 77.23 mills.
A 6-mill tax increase would generate $534,000 in tax revenue. At 86.01
mills, the owner of a property with an assessed value of $10,000 would have a
tax bill of about $860. The district is allowed to increase taxes beyond the
state inflation index amount because special education costs increased by
almost $1 million from 2018-19 to the proposed 2020-21 budget. Sharon’s
cost for special education was $6,515,712 in 2018-19. For 2019-20, the
amount rose to $6,972,500, and the line item increases to $7,420,162 in
next year’s preliminary budget.
“It hasn’t been easy. Teachers and administrators said the
abrupt switch has been the biggest educational challenge they have faced. To
make things work, many have gone above and beyond figuring out ways to retool
curriculum and stay connected to students and their families.”
Hometown Heroes: For teachers, abrupt shift to remote
learning like nothing they’ve experienced, but many rising to challenge
By KATHERINE REINHARD FOR THE MORNING
CALL |MAY 19, 2020 | 7:20 PM
On a breezy afternoon, Vickie McHale, a
teacher at Mercy School for Special Learning Center in Allentown, stands on a
patio deck peering through the window of a French door. “I want to show you
what you are working for today,” says McHale, dangling two food storage bags.
“Do you to want to work for M&Ms or cheese balls?” On the other side of the
door, Gigi Kaschak, a 14-year-old with intellectual disabilities, eagerly
points to the M&Ms. “OK, M&Ms,” McHale says. For the next hour, McHale
conducts what she calls her Class Through a Glass. Using phones set on speaker
mode, class materials and candy as a motivator, McHale leads Gigi through a
series of lessons while separated by a door at the teen’s home in Fogelsville. McHale
reviews the date and weather, has Gigi trace circles and squares, mold
playdough and practice saying hi on the device she uses for communication. “Woo
woo,” McHale shouts, when Gigi correctly points to the number 12 — for May 12. McHale
came up with Class Through a Glass for her four students, all of whom have
multiple disabilities, after schools closed March 16 to curtail the spread of
the coronavirus. “It was sort of a shock to all of us because when you deal with
children with special needs it’s so much hands-on,” said McHale, a teacher for
35 years. “It sent all of us into a tizzy. How can we make this work?”
Big Spring School District plans parade for graduates
denied traditional ceremony by COVID-19
The Sentinel by Joe Cress May 21,
2020
This school year started with all the usual
senior expectations for the Big Spring High School Class of 2020. Everything
followed the time-honored path until mid-March when life was turned upside down
by the COVID-19 pandemic. School was closed. The prom was canceled. Spring
sports didn’t happen. Even graduation was in doubt. But these are Bulldogs
we’re talking about. And Bulldogs bite back. “That’s one thing about this
community,” said Scott Penner, dean of students. “We do whatever we can for the
kids. As soon as it came to be known, people got on board. It’s the least thing
we can do to support our seniors, to send them off with something unique.”Big
Spring School District has joined forces with Newville Borough to organize a
parade, rain or shine, for the Class of 2020 scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday,
June 5, the same night the seniors were supposed to have their traditional
graduation ceremony. All 204 seniors are invited to drive through town, one to
a vehicle, in their caps and gowns while spectators along the route celebrate
them. Organizers are asking the students and the public to cooperate fully with
safety protocols by wearing masks and by practicing social distancing. There
will be procedures in place that balance the need for caution with the need for
seniors to have their special day.
“But there is a card the city and Council can play here, if they
have the nerve. Consider that a private nonprofit like the University of
Pennsylvania can afford to turn down nearly $10 million in stimulus money in the middle of
a pandemic because it already has an endowment worth close to $15 billion in the bank. At times like these,
it’s hard to ignore the long-running debate over whether the city should
pursue Payments in
Lieu of Taxes, better known as PILOTs, from such
institutions.”
Now Is the Time for Penn and Philly’s Other Big-Money
Nonprofits to Pay PILOTs
The ongoing debate over what universities and
hospitals — who aren't required to pay property taxes — should be contributing
to the city's coffers gets an added wrinkle during a pandemic-triggered
economic free fall.
PhillyMag by ERNEST OWENS· 5/20/2020,
3:17 p.m.
When enjoying the classic card game of
spades, most players wait until the very end of a round to play their most
competitive hand. Those who have been dealt either a joker or the highest spade
in the deck would be wise to strategically bet their hands to secure a victory.
Missing such an opportunity could lead to your team losing the game altogether,
leaving you to ponder this saying: Scared money don’t make any
money. In a nutshell, that’s what City Council must consider as it
reviews the controversial bloodbath of municipal
cuts in Mayor Jim Kenney’s
post-coronavirus budget proposal. In trying to close the $650 million hole in the
city budget that COVID-19 is projected to create, the Kenney administration is
calling for tax hikes, layoffs, and a mass reduction of
cultural resources and services that would add up to a $649 million reduction
in his pre-coronavirus budget of $5.2 billion.
ELC is working to compile a series of resources with key
facts for families to help navigate the COVID-19 educational landscape. The
following 1-page resources are now available.
Education Law Center Website
- Arabic translation
- Mandarin translation
- Nepali translation
- Spanish translation
- Vietnamese translation
“On Friday evening, Upper Darby High School as well as Haverford
High School, joined over 40 other schools who took part in the PIAA LIGHT THE
STADIUM CAMPAIGN campaign to light their stadiums in honor of Seniors who have
had their final year of high school cut short due to Coronavirus pandemic, as
well to support of nurses, doctors, and first responders who have sacrificed
their safety to help others.”
PIAA opts for county-by-county return to high school
sports
Delco Times PETE BANNAN - MEDIANEWS GROUP May
21, 2020
The restart of high school athletics in
Pennsylvania will follow the state government’s coronavirus reopening plan, the
PIAA board agreed Wednesday. The Board of Control elected to use as a guide the
state’s reopening instructions, which allow a county-by-county status change
during the coronavirus pandemic. Under the Plan for Pennsylvania, many
counties have gone from the harshest of the three phases, the “red phase” to
the “yellow phase,” though large swathes of the Philadelphia suburbs into the
Lehigh Valley remain red. Schools can only reopen when a county or region
attains the “green phase,” and sports won't happen if schools can't open.
From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, back in March when the PIAA first
postponed and eventually cancelled winter championships, the PIAA deferred
decisions on spring sports to government oversight. The spring season was only
cancelled when Gov. Tom Wolf decreed that schools would close for the academic
year. A similar go-ahead to open schools would be required for fall sports like
football to get underway. Wednesday’s decision is an offshoot of that stance.
No reopening date has been set. Though the National Federation of State High
School Associations (NFHS) published a list of
reopening considerations this week, the PIAA
appears intent on filtering them through the lens of local governance,
including review by the PIAA’s sports medicine advisory committee.
U of California eliminates SAT, ACT as admissions
requirement
The move by one of the most influential
public systems in the U.S. deals a massive blow to testing operators.
Education Dive by Jeremy Bauer-Wolf@jbeowulf PUBLISHED
May 20, 2020
The governing board of the University of
California (UC) voted unanimously Thursday to abandon the SAT and ACT as a
condition for admission to its campuses. UC's decision represents a major
loss for testing operators, which lobbied hard for the board of regents to
preserve the requirement. The system's size and prominence in the higher
education landscape suggests its move will influence other institutions to
eliminate entrance exams. It also signals that the campaign to shift the
country's colleges away from the use of standardized tests in admissions is
advancing. Opponents of the tests have long contended they disadvantage
certain students, citing racially biased questions and a proliferation of
exhaustive tutoring, which those from impoverished backgrounds cannot afford.
UC was sued last year by advocates of students who made such arguments, but the
system's move away from the SAT and ACT does not end the lawsuits against
it. For the next several years, UC will continue to use the exams to
determine eligibility for its guaranteed admissions
program and certain scholarships, as
well as placement in some courses upon enrolling.
Too Expensive to Re-Open Schools? Some Superintendents
Say It Is
Education Week By Daarel Burnette II May 21,
2020
Kathy Granger has a difficult puzzle to
solve. As superintendent of the Mountain Empire Unified School District in
southeastern San Diego County, she’s forging ahead with plans to re-open school
buildings this fall, with a staggering and expensive mix of new health and
safety precautions because of COVID-19. With a 660-square mile district of
rugged mountain terrain that borders Baja California, Granger already spends
$1.5 million a year—7 percent of her annual budget—to bus 3,200 students to
eight schools. But to make sure kids can be spaced out enough on buses this
fall—meaning no more than 20 per bus—Granger figures she needs to quadruple the
district’s 14 bus routes a day to 56. Sticker price: $4.5 million. That
ballooning transportation cost would come just as state officials, including
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, say public schools need to hack as much as 10
percent from their current budgets. Then there’s a whole other list of new—and
rising—costs to cover: $40,000 already to buy Plexiglas for the district’s
front office, free-standing hand sanitizer machines, and handwashing stations
in campus outdoor areas where students eat lunch. “It develops a lot of
fatigue,” Granger said about trying to make ends meet. “It’s hard to see the
end game.” With drastic budget cuts on the near horizon in every state, the end
game may be keeping buildings closed. A growing number of school district
leaders say they won’t be able to afford the extraordinary efforts required to
safely reopen school buildings this fall. Instead, they are considering opening
for a few days a week or, worst case scenario, waiting to reopen buildings
until a vaccine is developed.
Lawmakers Tell Betsy DeVos Her COVID-19 Guidance Is
'Robbing Public Schools'
Education Week By Andrew Ujifusa on May
20, 2020 9:40 PM
Top Democrats for education in Congress told
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos that her guidance about
federal coronavirus relief is way out of bounds and that she should
abandon it. A letter sent Wednesday to
DeVos by the heads of two House education panels and a top member of the Senate
education committee says that through that guidance, DeVos "seeks to
repurpose hundreds-of-millions of taxpayer dollars intended for public school
students to provide services for private school students, in contravention of
both the plain reading of the statute and the intent of Congress." They
also cite analyses provided by states about the amount and share of relief aid
that would shift from public to private school students due to the
guidance. "Given that the guidance contradicts the clear requirements
of the CARES Act, it will cause confusion among States and [school districts]
that will be uncertain of how to comply with both the Department's guidance and
the plain language of the CARES Act," the letter says. It was accompanied
by a press release that says the guidance is "robbing public schools of
COVID-19 relief funding." The message from the Democrats to DeVos
cranks up the temperature still further on a heated dispute over a directive
DeVos issued a few weeks ago regarding the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic
Security (CARES) Act. In essence, the secretary's guidance—which does not have
the force of law— says districts must share CARES aid earmarked for local
schools with private school students in general, under a provision of the law
called "equitable services." Normally under the Every Student
Succeeds Act, the main federal K-12 law, only certain at-risk or failing
private school students qualify for equitable services.
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 230 PA school boards adopt charter reform
resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 230 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:
The Network for Public Education Action Conference has
been rescheduled to April 24-25, 2021 at the Philadelphia Doubletree Hotel
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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