Mandate Relief/Keystone Exam Briefing/Darling-Hammond/Budget Cuts in Bangor/Green Building Workshop on 3/30 @CCIU/Sen. Williams DN OP/ED [TLG LC/SB/BCC]

Pa. senators unveil legislative package to provide mandate relief to school districts

Published: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 5:53 PM

 By JAN MURPHY, The Patriot-News 

With the more than $1 billion cut in state aid to school districts, "if we fail to relieve school districts of some of the cost drivers that they face, we will see local property taxes increase. This is unacceptable," said Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin County, at a Capitol news conference.Piccola chairs the Senate Education Committee, which is scheduled to take up the package of bills at its April 5 meeting.

Piccola vowed to not introduce any new legislation imposing mandates on districts, but Christopher Wakeley, executive director to the Democratic House Education Committee, noted Piccola's school choice bill, Senate Bill 1, is rife with mandates on districts. Among those he cited is a mandate for districts to transport children to the school they choose to attend, and one requiring them to pay for full-day kindergarten at a private school even if the public school offers only a half-day kindergarten program.  (Thanks Chris!)

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/03/pa_senators_unveil_legislative.html

Bills in State Senate aim to help schools on budget cuts

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

By Laura Olson, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG -- With state funding to public schools set to be slashed under the governor's budget, a group of senators is aiming to also shrink the number of requirements dictating how districts operate.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11082/1134003-298.stm#ixzz1HPuHPsgW

Yesterday afternoon’s coverage of the mandate relief package and press conference:

http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2011/03/mandate-relieftaxpayer-protection.html

Keystone Exam Briefing/PVAAS Senate Education Committee Public Hearing of Tuesday, March 22^nd

Informational Briefing from the Department of Education on status of: The Keystone Exams (17 page PDF), Implementation of Pennsylvania's Value Added Assessment System (PVAAS) disclosure via Act 104 of 2010, Capabilities of PVAAS system in evaluating student achievement and the new 4-year cohort graduation rate .

Team Pennsylvania Foundation coverage of Senate Keystone Exam Briefing

(Team PA was a strong proponent for the adoption and implementation of the Keystone Exams) Senate Education Committee members were assured by department officials at a public hearing Tuesday that the one-year moratorium on the implementation of the Keystone Exams was a temporary move designed to accomplish two things.

http://teampa.com/2011/03/keystone-exams-are-raising-student-achievement/

(Read this post by Linda Darling-Hammond and then send it to your state and federal policymakers…)

Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog, Posted at 10:20 AM ET, 03/22/2011

Darling-Hammond: U.S. vs highest-achieving nations in education

By Valerie Strauss

This post was written by Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommun  Professor of Education at Stanford University, where she was founding director of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. She now directs the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education. A former president of the American Educational Research Association, Darling-Hammond focuses her research, teaching, and policy work on issues of school restructuring, teacher quality and educational equity. 

By Linda Darling-Hammond
The first ever International Summit on Teaching, convened last week in New York City, showed perhaps more clearly than ever that the United States has been pursuing an approach to teaching almost diametrically opposed to that pursued by the highest-achieving nations.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/darling-hammond-us-vs-highest-achieving-nations-in-education/2011/03/22/ABkNeaCB_blog.html

Bangor could lose 22 teachers, classes, activities

With $2.5 million deficit, district says it has no choice but to balance budget with staffing cuts.

By Andrew McGill, OF THE MORNING CALL, 11:01 p.m. EDT, March 22, 2011

What does a $2.5 million budget deficit look like in the Bangor Area School District?

By the administration's calculations, more than 20 teachers, full-day kindergarten and the high school's block scheduling system, all of which could be on the block — even with a tax increase

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/easton/mc-bangor-school-teacher-layoffs-20110322,0,4052896.story

Delaware Valley Green Building Workshop

March 30, 2011 at the Chester County Intermediate Unit

Manage Your Energy: The Energy Management Workshop for Schools

Brochure: http://dvgbc.org/files/ManageYourEnergy.pdf

Info and registration: http://dvgbc.org/education/k-12-schools-energy

Philadelphia Daily News Opinion, Posted on Wed, Mar. 23, 2011

Pennsylvania school vouchers: Your child, your choice!

By ANTHONY H. WILLIAMS

THE CONCEPT of school choice is simple. You, the parent, decide where your child goes to school. It's very basic, and the time has come to embrace it. That's why state Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-Dauphin/ York) and I have introduced Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the Opportunity Scholarship and Education Improvement Tax Credit Act.

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20110323_Pennsylvania_school_vouchers__Your_child__your_choice_.html

Mandate Relief/Taxpayer Protection Package

This morning Senate Education Committee chairmen held a press conference to introduce a Mandate Relief/Taxpayer Protection Package. Below is the package of bills. You may view the text of the bills by going to the Electronic Bill Room at http://www.legis.state.pa.us.  

Mandate Relief/Taxpayer Protection Package

Vote Planned on April 5^th @ 10:30 a.m. in Room 8EW

·         Senate Bill 202 (Dinniman) – Alternative certification pathways for principals and teachers.

·         Senate Bill 293 & 296 (Eichelberger/Brubaker) – Increases the thresholds for bidding to $25,000 plus a CPI.

·         Senate Bill 329 (Dinniman) – Suspends non-essential reports from districts to PDE in years in which state education funding declines.

·         Senate Bill 537 (Rafferty) – Requires a 2/3 vote by school boards to raise property taxes.

·         Senate Bill 612 (Folmer) – Economic Furloughs coupled with language requiring proportionate reduction of administrators and a waiver if administrative reduction is burdensome.  Amendment will be offered in committee to remove seniority rights and in its place establish effectiveness criteria tied to PVAAS data and local evaluations and also to require that positions remain vacant for at least one year unless the suspended employee is reinstated.  “Last in, First Out” will not apply unless in current CBAs. 

·         Senate Bill 801 (Waugh) – Districts would be permitted to bid single prime.

·         Senate Bill 802 (Piccola) – Districts may hire either school certificated nurses OR Registered Nurses.

·         Senate Bill 803 (Piccola) – Districts would be permitted to advertise from a menu of options including the Internet.

·         Senate Bill 814 (Corman) – Reintroduction of Senate Bill 250 of last session (as reported from the Senate Education Committee) to reauthorize the Mandate Waivers program that expired on June 30, 2010.  Bidding for school construction projects would be required both ways – multi-prime and single prime.

·         Senate Bill 844 (Dinniman) – Districts making AYP and/or showing adequate PVAAS growth will be waived from participating in PILS (administrator training conducted in Harrisburg).

·         Senate Bill 857 (Smucker) – Section 2502.49 of the Public School Code would be repealed.  Obsolete Rendell Administration language that required districts to use increases in basic education funding for new programs and expansion of existing programs.

·         Senate Bill 858 (Waugh) – Districts would be permitted the option of hiring certificated superintendents OR candidates who have a graduate degree in business or finance.

·         Senate Bill 869 (Alloway) – Currently the school districts bordering Pennsylvania are required to provide transportation for students to attend out of state private schools. This bill would allow schools to discontinue this service.

·         Senate Bill 870 (Eichelberger) – Entitlement in Public School Code for 10 paid sick days per year and Paid Sabbatical Leave will be repealed leaving these issues up to collective bargaining between districts and teachers’ unions.

·         Senate Bill 871 (Brubaker) – Continuing education and professional development for teachers would be suspended for two years saving educators, districts and the state significant monies.

·         Senate Bill 872 (Brubaker) – Current requirements in the School Code to establish a Concurrent Enrollment Committee and for quarterly meetings would be removed.  Districts would be given the flexibility to determine their policies for participating in dual enrollment.

·         Senate Bill 873 (Brubaker) – The Secretary of Education and State Board of Education would be required to review and overhaul the Department of Education’s PlanCon process for school construction and reimbursement.

 Press release from Senator Piccola’s website:

Education Chairs & Senators Unveil Mandate Relief Package

Pledging to Relieve School Districts of Financial Burdens

HARRISBURG – Recognizing the budgetary constraints and challenges facing Pennsylvania's school districts, Senator Jeff Piccola (R-15), Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and members of the Senate Republican Caucus unveiled today a comprehensive legislative package intended to relieve schools of costly state mandates.  Also joining Piccola for this announcement was Senator Andy Dinniman (D-19), Democratic Chairman of the Education Committee.

Read more: http://piccola.org/press/2011/0311/032211.htm

SENATOR PICCOLA’S REMARKS – MANDATE RELIEF PRESS CONFERENCE

http://piccola.org/press/2011/0311/remarks-032211.pdf

Mandate relief proposed for school districts

Senate Republicans outline changes supported by Corbett.

ALLENTOWN MORNING CALL HARRISBURG BUREAU

2:24 p.m. EDT, March 22, 2011

Pennsylvania school districts would get a break on providing mandated services — ranging from pupil transportation to teachers' professional development — under an 18-bill package made public Tuesday by Senate Republicans.

"We're beginning the process of removing onerous burdens on taxpayers to free up school boards, administrators and teachers to deliver more effective educational products to our students," said Senate Education Committee Chairman Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-pa-schools-mandate-relief-20110322,0,3031700.story

Vouchers/Mandate Relief/ PTR: Poorer schools suffer most from cuts/ MCALL: Easton teachers/ Inky: Charter network with Turkish link

Allentown Morning Call Letter to the Editor

Vouchers could harm, not help, some schools

4:24 p.m. EDT, March 21, 2011

As a parent, active PTA member and business owner, I am quite concerned by the proposed school voucher agenda. The basic need is to fix the problem, not divert attention and resources.

http://www.mcall.com/opinion/yourview/mc-school-vouchers-woodland-yv-20110321,0,4863538.story

 

Mt. Pleasant board voices displeasure with Senate Bill 1

By Rachel R. Basinger, FOR THE DAILY COURIER
Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Mt. Pleasant Area School Board wants to send a message to the state.

Monday night directors approved a resolution opposing Senate Bill 1, which introduces the voucher program.  The resolution states the district's belief that the implementation of a tuition voucher program, overexpansion of any existing tax credit program or incentivizing a student's transfer out of the public education system in any way takes financial resources away from traditional public schools.

Read more: Mt. Pleasant board voices displeasure with Senate Bill 1 - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/news/s_726354.html#ixzz1HKJyfQo8

 

Mandate Relief Package to be Unveiled by Education Chairs & Senate Republicans

MEDIA ADVISORY
HARRISBURG – Senator Jeff Piccola (R-15), Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and members from the Senate Republican Caucus will be unveiling a legislative bill package on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. in the media center of the State Capitol Building to assist the state's school districts with the costly mandates imposed on them through the Pennsylvania Public School Code.  Senator Andy Dinniman, Democratic Chairman of the Education Committee, will also be participating in the event.

 

Poorer schools might suffer most from Corbett's cuts
Pittsburgh Tribune Review, By Associated Press, Monday, March 21, 2011

HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's poorest school districts, which usually get the most help from the state, will suffer the most pain if Gov. Tom Corbett's budget is approved, according to advocates who say the plan will deliver a huge setback to efforts to erase educational disparities.

Read more: Poorer schools might suffer most from Corbett's cuts - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_728363.html#ixzz1HKP8Wzz8

 

Between Easton, teachers is Blunt talk

School board's negotiator looks to the staff for salvation.

By Samantha Marcus, OF THE ALLENTOWN MORNING CALL

12:09 a.m. EDT, March 21, 2011

Easton Area School Board members and administrators have spent more than six hours in public meetings reviewing the $141.9 million budget with the subtext that those efforts are futile. At most, symbolic.  The big money, the kind district negotiator Paul Blunt says will save the district from fiscal doom, is in its people.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/easton/mc-easton-teachers-union-negotiations20110320,0,7003220.story

US charter school network with Turkish link draws federal attention

By Martha Woodall and Claudio Gatti

Philadelphia Inquirer, March 20 2011

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20110320_U_S__charter-school_network_with_Turkish_link_draws_federal_attention.html

Related articles:

Dayton Daily News 03/19/11 : Islam-inspired schools growing in Ohio

http://m.daytondailynews.com/dayton/db_101691/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=4MURIs0v&detailindex=0&pn=0&ps=8&full=true

Canada Free Press March 20, 2011: Meet “the Most Dangerous Islamist on Planet Earth” He lives in Pennsylvania

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/34651

Centre Daily Times March 22, 2011

Young Scholars charter school faces scrutiny over ties with Islamic leader

Federal authorities examining possible employee kickbacks, according to report

Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2011/03/22/2597590/charter-school-faces-scrutiny.html##ixzz1HKqOc9gL

Read more on the Charter Schools Scandals website:
http://charterschoolscandals.blogspot.com/p/list-of-us-gulen-schools.html
And on the Perimeter Primate website:
http://perimeterprimate.blogspot.com/2010/11/affiliation-between-gulen-movement-and.html

Education Chairs & Senate Republicans to Unveil Mandate Relief Package

MEDIA ADVISORY

Education Chairs & Senate Republicans to Unveil Mandate Relief Package

HARRISBURG – Senator Jeff Piccola (R-15), Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and members from the Senate Republican Caucus will be unveiling a legislative bill package on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. in the media center of the State Capitol Building to assist the state's school districts with the costly mandates imposed on them through the Pennsylvania Public School Code.  Senator Andy Dinniman, Democratic Chairman of the Education Committee, will also be participating in the event.

Vouchers:Resolutions/ PPG: Tomalis re Budget/PPG: Proposed state cuts are forcing schools to adjust/ WAPO: How test scores are used as a political prop

York Daily Record - LTE

Vouchers won't improve schools

STEVE CHRONISTER

Updated: 03/18/2011 02:43:47 PM EDT

http://www.ydr.com/letters/ci_17645148

Troy and Canton Area School Boards Oppose SB1

thedailyreview.com BY ERIC HRIN (STAFF WRITER)

Published: March 17, 2011

TROY - In addition to expressing concern over the governor's proposed budget this week, the Troy Area School Board passed a resolution opposing Senate Bill 1, which calls for tuition vouchers.

The Canton Area School Board also passed the resolution at its last meeting.

http://thedailyreview.com/news/troy-opposes-senate-bill-1-1.1120024?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4d82087ce02ec728%2C0

Haverford School Board Passes Resolution Against Voucher Bill

The resolution is supposed to educate the public of the potential impact of Senate Bill 1, says the school board.

By Anthony Leone March 18, 2011

At Thursday night’s school board meeting, the Haverford School District passed a resolution that the board said would inform the public of the potential impact that the voucher bill would have on the township.

http://haverford.patch.com/articles/school-board-passes-resolution-against-voucher-bill

Has your board considered a resolution opposing SB1?

Click here for a sample board resolution opposing SB1 from PSBA

State's education chief insists students come first

Saturday, March 19, 2011

By Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Gov. Tom Corbett's budget proposal -- to cut more than $1 billion from public school districts and base teacher job security on performance -- makes it obvious that education in Pennsylvania is likely to change dramatically.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11078/1133219-298.stm#ixzz1HENeBLWv

Planning for less: Proposed state cuts are forcing schools to adjust

Thursday, March 17, 2011

By Mary Niederberger, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

If there's one certainty in the education budget proposed last week by Gov. Tom Corbett, it's that school districts on all ends of the spectrum are feeling the pain.

If the budget passes with cuts in place, some poor districts will no longer be able to operate after-school tutoring programs, and some will be forced to give up full-day kindergarten as funding for those programs is set to be eliminated. In addition, the districts stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in charter school tuition reimbursements, which also would be cut.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11076/1132478-55.stm#ixzz1HEPvSAfa

Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 03/21/2011

How test scores are used as a political prop

By Valerie Strauss

The news out of Washington D.C. offers evidence that calls for test-based teacher evaluations persist, ironically against the weight of evidence: “Sen. Joseph Lieberman is drafting a school reform bill that would tie a portion of federal education dollars to a requirement that states implement robust teacher evaluations, with student test scores being a major factor in rating teacher performance.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/how-test-scores-are-used-as-a-political-prop/2011/03/20/ABPCe33_blog.html

Democratic Policy Committee - Pittsburgh Public Hearing on SB1 - Agenda for March 23, 2011

PA House Democratic Policy Committee - Pittsburgh Public Hearing on SB1 -  Agenda for March 23, 2011
Public is welcome - come out and show your support!
Wednesday,  March 23, 2011, at 9:00 a.m. in Pittsburgh

Public Hearing with Rep. Jake Wheatley on Vouchers at the University of Pittsburgh, William Pitt Union Building’s Kurtzman Room, 3959 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh.

      9:00 a.m.      Welcome and Opening Remarks

      9:10 a.m.      Panel One:

·         Ira Weiss, Solicitor, School District of Pittsburgh

·         John Tarka, President, Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers

·         Marianne Neel, President, Pennsylvania School Board Association

·         Dr. Ronald Sofo, Superintendent, Freedom Area School District

      9:50 a.m.      Panel Two:

·         Dawn Chavous, Executive Director, Students First

·         Otto Banks, Executive Director, REACH Alliance and Foundation

·         Phillip Murren, Esq., Attorney, Ball, Murren & Connell

·         Matthew Brouillette, President, Commonwealth Foundation

    10:30 a.m.      Panel Three:

·         Sandra Zelno, School Reform Associate, Education Law Center

·         Sara Rose, Staff Attorney, American Civil Liberties Union of PA

·         Shauna D’Alessadnro, Education Committee Member, Pennsylvania State Conference of NAACP Branches

·         Lynn Foltz, Member, Pennsylvania State Conference of NAACP Branches

·         Christine Stone, State Public Affairs Chair of PA and National Board Member, National Council of Jewish Women, Inc.

    11:10 a.m.      Panel Four:

·         Dr. Ronald Bowes, Superintendent for Public Policy and Development, Diocese of Pittsburgh

·         Sean Berger, Student, North Catholic High School

·         Sam Siple, President, Eden Christian Academy

·         Miriam Hixon, Parent, Penn Christian Academy

·         Dr. Marilyn Barnett, Principal, Imanti Christian School

    11:50 a.m.      Closing Remarks

thenotebook: Voucher bill explained by its sponsor

Voucher bill explained by its sponsor

by thenotebook on Mar 17 2011 Posted in Latest news

by Paul Jablow

Senate Bill 1, which would provide taxpayer-funded vouchers for low-income children to attend non-public schools in Pennsylvania, haspassed the Senate Education Committee and is now in the Appropriations Committee. The bill was sponsored by Sens. Jeffrey E. Piccola (R., Dauphin) and Anthony Hardy Williams (D., Phila).

The voucher concept is supported by Gov. Corbett, according to his nominee for secretary of education, though Corbett has reservations about some parts of the bill. There is no movement on voucher legislation in the state house of representatives.

The Notebook talked about the bill with Sen. Piccola, chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

Read more:http://www.thenotebook.org/blog/113450/voucher-bill-explained-its-sponsor