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
Pa. Education Secretary Rivera announces departure while
schools scramble for fall plans
Blogger note: I would like to compile a list
of school districts that have announced 100% virtual openings. Please drop me a
note if your district has done so. Thanks!
Taxpayers in Senate Minority
Caucus Secretary Lawrence Farnese Jr.’s school district paid over $106 million
in 2018-2019 cyber charter tuition. Statewide, PA
taxpayers paid over $600 million for cyber charter tuition in 2018-2019.
|
Philadelphia City SD
|
$106,152,521.20
|
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?
Below is a link to a Joint Letter from the PA Principals
Association and other education organizations to the Governor and Secretary
Rivera asking for clearer, scientifically-based directives on the reopening of
schools.
Pennsylvania Principals Association Monday,
August 3, 2020 3:12 PM
Pa. secretary of education to leave post, become Thaddeus
Stevens College president
Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer August 4,
2020
Pennsylvania's secretary of education will
leave his current position to become Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology's
10th president. Pedro Rivera, who was superintendent of School District
of Lancaster prior to serving under Gov. Tom Wolf's administration and still
resides in Lancaster, succeeds William Griscom, who retired in January after
leading the technical college for 23 years. Rivera will remain secretary
of education, a position he's held since 2015, until Oct. 1, when he officially
enters his new role, a state Department of Education official confirmed. Noe Ortega, the state's current deputy
secretary of postsecondary and higher education, will replace Rivera, the Wolf
administration announced Tuesday afternoon. The move comes as schools
across the state wrestle with the decision to reopen in the fall despite the
risks associated with the coronavirus, and many school officials are still
looking for additional guidance from the state. "As we all prepare
for the upcoming school year during unprecedented times, I am reminded every
day of the exceptional leadership we have in this community," Rivera said
in a statement, "that even under challenging conditions, these leaders and
educators continue to serve students and communities equitably and with
understanding." Rivera said serving as education secretary has been
"tremendously fulfilling." "While leaving this position was a
difficult decision," he said, "I am comforted that my new role allows
me to continue to serve Pennsylvania students and continue to advocate for
equity, access and opportunity for all."
Pa. Education Secretary Rivera announces departure while
schools scramble for fall plans
PA Capital Star By Cassie Miller| Elizabeth Hardison August 4,
2020
This developing story will be updated.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Education Secretary
Pedro Rivera announced that he’s resigning his post to become president of
Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster. The turnover comes as public schools across
the state scramble to finalize fall reopening plans amid the continuing
COVID-19 pandemic. The news was first reported by the Associated
Press. Rivera will remain in his current position until October, the AP
confirmed. …Wolf announced Tuesday that he planned to appoint Rivera’s deputy
secretary of higher education, Noe Ortega, to serve as the next education
secretary. Ortega’s nomination must be confirmed with a two-thirds vote by the
state Senate. Education officials and advocates expressed surprise at Rivera’s
departure, given the enormity of the challenges facing Pennsylvania’s K-12
schools and post-secondary institutions. School administrators are facing a
staggeringly expensive year as they try to retrofit facilities and stockpile
protective equipment and technology. At the same time, pandemic-related job
losses are expected to decimate local tax revenues for school districts, and to
deplete tuition payments to colleges and universities. “I don’t envy the Wolf
administration being in a position of having to change their Secretary of Education
in midst of the worst crisis facing public education in modern history,” Donna
Cooper, a longtime public education advocate who served in former Gov. Ed
Rendell’s administration, said. “I don’t envy them at all.” Carolyn Dumaresq,
an acting secretary of education under former Gov. Tom Corbett, was confident
that Rivera would take steps to smooth out the transition.
“Day two of the House Education Committee’s hearing kicks off at
10:00am Wednesday morning. It will feature testimony from four more
organizations, including the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, Pa.
Association of School Administrators, Pa. Association of School Business
Officials, and Pa. State Education Association. Later this month, the House and
Senate Education Committees will hold a joint hearing on this topic, which will
feature testimony from the Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Health.”
Two-Day Public Hearing on Resuming Education Kicks Off in
Harrisburg
WENY Tuesday, August 4th 2020, 6:19 PM EDT by Cody
Carlson
Harrisburg, Pa. (WENY)-- The
Pennsylvania House Education Committee is gathering input from public, private,
and charter school officials across Pennsylvania. It’s part of a two-day
hearing focused on thoughts and concerns these officials have for the upcoming
school year amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “We held our first hearing on
this topic on June 17th where we heard from representatives from traditional
public schools, brick-and-mortar charter schools, and non-public schools. Today
is simply a continuation of that hearing,” says House Education Committee
Chairman Rep. Curt Sonney (R-Erie). The first day of the hearing featured
testimony from six different organizations. These include the Pennsylvania
Association of Independent Schools, the Alliance of Approved Private
Schools, the ARC of Pennsylvania, the Association of School Nurses and
Practitioners, the PA Cyber Charter Schools, and the Agora Cyber Charter
School. Greg Niels, the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania
Association of Independent Schools (PAIS) started the day with his testimony.
He brought up several concerns regarding in-class education with the ongoing
pandemic. Amongst the issues- worrying about students and faculty contracting
the virus at school. Niels wants to make sure there is enough personal
protective equipment for students and faculty. But one priority to PAIS
that stood out- ensuring legal protection for school administrators if a
student or faculty member contracts the virus at school.
Op-Ed: Pa.'s schools are left with few good options and
little help
York Dispatch OPED by Mark DiRocco August 5,
2020
Mark DiRocco is executive director of the
Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators.
With just weeks to the start of a new school
year, Pennsylvania’s public school districts find themselves under siege,
facing extreme public pressure and scrutiny, as they furiously plan for how to
safely reopen schools. It’s a fight they shouldn’t have to wage alone. They’re
calling on the state’s leaders to support them and the 1.7 million students
they educate as we move into the next phase of the pandemic. Amidst a backdrop
of rapidly changing guidance and direction, school superintendents have spent
the summer leading their districts through an emotionally charged public
discernment process, one many of them feel was unfairly put upon their
districts. While the state has emphasized a need for local decision-making,
school leaders have questioned time and again why decisions about public health
have been placed in the hands of educators. Perhaps the most frustrating
decision point has been the conflicting and nebulous guidance schools have been
given about social distancing. Numerous reports suggest 6 feet as the gold
standard, but schools have been told to use this guidance “when feasible,”
forcing many to consider whether 4 or 5 feet is “good enough” to bring schools
back at full capacity.
As school districts have debated whether to
use "hybrid models" that would allow that distancing by reducing
capacity (meaning students would not be able to attend school every day), their
communities have anxiously voiced serious concerns about child care and the
practicality of these plans. Schools have also struggled with liability
concerns. If a student or staff member contracts COVID-19 during the school
year, is the district responsible for this illness? This question has led many
leaders to consider whether a virtual opening would be a better choice.
Unionville-Chadds Ford School District approves plan to
hire 21 new teachers to facilitate safe return of students to the classroom
Daily Local By Jen Samuel jsamuel@dailylocal.com
@jenpoetess on Twitter August 5, 2020
EAST MARLBOROUGH — Students will unite in the
classroom this fall thanks to the Unionville-Chadds Ford School School Board
voting 7-2 in favor of a proposed plan to reopen schools during a virtual
meeting held Monday evening. “The voice of our community, teachers and staff
has been clear — that we all want to reopen schools in-person — but most
importantly we want to do that safely,” said Superintendent John Sanville on
Tuesday. Not only will students be able to return to their schools for the
2020-21 academic year, but the board also approved the hiring of 21 new
teachers to ensure smaller classroom sizes for enhanced safety. Board Members
Elise Anderson and Rashi Akki voted against the historic measure, described by
the administration as the “Health and Safety Plan to Reopen Schools.” “Our
students’ education is a priority as is their health and well-being,” Sanville
said. “With that in mind, our plan to reopen was guided by three key principles
— keep everyone safe, provide an excellent educational experience for our
students, and support our students and staff socially and emotionally.” The
plan allows for in-person instruction for the district’s youngest learners —
kindergarten through third-grade students — five days a week. Older students,
from fourth graders up to seniors, will attend in-person classes twice a week
with additional learning conducted online and remotely.
School District of Lancaster to start school year fully
online, pivoting from original hybrid reopening plan
Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer August 4,
2020
Less than three weeks before students were
expected to return in phases for in-person instruction, School District of
Lancaster has shifted gears and now plans to begin the school year solely
online. The school board on Tuesday unanimously approved a motion to direct
Superintendent Damaris Rau and her administration to continue planning for a
fully remote return rather than the hybrid model it approved last month. If the
board approves a revised reopening plan at its meeting next week, School
District of Lancaster, the largest district in the county and 13th largest in
the state with about 11,000 students, would become the only Lancaster County
school district to start the 2020-21 school year fully remote. The move comes
as several school districts across the county revisit their reopening plans due
to growing consternation among families and school employees about the
potential risks associated with the coronavirus. "We've become less and
less comfortable with the idea of bringing our students back into our
buildings," board President Edith Gallagher said at Tuesday's committee of
the whole meeting, which was held at McCaskey East High School and streamed
online for more than 700 viewers.
Philly’s flip to all-virtual learning
WHYY by Ari Wolfman Arent Air
Date: August 4, 2020 Listen 17:33
When the Philadelphia School District
unveiled a “hybrid” plan to bring students back into the classroom part-time
this fall, the backlash from parents and teachers was swift. One week
later, the district abruptly changed course and said
school would happen entirely online until almost Thanksgiving. WHYY education
reporter Avi Wolfman-Arent explains why that decision is still not working for
everybody — and how tough it is to navigate the risks of COVID-19 and
disrupting the education of tens of thousands of children.
Interview highlights: On the overwhelming
objections to the original ‘hybrid’ plan
There was strong opposition for instance,
from the union that represents principals and assistant principals. There was
this incredible, remarkable, organized effort from these school building
administrators to say, “We do not support this plan.” These are the people who
were going to be responsible for carrying out the plan …And it’s also really
important to point out that the district, the School District of Philadelphia
has dissolved a lot of trust with the community. Remember, they’ve had a lot of
problems with asbestos and their aging school buildings and lead and mold …And
one thing I thought that was also really interesting is that people felt that
this hybrid model doesn’t necessarily really solve any issues. Like, if kids
are only in school two days a week, that still creates a huge childcare burden
for parents. And then the teachers are in the school four days a week. And yes,
the school itself might be a little less crowded than usual, but they’re still
exposing themselves to tremendous risk, potentially risking their lives.
Pennsylvania’s charter school law get poor marks. So why
do reform efforts repeatedly fail? [The Caucus archives]
Lancaster Online by PAULA K. KNUDSEN | Investigative Editor August 5,
2020
Editor's note: This article was originally
published in the February 20, 2018 edition of The Caucus, a publication of LNP
Media Group, Inc.
Pennsylvania’s decades-old charter school law
ranks among the worst in the United States because it provides “insufficient
accountability and inadequate funding” to those educational facilities, a
national advocacy group found. Research conducted of all 50 states by the
Washington, D.C.-based National Alliance for Public Charter Schools found
Pennsylvania’s 1997 law deficient because it places restrictions on charter-
school growth and fails to ensure “equitable operational funding and equitable
access to capital funding and facilities. “The findings lend weight to the
argument made by charter-school advocates in Pennsylvania that the state isn’t
doing enough to help the alternatives to kindergarten through 12th-grade
schools thrive and that the law, signed by Gov. Tom Ridge, should be fixed. But
they do not address how, specifically, Pennsylvania should solve one of the
biggest issues separating charter-school advocates and opponents: The level of
funding public school districts, and taxpayers, spend to send children to
charter schools. “We think the tuition rate calculation is flawed,” said Jay
Himes, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business
Officials, which supports charter-school reform. Critics, in turn, say there’s
not enough transparency or accountability in how charter schools spend money
they receive under the state formula. They routinely cite the thousands of
dollars in spending on advertising, travel junkets and blue-chip Harrisburg
lobbying firms. “Those aren’t your dollars. Those are tax dollars,” said state
Rep. Mike Reese, a Westmoreland County Republican who has pushed for
charter-school reform for six years.
Blogger note: charter advocates routinely state that they only
receive 75% of the per student funding. There’s good reason for that:
“The Public School Code specifically allows deductions for
several expenditures—these expenditures either reflect areas where charter
schools have no corresponding cost (such as nonpublic school-related
expenditures), where school districts provide services to charter schools (such
as transportation) or where charter schools receive state funding for the same
purpose as school districts (such as Ready to Learn Block Grant funds; federal
funds are also deducted for this reason).”
How are charter schools funded?
Pennsylvania Association of School Business
Officials Website
How are charter schools funded? While
charter schools receive some limited funding from the state, the vast majority
of their funding comes from school districts. When a student decides to attend
either a brick and mortar or a cyber charter school, the school district of
residence pays the charter school tuition for that student.
The tuition rate paid by a school district to
a charter school is the same regardless of whether a student attends a brick
and mortar charter school or a cyber charter school. The tuition amount is
based entirely upon the school district’s costs. As a result, there are 500
charter school tuition rates—one for each school district. That means that a
cyber charter school that educates students from multiple school districts
receives an entirely different amount for each student.
The charter school tuition calculation is included in the charter school law, and it is broken into two parts: regular education tuition and special education tuition. Today, we’ll examine the regular education tuition rate.
The calculation is relatively simple, and it is completed by a school district and posted by the PA Department of Education annually. A school district starts with their budgeted total expenditures from the prior school year (for the current school year, school districts used their budgeted 2017-18 expenditures)—this means that they use what they budgeted at the beginning of the prior year to calculate the rate, not what they actually spent during the prior year.
The charter school tuition calculation is included in the charter school law, and it is broken into two parts: regular education tuition and special education tuition. Today, we’ll examine the regular education tuition rate.
The calculation is relatively simple, and it is completed by a school district and posted by the PA Department of Education annually. A school district starts with their budgeted total expenditures from the prior school year (for the current school year, school districts used their budgeted 2017-18 expenditures)—this means that they use what they budgeted at the beginning of the prior year to calculate the rate, not what they actually spent during the prior year.
Then, they make some deductions (see the
yellow box above). The Public School Code specifically
allows deductions for several expenditures—these expenditures either reflect
areas where charter schools have no corresponding cost (such as nonpublic
school-related expenditures), where school districts provide services to
charter schools (such as transportation) or where charter schools receive state
funding for the same purpose as school districts (such as Ready to Learn Block
Grant funds; federal funds are also deducted for this reason).
https://www.pasbo.org/dailydata-april2
https://www.pasbo.org/dailydata-april2
Here it is, restated, on the PA Coalition of Public Charter
Schools website:
Section 1725-a. funding for charter schools.
Pursuant to the statute, non-special
education students, the charter school shall receive for each student enrolled
no less than the budgeted total expenditure per average daily membership of the
prior school year, as defined in section 2501(20) minus the budgeted
expenditures of the district of residence for nonpublic school programs; adult
education programs; community/junior college programs; student transportation
services; for special education programs; facilities acquisition, construction
and improvement services and other financing uses, including debt service and
fund transfers as provided in the manual of accounting and related financial
procedures for Pennsylvania school systems established by the department. This
amount shall be paid by the district of residence of each student.
The list from the above paragraph allows for
seven (7) deductions:
- Nonpublic
school programs (1500)
- adult
education programs (1600)
- community/junior
college programs (1700)
- student
transportation services (2700)
- special
education programs (1200)
- facilities
acquisition, construction and improvement services (4000)
- other
financing uses, including debt service and fund transfers (5000)
While we understand the recent PDE rescission
around the Charter School Funding is causing all public Schools in the Commonwealth
(traditional and charter) to make late fiscal year adjustments, the statute
mandates the charter school tuition calculation method described in Section
1725-a.
Peter Greene: How Charters in Pennsylvania Monetize
Students with Disabilities
Diane Ravitch’s Blog By
dianeravitch August 4, 2020 //
Peter Greene describes in this post how charter schools in
Pennsylvania manage to game the system by
making money from students with disabilities even while excluding many of them.
He writes:
In a new report, Education Voters of
Pennsylvania looks at “how an outdated law wastes public money, encourages
gaming the system, and limits school choice.” Fixing the Flaws looks at how
Pennsylvania’s two separate funding systems have made students with special
needs a tool for charter gaming of the system, even as some of them are shut
out of the system entirely.
The two-headed system looks like this. Public schools receive special education funding based on the actual costs of services, while charter schools are funded with a one-size-fits-all system that pays the same amount for all students with special needs, no matter what those special needs might be….
The two-headed system looks like this. Public schools receive special education funding based on the actual costs of services, while charter schools are funded with a one-size-fits-all system that pays the same amount for all students with special needs, no matter what those special needs might be….
Public schools receive state funding based on
student tiers; charters get the same funding whether the student needs an hour
of speech therapy a week or a separate classroom, teacher and aide.
This creates an obvious financial incentive
for charter schools to cherry pick students who are considered special needs,
but who need no costly adaptations or staffing to meet those needs, while at
the same time incentivizing charters to avoid the more costly high needs
students. Denial of those students does not require outright rejection of the
students; charters can simply say, “You are welcome to enroll, but we do not
provide any of the specialized programs that you want for your child.” Parents
will simply walk away.
Blogger note: Here is the Education Voters report cited above….
FIXING THE FLAWS IN PA’S SPECIAL EDUCATION FUNDING SYSTEM
FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS: HOW AN OUTDATED LAW WASTES PUBLIC MONEY, ENCOURAGES GAMING
THE SYSTEM, AND LIMITS SCHOOL CHOICE
Education Voters PA Report June 2020
State College shifts gears in elementary schools after
70% choose to learn in person
Centre Daily Times BY
MARLEY PARISH AUGUST 04, 2020 02:38
PM , UPDATED AUGUST 04, 2020 06:43 PM
About 70% of State College elementary
students plan to attend school in person this fall, prompting the school
district to alter its reopening plan for those grade levels. State College Area
School District parents and guardians had until last week to select their
learning plan for the 2020-21 school year. After analyzing the numbers, the
district had to reevaluate its elementary education model, according to a letter to district families from Assistant
Superintendent for Elementary Education Vern Bock. With the high percentage of
students choosing to learn in person, the district did not have enough teachers
to cover both in-school and remote classrooms, according to Bock. Moving to a
cohort approach, in-school and remote learning will be synchronous, and K-5
students will attend classes every day either online or physically. “Without
this adjustment, we would face serious space and staffing issues because of the
final numbers,” Bock wrote. SCASD plans to purchase cameras that will allow
teachers to show remote students what is happening in the classroom. With 2,739
elementary students, 837 families — 31% — selected remote or virtual learning
for the upcoming school year. Under the previous plan, SCASD would have needed
to reassign 27-30 teachers to teach virtually. “This reassignment of teachers
would have shifted some faculty to different grade levels and/or schools,” Bock
wrote. “Additionally, class sizes would have increased for in-person learning,
requiring classrooms to be moved to alternate spaces where possible, but in
some cases, there simply wasn’t an available space.” The cohort approach, Bock
wrote, will provide opportunities for in-person and remote students to interact
with each other and their teacher throughout the school day. Students can now
stay with their homeroom teacher — whether in-school or remote.
Cyber schools flooded with inquiries from parents seeking
alternative to in-person schooling
Sunbury Daily Item By John Finnerty/CNHI
State Reporter August 4, 2020
HARRISBURG — Parents concerned with the
health and safety plans produced by their local school districts may not have
an easy time transferring their children to cyber charter schools which are at
or near their enrollment capacity, online school operators told lawmakers
today. “Pennsylvania’s 14 public cyber charter schools have seen a record
number of inquiries this summer from families seeking an alternative to their
assigned school district,” PA Cyber CEO Brian Hayden told members of the House
Education Committee. Hayden said PA Cyber is already at the maximum enrolled
allowed under its state charter — 11,600 students — and has a waiting list of
prospective students. The school has been fielding 1,000 calls a week
from families interested in an alternative to traditional public schools, he
said. The state's cyber charter schools receive public funding through tuition
payments paid by local school districts based on the number of students
enrolled in the cyber school. Traditional public schools have long complained
that the cyber schools get more in tuition than it costs them to educate
students online, prompting an increasing number of traditional schools to launch
their own online programs.
Pennsylvania school districts unprepared for soaring
cyber charter enrollment
By Christen Smith | The
Center Square August 4, 2020
(The Center Square) – Pennsylvania’s
cyber charter school enrollment soared over the summer as families flocked to
the well-established remote learning model amid uncertainty in public
education. Now, school districts worry that the rising tuition costs will
break their budgets – already sunk with reduced tax revenues – and
make it impossible to provide safe environments for students come this
fall. That’s why at least one state legislator believes freezing cyber
charter enrollment as of July 1 is necessary – and he’s begun circulating
a cosponsorship memo in
hopes of bringing more lawmakers onto his side. “Cyber charter schools do not
face the same financial needs that public-school districts face to commence in
person learning in an area of the novel coronavirus,” Rep. Steve McCarter,
D-Montgomery, said in the memo released Friday. “I believe that our
public-school districts should be given all the necessary financial tools to
ensure that reopening schools is safe, educationally sound and in the best
interest of the entire school community.” Annette Stevenson, spokesperson
for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, said the memo recognizes what
the organization considers to be exorbitant tuition costs districts pay for
cyber charter schools – which operate with less overhead than a brick and
mortar school – while also considering the unique financial challenges
imposed by a pandemic. For example, she said, districts simply haven’t budgeted
for the unanticipated spike in cyber enrollment and would be forced to make
“significant cuts” to accommodate the exodus of students. “Capping cyber
charter school enrollments would give school districts some certainty with
regards to their cyber charter school costs and assure that they would not have
to make those cuts or difficult choices,” she said. It’s a position
that’s unlikely to land with Republicans – who hold strong majorities in
the House and Senate – long supportive of school choice and uninterested
in proposals to lessen the cut of state money funneled through districts into
charters.
Activists call on Comcast to expand free internet as
Philly virtual school continues
The Philadelphia-based cable giant was urged
to open up more hotspots, increase internet speeds, and provide free access to
low-income residents.
The notebook by Avi
Wolfman-Arent WHYY NEWS August 4 —
8:38 am, 2020
With Philadelphia public school students
slated to start the school year online, advocates renewed their calls for
expanded internet access with a rally outside Comcast’s corporate headquarters
Monday. Protestors urged the Philadelphia-based cable giant to open up more
hotspots, increase internet speeds, and extend a deal that provides free access
to low-income residents. “Comcast is the digital divide,” said Devren
Washington, organizer with the Movement Alliance Project. “We are demanding
that Comcast get our students online so that they can receive their education.”
Comcast did not provide an official comment for this story. But in the past,
the company has pointed to several steps it’s taken to expand internet access
during the coronavirus pandemic and challenged the feasibility of some of the demands.
The conflict is playing out at a time when internet access has become the
passport to school attendance for the roughly 200,000 Philadelphia children in
district and charter schools.
High school bands eager to march on through pandemic
Trib Live by JULIA FELTON | Tuesday,
August 4, 2020 8:01 p.m.
The high school marching band’s drum line
heralds the start of a fresh school year. Chris Snyder, band director at Deer
Lakes High School, wasn’t going to let a pandemic kill that tradition. Since
March, Deer Lakes students — like high schoolers nationwide — haven’t
participated in school events, seen their friends or kept a consistent routine.
Snyder hoped the marching band could change all that, as he launched their
annual band camp Monday. “Speaking with my kids the last couple days, I think
they are super excited to be back,” Snyder said. “It’s a taste of normalcy.
Just the opportunity to be in the same space as their friends is really
exciting for them.” Many of the students in the marching band have been playing
their instruments for years, Snyder said. For them, getting back to music is
the first step in getting back to normal. Greta Olexa, a junior with the Deer
Lakes marching band, has been playing baritone for seven years. Though she was
subjected to a temperature check and required to wear a mask inside the
building, she said being at band camp made her life feel a little more normal. “I’m
excited to be back,” she said. “It’s a bit different, but it still has the same
energy.”
Pittsburgh Public Schools wants all teachers, staff back
in buildings by early October
ANDREW GOLDSTEIN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette agoldstein@post-gazette.com AUG 4, 2020
10:30 PM
Pittsburgh Public Schools administrators
Tuesday said they expect all district staff members to return to their
buildings by early October. The school board last week mandated online
instruction for all students for the first nine weeks of the year due to
COVID-19, but the district wants teachers and other staff to come back in a
phased approach so that they can help plan for the eventual return of
students. “The district will be better prepared to support our
students if staff are on site to contribute feedback and ideas to individual
school reopening plans that reflect the attributes of each classroom, building
and student populations,” said David May-Stein, the district’s chief of school
performance. “It’s important to note that as we prepare our buildings it can’t
be done in isolation without staff input.”
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.
TRAUMA INFORMED EDUCATION COALITION (TIEC) AUGUST SUMMIT
August 5th, 12th, 19th
ACT 48 credits available PA NASW CEU’s
This TIEC Summit is designed to provide
in-depth, trauma-informed training for educators and other practitioners whose
agencies or organizations service children and their families. Those who participate
in the Summit sessions will be exposed to information and practices that enable
them to approach their work through a trauma-informed lens.
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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