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Keystone
State Education Coalition
Tax Bills Could
Expand Private School Benefits & Hurt Public Education
Congrats/Condolences to all the new Pennsylvania school
directors who took the oath of office for the first time last evening! Have your new board members send their email
addresses to signup for the PA Ed Policy Roundup and/or follow us on twitter
@lfeinberg
New York Times By ERICA L. GREEN DECEMBER
4, 2017
WASHINGTON — As Friday night turned into Saturday
morning, Vice President Mike Pence cast a tiebreaking vote in the Senate to
extend a tax benefit available for higher education to families paying tuition
for private elementary and secondary education — or even homeschooling their
children. The vote on the amendment by Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of
Texas, was emblematic of the sweeping tax bills entering final negotiations
between House and Senate Republicans. Provisions in both measures could change
families’ approach to elementary and secondary education, and every type of
school stands to benefit except those attended by 90 percent of the nation’s
students — public schools. Under the House and Senate bills, families who can
afford to put money away for private or sectarian schools each month would be
able to watch their savings earn interest and capital gains free of taxation.
In the Senate bill, even home schoolers could withdraw up to $10,000 a year for
school expenses in their own living room — from tax-favored savings accounts. By
contrast, the drastic curtailing of state and local tax deductions in both
bills could hamstring local governments’ efforts to finance their public
schools.
An attorney for the group challenging Pennsylvania’s
congressional boundaries told a panel of federal judges Monday he would seek to
show that they were unfairly drawn to favor Republicans through the use of
sophisticated software and detailed datasets. Lawyers for Republican state
lawmakers countered that statewide election results shed no light on the
individual districts, since voters elect members of Congress in their own
districts and not statewide, and that politics has always been an accepted part
of the redistricting process. “We’re in a new technical world here,” said
Thomas H. Geoghegan, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. He spoke during opening
statements in the first of two trials this month scrutinizing the fairness of
Pennsylvania’s congressional map. A similar challenge starts in state
court next week. Both come as courts and communities nationwide have been
wrestling with the issue of political gerrymandering, and how it can give one
party an outsize influence in government.
Battle
over Pa.’s congressional district map begins in federal court in gerrymandering
case
By Lindsay Lazarski, WHYY December 4, 2017
Trial began in
federal court on Monday in a legal battle over Pennsylvania’s congressional
district map. A group of Pennsylvania voters claim that the map created
during the 2011 redistricting process is an unconstitutional partisan
gerrymander. The plaintiffs are calling for a new map before the 2018 midterm elections.
In his opening statement before a three-judge panel, attorney Thomas
Geoghegan, who represents the voters, argued that the outcomes of
Pennsylvania’s congressional district elections are predetermined. “These maps
are weaponized to be voter proof,” said Geoghegan. He pointed out that in the
last three elections, Republicans have maintained 13 of Pennsylvania’s 18 seats
in the U.S. House of Representatives regardless of the swings in the number of
Republican and Democratic votes recorded.
Lawyer
says Pa.'s U.S. House map is legal during first day of redistricting trial
Penn Live By The Associated Press Updated 1:09
AM; Posted Dec 4, 8:18 PM
PHILADELPHIA -- The Latest on a trial over
congressional redistricting in Pennsylvania (all times local): A lawyer for the
Republican Pennsylvania legislative leaders who controlled the state's
contested 2011 congressional redistricting is trying to build the case that
even if some people don't like the resulting maps, that does not make them
illegal. A group of Democratic voters are in court challenging the map, which
has helped Republicans control most of the state's congressional seats despite
relatively even numbers of votes for Republican and Democratic U.S. House
candidates. An expert for the plaintiffs, Daniel McGlone, told a three-judge
panel on Monday that the congressional district boundaries should have been
created with no regard for the likely political outcome. Jason Torchinsky,
representing Republican legislators, challenged him about whether the map is
illegal, saying McGlone just didn't like the way the process went.
Congressional
Leaders Signal They Intend to Kick the Can Down the Road on CHIP
Georgetown University Health Policy Institute
December 4, 2017 by Joan AlkerJoan Alker is the Executive Director of the Center for Children and Families
It appears that Congress is planning to kick the can
further down the road rather than finally approve the bipartisan plan to fund
the Children’s Health Insurance Program this week. House Energy and Commerce
Committee Chairman
Walden has signaled that he wants to allow CMS to shift
unused CHIP funding (currently reserved for states that are still
in good shape) to those that have already been allotted their portion of unused
funds and are at risk of running out soon. Funding for CHIP expired two months ago and it was
widely hoped that Congress would attach a bipartisan agreement to extend CHIP
for five years to the short-term Continuing Resolution expected to be passed by
December 8th when the current government funding runs out. The delay in long-term funding is bad news for
children, families and states that are anxiously awaiting action by Congress to
provide long-term stability to this vital program that meets the health care
needs of children from families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid
coverage and too little to afford private insurance.
Costello
calls for passage of bill to shore up CHIP
By Michael
Rellahan, Daily Local News POSTED: 12/04/17, 3:37 PM EST
Thousands of children in Chester County and
neighboring areas are in danger of losing health insurance as Congress has not
been able to agree on continuing funding for a popular bipartisan program that
began in Pennsylvania more than 20 years ago. Two months past its deadline,
Congress has yet to fund the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP),
leaving several states scrambling for cash. Lawmakers grappling with the failed
repeal of the Affordable Care Act allowed authorization of the program to lapse
on Sept. 30. Although CHIP has always had broad bipartisan support, the U.S.
House and Senate cannot agree on how to continue federal funding. And the Trump
administration has been mostly silent on the issue. Last week, members of the
House introduced legislation that would ensure states have funding to provide
services for CHIP ahead of a possible year-end deadline. U.S. Rep. Ryan
Costello, R-6, of West Goshen, and Rep. Tom Emmer, Republican of
Minnesota, pressed for passage of the CHIP Stability Act, which the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid confirmed would provide the flexibility necessary to keep
CHIP programs running through the end of December while the Senate considers
legislation for the program’s long-term reauthorization.
Why the
Republicans are passing a tax plan they know is flawed | Editorial
by The Inquirer Editorial Board Updated: DECEMBER
4, 2017 — 4:34 PM EST
An act of desperation is the best way to describe
the Republican tax bill passed by the Senate. It could cost the party both
houses of Congress if overly exuberant projections of job creation amid an
economic boom evaporate, which seems likely. But the GOP is under pressure to
prove the party in control of the House, Senate, and presidency can govern. The Republican tax plan leans heavily
on the same economic theory proven wrong long before President Ronald Reagan
trotted it out in the 1980s. Humorist Will Rogers derided President Herbert
Hoover’s version by actually coining the term “trickle-down” economics during
the Great Depression. In a Nov. 28 commentary, Todd Carmichael, co-founder and CEO of La
Colombe Coffee Roasters, explained why the GOP plan won’t create jobs. “Because what
every CEO knows but won’t tell you is this,” he said. “A tax break for their
company simply means a fatter bottom line. Not jobs. Not investment. Just more
money in the pockets of the folks like me.” Carmichael’s observation matches
an analysis of the Senate bill by the
nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation, whose professional staff of
economists, attorneys, and accountants have advised Congress on tax policy
since 1926. The committee projected only a 0.6 percent increase in employment
before many of the tax breaks in the bill expire in 2025, and a decline in
employment afterward.
“Sens. John C. Rafferty, Jr.,
R-Collegeville, and Andrew E. Dinniman, D-West Whiteland Township, announced in
April their partnership with Reps. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake and William C.
Kortz II, D-Dravosburg, to propose requiring students to answer at least 60
percent of test questions correctly on an exam identical to the one taken by
individuals seeking naturalization.”
SB723: Proposed Senate bill would require PA students
to pass civics test
By Mike Tony mtony@heraldstandard.com Dec 3, 2017 Updated Dec
3, 2017
James Shwallon teaches U.S. history from the
pre-colonial era up to the Civil War at Laurel Highlands Middle School and
doesn’t expect his students to know prior to taking his course what
egalitarianism or universal white male suffrage mean. Shwallon ponders a
proposed state Senate bill that would require students to pass a civics test
identical to the exam produced by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
before they can graduate high school and acknowledges that the kneejerk
reaction is that it’s a good idea. But as Shwallon’s eighth-grade honors U.S.
history students get back into gear in their first day back from Thanksgiving
break, he considers the other high-stakes testing they will have to contend
with: PSSAs for English Language Arts, Math and Science and Keystone Exams. Shwallon
concludes that it might be a better idea to prioritize more funding for public
education in general, including civics and U.S. history as targets for funding
just as much as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) educational
programming.
“When the delegates gathered that
December, they were restricted to considering only issues that had been
specified on the ballot question, including legislative redistricting, reducing
the size of the General Assembly, and merit selection of appellate judges.”
In '67,
drafters of Pa. constitution looked at redistricting, appointing judges, and a
smaller legislature | Opinion
Inquirer Opinion by Doug Reichley Updated: DECEMBER
4, 2017 — 3:01 AM ESTDoug Reichley is a Lehigh County Common Pleas Court judge and was a member of the Pennsylvania House from 2003 to 2011.
For those concerned about the pace of change when it
comes to issues like legislative redistricting, consider that it was among the
topics discussed when delegates from across the commonwealth convened in the
Pennsylvania Capitol 50 years ago this month for the first constitutional
convention since 1873. The authorization for the convention in 1967 succeeded
only after six previous attempts failed for a number of reasons. Following the
defeat of the convention referendum in 1963, several groups such as the
Pennsylvania Bar Association committed to rallying public support for the
measure. Raymond Shafer, the Republican candidate for governor in 1966, also
made the convention a priority during his successful campaign, and followed
through with his pledge after winning office. No doubt one reason for the
success of referendum was that it was tucked into the middle of a crowded
ballot with eight other questions in the spring of 1967. By the time
voters got to the convention question, they were likely already in the habit of
voting yes and continued for all nine ballot items.
Lycoming
County educator named Pa.'s 2018 Teacher of the Year
Penn Live By Jan Murphy jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated Dec
4, 5:55 PM
A Lycoming County world history and
psychology teacher won the honor of being named the 2018 Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year on Monday. Loyalsock
Township High School's Jennifer Wahl was chosen from the pool of 12 finalists
nominated for the award for her work in and outside of the classroom by
students, parents, peers and community members. Wahl has taught at the high
school for 11 years. Wahl, who said she had to pinch herself to make sure it
was true that she was the one winning the honor, said, "I'm humbled by the
opportunity to be able to work and mostly to advocate for my fellow educators
in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania."
New
Hope-Solebury board, teachers far apart on new contract
Intelligencer By Chris English Posted
Dec 4, 2017 at 5:02 PM Updated Dec 4, 2017 at 6:17 PM
New Hope-Solebury teachers and other professionals
in their union have been working under the terms of a contract that expired
June 30. The New Hope-Solebury school board and teachers appear to be far apart
on a new contract, based on extensive information about the status of
negotiations recently posted on the school
district website. Teachers and other professionals in their
124-member union have been working under the terms of a four-year contract that
expired June 30. Boards and teachers in two other Bucks County school
districts, Bensalem and Bristol Borough, also have been unable to come to
agreement on new contracts. Teachers in Bensalem have been working under the
terms of a six-year contract that expired June 30, and those in Bristol Borough
under a five-year contract that expired Aug. 31. The detailed update on New
Hope-Solebury talks was posted on the district website because “union members
have made public comments about negotiations at school board meetings and other
venues,” wrote school board members in a letter that accompanied the update.
With SRC
on way out, Bill Green gets handed a loss by state court
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Staff
Writer @newskag | kgraham@phillynews.com Updated: DECEMBER
4, 2017 — 3:50 PM EST
With Philadelphia’s School Reform Commission on its way out the door, a state court
tied up a bit of unfinished business Monday, handing Bill Green a defeat in his quest to
regain chairmanship of the panel. Green, who was named to the SRC and appointed
chairman by Gov. Tom Corbett in 2014, was essentially demoted by Gov. Wolf in 2015. He was replaced
by Marjorie Neff and then, when she left the panel, by Joyce Wilkerson, the current chair. The former City
Councilman said he believed Wolf’s move was politically motivated: The decision
came just after Green voted to approve five new charter schools, a move the
governor opposed. Green said then that he had been told that the governor could
not work with him as chair. Green remains a member of the SRC, but had
argued in a suit filed in
Commonwealth Court that Wolf’s move was illegal.
In his ruling, Judge Joseph M. Cosgrove disagreed,
saying that removing Green “was well within Gov. Wolf’s constitutional
authority.”
SCASD
updates extended day proposal
Centre Daily Times BY LEON VALSECHI lvalsechi@centredaily.com DEC 05, 2017 01:29
AM
The State College Area school board was presented on
Monday with an update to the extended school day proposal, which included the
plan’s potential effects on the district’s annual budget. The updates included the results of a transportation
study commissioned by the board in October, which cost about $25,000. School
Bus Consultants, a Missouri-based company, studied the impact the proposal could
have on the transportation routes that cover the 150-square-mile district. Under
the proposal, the elementary start time moves from 8:44 a.m. back to 8:10 a.m.
and the day would end at 3 p.m. instead of 2:50 p.m. Middle and high school
students would start at 8:40 a.m. instead of 8:10 a.m. and their day would end
at 3:42 p.m. and 3:40 p.m., instead of 3:12 p.m. and 3:16 p.m. respectively.
Saucon
Valley backs away from banned words list
Morning Call by Michelle
Merlin Contact
Reporter Of The Morning Call December 4, 2017
The Saucon Valley School District, looking to craft
a policy that takes a stance against racism, is backing away from banning five
potentially hateful words. Last month, school board members looked at a draft
of a high school handbook policy that included unacceptable words under a
section titled “hate speech.” The handbook didn’t name the words, but district
administrators said they were “b----,” the N-word, “terrorist,” “retarded” and
“gay.” But under the latest version of the policy — which board members will
review Tuesday — there is an anti-discrimination and harassment section that
says any student exhibiting behavior through actions, language or symbols found
to be prejudicial or discriminatory will be disciplined according to the code
of conduct.
A Symphony
Breathes Life Into 400 Broken School Instruments
New York Times By JOSHUA BARONE DEC. 4, 2017
PHILADELPHIA — As the garagelike door rolled up at
the 23rd
Street Armory here on Sunday evening, 400 student, amateur
and professional musicians paraded in with just a helping of the broken
instruments that have spent years languishing in this city’s strapped public
school system. A trumpet was held together with blue painter’s
tape. A violin, stripped of much of its body, had been reduced to a silhouette.
More than one cello was carried in multiple pieces. These were the unlikely
ingredients of “symphony for a broken orchestra,” a new piece
by the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang. It was written as part of a
project of the same name to repair more than 1,000 damaged instruments that had
been doomed to silence in storage because of severe budget cuts to
Philadelphia’s public school music programs.
U.S.
Graduation Rate Hits New All-Time High, With Gains in All Student Groups
Education Week By Catherine
Gewertz on December 4, 2017 11:23 AM
UPDATED The national high school graduation rate has
risen to a new all-time high: 84 percent, the fifth straight year of increases,
according to data published by the federal government today. The graduation rate for the high school class of
2015-16 is nearly a whole point higher than the one for the previous
year's class, which was 83.2 percent, according to the
new data
from the National Center for Education Statistics. The rate measures
the proportion of each freshman class that earns a diploma four years later. All
groups of students showed improvements, a notable feat. The graduation rates
for black students and for students who are learning English each rose 1.8
percentage points in one year. The rates for low-income students and Hispanic
students each rose 1.5 points since the previous year. Students with
disabilities saw a gain of nearly a full percentage point.
DeVos
Unfiltered: Education Reform Began in 380 BC and Public School Students are
‘Trapped’
The Progressive By Peter Greene December 4,
2017Peter Greene has been a classroom secondary English teacher for over thirty-five years. He lives and works in a small town in Northwest Pennsylvania, blogs at Curmudgucation, and is Midwest Regional Progressive Education Fellow.
Last week, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spoke at
Jeb Bush’s Carnival of Reform, the tenth annual National Summit on Education
Reform, put on by Bush’s group Foundation for Excellence
in Education (currently transitioning to its new name, ExcelinEd). There’s
nothing exceptional about her appearance—DeVos and Bush have run in the same
reform circles for years, and he was enthusiastic about her appointment. But because her
remarks in Nashville are for an exceptionally friendly crowd of reformers, privatizers, and profiteers, it’s worth our
while to take a look at what she said.
Register
for New School Director Training in December and January
PSBA Website October 2017
You’ve started a challenging and
exciting new role as a school director. Let us help you narrow the learning
curve! PSBA’s New School Director Training provides school directors with
foundational knowledge about their role, responsibilities and ethical
obligations. At this live workshop, participants will learn about key laws,
policies, and processes that guide school board governance and leadership, and
develop skills for becoming strong advocates in their community. Get the tools
you need from experts during this visually engaging and interactive event.
Choose from any of these 11
locations and dates (note: all sessions are held 8 a.m.-4 p.m., unless
specified otherwise.):
·
Dec. 8, Bedford CTC
·
Dec. 8, Montoursville Area High School
·
Dec. 9, Upper St. Clair High School
·
Dec. 9, West Side CTC
·
Dec. 15, Crawford County CTC
·
Dec. 15, Upper Merion MS (8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m)
·
Dec. 16, PSBA Mechanicsburg
·
Dec. 16, Seneca Highlands IU 9
·
Jan. 6, Haverford Middle School
·
Jan. 13, A W Beattie Career Center
·
Jan. 13, Parkland HS
Fees: Complimentary to All-Access
members or $170 per person for standard membership. All registrations will be
billed to the listed district, IU or CTC. To request billing to
an individual, please contact Michelle Kunkel at michelle.kunkel@psba.org. Registration also includes a
box lunch on site and printed resources.
NSBA 2018
Advocacy Institute February 4 - 6, 2018 Marriott Marquis, Washington D.C.
Register
Now
Come a day early and attend the Equity Symposium!
Join hundreds of public education advocates
on Capitol Hill and help shape the decisions made in Washington D.C. that
directly impact our students. At the 2018 Advocacy Institute, you’ll gain
insight into the most critical issues affecting public education, sharpen your
advocacy skills, and prepare for effective meetings with your representatives. Whether
you are an expert advocator or a novice, attend and experience inspirational
keynote speakers and education sessions featuring policymakers, legal experts
and policy influencers. All designed to help you advocate for your students and
communities.
