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A closer look at school funding in Pa. governor race | Analysis
Inquirer by Maddie Hanna and Andrew Seidman, Posted: October 22, 2018
As it was four years ago when Democrat Tom Wolf was elected Pennsylvania's governor, education funding is a major issue in his campaign for reelection. Wolf is casting himself as the "education governor," and Republican nominee Scott Wagner is using the issue as a campaign centerpiece. But overall, both candidates are sticking to platitudes. Here is a review of their statements: Wagner has called for spending an additional $1 billion annually, while also saying Pennsylvania schools "have enough money." Asked during an Oct. 1 debate how he would pay for the plan, Wagner said he would find savings in the state budget. But while his campaign highlighted programs Wagner would trim, it's unclear how the plan would generate all the projected revenue. It's also unclear how Wolf would follow through on his goals. Wolf has added more than $500 million to the main subsidy for public education, although school district costs have risen faster. The state is being sued over school-funding inequities, and Wolf says he'd continue to press for more education aid if reelected.
http://www2.philly.com/philly/news/politics/elections/pennsylvania-tom-wolf-scott-wagner-governor-school-funding-20181022.html
Keystone Exams to be stripped down as graduation requirement
Delco Times By Kevin Tustin ktustin@21st-centurymedia.com October 22, 2018
The Keystone Exams were implemented in 2012-13 as an end-of-course state test to asses a student’s proficiency in a certain testing subject. Algebra I, biology and literature were the first three tests that were administered, and are the only subjects being tested on date. The number of testing subjects was set to increase over the years to include algebra II, chemistry, world history and four other areas, marking 10 total Keystone Exams students were expected to take. Students were expected to pass these exams in order to graduate high school. However, pushback from school districts and educators has placed consecutive moratoriums to put the mandatory passing of these standardized tests on hold. State Sen. Tom McGarrigle, R-26 of Springfield, said he heard about the problem with the exams when meeting with Tredyffrin/Easttown School District officials. “The board members came up to me and said, ‘we have a real problem with these keystones. We have students who are accepted in to Ivy League schools and they’re having difficulty passing this (test) and it’s causing a lot of problems,’” said McGarrigle during an Oct. 16 phone call.
https://www.delcotimes.com/news/keystone-exams-to-be-stripped-down-as-graduation-requirement/article_d7f8c32a-d3ce-11e8-9e18-77032de34923.html
How the demise of an online charter school is roiling Ohio politics
Washington Post By Laura Meckler October 20 at 6:36 PM
CINCINNATI — For nearly two decades, an online charter school with a bold name — the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow — grew in Ohio, helped along by the state’s Republicans, who embraced the idea of “school choice” for families. Conceived on the back of a Waffle House napkin, the school grew to become one of the largest in the state. Republicans cheered on ECOT, as the school was known, and ECOT officials contributed more than $2 million to GOP campaign accounts. That was before it all crumbled. It was before state regulators figured out the school was being paid to educate thousands of students who never logged in. Before the state ordered the school to repay $80 million. Before the school abruptly closed in January, leaving 12,000 students stranded. Now, Democrats, who have been locked out of power in Columbus for eight years, are hoping the complex tale of a charter school’s collapse holds their ticket back. Ohio is one of many places where education is proving pivotal. In Kansas, gubernatorial candidates are debating school spending following deep cuts under the last administration. In Arizona, the governor’s race centers on how to raise teacher salaries and whether to expand school choice programs. In several states, candidates are debating school safety measures and whether to arm teachers. Across the country and in Washington, school choice is among the most fraught and partisan issues in education, and no state has been more invested in supporting choice than Ohio. That means, Republicans, who were all-in, are now forced to defend their support for a school that crashed and burned.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/how-the-demise-of-an-online-charter-school-is-roiling-ohio-politics/2018/10/20/1e9f55d2-c1d7-11e8-b338-a3289f6cb742_story.html?utm_term=.738e50bce57c
Democrats hope to cut GOP majorities in legislative contests
AP News By MARK SCOLFORO yesterday
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Dozens of new faces will be joining the Pennsylvania Legislature next year because of retirements, and the national political mood has Democrats hopeful they can pick up seats and chip away at the large majorities Republicans have long enjoyed in both chambers. But the Republican margins of 121-82 in the House and 34-16 in the Senate mean even the bluest of waves would likely fall short of flipping control. There’s much at stake, because in the Pennsylvania Legislature the majority party has a dominant role in determining what happens. Over the past two years, lawmakers have enacted tougher rules for surrendering guns in domestic violence cases, established grants to help make schools safer and overhauled pension benefits for future state government and public school employees. The Republican majorities have struggled to reach budget agreements with Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, although this year’s spending was completed before the July 1 deadline. Perhaps the most contentious issue to face lawmakers in years has been the challenge of responding to a sweeping state grand jury report into the sexual abuse of children by priests. Late Wednesday, legislation stalled in the Senate on the last scheduled voting day of the two-year legislative session, leaving none of the grand jury’s recommendations enacted.
https://apnews.com/10386ebf59d640ad82eadb81971d3151
Philly’s community schools initiative a mixed bag so far, report says
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent October 20, 2018
This story originally appeared on PlanPhilly.
When Philadelphia designated nine community schools in 2016, officials didn’t announce any numeric goals for the high-profile initiative funded with revenue from Mayor Jim Kenney’s controversial tax on sweetened beverages. They did, however, promise an outside evaluation. That evaluation came down Thursday — 100 pages of analysis that suggest some success in the first year of the project and some high-level issues that need to be addressed. The positives came mostly at the school level, where analysts from the nonprofit Research for Action found high buy-in from principals and promising inroads made by community school coordinators. Big picture, though, the report’s authors worry city and school district officials haven’t worked well enough together to ensure the success of the ambitious programs meant to help students overcome barriers associated with poverty. Research for Action analysts urge the project’s leaders to develop clearer goals that can be measured and tracked.
https://whyy.org/articles/phillys-community-schools-initiative-a-mixed-bag-so-far-report-says/
“The addition of STEM as a fifth class special, on a five-day rotation with art, music, library and health and physical education, was made possible in part by the extra 56 minutes added to the elementary school day this year. The State College Area School board in December voted to approve the students day plan for 2018-19, which, among other things, included extending the elementary school day and pushing back the start time for middle and high school students by 30 minutes.”
What 56 extra minutes of school daily means for area elementary students
Centre Daily Times BY LAUREN MUTHLER lmuthler@centredaily.com October 21, 2018 11:38 AM Updated October 21, 2018 01:21 PM
Using mirrors, shoe boxes, flashlights and paper, students in teacher Tara Pollick’s fifth-grade STEM class set to work on solving a problem. “We’re reading a book about Omar’s light,” Ferguson Township student Ronald Gilligan said. “His brother works for a tomb in Egypt, and we have to help him figure out how to reflect light into the tomb without damaging the hieroglyphics.” Reading about this fictional character’s story and helping to imagine, plan and create a solution to his problem is one way elementary students are being introduced to science, technology, engineering and math with the new STEM is Elementary curriculum introduced this school year in the State College Area School District.
https://www.centredaily.com/latest-news/article219802675.html#storylink=latest_side
Education may propel the Blue Wave in DeVos country
A Blue Wave may not only snuff out the DeVos legacy, but change the course of education policy in the nation
Salon.com by JEFF BRYANT OCTOBER 20, 2018 9:00AM (UTC)
This article was produced by the Independent Media Institute.
It’s increasingly clear that if the November midterm elections are to produce a “Blue Wave” for the Democratic Party, then many of the wins will need to come in Midwestern states that Trump carried in the 2016 presidential election. But what’s less well understood is that an issue helping Democratic candidates compete in the region is education. In the stomping ground of U.S. Secretary Betsy DeVos — including her home state of Michigan as well as the surrounding states of Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois and nearby Minnesota — Democratic candidates are getting an edge by sharply opposing the DeVos agenda of privatizing public schools. Up and down the ballots in state contests in the Midwest, Democratic candidates call for an end to school voucher programs that use public taxpayer funds to pay for tuitions at private schools, they propose tougher regulations of privately managed charter schools funded by the public, and they pledge to direct public money for education to public schools. Should Democrats retake the Rust Belt, it may not only snuff out the DeVos legacy but also change the course of education policy in the nation.
https://www.salon.com/2018/10/20/education-may-propel-the-blue-wave-in-devos-country_partner/#.W8sfwUYDyVU.twitter
“Rather than offering a positive vision for the most diverse generation of students in American history, the Department of Education under DeVos failed to put forward any vision that is responsive to the needs of today's students. In fact, this department has gone out of its way to gut protections and guidelines aimed at defending students and helping them succeed.”
Betsy DeVos is failing an entire generation of students
CNN By Mark Huelsman Updated 5:10 PM ET, Fri October 19, 2018
(CNN)Thirty-nine years ago this week, President Jimmy Carter stood in the East Room of the White House alongside more than 200 education officials, a group of fourth grade students, and civil rights hero Dr. Benjamin Mays to sign a bill creating a new Department of Education. Rather than being buried as one of three priorities under what had been the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, advocates hoped a new department would elevate the needs of students and teachers as a priority, and better clarify a confusing relationship between local schools, states and the federal government. It would also create a new secretary in the Cabinet who could advocate entirely for each new generation of American students. Carter's signature was the fulfillment of a key campaign promise and decades of activism on the part of racial justice groups, the women's rights movement, and advocates for disabled Americans and non-English speakers, who fought to invest far greater resources in all students, particularly those who had been underserved. Congress declared the new department would be tasked with "ensuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/18/opinions/betsy-devos-failure-on-dept-of-education-anniversary-huelsman/index.html
‘Transgender’ Could Be Defined Out of Existence Under Trump Administration
New York Times By Erica L. Green, Katie Benner and Robert Pear Oct. 21, 2018
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is considering narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth, the most drastic move yet in a governmentwide effort to roll back recognition and protections of transgender people under federal civil rights law. A series of decisions by the Obama administration loosened the legal concept of gender in federal programs, including in education and health care, recognizing gender largely as an individual’s choice and not determined by the sex assigned at birth. The policy prompted fights over bathrooms, dormitories, single-sex programs and other arenas where gender was once seen as a simple concept. Conservatives, especially evangelical Christians, were incensed. Now the Department of Health and Human Services is spearheading an effort to establish a legal definition of sex under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that bans gender discrimination in education programs that receive government financial assistance, according to a memo obtained by The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/21/us/politics/transgender-trump-administration-sex-definition.html
NSBA 2019 Advocacy Institute January 27-29 Washington Hilton, Washington D.C.
Register now
The upcoming midterm elections will usher in the 116th Congress at a critical time in public education. Join us at the 2019 NSBA Advocacy Institute for insight into what the new Congress will mean for your school district. And, of course, learn about techniques and tools to sharpen your advocacy skills, and prepare for effective meetings with your representatives. Save the date to join school board members from across the country on Capitol Hill to influence the new legislative agenda and shape the decisions made inside the Beltway that directly impact our students. For more information contact federaladvocacy@nsba.org.
2019 NSBA Annual Conference Philadelphia March 30 - April 1, 2019
Pennsylvania Convention Center 1101 Arch Street Philadelphia, PA 19107
Registration Questions or Assistance: 1-800-950-6722
The NSBA Annual Conference & Exposition is the one national event that brings together education leaders at a time when domestic policies and global trends are combining to shape the future of the students. Join us in Philadelphia for a robust offering of over 250 educational programs, including three inspirational general sessions that will give you new ideas and tools to help drive your district forward.
https://www.nsba.org/conference
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