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
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These daily
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NEA Data: At
least 71 PA students have tested positive since the start of the school year
Why are cyber
charter tuition rates the same as brick and mortar tuition?
Taxpayers in Senate Ed Committee Member David Arnold’s school districts
paid over $23.9 million in 2018-2019
cyber charter tuition. Statewide,
PA taxpayers paid over $600 million for cyber charter tuition in 2018-2019.
|
Annville-Cleona SD
|
$338,807.64
|
|
Central Dauphin SD
|
$6,281,340.19
|
|
Central York SD
|
$1,022,718.37
|
|
Cornwall-Lebanon SD
|
$1,134,739.45
|
|
Eastern Lebanon County SD
|
$883,552.18
|
|
Lebanon SD
|
$1,179,287.40
|
|
Lower Dauphin SD
|
$1,356,798.66
|
|
Middletown Area SD
|
$1,075,732.95
|
|
Northeastern York SD
|
$1,700,427.20
|
|
Northern Lebanon SD
|
$1,076,736.05
|
|
Palmyra Area SD
|
$1,150,155.24
|
|
Steelton-Highspire SD
|
$2,112,134.80
|
|
West Shore SD
|
$3,531,192.68
|
|
York Suburban SD
|
$1,104,923.32
|
|
|
$23,948,546.13
|
Data Source: PDE
via PSBA
“Jerry Zahorchak is a former secretary of the Pennsylvania
Department of Education and superintendent of the Greater Johnstown School
District. His 35-year career in public education also included time as a
teacher and football coach.”
Jerry Zahorchak | Public schools shouldn't lose funding
Johnstown Tribune Democrat By Jerry
Zahorchak September 5, 2020
Recent reports have unveiled an effort to
shift public school funding away from Greater Johnstown School District and its
counterparts across the commonwealth toward parochial schools. The
already-failed concept is being presented anew, as a saving grace to the one or
two students who might attend a private school with your public tax dollars and
to buoy the struggling Catholic school system. The proposal took me back to my
Catholic roots and made me wonder: Why would anyone want to take students away
from our public schools, knowing that it would hurt other students and the
greater community? I always question why anyone would want to leave the Greater
Johnstown School District to attend a cyber charter or private school, but in
its stinging rebuke of our Johnstown district, somehow this wrongheaded
approach felt more personal. As a proud graduate of Greater Johnstown (1975), a
former teacher, school board member, federal programs director, superintendent,
and secretary of education – where I led or watched the school district through
several iterations – I remain very proud of my Johnstown education and all that
continues to be afforded to our students. The challenges and reality the
families in our district face may seem less idyllic than the nostalgic and booming
economy of our past that so many of us remember, but in Johnstown we face and
conquer every challenge as a community.
Additional state funding will be hard to find for
Scranton School District
Times Tribune BY SARAH HOFIUS HALL STAFF WRITER Sep 8,
2020 Updated 1 hr ago
As the Scranton School District experiences a
budget shortfall and “dire” projections for years ahead, the district won’t be
able to count on the state for assistance. Before the coronavirus pandemic
limited gatherings and closed buildings in March, teachers had planned to take
buses to Harrisburg to demand equitable funding. “As soon as things are lifted,
we’re going to Harrisburg,” said Rosemary Boland, president of the Scranton
Federation of Teachers. While educators hope to see funding levels rise to
those of similar urban districts, local legislators know finding money in the
state budget to do that will be difficult. In May, with revenue levels
uncertain, lawmakers passed a stopgap budget that kept funding in most areas
flat for five months. Basic education, the district’s largest state revenue
source, was funded for a year at 2019-20 levels. The state had previously given
the district one-time payments to help balance the budget or pay bills, but
whether that can happen again is unknown. A proposal by the governor to help
provide funding for abating environmental hazards in schools, including
asbestos, could have helped the district, but the proposal’s future is
uncertain. The latest figures show the state is $4 billion short in meeting
Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed budget, Sen. John Blake, D-22, Archbald, said. The
district receives far less per pupil in state funding than other districts with
similar demographics. Since the state placed Scranton in recovery last year,
school directors pushed for more equitable and adequate state funding.
“Thursday, the Mount Carmel School District, like Shikellamy, in
Northumberland County, and State College Area School District in Centre County,
both announced they were switching to remote learning due to COVID-19 outbreaks
in their schools. Tuesday, the Salisbury Elk Lick School District in Somerset
County announced it was closing for a day after a staff member tested positive
for COVID-19, as well.”
Reopening leads to COVID cases in schools statewide
Sunbury Daily Item By John
Finnerty/CNHI State Reporter Sep 4, 2020
At least 71 Pennsylvania students have tested
positive since the start of the school year, according to data compiled by the
National Education Association. That doesn’t include a Shikellamy High School
student who district officials announced on Friday tested positive for COVID-19
after being sent home after reporting feeling ill in homeroom on Tuesday.
Shikellamy officials said that there was no immediate plan to close the school,
based on state guidelines which indicate that a single COVID-19 case doesn’t
require closing the entire school. Those cases come as lawmakers, policy makers
and local school officials grapple with the question of whether schools should
be offering in-person instruction. The state House passed legislation this week
that would allow families to demand that their children get another year of
schooling if the parents feel like the district’s efforts to prevent the spread
of coronavirus shortchanged their children academically. State Rep. Jesse
Topper, R-Bedford County, said that the legislation is intended to be an option
for families regardless of whether the school district has moved to
fully-remote or is offering some in-person instruction. The bill passed with
overwhelming bipartisan support in the state House, by a vote of 197-5. It’s
path forward isn’t clear. The state Senate hasn’t announced plans to move the
bill and the Pennsylvania School Board Association is opposed to measure, said
Annette Stevenson, a spokeswoman for the school board group.
Back to class: Which school districts in York County have
reported COVID-19 cases?
Teresa Boeckel York Daily
Record Updated September 7, 2020
Several districts have reported coronavirus
cases as the new school year kicks off. South Western School
District in the Hanover area has reported
three cases of the virus. Its buildings are closed for a week, and virtual
instruction is in place. School districts with positive COVID-19
cases have been in touch with the state Department of Health and have
notified anyone who had known contact. Here is a list of which districts have
reported cases:
Central York reports second positive COVID case; all
schools to remain open
Staff report
York Dispatch September 7, 2020
The Central York School District on Sunday
reported the first COVID-19 case of its week-old school year. The district was
notified a day earlier of a confirmed case at Central York High School,
according to a message on its website. “The individual who is the confirmed
case was in attendance at the school for a brief period of time prior to being
diagnosed,” the message states. “The individual has not been in school since
earlier this week and is following the Pennsylvania Department of Health
guidance on quarantine and measures to take before returning to school.” A
second case, at Hayshire Elementary, was confirmed on Sunday, the district
announced on the website. That individual was at the school until Thursday. The
high school and all other schools in the district will remain “open at this
time.” Administrators have notified students who were exposed, and the
Department of Health also will contact them directly.
West York Area School District closes elementary school
because of COVID-19 cases
Teresa Boeckel York Daily
Record Updated September 7, 2020
West York Area School District will be
closing one of its elementary schools because of at least one positive COVID-19
case. Trimmer Elementary will be closed for two weeks, starting Sept. 8, the district
reported on its website. The district was informed on
Sunday of one positive COVID-19 case at the school, and it learned of
a second case on Labor Day. Test results for other potential cases are pending.
The closing of the elementary school was done "out of an abundance of
caution" and in consultation with the state Department of Health.
The building is set to reopen on Sept. 21,
the announcement says.
Parkland High School reports first COVID-19 case
By Sarah
Cassi | For lehighvalleylive.com Updated
8:54 AM; September 7, 2020
The same week it reopened for the new school
year, Parkland High School is reporting someone at the school has tested
positive for COVID-19. In a letter sent Sunday,
school officials said they were notified that day a person who attended the
high school Wednesday and Thursday tested positive for the virus. The school
reopened Aug. 31 for the 2020-2021 school year, and the building was closed
Friday. “School leadership, in conjunction with public health officials, has
determined there is no need, at this time, to close Parkland High School. We
have cleaned and disinfected, as appropriate, and our school building is safe
for occupancy,” Superintendent Richard Sniscak said.
Danville Area High School impacted by coronavirus
PA Home Page Posted: Sep 7, 2020 / 11:34
PM EDT / Updated: Sep
7, 2020 / 11:34 PM EDT
DANVILLE, MONTOUR COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) —
The coronavirus is affecting another local school’s plans to get back to class.
Danville Area High School will be virtual Tuesday. According to the school
district’s Facebook
page, there have been two coronavirus
cases at the high school. Superintendent Dr. Ricki Boyle says Wednesday they
will start a hybrid learning plan. The student body will be split in half with
each group alternating days until at least September 18th.
GOP sees voter reg surge as fall campaign begins |
Analysis
PA Capital Star By Nick Field September
8, 2020
Mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania go out on
Sept. 14, and Republicans are seeing continued growth in voter registration, a
Capital-Star analysis has found. While it was a disappointing summer for
the GOP in national polls, they made
impressive voter registration gains throughout the commonwealth. It now seems
quite likely that the differing partisan responses to the
COVID-19 pandemic are responsible for this dynamic. After all, if you’re taking
social distancing seriously, you’re less likely to knock on doors and approach
strangers. A month ago, the
Democratic margin statewide was 783,116. It currently stands at 758,854.
Altogether, that’s 4,121,353 Democrats, 3,362,499 Republicans and 1,241,714
others for a grand total of 8,725,566 registered voters.
Now, let’s dig into the county-by-county
numbers.
Will more U.S. House seats flip in Pennsylvania?
Morning Call By MARC
LEVY ASSOCIATED PRESS | SEP 08,
2020 AT 6:04 AM
HARRISBURG — In the shadow of Pennsylvania’s
status as a battleground state in the presidential election, Democrats will
fight to defend their gains in Congress two years ago and, possibly, add
another seat or two as the state’s suburbs continue to turn against President
Donald Trump. Meanwhile, Republicans are trying to defend their survivors in
more evenly divided districts, while hoping to knock off some of the Democrats’
freshmen and one veteran congressman who keeps winning a district where Trump
is popular. Elections in 2018 were fruitful for Democrats: Aided by redrawn
districts and anti-Trump fervor, they picked up four seats in Pennsylvania,
evening the state’s partisan balance in the U.S. House and helping the party
recapture the House majority overall. There may be room for more districts to
flip. Two incumbent Republicans won by fewer than 3 percentage points in 2018,
while Democrats represent two districts that Trump won in 2016.
Here is a look at key races:
Parents ask why public schools are closed for class but
open to private child care providers
Inquirer by
Maddie Hanna, Posted: September 8, 2020
Some area students are going back to school
buildings this fall — not for class, but for child care. In a number of school districts, child care
providers are operating out of district buildings, offering full-day programs
for a limited number of children. School leaders say they provide an option for
parents who may be working or
not able to care for children while
they log on to virtual school at home. But some families are questioning the
logic of opening schools for child care that families must pay for, in buildings
officials have opted not to reopen for instruction. “It’s absurd,” said Daniel
Finnegan, a father of a third and first grader in the Springfield Township
School District in Montgomery County, where a provider renting space from the
district is offering full-day child care. “They’re taking in private money to
administer much worse education to 10% of the school district,” while telling
“the other 90%, ‘It’s going to be tough.’ ” School officials said the programs
are serving far fewer children than would be present if schools reopened, even
under a hybrid model of in-person instruction and virtual learning.
“To help with some of the child care needs, the district is
working with about 14 organizations to create regional learning hubs that will
provide in-person learning opportunities for students.”
Child care options available as PPS starts school year
virtually
ANDREW GOLDSTEIN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette agoldstein@post-gazette.com SEP 7, 2020
When the Pittsburgh Public Schools board
decided in July to start the 2020-21 academic year totally virtual, it came
with the caveat that the district must come up with a plan to help parents who
have essential jobs or were otherwise unable to support their child’s
remote learning. But preparations for child care and learning support were
already underway because the district had realized even earlier that full
in-person instruction was unlikely to occur, at least at the beginning of the
year. “We were actually planning for a hybrid model — half the time in
person and half the time working remotely,” said Melanie Claxton, the
district’s out-of-school-time coordinator. To better understand the needs
of parents in the city, the district released a survey to
help determine how many students would need child care. Out of about 1,000
families who had filled out the survey by Friday, about 460 of them indicated
they would need some form of child care during remote instruction, according to
Ms. Claxton.
SB1216: Legislation could halt Erie district’s busing proposal
GoErie By Ed
Palattella @etnpalattella Posted
Sep 3, 2020 at 5:30 PM
Proposed legislation circulating in
Harrisburg could derail the Erie School District’s tentative plan to limit the
number of nonpublic students it buses in the fall.
A day after the Erie School Board tentatively
agreed to a plan to stop paying for buses for
nonpublic high school students, district
administrators said they learned of a possible transportation-related amendment
to Senate Bill 1216, which concerns other education issues. The amendment would
require public school districts to continue to bus nonpublic students during
the pandemic, even if the school district’s students are learning solely
online. The fate of the amendment, the district said, will not become clear
until the state House returns to session on Sept. 15. Based on discussions at a nonvoting study session on Wednesday
night, a majority of the Erie School Board
supports a proposal that would save the district about $15,000 to $20,000 a
month by stopping its payments to the Erie Metropolitan Transit Authority to
bus high school students who attend in-person classes at nonpublic schools. The
change would be in place as long as the nonpublic students attend in-person
classes and the district students learn solely online during the pandemic, as
they will be when district classes start on Tuesday. The district will continue
to use its yellow buses to transport nonpublic students in kindergarten through
eighth grade. The Erie School Board is to vote on the change for nonpublic high
school students at its regular monthly meeting this coming Wednesday. The state
House’s return on Sept. 15, and a possible vote on the proposed amendment,
could invalidate the board’s action.
Teacher shortages affecting some Pittsburgh-area
districts
ANDREW GOLDSTEIN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette agoldstein@post-gazette.com AUG 31,
2020
When teachers are absent and the number of
substitutes are low during a normal school year, administrators have some
options. They could ask a full-time instructor to cover an extra
class during an off-period, or combine different groups of students under one
teacher. But because of COVID-19, this is not a normal school year.
Usually, an administrator dealing with a teacher shortage could say, “‘All
right, well, that’s an English class with a teacher who is going to be out. Who
else is teaching English at the same time?’ And now that teacher is going to
have twice the amount of kids,” said Carrie Rowe, superintendent of the
Beaver Area School District. “But you can’t do that during COVID,” she
added. “That defeats the whole purpose of going hybrid.” While the Pennsylvania
State Education Association said teacher shortages have not been a widespread
problem so far, some districts have seen an increased number of full-time
teachers taking leave. Ms. Rowe said about 14 teachers are on leaves of absence
from Beaver Area High School for various reasons. The school board voted to
start the high school in an online-only model for the first nine weeks of the
year partially because of the shortage, but a return to the classroom could
happen sooner if feasible, she said. While the reasons why teachers took leave
are not all related to COVID-19, some were at least partly caused by the
pandemic. For example, Ms. Rowe said, some teachers had to reschedule surgeries
they planned to have over the summer because of COVID-19 delays.
Ambler schools show in-person instruction can be done
with will and resources | Maria Panaritis
Inquirer Opinion by Maria
Panaritis | @panaritism | mpanaritis@inquirer.com Posted: September 6, 2020 - 5:00 AM
Something extraordinary happened to start the
month just a few miles beyond Philadelphia. Kids from kindergarten through
fifth grade walked into actual brick-and-mortar classrooms on day one of the
school year. This happened in an otherwise ordinary suburb called Ambler. It
happened as districts both poor and affluent across our region bailed on
in-school learning, instead feeding even their youngest students computer-only
instruction with no sense of how those children, if at all, would or could be
supported through it all. Fifth grade students during class at Lower Gwynedd
Elementary School in Ambler, Pa., Thursday, September 3, 2020. Masks are
required at all times indoors as Wissahickon School district's K-5 schools
opened for full-day, Monday-through-Friday instruction amid the coronavirus
pandemic. This feat in the Wissahickon School District is no half-in, half-out
hybrid offering, even. It’s the whole deal. They’ve opened their elementary
school doors for five-day-a week, full instruction for all
families who desire it. Others are receiving virtual instruction from home.
Only higher grades, due to staffing shortages that have not yet been figured
out, were given a virtual-only option.
Learning hub in Hill District will house students doing
virtual school
JOYCE GANNON Pittsburgh Post-Gazette jgannon@post-gazette.com SEP 6, 2020
Fresh paper lanterns, new colored ceiling
lights, posters and original student art work hang in the classrooms at ACH
Clear Pathways in the Hill District where 24 children will gather this week to
start the school year in a virtual learning hub. For 10 years, ACH has provided
disadvantaged youth with after-school and summertime arts programming including
dance, acting, music, painting, drawing and poetry writing. But when the
COVID-19 pandemic upended traditional education models, Tyian Battle, executive
director of the nonprofit, decided to add an all-day ELearning Hub to ACH’s
offerings. The hub is designed for young students of parents who have
challenges overseeing remote education at home. “God talks to me at night and
he said, ‘You have a place for kids whose parents need to go to work,’ ” said
Ms. Battle. Students in grades kindergarten through 9 will arrive at the hub at
8:30 a.m. and after the school day concludes, they will participate in ACH’s
arts programs, which are available until 6 p.m.
Philly’s housing crisis is an education crisis | Opinion
Corinne O’Connell, Opinion For the
Inquirer Posted: September 8, 2020 - 5:00 AM
Corinne O’Connell is the Chief Executive
Officer of Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia, an independently chartered
affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI).
As classes for students in the Philadelphia
School District begin and the COVID-19 pandemic persists, home will be the
primary classroom for students across the city. A federal order announced last week may
protect some people from evictions during the pandemic. But many families who
will get to stay in their homes face significant health and safety challenges. The
unfortunate reality is that more than 121,000 families in
Philadelphia live in homes deemed “inadequate” by the Department of Housing and
Urban Development. Many in dire need of repair house school-aged children and
will now serve as primary classrooms for virtual learning, schoolwork, homework
and projects. Research has shown that the stability and adequacy of students’
homes have a direct correlation to their success in school. For example, high
school students living in overcrowded homes have
lower graduation rates. Studies show children in homes with lead paint or
mold missing school at higher rates than
their peers due to the related health implications, and absences are associated
with lower standardized test scores. These negative effects are evident without
a pandemic. But this school year, unstable learning arrangements will
exacerbate the inequalities that disadvantage many Philadelphia students.
Without a physical classroom to go to each day, many students will feel the
amplified effects of substandard housing on their health and their ability to
succeed. Students living in overcrowded homes will struggle to keep up with
their peers who have ample space to learn.
In Pennsylvania public schools, an ‘epidemic’ of Native
American mascots and nicknames
Inquirer by
Jeff Gammage and Maddie
Hanna, Posted: September 8, 2020-
5:00 AM
Four years ago, at least 67 public schools in
Pennsylvania embraced Native American nicknames and mascots — Red Raiders,
Little Indians, Big Reds, Indians, Redskins. Today, after long, contentious
debate and amid vast protests across America against systemic racism, that
number has hardly moved, dropping to 64. One name, Mohawks, was eliminated
because of a school merger in Wilkes-Barre last year. The second, Indians, was
retired last month by Unionville High School in Kennett Square, Chester County.
On Wednesday, the Radnor School Board voted to abandon its Raider nickname and
imagery. “It’s our job to support Native individuals in getting these mascots
removed,” said Jason Landau Goodman, executive director of the Pennsylvania
Youth Congress, a Harrisburg-based advocate for inclusive education. “Wrong is
wrong.” A new PYC study on “racist public school mascots” in
Pennsylvania calls the use of American Indian imagery an “epidemic,” creating a
hostile environment for students “by promoting wholly offensive imagery as a
core community value.” During the 2019-20 school year, PYC said, more than
55,162 students attended Pennsylvania schools with Indian nicknames and
mascots. That included at least 397 Native students among an estimated 1,139
statewide.
Pleasant Valley caps cyber enrollment at 800
Lehighton Times News BY KRISTINE PORTER
KPORTER@TNONLINE.COM Published September 05. 2020 10:07AM
The Pleasant Valley School District is
capping enrollment in its cyber academy at about 800 students. More than 1,200
students had submitted requests for enrollment as of Aug. 27. Lee Lesisko, the
superintendent of the school district, announced Friday that the cyber
academy’s enrollment limit had been reached and the registration link on the
website was being removed. “Because of COVID, almost a fourth of our entire
Pleasant Valley student population is enrolled in or has requested cyber
school,” he said in a prepared statement. “Unfortunately, our program has
limitations on the number of students we can actually serve. We presently have enough
materials for only about 800 students who are now receiving bundles (books,
technology).” Lesisko said that the cyber academy ended last school year with
215 students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade. It has been growing
steadily since it began in 2007, but the district did not anticipate the
significant interest in the academy for the upcoming school year.
Fight over Cruz's school choice plan threatens Senate GOP
unity on new stimulus
By Manu
Raju, Phil Mattingly and Ted
Barrett, CNN Updated
5:45 PM ET, Fri September 4, 2020
(CNN)Senate GOP
leaders are working to limit defections from their party's latest economic stimulus
package, which they were hoping to vote on as
soon as next week to provide a clear election-year contrast with Democrats. But
behind the scenes, they are running into a new hurdle: Sen. Ted Cruz and
his push for a controversial school choice plan that has divided the Senate
Republican Conference. GOP leaders have been
working for weeks with their 53-member Senate
conference in an effort to ensure that 51 senators will vote to advance their
plan. Republicans now privately acknowledge that they will likely need next
week to iron out their differences -- with their first full conference meeting
on Wednesday -- potentially putting off the showdown vote
over their economic stimulus plan until the third week of September. On private
conference calls, Cruz, a Texas Republican who ran for president in 2016 and
might again in 2024, has been lobbying Republicans to include billions in tax
credits to expand school choice, an idea with strong support among GOP voters
but one that critics say would hurt public school systems. Sources on the calls
told CNN that Cruz has argued the coronavirus
pandemic has showcased the weakness of
public school systems and that Republicans should get behind an idea that the
party is advocating this election year, including at last month's Republican National
Convention. Cruz has argued that there's little
in the bill as it's being developed that he could get behind, suggesting he
could vote against the plan if school choice is not included, according to
sources on the call. But if Cruz got his way, it would put some Republicans up
for reelection in a difficult spot -- such as Sen. Susan Collins of
Maine, who has long resisted such policies
-- and could open them up to a fresh round of attacks on the campaign trail.
Some other Republicans have also voiced concerns, worried it wouldn't be
workable in their states.
Strike Three! Another Federal Court Ends Betsy DeVos A
Plan To Use Public Money For Private Schools
Forbes by Peter
Greene Senior Contributor Sep 5, 2020,12:02pm
EDT
Judge Dabney
Friedrich, the U.S. District Judge for the
District of Columbia (and a Trump appointee) this week became the third federal
judge to stymie Secretary of Education
Betsy DeVos’s plan to direct additional CARES money
to private schools. This ruling is the most decisive of the three, not merely
imposing an injunction but issuing a summary judgement against
the secretary. The issues was this: Congress set aside some CARES relief money
to be distributed among public and private schools based on the number of
students from low-income families. DeVos issued first a guidance, then a
ruling, that the funds should be passed on to private
schools based on total enrollment rather than
low-income enrollment. This would have had the effect of steering CARES funds
away from public schools and toward private schools, a long-time DeVos goal. Members
of Congress, including Republican Senator Lamar Alexander expressed disagreement with
the DeVosian interpretation of the law. Multiple lawsuits by states, parents,
and various other organizations followed. The rulings have been rolling in for
the past couple of weeks. The department’s argument has been that the law is
“ambiguous” and therefor the department rule was issued to “clarify” the law.
Federal judges have remained unconvinced.
Remote Schools’ Hidden Cost: Parents Quit Work to Teach,
Prompting New Recession Woes
Online school could force more than 4 million
working parents out of labor force, researchers say
Wall Street Journal By Gwynn Guilford Sept.
7, 2020 10:00 am ET
Clara Vazquez’s 7-year-old son, Kevin, asks
her a troubling question before he goes to sleep each night. “‘Mom, who’s going
to take care of me tomorrow?’ he asks me,” said the 27-year-old resident of
Sunnyside, Wash. “I feel so bad because I have to say, ‘I don’t know.’” She’ll
have to come up with an answer soon, and it may cost Ms. Vazquez a big part of
her livelihood. In two weeks, her son’s online-only classes start running from
9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. If she can’t find child care, she will give up at least one
of her two jobs as a home health-care worker to help her son manage his
studies. “I don’t want to quit my job because it’s going to put us in financial
strain,” said Ms. Vazquez, whose husband is a truck driver. “But I feel like
I’m out of options.” It is a trade-off that looms for millions of families
across the U.S. whose children are returning to partial or completely remote
learning at K-12 schools this fall, and the potential blow to the economy could
be big enough to rival a small or medium-size recession.
The Improbable Journey of Dorothy Parker’s Ashes
After two decades in a filing cabinet and
three next to a parking lot in Baltimore, the author returns to New York.
The New Yorker By Laurie Gwen Shapiro September
4, 2020
On February 6, 1965, Dorothy Parker signed
her last will and testament in her small suite at the Volney Hotel, on East
Seventy-fourth Street, in Manhattan. A friend named Pauline Kraft signed as a
witness, as did an employee at the Volney named Richard M. Moyer. Parker’s
French poodle, Troy—short for Troisième, because she was the third of her
litter—was by her side. Her second husband, the writer and actor Alan Campbell,
had died two years earlier, of an overdose of alcohol and barbiturates. Parker
was seventy-one, small and thin with big dark eyes, and suffered from a weak
heart, bursitis, and reduced eyesight. Widowed, with no heirs, she had spent
months mulling what to do with her estate. After her debts were paid, her
assets amounted to some twenty thousand dollars, but her estate also included
future royalties and licensing fees for her body of literary work, which was
substantial.
On the occasion of Sonny Rollins’ 90th birthday – September
7, 1930
SONNY ROLLINS-LIVE IN DENMARK´68
Youtube Enrique Pereira Opazo 20,807
views •May 20, 2017 Runtime 31:48
Bass - Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen Drums -
Albert 'Tootie' Heath Piano - Kenny Drew
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.
PA SCHOOLS WORK WEBINAR : Public School Advocacy in the
New Normal of a COVID-19 World; Tue, Sep 15, 2020 12:00 PM - 12:45 PM EDT
For the foreseeable future, COVID-19 is a
part of our everyday lives. More parents and community members than ever before
have engaged at the school district level as schools wrestled with their
options for reopening this fall. This conversation will be about continuing our
advocacy for public schools, and how the challenges districts are facing in the
COVID-19 era are magnified by long-term inequities in our funding system and
years of lackluster financial support for public education from state
government. So, what can we do about it? Come find out
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
What to expect at this year’s School Leadership
Conference
POSTED ON AUGUST 31, 2020 IN PSBA
NEWS
At the 2020 PASA-PSBA School Leadership
Conference on October 14-15, you'll encounter the same high-quality experience
you've come to expect, via new virtual platform. Hear world-class speakers and
relevant educational sessions, and network with exhibitors and attendees — from
the comfort of your home or office on any internet-enabled device.
The virtual conference platform is accessible
via a unique link provided to each registrant about a week before conference.
No additional app downloads are required. The intuitive 3D interface is easy to
use and immersive — you'll feel like you're on location. Registrants will be
able to explore the space a day before conference starts. Highlights
include:
- Virtual
exhibit hall
- Interactive
lobby area and information desk
- Virtual
auditorium
- Digital
swag bag
- Scavenger
hunt
This year, conference is completely free
to attend! Be among the first 125 to register, and receive a special
pre-conference swag bag, sent to your home. Click here for
more information about how to register.
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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