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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for Feb. 15, 2021
Do charter schools
really receive 25% less funding per student than school districts?
All School Directors: PSBA Monthly Zoom Exchange Feb 18 12:30 - 1:30 PM
Join other PSBA-member school directors for cross-district networking
and discussion on education hot topics, legislative updates and advocacy
strategies. All School Directors: Monthly Exchange will be held via Zoom at
12:30 p.m. every third Thursday of the month, January through June.
Geographic-based breakout rooms will be utilized to allow for discussion among
school directors in the same regions of the state. Learn more or register: http://ow.ly/rW4F50DrrCq
Do charter schools
really receive 25% less funding per student than school districts?
POSTED
ON FEBRUARY 12, 2021 IN PSBA NEWS
PSBA
recently provided all members of the Senate and House of Representatives with
its latest Closer Look publication that examines some of the
myths, truths and concerns regarding charter school funding issues. PSBA also
urged legislators to enact real charter funding reform that would save school
districts and taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
Click here to read the Closer Look.
https://www.psba.org/2021/02/new-closer-look-available/
Hold cyber charter
schools accountable
Doylestown
Intelligencer By Debra Weiner February 14, 2021
The
Pennsylvania Department of Education, or PDE, recently denied the revised
application of the Virtual Preparatory Academy of Pennsylvania, or VPAP, a
cyber charter school. This school would have been run by Accel Schools, a
for-profit company in Ohio that runs a cyber school in Ohio that received an
"F" grade for every measure of student achievement included in the
Ohio Department of Education's school report card for 2018-2019. PDE
evaluated VPAP's application against five criteria in the charter school law
and identified flagrant deficiencies related to all five, including an
incomplete or totally absent curriculum, proposals for inadequate and
inappropriate practices for vulnerable student populations and incomplete and
contradictory financial information. VPAP is not just a local charter
serving a limited number of students. Like 13 of the 14 existing Pennsylvania
cyber charter schools, it has unlimited enrollment capacity, which means that
every school district in the commonwealth can be on the hook for paying for
students to attend, even though the school was not approved by any school board
or other local entity. And, with every
single cyber charter school in Pennsylvania having been designated as among the
lowest-performing schools in the state, that blank check has proved
educationally disastrous for both students and taxpayers. Instead of
having to waste valuable time evaluating applications for new, unnecessary
cyber charter schools, PDE should focus its limited resources and energies on
holding current existing cyber charter schools accountable for providing tens
of thousands of Pennsylvania’s children with a quality
education. And the Pennsylvania legislature should adopt a
moratorium on new cyber charter schools until the current abysmal performance
of these schools is improved.
Loyalsock officials
talk cyber charter school reform
Williamsport
Sun Gazette by PAT CROSSLEY pcrossley@sungazette.com FEB
13, 2021
Noting that
Gov. Tom Wolf”s recent budget proposal addresses the issue of cyber charter
school reform, members of the Loyalsock Township School Board reaffirmed their
support of the governor’s efforts at their meeting earlier this week. The board
agreed to reaffirm a resolution, which had been approved last year, calling for
the reform. Superintendent Gerald McLaughlin noted that the state’s school
board association had called for boards to again acknowledge their support of
the resolution. Wolf’s proposal, if approved, would establish cyber charter
school tuition rates at $9,500 for basic education, which McLaughlin told the
board, the district now pays around $11,500. McLaughlin also acknowledged that
during the COVID-19 pandemic, more students have opted to attend cyber charter
schools which he said has taken a “significant amount” of
money out of the district’s budget.
Conewago Valley SD
Takes Aim at Charter Schools
Gettysburg
Connection February 14, 2021 by Imari Scarbrough
Following a
report by Superintendent Christopher Rudisill saying supposedly “free” charter
and cyber schools cost the district $4.2 million, Conewago Valley School
District (CVSD) approved a resolution calling for changes to charter school
funding. “While you may hear that these schools claim they are free; they
really are not free at all,” said Rudisill. Rudisill said when the board
releases its budget to the public in April, he wants the community to
understand the challenges the district is facing. Rudisill said the district
pays $10,960 for every regular education student that decides to attend a
charter school or cyber charter school. “If that child is (in) special
education, the cost to the district is $26,510. The money is taken from our
school district to help fund the free cyber charter schools,” Rudisill said. Rudisill
said that money shortage shows up in larger class sizes and fewer new equipment
and material purchases within the district. “Currently, our state under-funds
our district at a cost of $3,490 per student, That’s $12.6 million in
opportunities for our students that are lost because of the state,” Rudisill
said. Rudisill said CVSD was “fortunate to have received a federal Elementary
and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund grant. We received $2 million to help
one-time spending for the district, whether it be getting more livestream
equipment, looking to make sure that we’re prepared for graduation this year
and many years forward; whatever the case might be.”
https://gettysburgconnection.org/cvsd-takes-aim-at-charter-schools/
Congratulations to
#355 Pottsville Area School District for passing the charter funding reform
resolution.
Thank
you @HMathiasPSBA, @SenatorArgall, Representative Tim Twardzik and
Representative Joe Kerwin. https://t.co/84dNpe0TZc
Avon Grove Charter
School seeks $3.7 million from Coatesville over funding dispute
West Chester
Daily Local Fran Maye
fmaye@21st-centurymedia.com February
15, 2021
AVON GROVE —
Avon Grove Charter School has filed a lawsuit against the Coatesville Area
School District and the Pennsylvania Department of Education, seeking $3.7
million the district claims it is owed in charter school funding. It is the
second lawsuit filed against the Coatesville School District in the past three
months over charter school funding. Collegium Charter School filed a similar
claim on Nov. 24, 2020. Earlier this year, Coatesville school directors
acknowledged its obligations under charter school law and concluded that
"upon the District's review of Collegium's claims for payment from the
District or from the Pennsylvania Department of Education for per-pupil charter
school tuition, it appears to the school board that the District is obligated
to pay the sum of at least $5.4 million to Collegiuim." More than any
other school district in Chester County, the Coatesville School District has
seen an exodus of students preferring to attend either Collegium Charter School
in Exton, or Avon Grover Charter School in West Grove. Thus, under a school
funding formula set up by the state, Coatesville School District is responsible
for reimbursement to these charter schools. Coatesville pays $11,500 per pupil
per year for students who opt to attend Collegium or Avon Grove Charter. More
than 3,000 students from the Coatesville Area School District now attend
charters, up from about 1,700 five years ago. In that time, Coatesvillle's
payments to charters has expanded by $33 million, to about $54 million per
year.
26 states have plans
for teachers to get their COVID shots. Pa. isn’t one of them.
Sam Ruland York Daily Record February 14, 2021
There is
still no timeline on when Pennsylvania's teachers will be eligible for the
COVID-19 vaccine, even as state officials push schools to offer more
in-person instruction and surrounding states have begun vaccinating their
own educator workforces. The commonwealth is not among the 26 states that
have publicly released plans to vaccinate teachers against COVID-19. In the
state's vaccination plan, teachers are part of Phase 1B, with other essential
workers. And on Friday, Pennsylvania
officials made it clear that they will not move teachers to the 1A
vaccination group despite a request from Pennsylvania’s largest teachers’
union and one from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying
it would "strongly encourage states to prioritize teachers and other
school staff."
“The guidance outlines five strategies
officials described as key for a safe reopening of school, in particular
universal masking and social distancing. The agency recommended that schools in
areas with high levels of community transmission maintain six feet of spacing
between students, and opt for hybrid in-person and virtual instruction or
reduced in-person attendance rather than full reopenings. A number of
Philadelphia-area schools have been considering whether to reopen fully, in
some cases by reducing spacing between students. The Radnor School District,
for instance, announced Thursday that it would offer full-time in-person
instruction to its youngest students later this month, a move that involves
reducing its six-foot distance to four feet. “Those districts may have to think
twice now about whether that is a safe thing to do,” said Chris Lilienthal, a
spokesperson for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state’s
largest teachers’ union”
CDC gives new road
map for schools without requiring schools to reopen
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Posted: February 12, 2021- 7:26
PM
President
Biden’s administration on Friday weighed in for the first time with guidelines
for reopening schools amid the pandemic, providing a road map for local
officials navigating the fraught debate on how to return students to classrooms
safely. Citing a growing body of science on the virus and data from schools in
the U.S. and Europe that had reopened, officials with the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention outlined key strategies, in particular universal masking
and adherence to social distancing. The guidance also ties reopening
recommendations to the prevalence of the coronavirus in a school’s community. “The
safest way to open schools is to ensure that there is as little disease as
possible in the community,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. Even so, she
said, schools can open for some in-person instruction at high levels of
community transmission, provided they take necessary steps to mitigate spread
of the virus. The guidance from the Democratic administration — which is not a
mandate — appears unlikely to resolve the ongoing disagreement in many
communities among school leaders, teachers’ unions, and different factions of
parents.
https://www.inquirer.com/education/cdc-school-reopening-guidelines-covid-biden-20210213.html
“Schools in areas with substantial
transmission (orange, 50-99 new cases per 100,000) may still consider a limited
reopening, as long as they can layer multiple safety strategies in the
classroom. In hard-hit communities (red, more than 100 new cases per 100,000)
elementary schools may consider limited reopening, with physical distancing
required, but the CDC recommends middle and high schools be virtual-only unless
mitigation strategies can be met.”
CDC offers clearest
guidance yet for reopening schools
WHYY/NPR By Cory Turner Anya Kamenetz Tamara Keith February 12, 2021
The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention released its much-anticipated, updated
guidance Friday to help school leaders decide how to safely bring students back
into classrooms and/or keep them there. Rather than a political push to reopen
schools, the update is a measured, data-driven effort to expand on old
recommendations and advise school leaders on how to “layer” the most effective
safety precautions: masking, physical distancing, handwashing and respiratory
etiquette, ventilation and building cleaning, and contact tracing. For
politicians, parents and school leaders looking for a clear greenlight to
reopen schools, this is not it. “CDC is not mandating that schools reopen,” CDC
Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Friday on a phone briefing with reporters. Instead,
the CDC goes to great lengths to explain that proper mitigation can help keep
kids and staff safe at school, even in hard-hit communities, though it also
warns that schools lulled into a false sense of security because of low
community transmission rates could still spread the virus if they don’t enforce
mask-wearing and socially distanced classrooms.
The updated
guidance comes as President Biden tries to make good on his promise to help
more K-8 schools reopen within his first 100 days in office. School reopening
has become a potent political battle between parents and educators. In
Washington, Republicans have used it to criticize the Biden administration for
bowing to pressure from a powerful interest group, teachers unions, rather than
listening to scientists and the concerns of parents. The update offers a few
key changes to earlier language, including a color-coded chart that divides
schools’ reopening options into four zones: blue, yellow, orange and red.
Districts with low community spread of the coronavirus (blue, 0-9 new cases per
100,000 in past 7 days) or moderate transmission (yellow, 10-49 new cases) are
encouraged to consider reopening for full, in-person learning.
https://whyy.org/npr_story_post/cdc-offers-clearest-guidance-yet-for-reopening-schools/
To play, or not to
play: Schools wrestle with CDC’s athletics recommendations
WITF By Eda
Uzunlar FEBRUARY 13, 2021 | 6:30 AM
(Washington)–High
school senior Audrianna Hill has been playing basketball since she was five
years old. But this winter, with Covid-19 cases rising, there was a chance she
might not get to play. Her Detroit school has been virtual since the pandemic
began, and the basketball season has been pushed back multiple times since
September. Basketball is a big part of who she is, and she’s been banking on
her last year of playing to help get her recruited. The suspensions haven’t
helped. “It’s made it harder for me to go to college,” Hill, a varsity player,
explains. “Schools can’t come and actually watch you. You have to rely on
technology, and I don’t know if some [college] coaches feel like watching 50
[performance] videos of different kids.” Student athletes like Hill are still
hoping for a full season this year, but recent findings from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention may be working against them. New
CDC guidance released Friday cautions against
resuming athletic activities – especially those that happen inside. The report
says that for communities that have substantial rates of transmission, sports
and other activities should only take place “if they can be held outdoors, with
physical distancing of 6 feet or more.” Communities that have high transmission
should stick to virtual activities. A previous
CDC report singled out activities where athletes
can’t social distance and wear masks — effectively ruling out sports like
swimming, wrestling and, to Hill’s dismay, basketball.
VOICES OF INEQUITY:
In Pottstown, lack of resources adds to COVID burden
Pottstown
Mercury By Alex Wagoner February 12, 2021
Editor's
Note: Journalism
students at Ursinus College, supported by a grant from Project Pericles,
dedicated a semester to interviewing students at Montgomery County public high
schools to get their perspective on the impact Pennsylvania's inequitable
school funding had on their education.
POTTSTOWN —
Akira Love is a 16-year-old junior at Pottstown High School, and he’s busy. Aside
from the standard fare of classes, he’s a musician in the marching band, he
holds a job, and he helps out around the house, including with taking care of
his special-needs brother. And Love's considerable responsibility in his
household has only grown more substantial as his schooling moved online thanks
to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Pottstown School District has conducted classes
remotely for its students for the 2020-2021 school year. This was a profound
challenge at first: the district initially fell behind other, better-funded nearby school
districts in its efforts to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, when it could not
offer computers to students who did not have access to them. It offered printed workbooks to students
without computers or internet access. Meanwhile, during this period Spring-Ford
middle school and high school students could request individual Chromebooks,
including multiple devices per family. Last May, the district secured funding
to provide Chromebooks to all students in the district without a computer. For
Love, the Chromebook helped, but it was far from perfect. “Our Chromebooks are
only built for so much,” he said. “Sometimes our connection would cut us out.”
Students sometimes used phones as backups when necessary. Indeed, universal
access to computers is only one part of the problem.
NEPA educators,
advocates call for fixing 'structurally unfair' school funding system
Times
Tribune BY
SARAH HOFIUS HALL STAFF WRITER Feb 14, 2021 Updated 1 hr ago
Fair funding
in the Scranton School District could mean updating curriculum, creating a
science and math academy and attracting and retaining a highly qualified staff.
In Carbondale, the district could offer more electives, provide tutoring and
restore cuts made to art and family and consumer sciences. At Riverside,
libraries could become innovative labs and the district could find additional
ways to help students prepare for life after graduation. The way Pennsylvania
funds school districts, which Gov. Tom Wolf and public education advocates call
one of the must unfair systems in the country, makes it difficult for districts
to achieve those goals. The 2021-22 state budget proposed by the governor this
month aims to fix that. Just the proposal and the debate surrounding it
highlights and exposes the inequities in a way not done before on a statewide
level, experts say. Wolf’s plan would provide an additional $159 million to
school districts in Northeast Pennsylvania by putting all funding through a
formula designed to increase equity and assist the students who need the most
help.
Wolf budget aims to
correct inequities in school funding
Wilkes Barre
Citizens Voice BY
MICHAEL P. BUFFER AND
SARAH HOFIUS HALL STAFF WRITERS Feb 13, 2021 Updated Feb 13, 2021
The way
Pennsylvania funds public schools and school districts “has really crushed our
taxpayers, our students, our educators and our local economies,” Wilkes-Barre
Area School District Superintendent Brian Costello said back in 2019. Costello
estimated the state was underfunding Wilkes-Barre Area by $33 million in 2019.
He has been trying to get more state funding for the district since. The
2021-22 state budget proposed by Gov. Tom Wolf this month aims to help. Just
the proposal and the debate surrounding it highlights and exposes the
inequities in a way not done before on a statewide level, experts say. Wolf’s
plan would provide an additional $159 million to school districts in Northeast
Pennsylvania by putting all funding through the state’s fair-funding formula to
determine all basic education subsidy amounts. The 5-year-old school funding
formula was designed to iron out inequities in how Pennsylvania funds the
poorest public schools. But only 11% of state funds flow through the formula
because it only applies to increased funding since 2016. While Republican
legislators have called Wolf’s budget proposal, which relies on an increase in
personal income taxes for some residents, “dead on arrival,” advocates say the
proposal is a major step in solving the school funding crisis. Education
organizations, including PA Schools Work and the Education Law Center, have
found:
- 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.
- The state’s share of total district
spending is 38%, which ranks the state 44th in the country. The national
median is 48%. As a result of the lower state contribution, Pennsylvania
school districts rely more on local property taxes to fund budgets. That
creates significant disparities between high wealth and low wealth
districts.
- Pennsylvania spends an average of $4,800
less per pupil in poor districts than on students in rich districts, and
the average revenue gap between the poorest and richest districts has
grown by $1,000 per student over the past decade.
“It’s not
fair that poor children and children of color go to school where this is
happening,” said Susan Spicka, executive director of Philadelphia-based
Education Voters of Pennsylvania. “Lawmakers in Harrisburg are going to have to
deal with looking at the school funding system for what it is: a system that
guarantees that the most vulnerable children in Pennsylvania go to school
without the resources they need.”
Gov. Wolf has
proposed a bold plan to address unequal education funding in Pennsylvania
schools | Opinion
Penn Live Guest Editorial By Roseann Liu Updated Feb 14,
2021; Posted Feb 14, 2021
Roseann Liu
is a member of POWER, a parent in the School District of Philadelphia, and
Visiting Assistant Professor at Swarthmore College who is writing a book about
school funding.
What are the
barriers that stand between you and the bright figure you imagined when you
decided to build a life here in the Commonwealth? Gov. Wolf posed this question
during his recent budget address. He said, “When I first got to Harrisburg, the
answer was almost always the same: schools.” With a budget address that called
to mind President Roosevelt’s fireside chats, Gov. Wolf spoke directly to
everyday Pennsylvanians, still reeling from the social and economic devastation
of the pandemic, to address our hopes and concerns for the future. As a parent
of two children in Philadelphia public schools that have been closed for nearly
a year now, the education of our children is foremost on the minds of
Pennsylvanians. But let’s be clear: while all parents want the best for their
children, some are better equipped to provide those opportunities because of
the structural racism that exists in Pennsylvania’s school funding system. Gov.
Wolf intends to do something about that through his “game-changing budget
proposal,” as POWER, an interfaith grassroots organization whose full and fair
funding campaign I have been a part of, referred to it.
Teaching civics isn’t
enough. We need to teach information literacy. The Capitol riot proved it |
Opinion
PA Capital
Star By Timothy P. Williams Capital-Star
Op-Ed Contributor February 15, 2021
Timothy P.
Williams is the superintendent of schools for the the York Suburban School District in York County. Readers may follow him
on Twitter @DrWilliamsYSSD.
The
political unrest on display in Washington, DC on Jan. 6 demonstrated that we
are a democracy in turmoil — a body-politic flirting with
authoritarianism. We must do something. The atrocities at the Capitol that
fateful day leave us wondering how such a thing could have happened and how we
should address it. Recently, there have been calls for more patriotism, more
civics instruction, and even proposed legislation to make sure our young people
understand how to preserve our republic. A recent Bloomberg opinion
piece, Democracy
Needs to Be Taught in School: If ever there was a moment to revive civics
instruction, isn’t this it? by
Professor Andrea Gabor, who framed the insurrection bluntly: “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.” Gabor correctly emphasizes the importance of civics
education, which was – and still is – taught in schools. She appears to
believe, though, that “news literacy” instruction is absent. Indeed it was
prior to the Internet Age when the average insurrectionist attended school.
Information literacy is now systemic throughout all disciplines. During their
formal educations, the rioters received civics instruction. The real concern is
that they may not have received formal information literacy instruction.
Blake to resign state
Senate seat for post with Cartwright
Times
Tribune BY
BORYS KRAWCZENIUK STAFF WRITER Feb 14, 2021 Updated 27 min ago
Longtime
state Sen. John Blake will resign his job March 8 for a new position with U.S.
Rep. Matt Cartwright. Blake, 60, confirmed only his resignation and its date,
but multiple other sources confirmed he will work for Cartwright. Blake and
Cartwright are scheduled to appear jointly at a news conference today at 11
a.m. in downtown Scranton. Repeated efforts to reach Cartwright were
unsuccessful. “I’ve given my all to it (the Senate seat),” Blake said Sunday in
a telephone interview with The Times-Tribune. “My passion and my joy in the job
has ebbed over the past couple of years.” A special election will be scheduled
to replace Blake. Democratic and Republican parties in Lackawanna, Luzerne and
Monroe counties will choose nominees for the special election. The winner will
serve only until Blake’s current term expires on Nov. 30, 2022, unless reelected
earlier that month. With a stellar reputation as a dedicated public servant,
Blake, D-22, Archbald, elected senator in November 2010, said he grew
frustrated with Democrats always remaining in the Senate minority. He hoped the
November election would change that, but Republicans maintained their majority.
Allentown School
District prepares to offer hybrid learning in April
By KATHERINE
REINHARD THE MORNING CALL | FEB 12, 2021 AT 8:55 AM
The
Allentown School District, the last district in the Lehigh Valley to offer
remote-only classes, is buying new computers and hiring a California consulting
company to prepare to offer hybrid learning in mid-April. During a special
meeting Thursday, the school board agreed to buy 1,210 Lenovo laptops, web
cameras and other technology. The cost is $1.3 million, with the bulk being
paid with general funds and $54,735 with a state health and safety grant. The
school board also approved a $125,000 contract with Education Elements, a
consulting company it has used in the past, to provide hybrid learning training,
instructional guidance, professional development and project management
support. The hybrid rollout includes a communications component to alert
families about the option and to gauge whether they will send their children
back to school or continue with remote learning. The district will advertise
the choice on billboards, LANTA buses, radio, social media, voice mail, emails
and a town hall. Superintendent Thomas Parker said the scale of a move toward
hybrid learning, where students attend some days in school and the rest at
home, required outside help for a seamless transition. The district has about
16,440 students and about 1,000 teachers.
Join Education Voters
for "PA School Funding and Advocacy 101" for an overview of school
funding issues, an update on the school funding lawsuit and more.
Education Voters
PA February 2021
Click HERE to register for one of our webinars.
Fri, Feb 19, 12:00pm–1:00pm EST
Tue, Feb 23, 7:00pm–8:00pm EST
Questions we
will answer include:
- How are schools funded in PA?
- Who decides how much funding my local
schools get?
- What is the Basic Education Funding
Formula (fair funding formula)?
- Why does Pennsylvania have the widest
funding gap between wealthy and poor school districts of any state in the
country?
- How are charter schools funded and how
can the current system be reformed?
- How can I most effectively advocate for
the school funding students in my district and throughout Pennsylvania's
need and deserve?
We will also
provide a brief update on Pennsylvania's school funding lawsuit, which is
scheduled to go to trial this year. (Visit www.FundOurSchoolsPa.org to learn more!) And we'll have plenty
of time for Q&A. I hope that you'll join us and/or share this invitation with people in your network who are
interested in learning more and getting involved.
Greater Latrobe, Deer
Lakes among area schools lauded for computer science diversity
Trib Live by
JEFF
HIMLER | Sunday, February 14,
2021 8:00 a.m.
Several area
schools are among a little more than 1,100 nationwide being recognized for
helping to promote interest in computer science among female students. Greater
Latrobe, Deer Lakes and East Allegheny high schools and Pittsburgh Science and
Technology Academy are among 22 public schools in Pennsylvania that have
received the 2020 College Board AP Computer Science Female Diversity Award. The
schools qualified for the recognition by having female students represent 50%
or more of those enrolled in one of two Advanced Placement courses — AP
Computer Science Principles or AP Computer Science A. Schools also could
receive the award based on female students who took a related AP exam that
offers the opportunity for college credit.
SAT changes show
declining impact exam has on college admissions
ANDREW
GOLDSTEIN AND NICK TROMBOLA Pittsburgh Post-Gazette FEB 15, 2021 5:45 AM
The College
Board recently announced that it was ending the optional essay-writing portion
and subject tests of the SAT exams. But is what appears to be a
significant change to an exam that for decades has been a rite of passage as
part of the college application process really so consequential?
“The best way I can describe my reaction to this is, ‘If a tree
falls in a woods, and there's no one there to hear it, did it really happen?’”
said David Barkovich, a counselor at North Hills High School. “I don’t
think most are even going to notice it’s gone.” While the inclusion of SAT
scores remains a fixture in many college applications, admissions officers have
put less weight on them in recent years. Some college admission leaders
have even decided that SAT scores are not needed and that testing requirements
might deter otherwise worthy applicants. And even fewer schools require
potential students to complete the optional essay or subject tests. The
COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to the number of schools ending or suspending
their SAT requirements as many college-bound students have struggled since last
spring to find testing centers available at the right time and place.
C.D.C. Draws Up a
Blueprint for Reopening Schools
Amid an
acrid national controversy, the agency proposed detailed criteria for returning
students to classrooms.
New York
Times By Apoorva Mandavilli, Kate Taylor and Dana Goldstein Feb. 12, 2021
The Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday urged that K-12 schools be
reopened as soon as possible, and it offered a step-by-step plan to get
students back in classrooms and to resolve a debate dividing communities across
the nation. The guidelines highlight growing evidence that schools can open
safely if they use measures designed to slow the coronavirus’s spread. The
agency said that even in communities with high transmission rates,
elementary-school students may receive at least some in-person instruction
safely. Middle and high school students, the agency said, may attend in-person
classes safely when the virus is less prevalent, but may need to switch to
hybrid or remote learning in communities experiencing intense outbreaks. “C.D.C.’s
operational strategy is grounded in science and the best available evidence,”
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the C.D.C., said on Friday in a call with
reporters. The guidelines arrive amid an intensifying debate. Even as parents
in some districts grow frustrated with shuttered schools, some teachers and
their unions refuse to return to classrooms they regard as unsafe. Public
school enrollment has declined in many districts. Education and civil rights
leaders are worried about the harm to children who have not been in classrooms
for nearly a year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/health/school-reopenings-cdc.html
CDC Releases New
COVID-19 Guidance for Schools. Will It Help Them Reopen?
Education
Week By Evie Blad, Catherine Gewertz & Sarah D. Sparks — February 12, 2021
With proper
precautions, it will be possible for U.S. schools to conduct in-person learning
during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
said in new, long-awaited recommendations released Friday that stressed the
importance of getting schools reopened. But most schools are in areas with such
significant community spread of the virus that they likely won’t be able to
have all students on campus full-time, the recommendations say. Instead, they may have to operate
under hybrid arrangements of remote and in-person learning to allow for social
distancing in classrooms and hallways. “I want to underscore that the safest
way to open schools is to ensure that there is as little disease as possible in
the community,” CDC Director Rochelle Walenksy said in a press call to announce
the new guidance Friday. “Thus, enabling schools to open and remain open is a
shared responsibility.”
Covid:
Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to be tested on children
BBC Published
February 14, 2021
A new trial
is to test how well the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine works in
children.
Some 300
volunteers will take part, with the first vaccinations in the trial taking
place later in February. Researchers will assess whether the jab produces a
strong immune response in children aged between six and 17. The vaccine is one
of two being used to protect against serious illness and death from Covid in
the UK, along with the Pfizer-BioNTech jab. As many as 240 children will
receive the vaccine - and the others a control meningitis jab - when the trial
gets under way. Volunteers who live near one of the four study sites - the
University of Oxford, St George's University Hospital, London, University
Hospital Southampton and Bristol Royal Hospital for Children - are being asked
to sign up.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-56052673
On His 80th Birthday,
Musician Tom Rush Reflects On A Career That's Been '99% Magic'
WBUR by Lauren Daley February 08, 2021
https://www.wbur.org/artery/2021/02/08/tom-rush-turns-80-rockport-sundays
The 2021 PA
Educational Leadership Summit, hosted by the PA Principals
Association and the PA Association of School Administrators
(PASA), is being held from August 1-3 at the Kalahari Resorts and
Convention Center, Poconos.
PA
Principals Association Thursday, February 11, 2021 8:54 AM
PIL Hours
Available! See links below to register and for further information.
Click here for the informational flyer and details.
Virtual Town Hall on
education fair funding co- sponsored by Avon Grove Charter School and
Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools set Feb. 24
West Chester
Daily Local by MediaNews Group February 6, 2021
WEST GROVE—There
will be a virtual Town Hall Meeting on Fair Funding in Education on Wednesday,
Feb. 24 at 7 pm. The public is invited. The Town Hall is being co- sponsored by Avon Grove Charter School and Pennsylvania
Coalition of Public Charter Schools. Topics include: problem solve fair
funding solutions; learn how public schools are funded in PA.; learn
about the differences between charter & district schools funding.
All are
welcome. RSVP Link - https://forms.gle/8of8ARxr7Zfdfmp97.
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
NPE/NPE Action
Conference In Philly was rescheduled to October 23/24 due to concerns w/
COVID19.
Network for
Public Education
NPE will be
sending information to registrants very soon!
https://npeaction.org/2021-conference/
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
353 PA school boards have
adopted charter reform resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 350 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/
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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