Friday, December 11, 2020

PA Ed Policy Roundup for Dec. 11: Gov. Wolf shuts down high school sports until Jan. 4, 2021

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Keystone State Education Coalition

PA Ed Policy Roundup for Dec. 11, 2020

Gov. Wolf shuts down high school sports until Jan. 4, 2021

 

 "About the only thing pioneering about cyber-charter schools is their ability to have fleeced the taxpayers of our state for so long."

Portage Area SD Weekly Update December 11, 2020  

“High school sports suspended: All school sports and extracurricular activities are also suspended, as are other youth sports. Professional and collegiate sports can continue but without spectators. “It’s the right decision,” said James Harris, superintendent of Woodland Hills School District, remarking that he was surprised the move didn’t come sooner. “Our students are going to be safer and healthier.”

Gov. Tom Wolf halts indoor dining, suspends school sports as part of new restrictions

Trib Live by MEGAN GUZA AND TEGHAN SIMONTON | Thursday, December 10, 2020 4:26 p.m.

After weeks spent imploring Pennsylvanians to stay home as much as possible, limit their in-person interactions and wear a mask, Gov. Tom Wolf and the state secretary of Health issued new orders shutting down indoor dining, gyms, school sports and more as cases and deaths across the commonwealth continue to swell. The order goes into effect Saturday and will last through 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 4. “We all hoped it would not come to this,” Wolf said during a virtual news conference in which he appeared from his home where he is isolating after testing positive for covid-19.

https://triblive.com/news/pennsylvania/gov-tom-wolf-halts-indoor-dining-suspends-school-sports-as-part-of-new-restrictions/

 

One-day US coronavirus deaths top 3,000, more than D-Day or 9/11

All told, the crisis has left more than 290,000 people dead nationwide, with more than 15.5 million confirmed infections.

WITF By Heather Hollingsworth and Marion Renault/The Associated Press DECEMBER 11, 2020 | 5:33 AM

(Mission, Kan.) — Just when the U.S. appears on the verge of rolling out a COVID-19 vaccine, the numbers have become gloomier than ever: Over 3,000 American deaths in a single day, more than on D-Day or 9/11. One million new cases in the span of five days. More than 106,000 people in the hospital. The crisis across the country is pushing medical centers to the breaking point and leaving staff members and public health officials burned out and plagued by tears and nightmares. All told, the crisis has left more than 290,000 people dead nationwide, with more than 15.5 million confirmed infections. The U.S. recorded 3,124 deaths Wednesday, the highest one-day total yet, according to Johns Hopkins University. Up until last week, the peak was 2,603 deaths on April 15, when New York City was the epicenter of the nation’s outbreak. The latest number is subject to revision up or down. Wednesday’s toll eclipsed American deaths on the opening day of the Normandy invasion during World War II: 2,500, out of some 4,400 Allied dead. And it topped the toll on Sept. 11, 2001: 2,977.

https://www.witf.org/2020/12/11/one-day-us-coronavirus-deaths-top-3000-more-than-d-day-or-9-11/

 

New Hampshire’s GOP governor blasts anti-maskers after House speaker dies of covid-19: ‘Don’t act like a bunch of children’

Washington Post By Jaclyn Peiser Dec. 11, 2020 at 5:39 a.m. EST

New Hampshire Republican state Rep. Dick Hinch wept as he accepted a nomination as speaker of the house at an outdoor swearing-in ceremony with hundreds of his peers, including dozens without masks. “It is my honor to accept,” he said on Dec. 2 at the University of New Hampshire, his voice trembling as he tried to choke back tears. “I am humbled by your support.” One week later, Hinch, 71, was found dead in his home. The state’s chief medical examiner found Hinch’s cause of death was coronavirus, New Hampshire Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald (R) announced on Thursday. Hinch’s death has left Democratic legislators demanding tests for representatives and their staff who attended last week’s ceremony, and some Republicans castigating their colleagues for not following basic public health guidelines. At a news conference Thursday, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) lauded Hinch as a “tireless leader” and described him as a close friend, calling his death a “cautionary tale” about the costs of failing to wear a mask. Sununu lashed out at other Republican legislators for flouting face masks at large gatherings. “For those who are just out there doing the opposite just to make some ridiculous political point, it is horribly wrong,” Sununu said. “Please use your heads. Don’t act like a bunch of children, frankly.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/12/11/dick-hinch-dead-speaker-covid/

 

Gov. Wolf, Sec. of Health Announce New Protective Mitigation Efforts to Put Pennsylvania on Pause through Early January

Governor Wolf Press Release December 10, 2020

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, Governor Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine today implored Pennsylvanians to take the next three weeks and stand united against the virus by adhering to existing mitigation orders and stricter efforts announced today. “Today I am announcing additional, temporary COVID-19 protective mitigation measures in the commonwealth,” said Gov. Wolf. “With these measures in place, we hope to accomplish three goals: First, stop the devastating spread of COVID-19 in the commonwealth. Second, keep our hospitals and health care workers from becoming overwhelmed. And third, help Pennsylvanians get through the holiday season – and closer to a widely available vaccine – as safely as possible. This is a bridge to a better future in Pennsylvania.” The new, limited-time mitigation orders take effect at 12:01 a.m. on December 12, and remain in effect until 8 a.m. on January 4, 2021.

https://www.governor.pa.gov/newsroom/gov-wolf-sec-of-health-announce-new-protective-mitigation-efforts-to-put-pennsylvania-on-pause-through-early-january/

 

Classroom instruction can continue at Pa. schools despite new coronavirus orders tied to indoor gatherings

Penn Live By Greg Pickel | gpickel@pennlive.com Updated Dec 10, 2020; Posted Dec 10, 2020

Pa. Gov. Tom Wolf and Health Department Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine announced a number of new coronavirus mitigation efforts on Thursday, but they won’t impact classroom learning. The restrictions that go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday and last until 8 a.m. on Jan. 4 include, among many other things, a ban on indoor gatherings of 10 people or more. The order signed by Wolf, however, specifically addresses school settings. “Classroom instruction by school entities is not a ‘gathering’ or ‘event’ for purposes of this Order,” it reads. “Nor is a meeting of electors, including any preparation, to perform the duties enjoined upon them by the Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth and of the United States a ‘gathering’ or ‘event’ for purposes of this Order.” Some parts of the educational experience for K-12 students will be impacted, however. “Voluntary activities sponsored or approved by a school entity’s governing body or administration are suspended,” according to the order, and “All sports at K-12 public schools, nonpublic schools, private schools and club, travel, recreational, intermural and intramural sports are paused.” But, schools can continue to follow their in-person and/or hybrid learning models as long as they are adhering to all of the rules put in place by Wolf, the Department of Health and the Department of Education.

https://www.pennlive.com/coronavirus/2020/12/classroom-instruction-can-continue-at-pa-schools-despite-new-coronavirus-orders-tied-to-indoor-gatherings.html

 

Gov. Wolf shuts down high school sports until 2021

Lancaster Online by MIKE GROSS | Sports Writer December 11, 2020

High school sports in Pennsylvania are shut down as part of statewide restrictions announced by Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday. The order takes effect at 12 a.m. Saturday and continues through 8 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 4. “All sports at K-12 public schools, nonpublic schools, private schools and club, travel, recreational, and intramural sports are paused,’’ the order on Wolf’s website reads.

It does not include professional and college sports, which, according to the website, “may continue in accordance with guidance from the CDC and the Department of Health. Spectators may not attend such sports activities in person.’’

https://lancasteronline.com/sports/gov-wolf-shuts-down-high-school-sports-until-2021/article_03217da6-3b3a-11eb-a19d-2fd000c4a8c4.html

 

Guest Comment: Pa.'s cyber school drain

Bradford Era By CINDY MURPHY December 10, 2020

Cindy Murphy is president of the Otto-Eldred School District Board of Education

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, there has been a huge increase in cyber charter school enrollment across the country, including in Pennsylvania, where cyber charter school enrollment is up 63% to 62,000 students as of Oct. 1. This trend should have Pennsylvania parents and taxpayers extremely concerned for two glaring reasons. First is the financial implications this enrollment increase will have on school districts. To put this impact into numbers, school districts can collectively expect as much as a $350 million increase in their cyber charter tuition bills this year alone, due to the pandemic-generated cyber charter school enrollment increases. It’s important to keep in mind that this massive sum is only part of the overall $475 million charter school tuition increase this school year that school districts are facing, in addition to navigating through a global pandemic. At Otto-Eldred, our charter school costs this year are $304,000.

The $475 million increase in charter school tuition this school year effectively nullifies the majority of the federal funds public schools received under the federal CARES Act. This means most of those funds will not have their intended impact — to aid our public schools in a time of crisis.

Moreover, for many districts, their Act 1 index rate will not allow for them to increase property taxes to cover the gap in increased charter school payments, leaving hopelessly unbalanced budgets. But the financial implications to our school districts is only one concern. The dismal academic performance of cyber charter schools — and Pennsylvania has one of the largest numbers of such schools in the country — is the other. The poor performance was well-established before the pandemic hit, causing an influx of new student enrollments.

http://www.bradfordera.com/opinion/guest-comment-pa-s-cyber-school-drain/article_4a0941cb-9ce9-5891-82a4-8fcbb5de0dae.html

 

Lancaster County's 2 poorest school districts shortchanged $1.5M in coronavirus relief: report

Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer December 11, 2020

Lancaster County’s two poorest school districts were left out of a combined $1.5 million in the latest batch of federal coronavirus relief, expanding funding inequities at a time when school districts with high percentages of low-income students needed it most, according to a new report. Because the latest batch of federal coronavirus aid was distributed based on enrollment, not poverty, school districts with the most need received less than they should have compared to their more affluent peers, the report states. The report, published Monday by the Keystone Research Center, a left-leaning think tank based in Harrisburg, suggests the funding should have flowed through Pennsylvania’s basic education funding formula, which the state uses to fund new money to school districts each year and considers poverty and other factors. If state lawmakers opted to distribute the emergency funds this way, the report states School District of Lancaster would have received $2.3 million instead of $850,000, and Columbia Borough School District would have gotten $359,000 rather than $217,000.

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lancaster-countys-2-poorest-school-districts-shortchanged-1-5m-in-coronavirus-relief-report/article_7cea6298-3b2f-11eb-835d-8ffe3e4ac79e.html

 

“The Aliquippa School District would have received an additional $189,000 under the fair funding model, and Big Beaver Falls Area was shorted $73,000. The $201,000 awarded to Aliquippa and the $240,700 given to Beaver Falls is thousands less than what more affluent Beaver County districts collected. In Lawrence County, New Castle School District was shortchanged $307,000 in the second round of funding, according to the report. 

Report: At-risk Pennsylvania schools shorted millions in COVID-19 aid

School districts, including Aliquippa, Big Beaver Falls Area and New Castle Area, would have received thousands more in federal COVID-19 aid had the state used a fair funding model to distribute the money, a new report shows.

Chrissy Suttles Beaver County Times December 10, 2020

Pennsylvania’s delivery of some federal COVID-19 aid to schools shortchanged districts with a high density of poor and minority students, including in local counties, a new report finds.

State districts with the highest poverty rates received millions less than their wealthy equivalents, and two-and-a-half times less than if a fair funding formula had been used in the second round of Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act distribution, according to a recent analysis by the Keystone Research Center. The Keystone State received millions in CARES funding for schools in two rounds. Federal guidelines required the first round to be allocated using the Title 1 formula factoring in poverty rates, and poor districts received eight times more funding than wealthy ones using this model. Another pot was distributed to charter schools and intermediate districts. A second round of $174 million was left to the discretion of state lawmakers, who assigned fixed amounts to each district and administered the rest based on enrollment. 

Had the Legislature used Pennsylvania’s Basic Education Funding formula, enacted four years ago to consider poverty and inequity in funding, vulnerable students, including in Beaver and Lawrence counties, would have received significantly more money. 

https://www.timesonline.com/story/news/2020/12/10/risk-schools-shorted-millions-covid-19-aid/3881204001/

 

‘A new direction’: Philadelphia school board shifts focus toward academics and equity work

Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Updated: December 10, 2020- 8:50 PM

Philadelphia’s school board is changing the way it operates.

The board on Thursday night adopted what it’s calling “Goals and Guardrails,” guiding principles that will shift its focus and, come January, its meetings, putting a sharper focus on academic achievement. By extension, the effort will put Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. and his administration on the hot seat. The plan will also strongly emphasize work around antiracism and equity among district schools. In its first two years of existence, the board — and its predecessor, the state-run School Reform Commission — was too focused on inputs and not on outputs, and how well Philadelphia’s 120,000 students read and do math and are prepared for college and career, Board president Joyce Wilkerson said. An analysis of SRC business showed that the commission spent just 10% of its time focusing on student achievement, in part because the district has been in “survival mode” for the last 20 years. The board must keep its eye on student achievement, Wilkerson said, even as another financial crisis looms.

https://www.inquirer.com/education/philadelphia-school-district-board-goals-and-guardrails-hite-20201210.html

 

Philadelphia school board unveils ‘goals and guardrails’ to focus on student achievement

Chalkbeat Philly By Dale Mezzacappa  Dec 10, 2020, 10:04pm EST

The Philadelphia Board of Education is embarking on an ambitious effort to reframe its stewardship of the school district around improving student achievement, outlining a strategy that will require big changes in the way it has traditionally done business. Superintendent William Hite called it a “game changer.”  “It’s time to move beyond ‘system survival’ mode and to focus on the success of all our students,” Joyce Wilkerson, board president, said in unveiling the five-year strategic plan. The plan, she said, is the board’s effort to “deliver on the promise of local control, and it starts with the most basic question, ‘Why do our schools exist?’ They exist to provide every student with the tools and experiences they need to be successful.” Board members said they spent two years on this project, consulting with the Council of Great City Schools and talking to their peers across the country. They also held town hall meetings with parents, teachers, and community members locally.

https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2020/12/10/22168950/philadelphia-school-board-unveils-goals-and-guardrails-to-focus-on-student-achievement

 

Groups allege ‘no transparency’ from mayor in filling Philadelphia school board vacancies

Chalkbeat Philly By Johann Calhoun  Dec 10, 2020, 9:04am EST

 coalition of education groups on Wednesday called for Mayor Jim Kenney to conduct an open selection process for three school board vacancies. The Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, Our City Our Schools Coalition and the Philadelphia Black Student Alliance also alleged that by directing the nominating panel to meet in closed session the mayor violated the state’s Sunshine Act, which requires agencies to deliberate and take official action in a public meeting. “The mayor chooses his nominating panel with no public scrutiny,” said Alliance for Philadelphia co-founder and Coordinator Lisa Haver. “Now, the nominating panel is attempting to choose school board members without any public scrutiny. Why? Why is the mayor shutting us out?”

https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2020/12/10/22166875/groups-allege-no-transparency-from-mayor-in-filling-philadelphia-school-board-vacancies

 

Students fight for right to vote on Philadelphia’s school board

Advocates push for change in state, local policy

Chalkbeat Philly By Johann Calhoun  Dec 10, 2020, 8:04am EST

A growing chorus of student leaders are calling for their representatives on the city’s school board to have the right to vote on policies affecting them. They argue students are denied a voice in the decision-making process despite being the ones most affected by the board’s choices. “As a former student representative, I noticed the majority of the tasks, action items, are targeting us as students,” said Doha Ibrahim, a former student board representative, who is now a freshman at Temple University and graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School last year. “It made me question why we couldn’t vote on them even though they are for us?” she said. “This is why it’s important to change that for the next student representatives.” It’s not a simple change. The students would need a ballot initiative to change the city charter, which states students are non-voting representatives. They would also need a change to the Pa. school code that requires board members to be at least 18 years old. That would require legislative approval. If students become full voting members of the school board they also could be named in lawsuits against the board. They also want to create a 15-member student committee from diverse schools across the district to support and inform the two student representatives. Students also are concerned about getting information about action items in advance of board meetings and ensuring a smooth transition when student representatives change each school year.

https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2020/12/10/22166854/students-fight-for-right-to-vote-on-philadelphias-school-board?fbclid=IwAR2uAIwi3If-6qB4-uClV5ZkH3ltPllBBotjKoqH6TXOdZu90Sr5x3MR23w

 

“To put our situation in perspective, during the first 92 days of the school year, we had 48 positive cases among employees and students. By contrast, in the past 10 days, we have had 49 new positive cases — a 10-fold increase in our daily cases,” said Superintendent Bob O’Donnell in a message to the district announcing the decision.”

As many Pa. schools move to remote learning, a few stick with in-person classes

WITF by Anne Danahy/WPSU DECEMBER 10, 2020 | 5:02 PM

(State College) — While many school districts in Pennsylvania are moving to remote learning as COVID-19 cases rise, some Pennsylvania districts are keeping classes in person, at least for now. “We’re at a point with the consequences of COVID and Thanksgiving that we don’t have enough employees to be able to be offering in-person instruction across the district,” Warren County School District Superintendent Amy Stewart announcing her district’s move to virtual learning. It will continue at least through the end of January. Other districts that had been trying to continue with in-person learning are making similar decisions. The State College Area School District had been teaching remotely after the Thanksgiving holiday. But the district had been looking to return to classrooms this coming Monday. Instead, rising case numbers means they’ll stay remote until at least Jan. 11.

https://www.witf.org/2020/12/10/as-many-pa-schools-move-to-remote-learning-a-few-stick-with-in-person-classes/

 

Pottstown Schools to Cancel All In-Person Teaching

Digital Notebook Blog by Evan Brandt Thursday, December 10, 2020

As the spike in coronavirus cases continues to grow, school districts continue to struggle with the effort to balance the benefits of in-person learning, with the potential for those efforts to add to community spread of COVID-19. Since March, the vast majority of Pottstown school students have been learning from home, thanks to efforts to provide computers and Internet connections for those without them. The exceptions have been the district's career and technical students at Pottstown High School, and certain special education students for whom in-person education is most necessary. But now, with the increasing number of coronavirus cases endangering safety, Pottstown Schools Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez announced Wednesday that even those relatively few students taking in-person classes will be stopped for the rest of the year, starting Monday, Dec. 14.  What follows is the letter he sent home Wednesday evening and posted on the school district's Facebook page and webpage. What follows below is the text of that message:

http://evan-brandt.blogspot.com/2020/12/pottstown-schools-to-cancel-all-in.html

 

Norwin goes all-remote until Jan. 11

Trib Live by JOE NAPSHA   | Thursday, December 10, 2020 9:24 p.m.

With covid cases rising in Westmoreland County and in the towns it serves, the Norwin School District has decided to teach its 5,300 students from home beginning Monday and continuing until at least Monday, Jan. 11. With school staff being forced to quarantine, employee absenteeism is very high, Superintendent Jeff Taylor said in a statement Thursday. He said that negatively impacts the ability to have enough employees to staff operations, including transportation and food service.

https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/norwin-goes-all-remote-until-jan-11/

 

PIAA punts on decision to delay winter sports

Pennsylvania Principals Association had asked PIAA to postpone

MIKE WHITE Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mwhite@post-gazette.com  DEC 9, 2020 2:15 PM

If the start of high school winter sports in Pennsylvania is to be delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it won’t be the PIAA that does it. It will be up to Gov. Tom Wolf. The PIAA board of directors met Wednesday afternoon and didn’t even take a public vote on whether to delay winter sports. So, right now, winter sports teams can begin games and competitions Friday as scheduled. The PIAA board went into executive session for part of the meeting and PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said, “The board took seriously (a delay to the season) and under consideration, but the action was not to change it.” Wolf, who announced Wednesday that he tested positive for COVID-19, said in a news conference Monday that some new mandates could be coming from his office later in the week. Lombardi said the PIAA has had no correspondence with Wolf on what those measures could be.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/highschool/2020/12/09/pittsburgh-high-school-winter-sports-piaa-wpial-postponement-covid/stories/202012090159

 

As coronavirus numbers spike, US should 'try to keep schools open,' Fauci says

Fauci noted introduction of vaccine will make it easier to keep schools open

By Alexandria Hein | Fox News December 9, 2020

The nation’s leading infectious disease expert said that the U.S. should try to keep children in schools “as best we possibly can” while the country sees a spike in coronavirus cases rivaling numbers that previously saw the nation shut down. Dr. Anthony Fauci, during a Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health forum, said the data does not show widespread transmission of the virus in schools. “Our default position – there will always be exceptions ... there is never one-size-fits-all – our default position should be to try to keep the schools open and get children who are not in school back in school as best as we possibly can,” Fauci told Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who moderated Wednesday’s discussion. Fauci added that the children do not appear to be transmitting the virus to adults in school settings either, such as teachers or other administrators. He said that the risk to these adults being in schools does not appear to be “any greater than the risk they would face” by being in the general community. “When you take into consideration the safety and the health of the children as well as the teachers, in general, it looks like we can keep the children in school and get them back to school safely,” he said. Fauci added that the introduction of a vaccine will also make it easier to keep schools open as the level of transmission in communities is lowered.

https://www.foxnews.com/health/as-coronavirus-numbers-spike-us-should-try-to-keep-schools-open-fauci

 

13 companies awarded funds to expand broadband across Pennsylvania

Trib Live by MEGAN TOMASIC   | Thursday, December 10, 2020 3:24 p.m.

More than 2,600 households and businesses in rural parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties soon will have access to high-speed internet after the Federal Communication Commission auctioned about $9.2 billion to companies across the country with the goal of closing the digital divide in rural America. The first phase of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund will bring more than $368.7 million to 13 companies across Pennsylvania over 10 years to expand broadband services, amounting to almost $2,000 per household or business. That breaks down to $687,000 for almost 900 homes and businesses in Allegheny, and more than $2 million for more than 1,700 Westmoreland homes and businesses.

 

No Vaccine, No School?

School and public health officials weigh what it will take to reopen schools and some say requiring a coronavirus vaccine may be just a matter of time.

US News By Lauren Camera, Senior Education Writer Dec. 11, 2020, at 6:00 a.m.

WITH THE FOOD AND DRUG Administration poised to approve the first coronavirus vaccine for use in the U.S. – the start of a major national effort to blunt the spread of a pandemic that’s taken the lives of nearly 300,000 Americans, paralyzed the economy and shuttered schools for millions of children – pediatricians and school and public health officials are bracing themselves for and bristling against the onslaught of questioners asking the one thing they don’t want to talk about. At least not yet, anyway. Will children be required to get vaccinated against COVID-19 to return to school? "You hear the questions about whether vaccines should be mandatory or not," says Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers. "That's not the question to be asking right now." "The questions to be asking right now are, 'Is it effective? Is it going to be free? Is it widely accessible?'" she says. "What we're not doing right now – regardless of what I personally think – we're not weighing in on whether a vaccine should be mandatory or not right now because that's not an appropriate question right now."

https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2020-12-11/will-states-require-children-get-a-coronavirus-vaccination-to-return-to-school

 

Goodbye to Betsy DeVos

Bucks County Courier Times by Los Angeles Times December 10, 2020

When Betsy DeVos took the job as the nation's chief educator, she probably never imagined that a pandemic would strike, requiring her to exert actual leadership in extremely difficult circumstances. It's a role for which she is utterly unqualified. From the time of her confirmation hearings, when she betrayed her ignorance about the controversy surrounding how best to measure student progress, it was clear that DeVos had neither the expertise nor the skills required for even the most basic version of the job. What she did have were three goals, which became clear once she went to work: Push funding for private and religious schools at the expense of public schools; strip college students of protection from predatory for-profit colleges and place them in difficult financial straits on their student loans; and weaken civil rights protections for transgender students. In other words, for a president who has no interest in improving the educational lot of students, DeVos has been a perfect and thus particularly long-serving Cabinet member.

https://www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/story/opinion/editorials/2020/12/11/goodbye-betsy-devos-who-survived-accomplishing-almost-nothing/3878389001/

 

 

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

 

335 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.

The school boards from the following districts have adopted resolutions calling for charter funding reform. 

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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