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 Nov. 6, 2020
Imagine that! In NJ, the state is actually tracking &
reporting COVID outbreaks & cases for all schools in the state
Pennsylvania, with 95 percent of votes counted, is back
in the spotlight on Friday.
New York Times By Benjamin Mueller November 6, 2020
After Joseph R. Biden Jr. pulled narrowly
ahead in Georgia on Friday morning, the focus shifted to Pennsylvania, whose 20
electoral votes could lift Mr. Biden decisively above the 270 he would need to
become the next president. By 7 a.m., with 95 percent of the state’s votes
counted, President Trump led by roughly 18,000 votes. But tens of thousands of
ballots were waiting to be counted, mostly from predominantly Democratic areas.
Among the biggest remaining batches of votes to be reported — roughly 54,000 —
will come from Philadelphia, where the city commissioner, Al Schmidt, said in a
televised interview early Friday that the count was continuing and updated vote
totals would be released later in the morning.
After erasing deficit, Biden now leads Trump in Georgia.
New York Times By Glenn
Thrush November 6, 2020
Joseph R. Biden Jr. has pulled ahead of
President Trump in Georgia, a state with 16 electoral votes that would bring
him to 269, or within one electoral vote of the presidency, if he were to win.
If Mr. Biden wins Georgia and then Nevada or Arizona — both states in which he
is leading — or Pennsylvania, where the continued counting of ballots is
methodically erasing Mr. Trump’s advantage, he will become the president-elect.
The candidates had been locked in a virtual dead heat for much of Thursday,
with each controlling about 49.4 percent of the vote, but with Mr. Trump
maintaining a slight lead. As absentee ballots were counted early Friday, Mr.
Biden pulled ahead with 917 more votes. Flipping Georgia, a state last won by a
Democrat in 1992, and where Mr. Trump won by more than 200,000 votes four years
ago, would represent a significant political shift.
Pa. within reach for Biden: 3 things to know about
Election 2020 | Friday Morning Coffee
PA Capital Star By John L. Micek November 6,
2020
Good Friday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
Here’s where things stand in Pennsylvania
right now: With 95 percent of the vote counted, NBC News shows President
Donald Trump with a 49.5 percent to 49.2 percent lead over
former Vice President Joe Biden.
2020 Election Insights: Panel Discussion PSBA video Nov
5, 2020
In this exclusive 20-minute panel discussion
for PSBA members, CEO Nathan Mains discusses state and federal
elections with Chief Advocacy Officer John Callahan; Andy Goodman,
managing partner, Milliron & Goodman LLC, Government Relations; and Jared
Solomon, assistant vice president, Bose Public Affairs Group. Hear a
recap of developments to date and analysts’ thoughts on how public
education may be affected.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr14uOsUFXw
Nearly 150 kids and teachers caught COVID-19 at N.J.
schools, state officials say as outbreaks increase
By Kelly Heyboer | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com Updated Nov
05, 2020; Posted Nov 05, 2020
The state's COVID-19 dashboard reports the
number of outbreaks in which students or teachers transmitted the virus while
in school or during school activities.
Another 24 New Jersey students, teachers and
staff were infected with COVID-19
while on school property in eight newly-reported
in-school outbreaks, state officials said Thursday.
The new cases bring the totals to 36
confirmed outbreaks at schools involving 146 cases since the school year began,
according to the state’s COVID-19
dashboard. The eight newly-reported outbreaks
include: three schools in Camden County (involving a total of 10 new cases);
two schools in Bergen County (total of six cases); two schools in Warren County
(total of four cases) and one school in Sussex County (three cases). There was
also one new COVID-19 case in Ocean County linked to one of the four
previously-reported school outbreaks in the county.
Less than a third of eligible Philly students have opted
to return to school
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Posted: November
5, 2020- 11:57 AM
Less than a third of the 32,000 students
eligible to return to school on Nov.
30 have opted to come back for
face-to-face instruction, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said Thursday. Still,
the Philadelphia School District is making plans for buildings to reopen to teachers Nov.
16 and for children to return at the end
of the month, said Hite, joined at a news conference with Philadelphia Health
Commissioner Thomas Farley. The news comes despite a state recommendation that
based on the current level of COVID-19 cases, schools should shift to or remain
fully virtual. Other districts are remaining open despite the numbers, Farley
and Hite said, stressing that the state’s information was guidance, not a
mandate. “We think that in-person education for our children is extremely
important, and we think we should do it, even if the risk isn’t zero,” Farley
said.
https://www.inquirer.com/education/philadelphia-school-district-reopening-covid-spread-20201105.html
Philly schools won’t reopen to teachers Monday as planned
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Posted: November
4, 2020
Philadelphia schools will not reopen to
teachers Monday, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said Wednesday night. The
news came after Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan told
Hite he did not want the district’s prekindergarten through second-grade
students back in buildings because of a COVID-19 surge. Teachers
were due Monday in advance of a Nov. 30 return for up to 32,000 children in
those grades. Teachers will now return Nov. 16, Hite said in an interview. He
said the delay was not because of the coronavirus spike but because of
logistics — at some schools, large numbers of parents are opting not to send
their children back to classrooms and so not all faculty will need to come in.
Hite said the district is still processing data around family decisions.
Hite pushes forward with reopening plans despite
Philadelphia teachers’ concerns
Friday deadline for parents to decide whether
they want their children to learn virtually or return for some in-person
instruction
Chalkbeat Philly By Johann Calhoun Nov 5, 2020, 9:21pm EST
Despite a surge in cases of coronavirus,
Philadelphia’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas Farley, and Superintendent
William Hite said on Thursday they believe it’s safe to reopen school buildings
to some students later this month. Teachers will return Nov. 16, a week later
than originally planned because of the small number of students who have said
they will return in person. The school district has said students in
pre-kindergarten to second grade can return to school buildings Nov. 30 for a
hybrid model, which would include two to three days a week of instruction. But
so far, only 10,000 students have signed up. That’s less than one-third of the
32,000 students in those grades.
Uncertainty and angst: What the day after Election Day
looked like in America’s classrooms
Chalkbeat Philly By Chalkbeat Staff Nov
5, 2020, 9:58am EST
It was a teaching moment as millions of
ballots remained uncounted. Lauren Bryant / Chalkbeat
The questions came on Zoom, from students
logging into morning meetings and virtual lessons from their bedrooms and
kitchen tables. They came in person, from masked children raising their hands
in socially distanced classrooms. “When will we know?” they asked. “What does
this mean?” Many Americans stayed up far too late monitoring the presidential
election, then awakened to an unclear outcome. For teachers across the nation,
that meant explaining the uncertainty to children too young to remember any
other presidential election and to teens whose questions run deeper than just
who won or lost. The conversations — some well-planned lessons, others more
off-the-cuff — look different than during any other presidential election. They
come during an uncontrolled pandemic that has upended daily life and changed
our very concept of school. They come amid a nationwide racial reckoning and an
examination of social justice and equity. They come after four years of a
presidency that has unearthed and deepened divisions.
Chalkbeat reporters observed classes
Wednesday and spoke to teachers nationwide about how they addressed students’
questions on a day when answers were hard to come by.
From the classroom, cafeteria, nurse’s office and home:
What school looks like in the Lehigh Valley in era of COVID-19
By JACQUELINE PALOCHKO & KAYLA DWYER THE MORNING
CALL NOV 06, 2020 6:00 AM
About a month into the school year, The
Morning Call checked in with students, parents, teachers and staff in several
Lehigh Valley schools to find out how this pandemic-impeded school year is
going. While all are making the best of the situation, some are having an
easier time than others.
Here are their stories:
A Manheim Township Middle School counselor has died of
COVID-19, prompting the cancellation of in-person classes Friday
Lancaster Online by JUNIOR GONZĂLEZ | Staff Writer and ALEX GELI | Staff Writer Nov 5,
2020 Updated 11 hrs ago
A Manheim Township Middle School counselor
has died of COVID-19, the Lancaster County coroner confirmed Thursday night. As
a result, the middle school canceled Friday's in-person classes, and students
will learn remotely. Coroner Dr. Stephen Diamantoni confirmed to LNP |
LancasterOnline that Alexandra Chitwood, a beloved counselor with the district
for nearly 20 years, died as a result of a COVID-19 infection. She was 47. School
Principal Christine Resh announced the death in a letter to families Thursday
morning. Manheim Township School District spokeswoman Marcie Brody confirmed
Chitwood's death in a statement to LNP LancasterOnline. At the time, Brody said
the district was not notified of Chitwood's cause of death.
Solanco elementary school to close Friday due to 2 new
COVID-19 cases
Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer November 5,
2020
A Solanco School District elementary school
will be closed to students Friday after officials learned of two COVID-19 cases
among students or staff members. All of about 200 Bart-Colerain Elementary
School students in kindergarten through fifth grade will learn online for the
day, school Principal Sarah Parrish said in a letter to
families Thursday. No other Solanco school is impacted by the closure.
More than 200 COVID-19 cases have been reported at
Lancaster County schools. Here's where they are [update]
Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer November 5,
2020
More than 200 cases of COVID-19 have been
reported at Lancaster County schools so far into the 2020-21 school year. The
cases come from 16 school districts, plus a brick-and-mortar charter school in
Lancaster city and the county's career and technology center. And that might
not be all.
Wattsburg school switches to remote learning after
COVID-19 case
David Bruce Erie
Times-News November 5, 2020
Wattsburg Area Elementary Center will revert
to remote learning through Nov. 19 after a teacher tested positive for
COVID-19. Six other teachers have to quarantine for 14 days after being in
close contact with the infected person, said Ken Berlin, Wattsburg Area School
District superintendent. Students and their families were notified Thursday,
Berlin said. The students had been attending the school in person five days a
week since September.
Ridgway, St. Marys schools respond to positive COVID-19
cases
Courier Express By Brianne Fleming
bfleming@thecourierexpress.com November 6,
2020
RIDGWAY — Ridgway Area Middle and High School
transitioned to full remote learning this week due to the spread of COVID-19
cases, according to a statement by Superintendent Heather McMahon-Vargas. According
to McMahon-Vargas, the district took direction from the Pennsylvania Department
of Health and Department of Education beginning Oct. 26, with the result of a
COVID-19 positive staff member.
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
315 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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