Friday, January 30, 2015

PA Ed Policy Roundup Jan 30: PennLive Series - THE RISE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS IN PA

Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 3525 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, Wolf education transition team members, Superintendents, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, business 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, Twitter and LinkedIn

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 EducationAre you a member?
The Keystone State Education Coalition is an endorsing member of The Campaign for Fair Education Funding


Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for January 30, 2015:
PennLive Series - THE RISE OF CHARTER SCHOOLS IN PA



Upcoming Basic Education Funding Commission hearings scheduled in  Montgomery County and Dauphin County
PA Basic Education Funding Commission website
Thursday, February 5, 2015, 10 am Montgomery County, Central Montco Tech HS, 821 Plymouth Road, Plymouth Meeting, PA
Thursday, February 26, 2015, 11 am Dauphin County, location TBA




Sign-up for weekly email updates from the Campaign
The Campaign for Fair Education Funding website



"Research shows that early literacy is a key predictor of adult success, and the cost of falling behind is clearer than ever, particularly for low-income students and students of color. It’s an urban myth that state governments use 3rd-grade literacy levels to predict prison populations, but the correlation between poor reading, dropping out, poverty, and incarceration remains troublingly strong."
From reading to community
Stakes are high for literacy campaigns like READ! by 4th. Non-readers can feel isolated, leading to more trouble.
By Bill Hangley Jr.  on Jan 29, 2015 10:37 AM
It’s family storytime at the Lucien E. Blackwell public library on 52nd Street, and the bushy-haired toddler named Rio isn’t just here to learn to read.He’s here to join the world. “Look at this – red!” says Jennifer Walker, the librarian, as she holds open a picture book about colors. “Just like this scarf!”

Advocate urges DV school board to join fair funding fight
Sandra Miller: 'There's a real need for a set formula' for Pennsylvania schools
Pike County Courier PUBLISHED JAN 29, 2015 AT 3:21 PM (UPDATED JAN 29, 2015)
SHOHOLA — Sandra Miller from the Campaign for Fair Education Funding PA says the way schools in Pennsylvania are funded has to change, because districts don’t know from year to year how state aid will affect their budgets.  “There’s a real need for a set formula regarding what the individual districts get every year," Miller told the Delaware Valley school board. The way funds are distributed doesn’t seem to follow logic, in a stark contrast to other states, she said.
Miller said she’s a circuit rider and a school board member in Saucon Valley. The campaign to gather support among school districts and individuals for a stable education funding formula.
Miller gave a brief overview of the history of Pennsylvania state funding, along with more recent developments. Pennsylvania is one of only three states with no set funding formula, she said.

PA searching for fair school-funding system
WKBN By Nadine Grimley Published: January 29, 2015, 6:50 pm  Updated: January 29, 2015, 7:46 pm
MERCER COUNTY, Pa. (WKBN) – Currently Pennsylvania is one of three states in the country without an equation for dishing out money to schools. “We really never know from year to year what our funding is going to be until it’s passed in June or July by the legislature,” Sharon City Schools Superintendent Michael Calla  That’s why in 2014, a 15-member committee called the Basic Education Funding Commission was formed. The group is currently touring the state, hearing from various school districts, and it stopped in Mercer County Thursday.

"With the denial of Insight's application, the Education Department has rejected every application for a new cyber in the last three years.  The state's 14 existing cybers enroll 36,596 students."
State rejects the third cyber charter application
MARTHA WOODALL, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Friday, January 30, 2015, 1:08 AM POSTED: Thursday, January 29, 2015, 6:42 PM
Pennsylvania's acting education secretary turned down the third and final application for a new statewide cyber charter school Thursday.  The decision, signed by Pedro A. Rivera, found that the application filed by the proposed Insight PA Cyber Charter School was deficient in six areas, including governance.

PennLive Series - What are charter schools and why are they controversial? Q&A
Penn Live By Daniel Simmons-Ritchie | simmons-ritchie@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on January 29, 2015 at 8:15 AM, updated January 30, 2015 at 5:32 AM
Charter schools have exploded across the country in the past 20 years and their growth has often been controversial. Here's a primer on charter schools and why they've spurred so much attention in Pennsylvania.

"It seems to get at a similar idea," Fischer said. "The idea that you deem public schools as 'failing' with the solution being to transform them into an institution that serves the public into one that serves for-profit interests and private interests."  Fischer said that despite the repeated promises from lawmakers and free-market think tanks, there was little evidence to suggest that converting established schools into charter schools solved the structural problems that often plague inner-city schools."
PennLive Series - Are charter schools the answer? More on the law that stripped York parents' control
Penn Live By Daniel Simmons-Ritchie | simmons-ritchie@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on January 29, 2015 at 10:30 AM, updated January 29, 2015 at 11:01 AM
It's rarely without a fight that a community gives up its democratic power.  But in 2012, almost overnight, a handful of Pennsylvania school came dangerously close to it after the state deemed that all four of them – York City School District, Harrisburg City School District, Duquesne City School District, and Chester-Upland School District – were so financially distressed they required state oversight.  In each district, the state appointed a chief recovery officer given the authority to take full control should the elected board fail to make changes as directed.

PennLive Series - Charter school takeovers: As York schools near privatization, lessons from New Orleans and Michigan
Penn Live By Daniel Simmons-Ritchie | simmons-ritchie@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on January 29, 2015 at 8:00 AM, updated January 29, 2015 at 8:14 AM
On a weekday afternoon in January,William Penn High School in York looks like any other school in central Pennsylvania. Laughing students churn out the main entrance, teachers bustle out of classrooms bearing books and binders.  But the school, and the seven others that make up the York City School District, differ from the state's 3,053 other public schools in one fundamental way: they stand on the precipice of a rarely attempted experiment in the history of America's education system.

Charter founder described as fuzzy but competent  for retrial on $6.3 million fraud charges
MARTHA WOODALL, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Friday, January 30, 2015, 1:08 AM POSTED: Thursday, January 29, 2015, 2:10 PM
Dorothy June Brown, 77, has some problems remembering dates, her age, the year, and where she went to school, but a forensic psychologist said she is competent to be retried on charges that she defrauded the charter schools she founded of $6.3 million.

District posts reports on proposed Philly charter schools
By the Notebook on Jan 29, 2015 05:35 PM
Now that both rounds of hearings for 40 new charter school applicants are over, the School District posted the evaluations for the proposed schools today.
People can look through the reports and submit public comment by Sunday, Feb. 1, three days from now. Comments can be emailed, dropped off at District headquarters, or mailed.
The School Reform Commission is required to vote on each charter application by Feb. 21. District spokesman Fernando Gallard said that no meeting date for votes has been set.

Philadelphia sizes up more charter schools
PA Independent By Evan Grossman | Watchdog.org January 29, 2015 | By Eric Boehm
The School District of Philadelphia could be on the verge of a historic expansion of the city’s charter school program.  Accepting applications for the first time since 2007, the district received 40 proposals in October from groups interested in opening new charter schools and it could expand the program, turning almost half of the entire city into charters.
There are currently 67,000 students attending 84 charter schools in Philadelphia and more than 40,000 names on waiting lists to get into charters, according to Philly School Choice. There is no set number of schools the district must approve or reject.

"Moreover, Williams’ recorded support for charter school expansion resulted in huge gains to his campaign treasury when he unsuccessfully ran for Pennsylvania governor in 2010. Through the political action committee Students’ Choice, Williams received an astounding $3.3 million to support his gubernatorial bid in the election, which Republican Tom Corbett ultimately won.
The PAC was bankrolled by three local businessmen, whom The Philadelphia Inquirer described as “free market entrepreneurs in the mold of Ayn Rand.” One of the businessmen, Jeff Yass, is a board member at the libertarian think tank, the Cato Institute."
Mayoral candidate Anthony Hardy Williams' take on charter schools sets him apart
Daily Pennsylvanian By DAN SPINELLI 01/29/15 1:04am
State Senator Anthony Hardy Williams’s support for charter schools has made him some unusual allies.  In the debate over charter school expansion, Williams, a Democrat, has often found himself allied with conservatives. Generally, Democrats advocate keeping funds within the local school district, while Republicans have petitioned for vouchers supporting the choice between public and nonpublic schools.  In 1997, Williams was one of the lone Democrats to join Republicans in the bill allowing charter schools to form in Pennsylvania. More recently in 2010, Williams introduced a bill in the Pennsylvania legislature that mandated vouchers for poor students in underperforming schools. Three Republicans cosponsored the bill with Williams.
Such bipartisan action on education has made Williams the darling of some conservative elites, including Republican Senator Patrick Toomey, who invited Williams to view the 2013 State of the Union address as his guest.

Nutter asks business to fight for school funding
CHRIS BRENNAN, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Friday, January 30, 2015, 1:08 AM POSTED: Thursday, January 29, 2015, 8:54 PM
Mayor Nutter, with a nod to the candidates running to succeed him, on Thursday laid out for the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce a seven-year history of measured accomplishments and continuing challenges.

2015 Education Outlook: Issues to Watch
Economy League/World Class Greater Philadelphia By Jen Egmont Jan 28
2015 may mark the beginning of some big changes in education in Greater Philadelphia -- many of which align with the priorities laid out in our shared World Class agenda. From key policy issues like fair funding to debates over curricula and teacher evaluations, here are a few key areas to watch this year:

Lincoln Charter School agrees to ambitious five-year goals
ERIN JAMES / The York Dispatch 505-5439 / @ydcity POSTED: 01/29/2015 07:32:49 PM EST
Lincoln Charter School officials have agreed to dramatically improve their students' standardized test scores in reading and math over the next five years - or face revocation of the school's charter.  Swiftly and without discussion, the York City school board granted a five-year renewal of Lincoln Charter School's charter Wednesday.  Tucked into the new agreement is a list of requirements for the school's next five years of existence. Failure to meet any of those requirements could give the York City school board cause to shut the school down when the next renewal process comes around in 2020.

Are York school officials resting after recent small victories?
BY EMILY PREVITI, WITF JANUARY 29, 2015
York’s school board quietly ran through its meeting agenda in about 30 minutes Wednesday.
Quite a departure from recent public sessions that stretched for hours, with testimony from students, parents and teachers protesting the proposed charterization of the struggling school district.  But a judge recently affirmed the district’s right to appeal his own ruling that granted the Pennsylvania Department of Education petition for receivership .  Gov. Tom Wolf – who has opposed sweeping privatization of public education in his home county seat – took office last week. And earlier Wednesday, York elected officials met with him about city schools as part of his ongoing review of the matter.  Board President Margie Orr says there's no complacency.

York NAACP appeals to Wolf on city schools
Organization asks governor for a new, more 'neutral' receiver
By Gordon Rago grago@ydr.com @gragoYDR on Twitter UPDATED: 01/29/2015 11:39:57 PM EST
Gov. Tom Wolf should expect to see a letter on his desk soon from York NAACP President Sandra Thompson, who is asking him to make two "immediate" changes to York City School District's ongoing financial recovery process.  The first step Thompson wants Wolf to take is removing David Meckley as the district's chief recovery officer.  Thompson argued Thursday night during a meeting at Crispus Attucks in York that Meckley has "tunnel vision" when it comes to saving the district financially through conversion to charter schools.  "If we had a more neutral person, that may be good for the school district while these appeals are pending," Thompson said, saying NAACP's position is against a conversion to charter schools.

"... He also cited the climbing employee pension contribution rate as a major contributing factor, at an added annual cost of $3.9 million."
WCASD early budget eyes 3.2% property tax hike
West Chester Daily Local By Bill Rettew Jr.,billrettew@aol.com POSTED:01/29/15, 5:53 PM EST |
WEST GOSHEN >> At Wednesday’s meeting, the West Chester Area School Board voted to release a preliminary 2015-2016 district budget with a 3.2 percent property tax increase, or $8.9 million more in spending. Superintendent Jim Scanlon pointed to increased costs for “unfunded mandates,” including for special education instruction at an additional $679,000, next year. He also cited the climbing employee pension contribution rate as a major contributing factor, at an added annual cost of $3.9 million.

"Even without any pay hikes resulting from a new teacher contract, the district faces an $823,000 increase in payroll; a $1.3 million increase in pensions obligations — which will accompanied by a $680,000 in state aid to cover half the cost of the hike — and a $320,000 hike in charter school tuition, Nester said.  From a percentage standpoint, Pottsgrove is facing a 3.1% increase in wages; a 21.1% hike in pension costs and a 20.3% hike in charter school tuition, said Nester."
$65.1M Pottsgrove schools budget draft could hike taxes by 3.56%
By Mercury Staff POSTED: 01/28/15, 4:19 PM EST | UPDATED: 16 HRS AGO
LOWER POTTSGROVE >> A draft $65.1 million schools budget that carries the potential to raise property taxes as much as 3.56 percent — or $160 for a home assessed at $120,000 — was reviewed Tuesday by the Pottsgrove School Board.  Business Manager David Nester told the board that as it stands now, the district is facing a $2.5 million shortfall if property taxes are not raised.  The state “index” for Pottsgrove, which sets a ceiling on tax hikes, would keep a tax hike to 2.4 percent, which would raise property taxes by $108 on the median home assessment.

Interboro board approves teachers pact
Philly.com by Kathy Boccella LAST UPDATED: Thursday, January 29, 2015, 1:08 AM POSTED: Wednesday, January 28, 2015, 2:31 PM
DELAWARE COUNTY
PROSPECT PARK The Interboro school board unanimously approved a contract with its 305-member teachers' union, whose salaries will increase 5.54 percent over the three-year agreement.  In return, teachers have agreed to some cost-saving changes to their medical and prescription benefits plans, according to the board.

Palmyra administrators express concern about Project Based Assessments
By Monica Von Dobeneck | Special to PennLive on January 29, 2015 at 8:41 PM, updated January 29, 2015 at 8:51 PM
High school students who fail to achieve proficiency on Keystone exams after two tries can instead take what is called a Project Based Assessment in order to graduate.
The way the program works worries some administrators in the Palmyra Area School District.
Assistant superintendent Bernie Kepler described the program, which will affect this year's sophomores, to the school board Thursday night.

5 ideas that could change Philly education — and one that won $5,000 to get started
Billy Penn By Anna Orso January 28, 2015 at 10:01 pm
Jeff Kilpatrick says he has 144 heroes, and they’re all under the age of 15.
The Port Richmond art teacher at the Memphis Street Academy spends his time teaching his 144 middle schoolers how to harness entrepreneurial skills through art — and now, because of a pitch he made to a room of 100 people tonight, he has $5,000 to realize his dreams for his Philly Artrepreneurs program.   Kilpatrick was the winner of SEED (Supporting Entrepreneurship in Education) 4.0, an annual event presented by PhillyCORE Leaders, a group of education leaders collaborating to come up with ideas to better education in the city. Here’s how SEED 4.0 worked: Representatives from five education startups had three minutes to pitch their idea to a panel of judges who then asked questions, and after each pitch, the crowd voted for their favorite pitch.

Senate Ed. Panel Unlikely to Require Teacher Evaluations in NCLB Overhaul
Education Week Politics K-12 Blog By Lauren Camera on January 27, 2015 1:40 PM
Washington - Although members of the Senate education committee agreed at a hearing Tuesday that teacher evaluations are essential for a thriving public education system, it's unlikely that the forthcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act will include specific requirements.  Republicans, including Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., said Washington shouldn't mandate such policies, while Democrats, including ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., were wary of increasing the role student test scores play in evaluations and how those evaluations are used to compensate teachers.  The lack of language in the reauthorization requiring teacher evaluations will likely stop in its tracks the Obama administration's efforts to push states to adopt evaluation systems based in part on student test scores and performance-based compensation systems, both of which were at the heart of U.S. Department of Education's NCLB waivers.


PA Basic Education Funding Commission website

Sign-up for weekly email updates from the Campaign
The Campaign for Fair Education Funding website

Thorough and Efficient: Pennsylvania Education Funding Lawsuit website
Arguing that our state has failed to ensure that essential resources are available for all of our public school students to meet state academic standards.

Register Now! EPLC 2015 Regional Workshops for School Board Candidates and Others
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 2015 Pennsylvania School Board Candidates.  Incumbents, non-incumbents, campaign supporters and all interested voters are invited to participate in these workshops.
Pittsburgh Region Saturday, February 21, 2015 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Allegheny Intermediate Unit, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA  15120
Harrisburg Region Saturday, March 7, 2015– 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania School Boards Association Headquarters, 400 Bent Creek Boulevard, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Philadelphia Region Saturday, March 14, 2015 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, 2 W. Lafayette Street, Norristown, PA 19401

PILCOP: Children with Emotional Problems: Avoiding the Juvenile Justice System, and What Does Real Help Look Like?
Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia Tuesday, February 17, 2015 1:00 -- 4:00 P.M.
This session will help you navigate special education in order to assist children at home not receiving services, those in the foster care system or those in the juvenile court system. CLE and Act 48 credit is available.  This session is co-sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania School of Policy and Practice, a Pre-approved Provider of Continuing Education for Pennsylvania licensed social workers.  Click here to purchase tickets  

NPE 2015 Annual Conference – Chicago April 24 - 26 – Early Bird Special Registration Open!
Early-bird discounted Registration for the Network for Public Education’s Second Annual Conference is now available at this address:
These low rates will last for the month of January.
The event is being held at the Drake Hotel in downtown Chicago, and there is a link on the registration page for special hotel registration rates. Here are some of the event details.
There will be a welcoming social event  7 pm Friday night, at or near the Drake Hotel — details coming soon.   Featured speakers will be:
§         Jitu Brown, National Director – Journey for Justice, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, Network for Public Education Board of Directors
§         Tanaisa Brown, High School Senior, with the Newark Student Union
§         Yong Zhao, Author, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon?
§         Diane Ravitch in conversation with
§         Lily Eskelsen Garcia, NEA President and
§         Randi Weingarten, AFT President
§         Karen Lewis, President, Chicago Teachers Union

Thursday, January 29, 2015

PA Ed Policy Roundup Jan 29: Beaver County Supts: Funding formula needed for public education

Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 3525 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, Wolf education transition team members, Superintendents, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, business 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, Twitter and LinkedIn

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 EducationAre you a member?
The Keystone State Education Coalition is an endorsing member of The Campaign for Fair Education Funding


Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for January 29, 2015:
Beaver County Supts: Funding formula needed for public education



Upcoming Basic Education Funding Commission hearings scheduled in Mercer County, Montgomery County and Dauphin County
PA Basic Education Funding Commission website
Thursday, January 29, 2015, 10 am Greenville Junior/Senior High School 9 Donation Road, Greenville, PA 16125
Thursday, February 5, 2015, 10 am Montgomery County, Central Montco Tech HS, 821 Plymouth Road, Plymouth Meeting, PA
Thursday, February 26, 2015, 11 am Dauphin County, location TBA



"Pam Lenz, a former acting superintendent of the Iroquois School District, is a "circuit rider" with the Pennsylvania Campaign for Fair Education Funding, charged with boosting awareness of school funding and of the need for a new formula.  It's important to have voices from northwest Pennsylvania represented at the hearings, she said.  "The ultimate goal is really for them to realize that every part of the state is unique," Lenz said. "(Commission members) need to listen to the voice of every part of the state when they're considering what formula they're going to recommend" and how the formula will take into account the differences of districts across the state."
Erie-area superintendents to speak at school funding hearing
By Erica Erwin 814-870-1846 Erie Times-News January 29, 2015 12:01 AM
Two local superintendents are adding their voices to a chorus of school district leaders calling for a new way to fund education.  Erie schools Superintendent Jay Badams and Bill Nichols, superintendent of the Corry Area School District, will testify at a hearing of the Basic Education Funding Commission today in Greenville.  The 15-member commission has been holding hearings throughout the state as it works to develop and recommend to the General Assembly a new formula for distributing basic education funding to districts.

"Pennsylvania ranks 43rd out of 50 states in the percentage it provides toward the total cost of its public school system. For example, Maryland funds 41 percent of public school education costs; Ohio, 43.2 percent; Delaware, 58.6 percent; West Virginia, 55.8 percent; and Pennsylvania, 34.5 percent."
Funding formula needed for public education
Beaver County Times Online Letter by Beaver County School Superintendents Posted: Monday, January 26, 2015 11:45 pm
Providing a quality education for all students is a shared responsibility among everyone. There are two efforts ongoing in Pennsylvania that are focusing on this responsibility. There is the Pennsylvania Basic Education Funding Commission, co-chaired by state Sen. Pat Brown, R-16, Allentown, and state Rep. Mike Vereb, R-150, Montgomery County, which is holding hearings around Pennsylvania to hear the public's views. In addition, the William Penn Foundation, working in concert with over 40 other organizations, has organized the Campaign for Fair Education Funding to provide grass-roots support for a funding formula.
The research from these two initiatives has revealed that Pennsylvania is one of only three states (Delaware and North Carolina are the others) that doesn't have a funding formula for supporting education. Additionally, Pennsylvania ranks 43rd out of 50 states in the percentage it provides toward the total cost of its public school system. For example, Maryland funds 41 percent of public school education costs; Ohio, 43.2 percent; Delaware, 58.6 percent; West Virginia, 55.8 percent; and Pennsylvania, 34.5 percent.
 As educational leaders we know the importance of a state funding formula that is equitable, adequate, predictable and accountable in preparing our students to compete in a global society. We encourage everyone to follow the work of the Basic Education Funding Commission  --http://basiceducationfundingcommission.pasenategop.com/ -- and the Campaign for Fair Education Funding -- http://fairfundingpa.org.
Beaver County school superintendents

Starting Thursday, Jan. 29, PennLive will run a series of stories the decade-long, multi-million dollar campaign by for-profit schools to to alter laws and education in Pennsylvania.
How do charter schools affect education in Pennsylvania?
By Kari Larsen | klarsen@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on January 28, 2015 at 10:00 AM, updated January 28, 2015 at 12:51 PM
York may become one of the few cities in America to privatize an entire school district.
Facing a $20 million budget deficit from 2014, York City School District failed to implement a recovery plan designed by chief recovery officer David Meckley. The state Department of Education then pursued receivership, which would transfer almost all functions of a school board to one person: Meckley.  Meckley plans to send York City School District's 7,500 students to a single for-profit operator, Charter Schools USA.  In response to this news, Pennsylvania State Education Association President Michael Crossey said, "York's citizens don't want this, the elected school board doesn't want this, and parents and educators don't want this."

"State Rep. Stan Saylor (R-York County), newly-minted as majority chair of the house education committee, has scheduled a hearing for the bill in Harrisburg on February 12."
Should Pa. require students to pass standardized tests to graduate high school?
WHYY Newsworks BY KEVIN MCCORRY JANUARY 28, 2015
The clock is ticking.
By 2017, in order to graduate high school in Pennsylvania, students must pass three state standardized tests: algebra, literature and biology.  Based on most recent student scores — especially in biology — if trends continue, Pennsylvania will soon see far fewer of its students walking down the aisle in gap and gown.
In order to preempt that reality, state Rep. Mike Tobash (R-Dauphin County) has introduced a bill that would repeal the state-mandated graduation requirement, leaving the decision to local school districts.  "The children of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, they need to learn, they need to be assessed, but when we've gone so far that we end up handcuffing our educational system with really an overwhelming amount of standardized assessment," said Tobash. "We need to stop and put the brakes on here, take a look at it."  The bill would also halt the creation and implementation of the seven other subject-specific Keystone exams called for by existing state law.

Parents United prevails in getting BCG school-closings list
the notebook commentary By Helen Gym on Jan 28, 2015 06:20 PM
What could possibly justify the closing of Northeast High School, the largest school in the city and each year bursting at the seams? Why would anyone suggest closing four elementary schools in Olney, a neighborhood that once housed some of the most overcrowded schools in the District?
We may not find out the answers to these questions, but we know now that these were some of the ludicrous ideas proposed by the Boston Consulting Group in a long-secret 2012 report presented in a private meeting to the School Reform Commission.

York City School Board votes to renew Lincoln Charter School's charter for 5 years
It voted unanimously to renew Lincoln's charter for another five years
York Daily Record By Dylan Segelbaum dsegelbaum@ydr.com @dylan_segelbaum on Twitter UPDATED:   01/28/2015 10:51:27 PM EST
More than an hour and a half before the York City School Board was set to meet on Wednesday, president Margie Orr stepped to the podium at Bethlehem Baptist Church.  To a round of applause, she told the crowd of about 50 activists who had gathered there for a rally against the state takeover of the district that their fight wasn't over. They're working to implement programs to improve the district, she said, and the decision about who controls the district is now in the hands of Commonwealth Court.  "We are in this together," Orr said. "Our kids deserve the best that we can give them, and this board is going to see that they get the best."
Then, at 6:30 p.m. at William Penn Senior High School, the board — seated at a different table a few feet across from the state-appointed chief recovery officer David Meckley — voted unanimously to renew Lincoln Charter School's charter for another five years. During the meeting, there was virtually no discussion, and it wrapped up just after 7 p.m.

Philly's Truebright charter appeals shutdown order to Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court
WHYY Newsworks BY LAURA BENSHOFF JANUARY 29, 2015
Charter schools are supposed to be nimble and innovative, but the process to close an underperforming charter is anything but.  Six weeks after the Charter Appeal Board voted unanimously (7-0) to deny Truebright Academy Science Charter's bid to stay open, the school in the Olney neighborhood of North Philadelphia has taken its case all the way to Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court.  Truebright is one of five Philadelphia charter schools currently going through the non-renewal process.  It can take years from when a school district announces the intent not to renew a school's charter until the classroom doors actually shut permanently.

Charter school founder's mental competency questioned in court
MARTHA WOODALL, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Thursday, January 29, 2015, 1:08 AM POSTED: Wednesday, January 28, 2015, 5:09 PM
Does charter school founder Dorothy June Brown, 77, have such memory problems that she is incompetent to be retried on federal charges that she defrauded the schools she founded of $6.3 million?  Three psychiatrists and psychologists retained by Brown's lawyers and the court offered differing opinions in a hearing that began Tuesday before U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick.

Former staffers sue shuttered charter school
REGINA MEDINA, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER MEDINAR@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-5985 POSTED: Thursday, January 29, 2015, 3:01 AM
A GROUP OF FORMER employees of the Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School has filed a class-action lawsuit against the school, its founder and others for unpaid compensation, the Daily News has learned.  About 75 to 150 ex-Palmer staffers are expected to be represented in the suit and are seeking several thousand to $14,000 each in damages, said their lawyer, Joshua Rubinsky, with the law firm Brodie & Rubinsky, PC. The complaint was filed Monday in Common Pleas Court.  The suit states that Palmer did not pay for work performed during Nov. 1, 2014, to Jan. 15.

Bethlehem school board approves new teachers contract with one-year freeze
By Sara K. Satullo | The Express-Times Email the author | Follow on Twitter on January 28, 2015 at 9:36 PM, updated January 29, 2015 at 12:29 AM
The Bethlehem Area School Board Wednesday night approved a new three-year contract with its teachers union that includes a one year salary freeze.  The Bethlehem Education Association has been working under an expired contract since Aug. 31, 2014.  Teachers agreed to a one-year salary freeze for the 2014-15 school year, 3.1 percent the next year and then a 2.9 percent increase in the final year, board President Michael Faccinetto said. It amounts to an average raise of 2 percent annually over the contract.

"The additional funds are needed to cover a $1.4 million increase in wages, and the $1.29 million net impact of PSERS increases, which the district does not control, said board President Denis Gray."
Haverford School Board wrangling with 3.57 tax increase
By Lois Puglionesi, Delco Times Correspondent POSTED: 01/28/15, 11:31 PM EST |
HAVERFORD >> Although it’s early in the school district’s budgeting process for 2015-16, the proposed preliminary budget school officials are considering includes a 3.57 percent real estate tax rate increase that would raise millage from 28.6692 to 29.6920 mills.  The new rate would translate to about a $163 annual increase for a property assessed at $160,000.
In his presentation to school officials last week, business manager Richard Henderson said 3.57 percent is the maximum allowable increase, with referendum exceptions included.
This year’s Act 1 Index enables the district to increase taxes 1.9 percent, to yield an additional $1.7 million in revenues. Officials are requesting referendum exceptions for special education and Public School Employees’ Retirement System costs, totaling $1.4 million.

Rendell presents $500 check to Chestnutwold fifth-graders
By Lois Puglionesi, Delco Times Correspondent POSTED: 01/28/15, 11:28 PM EST |
ARDMORE >> Former Gov. Ed Rendell visited Chestnutwold Elementary School on Wednesday to congratulate and present a $500 check to a fifth-grade class that recently placed second in the Rendell Center for Citizenship and Civics Citizenship Challenge essay competition.
Now in its second year, the Citizenship Challenge invites fourth- and fifth-grade students in the five-county Philadelphia region to voice their opinions on a current issue. This year’s contest asked students how they would increase voter turnout. Online voting, mandatory voting and expanding voting days/times were among suggested points to ponder.

Testing Resistance & Reform News: January 21 - 27, 2015
Fairtest Submitted by fairtest on January 27, 2015 - 12:43pm 
Demonstrating another surge of support for assessment reform as the Spring 2015 testing season nears, this week's stories about the movement against standardized exam overuse and misuse come from more than 40% of the 50 states. The news is reinforced by several excellent analytic pieces and opinion columns (back issues of these weekly updates are archived at: http://fairtest.org/news/other)  In addition to keeping the heat on state and local policy-makers, now is the time to let your U.S. Senators and Representative know you support a significant reduction in federal testing mandates, an end to test-based consequences for students, teachers or schools and more funding for better forms of assessment. Please make those calls and send your emails today!

"A majority of parents polled, 82 percent, said they want legislators to pass a testing "Bill of Rights," requiring transparency on high-stakes testing, including how much they cost taxpayers and how student data will be used. Parents also want the ability to opt their students out of tests — 66 percent said they support having a parental right of refusal."
Why Does the Public Hate Standardized Tests?
JerseyJazzman Blog Tuesday, January 27, 2015
The New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, released a bombshell of a poll yesterday; click through to see the raw results for all voters and just for parents. My guess is that once we clear away the snow, we're going to be talking about these results for a long time.  nj.com has a breakdown:

Doctors Enlisted to Deliver Early-Literacy Message
Education Week By Lillian Mongeau Published Online: January 20, 2015
Doctors are the newest group of proselytizers to join the national Too Small to Fail campaign encouraging parents to talk, read, and sing to their infants and toddlers as a key precursor to literacy.  The American Academy of Pediatrics has long recognized the importance of telling parents to talk to and read with their children. But it has only recently begun advising its doctors to deliver that message for the first time at a child's two-month checkup. What has been less clear, and never studied systematically, is how to deliver that information in a way that sticks during the 12- to 18-minute visits physicians generally have with families for well-baby checkups.
That's where Too Small to Fail comes in. 

PA Basic Education Funding Commission website

Sign-up for weekly email updates from the Campaign
The Campaign for Fair Education Funding website

Thorough and Efficient: Pennsylvania Education Funding Lawsuit website
Arguing that our state has failed to ensure that essential resources are available for all of our public school students to meet state academic standards.

Register Now! EPLC 2015 Regional Workshops for School Board Candidates and Others
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 2015 Pennsylvania School Board Candidates.  Incumbents, non-incumbents, campaign supporters and all interested voters are invited to participate in these workshops.
Pittsburgh Region Saturday, February 21, 2015 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Allegheny Intermediate Unit, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA  15120
Harrisburg Region Saturday, March 7, 2015– 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania School Boards Association Headquarters, 400 Bent Creek Boulevard, Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Philadelphia Region Saturday, March 14, 2015 – 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit, 2 W. Lafayette Street, Norristown, PA 19401

PILCOP: Children with Emotional Problems: Avoiding the Juvenile Justice System, and What Does Real Help Look Like?
Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia Tuesday, February 17, 2015 1:00 -- 4:00 P.M.
This session will help you navigate special education in order to assist children at home not receiving services, those in the foster care system or those in the juvenile court system. CLE and Act 48 credit is available.  This session is co-sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania School of Policy and Practice, a Pre-approved Provider of Continuing Education for Pennsylvania licensed social workers.  Click here to purchase tickets  

NPE 2015 Annual Conference – Chicago April 24 - 26 – Early Bird Special Registration Open!
Early-bird discounted Registration for the Network for Public Education’s Second Annual Conference is now available at this address:
These low rates will last for the month of January.
The event is being held at the Drake Hotel in downtown Chicago, and there is a link on the registration page for special hotel registration rates. Here are some of the event details.
There will be a welcoming social event  7 pm Friday night, at or near the Drake Hotel — details coming soon.   Featured speakers will be:
§         Jitu Brown, National Director – Journey for Justice, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, Network for Public Education Board of Directors
§         Tanaisa Brown, High School Senior, with the Newark Student Union
§         Yong Zhao, Author, “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Dragon?
§         Diane Ravitch in conversation with
§         Lily Eskelsen Garcia, NEA President and
§         Randi Weingarten, AFT President
§         Karen Lewis, President, Chicago Teachers Union