Tuesday, September 4, 2012

President Obama, March 2011: “….one thing I never want to see happen is schools that are just teaching to the test. Because then you're not learning about the world”




U.S. 15-year olds in schools with fewer than 10 percent of kids eligible for free or cut-rate lunch "score first in the world in reading, outperforming even the famously excellent Finns."  U.S. schools where fewer than 25 percent are impoverished (by the same lunch measure) beat all 34 of the relatively affluent countries studied except South Korea and Finland.


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1650 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, members of the press and a broad array of education advocacy organizations via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.

These daily emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
  
Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 09/04/2012

Lifelong Democrat ready for fight in Charlotte over school reform

Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss
The Democrats are opening their political convention on Tuesday with hopes of rallying the troops for the fall campaign ahead — but on one issue they are getting pushback from activists within the party: school reform.
The Obama administration’s school reform policies have been met with
(JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS)increasing opposition in communities across the country over the past year for a variety of reasons, including:
·         the expanded use of standardized test scores as the main “accountability” measure for students, teachers and schools
·         the push to expand the number of charter schools despite their very mixed academic record and financial scandals involving some charter management organizations, and other efforts that have contributed to a push to privatize the public education system.
·         the embrace of Teach for America — which trains new college graduates for five weeks and then sends them into some of America’s neediest classrooms. Veteran teachers feel this and other related initiatives, including the push for evaluation systems that assess teachers based on their students’ test scores — amount to a war on them.
In many — though certainly not all — ways, the administration’s education policies have aligned with Republican views on school reform, and so it is in the area of school reform that there has been probably more bipartisan agreement than in any other.
And that has plenty of Democrats furious. One of those activists is Pamela Grundy, co-chair of MecklenburgACTS.org, a six-year-old grass-roots coalition of parents and community members working to build community commitment to equity and excellence in all schools. Grundy, who is also a co-founder of the Parents Across America organization, wrote the following piece:

“But here is what is alarming: Either President Obama is trying to mislead people, or he is unfamiliar with the policies being advanced by his very own secretary of education, who was seated just a few feet away from him at this event.”

Obama Blasts His Own Education Policies

Education Week Living in Dialogue Blog By Anthony Cody on March 29, 2011 12:29 AM
If only the Department of Education could hear this guy Obama, boy, they would have to rethink their approach!
In a town hall meeting hosted by Univision, President Obama was asked by a student named Luis Zelaya if there could be a way to reduce the number of tests that students must take. 
His answer was superficially reassuring, but underneath, rather alarming.

If you would like to contact JC Penney media relations and let them know your thoughts on supporting TFA and it’s program to bring college graduates with no education training or experience other than TFA’s 5-week boot camp into classrooms full of high poverty, high-need students here is their media relations contact information:
jcpenney media relations Kate Coultas and Daphne Avila (972) 431.3400 or email at jcpcorpcomm@jcp.com
JCPENNEY INVITES CUSTOMERS TO JOIN ITS SUPPORT OF TEACH FOR AMERICA
By Rounding Up Purchases, jcpenney Customers Can Help Make America’s Schools Great
Grammy Award Winning Singer John Legend Teams Up with jcpenney to Champion Teach For America Cause
JC Penney Press Release PLANO, Texas (August 30, 2012) /PRNewswire/
As part of its charitable giving program, jcp cares, jcpenney is supporting Teach For America, an organization committed to developing teachers and leaders to make America’s schools great. Throughout the month of September, jcpenney customers can round up their store purchases to the nearest whole dollar and donate the difference to Teach For America.
Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunities for children facing the challenges of poverty. Each year, the organization recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding individuals of all academic disciplines to commit two years to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity. Today more than 10,000 corps members are teaching in 46 urban and rural regions across the country.
Customers shopping jcpenney this September can help ensure that every child across America receives an excellent education,” said Miki Woodard, president of jcp cares and vice president of philanthropy for jcpenney. “With the school season officially underway, we know this is a cause that will be top of mind for both our customers and team members. Together, we’ll be able to raise funds that will enable Teach for America to recruit, select, train and support more corps members and alumni, helping to close the education gap in our country.”

Posted: Tue, Sep. 4, 2012, 3:01 AM
Northeast High program with Philadelphia Futures helps students get into college
By Kristen A. Graham Inquirer Staff Writer
In the Philadelphia School District, students' potential often outstrips school resources.
The situation is especially acute when it comes to college counseling. Take Northeast High School, where just seven counselors handle the more than 3,000 students.
Though Northeast is one of the city's strongest comprehensive high schools - about half of its graduates go on to college, compared with 36 percent citywide - it's not strong enough, leaders say.  "We knew we had the kids who had the ability, but we didn't have the resources - enough counselors, enough parent input - to get the kids where they need to be," said principal Linda Carroll, who lost two counselors this school year.
……Enter Philadelphia Futures, the nonprofit that helps promising low-income city students get into college and then succeed there. Traditionally, it has handpicked a select group of teens - currently, 176 high school students citywide - for intensive, long-term mentoring, academic enrichment, guidance, and funds for college-related expenses.

More info on Philadelphia Futures
Philadelphia Futures: a union of White-Williams Scholars and Philadelphia Futures provides Philadelphia's high-potential, economically disadvantaged, college-bound students with deep, rigorous and life-changing programs and resources as they make their journey to and through college.  Working with volunteer mentors, donors, and school and college personnel in direct service to students, in partnership with educational institutions, and in advocacy activities in the broader community, Philadelphia Futures increases the percentage of Philadelphia graduates prepared for higher education, while simultaneously reducing the institutional barriers to their academic success. Our organization operates on the belief that a college education is the portal to economic self-sufficiency and a satisfying life.

Posted: Tue, Sep. 4, 2012, 3:01 AM
Inquirer Editorial: School begins with challenges
Another school year, another big test for the Philadelphia School District - will that ever change?
It's not the only district facing challenges. Budget cuts and leadership changes are having an impact on both sides of the Delaware, in particular in the Camden and Chester Upland districts.

Pennsylvania schools fear Adequate Yearly Progress won’t be in reach

Pittsburgh Tribune Review by Rachel Weaver and Rick Wills Published: September 2, 2012
Education insiders call a federal law requiring 100 percent student proficiency on state exams an unreachable goal.  By 2014, the No Child Left Behind Act specifies all students must score “proficient” or higher in reading and math on the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests. Educators expect the criteria will keep most schools from making adequate yearly progress, a state measurement of student achievement.
“It was quite predictable that as 2014 approached, a very large percent, if not all schools, will not be meeting AYP,” said Ronald Cowell, president of The Education Policy and Leadership Center, a Harrisburg nonprofit. “Everybody recognizes in the most technical sense it is impossible to get to absolute perfection.”
Surprise: Area high schoolers will start taking Keystone exams this year
Districts knew tests were coming, but didn't know until July they would start this winter.
By Marion Callahan, Of The Morning Call 11:16 p.m. EDT, September 3, 2012
The decades-old PSSA tests are out for Pennsylvania's 11th graders this year.
The new Keystone exams, which eventually will be tied to student graduation, are in.
The rollout of the Keystone exams this year is the first step in a sweeping overhaul of the state's testing system, which aims to raise the standards and stakes for students graduating from high school.

Cash still flows to troubled charter school

Law allows Vitalistic charter school to receive tax payments even though it doesn't have a building.

By Steve Esack, Of The Allentown Morning Call 10:37 p.m. EDT, September 1, 2012
The classrooms walls are stripped bare and the desks are gone. The modular buildings are on flatbeds waiting to be towed. Empty crates are piled in the main hallway under the banner featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s paraphrased quote, "Within every child … there is the potential for greatness."
This is all that's left of Vitalistic Therapeutic Charter School of the Lehigh Valley at 902 Fourth Ave. in Bethlehem. The 13 faculty members and six administrators who survived previous layoffs were forced to vacate Monday after a Vitalistic-affiliated board of trustees sold it to pay down the charter school's debt and end a monthly $17,000 contract it could not afford.
Where Vitalistic has gone is unknown to the Allentown and Bethlehem school districts, which have had joint oversight of the regional charter school since 2001. But while the school may not have a new known address for students, most of whom have emotional, behavioral or physical disabilities, there is one thing it does have: Tax money.
Under the 1997 charter school law, Vitalistic is entitled to receive local and state tax dollars as long as it has students on its enrollment books, and it does.

Pa. school districts, cyber charters vie for students
Last of a three-part series covering cyber schools in the Pittsburgh area
By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette September 4, 2012 12:03 am
No matter whether he turns left or right driving home from his Homestead office, Paul Cindric, curriculum coordinator for the new STREAM Academy Cyber Charter School, is bound to pass a huge billboard advertising a competitor.
"The competition is fierce," Mr. Cindric said.  This may be the most competitive year yet.
This fall, there will be 16 cyber charter schools trying to attract students from across Pennsylvania. Last school year, 13 cyber charter schools, one of which has closed, drew more than 32,000 students.

Cyber charters in Pennsylvania growing despite issues

First of a three-part series covering cyber schools in the Pittsburgh area
By Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette September 2, 2012 12:07 am
In the fall of 2000, the Pittsburgh area was introduced to a new, though largely unwelcome, educational venue when Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School opened, allowing students to attend school online from home.

Franklin Park home is a cyber schoolhouse
Second of a three-part series covering cyber schools in the Pittsburgh area
By Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette September 3, 2012 12:18 am
On weekday mornings, school buses transporting neighborhood children to North Allegheny schools rumble up and down the Franklin Park street where the family of Jill and Rick Buffalini lives.  Instead of scrambling for buses, the Buffalini children sit comfortably with laptop computers inside their home, already deep into their school work for the day.

 

Our failing public schools: 104 of 141 members of JPL’s Mars team graduated from public schools
“The overwhelming proportion of the Mars exploration team came from America's public high schools. A JPL website, "Zip code Mars," carries brief bios of the Mars team. When this article was written, 141 names were posted.  Of those, 104 graduated from public high schools.”
Our public schools still launch Earth's best, brightest thinkers
For this LA Daily News article and links to additional Labor Day postings:

http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2012/09/our-failing-public-schools-104-of-141.html

 

When Pennsylvanians Went to White House

Notes from August 30th meeting at the White House and links to additional weekend postings
So there we were at the White House. Forty “education leaders” from Pennsylvania invited to meet with President Obama’s senior policy advisors as well as top staff at the U.S. Department of Education (USDE).

Education 2020—September 13th Forum will focus on where we want to go

Published: Tuesday, September 04, 2012, 1:01 AM
Harrisburg Patriot News By Letters to the Editor 
Can you guess what topic The Patriot-News receives the most letters to the editor and commentaries about?  …..Everyone has an opinion about our schools.
The Patriot-News is holding a community forum focused on education on Sept. 13 at the Grace Milliman Pollock Performing Arts Center in Camp Hill to address these big questions.
Pennsylvania Education Secretary Ron Tomalis will join a panel that includes Mechanicsburg Area School District Superintendent Dr. Mark Leidy, Infinity Charter School founder Nancy Hall and Patriot-News Capitol bureau chief and longtime education reporter Jan Murphy.
We also have interviewed numerous teachers, students, administrators, school board members and parents about what's working and what isn't in our current system. Their voices will play a role in the forum as well.
We all have a view on education. Join us Sept. 13 to discuss the future of our schooling system with key leaders. The issue is critically important.

Education Voters PA Statewide Advocate Leadership Session
Added by Ian Moran
Time: September 22, 2012 from 8:30am to 4:30pm
Location: Temple University Harrisburg, 234 Strawberry Square
Education Voters of Pennsylvania will be holding a day-long summit for public education advocates across the state on Saturday September 22 in Harrisburg, PA. 
With public education coming under attack on multiple levels, the goal of this event is to bring together community members who are standing up for public schools in their own communities for training, planning and coordinating statewide efforts to maximize the impact that we all have.  We'll have a chance to brush up on and learn more about key policy issues, get training on effective advocacy tools and techniques and share stories and idea about local effort and how we bring this work together in a unified way.  Breakfast and lunch will be provided.
Click HERE for more details on parking, directions, etc.

If you have received an absentee ballot it must be postmarked by September 10th
Bios of candidates slated for 2013 PSBA offices 8/15/2012
At its May 19 meeting at PSBA Conference Center, the PSBA Nominating Committee interviewed and selected a slate of candidates for officers of the association in 2013.

Upcoming PSBA Professional Development Opportunities
To register or to learn more about PSBA professional development programs please visit:  www.psba.org/workshops/

2012 PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference Oct. 16-19, 2012
Registration is Now Open!  Hershey Lodge & Convention Center, Hershey, PA
www.psba.org/workshops/school-leadership-conference/

EPLC’s 2012 Arts and Education Symposium: Save the Date, Thursday, October 11

Education Policy and Leadership Center

Please mark your calendars and plan on joining EPLC, our partners, and guests on October 11 in Harrisburg for a full day of events.  Stay tuned to aei-pa.org for information about our 2nd Arts and Education Symposium.  Scholarships and Act 48 Credit will be available.  Outstanding speakers and panelists from Pennsylvania and beyond will once again come together to address key topics in the arts and arts education and related public policy advocacy initiatives.  This is a networking and learning opportunity not to be missed!

http://www.aei-pa.org/


NSBA Federal Relations Network seeking new members for 2013-14
School directors are invited to advocate for public education at the federal level through the National School Boards Association’s Federal Relations Network. The National School Boards Association is seeking school directors interested in serving on the Federal Relations Network (FRN), its grass roots advocacy program that brings local board members on the front line of pending issues before Congress. If you are a school director and willing to carry the public education message to Washington, D.C., FRN membership is a good place to start. 
Click here for more information.
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Monday, September 3, 2012

Our failing public schools: 104 of 141 members of JPL’s Mars team graduated from public schools




U.S. 15-year olds in schools with fewer than 10 percent of kids eligible for free or cut-rate lunch "score first in the world in reading, outperforming even the famously excellent Finns."  U.S. schools where fewer than 25 percent are impoverished (by the same lunch measure) beat all 34 of the relatively affluent countries studied except South Korea and Finland.


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1650 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, members of the press and a broad array of education advocacy organizations via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.

These daily emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg


Our failing public schools: 104 of 141 members of JPL’s Mars team graduated from public schools
“The overwhelming proportion of the Mars exploration team came from America's public high schools. A JPL website, "Zip code Mars," carries brief bios of the Mars team. When this article was written, 141 names were posted.  Of those, 104 graduated from public high schools.”
Our public schools still launch Earth's best, brightest thinkers
Los Angeles Daily News By Ralph E. Shaffer Posted:   09/01/2012 04:49:46 PM PDT
CRITICS of American education ought to be holding their tongues these days. The almost unbelievable success of the Curiosity mission to Mars should have silenced them.
But despite the brilliant achievement of America's space pioneers, the uninformed and opportunistic continue to make our public school system a whipping boy. That they are wrong is demonstrated by the educational background of the engineers and scientists at the Jet Propulsion Lab in La Ca ada Flintridge - men and women who built Curiosity and landed it on Mars. Their efforts convincingly demonstrate that America's public schools still nurture Earth's finest minds.
The critics won't be interested, for the facts interfere with their agenda. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, in his keynote speech to the Republican convention last week, charged that American education is not competitive with the rest of the world. Without saying it, Christie was comparing America's Olympic medal collection to what he believes is our dismal performance in educating our children.
However, if the space race was an Olympic competition, the team at JPL would have won more gold, silver and bronze than the rest of the nations combined.  The overwhelming proportion of the Mars exploration team came from America's public high schools. A JPL website, "Zip code Mars," carries brief bios of the Mars team. When this article was written, 141 names were posted.  Of those, 104 graduated from public high schools.

 

When Pennsylvanians Went to White House

Notes from August 30th meeting at the White House and links to additional weekend postings
So there we were at the White House. Forty “education leaders” from Pennsylvania invited to meet with President Obama’s senior policy advisors as well as top staff at the U.S. Department of Education (USDE).

Posted: Mon, Sep. 3, 2012, 3:01 AM
EITC 2.0: Pa. tax credit aid for schools off to a slow start
By Dan Hardy Inquirer Staff Writer
Gov. Corbett's education agenda and Pennsylvania's school-choice movement got a big boost in late June when the legislature targeted up to $50 million in business-tax credits to help students living near low-achieving public schools attend private schools or public schools in other districts.
But the new Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program has gotten off to a slow start. As most schools prepare to open this week, only $10 million in tax credits have been snapped up by businesses.

 

Posted: Mon, Sep. 3, 2012, 5:55 AM

PhilaSoup gives teachers a chance to share ideas

By Kristen A. Graham Inquirer Staff Writer

In a pretty garden set against the city skyline, a spirited cadre of young educators sipped donated wine from plastic cups and talked about the big things:

How to change young peoples' lives and connect with their families.

How tough it is to be a new teacher, and how isolating being in a classroom can feel.

How, regardless of what else is happening in the world - budget cuts, violence, widespread mistrust of educators - their job is to show up every day and give their all.

http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20120903_PhilaSoup_gives_teachers_a_chance_to_share_ideas.html


Joe Bruni is a champion for kids in an inner ring Philadelphia suburb with a declining tax base, 98% minority/85% poverty student population.

A Superintendent in Pennsylvania Joins the Honor Roll

Diane Ravitch’s Blog September 2, 2012
To the honor roll of superintendents who stand up for public education and their students and communities, I add the name of Joe Bruni, superintendent of the William Penn School District in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania.  He was nominated by Charlotte Hummel, who was president of the local school board.

Ask Obama, Romney How To Help Every Kid Complete High School
Huffington Post by Tony Smith, Ph.D.Superintendent, Oakland Unified School District
Posted: 09/01/2012 3:27 pm
Now that the presidential campaign is entering the home stretch, I'll 'fess up to my own fantasy.
I'd like to ask President Obama and Mitt Romney a question about education on one of their nationally televised debates.
In the three nationally televised debates during the fall of 2008, there was only one question about education, and it was the final question in the final debate. This time, I'd like to ask President Obama and Governor Romney: How would you make sure that every young person graduates from high school, ready for college and career?

Reverse the cuts to early education funding

Published: Sunday, September 02, 2012, 1:31 AM
Patriot News By Letters to the Editor 
Kent Chrisman is Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education in the Teacher Education Department at Shippensburg University.
In the 2011-12 budget, funding for TEACH scholarships were cut from the budget. This cut affected hundreds of child care providers who relied on these funds to further their education in child development, family engagement, early literacy, math, science, etc.
There will be long-term consequences to maintaining quality in child care if this funding continues to be eliminated. Ongoing professional development is one of the components, identified in research, as essential for effective early education.

Cyber charters in Pennsylvania growing despite issues

First of a three-part series covering cyber schools in the Pittsburgh area
By Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette September 2, 2012 12:07 am
In the fall of 2000, the Pittsburgh area was introduced to a new, though largely unwelcome, educational venue when Western Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School opened, allowing students to attend school online from home.
That statewide school -- now known as Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School and based in Midland, Beaver County -- attracted 505 students, and another cyber charter, Susq-Cyber, more localized around Bloomsburg, Columbia County, enrolled 77.
This fall, enrollment in 16 cyber charter schools -- including four new ones -- is expected to grow beyond last year's 32,000, demonstrating the increasing popularity of online education among families of children in grades K-12.

Franklin Park home is a cyber schoolhouse
First (Second?) of a three-part series covering cyber schools in the Pittsburgh area
By Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette September 3, 2012 12:18 am
On weekday mornings, school buses transporting neighborhood children to North Allegheny schools rumble up and down the Franklin Park street where the family of Jill and Rick Buffalini lives.  Instead of scrambling for buses, the Buffalini children sit comfortably with laptop computers inside their home, already deep into their school work for the day.

 

What's A Charter School If Not A Game Changer?

NPR by CLAUDIO SANCHEZ

Listen to the Story Weekend Edition Saturday [6 min 17 sec]

September 1, 2012
The charter school movement is now at a crossroads. More than 2 million students will be enrolled in charter schools in the fall — a big number for a movement that's barely 20 years old. The publicly funded, privately run schools have spread so fast, they operate more like a parallel school system in some places.
The intention was to create labs for education experimentation. But the quality of charters and their record of success are mixed. Sometimes, the results aren't much different from their public counterparts. Original arguments against the business model have never dissipated, and now there are questions about whether charters are serving their initial purpose.

Quality and Equity in Finnish Schools
A Finnish education ambassador shares how his country’s school system ensures all students have access to quality instruction, sans constant testing
School Administrator September 2012 BY PASI SAHLBERG 
My work for the Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation at the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture allows me to visit schools around the world. Based on those visits, I have concluded that schools everywhere vary little with regard to the subjects they teach, the classrooms where students learn and the students’ opinions about school.
Schools do differ significantly in one area, however: the way they address the inequalities and diversity their students bring to school. 
I recently visited the Hiidenkivi Comprehensive School in Helsinki, Finland, to see how the educators provide special education. It is a typical suburban public school that serves 760 students in grades 1-9. More than 10 percent are from immigrant-background homes.

School Finance 101 Blog by Bruce Baker
Data and thoughts on public and private school funding in the U.S.

If you have received an absentee ballot it must be postmarked by September 10th
Bios of candidates slated for 2013 PSBA offices 8/15/2012
At its May 19 meeting at PSBA Conference Center, the PSBA Nominating Committee interviewed and selected a slate of candidates for officers of the association in 2013.

Upcoming PSBA Professional Development Opportunities
To register or to learn more about PSBA professional development programs please visit:  www.psba.org/workshops/

2012 PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference Oct. 16-19, 2012
Registration is Now Open!  Hershey Lodge & Convention Center, Hershey, PA
www.psba.org/workshops/school-leadership-conference/

EPLC’s 2012 Arts and Education Symposium: Save the Date, Thursday, October 11

Education Policy and Leadership Center

Please mark your calendars and plan on joining EPLC, our partners, and guests on October 11 in Harrisburg for a full day of events.  Stay tuned to aei-pa.org for information about our 2nd Arts and Education Symposium.  Scholarships and Act 48 Credit will be available.  Outstanding speakers and panelists from Pennsylvania and beyond will once again come together to address key topics in the arts and arts education and related public policy advocacy initiatives.  This is a networking and learning opportunity not to be missed!

http://www.aei-pa.org/


NSBA Federal Relations Network seeking new members for 2013-14
School directors are invited to advocate for public education at the federal level through the National School Boards Association’s Federal Relations Network. The National School Boards Association is seeking school directors interested in serving on the Federal Relations Network (FRN), its grass roots advocacy program that brings local board members on the front line of pending issues before Congress. If you are a school director and willing to carry the public education message to Washington, D.C., FRN membership is a good place to start. 
Click here for more information.
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Saturday, September 1, 2012

When Pennsylvanians Went to White House




“Middle-class American students who attend well-funded schools rank at the top of the world on international tests.” Stephen Krashen, professor emeritus of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California August 12, 2012 


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1600 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, members of the press and a broad array of education advocacy organizations via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.

These daily emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

When Pennsylvanians Went to White House

Diane Ravitch’s Blog September 1, 2012

From the Yinzercation Blog

YINZER NATION + EDUCATION = YINZERCATION

The Elephant at the White House

— AUGUST 31, 2012
So there we were at the White House. Forty “education leaders” from Pennsylvania invited to meet with President Obama’s senior policy advisors as well as top staff at the U.S. Department of Education (USDE).  The room contained district superintendents, school board members, principals, college presidents, education professors, representatives from a host of education associations, a super-PAC school privatizer, educational consultants, and various non-profit directors. And one elephant.

Here’s the link to the Yinzercation Blog and a list of the White House, US Dept. of Education and DHHS personnel who participated in the forum:
White House policy advisors and USDE/DHHS senior staff participants:
Kyle Lierman, White House Office of Public Engagement
Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy
David Bergeron, Acting Assistant Secretary, USDE
Miriam Calderon, Senior Advisor, White House Domestic Policy Council
Lexi Barret, Senior Policy Advisor, White House Domestic Policy Council
Richard Gonzales, Senior Advisor for Early Childhood Development and Education, US Dept. of Health and Human Services
Massie Ritsch, Deputy Assistant Secretary for External Affairs and Outreach, USDE
Deborah Delisle, Assistant Secretary, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, USDE
Brenda Girton-Mitchell, Office of the Secretary, Director, Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, USDE
Brenda Dann-Messier, Assistant Secretary, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, USDE
Steven Hicks, Special Assistant for Early Learning, USDE
Betsy Shelton, Director of Public Engagement, USDE

“What seems to be underappreciated in this country is how actively the Asian systems are trying to embrace the values and outcomes that we appear to be so willing to abandon: specifically, the American penchant for promoting creativity, individualism, innovation, and nonconformity. In other words, for developing and nurturing the diverse talent that can result from an ethos of coloring outside the lines.”
February 5, 2012
U.S. Education in Chinese Lock Step? Bad Move.
Jon Krause for The Chronicle of Higher Education
By Brian P. Coppola and Yong Zhao
The education systems in China and the United States not only are headed in opposite directions, but are aiming at exactly what the other system is trying to give up.
In the United States, through programs such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, as well as calls for more standardization and accountability in higher education, we are embracing the sort of regimented, uniform, standards-based, and test-driven education that has dominated Asian education systems for thousands of years.
What seems to be underappreciated in this country is how actively the Asian systems are trying to embrace the values and outcomes that we appear to be so willing to abandon: specifically, the American penchant for promoting creativity, individualism, innovation, and nonconformity. In other words, for developing and nurturing the diverse talent that can result from an ethos of coloring outside the lines.

This year, it’s Philly charter schools’ turn to wrestle with budget cuts
By Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner Aug 30 2012
Like a hurricane predictably making its way up the coast, the financial storm that battered the Philadelphia School District last year is now taking its toll on the city’s 80 charter schools.
Some charter leaders are now speaking out about the damage.
In the wake of a billion-dollar drop in state funding over the past two years and the hundreds of millions in District cuts that followed, all of Philadelphia’s charters were hit this year with a more than 7 percent reduction in the per-pupil payment that sustains them. That comes out to roughly $700 per child, or a loss of about $400,000 for a typical school of 600 students.

Charters still growing, still have naysayers
By JUDY WEIGHTMAN, METRO US PHILADELPHIA Published: August 26, 2012
Charter schools are public schools, meaning they are funded by public money and cannot discriminate on the basis of race or religion.   The number of charter schools in Philadelphia has grown dramatically since the state first authorized them with the Pennsylvania Charter School Law in 1997. Almost a quarter (23.8 percent) of Philadelphia public-school students attended charter schools in the 2011-2012 school year. If present trends continue, that proportion could reach 40 percent in five years, according to a recently released study by Boston Consulting Group. 

Seniors now outnumber students in more than 900 counties across the U.S., Census data show

Education Week By Sarah D. Sparks August 28,2012
The 1,000-student Allegheny Valley district in Pennsylvania boasts generations of alumni and a community so involved with the schools that high school graduation becomes an open celebration in downtown Springdale Borough. Yet the district hasn't asked for a tax increase in three years, and it is pushing out a message to older residents about energy conservation, equipment reuse, and other cost savings.

No conclusive achievement difference in voucher, MPS schools
By Jim McLaughlin of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Aug. 30, 2012
A five-year longitudinal study found students in voucher schools on average improved slightly more on state tests than those in Milwaukee Public Schools. But a state audit of the study released Thursday said no conclusion could be reached on voucher schools' impact on test scores because of a recent change in test data reporting requirements.

Early Childhood Education: In This World Ranking, We Are #24

Diane Ravitch’s Blog August 31, 2012 //
The survey establishes the importance of early childhood education, which is supported by extensive research.  It says: “This Index assumes that all children, regardless of their background, legal status and ability to pay, have a right to affordable, quality preschool provision.”
Then, it ranks 45 nations by their provision of early childhood education.
The United States is #24, tied with the United Arab Emirates.

Our First Hero Superintendent

Diane Ravitch’s Blog August 31, 2012 
John Kuhn, superintendent of the Perrin-Whitt Independent School District in Texas,  is a hero superintendent. He has been a voice of reason and at the same time an exemplar of passion and courage since he burst onto the national stage a year ago at the national Save Our Schools rally in Washington, D.C. 
That is when many people discovered this fearless advocate for education and children.
He has said loud and clear that schools must serve the neediest children and raise them up, not avoid them for fear of dragging down the school’s ranking and scores.
He has taken to the national arena to oppose high-stakes testing.

Jeb Bush Sells School Choice at GOP Convention

Education Week Charters and Choice Blog By Sean Cavanagh on August 31, 2012
School choice, along with most other education issues, has spent a lot of time on the sidelines during a Republican National Convention dominated by economic themes. But for a slice of prime-time television last night, Jeb Bush was able to push his vision of choice into the spotlight.
The former two-term Florida governor spoke on the final night of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

U.S. Department of Education weekly bulletin 08/31/2012

Weekly Update: Come aboard as Education Drives America 

The Department’s “Education Drives America” back-to-school bus tour is less than two weeks away. In the coming week, details of each event will be released. To stay connected on all things bus tour, sign up for Education Drives America email updates. You might also find the following updates useful:
·         Engaging Families - A quarterly newsletter encouraging support of family engagement to improve student achievement.
·         Office of Early Learning - Keep up to date on information that is relevant to programs and activities serving children birth through 3rd grade.
·         Teaching Matters - A periodic newsletter created by teachers at ED, celebrating teachers and the teaching profession.

If you have received an absentee ballot it must be postmarked by September 10th
Bios of candidates slated for 2013 PSBA offices 8/15/2012
At its May 19 meeting at PSBA Conference Center, the PSBA Nominating Committee interviewed and selected a slate of candidates for officers of the association in 2013.

Upcoming PSBA Professional Development Opportunities
To register or to learn more about PSBA professional development programs please visit:  www.psba.org/workshops/

2012 PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference Oct. 16-19, 2012
Registration is Now Open!  Hershey Lodge & Convention Center, Hershey, PA
www.psba.org/workshops/school-leadership-conference/

EPLC’s 2012 Arts and Education Symposium: Save the Date, Thursday, October 11

Education Policy and Leadership Center

Please mark your calendars and plan on joining EPLC, our partners, and guests on October 11 in Harrisburg for a full day of events.  Stay tuned to aei-pa.org for information about our 2nd Arts and Education Symposium.  Scholarships and Act 48 Credit will be available.  Outstanding speakers and panelists from Pennsylvania and beyond will once again come together to address key topics in the arts and arts education and related public policy advocacy initiatives.  This is a networking and learning opportunity not to be missed!

http://www.aei-pa.org/


NSBA Federal Relations Network seeking new members for 2013-14
School directors are invited to advocate for public education at the federal level through the National School Boards Association’s Federal Relations Network. The National School Boards Association is seeking school directors interested in serving on the Federal Relations Network (FRN), its grass roots advocacy program that brings local board members on the front line of pending issues before Congress. If you are a school director and willing to carry the public education message to Washington, D.C., FRN membership is a good place to start. 
Click here for more information.

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