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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for July
16, 2014:
Vahan Gureghian's For Profit Charter Chain CSMI Ready
To 'Do AC'
Basic ed funding commission
could tackle charter school issues that special ed commission could not.
Capitolwire Under the Dome July 15, 2014
As the dust of budget season settles around the state capitol,
education advocates regroup and prepare for a bigger — and arguably more
complex — discussion centered on reforming how the government funds public
education. It's a debate rife with many of the same pitfalls lawmakers and
advocates alike stumbled into during last year's Special Education Funding
Commission hearings — an effort that many charter school advocates have said
should have come after, not before, the Legislature reformed the basic
education funding formula. Charter schools, incidentally, led the opposition
against the new special education funding formula passed earlier this month
— a formula that lawmakers ultimately exempted charters as a way
to sidestep certain inequities found within the legislation. This time
around, charter schools anticipate a seat front and center at the Basic
Education Funding Commission's hearings. For more about the Basic Education
Funding Commission, CLICK HERE (paywall) to read a report by Capitolwire
Staff Writer Christen Smith.
CSMI, the firm that runs the Chester and Camden schools, is
a for-profit company founded by Vahan Gureghian, a politically connected
Gladwyne lawyer who donated more than $300,000 to Gov. Corbett's gubernatorial
campaign and served on the education committee of his transition team. CSMI has fought to prevent public disclosure
of its finances - including how much taxpayer money ultimately goes to company
officials. The company has argued that, unlike public schools or some other
charter schools, its finances are a "trade secret" or
"confidential information," because CSMI is a private company
managing a school, and not a school itself.
Vahan Gureghian's For Profit Charter Chain CSMI Ready
To 'Do AC'
Mother Crusader Blog Wednesday, July 16, 2014
It sure has been a busy week in education news in New Jersey
With all this chatter it's pretty likely that yesterday's press release about the five charters awarded their final charters, giving them the green light to open in September, will go all but unnoticed. TheStar Ledger's Peggy McGlone covered it, but pretty much just regurgitated a few clips from the press release.
With all this chatter it's pretty likely that yesterday's press release about the five charters awarded their final charters, giving them the green light to open in September, will go all but unnoticed. TheStar Ledger's Peggy McGlone covered it, but pretty much just regurgitated a few clips from the press release.
Follow the Money: Contributions by Vahan
Gureghian
This posting continues to be one
of the most frequently visited on the Keystone State Education Coalition blog
site
http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.blogspot.com/2011/06/follow-money-contributions-by-vahan.html
Column: School funding, pension crises ignored in
budget
Delco Times Opinion By JOSEPH BATORY, Guest columnist POSTED:
07/14/14, 10:10 PM EDT
Joseph Batory is a
former superintendent of schools in the Upper Darby School District. He is the
author of three books and hundreds of articles on the politics of education.
Pennsylvania finally has a budget. However, this most recent
budget process and its outcome leave much to be desired. The Commonwealth’s
Governor and legislature have provided a spectacle of financial incompetence
with poor leadership, a lack of vision, and self-serving agendas. Pennsylvania clearly needs more revenue in
order to adequately fund its statewide needs and to fulfill its own
Constitutional obligations especially with regard to properly funding public
education. Pennsylvania also needs to implement pension reform. Yet these
realities have been ignored in favor of this latest State budget which is
devoid of fiscal and civic responsibility.
Editorial: Corbett was right to take on the
Legislature
Delco Times POSTED: 07/14/14, 10:07 PM EDT
The Republican family feud in Harrisburg sure is getting
interesting. It’s so tense, this week the unofficial father of that GOP family
-- Gov. Tom Corbett -- cut off part of the kids’ allowance in the General
Assembly. And rightly so, because
they’ve been acting like greedy brats.
For years, government watchdogs have been howling about the
General Assembly’s slush fund. Currently, that reserve account has about $150
million -- surplus money that’s not need to fund the Legislature’s ludicrously
expensive operations. Why are lawmakers
holding a surplus at a time when the state faces a huge deficit?
State funding dismays Parkland, but district had
backup plan
By Andrew Brown, Of The Morning Call July 16, 2014
It was a time of assessment for the Parkland School Board.
On Tuesday evening, board members got to hear how the
2014-15 Pennsylvania
state budget will affect the school district's funding. The bottom line: Parkland will be getting
several hundred thousand dollars less than it was counting on from the state,
but it has the shortfall covered.
Board members passed the district's budget June 24 and had
been anxiously awaiting the results of the state budget debate to see if
funding levels would match their expectations.
"We had no clue what they were going to do," said John
Vignone, the board's director of business administration. In the district's budget, board members
allotted $10.4 million for basic education, special education and Ready to
Learn block grant funding from the state.
But after the state budget was passed, the district ended up receiving
$277,696 less than what they had planned for.
Coalition asks court to block sale of William Penn
High
MARTHA WOODALL, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Tuesday,
July 15, 2014, 1:08 AM POSTED: Monday, July 14, 2014, 4:53 PM
Angered by the Philadelphia School Reform Commission's
decision to sell the shuttered William Penn High School to Temple University, a
neighborhood group has made good on its threat to take legal action. The William Penn Development Coalition asked
the state Supreme Court on Friday for an injunction to block the sale and to
rule that the SRC's expedited process violated state law.
Special-ed cuts won't hurt students, Philly school
officials say
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY JULY 15, 2014
The Philadelphia
School District
Charters need closer watching | Philadelphia Tribune
Philly Trib Written by Wilford
Shamlin III July 15, 2014
The School District of Philadelphia has made progress in its
oversight of charter schools but room for improvement remains, according to a
new report released by the city controller’s office.
The city’s watchdog agency provides an independent review of
the Charter Schools Office which is charged with monitoring nearly 70 of the
privately run schools on behalf of the School District of Philadelphia. In a
move aimed at improving transparency, the charter school office and its
executive director began reporting directly to the School Reform Commission
(SRC) as of July 1, instead of the school Superintendent’s Office. “In most cases, charter schools are operating
under the guidelines set forth under the Commonwealth’s Charter School Law,”
City Controller Alan Butkovitz said in the report. “Some practices such as
certain leasing arrangements might be questionable, but they are not violating
the current law.” The city controller’s
office report, released late last week, stated the charter school office at the
district headquarters, located at 440 N. Broad St., has improved its
recordkeeping of necessary files.
Why Poor Schools Can’t Win at Standardized Testing
The companies that create the most important state and national exams
also publish textbooks that contain many of the answers. Unfortunately,
low-income school districts can’t afford to buy them.
The Atlantic by Meredith Broussard JULY 15, 2014
You hear a lot nowadays about the magic of big data. Getting
hold of the right numbers can increase revenue, improve decision-making, or
help you find a mate—or so the thinking goes. In 2009, U.S. Education Secretary
Arne Duncan told a crowd of education researchers: “I am a deep believer in the
power of data to drive our decisions. Data gives us the roadmap to reform. It
tells us where we are, where we need to go, and who is most at risk.”
This is a story about what happened when I tried to use big
data to help repair my local public schools. I failed. And the
reasons why I failed have everything to do with why the American system of
standardized testing will never succeed.
Frontline July 15th: Separate
and Unequal
Runtime 27:14 Frontline examines what's behind the growing
racial divide in American schools
Report Urges High-Quality
Teaching and Sustainable Funding for Early Education
Education Week Early Years Blog By Christina
Samuels on July 15, 2014 6:40 AM
Fixing the birth-through-grade 3 care and education system
requires streamlining disparate programs and funding sources, and a renewed
focus on high-quality interactions between young children and the adults around
them, says a report issued Tuesday by the Washington-based New America
Foundation. The policy
brief, "Beyond
Subprime Learning: Accelerating Progress in Early Education," includes
eight overarching recommendations, and within each are steps that can be taken
by federal and state lawmakers, school districts, teachers, and
principals.
NSBA to Congress: Hands off
E-rate
NSBA School Board News Today by Kathleen Vail July 15, 2014
NSBA is urging Congress not to jeopardize Internet, broadband,
and Wi-Fi access for millions of students or block improvements to E-rate, the
federal program that provides connectivity resources for schools and libraries. Student access to high-speed Internet
connections is critical, and 80 percent of schools currently have slow or an
inadequate number of Internet connections. An amendment to limit options for
schools and libraries under E-rate would halt progress in providing urgently
needed access to students and schools. Such an amendment to the appropriations
bill also would hamper the FCC’s efforts to modern the 20-year-old program.
NSBA has written a letter to Congress asking for a “No” vote on any
amendments to the E-rate program in HR 5016. As a member of Education and
Libraries Network Coalitions (EdLiNC), NSBA is adding its voice to the
coalition’s letter to Congress urging the same.
Educational Collaborators
Pennsylvania Summit Aug. 13-14
The Educational Collaborators, in partnership with the Wilson School
District
Pre-K for PA has supporters
all over the greater Philadelphia region who want to help ensure all three and
four year-old children can access quality pre-K.
We need your help -- join an upcoming phone bank. Join
a fun gathering of like minds in Philadelphia and Conshohocken on
Wednesday evenings throughout the summer. We are calling fellow Pre-K for
PA supporters to build local volunteer teams.
Call a Pre-K Friend in Philly:
UnitedWay Building 1709 Ben Franklin Parkway
Wed July 30, 5-7 PM
United
Wed July 30, 5-7 PM
Call a Pre-K Friend in Mont Co:
Anne's House 242 Barren Hill Road Conshohocken PA 19428
Wed July 16, 5-7pm
Wed July 30, 5-7pm
Anne's House 242 Barren Hill Road Conshohocken PA 19428
Wed July 16, 5-7pm
Wed July 30, 5-7pm
RSVP: http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/51084/c/10476/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=9390
EPLC Education Issues
Workshop for Legislative Candidates, Campaign Staff, and Interested Voters -
Harrisburg July 31
Register Now! EPLC will again be hosting an Education
Issues Workshop for Legislative Candidates, Campaign Staff, and Interested
Voters. This nonpartisan, one-day program will take place on Thursday,
July 31 in Harrisburg. Space is limited. Click
here to learn more about workshop and to register.
PSBA opens nominations for
the Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award
The nomination process is now open for the Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award. This award may be presented annually to the individual school director or entire school board to recognize outstanding leadership in legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of public education and students that are consistent with the positions in PSBA’s Legislative Platform. Applications will be accepted until July 16, 2014. The July 16 date was picked in honor of Timothy M. Allwein's birthday. The award will be presented during the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference in October. More details and application are available on PSBA's website.
The nomination process is now open for the Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award. This award may be presented annually to the individual school director or entire school board to recognize outstanding leadership in legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of public education and students that are consistent with the positions in PSBA’s Legislative Platform. Applications will be accepted until July 16, 2014. The July 16 date was picked in honor of Timothy M. Allwein's birthday. The award will be presented during the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference in October. More details and application are available on PSBA's website.
Education Policy and
Leadership Center
Click here to read more
about EPLC’s Education Policy Fellowship Program, including: 2014-15 Schedule
2014-15 Application Past Speakers Program Alumni And More Information
2014
PA Gubernatorial Candidate Plans for Education and Arts/Culture in PA
Education Policy and
Leadership Center
Below is an alphabetical list of the 2014 Gubernatorial Candidates and
links to information about their plans, if elected, for education and
arts/culture in Pennsylvania. This list will be updated, as more
information becomes available.
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