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. 22, 2020
Editorial: State
skirts responsibility on charters
“The lack of accountability is
particularly egregious now, as uncertainty over school schedules due to the
COVID-19 pandemic has driven more parents to choose online charter education. Gov.
Tom Wolf in 2019 proposed an array of reforms including academic performance
standards, funding based on charters’ actual costs and increased transparency.
The Legislature — some members of which actively work against conventional
public schools — characteristically has done nothing. Auditor General-elect Tim
DeFoor should make online charter school audits a top priority when takes
office. And the Legislature should end the free pass by mandating academic and
financial accountability from charters.”
Editorial: State skirts responsibility on charters
Times
Tribune BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD December 22, 2020
Two decades
after the state government went all-in on publicly funded charter schools, it
has failed to provide accountability to taxpayers and to provide the
educational improvements that pro-charter politicians promised. The theory
behind the charters was that they would create competition for students, thus
forcing conventional public schools to improve. That was premised on the notion
that charter schools academically would outperform traditional public schools.
Instead, assessments of academic performance show that charters most often
perform no better and, sometimes, perform worse than the districts from which
they draw their students.
Meanwhile,
as revealed by education reporter Sarah Hofius Hall in the most recent Sunday
Times, the state has not come close to holding charters — especially online
charter schools — to the same level of financial accountability that is routine
for conventional school districts. That is so even though the charters are
funded with tax dollars. Every conventional school district pays tuition to
charter schools for every student within its boundaries who attends a charter
school. In an unwarranted windfall for charters, especially online schools, the
payments roughly are equal to the amount the district spends per student. Most
charter schools have far lower expenses than conventional districts, but the
Legislature has refused to mandate that they be paid according to their own
actual costs per student. Incredibly, as reported by Hall, six of the state’s
14 online charter schools never have been audited by the state auditor
general’s office, which has audited just two such schools over the past five
years.
As cyber charter
school costs soar, state fails to conduct required audits
Times
Tribune BY
SARAH HOFIUS HALL STAFF WRITER Dec 21, 2020 Updated 49 min ago
Pennsylvania
cyber charter schools could receive more than $1 billion in taxpayer money this
year with little oversight as the state fails to conduct required financial
audits, a Sunday Times investigation found. Meanwhile, the 14 cyber schools
spent at least $12.7 million on advertising and marketing last year — with some
schools spending nearly $1,000 per student to convince others to enroll. And
it’s working. As cyber charter school rosters grow faster than ever expected
prior to the coronavirus pandemic, local educators and some state leaders have
strengthened their calls for reform and transparency. More than $20 million in
school taxes in Lackawanna County will go to cyber charter schools this year,
but the state does little to track how those schools spend the money. Six of
the state’s 14 cyber charter schools have never had their finances reviewed by
the auditor general, the newspaper found. The office has audited just two
schools in the last five years. It last audited the largest cyber school in the
state, Harrisburg-based Commonwealth Charter Academy — with a budget that could
top $270 million in 2021 — nearly nine years ago.“
K-12 Schools Get $57
Billion in COVID-19 Deal; No Relief for State and Local Governments
Education
Week By Andrew Ujifusa — December 21, 2020 4 min
read
K-12 schools
would receive about $57 billion in direct aid under a new $900 billion federal
COVID-19 relief deal reached over the weekend by congressional negotiators. The
vast majority of that amount, $54.3 billion, would be for public schools in an
education stabilization fund, and 90 percent of that must ultimately go to
local school districts, including charter schools that function as districts.
According to the legislation, schools could use the relief to address learning
loss, to improve school facilities and infrastructure to reduce the risk of
transmitting the coronavirus, and to purchase education technology. This
funding would be available through September 2022. Education organizations that
have long pushed for additional aid for schools grappling with the effects of
the pandemic characterized the bill, which is much smaller than some previous
proposals, as a down payment. President-elect Joe Biden has suggested he will
pursue an additional relief deal after his inauguration. The legislation does
not include more funding for the E-Rate program that supports internet service
for schools and libraries. The bill does provide $3.2 billion to an emergency
broadband connectivity fund. There is also $4.1 billion in a fund for governors
to direct to both K-12 and higher education. Of that fund, $2.75 billion is
reserved for private schools. This funding cannot be used to support tax-credit
scholarships, vouchers, and other forms of school choice. Private schools
seeking this aid must agree not to obtain additional funding from the Paycheck
Protection Program. In addition, private schools that serve low-income students
and have been “most impacted” by the virus are supposed to get priority for
this funding.
What the Congressional
COVID-19 Deal Means for Education
Diane
Ravitch’s Blog By dianeravitch December
21, 2020 //
Phyllis W.
Jordan of Future-Ed, a D.C. think tank, explains here
what the latest Congressional agreement on COVID aid means for education and
compares it to last spring’s CARES Act as well as to the HEROES Act passed in
May by the House of Representatives. The agreement does not include any aid for
cities or states. President-Elect Joe Biden has pledged another relief package
after he takes office.
She writes:
The $900
billion package builds on a $908
billion stimulus bill introduced
Dec. 14 and would include stimulus checks, small business relief,
unemployment benefits, and support for vaccine distribution, among other
things. The measure includes $82 billion for education, with $2.7 billion
specifically for private and parochial schools. A detailed proposal has not
been publicly released yet, but the Dec. 14 bill included the $82
billion figure and broke it down like this:
- $54 billion of that for K-12
schools, largely delivered through Title I funding. That’s about four
times what schools received in the CARES Act approved in March.
- $20 billion for higher education
with dollars set aside for minority-serving institutions
- $7.5 billion for governors to spend at
their discretion, including on private schools.
https://dianeravitch.net/2020/12/21/what-the-congressional-deal-means-for-education/
“The deal provides a $227 million
increase to Title I, the Education Department’s single-largest K-12 program
that supports students from low-income backgrounds, bringing total Title I aid
to about $16.5 billion. Special education, the department’s second-largest K-12
program area, would receive approximately $14.1 billion, an increase of $185
million; most of that increase, $173 million, would go to state special
education grants.” …Charter school program grants, which are intended to
support the expansion of high-quality charter schools, would receive $440
million, the same as in fiscal 2020.”
Education Dept. Gets
$73.5 Billion in Funding Deal That Ends Ban on Federal Aid for Busing
Education
Week By Andrew Ujifusa — December 21, 2020 3 min
read
The fiscal
2021 spending deal unveiled by Congress Monday includes relatively small
increases for aid to disadvantaged students, special education, career and
technical education, and the office for civil rights. In addition, the bill
funding the U.S. Department of Education ends the longstanding prohibition on
using federal aid on transportation initiatives to desegregate schools. In
general, the spending deal, which Congress wasexpected to pass Monday before
sending it to President Donald Trump for his signature, follows the general
trend of recent government funding bills that have provided small increases to
the U.S. Department of Education’s budget. The bill would provide approximately
$73.5 billion in discretionary spending to the Education Department for fiscal
2021, an increase of $785 million over current spending levels. K-12
programs would receive $40.6
billion in funding, an increase of $498 million over fiscal 2020.
Children deserve
equal education (letter)
Lancaster
Online Letter by Marianne Smith Lancaster Township Dec 18, 2020
Every child
has the right to an education. That right is not being honored in Pennsylvania.
The School District of Lancaster is underfunded by more than $4,500 per
student. This is not just a city school problem; it impacts 95% of districts in
the commonwealth. Those affected by underfunded schools are disproportionately
Black and Latino. As a parent, I see what underfunding for the School District
of Lancaster looks like. Wheatland Middle School has had fire events from an
outdated heating system that desperately needs replacement. Class sizes
approach or exceed 30 students. Students have to walk up to 2 miles to school
(when they attend in person). This situation doesn’t only impact students; it
impacts every property owner in the district. Since the state doesn’t provide
adequate funding, the local tax burden is increased.
The Public
Interest Law Center and Education Law Center have filed suit on behalf of six
school districts, School District of Lancaster included, asking for a court
order to force our state Legislature to comply with the state constitution and
ensure that all students receive access to a high-quality public education.
This suit is expected to go to trial soon. Our Legislature doesn’t need to wait
for a court order; it could adequately and equitably fund schools today. As an
LNP | LancasterOnline subscriber, I ask that our Lancaster newspaper continue
to closely follow this story and educate the public about this critical issue.
Our children deserve better.
School District of
Philadelphia New Charter Application Public Hearing
When: Tue, December 22, 2pm – 6pm
Where: Remote Meeting (more information to be added)
(map)
Description:
Notice is hereby given that the Board of Education of The School District of Philadelphia (“School
District”) shall hold initial public hearings pursuant to the Charter School
Law on applications for new charter schools in Philadelphia. The hearings
will be held on December 22, 2020 via remote platform. The remote
platform link will be posted on the Board of Education’s website at https://www.philasd.org/schoolboard/.
‘Ordered chaos:’
Teachers and families adjust to pandemic pre-K in Philadelphia
Chalkbeat
Philly By Melanie
Bavaria Dec 21, 2020, 3:47pm EST
Confidently
sporting a pale green dinosaur T-shirt, 4-year-old Ezra sat down at the table
in his living room for “his meetings.” Far from the boring team meetings that
most adults, including his parents, have grown accustomed to in the age of
COVID-19, Ezra’s “meeting” consisted of him sorting buttons by size, shape and
color. Later his pre-kindergarten teacher would read a book out loud about
different kids wearing clothing with various buttons, snaps and zippers. Ezra’s
classmate, Jaden, 3, also enjoys being like the rest of his family. “He sees
everyone doing the same thing: I am at my laptop, his mom is at her laptop, his
older sister is at her laptop, so what do little kids like to do? They want to
do what everyone else is doing,” said Jaden’s father, Jermaine Millhouse. Both
Jaden and Ezra attend pre-kindergarten at Kai’s Comfy Corner, one of 136
centers that are part of the PHLpreK program. Like child care providers across
Philadelphia, Kai’s Comfy Corner has made adjustments to cope with the
realities of the coronavirus pandemic — it’s among just 74 who are offering
some remote learning.
From ‘Hamlet’ to
‘Gatsby’ to ‘Beloved’: Don’t replace classic literature. Expand it. | Opinion
Quinn
O'Callaghan, For the Inquirer Posted: December 21, 2020 - 9:45 AM
Quinn
O’Callaghan is a writer and teacher in Philadelphia.
Some
tooth-grinding on Twitter this month revived a debate that begs for side-taking
among educators and writers. Since I am both, I jumped into the fray like Chuck
Bednarik. The question at hand: Do classics of English-language literature
still have value in the classroom? I looked on with shock as young adult
authors, their fans, and no small number of educators answered in the negative,
pouring venom onto grade school classics like The Great Gatsby (apparently
it celebrates stalking?) and Wuthering Heights (allegedly a
tale about how cool incest is), arguing they should be removed from the
curriculum. For me, this stance is both galling and difficult to understand,
given some of the realities that teachers, particularly teachers in Philly,
have to grapple with. One of the most noxious circumstances that educators in
urban schools have to manage is that students arrive at college unprepared for
the rigors of university learning. According to a dispiriting
Pew study from 2018, 17% of Philadelphians over
the age of 25 have earned some credits toward a bachelor’s degree, but didn’t
finish their coursework — that’s 176,000 people. Anecdotally, I hear often
about students who get into high-level universities, but find themselves
unfairly unequipped to tackle the coursework and transfer out.
There’s 1 requirement
to sit on the Philly school board nominating panel. Not everyone met it.
Inquirer by
Kristen A. Graham, Posted: December 21, 2020- 1:58
PM
There’s a
single requirement to sit on the panel that helps Mayor Jim Kenney select
members of the Philadelphia school board, which controls $3.5 billion in public
money and the education of 200,000 students: be a registered city voter. But
one of the 13 who did just that last week lives and votes outside Philadelphia,
in violation of the City Charter. Separately, questions have arisen about the
residency of one of the school board nominees Kenney is now considering. Maura
McCarthy, head of Fairmount Park Conservancy, was a member of the Educational
Nominating Panel that last week chose nine possible board members for Kenney’s
consideration. The news came after the Kenney administration erroneously told
The Inquirer on Dec. 9 that all nominating panel members were city residents.
The nominating panel met and voted on Dec. 16.
“Cardona’s experience in public
education represents a sharp contrast with President Trump’s education
secretary, Betsy DeVos, who attended private schools and spent much of her
energy advocating for alternatives to public education. And while Cardona has
lived in poverty, DeVos is a billionaire who has been wealthy all her life.”
Biden poised to pick
Connecticut schools chief as education secretary
Washington Post
By Laura
Meckler, Matt
Viser and Valerie
Strauss Dec. 21, 2020 at 11:43 p.m.
President-elect
Joe Biden is set to nominate the commissioner of public schools in Connecticut
as his education secretary, settling on a low-profile candidate who has pushed
to reopen schools and is not aligned with either side in education policy
battles of recent years, two people familiar with the matter said Monday. Miguel
Cardona was named Connecticut’s top schools official last year and if confirmed
will have achieved a meteoric rise, moving from an assistant superintendent in
Meriden, Conn., a district with 9,000 students, to secretary of education in
less than two years. He was born in Meriden to Puerto Rican parents who lived
in public housing. He began his career as a fourth-grade teacher and rocketed
up the ranks, becoming the state’s youngest principal at age 28. He was named
the state’s principal of the year in 2012. People close to the process said
Biden had not made a final offer, leaving open the possibility that
circumstances could change.
Cardona met
virtually with Biden, his wife, Jill Biden, and Vice President-elect Kamala D.
Harris on Monday, one person familiar with the matter said. Those people spoke
on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak
publicly.
The
announcement could come ahead of Christmas on Friday.
An analysis of data from 33 states
obtained by Chalkbeat and The Associated Press shows that public K-12
enrollment this fall has dropped across those states by more than 500,000
students, or 2%, since the same time last year.”
U.S. public school
enrollment dips as virus disrupts education
Post Gazette
by CHALKBEAT AND ASSOCIATED PRESS DEC 22, 2020 4:32 AM
Fearful of sending
her two children back to school as the coronavirus pandemic raged in
Mississippi, Angela Atkins decided to give virtual learning a chance this fall.
Almost immediately, it was a struggle. Their district in Lafayette County
didn’t offer live instruction to remote learners, and Ms. Atkins’ fourth grader
became frustrated with doing worksheets all day and missed interacting with
teachers and peers. Her seventh grader didn’t receive the extra support he did
at school through his special education plan — and started getting failing
grades. After nine weeks, Ms. Atkins switched to home schooling. “It got
to the point where it felt like there was no other choice to make,” she said.
“I was worried for my kids’ mental health.” By taking her children off the public
school rolls, Ms. Atkins joined an exodus that one state schools chief has
warned could become a national crisis.
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
336 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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