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
Parents considering cybers due to COVID might not be
aware of their track record
Taxpayers in Senate Majority
Leader Jake Corman’s school districts paid over $9.8 million in 2018-2019 cyber
charter tuition. Statewide, PA taxpayers paid over $600 million for cyber
charter tuition in 2018-2019.
|
Bald Eagle Area SD
|
$345,761.25
|
|
Bellefonte Area SD
|
$701,843.85
|
|
Greenwood SD
|
$613,649.04
|
|
Huntingdon Area SD
|
$523,359.96
|
|
Juniata County SD
|
$1,494,490.51
|
|
Juniata Valley SD
|
$165,192.50
|
|
Keystone Central SD
|
$1,875,265.10
|
|
Mifflin County SD
|
$1,237,485.20
|
|
Mount Union Area SD
|
$533,585.29
|
|
Penns Valley Area SD
|
$318,294.28
|
|
Philipsburg-Osceola Area SD
|
$628,768.59
|
|
State College Area SD
|
$895,345.93
|
|
Tyrone Area SD
|
$475,004.50
|
|
|
$9,808,046.00
|
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?
Blogger commentary:
Parents considering cyber charters due to COVID might not be aware
of their consistent track record of academic underperformance. As those parents
face an expected blitz of advertising by cybers, in order for them to make a
more informed decision, you might consider providing them with some of the info
listed below:
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.
Concerned about sending your child back to school this fall?
Lancaster & Lebanon School Districts have online options w/high quality
education, participation in district sports & clubs, and easy transition
from cyber school back to in-person instruction.
Considering Online Learning?
Lancaster-Lebanon IU3 tweet/website July 21,
2020
Check with your school district, first! There are local options designed to support your child's educational needs.
Lancaster and Lebanon County Public School Districts offer cyber programs for their students. If you're considering cyber school this year for your child, think local and contact your school district to learn more about their programs.
Check with your school district, first! There are local options designed to support your child's educational needs.
Lancaster and Lebanon County Public School Districts offer cyber programs for their students. If you're considering cyber school this year for your child, think local and contact your school district to learn more about their programs.
The local cyber programs (through the
Lancaster and Lebanon County Public School Districts) offer online learning
filled with collaboration, innovation, and a great team of educators committed
to supporting your child. Plus, unlike the other online options, our
programs operate with the same supports and opportunities provided to other
students, such as:
- High-quality
instruction and curriculum
- Counseling
and support services
- School
district extracurricular activities
- Ease
of transferring students between school and cyber program (within same
district)
- …
and a diploma from your high school (for
graduates)!
Keep scrolling to access your
local school district's cyber program!
Your View: Pa. school funding far from fair
OPINION By KAREN
BECK POOLEY THE MORNING CALL | JUL 22, 2020 AT 7:00 AM
Karen Beck Pooley is a school director in the
Bethlehem Area School District and a founding member of BASD Proud Parents.
The author asserts that Pennsylvania's
"hold harmless" funding leaves some school districts with less state
aid than they would have if the commonwealth's education budget were based
entirely on its fair funding formula.
On June 21, a Your View appeared in The
Morning Call written by Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera in
which he noted “Our education system is not without fault in perpetuating the
systemic inequities and institutional bias that many of our communities have
accepted as normal. Education is an institution rife with historic inequities
in resourcing, inequities in discipline, and inequities in opportunity. These
structures must be dismantled.” He discussed important work underway: equipping
schools to prevent or address racist incidents, training teachers and
administrators to recognize inherent biases, recruiting more nonwhite teachers.
But he made clear that much remains to be done to dismantle black and Hispanic
students’ barriers to opportunity. And he tasked all of us with pressing “our
elected officials to equitably resource our schools.” Here’s how far we are
from equitably resourced schools:
Pennsylvania currently ranks 47th (out of all 50
states) in terms of its share of public schools funding, according
to the National Education Association’s “Rankings of the States 2019 and
Estimates of School Statistics 2020.” Across the commonwealth, state dollars
account for just one-third (36%) of everything spent on public education, well
below the comparable figure for the nation as a whole (which is closer to half,
at 47%). According to data from the education-focused Research for
Action, several districts in our
area receive even less of their budgets from the state: roughly 30% in Easton
and Whitehall-Coplay, roughly 25% in Bethlehem, East Penn and Nazareth, and
roughly 20% in Parkland, Salisbury and Saucon Valley.
The Urgency Of Reopening Schools Safely
Forbes by Linda Darling-Hammond Contributor
Jul 21, 2020,11:38am EDT
Earlier this month, President Trump tweeted, "In
Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and many other countries, SCHOOLS ARE OPEN
WITH NO PROBLEMS…. May cut off funding if not open!" What he should
have tweeted was: “In a few countries with low infection rates, schools are
open with major changes in how they operate.” And his next tweet should have
said: “We must immediately pass and fund the Heroes Act, including at least
$200 billion in funding for education, so that U.S. schools can open safely.” While
it is true that some countries have reopened their schools, they did so in a
different context than ours and with much more government support. Current U.S.
infection rates are 100 times greater than those in Norway and Denmark
and more than 500% greater than rates in Germany, Sweden,
and other jurisdictions like Singapore, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, and Hong
Kong that have stayed open or reopened carefully, often partially and in
stages. They also implemented important changes in how they operate schools.
As schools waffle on reopening, teachers ask: Where will
the subs be?
PA Capital Star By Elizabeth Hardison July 22,
2020
If you’re a teacher who calls in sick,
Darlene Berlin is just the kind of substitute you’d want to take over your
classroom for the day. A veteran educator who left the full-time
workforce to raise her children, Berlin typically takes assignments in suburban
Philadelphia elementary schools three days a week. She follows lesson
plans and grades worksheets, doing “basically everything a classroom teacher
does in a day,” Berlin told the Capital-Star last week. For that work, Berlin
earns a per diem rate of $120 and pays out of pocket for healthcare. She says
she’s happy with the arrangement during a normal school year: she enjoys the
flexibility of her job, and the fact that she doesn’t have to take work home with
her when the day ends. But if you ask Berlin what it would take to get
her back in the classroom this year, as COVID-19 cases continue to climb
nationwide, she has a quick and candid answer: “A raise.” “On a normal
day, I’m not complaining about my pay,” she said. “But in these specific times
of uncertainty [when] we could contract a very serious virus that could risk
our lives, I do feel that we need more incentive to go in.” Berlin and other
educators say that Pennsylvania schools may find themselves searching
fruitlessly for substitute teachers this fall, when schools across the state
are supposed to return to in-person instruction.
‘No end in sight’ to coronavirus, Fauci tells cancer
doctors at Philly-run conference
Post Gazette by STACEY BURLING The
Philadelphia Inquirer JUL 21, 2020 9:29 AM
In a short, drama-free keynote address at a
virtual meeting organized by a Philadelphia-based cancer organization, Dr.
Anthony Fauci spoke dispassionately about the coronavirus, which continues to
wreak personal, economic, and political damage in the United States and has
reportedly caused tension between him and President Donald Trump, who promotes
a more optimistic message. “Here we are in mid-July with close to 14 million
cases globally and 580-plus-thousand deaths so far with essentially no end in
sight,” Fauci, who is head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases, told an audience gathered by the American Association for Cancer
Research. Speaking from an unadorned room without the shelves of weighty texts
that serve as a backdrop for so many virtual talks, Fauci said that SARS-CoV,
the first deadly coronavirus to spread in people in 2002, was tamed in a matter
of months with public health measures. MERS, another vicious coronavirus that
emerged in 2012, continues to smolder at low levels. But the new coronavirus,
known officially as SARS-CoV-2 because of its close similarities to the first
SARS, has proved a much tougher opponent. It is less deadly, but spreads more
easily, often without symptoms. “The United States has been hit harder than any
country in the world with the most cases, 3.4 million now, and the most deaths
at about 136,000,” he said. (As of Monday morning, the Johns Hopkins University
coronavirus resource center estimated the U.S. had 3.8 million cases and more
than 140,000 deaths.)
Don’t let Trump and DeVos bully you into reopening schools,
Pa. Attorney General Josh Shapiro tells educators
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Posted: July
21, 2020- 5:59 PM
If President Donald Trump and Education
Secretary Betsy DeVos attempt to withhold federal funds for Pennsylvania
schools that do not fully reopen in September, state Attorney General Josh
Shapiro will take legal action to stop them, he told school superintendents
Tuesday. “Frankly, I’m sick and tired of this president trying to use teachers
and our children as pawns, and I’m going to look out for them, unlike the
president, who only seems to be looking out for himself and his political
fortunes,” Shapiro said in an interview. His comments followed a letter he sent to school
administrators across the state. Educators now crafting
reopening plans have reached out to Shapiro with
concerns about how they weigh fears of the coronavirus spreading
in schools against Trump and DeVos’ recent
funding threats, Shapiro said. While local and state
tax revenues account for the bulk of school budgets, federal money —
particularly funds for needy students — also account for significant line
items. In Philadelphia, with its high concentration of students living in
poverty, about 10% of the district’s $3.4 billion budget comes from the federal
government.
“He estimates that he needs at least $800,000 more in federal
aid to just cover pandemic bare essentials: additional supplies, face masks,
cleaning costs. He does not yet know where the other $2.2 million in
pandemic-related shortfalls will come from. (Pre-pandemic, the district had
budgeted a $3 million deficit to avoid a tax hike, covering the gap by tapping
savings. That’s still the plan.) Districts are mocking up plans to teach
virtually, in person, or some mix of the two. They are doing so without the
flexibility of deep pockets to hire additional teachers, rent tents, or use other tools available to
upper-crust private schools and their elite, cash-paying parents.”
Republicans must back a COVID-19 relief bill to rescue
public schools. The alternative is calamity. | Maria Panaritis
Inquirer Opinion by Maria
Panaritis | @panaritism | mpanaritis@inquirer.com Posted: July
21, 2020 - 4:42 PM
This is it. The moment of truth.
Public education, the enduring institution
that promotes the uniquely American ideal of economic mobility, has been in
virtual paralysis since March, thanks to the coronavirus. Leaders in Washington
unloosed a modest chunk of rescue dollars in the spring, only to spend the
summer doing nothing while school officials, children, educators, and our
national promise hurtle toward calamity this fall. Republicans in the White
House and Mitch McConnell’s GOP-led Senate have deigned, as of only this week,
to at least consider authorizing
additional federal pandemic rescue aid that schools desperately need to reopen
safely this fall. Whatever these Republicans decide will either preserve this
institution or hasten its unraveling, and with it any bragging rights that the
United States is a place where you can pull yourself up with an education and
do better than your parents — even if you’re not able to pay private school
tuition. Districts everywhere are in triage mode as they hammer out potential
plans that appear likely to burden working parents with the duties of at-home
teachers, while forcing teachers to become eight-armed Houdinis. This after an
aborted spring in which lockdowns halted most learning.
McConnell: GOP coronavirus relief bill will include $105
billion for schools
The Hill BY JORDAIN CARNEY - 07/21/20 10:33 AM EDT 27
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that a
forthcoming Republican coronavirus proposal will include more than $100 billion
for schools. Republicans view help for schools — which are weighing whether to
reopen for in-person classes — as a top priority for the next coronavirus
relief measure, along with support for health care and jobs. "This country
wants its kids back in the classroom this fall learning, exploring, making
friends. Their education depends on it. ... This majority is preparing
legislation that will send $105 billion so that educators have the resources
they need to safely reopen," McConnell said from the Senate floor.
Our View: State officials need to give more direction for
school openings
Beaver County Times Opinion Posted
at 12:31 AM
Educators and parents across the state are
waiting for state officials to tell us when, and how, our kids can go back to
school this fall. There’s a ton of concerns, from children who can’t sit still
on a good day keeping a mask on for eight hours to teachers being exposed to
the virus from dozens of kids each day to the straight-up logistics of it all. Control
is a funny thing. When we don’t have it, we want it. When we have it, we don’t
always know what to do with it. And sometimes, we just want someone to tell us
what to do. Pennsylvania officials have been pretty good at doing just that
these past four months, for better or for worse. They told us to close schools — we listened.
They’ve told us to stay home — we listened,
mostly. They told us we could go out to eat and get our hair cut — thankfully,
many of us listened to the later, and maybe too many listened to the former. They
told us to wear masks — OK, most of you definitely aren’t listening to that,
but more on that later. And now, educators and parents across the state are
waiting for state officials to tell us when, and how, our kids can go back to
school this fall. There’s a ton of concerns, from children who can’t sit still
on a good day keeping a mask on for eight hours to teachers being exposed to
the virus from dozens of kids each day to the straight-up logistics of it all. When
state education officials said they were going to present guidelines and recommendations
for returning to school this past week, it made sense to expect direction.
Mandates. State officials have held the control for the past four months, so
why would this be any different?
Is it safe for schools to open? Roundtable with teachers,
PSEA to happen Wednesday afternoon
LANCASTERONLINE | Staff Jul 20,
2020
As schools prepare to open next month, there
are countless questions, chief among them: Is it safe for schools to open amid
the continuing threat of COVID-19? It appears that teachers have concerns, too.
At 1 p.m. Wednesday, LNP | LancasterOnline Opinion Editor Suzanne Cassidy will
host an online discussion with local teachers and members of Pennsylvania State
Education Association, the teachers union, to discuss school reopening and the
importance of emergency federal funding to ensure schools can reopen safely. Taking
part: Rik Appleby, Landisville Intermediate Center teacher and president
of the Hempfield Education Association; Bryan Hower, McCaskey East High School
technology teacher and member of the Lancaster City Education Association;
Steve Heffner, J.P. McCaskey High School math teacher and member of the
Lancaster City Education Association; Kerry Mulvihill, Conestoga Valley Middle
School science teacher and member of the Conestoga Valley Education
Association; and Rich Askey, president of PSEA.
These are all the plans for Pennsylvania schools and
districts for the fall semester
By: WPXI.com News Staff Updated: July 21,
2020 - 11:07 PM
PITTSBURGH — The Department of
Education has launched an online map
tracking all of the fall semester plans submitted for schools and school
districts across the state. We’ve broken that information down so you can find
the plans for your local schools. Click on the link next to your school
district to see their plans. If you do not see your school on this list, it
means that your local school leaders have not yet submitted their plan to the
state. If you have information about a district you don’t see below, email us
at webstaff@wpxi.com. This list
will be periodically updated.
Neshaminy officials say nickname change would be
community decision
Bucks County Courier Times By Chris
English @CourierEnglish Posted
Jul 20, 2020 at 8:53 AM
The school district put out a news release spelling
out how any decision to change or not change Neshaminy High School’s
controversial sports teams’ nickname would be made.
Washington’s National Football League team is
changing its controversial nickname, but any decision at Neshaminy High School
to follow suit will only be made after thoughtful consideration from the school
board and extensive input from residents, district officials announced. They
put out a news release explaining their stance in light of the change in
Washington, and the recent news that the Cleveland Indians Major League
Baseball team is also looking at changing its nickname. Neshaminy is tied up in
litigation with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission over the nickname.
The PHRC ruled in November the
district could keep using it but only if accompanied by education on Native
American history so that stereotyping could be avoided. The ruling also
directed Neshaminy to remove stereotypical Native American imagery from its
buildings. The school district appealed the ruling to
Commonwealth Court, and the appeal has not yet been heard. “If such a
(nickname) change is made, it will be in a way that honors the proud academic
and sports traditions of Neshaminy, and carefully plans the transition in such
a way to meet the financial and practical needs of the district effectively,”
Neshaminy officials said.
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.
280 PA school boards have adopted charter reform
resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as 280 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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