Daily postings from the Keystone
State Education Coalition now reach more than 3000 Pennsylvania education
policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and
congressional staffers, Governor's staff, current/former PA Secretaries of
Education, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, education
professors, members of the press and a broad array of P-16 regulatory agencies,
professional associations and education advocacy organizations via emails,
website, Facebook and Twitter
These daily emails are archived and
searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at
@lfeinberg
The Keystone State Education
Coalition is pleased to be listed among the friends and allies of The Network for Public Education. Are you a member?
Pennsylvania
Education Policy Roundup for October 28, 2013:
Do
We Invest in Preschools or Prisons?
SB 1085: would drop any pretense that charter schools
were intended to be laboratories of innovation that might share best practices to
help improve all schools
If you
missed our weekend postings….(a few related prior postings follow…)
Keystone State Education
Coalition: Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for October 26,
2013:
Just in case you were
wondering who really sets PA education policy……
Corbett
witnesses while Vahan Gureghian gets key post…..
Here’s reprint of a 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer article on Gureghian
fighting a 2006 Right-To-Know request; he’s still fighting it…..
Charter
school appeals to block release of records
Philadelphia
ACSE Alliance of Charter School Employees website
The
Chester Community Charter School has filed a court appeal to a recent
Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruling that gave The Inquirer access to a
wide range of financial records from the management company that operates the school. The Chester Community Charter School has
filed a court appeal to a recent Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ruling
that gave The Inquirer access to a wide range of financial records from the
management company that operates the school.
The Delaware County school, the state's largest charter, and Charter
School Management Inc., a private, for-profit management company, have
repeatedly denied requests by the newspaper for details about how millions of
dollars in public money were spent and how much the company and its owner,
Vahan H. Gureghian, were making. Because Charter School Management Inc. is a
private business that hires all school employees and manages the school's
finances, it has been able to keep many aspects of its financial operations
secret, in contrast to most charters, which have to disclose more information
in nonprofit reports.
Corbett's
team jingles with donors
Two-thirds
of members have financial ties to campaign
By Tracie Mauriello, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau Sunday, December 19,
2010
"The transition
team member who provided the most to Mr. Corbett -- $334,286 over the past
three years -- was Vahan Gureghian, a Gladwyne lawyer who operates the state's
largest charter school and owns a billboard company.
Mr.
Gureghian was tapped to serve on the education committee and to lead the
27-member transportation committee, along with two former PennDOT
administrators."
So was
this $28.9 million taxpayer dollars intended for the classrooms of Chester
Upland? Guess we’ll have to wait for the
PA Supreme Court to rule on the Right-To-Know request….
Palm
Beach Florida Daily News
By DARRELL
HOFHEINZ DAILY NEWS HOME & LOGGIA EDITOR
Posted:
4:04 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3, 2011
Owners
on the record — There’s finally word about who bought 1071 N. Ocean
Blvd. and the lot next door for a combined $28.9 million — the year’s
second-largest Palm Beach residential purchase by a single buyer.
Do We Invest in Preschools
or Prisons?
New York Times By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF Published:
October 26, 2013
CONGRESS is often compared to pre-K, which seems defamatory of
small children. But the similarities also offer hope, because an initiative
that should be on the top of the national agenda has less to do with the
sequester than with the A.B.C.’s and Big Bird.
Growing mountains of research suggest that the best way to address
American economic inequality, poverty and crime is — you guessed it! — early
education programs, including coaching of parents who want help. It’s not a
magic wand, but it’s the best tool we have to break cycles of poverty.
EPLC
Education Notebook Friday, October 25, 2013
Education
Policy and Leadership Center
Funding for Schools is a
Top Priority for PA Voters ...and We Have the Numbers to Prove It
PCCY Childwatch Fall/Winter 2013
Twenty-eight percent of likely Pennsylvania voters ranked funding
for schools as the most
important issue for the Governor and the legislature to take
action on based on a poll
commissioned by PCCY last June.
SRC:
A most derided, and dedicated, lot
Endless
hearings. Withering invective. Seemingly insurmountable problems. No pay. It's
a thankless job on the SRC.
KAREN HELLER, INQUIRER COLUMNIST Sunday, October
27, 2013, 2:02 AM
Public education has become the third rail of local discourse,
particularly when discussing the fate of our beleaguered city schools. It is
far safer to debate politics or the Middle East.
Lori Shorr, the city's chief education officer, has seen arguments
erupt at her children's soccer games. She said: "I think carefully when I
accept a dinner invitation."
Me, too. I've been excoriated over drinks - and this is by
friends. The debate over public education, especially testing and the quality
of teachers and principals, has long been loud and passionate. But in recent
years it has become even more politicized and fractious. Among certain folks, charter
school is an invective, so are merit pay and seniority.
Twitter can be a toxic sewer on the subject. Schools will dominate the 2015
mayoral race.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/education/20131027_A_most_dedicated__and_derided__lot.html#DsmHdsyB4DklVRfv.99
Report:
American Education Isn't Mediocre—It's Deeply Unequal
Students
in Massachusetts are doing great compared to their international peers,
according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. Students in
Alabama, Mississippi, and D.C., however, are languishing.
The Atlantic by JULIA
RYAN OCT 24 2013, 10:25 AM ET
It’s so common to see studies about the United States’s lackluster
academic performance compared to other countries, it’s barely newsworthy
anymore. The American education system, the story goes, is mediocre. A new
report from the National Center for Educational Statistics complicates that
picture a bit. It attempts to rank how individual states compare
internationally, and ends up showing a wide gap between the highest-performing
states and the lowest: Massachusetts does quite well against other countries,
while Mississippi, Alabama, and the District of Columbia do poorly. The report
evaluates 2011 math and science scores from two sources: the National
Assessment of Educational Process, which was administered to eighth graders in
all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Department of Defense schools; and
from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, which evaluated
eighth graders in 38 different countries and 9 “subnational entities” (for
example, Quebec and Dubai).
Virginia schools boards
pass anti-SOL resolutions
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog BY VALERIE
STRAUSS October 27 at 9:08 am
About 30
school boards in Virginia have passed resolutions that call on education
officials to revamp the Standards of Learning testing system, saying that there
is “little research” that shows that students “will be better prepared to
succeed in their careers and college” by taking the 34 standardized tests the
state gives to each child between grades 3-11.
The resolutions in Virginia — where there are about 130 school
districts — are part of a growing backlash around the country by
academics, educators, parents and others against the use of standardized tests
as the chief “accountability” metric to evaluate students, teachers, principals
and schools for high-stakes purposes.
Obama
Education Speech Stresses Investments Ahead Of Budget Conference
Huffington Post by Joy Resmovits Posted: 10/25/2013 6:16 pm
EDT
NEW YORK -- President Barack Obama spent Friday hanging out with
students at Pathways in Technology Early College High School, before telling
them they're "starting something across the country" in a speech in
the Brooklyn school's auditorium. P-Tech,
a new vocational school run in collaboration with IBM, goes two years beyond
traditional high school and lets students graduate with an associate's degree.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, both Democrats, have
praised the effort and called for the creation of more schools in its image.
New
report shows states compare favorably to other countries in math and science
The Edifier, Center for Public Education
October 24, 2013
Results from a new study conducted by the National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) at the U.S. Department
of Education has found the vast majority of states score above the
international average in 8th grade math and science. Although
U.S. eighth-graders compared relatively well to their peers in other countries
in math, the comparison was even more favorable in science, where just three
states scored below the international average. However, the average 8th-grader
in most states has obtained a basic knowledge and understanding of both math
and science and can demonstrate it in a variety of practical situations.
But the study also highlights the fact that there is a huge
variation in student performance across states. While there are a number of
states that compare more favorably to the highest performing countries in the
world, there are other states whose performance matches the performance of
developing countries. For students in all states to have a chance to compete in
the ever growing global labor market they, at the very least, must possess
basic math and science skills.
Understanding
the Common Core
Center for Public Education October 25, 2013
More than forty states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin
Islands have adopted the Common Core standards, and tests based on these
standards are set to go into effect in 2015. That's not far away! Here are some
resources to help you understand what to expect.
Media Trackers, the
Right's New Oppo-Research Attack Dog
Blog network launched by a former RNC staffer aims to capitalize
on—if not create—liberal scandals.
Mother Jones By Andy Kroll | Mon May. 21, 2012 3:00 AM PDT
In June 2010, half a dozen rich donors came to Drew Ryun, a
former Republican National Committee staffer, with the kind of
question a dyed-in-the-wool operative like himself could only dream about.
"If you had X number of dollars," he recalls the donors saying,
"what would you do that the conservative movement does not have?"
Conservatives have their think tanks, dozens of them at the state and national level. They also have a corporate-funded
legislation mill in the American
Legislative Exchange Council. What conservatives lacked, Ryun told the
donors, were nimble attack blogs that could quickly capitalize on the latest
missteps by big-government politicians or the "liberal"
media—essentially hard-hitting, opposition-research-style shops that prize
scoops, speed, and scandal over policy briefs and press conferences. His pitch:
Create a network of one- and two-man digital media outlets with low overhead,
rapid response, and a nose for controversy.
The donors loved it. They ponied up seed money in the low six
figures, and Ryun's conservative attack machine, Media Trackers, was born.
Bonus: As a nonprofit, Media Trackers can keep the identities of those donors
secret.
PCCY hosting a funding
formula event in Philly October 28, 5:00
pm
On Monday, October 28th 2013, Public Citizens for
Children and Youth (PCCY) is hosting a funding formula event starting
at 5pm. Pennsylvania United Way Building 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia , PA
19103
Register
TODAY for the 2013 Arts and Education Symposium Wednesday, October 30, 2013
PA Arts Education Network
The State Museum of
Pennsylvania 300 North Street , Harrisburg ,
PA 17120
Registration, Networking, and Refreshments-8:00 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
Program-8:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.; Lunch-12:00 p.m.; $40 Per
Person
Details and registration: http://www.artseducationpa.org/events/the-arts-and-education-symposium-2013/
Details and registration: http://www.artseducationpa.org/events/the-arts-and-education-symposium-2013/
PASCD
Annual Conference ~ A Whole Child Education Powered by Blendedschools
Network November 3-4, 2013 | Hershey Lodge & Convention Center
We
invite you to join us for the Annual Conference, held at an earlier date this
year, on Sunday, November 3rd, through Monday, November 4th,
2013 at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center. The Pre-Conference
begins on Saturday with PIL
Academies
Click here for the 2013 Conference Schedule
Click here to register for the conference.
DISTINGUISHED LECTURER
SERIES - DR. PEDRO NOGUERA, NOV 5th
Where: Abington
Senior High School
When November 5, 2013 8:30 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Contact Lynn Murphy, Delaware Valley College
Join us as we celebrate their accomplishments!
Tuesday,November
19, 2013 5:30 pm
- 8:30 pm WHYY, 150 North 6th Street , Philadelphia
Invitations coming soon!
Tuesday,
Invitations coming soon!
Register: http://tinyurl.com/m8emc4m
Building One Pennsylvania November 21, 2013 6:00-8:00 PM
IBEW Local 380 3900 Ridge
Pike Collegeville, PA 19426
Building One Pennsylvania
is an emerging statewide non-partisan organization of leaders from diverse
sectors - municipal, school, faith, business, labor and civic - who are joining
together to stabilize and revitalize their communities, revitalize local
economies and promote regional opportunity and sustainability. BuildingOnePa.org
The National School Boards Association
74th Annual Conference & Exposition April 5-7, 2014 New Orleans
The
National School Boards Association 74th Annual Conference &
Exposition will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans , LA. New Orleans
General Session speakers include education advocates
Thomas L. Friedman, Sir Ken Robinson, as well as education innovators Nikhil
Goyal and Angela Maiers.
We
have more than 200 sessions planned! Colleagues from across the country will
present workshops on key topics with strategies and ideas to help your
district. View our Conference Brochure for highlights on sessions
and focus presentations.
- Register now! – Register for both the conference
and housing using our online system.
- Conference Information– Visit the NSBA conference
website for up-to-date information
- Hotel List and Map - Official NSBA Housing Block
- Exposition Campus – View new products and
services and interactive trade show floor
Questions? Contact NSBA at 800-950-6722 (NSBA) between
the hours of 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST.
Join
the National
School Boards
Action Center
Participate
in a voluntary network to urge your U.S.
Representatives and Senators to support federal legislation on Capitol Hill
that is critical to providing high quality education to America
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