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
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If any of your colleagues would
like to be added to the email list please have them send their name, title and
affiliation to KeystoneStateEdCoalition@gmail.com
State education funding is a textbook example of
structural racism
PSBA Webinar:
Building the Foundation for Equity and Trauma-Informed Approaches Through
Policy JUN 25, 2020 • 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM Learn more and register
today: https://www.psba.org/event/webinar-building-the-equity-foundation-through-policy/
Failing cyber charter schools waste taxpayer money:
Letters to the editor
GoErie Letter by Susan Spicka, executive
director, Education Voters of PA June 23, 2020
Every Pennsylvania cyber charter ranks among
the lowest-performing schools in the state.
In her letter to the editor, the Commonwealth
Foundation’s Colleen Hondrich lauds “school choice” and specifically
Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools. However, Hondrich fails to mention cyber
charters’ abysmal academic performance and the vast amount of taxpayer money
that they waste. While the COVID-19 economic downturn is forcing school
districts to raise taxes, lay off teachers, increase class sizes and eliminate
programs and services for students, Pennsylvania’s outdated charter law
guarantees cyber charter schools will receive an increase in funding this fall.
And cyber charters have been luxuriating in
excess funding for years. Think Scrooge McDuck in his pool of coins. Because
state law mandates that school districts pay cyber charter schools tuition that
exceeds the cost of educating students at home on a computer, cyber charters
have millions in excess funding to waste on billboards, TV commercials,
internet ads and more. And Nick Trombetta, founder and former CEO of PA Cyber,
went to jail for fraud after spending more than $8 million in taxpayer money on
a private airplane, vacation homes and other luxuries.
If cyber charter schools improved student
academic achievement, Hondrich could make a case for sending them excess
funding. But every Pennsylvania cyber charter ranks among the lowest-performing
schools in the state. They graduate, on average, just 50% of their students.
In 2018-19, Erie city taxpayers spent nearly
$6 million on cyber charter tuition.
Lawmakers must reform charter school funding.
Taxpayers can no longer afford the luxury of overpaying for the “choice” of
failing cyber charter schools.
POWER: State education funding is a textbook example of
structural racism
A member of the interfaith grassroots
organization expresses support for Philadelphia Student Union's calls to
redirect resources from security to support.
The notebook Commentary by Roseann
Liu June 22 — 9:50 am, 2020
The Philadelphia Student Union (PSU), a youth
organizing group, recently circulated an online petition to demand the removal
of all police from Philadelphia schools. In less than 24 hours, the petition
gathered close to 2,500 signatures, and today it’s approaching the 13,000-signature mark. Like many
movements to end state violence against Black people, calls to defund the
police are not just about what we don’t want. They are also about building the
kind of world we want to live in. Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of the Black
Lives Matter Global Network, told WBUR in Boston: “It’s not just about taking
away money from the police; it’s about reinvesting those dollars into Black
communities.” The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) spends $31 million on its security force —
money that PSU wants to put toward training community members in
“de-escalation, restorative justice, and other skills that support healthy
schools and communities” for an Office of School Safety, the petition says. At
a time when SDP’s budget has been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic, with
an expected shortfall of at least $800 million over the next five years, PSU’s youth-led campaign offers
an important model for investing in the kind of high-quality education
Philadelphia students need and deserve. But to ensure a serious and sustained
investment in Philadelphia schools, we must also pressure state legislators to
restructure the way school districts are funded in Pennsylvania. Doing so would
give Philadelphia students $400 million more every year.
Guest Column: Chester Upland students deserve opportunity
to learn in public schools
Delco Times By Dariah Jackson Times Guest
Columnist June 23, 2020
Dariah Jackson is a Chester resident and
teaches third- to fifth-grade life skills support at Stetser Elementary School
in the Chester Upland School District.
If I could tell you one story about Chester
Upland’s public schools, it would be about our students who, despite the
adversities they face, come into school every day with a burning desire to
learn and grow. These students are strong and brilliant — and they deserve
success. I am proud to teach them and to work alongside colleagues who bring an
unmatched enthusiasm to the classroom as we introduce students to new worlds of
learning. That is why we are so troubled by the push to convert some or all of
our neighborhood schools to charter schools. Charterization of our district
would upend the work of dedicated teachers and support staff in our public
schools, and that could undermine the academic progress our students are
making. This is the last thing we should be doing. Many of Chester Upland’s
educators grew up in this community and are committed to it. They are
making a difference for our community’s children and are dedicated to their
success. That connection between teachers and students is incredibly important.
A charter takeover of Chester Upland will force those students to switch
schools, either by physically changing buildings or by substantially changing
the character of a school within the same building. This will disrupt key
relationships with teachers and peers. Researchers tell us that even one school
move can decrease student achievement scores and graduation rates.
With Cutler at the helm, Pa. House GOP promises new
ideas, hands-off style
PA Capital Star By Stephen Caruso June 22,
2020
After a sudden midterm resignation, the
Pennsylvania House Republican leadership has undergone a shake up. The biggest
promotion is for Bryan Cutler, who at 45 years old, is now the newest speaker
of the Pennsylvania House. In a closed door meeting his Republican colleagues
picked Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, to be the new majority leader. Rep.
Donna Oberlander, R-Clarion, will be his second-in-command at whip. They take
over the lower chamber in the middle of turbulent political times. The state is
still slowly reopening amid the specter of COVID-19, and faces a multi-billion
dollar budget shortfall that still must be filled. Meanwhile, protesters
continue to march in the street asking for policing reform, all with less than
five months until the 2020 election, with both the presidency of Donald Trump
and control of the General Assembly potentially up for grabs.
Centre County Republican Kerry Benninghoff elected as Pa.
House majority leader
Penn Live By Jan
Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated Jun
22, 2020; Posted Jun 22, 2020
Centre County Republican Kerry Benninghoff
was elected on Monday as the majority leader in the GOP-controlled House of
Representatives. Benninghoff, 58, has served as majority whip in the House
since last year. He is in his 24th year of service in the House. Prior to his
election as whip, Benninghoff served two terms as Republican Policy Committee
chairman for two terms as well as chaired the finance and state government
committees. He succeeds floor leader Rep. Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster County,
who was elevated on Monday to
become speaker and now presides over the chamber. The
mid-term caucus elections were triggered by former House Speaker Mike Turzai’s
mid-term resignation on June 15 from his House seat to take a job as general
counsel at Peoples, a Pittsburgh-based gas utility. Rep. Donna Oberlander,
R-Clarion County, was elected to serve as majority whip to fill the vacancy
created by Benninghoff’s election as majority leader. Oberlander had been
serving as majority policy committee chairwoman. These newly elected leaders
will serve for the remainder of the legislative session, which ends in
November. With Benninghoff’s election, that means Centre County will now have
two members of its delegation in majority leader positions. Sen. Jake Corman is
the majority leader in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Activists rally in the streets, then at a school board
meeting, against police presence at Pittsburgh schools
Public Source by TyLisa
C. Johnson | June 22, 2020
While some students see school as a safe
haven, “where you get that one meal a day, where you get to have mentors who
don't judge you,” other students — mostly Black or brown and disproportionately
impacted by the presence of school police — live in fear. “No one should ever
feel as if they have a target on their back in school,” 18-year-old Rebekah
Chikuni said. Chikuni is a 2020 graduate of Upper St. Clair High School who on
Monday was among hundreds of students, parents and schools advocates who called
on Pittsburgh Public Schools’ board of directors to remove police from its
schools, first at a rally, then in public testimonies at a school board public
hearing. School should be a place that nurtures students, promotes
self-growth, Chikuni said, but with police in schools, “whether or not they're
armed or not, their presence in schools is toxic to Black and brown students.”
Chikuni is a member of GirlGov, a program of The Women and Girls Foundation,
where she helps lead the racial justice committee. Nearly 300 people
attended the school board’s Monday public hearing, where much of the public
concern swirled around removing police from schools. Almost 250 people signed
up to speak at the hearing, which prompted the board to split the meeting into
two days. The second part of the public hearing will be held virtually June 23
at 2 p.m.
Dieruff student joins national call to remove police
officers from schools
By JACQUELINE PALOCHKO THE MORNING
CALL | JUN 22, 2020 AT 6:43 PM
Dieruff High junior Nasheera Brown believes
school shouldn’t be a place where middle school students worry they could be
arrested by an armed officer for acting out. “You go to school to learn,” Brown
said. “You shouldn’t have to fear being threatened by a cop. School is for
education.” That’s why Brown is calling on the Allentown School District to
remove eight armed school resource officers among its secondary schools. Brown
is organizing a community discussion at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Arts Park in
Center City Allentown. “Police officers shouldn’t be in schools at all,” Brown
said. “They should be outside fighting crime. That’s what they’re for.” Brown
said the discussion, which joins a national conversation on armed officers in
schools, is not a personal attack on the Allentown Police Department, which
contracts with the district for the school resource officers. Brown said she
has had a positive relationship with the officers in school, but said she’s
heard from other students who felt they were wrongly treated. “I’m giving
others a voice,” she said. “I have a close relationship with the police in
Allentown, but other students might not. A lot of students feel they shouldn’t
have to have police on their backs.”
Penn will offer public high school seniors in Philly a
free four-week college and career prep program
Inquirer by Susan Snyder, Updated: June 22, 2020-
4:47 PM
This spring was tough on high school
students, particularly those beginning their college searches. Campus tours
went virtual. SAT testing was largely shut down. And there was the transition
to virtual learning, something that proved especially
challenging for Philadelphia public school
students, some of whom lacked internet access and computers. At the University of
Pennsylvania, administrators wanted to do something to help rising seniors in
Philadelphia’s public high schools close any gap that may have been opened
by the coronavirus pandemic. Penn is
offering a free, four-week virtual summer academy — including college and
career preparation and academic enrichment — for up to 2,500 seniors in the
city’s district and charter high schools. For students unable to commit to the
three hours a day of instruction, Penn also is offering a free “How to Apply to
College” course that students can take on their own time and at their own pace
during the summer. That is open to all 14,000 public school seniors in
Philadelphia.
“Valley Day School, located a couple miles from the New Jersey state
line in Morrisville, Pa., is classified as an Approved Private School, a
special designation for schools in Pennsylvania that serve children whose
needs, due to severe or complex disabilities, cannot be adequately met in a
traditional public school’s special education program. Pennsylvania’s
approximately 30 Approved
Private Schools (APS) serve students who qualify
under one or more of the 13 disability categories identified under federal IDEA
regulations.”
How One School Is Delivering Trauma-Informed Care From
Afar
EdSurge By Emily Tate Jun 9, 2020
MORRISVILLE, Pa. / Zoom — Every morning at
Valley Day School starts off the same way.
After the kids have arrived at school, passed
through the metal detectors with their see-through bags and backpacks in tow,
and received their morning greetings from up to a dozen staff members, they
head into homeroom and begin what’s known as a “community meeting. During a
community meeting, the kids go around and, with their teachers’ coaxing, answer
several questions: How are you feeling? What is your goal for today? Who can
help you with that goal? The ritual creates consistency and establishes a daily
connection between teacher and pupil, which for Valley Day’s approximately 90
students—all of whom have special needs—is important for building trust and
communicating to the staff what kind of mental and emotional state the student
is in that day. In late February, as the coronavirus was silently beginning to
spread through the United States, I observed a community meeting in Sean
Matthews’ high school classroom. As Matthews, a special education teacher, went
around the room and posed the questions to each of his students, one answered
that he was feeling energetic. Another said rushed. A third responded that he
was in despair. Each interaction cued to Matthews where his students were
internally and what they needed from him to have a successful day. From there,
they were able to dive into their school work, which, on that day, involved a
discussion of the final chapters of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” He
didn’t know it at the time, but that was one of the last community meetings
Matthews would have face-to-face with his students this school year.
Blogger note: according to spreadsheets from the Department of
Community and Economic Development, which administers Pennsylvania’s education
tax credit programs, for the 2018-2019 school year $160.1 million in diverted
tax dollars was spent via the EITC program, with an additional $54.7 million
going to fund the OSTC program. There
are virtually no fiscal or student performance reporting requirement for either
program.
LETTER: Let families — not zip codes — determine
children's future
York Dispatch Letter by Stefani Klaves,
Harrisburg Published 12:37 p.m. ET June 22, 2020
Sarah, a minority graduate of York’s Logos
Academy, defied all the statistics Mr. Bill Swartz noted in his recent op-ed.
She finished second in her class, speaks three languages, and hopes to be a
sociologist or lawyer. The reason: A school choice program called the
Educational Improvement Tax Credit made it so Sarah’s zip code did not
determine her future. Mr. Swartz recognizes the problem these "little
boxes” cause. Zip-code-based education maintains our children’s educational
separation. Unfortunately, he avoids calling for changes that would liberate
children from those boxes. Instead, Swartz worries about making our educational
separation well-funded. But York City already spends over $19,000 per student,
far above national and state averages. If under-funding and crowded classrooms
are a concern, school choice solves both issues. Logos Academy is a private
school that saves the district around $3.9 million and helps reduce classroom
sizes — important for social distancing at school in the fall.
Eyes on the Philly Board of Education: June 25, 2020
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools by
Karel Kilimnik June 22, 2020 appsphilly.net
The people of Philadelphia continue their
struggle to survive, personally and financially, under the weight of the
Covid-19 pandemic. We witness the social upheaval as people demand an end
to police brutality and systemic racism. But at 440, not much has
changed. The Board, despite public demands for months, continues to conduct
non-essential business in remote meetings with a minimum of public
participation. At its June Committee meeting, most Board members offered
personal statements about what Black Lives Matter meant to them. But as
APPS members reminded them in their testimony, how the Board votes will prove
whether these statements carry any weight. At the June 11 Joint Committee
meeting, few substantial questions were raised about District business by these
eight government officials. Almost no deliberation took place about the Items
to be voted on at this Action meeting. Planning the next school year is
fraught with obstacles never faced in our lifetimes. District families will be
dealing with even higher rates of unemployment and evictions. All of these
issues must be addressed with genuine parent, staff, and community
engagement–not just the perfunctory distribution of surveys.
PSBA Fall Virtual Advocacy Day: OCT 8, 2020 • 8:00 AM - 5:00
PM
Sign up now for PSBA’s Virtual Advocacy Day
this fall!
All public school leaders are invited to join
us for our fall Virtual Advocacy Day on Thursday, October 8, 2020, via Zoom. We
need all of you to help strengthen our advocacy impact. The day will center
around contacting legislators to discuss critical issues affecting public
education. Registrants will receive the meeting invitation with a link to our
fall Virtual Advocacy Day website that contains talking points, a link to
locate contact information for your legislator and additional information to
help you have a successful day.
Cost: As a membership benefit, there is no
cost to register.
Registration: School directors can register
online now by logging in to myPSBA. If you
have questions about Virtual Advocacy Day, or need additional information,
contact Jamie.Zuvich@psba.org.
Apply Now for EPLC's 2020-2021 PA Education Policy
Fellowship Program!
Applications are available now for the 2020-2021 Education
Policy Fellowship Program.
The Education Policy Fellowship Program is
sponsored in Pennsylvania by The Education Policy and Leadership Center
(EPLC). The 2020-2021 Program will be conducted in briefer, more
frequent, and mostly online sessions, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The content
will be substantially the same as the traditional Fellowship Program, with some
changes necessitated by the new format and a desire to reduce costs to sponsors
in these uncertain fiscal times.
The commitment of EPLC remains the same. The
Fellowship Program will continue to be Pennsylvania's premier education policy
leadership program for education, community, policy and advocacy leaders! The
Fellowship Program begins with two 3-hour virtual sessions on September 17-18,
and the Program ends with a graduation event in June 2021.
The application may be
copied from the EPLC web site, but it must be submitted by mail or scanned and
e-mailed, with the necessary signatures of applicant and sponsor.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of
the Fellowship Program and its requirements, please contact EPLC Executive
Director Ron Cowell at 412-298-4796 or COWELL@EPLC.ORG
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 260 PA school boards adopt charter reform
resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 260 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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