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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup October 6, 2015
Chester
schools to seek special funding from Pa., cut charter fees
"In the 145-page
document, the three largest charter schools serving the district -- Chester Community
Charter School ,
Chester Charter
School for the Arts and Widener Partnership Charter
School
Chester
schools to seek special funding from Pa., cut charter fees
WHYY
Newsworks BY LAURA BENSHOFF
OCTOBER 6, 2015
In the
midst of hearings to determine the fate of Chester Upland, arguably Pennsylvania 's most
financially distressed school district, representatives from the state and
local charter schools held private negotiations on cutting charter school
payments. The fruits of those dealings
are a compromise and a new financial recovery plan. In the 145-page
document, the three largest charter schools serving the district -- Chester Community
Charter School ,
Chester Charter
School for the Arts and Widener Partnership Charter
School Chester
Upland School
District
"Currently receiving
more than $40,000 per student, the three charters have agreed to accept $27,028
per student."
By Vince Sullivan,
Delaware County Daily
MEDIA
COURTHOUSE >> The Chester Upland School District filed an amended
financial recovery plan Friday that seeks to establish negotiated tuition reimbursements
with charter schools serving district students.
The plan, filed in Delaware County Court of Common Pleas on Friday
afternoon, resulted from several weeks of discussions between the district, the
state and some of the larger charter schools educating Chester Upland students.
In the plan, the three brick-and-mortar charter that serve CUSD students agree
to accept a reduced reimbursement for special education students. Currently receiving more than $40,000 per
student, the three charters have agreed to accept $27,028 per student. The agreement would pay the charter schools
more than had been proposed in Chester Upland’s original financial recovery
plan filed in August, in which the district offered to pay $16,000 per special
education student. That was rejected by Delaware County Court of Common Pleas
President Judge Chad F. Kenney, who said that plan wasn’t enough to address the
district’s $28 million deficit.
Hearing before
judge on Chester Upland School District
By Vince Sullivan,
Delaware County Daily
MEDIA
COURTHOUSE >> Common Pleas President Judge Chad F. Kenney has scheduled a
hearing for Wednesday morning to hear testimony about the most recent recovery
plan for the financially-distressed Chester
Upland School
District
Wolf
Administration seeks to sweeten long-shot tax increase package in Pennsylvania
Penn
Live By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on October
05, 2015 at 9:20 PM, updated October 05, 2015 at 9:22 PM
Pennsylvania
Democrats are dangling a spoonful of property tax relief as the sugar to help a
major tax increase vote go down in the Republican-controlled state House of
Representatives this week. The House, on
Wednesday, is tentatively scheduled to consider a series of tax hikes Gov. Tom
Wolf has said is necessary to balance the state's budget and end years of
stagnant funding for schools. With Wolf
in need of at least 18 Republican votes, and maybe more, to carry the day,
sources from both parties and the governor's office confirmed to PennLive
Monday that a limited property tax relief plan has been placed back on the
table in hopes of getting several moderate Republicans and some reluctant
Democrats past an initial 'no" on any increase in the state's 3.07 percent
personal income tax. No details had been
set in stone as of Monday night.
Pennsylvania
Gov. Tom Wolf: Deal on taxes is necessary to avoid worse consequences
Delco Times By Marc Levy and Mark Scolforo, The
Associated Press 10/05/15,
12:11 PM EDT
HARRISBURG
>> Gov. Tom Wolf warned Monday that steep cuts in education spending and higher
borrowing costs are among the inevitable consequences if he cannot persuade
enough lawmakers to support higher taxes to pay for a long-term budget deficit
he inherited. The first-term Democrat
issued the warning as Pennsylvania
state government’s budget impasse is certain to reach its 100th day later this
week. In a briefing for reporters at his
official residence in Harrisburg ,
Wolf would not say whether he has been able to attract any Republican support
for a tax plan he supports. There are just two days left before the plan could
see a floor vote in the GOP-controlled state House of Representatives.
Budget Vote
Could Shape Pennsylvania
Past cuts to school funding have
hit poor school districts in Pennsylvania
Public News Service by Andrea Sears October 6, 2015
Gov. Wolf appeals to lawmakers'
'patriotism, civic pride' to accept his proposed tax increases
Steve
Esack Contact Reporter Morning Call Harrisburg Bureau October
5, 2015
HARRISBURG
— With the passage of the state budget four months overdue, Democratic Gov. Tom
Wolf appears out of options when it comes to getting the Republican-controlled
Legislature to pass his "broad-based tax" proposals that could affect
workers' paychecks and consumers' purchases.
So Wolf on Monday said he will rely on lawmakers' patriotism and civic
pride for approval when they take up his budget proposal Wednesday — or they
can make steep cuts to public schools and social services next fiscal year. Tax increases are necessary, Wolf told
reporters, to cover $1.9 billion in rising mandatory costs in human services,
pensions, debt payments, corrections and other categories in the 2015-16 fiscal
year that started July 1. Those rising costs will push the state's budget to
$31 billion, but the Legislature's Independent Fiscal Office estimates the
state will draw $29.8 billion in existing tax revenue, creating a $1.2 billion
deficit by June 30.
"Same as it ever was. Same as it ever
was."
With Wolf tax
vote looming, here's how the truth became a casualty in the 2015 budget debate:
Analysis
By John L. Micek | jmicek@pennlive.com Email
the author | Follow on Twitter on
October 05, 2015 at 12:58 PM, updated October 05, 2015 at 1:07 PM
So
there's this old Talking Heads song
that leaps to mind these days every time I hear Gov. Tom Wolf and legislative Republicans sparring over their
respective budget proposals. It's called
"Crosseyed and Painless." And it comes from the Heads' genius 1982 LP "Remain
in Light," (or "That one with 'Once in a Lifetime,' on
it," for the rest of you.).
Part of the lyric goes like this:
"Facts
are lazy and facts are late
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to."
Facts all come with points of view
Facts don't do what I want them to."
If
there's one thing that's been mind-numbingly consistent about Budget
Impasse 2015,it's the single-mindedness with which both sides have
manipulated the math and juggled the numbers to make their arguments. 'We still have a $2.3b deficit' with GOP Budget, Gov. Tom Wolf
saysGov. Tom Wolf makes the hard sales pitch for his $4.8b tax increase. On Monday, we were treated to another round
of Budget Math 101 and the tangoing began anew.
"He said broad-based tax
hikes are needed now to make up for years of what he called dishonest budgeting
on top of inadequate funding of schools.
The presentation quoted former Gov. Tom Corbett's budget secretary
Charles Zogby, who toward the end of his tenure repeatedly issued warnings that
the state was operating with a bare-bones budget, with little left to
cut."
Wolf seeking
bipartisan support ahead of Wednesday vote
BY MARY WILSON OCTOBER 5, 2015
Gov. Tom
Wolf is attempting to reframe Pennsylvania 's
budget debate ahead of a tax vote planned for Wednesday in the House. Calling it a "once-in-a-generation
vote," Wolf said Monday he continues to try to cobble together support for
broad-based tax increases. "Doing
nothing now is going to result in a huge cut for education. I think that
probably is the key element here," said Wolf at a press briefing at the
Governor's Residence in Harrisburg .
"And if people didn't like what they saw four or five years ago, they're
going to hate next year. Because we simply have come to the end of the line
using these one-time fixes." During
the briefing, Wolf methodically outlined the state's growing mandated spending,
which he said has created a structural deficit of at least $2.3 billion – and
that's before the additional spending the governor wants for education and
other programs.
"On this vote on
Wednesday, we can't afford Republicans and Democrats - we need
Pennsylvanians," the Democratic governor told reporters Monday during an
invitation-only news conference in the governor's residence. "We need
people . . . who are looking beyond narrow partisanship."
Wolf: Time for
'truth' about state finances
ANGELA COULOUMBIS, INQUIRER HARRISBURG
BUREAU LAST UPDATED: Monday, October 5, 2015, 12:42 PM
The
House is scheduled to vote Wednesday.
Wolf appeals
to lawmakers to support tax increase: 'This is a once-in-a-generation vote'
Penn
Live By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on October
05, 2015 at 12:44 PM, updated October 05, 2015 at 4:06 PM
With a
possible House floor showdown looming on his $1.8 billion tax increase package,
Gov. Tom Wolf took to Power Point Monday to make his case to the public for why
more dollars are needed for state government.
House Republican leaders have given Wolf until Wednesday to see if he
can muster support for the tax increases the Democratic governor believes he
needs to realign Pennsylvania 's
budget and increase aid to education. Here
are the top takeaways from Wolf's public pitch at the Governor's Residence in Harrisburg :
Gov. Wolf
makes his case, but Republicans aren’t impressed
The PLS
Reporter Author: Jason Gottesman/Monday, October 5,
2015
The
rationale behind Gov. Tom Wolf’s insistence on broad-based tax increases and
relentless pursuit of other revenue-generating options was laid bare Monday in
a briefing with the news media at the Governor’s Residence. A version of his revenue plan is anticipated
to be voted on in the House Wednesday. “The
biggest, overwhelming appeal here is to say on this vote on Wednesday we can’t
afford Republicans and Democrats, we need Pennsylvanians,” he said of the
appeal he’s making to lawmakers in an attempt to urge support for his revenue
plan. “We need people who are looking out for the interests of Pennsylvania and looking
beyond the narrow partisanship that looks at year-to-year budgets.” Gov. Wolf said recent budget history is
rampant with dishonest budgeting that continued into the current fiscal year
with a budget bill he said would have left at least a $2.289 billion structural
deficit for the 2016-2017 fiscal year before any mandated spending increases.
PA BUSINESS COUNCIL SURVEY: PA VOTERS
SUPPORT PA CORE, KEYSTONE EXAMS & GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS CONCERNED ABOUT
EDUCATION FUNDING
PA
Business Council Press Release October 5, 2015 CONTACT: David W. Patti,
717-232-8700/717-329-7207
(HARRISBURG )
A poll of 700 active Pennsylvania
voters shows continuing support for more rigorous academic standards, and very
strong support for new statewide exams and tougher graduation requirements
according to the Pennsylvania Business Council (PBC) Foundation, sponsors of
the research. The PBC Foundation has been tracking Pennsylvanian’s thoughts on
education topics like Common Core and the Keystone Exams since 2012.
“Education—widely defined – remains a high concern among Pennsylvanians,”
reported PBC President & CEO David W. Patti, “and education funding was the
second most frequent response” when respondents were asked to identify “the
most important issue facing Pennsylvania today … the issue that concerns them
most.” Many Pennsylvanians answered that “jobs” and “the economy” worry them
too, said Patti. “And the link between a good education and a good job is
well-understood. People with a good education were far less likely to lose
their jobs and income in the Great Recession.” The PBC Foundation poll shows
that while support for “Common Core Standards” has eroded slightly, there are
still more respondents who support Common Core than oppose Common Core in Pennsylvania .
The push for
Common Core
Trib
Live Opinion By Robert Holland Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, 9:00 p.m.
Federal officials coerced states into adopting national Common Core standards and testing. Period. The evidence is compelling. In an essay for the fall issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review, the director of the manipulative scheme known as Race to the Top cheerily tells in detail how it all went down. Joanne Weiss, who also served as U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan's chief of staff, probably figured all of her readers would be fellow academics seeking to use government to enforce their social agendas. Otherwise, she might not have boasted so openly about “forced alignment,” “high-stakes policymaking,” and “binding memorandums of understanding” required of local school districts as part of the mega-billion bribery scheme launched in 2009. All the Bill Gates-financed puff pieces about Common Core being purely voluntary for states and a creation of the nation's governors should go straight into the nearest trash bin.
Federal officials coerced states into adopting national Common Core standards and testing. Period. The evidence is compelling. In an essay for the fall issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review, the director of the manipulative scheme known as Race to the Top cheerily tells in detail how it all went down. Joanne Weiss, who also served as U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan's chief of staff, probably figured all of her readers would be fellow academics seeking to use government to enforce their social agendas. Otherwise, she might not have boasted so openly about “forced alignment,” “high-stakes policymaking,” and “binding memorandums of understanding” required of local school districts as part of the mega-billion bribery scheme launched in 2009. All the Bill Gates-financed puff pieces about Common Core being purely voluntary for states and a creation of the nation's governors should go straight into the nearest trash bin.
"The emphasis on
standardized testing has made the tests the focus instead of the learning. A
one-year moratorium is not the answer. Pennsylvania
Editorial:
PSSAs: Emphasis on standardized testing has gone too far
Delco
Times Editorial POSTED: 10/05/15, 11:38 PM EDT | UPDATED: 2 HRS
AGO
For a
few years, measuring education performance using standardized tests was all
about making “adequate yearly progress.”
But don’t look for any “progress” in the newest crop of Pennsylvania
standardized test scores — and not just because the scores are all lower.
Even the
Pennsylvania Department of Education admits “it is not useful to directly
compare students’ scores on the new assessment to students’ scores from
previous assessments.”
That’s
because the most recent test is radically different than the test given the
year before. Further, halfway through the process, the department changed the
“cut score,” making it even harder to score well. Or, as Pottsgrove School Board President
Justin Valentine said at a recent board meeting, it is like being “told a home
run is 305 feet and having them change it to 350 feet in the middle of the
game.”
"In a policy brief published last year, Ed Fuller, executive
director of the Department of Education Policy at Penn State’s College of
Education — wrote that school profile scores are more closely tied to things
like poverty and a parent’s education than to school effectiveness. “The SPP scores are more accurate at
identifying the percentage of economically disadvantaged students in a school
than at identifying the effectiveness of a school,” Fuller wrote in his brief which matched data about the
economic demographics of students with their school’s scores. “It’s actually kind of stunning just how
strong the correlations is,” Fuller told The Mercury last year. “It explains so
much.”
PSSA scores
are new baseline, no progress here
By Evan Brandt,
The Mercury POSTED: 10/05/15,
9:04 AM EDT
The statewide PSSA scores released last week show two Owen
J. Roberts elementary school buildings with the highest percentage of advanced
scores in the region, and Pottstown
elementaries with the lowest percentage.
At 55.7 percent and 47.3 percent respectively, OJR’s West Vincent
Elementary School had the highest school-wide number of “advanced” scores — the
highest rating on the PSSA — in both English and math. With 85.7 percent, Vincent Elementary School Barth
Elementary School Rupert
Elementary School Pottstown
Middle School
"No value is being added,
but lots of time and money is being wasted."
Curmuducation
Blog by Peter Greene Monday, October 5, 2015
It's
autumn in Pennsylvania ,
which means it's time to look at the rich data to be gleaned from our Big
Standardized Test (called PSSA for grades 3-8, and Keytsone Exams at the high
school level). We love us some value
added data crunching in PA (our version is called PVAAS, an early version of the value-added baloney model). This is a model that
promises far more than it can deliver, but it also makes up a sizeable
chunk of our school evaluation model, which in turn is part of
our teacher evaluation model. Of course
the data crunching and collecting is supposed to have many valuable benefits,
not the least of which is unleashing a pack of rich and robust data hounds who
will chase the wild beast of low student achievement up the tree of
instructional re-alignment. Like every other state, we have been promised that
the tests will have classroom teachers swimming in a vast vault of data, like
Scrooge McDuck on a gold bullion bender. So this morning I set out early to the
states Big Data Portal to see what riches the system could reveal.
Here's what I can learn from looking at the rich data.
Here's what I can learn from looking at the rich data.
Whitmire: 5
Ways to Stop Bad Charters from Derailing Education Reform
The 74
by RICHARD WHITMIRE October 02, 2015
To be
honest, the last two decades of school reform have proven to be somewhat of a
disappointment. Hard to concede, but it’s true.
The intuitively attractive dream that big reductions in class size could
turn things around went up in flames in California .
The seemingly logical appeal of vouchers, that parental choice would lead to
better schools, ran aground in Milwaukee .
And the idealistic hope that the federal government could bluster its way
toward dramatic school improvement evaporated with No Child Left Behind. To date, only one disruptor has significantly
improved school outcomes for poor and minority students, who now make up
roughly half of our schools: Charters. Time
to celebrate, right? Maybe not.
"Early
supports seemed to make a difference: 80 percent of teachers who had a mentor
in their first year stayed in teaching all five years, 16 percentage points
more than teachers who did not have an early mentor. Similarly, 8 in 10
teachers who went through an induction program completed five years of
teaching, 11 percentage points more than teachers who had not been inducted.
Moreover, among those who left teaching at some point, the teachers who had had
a mentor were nearly 10 percentage points more likely to come back than those
who hadn't had someone to lean on in that first year."
Keeping New
Teachers in, Bringing Back Those who Leave
Support
at the beginning can make a big difference in whether a new teacher stays long
enough to become a veteran, finds a new federal study. The Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study began tracking about
155,600 new teachers in the 2007-08 school year, and three out of four were
still teaching five years later. More than 3 in 5 of those were still teaching
in the same school where they started. One
of the things I found interesting? How small a gap there really was between
teachers in low- and high-poverty schools. The five-year turnover rate for
schools that had more than half of students eligible for free or reduced-price
meals was 20 percent, only 5 percentage points lower than the turnover rate for
schools with lower-than-average poverty. However, the teachers who left those
higher-poverty schools were more likely than other teachers to get out of the
profession entirely.
PSBA launches an alumni
network
Are you a former school director or in your final term? Stay connected through the PSBA Alumni Network. Your interest in public education continues beyond your term of service as a school director. And as a PSBA alumnus, you have years of experience and insight into the workings of public education and school boards. Legislators value your opinions as a former elected official. Take that knowledge and put it to work as a member of the PSBA Alumni Network.
For a nominal yearly fee of $25 a year or $100 for a lifetime membership, you will receive:
Are you a former school director or in your final term? Stay connected through the PSBA Alumni Network. Your interest in public education continues beyond your term of service as a school director. And as a PSBA alumnus, you have years of experience and insight into the workings of public education and school boards. Legislators value your opinions as a former elected official. Take that knowledge and put it to work as a member of the PSBA Alumni Network.
For a nominal yearly fee of $25 a year or $100 for a lifetime membership, you will receive:
- Electronic access to the PSBA
Bulletin, the leading public education magazine in Pennsylvania
- Access to legislative information
pertaining to public education and periodic updates via email.
To join, complete
the registration below. For more details or questions, contact Member
Engagement Director Karen Devine at Karen.devine@psba.org or (800)
932-0588, ext. 3322.
SPECIAL
ANNOUNCEMENT: School Play is going on tour! Click below for more information
about tour dates in your county. All performances are FREE!
School
Play, a documentary-based live theatre piece, is here to put school funding
center stage. Compiled from a series of interviews, the play premiered in Philadelphia in April,
2015 and is now available for free for performances around the
Commonwealth.
"This will be an opportunity for the
community to discuss its collective aspirations for our next
superintendent. We hope you'll join us for an evening of learning and
discussion about how we as a community can support our Board in its search for
our schools next leader."
Getting a Great
Superintendent
Pittsburgh, PA Wednesday, October 7, 2015 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EDT)
A+ Schools and its partners are hosting a community discussion
about innovative talent search models that have attracted high quality
leadership to key roles in the City of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh Public
Schools. Come hear from Valerie Dixon, Executive Director and Founder of
the PACT Initiative, Leigh Halverson, Strategic Project Advisor to the
President, Heinz Endowments, Patrick Dowd, former school board member and
Executive Director of Allies for Children, Robert Cavalier, Director, Program
for Deliberative Democracy at Carnegie Mellon University, and Alex Matthews,
former school board member discuss the key lessons they've learned from being
part of selection processes for key leaders in our City.
The John Stoops Lecture
Series: Dr. Pasi Sahlberg "Education Around the World: Past, Present &
Future" Lehigh University October 8, 2015 6:00 p.m.
Baker Hall |Zoellner Arts
Center | 420 E. Packer Avenue | Bethlehem , PA 18015
Baker Hall |
Free and open to the
public! Ticketing is general admission -
no preseating will be assigned. Arrive early for the best seats. Please plan to stay post-lecture for an open
reception where you will have an opportunity to meet with students from all of
our programs to learn about the latest innovations in education and human
services.
Register Now – PAESSP
State Conference – Oct. 18-20 – State College, PA
Registration is now
open for PAESSP's State Conference to be held October 18-20 at The
Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel in State College, PA! This year's
theme is @EVERYLEADER and features three nationally-known keynote
speakers (Dr. James Stronge, Justin Baeder and Dr. Mike Schmoker), professional
breakout sessions, a legal update, exhibits, Tech Learning Labs and many
opportunities to network with your colleagues (Monday evening event with Jay
Paterno). Once again, in conjunction
with its conference, PAESSP will offer two 30-hour Act 45 PIL-approved
programs, Linking Student Learning to Teacher Supervision and Evaluation
(pre-conference offering on 10/17/15); and Improving Student Learning
Through Research-Based Practices: The Power of an Effective Principal (held
during the conference, 10/18/15 -10/20/15). Register for either or both PIL
programs when you register for the Full Conference!
REGISTER TODAY for
the Conference and Act 45 PIL program/s at:
Registration is open for the 19th Annual
Eastern Pennsylvania Special Education Administrators’ Conference
on October 21-23rd in Hershey.
Educators in the
field of special education from public, charter and nonpublic schools are
invited to attend. The conference offers rich professional development
sessions and exceptional networking opportunities. Keynote speakers are
Shane Burcaw and Jodee Blanco. Register at https://www.paiu.org/epaseac/conf_registration.php
Register Now for the Fifth
Annual Arts and Education Symposium Oct. 29th Harrisburg
Thursday, October
29, 2015 Radisson Hotel Harrisburg Convention Center 8:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Act
48 Credit is available. The event will be a daylong convening of arts education
policy leaders and practitioners for lively discussions about important policy
issues and the latest news from the field. The symposium is hosted by EPLC and
the Pennsylvania Arts Education Network, and supported by a generous grant from
The Heinz Endowments.
Register now for the
2015 PASCD 65th Annual Conference, Leading and Achieving in an Interconnected World, to be
held November 15-17, 2015 at Pittsburgh Monroeville Convention
Center.
The Conference
will Feature Keynote Speakers: Meenoo Rami – Teacher and Author
“Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching,” Mr. Pedro Rivera,
Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, Heidi Hayes-Jacobs – Founder and President
of Curriculum Design, Inc. and David Griffith – ASCD Senior Director of Public
Policy. This annual conference features small group sessions focused on:
Curriculum and Supervision, Personalized and Individualized Learning,
Innovation, and Blended and Online Learning. The PASCD Conference is a
great opportunity to stay connected to the latest approaches for innovative
change in your school or district. Join us forPASCD 2015!
Online registration is available by visiting www.pascd.org <http://www.pascd.org/>
Interested in letting our
elected leadership know your thoughts on education funding, a severance tax,
property taxes and the budget?
Governor Tom Wolf,
(717) 787-2500
Speaker of the
House Rep. Mike Turzai, (717) 772-9943
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
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