How do we, as a nation, create scalable,
sustainable models for effective public schools in high poverty communities?
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-do-we-as-nation-create-scalable.html
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
Pa. Cyber Charter
School
By Rich Lord / Pittsburgh September 19, 2012 12:05 am
The Pennsylvania Cyber
Charter School
Here’s a related PPG posting from August
12….
PA Cyber connections prompt inquiry
Many Trombetta associates had role in school's
development
By Rich Lord / Pittsburgh August 12, 2012 12:18 am
When the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter
School
The burgeoning school
secured property on the main drag of the Beaver
County town of Midland 735 Midland Ave.
A nonprofit run in part
by allies and relatives of the superintendent's inner circle leased and later sold
the building to PA Cyber. And a company run by a PA Cyber board member sold the
school teleconferencing equipment for the facility.
In the process, hundreds
of thousands of dollars that originated with local public schools flowed
through PA Cyber into the hands of people with long relationships with Mr.
Trombetta.
The FBI, the Internal
Revenue Service and a federal grand jury are probing some people who have been
associated with PA Cyber.
Inquirer Editorial: Strike
did raise valid topic
Posted: Wed, Sep. 19, 2012 , 3:01 AM
Perhaps Chicago
But with so many other distractions, including
the murder of a U.S.
ambassador in Libya and a presidential
election campaign that has largely ignored public education, not enough people
outside Chicago
Duquesne board faces decision on financial recovery
By Mary Niederberger / Pittsburgh September 18, 2012
9:41 pm
The state board of
control overseeing the Duquesne
City School
District
But board of control chairman
Francis Barnes explained to the public how the process will work under
newly-enacted financial distress legislation for school districts and it
doesn't appear there will be much local opportunity to reject any financial
recovery plan that may be devised.
Advertising
Public Education
Yinzercation Blog — SEPTEMBER 18, 2012
Does your local public
school have money to make slick commercials ready for prime time? Can it put up
billboards along all our major highways and on the sides of buses advertising
for students? Does its name pop up at the top of your Google searches? Yeah, I
didn’t think so.
Yet charter schools
are allowed to take our public taxpayer dollars and use them to advertise.
Around here, PA Cyber Charter is one of the biggest spenders on this kind of
publicity (they are also the largest cyber charter in the state, which speaks
to their recruiting prowess).
But one local teacher
decided he would like to share the good things going on in his public school
system: have you seen this commercial that just started airing last week?
Local school libraries
feel budget cuts but ride the digital wave
Published: September 15, 2012
Tight budgets have resulted in
some school districts cutting library programs. Technology isn’t eliminating
the need for library services, say the librarians, but is increasing it.
At least 198 schools in the state had library
services reduced for 2011-12.
95.25 librarian positions were eliminated, 34.25
of them through attrition.
New performance reviews
will go into effect statewide next school year.
By Douglas Graves, Special to The Morning Call 11:50
p.m. EDT, September
17, 2012
The pilot program will help administrators get a
better understanding and gain experience with the system before it becomes
mandatory, district Superintendent Mary Anne Wright said.
Under a law signed by Gov. Tom Corbett this
summer, teachers across the state will be evaluated under a new system that
will label them as "distinguished," "proficient,"
"basic," or "unsatisfactory." Fifty percent of an educator's evaluation
will be composed of 16 multiple measures of student achievement, including
graduation and promotion rates, attendance rates, classroom projects, quizzes,
tests and other district-designed assessments, he said. The other half will be
based on classroom observations.
Issue Brief Teacher Effectiveness:
The National Picture and Pennsylvania
This September 2011 PACER Issue Brief — the
first in a series — explores research and emerging practice on teacher
effectiveness, and answers frequently-asked questions to inform the work of
state policymakers.
Early Childhood Education - Yes, There are Short
Term Returns
I am a firm believer that quality early
childhood programs are critical to closing achievement gaps and improving
overall achievement. One of my recent posts focused on thinking about early
childhood programs as an investment rather than an expense and pointed out that
political and policy leaders sometimes have difficulty waiting for the
long-term results. Now there is information for those folks who have a need for
quicker gratification. A recent report by ReadyNation, " Savings Now, Savings Later: Smart Early
Childhood Programs Pay Off Right Away and for the Long Term," documents some
short-term returns on investments in early childhood education.
Standing up for teachers
Teachers are heroes, not villains, and it’s time
to stop demonizing them.
It has become fashionable to blame all of
society’s manifold sins and wickedness on “teachers unions,” as if it were
possible to separate these supposedly evil organizations from the dedicated
public servants who belong to them. News flash: Collective bargaining is not
the problem, and taking that right away from teachers will not fix the schools.
Important school issues are
‘off the table’
The
Chicago
But
the big issues for these schools and for the teachers aren’t talked about
because they are officially “off the table.” CTU teachers are most concerned
about class size, about adequate facilities, about wraparound services from
social workers to nurses, about well-rounded curricula including art and music
and languages, about early childhood education that helps children come to
school ready to learn.
Education Voters PA Statewide
Advocate Leadership Session Sept. 22nd
Added by Ian Moran
Time: September
22, 2012 from 8:30am
to 4:30pm
Location: Temple University Harrisburg,234 Strawberry Square
Location: Temple University Harrisburg,
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 to register: https://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6041/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=36412
Click HERE for more details
on parking, directions, etc.
2012 PASA-PSBA
School
Registration is Now Open! Hershey Lodge & Convention Center, Hershey, PA
www.psba.org/workshops/school-leadership-conference/
Registration is Now Open! Hershey Lodge & Convention Center, Hershey, PA
www.psba.org/workshops/school-leadership-conference/
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