Tuesday, February 16, 2021

PA Ed Policy Roundup for Feb. 16, 2021: Know Your Facts on Funding and Charter Performance. Then Call for Charter Change!

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, 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

Visit us on Facebook at KeystoneStateEducationCoalition

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

 

Keystone State Education Coalition

PA Ed Policy Roundup for Feb. 16, 2021

Know Your Facts on Funding and Charter Performance. Then Call for Charter Change!

 

Curwensville directors approve resolution calling for charter school funding reform

Clearfield Progress News By Dianne Byers dbyers@theprogressnews.com February 15, 2021

CURWENSVILLE — Curwensville Area School Board called for charter school legislation reform at Thursday’s combined work session and business meeting.  Along with boards from Centre and Clinton counties, Curwensville’s directors joined other Clearfield County public schools in adopting a resolution calling for equitable funding for charter schools. Superintendent Ron Matchock said when introducing the resolution to the board, “We in education have been kicking this around for years. We are not saying cyber education isn’t good, we’re saying the way it is funded is unfair. Public schools have expenses for their buildings and student transportation. Cyber schools don’t have this,” he explained. Matchock said public schools were prepared in 2019-20 school years to protest cyber school funding, but then schools shut down to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The push has started again…Clearfield, Centre and Clinton counties plan to take the resolution to Capitol Days in March and meet with legislators. This is so important. We are not saying cyber education is bad, we are just asking it be funded in a fair way,” Matchock said.

http://www.theprogressnews.com/progress_news/curwensville-directors-approve-resolution-calling-for-charter-school-funding-reform/article_1ac77ba9-d205-5df0-b874-bfe21e462622.html

 

358 adopted charter reform resolutions

PSBA Website February 15, 2021

Now more than ever, there is a growing momentum from school officials across the state to call for charter school funding reform. Legislators are hearing loud and clear that school districts need relief from the unfair funding system that results in school districts overpaying millions of dollars to charter schools.

The school boards from the following districts have adopted resolutions calling for charter funding reform. This list will be updated regularly.

https://www.psba.org/2020/03/adopted-charter-reform-resolutions/

 

Adopt the 2020 PSBA resolution for charter school funding reform

In this legislative session, PSBA has been leading the charge with the Senate, House of Representatives and the Governor’s Administration to push for positive charter reform. We’re now asking you to join the campaign: Adopt the resolution: We’re asking all school boards to adopt the 2020 resolution for charter school funding reform at your next board meeting and submit it to your legislators and to PSBA.

Resolution for charter funding reform (pdf)

Link to submit your adopted resolution to PSBA

 

Know Your Facts on Funding and Charter Performance. Then Call for Charter Change!

PSBA Charter Change Website:

https://www.pacharterchange.org/

 

PA Schools Work: Lunch & Learn Webinar: A Deep Dive on the Budget Tuesday, February 16 at noon. 
Don't forget that our next Lunch & Learn webinar, where we will explain the details of the education components of Governor Wolf's budget proposal, will be held Tuesday, February 16 at noon.  You can register for the webinar here. 
You can view archived videos of all our webinars here. 
Budget Resources:
You can access a few documents that might be helpful in understanding Governor Wolf's budget proposal here:

https://mailchi.mp/paschoolswork/join-us-wednesday-802538?e=119d26f960

 

Pa. schools would get hike of more than $1B with Gov. Wolf’s budget, but officials aren’t banking on cash yet

Penn Live By Jan Murphy | jmurphy@pennlive.com Updated 5:30 AM; Today 5:30 AM

Gov. Tom Wolf’s bold and aggressive effort to help Pennsylvania’s school districts has wound up making life more complicated for the administrators who run them. An injection of this kind of money has superintendents dreaming big dreams, much like those lottery players have when the Powerball jackpot grows to 10 figures. The governor’s 2021-22 budget proposal calls for a $1.35 billion increase – the largest proposed increase in state history – for basic education. That would bump the total to $8.1 billion. In addition, he is proposing $200 million for special education, which would push the state funding for this budget line to nearly $1.4 billion. But Wolf isn’t just proposing an influx of new cash. He also proposes a different funding formula to more equitably distribute the money among the 500 school districts.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/02/pa-schools-would-get-hike-of-more-than-1b-with-gov-wolfs-budget-but-officials-arent-banking-on-cash-yet.html

 

Readers' Views: Gov. Wolf's school funding plan is a step forward

Pottstown Mercury Opinion by Marlene Armato, February 15, 2021

As a member of POWER Interfaith, I applaud Gov. Tom Wolf’s bold proposal to substantially increase Basic Education Funding and to distribute most of the money through Pennsylvania’s fair funding formula. This proposal is a huge step in reducing the systemic racial bias in school funding. Since 2014, POWER Interfaith has demanded an end to the racial disparities in school funding, which this year shortchanged school districts educating the highest proportion of Black and Hispanic students by an average of $2,240 per student compared to their fair share according to Pennsylvania’s own funding formula (Act 35 of 2016). A substantial racial disparity will still exist because Gov. Wolf’s proposal also calls for a special adjustment amount, outside of the fair funding formula, to ensure that no district gets a decrease in funding. There will still be more work in future years to eliminate the remaining racial bias.

https://www.pottsmerc.com/opinion/readers-views-gov-wolfs-school-funding-plan-is-a-step-forward/article_01c8b1ba-6fdb-11eb-8c80-fbf250053f3d.html

 

Should Pa. increase education funding by raising taxes? | Pro/Con

Inquirer Commentary by Laura Boyce and Jennifer Stefano Posted: February 15, 2021 - 9:32 AM

Laura Boyce of Teach Plus debates Jennifer Stefano of the Commonwealth Foundation.

Laura Boyce is the Pennsylvania Executive Director of Teach Plus. lboyce@teachplus.org

Jennifer Stefano is the vice president and chief strategy officer of the Commonwealth Foundation. She is the vice chair of Broad and Liberty.

Gov. Tom Wolf’s 2021 budget proposal put education at its center, featuring an extra $1.5 billion for public schools paid for by raising personal income taxes. While officials say the plan includes tax credits that would exempt two-thirds of Pennsylvanians from the tax bump, Republican state legislators immediately pushed back against what they declared a middle-class tax increase. The Inquirer turned to the head of a teacher development nonprofit and a Commonwealth Foundation leader to debate: Should the legislature approve Gov. Wolf’s plan for education funding?

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/pennsylvania-taxes-school-funding-tom-wolf-budget-education-20210215.html

 

Philly should use the schools reopening debate to fix longer-term problems | Opinion

Tajma Cameron, For the Inquirer Posted: February 15, 2021 - 11:43 AM

As author Adrienne Maree Brown wrote, “Things are not getting worse, they are getting uncovered. We must hold each other tight and continue to pull back the veil.” For communities of color, COVID-19 has compounded the inequities prevalent in K-12 schools as virtual instruction has replaced face-to-face instruction for the foreseeable future. School closures and the transition to remote learning have resulted in millions of students losing access to education and crucial health resources. While efforts have been focused on reopening Philadelphia schools, the district must be as focused on addressing the issues that were present before the pandemic and its long-term consequences. COVID-19 has entrenched educational inequities for communities of color. In November, citing a surge in COVID-19 cases, Philadelphia schools reversed their decision to reopen school buildings, continuing virtual instruction until a later date. Ensuring the physical safety of students is paramount, making the decision to remain virtual during an uncontrolled pandemic prudent and necessary. But because of the preexisting lack of access to the internet and other services important for learning environments, students in communities of color have been disproportionately affected by school closures. Furthermore, students in need of services such as special education, including one-to-one care, are at an even greater disadvantage due to distance education. New evidence shows that the loss of learning caused by the pandemic may extend beyond the pandemic.

https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/philly-school-reopening-safety-buildings-digital-divide-mental-health-20210215.html

 

Wilkes-Barre Area expecting schools to reopen in two weeks

Citizens Voice BY MICHAEL P. BUFFER STAFF WRITER Feb 15, 2021 Updated 7 hrs ago

Wilkes-Barre Area School District Superintendent Brian Costello said Monday he is optimistic in-person classes will resume March 1, as tentatively planned. During a virtual school board meeting, Costello noted Luzerne County COVID-19 metrics are “trending in the right direction, which is definitely good news for our district.” Test positivity in Luzerne County from Feb. 5 through Thursday was 8.5%, down from 10.4% over the previous seven days, and the county incidence rate was 174.2 cases per 100,000 residents, down from 215.8. The state recommends all-virtual learning or a blended model with in-person learning only for elementary school students for schools in counties with substantial transmission. The guidance is not a mandate. Substantial transmission is defined as having a test positivity rate of at least 10% or an incidence rate of at least 100 new cases per 100,000 residents over seven days. Wilkes-Barre Area will remain in the fully remote learning mode in February and suspended in-person classes when Luzerne County moved from moderate to substantial transmission in late October. The county incidence rate was 138.8 from Oct. 30 to Nov. 5 and surged to 663 from Dec. 11-17.

https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/wilkes-barre-area-expecting-schools-to-reopen-in-two-weeks/article_77b16834-fff2-59ff-94d8-45f6bfacd51d.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share

 

Carbondale Area students head back to the classroom on March 8

Times Tribune BY KATHLEEN BOLUS STAFF WRITER Feb 15, 2021

Students in the Carbondale Area School District will begin a phased return to hybrid, in-person learning on Monday, March 8. The first to return to their classrooms the second Monday in March will be prekindergarten to second grade students, high-incident special education students in kindergarten to 12th grade and Carbondale Area Achievement Program students. They will be followed by third to ninth graders on March 15, and finally sophomores, juniors and seniors on March 22, Superintendent Holly Sayre said during Wednesday’s virtual school board meeting. The students have been learning completely remote since the beginning of the school year. “Our goal is going to be to maintain the strict protocols outlined in our health and safety plan, and we believe this is accomplished by using a measured approach beginning with a small group of students,” Sayre said.

https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/education/carbondale-area-students-head-back-to-the-classroom-on-march-8/article_fbd88d8d-5c48-53ab-951a-46c14ce136aa.html

 

Some high schools change mask policy to avoid WPIAL playoff forfeits

MIKE WHITE Pittsburgh Post-Gazette mwhite@post-gazette.com FEB 15, 2021

Some WPIAL schools still have a policy on masks, not allowing their basketball teams to play an opponent that doesn’t wear masks in the regular season. But if the mask issue means forfeiting a WPIAL playoff game, then hold on. Some of those same schools have reversed field and decided opponents in masks isn’t a must after all — at least not in the playoffs. The WPIAL will have “open” basketball tournaments for boys and girls this season, meaning all teams are invited to participate, regardless of record or number of games played. This is only the second time in league history that the playoffs have been “open” tournaments. The other was 1984.

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/high-school-basketball/2021/02/15/WPIAL-basketball-playoffs-masks-2021-open-tournament-Amy-Scheuneman/stories/202102150131

 

Michael Masch, former budget secretary of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia budget director, and CFO of city schools, dies at 70

Inquirer by Gary Miles, Posted: February 15, 2021- 6:23 PM

Michael Masch, 70, of Philadelphia, a longtime financial and operations manager for Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and several academic institutions, died Sunday, Feb. 7, at his home in Washington. The cause of death is pending the results of laboratory tests. He had been living with diabetes. Well known in political and academic circles, Mr. Masch served as the secretary of budget and administration for the state under former Gov. Ed Rendell from 2003-08. He had been the Philadelphia budget director from 1992-96 when Rendell was mayor, and later served as the chief financial officer of the School District of Philadelphia from 2008-12. He also had worked as vice president for budget and management at the University of Pennsylvania, senior policy analyst and researcher for the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, and vice president for finance and chief financial officer at Manhattan College.

https://www.inquirer.com/obituaries/michael-masch-budget-secretary-pennsylvania-philadelphia-school-district-obit-obituary-20210215.html

 

Keith Jarrett - Over the Rainbow (Tokyo 1984)

YouTube Runtime 5:27

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyLQGDIrGcI

 

 

All School Directors: PSBA Monthly Zoom Exchange Feb 18 12:30 - 1:30 PM

Join other PSBA-member school directors for cross-district networking and discussion on education hot topics, legislative updates and advocacy strategies. All School Directors: Monthly Exchange will be held via Zoom at 12:30 p.m. every third Thursday of the month, January through June. Geographic-based breakout rooms will be utilized to allow for discussion among school directors in the same regions of the state. Learn more or register: http://ow.ly/rW4F50DrrCq

 

Join Education Voters for "PA School Funding and Advocacy 101" for an overview of school funding issues, an update on the school funding lawsuit and more.

Education Voters PA February 2021

Click HERE to register for one of our webinars.

Fri, Feb 19, 12:00pm–1:00pm EST

Tue, Feb 23, 7:00pm–8:00pm EST

Questions we will answer include:

  • How are schools funded in PA?
  • Who decides how much funding my local schools get?
  • What is the Basic Education Funding Formula (fair funding formula)?
  • Why does Pennsylvania have the widest funding gap between wealthy and poor school districts of any state in the country?
  • How are charter schools funded and how can the current system be reformed?
  • How can I most effectively advocate for the school funding students in my district and throughout Pennsylvania's need and deserve?

We will also provide a brief update on Pennsylvania's school funding lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial this year. (Visit www.FundOurSchoolsPa.org to learn more!) And we'll have plenty of time for Q&A. I hope that you'll join us and/or share this invitation with people in your network who are interested in learning more and getting involved.

 

Virtual Town Hall on education fair funding co- sponsored by Avon Grove Charter School and Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools set Feb. 24

West Chester Daily Local by MediaNews Group February 6, 2021

WEST GROVE—There will be a virtual Town Hall Meeting on Fair Funding in Education on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 7 pm. The public is invited. The Town Hall is being co- sponsored by Avon Grove Charter School and Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools. Topics include: problem solve fair funding solutions; learn how public schools are funded in PA.;  learn about the differences between charter & district schools funding.

All are welcome. RSVP Link - https://forms.gle/8of8ARxr7Zfdfmp97.

 

PSBA Spring Virtual Advocacy Day - MAR 22, 2021

PSBA Website January 2021

All public school leaders are invited to join us for our spring Virtual Advocacy Day on Monday, March 22, 2021, via Zoom. We need all of you to help strengthen our advocacy impact. The day will center around contacting legislators to discuss critical issues affecting public education. Registrants will receive the meeting invitation with a link to our spring Virtual Advocacy Day website that contains talking points, a link to locate contact information for your legislator and additional information to help you have a successful day.

Cost: Complimentary for members

Registration: Registration is available under Event Registration on myPSBA.org.

https://www.psba.org/event/psba-spring-virtual-advocacy-day/

 

Attend the NSBA 2021 Online Experience April 8-10

NSBA is pleased to announce the transformation of its in-person NSBA 2021 Annual Conference & Exposition to the NSBA 2021 Online Experience. This experience will bring world-class programming, inspirational keynotes, top education solution providers, and plentiful networking opportunities. Join us on April 8-10, 2021, for a fully transformed and memorable event!

https://www.nsba.org/Events/NSBA-2021-Online-Experience

 

The 2021 PA Educational Leadership Summit, hosted by the PA Principals Association and the PA Association of School Administrators (PASA), is being held from August 1-3 at the Kalahari Resorts and Convention Center, Poconos

PA Principals Association Thursday, February 11, 2021 8:54 AM

PIL Hours Available! See links below to register and for further information.

Click here to register today!

Click here for the informational flyer and details.

 

NPE/NPE Action Conference In Philly was rescheduled to October 23/24 due to concerns w/ COVID19.

Network for Public Education

NPE will be sending information to registrants very soon!

https://npeaction.org/2021-conference/

 

Adopt the 2020 PSBA resolution for charter school funding reform

In this legislative session, PSBA has been leading the charge with the Senate, House of Representatives and the Governor’s Administration to push for positive charter reform. We’re now asking you to join the campaign: Adopt the resolution: We’re asking all school boards to adopt the 2020 resolution for charter school funding reform at your next board meeting and submit it to your legislators and to PSBA.

Resolution for charter funding reform (pdf)

Link to submit your adopted resolution to PSBA

 

358 PA school boards have adopted charter reform resolutions

Charter school funding reform continues to be a concern as over 350 school boards across the state have adopted a resolution calling for legislators to enact significant reforms to the Charter School Law to provide funding relief and ensure all schools are held to the same quality and ethics standards. Now more than ever, there is a growing momentum from school officials across the state to call for charter school funding reform. Legislators are hearing loud and clear that school districts need relief from the unfair funding system that results in school districts overpaying millions of dollars to charter schools.

The school boards from the following districts have adopted resolutions calling for charter funding reform. 

https://www.psba.org/2020/03/adopted-charter-reform-resolutions/

 

Know Your Facts on Funding and Charter Performance. Then Call for Charter Change!

PSBA Charter Change Website:

https://www.pacharterchange.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.

 


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