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.
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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for October 21, 2020
PA charter
group aims to expand schools with a $30 million grant
Congratulations to #305 Brentwood Borough
School District (@AmyMBurchDEd) for passing the charter funding reform
resolution. Thank you to Representative Harry Readshaw, @SenatorBrewster PSBA Ambassador @LenaHannah4. https://t.co/yX6M8VfFyV
Why are cyber
charter tuition rates the same as brick and mortar tuition?
Taxpayers in House Ed Committee Member Gerald Mullery’s school districts
paid over $7.4 million in 2018-2019 cyber charter tuition. Statewide, PA taxpayers paid over $600 million for cyber charter
tuition in 2018-2019.
|
Crestwood SD |
$647,899.03 |
|
Greater Nanticoke Area SD |
$588,278.64 |
|
Hanover Area SD |
$1,597,682.23 |
|
Hazleton Area SD |
$2,841,667.30 |
|
Wyoming Valley West SD |
$1,787,671.95 |
|
|
$7,463,199.15 |
Source: PDE via
PSBA
“In the past four weeks, the coronavirus incidence rate per
100,000 people in Chester County has climbed from 49.2 to 52.1. In Delaware
County, it went from 40.1 to 76.6 per 100,000. If the trend continues,
officials say it could jeopardize in-school hybrid education, which relies on
metrics based on community transmission. As of Oct. 15, the statewide
percent-positivity rate increased to 4.3 percent from 3.9 percent the previous
week. Overall, Chester County's positivity rate for the week ending Oct. 15 is
3.2 percent, Delaware County's rate is 4.1 percent, Philadelphia County's rate
is 4.5 percent, Bucks County's rate is 3.1 percent and Lehigh County's rate is
2.8 percent.”
After decline, coronavirus cases trending up in Chester,
Delaware counties
Delco Times by Fran Maye fmaye@21st-centurymedia.com October 21,
2020
WEST CHESTER — After weeks of steadily
declining coronavirus cases in Chester County, the rate of infection is back on
the rise, according to the Chester County Health Department. Nearby Delaware
County is experiencing the same trend. The news comes as hospitalizations rose
by at least 5 percent in 37 states as of Sunday. The seven-day average for new
cases in the nation is up 13 percent from the previous week and statistics
indicate a new wave of the virus is underway in the United States. “Over the
past 14 days Pennsylvania has had more than 1,000 new cases each day, which
also means the number of people in close contact with some with a positive test
result has grown,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said.
Pennsylvania charter group aims to expand schools with a
$30 million grant
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Posted: October 20, 2020-
1:48 PM
Armed with a $30 million federal grant, the
Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools will be soliciting proposals
to expand charter schools in the state over the next five years, a new role for
the advocacy organization. Lenny McAllister, the coalition’s new executive
director, told reporters Tuesday outside Freire High School, a Philadelphia
charter, that the grant announced this month by the U.S. Department of
Education would allow the organization to facilitate "the development,
expansion, and replication” of charter schools throughout Pennsylvania. In its
federal grant application, the coalition said Pennsylvania, which currently has
158 charters, would “open, replicate or expand at least 18” brick-and-mortar
charter schools by 2025. That pledge, however, depends in part on whether new
charter proposals gain approval from school districts. Publicly funded but
independently run, charter schools have been popular with many families but a
continued source of controversy for
policymakers, producing mixed academic results and costing school districts. “Pennsylvanians
would be better served if [the coalition] spent its time and resources on
improving the many already existing low-performing charter schools in the
commonwealth before spending taxpayer money on expanding the sector,” said
Susan Spicka, executive director of Education Voters PA, an advocacy group that
supports traditional public schools.
A skeptical Lancaster school board denies sports-infused
charter school proposal
Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer October 20,
2020
Less than a month after the school board
described its latest charter school application as “extremely negligent,” the
School District of Lancaster on Tuesday night denied it. The school board
unanimously voted down the application for the AFCLL Academy Charter School,
which would have served students in grades five through eight and focused on
educating children through sports, particularly soccer. The school’s plan was
to serve about 100 students starting in August 2021, with the hopes of doubling
enrollment in five years. Applying for the school was a group led by AFC
Lancaster Lions pro soccer club founder Brian Ombiji. The board’s decision
didn't come as a surprise, as board members expressed doubt regarding the
proposed charter’s curriculum, financial model and community support since it
first had the opportunity to discuss Ombiji’s application in September. Members
of the community, including Tommy Henley, principal of La Academia Partnership
Charter School, and the Rev. Al Williams, speaking on behalf of the Lancaster NAACP,
also have rebuked the proposal. Tuesday’s vote came swiftly and without
discussion from the board as the majority of the meeting consisted of
conversations surrounding the potential return to in-person learning. The
district’s students have learned online since March, with the exception of the
summer months, because of the coronavirus pandemic. Under Pennsylvania’s
charter school law, Ombiji may submit another application or challenge the
board’s decision by appealing through the Charter School Appeal Board.
State Funding to Ensure Safe and Healthy School
Facilities: Lessons for Pennsylvania
Research for Action Brief by Mark Duffy and David
Lapp October 2020
Long before closures due to the coronavirus
pandemic, many Pennsylvania schools faced a different health crisis: unsafe
facilities. Crumbling buildings, asbestos, lead, and other school facility
health and safety risks plague many schools across Pennsylvania, particularly
in low-income districts and those that enroll a high percentage of Black and
Latinx students. Protesters recently drew a connection between systemic racism
and these on-going school facility safety hazards.i These problems are not
exclusive to Pennsylvania.ii But the Commonwealth’s failure to provide adequate
facilities funding has created what Pennsylvania school administrators and
school business officials have called a “growing disparity between those school
districts that can address vital school construction, renovation or maintenance
needs and those that cannot.”iii In this brief we (1) examine available
evidence related to the condition of Pennsylvania’s school facilities, (2)
review past, current, and proposed policies related to how the state funds
emergency facilities expenses, and (3) discuss how other states provide for
emergency school facilities funding.
https://www.researchforaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/RFA-PACER-SchoolFacilitiesFunding.pdf
Pay attention: Pa. is poised to fall off a budget cliff |
Editorial
The Inquirer Editorial Board | opinion@inquirer.com Posted: October
20, 2020 - 1:57 PM
Pennsylvania is staring at a fiscal cliff. It’s
easy but perilous to ignore state budget minutiae amid a contentious
presidential election. Right now is when the state budget needs the most
sunlight. That’s always tough to find in Harrisburg, which makes lawmakers’
abbreviated schedule (they meet Wednesday for
the last time until after the election) particularly risky. After the shutdown
in March, revenues cratered, and
Harrisburg passed a five-month budget that flat-funded most state agencies
(except education). It bought time to get a clearer economic picture, and for
the federal government to provide fiscal relief for state and local
governments. That federal help never came, and our budget expires at the end of
November. If we don’t start looking at the budget in a new way, this recovery
could be slower and more painful than the one that followed the 2008 Great
Recession.
‘The best part of it is picking your own time to leave,’
Scarnati says, as Pa. Senate pays tribute to retiring GOP leader
PA Capital Star By Elizabeth Hardison October 20,
2020
Members of Pennsylvania’s state Senate paid
tribute on Tuesday to outgoing Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, the
Jefferson County Republican who will retire when his term expires in
November. A 20-year veteran of the Senate, Scarnati announced in
February that he would not seek reelection this year, saying he wanted to spend
more time with his family. Senators spent more than an hour Tuesday
recognizing Scarnati’s legacy, and sharing memories from his career. Their
tribute included a pre-recorded video with messages from current and former
lawmakers and Senate staffers, as well as Scarnati’s parents, wife and
children. “Joe has been a consensus builder, diplomat and respected
leader,” Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, said. “We all love you
and thank you for your friendship.”
Despite virus case surge, schools should reopen for
youngest students, Philadelphia health chief says
The school board will vote on the plan
Thursday.
Chalkbeat Philly By Dale Mezzacappa Oct
20, 2020, 5:58pm EDT
City health commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley
said Tuesday that he thinks it is safe to reopen schools for the youngest
students next month despite a continued rise in COVID-19 cases in Philadelphia.
Based on the experiences of about 50 private, Catholic, and charter schools
that have conducted some in-person learning for the past seven weeks, Farley
said, there is very little evidence of spread within school buildings. While 44
sites “have seen cases of either students or staff” testing positive, they have
been “mostly isolated cases … with no evidence of spread within the facility,”
Farley said at a press briefing. In 26 of these situations, the city
recommended quarantines that were followed. The exception has been at the
private Philadelphia School, where so far there have been 15 cases in a
“cluster” and where information indicates it was due to classroom spread. “This
is the only situation where we think this has occurred,” Farley said, adding
that he thinks this was attributable to a one-time “slip in [safety]
technique.”
Are The Risks Of Reopening Schools Exaggerated?
NPR by ANYA KAMENETZ October 21,
20207:05 AM ET
Despite widespread concerns, two new
international studies show no consistent relationship between in-person K-12
schooling and the spread of coronavirus. And a third study from the United
States shows no elevated risk to childcare workers who stayed on the job. Combined
with anecdotal reports from a number of U.S. states where
schools are open, as well as a crowdsourced dashboard of
around 2000 U.S. schools, some medical experts are saying it's time to shift
the discussion from the risks of opening K-12 schools to the risks of keeping
them closed. "As a pediatrician, I am really seeing the negative impacts of
these school closures on children," Dr. Danielle Dooley, a medical
director at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., told NPR. She
ticked off mental health problems, hunger, obesity
due to inactivity, missing routine medical care and the risk of child abuse —
on top of the loss of education. "Going to school is really vital for
children. They get their meals in school, their physical activity, their health
care, their education, of course."
https://www.npr.org/2020/10/21/925794511/were-the-risks-of-reopening-schools-exaggerated
School is digital, kids are overwhelmed. How do you
manage screen time in the COVID era?
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Posted: October
20, 2020- 6:59 PM
Pheng Lim knows how exhausting virtual school
can be for children. As principal of Folk-Arts Cultural Treasures Charter
School in Philadelphia, Lim and her team have prioritized balancing lessons with
not overwhelming their K-8 students with large chunks of time in front of a
computer. Kids have breaks in between every class and an hour for lunch.
Teachers remind students to shut off their screens, to move around, to pace
themselves, to engage in hands-on activities. But Lim is also the mom of two
FACTS students, and while her 9-year-old manages virtual school well, her first
grader can get overwhelmed. “My 6-year-old just has had a more difficult time,”
said Lim. “After two hours, she is done, and she comes to me for hugs and
encouragement.” With COVID-19 forcing schools to conduct most or all of their
learning via computer, the amount of time children spend on screens has risen
dramatically, with mixed results. Some children are coping fine, but others are
dealing with fatigue, headaches and strain in a way they didn’t when classes
were face-to-face. Some schools, like FACTS, de-emphasized screen time from the
beginning of the term.
https://www.inquirer.com/education/coronavirus-remote-learning-screen-time-students-20201020.html
Lake-Lehman board member encourages use of district’s own
cyber charter
Times Leader By Mark Guydish October 19, 2020
LEHMAN TWP. — Monday’s virtual Lake-Lehman
School Board meeting began with an appeal from Board Member David Paulauskas
urging students enrolled with outside cyber charter schools to consider using
the district’s own cyber option, and ended with Superintendent James McGovern
reading a letter from support staff union negotiators seeking to re-energize
talks for a new contract. Paulauskas made his plea during discussion of what is
usually a routine “payment of bills” motion. He noted that, while looking
through the bills, one group “jumped out”: Payments to outside cyber charters,
which are projected to be around $900,000 this year. Cyber charters are public
schools approved by the state and funded by the local districts, which must pay
a certain amount for each student in that district who enrolls in that cyber. “The
distressing thing to me is that we offer a cyber school option,” Paulauskas
said, yet district students opt for the outside cybers. He asked that those
making such choices “tell us exactly why, because if they are doing something
different from what we are doing, we could adjust to meet their needs.”
Old Forge School Board postpones emergency meeting
Times Tribune Oct 20, 2020 Updated 42
min ago
The Old Forge School Board postponed an
emergency meeting scheduled for Tuesday after the Google Meet online platform
wouldn’t allow more than 100 participants to join. The board aimed to discuss
planning after a surge in coronavirus cases recently pushed Lackawanna County
into the state's highest tier of community spread. The change to the
"substantial" tier triggered a recommendation from the state for
districts to move fully to online learning. School districts do not have to
comply with the recommendation, however. Superintendent Erin Keating, Ed.D.,
said holding the meeting despite these technical difficulties would have
violated the Sunshine Act, and she wanted there to be “equitable
participation.” She plans to work with the board to reschedule the meeting,
then share the details with the public.
Students at Perseus House Charter, General McLane School
District test positive for virus
GoErie by Ed Palattella Valerie Myers Erie
Times-News October 21, 2020
Two more public school systems in Erie
County are reporting that students have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Perseus House Charter School of Excellence in Erie and the General
McLane School District have one case each, according to their public statements
on the cases. The coronavirus cases are the first for both
institutions, officials said. The General McLane student attends the
660-student James W. Parker Middle School, the district said. "A General
McLane student has tested positive for COVID-19 as determined by a rapid
response test," General McLane schools Superintendent Rick Scaletta said
in a statement posted on the district's website on Monday.
2 Plum School District employees test positive for
covid-19
Trib Live by MICHAEL DIVITTORIO | Tuesday,
October 20, 2020 10:34 p.m.
Two Plum School District employees have
tested positive for covid-19, district officials announced Tuesday. According
to a message addressed to district families, the district consulted with
Allegheny Health Department officials, conducted contract tracing to determine
individuals that may have been in close contact with the students and other
employees, cleaned and disinfected the impacted rooms and notified 10 other
individuals determined to have been in close contact with the employees that
tested positive. Those in close contact must quarantine for 14 days, according
to county health department guidance.
https://triblive.com/local/plum/2-plum-school-district-employees-test-positive-for-covid-19/
McKeesport has another positive COVID-19 test
By JEFF STITT jstitt@yourmvi.com October 20, 2020 Mon Valley Independent Latest News
The McKeesport Area School District announced
Monday night that a Founders’ Hall Middle School staff member has tested
positive for COVID-19. That announcement came one day after the district
announced it had a total of five students or staff members district-wide test
positive for the virus last week. “As the week begins, we’d like to take this
opportunity to update you with a recap of this past week. Across two of our
buildings, Twin Rivers Elementary and the High School, we have had three
positive cases of COVID-19 in teachers, and two positive results in students,”
the district said Sunday.
https://monvalleyindependent.com/2020/10/mckeesport-has-another-positive-covid-19-test/
Hempfield Area High School will temporarily close as new
COVID-19 cases are reported
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE localnews@post-gazette.com OCT 20,
2020 9:39 PM
Hempfield Area High School will close for the
rest of the week due to new COVID-19 cases. A letter from Hempfield Area School
District Superintendent Tammy Wolicki dated on Tuesday said that the district
was notified at around 1 p.m. that another high school student and middle
school student had tested positive for the virus. The new cases make a total of
12 high school students who have tested positive since Oct. 12, according to
the letter. The high school is expected to reopen on Monday, Oct. 26 for group
“A” students.
Reading School District superintendent named Pennsylvania
Superintendent of the Year
Reading Eagle By David Mekeel dmekeel@readingeagle.com
@dmekeel on Twitter Oct 19, 2020 Updated 20 hrs
ago
When Dr. Khalid Mumin took the reins as superintendent
of the Reading School District back in 2014, the district was facing a lot of
struggles. According to Dr. Mark DiRocco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, when
Mumin's tenure began "he was confronted with 19 buildings of failing
infrastructures, eight bargaining units without contracts for five years and a
district having little to no transparency with either staff or
constituents." The district was also one of the poorest in the state, had
a highly transient student population, was facing a financial crisis and
perhaps even a state takeover, DiRocco said. "Dr. Mumin demonstrated
visionary leadership right from the start to get the district back on a
positive track and focused on academic growth and support," DiRocco said. For
his efforts, Mumin has been named the 2021 Pennsylvania Superintendent of the
Year by the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators. He will be
honored at a yet-unscheduled event in 2021.
Parkland superintendent Richard Sniscak to retire at end
of school year after 37 years in education
By KAYLA DWYER THE MORNING
CALL | OCT 20, 2020 AT 9:05 PM
This school year will be the last for
Parkland School District Superintendent Richard Sniscak, who plans to retire in
June after 26 years with the district. The pandemic-marked year is an unusual
punctuation point to a 37-year career in public education, the last decade as
superintendent of one of the state’s largest public school districts. Sniscak
submitted his letter of retirement to the school board Tuesday night, and he
did so with “mixed emotions,” he told them. “It was a very emotional decision
for me to get to this point, but one that I’m embracing,” he said in brief
comments at the conclusion of the meeting. “I always considered it an honor of
the first order to represent this District as superintendent of schools,” he
wrote in a letter shared with staff. “Parkland School District remains
tradition rich, goal oriented and future focused. The time has come for me to
turn the page on the next chapter in my life."
“The candidates and their surrogates are pouring in: Cory Booker
and Andrew Yang on Sunday, Mike Pence on Monday, Mr. Trump and Donald Jr. on
Tuesday, Barack Obama on Wednesday. So is the money: Since the beginning of the
election, the campaigns have lavished close to $200
million on Pennsylvania — $121.5 million
from Team Biden, $74.2 million from Team Trump. Welcome to life in a swing
state, with less than two weeks until the election. If you’ve ever felt starved
for attention, ignored by the good and the great, come sit by me in
Pennsylvania.”
I’m Drowning in Campaign Lit and Freaking Out About My
Mail-In Ballot
Greetings from swing state Pennsylvania.
New York Times By Jennifer Weiner Contributing Opinion Writer Oct. 20,
2020
PHILADELPHIA — On Tuesday afternoon, it was
Karla texting my husband. On Saturday, it was Carin and Britney. Mara got in
touch the next day. Susan and Debra reached out last week. Normally, I would
look askance at strange ladies blowing up my husband’s phone. But I know these
women don’t want his time or his affections. They (and Julia, and Debra No. 2)
want his vote. Our phones aren’t the only things that have been crammed with
election-year come-ons. An average day’s mail brings at least two pieces of campaign
literature, plus a guide or two on how to correctly complete a mail-in ballot.
On the digital front, Trump and Biden ads have invaded my YouTube feed and
colonized my husband’s Scrabble app. I try to do yoga: There’s Joe Biden. He
wants to watch football: There’s Donald Trump. The real world offers no
respite. In Center City, my neighborhood, people walk the streets wearing “Bad
Things Happen in Philadelphia” T-shirts, an ironic appropriation of President Trump’s
statement from the first debate. The
lampposts bristle with “MAKE A PLAN: VOTE” placards. In Limerick, a suburb an
hour to the northwest, one voter told me, “It seems the Trump supporters feel
the need to show who loves him the most by having the biggest and ‘most
tremendous’ signs.” She says it’s the profanity that really gets to her, like
the truck emblazoned with the slogan “Trump 2020 — [expletive] Your Feelings”
in the pickup line at school.
What's the connection between reading early and high
school dropout rates? Learn with us at the Education First Compact on 11/5.
Philadelphia Education Fund Free Virtual
Event Thursday November 5, 2020 9:00 am - 10:30 am
From Pre-K to Fifth Grade: Early Literacy as
Dropout Prevention
It’s long been understood that literacy is
the gateway to learning. No doubt you’ve heard the maxim: In grades
K-3, a student must learn to read, so that in grades 4-12 they can read to
learn.
In the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2014
report, “Double Jeopardy,” researchers also found a link between 4th
grade reading proficiency and high school completion rates. Astonishingly,
they discovered that students with low levels of proficiency were four times as
likely to drop out of high school. In Philadelphia, the struggle to improve
upon rates of early literacy is a collaborative one. At the center of
these local efforts are the School District of Philadelphia, the Children’s
Literacy Initiative, and various community partners engaged through
Philadelphia’s Read By 4th Campaign. Join us for the November Education First
Compact to probe such questions as: What lessons has been learned prior to and
during COVID? What adjustments are being made during this period of distance
learning? What challenges remain? And, most importantly, what role can the
larger Philadelphia community play in the effort?
Panelists:
- Caryn
Henning, Children’s Literacy Initiative
- Jenny
Bogoni, Read By 4th Campaign
- Nyshawana
Francis-Thompson, School District Office of Instruction and Curriculum
Host: Farah
Jimenez, President and CEO of Philadelphia Education Fund
Schedule: 9:00 – 9:45am
Presentation
9:45 – 10:15am Q & A
Attendance is free, but registration is
required.
Tell your legislators that school districts need their
support
POSTED ON OCTOBER 12, 2020 IN PSBA
NEWS
If you missed Advocacy Day, it's not too late
to reach out to your legislators and ask for their support for public schools
during this challenging school year. Take Action to
send a letter to your members of the Senate and House of Representatives. The letter
addresses the need to support our schools and help to control our costs so that
districts may better serve their students. Among the most important areas of
concern are limited liability protections; broad mandate relief; delay in new
state graduation requirements delay; the need for broadband expansion; and
charter school funding reform. Now, more than ever, it is vital that
legislators hear from school districts.
https://www.psba.org/2020/10/tell-your-legislators-that-school-districts-need-their-support/
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.
Resolution for charter funding reform (pdf)
Link
to submit your adopted resolution to PSBA
305 PA school boards have
adopted charter reform resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 300 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.
https://www.psba.org/2020/03/adopted-charter-reform-resolutions/
Know Your Facts on Funding and Charter Performance. Then
Call for Charter Change!
PSBA Charter Change Website:
https://www.pacharterchange.org/
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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