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, 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
affiliation to KeystoneStateEdCoalition@gmail.com
Follow the
Students First PAC Money in 2020
Taxpayers in House Majority
Appropriations Chair Stan Saylor’s school districts paid over $5.7 million in
2018-2019 cyber charter tuition. Statewide, PA
taxpayers paid over $600 million for cyber charter tuition in 2018-2019.
|
Central York SD
|
$1,022,718.37
|
|
Eastern York SD
|
$1,204,082.51
|
|
Red Lion Area SD
|
$1,320,999.79
|
|
South Eastern SD
|
$1,096,676.37
|
|
York Suburban SD
|
$1,104,923.32
|
|
|
$5,749,400.36
|
Data Source: PDE via PSBA
Why are PA taxpayers paying twice what it
costs to provide a cyber education?
Why are cyber charter tuition rates the same
as brick and mortar tuition?
Follow the Students First PAC Money in 2020
State Rep. Chris Dush is slated to run for the senate seat of
Senator Scarnati, President Pro Tempore of the Senate, who is retiring this
year. The PA Campaign Finance website shows over $500K in campaign contributions
to Rep. Dush in 2020, with the bulk of it coming from PACs associated with former
Commonwealth Foundation CEO Matt Brouillette.
$435,111 from the Commonwealth Leaders Fund
$60,000 from the Commonwealth Children’s Fund
$56,368 from the Citizens Alliance of PA
For a total of $551,479 in 2020 thus far.
Where did the $$ come from?
The Students First PAC
(Joel Greenberg, Jeff Yass and Arthur Dantchik) gave $405,000 to
Citizens Alliance of PA & $1,000,000 to Commonwealth Children’s Fund in
2020
Over the past several years, the Students First PAC has spent
millions on candidates who support privatizing public schools. Here’s a recent related piece…..
THE DARK MONEY BEHIND PENNSYLVANIA’S REOPEN RALLIES
Pennsylvania Spotlight JUN 8, 2020
Dark money groups connected to Betsy DeVos
and former Commonwealth Foundation CEO Matt Brouillette are funding legislators
who have thrown themselves at the forefront of the bigoted, far-right,
astroturfed movements that sprang up during the coronavirus pandemic.
Brouillette’s two political action committees – the Commonwealth Leaders Fund
and the Commonwealth Children’s Choice Fund – have donated $313,535 to three
proponents who have made bigoted remarks. No one should be surprised. Just two
months ago, Brouillette went to great lengths mocking workers who couldn’t
access PPEs by posting a selfie of himself wearing a
women’s menstrual pad to his face. A month after
video, he was caught using the Commonwealth Foundation offices as a
safe space for Reopen Pennsylvania organizers and
speakers. He accused Governor Tom Wolf of “juicing”
the state’s coronavirus death toll to make
the fringe protesters look bad. Brouillette launched the Commonwealth Leaders
Fund in late 2017 and had no trouble attracting big money from right-wing
donors. Students First, a Betsy DeVos linked political action
committee, donated $2.75 million within a year.
Then in 2019, Brouillette launched the Commonwealth Children’s Choice Fund, and
received two separate checks from Students First in August and December
totaling $5 million. Campaign finance reporting shows that Brouillette has
frequently moved large sums of money from the Commonwealth Children’s Choice
Fund into the Commonwealth Leaders Fund. Now it’s time to shine a spotlight
where that DeVos funding is going. During this session, the Commonwealth
Children’s Choice Fund and the Commonwealth Leaders Fund donated $25,000 to
Senator Doug Mastriano, $30,000 to Representative Andrew Lewis, and $258,585 to
Representative Cris Dush.
Fraud audit report: Easton Arts Academy Elementary
Charter School missing more than $500K
WFMZ69 News by Emma
Wright Jul 15, 2020 Updated 3 hrs
ago
Missing money is the latest problem to plague
the troubled Easton Area Arts Elementary Charter School. According to a 14-page
fraud audit report given to 69 News by a source, an alleged fraudulent 1099 tax
form from 2018 was issued to subcontractor PenTeleData, the schools internet
and communications provider for more than $570,000 about 10% of the school's
revenue for 2018. The report states the fraud examiner contacted the company
and was told the school paid PenTeleData just under $20,000 in 2018 and not
$570,000 as the tax form states and that the form is most likely fraudulent and
that it is possible school funds were being embezzled. The report also states
that there were questionable purchases made on multiple school debit cards in
2017, 2018, and 2019 but it can't be determined if the purchases were made for
personal benefit. "I alerted the fraud auditor to the 1099 that looked
suspicious. It seemed odd to me that there would be a 1099 for $570,000 to an
internet service provider when we don't own our building. Why would we make
such improvements,” said school board member Sharon Jermany.
Wolf willing to ‘pull the plug’ on school reopening if
new COVID surge can’t be stopped
Lehigh Valley Live By David
Wenner | dwenner@pennlive.com Updated Jul
16, 2020; Posted Jul 15, 2020
Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday he’s willing to
“pull the plug” on school reopening if a new surge of COVID-19 infections
continues to grow. Yet it might be irrelevant, he said, because fear of
catching the disease would likely keep teachers and students away anyway. Wolf
and others cited that potential as a major factor in the decision to impose the new
restrictions on restaurants, bars and indoor gatherings announced Wednesday. With only
about six weeks remaining before the start of school, it’s critical to bring
the surge under control now, they stressed. “If we do not get community disease
transmission rates down, we’re really threatening the most important
re-openings that you have coming around Labor Day,” said Dr. David Rubin, a
pediatrician, referring to schools. Rubin works at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
and is involved with a tracking and projection model Wolf and state Secretary
of Health Dr. Rachel Levine drew on in deciding to impose the new restrictions.
Rubin said his team wants schools to open this fall. But they believe it
requires infections being brought under control to assure safety and to gave
families and teachers confidence they will be safe.
COVID-19 in Pa.: If the priority is making sure schools
reopen, why didn’t we plan for that first? | Thursday Morning Coffee
PA Capital Star Commentary By John L. Micek July 16,
2020
Good Thursday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
How many more times are we going to get this
wrong?
Let’s accept for a moment that the core
reason that Gov. Tom Wolf and state Health Secretary
Dr. Rachel Levine rolled out a new suite of COVID-19
mitigation measures Wednesday clamping down
on large gatherings and indoor dining is to get the virus under control so that
schools can reopen safely in the fall. Good deal. I want schools to reopen
safely this fall so that my child and yours can go back to class — at
least part time — as we continue to try to get the worst public
health crisis in a century under control. More power to the administration, I
hope that happens.
But I cannot help but ask — again —
why didn’t policymakers have a plan in place to reopen schools before and
not after they reopened the economy? You can reopen as
many businesses as you want, and send as many people back to the office as
social distancing guidelines dictate, but none of that matters if the parents
of school-aged children are worrying about where they’re going to find
childcare for their first-grader or how they’re going to be both at work and at
home to handle online lessons for their kids. As Deb Perleman wrote so eloquently in the New York Times
on July 2, “In the COVID-19 economy, you can
have a kid or a job. You can’t have both.”
“It is hard to say with certainty why the secretary of education
would put public schools in this difficult position. But Ms. DeVos is, in
effect, promoting a new form of school choice: If your child’s school can’t
afford to open safely, you need to find one that can — probably a private or
charter school — or keep your child at home.”
Why Push Public Schools to Open Without Helping Them Open
Safely?
Maybe someday Betsy DeVos will explain her
thinking.
New York Times Opinion By Jessica
Calarco July 15, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET
Dr. Calarco is a sociologist.
As the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc
across the United States, some public K-12 schools may be able to reopen
safely, but doing so will not be cheap. A recent report from
the Council of Chief State School Officers estimated that public K-12 schools
will need as much as $245 billion in additional funding to open with the recommended protocols in
place from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet with local and
state budgets strapped, many schools are likely to fall short unless they
receive considerable federal support. The Department of Education, however, has
not stepped up to fill that need. Funding for K-12 schools through the Cares
Act is $13.5 billion — well below $245 billion. Instead, Education Secretary
Betsy DeVos is pressuring schools to open and threatening to cut off funds to
public schools that don’t fully open in the fall. She has suggested that those
federal funds could be diverted to families to help pay for private or
religious education. She has already put in place “micro-grants” for families
that want to home-school their children this fall. In other words, Ms. DeVos is
not only failing to provide public schools the federal money they need to
reopen safely; she is also potentially destabilizing the budgets of already
struggling schools.
Philly District’s hybrid plan provokes questions,
concerns among parents and teachers
Most students will attend school in person
two days a week; families can opt for a "digital academy."
The notebook by Dale
Mezzacappa and Bill
Hangley Jr. July 15 — 5:43 pm, 2020
The School District of Philadelphia
announced a complicated hybrid reopening plan Wednesday
in which most students would attend school two days a week, relying on virtual
learning the rest of the time. Families will also have the option of
going all-digital in a District-run “digital academy” and must make that
decision by Aug. 4. Teachers can opt out of in-person teaching if they have a
medical reason. They will be required to show evidence of being especially
vulnerable to the coronavirus due to their own health or that of a family
member. Each school is charged with figuring out how best to implement
the plan and still follow all the health and safety guidelines, one of which is
to have no more than 12 to 15 students in each classroom at a time. All
individuals are expected to stay six feet apart, including the youngest
children; hallways and rooms will be marked. A five-level cleaning plan will be
virtually constant, and the District may have to expand its 900-person
custodial staff to make sure it is carried out. Each day, staff and
families will need to fill out a health assessment asking whether anyone in
their household has tested positive for COVID-19 and whether they have been
exposed to someone with the virus. There will not be daily temperature checks
or testing of asymptomatic staff members. All people entering the building,
from kindergarten students on up, will be required to wear a mask or face
covering that meets prescribed standards. Those who cannot wear a mask for
health reasons will need to wear a face shield.
Philly schools plan for fall: Two days a week in-person,
everyone wearing masks
WHYY By Avi
Wolfman-Arent July 15, 2020
School District of Philadelphia students will
return to school in-person this fall, but on a part-time basis, officials announced Wednesday. The plan
calls for students to attend classes in their respective school buildings twice a week, while
completing the rest of their work online. Some high-needs students will have
the option to attend school four days a week, as will pre-K students. Families
that don’t feel comfortable sending their children to in-person school can opt
for all-virtual instruction, officials said. The district’s plan also requires
increased daily cleanings, including the disinfection of “high-touch” surfaces every
four hours. It also mentions the use of fans and outside “air
dampers” to increase ventilation within
buildings. Families will be asked to monitor students for signs of sickness,
but the district will not conduct daily temperature checks. Staff will have to
fill out a “pre-entry screening form” before
entering the building each day that asks about symptoms and contact with
COVID-19 carriers. Families will also be “required” to do daily health checks
of students and will be asked to commit to keeping sick children home. There is
no plan to provide regular coronavirus
testing for asymptomatic staff or
students, according to city health commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley, who said
that idea simply was not practical.
Philly’s coronavirus back-to-school plan: No full
reopening, most students in class 2 days, could cost $80M
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Updated: July
15, 2020- 11:05 AM
Philadelphia’s school and city leaders on
Wednesday announced plans to reopen schools in September, but not fully, with
most children attending in-person classes two days a week. Ending weeks of
buildup, the district said it would open two days later than planned, with more
staff, less crowded classrooms, and promises to scrub and sanitize buildings to
minimize the spread of the coronavirus in the school system of 125,000. Superintendent
William R. Hite Jr. said the extra steps would come at a cost — possibly $80
million or more — and cautioned that public health conditions could shift
abruptly and force a return to 100% remote instruction. Philadelphia Health
Commissioner Thomas Farley acknowledged that a return to in-person school
carries risks. But, Farley said at a news conference, “for their long-term
success, including their long-term health, children need to learn. As a
society, we need to find a way to balance those risks.”
Philly’s school plan is out. Parents are panicked.
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham and Hadriana Lowenkron, Posted: July
15, 2020- 6:30 PM
Icylee Basketville worries about putting her
daughter on a school bus. Jessika Roche isn’t sure how she’s going to educate
her two children full time at home and work enough to make ends meet. And
Gretchen Dahlkemper laments the fact that her best option is sending her
children to live in another city. The Philadelphia School District on
Wednesday released its school
reopening plan, offering families the choice of
either a two-day-a-week face-to-face option or the choice of going 100%
virtual. It put parents in an immediate panic, worried about both their
children’s health and their own ability to support their families, and laid bare
the lack of a safety net for working families. The district said it would work
with the city and outside providers to make child care available for days when
students are not in school, but there’s no guarantee those solutions will work
for everyone.
PPS continues to advance toward reopening
ANDREW GOLDSTEIN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette agoldstein@post-gazette.com JUL 15,
2020
10:11 PM
The Pittsburgh Public Schools on Wednesday
took small steps toward reopening a day after the district released its
preliminary plan to get students back into the classroom. School board members
gave approval to a number of requests district administrators had sought for
starting the academic year amid a global pandemic. Discussion on the overall
reopening plan was limited, however, even though the board will vote next week
on the district’s proposed health and safety guidelines. School board President
Sylvia Wilson said the board members would have a more in-depth dialogue at
their July 22 meeting, when they are expected to vote on the plan.
South Fayette School District reopening plan presented,
approval set for next week
Trib Live by MICHAEL
DIVITTORIO | Wednesday,
July 15, 2020 10:33 p.m.
South Fayette School District’s health and
safety plan for the upcoming school year requires students and staff to wear
face coverings and practice social distancing as much as possible when
returning to school. It also provides an option for parents to continue their
student’s distance learning or enroll in a cyber academy if they’re not
comfortable sending their son or daughter back into the buildings. All options
require a semester commitment before switching from online or in-person
education. Enrollment forms will be available for families so they can chose
which educational option they want for their children. Forms are due back by
July 31.
The plan was presented during a school board
meeting Tuesday evening. It’s expected to be approved July 21.
New Kensington-Arnold School District reopening plan
presented
Trib Live MICHAEL
DIVITTORIO | Wednesday,
July 15, 2020 8:42 p.m.
New Kensington-Arnold School District’s
health and safety plan calls for students and staff to wear face coverings and
practice social distancing as much as possible when returning to schools in
late August. Wearing masks on buses and temperature checks upon arrival are
also part of the plan that was discussed at a school board committee meeting
Wednesday night. “It is the intention to bring back students full time with
safety protocols in place,” Superintendent John Pallone said. “There’s nominal
risk in what we’re considering to do.” District officials were still discussing
the plan with parents as of press time. Children with health conditions that
make it difficult to wear face coverings will not be mandated to do so,
according to the superintendent. Those families will have to sign a waiver. A
master list of those families will be stored in the administration office, and
building-specific lists will be given to principals. The plan is still in
draft form. The board plans to approve it July 28.
EDITORIAL: School reopening plans might be moot
York Dispatch by The Dispatch Editorial Board
July 16, 2020
Pay no mind, residents of the Spring Grove
Area School District. This, too, seems destined to change. On Monday, the
Spring Grove school board rightly approved a
reopening plan that, by and large, requires staff and students to wear
masks. The move came a month after two members of the board lambasted the
advice of state and federal health
officials, and made spurious, conspiracy-laden claims about science itself.
Theirs were claims boosted by throngs of backers shilling unsupported drivel
because that's what qualifies as debate now. It was, in every sense, just
another snapshot of a dysfunctional country in which the rejection of expertise
has been elevated to a populist ideal. But those who see tyranny in a simple
mask mandate — in a nation where "no shirt, no shoes, no
service" is ubiquitous and women are fined for exposing a nipple —
probably shouldn't worry too much about the reopening plans at Spring Grove or
anywhere else for that matter. Fact is, in no small part thanks to the
pervasiveness of conspiratorial thinking such as theirs, the
coronavirus is out of control, and the likelihood of schools reopening
normally in the fall declines every day.
In the Same Towns, Private Schools Are Reopening While
Public Schools Are Not
Private schools have always had more
flexibility, and usually more money, but never has that disparity made a bigger
difference than now.
New York Times By Claire
Cain Miller July 16, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET
In Honolulu, nearly all public schools are
planning to allow students to return for just part of the week. But at Punahou,
a private school for grades kindergarten through 12, school will open full time
for everyone. The school has an epidemiologist on staff and is installing
thermal scanners in the hallways to take people’s temperatures as they walk by.
It has a new commons area and design lab as well as an 80-acre campus that
students can use to spread out. There were already two teachers for 25
children, so it will be easy to cut classes in half to meet public health
requirements for small, consistent groups. The same thing is happening in
communities across the country: Public schools plan to open not at all or
just a few days a week, while many
neighboring private schools are opening full time. Private schools may reverse
course if there are outbreaks in their communities, and governors could still
shut down all schools if they determine that local infection rates call for it.
Some families and teachers won’t feel comfortable returning. But the ways in
which private schools are reopening show it can be done with creative ideas —
and the money to carry them out.
History is ‘white-washed,' police don’t belong in
schools, say city and suburban teens in chat about race
By JACQUELINE PALOCHKO THE MORNING
CALL | JUL 15, 2020 AT 8:58 AM
As the nation awakens to a reckoning of
widespread racism, Lehigh Valley teenagers are speaking up about issues facing
students of color in schools. Tuesday night, students from Parkland, Emmaus and
Allentown’s Dieruff and Allen high schools joined a virtual town hall to
discuss topics ranging from school resource officers to how American history is
taught. They also spoke about the Black Lives Matter movement and the work they
plan to continue. The town hall was hosted by Dolly Amaro, Allen High’s site
coordinator through Communities in Schools, and Rodney Be, a manager with POWER
Lehigh Valley, an interfaith organization addressing oppression and inequities
in communities. Allentown Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach moderated it. “We’re here
because we need to have a conversation, but more so, we need to listen,” Gerlach
said. “Those of us who are over the age of 21 just need to listen to our youth
and hear what they’ve experienced.”Here are some topics the students discussed:
Letter: Pennsylvania must change education funding method
Reading Eagle Letter by Roger Mauchline Brecknock
Township Jul 14, 2020
It’s time to stop promoting bad education for
children from poor neighborhoods by funding schools through property taxes. The
worst schools exist in poor neighborhoods. There just isn’t enough money from
the run-down properties in which many poor families live to adequately fund
their schools. The result is young people entering adulthood unprepared and
discouraged. It is discrimination between those who have property and those who
do not. Sure, some kids still achieve and even excel in the face of this
discrimination, adding to the greatness of America. Too many don’t. They add
unemployment, poverty, discouragement and sometimes crime. Think about the
costs associated with these in terms of unemployment benefits, social services,
law enforcement, and wasted talent. It is not equal opportunity, it is not
just, it is not American, and it is costly. We decided long ago that every
child should have a basic education. It is their right. It is the law. I am
sure that we meant a good education. It won’t take more money to fund our
schools from other kinds of taxes. We will actually save a lot of money that’s
being spent for a host of remedial government services. We need our
Pennsylvania legislators to step up to the plate, figure out the best way to
fund schools in a just way, and get it into law. This is the real leadership
that we expect from them. It’s our kids — we can’t let them down.
PIAA moves forward with fall sports
Delco Times By Matt Smith
mattsmith@21st-centurymedia.com @DTMattSmith on Twitter July 16,
2020
The PIAA is "moving forward" with
the fall sports season. The Commonwealth's governing body for high school
sports issued a statement declaring its intention to resume athletic
competition, beginning Aug. 10 with a week of heat acclimatization for
football. All other fall sports — cross country, field hockey, golf,
soccer, tennis (girls), volleyball (girls) and water polo — will begin
Aug. 17. In its statement, the PIAA made clear that it will continue with fall
sports unless instructed otherwise by the state. In other words, fall sports
will not be played in the event Gov. Tom Wolf calls for all schools to close in
the weeks before, or at any point during, the 2020-21 school year.
The announcement came during the PIAA’s Board
of Directors meeting on Zoom on Wednesday afternoon
‘The discussion is not going away.’ Bellefonte’s board of
directors talk next steps for mascot issue
Centre Daily Times BY
MARLEY PARISH JULY 15, 2020 01:41
PM , UPDATED JULY 15, 2020 02:54 PM
After more than a month of silence, the Bellefonte board
of directors voted 6-3 Tuesday to
discuss controversy
around the “Red Raider” mascot. Following ongoing community
demands and what board member Rodney
Musser called a “surprise” letter released by
board president Jon Guizar, he requested that a discussion be added to
Tuesday’s meeting agenda as an act of transparency. Assuming most community
members were in attendance to comment on the mascot — a red Native American
with a headdress — Musser said the board needed to acknowledge concerns that
have unfolded online and within the Bellefonte area. “This is just a discussion
about a mascot that other communities have already gotten rid of,” Musser said,
citing recent examples. “These are
discussions that are happening currently.” Nearly 4,000 people have signed
an online petition in
support of replacing the mascot with something not hostile or stereotypical
toward Native Americans. A counter petition to
keep the logo has been signed by almost 5,000. Divided on the issue, some board
members and community members expressed concerns over the board’s priorities,
like the fall reopening plan, proposed elementary school project and
superintendent search. Others said the conversation has highlighted tensions
between dialogue and civility.
Philly Jazz Legends: John Coltrane
Free Library of Philadelphia Blog By Ben
R. Wed, July 15, 2020
This is the first in a series of posts
highlighting major figures in jazz history who were from Philly (even if most
ended up in New York City). A virtual book discussion of Wishing on the Moon: The Life and Times
of Billie Holiday by Donald Clarke will take place
on Thursday, August 20 at 8:00 p.m. Every
one of the bolded album titles below can be streamed for free with your library
card via Alexander Street’s Jazz Music Library database.
Born in rural North Carolina, John Coltrane moved
to Philadelphia as a teenager in 1943, working at the Campbell’s Soup factory
in Camden, among other jobs. After a stint in the army, he bought a house for
his young family at 33rd and Oxford. There bloomed his devotion to the tenor
saxophone and to expanding the range of sonic expression. He rode SEPTA to 17th
and Chestnut to study harmony with legendary music theorist Dennis Sandole, who also
taught jazz greats Jim Hall and Pat Martino (both
guitarists), as well as current innovators like pianist Matthew Shipp and
alto saxophonist Bobby Zankel — who
still lives and works in Philly, and who has appeared in concert at Parkway
Central Library. Not for nothing, but three of those musicians play instruments
that can play multiple notes at once. Coltrane wanted to find a way to make his
horn sing with a polyphony previously unknown on a single-note instrument. The
house in Strawberry Mansion is where he began to achieve this goal, blending
his studies with Sandole with the lessons he was learning nightly on the
bandstand as he gigged with Philadelphians Jimmy Heath and Dizzy Gillespie, among many
others. Heath later mused that at that time Coltrane practiced "25 hours a
day."
“How to see the comet: To catch NEOWISE yourself, look up at the
northwest skies about an hour and a half after sunset. Experts suggest going to
the darkest area you can for best viewing. Find the Big Dipper and follow its
ladle as it arcs in the direction of the horizon. NEOWISE will appear under the
Big Dipper about 10 degrees above the horizon and be about as bright as that
constellation’s stars. If you hold out your arm, 10 degrees is roughly the part
of the sky covered by your fist. Over the next few days, NEOWISE will move
higher in the sky and be easier to spot, reaching its apex on July 23, when it
makes its closest approach to Earth.”
Comet NEOWISE: How to See It in Night Skies
Enjoy it while you can. The frozen ball of
ice won’t return to the inner solar system for 6,800 years.
New York Times By Adam Mann July 15,
2020
Eager sky watchers are turning to the heavens
as Comet NEOWISE, one of the brightest comets in a generation, starts climbing
ever higher among the evening stars. A
majority of comets fly through the solar system invisible to humans, usually
too small and dim to be seen with the naked eye. The last frozen ice ball that
gave us a big show was Hale-Bopp, a comet that was visible for nearly 18 months
around its closest approach to Earth in 1997. Officially designated C/2020 F3,
Comet NEOWISE was discovered on March 27 and had until this week been visible
only to committed comet viewers willing to wake up in the early pre-dawn hours.
But on Monday, NEOWISE tipped into the post-sunset sky and has even been
spotted by people living near city centers with all the light pollution. “It’s
the first time in 23 years that this is possible,” said Federica Spoto, an
astronomer at the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “You can
watch it from your backyard and you don’t need a telescope.”
Cybers charters are paid at the same tuition rates as brick
& mortar charter schools, even though they have none of the expenses
associated with operating school buildings. It has been estimated that cyber
charters are paid approximately twice what it costs them to provide an online
education. Those excess funds are then not available to serve all of the
students who remain in the sending school districts.
Interested in becoming an Advocacy Ambassador? PSBA is seeking
ambassadors to fill anticipated vacancies for Sections 1, 2 and 6.
PSBA Advocacy Ambassador program brings legislators to
you
POSTED ON JULY 1, 2020 IN PSBA
NEWS
PSBA’s Advocacy Ambassador program is a
key resource helping public school leaders connect with their state legislators
on important education issues. Our six ambassadors build strong
relationships with the school leaders and legislators in their areas to support
advocacy efforts at the local level. They also encourage legislators to visit
school districts and create opportunities for you to have positive conversations
and tell your stories about your schools and students. PSBA thanks those school
districts that have worked with their advocacy ambassador and invites those who
have not to reach out to their ambassador to talk about the ways they can
support your advocacy efforts. Interested in becoming an Advocacy Ambassador?
PSBA is seeking ambassadors to fill anticipated vacancies for Sections 1, 2 and
6. For more information contact jamie.zuvich@psba.org.
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 275 PA school boards have adopted charter reform
resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 275 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.