Started in November 2010, daily postings from the Keystone State
Education Coalition now reach more than 4050 Pennsylvania education
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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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VOTE Today: Polls are open until 8:00 p.m.
Pennsylvania Primary 2020: Your guide to the June 2
presidential and statewide elections
By Capital-Star Staff May 21,
2020
Pennsylvania’s primary election is a little
more than two weeks away. And if we know one thing about it, it’s that it’s
going to look like no election we’ve seen in our lifetime. Thanks to the
COVID-19 pandemic, every rite of campaign season that we’ve long taken for
granted: Candidates knocking on doors; giant stadium and outdoor rallies;
debates and parties have all been scrapped. Instead, we’ve been deluged with
emails, invited to Zoom meetings, and watched as candidates campaigned from
home through Facebook Live, YouTube, or other social channels. This year, the
way we vote will also be different. County officials are expecting a flood of
mail-in ballots. And because of the pandemic, counties are moving to
consolidate their polling places — and we’ll be tackling that very complicated
subject in a separate story here: But there’s one thing about campaigns and
elections that never changes: A bushel basket of candidates all looking for
your vote. From the highest office in the land — president of the United States
— to a contest for a statewide row office and the General Assembly,
Pennsylvanians face no shortage of choices. That’s why we’ve put together this
guide to help you make up your mind as Election Day closes in.
PA Department of State – Voter Services Website
Questions about today’s election?
Wolf extends deadline to receive mail-in ballots in
Allegheny, five other counties
Beaver County Times By J.D.
Prose @jdprose Posted
Jun 1, 2020 at 8:57 PM
Gov. Tom Wolf has extended the deadline for
election offices in six counties, including Allegheny, to receive mail-in
ballots. Voters in six Pennsylvania counties, including Allegheny, will have an
additional week to turn in their mail-in ballots via an executive order signed
by Gov. Tom Wolf, but they still need to get them in the mail Tuesday. “I can’t
do anything about Election Day, but I am extending the time to actually get
votes in,” Wolf said during a sidewalk press conference Monday in Philadelphia
after he visited areas of the city hard hit by rioting in recent days. According
to a subsequent statement from Wolf’s office citing the COVID-19 pandemic and
“civil disturbances,” Allegheny, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Montgomery and
Philadelphia election offices now have until 5 p.m. June 9 to receive absentee
or mail-in ballots, but the ballots must be postmarked by June 2. The deadline
for hand-delivered ballots remains 8 p.m. June 2. Mail-in ballots were
initially due to election offices by 8 p.m. Tuesday when polling places closed
for the primary. The change means election results in those six counties will
be delayed for at least a week as officials wait for ballots to arrive. About
1.8 million Pennsylvanians have applied for mail-in ballots during the
pandemic, including about 1.3 million Democrats and 500,000 Republicans. “This
is an unprecedented time for Pennsylvania and our nation as we face a major
public health crisis and civil unrest during an election,” Wolf said in the
statement. “Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy and I want to ensure
that voters can cast their ballot and that it is received in time.”
Pa.’s revenues take another coronavirus blow in May,
falling $440 million short of expectations
Bucks County Courier Times By Charlotte
Keith, Spotlight PA Posted Jun 1, 2020 at 3:18 PM
Just over half of the shortfall was due to
the economic slowdown caused by efforts to contain the outbreak.
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s tax revenues
dropped 17% below official estimates in May, new figures from the state
Department of Revenue show, as the economic fallout from the coronavirus
continues to wreak havoc on the state’s finances. Just over half of the roughly
$440 million shortfall was due to the economic slowdown caused by efforts to
contain the outbreak. The rest represents revenues that have been delayed due
to the extension of several tax deadlines, and which the state expects to
collect later in the summer. The deadline for paying personal income tax has
been pushed back from April to July, shifting more than $1 billion of revenue
into the next fiscal year. The shifts mean that a clearer picture of the
pandemic’s effect on the state’s finances won’t emerge until later in the year,
Revenue Secretary Daniel Hassell said in a news release. Revenues from sales
taxes have taken a hit since March, when Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all but
“life-sustaining” businesses to cease their physical operations in an effort to
slow the spread of the virus, and urged Pennsylvanians to stay home. The
uncertainty around how badly the state’s bottom line will be affected prompted
lawmakers last week to swiftly pass a stopgap budget that provides five months
of flat funding for most state agencies, and school funding for a full year.
Wolf signed the measure Friday.
SDHT Response to Recent Events
School District of Haverford Township Website
June 1, 2020 8:33 PM
At this time in our nation’s history, we find
ourselves experiencing profound sadness, grief, and a sense of loss that is
combined with a feeling of deep concern. We too, as members of this township,
are outraged by the death of Mr. George Floyd and our thoughts remain with his
family. His death is a tragic reminder that there is still so much work to be
done around bias, equity, and systemic racism. It is as much a time for
introspection as it is for positive action, for each of us as individuals and
for our society.
Although we are not together in person, our
support for our students and families never wanes. Children might be
seeing images and videos on the news that are painful to watch and
difficult to process. Children by nature are curious and ask important
questions, and are often willing to engage in the sometimes difficult, yet
necessary conversations that these times call for.
To help families guide their discussions and
assist parents/guardians in supporting their children, please see some of these
resources. We also encourage you and our students to reach out to our
counselors who are working collaboratively with our staff on resources to
support our schools.
- National
Geographic: Talking to Kids About Race
- Parent
Toolkit - How to Talk to Kids about Race and Racism
- Affirming
Black Boys outside the Context of Police Brutality
- 31
Children's books to support conversations on race, racism, and resistance
- Talking
to Children About Tragedies & Other News Events
- Discussing
Hate and Violence with Children
A core goal of the School District of
Haverford Township is to achieve a common understanding and practice among all
staff and students that our school environment must be supportive, inclusive,
and safe for all. To ensure that every member of our school community
feels included, respected, and valued, we continue to build on our Belonging and
Sociocultural Identity in Schools (BASIS) work.
There is no end or checklist for this work. We are committed to building and
rebuilding our school communities so that our larger society and indeed our
nation can build and rebuild.
Haverford Township is a community that is
woven street by street, classroom by classroom, child by child. We remain
steadfastly committed to the work of equity, eliminating bias, dignity,
respect, and appreciation for each person in our schools and in the
greater community. Together, as a Haverford community, we can weave a future
that every child deserves.
Sincerely,
Dr. Maureen Reusche, Superintendent
Mr. Lawrence A. Feinberg, School Board President
Dr. Maureen Reusche, Superintendent
Mr. Lawrence A. Feinberg, School Board President
Hite calls for “difficult conversations” in Philly schools
around systemic racism
He encouraged teachers to reach out to
students and for families to utilize the Philly HopeLine for emotional support.
The notebook by Dale
Mezzacappa June 1 — 7:27 pm, 2020
As the city remains convulsed in protest
following the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, Superintendent William
Hite joined Mayor Jim Kenney and other city officials Monday to say that “our
school communities are in mourning right now,” and that educators stand ready
to help students in any way they can. He also said that it may be time for
“difficult conversations” in schools, apparently referring to systemic racism
and inequity that many Philadelphia public school students live with every day.
“It goes without saying that this has been an extremely painful week, and a
challenging few months for us all. As an African American man, a grandfather, a
father, I understand the hopelessness that individuals acted upon this
weekend,” Hite said in a brief statement. “And I’m aware of the trauma children
may experience when they see reports of a black or brown person whose life
seems to have little or no value. And I understand that fear may come with
seeing neighborhoods they know and love destroyed.”
KLINE’S KORNER:There’s more to it than meets the eye
The Record Herald by Dr. Tod Kline Posted
at 7:15 AM
Editor’s note: Dr. Tod Kline is the
superintendent of the Waynesboro Area School District. This is one of his
columns feature in The Record Herald.
This time of the year, schools struggle to
balance a budget for the next school year. The public maintains a critical eye
on school spending, and rightfully so. Some of the criticism is about either
not raising or lowering taxes. Some is parent criticism about not spending
enough. Some of the criticism is valid, and some is not. Businesses have
budgets. They struggle trying to keep their business going when they do not
know what business is coming their way for the coming year. Believe it not,
schools face the same dilemma. New students enroll in school districts that may
come with various challenges. If a student has been identified with a learning
disability or some other challenge, the new district is responsible for helping
that student. At that point, a regular education student costs about $10,000
per year, but a special needs student will cost $15,000 to $20,000 per year. If
those students move into your district during the school year (many do move in
over the summer), those costs are in addition to your budget. Cyber charter
school costs have increased 77% from 2010/11 to 2017/18 (PDE’s latest
information). A school district may have 13% of its student body identified as
special needs, but cyber charter schools have been known to raise that number
to about 20%. That costs the taxpayer at least an additional 50% more per
student.
Deer Lakes’ preliminary budget includes no tax increase
Trib Live by MADASYN
LEE | Monday, June
1, 2020 2:00 p.m.
Deer Lakes School District has approved a
$38.9 million preliminary budget for the 2020-2021 school year that includes no
increase in property taxes. The tax rate remains 21.953 mills in the
preliminary budget. A homeowner with a property assessed at $107,493 would
continue to owe $2,359 in taxes. “The school board voted not to increase taxes
during the pandemic over concerns that increased taxes might have an adverse
impact on our community at this time,” said Business Manager Jennifer Emmonds. Board
members voted 8-1 to pass the proposed budget, with school director Phil
Ziendarski dissenting. Attempts to reach Ziendarski for comment weren’t
successful. The district expects to lose $1.2 million as a result of the
coronavirus pandemic. It will use its $5.2 million reserve fund balance to
balance the budget, Emmonds said. The school board will vote to adopt a final
budget at its June 16 meeting.
McCall students paper the neighborhood with slogans about
climate change
Closing schools limited students' options for
completing their service project, so they got creative.
The notebook by Shayleah Jenkins June 1 —
8:30 am, 2020
Students at George McCall Elementary School
in Society Hill are finding creative ways to raise awareness about climate
change amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Joanna Bottaro’s 5th-grade class is using
artwork, slogans, and poetry to educate and inspire the community — all from
their own homes. Students are displaying their climate-themed artwork in
windows for the community to see. They hope their creative slogans will prompt
Philadelphians to think more critically about climate change and will offer
inspiration during the global pandemic. Bottaro led this project as part of
Need in Deed, a nonprofit organization that encourages teachers in the
Philadelphia area to incorporate service-learning projects into the
curriculum. Bottaro’s class project began at the beginning of the
school year, when students were asked to decide on a topic to explore in-depth.
Blogger note: Both Ari Wolfman-Arent and Kristin Graham are
education reporters whose work frequently appears in the PA Ed Policy Roundup.
WHYY reporter arrested while covering Philadelphia
protest
Ari Wolfman-Arent is a frequent Notebook
contributor.
The notebook by Nicholas Pugliese June 1 —
11:48 am, 2020 Updated: 10:20 a.m. Monday
A WHYY reporter was one of at least a dozen
people arrested during a relatively small protest that started in front of the
Philadelphia Police Headquarters in Old City on Sunday afternoon. Avi
Wolfman-Arent said that he identified himself to police as a journalist
covering the demonstration, but that he was detained anyway and issued a code
violation notice for failure to disperse. Wolfman-Arent said he was not hurt
and none of the estimated 50 to 75 protesters he was near appeared to suffer
serious injuries, despite some skirmishes with police during a roughly
half-mile walk from the police headquarters down Sixth Street. “There was
verbal abuse going both ways, for sure,” Wolfman-Arent said. At one point early
in the protest, some people hurled water bottles at the police. “There was a
lot of anger. Just a lot, a lot of anger.”
Tear gas, then handcuffs: I am an Inquirer journalist who
was arrested for doing my job
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, June 2,
2020
I kept thinking how jarringly, beautifully
blue the sky was — an odd setting for a day where anguish, fear and rage spilled onto
Philadelphia’s streets over the death of George Floyd, a
Minneapolis man killed at the hands of police. As anger again erupted into
chaos in the city Monday, I volunteered to cover the protesters and the police,
and did so for hours, moving with thousands from 8th and Race to 22nd and
Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The crowd was vocal, angry,
but I saw no violence, though city officials said some
protesters threw rocks at officers and others rocked a state
trooper’s vehicle. Growing larger, the throng neared
the Vine Street Expressway, still chanting. At about 5 p.m., police fired tear
gas into the crowd adjacent to where I was standing — one of several releases
in the general area. I was far enough away that I didn’t hear or see exactly
what triggered the gas, but I did absorb some of the irritant. My eyes stung
badly, but I was able to keep reporting. I stayed on the scene until the crowd
disbursed shortly after 6 p.m., when a citywide curfew went into effect, then
began the long walk back to my car, parked near the Inquirer’s offices at 801
Market St. I passed dozens of police officers as I walked; one stopped me and
asked where I was going. He asked me to keep my press pass prominently
displayed, and I clipped my badge to my t-shirt, making sure my name and photo
were easily visible.
Backlash and Beyond: What Lies Ahead for Teach For
America?
Education Week By Guest Blogger on May
29, 2020 9:00 AM
Helen Baxendale is the
director of academic affairs and policy for the Arizona board of regents. Prior
to this, Helen was an instructor at Oxford, where her Ph.D. dissertation
examined the Teach For America program as a lens for understanding U.S.
school reform. Helen will be digging into the rise, struggles, and future of
Teach For America on the blog this week.
—Rick Hess
Teach For America was scaling the peak of its
powers as it entered its third decade. Between 2009 and 2013, federal
stimulus spending helped TFA to open 20 new regions, and the post-crisis job
market saw applications surge, producing a 50 percent increase in the total
size of the corps. Yet unprecedented growth and influence belied a looming
crisis for TFA. As the extent of the organization's power became manifest, and—fairly or otherwise—TFA became
closely associated with a "nefarious corporate reform
agenda." A brutal reckoning with
powerful K-12 interest groups ensued. There are three distinct, but
related, developments that seem to have stung teachers' unions and their allies
into action against TFA. First, TFA's post-crisis expansion in saturated
teacher job markets such as Chicago and Seattle outraged
union leaders who held that any vacancies should go to laid-off veterans, not
TFA novices. Historically, unions had countenanced TFA as a least-worst
solution to staffing gaps. In the absence of genuine teacher shortages,
reluctant toleration curdled into outright hostility. Simultaneously,
from D.C. to Denver, Newark to New Orleans, and
many places in between, TFA alumni
were spearheading highly publicized and contentious programs to remake urban
education systems using similar prescriptions—expanded charter
schooling, tougher teacher evaluations, and aggressive efforts to recruit new
teachers from nontraditional pathways, including, of course, TFA.
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 245 PA school boards adopt charter reform
resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 245 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.
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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