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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup September 23, 2015:
PA Supreme Court Has Opportunity to Make School
TribLive BY MELISSA
DANIELS mdaniels@tribweb.com September 21, 2015
How much longer can Pennsylvania ’s
budget impasse last? If history is any indication, quite a while. Friday saw another one-step-forward,
two-steps backward budget play in Harrisburg ,
when the state Senate passed a stopgap plan to partially fund state
government programs. But the measure is bound for a veto from Gov. Tom Wolf,
who lambasted the plan as a hypocritical ploy during a press conference last
week. And so the impasse continues. Tom Kozlik, a municipal strategist from PNC, researched
budget battles from the past 60 years: Of the 12 previous late budgets, see how most were resolved
before Labor Day? And how all but two were resolved before Christmas? Also note
how some only ended with the creation of new revenue streams, a top priority
for Wolf this year?
- See more at: http://blog.triblive.com/orp/2015/09/21/pennsylvania-budget-impasse/#sthash.68l2MrMw.dpuf
"Chinatown "
PA budget's the same old
movie
JOHN BAER, DAILY NEWS POLITICAL COLUMNIST POSTED: Wednesday,
September 23, 2015, 12:16 AM
THE STATE BUDGET mess is no surprise to anyone familiar with
Pennsylvania
politics.
You like movies? It's like the movies. Even good ones are
predictable. Our show is the rerunning
result of a system of governing long in practice. The Legislature, like Congress, operates
first in service to itself and second (if at all) to its citizens. The fight of the moment, Gov. Wolf vs.
Republican leaders over taxes and spending and stopgap measures, is but the
latest example. Here's the plot, and why it's so humdrum.
Reed: Republicans likely
to change governor’s liquor, pension proposals
The PLS Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Tuesday, September
22, 2015
House Majority Leader Dave Reed (R-Indiana) told The
PLS Reporter Tuesday that while the assessment of Gov. Tom Wolf’s
proposals regarding liquor and pension reform are still ongoing, initial
reviews indicate that Republicans will likely offer changes to those proposals. “We’re still reviewing [the proposals],
certainly we don’t have all the information from the administration yet, there
are a lot of details that are important to formulating a concrete decision on
it,” he said. “I would expect that there are some changes that we would make on
both particular items.” He said House
and Senate leaders would meet on the proposal later Tuesday to try to get a
better handle on the proposals’ details.
Noting specific concerns upon an initial review, Rep. Reed said the
liquor proposal has a lot of unanswered questions pertaining to the structure,
but he feels changes can be made to make the proposal “workable.” On pensions, he stated the primary concern of
Republicans is ensuring that the current problem is not repeated in the future.
"Barry Kauffman, the
director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, a nonpartisan watchdog group, said the
process used Tuesday “raises cynicism among the public and doubt as to the
propriety of the way the House is being operated.”
People should know if their
representative was on the floor and consented to positioning the bills, he
said. “What we’re talking about is
arguably the single most important bill that the Legislature works on in a
given year, and the only bill that is constitutionally mandated to happen every
year — the state budget,” Kauffman said. “It certainly gives short shrift to a
proper and accountable process.”
Pennsylvania House session
lasts minutes, no roll call taken
Delco Times By Mark
Scolforo, The Associated Press POSTED: 09/22/15, 3:00 PM EDT
HARRISBURG >> Pennsylvania lawmakers held an
unconventional House session Tuesday that lasted just minutes, was not
broadcast as usual and did not include a roll call. The only business that occurred was to
position two bills so that members can vote later this week on the pair of
Republican stopgap budget bills that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf has threatened to
veto. At least half the 203 members were present, which is the
minimum quorum required to conduct business, House Parliamentarian Clancy Myer
said. Because there was no roll call, he said, federal rules require members
who want to be paid for attending the session to submit a statement saying they
were in Harrisburg .
The appeal notes the lack of
equitable state funding means wealthy districts with strong real estate tax
bases spend far more than poor districts with weak tax bases. As a result,
total spending per student ranges from $9,800 to $28,400 among Pennsylvania
....And the suit points out
that, while the state adopted a new funding formula to fix inequalities found
in the costing out study, that formula was abandoned in 2011. Education
spending “in Pennsylvania today remains approximately $580 million below
pre-2011 levels and billions below the levels the costing-out study found
necessary to prepare students to meet state standards.”
Group that includes W-B Area
School District
Times Leader By Mark Guydish - mguydish@timesleader.com September 21st, 2015 -
A group of advocates
and school districts that includes Wilkes-Barre Area has filed an appeal with
the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a suit pushing for fairer state education
funding. The suit, known
as Penn School District et al. v. Department of Education et al. contends
the state legislature has failed to adequately and equitably fund public
education, violating the state constitution.
The case was dismissed by a lower court, and the appeal argues the
Supreme Court justices should order a full trial. The Wilkes-Barre Area School Board voted in
June, 2014, to join the suit filed by six school districts, seven parents of
children, the Pennsylvania Association of Rural and Small Schools Education
Law Center
and the Public Interest Law
Center
Education Law Prof
Blog By Derek
Black Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Last fall,
plaintiffs filed suit against Pennsylvania , arguing that education is a
fundamental right under the state constitution and that the state has violated
that right by repeatedly failing to ensure adequate education resources.
That claim moved through the trial court quickly and is now before the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Pennsylvania
is one of the few states that has yet to fully entertain these issues, having
dismissed school funding cases in the past as non-justiciable. Something tells
me that this time might be different. As discussed several times on this
blog over the past few years, the state has been so derelict in its obligations
to its students that its action could be declared unconstitutional under any
minimal and deferential standard one might imagine.
Plaintiffs in school
funding case file brief in Pa. Supreme Court
the notebook By David
Limm on Sep 22, 2015 03:41 PM
Lawyers for
plaintiffs in a case seeking to overturn Pennsylvania 's
system of funding schools as unconstitutional filed a brief with state Supreme
Court last Friday. The case, brought by
several school districts, parents, and groups, was dismissed in April by Commonwealth Court
judges, who ruled that school funding -- how much money is spent on education
and how it is distributed -- is a matter for the state's legislative and
executive branches to decide. An appeal
for the case to be heard in the state's highest court was filed in May by the Public Interest
Law Center
and Education Law Center Pennsylvania 's
school funding system is broken, making the availability of high-quality public
education a "function of community wealth rather than a constitutional
guarantee.” Pennsylvania 's constitution ensures a
"thorough and efficient system of public education" for all students.
Fundraising picks up for Pennsylvania
Delco Times By The Associated Press POSTED: 09/22/15, 3:00 PM EDT
Democrat David Wecht
reported Tuesday that he raised $1.2 million during the 13-week period that
ended Sept. 14. That pushed his overall fundraising for the campaign above $2
million, but his campaign is still carrying a $135,000 loan. He’s a Superior Court judge from Pittsburgh . Republican Anne
Covey reported nearly $175,000 in contributions, nudging her overall total
toward the half-million-dollar mark. She reported no debts. She’s a Commonwealth Court
judge from Bucks County Philadelphia
judge.
Dems outraise GOP in Pennsylvania
Trib Live By The
Associated Press Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, 8:09 p.m.
HARRISBURG — An infusion of cash from organized labor and Philadelphia trial lawyers helped Democratic candidates outpace Republicans in summer fundraising, setting the stage for a high-stakes campaign for three open seats on Pennsylvania's highest court, campaign finance reports filed Tuesday show. The Democratic candidates collectively took in $2.4 million during the 13-week period that ended Sept. 14, while the three Republican nominees received $334,000. David Wecht led the field, raising $1.2 million to replenish a campaign bank account that had shrunk to less than $10,000 during the May primary campaign for the state Supreme Court. Trailing Wecht were fellow Democrats Kevin Dougherty, who took in $664,000 and Christine Donohue, who received $563,000.
HARRISBURG — An infusion of cash from organized labor and Philadelphia trial lawyers helped Democratic candidates outpace Republicans in summer fundraising, setting the stage for a high-stakes campaign for three open seats on Pennsylvania's highest court, campaign finance reports filed Tuesday show. The Democratic candidates collectively took in $2.4 million during the 13-week period that ended Sept. 14, while the three Republican nominees received $334,000. David Wecht led the field, raising $1.2 million to replenish a campaign bank account that had shrunk to less than $10,000 during the May primary campaign for the state Supreme Court. Trailing Wecht were fellow Democrats Kevin Dougherty, who took in $664,000 and Christine Donohue, who received $563,000.
State lawmakers say state ready to help Erie
By John Guerriero 814-870-1690 Erie
Times-News September 23, 2015 12:10 AM
The Erie
School District Erie , D-1st Dist., and Ryan Bizzarro, of Millcreek Township Erie schools
Superintendent Jay Badams the authority to close schools, if needed, as the
impasse between the GOP-controlled Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf
drags on. Badams stressed that a
shutdown affecting nearly 12,000 students would be a last resort and the
district is still exploring other options, including borrowing money to allow
the district to keep operating beyond Oct. 2 -- the day it would run out of
money unless it gets additional tax revenue.
Spring-Ford board members
march on Harrisburg
By Eric Devlin, The Mercury POSTED: 09/22/15, 4:33 PM EDT | UPDATED: 59 SECS AGO
Royersford >>
In what was described as an effort to lead the way toward a new state budget,
representatives from the Spring-Ford Area School District marched on
Harrisburg Monday.
School board Vice
President Tom DiBello, board members Dawn Heine, Bernard Petit and Joe Ciresi,
along with residents Christina Melton and Colleen Zasowski, hit the road toward
the state Capitol to protest the lack of a state budget and the budgetary
process. There they were joined by representatives from the Chester Upland
School District in Delaware County
WHYY Newsworks BY LAURA BENSHOFF SEPTEMBER 22, 2015
Editor's note:
This story has been updated.
Delaware County
Judge Chad Kenney's announced Tuesday an "agreement in principal"
between area charter schools and the Chester
Upland School
District
Trib Live By Gideon
Bradshaw Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, 5:09 p.m.
Pittsburgh Public Schools will reduce its payments to charter schools to reflect funds the district hasn't received during a nearly three-month state budget impasse. Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent Linda Lane said the district notified charter schools earlier this month that it would pay 54 percent — the portion of district revenue that comes from local sources — of its charter school payments, starting in October. About 3,800 students who live in the city school district attended charters last year, according to district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh. The district budgeted $52.1 million in payments to charters this year. The general fund budget for Pittsburgh Public Schools is $556.7 million.
Pittsburgh Public Schools will reduce its payments to charter schools to reflect funds the district hasn't received during a nearly three-month state budget impasse. Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent Linda Lane said the district notified charter schools earlier this month that it would pay 54 percent — the portion of district revenue that comes from local sources — of its charter school payments, starting in October. About 3,800 students who live in the city school district attended charters last year, according to district spokeswoman Ebony Pugh. The district budgeted $52.1 million in payments to charters this year. The general fund budget for Pittsburgh Public Schools is $556.7 million.
IU9 considers borrowing
funds due to state budget woes
SMETHPORT — The
Seneca Highlands Intermediate Unit Nine is considering borrowing funds due to
the state budget impasse. IU9 directors
approved a motion Monday authorizing the educational agency's administration to
inquire about a $2 million line of credit.
"Kim DeGolier, director of business and management services, is
working diligently with banks," said IU9 executive director Don Wismar. "At this point, we're paying the
necessary bills," he added. In a related matter,
Wismar stated
the importance of the 14 school districts in the agency's service area of
McKean, Potter, Cameron and Elk counties paying their assessments. "It's
our only source of income," he said. "If the districts don't pay,
we're in trouble." Pennsylvania 's Intermediate Units, which replaced the
former county offices of education, work cooperatively with local school
districts to provide services which the districts cannot afford or prefer not
to offer individually. Among these are special education, remedial math and
reading classes, school psychologists, curriculum services and vocational and
technical education.
By Kurt Bresswein | For
lehighvalleylive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on
September 22, 2015 at 9:22 PM, updated September 23, 2015 at 1:00 AM
The Pennsylvania auditor general, whose office alleges the Bangor Area School District paid its
superintendent $142,608 for a no-show job, calls the arrangement an
"egregious waste of taxpayer money."
Patricia Mulroy (Lehighvalleylive.com file photo) Auditor General Eugene DePasquale issued a
statement about his office's findings that former Bangor Area schools
Superintendent Patricia Mulroy took home that sum in salary and benefits for
consulting services she failed to provide.
"There's no other way around it," DePasquale stated Monday.
"This agreement was an immense disservice to students and taxpayers. I
want to ensure that every available dollar of education funding goes toward
classroom learning."
State’s longest teacher
union labor dispute drags on in Old Forge
Citizens Voice BY SARAH HOFIUS HALL Published: September 22, 2015
OLD FORGE — Wearing
matching sweatshirts and carrying picket signs, teachers walked along Marion Street on Monday
morning. Old Forge Junior/Senior High
School, with dark classrooms and empty hallways, stood behind them. “I can’t believe we’re here again,”
Superintendent John Rushefski said from his office, as the 70 teachers began
their first day on strike. In the
longest teacher union labor dispute in the state, teachers said they had little
choice. “It’s unfortunate we’ve gotten
to this point,” Old Forge Education Association President Shawn Nee said. In the sixth year of
working under an expired contract, the union remains concerned with proposed
changes to health care and the structure of retroactivity pay. The district
claims it cannot afford the union’s demands.
"For all the progress in
improving educational outcomes among African-American children, the achievement
gaps between more affluent and less privileged children is wider than ever, notes
Sean Reardon of the Center for Education Policy Analysis at Stanford. Racial
disparities are still a stain on American society, but they are no longer the
main divider. Today the biggest threat to the American dream is class."
Education
Gap Between Rich and Poor Is Growing Wider
New York Times SEPT.
22, 2015 by Eduardo Porter
The wounds of
segregation were still raw in the 1970s. With only rare exceptions,
African-American children had nowhere near the same educational opportunities
as whites.
The civil rights
movement, school desegregation and the War on Poverty helped bring a measure of
equity to the playing field. Today, despite some setbacks along the way, racial
disparities in education have narrowed significantly. By 2012, the test-score
deficit of black 9-, 13- and 17-year-olds in reading and math had been reduced as much as 50 percent compared
with what it was 30 to 40 years before. Achievements
like these breathe hope into our belief in the Land of Opportunity Columbia University
CMD Publishes Full List of
2,500 Closed Charter Schools (with Interactive Map)
PRWatch By Jonas Persson on September 22, 2015 -
12:46pm
Today, the Center
for Media and Democracy is releasing a complete state-by-state list of the failed charter schools
since 2000. Among other things, this data reveals that millions and millions of
federal tax dollars went to “ghost” schools that never even opened to students.
The exact amount is unknown because the U.S. Department of Education is not
required to report its failures, where money went to groups to help them start
new charters that never even opened. This data set also
provides reporters and citizens of each state an opportunity to take a closer
look at how much taxpayer money has been squandered on the failed charter
school experiment in their states. The data set and the interactive map below
are based on more than a decade’s worth of official but raw data from the National Center
- See more at: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/09/12936/cmd-publishes-full-list-2500-closed-charter-schools#sthash.WohweBeu.dpuf
Common Core: ‘the gift that Pearson counts on to keep
giving’
Mercedes
Schneider is a veteran teacher in Louisiana
who has been educating students for more than two decades, as well as an
education researcher who has been highly critical of corporate school reform.
She is also the author of two books, “A
Chronicle of Echoes: Who’s Who in the Implosion of American Public Education,”
and the newly published “Common
Core Dilemma: Who Owns Our Schools?”
The following is an excerpt from her book about the Core. It is about
the education company Pearson and it is revelatory in showing the connections
between some education reformers and corporate leaders.
Follow on twitter
@Progressive4Ed
PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION FELLOWS
Introducing the 2015 “Progressive
Education Fellows,” an online gathering of prominent advocates, activists,
thinkers, and writers in the progressive education movement.
The Progressive
September 2015
The Fellows come
together at a critical time for public education in the United States . Not since the
Civil-Rights-era battles over school desegregation has the debate about
public education been so intense and polarized. The Fellows come from
every region of the country, and from diverse backgrounds with a wide range of
expertise. They are teachers, administrators, journalists, parent activists,
and leaders of the movement to defend public schools. You can find
their writing here at The
Progressive website, and also follow them on Twitter. Read what Lead Fellow
Jeff Bryant has to say on why
we need the Fellows project.
“It ain't over `til it's
over”
Yogi
Berra, Master Yankee Catcher With Goofy Wit, Dies at 90
New York Times By BRUCE WEBER SEPT. 23, 2015
Yogi Berra, one of
baseball’s greatest catchers and characters, who as a player was a mainstay of
10 Yankee championship teams and as a manager led both the Yankees and Mets to
the World Series — but who may be more widely known as an ungainly but lovable
cultural figure, inspiring a cartoon character and issuing a seemingly
limitless supply of unwittingly witty epigrams known as Yogi-isms — died on Tuesday.
He was 90.
PSBA launches an alumni
network
Are you a former school director or in your final term? Stay connected through the PSBA Alumni Network. Your interest in public education continues beyond your term of service as a school director. And as a PSBA alumnus, you have years of experience and insight into the workings of public education and school boards. Legislators value your opinions as a former elected official. Take that knowledge and put it to work as a member of the PSBA Alumni Network.
For a nominal yearly fee of $25 a year or $100 for a lifetime membership, you will receive:
Are you a former school director or in your final term? Stay connected through the PSBA Alumni Network. Your interest in public education continues beyond your term of service as a school director. And as a PSBA alumnus, you have years of experience and insight into the workings of public education and school boards. Legislators value your opinions as a former elected official. Take that knowledge and put it to work as a member of the PSBA Alumni Network.
For a nominal yearly fee of $25 a year or $100 for a lifetime membership, you will receive:
- Electronic access to the PSBA
Bulletin, the leading public education magazine in Pennsylvania
- Access to legislative information
pertaining to public education and periodic updates via email.
To join, complete
the registration below. For more details or questions, contact Member
Engagement Director Karen Devine at Karen.devine@psba.org or (800)
932-0588, ext. 3322.
Register Now for the Fifth
Annual Arts and Education Symposium Oct. 29th Harrisburg
Thursday, October
29, 2015 Radisson Hotel Harrisburg Convention Center 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Act
48 Credit is available. The event will be a daylong convening of arts education
policy leaders and practitioners for lively discussions about important policy
issues and the latest news from the field. The symposium is hosted by EPLC and
the Pennsylvania Arts Education Network, and supported by a generous grant from
The Heinz Endowments.
The John Stoops Lecture
Series: Dr. Pasi Sahlberg "Education Around the World: Past, Present &
Future" Lehigh University October 8, 2015 6:00 p.m.
Baker Hall |Zoellner Arts
Center | 420 E. Packer Avenue | Bethlehem , PA 18015
Baker Hall |
Free and open to the
public! Ticketing is general admission -
no preseating will be assigned. Arrive early for the best seats. Please plan to stay post-lecture for an open
reception where you will have an opportunity to meet with students from all of
our programs to learn about the latest innovations in education and human
services.
Register now for the
2015 PASCD 65th Annual Conference, Leading and Achieving in an Interconnected World, to be
held November 15-17, 2015 at Pittsburgh Monroeville Convention
Center.
The Conference
will Feature Keynote Speakers: Meenoo Rami – Teacher and Author
“Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching,” Mr. Pedro Rivera,
Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, Heidi Hayes-Jacobs – Founder and President
of Curriculum Design, Inc. and David Griffith – ASCD Senior Director of Public
Policy. This annual conference features small group sessions focused on:
Curriculum and Supervision, Personalized and Individualized Learning,
Innovation, and Blended and Online Learning. The PASCD Conference is
a great opportunity to stay connected to the latest approaches for innovative
change in your school or district. Join us forPASCD 2015!
Online registration is available by visiting www.pascd.org <http://www.pascd.org/>
Slate of candidates
for PSBA offices now available online
PSBA website July 31, 2015
PSBA website July 31, 2015
The
slate of candidates for 2016 PSBA officer and at-large representatives is now
available online, including bios, photos and videos. According to
recent PSBA Bylaws changes, each member school entity casts one vote per
office. Voting will again take place online through a secure, third-party
website -- Simply Voting. Voting will
open Aug. 17 and closes Sept.
28. One person
from the school entity (usually the board secretary) is authorized to register
the vote on behalf of the member school entity and each board will need to put
on its agenda discussion and voting at one of its meetings in August or
September. Each person authorized to register the school entity's votes has
received an email on July 16 to verify the email address and confirm they are
the person to register the vote on behalf of their school entity.
School Leadership Conference
online registration closes Sept. 25
Register Now for PASA-PSBA School
Save the date for the
professional development event of the year. Be inspired at more than four
exciting venues and invest in professional development for top administrators
and school board members. Online registration is live at:
Register Now – PAESSP
State Conference – Oct. 18-20 – State College, PA
Registration is now
open for PAESSP's State Conference to be held October 18-20 at The
Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel in State College, PA! This year's
theme is @EVERYLEADER and features three nationally-known keynote
speakers (Dr. James Stronge, Justin Baeder and Dr. Mike Schmoker), professional
breakout sessions, a legal update, exhibits, Tech Learning Labs and many
opportunities to network with your colleagues (Monday evening event with Jay
Paterno). Once again, in conjunction
with its conference, PAESSP will offer two 30-hour Act 45 PIL-approved
programs, Linking Student Learning to Teacher Supervision and Evaluation
(pre-conference offering on 10/17/15); and Improving Student Learning
Through Research-Based Practices: The Power of an Effective Principal (held
during the conference, 10/18/15 -10/20/15). Register for either or both PIL
programs when you register for the Full Conference!
REGISTER TODAY for
the Conference and Act 45 PIL program/s at:
Interested in letting our
elected leadership know your thoughts on education funding, a severance tax,
property taxes and the budget?
Governor Tom Wolf,
(717) 787-2500
Speaker of the
House Rep. Mike Turzai, (717) 772-9943
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
