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 January 13, 2021
An important fight is
going on in Chester PA, where plans are in motion to outsource some or all of
the schools in the Chester Upland school district.
PA School Funding Lawsuit Overview Wed, January 13 12:00
PM 1:00 PM
Join attorneys from the Public Interest Law Center and Education Law
Center and learn about Pennsylvania's School Funding Lawsuit.
Click here to register.
Chester charter RFP
process likely to be updated
Delco Times By
Alex Rose arose@21st-centurymedia.com @arosedelco on Twitter
MEDIA
COURTHOUSE >> Common Pleas Court Judge Barry Dozor denied a motion Monday
to suspend a request for proposal process that could bring more charter schools
into the Chester Upland School District, but indicated some tweaks should be
made to the timeline and language. The daylong hearing included testimony from
Receiver Dr. Juan Baughn, Superintendent Dr. Carol D. Birks, certified public
accountant John Pund, who helped craft the district’s financial recovery plan,
and Dr. Leroy Nunery, strategic advisor to the receiver and author of the RFP. Dozor
issued an order in May that would open up all grades in the district to
outsourced management as part of a financial recovery plan. Under the language
of Act 141 of 2012, which dictates Chester Upland’s “Financial Recovery Status,”
the district could convert an existing school or schools to charters if doing
so would result in financial savings. Dozor said he intended the order to be
used as a roadmap for CUSD to exit its financial recovery status and allow the
elected school board to resume control. But there have been some snags,
according to court filings. Attorneys from the Education Law Center and Public
Interest Law Center, representing a group of parents in the district, argued
that the RFP process has not been transparent and the district has failed to
provide any status updates or other information publicly, as provided for in
the May order. A copy of the RFP went up on the district website Dec. 23, about
two months after it was sent out to prospective providers.
Blogger note: In light of efforts that
may charterize the entire Chester Upland School District, here’s some
background on the for-profit operator of the Chester Community Charter School
Reprise August 2019: Pennsylvania:
The Political Contributions of the Owner of the State’s Largest Charter School
Diane Ravitch’s
Blog By dianeravitch August
17, 2019 //
Pennsylvania’s
largest charter school is the Chester Community Charter School. It is owned by
Philadelphia lawyer Vahan Gureghian, who is a major donor to the Republican
Party in the State. He was the biggest contributor to former Republican
Governor Tom Corbett. What is surprising about his political donations is how
little it takes to win the affection of the party in power. The Chester
Community Charter School enrolls most of the elementary students in its
district and even draws students from Philadelphia, despite the fact that it is
a low-performing school on state tests. As you will see in one of the articles
below, CCCS received a charter renewal through 2026, an extension not given to
any other charter in the state.
The Keystone
State Education Coalition posted
this list of his political contributions.
In wake of federal
court ruling, Corman says Sen. Jim Brewster will be seated Wednesday
PA Capital
Star By Elizabeth
Hardison January 12, 2021
(*This was
updated at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 1/12/21 with statements by Gov. Tom Wolf and Senate
Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, and at 3 p.m. with news about
Brewster’s swearing-in.)
More than
300 voters who made minor errors casting their mail-in ballots will still have
their votes counted in a close state Senate race, a federal judge ruled
Tuesday. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Nicholas Ranjan clears the
way for Democratic incumbent Jim Brewster to be sworn in for a fourth term
representing Pennsylvania’s 45th Senate District, which includes parts of
Allegheny and Westmoreland County. Republicans who control the
state Senate announced last week that they
would not let Brewster take his oath of office until Ranjan ruled on the case brought
by Brewster’s Republican opponent Nicole Ziccarelli, whose request to toss to
311 undated mail-in ballots would have erased Brewster’s 69-vote lead in the
race and made her the winner. In a
Tuesday tweet, Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman,
R-Centre, said Senate will return to Harrisburg on Wednesday so Brewster could
take his oath of office.
May 18th special
election set to fill Mike Reese’s state House seat
Trib Live by
RICH CHOLODOFSKY | Tuesday, January 12,
2021 4:19 p.m.
A special
election to fill the vacancy in the state House 59th District left by the
sudden death of Rep. Mike Reese will be conducted May 18. Pennsylvania House
Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, announced Tuesday the special election will
be held along with the regularly scheduled primary the same day. The 59th
District is made of 42 voting precincts in eastern Westmoreland County,
including parts of Hempfield and Unity townships as well as Cook, Donegal,
Fairfield, Ligonier and Mt. Pleasant townships; and Bolivar, Donegal, Ligonier,
Laurel Mountain, New Florence and Seward boroughs. It also includes 10 rural
precincts in western Somerset County. Reese, 42, a Republican from Mt.
Pleasant, died Jan. 2 of an apparent brain aneurysm just days before he was to be
sworn in for his seventh term. In December, Reese was chosen by GOP leadership
to serve as the majority caucus leader in the House.
https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/special-election-to-fill-reese-state-house-seat-set/
Articles of
Impeachment of President Trump for Incitement of Insurrection
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7347691-Articles-of-impeachment-against-President-Trump.html
How to Watch the
Second Trump Impeachment Vote
The House
will hold a vote on Wednesday to impeach President Trump. Here’s how to follow
along.
New York
Times By Zach Montague Jan. 13, 2021Updated 6:03 a.m. ET
The House
will convene on Wednesday to debate and vote on whether to charge President
Trump with “inciting violence against the government of the United States,”
advancing an effort to impeach him for the second time in fewer than 13 months.
The decision to move ahead with the vote comes after Vice President Mike Pence
declined on Tuesday, in a
letter sent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to strip the president of his powers using
the 25th Amendment. The article of impeachment that Democrats introduced on Monday
aims to hold Mr. Trump responsible for his role in inflaming a mob of his
supporters who stormed the Capitol last week, killing a Capitol Police officer,
raiding lawmakers’ offices and stealing federal property. More tangibly, it
also invokes the 14th Amendment, potentially prohibiting Mr. Trump from holding
office in the future if he is ultimately convicted by the Senate. Members of
the House will gather at 9 a.m. to begin debate on the impeachment resolution. Here
is how to follow the debate and what to watch for:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/13/us/politics/what-time-is-trump-impeachment-vote.html
Trump on verge of 2nd
impeachment, this time with some Republicans joining the effort, after Capitol
riot
Trump, who
would become the only U.S. president twice impeached, faces a single charge of
“incitement of insurrection.”
Inquirer by Lisa
Mascaro, and Mary Clare Jalonick, The Associated Press January 13, 2021
WASHINGTON —
President Donald Trump is on the verge of being impeached for a second time,
the House planning the unprecedented vote one week after he encouraged a mob of
loyalists to “fight like hell” against election results and the U.S. Capitol
became the target of a deadly siege. While the first impeachment of Trump last
year brought no Republican votes in the House, a small but significant number
of leaders and other lawmakers are breaking with the party to join Democrats on
Wednesday, unwilling to put American decency and democracy at further risk,
even with days remaining in the president’s term. The stunning collapse of Trump’s final days
in office, against alarming warnings of more violence ahead by his followers, leaves the nation at an uneasy and
unfamiliar juncture before Democrat Joe Biden is inaugurated Jan. 20. “If
inviting a mob to insurrection against your own government is not an
impeachable event, then what is?” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., a drafter of
the articles of impeachment. Trump, who would become the only U.S. president
twice impeached, faces a single charge of “incitement of insurrection.”
Trump’s grip on GOP
loosens as No. 3 Republican Liz Cheney backs impeachment
Trib Live by
LOS ANGELES TIMES | Tuesday, January 12, 2021 5:53 p.m.
WASHINGTON —
As President Donald Trump denied responsibility for the U.S. Capitol riot that
left five people dead and the FBI vowed to prosecute hundreds of his supporters
who took part in the attack, the No. 3 House GOP leader announced she was
voting for impeachment. It marked the starkest Republican defection yet and
could open the door for other GOP House members to join Democrats during
Wednesday night’s historic impeachment vote. “The president of the United
States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack.
Everything that followed was his doing,” Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in
statement. “There has never been a greater betrayal by a president of the
United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
https://triblive.com/news/politics-election/gop-rep-liz-cheney-says-she-will-vote-to-impeach-trump/
McConnell is said to
be pleased about impeachment, believing it will be easier to purge Trump from
the G.O.P.
New York
Times by Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman January 12, 2021
Senator Mitch
McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, has
told associates that he believes President Trump committed impeachable offenses
and that he is pleased that Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing that
it will make it easier to purge him from the party, according to people
familiar with his thinking. The House is voting on Wednesday to formally charge
Mr. Trump with inciting violence against the country. At the same time,
Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the minority leader and one of Mr.
Trump’s most steadfast allies in Congress, has asked other Republicans whether
he should call on Mr. Trump to resign in the aftermath of the riot at the Capitol
last week, according to three Republican officials briefed on the
conversations.
Philly parents deeply
divided over virtual school, data shows ahead of district decision
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent January 13, 2021
Philadelphia’s
public school system is headed toward a third attempt at offering in-person
school during the pandemic. Whether it succeeds will depend partly on the
cooperation of parents, who appear deeply divided on the issue. A WHYY review
of survey data from November shows that families — when given a choice between
in-person learning and hybrid learning — were fairly split on the topic. When
looking at school-by-school breakdowns, few patterns emerged. Families
attending schools in affluent areas were about as likely to choose in-person
instruction as families attending schools in low-income neighborhoods.
Similarly, survey response rates did not seem tied to school demographics. The
data has inherent limitations with the types of parents surveyed and the way
the survey questions were presented to families. That said, it’s the only time
Philadelphia asked its public school families to commit to a reopening option.
And it shows that the path ahead will run through a deeply divided pool of
parents.
Western Pa. teachers
grapple with current events lessons after Capitol riot
Trib Live by
TEGHAN SIMONTON | Tuesday, January 12,
2021 4:45 p.m.
Going over
current events is one of Barak Naveh’s favorite parts of teaching. It’s an
honor and a privilege, he said, to be able to help his history students at
Pittsburgh Obama Academy understand the world in the context of the past, to
show them how history is relevant in their lives. But last week, while he was
watching rioters storm the Capitol on the news, he couldn’t help but think
about how difficult this was going to be. “I would be lying if I didn’t say I
wish it was a little less frightening,” he said. “To talk about things that are
not only pressing, but terrifying … it’s an incredible challenge. It’s a daunting
task.” Teachers and professors of history, social studies and political science
are reckoning with the added obligation of explaining historical events as they
are happening — navigating discussions that inevitably lead to disagreement and
partisanship, and trying to reassure students at the same time.
Whitehall-Coplay
School District to move from hybrid to 4-day in-person learning in February
By KAYLA
DWYER THE MORNING CALL |JAN 12, 2021 AT 3:30
PM
In February,
the Whitehall-Coplay School District will move from its hybrid model to four
days of in-person instruction a week for all students who choose to attend
school, the school board decided last night. Beginning Feb. 16, after the
President’s Day holiday break, students will return to school Monday, Tuesday,
Thursday and Friday, with online learning for all on Wednesday, Superintendent
Lorie Hackett said. As before, all families have the option to remain entirely
remote. Hybrid attendance — two days a week — will no longer be an option. School
Director George Makhoul introduced the motion, which was approved by a 6-3
vote, against the recommendation of the administration. Makhoul had also
introduced the idea in an October board meeting, but the board narrowly voted
then to table his motion.
$500,000 in grant
funding available for education programs for Youth and Agriculture
NorthCentralPA.com
by NCPA
Staff January 12, 2021
Harrisburg,
Pa. – During the virtual 2021 Pennsylvania Farm Show, Agriculture
Secretary Russell Redding has announced the availability of $500,000 through
the Pennsylvania Farm Bill’s Ag and Youth Grant Program. The funding can be
used for projects such as ag education and workforce development programs,
seminars and field trips, agricultural safety training, capital projects, or
equipment purchases that will help to build a strong future workforce for
Pennsylvania’s leading industry. “We predict a shortfall in the agriculture
workforce in the coming years as more older farmers retire and new, more
technological jobs are created,” Redding said. “The remedy is education and
awareness. By sparking an early interest in agriculture through hands-on
programs, we cultivate future industry leaders. Agriculture offers a variety of
satisfying, family-sustaining jobs. These grants will expose youth to all that
agriculture has to offer and lead to a strong ag workforce for tomorrow.” A
total of $500,000 is available for two different grant types that can be awarded
under the program:
Bristol Township
School Board, teachers reach settlement
Peg
Quann Bucks County Courier Times January 13, 2021
The Bristol
Township School District and its teachers' union have reached a contract
settlement more than a year after their previous contract expired. "The estimated
cost to the district is $4M (million) in additional wages and benefits
over the four-year term of the contract," said district Business Manager
Joshua Sweigard. The two sides reached out to the Pennsylvania Labor
Relations Board in February last year and a fact-finder took on the
negotiations in April. The school board agreed to the fact-finder's terms at
its Dec. 14 meeting, voting 8-1 to adopt the contract. Board member
Constance Moore voted against it. The board also unanimously passed a
resolution allowing for up to a 4% increase in property taxes when the district
prepares its budget for the 2021-22 school year.
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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