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 Jan. 11, 2021
NEPA educators
question cyber charter spending of pandemic relief money on gift cards,
cellphones
PSBA Spring Virtual Advocacy Day - March 22, 2021
All public school leaders are invited to join us for our spring Virtual
Advocacy Day on Monday, March 22, 2021, via Zoom. Registration is available
under Event Registration on myPSBA.org.
https://www.psba.org/event/psba-spring-virtual-advocacy-day/
“The federal funding comes as
traditional public school leaders become increasingly frustrated with a
perceived lack of transparency and accountability of cyber charter schools. In
the last year, enrollment statewide in cyber charter schools has grown 63%,
with more than 62,000 Pennsylvania students now enrolled in one of the 14 cyber
schools. The state’s 500 school districts are expected to send the cyber
schools more than $1 billion in taxpayer money this school year. The local
leaders question why the state distributes the relief money using the same
formula for traditional and cyber schools.”
NEPA educators
question cyber charter spending of pandemic relief money on gift cards,
cellphones
Times
Tribune BY
SARAH HOFIUS HALL STAFF WRITER Jan 10, 2021
Pennsylvania’s
cyber charter schools used federal COVID-19 relief funds to purchase technology
and cleaning supplies and send Target gift cards and phones to families. Many
of the expenditures, revealed through Right to Know Law requests by The Sunday
Times, have traditional public school educators questioning why cyber charter
schools require the funding when their students already learn from home. The
state’s cyber charter schools received $10 million in CARES — Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security — Act funding in the spring. The latest round of
funding is set to quadruple their allocations, as more than $40 million could
go to 12 online schools, according to estimates obtained by The Sunday Times. “It’s
disgusting. It’s just unbelievable,” said Bronson Stone, superintendent of
Susquehanna Community School District. The small, rural district, with a budget
of $16.3 million, will pay an additional $335,000 in cyber charter tuition this
year. The district used its $178,600 CARES allocation in the spring to pay for
disinfectant sprayers, maintenance workers and other means to try to keep
students in their classrooms.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Cyber Charter School Responds to
"Schuylkill County School District Business Managers Speak Out on Charter
School Funding"
SKOOKNEWS
Schuylkill County’s Online News Service Friday, January 8, 2021
The
following is a Letter to the Editor that Skook News received on the morning of
January 8th, 2021 from Tim Eller, Senior Vice President of Outreach and
Government Relations, Commonwealth Charter Academy, after posting a Letter to
the Editor from School District Business Managers on January 7th, 2021.
You can read
the original post here:
https://www.skooknews.com/2021/01/letter-to-editor-schuylkill-county.html
The January
7, 2021, letter to the editor (Schuylkill County School District Business
Managers Speak Out on Charter School Funding) signed by six Schuylkill County
school business managers is not just misleading, it is flat out wrong. The most
important fact they failed to share is that students who attend public cyber
charter schools, like Commonwealth Charter Academy, on average, receive 25
percent less funding than their peers who attend district-run schools. In reality, Pennsylvania’s charter school funding formula creates an unequal,
two-tier funding mechanism that treats public cyber charter school students as
second-class citizens. All students should receive the same amount of funding
regardless of what public school their family chooses. Let’s consider some additional facts that the business managers left out. As of
the 2018-19 school year, all Schuylkill County school districts combined spent
a total of $291.4 million, of which $9.2 million, or 3.2 percent, accounted for
students attending public cyber charter schools; however, these districts spent
$37.3 million, or 13 percent, on pension costs.
https://www.skooknews.com/2021/01/letter-to-editor-cyber-charter-school.html
Mars Area officials
look at handling unexpected deficit
Samantha Beal Butler Eagle Staff Writer January 6, 2021 Local News
A virtual
finance meeting before the board meeting Tuesday night allowed Mars Area School
Board to discuss a looming $1.3 million deficit with district business manager
Jill Swaney.
The district
has a total deficit of about $2.5 million going into next year, according to
Swaney, although only the $1.3 million shortfall is a “new deficit.” “The
district needs to whittle that down,” Swaney said. “I am recommending possibly
a $1.6 million deficit.” School officials have said since last year the
unexpected shortfall is due to the number of district students who have
enrolled in cyber charter schools since the start of the pandemic. In
Pennsylvania, districts are responsible for covering tuition costs for students
who attend charter schools, but live within the district. Tuition can range
from $10,000 to $23,000 per student, according to Mars Area officials.
http://www.butlereagle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20210106/NEWS01/701069899
Easton Area School
Board to decide whether to cap tax increase at 3.9%
By Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com Updated 7:31 AM; Today 7:31 AM
The Easton
Area School Board will decide this month whether to cap a tax increase on
next year’s budget at 3.9%. That figure represents the state-set index. Any tax
increase above that would require voter approval. The board needs to take the
vote in order to preserve the right to raise taxes that amount, but the board
could ultimately decide not to raise taxes at all, according to Chief Operating
Officer Michael Simonetta. “Obviously we don’t want to go that high but we did
agree and are recommending to the board that we pass this resolution that we
will not exceed the index,” Simonetta said. “That’s something we’ve done every
year throughout the budget process.”
Philly Board of Education posts new charter school hearing dates for
January.
Jan. 20, 2 p.m.-5
p.m., Phila. Collegiate Charter Schools for Boys
Jan. 25, 9:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m., Pride Academy Charter
School
Jan. 25, 2 p.m. - 5 p.m., Empowerment Charter School
Jan. 27, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m, ASPIRA Bilingual
Business, Finance and Technology Charter High School
Jan. 27, 2 p.m. - 5 p.m., Eugenio Maria De Hostos
Preparatory Charter School
https://philasd.org/schoolboard/
Philadelphia school
leaders confident schools will reopen this year
Chalkbeat
Philly By Dale
Mezzacappa Jan 8, 2021, 6:30pm EST
Superintendent
William Hite, Board of Education President Joyce Wilkerson, and teachers’ union
President Jerry Jordan all say they are confident school buildings will open
for some students this school year. Hite will likely announce a reopening plan
within the next “10 days or so,” he said in an interview Thursday. Hite noted
the Pennsylvania departments of health and education had that day revised
the guidance for school reopening, encouraging schools to
resume instruction for elementary students — even where virus transmission
rates are still relatively high. “Beginning with the start of the second
semester, the departments recommend public schools in counties with substantial
transmission consider returning elementary school students to in-person
instruction while secondary school students remain fully remote, provided they
follow all applicable orders and safety protocols,” said the revised guidance,
signed by acting education secretary Noe Ortega and health secretary Dr. Rachel
Levine. They also urged resuming in-person instruction for targeted populations
including English language learners and students in special education. Levine
and Ortega cited studies showing younger children have less susceptibility to
the virus. But the statement emphasized that the final decision is up to local
officials.
Going into a new
year, the Pittsburgh schools’ fiscal challenges are familiar | Opinion
By Colin
McNickle Capital-Star
Op-Ed Contributor January 11, 2021
Pittsburgh’s
Public Schools yet again used fund reserves to balance its 2021 general fund budget,
a practice it has employed since 2016. But the school district has a long way
to go to address it high expenditures, concludes an analysis by the Allegheny
Institute for Public Policy. “[The district’s] trends on costs, enrollment,
building capacity and employee headcount, as contained in the 2019
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), the 2021 preliminary budget and
Pennsylvania Department of Education data, are troubling and should provide the
board and administration plenty of opportunity to reduce costs,” Eric Montarti,
research director at the Pittsburgh think-tank, writes
in a new briefing paper.
“Educators turned to news articles and
artwork, social media posts and Zoom chats to help their conversations.
Scrapping lesson plans, they saw themselves as both facilitators and sources
for correcting misinformation. All the while, they were mindful of the
confusion, the trauma, and the emotional fatigue many children have already
endured.”
Witnessing history:
Teachers and students left reeling, looking for lessons in an insurrection
Chalkbeat By Chalkbeat
Staff Jan 7, 2021, 8:34pm EST
Graham
Kwiatkowski, a social studies teacher at Curie High School on Chicago’s
Southwest Side, stayed up past midnight to watch coverage of the U.S. Capitol
takeover and its aftermath. Then, he woke up at 4 a.m. to prepare for his
virtual first-period psychology class. After asking students how they were
feeling, Kwiatkowski showed six news photos without captions: three from
unchecked rioting on Capitol Hill Wednesday and three of tense standoffs
between Black Lives Matter protesters and police officers last summer. Students
knew right away what Kwiatkowski was getting at — and readily launched into a
discussion about the difference in law enforcement response. “Students are so in
tune with what’s going on in their city and around the country,” he said. “They
knew if this had been a group of 5,000 or 10,000 people of color at the
Capitol, the response would not have been the same.” Teachers once again found
themselves Thursday trying to explain a tumultuous turning point in our
nation’s history, just as they did following the initial uncertainty of
November’s election, the unrest after George Floyd’s killing, and at the start
of the pandemic. Many accepted the challenge, viewing this as a moment to
interrogate what the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol Wednesday at President
Trump’s urging says about race, violence, and the future of democracy.
https://www.chalkbeat.org/2021/1/7/22219779/teachers-students-reeling-lessons-capitol-insurrection
Which Centre County
schools are operating remotely due to COVID-19? Here’s a running list
Centre Daily
Times BY
MARLEY PARISH JANUARY 08, 2021 10:32 AM, UPDATED
JANUARY 08, 2021 12:19 PM
Since
reopening in August, Centre County school districts have been forced to make
adjustments to instructional plans as community COVID-19 cases continue to rise
and statewide mitigation efforts aim to slow virus transmission. The
Centre Daily Times is keeping a running list of school closures and planned
reopenings. Because area schools are not required to publicly announce
confirmed cases or building closures, this list may not be comprehensive but
will be updated weekly with any changes or updates to instructional plans. If a
school closure is not listed, or to provide more information, please email
cdtnewstips@centredaily.com.
https://www.centredaily.com/news/rebuild/article247509800.html#storylink=mainstage_lead
Pennsylvania
officials encourage schools to return elementary students to classrooms
Bucks County
Courier Times by Daveen
Rae Kurutz Beaver County Times January 7, 2020
After more
than nine months of uncertainty, Pennsylvania officials Thursday encouraged
public school districts to return elementary school students to the
classroom. Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine and Acting
Secretary of Education Noe Ortega recommended an in-person option for
elementary students who attend schools in counties even where community
spread of COVID-19 is considered substantial. "The educational
benefits of in-person learning, especially for younger children are very clear
from an educational perspective," Levine said. "We know that it's
impossible to eliminate the risk of disease transmission entirely within a
school setting when community spread is present ... It may be better for
younger children, particular elementary grade students to return to in-person
instruction. While people of any age can contract COVID-19, research suggests
that people aged 18 and younger do have a lower risk of severe
outcomes."
Fair Districts PA
fear potential change to courts could lead to gerrymandering
Chris
Ullery Bucks County Courier Times January 11, 2021
A measure
that could be put to voters in the state this spring could drastically change
the way Pennsylvania’s appellate courts are organized, a change some say leave
the judicial branch subject to gerrymandering. The proposed constitutional
amendment introduced by Rep. Russ Diamond, R-102, of Lebanon County, would
essentially break up the state’s highest courts into over 30 regions across the
state. The question could be placed on the ballot as early as the May 18
election. Diamond and other supporters of the bill have said the changes would
allow for a more diverse appellate court system. “Pennsylvania is a diverse
commonwealth, and our appellate courts ought to reflect that diversity,”
Diamond wrote in a December memo. “This proposal will also go far in
improving the chances that voters can identify with candidates for appellate
court seats,” Diamond added. Some voting rights groups, however, say the
bill is being rushed through the General Assembly without proper debate or
public hearings. Fair Districts PA, a statewide advocacy group that focuses on
fairly drawn voting districts, is currently leading the charge to prevent the
bill from passing the legislature and appearing on the ballot in May.
Fair
Districts Chair Carol Kuniholm said Wednesday during an online town hall the
changes would ultimately leave the state’s Commonwealth, Superior and Supreme
courts subject to district gerrymandering
Pa. Senate leader
says GOP will likely follow court lead in filling vacant seat
Penn Live By Ron Southwick | rsouthwick@pennlive.com Posted Jan 08, 2021
The head of
the Pennsylvania Senate said Friday night the Republican caucus will wait for a
court ruling before making a decision on filling a seat from western
Pennsylvania. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, R-Centre, said Friday
night the Senate Republicans will likely follow the lead of a federal court
ruling in the election in the 45th District. State Sen. Jim Brewster,
D-Allegheny, was certified as the winner in the race by the Department of
State, but Republican challenger Nicole Ziccarelli has sued over
inconsistencies in the counting of mail-in ballots. The controversy over
filling the seat has drawn national media attention. Earlier this week, Senate Republicans voted against seating Brewster to begin a new four-year term and said
the Senate would review petitions filed by both Brewster and Ziccarelli.
Democrats fumed when Brewster wasn’t seated and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf called
it a “shameful power grab.” Republicans hold the majority in the Senate. Corman
reiterated previous statements that the Senate has the power to decide who
should fill the seat. Bue he said Friday if the pending federal legal challenge
ultimately determines a winner, the Senate Republican caucus will accept that
result and seat the victor, regardless of who it is.
Former Pennsylvania
Republican congressman Ryan Costello is taking steps to run for Senate in 2022
Costello is
positioning himself as an anti-Trump Republican who could be an antidote to the
GOP’s struggles in the suburbs.
Inquirer by Jonathan Tamari, and Andrew Seidman Published Jan 8, 2021
Former U.S.
Rep. Ryan Costello, a Chester
County Republican, is taking steps toward running for Pennsylvania’s open U.S.
Senate seat next year. Costello, 44, of West Chester, served in the House from
2015 to 2019. He decided not to seek reelection in 2018 after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
declared the state’s congressional map an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander and imposed a new map with
districts that were less favorable to Costello and other Republicans, especially in the Philadelphia suburbs. His
decision to drop out of the race upset many Republicans who believed he was
their best chance of keeping the seat. But Costello is positioning himself as
an anti-Trump Republican who could be an antidote to the GOP’s struggles in the suburbs. When a spokesperson for the Republican
National Committee attacked GOP lawmakers for abandoning President
Donald Trump after this week’s insurrection at the Capitol, Costello responded on Twitter: “If I run
I will literally take this entire bulls— head on. And if I would lose I would
do so with 100% pride in the fact I did it for a cause greater than myself.”
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov.
John Fetterman is eyeing a run for Senate in 2022
Pennsylvania’s
open-seat Senate race is already considered one of the most competitive in the
country and will help determine which party controls the chamber after the
midterm elections.
Inquirer by Chris Brennan Published Jan 8, 2021
Pennsylvania
Lt. Gov. John Fetterman says he is taking “a serious look” at another run for
the U.S. Senate in 2022, an ambition he plans to share with supporters on
Friday. “The 2022 cycle in Pennsylvania is going to be one of the most, if not
the most, important races,” Fetterman told The Inquirer in a brief interview
Thursday. Pennsylvania’s open-seat Senate race is already considered one of the
most competitive in the country and will help determine which party controls
the chamber after the midterm elections. Sen. Pat Toomey, a Lehigh Valley
Republican, announced in October that he won’t seek a third term or run for governor in 2022. A stampede of candidates in both parties are expected to run. Fetterman, who lost a
2016 Democratic Senate primary, would bring a nationally known political brand
and a social-media-savvy approach to governing and campaigning. His public
profile has been elevated considerably over the last couple months as he
emerged as a prominent defender of Pennsylvania’s election results, with
frequent appearances on national TV.
Toomey urges Trump to
resign immediately
York
Dispatch by Darlene Superville, Alan Fram and Mary Clare Jalonick The
Associated Press January 10, 2021
WASHINGTON —
With impeachment planning intensifying, two Republican senators want President
Donald Trump to resign immediately as efforts mount to prevent Trump from ever
again holding elective office in the wake of deadly riots at the Capitol. Pennsylvania
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey on Sunday joined Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of
Alaska in calling for Trump to “resign and go away as soon as possible.” “I
think the president has disqualified himself from ever, certainly, serving in
office again,” Toomey said. “I don’t think he is electable in any way.”
House
Democrats are expected to introduce articles of impeachment on Monday and vote
as soon as Tuesday. The strategy would be to condemn the president’s actions
swiftly but delay an impeachment trial in the Senate for 100 days. That would
allow President-elect Joe Biden to focus on other priorities as soon as he is
inaugurated Jan. 20.
https://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/2021/01/10/toomey-urges-trump-resign-immediately/115278836/
Pelosi says House
will impeach Trump, urges Pence to invoke 25th Amendment
York
Dispatch by LISA MASCARO, DARLENE SUPERVILLE and MARY CLARE JALONICK The
Associated Press January 11, 2021
WASHINGTON —
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House will proceed with legislation to
impeach President Donald Trump as she pushes the vice president and the Cabinet
to invoke constitutional authority to force him out, warning that Trump is a
threat to democracy after the deadly assault on the Capitol. The House action
could start as soon as Monday as pressure increases on Trump to step aside. A
Republican senator, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, joined Republican Sen. Lisa
Murkowski of Alaska in calling for Trump to "resign and go away as soon as
possible." A stunning end to Trump's final 10 days in office was underway
as lawmakers warned of the damage the president could still do before Joe Biden
was inaugurated Jan. 20. Trump, holed up at the White House, was increasingly
isolated after a mob rioted in the Capitol in support of his false claims of
election fraud.
Here’s a little break from COVID and the
Capitol….
Steve Winwood //
Blind Faith - "Can't Find My Way Home"
YouTube 7,379,465
views •May 16, 2012
Steve
Winwood plays an acoustic version of Blind Faith's "Can't Find My Way
Home"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoSn2Y-b6wI&feature=youtu.be
PSBA Spring Virtual Advocacy Day - MAR 22, 2021
PSBA Website January 2021
All public school leaders are invited to join
us for our spring Virtual Advocacy Day on Monday, March 22, 2021, via Zoom. We
need all of you to help strengthen our advocacy impact. The day will center
around contacting legislators to discuss critical issues affecting public
education. Registrants will receive the meeting invitation with a link to our
spring Virtual Advocacy Day website that contains talking points, a link to
locate contact information for your legislator and additional information to
help you have a successful day.
Cost: Complimentary
for members
Registration: Registration
is available under Event Registration on myPSBA.org.
https://www.psba.org/event/psba-spring-virtual-advocacy-day/
PSBA Webinar: New
Congress, New Dynamics
JAN 14, 2021
• 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
The 2020
election brings significant changes to the 117th U.S. Congress. How will the
newly sworn-in senators and representatives impact public education? What
issues will need to be addressed this session? To become an effective
legislative advocate you’ll need to understand the new players and dynamics.
Our experts will profile key new members, discuss what big trends you can
expect and highlight the issues that will be debated over the next two years.
Presenters: Jared Solomon, senior public advisor,
BOSE Public Affairs Group
John Callahan, chief advocacy officer, PSBA
Cost: Complimentary for members.
Registration: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CQkk1Sd0QmOhdJ3VmlSzGg
https://www.psba.org/event/new-congress-new-dynamics/
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
337 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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