Monday, January 18, 2021

PA Ed Policy Roundup for January 18, 2021: This article should be required reading for new Pennsylvania legislators & staff: .Virtual Reality: Cyber Charter Schools and The Need for Reform

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.

 

These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org

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If any of your colleagues would like to be added to the email list please have them send their name, title and affiliation to KeystoneStateEdCoalition@gmail.com

  

Keystone State Education Coalition

PA Ed Policy Roundup for January 18, 2021

This article should be required reading for new Pennsylvania legislators & staff: .Virtual Reality: Cyber Charter Schools and The Need for Reform

 

Chester Upland: In Pennsylvania, The Dismantling of a Public School System

Forbes by Peter Greene Senior Contributor Jan 15, 2021,10:34am EST|2 views

As the new year begins, one Pennsylvania public school district faces the prospect of being completely dismantled and handed over to charter operators. Chester-Upland School District is poised to become an example of what can happen to a public school district that needs assistance and gets nothing but trouble instead. CUSD has weathered every sort of challenge a district can face, but may now be on its last legs, about to make history as the first Pennsylvania district to be completely privatized.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/01/15/in-pennsylvania-the-dismantling-of-a-public-school-system/?sh=26261f7d71b1

 

Here's some related PA Ed Policy Roundup history...

https://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2020/10/pa-ed-policy-roundup-for-oct-22-another.html

http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2019/07/pa-ed-policy-roundup-july-16-2019.html

https://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2011/06/follow-money-contributions-by-vahan.html

 

This article should be required reading for new Pennsylvania legislators & staff:

Virtual Reality: Cyber Charter Schools and The Need for Reform

Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly, January 2021 By SUSAN L. DEJARNATT, Philadelphia County Member of the Pennsylvania Bar

Susan L. DeJarnatt is a Professor of Law at Temple University Beasley School of Law.

ABSTRACT Pennsylvania needs to reform its system for funding cyber charter schools. The fourteen cyber charters draw students and tuition dollars from nearly every public school district across the state, but those districts have no say in authorizing or overseeing cyber charters. Though the cybers are a financial drain on the districts, they are money makers for their operators due to weaknesses in the Charter School Law. First, the Charter School Law (CSL) directs the districts to remit the exact same per pupil funding to a cyber charter as they do to a bricks and mortar charter, even though the costs of running a cyber are much lower. Second, the per pupil payment a district must provide to the charter is based on the per pupil spending of that sending district, not on the charter’s cost to educate the student. Finally, cybers, like all charters, receive much higher payments for students with special education needs, but cybers, like all charters, have no obligation to spend that extra money on special education. The CLS should be revised to account for the true costs of operating cyber charter schools and to provide for a voice for districts in the oversight and accountability of these programs.

https://www.pabar.org/pdf/2021/PBA-Quarterly-CyberCharterSchools.pdf

 

AFTPA, PFT Leaders Call for Elected Officials to Return Yass Donations

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers Press Release JANUARY 15, 2021

PHILADELPHIA— In response to new reporting showing that Jeffrey Yass funded efforts to overturn the 2020 election, AFT Pennsylvania President Arthur Steinberg, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers President Jerry Jordan, and Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers President Nina Esposito-Visgitis issued the following statement:

“For years, billionaire Jeffrey Yass has funded efforts to destroy public education. In fact, in 2015, he and two of his associates poured millions into a failed Philadelphia mayoral bid that only served to galvanize the city’s commitment to public education. Elected officials in Pennsylvania continue to benefit from enormous contributions from Students First and their various political arms, almost exclusively funded by Mr. Yass and his Susquehanna Group colleagues. “Today, reporting emerged that further exposed Yass’ political agenda, noting that he and his associates backed efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which as we all know, was carried out to the letter of the law. “Knowing that Mr. Yass’ agenda extends beyond his disgraceful attacks on public education, and in fact to the heart of our democracy, should shock every elected official who has received his generous funding in the name of ‘school choice.’ “We call on any elected official who believes in democracy to immediately return any contributions from Mr. Yass or his affiliated political committees.”###

https://pft.org/aftpapftjan152021/

 

Diagram of Yass’ Donations and Related PACS in 2020

Philly Power Research October 2020

https://twitter.com/lfeinberg/status/1350447963714285568/photo/1

 

“Public records show the Club for Growth’s largest funders are the billionaire Richard Uihlein, the Republican co-founder of the Uline shipping supply company in Wisconsin, and Jeffrey Yass, the co-founder of Susquehanna International Group, an options trading group based in Philadelphia that also owns a sports betting company in Dublin. While Uihlein and Yass have kept a lower profile than other billionaire donors such as Michael Bloomberg and the late Sheldon Adelson, their backing of the Club for Growth has helped to transform the organization from one traditionally known as an anti-regulatory and anti-tax pro-business pressure group to one that backs some of the most radical and anti-democratic Republican lawmakers in Congress.”

Billionaires backed Republicans who sought to reverse US election results

Guardian analysis shows Club for Growth has spent $20m supporting 42 rightwing lawmakers who voted to invalidate Biden victory

The Club for Growth’s biggest beneficiaries include Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, the duo who led the effort to overturn the election result.

The Guardian by Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington @skirchy Fri 15 Jan 2021 05.00 EST

An anti-tax group funded primarily by billionaires has emerged as one of the biggest backers of the Republican lawmakers who sought to overturn the US election results, according to an analysis by the Guardian. The Club for Growth has supported the campaigns of 42 of the rightwing Republicans senators and members of the House of Representatives who voted last week to challenge US election results, doling out an estimated $20m to directly and indirectly support their campaigns in 2018 and 2020, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. About 30 of the Republican hardliners received more than $100,000 in indirect and direct support from the group. The Club for Growth’s biggest beneficiaries include Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz, the two Republican senators who led the effort to invalidate Joe Biden’s electoral victory, and the newly elected far-right gun-rights activist Lauren Boebert, a QAnon conspiracy theorist. Boebert was criticised last week for tweeting about the House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s location during the attack on the Capitol, even after lawmakers were told not to do so by police.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/15/trump-republicans-election-defeat-club-for-growth?CMP=share_btn_tw

 

Pa. schools to receive $2.2 billion in federal aid to deal with COVID-19 impact

Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated Jan 15, 4:02 PM; Posted Jan 15, 3:51 PM

Pennsylvania schools can now start applying for a share of the $2.2 billion in federal stimulus funds being made available to public schools to assist them in navigating through the affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and help them and their students recover from its impacts. The money will be distributed in monthly allotments to school districts, charter schools and cyber charter schools using the same formula Congress uses to drive out Title I-A formula, which takes into account the number of low-income students. The state is choosing not to make any money available to non-public schools, according to information on the department’s website.

The estimated allocation for districts and charter schools can be found on its website. 

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/01/pa-schools-to-receive-22-billion-in-federal-aid-to-deal-with-covid-19-impact.html

 

Blogger Commentary:

According to PDE, Cyber Charters are slated to get $49 million in ESSER II funding. What reimbursable PPE, technology, reopening or student learning loss costs do they have?

Preliminary ESSER II Allocations for Cyber Charters January 2021

Cyber Charter School

LEA Share of ESSER II Funds

Achievement House CS

$665,155.00

Agora Cyber CS

$9,053,723.00

Achievement House CS

$665,155.00

Central PA Digital Learning Foundation CS

$125,369.00

Commonwealth Charter Academy CS

$13,034,768.00

Esperanza Cyber CS

$1,651,346.00

Insight Pa Cyber CS

$2,680,336.00

Pennsylvania Cyber CS

$10,616,296.00

Pennsylvania Distance Learning CS

$1,017,794.00

Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School

$2,770,186.00

Pennsylvania Virtual CS

$2,531,909.00

Reach Cyber CS

$4,349,471.00

Total

$49,161,508.00

Susq-Cyber CS

not listed

21st Century Cyber CS

not listed

Data Source: PDE Website

 

https://www.education.pa.gov/Schools/safeschools/emergencyplanning/COVID-19/CARESAct/January2021/Pages/default.aspx

 

The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER II) delivers more than$2.2 billion in emergency relief to Pennsylvania’s school districts and charter schools. Anticipated federal dollars for each PA school district, charter school and cyber charter….

ESSER II Fund Allocations

PDE Website January 15, 2021

Preliminary 2020-21 LEA allocations from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (Winter Award) appear below. Preliminary allocations are based on LEA share of Preliminary FY 20-21 State-Determined Title I Calculated Allocation (based on entire award amount to LEAs with no state admin set aside).

https://www.education.pa.gov/Schools/safeschools/emergencyplanning/COVID-19/CARESAct/January2021/Pages/Allocations.aspx

 

Public Schools Facing Deficits Amid Surge In Cyber Students

Butler Radio Posted By: Tyler Friel on: January 15, 2021

Public schools across Pennsylvania are facing significant financial issues as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of main drivers of budget concerns center around the funding of charter schools. More students enrolled in cyber charter schools this year, which are funded partially by public schools. According to a new report from the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, the 500 public schools in the Keystone State have paid charter schools $475 million this school year. Specifically, cyber charter schools have received $350 million in funding. Locally, this issue has been raised by school districts like Mars, which has indicated a nearly $1.3 million looming budget shortfall due to increased enrollment in cyber charter schools.

https://butlerradio.com/public-schools-facing-deficits-amid-surge-in-cyber-students/

 

Senator Lindsey M. Williams Named Minority Chair of Senate Education Committee; Announces Priorities For 2021-22 Session

Senator Williams Website January 15, 2021

Harrisburg, Pa. − January 15, 2021 − Senator Lindsey M. Williams announced today that she has been named the Democratic Minority Chair of the Senate Education Committee for the 2021-22 Session by Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa (D-Allegheny). Senator Williams will serve along with Majority Chair Senator Scott Martin (R-Lancaster). Senator Williams previously served as the only Freshman Democratic Senator on the Education Committee during the 2019-2020 Session.   “I am honored to be named Education Chair by Senator Costa,” said Senator Williams. “Working families across the Commonwealth struggle with education issues, from finding an affordable high-quality pre-k program through managing higher education costs. We need to support our students, educators, staff, families, and communities as they continue to navigate learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m excited to get to work.”

Senator Williams’ top priorities for the Senate Education Committee during the 2021-22 Session include:

  • Preventing or limiting property tax increases through charter school funding reform;
  • Engaging students as primary stakeholders in education to hear their viewpoints on how proposed legislation will impact their learning experience;
  • Improving access to high quality pre-K and childcare programs across the Commonwealth;
  • Providing much needed supports for our educators;
  • Working with our community colleges, technical schools and PA State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) schools to create a Pennsylvania system of public higher education that properly funds our institutions and reduces student borrowing costs;
  • Increasing support for Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs;
  • Creating a Task Force to develop curriculum standards that integrate Black History throughout the K-12 education experience;
  • Increasing mental health support for Pennsylvania students by decreasing the counselor to student ratio in all buildings;
  • Continuing funding summer school programs that allow students to be engaged in education year-round;
  • Ensuring that Special Education and Alternative Education students are given the equitable resources that they need to succeed and thrive;
  • Promoting the adoption of the community schools model in districts across Pennsylvania;
  • Addressing the statewide teacher shortage; and
  • Improving the communication between the Department of Education and our school districts and local school board members.

###

https://www.senatorlindseywilliams.com/williams-named-minority-chair-of-senate-education-committee/

 

Pa. state senator dies from brain cancer at age 49

Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated Jan 17, 2021; Posted Jan 17, 2021

Pennsylvania Sen. Dave Arnold died Sunday at home with his wife and daughter by his side, ending a 15-month battle with brain cancer. Arnold was 49 years old. He took the oath of office last January to represent the 48th senatorial district, which covers all of Lebanon County and parts of Dauphin and York counties. At the time, he said he considered it an honor to be given the opportunity to “work for the public and to do things for the benefit of the public.”

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/01/pa-senator-dies-from-brain-cancer-at-age-49.html

 

Despite challenges, Martin Luther King’s legacy lives on at namesake school in Philadelphia

Chalkbeat Philly By Johann Calhoun  Jan 15, 2021, 8:36pm EST

Khym Lawson remembers when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, and recalls the widespread grief and riots that followed in Philadelphia. “I remember we lived on 26th Street in North Philadelphia and all the people were outside,” she said. “I was at home watching TV and remember how upset people were.” Lawson, who is the president of the Associated Alumni of Martin Luther King High School, graduated from the school in 1979 in its third graduating class. She’s proud to be a graduate of a school named for the civil rights hero. Every year around Jan. 15, King’s birthday, educators across the United States honor his legacy by teaching about civil rights leaders and holding larger discussions about race in America and Black Lives Matter. This year, with the unrest following the deaths of unarmed Black men at the hands of police and the racist rhetoric of the 2020 election, those conversations are taking on heightened importance — particularly at King’s namesake school in West Oak Lane.

https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/1/15/22233376/despite-challenges-martin-luther-kings-legacy-lives-on-at-namesake-school-in-philadelphia

 

With pandemic and national unrest, MLK Day of Service takes on new meaning

WHYY By Ximena Conde January 17, 2021

When Germantown resident Matthew George organized street cleanups across Philadelphia for Sunday as an MLK Day of Service event, he didn’t anticipate the country would be keeping an eye on state capitals for possible “armed protesters” falsely claiming malfeasance in the 2020 election. “That’s unfortunate, but that gives us a chance to revitalize [Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s] mission and keep that dream alive,” said George, co-founder of I Love Thy Hood. Since summer 2019, the program has provided block captains and other neighborhood volunteers with bright orange trash cans and garbage bags in an effort to combat the city’s litter problem. Sunday’s garbage cleanups took place in Germantown, North Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, and Kensington. Still, for some of the more than 60 volunteers spread across Chelten Avenue, one of Germantown’s commercial corridors, Sunday’s acts of service felt different — carried more weight, even — within the context of the past year.

https://whyy.org/articles/with-pandemic-and-national-unrest-mlk-day-of-service-takes-on-new-meaning/

 

“The school district pays more than $4 million per year in tuition for charter school students, he said, and there has been an increase this year in the number of district students enrolled in cyber charter schools. The tuition paid is the same, regardless of whether the charter school student is enrolled in a brick and mortar charter school or a cyber charter school. The rate for Souderton Area students enrolled in a charter school is $13,088.69 for regular education students and $32,918.82 for special education students, Pawling said in answer to an emailed question for this article.  Districts with their own cyber school programs, however, have shown that the costs are much less than the rates set for the cyber charter schools, Superintendent Frank Gallagher said. The district's cost for its Souderton Area Online Academy cyber program is $2,000 to $3,000 per student, he said. "It has to stop. If we can do it for two or $3,000 properly, there's no reason we should be paying what I think are exorbitant rates," board President Ken Keith said later in the meeting.”

First look at Souderton Area School District budget for 2021-2022 shows 3 percent tax hike, $6.6 million gap

Souderton Independent By Bob Keeler bkeeler@21st-centurymedia.com @bybobkeeler on Twitter Jan 14, 2021 Updated Jan 15, 2021

FRANCONIA — The first look at what will become Souderton Area School District's 2021-2022 budget is a starting point with a lot of work remaining before a final vote in June, district officials said at the board's Jan. 13 Finance Committee meeting. That starting point increases property taxes by 3 percent, this year's state cap, along with showing almost $6.6 million more expenses than revenue, Director of Business Affairs Brian Pawling said.  A three percent tax hike would be the largest in years for the district which increased taxes .91% for the 2020-2021 budget and has only had a tax hike of more than 1 percent twice in the past seven years.

https://www.montgomerynews.com/soudertonindependent/news/first-look-at-souderton-area-school-district-budget-for-2021-2022-shows-3-percent-tax/article_d313070c-56a9-11eb-a1a4-a7e79002d29d.html

 

Avon Grove Charter to host town hall on fair funding

West Chester Daily Local Opinion by Kristen Bishop Jan 15, 2021

Kristen Bishop is Superintendent of the Avon Grove Charter School

It is hard to imagine another moment in history when the importance of education has been more apparent throughout our communities. It doesn’t matter if your children go to public school districts, public charter schools, or private schools. It has never been clearer to see that schools play an essential role in our local community’s social, economic, and political prosperity and stability. Now is the time for us adults to come together and collectively problem-solve fair solutions for our educational system so that we can emerge from this crisis stronger than ever. Our children depend on it. The Daily Local News printed an article quoting extensively from Mr. Fisher, President of the Coatesville Area School District Board. First, Mr. Fisher claims that “Charter schools are not held to the same standard as public schools, and are not required to provide the same level of public accountability as a public school district.” Public charter schools are accountable to the same standard as public school districts. I would argue that we are held to a higher degree of accountability because our students choose our schools and can leave at any time if we do not serve them well.

https://www.dailylocal.com/opinion/avon-grove-charter-to-host-town-hall-on-fair-funding/article_abf75520-577a-11eb-8b30-5ffa08fb4364.html

 

Over 2,000 Allentown School District homes to get free internet in partnership with T-Mobile

By MARGIE PETERSON THE MORNING CALL | JAN 18, 2021 AT 6:00 AM

Allentown School District is partnering with T-Mobile to make sure children of all backgrounds have reliable access to the internet, which has become especially vital during the pandemic as ASD students take classes entirely online. At Thursday’s school board committee-meeting-of-the-whole held remotely, it was announced that ASD will tap into T-Mobile’s 10 Million Project, enabling 2,025 households in the district to receive high-speed internet access with wireless hot spots and free unlimited data. The access plan is expected to be available to the district for five years. ASD Superintendent Thomas Parker hailed the partnership as an important step in reducing “the digital divide” in which well-off students have laptops and consistent internet service while low-income kids do not.

https://www.mcall.com/news/local/allentown/mc-nws-allentown-schools-hot-spots-20210118-22lcoduk4bbonlssqxcboncvr4-story.html

 

Wake up. Eat. Zoom. Repeat: The daily struggle of virtual high school | Opinion

None of us has to pretend that virtual school is normal or easy.

by Amani Rivers, For the Inquirer Published  Jan 15, 2021

Amani Rivers is a junior at William Penn Charter School and a participant in the Acel Moore High School Journalism Workshop, which first published a version of this article.

Wake up, eat breakfast, join Zoom meetings. Eat lunch, join more Zoom meetings, sleep. Ditto the following day and the remaining days of any given week. This happens to be a typical schedule for most Philadelphian high school students who have been confined to their homes during the global pandemic. For many of us, it can be stressful to wake up and go through the same uneventful routine each day. As a junior at William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, it would be an understatement to say I have found virtual school difficult. It may not appear as though high school students have been struggling with online classes, but remote learning comes with an array of issues, students everywhere feeling the weighted impact. “People think online school is easier than the actual experience,” said Anthony Rivers Jr., a junior at LaSalle College High School in Wyndmoor. “In reality, I would rather wake up every morning and spend eight hours in a building with 500 people rather than spending eight hours in my room in front of a computer screen.”

https://fusion.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/virtual-high-school-coronavirus-pandemic-philadelphia-pennsylvania-20210115.html

 

School District of Lancaster students to return to classroom Jan. 25; virtual options available

Lancaster Online by ROBYN MEADOWS | LNP CORRESPONDENT January 17, 2021

After months of virtual instruction, School District of Lancaster students will return to the classroom on Jan. 25. On Tuesday, the school board approved a plan that allows students to choose from three options:

1. Attend class in-person for five days a week for a full day.

2. Learn virtually from home via Zoom along with students who choose in-person instruction.

3. Enroll in the district’s virtual school, Cyber Pathways Academy.

The board split the plan into three separate votes for elementary, middle and high school.

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/school-district-of-lancaster-students-to-return-to-classroom-jan-25-virtual-options-available/article_88ed11e8-55ac-11eb-9b24-5fb5995db891.html

 

Pottstown May Delay Return to In-Person Classes

Digital Notebook by Evan Brandt Friday, January 15, 2021

A hybrid return to classes in the Pottstown School District may be delayed beyond January.

During a school board workshop session Thursday, Superintendent Stephen Rodriguez updated the board on the latest developments and a majority indicated support for maintaining the current cyber-learning program through the end of the third marking period. It was just a straw vote, but a formal vote on the decision is likely to come at the next board meeting scheduled for Jan. 21. "The cons are not alleviated enough to justify going back," said Board Vice President Katina Bearden. "There are too many cons for too few pros" to justify returning to in-person learning, said board member Raymond rose. In November, the school board tentatively decided students and staff would not return to in-person education, with the exception of special education and some pilot programs, until at least January.

http://evan-brandt.blogspot.com/2021/01/pottstown-may-delay-return-to-in-person.html

 

Democracy Needs to Be Taught in School

If ever there was a moment to revive civics instruction, isn’t this it?

Bloomberg Opinion By Andrea Gabor January 14, 2021, 10:00 AM EST

Last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol may have been incited by President Donald Trump and right-wing politicians, but it was supported by millions of their followers. News reports and public opinion polls make it clear that many Americans believe evidence-free assertions by Trump and his allies of massive voter fraud in the November election and their lies about the power of public officials to overturn the result. The riot was just the latest and most appalling evidence that a wide swath of the American public doesn’t understand democratic norms. That’s why it should serve as a sputnik moment for an ambitious revival of civics instruction along with expanded training in news literacy. Nobody’s claiming that the violent extremism on display on Jan. 6 owes its rise mainly to the decades-long de-emphasis of U.S. classroom civics. But it should be a clue that civics is too important to relegate to a semester or two of high school or to sacrifice to other curricular goals. It needs to be woven throughout the K-12 curriculum and go beyond rote instruction in the three-branch structure of the U.S. government, how a bill becomes law and the ins-and-outs of the electoral college.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-14/classroom-civics-revival-can-help-heal-u-s-democracy

 

Allentown School District to become first in state to take advantage of program using cameras to catch school bus stop sign scofflaws

By MARGIE PETERSON THE MORNING CALL | JAN 15, 2021 AT 12:57 PM

Olivia Clark-Ortiz of Allentown was allowed to stay up past her bedtime Thursday night to celebrate an important lesson: One person’s fight for change can produce a powerful good that reverberates across her community and the state. That person would be Olivia’s mother, Amber Clark, who first approached the Allentown School Board in October 2017 about the problem of speeding drivers zooming past stopped school buses while children are getting on or off. In one instance, Clark had to yank her small daughter out of the way as Olivia tried to board a bus on Allen Street between 14th and 15th streets before kindergarten classes at Arts Academy Elementary Charter School. That experience spurred Clark to launch a campaign to get stop-arm cameras on school buses in Pennsylvania by allowing districts to partner with companies that install and operate the cameras at no cost to districts. The companies recoup the expense through fines on the scofflaw drivers that ignore the buses’ flashing lights and stop-arm. Clark worked with state Sen. Pat Browne, a Lehigh County Republican who co-wrote legislation establishing the program. Gov. Tom Wolf signed it into law July 1.

https://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-nws-asd-bus-cameras-20210115-cwpkazpinbfm3b4moqfwa3s4a4-story.html

 

“After decades of federal legislation that emphasized mandating standardized testing and tying school and teacher evaluations to the scores; imposing financial austerity on public institutions; incentivizing various forms of privatization; and undermining teachers' professionalism and labor rights, there is a keen appetite for a new direction for school policy.”

Joe Biden has a golden opportunity to strengthen public education

Alternet by  Jeff Bryant January 14, 2021

In picking Connecticut Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona to be his nominee for U.S. secretary of education, President-elect Joe Biden appears to have made a Goldilocks choice that pleases just about everyone. People who rarely agree on education policy have praised the decision, including Jeanne Allen, CEO of the Center for Education Reform, a nonprofit group that advocates for charter schools and school choice, who called Cardona "good news," and education historian Diane Ravitch, who also called the pick "good news" because he does not seem to be aligned with advocates for charter schools and vouchers. Sara Sneed, president and CEO of the NEA Foundation, a public charity founded by educators, called Cardona an "ideal candidate," in an email, and hailed him for "his emphasis on the need to end structural racism in education and for his push for greater educational equity and opportunity through public schools."

But as Biden and Cardona—should he be approved, as most expect—begin to address the array of critical issues that confront the nation's schools, there's bound to be more of a pushback. Or maybe not?

https://www.alternet.org/2021/01/joe-biden-education/?fbclid=IwAR0PXJOsi5gkd_0fTQZK-TnJtP8e7ac6MwPh-b7yHSaAsjK3ZdbJ6pB0cTs

 

John Coltrane - Naima (Take 2 / Audio) “Blue World”

YouTube 16,676 views •Sep 27, 2019

Music video by John Coltrane performing Naima (Take 2 / Audio). © 2019 UMG Recordings, Inc. Check out John Coltrane’s previously unreleased album “Blue World” recorded at Van Gelder Studios in 1964

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O5JpesJwHE&list=OLAK5uy_kk4jsX5ObgxeKLCuNBxpsP9TFlX0s96Zo

 

 

PA SCHOOLS WORK: New Tools for Public Education Advocates in PA

Thu, Jan 21, 2021 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST

PA Schools Work partner Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials will hold a digital workshop to roll out their new suite of tools on their Data Dive website to show parents, educators, and public education advocates how they can use the site (including interactive data maps and graphic visualizations) when talking to other members of their community, legislators, media, etc. Don't miss this first-look at these innovative tools for PA public school advocates!

Register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register

 

Attend the NSBA 2021 Online Experience April 8-10

NSBA is pleased to announce the transformation of its in-person NSBA 2021 Annual Conference & Exposition to the NSBA 2021 Online Experience. This experience will bring world-class programming, inspirational keynotes, top education solution providers, and plentiful networking opportunities. Join us on April 8-10, 2021, for a fully transformed and memorable event!

https://www.nsba.org/Events/NSBA-2021-Online-Experience

 

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/

 

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

 

339 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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