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Students First PAC: Matt Brouillette’s Sugar Daddy
Blogger note: PA Schools Work, a group
that advocates for traditional brick-and-mortar public schools, recently created
a Check Before You Choose online
resource where families can compare public cyber-charter schools to traditional
public schools.
Blogger note: this ruling includes Pennsylvania
Judge blocks DeVos plan to send more pandemic relief to
private school students
The court ruling blocks DeVos from
implementing or enforcing her rule in at least eight states and some of the
nation’s largest public school districts.
Politico By MICHAEL STRATFORD 08/26/2020
09:10 PM EDT
A federal judge in California on Wednesday
halted Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ effort to boost emergency coronavirus
relief for private school students. The court ruling blocks DeVos from
implementing or enforcing her rule in at least eight states and some of the
nation’s largest public school districts. The secretary's policy requires
public school districts to send a greater share of their CARES Act, H.R. 748 (116), pandemic
assistance funding to private school students than is typically required under
federal law. The judge’s order prevents DeVos from carrying out the policy in
Michigan, California, Maine, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
Hawaii and the District of Columbia, as well as for public school districts in
New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Cleveland. Last week a federal judge in
Washington state similarly blocked DeVos’
rule, but there has been a dispute about whether that order
applies nationwide. DeVos separately on Wednesday sought
clarification from that judge about the order.
“Another PAC with ties to a wealthy Toomey
supporter is spending even more to support Heidelbaugh. Commonwealth Leaders Fund has reserved
$435,000 worth of TV airtime in the race,
according to the ad-tracking firm Advertising Analytics, and had spent $217,000
of that through last week.
Commonwealth Leaders Fund is flush thanks to
support from Jeff Yass, the Main Line cofounder of Susquehanna International
Group, an equities trading firm. Yass, who did not respond to requests for
comment, contributed $100,000 in 2016 to Pennsylvanians for Prosperity, a political action committee working to
help Toomey win a second term
that year.
Yass has also given $6.6 million since
February 2019 to Students First PAC, a group advocating for school choice
issues that Yass has long supported. Yass is the PAC’s biggest contributor in
the last two years, according to state campaign finance records.
Students First PAC gave $6 million in the
same time frame to Commonwealth Children’s Choice Fund, a PAC established last
year to also advocate on education issues. That makes Students First the
largest contributor to Commonwealth Children’s Choice Fund, according to state
records.
And Commonwealth Children’s Choice Fund gave
$4.15 million from September to June to Commonwealth Leaders Fund. That makes
Commonwealth Children’s Choice Fund the largest contributor to Commonwealth
Leaders Fund.
Matt Brouillette, a conservative activist in
Harrisburg, is treasurer for both Commonwealth Leaders Fund and Commonwealth
Children’s Choice Fund. In an interview, he said he had a signed agreement with
Students First that said he could spend the PAC’s contributions as he sees fit.
The Inquirer reported in October that Yass
donated $1.25 million to Students First PAC a few weeks before that group
donated $1 million to Commonwealth Children’s Choice Fund, which then sent
$400,000 to Commonwealth Leaders Fund for use in statewide judicial races.
School choice is not typically an issue at
the top of the agenda in races for state attorney general. Brouillette said his
group’s ads in the race are motivated by a sense that Shapiro would “toe the
line” for teachers’ unions if he is elected governor in 2022.”
Heather Heidelbaugh needs big money to beat Josh Shapiro.
Pat Toomey’s allies are spending it.
Inquirer by
Chris Brennan, Posted: August 26, 2020-
5:00 AM
Heather Heidelbaugh wants to deny
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro a second term. It’s an expensive and
challenging proposition. But the little-known Pittsburgh lawyer is getting some
valuable help from allies of Sen. Pat Toomey — whom political watchers in both
parties see as on a likely collision course with Shapiro in the 2022 governor’s
race. While the presidential election
consumes voters’ attention, political insiders see the under-the-radar contest
for attorney general as a potent prelude to a race that will be very much the
center of attention in two years. That subplot played out Monday when a new group
started airing digital ads critical of spending by the Attorney General’s
Office under Shapiro. Toomey is indirectly helping the group. Toomey has
committed to raising significant amounts of money for the Republican Attorneys
General Association, in anticipation that it will spend big to support
Heidelbaugh, according to two Republican campaign consultants familiar with
Toomey’s thinking. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not
authorized to discuss Toomey’s plans.
Blogger opinion: the influence of Students First PAC, Jeff Yass
and Vahan Gureghian is a major reason that there has been no movement on
charter reform. Here’s a piece from 2015.
Reprise 2015: Big for-profit schools, big donations: the
influence of charter schools on Pennsylvania politics
Penn Live By Daniel Simmons-Ritchie |
simmons-ritchie@pennlive.com Updated
Jan 05, 2019; Posted Feb 02, 2015
It's no secret that Harrisburg is a hive of
lobbyists, each representing industries and interests that spend millions to
persuade state lawmakers to bend laws in their favor. But perhaps what makes
the charter-school lobby unique among the pack, says State Rep. Bernie O'Neill,
a Republican from Bucks County, is its ability to deploy children to its cause.
In 2014, O'Neill experienced that first hand after proposing changes to a
funding formula that would affect charter schools. Parents and children stormed
his office and barraged him with calls and emails. "They were calling me
the anti-Christ of everything," O'Neill said. "Everybody was coming
after me." In recent years, as charter schools have proliferated -
particularly those run by for-profit management companies - so too has their
influence on legislators. In few other places has that been more true than Pennsylvania,
which is one of only 11 states that has no limits on campaign contributions
from PACs or individuals. According to a PennLive analysis of donations on
Follow The Money, a campaign donation database, charter school advocates have
donated more than $10 million to Pennsylvania politicians over the past nine
years. To be sure, charter-school advocacy groups aren't the only ones spending
big to influence education policy in the Keystone State. The Pennsylvania State
Education Association, which represents 170,000 teachers and related
professionals, has spent about $8.3 million over the same time period according
to Follow The Money. But what perhaps makes the influx of money from
charter-school groups unique in Pennsylvania is the magnitude of spending by
only a handful of donors and, in recent years, some of their high-profile
successes in moving and blocking legislation. "They are mobilized,"
O'Neill said. "Let me tell you something: they are mobilized."
Pennsylvania requests extension of federal waivers to
ensure meals for school-aged children
POSTED ON AUGUST 26, 2020 IN PSBA
NEWS
Last week, Agriculture Secretary
Russell Redding and Education Secretary Pedro Rivera wrote a letter to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture requesting extensions on several national
waivers due to expire on August 31, 2020, that provide schools with meal
distribution flexibility. The extensions are needed to ensure all Pennsylvania
children under the age of 18 have consistent access to breakfast and lunch as
schools approach the 2020-21 school year using a variety of instructional
models that include hybrid or fully virtual learning. These deviations from
normal operations present challenges for providing consistent access to food
for children living in low-income households. To read more about the
content of this letter, please see the August 21 Legislative Report.
With an edge on managing the pandemic, Biden leads Trump
49-42 percent in new Pa. poll | Thursday Morning Coffee
Pa Capital Star By John L. Micek August
27, 2020
Good Thursday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
With 68 days to go before Election Day,
former Vice President Joe Biden holds a 49-42 percent lead
among registered voters over President Donald Trump in
Pennsylvania, with respondents giving the first-term president an edge on
managing the economy, but finding Biden better suited to
manage the massive challenges still struggling under the weight of the COVID-19
pandemic, and a still roiling debate over racial justice. The new poll by Franklin
& Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa., comes amid a week in
which Trump and Republicans have tried, with varying degrees
of effectiveness, to use this week’s Republican National Convention to
make an affirmative argument that the former reality television star deserves
four more years in the White House, even with 179,000 Americans dead from the
pandemic and the economy in deep disarray. The head-to-head numbers in
Pennsylvania, a state that Trump carried by barely a
percentage point in 2016, are effectively unchanged from the last Franklin
& Marshall poll in July that saw Biden with a
50-41 percent advantage. Biden holds an average lead of 5.5
percent in the Keystone State, according to the RealClear
Politics polling average.
August 2020 Franklin & Marshall College Poll
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS Prepared by: Center for
Opinion Research Floyd Institute for Public Policy Franklin & Marshall
College
Funding inequities hamper Philly efforts to maintain a
quality, diverse teaching force, report says
Chalkbeat Philly By Dale Mezzacappa Aug
25, 2020, 6:55pm EDT
A recent Research for Action report says
Philadelphia’s teacher shortage is driven by lack of adequate funding,
compounded by the lack of any reimbursement for charter school payments.
A new report says
Philadelphia is facing dire teacher shortages in key areas in both public and
charter schools, and that more experienced and fully certified teachers are
inequitably distributed. Research for Action, a nearly 30-year-old nonprofit
education research organization based in the city, said that Philadelphia has
fewer teachers per student than the state and national averages, and would need
to hire 1,500 more in both district and charter schools to reach the state
average ratio. Statewide, the ratio is one teacher per 15 students; in
Philadelphia, it is one per 17 students. The shortages are driven mostly by
funding inequities, the report said, including the state’s failure to reimburse
districts for “stranded costs” incurred when students leave the district to
attend independently run, publicly funded charter schools. Citing earlier RFA
research, the report said that even as enrollment declines, “districts are not
able to maintain services, including student/staffing ratios, while
implementing budget cuts needed to accommodate the new costs districts must pay
to charter schools.”
Budget projections show 'financial disaster' for Scranton
School District
Times Tribune BY SARAH HOFIUS HALL STAFF WRITER Aug 26,
2020 Updated 42 min ago
The Scranton School District could face a
cumulative deficit of $45 million in the next six years, according to a budget projection
released Wednesday. During the district’s Financial Recovery Advisory Committee
meeting, officials laid out what they called a “financial disaster” that made
leaders question whether the district can continue to operate. “We are poor.
I’m the first to tell you,” said Candis Finan, Ed.D., chief recovery officer.
“Getting to where we hope to be sustainable is a long process.” The report
prepared by state-provided financial consultants PFM shows what would happen if
the district kept taxes flat and provided no raises for staff through 2026.
Under that scenario, the district would experience annual budget deficits of
between $7 million and $8 million. Another scenario shows that if the district
did not provide raises but increased taxes to the Act 1 index each year — the
maximum allowed by the state without being granted exceptions — expenses would
still exceed revenue until 2025. The average Act 1 rate is 3.7%, meaning
property owners would see their bill increase by 3.7% yearly, but the district
would still have a deficit for the next four years. Those projections account
for the financial losses expected due to the pandemic, but then show revenues
rebounding in future years. Scranton teachers will soon begin their fourth year
of working under an expired contract and have not received a raise since it
expired. Earlier this month, the Scranton School Board approved the proposed
preliminary 2021 budget that includes a 16% tax increase, which requires state
approval to be levied. District leaders and PFM will work through December to
find ways to cut expenses and will adjust revenue projections based on
collections for the remainder of this year.
Pittsburgh Public Schools board votes 7-2 to renew
Superintendent Hamlet’s contract
Public Source by TyLisa
C. Johnson | August 26, 2020
As Pittsburgh Public enters an unprecedented
era amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Superintendent Anthony Hamlet was chosen to
continue to lead the district through 2025. The school board voted Wednesday
to renew Hamlet’s contract just
days before the start of the new school year when leaders will face
unparalleled safety and health challenges during the coronavirus pandemic. Students begin the school year on Aug. 31,
and they’ll spend the first nine-weeks in full-time
e-learning. The nine-member Pittsburgh Public
Schools [PPS] board voted 7-2 to renew Hamlet’s contract through June 30, 2025.
Board members Sala Udin and William Gallagher voted no to Hamlet’s contract
renewal. Gallagher asked for the vote to be postponed because he said he didn’t
have adequate time to review or receive information.
A tale of incompetence: Report on Ben Franklin/SLA
debacle shows Philly schools need a new leader | Opinion
Lisa Haver, For the Inquirer Posted: August
26, 2020 - 12:43 PM
Lisa Haver is a retired Philadelphia teacher
and co-founder of the Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools.
On August 19, the day before the August Board
of Education meeting, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG)—an independent
office within the School District of Philadelphia—issued its final report on
the 2019 relocation of Science
Leadership Academy (SLA) to the building occupied by
Benjamin Franklin High School at Broad and Spring Garden. It is a tale of
incompetence and disregard for the health and safety of children and adults at
both schools. The fact that the report does not identify any of the people
involved by name, only position or title, is as clear a signal you can get that
no one at any level of the Hite administration is being held accountable. The
names of Board members are redacted from emails, so it should come as no
surprise that the Board, after expressing disappointment and possible loss of
trust, has given the Administration a pass.
“When the state fails to meet the needs of our schools, local
property taxes must compensate, but, as the data shows, said property tax
increases do not meet the educational needs of our children. And, as we
fail these children, we fail entire communities. Homeowners in
chronically underfunded districts ultimately see their home values decrease.”
Guest Column: State must step up and increase education
funding
Delco Times By Jeffrey Beer Times Guest
Columnist August 26, 2020
Jeffrey Beer, Esq., of Havertown is a Broker
of Record, Keller Williams Real Estate.
By now, most Delaware County residents have
recovered from the sticker-shock of their property value reassessments.
Those who haven’t have until Sept. 1 to file an appeal. Either way,
without knowing the millage rates, one can only speculate as to how much (if at
all) their taxes will change – a situation frustrating homeowners, buyers,
sellers and real estate professionals alike. Generally speaking,
reassessments (and any relative tax increase) are good for property owners, who
benefit from a fair basis by which their taxes are calculated, and
municipalities, which are duty-bound to ensure that their tax revenue meets
their communities’ needs. That said, however, property owners and real
estate brokers should still be frustrated, because the
county-wide reassessment won’t solve one of our biggest problems: underfunded
public schools. Since state-level education funding is not keeping pace
with local funding needs, the most economically depressed communities within
our County, those not buoyed by rising property values, will need to brace
themselves for further school property tax increases in the
years following the reassessment. The consequences of underfunding education
year after year are real — and immediate.
Philadelphia opens hotline for people who need internet
access
Advocates press their case that more needs to
be done.
Chalkbeat Philly By Dale Mezzacappa Aug
26, 2020, 7:21pm EDT
Families of K-12 students who lack broadband
access can call 211 for information about how to get online for the coming year
through PHLConnectED, the public-private project designed to make low-cost
internet more widely available across Philadelphia. The hotline, announced this
week, is being operated by United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New
Jersey and will be available 24/7 with information in 150 languages. Callers
will be able to get information including referrals to resources and a phone
number for families to call to set up service if they qualify. “The pandemic
has only underscored what we already knew to be true — digital access is
essential for education and work opportunities,” said Bill Golderer, president
and CEO of United Way. But just a day after the hotline was announced, groups
that advocate for the poor, including the Movement Alliance Project, renewed
their demand that internet service providers and policymakers do more to
guarantee universal, free access as long as schooling remains online. And they
called for the service providers to foot more of the bill.
Rally calls for Comcast to provide free WiFi for students
in need
Delco Times by Pete Bannan Pbannan@21st-Centurymedia.com August
27, 2020
UPPER DARBY — A couple dozen residents
and supporters gathered in front of Upper Darby High School Wednesday afternoon
to demand that Comcast provide free access to the Internet for students as
county school districts prepare to begin classes in a virtual setting this
fall. “Computers are great, but what is the point without internet?” asked
Rameria Taylor, mother of two school-age children. “Comcast has gotten close to
a billion dollars in state and local money, our tax money. People living in
poverty are making companies like Comcast richer and they can’t even help out
with something so little to them. Kids shouldn’t sit outside and have to borrow
somebody else’s Internet because us Black and brown people are living below the
poverty line. We’re here to demand that Comcast makes Internet free for
students of the Upper Darby and William Penn school districts.” The group broke
into the chants; "Free lunch / Free WiFi," and "WiFi is a tool
so we can go to school" and "Computers will be paper weights if we
don’t stuff the WiFi rates.” “We have families that need help [in obtaining] a
service that every one of us should have,” said Upper Darby Education
Association President Melanie Masciantonio. “These kids here are the future of
the United States. We depend on them to run the United States and for our
country to thrive. And now with this virtual learning, we need that free WiFi
for our kids and for every single kid in this country that needs it.”
Philly school district shouldn’t have to pay Comcast a
dime to get kids online | Opinion
Devren Washington, For The Inquirer Posted: August
26, 2020 - 9:30 AM
Devren Washington is a senior policy organizer
at Media Mobilizing Project.
Nearly four months after Superintendent
William R. Hite Jr. suggested Philly students wander in parking lots
and outside of local businesses for public WiFi to
access their virtual education, city officials finally released their plan to get
every student internet access ahead of the coming school year, which will begin
entirely online. The plan is a direct response to community outcry and pressure from City Council, demanding
the city take immediate action to close the digital divide, which has been
exacerbated by the pandemic. While Comcast earns record-breaking profits during
the pandemic on its broadband offerings, Philly has the second-worst internet
access of any big city in the United States, according to a 2018 report.
Additionally, 30% of Philadelphia households with school=aged children lack
internet access, according to census data; 58% of households making under
$70,000 do not have access. And there are racial disparities — 50% of Black
households have internet access, while 74% of white households do.
Despite past success, Pa. may not be able to track spread
of COVID-19 in schools, officials say
PA Capital Star By Elizabeth Hardison August
27, 2020
Since Pennsylvania reported its first cases
of COVID-19 in March, the state has closely tracked outbreaks in nursing homes, prisons and day cares, publishing
detailed data to show how those congregate settings affect local case
rates. But replicating that approach may not be possible in schools this
fall, as students and staff kick off classes with a patchwork of remote and
in-person learning, the Department of Health said Wednesday. State officials
say that the sheer number and variety of instruction plans in Pennsylvania’s
500 school districts will complicate efforts to trace COVID-19 cases back to
schools, and to publicly report data on school-level transmission. Children in
hybrid school settings may go from school to daycare while their parents work
this fall, or attend school in-person only part of the week, Health Department
spokeswoman April Hutcheson told the Capital-Star. A child who tests
positive for COVID-19 may be enrolled in a school district, but only attending
classes online, Hutcheson said. Those factors make it difficult to
definitively say whether a child contracted COVID-19 in school, she said. “It
is extremely complex,” Hutcheson said, adding that it will take “a very detailed
investigation” by state contact tracers to identify school-based transmission. State
Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine also confirmed on Wednesday that schools are
not required to notify the state of positive COVID-19 cases among their
students and staff. Instead, outbreaks in school buildings will be uncovered by
the state’s testing and tracing systems, she said.
South Western confirms COVID-19 case at high school
Lindsay C VanAsdalan York
Dispatch August 26, 2020
South Western announced Wednesday that the
district had its first confirmed case of COVID-19.
"The individual who is the confirmed
case is not in attendance at South Western High School today," said
Superintendent Jay Burkhart in a statement. The district's schools resumed
classes Monday on a three-day hybrid schedule. It is likely the first case in
York County since several schools reopened for in-person instruction
— whether in a hybrid or five-day model — this week and last week. Ten
districts and schools have already reopened buildings to students and
staff, with a few more slated to open later this week. South Western officials
have been in contact with the state Department of Health and were advised not
to close South Western High School at this time, according to the
district's statement. Instead, the district was advised to close,
for 24 hours, any areas that had potential exposure and contact anyone who
might have been exposed in the building and instruct them to quarantine for 14
days, officials said. For a person to be exposed, he or she would have to have
been within 6 feet of the individual with the virus for at least 15 minutes.
Public may not be notified when a Pa. student tests
positive for COVID-19; here's why
Lancaster Online by ALEX
GELI | Staff Writer August 27, 2020
Tens of thousands of Lancaster County
students are resuming in-person instruction amid a pandemic that shows no signs
of going away anytime soon. But it’s unclear whether the public will be
notified when a school or district experiences a case of COVID-19. The Pennsylvania
Department of Health, which has been responsible for sharing COVID-19 data
across the state, says it’s still working on protocols to track cases by school
district, raising questions over how quickly parents will learn about cases
that could impact their families. “We are working with the Department of
Education and school districts on the best ways to communicate increases in
school-aged children,” state Health Department spokesperson Nate Wardle said in
an email Tuesday. Complicating that process, he said, are the various modes of
instruction each school district is offering. Any student in a given school
district could be learning in-person or online. Some districts have an option
of both online and in-person.
Ridley reverses course, votes to open schools virtually
Delco Times By
Barbara Ormsby Times Correspondent August 27, 2020
RIDLEY TOWNSHIP — The Ridley School Board, in
a recent special meeting, voted 6-2 to reverse an earlier decision to reopen
schools with a combination of in-classroom learning and virtual learning and
will now reopen school on Sept. 8 in an all-virtual mode. Casting the no votes
were board members Chris Lenton and Chris Bryan. Board member Adele Warner was
absent. Ridley School District Superintendent Lee Ann Wentzel said the policy
will be revisited on Oct. 9 with guidance from the Chester County Health
Department. "Everybody, on Sept. 8, will start school in the virtual
world,"Wentzel said. "Ultimately we would love to have our students
and staff back in the classrooms." Wentzel said the district is
well-prepared for virtual learning. In 2013 the district overhauled its
technology plan when all students from kindergarten through 12th grade received
iPads for use in both the classroom and at home. "We looked at our
technology plan," Wentzel said at the time. "We need to be preparing
these kids for the future they face, and what is the most fiscally responsible
way to get the technology into their hands."
Pottsgrove teachers say they're not ready, board makes
first week of school half-days to provide more training
Pottstown Mercury by Evan Brandt ebrandt@21st-centurymedia.com
@PottstownNews on Twitter August 27, 2020
The president of the Pottsgrove School
District teachers union told the school board Tuesday night that elementary
teachers "are not ready" for the first day of school due to
inadequate computer training. As a result of a lengthy discussion, the board
bypassed the union's request to push school back by a week, and instead voted
8-1 to make the first four days of school half-days, so teachers can get more
training in the afternoons. Board member Ashley Custer, who said other school
districts had pushed the start of school back by a week and did not see why
Pottsgrove could not as well, cast the only vote against the change. The
decision came during a marathon five-hour meeting during which the board also
voted 5-4 to allow some athletics to continue despite the fact that all
classroom learning is being done virtually.
Downingtown sets plan to start school year virtually
West Chester Daily Local by MediaNews
Group August 27, 2020
DOWNINGTOWN — The Downingtown Area School
District School Board has unanimously voted to begin the 2020-21 school year
virtually. The Chester County Health Department has also recommended that
schools begin their academic year virtually and assess their ability to
transition to a more in-person instructional model after Oct. 9, 2020. Throughout
the spring closing and summer, DASD has worked closely with the state
Department of Education, the Chester County Health Department and with
superintendents from across Chester County to closely monitor the pandemic and
study the health and safety guidance. Superintendent Emilie Lonardi, Ph.D.
outlined the district’s decision to begin virtually. “The resolution to begin
the school year online was a thoroughly measured and calculated decision. Our
administrative team has researched potential solutions, measured classrooms,
worked through scenarios and collaborated with medical, academic and facility
industry experts and stakeholders. While we would all prefer to begin the
school year in person, we could not resolve to put those desires over
protecting the health and safety of our staff, students and school community.
We will continue to work closely with medical experts in our area to assess the
situation and will bring students back into the physical classroom as soon as
we can safely do so.”
Which Pa. leagues and school districts have opted not to
participate in the fall sports season?
By Eric
F. Epler | eepler@pennlive.com August 27,
2020
Only a few days removed from the PIAA’s
decision to continue with the fall sports season, the list of leagues and
school districts that have decided to opt out continues to grow. At least 67
high school athletic programs or their leagues have decided to heed Gov. Tom
Wolf’s strong recommendation regarding the coronavirus pandemic and bypass all
competition until 2021. Below is a list of those schools in football, with PIAA
District and league or conference affiliation. Additional school districts will
meet in the coming days to finalize their decisions.
The Inter-Academic League shuts down fall sports because
of the COVID-19 pandemic
Inquirer by
Phil Anastasia, Posted: August 26, 2020-
10:46 AM
The Inter-Academic League on Wednesday
announced the suspension of interscholastic athletic competition through the
end of the calendar year because of COVID-19 concerns. The decision follows
similar moves in recent days by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which
postponed fall sports for its high schools, shutting down most of the Philadelphia Catholic
League, as well as the Philadelphia Public
League, Del Val League and Friends Schools League. “This
decision was made given the unprecedented health concerns we face and in
consideration with Gov. Wolf’s strong
recommendation as well as updated policy
recommendations from CHOP Policy Lab,” the league announced in a statement. The
Inter-Ac League includes traditionally strong athletic programs in boys’ sports
in schools such as Episcopal Academy, Malvern Prep, Germantown Academy, Penn
Charter, Haverford School and Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. In girls’
sports, the league also includes Academy of Notre Dame de Namur, Agnes Irwin
and Baldwin School along with Episcopal Academy, Germantown Academy, Springside
Chestnut Hill and Penn Charter.
Nearly all WPIAL schools are planning to participate in
fall sports
Six schools are proceeding as if they will
play but will make final decisions in the next few days
MIKE WHITE Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mwhite@post-gazette.com AUG 26,
2020 7:04 PM
Just about every high school in the WPIAL is
planning to participate in all fall sports.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette high school
sports staff reached out to all 117 football-playing schools in the WPIAL
this week, and only two schools — Uniontown and Summit Academy, which
announced their decisions earlier this month — have decided not to participate
in fall sports. The PIAA decided last Friday to go ahead with fall sports in Pennsylvania,
despite the COVID-19 pandemic, but voted that every individual school would
have to decide whether to participate.
The Post-Gazette contacted either the
athletic director or football coach at WPIAL schools and asked about their
school’s choice on participating. As of Wednesday evening, a total of 110
schools have decided to play all fall sports. Five schools are proceeding as if
they will play, conducting practices this week, but will make final decisions
in the next few days. They are Freeport, Quaker Valley, Woodland Hills, Shady
Side Academy and Southmoreland.
Schools Can Reopen, Germany Finds, but Expect a ‘Roller
Coaster’
With nations determined to return to
in-person learning, many will have trouble matching Germany’s formula: Fast and
free testing, robust contact tracing and low community spread.
The New York Times By Katrin Bennhold Aug. 26, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ET
BERLIN — On the Monday after summer vacation,
Dirk Kwee was as nervous as he had ever been in 31 years of teaching. For the
first time since the pandemic hit, all 900 students at his Berlin school were
back, bursting with excitement. The dreaded call came just two days later: A
girl in sixth grade had the coronavirus. Mr. Kwee hurried over to the gym where
the other 31 students in her class were enjoying their first physical education
session in five months. They were sent home — immediately. On Thursday, the
whole class got tested. On Friday, all the tests came back negative. And on
Monday, half the children were back in class. But just as Mr. Kwee allowed
himself a sigh of relief, a seventh grader tested positive. “It’s been a total
roller coaster,” said Mr. Kwee, headmaster of the Heinz-Berggruen secondary
school.
That may be what returning to school looks
like for the foreseeable future.
Even in union-free charter schools, leaders are embracing
a virtual start to the school year
Boston Globe By James Vaznis Globe
Staff, Updated August 25, 2020, 11:53 a.m.
As teachers unions statewide continue their
push to keep classrooms closed this fall, another sector of public education,
largely free of unionized teachers, has also jumped onto the remote learning
wave: charter schools. All 15 of Boston’s independently run charter schools
have decided with little public fanfare to start classes in cyberspace — a
broad consensus that suggests the reluctance to reopen classrooms this fall
goes well beyond teachers union agendas. Only City
on a Hill Charter School in Roxbury has unionized teachers. Some charter
leaders who initially were hoping to kick off school with a mix of in-person
and remote learning said they have noticed increasing hesitation about
reopening classrooms in their surveys and virtual town hall meetings. Much of
the unease, they said, was due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases in some
neighborhoods, apprehension about older students riding the MBTA, and
uncertainty about how COVID-19 affects
children.
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
PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference October 14-15
Virtual
Registration is now open for the first ever
virtual School Leadership Conference! Join us for all-new educational sessions,
dynamic speakers, exhibitors, and more! Visit the website for registration
information: https://t.co/QfinpBL69u #PASLC20 https://t.co/JYeRhJLUmZ
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: http://ow.ly/yJWA50B2R72
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.
292 PA school boards have adopted charter reform
resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 290 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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