Tuesday, August 28, 2018

PA Ed Policy Roundup August 28: Safety Task Force Report Recommends Holistic Approach


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Safety Task Force Report Recommends Holistic Approach



Tell your PA House member we need graduation reforms under SB 1095, which was unanimously passed by the Senate in June
PSBA Legislative Alert August 27, 2018



In 2018/19, $539 million, or 8.8 percent, of PA’s $6.1 billion basic #education funding appropriation will be distributed through the new #FairFundingFormula. What is your school district getting and why?
Tweet from PA House Democratic Appropriations Committee August 26, 2018
HD Approps‏ @HDApprops
Prepare to deep dive in our latest analysis: https://ecs.page.link/aG9f 
http://www.pahouse.com/HACD/Publications/?y=72a98335-f34e-e411-b604-00505682000d&d=d04f1c7c-3fae-e411-86bc-00505682000d

Tell your House member we need graduation reforms under Senate Bill 1095
PSBA Legislative Alert August 27, 2018

Help move important reforms to PA's state-level high school graduation requirements over the finish line in the House of Representatives, and onto the governor’s desk for his signature.Senate Bill 1095 (Sen. Thomas McGarrigle, R-Chester/Delaware), which was unanimously passed by the Senate in June, revises Pennsylvania’s one-size-fits-all mandate to pass three Keystone Exams to receive a diploma by instead establishing multiple pathways to demonstrate college and career readiness. The legislation is now in the House Education Committee. Please contact your House members now and tell them that we need Senate Bill 1095 to be reported out of the House Education Committee and moved to the floor quickly for a vote. The need for action is immediate.Students entering their sophomore year of high school in the fall of 2018 are impacted by the current requirement. They, and their school districts, need to be able to adequately prepare for change.
Click here for the Action Alert
Click here for contact information for your House representative.


South Carolina: In Praise of Public Schools—and the Hillmans
Diane Ravitch’s Blog By dianeravitch August 27, 2018 //
Arnold Hillman is co-founder of the South Carolina Organization for Rural Schools, with his wife Carol. They retired as educators in Pennsylvania and moved to Hilton Head, South Carolina. But instead of relaxing, taking long walks, and fishing, they found themselves drawn to a new mission: helping the state’s underfunded rural schools. This is a good “retirement.” Some locals were amazed, seeing this couple throw themselves into helping local children and schools as volunteers. They did not not fit the stereotype of retired Yankees,as a local wrote: “Here’s the popular stereotype: they move here but for a long time still drive around with car tags from Ohio, Pennsylvania and such. They don’t change their cell phone numbers from 614, 309 or 315 to 843, 803 or 864. They walk around with sweatshirts from Ohio State and Michigan, not Clemson or USC… “Well, I’d like to tell you about two Yankees I recently met and what they are doing here in South Carolina. In 2015, Carol and Arnold Hillman moved from Pennsylvania and re-located to the Sun City Retirement Community at Hilton Head. But unlike the stereotypes of newcomers who spend all their time playing golf and complaining with their fellow transplants about the locals, the Hillmans began to travel around the Lowcountry.
https://dianeravitch.net/2018/08/27/south-carolina-in-praise-of-public-schools/

MAP: What it costs to educate children in Pennsylvania, district by district
By Eugene Tauber The Morning Call August 27, 2018
If you think it takes a lot of money to get a child ready for school, consider how much money it takes to get a school ready for a child. Pennsylvania spends almost $33 billion per year educating about 1.7 million children. About $30.5 billion of that is spent by 499 public school districts. The state’s largest district by almost every measure is Philadelphia, which spends about $4 billion per year. That’s followed by Pittsburgh at $650 million, Central Bucks at $324 million, and Allentown at $298 million. The smallest, budgetarily speaking, are Salisbury-Elk Lick in Somerset County at $4.5 million, and Austin Area in Potter County at $4.7 million. Numbers that large can be sliced and diced in thousands of ways. We have chosen just a few categories to give you some perspective on where your school district fits into the mix. The numbers were supplied by the state Education Department for the 2016-2017 school year. One of the numbers to look for is “Actual Instructional Expenses,” or AIE. The definition of AIE is extremely long. Think of it as the cost of running a school minus transportation, health, financing, capital spending, and special, vocational and other programs.  The ratio of AIE to total expenses is used by some to gauge a district’s “efficiency.” But some districts are forced to spend much more in certain categories such as transportation, early intervention or student health than are others. Building a new school would also mean a district is spending comparatively more on facilities than other districts, but replacing an out-of-date or decrepit building is unavoidable.
http://www.mcall.com/news/education/mc-school-district-snapshots-2018-expenditures-20180825-htmlstory.html

“Americans trust and support teachers, but they draw the line at wanting their own children to join a profession they see as undervalued and low-paid.”
2018 PDK Poll of the public's attitudes toward the public schools
The PDK Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools is the most trusted source of public opinion about K-12 education. The 2018 PDK poll asked more than 1,000 Americans to answer questions about teacher pay, teacher strikes, spending for schools, college tuition, and opportunities & expectations for all children.
http://pdkpoll.org/results

School safety task force's report is out but 'the work is never going to end,' DePasquale says
Penn Live By Jan Murphy jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated 3:34 PM August 27, 2018
Making mental health screenings be part of the school physicals, having mental counselor counselors in every school, and relying on law enforcement and trained officials for school security are among the recommendations to emerge from a task force that looked at improving school safety in Pennsylvania. The task force created by Gov. Tom Wolf and state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale issued its final report on Monday. The panel was created in March to figure out ways to improve safety in schools. It was triggered by the February mass school shooting in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 students and staff. The 32 recommendations listed in the report were developed out of input from students, teachers, law enforcement officials, parents, school officials and others who serve on the front line in schools at six regional meetings held last spring as well as in online comments.
https://www.pennlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/08/school_safety_task_forces_repo.html#incart_river_index

Pa. school safety report recommends better communication, more mental health services
Inquirer by Kathy Boccella, Posted:August 27, 2018
A Pennsylvania task force commissioned by Gov. Wolf in the aftermath of February's mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school calls on school officials and students – and, when necessary, police – to better communicate with each other about potential threats, and urges schools to step up mental health services, including more psychologists and nurses. Released just as more than 1.7 million kids are starting a new year in Pennsylvania public schools, the report from the Pennsylvania School Safety Task Force – co-chaired by Wolf, who is seeking re-election in November, and auditor general Eugene DePasquale – is light on specifics but identifies a number of broad strategies aimed at addressing students' fears about mass shootings as well as bullying, other types of violence, and depression. DePasquale, citing testimony from six hearings held around the state this spring with students, educators and other stakeholders, said in a statement that "young men and women stood before us and described their feelings of helplessness and anxiety that they want more and better mental health services. Now, it is our job to heed those concerns and to do everything in our power to create safer spaces for learning."
http://www2.philly.com/philly/education/pennsylvania-school-safety-report-recommendations-mass-shootings-park-land-communication-more-mental-health-services-20180827.html

School safety task force stresses improving access to mental health services
Beaver County Times By J.D. Prose Posted at 4:19 PM August 27, 2018
A Pennsylvania school safety task force convened after the high school mass shooting in Florida in February issued a final report on Monday with more than 30 recommendations ranging from improving communications across the board to increasing students’ access to mental health services. “This is a report that is launching today, but the work is never going to end,” said state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale during a news conference in Harrisburg where he was joined by state Homeland Security Director Marcus Brown. “We will continue to work together with educators, students and parents, and stakeholders to make sure that we are doing all that we can do to make our schools safe for our children,” Brown said. Among the task force’s recommendations were several concerning mental health services, including making access easier for students, expanding standards from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade to address social, mental and emotional health, hiring more mental health professionals, having the state wage a campaign to remove the stigma of mental health treatment and making universal behavioral health screenings available in every Pennsylvania school. Besides increasing access to mental health services, the task force recognized six other main issues to improve school safety: Improving communications and information sharing, enhancing social and emotional learning, building community connections, integrating police and school resource officers into schools, helping establish priorities for schools and giving more financial resources to schools.
http://www.timesonline.com/news/20180827/school-safety-task-force-stresses-improving-access-to-mental-health-services

Pennsylvania School Safety Task Force Report Recommends Holistic Approach to Making Schools Safe
Governor Wolf’s Website August 27, 2018
Harrisburg, PA – Governor Tom Wolf and Auditor General Eugene DePasquale today released the full report from the Pennsylvania School Safety Task Force created by Gov. Wolf and the Auditor General in March after the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida. “After reading the full report, I am impressed by the frank and honest discussions that the task force had with students, teachers, administrators and law enforcement and I commend them for the important and comprehensive recommendations to protect our students and schools,” said Governor Tom Wolf. “It’s abundantly clear that by working together, schools, communities and the state can take a holistic approach to make our classrooms a safe place for students to learn. Our focus is on preventing violence that threatens schools, while also taking every precaution to protect and provide security for students and teachers.” The initial report findings were released in June after a review of the discussions at six regional task force meetings held from April through June, and the feedback provided via an online survey. The roundtable events were held to listen to students, parents, school officials, school nurses and other health care professionals, law enforcement, education organizations and community members about their ideas to improve safety and security.
https://www.governor.pa.gov/pennsylvania-school-safety-task-force-report-recommends-holistic-approach-making-schools-safe/

School District of Lancaster, La Academia receive nearly $1.4M in school improvement grants
Lancaster Online  by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer August 27, 2018
Lancaster County's largest school district, as well as the county's lone brick-and-mortar charter school, is getting a boost from the state in order to improve the educational landscape here and throughout Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of Education announced Monday that it's awarding about $15.3 million in school improvement grants to 101 schools across the state, nearly $1.4 million of which is headed here.  Five schools in the School District of Lancaster will receive $1.3 million total in grants.  La Academia Partnership Charter School, a publicly funded but privately run institution in Lancaster city serving students in grades six through 12, will receive $50,500.  "Our new school improvement system is built upon an evidence-based framework to support schools and increase focus on practices that lead to sustained and continuous improvement in teaching and learning,” state Education Secretary Pedro Rivera said in a statement. “By engaging with stakeholders, evaluating promising practices from other states, and examining PDE’s own earlier school improvement initiatives, we are setting conditions that empower educators and communities and ensure strong accountability with results."
https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/school-district-of-lancaster-la-academia-receive-nearly-m-in/article_b56b4e1c-aa0d-11e8-9bb6-4bc02cce2ad2.html

Wolf Administration Awards $15.3 Million to Schools to Invest in Improvement Programs
PA Department of Education Website 08/27/2018
Harrisburg, PA - The Department of Education (PDE) is awarding approximately $15.3 million in grants to 20 local education agencies (LEAs) to participate in early implementation of Pennsylvania’s comprehensive System for District and School Improvement, part of Governor Tom Wolf’s plan to help schools and improve education across the commonwealth. “I applaud Secretary Rivera and the Department of Education’s efforts to ensure that Pennsylvania’s school improvement strategies reflect the conditions, challenges, and opportunities confronting our rural communities,” said Governor Tom Wolf. “These grants will build on our investments in education to help prepare students for future success.” Grants are being awarded under two parallel programs. The first is awarding $15 million to 97 schools in 14 school districts and two charter schools through a competitive process; the second is awarding $300,000 to four of the state’s most rural LEAs as classified by the National Center for Education Statistics. “Our new school improvement system is built upon an evidence-based framework to support schools and increase focus on practices that lead to sustained and continuous improvement in teaching and learning,” said Secretary Rivera. “By engaging with stakeholders, evaluating promising practices from other states, and examining PDE’s own earlier school improvement initiatives, we are setting conditions that empower educators and communities and ensure strong accountability with results.”
Competitive Grant Program Recipients:
https://www.media.pa.gov/Pages/Education-Details.aspx?newsid=504

“For the third consecutive autumn, the district has no pressing fiscal crisis. For the second consecutive autumn, the district’s teachers have a valid union contract. And, for the first autumn in 17 years, a city school board is overseeing district operations instead of a state-controlled panel.”
District officials project optimism as new Philly school year begins
By Avi Wolfman-Arent August 27, 2018
As her grand-niece sauntered toward the schoolyard Monday morning, Elesha Sears held her phone steady while trying to hold back tears. “My princess is leaving the castle,” Sears said, echoing the lament of many adults on the School District of Philadelphia’s first day of classes. Her princess, Quimayah Gibson-McClendon, didn’t seem fazed. Sporting a sparkly silver bow Sears had selected, the kindergartner showed off her “Frozen” themed backpack and chattered about what she’d do during her first day at William Dick School in North Philadelphia. “I write my ABCs,” she exclaimed. The earlier-than-usual start date, the 90-plus-degree heat — none of it could stifle the giddy first-day vibes in North Philadelphia. The good mood extended to district headquarters on North Broad Street, where officials were painting a sunny picture ahead of the 2018-19 school year. Their optimism has some merit.
https://whyy.org/segments/district-officials-project-optimism-as-new-philly-school-year-begins/

Ring the bell: School’s in for 130,000-plus Philadelphia kids
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, Posted:August 27, 2018
With optimism, pomp, and dozens of actual bells sounding a noisy chime, officials formally opened the school year for 130,000 students in Philadelphia public schools Monday morning, marking the first time in modern history that city students returned to school before Labor Day. (That shift, officials said, comes largely to maximize instruction early in the school year.) "We are beyond excited to start the 2018-19 school year," Ariel Lajara, principal of Muñoz Marín Elementary, a K-8 school in North Philadelphia, said to the dignitaries — Mayor Kenney, Superintendent William R. Hite Jr., most of the new school board, and other officials — who gathered in the schoolyard for the traditional bell ringing. The school year starts with the new governance structure in place. The School Reform Commission is gone; the nine-member, mayoral-appointed Board of Education now presides over the district. Officials hope families will see no practical differences in schools, though Hite said his job has changed as a result.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/education/ring-the-bell-schools-in-for-130000-plus-philadelphia-kids-20180827.html

The bells have rung, and schools are open
The mayor joined the school board at Muñoz-Marin. Councilwoman Helen Gym spent time with an undocumented woman and her children, who are taking sanctuary in a church.
The notebook by Greg Windle August 27 — 3:57 pm, 2018
On the first day of school, Mayor Kenney stood outside Muñoz-Marin Elementary School to raise and ring his school bell amid a crowd of merry bell-shakers. He drew laughs as he recalled his own childhood experience of lining up for school under the gaze of Sister Mary Amadeus, who rang a giant bell to start the day at the now-closed Lady of Mount Carmel School in South Philadelphia. Kenney was joined by Superintendent William Hite and several members of the new Board of Education, all smiles and excitement as they celebrated the start of a new school year. The mayor was especially happy to start the first school year under a locally controlled school board after the dissolution of the School Reform Commission (SRC). “Now that the schools are under local control, the city and School District can work more closely to strategically align services and resources that support students and their families,” Kenney said. “Together, we will ensure that there are quality schools in every neighborhood.”  Coordinating city services with schools is part of the mayor’s community schools initiative, and Board President Joyce Wilkerson, who attended the ceremony, has said she shares this goal for the new school board.
https://thenotebook.org/articles/2018/08/27/city-officials-ring-the-bell-to-start-first-day-of-school/

PA-17: This is the Pa. Congressional race Donald Trump is sweating the most | Analysis
Penn Live By John L. Micek jmicek@pennlive.com Updated 2:28 PM; Posted 1:10 PM
MT. LEBANON, PA. -- Politics are on the menu here at The Coffee Tree Roasters.
At a patio table early one sunny August morning recently, a quartet of friends debated President Donald Trump's latest headache - the guilty plea by his longtime lawyer and personal fixer Michael Cohen.  Inside, newspapers are piled high on cafe tables. And men and women in serious suits huddle in serious conversation over steaming coffee mugs and pastries. It's a fitting enough setting for a nationally watched congressional race that may not only determine control of the U.S. House in 2019, but may well also be an early indicator of whether President Donald Trump's 2016 win in a key Rust Belt state was an aberration or a genuine shift in a state that had been Democratic blue for three decades. Nestled in Pittsburgh's South Hills, Mt. Lebanon (pop. 32,349) is one of the critical battlegrounds in the fight for the redrawn 17th District. It's a contest that pits two incumbent congressmen -- Democrat Conor Lamb and  epublican Keith Rothfus -- against each other in the political equivalent of a steel cage match.
Come November, only one of them will emerge.
https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2018/08/this_is_the_pa_congressional_r.html

“Campaign finance records show that Estey, through a campaign PAC, received just two donations that year, both of which he then donated to McCord’s campaign. One was from a Pittsburgh nursing-home owner for $100,000. The second, for $25,000, came from a PAC associated with Vahan H. and Danielle Gureghian. Vahan Gureghian is a Montgomery County lawyer and charter-school magnate known as one of the state’s biggest GOP donors. The nursing-home executive, Ross Nese, has repeatedly declined comment. Gureghian's lawyer, H. Marc Tepper of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, said in a letter last week that his client had "not been involved in any wrongdoing, nor has he been charged with any criminal offense."
Day of reckoning: Disgraced ex-Pa. Treasurer Rob McCord faces possible jail time
Inquirer by Angela Couloumbis and Jeremy Roebuck, August 27, 2018
HARRISBURG — When news spread three years ago that Rob McCord, Pennsylvania's onetime state treasurer, wore an FBI recorder in hope of exposing a pay-to-play culture in Harrisburg, it sent a chill through the Capitol. McCord had been caught illegally shaking down potential donors, and prosecutors were eager to use him as bait to lure others into the trap of an ambitious public corruption probe. But McCord's brief turn as a government cooperator instead ended in a spectacular debacle, one that cut short the only case the treasurer helped to build that resulted in a trial. Now, as McCord prepares to be sentenced Tuesday before U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III for his own crimes, what exactly his cooperation delivered and how happy prosecutors were with his performance could become the defining factors in whether he will receive jail time.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/news/rob-mccord-sentencing-harrisburg-corruption-richard-ireland-20180827.html

Increasing numbers of candidates are refusing corporate PAC donations
National Journal Posted by Nicholas Wu August 20, 2018 PAC
Ever since Citizens United and its accompanying Supreme Court decisions transformed campaign spending in American elections, many candidates decided that they would be better off embracing it rather than be left behind in the fundraising arms race. “Until Republicans come to the table to discuss real campaign finance reform, we will continue to play by the current rules as we try to compete with the seemingly unlimited resources of the Koch brothers and other corporate special interests that fund Republican dark money groups,” said Chris Hayden, communications director of Senate Majority PAC, in an interview last February. But much has changed since then. More and more congressional candidates are refusing to take corporate PAC money in what The Washington Post has referred to as a “litmus test” for Democrats. It’s hard to believe how quickly this movement has grown. Last year, Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA17) announced the creation of the “No PAC Caucus,” a new congressional caucus for members who vowed to reject lobbyist or PAC donations. It only comprised three members and garnered little attention at the time. Now, according to End Citizens United, a group dedicated to “end Big Money in politics by electing campaign finance reform champions,” 170 candidates in the House and Senate have committed to refusing corporate PAC money. Out of those 170 total candidates, two House Republican candidates, both incumbents, have even committed to rejecting corporate PAC donations.
https://solve.nationaljournal.com/increasing-numbers-of-candidates-are-refusing-corporate-pac-donations/

“ESSA's new reporting requirement, which kicks in for funds spent during the 2018-19 school year, will likely be different. (The first reports will be available in the 2019-2020 school year.) ESSA requires districts to publish per-pupil allocations for actual personnel and non-personnel expenditures by each funding source (federal, state, and local funds), for each district, and school on their annual report cards.”
District Spending Is About to Get a Lot More Transparent. Are You Ready?
Why ESSA's new fiscal transparency requirement really matters
Education Week By David A. DeSchryver & Noelle Ellerson Ng August 24, 2018
It's time for superintendents to tackle a challenging conversation about how they allocate their limited financial resources—and how those decisions align with the core values of public education. The Every Student Succeeds Act's fiscal transparency reporting requirement is a sleeper issue that will demand more of district leaders than just a change in how they communicate policy decisions with their communities. It will also prompt both school and district leaders to figure out how they manage productivity. The idea of educational "productivity"—sometimes referred to as "performance-based investments" or "return on investment"—is not new. More than a decade ago, the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's tried to measure school productivity with their now-defunct SchoolMatters service. The U.S. Department of Education took a stab at it in 2011, under the previous administration, with productivity guidance. The Center for American Progress got in on the action with its Return on Educational Investment report in 2014. Meanwhile, several states are beginning to explore the intersection of finance and academic performance at the school level. The list of initiatives goes on, but they have not required school leaders to meaningfully change the ways they manage school spending relative to student outcomes.
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/08/29/district-spending-is-about-to-get-a.html

Will California Gov. Brown sign a bill to ban for-profit charter schools?
Washingtonn Post Answer Sheet Blog By Valerie Strauss Reporter August 27 at 3:13 PM
The California legislature has passed a bill that would ban for-profit charter schools in the state, a big toward cleaning up what has become a scandal-ridden charter sector in the state. But the question is this: Will Gov. Jerry Brown (D) sign it? You might think it would be reflexive for him to do so, given that the legislature is controlled by Democrats. But think again. Brown, who started two charter schools when he was the mayor of Oakland, refused to sign a previous bill attempting to ban for-profit charters. He also refused to sign legislation that sought to make charter schools more transparent — even after the state treasurer said it was vital to make charters more transparent to the public. California has permitted charter schools — which are publicly funded by privately operated, sometimes by for-profit companies — since 1992, when it became the second state in the nation to pass a law allowing them to operate. Since then, the charter sector has grown significantly there, though oversight has not. Charter schools are not required to follow all of the rules that traditional public schools are.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/08/27/will-california-gov-brown-sign-bill-ban-for-profit-charter-schools/?utm_term=.2da04621c025


EdPAC reception helps support election of pro-public education leaders
Do you want to help strengthen public education in the commonwealth? Join with EdPAC, a political action committee that supports the election of pro-public education leaders to the General Assembly. EdPAC will hold a fundraising reception at the 2018 PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference on Wednesday, Oct. 17 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in Cocoa 2-3. More details to come! Visit the conference website to register online.


PSBA Officer Elections: Slate of Candidates
PSBA members seeking election to office for the association were required to submit a nomination form no later than June 1, 2018, to be considered. All candidates who properly completed applications by the deadline are included on the slate of candidates below. In addition, the Leadership Development Committee met on June 17 at PSBA headquarters in Mechanicsburg to interview candidates. According to bylaws, the Leadership Development Committee may determine candidates highly qualified for the office they seek. This is noted next to each person's name with an asterisk (*). Voting procedure: Each school entity will have one vote for each officer. This will require boards of the various school entities to come to a consensus on each candidate and cast their vote electronically during the open voting period (Aug. 24-Oct. 11, 2018). Voting will be accomplished through a secure third-party, web-based voting site that will require a password login. One person from each member school entity will be authorized as the official person to register the vote on behalf of his or her school entity. In the case of school districts, it will be the board secretary who will cast votes on behalf of the school board. A full packet of instructions and a printed slate will be sent to authorized vote registrars the week of August 7. Special note: Boards should be sure to add discussion and voting on candidates to their agenda during one of their meetings in August, September or October before the open voting period ends.
https://www.psba.org/2018/07/psba-officer-elections-slate-candidates/

Apply Now for EPLC's 2018-2019 PA Education Policy Fellowship Program!
Applications are available now for the 2018-2019 Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP).  The Education Policy Fellowship Program is sponsored in Pennsylvania by The Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC). 
With more than 500 graduates in its first eighteen years, this Program is a premier professional development opportunity for educators, state and local policymakers, advocates, and community leaders.  State Board of Accountancy (SBA) credits are available to certified public accountants.
Past participants include state policymakers, district superintendents and principals, school business officers, school board members, education deans/chairs, statewide association leaders, parent leaders, education advocates, and other education and community leaders. Fellows are typically sponsored by their employer or another organization. The Fellowship Program begins with a two-day retreat on September 13-14, 2018 and continues to graduation in June 2019.
Applications are being accepted now.
Click here to read more about the Education Policy Fellowship Program.
The application may be copied from the EPLC web site, but must be submitted by mail or scanned and e-mailed, with the necessary signatures of applicant and sponsor.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of the Fellowship Program and its requirements, please contact EPLC Executive Director Ron Cowell at 717-260-9900 or cowell@eplc.org.

2nd Annual National Black Male Educators Convening, Oct. 12-14, Philly
Teacher diversity works. Increasing the number of Black male educators in our nation’s teacher corps will improve education for all our students, especially for African-American boys.Today Black men represent only two percent of teachers nationwide. This is a national problem that demands a national response. Come participate in the 2nd National Black Male Educators Convening to advance policy solutions, learn from one another, and fight for social justice. All are welcome. Register to attend. Nominate a speaker. Propose a workshop. Sponsor the event.

Save the Dates PASA/PSBA School Leadership Conference – Hershey, Oct. 17-19, 2018 
Mark your calendar! The Delegate Assembly will take place Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, at 2:30 p.m.
Housing now open!

“Not only do we have a superstar lineup of keynote speakers including Diane Ravitch, Jesse Hagopian, Pasi Sahlberg, Derrick Johnson and Helen Gym, but there will be countless sessions to choose from on the issues you care about the most. We will cover all bases from testing, charters, vouchers and school funding, to issues of student privacy and social justice in schools.”
Our Public Schools Our Democracy: Our Fight for the Future
NPE / NPE Action 5th Annual National Conference
October 20th - 21st, 2018 Indianapolis, Indiana
We are delighted to let you know that you can purchase your discounted Early Bird ticket to register for our annual conference starting today. Purchase your ticket here.
Early Bird tickets will be on sale until May 30 or until all are sold out, so don't wait.  These tickets are a great price--$135. Not only do they offer conference admission, they also include breakfast and lunch on Saturday, and brunch on Sunday. Please don't forget to register for your hotel room. We have secured discounted rates on a limited basis. You can find that link here. Finally, if you require additional financial support to attend, we do offer some scholarships based on need. Go here and fill in an application. We will get back to you as soon as we can. Please join us in Indianapolis as we fight for the public schools that our children and communities deserve. Don't forget to get your Early Bird ticket here. We can't wait to see you.


Any comments contained herein are my comments, alone, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of any other person or organization that I may be affiliated with.


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