Thursday, January 31, 2013

Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup For January 31, 2013: In the past 4 years the Walton Foundation has invested well over half a billion dollars to dismantle democratically run American public schools.


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1850 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 education advocacy organizations via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.

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


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Keystone State Education Coalition:
Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup
For January 31, 2013


Thanks Dan!
Long time Inquirer reporter Dan Hardy announced his retirement yesterday in an email.  He covered statewide education issues for many years and will be sorely missed.  Here is a quote from his email:
“I’ve been in it for one reason all along: because I fervently believe that bringing  to light information that is often obscured by bureaucratic jargon or buried in plain sight by those who spin the facts to serve their purposes would actually make a difference in the lives of our readers. I hope that at least sometimes, it did.”
BTW Dan, it did.


School Choice Week 2013: How taxpayers lose.... A collection of articles following money, politics and academic performance

An Outbreak of Common Sense in the Commonwealth?
Evan Brandt Digital Notebook Blog WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2013
So apparently all hope for sanity in Pennsylvania, hanging by the thinnest of threads, is not lost.
It was announced in Tuesday's papers that Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis Monday rejected all eight applications for new cyber-charter schools.

Governor Corbett Announces Liquor Privatization Plan Highlighting Consumer Choice and Convenience; $1 Billion Proceeds to Education
Press Release (Thanks John Micek!)

Corbett injects school aid into debate over state stores
How to raise $1 billion Governor's plan for privatization gets mixed reviews, dismissed by union
January 31, 2013 12:01 am
By James O'Toole, Karen Langley and Tim McNulty / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pursuing a goal that has eluded Republican governors for decades, Gov. Tom Corbett outlined a sweeping proposal Wednesday to privatize liquor sales and expand beer and wine outlets in the state while using the proceeds to fund $1 billion in school block grants.

Corbett: $1 billion to schools from sale of state stores
Angela Couloumbis and Rita Giordano, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
POSTED: Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 2:52 PM
HARRISBURG - Call it liquor privatization with a twist. Like others before him, Gov. Corbett wants to auction off Pennsylvania's wine and liquor stores - but he wants to use the projected $1 billion in proceeds to help public schools.

"I don't believe future education funding should only be predicated on whether we do this," said Scarnati
Senate GOP leader Scarnati says liquor linkage to schools not a problem for him
By Charles Thompson | cthompson@pennlive.com 
on January 30, 2013 at 4:30 PM, updated January 30, 2013 at 5:15 PM
One day after warning Gov. Tom Corbett against taking policy "hostages" by linking budget issues, Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson County, said the governor's new bid to augment school funding with proceeds from liquor store sales doesn't break his rules.

Mandate relief, he said, could be the keystone of the administration’s new education emphasis.
State education secretary says Corbett’s budget has good news for schools
Philly Burbs Intelligencer By Mark Shade Staff Writer Posted on January 30, 2013
LANDISVILLE — With state revenues exceeding expectations, Pennsylvania’s education secretary on Tuesday said that Gov. Tom Corbett will propose an increase in public education funding when he unveils his 2013-14 spending plan next week.  “I think that many people will be pleased to see some of the things … in the budget address,” Education Secretary Ron Tomalis said following a visit to the Hempfield School District in Lancaster County.
Tomalis wouldn’t say how much of an increase Corbett will propose during his address to the General Assembly Tuesday. Corbett allocated $11.4 billion for early, basic and higher education for the current budget year.  “This is a transformative time in education and we do need to invest in our students in a way that’s a little bit different,” Tomalis said.
Some of that investment will come in the form of local relief from some mandates; increased emphasis on science, technology, engineering and math; and investments in a new educator evaluation system.

City Controller Butkovitz said Wednesday: "There's a lot of unfinished business on charter accountability."
Former official of Philly charter school network reportedly will plead guilty
Martha Woodall, Inquirer Staff Writer
POSTED: Thursday, January 31, 2013, 3:01 AM
The former business manager of Dorothy June Brown's charter school network has signaled that he intends to change his plea and admit that he played a role in Brown's alleged scheme to defraud the schools of $6.7 million.

One in Six Philadelphia Public Schools Is Targeted For Closure
The Nation by Allison Kilkenny on January 28, 2013 - 9:29 AM ET
During one of many anti-austerity protests last summer, more than 1,000 people rallied to oppose the Philadelphia District’s plans to “transform schools,” a pleasant euphemism generally meaning school closures and mass layoffs. The Philly district planned to lay off 2,700 blue-collar workers, including every member of the SEIU 32BJ Local 1201, the city school union representing bus assistants, cleaners, mechanics, and other workers.
In late July, the School Reform Commission scrapped those plans and approved a contract that avoided layoffs, but led to worker salary reductions (employees had between $5 and $45 deducted each week from their pay). Additionally, the union nixed two planned wage increases—a 3 percent jump set for earlier in the year and another raise that would have kicked in the first of this year.  Despite the union’s concession, the district still has a $282 million deficit, and the Philadelphia School District’s plan to save money is closing one in six public schools in the area, a move that activists, clergy and some officials saywill disproportionately affect students of colors, as well as poor and disabled students.

Pennsylvania wants to add 9,300 kids to CHIP program
Bucks County Courier Times by Mark Shade January 30, 2013 2:50 pm
HARRISBURG -- Standing in front of a giant clown face which had mucus dripping from its right nostril, Pennsylvania’s insurance commissioner announced Wednesday that Gov. Tom Corbett plans to ask lawmakers next week for an additional $8.5 million to grow the Children’s Health Insurance Program. CHIP is 20 years old this year and is now providing free or low-cost health insurance for 188,000 kids.
“The additional funding will be used for enrollment services and also to provide health care coverage to an additional 9,300 new enrollees expected through the additional outreach,” said Insurance Commissioner Michael Consedine, who made the announcement in front of “Icky the Infectious Clown” at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg.

How Low Can He Go?
Yinzercation Blog January 30, 2013
Just how low will our Governor go? Gov. Corbett’s approval ratings are in the tank, the lowest they’ve ever been. And he seems to be trying very hard not to talk about cuts to the state’s education budget, which he will formally propose next week. Yet he appears prepared to hold students hostage in negotiations over the looming pension crisis.

Pennsylvania Cyber Charters Under the Microscope (Updated)
Education Week Digital Education Blog By Sean Cavanagh on January 28, 2013 9:16 AM

“If you learn how to read, you can learn all your life,” the former English teacher told the children. “If you know how to read, you can learn to do anything. It’s just a lot of fun.”
Pa. First Lady visits Carlisle school, emphasizes benefits of reading
By Joseph Kress, The Sentinel January 29, 2013
First Lady Susan Corbett, wife of Pennslvania Governor Tom Corbett, reads a book to a group of students from North Dickinson Elementary School on Tuesday morning as she lends her support for the Buck A Book Literacy Campaign.  Children normally are discouraged from snoring in class, but Tuesday was not a typical day for students at North Dickinson Elementary School.
Getting some Z’s was just the response Susan Corbett was hoping for from her audience of kindergartners and first-graders.
The First Lady of Pennsylvania was a guest reader lending her support to the 2013 Buck a Book Literacy Campaign to raise funds and awareness for programs benefiting adult learners in Cumberland County.  Corbett read the book “Stop Snoring, Bernard!” about an otter whose sleeping disorder left him feeling unwanted among his zoo peers. She had the children practice snoring on cue with the story.

“The task force will be made up of roughly 25 public officials and violent crime experts. The panel's findings will be due by the end of the year.”
Task force to study violence in schools OK'd by Pa. lawmakers
WHYY Newsworks By Mary Wilson January 30, 2013
The call for additional security in schools in Pennsylvania is likely to get a lot more attention in the coming months.  But top state officials and lawmakers say the emphasis should be on measures such as better door locks rather than armed guards and teachers.
The state Senate has approved creating a task force to study how to prevent mass shootings at schools in the wake of the elementary school shooting in Connecticut last month.  Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati says he would stop short of pushing for arming school teachers.

“There is currently an assumption within the charter sector that even if "the first few years are rocky" at a school, charters can eventually rise to higher performance over time, the authors say. But the study casts doubt on that assumption.”
Charters' Path to Success or Failure Set Early, new CREDO Study Finds
Education Week Charters and Choice Blog By Sean Cavanagh on January 30, 2013
Charter schools' academic success or failure during their first year is a strong predictor of whether they will excel or struggle in later years, a new, far-reaching study finds.
The study, released Wednesday by Stanford University's Center for Research on Education Outcomes, which has conducted extensive research on charters across the nation, also concludes that significant improvements in charter school performance over time is rare among middle and high schools, though it occurs more often in elementary schools.
The analysis seeks to test a number of the most pressing questions about charter schools. Those include the extent to which they can improve over time, or whether the academic strategies and other policies they put in place out of the gate determine their success as they reach maturity; as well as whether charters can expand beyond their original, flagship schools to form networks of successful charters.

In the past four years the Walton Family Foundation has invested well over half a billion dollars to dismantle democratically run American public schools.
Are you still shopping at Walmart?
Click on the following links for detailed lists of recipients and amounts for each year:
2012  $ 158,142,809 (Just released)
Total: $ 608,532,310

FEE is one small example of the Walton’s funding: 2009 $600,000; 2010 $1,692,000; 2011 $1,550,000; 2012 $1,000,000
E-mails link Bush foundation, corporations and education officials
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog  by Valerie Strauss on January 30, 2013 at 4:47 pm
A nonprofit group released thousands of e-mails today and said they show how a foundation begun by Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and national education reform leader, is working with public officials in states to write education laws that could benefit some of its corporate funders.  A call to the foundation has not been returned.
The e-mails are between the Foundation for Excellence in Education (FEE) and a group Bush set up called Chiefs for Change, whose members are current and former state education commissioners who support Bush’s agenda of school reform, which includes school choice, online education, retention of third-graders who can’t read and school accountability systems based on standardized tests. That includes evaluating teachers based on student test scores and grading schools A-F based on test scores. John White of Louisiana is a current member, as is Tony Bennett, the new commissioner of Florida who got the job after Indiana voters rejected his Bush-style reforms last November and tossed him out of office.

The Sunk-Cost Effect on Standardized Testing
Education Week Reality Check Blog By Walt Gardner on January 30, 2013 7:27 AM
I know why you're reading today's column: What in the world is the sunk-cost effect and what does it have to do with standardized testing? The sunk-cost effect is a classic economic dilemma ("That Sunk-Cost Feeling," The New Yorker, Jan. 21). In short, it means that once lots of money and energy have been expended, the costs are simply too great to ignore. "This means that we often end up sticking with something when we'd be better off cutting our losses." In fact, it frequently follows that we invest even more money and energy because we can't bring ourselves to acknowledge we were wrong. It's throwing good money after bad on a grand scale.
Standardized testing, in my view, is a perfect example. The cost of tests, testing services and test-prep materials is estimated to be more than $2.3 billion a year and rapidly growing, according to Eduventures Inc. But we refuse to admit that the evidence does not support our fanatical commitment to these tests ("Problems With The Use of Student Test Scores To Evaluate Teachers," Economic Policy Institute, Aug. 2010). Instead, we blindly continue to spend more money on them in the delusion that by doing so our original decision will somehow be vindicated.
It won't.

Deep spending cuts are likely, lawmakers say, with no deal on sequester in sight
Washington Post By Lori MontgomeryPublished: January 29
Less than a month after averting one fiscal crisis, Washington began bracing Tuesday for another, as lawmakers in both parties predicted that deep, across-the-board spending cuts would probably hit the Pentagon and other federal agencies on March 1.
An array of proposals are in the works to delay or replace the cuts. But party leaders say they see no clear path to compromise, particularly given a growing sentiment among Republicans to pocket the cuts and move on to larger battles over health and retirement spending.

“For the first time ever, there are more varsity robotics teams than there are boys' varsity hockey teams in the state.”
Robotics on a roll in Minnesota schools
Minneapolis StarTribune by: HERÓN MÁRQUEZ ESTRADA , January 27, 2013 - 7:40 AM
Varsity teams outnumber boys' hockey as students' interest in the robot-building sport soars across Minnesota.
An explosion in the popularity of high school robotics teams has suddenly made it chic to be geek.  Robotics team members are getting varsity letters and patches, being paraded before school assemblies like other sports stars and seeing trophies in the same lobby display cases as their football, basketball or baseball counterparts.
"It's the new kid on the block," said Dawn Nichols, head of school at Convent of the Visitation Catholic School in Mendota Heights, which has the only all-girls robotics team in the state.
A telling statistic: For the first time ever, there are more varsity robotics teams than there are boys' varsity hockey teams in the state. There are 156 high school boys' hockey teams and 180 robotics teams, up from 153 last year, according to the Minnesota State High School League.


Pittsburgh Feb. 10th Rally for Public Education!
Yinzercation Blog January 28, 2013
Come RALLY FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION on Sunday, February 10, 20133PM at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty (5941 Penn AvenuePittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15206). This is about equity, social justice, and a great public education for all our children.

Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center
SAVE THE DATE: 2013 Pennsylvania Budget Summit Feb. 21st
Many Pennsylvanians have sent a clear message to Harrisburg in recent months: The state budget cuts of the past two years were too deep. It is time to once again invest in classrooms and communities.  Next month, Governor Tom Corbett will unveil his 2013-14 budget proposal. Join the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center for an in-depth look at the Governor's proposal and an update on the federal budget -- and what they mean for communities and families across Pennsylvania.
2013 Pennsylvania Budget Summit
Thursday, February 21, 2013, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Hilton Harrisburg, 1 North Second Street, Harrisburg, PA
Registration is free and lunch is included.
REGISTER TO ATTEND

EPLC 2013 REGIONAL WORKSHOPS FOR SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES

The Education Policy and Leadership Center, with the Cooperation of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) and Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO), will conduct A Series of Regional Full-Day Workshops for 2013 Pennsylvania School Board Candidates.  Registration is $45 and includes coffee/donuts, lunch, and materials.  
Philadelphia Region Saturday, February 2, 2013 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, 1605 W. Main Street, Norristown, PA 19403
Harrisburg Region Saturday, February 9, 2013– 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania School Boards Association Headquarters, 400 Bent Creek Boulevard, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Pittsburgh Region Saturday, February 23, 2013 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Doubletree Hotel Pittsburgh/Monroeville, 101 Mall Blvd., Monroeville, PA 15146
To register, please click here.

2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on Advocacy and Issues
April 6, 2013 The Penn Stater Convention Center Hotel; State College, PA
Strategic leadership, school budgeting and advocacy are key issues facing today's school district leaders. For your school district to truly thrive, leaders must maintain a solid understanding of these three functions. Attend the 2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on Advocacy and Issues to ensure you have the skills you need to take your district to the next level.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

School Choice Week 2013: How taxpayers lose.... A collection of articles following the money, politics and academic performance


Looking for the January 30th edition of PA Education Policy Roundup?



School Choice Week 2013: How taxpayers lose.... 
A collection of articles following the money, politics and academic performance

Follow the Money: Contributions by Vahan Gureghian


It's all about the kids......K12 Inc. chief executive Ron Packard paid $5 million compensation package in 2011


FBI, IRS Raid Offices of PA Cyberschool Pioneer Nick Trombetta.


PA Charter Schools: $4 billion taxpayer dollars with no real oversight


K12 Inc. Sued Over For-Profit Education Company's Tax-Subsidized Funding Manipulation

Profits and Questions at Online Charter Schools

Sub-par options: Charter schools as a class don't measure up

Pa. considers 8 new 'cyber charters,' while critics question cost and quality

PA school privatization diverts taxpayer dollars to fundamentalists and lobbyists, according to Times investigation

Public Money Finds Back Door to Private Schools

Will a PAC Pick Philly’s Next Mayor?

Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup For January 30, 2013: Pension reform, Charter reform, NSBA's FRN


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1800 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, education professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 education advocacy organizations via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.

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

Keystone State Education Coalition:
Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup
For January 30, 2013

“Gov. Tom Corbett will "very likely" propose cutting future pension benefits for current school employees and state workers in the state budget plan he will present to lawmakers next week, his chief budget adviser said Monday”
Pa. budget chief says pension reforms essential
PETER JACKSON , The Associated Press
POSTED: Tuesday, January 29, 2013, 6:04 AM
HARRISBURG, Pa. - Gov. Tom Corbett will "very likely" propose cutting future pension benefits for current school employees and state workers in the state budget plan he will present to lawmakers next week, his chief budget adviser said Monday.
Budget Secretary Charles Zogby, all but confirming a cost-cutting approach that the administration first floated last fall despite questions about its legality, said decisive steps must be taken to rein in taxpayers' fast-growing share of pension costs.

Pa. Senate leader says he doesn't want to see linkage of key budget issues
Pennlive.com By Charles Thompson | cthompson@pennlive.com 
on January 29, 2013 at 11:59 AM, updated January 29, 2013 at 3:24 PM
Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, responding to remarks from Gov. Tom Corbett's budget secretary a day earlier, said he hopes that Corbett doesn't stress a link between big issues like public pension reform and school funding in his upcoming budget proposal.
"I understand that doing budget negotiations, we all want this for that and we try to make sure that we get a vey well-rounded budget... But we don't need to start linking issues together now.
"That's Washington-style politics, and we don't need that."
In a Monday appearance, state Budget Secretary Charles Zogby stressed the need to wring major new savings out of the state's pension plans. He said if significant reforms aren't forthcoming, state aid to public schools could be sacrificed.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/01/key_pa_senate_leader_says_he_d.html

“On pension reform, Mr. Scarnati expressed skepticism about tying public school funding too closely to finding savings in state retirement contributions, an approach that has been indicated by the governor and his budget secretary in recent days. Mr. Scarnati said any potential cut to public education would be "a very sensitive issue" that would make a budget agreement more difficult.
"I don't see the likelihood of this body going along very well in reducing funding for public schools," he said.”
Corbett getting resistance from Pennsylvania GOP leadership
Cautioned on pensions, LCB plans
January 30, 2013 12:13 am
By Laura Olson and Karen Langley / Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- Gov. Tom Corbett's soon-to-be-unveiled plans for overhauling the public pension systems and privatizing liquor sales are being met with a critical eye in the state Legislature, where top Republican lawmakers raised questions Tuesday about backing for both proposals.  As the governor prepares to roll out his budget next week, he has been met with blowback on issues he hasn't fully articulated to the public, or, apparently to the leaders of his own party.

“The discrepancy in the charters' scores cries for state lawmakers to make an overhaul of the 1997 charter law a priority. A more equitable funding formula and better oversight for all charter schools are needed.”
Inquirer Editorial: Truth revealed about charters
POSTED: Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 3:01 AM
The latest numbers on charter school performance in Pennsylvania give new meaning to the term fuzzy math.  After the state Department of Education was forced by federal officials to recalculate performance rates, the percentage of charters that met academic benchmarks plummeted.

Harrisburg schools saddled with debt and growing exodus to charter schools, says Veno
PennLive.com By Donald Gilliland | dgilliland@pennlive.com 
on January 29, 2013 at 8:55 PM, updated January 29, 2013 at 10:32 PM
HARRISBURG — Two trends threaten Harrisburg School District's future financial success, said state-appointed chief recovery officer Gene Veno: increasing payments for past debt and a growing exodus of students to charter schools.  Veno presented an overview of the district's situation — as he sees it — during a public meeting Tuesday night, Jan. 29.

Legislators propose reform to charter, cyber charter school funding
Chambersburg Public Opinion Online 01/29/2013 12:36:31 PM EST
HARRISBURG - House Republicans are proposing legislation to reform charter and cyber charter school funding. "Every school district in the Commonwealth can save money under this plan and lessen the burden on property taxpayers," said Rep. Joe Emrick, R-Northampton. "We have heard the concerns from school districts and are responding, while protecting the very important educational options available for parents and students."

Pennsylvania’s 4500 locally elected, volunteer school board members are directly accountable to their taxpayers and their students
PSBA responds to House Republican charter school reform proposal
PSBA website 1/28/2013
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association is pleased the House Republican Caucus has taken the first step of introducing a legislative package aimed at reforming charter and cyber charter school funding.  While all the details of the package have not yet been released, there are some promising pieces in it that could benefit school districts across the commonwealth.

Chester Upland expected to reveal surplus
Published: Tuesday, January 29, 2013
By JOHN KOPP jkopp@delcotimes.com @DT_JohnKopp
CHESTER — The Chester Upland School District has a surplus in its accumulated fund balance after years of being in the red.  Chief Financial Officer George Crawford said an audit of the 2011-2012 budget is expected to reveal Chester Upland finished the year with a surplus of about $1 million in its accumulated fund balance. Final figures have not been tabulated, Crawford said, but there is enough information to estimate the surplus.
The surplus becomes more significant when the district’s troubled financial history is considered. According to its last audit, Chester Upland had a $15.8 million deficit in its accumulated fund balance on June 30, 2011, the result of years of debt. To now reflect a $1 million surplus means the fund improved by nearly $17 million in one year.
“That’s quite a turnaround in one fiscal year,” Crawford said.

“It's hard to wrap our mind around the concept of a black mayor, a black superintendent and a School Reform Commission headed by a Latino public-school graduate conspiring to commit acts of racial discrimination. It's harder still for opponents to face the reality of the closings, It's not discrimination, but powerful demographic forces that are at work.”
DN Editorial: BY THE NUMBERS
Closing schools is painful, but it's not discrimination
Philadelphia daily News Editorial Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 3:01 AM
OPPONENTS OF the school district's plan to close 37 schools have come up with another argument against the proposal. At a news conference this week, the group - which includes the local NAACP - accused the district of unfairly targeting predominantly black schools in poor neighborhoods.  According to an analysis done by the Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools, 81 percent of the roughly 15,000 students who would be affected by this year's proposed closings and mergers are African-American. Across the district, 55 percent of students are African-American.

At NSBA’s FRN conference on Monday I asked Secretary Duncan if he was aware of successful higher ed/public ed partnerships like the Penn Alexander program and Boston College’s City Connects…..
A premium-public model” If nothing else, the 11-year-old Penn Alexander experiment has proven conclusively that, under the right conditions, middle- and upper-middle-class parents will quite happily send their kids to public school. Indeed, they are willing to pay a big premium in real estate to do so.
Urban education’s breadline problem
thenotebook on Jan 29 2013 by Patrick Kerkstra
Around 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 18, a small clutch of parents wearing thick coats, scarves and gloves were milling around the entrance to West Philadelphia’s Penn Alexander School, eyeing each other warily.  They were obviously there for one reason, but they preferred not to admit it. “We’re just talking,” they told me as I dropped my children off at the neighboring daycare. “We’re not in the line.”

“the Open Campus PA initiative that allows students to take online classes offered by any of the three school districts”
Secretary of Education Previews Open Campus PA Initiative
Penn Manor School District  on January 28, 2013
The Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, Ron Tomalis, visited Hempfield SD on Tuesday, January 29 to observe students and educators demonstrating the Open Campus PA program, a unique collaboration between Penn Manor, Manheim Township, and Hempfield School Districts. Joining Tomalis were Representatives Ryan Aument, Keith Greiner and Steven Mentzer as well as Hempfield School District Superintendent Dr. Brenda Becker, Manheim Township School District Superintendent Dr. Gene Freeman and Penn Manor School District Superintendent Dr. Michael Leichliter. The superintendents explained the Open Campus PA initiative that allows students to take online classes offered by any of the three school districts. Students have more choices in the courses available to them and may choose a flexible schedule that fits their needs with Open Campus PA. Mr. Tomalis and the legislators were able to talk with students and teachers currently involved with courses through Open Campus PA.

Common Core Is Horrible for K-3
Diane Ravitch’s Blog January 29, 2013
There is growing evidence that the Common Core standards are absurd in the early grades. They require a level of academic learning that is developmentally inappropriate.
Little children need time to pay. Play is their work. In play, they learn to share and to count, to communicate, to use language appropriately, and to figure things out.

School Closures Violate Civil Rights, Protestors Tell Arne Duncan
Posted: 01/29/2013 7:01 pm EST  |  Updated: 01/29/2013 11:59 pm EST
WASHINGTON -- The standards-based education reform movement calls school change "the civil rights issue of our time." But about 220 mostly African American community organizers, parents and students from 21 cities from New York to Oakland, Calif., converged on Washington Tuesday to tell U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan he's getting it backwards on school closures.
Members of the group, a patchwork of community organizations called the Journey for Justice Movement, have filed several Title VI civil rights complaints with the Education Department Office of Civil Rights, claiming that school districts that shut schools are hurting minority students. While most school closures are decided locally, the Education Department's School Improvement Grant gives underperforming school districts money for shakeups or turnarounds, including closures.

School boards ask Congress to revamp regulatory process and prevent overreach
NSBA School Board News by Joetta Sack-Min January 29th, 2013
More than 700 school board members and state school boards association leaders are meeting with their members of Congress today and urging them to co-sponsor legislation, developed by the National School Boards Association (NSBA), to protect local school district governance from unnecessary and counter-productive federal intrusion from the U.S. Department of Education.

See NSBA’s draft legislation here:

National school boards group blasts U.S. Education Department
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog by Valerie Strauss on January 29, 2013 at 2:01 pm
The National Schools Board AssociationTuesday blasted the Obama administration’s education policies, saying that the Education Department under Secretary Arne Duncan has pushed “unnecessary and counter-productive federal intrusion” onto local school districts.

School board members need to be aware of ALEC, other anti-public education groups
NSBA School Board News by Lawrence Hardy January 28th, 2013
Once upon a time there was a rather odd North Carolina school board member who proposed that all purchasing orders in his very large district — from pencils, to books, to paper clips, to cleaning supplies — be posted online. It was a move that, not surprisingly, would have required the cash-strapped district to hire several additional central office staff, just to keep up with the paperwork.
If this sounds like a very bad fairy tale, well, it isn’t. The board member in question was no ordinary public servant, but a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an ultraconservative advocacy group whose main tactic is to introduce literally thousands of bills each year in state legislatures across the country, many aimed at privatizing public education. Three years ago, ALEC called for the abolishment of school boards, so you have some idea where it stands.


Pittsburgh Feb. 10th Rally for Public Education!
Yinzercation Blog January 28, 2013
Come RALLY FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION on Sunday, February 10, 20133PM at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in East Liberty (5941 Penn AvenuePittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15206). This is about equity, social justice, and a great public education for all our children.

Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center
SAVE THE DATE: 2013 Pennsylvania Budget Summit Feb. 21st
Many Pennsylvanians have sent a clear message to Harrisburg in recent months: The state budget cuts of the past two years were too deep. It is time to once again invest in classrooms and communities.  Next month, Governor Tom Corbett will unveil his 2013-14 budget proposal. Join the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center for an in-depth look at the Governor's proposal and an update on the federal budget -- and what they mean for communities and families across Pennsylvania.
2013 Pennsylvania Budget Summit
Thursday, February 21, 2013, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Hilton Harrisburg, 1 North Second Street, Harrisburg, PA
Registration is free and lunch is included.
REGISTER TO ATTEND

EPLC 2013 REGIONAL WORKSHOPS FOR SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES

The Education Policy and Leadership Center, with the Cooperation of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) and Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO), will conduct A Series of Regional Full-Day Workshops for 2013 Pennsylvania School Board Candidates.  Registration is $45 and includes coffee/donuts, lunch, and materials.  
Philadelphia Region Saturday, February 2, 2013 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, 1605 W. Main Street, Norristown, PA 19403
Harrisburg Region Saturday, February 9, 2013– 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania School Boards Association Headquarters, 400 Bent Creek Boulevard, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Pittsburgh Region Saturday, February 23, 2013 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Doubletree Hotel Pittsburgh/Monroeville, 101 Mall Blvd., Monroeville, PA 15146
To register, please click here.

2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on Advocacy and Issues
April 6, 2013 The Penn Stater Convention Center Hotel; State College, PA
Strategic leadership, school budgeting and advocacy are key issues facing today's school district leaders. For your school district to truly thrive, leaders must maintain a solid understanding of these three functions. Attend the 2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on Advocacy and Issues to ensure you have the skills you need to take your district to the next level.