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
Chester County Health Dept: Chesco & Delco Schools
should go virtual at least until Oct. 9
Tweet from
Christopher Stone, Ph.D., Superintendent of Montour SD:
Attention parents ...as we get closer to
opening schools soon, just a subtle reminder of the importance of patience and
grace as we all attempt to work tirelessly to do what’s best for kids!
Proactive communication and kindness goes far! @MontourSD
Taxpayers in Senate Minority
Caucus Administrator John Blake’s school districts paid over $24.7 million in
2018-2019 cyber charter tuition. Statewide, PA
taxpayers paid over $600 million for cyber charter tuition in 2018-2019.
|
Abington Heights SD
|
$645,703.80
|
|
Carbondale Area SD
|
$804,920.40
|
|
Dunmore SD
|
$364,608.89
|
|
East Stroudsburg Area SD
|
$4,765,876.50
|
|
Forest City Regional SD
|
$454,754.87
|
|
Lackawanna Trail SD
|
$818,275.00
|
|
Lakeland SD
|
$674,096.76
|
|
Mid Valley SD
|
$953,045.86
|
|
North Pocono SD
|
$1,259,719.00
|
|
Old Forge SD
|
$196,800.21
|
|
Pittston Area SD
|
$794,461.73
|
|
Pocono Mountain SD
|
$6,774,544.22
|
|
Riverside SD
|
$753,790.62
|
|
Scranton SD
|
$4,650,525.96
|
|
Valley View SD
|
$884,418.00
|
|
|
$24,795,541.82
|
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?
Officials left wondering how many students will choose
charter schools
Trib Live by MEGAN TOMASIC | Sunday,
August 16, 2020 8:19 a.m.
School districts face a daunting future as they
prepare for several possible scenarios for the coming year. But one looming
question remains largely unanswered — how many students will switch to
out-of-district cyber charter schools that have impacted school budgets for
years? Surveys sent to families as reopening plans
were being drawn up suggest that between 15% and 20% of parents do not want to
send their children back to any type of in-person learning, said Mark DiRocco,
executive director of Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators. “This
year is very unusual in that we just don’t know,” DiRocco said. “Districts are
going to have a difficult time trying to guess how many families are going to
go to the cyber charter option because of the pandemic.” Uncertainty in the
exact number of students switching to cyber programs — which may not be fully
known until closer to when school begins, and, even then could change once the
year starts — is leaving district officials worried about their budgets.
Districts are responsible for funding charter schools based on a statutory funding formula for
both regular and special education students. Costs can vary from school to
school, ranging from $7,500 for mainstream students to $40,000 for special
education students. According to the Keystone State Education Coalition, a
grass roots organization, more than $13.9 million was spent on charter school
tuition during the 2018-19 year among 11 Westmoreland County school districts.
At Pittsburgh Public, cyber charter costs have been more than $80 million for
several years.
“Mark DiRocco with the Pennsylvania Association of School
Administrators said he welcomed the indication that public health officials
will play a major role in responding to cases. “We really don’t want them to
make recommendations to districts, we want them to step in and actually help,”
DiRocco said.”
Pennsylvania schools get more detailed state guidance on
handling COVID-19 outbreaks
Inquirer by Mark Scolforo, Associated Press, Updated: August
14, 2020
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania state government
agencies are providing school leaders with advice about how to respond when
students or employees with confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been on school
property, from cleaning and tracing their contacts to shutting down buildings
for two weeks or longer. The Education and Health departments late Thursday
notified school administrators of the recommended procedures, which depend on
how many people are infected and how widespread the disease has been growing in
their county. School leaders had sought the advice as they plan for restarting
instruction this fall, said Education Department spokesman Rick Levis. “It’s
additional guidance that we’re providing to the school districts because we
recognize that they’re not medical professionals,” Levis said Friday. In areas
with low spread and just one case inside a school building over a 14-day
period, the advice is to clean areas where the infected person has been and get
public health agency assistance tracking their contacts. With a few more cases
over the two-week period and moderate infection spread in the county, schools
are advised to clean, trace contacts and close for five to seven days. Schools
that get five or more cases should close down for two weeks and the entire
building should be cleaned, the Education and Health departments suggested.
Pennsylvania teachers want the state to enforce
guidelines for schools to reopen | PennLive Editorial
By PennLive
Editorial Board Updated Aug 14, 3:58 PM; Posted
Aug 14, 3:58 PM
Teachers are demanding clarity and enforcement of
guidelines on how to protect themselves and their students if they
return to the classroom, and they have a right to do so. Teachers who agree to
go back into the classroom for face-to-face learning will suddenly find
themselves in the same position as healthcare workers – on the front lines in a
pandemic that already has killed millions of people – more than 7,000 of them
in Pennsylvania alone. Teachers will greet hundreds of students on
back-to-school day, and it’s not unreasonable to say that one of them just
might be carrying the coronavirus into their classrooms. As far as doctors know
now, most kids don’t get seriously ill or die from the virus. But some do. And
it also seems to be true that most young, healthy people don’t get seriously
ill or die from the coronavirus. But many do. The most baffling thing about
this virus is many people don’t really know if they have it or not – until they
get sick and possibly infect other people. This is why Rich Askey, president of
the Pennsylvania State Education Association, is speaking up for teachers and
demanding that all school districts commit to following the guidelines the
state Secretary of Health has just issued – no exceptions.
Chester County Health Department: Chesco and Delco Schools
should go virtual at least until Oct. 9
Delco Times Fran Maye fmaye@21st-centurymedia.com Aug 16,
2020
WEST CHESTER — The Chester County Health
Department is now recommending that all public and private schools in Chester
County and Delaware County begin their academic year virtually, and assess
their ability to transition to an in-school instructional model after Oct. 9. The
decision is expected to mitigate any impact anticipated by increased cases due
to the end of the summer holiday and ensures school districts have the
necessary time to implement the health department's guidance. Schools providing
special education, early childhood development programs or career and
vocational education are exempt from starting the academic year virtually. The
recommendation will impact a number of Chester County school districts that
already have a plan to begin hybrid instruction consisting of remote learning
and in-school education. Unionville-Chadds-Ford is one such school district,
and Superintendent John Sanville said he will make a decision to follow the
Chester County Health Department's recommendation at a public meeting Monday
night.
Chester County Health Department recommends schools to
start virtually, in Delco too
The Owen J. Roberts School District says it
has changed its reopening plans.
6 ABC Action News Saturday, August 15, 2020
7:17AM
WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- The
Chester County Health Department is recommending that all schools in the
county, as well as in Delaware County, start all-virtual for the upcoming
school year. In a statement released
Friday, and which can be read in full below,
the Chester County Health Department, which is currently serving both Chester
and Delaware counties in their coronavirus pandemic response, said, "Such
a start will mitigate any impact anticipated by increased cases due to the end
of the summer holiday."Chester County health officials said come October
9, districts in both counties that opted to follow the virtual guidance can
reassess whether to continue virtual instruction. Schools providing special
education, early childhood development programs, or career and vocational
education are exempt from starting the academic year virtually. The Owen J. Roberts School
District says it has changed its
reopening plans in accordance with the new recommendations. Originally, parents
in the district could choose from virtual or hybrid instruction.
Chester County Health Department Coronavirus COVID-19
Public and Private School Guidance
Issued: June 19, 2020 Updated: July 3, 2020;
July 6, 2020; July 22, 2020, July 31, 2020, August 14, 2020
School Districts Reportedly Opening Virtual Only as of August
16, 2020
Keystone State Ed Coalition Last Updated August
16, 2020
Blogger note: this is work in process. Please let me know if you
have additions or corrections to this list
Mt. Lebanon School Board unanimously approves reopening
plan for remote start
Post Gazette by DEANA CARPENTER AUG 14, 2020 11:53
AM
Students in the Mt. Lebanon School District
will begin the year fully remotely and will continue remote education for the
first nine-weeks of the 2020-21 school year. The board unanimously approved its
reopening education plan at an Aug. 13 meeting. School is set to start Aug. 31
for the 5,500 students in the district. “This is the most difficult decision
this board or any school board will ever make,” said board president Sarah
Olbrich, addressing more than 1,400 people attending the meeting via Zoom. “This
is a phased reopening,” Ms. Olbrich said, adding the end goal is to have all
students back in the buildings in a safe manner.
New Castle rolls out the first nine weeks
By Debbie Wachter New Castle News Aug 12, 2020
New Castle Area School District employees
assist at a laptop pickup on April 2 at New Castle High School. On Monday, the
district approved a back-to-school education plan Monday that will involve
strictly at-home learning on computers, at least through Nov. 3. The first nine
weeks of school for New Castle students are going to be a lot different
than their first days of school last year, or any other year. It also promises
to be a lot different than the schooling they had in the spring, after the
state government shut down schools because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning
Aug. 1, a new scenario of online learning, a virtual learning model, will be
introduced to students in the district, with teachers interacting with
students, answering their questions and potentially teaching them from their
classrooms, all online. According to a
phased reopening plan with options that was adopted by the school board Monday, students
will begin the school year with online learning from their homes, only for the
first nine weeks, because of the increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases in
Lawrence County.
Allentown School District buying 3,500 hot spots for
remote learning
By JACQUELINE PALOCHKO THE MORNING
CALL | AUG 14, 2020 AT 11:17 AM
The Allentown School District is spending
$844,080 to purchase hot spots to help students access the internet during
remote learning.
The district’s 17,000
students will start the school year next month virtually because of
the coronavirus pandemic. Allentown promises that every student will have
access to a computer device to do lessons, but the district also recognizes
that many of its students live without high-speed internet. Superintendent
Thomas Parker said that for remote learning to be successful, the district has
to acquire more than 3,500 hot spots for students to have the internet. When
the district conducted a survey in the spring, almost 20% of 12,000 families
said they do not have access to high-speed internet. Most of the district’s
students live in poverty. “The digital divide is a concern,” Parker said.
“Wi-Fi and computers are the new pencil and paper. And if you’re in a
classroom, and a kid needs pencil and paper, you have to provide it for him.”
Pa. private, charter schools worry bus cuts will strand
students
WHYY By Associated Press Michael Rubinkam August 15, 2020
Pennsylvania school
districts that plan to start the year off virtually are facing a potentially
thorny issue: What to do about bus transportation for students of private and
charter schools offering face-to-face instruction. Some districts say they’ll
continue to take these students to school, as usual, even though their own
campuses are closed. But other districts plan to cancel bus service until their
own students return to brick-and-mortar classrooms, potentially stranding the
private and charter students they are required by law to transport. This week,
House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre, pressed state education
officials to clarify that school districts should maintain bus service for
private and charter students whose schools are reopening for in-person
instruction. “Failure to transport children to school for in-person education
is an unfair setback to students in an already challenging time,” Benninghoff
wrote in a letter Thursday to Education Secretary Pedro Rivera. Education
Department spokesperson Rick Levis said Friday that officials are reviewing the
issue and will release guidance as soon as possible.
Many private schools are planning to open in person as
public schools are stuck online
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna and Kristen A. Graham, Posted: August
16, 2020
In between fielding emails from parents about
his school’s plan to reopen, Bud Tosti spent Tuesday unloading 120 desks at St.
Katharine of Siena School in Wayne. “You can’t socially distance with tables,”
Tosti, the Catholic elementary school’s principal, said after swapping desks
into six classrooms. As public schools across the region have increasingly
moved to reopen with online-only instruction, many private schools are pressing
ahead with plans to bring children back to classrooms, saying they are taking
precautions and can open safely. Some private school leaders say they are
seeing heightened interest from parents seeking alternatives to their
districts’ virtual learning programs, and willing to begin paying tuition — in
some cases tens of thousands of dollars — to ensure their kids return to
learning in a classroom. Similar dynamics are playing out nationally as schools
have been thrust into the center of the pandemic reopening debate. Private
schools may have financial incentives to reopen, “because otherwise families
may take their kids out of the school,” said Sean Reardon, professor of poverty
and inequality in education at Stanford University — or because parents with
children in public schools who want in-person classes are willing to pay.
Central Bucks parents protest school district’s decision
to go virtual
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Posted: August 15, 2020
Parents in the Central Bucks School District
protested Saturday against the district’s decision to start the year virtually
— an announcement school leaders made this week after determining they did not
have enough staff to return to classrooms. Central Bucks had previously planned
to offer full-time, in-person instruction to elementary students, along with
hybrid and virtual options. But as it began to assign teachers to those
programs, “it became quickly apparent that we do not have adequate staff to
safely open school,” Superintendent John Kopicki said. Lauren Feldman, a parent
of an incoming fourth grader who organized Saturday’s protest in Doylestown,
said families should have a choice whether to send their children back into a
classroom. “I’m hoping that they hear our voice, and will reevaluate the
situation and find a way,” Feldman said. Many school districts around
Philadelphia have opted to begin the
school year virtually, as public health experts warn of potential
outbreaks if schools reopen. On Friday,
the Chester County Health Department advised schools in Chester and Delaware
Counties to start the year virtually through Oct. 9, citing potential increased
coronavirus cases “due to the end of the summer holiday.”
Blogger opinion: Pennsylvania’s 14 public cyber charter schools have
a 20 year track record of dismal academic performance. IMHO, “what works” is
having highly motivated students and/or highly motivated parents, the kind of students
and parents that would excel in any learning environment. If cyber administrators
truly desire collaboration, they could start by supporting long overdue changes
to the funding formula, which provides them the same tuition rates as brick and
mortar charters even though they have none of the expenses associated with running
a physical plant. They should acknowledge that when their schools take excess tuition
tax dollars out of the sending districts that reduces the resources available
for their neighbors’ students who remain in those often already underfunded sending
districts.
Guest Editorial: A goal to collaborate for online
education
The Sentinel Guest Editorial by Patricia
Rosetti, August 16, 2020
Patricia Rossetti is the CEO of PA Distance
Learning Charter School, a statewide public cyber charter school based in
Sewickley, Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania's 14 public cyber charter
schools have been in the news lately as thousands of families seek to enroll
their children for the new school year. Parents are choosing public cyber
charter schools, because we know how to educate students online. We have been
teaching children in virtual classrooms for 20 years now. We know what works.
We know what doesn't work. As innovators in public education, our cyber charter
leaders want to help all schools with their virtual education programs.
Specifically, we want to make sure every brick-and-mortar school —
district, private or charter — can educate students online if schools are
closed again this fall. In response to our efforts to help, some of our
opponents in traditional schools and the General Assembly have sought to cut
state funding for our students and stop families from enrolling in our schools.
They fear competition. They want to force students who live in their districts
to attend the schools they determine, not the ones their parents choose.
New CDC guidance says COVID-19 rates in children
'steadily increasing'
Post Gazette by CNN by CHRISTINA MAXOURIS AND
JAY CROFT AUG 15, 2020 4:37 PM
Health experts say children make up more than
7% of all COVID-19 cases in the US -- while comprising about 22% of the
country's population -- and the number and rate of child cases have been
"steadily increasing" from March to July. The data was posted
alongside updated guidance from the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention for pediatricians that also includes what is known about
the virus in children. "Recent evidence suggests that children likely have
the same or higher viral loads in their nasopharynx compared with adults and
that children can spread the virus effectively in households and camp
settings," the guidance states. Transmission of the virus to and among
children may have been reduced in spring and early summer due to mitigation
measures like stay-at-home orders and school closures, the CDC says.
Here’s where Pa. Republicans are missing an important
mark on schools reopening | Opinion
By Mary Jo Daley Capital-Star Op-Ed Contributor August 16,
2020
State Rep. Mary Jo Daley, a Democrat,
represents the Montgomery County-based 148th House District. She writes from
Harrisburg.
I read House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff’s recent column on the
need to prioritize our children’s safety, not politicize it. While I believe
Benninghoff, R-Centre, is sincere in his concern for children throughout the
commonwealth, I think he and many others in his party are missing the mark when
they talk about what our children need from us as this school year gets
underway. Also, misconstruing thoughtful consideration for what is best for our
students, teachers and other school staff as “politicizing” the issue is disingenuous.
Elected officials searching for policy answers and acting swiftly to save lives
is not politicizing the issue; it’s doing our jobs. This deadly virus is spread
even by people who have no symptoms. Rep. Benninghoff said in his column that
“most people fully recover” from COVID-19, but we don’t yet know the long-term
effects of this virus. We do know that it has already claimed the lives of more
than 7,400 people across the state, and it would have killed even more if it
were not for the swift action Gov. Tom Wolf and his administration took from
the beginning of the pandemic.
Harrisburg must step up to help schools reopen safely
Bucks County Courier Times Opinion by Dan
O’Brien August 17, 2020
Dan O'Brien is the Bucks County Coordinator
of Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY), which advocates quality
health care, child care, public education and family stability.
The uncertainty surrounding reopening of
schools is a direct consequence of Pennsylvania and the federal government’s
decades-long failure to prioritize our children. As Bucks County parents attend
confusing school district meetings and try to figure out how they can return to
work, if they’re fortunate enough to even have a job, one thing is certain:
schools are overwhelmingly under-resourced to teach our kids during the
pandemic. Our natural reaction is to blame our local school officials. However,
the fault doesn’t lie with them. They’ve been working tirelessly to construct
plans they know will garner negative reactions from many parents no matter
what. Tasked with the impossible goal of pleasing everyone, districts are left
to provide multiple overanalyzed, unrealistic watered-down education plans,
instead of perfecting one. Consequently, parents have lost confidence and are
looking for alternatives, such as tutors to teach kids in pods (for those with
financial means) or cyber charter schools that each year drastically
underperform most public schools. Decisions like these will further hurt our
schools already struggling for resources. But who can blame parents who are
just looking for predictability, so their children can receive some sort of
consistent education while they try to make a living? Nevertheless, we
shouldn’t be fighting with school administrators and unpaid school board
members about the confusion surrounding reopening. Our fight is with
Pennsylvania’s lawmakers whose lack of commitment and investment in our
children has forced districts to pull together plans not set in reality.
Philly Board of Ed makes a bumpy return to meeting in
person
Members and District staff attended the
meeting in person for the first time since March. They experienced some
technical problems.
The notebook by Bill
Hangley Jr. August 14 — 12:11 am, 2020
The first in-person Board of Education
meeting since March lasted more than four hours. In what proved to be a long,
disjointed evening marred by technical difficulties, the Philadelphia Board of
Education held an “in-person” joint committee meeting on Thursday, its first
non-virtual session since the arrival of the COVID pandemic in March. The
four-hour-plus meeting covered a range of topics but resulted in no specific
recommendations from the two board committees represented: Finance &
Facilities and Student Achievement & Support. The evening’s most concrete
lesson: Faithful fidelity to COVID safety protocols requires constant vigilance
by leadership. That was brought home by board member Angela McIver, who on at
least four occasions had to remind District staffers to sanitize the speaker’s
lectern and its PowerPoint “clicker” before speaking into the microphone.
Eyes on the Philly Board of Education: August 20, 2020
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools by
Karel Kilimnik August 2020
Reading Board of Education agendas invoke
feelings similar to that of Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day: will we
be trapped in this cycle forever? Is there a future in which we don’t see
the same items for consulting contracts, outsourcing of professional services,
and growing the legal firm slush fund? We have seen little independence from
the Board, which conducts business in the same way the SRC did–rubber-stamping
administrative requests. The COVID pandemic provides an opportunity to
right the priorities for the district by involving stakeholders in decision
making; eliminating outsourcing and rebuilding infrastructure; using the
already existing resources of educators instead of hiring outside consultants
who return like cicadas; supporting Black Lives Matter and Student Voter
Registration. We need actions to back the speeches. We need equity to guide
funding so that it gets to schools with the highest needs and fewest resources.
Community outraged after Central York School Board
members oppose anti-racism curriculum
Sam Ruland York Daily Record August 16, 2020
As schools in Pennsylvania try to reopen
during the coronavirus pandemic, they're also opening during a racial reckoning
across the country. Last week, a Central York School Board meeting sparked
outrage on social media when two members of the board voiced opposition to the
district's proposal to adopt an anti-racist curriculum this coming year — one
that would move away from practices that center only on the experiences of
white people and teach more honest lessons about systemic racism and
slavery. The remarks made by board members Vickie Guth and Veronica Gemma
prompted an uproar from parents and community members who now worry
that decisions about the district are being dictated by unconsciously
biased board members. "They showed
a total lack of cultural competence," Jen White said about Guth and
Gemma. White's husband is a Black man, and her three mixed-race children
are enrolled in Central York School District — one child at Sinking Springs
Elementary School and the other two at Central York Middle School.
Blogger note: some interesting items in here regarding cyber
charters and also the Commonwealth Foundation related salaries
HARRISBURG, PA Non profits with highest expenses and Highest
Paid Executives in area
Nonprofit Light
Why Parents, With ‘No Good Choice’ This School Year, Are
Blaming One Another
Every choice on what to do about schooling
amid a pandemic is potentially risky or unfair. Even if the problem is
systemic, the angst is personal.
New York Times By Claire Cain Miller Published Aug. 13,
2020Updated Aug. 15, 2020
It’s the newest front in America’s parenting
wars.
Parents, forced to figure out how to care for
and educate their children in a pandemic, are being judged and criticized on
message boards and in backyard meet-ups and virtual P.T.A. meetings. If parents
send their children to schools that reopen, are they endangering them and their
teachers? If they keep them home, are they pulling support from schools and
depriving their children? If they keep working while schools are closed, are they
neglecting their children in a time of need? If they hire someone to help with
remote school, are they widening achievement gaps and contributing to
inequality? “This is what you selfish parents are so gung-ho for,” someone
wrote under a photo of a crowded school hallway on a Washington, D.C., parents’
forum. In a Portland, Ore., Facebook group, parents called other parents racist
for hiring tutors for small learning groups when not all families could afford
it: “Can’t be a part of something that on purpose perpetuates racism,” one
wrote. “Shameful.” And in a Reddit discussion about schools in West Chester,
Pa., someone blamed parents for supporting the district’s choice to open
virtually: “It is sickening especially when you see people cheering on these
decisions.” But the shaming, scholars say, is distracting from the larger
societal issues underlying the problem. Parents have been left stranded, with
very little in the way of support.
Can Los Angeles Schools Test 700,000 Students and 75,000
Employees? That’s the Plan
Classes will start remotely. But the nation’s
second-largest school district has perhaps the most ambitious plan to test
students and employees for the coronavirus.
New York Times By Shawn
Hubler Aug. 16, 2020
Amid public alarm over
the inadequacy of coronavirus testing across the nation, Los Angeles schools on
Monday will begin a sweeping program to test hundreds of thousands of students
and teachers as the nation’s second-largest school district goes back to school
— online. The program, which will be rolled out over the next few months by the
Los Angeles Unified School District, will administer tests to nearly 700,000
students and 75,000 employees as the district awaits permission from public health
authorities to resume in-person instruction, said Austin Beutner, the
district’s superintendent. It appears to
be the most ambitious testing initiative so far among major public school
districts, most of which are also starting school remotely but have yet to
announce detailed testing plans.
Katherine Stewart: Betsy DeVos’s Plot to Transfer Public
Funds to Private Schools During the Pandemic
Diane Ravitch’s Blog By
dianeravitch August 16, 2020 //
Katherine Stewart, a scholar of rightwing
evangelicals, writes in The New Republic about Betsy
DeVos’s brazen transfer of public funds to private schools
during the pandemic. Stewart is the author of The Power Worshippers:
Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism. Stewart surveys
the generous distribution of federal funds to private and religious schools,
far more generous than the federal money for public schools. As you have read
in numerous posts and in a study by the Network for Public Education, charter
schools, which enroll about 6% of American students collected $1 billion to $2
billion from the Paycheck Protection Program. Stewart shows that private and
religious schools collected even more. This was no accident. It is part of
DeVos’s long-term goal of destroying public education.
Blogger commentary:
Parents considering cyber charters due to COVID might not be
aware of their 20 year 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.
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.
Save The Date: The PSBA 2020 Equity Summit is happening
virtually on October 13th.
Discover how to build a foundation for equity
in practice and policy.
Learn more: https://t.co/KQviB4TTOj
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.