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.
These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg
If any of your colleagues would
like to be added to the email list please have them send their name, title and
affiliation to KeystoneStateEdCoalition@gmail.com
PA Ed Policy Roundup for April 29, 2020
School Leaders:
If you were previously registered for Advocacy Day at the Capitol, please
register and join us for our first ever Virtual Advocacy Day on Monday,
May 11, 2020, via Zoom. Register now at no
cost on myPSBA.
Pennsylvania schools could see 5% revenue loss, group
says
The Sentinel by Associated Press April 28,
2020
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania's 500 school
districts are facing a projected loss of up to 5% in the revenue from local
taxes as coronavirus pandemic shutdowns take a heavy toll on the economy, a
leading public schools group said Tuesday. The Pennsylvania Association of
School Business Officers said it is projecting a loss of $1 billion, or 5%, in
revenue from local school taxes if an economic recovery lags. A quicker
turnaround could limit the damage to a loss of $850 million, or 4%, the group
said. School districts reported spending about $30 billion in the 2017-2018
school year, according to state data, the latest available for that statistic.
About $17.5 billion in revenue that year came from local sources, primarily
property taxes, and $11.5 billion came from the state, according to the data. In
a statement, Timothy Shrom, director of research for the Pennsylvania
Association of School Business Officers, said rising unemployment will likely
mean a loss in real estate transfer tax revenue as the economic downturn slows
the real estate market.
Property tax revenue will decline as people
need more time to pay, and interest rate reductions will depress interest
earnings, Shrom said.
PASBO ESTIMATES SCHOOL DISTRICTS COULD EXPERIENCE $1
BILLION LOSS IN LOCAL REVENUE IN 2020-21
PASBO Press Release April 28, 2020
HARRISBURG (4/28/20)— The PA Association of
School Business Officials (PASBO) released their projection of the drop in
local revenues for school districts next year the day after the House State
Government Committee approved a bill to freeze school district property taxes
next year. PASBO’s estimate of the loss of local revenue is based on a study of
the effect of school taxes during the Great Recession and a projection that the
COVID-19 economy will create deeper and much more immediate cuts. “Every school
district tax source and other non-tax revenue will suffer a precipitous decline
for the upcoming school year,” according to Dr. Timothy J. Shrom, PASBO
director of research, who developed the PASBO projection with Dr. Andrew
Armagost, PASBO research and advocacy manager. “In an economic downturn we know
that unemployment goes up, thereby reducing our local income tax revenue, and
we know that the real estate market will be affected resulting in a reduction
of our real estate transfer tax We also know that our taxpayers will need more
time to pay, thus reducing property tax revenues, and with the significant cuts
in the rates, interest earnings will take a hit as well” stated Shrom. If there
is a quick turnaround in the economy, the PASBO data suggests the reduction in
total local revenue will be more than $850 million for 2020-21. If the economic
recovery lags, however, PASBO projects a loss in total local revenue of $1.07
billion. Currently, school districts collect about $18 billion in total local
revenue so the PASBO projected decline represents a loss of 4-5% in total local
revenue
HB1776: House moves property tax freeze plan out of
committee
Sunbury Daily Item By John Finnerty/CNHI
State Reporter April 27, 2020
HARRISBURG — Local school districts would be
barred from raising property taxes this year under a measure moving in the
state House. Republicans who support the measure say that most school tax is
tied to property tax and last year’s earned income, plus with school buildings
closed, local schools shouldn’t have a shortfall this year. The measure passed
by 15-10 party line vote in the State Government Committee Monday after just
being introduced in the state House on Friday. However, it’s not clear when the
legislation will be put before the full House. The legislation is not scheduled
for a vote this week, said Mike Straub, a spokesman for House Majority Leader
Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster County. Democrats opposed to the plan said that local
school board directors are elected and the state shouldn’t be dictating what
they can’t do. “It’s an unfunded mandate” if the state freezes property taxes
without pledging to provide additional dollars to help schools operate, said
state Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Philadelphia. “To me it is fundamentally wrong.” State
Rep. Cris Dush, R-Indiana County, said that everyone is going to be forced to
make difficult budgeting decisions and the state needs to act to make sure that
schools don’t ask local property owners to pay more when people can’t afford
it.
Gov. Tom Wolf says he won’t abandon ambitious spending
plan as massive budget deficit looms
Inquirer by Gillian McGoldrick of LNP |
LancasterOnline, Updated: April 28, 2020- 6:02 PM
This story was produced as part of a joint
effort among Spotlight
PA, LNP
Media Group, PennLive, PA
Post, and WITF to
cover how Pennsylvania state government is responding to the coronavirus. Sign
up for Spotlight PA’s newsletter.
HARRISBURG — Facing plummeting revenues, increased
demand for public assistance, and a July 1 budget deadline, Gov. Tom Wolf and
state lawmakers are trying to piece together how they can spend federal
stimulus dollars and simultaneously manage a massive budget hole. Despite the state’s Independent Fiscal Office
projecting an up to $4 billion budget shortfall, Wolf is sticking by his
original budget proposal that includes a 4% increase in spending over the
current year and relies on relatively robust revenue growth. Even before the
coronavirus, Republicans expressed skepticism about the spending. During his
first year in office, Wolf and the GOP-controlled legislature found themselves
in a protracted, and at times nasty, battle over the budget. While they’ve
managed to compromise in recent years, the fallout from the coronavirus could
set the stage for a contentious fight ahead.
Will schools reopen to students in the fall? This may not
be the answer parents want to hear
Penn Live By Jan
Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated
6:03 PM; Today 3:03 PM
Parents who have grown weary from serving as
teacher and instructional guide to their children may be looking forward to the
fall when students return to school and professional educators fully take over.
Students will return to school then, right? This is what state Education
Secretary Pedro Rivera had to say on Tuesday about that: “We’re planning for
the best but preparing for the worst.” Whether schools reopen rests first and
foremost on what is best for students’ health and safety, Rivera told reporters
on a conference call. Right now, he said “there’s a great deal of uncertainty.”
State education department to provide districts with
no-cost programs
Scranton Times Tribune BY KATHLEEN BOLUS,
STAFF WRITER / PUBLISHED: APRIL 29, 2020
The Pennsylvania Department of Education will
continue to support school districts with no-cost programs and professional
development to help them weather any financial impacts from the coronavirus
pandemic. However, providing more funding for struggling districts, including
those in recovery, like the Scranton School District, is up to the general
assembly, state Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera said during a press call
Tuesday. Rivera and Deputy Secretary Matthew Stem spent a half-hour answering a
handful of questions about how the department is responding to the effects of
the COVID-19 crisis on public school districts, charter schools, private
schools and higher education institutions. Gov. Tom Wolf closed schools in
April to stop the spread of the virus. College students finished their spring
semesters online. “The funding we provide to school districts in recovery, in
terms of fiscal support, is all based on the general assembly and the
governor,” Rivera said. Additional one-time funding could come through federal
support, he said, but cautioned that the money should not be used to support
existing programs. The department also is working with intermediate units
across the state to supply programs to help districts transition to online
learning and with public access television channels to provide content, he said
Masks, staggered schedules, social distancing: when Pa.
students return to school, things will look different
Inquirer by Kristen A. Graham, April
28, 2020
Whenever the coronavirus permits Pennsylvania
students to return to class, whether it’s September or otherwise, things will
look different, Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera said Tuesday. “We’re
planning for the best, but we’re preparing for the worst,” said Rivera. That could mean masks, smaller
class sizes, rethinking school transportation, and other things students,
teachers and parents have not seen in the past. “We’re looking at a hybrid
staggered model that addresses not only the academic needs of students but also
their health needs, and I would encourage parents to think the same way,”
Rivera said in a call with reporters. “When we return back to school, it will
not look like the schools we participated in just over a month ago,” the
education secretary said. Summer school could also be affected by the pandemic,
Rivera said. Under Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan
for reopening the Commonwealth, schools
will only be permitted to hold in-person classes when an area is considered in
the green zone, with the least amount of restrictions.
“How each of Pennsylvania’s 14 cyber charter schools tracks
attendance varies greatly — from 21st Century Cyber Charter School, where a
point system equates to hours it should take students to complete an
assignment, to Commonwealth Charter Academy, where attendance is calculated by
when students log in along with their participation and contact made with
teachers. As much as attendance policies differ, so do the data cyber charters
track to monitor attendance. PublicSource reviewed attendance policies from 13
of the state’s 14 cyber charter schools and data from 10 of the 14 schools that
replied to Right-to-Know requests. Attendance data showed student enrollment at
the state’s cyber charter schools, which ranged from a full year of 180 days to
even one day. While records showed some students had perfect attendance,
others, in some schools, were absent for nearly 100 days.”
Reprise August 2017: What is the definition of attendance
at cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania? It depends on who you ask.
Public Source By Stephanie Hacke AUG. 7, 2017
PART OF THE SERIES The Charter Effect|
Traditionally, the 20th anniversary is
celebrated with china but we are marking the 20th anniversary of Pennsylvania’s
charter school law with transparency and depth. While other local media outlets
have reported on the sweeping change charter school choice has had on students
and traditional school districts, our series will expand on that by teasing out
the root of the tension between charters and other public schools: money and
what appears to be differing standards of accountability. This series will expose
and explain the data and records behind the charter schools operating in
Allegheny County.
If Johnny attended 21st Century Cyber Charter
School, he would be required to submit his work at least once a week to be
considered present for five days of school — even if he did all of his
assignments in two days. At PA Virtual Charter, Johnny would be required to log
in to the school’s online learning management system each day. There, he could
attend live classes and be monitored through a webcam on his computer. The
school would track how long he viewed each assignment, as well as the time it
took him to complete each task. Both systems for tracking attendance at cyber
charter schools are OK in Pennsylvania because state regulations place the
responsibility on the cybers to determine how they track attendance. Cyber
charter schools have the freedom to create their own attendance policies —
which are approved as a part of the application process — and then simply
report back to the state with measures that show they’re adhering to them. “Presumably,
definitions of what constitutes attendance and absence would be in such policy,
as would how attendance is tracked and/or monitored,” Casey Smith, acting
communications director at the Pennsylvania Department of Education [PDE],
wrote in an email.
Norristown school board denies charter school application
Times Herald By Gary Puleo gpuleo@21st-centurymedia.com
@MustangMan48 on Twitter April 28, 2020
WEST NORRITON -- At Monday’s meeting,
the Norristown Area School District voted to accept the Continuity of Education
Equity Grant in the amount of $291,000 for the purchase of additional
Chromebooks needed in these times of distance learning. “With that we’re going
to purchase 1,215 Chromebooks to allow us to get more technology out to our
kids for a better distance learning experience,” noted Superintendent
Christopher Dormer. The board rendered a decision on the revised application of
the Young Scholars of Southeastern Pennsylvania Charter School, a new entity in
Norristown, deciding the application was deficient. “The board believed that it
didn’t meet all the requirements as outlined in the Charter School Law,” Dormer
noted. Noting a provision that allows for the entity to appeal to the State
Charter Appeals Board, Dormer allowed that “There are additional steps they can
pursue, but all of that is on the applicant.”
No internet. No backup plan: What happens to seniors
raising grandkids in the pandemic?
Inquirer by Samantha Melamed, Updated: April
27, 2020
The Thursday morning meeting of Philly
Families Connect was already wrapping up by the time Thelma Weeks finally got
on the line, weariness in her voice. Weeks, 71, of North Philadelphia, had
spent three hours trying to print off school assignments from her 9-year-old
great-granddaughter’s school-issued Chromebook — and it still wasn’t working. “It’s
very frustrating," Weeks said. "We’re just walking in a dark tunnel,
and we can’t find our way out trying to help these kids. Being older, we don’t
know how to do this stuff.” The other grandparents in the group — which is run
by the Supportive Older Women’s Network, and normally meets at the 11th Street
Health Center in North Philadelphia — knew the feeling well. They’re among more
than 13,000 grandparents and great-grandparents in the city who are serving as
primary caretakers for children, the Philadelphia Corporation for the Aging
estimates. Like other parents muddling through the coronavirus pandemic, they
are straining under the weight of 24-hour-a-day custody, care-taking, and
home-schooling. The grandparents, though, are grappling with layers of
additional complications: There are technological anxieties (many don’t have
smartphones and have never had home internet) and literacy challenges. There
are financial constraints (some were scraping by on Social Security, and now
sinking under the cost of feeding kids who used to get free breakfast and lunch
at school). And, there are physical limits, being tested by the daily
exhaustion of entertaining young children and coaxing older ones to stay
indoors.
Web chats slated to help Westmoreland parents adjust to
students’ virtual learning
Trib Live JEFF
HIMLER | Tuesday,
April 28, 2020 8:42 p.m.
Parents, as well as children, are adjusting
to the reality of virtual learning at home, since the coronavirus pandemic
closed Pennsylvania schools for the remainder of the academic year.
The Westmoreland Intermediate Unit has
planned a series of weekly online chats in May to help area parents better
navigate this new educational terrain. Intermediate Unit team members will lead
each Zoom session, slated for 2 to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Planned topics are:
Lunch distributions going well, school officials say
Wilkes Barre Citizens Voice BY MICHAEL P.
BUFFER / PUBLISHED: APRIL 29, 2020
Since all schools in Pennsylvania closed
March 16, area school districts have stepped up to provide bagged lunches to
students at various locations. School officials are pleased with the results.
Food delivery has not been an issue. For many school districts, this is the
seventh week of providing grab-and-go meals since the COVID-19 pandemic closed
school buildings. The Wyoming Area School District is serving around 400 meals
a week and last week started providing breakfast in bagged meals, said Melissa
Collevechio, Wyoming Area’s food service director. “We feel very fortunate that
we have not experienced any challenges getting food or supplies for our bagged
meal program,” Collevechio said. “Our vendors have been very helpful and
accommodating. We have a very dedicated food service staff.” Around 25% of
Wyoming Area’s staff has been able to work for the bagged meal program, which
runs 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday from at the
secondary center cafeteria, Collevechio said.
Hanover Area is providing between 400 to 600
lunches a day at several locations, Superintendent Nathan Barrett said. The
district changed one site but has “not skipped a beat” serving meals over the
last two months, Barrett said.
Allentown School District shut out of state money to buy
computers for students during coronavirus
By JACQUELINE PALOCHKO THE MORNING
CALL | APR 28, 2020 | 6:02 PM
The Allentown School District was banking on
a state grant to purchase 2,000 computers for students to use during remote
learning. But when the state this week announced the 100 recipients that will
share $5 million in grants, including three in the Lehigh Valley, the
cash-strapped Allentown district was not one of them. In choosing the
recipients for the Continuity of Education Equity Grant, state officials first
identified districts that have more than 40% of students living in poverty,
then looked at how many students in those districts did not have access to the
resources needed for remote learning, state Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera
said on a conference call with reporters. Without naming Allentown, Rivera said
some districts that are typically state grant recipients were left off this
list, though he did not say why. He said the department received requests for
about $22 million and is working to see if more money is available. “If we’re
able to identify other funds, whether they’re state funds or even federal
funds, we’re going to continue to try and find ways to push out more funding to
the school districts that need them,” he said.
Philadelphia Youth Orchestra keeps music alive with
digital experiences
By Chanel Hill Special to the Capital-Star April 29,
2020
Chanel Hill is a reporter for the
Philadelphia Tribune, where this story first appeared.
PHILADELPHIA — While
the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra (PYO) had to cancel their large musical
ensemble rehearsals, instruction, and concerts to comply with social distancing
due to the coronavirus, the program has created online and web-based music
instruction, performance opportunities, and programs to keep students engaged
remotely. “We have six program divisions: Philadelphia Youth Orchestra,
Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra, Philadelphia Young Musicians Orchestra,
Philadelphia Region Youth String Music (PRYSM) Strings Group, Bravo Brass, and
our Tune UP Philly program,” said Louis Scaglione, President and Music Director
of PYO. “For all of these programs, we had to take what we traditionally do in
the classroom or rehearsal room and bring that online in some way to keep the
students engaged through this shelter-in-place period. Since going to web-based
music instruction, PYO has launched digital lessons with small groups and
faculty, developed online master classes and tutorials with members of PYO, and
created online performances using the most up-to-date digital programs to blend
together individual student recordings into one group performance.
Milton Area School District debates extending year,
graduation options
Sunbury Daily Item By Rick Dandes rdandes@dailyitem.com April 28,
2020
MILTON — Milton School District
Superintendent Cathy Keegan prompted discussions about the calendar year,
graduation and prom during her report to the board at a meeting conducted
remotely using the Zoom platform Tuesday night. Keegan recommended that they
keep to June 4 as the final day of school — and not extend it. "With
the onset of the pandemic, the legislature passed Act 13 of 2020, which raises
school requirement from a minimum of 180 days school year. If the board desires
to take action, we can still change our school calendar. I can tell you that
our teachers are doing a phenomenal job with cyber education, but it is
exhausting work. Long days and it is a stress on our families. The board can
extend the school year, but I am not making that recommendation. But I did feel
it needs to be brought before the board as a conversation." In light of
the coronavirus pandemic, many school districts in the state are deciding what
to do for events such as graduation. "The board of education has provided
us with some direction. Basically, it is a local decision. Governor Wolf has
been talking about us having a virtual graduation," Keegan said. "We
do have a graduation committee and, by our May meeting, we'll have finalized
more. We're waiting to see what happens on May 8, when this region opens up.
There is a senior committee that is looking at a lot of different options — not
just for graduation, but for the prom — in ways to make the last month of our
Panthers still celebratory."
Hempfield joins Penn Manor in canceling commencement,
announcing virtual ceremony
Lancaster Online by ALEX GELI | Staff Writer April 28,
2020
Hempfield High School has canceled its
in-person graduation ceremony and will, instead, hold a virtual commencement,
the district announced Tuesday.
The virtual ceremony will take place at the original date and time: June 2 at 7
p.m. The in-person commencement was supposed to be held at Franklin &
Marshall College. Hempfield joins Penn Manor as the
only Lancaster County public high schools to announce a virtual graduation
ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic and strict social distancing
guidelines. Both schools shared the same venue. F&M, however, canceled all
on-campus events through the summer, making an in-person celebration
impossible. "While this is disappointing news for all of us, members
of our high school team had already started planning for a virtual commencement
experience as a back-up," high school Principal Jim Dague said in a
statement on Hempfield's website. "This back-up plan has now become our
priority." Dague said an alternative in-person event in the summer isn't
out of the question, depending on social distancing guidelines at that
time.
Central Valley launches Stuff-a-Bus Food Drive to help
local food bank
Beaver County Times By Marsha
Keefer Posted at 5:01 AM April 29,
2020
District teachers and staff, in collaboration
with R.J. Rhodes Transit Inc. in Harmony Township, will conduct a food drive
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 9 at numerous locations within the district to
restock Faith Restorations Inc.
CENTER TWP. – School buses customarily
transport precious cargo — students. Next month, however, buses serving Central
Valley School District will be repurposed to transport something equally
precious during the current coronavirus pandemic: food. District teachers and
staff, in collaboration with R.J. Rhodes Transit Inc. in Harmony Township, will
conduct Stuff-a-Bus Food Drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 9 at numerous
locations within the district. Food collected will be donated to Faith
Restorations Inc., a non-profit food pantry serving households not only in the
district, but all of Beaver County. Faith Restorations operates a distribution
warehouse three days a week at 186 Wagner Road in Center. Monthly,
approximately 3,200 household rely on the pantry, but the organization expects
need to increase as more people are laid off due to COVID-19. And many have yet
to receive unemployment compensation due to an overloaded system. Bob Rhodes,
transit company owner, donated 10 buses for the drive, buses that normally
would transport district students, but now are idled since all schools are closed.
Buses will be stationed at sites in Monaca, and Center and Raccoon townships to
collect food donations. The idea came up in an “off-the-wall conversation”
between two district teachers. Daily, teachers meet virtually to plan
assignments and discuss how to help students, now that they are forced to study
at home.
Despite Trump’s Nudging, Schools Are Likely to Stay Shut
for Months
Most districts have no plans to end online lessons
soon, and reopening will bring significant changes, educators say.
New York Times By Shawn Hubler, Erica L.
Green and Dana Goldstein April 28, 2020
SACRAMENTO — With students languishing, the
economy stagnating and working parents straining to turn their kitchen tables
into classrooms, the nation’s public schools have been working to bring
children back to their desks, lockers and study halls. But despite President
Trump’s prediction that “I think you’ll see a lot of schools open up,” all but
a few states have suspended in-person classes for the rest of the academic
year, and some are preparing for the possibility of shutdowns or part-time schedules
in the fall. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California raised the idea on Tuesday that
the next academic year could start as soon as July, to make up for the
abbreviated spring term. But he cautioned that “if we pull back too quickly,” a
fresh wave of the coronavirus could erupt. Illinois officials have gone even
further, warning that remote learning could continue indefinitely. “This may be
the new normal even in the fall,” said Janice Jackson, the chief executive of
Chicago Public Schools.
Under pressure to reopen this fall, school leaders plot
unprecedented changes
Washington Post By Laura Meckler, Valerie Strauss and Moriah Balingit April
27, 2020 at 8:56 a.m. EDT
From the White House podium to harried homes,
pressure is building to reopen the nation’s schools. But the next iteration of
American education will look far different from the classrooms students and
teachers abruptly departed last month. Many overwhelmed school systems remain
focused on running remote education that was set up on the fly. Others, though,
are deep into planning for what they see coming: an in-between scenario in
which schools are open but children are spread out in places where they are
normally packed together. The new landscape could include one-way hallways,
kids and teachers in masks, and lunch inside classrooms instead of cafeterias.
Buses may run half empty, and students may have their temperatures read before
entering the building. And in districts all over the country, officials are
considering bringing half the students to school on certain days, with the rest
learning from home. Then they would swap. “Our students need some kind of
normalcy,” said Michael Hinojosa, superintendent of the Dallas Independent
School District. “Right now, their whole world has been disrupted with things
that they’ve never dealt with before, and they need to be around other people.”
Many teachers are scared of going back too early, and teachers unions are
cautioning against it. Health experts warn that even if covid-19 cases abate, a
second wave of infection could arrive with flu season later this year. And
while many parents are eager to end the national experiment in remote
education, others are terrified that any return to school would expose their
children to a deadly disease.
Nearly 300,000 Teacher Jobs at Risk if Feds Don't Step
Up, Big Districts Warn
Education Week By Andrew Ujifusa on April
28, 2020 1:57 PM
Unless Congress provides a massive infusion
of aid to help schools handle the fallout from the coronavirus, hundreds of
thousands of teachers will lose their jobs and an "educational
catastrophe" would result, warns an
organization that represents large urban districts. In a Tuesday letter to
federal lawmakers, the Council of the Great City Schools echoes previous calls
from other education groups for Congress to provide at least $175 billion in
new aid for schools that would flow through the existing Title I federal
formula that targets disadvantaged tudents. And the council also wants billions
in new aid for Title I itself, special education grants, and remote learning
services. If that additional aid to offset significant cuts elsewhere
isn't forthcoming as the economy craters, the council has a dire
prediction. "An estimated 20 percent loss in combined state and
local revenues would likely result in some 275,000 teachers being laid off in
big city public school systems alone," the superintendents tell Congress.
"The ramifications are not only profound for the students involved, but
for the nation. This educational catastrophe could weaken the country's
economic foundation for years to come without significant financial support
from Congress."
Opinion of DeVos Plunging, Truancy Rising: 10 Key
Findings From Latest EdWeek Survey
Education Week By Holly Yettick Kurtz and Benjamin Herold April 27,
2020
Nearly half of the nation’s teachers and
school district leaders said their opinion of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy
DeVos has grown less favorable as a result of her response to the coronavirus
pandemic, according to a new nationally representative survey administered by
the Education Week Research Center. Six weeks after President Donald Trump
declared a national emergency to combat the pandemic, the magnitude of the
fallout in the nation’s K-12 schools is coming into focus. As it is, 43 states and four U.S. territories have
now ordered or recommended that all schools remain closed for the remainder of
this academic year, affecting roughly 45 million students. Truancy
appears to be rising, teacher morale is declining, and district spending is
being cut. The nature of teaching is dramatically changing, with the majority
of teachers reporting that they’re spending less time on assessment and test
preparation and more time on communicating with parents and troubleshooting
technology problems. And the negative effects of the crisis are being felt most
harshly by the country’s neediest schools and children.
Following are 10 key findings from the EdWeek
Research Center survey, which was completed online by 785 teachers and 322
district leaders on April 22 and 23.
PSBA Board Presidents Panels (Zoom) April 27, 28, 29 and
30 (depending upon the size of your district)
This annual event supports current and
aspiring school board leaders through facilitated discussion with colleagues in
leadership. Board Presidents Panel is designed to equip new and veteran board
presidents and vice presidents as well as superintendents and other school
directors who may pursue a leadership position in the future.
Due to current social distancing
requirements, this annual program will shift from a series of in-person
regional events to a digital platform using Zoom Meetings. Participants of each
of the four sessions will meet in small groups using virtual breakout rooms.
Experienced facilitators will guide discussions on attendees’ unique
challenges, solutions and experiences related to board leadership during the
COVID-19 school closures.
This year’s program will be organized to
group together leaders from schools of similar enrollment sizes for relevant
conversation. Members may register for one or two nights to participate in all
of the topics offered. If your district's average enrollment is above 3,500,
you are invited to join the sessions on Tuesday, April 28 and/or Thursday,
April 30. If your district's average enrollment is below 3,500, opt to join the
sessions on Monday, April 27 and/or Wednesday, April 29.
If you previously registered for this live event at the Capitol
please register for the virtual event.
PSBA Virtual
Advocacy Day 2020 MAY 11, 2020 • 9:00
AM - 4:30 PM
Now
more than ever before – Make your voice heard!
Join
us virtually to support public education!
All
public school leaders are invited to join us for our first ever Virtual
Advocacy Day on Monday, May 11, 2020 via Zoom. We need all of you to
help strengthen our advocacy impact. The day will center around reaching out to
your legislators to discuss the steps you have taken to deal with the pandemic
crisis and the steps legislators can take to provide schools the flexibility
and creativity needed to weather the storm. Mandate relief, budgeting
flexibility, charter funding reform and other legislative changes need to be
considered to give school district flexibility.
Info
and Registration: https://www.psba.org/event/advocacy-day-2020/
Register today for the 2020 PASA/PA Principals
Association PA Educational Leadership Summit, August 2-4, at the Lancaster
Marriott at Penn Square
(hosted by the PA Principals Association and
the PA Association of School Administrators). Participants can earn up to 80
PIL hours (40 hours for the Summit and - for an additional cost of $50 -
40 hours for EdCamp) for attending
the conference and completing program requirements. Register early to
reserve your seat! The deadline to take advantage of the Early Bird Discount is
April 24, 2020.
Click here to
register today!
Network for Public Education 2020 Conference in Philly Rescheduled
to November 21-22
NPE Website March 10, 2020 7:10 pm
We so wanted to see you in March, but we need
to wait until November!
Our conference will now take place on November
21 and 22 at the same location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Please
read the important information below.
Registration: We will be rolling over our
registration information, so there is no reason to register again. You will
be automatically registered for the November dates. If you cannot attend in
November, we ask that you consider donating your registration to absorb some of
the costs associated with rescheduling the conference. If you feel you cannot
make such a donation, please contact: dcimarusti@networkforpubliceducation.org.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.