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 27, 2021
Cyber Charter Funding
Recap; COVID Update
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
Pennsylvania’s school
funding system is broken. It is unfair and inadequate. PA ranks 44th in state
share for education.
PA Schools Work
School District Data Website
- Pennsylvania has the widest funding gap
between wealthy and poor school districts of any state in the country,
with the wealthiest school districts spending 33% more on each student
than the poorest districts.
- Most Pennsylvania public schools are
inadequately funded. As a result, four of every five of the state’s school
districts, serving 1.4 million students, are not getting their fair state
share. Nearly half of school districts are spending below the amount
needed to educate students. That underspending is a direct result of
inadequate state support.
- That means lost opportunities for
students to participate in valuable science, technology, and math
programs; receive enough personal attention from their teachers due to
growing class sizes; get extra help when they need it; have access to
up-to-date books and technology; or participate in vocational training and
extracurricular activities.
View and
download individual school district data sheets by using the tools below.
https://paschoolswork.org/school-district-data/
“Ulmer pointed out that the formula used
to determine funding for cyber/charter schools is designed for brick and mortar
schools. “If they’re doing it online…I can do it online a whole lot cheaper.
They’re still getting money as if they were turning on lights and building a
building and heating the building and putting carpet in the building and
whatever else you need for the building,” he said.
“They’re getting paid to run a building
and they’re not running a building,” he added. Ulmer indicated that he had
shared the information with local legislators and that they were “shocked.”
Cyber, charter schooling
may cost Jersey Shore School District $3.2M this year
Williamsport
Sun Gazette by PAT CROSSLEY pcrossley@sungazette.com JAN 27, 2021
JERSEY SHORE
— If the number of students from the Jersey Shore Area School District
attending cyber/charter schools holds at about 200 for the rest of the school
year, the district will spend $3.2 million for their education, according to
figures compiled by Dr. Brian Ulmer, superintendent. Ulmer’s data showed that
figure compares to the $628,000 that will be spent to educate approximately the
same amount of students in the district’s cyber program, JSOL,
Ulmer shared
the information with the district’s school board at their meeting Monday night.
The cost of
educating a student in either special or regular education in the district’s
program is $3,000 per student per year, while the cost for educating a special
education student in the cyber/charter school setting is $25,849 per year and
in regular education the cost is $12,266 per student per year.
How much is your district paying for
charter tuition? Why do cyber charters receive the same tuition from taxpayers
that brick and mortar charters receive when cybers have none of the brick and
mortar related expenses?
Charter School
Tuition Rates by School District
PA
Department of Education Website
The
following documents list charter school tuition rates for regular education and
special education students for each school district in the state, based upon their
completed PDE-363 forms:
- 2020-21
rates based on PDE-363s received by PDE (Excel)
- 2019-20
rates based on PDE-363s received by PDE (Excel)
https://www.education.pa.gov/K-12/Charter%20Schools/Pages/Charter-School-Funding.aspx
Reprise March 2019: Are
Pa. school districts paying too much for cyber charter students?
Inquirer by
Maddie Hanna, Updated: March 14, 2019
Moving to
Northeast Philadelphia three years ago, Rebecca Penglase had reservations about
sending her son to a traditional school. Caleb, then 7, needed speech therapy
and had experienced bullying at his school in New Jersey — a situation Penglase
wanted to avoid. She was also concerned that a cousin’s child with speech
issues was placed in a special-education class in a Philadelphia public school.
“I didn’t want that to happen for my son. I didn’t want him to fall in the
cracks,” Penglase said. She enrolled him in a cyber charter school, which
enables him to do his schoolwork at home. More than 34,000 children across
Pennsylvania attend cyber charter schools that are managed by independent
operators. Tuition is free, but school districts pay the bills. A cyber charter
student costs a district the same as one attending a brick-and-mortar charter. Penglase
and other parents say the cybers are refuges from what they view as
less-than-ideal learning environments of some conventional classrooms. But the
funding system, along with the academic struggles of cyber charters, is at the core of the years-long debate
over whether they are wise investments for taxpayers. “The taxpayers are being
fleeced by this model in most cases,” said Greg Richmond, CEO of the National
Association of Charter School Authorizers, a group that says it supports
high-quality charters. Although previous efforts to revamp Pennsylvania’s cyber
funding have failed, advocates hope this year is different. They are
publicizing the cyber-charter costs to each district — nearly $68 million for
Philadelphia — and pushing for a statewide standard for a lower tuition rate,
saying increasingly cash-strapped school districts can’t afford the current system.'
https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennsylvania-cyber-charter-schools-costs-performance-20190314.html
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
Reprise December
2020: New Pa. data shows how the pandemic gave a big boost to cyber charter
schools
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent December 8, 2020
New data
from Pennsylvania’s Department of Education shows that the pandemic has caused
a small, but significant enrollment decline at traditional public schools,
while increasing the share of cyber charter students. It’s also revealed an
interesting divide. While public schools in urban and suburban counties have
lost students, schools in more rural counties have largely tread water. Overall, preliminary
enrollment data shows a 1.7% drop in total public school enrollment,
which equates to about 30,000 students statewide. The dip was more pronounced
in kindergarten, where enrollment fell from 115,275 students last year to
110,803 students in 2020 — nearly a 4% decline. One type of public school has
gotten more popular, though: the state’s cyber charter schools. Enrollment in
the publicly funded but privately managed online schools jumped from 38,266 to
60,890. That’s a 59% enrollment spike.
Reprise September
2020: Cyber charters may benefit from pandemic, but that doesn’t mean their
students do | Editorial
Schools that
have already established online learning must seem like attractive and obvious
options to parents. But that’s worrisome, for a number of reasons.
Inquirer by The Editorial Board Updated Sep 9, 2020
Every
disaster has winners and losers, but this pandemic has inflicted more loss than
most — in terms of both lives and livelihoods. COVID-19 has also produced
winners who have benefited from the pandemic as a result of disaster capitalism, or just
good timing. They include Amazon, Zoom, and Netflix. They also include Pennsylvania’s
14 cyber charter schools which are, according to some reports, seeing
skyrocketing interest and increased enrollment. It’s too early for the
Pennsylvania Department of Education to have official tallies of cyber
enrollment for this school session, but many districts have seen increases in
interest in cyber charters. The School District of Philadelphia says cyber enrollment could be up by 18%,
which could mean 1,200 more students. As districts struggle to find a clear
path to providing public education, those schools that have already established
online learning must seem like attractive and obvious options to parents. But
that’s worrisome, for a number of reasons. Last year, the state spent $463 million to educate 30,000 cyber students. Cyber charters get the same per-pupil
allocation from districts as brick-and-mortar charters, even though their costs
are far lower.
“Why is there more than a $7,000 excess
cost for cyber-tuition for regular education students and more than a $20,000
excess cost for cyber-tuition for special education students when comparing
district-run cyber programs with cyber charter programs? Why should taxpayers
be funding cyber-tuition at the same rate as brick-and-mortar charters when the
cyber charters have none of the expenses associated with buildings?”
Reprise June 2020: After
20 years it’s past time for the Legislature to act on cyber-charter school
funding reform | Opinion
PA Capital
Star Commentary by Lawrence A. Feinberg Capital-Star
Op-Ed Contributor June 16, 2020
With the
anticipated loss of revenue facing school districts due to COVID-19, now, more
than ever, the Pennsylvania Legislature must grab the bull by the horns and
reform the way that cyber-charter schools are funded. Cyber-charters may be a
great fit for some highly motivated, self-disciplined students or those with
very involved parents or guardians. But overall, by any measure, after 20 years
the state’s cyber-charters have consistently underperformed. Generally
speaking, cyber-students are not learning, and taxpayers are paying twice what
they reasonably should, with the excess funds being taken away from all the
other students remaining in a school district when a parent chooses to send
their child to a cyber-charter. Responding to parents’ concerns about returning
to school buildings in September, cyber-charters will be spending your tax
dollars on advertising, trying to convince parents that the education they
offer is better than what your student might receive if they stay in their own
district.
LETTER: The facts
about charter schools
West Chester
Daily Local Letter by Leanne Valentine, Exton Jan 26, 2021
This is in
response to editorial in the Daily Local News on Jan. 25 about charter schools.
While I
respect your right to an opinion about charter schools, I do not respect or
appreciate your insistence on repeating inaccurate information. Charter schools
are held to the same standards as public schools – their students take the same
standardized tests, and they are required to meet the same standards, including
year over year improvement, as the public schools. Their records are just as
open as the records of public schools, including their board meetings. Charter
schools are public schools. The primary difference between charters and public
schools is that charters rely on public schools for their funding. Charter
school funding is based on the amount of money public schools spend per pupil
on regular and special education funding, but charter schools receive only 75
percent of that funding – which means public schools keep 25 percent. Charter
schools are not able to tax residents to raise additional money and must
provide all services with the 75 percent funding level, including paying for
buildings, teacher salaries and retirement benefits, counseling, special
education services, etc. – all the same expenses that public schools incur. Also,
saying that a school district can provide a “cyber class” at $5,000 ignores all
the other expenses that go into offering that class; public schools can ignore
those expenses, because the $5,000 is in addition to the money they spend on
office space, computers, and staff. The inaccurate facts in your opinion column
need to be corrected and a more balance view of charter schools would be
appreciated. You are doing a disservice to the families who choose charters,
because they believe a charter school is a better option for their child.
“There will be plenty of opportunities
to do so this year, since just days after the election, Yass moved $9 million to Students First PAC, which
promptly moved nearly all of that to Brouillette and the Commonwealth
Children’s Choice Fund.”
Who is Jeffrey Yass?
And why is he such a big problem for Pennsylvania? | Opinion
PA Capital
Star Commentary By Eric Rosso Capital-Star
Op-Ed Contributor January 27, 2021
Eric Rosso
is the executive director of Pennsylvania Spotlight, a progressive advocacy organization based
in Pittsburgh.
Pennsylvania
has a Jeffrey Yass problem.
While
right-wing billionaires such as the Kochs, the DeVos family, and the Mercers
have tended to dominate discussion of the corrupting influence of big money in
politics, Pennsylvania
has become a playground for
Jeffrey Yass and his untold billions. Yass is the co-founder and managing
director of Montgomery County-based Susquehanna International Group. But he’s
more ubiquitously known as a sugar daddy and sole funder for many elected
officials and political front groups throughout Pennsylvania. His political
handouts have recently come under
intense scrutiny for their role in funding the coup
attempt by extremists that left five dead, including a police officer, in the
wake of the most violent attempt to overthrow our democracy since the 1800s. And
rightfully so. Yass showed no remorse for the death and destruction the world
witnessed that day, only offering a comment through former stock broker Laura
Goldman, where he had the audacity to play the victim, saying he was “deceived” by the elected officials he had funded, who
included Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, of Missouri.
Governor Wolf honors
the work of school directors
POSTED
ON JANUARY 27, 2021 IN PSBA NEWS
Citing the
meaningful contributions that school boards make on behalf of public education
and students, Governor Tom Wolf has proclaimed January 2021 as School Director
Recognition Month. “Being an effective school director is a difficult task, particularly
in the challenging times we live in due to the global pandemic caused by
COVID-19. By making meaningful contributions to public education, the dedicated
members of local school boards have greatly enhanced the quality of life in our
state through their actions and decisions on behalf of our students,” the
governor said in his proclamation. “I encourage all Pennsylvanians to join me
in this special observance to acknowledge the leadership of school directors in
supporting a public school system from which the entire commonwealth benefits.”
Click here to read the proclamation.
https://www.psba.org/2021/01/governor-wolf-honors-the-work-of-school-directors/
Pennsylvania Gov.
Wolf says state needs millions more COVID-19 vaccine doses from federal
government just to complete current phase: ‘A big concern’ for all states
By FORD
TURNER THE MORNING CALL | JAN 26, 2021 AT 7:57
PM
HARRISBURG —
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf on Tuesday said he is frustrated with the federal
government’s coronavirus vaccine rollout, arguing Pennsylvania needs 6.5
million more doses just to complete the full immunization of everyone in the
state’s current phase. Wolf, speaking at a news briefing, said the state by the
end of the week will have received 1.5 million doses of vaccine from the
federal government. But the current phase of the state’s vaccination plan was
greatly expanded last week to cover more than 4 million people, which means
more than 8 million doses would be needed to complete the two-dose regimen for
all those people. “One of the big constraints that we are all working under is
the lack of supply and that is facing states all across the country,” Wolf
said. “That’s frustrating and it is a big concern for all of us.”
‘I’m on my own’:
Teachers, schools struggle amid ongoing COVID-19 crisis
Reopening
meant major changes to scheduling, sanitation and even the physical layout of
Middletown schools.
Penn Live By Wallace
McKelvey | WMckelvey@pennlive.com Updated January 27, 20215:30 AM
“WAS IT
COVID?”
One veteran
teacher of the Middletown Area School District explains her thought process: “I
just spoke to so-and-so in the hall. Do I have it now?” Fear spreads virulently
as students and staff vanish without explanation from Pennsylvania’s K-12
schools this bleak midwinter. One year into the pandemic, teachers and support
staff say they feel set adrift without a lifeline. They have little recourse
when schools fail to follow safety guidelines because school boards and
administrators, who are themselves struggling under budget deficits and staff
shortages, have no incentive to admit fault. Staff members from three different
school districts told PennLive that complaints lodged with local and state
officials went ignored. Others said they didn’t file formal complaints out of
fear of reprisal. “What’s so depressing to hear is that ‘Who cares’ mindset,”
one Cumberland County teacher said. “Where it’s like ‘who cares; it doesn’t
really matter what we’re doing anyway.’” It didn’t take long for teachers in
Middletown to learn that the district, which at various times halted in-person
classes this fall and winter, wasn’t counting presumed-positives in its
coronavirus case counts. State guidelines called for the school in question to
close for at least three days if a second case emerged within 14 days. That
realization led to more worries: Some staff members seemed to ignore the mask
mandate with impunity. Then rumors spread that parents weren’t notifying the
district of known exposures and that janitors were diluting their limited
supply of disinfectant. “It seems there’s a lot of corner-cutting and
loopholes,” one classroom aide said. “That may be totally fine. Maybe they are
following the rules. But lives are at stake.” At least some of these fears, it
turns out, were grounded in reality.
CDC officials say
schools can be safe if precautions taken in the community
Post Gazette
by RONI CARYN RABIN The New York Times JAN 27, 2021 7:24 AM
Open
schools. Close indoor dining.
When to keep
schools open, and how to do so, has been an issue plaguing the response by the
United States to the pandemic since its beginning. President Biden vowed to
“teach our children in safe schools” in his inaugural address. On Tuesday,
federal health officials weighed in with a call for returning children to the
nation’s classrooms as soon as possible, saying the “preponderance of available
evidence” indicates that in-person instruction can be carried out safely as
long as mask-wearing and social distancing are maintained. But local officials
also must be willing to impose limits on other settings — like indoor dining,
bars or poorly ventilated gyms — in order to keep infection rates low in the
community at large, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention said in the journal JAMA and in a follow-up interview.
Covid-19 Spread
Appears Limited in Schools When Precautions Followed, CDC Says
Report says
that schools might be safe to open with mitigation efforts
Wall Street Journal
By Brianna Abbott Updated Jan. 26, 2021 6:47 pm ET
The spread of Covid-19 appears
to be limited within schools when masking and other safety precautions are
implemented, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention released on Tuesday. Health officials looked at Covid-19
transmission in K-12 schools in Wood County, Wis., which suggested that
“schools might be able to safely open with appropriate mitigation efforts in
place,” according to the CDC report summary. The schools had a number of
mitigation measures in place, the report said, including an estimated masking
compliance of more than 92% among students. Class sizes ranged from 11 to 20
students, and different cohorts of students rarely interacted. Staff members
were told to wear masks and keep 6 feet away from others. Among the 5,530
students and staff members across 17 schools, a total of 191 Covid-19 cases
were reported from Aug. 31 through Nov. 29. Based on individual case
investigations, only seven cases, or 3.7%, were attributed to in-school
transmission, all of which were students. Meanwhile, between 7% and 40% of
tests in the surrounding communities were coming back positive.
“I can’t help but think this is the next
great competition of those who have the resources, the haves and have-nots,”
said Dan McGarry, the superintendent of the Upper Darby School District.
“That’s not really the way the system should work.”
A Philly private
school got COVID-19 vaccines for its teachers. Then its clinic was canceled.
Springside
Chestnut Hill Academy’s aborted effort to vaccinate its staff highlighted the
confusion and potential for inequity surrounding the hopes for protection from
COVID-19 for school personnel.
Inquirer by Jason Laughlin, and Maddie Hanna Published January 27, 2021
It took
hustle, but Heather Orman-Lubell, medical consultant at the Philadelphia
private school Springside Chestnut Hill Academy, was thrilled to secure hundreds
of COVID-19 vaccine doses for teachers and staff through a Montgomery County
pharmacy. As recently as Monday morning, Orman-Lubell was looking forward to
Friday, when Wellness Pharmacy in Horsham was to inoculate about 250 Springside
staff and their eligible family members. Shots also would go to about 100
personnel from Community Partnership School, a private elementary school for
low-income children, and that institution’s preschool, she said. Hours
later, though, state health officials shut down the plan, she said, citing
rules about vaccine eligibility. “It’s so hard trying to do something good,”
she said, “and being shut down because of red tape.” Before getting nixed, word
of Springside’s plan had trickled out to public school teachers, who questioned
how a private school was able to get vaccine doses while they had been told to
expect to wait at least a month. Immunization promises a return to normalcy for
staff and students. But confusing messages, shifting vaccination priorities,
and ambiguity over how schools are supposed to obtain doses are setting off a
frantic search for solutions, as well as worries about equitable treatment for
all.
Nine COVID-19
outbreaks in 100-plus Philly private schools since the fall, health department
says
Chalkbeat
Philly By Dale
Mezzacappa Jan 26, 2021, 5:10pm EST
After five
months of in-person instruction in more than 100 private schools in
Philadelphia, health officials report nine outbreaks of COVID-19. Among 1,700
operating day care centers, there have been 11 outbreaks, said James Garrow, a
spokesman for the city Department of Health. The experiences of the 125 to 150
parochial and private schools that opened could be instructive for the School
District of Philadelphia, whose leaders are considering how to reopen public
schools to a limited group of students for in-person instruction. Superintendent
William Hite is plans to announce Wednesday a limited hybrid reopening plan for
Philadelphia district schools. Hite has said he would like to bring back
students in prekindergarten to second grade. Hite decided twice before to abandon
plans for some in-person learning after an
outcry from parents and teachers over the summer and then a surge of the virus
in November.
Area students return
to hybrid learning after weeks of virtual instruction
Pennsylvania
Secretary of Education Noe Ortega earlier this month encouraged districts to
offer some in-person instruction to elementary school students.
Chrissy
Suttles Beaver County Times January 26, 2021
Students in
Beaver and Lawrence counties returned to blended in-person and remote learning
this week, with others likely to make the transition in February.
Pennsylvania’s
Department of Education urged school administrators to implement full remote
learning in late November following high COVID-19 transmission rates in
multiple counties. Most local districts – reporting several positive cases in
staff and students – abided by the guidance. Acting Secretary of Education Noe
Ortega earlier this month encouraged districts to offer some in-person
instruction to elementary pupils as early as Jan. 25 if proper social
distancing and sanitizing efforts are in place. The state also
recommended in-person instruction be offered to students with disabilities and
those learning English, and advised schools to move younger
students to a blended model of learning. People under 18 years old are
less likely to experience severe COVID-19 complications, said former
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, although they can still
transmit the virus to more vulnerable populations. Pennsylvania’s
COVID-19 percent positivity rate has dropped for six consecutive weeks, falling
to 10.5% from Jan. 15-21, down from 12.7% the week prior.
https://www.timesonline.com/story/news/2021/01/26/area-students-return-hybrid-learning/4250653001/
With COVID-19 metrics
improving, in-person learning returning to more area schools
Wilkes Barre
Citizens Voice BY
MICHAEL P. BUFFER STAFF WRITER Jan 25, 2021
Weekly
COVID-19 metrics are improving in Luzerne County, and students at the West Side
Career and Technology Center are going back to in-person classes Thursday under
a hybrid plan. The high school’s joint-operating committee had a virtual
meeting Monday night. Also on Monday, Dallas and Wyoming Valley West school
districts resumed hybrid learning plans with in-person instruction. The hybrid
plans mix online and in-person instruction for two groups of students to
decrease the number of students inside at the same time. Dallas, Wyoming Valley
West and the career center in Pringle have been providing fully remote
instruction for more than eight weeks in response to a surge of COVID-19 in
Luzerne County. The latest seven-day total of COVID-19 cases in Luzerne County
was 938, down from 1,175 over the previous seven-day period, and test
positivity dropped from 13.4% to 11.9%. Luzerne County’s daily average of
COVID-19 hospitalizations over the seven days — Jan. 15 through Thursday — was
130.6, up from 120.6. The county incidence rate was 295.5 cases per 100,000
residents, down from 370.2. A county has substantial transmission when the test
positivity rate is at least 10% or the COVID-19 incidence rate is at least 100
cases per 100,000 residents over seven days. The state had recommended
all-virtual learning for schools in counties with substantial transmission for
two consecutive weeks but this month changed the guidance to approve of
in-person instruction for elementary-school students in counties with
substantial transmission. The state guidance is not a mandate.
Spring-Ford closes
school building for 14 days due to in-school COVID transmission
Pottstown
Mercury by Evan
Brandt ebrandt@21st-centurymedia.com @PottstownNews on Twitter January 27, 2021
A potential
in-school transmission of the COVID-19 virus has forced the closure of a
Spring-Ford Area School District building for 14 days. The Montgomery County
Health Department notified the district Monday afternoon of one case of
in-school transmission of COVID-19 related to the district's 5/6/7 Grade
Center. As a result, the building was closed starting Tuesday and all students
and staff moved to online learning for the next 14 days. This closure is
different than previous closures which occur when there is a "community
transmission" of someone in a building and the rules allow for the
building to be closed for only a few days while it is thoroughly cleaned. Because
this transmission is believed to have occurred among people while in the school
building, a more stringent set of rules is applied and the 14-day closure is as
much to accommodate the viral incubation and contagious period and ensure no
one develops symptoms, as to clean the building, which can typically be done
within two days.
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/
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
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/
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
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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