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. 7, 2021
How a new tax like
Arizona’s could help underfunded schools in Pa. | Opinion
Insurgency at the
U.S. Capitol: A Dreaded, Real-Life Lesson Facing Teachers
Education
Week By Madeline Will & Stephen Sawchuk — January 06, 2021 9 min
read
As social
studies teachers watched a violent, far-right mob breach the U.S. Capitol in an
attempt to stop the formal certification of the election of President-elect Joe
Biden, a daunting question loomed: How would they address this with their
students tomorrow? Thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump stormed
Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, with some forcing their way into the Capitol
building and interrupting the certification of the Electoral College votes, a
key part of the nation’s presidential elections process. Lawmakers were
barricaded in their offices and told to wear gas masks, several staffers told
Education Week. A woman was shot inside the Capitol and later died. Teachers
watching the unprecedented events unfolding on their TV screens met them with
the same emotions as many other Americans—bewilderment, exhaustion, horror—but
also a desire to do right by their students and a determination to address what
happened on Capitol Hill in their classes this week.
Storming of U.S.
Capitol may present difficult classroom discussions
K12 Dive by Roger Riddell@K12DiveRoger PUBLISHED Jan. 6, 2021
Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.,
was stormed Wednesday afternoon by a mob supporting President Donald
Trump, aiming to disrupt the House and Senate certification process of
President-elect Joe Biden's win in the 2020 presidential election. The
events present educators with yet another difficult topic to navigate in
classroom discussion.
- In addition to creating potentially
loaded debate in the classroom, the topic also requires educators to be
prepared to provide supports for students whose anxiety and uncertainty is
spiked by footage and photos of the events in the news and on social
media.
- A number of education organizations have
resources available that offer blueprints for talking to students about
protests, unsettling information and violent events — including Common
Sense Media and
the National
Association of School Psychologists.
As a New York Times editorial argued, most Americans agree that people with more
wealth should contribute more to the public good. Election results revealed
that taxing the wealthy specifically to fund education is gaining support. The
best example of this is in Arizona, where on Nov. 3, residents passed a progressive
income tax measure with about 52% of the vote. Proposition 208, also
known as the Invest in Education Act, will raise state income tax from 4.5% to 8% for individuals earning above $250,000, or $500,000 for those
filing jointly.
How a new tax like
Arizona’s could help underfunded schools in Pa. | Opinion
Lessons from
the Western states that have succeeded — and a couple that failed — to hike
taxes for public education.
by Kimberly
Sterin, For the Inquirer Published Jan 6, 2021
Pennsylvania’s
school system includes “some of the nation’s most fiscally
disadvantaged public school districts,” per one report.
One driving reason is inadequate public school funding. Currently, the state covers
about 38% of public education costs, which places
Pennsylvania 46th in the country for percentage of state
public school tax contributions. This low contribution creates inequitable
outcomes. Pennsylvania districts largely rely on local property taxes for
funding, and the inequity in such taxes between school districts leads to
inequities in the final budgets. Increased public school funding is associated with increased student achievement and
economic mobility. Improvements in public education funding should be central
to our state’s plan to recover from the pandemic. Pennsylvania can learn from
four states — Arizona, Oregon, California, and Illinois — that recently made
legislative attempts to either increase their state education funding or impose
more progressive tax structures.
Libertarian-aligned investor and
Students First PAC school privatization funder Jeff Yass gave $2.5 million to the
Protect Freedom PAC, which features Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in some of its
Georgia ads.
Megadonors boost GOP
super PACs in Georgi
Open
Secrets.org By Karl Evers-Hillstrom January 5, 2021 11:45 am
Billionaire
political donors opened their pocketbooks to help Republicans’ attempt to hold
the Senate in Georgia’s Jan. 5 runoff election. Since the general
election, 22 individual donors gave $1 million or more to an outside group
influencing the Georgia runoffs. All but two of those ultra-wealthy donors gave
their money to Republican-aligned groups. The immense interest from GOP
megadonors — and the lack of giving by wealthy backers of President-elect Joe
Biden — has helped give Republicans a huge
outside spending advantage in the
critical contest. That’s helped combat the fundraising edge Democratic candidates Jon
Ossoff and Rev. Raphael
Warnock amassed over Republican Sens. David
Perdue and Kelly
Loeffler.
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2021/01/megadonors-boost-gop-super-pacs-in-georgia-runoffs/
ICYMI: Here are the
Pa. House’s Committee chairs and ranking members for the new session
PA Capital
Star By Cassie
Miller January 6, 2021
During a
tumultuous day at the Capitol Tuesday, House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster,
revealed the representatives who would serve as the chairs of the House’s
23 committees.
But shouting
matches in the state Senate quickly
stole the spotlight from the individuals selected to these important
posts.
Warnock, Ossoff win
in Georgia, handing Dems Senate control
Trib Live by
ASSOCIATED
PRESS | Wednesday, January 6, 2021
6:41 a.m.
ATLANTA —
Democrats won both Georgia Senate seats — and with them, the U.S. Senate majority
— as final votes were counted Wednesday, serving President Donald Trump a
stunning defeat in his last days in office while dramatically improving the
fate of President-elect Joe Biden’s progressive agenda. Jon Ossoff and Raphael
Warnock, Democratic challengers who represented the diversity of their party’s
evolving coalition, defeated Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler two
months after Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry
the state since 1992. Warnock, who served as pastor for the same Atlanta church
where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. preached, becomes the first
African American from Georgia elected to the Senate. And Ossoff becomes the
state’s first Jewish senator and, at 33 years old, the Senate’s youngest
member. Their success is a symbol of a striking shift in Georgia’s politics as
the swelling number of diverse, college-educated voters flex their power in the
heart of the Deep South.
The siege on the U.S.
Capitol, and democracy, is Trump’s legacy. Pennsylvania Republicans are also complicit.
| Editorial
The stunning
scene was one of the darkest days for our republic’s democracy, when the
so-called president incited violence toward the country and government that he
is entrusted to lead.
Inquirer by The Editorial Board Published Jan 6, 2021
The only
other siege of the U.S. Capitol was by the British in 1814 when they torched
the White House, the Capitol, and other federal buildings. Wednesday’s assault,
over two hundred years later, was more insidious since it came from within.
Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in his name. Incited by an earlier rally
when Trump declared he would “never concede,” some breached the Capitol
building, disrupting Congress’ constitutional duty of certifying the electoral
college results. The stunning scene was one of the darkest days for our republic’s
democracy, when the so-called president incited violence toward the country and
government that he is entrusted to lead. Then again, the country and the
government are not truly his; they are just props in his deluded and lie-fueled
reality show. Except in the actual reality, we witnessed an effort to overthrow
democracy. The actual reality is that we witnessed an attempted, and bloody,
coup.
Recap: Trump
supporters violently storm Capitol in insurrection before Congress certifies
Biden’s win
Inquirer
by Julia Terruso, Jonathan Tamari, Andrew Seidman, Rob Tornoe, Robert Moran, Oona
Goodin-Smith, Ellie Rushing, Laura McCrystal and Anna Orso 4:07 AM - January 7, 2021
What began
as a congressional debate over the
integrity of the 2020 election
in Pennsylvania and other battleground states ended with
lawmakers huddled on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, tear gas
wafting through the soaring Rotunda, and attackers — American attackers —
smashing their way through House and Senate chamber doors. Security staff
barricaded themselves inside the House chamber, aiming pistols through the shattered
windowpanes in the doors, as the mob pressed from outside, attempting to
overturn a democratic election. Frightened lawmakers, donning protective masks,
shuffled alongside armed guards as they evacuated down hallways, while Trump
supporters paraded just steps away with Confederate battle flags. Someone stood
a noose outside the Capitol building. The D.C. Metropolitan Police reported
that a woman was fatally shot by police inside the Capitol and three others
died in the immediate area from medical emergencies. More than 50 people were
arrested. Police eventually cleared out the Trump supporters and Congress
reconvened to proceed with certifying the Electoral College victory of
President-elect Joe Biden. Congress certified Biden’s victory early Thursday morning.
Vice President Mike Pence, resisting pressure from Trump to thwart Biden’s win,
finalized the Electoral College vote tally, 306-232, and declared Biden the
winner at 3:39 a.m. Trump said there will be “an orderly transition on January
20th,” the closest he has come to conceding the race.
Read more of
our coverage of today’s events:
Pa. Lawmakers condemn
insurrection at US Capitol, but some don’t demand a stop to the violence
Republican
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, one of President Trump’s earliest and most loyal
supporters, tweeted “this must stop now."
WITF by Lucy
Perkins/WESA JANUARY 7, 2021 | 5:33 AM
(Pittsburgh)
— Many Pennsylvania elected officials have spoken out against the insurrection
in the U.S.
Capitol Wednesday. But the strength of their denunciations
varied — and some public figures even appear to have joined the mob in
Washington, D.C. Pro-Trump extremists stormed the Capitol to protest the
certification of the Electoral College results, which will formally declare Joe
Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Republican U.S. Rep.
Mike Kelly, one of President Trump’s earliest and most loyal supporters, tweeted “this must stop now.” Kelly, who
represents the 16th District in northwestern Pennsylvania, said he recognized
that “there is a lot of anger over this election and what’s happening in
America” but asked that disputes be resolved peacefully.
76ers coach Doc
Rivers on U.S. Capitol attack: ‘Could you imagine ... if those were all Black
people storming the Capitol?’
Rivers noted
the differences in law enforcement’s response at the Capitol to the many Black
Lives Matter protests this summer.
Inquirer by Keith Pompey Published Jan 6, 2021
Doc Rivers
was candid while discussing Wednesday’s attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Donald Trump. The mob stormed the Capitol while attempting an insurrection, and the
building was put into lockdown. The attack forced Congress to halt its session
to certify the Electoral College results and confirm Joe Biden’s election as
president. It took more than three hours after the insurrectionists broke into
the Capitol for police to clear the steps of the building. While retreating
into the lawn, mob members shouted, among other things, “This is just the
beginning.”Congress reconvened and certified Biden’s win Thursday morning. Rivers, the 76ers coach, noticed the
differences in law enforcement’s response at the Capitol to the many Black
Lives Matter protests this summer. Police officers at the Capitol were
sometimes subdued against the Trump supporters, some of whom breached the
building. Rivers compared those police tactics with others, which included
violence, against BLM protesters.
World reaction to the
storming of the US Capitol
Associated Press
January 7, 2021
Reaction
from around the world to the storming of the U.S. Capitol by supporters of
President Donald Trump:
“A
fundamental rule of democracy is that, after elections, there are winners and
losers. Both have to play their role with decency and responsibility so that
democracy itself remains the winner. ... President Trump regrettably has not
conceded his defeat since November, and didn’t yesterday either, and of course
that has prepared the atmosphere in which such events, such violent events, are
possible.” — German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“What is
happening is wrong. Democracy — the right of people to exercise a vote, have
their voice heard and then have that decision upheld peacefully — should never
be undone by a mob.” — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
“What
happened today in Washington, D.C., is not America, definitely. We believe in
the strength of our democracies, we believe in the strength of American
democracy.” — French President Emmanuel Macron.
“American
democracy is obviously limping on both feet. ... This, alas, is actually the
bottom. I say this without a shadow of gloating. America no longer charts a
course and therefore has lost all rights to set it — and even more so to impose
it on others.” — Konstantin Kosachev, head of the foreign affairs committee in
Russia’s upper house of parliament.
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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