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 Dec. 8, 2020
“Pennsylvania has recognized that poorer
districts need more state aid than wealthier ones. The state enacted a formula
in 2016 that distributes school funding based on enrollment, the needs of students, and district wealth. But the formula only applied to new
education spending approved by lawmakers — meaning it isn’t used to distribute
the vast majority of state aid to districts. Advocates and lawmakers are still
locked in a political battle over how the state pays for education, with a court case that alleges deep inequities in the funding
system moving toward trial.”
Pa. shortchanged its
poorest school districts in giving out federal CARES Act money, report says
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna, Updated: December 7, 2020- 6:23
PM
Pennsylvania
shortchanged its poorest school districts in the distribution of federal relief
funding, allocating the most recent round of pandemic aid without accounting
for poverty or other needs, according to a new report. Despite having a formula
that directs state aid to districts with greater shares of students in poverty,
among other factors, Pennsylvania didn’t do so for $175 million in CARES Act
funding. Instead, it gave every district the same base amount of aid, then
additional money based on enrollment — a process that resulted in the poorest
districts receiving less funding than their more affluent counterparts,
according to the Keystone Research Center. The report, released Monday by the
left-leaning Harrisburg-based think tank, said the poorest quartile of school
districts — based on enrollment — received $36 million of the $175 million,
less than each of the three other quartiles. “Given the nation’s heightened
awareness in the year 2020 of inequality, especially racial injustice, these
are stunning findings,” the report said. Had Pennsylvania followed its formula for state education funding increases, the poorest quartile of districts would
have received $90 million of the $175 million in aid, according to the
analysis. Districts with the highest shares of Black and Latino students also
would have received more.
https://www.inquirer.com/education/cares-act-federal-aid-schools-pennsylvania-20201207.html
Coronavirus relief
method cost poor districts millions, report says
Chalkbeat
Philly By Dale
Mezzacappa Dec 7, 2020, 9:49pm EST
When the
state of Pennsylvania distributed $174 million in federal coronavirus relief to
schools, it used a formula that shortchanged districts with large numbers of
low income Black and Latino students, a new report shows. By its calculations,
Philadelphia alone would have received $30 million more. The education advocacy
groups that conducted the analysis, Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center and
Education Voters PA, said that they hoped to influence how any future federal
COVID relief funds are allocated to schools. “This is a pretty simple story
about getting the allocation of these funds backwards,” said Stephen
Herzenberg, president of the Keystone Research Center, the parent group of the
budget and policy center. “And when you step back and think about the context
in which this happened, the pandemic, the [coronavirus] relief, but also the
country’s wrestling with its history of racial injustice … there’s a tone
deafness to the distribution of these funds that is stunning. We cannot make
this mistake again.”
'Decade-long trend of
neglect' for students with disabilities in Pa., new report claims
Reading
Eagle By
David Mekeel dmekeel@readingeagle.com @dmekeel on Twitter Dec 7, 2020 Updated 41 min ago
The orange
and purple bars, stretching across the page, make the situation perfectly
clear. They are part of a chart shared by Dr. Steve Gerhard, Gov. Mifflin
School District superintendent, one that depicts how much the district has
spent on special education annually. The data dates to the 2010-11 school year.
The orange part of each bar, representing the amount the state and federal
government chipped in, remains fairly constant year to year. It grows only
slightly from just over $2.5 million in 2010-11 to just under $3.1 in 2019-20. The
purple portion, however, grows bar by bar. It starts at $3.8 million and ends
at just over $8.9 million. What it all means is that while special education
costs increased steadily in the district, the amount the state and federal
government pitched in to pay for it shrank from 40% to 26%. And because of
that, more and more stress is being placed on the shoulders of district
taxpayers. "What you will notice is that currently there has been the
addition of 3.4 mills in local tax dollars just for this one specific line item
over a 10 year period due to the woeful state funding," Gerhard said. Gov.
Mifflin is not an anomaly. In fact, it's the norm. A report released this week
by the Education Law Center and PA Schools Work accuses Pennsylvania of
"shortchanging children with disabilities" for a decade, leaving
local districts and taxpayers footing the ever-growing bill for special
education costs.
‘We Have Some Tough
Decisions To Make’ PPS Board To Vote On Budget This Month
WESA By SARAH SCHNEIDER • December 7, 2020
The city’s
public school district is evaluating program cuts, workforce reductions and
school closures to address its $34 million budget shortfall. Pittsburgh Public
Schools Superintendent Anthony Hamlet told the school board last week that for
more than a year his administration has discussed the possibility of closing
schools. He said he will now bring the board into those conversations. “It’s
not fiscally prudent for the district to use all of its buildings when so many
are underutilized,” he said. Twelve PPS schools are under half capacity.
Another 40 are between 50 and 80 percent capacity. The district has 57 schools
and the average age of a building is 75 years. Additionally, overall enrollment
dropped by about 800 students in a year bringing the total to 20,438 K-12
students at the beginning of this school year.
https://www.wesa.fm/post/we-have-some-tough-decisions-make-pps-board-vote-budget-month#stream/0
Community asks
Pittsburgh school board to increase funding for student support
ANDREW
GOLDSTEIN Pittsburgh Post-Gazette agoldstein@post-gazette.com DEC 7, 2020 6:16 PM
Community
members and education advocates have asked the Pittsburgh Public Schools to
increase funding for student health and support services while divesting from
police and security in its 2021 budget. Advocates have long called for these
steps but boosted their volume this year following the social justice movements
over the summer in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.
That was reflected in much of the testimony read before the school
board at a public hearing Monday afternoon. “This year, our country
and local community has been faced with two public health crises: the COVID-19
pandemic and a system of racist policing,” said city resident Kristin
Cummings. “I urge the board of directors to use the school budget for the
2021 school year to support a school environment that is and feels safe to all
students and staff.”
G. Terry Madonna,
political analyst and poll director, to leave F&M, take volunteer position
at Millersville University
Lancaster
Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer December 7, 2020
G. Terry
Madonna, known across the nation for his sharp political commentary and for
co-creating the Franklin & Marshall College Poll, will leave F&M at the
end of the year. Madonna, director of both the F&M poll and the college’s
Center of Politics and Public Affairs, will return to Millersville University
in January 2020 to fill a one-year volunteer position as senior fellow in
residence for political affairs. Madonna, 79, launched his career at Millersville,
his alma mater, in 1967. He spent 37 ½ years teaching government and leading
the university’s Center for Politics and Public Affairs, which he co-created
with colleague Berwood A. Yost. In 1992, Madonna and Yost created what was then
known as the Keystone Poll to track public opinion on politics, public affairs
and elections in Pennsylvania. Madonna, Yost, the center and the poll all moved
to Franklin & Marshall College in 2004. In 2008, the Keystone Poll was
renamed the Franklin & Marshall College Poll. Madonna’s contract expires at
F&M at the end of the year, when he will return to Millersville as a
volunteer connecting students to internships and bringing political speakers to
campus. He will no longer serve as the poll’s director, but he will continue
providing political commentary and analysis and hosting his weekly show
“Pennsylvania Newsmakers” on WGAL, he said. Yost will replace Madonna as the
poll's director, according to an F&M spokesman. Madonna will hold the
honorific title of Director Emeritus of the poll.
Pennsylania
coronavirus update: 1,000 COVID-19 deaths in the last week
As of
Monday, there were 5,421 people hospitalized in the state due to the
coronavirus, with 1,115 in intensive care and 614 requiring
a ventilator.
WITF by Laura
Benshoff/WHYY DECEMBER 8, 2020 | 5:42 AM
(Harrisburg)
— Pennsylvania reported 6,330 new cases of COVID-19 as of 12:00 a.m.
on Monday, along with 8,630 new cases on Sunday, for a two-day total
of14,960. The statewide case total since the start of the pandemic is
now 426,444. As of Monday, there were 5,421 people hospitalized
due to the coronavirus, with 1,115 in intensive care
and 614 requiring a ventilator. The commonwealth also
reported 42 new deaths today, along with 69 on Sunday, for
a total of 11,373 lives lost to COVID-19 since the start of the
pandemic.
Coronavirus
positivity rate surges in Montgomery County and six neighboring counties
Pottstown
Mercury By
Carl Hessler Jr. chessler@21st-centurymedia.com @MontcoCourtNews on Twitter December 8, 2020
HARRISBURG —
Montgomery County and each of its six neighboring counties recorded increases
in their coronavirus percent-positivity rates as the fall surge of the virus
continued to grip the region, according to the latest data from state health
officials. For the period Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, Montgomery County recorded a
COVID-19 percent-positivity rate of 10.3%, an increase from the 7.9% positivity
rate recorded during the seven-day period Nov. 20 to Nov. 26, according to the
Pennsylvania Department of Health’s COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System
Dashboard. Health officials believe having a positivity rate less than 5%
indicates a county is controlling the spread of the virus and keeping it
suppressed. Each of Montgomery County’s six neighboring counties also recorded
positivity rates above the 5% threshold for the most recent seven-day period,
according to the state’s data.
In-school coronavirus
transmission closes Haverford’s Coopertown Elementary School
Delco Times
by Pete
Bannan Pbannan@21st-Centurymedia.com December 8, 2020
HAVERFORD —
School district officials announced that Coopertown Elementary School in Bryn
Mawr will remain closed until Dec. 16 after contact tracers and the Chester
County Health Department determined that an in-school transmission had occurred
there. Students have not been in the building since Nov. 25 when the entire
district went virtual for two weeks due to stresses on staffing from
quarantines and staff absences. They were due to return to the building this
coming Wednesday. A number of students and staff have exhibited symptoms or
tested positive over the last two weeks. Three individuals were present in the
building during a contagious period, and four more cases that are all seemingly
linked have been identified since that time. In a letter to parents, Haverford
Superintendent Maureen Reusche said the recommendation is made to ensure that
there is enough time to monitor any additional cases which may present prior to
returning students and staff to in-person learning. Coopertown parents and
guardians will receive updated communication at the end of this week
Camp Hill School
District to return K-5 students to blended learning model
Penn Live By Paul Vigna | pvigna@pennlive.com Updated Dec 07, 2020; Posted Dec 07,
2020
The Camp
Hill School Board on Monday night decided by a 5-4 vote to allow its students
in kindergarten through fifth grade to return to a blended learning
instructional model beginning Dec. 14. Meanwhile, also by a 5-4 vote, grades
6-12 will continue in a fully remote learning model until the board determines
a return date. The board noted in the resolution that it “will continue to
review any further guidance from the Department of Health and other inputs and
vote to maintain or switch the instructional model.”
Easton Area schools
will temporarily go fully online in 2 weeks. How long will it last?
By Rudy Miller | For lehighvalleylive.com Updated Dec 07, 2020; Posted Dec 07,
2020
Easton Area
School District school will go fully online starting Monday, Dec. 21, according
to a letter from the superintendent. The district
will return to its hybrid model no earlier than Tuesday, Jan. 19, said
the letter from Superintendent David Piperato to
the Easton Area community. “Due to the ongoing rise in cases, the number of
staff and students currently quarantined and in an attempt to mitigate the
spread of COVID-19, we have proactively decided to adjust our school calendar
accordingly,” Piperato said in the letter. Piperato said the district is complying
with the new, stricter guidelines set
down by the state health and education departments. The new guidelines spell out when to shut down schools
depending on the number of COVID-19 cases in each school and in the surrounding
community.
Norwin reports 52
covid cases since Thanksgiving
Trib Live by
JOE
NAPSHA | Monday, December 7,
2020 6:03 p.m.
The
post-Thanksgiving spike in coronavirus cases continues in the Norwin School
District, with the district reporting Monday there are 16 more cases, raising
the total to 52 cases among students and staff since the Thanksgiving holiday. Norwin
has had 136 cases among students and staff since school began on Aug. 31, according to
the district’s covid-19 tracker. The school district said Monday it received
notification that one district employee, two staff members from Hillcrest
Intermediate and one staff member from both the high school and middle school
tested positive for the virus. Four high schools students have been infected
with the virus, one Norwin Online Academy student, two Hahntown Elementary
students and one Stewartsville Elementary student.
https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/norwin-reports-52-covid-cases-since-thanksgiving/
Clarks Summit
Elementary School closes again
Times
Tribune BY
KATHLEEN BOLUS STAFF WRITER Dec 7,
2020 Updated 36 min ago
Clarks
Summit Elementary School is closed for in-person classes again for the second
time in less than a week after a member of the professional staff tested
positive for COVID-19, according to an announcement on the Abington Heights
School District website. Students will learn remotely for the rest
of the week, according to the announcement. The school was closed Thursday and
Friday after a professional staff member tested positive for the virus and
another was listed as "close contact," according to the district's
COVID-19 report. Monday's report listed one professional staff member as having
tested positive and in isolation. The origin of the positive case is uncertain,
and close contacts were identified and contacted individually, according to the
announcement.
North East high
school students switch to online learning after three positives reported
Erie
Times-News December 7, 2020
High school
students in the North East School District will switch to online learning on
Tuesday after three COVID-19 positive cases were reported in the high school
Monday, officials announced on the district's website. For now, students at North East Middle
School, North East Elementary and Earle C. Davis Primary school will continue
with in-person learning, but will switch to online learning in a phased plan:
Dec. 14 for the middle school and Dec. 21 for the elementary grades. "We
decided ... with the holiday coming up," said superintendent Michele
Hartzell, "We're going to move to a phased system of remote live stream
learning over the next weeks and will reopen on ... Jan. 13."
Several Wyoming
Valley Conference schools pause winter sports season
Citizens
Voice BY
STEVE BENNETT STAFF WRITER Dec 7,
2020 Updated 7 hrs ago
Superintendents
from 10 school districts in the Wyoming Valley
Conference agreed on Monday afternoon to pause all winter sports
competitions until Jan. 4 due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the
area. Wilkes-Barre Area superintendent, Dr. Brian Costello, sent an email
Monday afternoon announcing the decision. The schools that have paused winter
sports are Berwick, Crestwood, Dallas, Nanticoke Area, Hanover Area, Hazleton
Area, Pittston Area, Wilkes-Barre Area, Wyoming Area and Wyoming Valley West. Private
schools Wyoming Seminary and Holy Redeemer will also hit the pause button. MMI
Prep had previously canceled its winter sports season.
Safe harbor law locks
Congress into accepting Joe Biden's win
MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press DEC 8, 2020 3:08 AM
WASHINGTON —
Happy Safe Harbor Day, America.
Other than
Wisconsin, every state appears to have met a deadline in federal law that
essentially means Congress has to accept the electoral votes that will be cast
next week and sent to the Capitol for counting on Jan. 6. Those votes will
elect Joe Biden as the country’s next president. It’s called a safe harbor
provision because it’s a kind of insurance policy by which a state can lock in
its electoral votes by finishing up certification of the results and any state
court legal challenges by a congressionally imposed deadline, which this year
is Tuesday. “What federal law requires is that if a state has completed its
post-election certification by Dec. 8, Congress is required to accept those
results,” said Rebecca Green, an election law professor at the William &
Mary law school in Williamsburg, Va. The Electoral College is a creation of the
Constitution, but Congress sets the date for federal elections and, in the case
of the presidency, determines when presidential electors gather in state
capitals to vote. In 2020, that date is Dec. 14. But Congress also set another
deadline, six days before electors meet, to insulate state results from being
challenged in Congress. By the end of the day, every state is expected to have
made its election results official, awarding 306 electoral votes to Biden and
232 to President Donald Trump.
NSBA Transition
Recommendations
National
School Boards Association December 07, 2020
NSBA
provided the Biden/Harris transition team with several nonpartisan recommendations to guide the incoming administration’s
policy platform. Our recommendations address the ongoing national emergency
while setting a vision for the future of public schools across the nation. The
first set of recommendations is for immediate steps during the first 30 days
after the inauguration. The second set of recommendations is focused on the
sustained work over the first year and beyond to improve and transform public
schools, which is tied to the success of the nation.
Our
recommendations offer a framework for transforming public schools and
guaranteeing access, equity, and innovation for each child in every school.
They support several familiar NSBA initiatives, including Public
School Transformation Now!, the Center for Safe Schools, and Dismantling Institutional Racism in Education. We stand ready to work with the
Biden/Harris administration to ensure America's public schools are supported
and that the voice of the federation of state school boards associations and
the nation’s more than 90,000 school board members they represent are heard. Read
and download the report
https://nsba.org/News/2020/transition-recommendations
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
334 PA school boards have
adopted charter reform resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 330 school boards across the state have adopted a resolution
calling for legislators to enact significant reforms to the Charter School Law
to provide funding relief and ensure all schools are held to the same quality
and ethics standards. Now more than ever, there is a growing momentum from
school officials across the state to call for charter school funding reform.
Legislators are hearing loud and clear that school districts need relief from
the unfair funding system that results in school districts overpaying millions
of dollars to charter schools.
https://www.psba.org/2020/03/adopted-charter-reform-resolutions/
Know Your Facts on Funding and Charter Performance. Then
Call for Charter Change!
PSBA Charter Change Website:
https://www.pacharterchange.org/
The Network for Public Education Action Conference has
been rescheduled to April 24-25, 2021 at the Philadelphia Doubletree Hotel
Any comments contained herein are my comments, alone, and do not
necessarily reflect the opinions of any other person or organization that I may
be affiliated with.
