Wednesday, December 4, 2019

PA Ed Policy Roundup for Dec. 4, 2019 Chester Upland SD supporters rally against charter proposal


Started in November 2010, daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 4050 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, school solicitors, principals, charter school leaders, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations, 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, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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PA Ed Policy Roundup for Dec. 4, 2019



PSBA New and Advanced School Director Training, Haverford
Thursday December 12, 2019 • 4:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Haverford Middle School, 1701 Darby Road, Havertown, PA 19083



Chester Upland SD supporters rally against charter proposal
Delco Times by Alex Rose December 3, 2019
CHESTER — About 50 opponents of a proposal to “charterize” elementary schools in the Chester Upland School District braved frigid December temperatures to stage a rally outside Chester High School Tuesday evening, one day before a hearing in Delaware County Common Pleas Court that could decide the future of the district. “We stand here today in support of the right of children of Chester to have a quality education that prepares them for the future – not the cheapest education that leads to nowhere,” said John Shelton, president of the Chester Upland Education Association, representing approximately 225 members. “The law requires that the charter proves it can provide a cheaper education,” he said. “We want a better education for our students. We’re asking everyone in the community to stand with us and make this our fight, now.” The law Shelton referenced is Act 141 of 2012, which allowed the state to declare certain districts, including Chester Upland, as being in “Financial Recovery Status” and place them under receivership. A “conversion” provision of the act would allow the district to convert an existing school to a charter school as part of a “Recovery Plan” if it would result in financial savings. Chester Community Charter School, the largest brick-and-mortar charter school in the state with more than 4,300 students, already educates more than half of the district’s elementary school children.

PISA Scores Are Out. Ours Are Not Great. So What?
Forbes by Peter Greene Senior Contributor Dec 3, 2019, 08:30am
It’s PISA Day, the day when the Programme for International Student Assessment scores are released by OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). This is traditionally followed by a great deal of hand-wringing. A typically glum assessment was written by Dana Goldstein for the New York Times this morning. “The performance of American teenagers has been stagnant since 2000,” Goldstein reports. As education historian Diane Ravitch notes every time PISA scores come out, the U.S. results have always been mediocre. There has never been a golden age when the U.S. led the world in PISA results. The top scores this year come from the usual batch of test takers, including the Chinese, who give the test to students from wealthy provinces who could be remotely considered a cross-section of the nation as a whole. PISA day is also the one day that some folks hear about Estonia, the tiny nation that somehow has not conquered the world even though their students do well on the PISA. PISA coverage tends to overlook one major question—why should anyone care about these scores? Where is the research showing a connection between PISA scores and a nation’s economic, political, or global success?

On December 5th at noon - 20 school districts across the state, including Norristown, Pottstown & Upper Darby are holding rallies for charter law reform and better school funding.
Upper Darby School District hosts a fair-funding press conference on December 5th Upper Darby, PA - As the anniversary of the beginning of the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott sparked by Rosa Parks in 1955 nears, the Upper Darby School District joins PA League of Urban Schools in the statewide fight for fair funding of public schools for students across Pennsylvania. The PA League of Urban Schools will hold a simultaneous statewide press conference to call attention to the need for charter reform and funding inequities that are dramatically impacting urban schools and placing the heavy financial burden of funding public education on taxpayers.
On December 5th at noon - 20 school districts across the state, including Norristown, Pottstown and Upper Darby are holding rallies for charter law reform and better school funding.
Pick the district closest to you and go with other education advocates to support our schools!
  • Norristown – December 5th at Noon. Location: Norristown School District Administration Building, 401 North Whitehall Road, Norristown, PA 19403. For more information and to RSVP contact: Kathy DiMaio at 610-630-5012 or Kdimaio@nasd.k12.pa.us
  • Pottstown – December 5th at Noon. Location: Pottstown High School, Audion Room in the Main Lobby, 750 N. Washington Street, Pottstown, PA 19464. For more information and to RSVP contact: Diane Nash, 610-323-8200 or dnash@pottstownk12.org 
  • Upper Darby – December 5th at Noon. Location: Upper Darby High School, Board Room, 601 N. Lansdowne Ave, Drexel Hill, PA 19026. For more information and to RSVP contact: Aaronda Q. Beauford at (610) 789-7200, ext. 3232 or abeauford@upperdarbysd.org

Charter Schools; Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking
PENNSYLVANIA BULLETIN PROPOSED RULEMAKING DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [ 22 PA. CODE CH. 711 ]

Gov. Wolf: Career and Technical Education Prepares Students for In-Demand Jobs
Governor Wolf’s Website December 02, 2019
Governor Tom Wolf visited the Eastern Center for Arts and Technology (EASTERN) today to talk with students about their employment goals and watch a demonstration of their skills. The students led the governor, legislators and local education leaders on a tour of the career and technical education center (CTC) in Montgomery County. Expanding opportunities for students to get hands-on training for jobs in high-demand industries is a priority for the governor. “The vo-tech of the past has been transformed into advanced career and technical centers where students can get an education and develop real-world skills,” said Governor Wolf. “There isn’t a one-size-fits-all path for every high school student and CTCs give students options to choose which path is best for them. After graduation they can continue their education in college or a job training program or enter the workforce.” There are more than 80 CTCs in Pennsylvania that offer a combination of classes and hands-on learning in programs approved by the Department of Education. Thousands of students earn industry credentials or certifications for local jobs in high demand, so they graduate on a path for success. The governor’s groundbreaking PAsmart initiative is investing $70 million over two years to expand science and technology education, apprenticeships and industry partnerships, including $10 million for CTCs.

York City financial recovery exit denied months ago, state says
Lindsay C VanAsdalan, York Dispatch Published 4:41 p.m. ET Dec. 3, 2019 | Updated 4:53 p.m. ET Dec. 3, 2019
The state Department of Education denied York City School District's request to terminate its financial recovery status in August, according to a letter addressed to district officials and provided Tuesday to The York Dispatch. The document's release came after the district's recovery officer, Carol Saylor, had previously said in November that there were no updates about York City's petition to get out from under the state designation. This summer, York City officials were hopeful the Education Department would free the school district from its recovery designation, which it has been under for years.  But the state instead decided the district hadn't displayed enough improvement in academic and financial benchmarks to exit recovery status, according to the August determination. The department considered academic and fiscal outcomes from the 2017-18 school year, the district's first full year under its amended recovery plan. The letter from Education Secretary Pedro Rivera notes that while students had made modest gains, graduation rates were still far below the state average. And in the most recent years, there has been a decrease in the unassigned fund balance and a widened gap between revenues and expenditures, according to the letter.

Budget hearing for Pittsburgh schools addresses mental health programs, state oversight
Trib Live by TOM DAVIDSON AND BOB BAUDER | Monday, December 2, 2019 6:11 p.m.
Many residents who came to a public hearing Monday on the 2020 Pittsburgh Public Schools budget didn’t focus on the spending plan that includes a 2.3% rise in property taxes collected by the district, the first tax increase in five years. Instead, the bigger concern was the district’s spending on school security and policing instead of allocating more resources to counseling and intervention programs for students. Dr. Claire Cohen, a psychiatrist from Point Breeze, said the district needs to allocate more funding to counseling and mental health programs for students and less to police and security of schools. The budget proposal includes $7.2 million to be spent on school safety and includes 92 positions. The support staff of the district, which covers services such as the counseling and intervention programs Cohen referenced, makes up $11.7 million of the budget and has 88 staff members.

Philly School Planning Review could transform District
The District has launched comprehensive review of neighborhood elementary schools that will seek to predict demographic changes rather than just react to them. It also aims to increase access to pre-K and smooth out the transitions between grade levels.
The notebook by Dale Mezzacappa December 3 — 10:13 am, 2019
Ask Superintendent William Hite why the Philadelphia School District has started a massive planning process now – an endeavor that could reshape the landscape of schools in the city – and he presents a simple fact: Five years ago, Mayfair Elementary School had 1,200 students. Today it has 2,400. Once District leaders absorbed the magnitude of the upheaval in this modest Northeast rowhouse community, they launched the construction of a 10-classroom addition. They are now in the process of building an entirely new school in the neighborhood. But, for the most part, the District found itself in reaction mode, unprepared for such a dramatic shift in so short a time. “We saw how quickly the demographics changed,” Hite said.  The questions arose: Where else was this happening? And what should we do?  After more than a year of preparation, the District has launched its attempt at finding answers: the Comprehensive School Planning Review (CSPR). By combining community input and demographic data, the process aims to bring equity and efficiency to a sprawling system and balance anticipated population changes, neighborhood and school histories, and the wishes of students and families. 

Proposed changes to tax abatement get heated debate in City Council
Council has to act by Dec. 12, or wait until newly-elected members, which include anti-abatement activist Kendra Brooks, are seated in January.
The notebook by Bill Hangley Jr. December 3 — 11:30 pm, 2019
Depending on who you listen to, Philadelphia’s 10-year tax abatement on new residential development is either a growth-boosting policy in need of minor revisions, or a budget-crippling giveaway that exacerbates racism and inequity.  Or something in between. That was the very mixed message at Tuesday’s City Council hearings on the future of the abatement, which after almost two decades will soon face its first substantive reconsideration by lawmakers. Following over three hours of public testimony, Council voted unanimously to advance a package of reforms sponsored by Council President Darrell Clarke, setting the stage for a final vote before the end of the year.   “A lot of people don’t think we’re going far enough. But we want a reasonable approach,” said Clarke, whose proposed legislation would reduce but not eliminate the abatement, essentially cutting in half its subsidy for new construction.  “At some point you’ve got to adjust,” said Clarke. His bill would provide a full tax break in the first year, and then slowly raise payments over the course of ten years. “It’s been a 20-year run …we’re approaching a significant change that will help the school district.” The proposed changes come as City Council and Mayor Jim Kenney face rising concerns about the impact of the abatement. Voters recently elected a staunch abatement opponent, Kendra Brooks, to an at-large Council seat, and a chorus of public school parents and activists has steadily called for its elimination, saying it drains schools of vital funding.

Pennsylvania district is at odds with charter school over new campus
Lehigh Valley Academy wants to move to a new location and build a $50 million campus, but the Bethlehem Area district is balking at the plan.
American School & University by Mike Kennedy | Dec 03, 2019
The Bethlehem Area (Pa.) School District is preparing for a legal skirmish with a charter school over its plans to move to a new location and build a $50.4 million campus. The Easton Express-Times reports that Bethlehem school board has hired a lawyer to represent the district during the Lehigh Valley Academy’s application for a new charter. Rather than apply to amend its existing charter, Lehigh Valley Academy is requesting a new charter for its proposed campus in Bethlehem Township. Pursuing a new charter would give the academy appeal rights if its charter application is rejected; it wouldn't have appeal rights in a charter renewal process. The academy's charter expires in December 2021, and the school has said it doesn’t want to break ground on a new facility without knowing it can relocate. Lehigh Valley Academy’s two chartering school districts — Bethlehem Area and Saucon Valley — must sign off on its move. Under the state’s charter school law, a school may buy property without permission of its chartering district, but it cannot change locations. Lehigh Valley Academy has 1,767 K-12 students from 16 districts across the Lehigh Valley, but the majority — 1,035 students — come from the Bethlehem Area School District.

Rejected charter school has applied to Conestoga Valley a second time: 'History says they'll deny it'
Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer December 4, 2019
After his proposed charter school was denied by the Conestoga Valley school board in September, GT Freeman said it was “just the beginning.” He wasn’t bluffing.
Freeman, the CEO of the Lincoln Center for Family and Youth, a Montgomery County-based social services nonprofit, resubmitted an application this week to create the TLC Leadership Charter School. The privately run, taxpayer-funded school would educate and provide daily counseling sessions for up to 200 students in kindergarten through 12th grade struggling with school phobia, anxiety and other mental health issues. While it would be located in the Conestoga Valley School District, Freeman said he expects to serve students from 18 school districts throughout the region. School District of Lancaster would be the largest source of students. Funding for the school would come from the students’ home school districts. “History says they’ll deny it,” Freeman said of the Conestoga Valley school board, which has the ultimate say over the school’s approval. “But I’m hopeful that they’ll see that this is a very unique and a very innovative approach.” The school board denied TLC’s first application this fall in part because of a lack of community support for the school and because the vast majority of its students wouldn’t come from Conestoga Valley.

Neshaminy to appeal state ruling on controversial nickname
WHYY By Aaron Moselle December 3, 2019
The Neshaminy School District in Bucks County is appealing a state decision that requires it to get rid of any logos and imagery that “negatively stereotype Native Americans.” For more than a half-century, the suburban district has called some of its sports teams the “Redskins,” a term many consider a racial slur.  The high school’s basketball team pairs the name with a logo depicting a Native American warrior. The baseball team has a tomahawk on its caps. The football team’s helmets are adorned with the word “Skins.” In a statement, the district said it was “compelled” to appeal because the decision is rooted in “unsubstantiated claims of racism,” and because it would force it to spend taxpayer dollars — potentially up to $1 million — to alter facilities and programs.  The ruling, announced by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission last week, allows the district to keep using the word “Redskins” as long as it educates its students about stereotyping.  The district is also appealing that part of the decision, saying in the same statement that the requirement interferes “with the authority of the duly elected School Board,” as well as the “District’s effort to teach students to think independently as opposed to indoctrinating them with certain points of view.”

“The efforts come as more students use keyboards and screens for learning and taking notes. Studies show that drawing a letter by hand activates a child’s neurological centers as reading and writing does for adults, while using a keyboard ­produces little effect. It’s also been shown that students who hand-write their notes better retain information.”
New Jersey legislator introduces bill that would require students to learn cursive
Inquirer by Ellie Rushing, Updated: December 3, 2019- 7:12 PM
New Jersey’s elementary school students would be required to learn, read, and write cursive by the end of third grade, under a bill now in the state Assembly. “In some cases, children are entering middle school without knowing how to sign their own name in cursive,” said Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, a Democrat who represents parts of Hudson County. “We are doing our children a disservice by not teaching them a vital skill they will need for the rest of their lives.” A news release from McKnight’s office cites data from Scholastic that learning cursive helps children become better spellers, and stronger readers and writers. Cursive instruction became a rarity in public elementary classrooms after the Common Core dropped its requirement in 2010. However, since then, many states, including Illinois, Ohio, and Texas, have made efforts to reintroduce cursive requirements.

Enrollment in Teacher-Preparation Programs Is Declining Fast. Here's What the Data Show
Education Week By Madeline Will on December 3, 2019 2:15 PM
Across the country, enrollment in teacher-preparation programs has dropped by a third from 2010 to 2018, a new report finds.  The report from the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank, analyzed federal data to find that nearly every state in the nation has experienced enrollment declines, with some states seeing steep declines of more than 50 percent. And the number of black and Hispanic teacher-candidates enrolled in teacher preparation dropped by a quarter over that eight-year time period.  Enrollment numbers can be a "proxy for interest in the teaching profession," said Lisette Partelow, the senior director of K-12 strategic initiatives at CAP and the author of the report. Some of these declines, she added, are "quite worrying." A national poll conducted earlier this year found that 55 percent of teachers wouldn't want their children to follow in their footsteps, and half say they're so unhappy with their jobs that they have seriously considered leaving the profession.  The CAP report also found that there was a 28 percent decline in students completing teacher-preparation programs during this eight-year time period. 

The PISA test scores cast doubt on U.S. education efforts
Post-Gazette by THE NEW YORK TIMES DEC 4, 2019 2:45 AM
The performance of American teenagers in reading and math has been stagnant since 2000, according to the latest results of a rigorous international exam, despite a decades-long effort to raise standards and help students compete with peers across the globe. And the achievement gap in reading between high and low performers is widening. Although the top quarter of American students have improved their performance on the exam since 2012, the bottom 10th percentile lost ground, according to an analysis by the National Center for Education Statistics, a federal agency. The disappointing results from the exam, the Program for International Student Assessment, were announced on Tuesday and follow those from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, an American test that recently showed that two-thirds of children were not proficient readers. Over all, American 15-year-olds who took the PISA test scored slightly above students from peer nations in reading but below the middle of the pack in math. Low-performing students have been the focus of decades of bipartisan education overhaul efforts, costing many billions of dollars, that have resulted in a string of national programs — No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, the Common Core State Standards, the Every Student Succeeds Act — but uneven results.

Yong Zhao: How PISA created an illusion of education quality and marketed it to the world
Washington Post Answer Sheet By  Valerie Strauss  Reporter Dec. 3, 2019 at 1:41 p.m. EST
In case you missed it: The latest scores from PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment, were announced on Tuesday, and, yet again, as has been true since the birth of international tests, American students did not top the rankings or even come close. U.S. scores have remained stagnant since PISA started nearly 20 years ago — and, as in the past, they will be seen as an indictment of whatever it is people want to indict: schools, teachers, students, the reformers who tried to change public schools by running them like businesses. PISA tests 15-year-olds in dozens of countries and individual education systems in math, reading and science every three years; in 2018, 600,000 students from 79 countries and school systems took the exam. Reading and math scores for U.S. students have not changed significantly since PISA began, with some improvements in science. For 2018, the scores were essentially the same as they were in 2015. As my Post colleagues Moriah Balingit and Andrew Van Dam wrote here, U.S. students ranked eighth in reading, 11th in science and 30th in math. First in all three subjects was China, which for PISA means the four provinces of Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang (even though the country has more than 20 provinces). Singapore was second in all three subjects.
So what do the PISA scores really tell us?


The award winning documentary Backpack Full of Cash that explores the siphoning of funds from traditional public schools by charters and vouchers will be shown in three locations in the Philadelphia suburbs in the upcoming weeks.
The film is narrated by Matt Damon, and some of the footage was shot in Philadelphia. 
Members of the public who are interested in becoming better informed about some of the challenges to public education posed by privatization are invited to attend.
At all locations, the film will start promptly at 7 pm, so it is suggested that members of the audience arrive 10-15 minutes prior to the start of the screening.   
………………………………………….
Backpack Full of Cash hosted by State Senator Maria Collett, and State Representatives Liz Hanbidge and Steve Malagari
Monday, December 2, 2019
Wissahickon Valley Public Library, Blue Bell 650 Skippack Pike Blue Bell, PA 19422
………………………………………….
Backpack Full of Cash hosted by Montgomery County Democracy for America (Montco DFA)
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Jenkintown Library (Park and enter at rear.)
460 York Road (across from IHOP) Jenkintown, PA 19046
………………………………………….
Backpack Full of Cash hosted by State Representatives Mary Jo Daley, Tim Briggs, and Matt Bradford
Monday, January 6, 2020
Ludington Library 5 S. Bryn Mawr Avenue Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

A Networking and Supportive Event for K-12 Educators of Color (teachers, school counselors, and administrators)! Thursday, December 12, 7:00-8:30 pm Villanova University, Dougherty Hall, West Lounge
You are cordially invited to this gathering, with the goal of networking and lending support and sustenance to our K-12 Educators of Color and their allies. This is your chance to make requests, share resources, and build up our community. Please feel free to bring a school counselor, teacher, or administrator friend! Light refreshments provided.
Where: Villanova University, Dougherty Hall, West Lounge (first floor, back of building)
Directions, campus and parking map found here
Parking: Free parking in lot L2. Turn on St. Thomas Way, off of Lancaster Avenue. You will need to print a parking pass that will be emailed shortly before the event to all who register.
Questions? Contact an event organizer: Dr. Krista Malott (krista.malott@villanova.edu), Dr. Jerusha Conner (Jerusha.conner@villanova.edu), Department of Education & Counseling, and Dr. Anthony Stevenson, Administrator, Radnor School District (Anthony.Stevenson@rtsd.org)

PSBA Alumni Forum: Leaving school board service?
Continue your connection and commitment to public education by joining PSBA Alumni Forum. Benefits of the complimentary membership includes:
  • electronic access to PSBA Bulletin
  • legislative information via email
  • Daily EDition e-newsletter
  • Special access to one dedicated annual briefing
Register today online. Contact Crista Degregorio at Crista.Degregorio@psba.org with questions.

Save the Date: PSBA/PASA/PAIU Advocacy Day at the Capitol-- March 23, 2020
PSBA Advocacy Day 2020 MAR 23, 2020 • 8:00 AM - 2:30 PM
STRENGTHEN OUR VOICE.
Join us in Harrisburg to support public education!
All school leaders are invited to attend Advocacy Day at the state Capitol in Harrisburg. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA), Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units (PAIU) and the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) are partnering together to strengthen our advocacy impact. The day will center around meetings with legislators to discuss critical issues affecting public education.
Registration: As a membership benefit, there is no cost to register. Your legislator appointments will be coordinated with the completion of your registration. The day will begin with a continental breakfast and issue briefing prior to the legislator visits. Registrants will receive talking points, materials and leave-behinds to use with their meetings. Staff will be stationed at a table in the Main Rotunda during the day to answer questions and provide assistance.
Sign up today at myPSBA.org.

PSBA New and Advanced School Director Training in Dec & Jan
Do you want high-impact, engaging training that newly elected and reseated school directors can attend to be certified in new and advanced required training? PSBA has been supporting new school directors for more than 50 years by enlisting statewide experts in school law, finance and governance to deliver a one-day foundational training. This year, we are adding a parallel track of sessions for those who need advanced school director training to meet their compliance requirements. These sessions will be delivered by the same experts but with advanced content. Look for a compact evening training or a longer Saturday session at a location near you. All sites will include one hour of trauma-informed training required by Act 18 of 2019. Weekend sites will include an extra hour for a legislative update from PSBA’s government affairs team.
New School Director Training
Week Nights: Registration opens 3:00 p.m., program starts 3:30 p.m. -9:00 p.m., dinner with break included
Saturdays: Registration opens at 8:00 a.m., program starts at 9:00 a.m. -3:30 p.m., lunch with break included
Advanced School Director Training
Week Nights: Registration with dinner provided opens at 4:30 p.m., program starts 5:30 p.m. -9:00 p.m.
Saturdays: Registration opens at 10:00 a.m., program starts at 11:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m., lunch with break included
Locations and dates

Congress, Courts, and a National Election: 50 Million Children’s Futures Are at Stake. Be their champion at the 2020 Advocacy Institute.
NSBA Advocacy Institute Feb. 2-4, 2020 Marriot Marquis, Washington, D.C.
Join school leaders from across the country on Capitol Hill, Feb. 2-4, 2020 to influence the legislative agenda & shape decisions that impact public schools. Check out the schedule & more at https://nsba.org/Events/Advocacy-Institute

Register now for Network for Public Education Action National Conference in Philadelphia March 28-29, 2020
Registration, hotel information, keynote speakers and panels:

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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