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 25, 2021
WATCH: Amanda Gorman reads inauguration poem, 'The Hill We Climb'
PBS
NewsHour YouTube 1,130,041 views •Jan 20, 2021
Amanda Gorman, a 22-year-old poet, read an original work at President Joe
Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ055ilIiN4&feature=youtu.be
Surfing that charter
school wave | Editorial Cartoon
Editorial
Cartoon by John Cole, Cagle Syndicate Capital-Star
Op-Ed Contributor January 23, 2021
https://www.penncapital-star.com/blog/surfing-that-charter-school-wave-editorial-cartoon/
“Charter schools are a choice every
parent has the right to make. But the current system puts an undue financial burden
on every taxpayer, who does not have a choice.”
"The purpose of this resolution is
to ask for a more fair funding formula for charter school education, and
especially cyber charter education," Bolton said in a telephone interview.
Under the state formula, Pennridge has to pay $13,385.78 of tuition for regular
education students enrolled in a charter school this year even though the
district offers a “very successful” cyber program that costs about $5,000 per
student, Bolton said. The PSBA resolution "calls upon the General Assembly
to meaningfully revise the existing flawed charter school funding systems for
regular and special education to ensure that school districts and taxpayers are
no longer overpaying these schools or reimbursing for costs the charter schools
do not incur."
Editorial: School
budget season resurrects charter reform
Pottstown
Mercury Editorial Jan 24, 2021
School
budget numbers for next year are starting to come into focus, and it’s not a
pretty picture. In just the North Penn-Souderton-Pennridge region, projected
deficits in the first budget drafts range from $6.6 million in Souderton to
$15.5 million in North Penn. In all three districts, tuition to charter schools
was cited as a large factor in the expense gaps, increasing as more students
disenroll from public school systems riddled with pandemic complications. Pennridge
is scheduled to vote this week on a charter school reform resolution which has
been making its way around the state since last spring. About 400 school
districts have already approved the Pennsylvania School Board Associations
resolution that asks state lawmakers to change the way it sets the rates the
districts pay those enrolled in a charter school. "This is not a
resolution that's advocating one way or another for charter schools in terms of
their existence and whether families choose that," Pennridge
Superintendent David Bolton said at the Jan. 11 meeting of the board's Finance
Committee.
Guest Column: Why are
public schools footing the bill for substandard cyber charter education?
Delco Times
Opinion By Art Levinowitz, Ph.D. Times Guest Columnist January 23, 2021
Art
Levinowitz, Ph.D., is president, Pennsylvania School Board Association, and
school director, Upper Dublin School District.
When the
COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, school districts across the nation
saw a huge increase in cyber charter school enrollment, including right here in Pennsylvania
where cyber charter school enrollment is up by 63% to 62,000 students as of October 1, 2020. This
trend should have Pennsylvania parents and taxpayers extremely concerned
because of the immediate as well as long-lasting financial and academic
implications this enrollment increase will have on school districts and their
students.
Looking
first at the financial concern; school districts can expect as much as a $350
million increase in their cyber charter tuition bills this year alone, due to
the pandemic-generated cyber charter school enrollment increases. It’s important
to keep in mind that this massive sum is only part of the overall $475 million
overall charter school tuition increase for this school year that school
districts are facing in addition to navigating through a global pandemic.
The $475
million increase in charter school tuition this school year effectively
nullifies the majority of the federal funds public schools received under the
CARES Act. This means most of those funds will not have their intended impact –
to aid our public schools in a time of crisis. Moreover, for many districts,
their Act 1 index rate will not allow for them to increase property taxes to
cover the gap in increased charter school payments, leaving hopelessly
unbalanced budgets.
In the Upper
Dublin School District, the costs for charter schools have been relatively low
compared to our neighbors. Each regular education student costs the district
$17,750 and each special education student costs the district $38,000. We have
seen a significant increase in enrollment and costs this year compared to last
year. Our overall costs for last school year were $365,250 with only 13
students attending a charter school. This year our costs are projected to be
$968,250 or an increase of $603,000 with 42 charter school students. The
$603,000 results in a .8% tax increase to offset the additional cost.
End the blame game:
officials should embrace, not attack, public cyber charter schools | Opinion
Penn Live Guest Editorial By Lenny McAllister Updated Jan 22,
2021; Posted Jan 22, 2021
Formerly
with the Commonwealth Foundation, Lenny McAllister is the CEO of the Pennsylvania
Coalition of Public Charter Schools.
In March
2020, Gov. Tom Wolf closed Pennsylvania schools because of the pandemic. Ever
since, many school districts have struggled with providing effective virtual
learning platforms. Some had issues getting students online due to internet
accessibility problems and technology deficiencies. Others struggled with gauging academic
progress and attendance. Many students missed key tests, with some
receiving blanket passing grades. Recent studies show that some 3 million
students nationally may
have dropped out of “school learning” due to these shortcomings. A report
showed that roughly
one-fourth of the third through eighth grade cohort, including a disproportionate amount of
socioeconomically challenged students, did not take specific annual academic
assessments. In Pennsylvania, these issues have cropped up for months in school
districts despite district officials telling lawmakers for years that they
could provide online academic instruction better and cheaper than public cyber
charter schools. The pandemic has proven otherwise – here at home and around
America.
Here are the members
of the PA Senate Education Committee for 2021
Pennsylvania
General Assembly Website
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/CteeInfo/index.cfm?Code=23&CteeBody=S
“A spike in enrollment at cyber charter
schools escalated already existing budget concerns for school districts. The
report said a $475 million increase in charter school tuition costs is expected
in Pennsylvania — $350 million of which is from cyber, or online, charter
enrollment. Charter school costs are one of the largest expenditures for school
districts in Pennsylvania. The Pittsburgh Public Schools, for example, will
spend about $102 million in 2021 on charter school tuition. That accounts for
about 15% of the district’s budget — the largest portion spent on anything but
staff salaries and benefits.”
Financial, operations
concerns continue in 2021 for Pa. school leaders
ANDREW
GOLDSTEIN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette agoldstein@post-gazette.com JAN 24, 2021
6:30 AM
Three
statewide professional associations earlier have released a report that says
Pennsylvania education leaders remain concerned about the continued economic
and operational challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The report
highlighted anxieties over a number of key issues, including uncertain federal
funding, increasing charter school costs and teacher shortages. “Since
March 2020, COVID-19 has disrupted school district operations to a historic
degree, the impact of which is uniformly visible in data and survey responses
even as the scope of the impact varies widely between districts,” the report,
released earlier this month, said. “From the onset of the pandemic to school
closures and from school reopening to the COVID resurgence, districts have
continued to balance safety needs with budgetary constraints in ever-changing
environments.” School superintendents and business managers filled out surveys
that provided data for the report, which was issued by the
Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, the Pennsylvania
Association of School Administrators and the Pennsylvania Association of
Rural and Small Schools. In addition to the surveys, the report was also
informed by statistics from PASBO’s 2019-20 Annual Financial Report.
CHOP doctors endorse
return to in-person school in Philly area
WHYY By Miles Bryan January 22, 2021
One of
Philadelphia’s most prominent experts on how to handle schooling during the
pandemic said Friday that going to school may actually reduce a child’s risk of
catching the coronavirus. Dr. Susan Coffin is a professor of infectious
diseases at the University of Pennsylvania, and a doctor at the Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Her remarks came during a virtual roundtable,
hosted by CHOP’s PolicyLab, on what to expect for the remainder of the school
year. “Schools may be little islands of safety,” Coffin said. “Where the people
who gather, if they gather in good conscience and committed to safety plans,
[can] go about their day as safely as the community, but even more safely.” That
claim was supported by data she has reviewed, Coffin said, and by the experience
of Rhode Island, which bucked the example of most northeastern states by
beginning the school year with most students in classrooms and staying the
course as community transmission has risen.
https://whyy.org/articles/chop-doctors-endorse-return-to-in-person-school-in-philly-area/
The wait for a
vaccine has frustrated teachers and slowed school reopening plans
“We’ve spent
a year now hearing ... ‘Kids have to be in school. It’s a priority,’” said
Garnet Valley School District Superintendent Marc Bertrando. “Now, all of a
sudden, it’s not a priority.”
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, and Kristen
A. Graham Published
Jan 23, 2021
Garnet
Valley School District Superintendent Marc Bertrando was thrilled when he
learned local health officials planned to start vaccinating Delaware County
teachers against the coronavirus in February, with clinics at four schools over
consecutive weekends. In March, educators would get the second doses required
to complete inoculation — enabling schools like Bertrando’s to open more fully
for in-person instruction this spring. There was just one problem: The county
didn’t have the doses to move forward, officials said. As the pandemic
continues to disrupt education — with many area schools offering in-person
instruction only part-time or operating entirely online — it’s unclear when
teachers around the Philadelphia region will be vaccinated. That’s adding uncertainty
to when life will return to something resembling normal for children, their
parents, and the broader community.
Uncertainty reigns
with Philadelphia teachers getting vaccine
Here’s what
we know about the distribution plan
Chalkbeat
Philly By Dale
Mezzacappa and Johann Calhoun Jan 22, 2021, 7:12pm EST
Mayor Jim
Kenney says he wants schools to open as soon as possible, telling City Council
on Thursday that children are suffering and reopening is “the next challenge
facing our city.” Superintendent William Hite agrees, and plans to announce
next week a limited reopening plan for kindergarten through second grade
students that could begin sometime in February. But it’s unclear if teachers
will be able to get vaccinated before they return to school buildings. For now,
most school workers cannot sign up to get a vaccine. Although they are in group
1B, which the city is currently
prioritizing, they are in line behind others in that
group, including firefighters, police officers, prison guards, and transit workers,
and it’s not yet clear when teachers will be able to make a vaccine
appointment. Why is this? One reason is that city data shows that schools have
not been the source of significant spread of COVID-19, based on the experience
of more than 100 private and parochial schools that have continued to operate
in person during the pandemic. “The health department has never recommended
that (at least younger aged) schools in Philadelphia be closed,” said health
department spokesman James Garrow in an email. “We have maintained that as long
as they implement safety protocols, they can safely operate.”
Greater Latrobe
School District starts vaccinating staff, sees ‘light at the end of the tunnel’
JACOB TIERNEY | Saturday, January
23, 2021 3:03 p.m.
The Greater
Latrobe School District staff members who lined up Saturday to get covid
vaccines said the shots gave them a glimmer of hope that the pandemic could be
nearing its end. “I was thrilled,” said Renee Gyory, a secretary and one of the
first district employees to be vaccinated. “It’s positive; it’s what we need.
The sooner everyone’s vaccinated, the sooner we can move on with normal life.” The
district vaccinated 200 employees Saturday, with hopes to vaccinate about 200
more next week.
Parents with
disabilities face extra hurdles with kids’ remote schooling
WHYY/NPR By Kristin Gourlay January 24,
2021
The Americans
with Disabilities Act says
schools have to help not just students but parents with disabilities, too, like
making sure deaf or blind parents can communicate during parent-teacher
conferences. But what happens when kids are learning at home? That’s uncharted
territory. Rosabella Manzanares, a first-grader at Betsy Ross Elementary in
Forest Park, Ill., has a spelling test. Like so many kids around the country,
she’s taking the test at home, sharing a Zoom screen with a class full of other
boisterous 6-year-olds. Rosabella’s teacher relies on parents to grade simple
assignments like this. But while Rosabella can hear the spelling words, her
mother can not. Chantelly Manzanares uses American Sign Language, or ASL, which
is different than English. It’s a visual language. It has its own grammar. It
uses different sentence structure. Rosabella and her siblings grew up using
ASL. But while they’ve become fluent in English, Manzanares is not. She can grade
this spelling test, which Rosabella holds up to the screen with a big smile.
But it can be tough for Manzanares to help with other work in English.
Which Centre County
schools are operating remotely due to COVID-19? Here’s a running list
Centre Daily
Times BY MARLEY
PARISH JANUARY 22, 2021 08:32 AM, UPDATED
JANUARY 22, 2021 11:28 AM
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
School District of
Lancaster students to return to classroom Jan. 25; virtual options available
Lancaster
Online by ROBYN MEADOWS | LNP CORRESPONDENT January 24, 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. Board member David Parry opposed allowing high school students to
return to the classroom, citing fears of an increase in COVID-19 infections. “Right
now, we have 1,400 kids failing at least one course,” district Superintendent
Damaris Rau said in response to Perry’s concern. “We have over 1,000 kids
failing two courses, and 506 failing three courses. “This is its own pandemic,”
Rau said. “You talk about inequity. This is a pandemic of student failure that
we cannot let go another day.”
While studying from
home, fewer Hazleton Area students make honor roll
Lancaster
Online by Kent Jackson - Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa. (TNS) Jan 24,
2021 Updated Jan 24, 2021
Jan.
24—While studying from home during the pandemic, 460 fewer Hazleton Area
students made the honor roll during the first quarter. That's a drop of 3.85%
between this fall and last fall when students still went to classrooms because
COVID-19 hadn't started spreading. The comparison isn't perfect because the
district has gained and lost teachers since last fall, and the student body has
changed, too. Children of all ages moved in and out of the district while seniors
graduated and new pupils advanced to third grade, the youngest class eligible
for honor roll. One factor that kept students off the honor roll could be that
during the first quarter this year, all 11,498 students took academic courses
from home rather than in classrooms. "Distance learning is not for
everyone," Superintendent Brian Uplinger said in an email in which he
discussed differences in the honor roll from year to year. Instead of using
techniques that have worked in the past, he said teachers and students across
the country are innovating.
Scranton School
District recovery leads to sacrifices, financial gains in first two years
Times Tribune
BY
SARAH HOFIUS HALL STAFF WRITER Jan 24, 2021
In the two
years since the state placed the Scranton School District in financial
recovery, preschool started to end, taxes increased and teachers continued to
work without a contract. But the district has also stopped borrowing money to
balance budgets, accumulated its largest fund balance in 15 years and updated
curriculum. District leaders say becoming financially solvent takes tough
decisions and sacrifices, and correcting past mistakes will take years. But
facing a future with tax increases, school closures and without preschool or a
new teachers contract has some people questioning the steps to get there. “We
are certainly in the midst of the part of this process that will see more
sacrifice than growth, but we are setting a strong, sustainable financial
foundation,” said board President Katie Gilmartin, the last director remaining
on the board from when the district entered recovery in January 2019 and when
the board approved the plan seven months later.The coronavirus pandemic caused
some priorities to shift, such as upgrading technology and inspecting building
ventilation systems, as most staff continues to work remotely. But as in-person
education halted, progress on the plan continued.
Want kids back in
school? There’s a PAC for that
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent January 24, 2021
Throughout
the pandemic, a group of Philadelphia-area parents has been pushing local
schools to reopen for in-person learning. And now they have a political action
committee to raise money and flex their newfound political muscle. Montgomery
County mom Clarice Schillinger founded the Keeping Kids in School PAC last week, an outgrowth of an
increasingly popular Facebook page called Parents for In Person
Education. The Delaware Valley Journal first reported
on the PAC’s formation. “I kept seeing these questions over and over: How do I
run for school board? How do I help candidates run for school board,”
Schillinger said. Sensing a political tremor, the mother of two formed a PAC
— quite
possibly the first in the country explicitly tied to school
reopening. The PAC’s aim is to endorse and fund school board candidates
committed to reopening schools for in-person learning in Montgomery and Bucks
counties. Members of this same parent group have
already sued unsuccessfully to reopen schools in
Montgomery County and protested shutdown decisions.
https://whyy.org/articles/want-kids-back-in-school-theres-a-pac-for-that/
Butler County School
Board Member Wins Re-Election to PSERS Board Of Trustees
Board
Chairman and Vice Chairman also re-elected to second terms
Public
School Employees’ Retirement System Press Release Jan. 14, 2021
HARRISBURG
-- Eric DiTullio was re-elected to a new 3-year term as the School Board Member
Representative on the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System
Board of Trustees. Mr. DiTullio, an 11-year member of Butler County’s Seneca
Valley School Board, received 52% of votes cast by Pennsylvania school members
who returned ballots, according to election results certified at a public
meeting on Thursday. DiTullio’s opponent, Otto Voit III, a school board member
in Berks County’s Muhlenberg School District, garnered 48% of votes.
“I am honored
my fellow school board members have voted to give me another term to serve on
this Board,” DiTullio said. “I will endeavor to do my best as a fiduciary to
represent school board members and work to improve the System that provides
retirement benefits to public school employers.” PSERS independent election
vendor Election-America conducted the election on behalf of the System.
DiTullio’s term begins immediately and runs until Dec. 31, 2023.
https://www.media.pa.gov/Pages/Public-School-Employees-Retirement-System_details.aspx?newsid=119
Keystone Oaks
teachers say they're prepared to strike by end of January
PITTSBURGH
POST-GAZETTE JAN 22, 2021 5:15 PM
The Keystone
Oaks Education Association sent a notice Friday to Superintendent William
Stropkaj of its intent to strike if a tentative labor agreement can’t be
reached by the end of January. The strike would begin Feb. 1 with no agreement.
Education association officials said they had been negotiating with the school
district since January 2020, and that their previous contract expired June 30,
meaning that the teachers, nurses, counselors and mental health therapists
represented by the union have been working without a contract since then. Education
association officials said the membership had voted overwhelmingly Oct. 21 to
give its negotiating team authorization to call a strike.
Early Education
Department Appointees Have Links to Jill Biden, Teachers’ Unions
Education
Week By Andrew Ujifusa — January 22, 2021 4 min
read
President
Joe Biden’s administration announced a slate of new staff at the U.S.
Department of Education this week that includes first lady Jill Biden’s former
chief of staff and two prominent teachers’ union officials. Sheila Nix—who was
Jill Biden’s chief of staff in President Barack Obama’s second term and worked
in other positions for both Obama and Biden— will serve as the Education
Department’s chief of staff, the administration announced Thursday. Donna
Harris-Aikens, who served on the Biden transition team and previously worked on
policy issues for the National Education Association, will serve as a senior
advisor for policy and planning in the office of the secretary. Emma Leheny,
formerly of the NEA and the California Teachers Association, will serve as
principal deputy general counsel and acting general counsel for the Education
Department. The appointments, 12 in total, don’t cover many of the top jobs at the department, like
assistant secretaries who lead efforts in civil rights and planning,
evaluation, and policy development. But they send a strong signal about who
could be major players in Biden K-12 policy, both inside and outside the
administration.
A School District Vowed
to Stay Open, Until Its Staffing Ran Out
Nearly
11,000 people were forced to quarantine this fall in a suburban Atlanta
district that didn’t mandate masks, but it stayed the course, until a staffing
shortage shut the doors.
New York
Times By Dan Levin Jan. 21, 2021
This article
is part
of a series examining the widely different
approaches of U.S. school districts to teaching during the pandemic, and the
impact on their students. Lizzy Palermo says she was one of the few students in
her suburban Georgia high school who consistently wore a mask to classes in the
fall. But it didn’t save her from having to quarantine after the district
opened buildings in August, as students and staff members came to school with
the coronavirus. Twice, Lizzy was forced to stay home for 14 days after
exposure to infected classmates. The school closed its doors twice during the
fall. Then, just after students returned from winter break, every school in the
district shifted to remote classes as staffing shortages grew unmanageable and
the local hospital was overwhelmed. “This is what you get when you don’t try to
protect the people in the schools,” said Lizzy, 17. She attends River Ridge
High School in Cherokee County, a largely white stretch of suburbs north of
Atlanta that is among the state’s wealthiest. Despite heated opposition from
some parents and teachers, the district’s approach to the fall semester reflected
the urging of former President Donald J. Trump, who won
nearly 70 percent of the county’s vote in November, and Gov. Brian Kemp, also
a Republican: Open the schools, and keep them that way.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/21/us/coronavirus-schools-georgia.html
A viral video forced
a wealthy Texas suburb to confront racism. A 'silent majority' fought back.
Southlake is
known for its top-ranked public schools. But a heated fight over a diversity
plan has some parents questioning their future in the city.
NBC News By Mike
Hixenbaugh Jan. 22, 2021, 5:00 AM EST
Robin
Cornish was at work in the fall of 2018 when she got a text message from
another parent. It was a link to a video showing several white high school
students laughing as they filmed themselves shouting the N-word at a party. One
of the students in the video had shared it on Snapchat, and now it was going
viral. Cornish, a 51-year-old Black mother of five, recognized the girl leading
the chant as the younger sibling of one of her son’s former friends. Cornish
was upset as she watched the 8-second clip, she said, but she wasn’t surprised.
This was Southlake, Texas, after all. The elite, mostly white suburb 30 miles
northwest of Dallas has a reputation as one of the best places in the country
to raise a family, thanks in large part to its highly ranked public school
system: The Carroll Independent School District, home of the Dragons, where the
median home costs $650,000 and average SAT scores are good enough to get
students into top-tier universities. But the video
of Carroll high schoolers shouting the N-word was about to expose another side of the
fast-growing and quickly diversifying community, one that Cornish and other
Black parents quietly referred to as Southlake’s “dirty secret.”
Biden Is Vowing to
Reopen Schools Quickly. It Won’t Be Easy.
The slow
vaccine roll out, and local fights between districts and unions, could make it
hard for the president to fulfill his promise.
New York
Times By Dana Goldstein Jan. 25, 2021, 5:00 a.m. ET
In his first
48 hours in office, President Biden sought to project an optimistic message
about returning the nation’s many homebound students to classrooms. “We can
teach our children in safe schools,” he vowed in his inaugural address. The
following day, Mr. Biden signed an executive order promising to throw the
strength of the federal government behind an effort to “reopen school doors as
quickly as possible.” But with about half of American students still learning
virtually as the pandemic nears its first anniversary, the president’s push is
far from certain to succeed. His plan is rolling out just as local battles over
reopening have, if anything, become more pitched in recent weeks.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/25/us/biden-schools-reopen-coronavirus.html
EDUCATION
CONVERSATION: An Introduction to the Philadelphia School Board’s “Goals and
Guardrails” Initiative
Philadelphia
Education Fund Free Virtual Event Thursday February 4, 2021 9:00
am - 10:15 am
Attend a
typical school board meeting anywhere in the country, and the agenda will
likely be largely made up of financial, contracting, and spending resolutions.
What if, instead of school operations, a school board were to focus its
attention on student achievement? Might that accelerate gains for students?
Could that improve the student experience? Would that deliver educational
equity? Two years ago, the Philadelphia
Board of Education began consulting with education leaders across the country
to explore this question. The answer, announced just last month, is Goals and
Guardrails. The initiative has been described by former board member, Lee
Huang, as both “obvious and revolutionary.” And, Superintendent Bill Hite
called it a “game changer.” To learn more about this approach and what it might
mean for Philadelphia’s schoolchildren, register for this free event here.
Panelists
- Leticia Egea-Hinton, Vice President,
Board of Education
- Mallory Fix Lopez, Member, Board of
Education
- Angela McIver, Member, Board of
Education
PA School Funding
Lawsuit Overview for the Lehigh Valley Community
Jan 27, 2021 07:00 PM
Join
attorneys from the Public Interest Law Center and Education Law Center for an
overview of Pennsylvania's historic school funding lawsuit and learn how you
can help support the school funding Pennsylvania's children need.
Registration:
https://krc-pbpc-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwsdeqprzwoGtcpyrCS8bfh4Qet_qvthfjL
Do you know someone
who is interested in learning more about the role of a school board director?
PSBA will
host free sessions covering the core considerations for candidates who are
contemplating running for school board:
PSBA: Upcoming PA budget
recap webinar Feb. 3rd
POSTED
ON JANUARY 15, 2021 IN PSBA NEWS
On Tuesday,
February 2, Gov. Tom Wolf will present his 2021-22 state budget proposal before
a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives. Following the
governor’s budget address, the Senate and House appropriations committees will
convene hearings beginning March 15 on specific components of the proposal. The
PSBA Government Affairs team will be providing members with complete coverage
of the governor’s budget proposal, budget details and resources for school
boards on February 3 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Claim your spot for the budget
recap here.
https://www.psba.org/2021/01/gov-wolf-to-present-budget-address-february-2/
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
342 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
https://npeaction.org/2021-conference/
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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