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 Dec. 10, 2020
U.S. surpasses grim
milestone of more than 3,000 covid deaths in a day, a new record
Trib Live by
BRET
GIBSON | Wednesday, December
9, 2020 10:16 p.m.
For the
first time during the coronavirus pandemic, the United States surpassed 3,000
deaths in one day, according to data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project. The project, which tallies state-level
coronavirus data, reported 3,054 covid-19 related deaths on Wednesday night— a
significant jump from the previous single-day record of 2,769 on May 7. The
U.S. is averaging a staggering total of more than 200,000 new cases every day. More
than 290,000 people have died from the coronavirus across the country since the
beginning of the pandemic this spring.
“Pennsylvania is averaging about 10,000
new confirmed cases per day, up more than 50% in two weeks, according to an AP
analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project. Hospitalizations have risen
tenfold this fall. The state is averaging 140 deaths per day, up 64% since Nov.
24.”
Gov. Wolf tests
positive for COVID-19
Post Gazette
by ASSOCIATED PRESS DEC 9, 2020 3:17 PM
This story
was last updated at 6:15 p.m. Wednesday.
HARRISBURG —
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said Wednesday he has contracted COVID-19 and is isolating
at home, revealing the diagnosis after several members of his security detail
recently tested positive for the coronavirus. The second-term Democrat said a
routine test on Tuesday detected the virus. “I have no symptoms and am feeling
well,” Mr. Wolf said in a statement. “I am following CDC and Department of
Health guidelines.” Mr. Wolf’s spouse, Frances Wolf, has been tested but has
not received the result, Mr. Wolf said. She is quarantining with him at their
home in Mount Wolf, near York. Mr. Wolf is one of several governors who have
tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19, including the governors of
Oklahoma, Missouri, Virginia, Nevada and Colorado. President Donald Trump also
contracted the virus. Mr. Wolf, who is 72, said he continues to work remotely.
“In order to address this financial
issue, the funding formula needs to change for cyber charter schools to make it
directly related to the actual expenses for teaching students remotely and not
based on brick and mortar school districts’ per-pupil costs.”
Superintendents'
forum: Challenges for public schools
Reading
Eagle By Dr. Robert Pleis Twin Valley School District
As school
districts in Pennsylvania navigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic into
the winter months, many will also be facing mounting financial challenges
through the rest of this school year as well as the next. Areas of concern
include increasing cyber education costs, underfunding of special education,
staffing shortages, and the overall well-being of staff, students and the
entire community. The funding of cyber schools creates a burden in public
education since each student who attends has their tuition paid for by the
student’s resident district. This means that any family, in any district, can
opt for their K-12 student to receive instruction online, at home and free of
charge through a company providing the service. Tuition comes out of school
district budgets, which are funded primarily through taxpayer dollars
supporting their local school district. With the establishment of the
Pennsylvania Department of Education general charter school policy in the late
1990s, organizations began selling cyber charter school platforms. These
platforms and their instructional programs were authorized as cyber charter
schools; hence, they could receive tuition from public funds to independently
operate (and advertise) as a virtual school across the state. Cyber schools
receive funding from school districts based on their brick and mortar per-pupil
costs. These are calculated by taking total expenditures and dividing it by the
number of students enrolled. Districts have the expense of operating buildings;
cyber charter schools do not. These items include facilities, buildings and
maintenance, transportation, cafeteria, athletics, band, clubs, etc. This
school year the Twin Valley School District will pay $2.5 million in cyber
school expenses. In the previous year, the district paid $1.5 million.
PPS proposes 2.6% tax
increase; some board members opposed
ANDREW
GOLDSTEIN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette agoldstein@post-gazette.com DEC 9, 2020 8:32 PM
A Pittsburgh
Public Schools official Wednesday said the district would seek to increase
taxes for the second consecutive year in an effort to remedy some of its
financial woes. Ronald Joseph, the district’s chief financial officer,
said administration intends to ask the school board to approve a 2.6% tax hike
to help fund the 2021 budget. “We feel that given our financial
situation that it is imperative that we maximize the amount of revenue that we
can generate from year to year, and a tax increase is a way to do so,” Mr.
Joseph said during a virtual board meeting. Similar to last year, however, it
appears as though a tax increase will be debated among the board as two members
said they would not support it because they feel the district has not done
enough to cut expenses or generate revenue elsewhere.
Blogger note: Incumbent Senator Brewster
has been a member of the Senate Ed Committee.
State Senate seat
winner to be determined by federal lawsuit
Trib Live by
RICH CHOLODOFSKY | Wednesday, December
9, 2020 5:48 p.m.
A pending
federal lawsuit is likely to determine who represents residents in the state’s
45th Senatorial District. Incumbent Jim Brewster, a Democrat from McKeesport,
currently holds a 73-vote lead over New Kensington lawyer Nicole Ziccarelli, a
Republican. But a federal judge in Pittsburgh is considering a lawsuit
Ziccarelli’s campaign filed in late November seeking to overturn an Allegheny
County Board of Elections decision to count more than 2,300 ballots submitted
with incorrect or missing dates handwritten on outer envelopes. Should the
judge decided to invalidate those ballots, the race could swing in Ziccarelli’s
favor.
More than
132,000 votes were cast in the race.
Early data shows
hopeful signs for pandemic learning in Philly, but huge questions remain
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent December 10, 2020
Early
testing data shows School District of Philadelphia students have roughly held
steady in math and reading achievement despite a prolonged absence from
in-person learning. The data is laden with caveats, but it’s a small indication
that — in terms of academic performance — the average Philadelphia student has
not regressed significantly during the pandemic. The insights come from a research
report the district published last month
looking at performance on a pair of internal standardized tests that cover
reading and math skills. The Star assessment was taken by students in grades
6-12 and the aimswebPlus test was administered to students in grades K-5. Generally,
these benchmark tests are used by the district to gauge whether a student is
performing on grade level or lagging behind — and on which specific skills the
student might need help. This year, though — after the cancellation of
statewide tests last spring — these tests are the only standardized academic
metric available to judge student performance in Pennsylvania’s largest school
district. The overall picture is still troubling — most Philadelphia students
are below grade level in math and reading. But it does not appear, at least on
these tests, that the pandemic has drastically altered student performance.
Why I Chose to Teach
in Philadelphia
HuffPost by SHARIF EL-MEKKI, Contributor12/08/2016 10:22 pm ET Updated Dec
08, 2016
School
Principal and Founder of The Fellowship
My fervent
desire to serve my community is what led me to a career as a teacher. But, it
was anything but a straight path. Although I had a social justice framework in
my upbringing, had positive relationships and experiences with many of my
teachers, and grew up in a household with a mother who taught, I did not
initially consider teaching as my role in society. I just didn’t see myself as
a teacher (of any kind). But, then something changed. I was shot. It was on
October 4, 1992, when, as a 21-year-old African American male, I could have
very easily become a statistic. Five months after graduating from IUP in rural Pennsylvania, I played in a football
game on Bartram High School’s field. A young man said I tackled him too hard
and wanted to fight—which we did. Afterwards, someone handed him a gun and told
him to shoot me. I started to wrestle him for the gun. I failed and he shot me
three times, severing an artery. He left me for dead. After 12 surgeries and
several weeks in the hospital, teaching was still far from my mind. Instead, I
decided to do some social work, which led me to a position as a counselor at
the Youth Study Center(YSC). I
still think daily about the boy who shot me. As an educator, I see an angry kid
from southwest Philly, a student who may have had all types of challenges and
hardships, a quick temper, and far too easy access to guns. But, I also see a
student who may have attended a struggling school.
What does it take for
schools to switch to online learning?
ABC27 by: Andrew Forgotch Posted: Dec 8, 2020 / 06:33 PM
EST / Updated: Dec 8, 2020 / 06:33 PM EST
MILLERSVILLE,
Pa (WHTM) — In the past two days, the Penn Manor school community has added 29
cases of COVID-19 in a total of seven different buildings across their
district. The numbers are daunting, but according to Superintendent, Dr. Mike
Leichliter, the cases don’t cross a threshold for active cases for the district
to switch to online learning. “Not all of those cases represent students who
were physically in our school building while they were contagious with
COVID-19,” Leichliter said. Penn Manor was one of many districts to sign
a form saying if they were going to continue
with in-person learning in a high-risk area they would follow safety and health
regulations set by the Department of Health.
https://www.abc27.com/news/what-does-it-take-for-schools-to-switch-to-online-learning/
PIAA lengthens, and
does not postpone, winter sports season
Lancaster
Online by MIKE GROSS | Sports
Writer December 9, 2020
If the
winter high school sports season is to be shut down in Pennsylvania due to the
pandemic, Gov. Tom Wolf will be the one to do it. That was the message sent by
the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Directors by
what it did, and more by what it didn’t do, at its meeting Wednesday. Winter
sports may begin Friday, as scheduled. The PIAA did adopt measures Wednesday
that will in effect lengthen the season to almost 16 weeks, through March 27,
by moving back postseason deadlines and allowing teams to schedule games after
the postseason begins, moves that PIAA Executive Director Robert Lombardi
called “a stroke of genius.’’"We have not seen any data why Jan. 1 would
be better than Dec. 11, or why Jan. 15 better than Feb. 1,’’ Lombardi said. “The
board, I believe, took this very seriously, and wanted to give schools the
greatest amount of flexibility they could.’’
More Bucks Co. Kids
Getting COVID, But Cases Not Traced To School
The number
of school children in Bucks who tested positive more than doubled last week.
But data says they're getting sick outside of class.
By Doug Gross, Patch Staff Dec 9, 2020 10:08 am ET|Updated Dec
9, 2020 10:13 am ET
BUCKS
COUNTY, PA — During a record week for new coronavirus cases in Bucks County,
232 school-age children and 31 school staff members tested positive for the
virus last week. It was a dramatic increase that came with what may be a
surprising detail from county health officials — most of those students were
still spending at least some of their school days at home and almost none of
them are believed to have gotten sick at school. The number of students in
Bucks County who tested positive last week more than doubled from the week
before, when 112 students and just six staff members had received positive
results. That came as COVID-19 numbers surged to record levels in Bucks, with 3,227 new infections, the most ever,
and 38 new deaths, the most since late May.
https://patch.com/pennsylvania/bensalem/student-covid-numbers-rising-bucks-co-schools-not-blame
With rise in COVID-19
cases, State College schools will stay all-remote until January
Centre Daily
Times BY
MARLEY PARISH DECEMBER 09, 2020 10:53 AM, UPDATED
DECEMBER 09, 2020 10:59 AM
With
COVID-19 cases rising in the district, State College Area School District has
extended its closure and will operate remotely through the new year. Superintendent
Bob O’Donnell told families Wednesday that students will attend classes
virtually until Jan. 11. “This was a difficult decision for us because we truly
believe in-person learning is best for our students,” O’Donnell wrote.
“However, during the last couple of weeks, the spread of COVID-19 in our
community has continued to worsen, and the epidemiologists on our team expect
conditions to further decline.” In the last 10 days, the district has reported
49 new cases, a ten-fold increase in daily case numbers compared to the first
92 days of the school year. Prior to Thanksgiving, the district announced a
two-week closure due to staffing shortages and rising case numbers. Though the
district discouraged holiday travel, the closure aimed to mitigate community
spread after the holiday.
After 1-Day Delay, Spring-Ford Returns to Class
Digital
Notebook by Evan Brandt Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Spring-Ford
Schools Superintendent David Goodin explained his reasons for the one-day delay
of returning to in-person learning during Monday's school board meeting.
One day
after postponing the rest of the Spring Ford School Area District's return to
partial in-person instruction, the administration reversed course again,
re-instating the initiative for Tuesday classes. The back-and-forth angered
many parents, who showed up in force both in-person and online to vent their
frustration. In both cases, the notification from the district came with less
than 24 hours notice. In the case of Monday's notice, it did not come until
about 8:30 p.m., only after the school board had re-affirmed its commitment to
returning to in-person instruction for the upper grades. In-person learning has been in place for the elementary grades for
several weeks, but the return for upper grades, made more
potentially dangerous by the constant changes of classrooms, was held off until
Dec. 7. However on Sunday, Dec. 6, Superintendent David Goodin issued a
notice to the Spring-Ford community canceling all in-person education,
including the elementary grades, for the day. At Monday's meeting, Goodin
explained that he "pushed the pause button in order to have this
discussion." He said that the increase in coronavirus cases in the
townships and borough's that comprise the district, and surrounding districts,
led him to decide that the school board should re-affirm its commitment to
returning to in-person.
http://evan-brandt.blogspot.com/2020/12/after-1-day-delay-spring-ford-returns.html
Lower Merion high
schools go virtual as many students stay home
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Updated: December 9, 2020- 5:54
PM
The Lower
Merion School District will shift its high schools to virtual instruction
Monday, citing “operational issues” amid low in-person attendance by students
and staff. The move, announced by the district Wednesday, comes as debate
continues over whether schools should stay open while coronavirus cases mount —
and in the wake of a petition by two of the district’s seniors calling for
all-virtual high school instruction in light of the pandemic’s fall surge. The petition — which garnered more than 2,200
signatures since its creation last weekend — said bringing high school students
into classrooms placed families and “every teacher, faculty and transportation
member at unnecessary risk for COVID-19.” “I’m not seeing the need to spread
this deadly virus when there’s a completely viable option” in virtual
instruction, said Sloan Petersohn, a senior at Harriton High School, who
started the petition with fellow Harriton senior Cristina Sniffen.
Norwin closes 1
school on Thursday; post-Thanksgiving surge hits 65 cases
Trib Live by
JOE
NAPSHA | Wednesday, December
9, 2020 8:16 p.m.
Norwin is
closing its Hillcrest Intermediate School on Thursday as the post-Thanksgiving
surge of the virus has reached 65 cases. The school district announced
Wednesday afternoon the school, which has about 860 fifth- and sixth-graders
with more than 60 faculty members, will be closed as a result of contract
tracing.
Union City, LeBoeuf,
Northwestern, North East pivot to all-remote or some remote classes
GoErie by Times-News
staff December 9, 2020
More Erie
County school districts are switching to remote-only or mostly remote learning.
- All Union City Area School District
students began remote-only learning Wednesday and will continue working
virtually through Dec. 21, when the holiday break begins, according to
an announcement on
the district website.
- All Northwestern School District
students also began remote learning Wednesday and will continue working at
home until the holiday break, according to a district website post.
- Fort LeBoeuf Middle School and Fort
LeBoeuf High School students are learning remotely until at least Jan. 4,
according to a notice on
the district's Facebook page.
- All North East High School classes are
being livestreamed, according to the district website.
Middle school classes will be 100% remote beginning Monday. Elementary
classes will go all-remote beginning Dec. 21. All grade levels will
continue remote learning through Jan. 12.
Conrad Weiser West
Elementary School closed for rest of week due to COVID cases
Reading
Eagle By
David Mekeel dmekeel@readingeagle.com @dmekeel on Twitter Dec 9, 2020 Updated 13 hrs ago
Conrad
Weiser West Elementary School has moved to virtual learning for the rest of the
week because of COVID-19 cases at the school. A message on the district's
website says students will learn remotely Wednesday through Friday, returning
to in-person classes on Monday. The message does not specify how many COVID-19
cases the school is experiencing or if those cases are among staff or students.
West Elementary's closure is the latest in a string of building closures in the
district.
Bethlehem Area School
District starts remote learning Monday, will continue into January
Video Bethlehem Area School District Short Term Remote Learning Announcement Runtime 3:06
By Sara K. Satullo | For
lehighvalleylive.com Updated 4:53 PM; Today 4:13 PM
The Bethlehem Area School District plans to go to 100% remote learning
starting Monday, Dec. 14 into the first week of January. The district hopes to
return to in-person learning the second full week of January, Superintendent
Joseph Roy said Wednesday. The district will be on holiday break from Dec. 23
until Jan. 3. Students will head back to virtual-school the week of Jan. 4,
with the goal of bringing students back to class the week of Jan. 11. “We have
concerns about a surge post-Christmas,” Roy said.
Pottsgrove teachers
push back against closing rationale
Pottstown
Mercury Evan
Brandt ebrandt@21st-centurymedia.com @PottstownNews on Twitter December 9, 2020
LOWER
POTTSGROVE — The president of the Pottsgrove School District teachers
union has pushed back against Superintendent William Shirk's assertion
that the last-minute decision to postpone a return to in-person education
Sunday night was due to teacher call-outs. John
Shantz, president of the Pottsgrove Education Association, sent a letter to
Shirk objecting to the characterization and allowed the letter to be shared
publicly on a community Facebook page dedicated to school district issues. In
his letter issued at 8:30 p.m. Sunday evening, Shirk wrote Monday's planned
return to hybrid in-person learning was postponed because “...there has been an
increase in professional and support staff call-outs for Monday, December 7th
which prevents us from effectively covering our hybrid classes. Therefore,
beginning tomorrow, Monday, December 7th, through Friday, December 11th, all
Pottsgrove schools will remain in the ‘all virtual’ mode for grades K through
12.”
Attending virtual
school: Should cameras be on or off for remote learners?
Inquirer by Melanie Burney, Posted: December 10, 2020- 5:00
AM
English
literature teacher Kimberly Dickstein Hughes could sense that her virtual class
needed a break. So she told them to turn off their cameras and complete their
reading assignment privately. The seniors in her Greek Drama class at Haddonfield
Memorial High School appeared tired, a little overworked,
and not overly enthused about another remote lesson. She gave them a virtual
hug and allowed them to find a comfortable spot at home to read. The only
requirement was to send her a selfie as their attendance at the end of the day.
“I simply don’t think it’s necessary to have the camera on at all times. We all
need a break from cameras and screens,” said Hughes. With most districts across
the region offering hybrid or fully-remote instruction because of the
coronavirus, the issue of whether students should be required to turn on their
cameras has become a thorny one here and around the country. Some districts
make it mandatory, while others leave the decision to teachers or students.
Connecticut will
become the first state to require high schools to offer Black and Latino
studies in fall 2022
By Leah
Asmelash and Anna Sturla, CNN Updated 6:06 PM ET, Wed December 9, 2020
(CNN)Beginning in fall of 2022, Connecticut will
require high schools to offer African-American, Black, Puerto Rican and Latino
studies, becoming the first state in the nation to do so. Connecticut Gov. Ned
Lamont made the announcement Wednesday, after signing the law, Public Act 19-12, last year.
The law requires high schools to "include an elective course of studies at
the high school level that provides students with a better understanding of the
African-American, Black, Puerto Rican, and Latino contributions to United
States history, society, economy, and culture," according to a news
release. Though high schools are required to offer the course, students will
not be required to take it. The change comes as school districts across the
country pay more attention to diversifying K-12 curriculums, as communities
assess what history is taught in schools and what is left out.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/09/us/connecticut-high-schools-black-latino-studies-trnd/index.html
These Five Issues Are
At The Heart Of All K-12 Education Policy Debates
Forbes by Peter Greene Senior Contributor Dec 9, 2020,10:19am EST|191
views
The next
four years offer the prospect of renewed debates about many aspects of public
education policy. As we watch this new batch of fireworks launch, it will be
useful to remember that virtually all of our debates are the outgrowth of four
fundamental issues.
On December 21st,
Jupiter, Saturn will appear to merge in rare ‘Christmas Star’ event not seen in
800 years
By TANDA
GMITER TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE | DEC 10, 2020 AT 5:40 AM
A
once-in-a-lifetime holiday treat is on track to delight sky watchers later this
month on the Winter Solstice. Jupiter and Saturn are moving closer to each
other, culminating in a Great Conjunction on Dec. 21. You can watch the
two large planets inch closer between now and the solstice. Jupiter and Saturn
have a conjunction every 20 years, so why is this time going to be so rare?
It’s because of how cozy the two giant planets will appear. They will be so
close, they will look like one big, bright star. An observatory in Perth,
Australia explained it this way: “On the 21st of December, a
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will occur, #Jupiter and #Saturn will be in a
Great Conjunction and will be so close, they’ll appear as a single bright star.
The last time the two planets were this close was on the 16th of July
1623 while Galileo Galilei the father of observational astronomy
was still alive.”
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
334 PA school boards have
adopted charter reform resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 330 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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