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
Taxpayers in Senate President Scarnati’s school districts
paid over $14 million in 2018-2019 cyber charter tuition.
Taxpayers in Senate
President Pro Tempore Joseph Scarnati’s school districts paid over $14 million
in 2018-2019 cyber charter tuition. Statewide, PA
taxpayers paid over $600 million for cyber charter tuition in 2018-2019.
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Austin Area SD
|
$5,084.53
|
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Bradford Area SD
|
$805,208.23
|
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Brockway Area SD
|
$58,229.08
|
|
Brookville Area SD
|
$244,291.19
|
|
Cameron County SD
|
$424,702.74
|
|
Canton Area SD
|
$231,501.12
|
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Clarion-Limestone Area SD
|
$302,109.28
|
|
Clearfield Area SD
|
$1,110,178.60
|
|
Coudersport Area SD
|
$267,139.15
|
|
Dubois Area SD
|
$683,129.91
|
|
Forest Area SD
|
$311,341.38
|
|
Galeton Area SD
|
$256,352.00
|
|
Jersey Shore Area SD
|
$1,144,169.43
|
|
Johnsonburg Area SD
|
$174,810.78
|
|
Kane Area SD
|
$216,950.20
|
|
Keystone Central SD
|
$1,875,265.10
|
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Northern Potter SD
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$91,239.48
|
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Northern Tioga SD
|
$513,868.33
|
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Oswayo Valley SD
|
$309,777.07
|
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Otto-Eldred SD
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$195,121.08
|
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Port Allegany SD
|
$253,454.36
|
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Punxsutawney Area SD
|
$2,405,846.85
|
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Ridgway Area SD
|
$295,120.95
|
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Smethport Area SD
|
$321,604.43
|
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Southern Tioga SD
|
$630,435.71
|
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Saint Marys Area SD
|
$381,177.02
|
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Wellsboro Area SD
|
$414,659.84
|
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West Branch Area SD
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$226,912.21
|
|
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$14,149,680.05
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Data Source: PDE via PSBA
Why are cyber charter tuition rates the same as brick and mortar
tuition?
Why are PA taxpayers paying twice what it costs to provide a
cyber education?
A June 2 paper from the highly respected
Brookings Institution stated, “We find the impact of attending a virtual
charter on student achievement is uniformly and profoundly negative,” and then
went on to say that “there is no evidence that virtual charter students improve
in subsequent years.”
In 2016, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers,
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and the national charter lobbying
group 50CAN released a report on cyber charters that found that overall, cyber
students make no significant gains in math and less than half the gains in
reading compared with their peers in traditional public schools.
A Stanford University CREDO
Study in 2015 found that cyber students on
average lost 72 days a year in reading and 180 days a year in math compared
with students in traditional public schools.
From 2005 through 2012 under the federal No Child Left
Behind Act, most Pennsylvania cybers never made “adequate yearly progress.”
Following NCLB, for all five years (2013-2017) that Pennsylvania’s School
Performance Profile system was in place, not one cyber charter ever achieved a
passing score of 70.
Under Pennsylvania’s current accountability system, the Future Ready PA Index, all 15 cyber charters that operated
2018-2019 have been identified for some level of support and improvement.
CHOP outlines safe conditions for reopening schools
Timely and equitable access to testing,
masking, sanitizing, and social distancing are crucial, experts say. And
national leaders must provide the necessary resources.
The notebook Commentary by Meredith
Matone, Deanna Marshall & David Rubin July 20 — 4:09 pm, 2020
Meredith Matone, DrPH, MHS, is the scientific
director of PolicyLab
at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Deanna
Marshall, MPH, is a clinical research coordinator at PolicyLab at CHOP. David
Rubin, MD, MSCE, is the director of PolicyLab at CHOP.
Back in May, as our team of pediatric health
experts drafted health and safety guidance for reopening
schools, we felt optimistic. Cases were
falling, a quiet summer of COVID-19 felt possible — and for a brief moment,
even likely. hat a difference eight weeks made. It is time to admit that with a
runaway epidemic, which we project will only worsen, we are
failing in our goal to protect schools. Despite the tireless planning schools
have done since spring, last week large districts in Phoenix, Atlanta, Los Angeles and San Diego delayed
in-person learning. In our city, the School District of Philadelphia announced
a hybrid in-person/virtual learning model. The districts that have adopted
these models aim to preserve student connectivity while upholding health and
safety practices. This week, though, Arlington, Va., reversed their plan for a
hybrid model and announced online learning to start the school year. As we
watch the dominoes fall, the decision for virtual reopening is as
understandable as it is upsetting. However, especially in a month in which
school reopening became highly politicized, we should keep our eyes on the goal
and strengthen our resolve to do right by children, families and school staff
by protecting the ability of schools to open safely, when the time is right,
and remain open.
From a teacher: What parents should keep in mind about
schools reopening | Opinion
By Jake Miller Capital-Star Op-Ed Contributor July 21,
2020
Holiday Inn Express must be doing better than
most other hotel chains. How else have folks so seamlessly transitioned from
constitutional lawyers, to epidemiologists, and now, to school superintendents
in just four months? As the news cycle and Americans’ attentions turn to the
next dogfight, it was only a matter of time until schools became the lightning
rod. For one, our children are our biggest priorities and most important things
in our lives. After that is our line of work, and it’s hard to fully commit to
priority #2 without knowing what’s happening with priority #1. But there are
some obstacles to getting there in schools.
Battling the Sickness - An untold
secret in my profession is teachers have the dirtiest jobs in America. A study at the University of Arizona notes
are 500 percent more germs in my workspace than any other. And
that includes those who work in banks or even sanitation. Schools have stopped
showering after physical education, don’t encourage hand-washing before lunch,
and have students who don’t sleep or eat well enough. All that needs to change
right now. David Christopher, my school superintendent at Cumberland
Valley, said on NPR last week, it’s not a
matter of “if” we see our first case of COVID-19, but “when.”
Erie teachers at risk for COVID-19 can get online jobs
GoErie By Ed
Palattella @etnpalattella Posted
Jul 19, 2020 at 12:01 AM Updated July 19, 2020
Erie School District, union encouraging staff
to visit physicians to determine susceptibility to virus as classes resume.
The Erie School District is giving students
and parents options as the district plans to reopen its school buildings during
the pandemic. The district is giving its teachers options, too. To cut down on
the possibility of teachers getting infected with the coronavirus, the school
district is pledging to accommodate teachers with health problems and other
issues that leave them more susceptible to COVID-19. Teachers with
physician-verified concerns will be assigned to online instruction, which the
Erie School District is continuing in 2020-21 along with in-person education,
with families picking the mode of instruction they prefer for their children.
The first day of school for students is scheduled for Aug. 31. Those teachers
who are “at high risk and can’t come to school can work with the remote
students,” Erie schools Superintendent Brian Polito said. He said the district
is encouraging staff members with medical concerns to contact their physicians
and get the information to the school district soon. The head of the union that
represents the Erie School District’s teachers and other staff members said he
is also recommending that union members “get their paperwork going” to seek an
assignment to online instruction due to health worries. “We are encouraging
members to go to the doctor,” said Bill Kuhar, the president of the Erie
Education Association and a history teacher at Erie High School. He said about
half of the EEA’s 840 members have more than 18 years of service, placing a
number of those members in the higher age category that could put them more at
risk for contracting COVID-19.
Opinions range widely in community as Pittsburgh Public Schools
prepares reopening plan
ANDREW GOLDSTEIN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette agoldstein@post-gazette.com JUL 20,
2020 10:29 PM
Jeff Vishner wrote the testimony he presented
to the Pittsburgh Public Schools board Monday night at a place that has become
too familiar to him over the past few months: Allegheny General Hospital. Since
his wife contracted COVID-19 in March, the Westinghouse 6-12 teacher said, she
had been to Allegheny General Hospital seven times and needed several more
trips to the emergency room. The previously healthy 34-year-old woman — who at
one point had to be quarantined away from her family for 53 days — remains
mostly bedridden more than 120 days after her diagnosis, Mr. Vishner said. For
all of those reasons, Mr. Vishner implored the district to move instruction
fully online for the 2020-21 academic year. “I truly, truly hope that you will decide
that opening Pittsburgh Public Schools virtually this fall is of paramount
importance and essential to the health and safety of our whole community,” he
said. “If not, I fear that many of us will be faced with the same choice I will
be faced with — deciding between my family’s livelihood and a loved one’s
life.” Mr. Vishner was not the only person who called upon the district to move
to an online-only format at Monday night’s public hearing before the school
board. Some who provided testimony to the school board thought that students
should have the option to return to in-person instruction full time. Meanwhile,
others raised questions about the district’s reopening plan as the school board
prepares to vote on it Wednesday.
“What I would not be doing, as many teachers must do today, is
deciding if going back into my classroom to be with my beloved students is
worth risking my life and/or the lives of my family. That’s right. For a
quarter of today’s teachers, theirs has become a deadly calling.”
I’m a former teacher: Returning to in-person classes is
risky and wrong | Lloyd E. Sheaffer
PA Capital Star By Lloyd E. Sheaffer July 17,
2020
If I were still an active public school
teacher, my busy season would be starting at this time. I would be evaluating
the first round of Honors English summer projects and, via their work, getting
to know my soon-to-be-met in person students. I would re-read
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant of
Venice, works that speak clearly to our day’s tribalism and prejudice. I
would have out my worn-and-torn copy of John Steinbeck’s Travels with
Charley along side current newspapers and news magazines identifying
ways the Nobel Prize winning author’s experiences on his driving trip around
the United States could apply to my students’ present world. Were this
happening this year, we would need to start with the occurrences with extreme,
literally sickening (for Steinbeck) racism he observed in New Orleans compared
to the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020. I would be choosing vocabulary
words to add to the infamous “Sheaffer Words” list that could help students
speak and write cogently about the universal conflicts and challenges they
face.
Franklin County schools share reopening plans
Herald Mail Media July 20, 2020
Students and families throughout Franklin
County will regain some sense of normalcy when school starts next month, but
the ongoing effects of COVID-19 will have a major impact. School districts are
starting to publicize plans for the 2020-21 school year that accommodate
guidelines to support the health and safety of students, teachers and staff
members. Each district's plan must be approved by its school board and the
Pennsylvania Department of Education. All students, faculty, staff members and
others will be required to wear a face covering. Under an order from the
Pennsylvania Department of Health, face coverings must be worn in schools
unless 6 feet of distance can be maintained. Here are the guidelines that have
been released so far by each school district:
Lincoln Charter makes its case ahead of expansion vote
By Lindsay C VanAsdalan York
Dispatch July 20, 2020
Lincoln Charter's principal and CEO
said York City School District officials smeared his school this past
week in an attempt to undermine it ahead of a vote Wednesday about its
expansion. Lincoln Charter would be allowed to operate another five years and
add middle school to its existing K-5 model if the York City school board
approves the charter's operational plan. York City's administration has come
out against Lincoln Charter's proposed middle school expansion. On July 13, two
board members publicly denounced the charter school for not paying its bills
and failing to submit certain documents ahead of the scheduled vote on
Wednesday. "I anticipated some pushback but not to that magnitude,"
said Lincoln Principal Leonard Hart. The bills issue was cleared up at the
meeting — Lincoln reimburses quarterly — but the other point,
that the middle school education plan was unclear and “lacking in the actual
curricular documents” puzzled Hart, he said. The district's attorney, Allison
Petersen, said that a complete curriculum for those grades would have been
required for a new charter, but there are no such requirements for charter
amendments — which is what Lincoln submitted. She did, however, say it
would be a reasonable expectation to have a full curriculum for consideration
ahead of such a vote.
“Instead, in the GOP plan, states would get money for schools --
but it will be explicitly tied to schools reopening, something that has been a
major focus of late for Trump, according to the first person briefed on the
negotiations. It was unclear how exactly the money would be structured to prod
schools to reopen -- or what would constitute reopening.”
GOP coronavirus bill likely to include payroll tax cut
and tie school money to reopening plans
Trump said talks are going well as he met
down with McConnell, McCarthy at start of three-week legislative sprint
Washington Post By Erica Werner, Jeff Stein and Robert Costa July 20,
2020 12:27 p.m. EDT
A new coronavirus relief
bill being crafted by Senate Republicans and the White House would tie school
funding to classrooms reopening and is likely to include a version of the
payroll tax cut sought by President Trump, a person briefed on the package said
Monday. As details of the legislation emerged, Trump met in the Oval Office
with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader
Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). The president said discussions were going well as
the administration and congressional Republicans aim to form a unified front
before launching contentious talks with Democrats on the last major relief bill
before the November election. The president emphasized his support for a
payroll tax cut, a policy that Democrats and a number of Republicans oppose.
Trump believes it would help stimulate the economy, but opponents believe it
would do little for the millions of Americans who are unemployed.
How to See Comet NEOWISE
NASA Website July 14, 2020
Observers in the Northern Hemisphere are
hoping to catch a glimpse of Comet NEOWISE as it zips through the inner solar
system before it speeds away into the depths of space. Discovered on March 27,
2020 by NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE)
mission, Comet NEOWISE is putting on a dazzling display for skywatchers before
it disappears, not to be seen again for another 6,800 years. or those
hoping to catch a glimpse of Comet NEOWISE before it’s gone, there are several
observing opportunities over the coming days when it will become increasingly
visible shortly after sunset in the northwest sky. If you’re looking at the sky
without the help of observation tools, Comet NEOWISE will likely look like a
fuzzy star with a bit of a tail, so using binoculars or a small telescope is
recommended to get the best views of this object.
For those hoping to see Comet Neowise for
themselves, here’s what to do:
- Find
a spot away from city lights with an unobstructed view of the sky
- Just
after sunset, look below the Big Dipper in the northwest sky
- If
you have them, bring binoculars or a small telescope to get the best views
of this dazzling display
Each night, the comet will continue rising
increasingly higher above the northwestern horizon as illustrated in the below
graphic:
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.
The 2021 PA Superintendent of the Year nominations are
now open.
Those
seeking to nominate must first register on the American Association of School
Administrators (AASA) Superintendent of the Year website. For more information,
visit: https://t.co/2omWRnyHSv
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.
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