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
Reopening
Plans…..
Taxpayers in Senate Minority
Leader Jay Costa’s school districts paid over $21 million in 2018-2019 cyber
charter tuition. Statewide, PA taxpayers paid over $600 million for cyber
charter tuition in 2018-2019.
|
Baldwin-Whitehall SD
|
$176,513.64
|
|
Penn Hills SD
|
$2,303,949.15
|
|
Pittsburgh SD
|
$12,976,083.08
|
|
Riverview SD
|
$486,737.25
|
|
Steel Valley SD
|
$865,525.58
|
|
West Mifflin Area SD
|
$556,514.46
|
|
Wilkinsburg Borough SD
|
$832,260.15
|
|
Woodland Hills SD
|
$2,924,198.53
|
|
|
$21,121,781.84
|
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?
EDITORIAL: School and safety first
York Dispatch Editorial Board July 31, 2020
After this week, it seems the PIAA might not
be in the same ballpark with Pennsylvania’s health experts and school
administrators on the question of whether it’s safe to play high school sports
this year. As school boards across the state wrestle with whether they can
safely bring students back to class while COVID-19 still rages — and some
deciding they can’t — the athletic association’s board of directors Wednesday
approved a plan for fall sports to start with a normal schedule, albeit with
precautionary measures. “Our schools are doing a terrific job with their
health and safety plans,” PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi told the
(Greensburg) Tribune-Review’s Chris Harlan, noting recreational leagues are
managing to compete. Schools are “creating a safer environment than those
recreational programs. So, why shouldn’t the safer environment get the
opportunity to play too?” Well, for one thing, it’s not clear at all that school
officials feel they’re doing a “terrific job” with their back-to-school (or
not) plans. The Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators earlier this
week asked the Wolf administration for specific recommendations as
superintendents and school boards mull whether to bring students back, hold
classes online or offer some combination of both. “No tools have been given to
school districts. Guidelines are best practices and suggestions and ideas. They
are not specific recommendations,” Mark DiRocco, the association’s executive
director, told the Associated Press after a call with administration officials.
He noted school officials do not have the expertise to make these decisions.
Scranton School District releases proposed hybrid, virtual
plans for the fall
Times Tribune BY SARAH HOFIUS HALL STAFF WRITER Jul 30,
2020 Updated 4 hrs ago
The Scranton School District will either
offer virtual learning or a hybrid model to its 10,000 students this fall under
proposed plans released Thursday by the district. District administration will
present the plans in detail during Monday night’s special meeting of the
Scranton School Board, scheduled for 6:30. The virtual meeting will be streamed
live on the district’s YouTube page. Following
the meeting, all families will be asked to complete a survey. The board expects
to approve either the virtual or hybrid plan Aug. 10. Under the proposed hybrid
plan, most students would attend school two days a week and learn remotely for
the other three days. For example, some students would attend school Mondays
and Tuesdays and learn at home the rest of the week, while other students would
only be in a classroom Thursdays and Fridays. Some special education students
and English language learners would receive in-person instruction all five
days. Having a smaller number of students in school each day allows for the
ability to socially distance, and the district would try to place siblings on
the same hybrid schedules, according to the plan. Families uncomfortable with
the hybrid model would still have the option of a full-time online education
through the district.
It’s official: Philly’s school year to begin fully
remotely
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Updated: July
30, 2020- 8:43 PM
When classes begin for 125,000 Philadelphia
School District students on Sept. 2, they will do so virtually. The school
board Thursday night formally blessed Superintendent William R. Hite Jr.’s
back-to-school plan, meaning children will be out of classrooms until at least
Nov. 17 because of fears of the spread of the coronavirus. If public health
conditions permit, students who choose to return to school will be able to do
so when the second marking period begins, in late November. Furthermore,
students who want to continue attending virtual classes will have that option. Hite initially wanted most students back in
school for face-to-face instruction two days a week, but that plan was
withdrawn after intense pushback from principals, teachers, parents, and
others. The board, in its latest Zoom meeting Thursday night, voted by 7-1 to
sign off on the fully virtual plan, but there was less agreement about whether
the direction the district was taking was the best course for children. Board
member Maria McColgan expressed deep reservations about vulnerable kids being
out of classrooms for so long, and said she wasn’t comfortable with parents
being deprived of the choice to send their children to school or keep them at
home until health conditions improve.
Philly school board approves plan for all-virtual
education at least until November
The vote is 7-1. In contrast to last week,
some say that the option for in-school learning should have remained. The
board's only pediatrician dissents.
The notebook by Dale
Mezzacappa and Bill
Hangley Jr. July 30 — 10:41 pm, 2020
In an occasionally testy session that saw
members express a range of concerns about safety, monitoring and community
engagement, the Board of Education approved a revised reopening plan that
will keep most Philadelphia School District students learning online until at
least November. The plan, reworked after an earlier version was roundly
rejected by educators and the public at last week’s board meeting, calls for
all students to begin school virtually, as principals and staff in the
District’s 220 buildings work out plans for how each individual school will
operate. District officials said they hope the revised plan will offer a
foundation from which the many stakeholders can work together to prepare for
September and manage an unpredictable fall. “This year will be challenging …
and we all need to be prepared to learn alongside each other,” said
Superintendent William Hite. “This will be a difficult year – we look forward
to working together as one community.” said Board President Joyce Wilkerson.
Philly school district approves plan to start year online
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent July 30, 2020
It’s official: The School District of
Philadelphia and its 125,000 students will begin the school year online. The
city’s Board of Education approved a revised version of the district’s
reopening plan, the highlight of which was a commitment to all-virtual learning
through November 17. The decision comes one week after a marathon board meeting
that forced the School District of Philadelphia to abandon its original “hybrid” plan. District
leaders hoped to have students in class two days a week — with an option for
all-virtual education — but heard fierce opposition from parents and educators.
On Thursday, the school board passed a new health and safety plan by a
vote of 7-1. Maria McColgan was the lone dissenter, although other board
members noted that they voted “yes” begrudgingly. Philadelphia joins Los
Angeles, San Diego, Miami, and Houston among major cities that will begin the
school year online.
Spurred by faith and finances, Philly private schools
embrace in-person learning
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent July 31, 2020
The school reopening plan for Holmesburg Christian Academy hews
closely to the safety plan first proposed — and
then abandoned — by
the School District of Philadelphia. There is, however, one important
difference: The school plans to actually open. The small, evangelical school in
Northeast Philadelphia says it’ll have face-to-face instruction for all
students, every day. “From youngest to oldest, from top to bottom, we really
see this as something that is worth it,” said Walt Rice, the financial
administrator and admissions director at the school of 175 students. “Worth it
for the sake of serving Jesus. Worth it for the sake of serving these kids.” Whether
compelled by Christ or secular reasons, many private schools in Philadelphia
seem to be following Holmesburg Christian Academy’s path. As several major charter networks and public school districts —
including Philadelphia’s — opt for an all-virtual start, private schools are
leaning the opposite direction. When WHYY canvassed private schools across the
city, not one said it plans to start the school year fully online.
Wellsboro Area School District unveils reopening plan
Westfield Free Press Courier By Natalie Kennedy
nkennedy@tiogapublishing.com July 30,
2020
WELLSBORO — The 2020-21 school year will look
very different, and will rely on a partnership between the district, parents
and community to be successful. Wellsboro Area School District administrators
hosted a virtual town hall meeting July 28 to unveil plans for the coming year
and answer questions from parents. The start of school will be postponed by
about a week to Monday, Aug. 31, to give the district time to prepare, said
Superintendent Dr. Brenda Freeman. Classes will be longer, the school day will
be shorter and masks/face shields are mandatory. The district will offer three
instructional options: five-day a week classes, remote learning or Wellsboro Online
Academy. Parents may also choose to unenroll their child for homeschooling or
cyber charter school, she said. All students are enrolled in five-day a week
classes unless parents contact their child’s school and choose an alternate
method. The plan limits student movement and encourages use of outdoor space.
The district will provide one mask for every student; disposable masks will be
available in case a student forgets the mask. Face shields are permitted except
on buses. In kindergarten to fourth grade, students stay in the classroom, with
teachers rotating among classes, including special classes such as art and
music. In fifth through eighth grade, students will have two courses in the
morning, followed by lunch and two afternoon classes. Students will remain in a
core group with teachers moving among classes.
Pottstown School Board approves all-online return to school
Pottstown Mercury By Austin Hertzog, ahertzog@21st-centurymedia.com July 31,
2020
POTTSTOWN — The Pottstown School Board
unanimously approved an all-virtual reopening plan for the first semester
during a Zoom meeting Thursday night. The 9-0 vote came following a review of
Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez’s presentation from Monday that recommended a
full-time online learning model for the start of the 2020-21 school year. Pottstown’s
return will include a "Synchronous Instruction Model" with live
instruction taking place for students in the district. Every student grades
first through 12th will receive a Chromebook in the arrangement, an improvement
upon the computer sharing required during virtual learning at the end of the
2019-20 school year. Pottstown’s plan, which also included health and safety
protocols for when in-person instruction is able to resume, came in response to
online surveys completed by more than 1,000 parents. The board acknowledged the
mixed opinions the decision would elicit from the community but spoke to being
driven by prioritizing the safety of the students and community
“Norristown Superintendent Christopher Dormer said earlier this
week that classes would be entirely online this fall. The virtual classes will
continue at least until January.”
Pennsylvania district opts out of high school sports in
fall
Ron Musselman York
Dispatch
The Norristown Area School District became
one of the first in the state Thursday to suspend high school sports for the
fall. The district’s decision came a day after the PIAA's board of directors
voted unanimously to move forward with a plan that would see fall sports start
with a normal schedule, but with a number of precautionary measures. “We
recognize the angst this will bring for our student athletes, coaches, and
gameday staff, but it is the health and safety of those groups and their
families that are paramount to the district,” the Norristown School
District said in a statement on Twitter. “If we cannot guarantee a safe
return to the classroom, we cannot guarantee a safe return to the field,
course, sidelines, courts or locker rooms.”
Council Rock board approves anti-racism resolution
Bucks County Courier Times By Chris
English @CourierEnglish Posted
Jul 30, 2020 at 12:58 PM
The document has six action steps designed to
improve the school district’s diversity and racial climate. Establishing a
district-wide diversity and inclusion team and hiring an outside consultant to
conduct a diversity-focused curricular audit are two of several actions
outlined in a resolution unanimously
approved by the Council Rock School Board at a recent meeting. At the same meeting, the board approved a
$9,000 agreement with
an organization called Living Strong to help the district implement strategies
in the document, which is titled a “resolution supporting the development of an
anti-racist school climate.” The actions come not long after two 2015 Council
Rock High School South graduates, Farah Contractor and Danielle Randall, wrote
a letter to school board members and administrators recommending 15 steps they
feel would create a more diverse and racially sensitive school district. They
also come at a time when school districts across the country are dealing with
issues of racism and social injustice in the wake of nationwide Black Lives
Matter protests over the death of George Floyd.
Actions to be taken by the district as
outlined in the resolution are:
– Establishing a CRSD diversity and inclusion
team inclusive of all district schools
– Building on the effectiveness of existing
school-based teams
– Holding focus groups with recent graduates
on preparedness for their next phase of life
– Holding focus groups with current students,
including students from under-represented groups, on their experience in
Council Rock schools and the community.
The other two actions are having an external
consultant conduct a diversity-focused curricular and/or equity audit, and
creating a systemic employee-training program centered on diversity, equity and
inclusiveness.
State on the search for new York City school recovery
officer
Lindsay C VanAsdalan York
Dispatch July 31, 2020
The state will need to replace its chief
recovery officer for York City School District recovery plan after the current
appointee announced she would be retiring effective Friday. The district was
placed in financial recovery in 2012 — along with Harrisburg, Chester-Upland
and Duquesne school districts — and a chief recovery officer was assigned
to help formulate a recovery plan and oversee the district’s progress. The
Pennsylvania Department of Education is already searching for Saylor’s
replacement, spokesperson Eric Levis said in an email Thursday. "Turning
70 years old during a pandemic has forced me to refocus," said recovery
officer Carol Saylor, noting she wants to spend time with family she has
missed. Saylor, who announced her retirement at the board’s July 22 meeting, is
the second recovery officer appointed to the district.
Notebook partners with Chalkbeat to launch Chalkbeat
Philadelphia
Together, we will continue the mission of
delivering quality reporting on education in Philadelphia.
the
Notebook July 30 — 6:50 am, 2020
The Philadelphia Public School Notebook is
joining forces with Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization with a national
reach, to launch Chalkbeat Philadelphia just in time for the 2020-21 school
year. The website and social media accounts for Chalkbeat Philadelphia will
launch on Aug. 17, 2020. The potential for the two nonprofits to partner
started years ago when the Notebook co-founder and former editor Paul
Socolar and Chalkbeat’s co-founder and CEO Elizabeth Green began
conversing about industry concerns and goals. “We always saw the
potential synergy because our programmatic work is so aligned, and we found
ways to be supportive of each other’s work,” says Socolar. “The organizations
are working to accomplish similar missions. The timing to partner formally
seems right now.” The two organizations now will collaborate in order to
benefit from streamlined roles and administrative overhead, a broader reach,
and greater financial stability, with support from the Nonprofit
Repositioning Fund (which supports long-term
strategic alliances and collaborations in the Philadelphia region to build
organizational sustainability and improve program and service delivery).
Backing also comes from the William Penn Foundation and the Independence Public
Media Foundation, among others. Longtime Notebook contributor Dale
Mezzacappa will continue her work in her new position as the senior reporter
for Chalkbeat Philadelphia. Dale is a contributing editor at the Notebook. She
has reported on education since 1986, most of that time with The Philadelphia
Inquirer.
What Back to School Might Look Like in the Age of Covid-19
An illustrated guide to how schools will try
to control the coronavirus when students return to their classrooms, this fall
or in the future.
New York Times Text by Dana Goldstein Illustrations by Yuliya Parshina-Kottas
Produced by Aliza Aufrichtig July 29, 2020
Produced by Aliza Aufrichtig July 29, 2020
A typical American school day requires
proximity: High school lab partners leaning over a vial. Kindergarten students
sharing finger paints. Middle schoolers passing snacks around a cafeteria
table. This year, nothing about school will be typical. Many of the nation’s
largest districts plan to start the academic year online, and it is
unclear when students and teachers will be back in classrooms. Others plan
hybrid models, while some are determined to go five days a week. When school
buildings do reopen, whether this fall or next year, buses, hallways,
cafeterias and classrooms will need to look very different as long as the
coronavirus remains a threat. Even teaching, which has evolved in recent
decades to emphasize fewer lectures and more collaborative lessons, must
change. “This is the biggest adaptive challenge in my career, and in the
history of public education,” said Cindy Marten, superintendent of the San
Diego public schools.
The Risk That Students Could Arrive at School With the
Coronavirus
New York Times By James
Glanz, Benedict Carey and Matthew Conlen July 31,
2020
As schools grapple with how to reopen, new
estimates show that large parts of the country would likely see infected
students if classrooms opened now. Millions of families face an excruciating
choice this fall: Should their children attend if local schools reopen their
classrooms, and risk being exposed to the coronavirus? Or should they stay home
and lose out on in-person instruction? No single factor can settle such a
fraught decision. But new estimates provide a rough gauge of the risk that
students and educators could encounter at school in each county in the United
States. The estimates, from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin,
range from sobering to surprisingly reassuring, depending on the area and the
size of the school. Based on current infection rates, more than 80 percent of
Americans live in a county where at least one infected person would be expected
to show up to a school of 500 students and staff in the first week, if school
started today. In the highest-risk areas — including Miami, Fort Lauderdale,
Nashville and Las Vegas — at least five students or staff would be expected to
show up infected with the virus at a school of 500 people. The high numbers
reflect the rapid spread of the virus in those areas, where more than 1 in 70
people are estimated to be currently infected.
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.
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.
PSBA: Adopt the resolution against racial inequity.
School boards are asked to adopt this
resolution supporting the development of an anti-racist climate. Once adopted,
share your resolution with your local community and submit a copy to PSBA.
Learn more:
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.
283 PA school boards have adopted charter reform
resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 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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