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
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These daily
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Keystone
State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for Feb. 1, 2021
The formula used to
determine funding for cyber/charter schools is designed for brick and mortar
schools
PSBA Spring Virtual Advocacy Day March 22 via Zoom
@PSBA @PASA public school leaders are invited to join us
for our spring Virtual Advocacy Day on Monday, March 22, 2021, via Zoom.
Registration on http://myPSBA.org.
Merlyn Clarke is a friend of this blog
and a long time Stroudsburg Area School District Board of Education member.
Your View: Bill would
extend the evils of gerrymandering to Pennsylvania courts
By MERLYN
CLARKE THE MORNING CALL | JAN 29, 2021 AT 7:00 AM
One of the
thorniest issues dividing Americans since the foundation of the republic is the
question of how representation should work. The anti-federalists, who opposed
the adoption of the Constitution, argued that the people’s representatives
should mirror those they represented. Representatives should have the same
beliefs, occupational backgrounds, ideally share the same religion and
certainly hail from the same community. In short, they believed their
representatives should “look like us.” The Federalists, who supported the
adoption of the Constitution, argued otherwise. Of primary concern to them were
the evils of faction and the “tyranny of majorities.” They feared powerful factions, especially
majority factions, would seize power and oppress minorities.They understood the
near impossibility of selecting representatives who were truly reflective of an
entire constituency, with the result that minorities would find themselves
essentially unrepresented in the face of a dominant, largely homogeneous
majority. The remedy to these dangers was best articulated by James Madison in
his famous Federalist Number 10, in which he laid out the advantages of what he
called the “large republic,” which would provide protections against the evils
of factions. By creating legislative districts that were geographically large
and diverse, representatives would not become the captives of a single dominant
majority. Instead they would have to appeal to a geographically diverse public
and serve as brokers who would need to find common ground among many groups and
interests in order to secure a majority of votes — a majority that was
numerical, but not based on a dominant, common interest.
https://www.mcall.com/opinion/mc-opi-gerrymandering-pennsylvania-courts-clarke-20210129-rwd2s5zj3vadzor34pdssceiiq-story.html
EDUCATION: Amid the pandemic, public
schools did not get a funding increase from the state this year. The state's
school construction subsidy program is dormant, as are efforts to fix a charter
school-funding scheme that public schools view as vastly unfair and debilitating
to their finances. At the same time, Pennsylvania is barely using a funding
formula it designed to iron out inequities in how it funds the poorest public
schools. School districts have, however, received billions in federal pandemic
aid, but school boards will want to see Wolf propose a funding increase for
them. “I'm really hoping that the governor has a robust proposal for public
education next Tuesday, because the school children deserve it and we have to
figure out how to get them the help they deserve,” Hughes said.
What to watch for in
Pennsylvania governor's budget proposal
Martinsville
Bulletin By MARC LEVY Associated Press January 30, 2021
HARRISBURG,
Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf has weathered knock-down, drag-out budget fights with
lawmakers, massive and unforeseen cash deficits and, now in his next-to-last
year, perhaps the heaviest dose of financial stress and unpredictability he's
seen. On Tuesday, the Democrat will deliver his seventh budget proposal to
Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled Legislature, facing a pandemic that has
helped spawn a projected multibillion-dollar state operating deficit and other
liabilities, including fast-expanding Medicaid rolls, new debts and a cash
crunch that let other problems fester. Still, nobody in Harrisburg is talking
about tax increases or spending cuts to balance the budget. Rather, Wolf is
hoping that more federal pandemic aid will rescue the state's finances until
the economy recovers. “I think we should have a strong bounce-back, and that
would make moving forward really good, but we have some one-time challenges in
this budget and a lot of it is riding on what the federal government
does," Wolf told a Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce audience this
month. Underscoring the unpredictability of the situation, Wolf told reporters
Thursday, “We’re all flying in an area of unknowns.” The budget for the fiscal
year beginning July 1 is being launched into the state Capitol's highly
political blame game over the government's coronavirus response.
https://martinsvillebulletin.com/news/national/govt-and-politics/what-to-watch-for-in-pennsylvania-governors-budget-proposal/article_e6977659-cec2-5697-82b3-0ecb51f37479.html
“If they’re doing it online…I can do it
online a whole lot cheaper. They’re still getting money as if they were turning
on lights and building a building and heating the building and putting carpet
in the building and whatever else you need for the building,” he
said. “They’re getting paid to run a building and they’re not running a
building,” he added. Ulmer indicated that he had shared the
information with local legislators and that they were “shocked.”
Cyber, charter
schooling may cost JSASD $3.2M this year
Lock Haven
Express by PAT CROSSLEY SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS JAN 29, 2021
JERSEY SHORE
— If the number of students from the Jersey Shore Area School District
attending cyber/charter schools holds at about 200 for the rest of the school
year, the district will spend $3.2 million for their education, according to
figures compiled by Dr. Brian Ulmer, superintendent. Ulmer’s data showed that
figure compares to the $628,000 that will be spent to educate approximately the
same amount of students in the district’s cyber program, JSOL. Ulmer shared the
information with the district’s school board at their meeting Monday night. The
cost of educating a student in either special or regular education in the
district’s program is $3,000 per student per year, while the cost for educating
a special education student in the cyber/charter school setting is $25,849 per
year and in regular education the cost is $12,266 per student per year. Ulmer
pointed out that the formula used to determine funding for cyber/charter
schools is designed for brick and mortar schools.
https://www.lockhaven.com/news/community/2021/01/cyber-charter-schooling-may-cost-jsasd-3-2m-this-year/
Report says
Pennsylvania’s ‘hold harmless’ school funding system is actually harmful to some
districts
By Mike
DeNardo KYW Newsradio January 30, 2021
PHILADELPHIA
(KYW Newsradio) — A
new report by nonprofit advocacy group Public Citizens for Children and Youth
says growing school districts are being shortchanged by the way in which
Pennsylvania funds education. The issue is a system known as “hold
harmless,” which is Pennsylvania’s practice of
giving school districts at least as much funding as they got
the year before. The PCCY report says the policy effectively gives shrinking
districts more per-pupil funding than districts where enrollment is growing. According
to the report, shrinking districts have lost a total of 167,000 students —
one-fifth of their student body — since 1991-92. PCCY Executive Director Donna
Cooper said in the last 29 years under hold harmless, districts with dropping
enrollment have been paid $590 million for students they no longer educate. Meanwhile,
growing districts have 204,000 more students now than in 1991-92, but they have
largely been denied additional funding to compensate for that increase.
https://www.radio.com/kywnewsradio/news/local/report-pa-s-school-funding-system-hinders-some-districts
Cancel the PSSAs and
Keystones in 2021
Pennsylvania
USA Today Network Editorial Board
York Daily
Record February 1, 2021
It was March
19 when the Pennsylvania Department of Education announced that it was
cancelling all Spring 2020 PSSA tests and Keystone exams due to COVID-19. That
means there's still plenty of time for the department to do likewise for 2021.
We believe it should. For the state, that means requesting and obtaining
federal waivers of testing and accountability requirements for the 2020-2021
school year. We believe it is both illogical and inappropriate to push
standardized tests under circumstances that are anything but standard as
COVID-19 has many Pennsylvania school districts ping-ponging back and forth
between virtual, in-person and hybrid education models to adjust
to shifting infection rates and public opinions. The Pennsylvania
System of School Assessments measure elementary and middle school student
performance with an eye toward assessing whether the schools are meeting
academic standards in language arts, math, science and technology. The
Keystones are state-mandated end-of-course tests given to middle school
and high school students that require them to show proficiency in core subjects
in order to graduate. The Keystones are also a key component of a school's
Act 82 Building Level Score, which gauges the effectiveness of principals and
teachers on a building-by-building basis.
https://www.ydr.com/story/opinion/2021/02/01/editorial-cancel-pssa-and-keystone-assessments-2021/4297025001/
Philadelphia board
promises change after report on low achievement, racial disparities
Chalkbeat
Philly By Dale
Mezzacappa Jan 29, 2021, 2:47pm EST
A report presented Thursday to the Philadelphia
Board of Education showed that just 32% of third graders read on grade level,
with stark gaps among racial groups and particularly low scores for English
language learners and students with disabilities. The report classified 63
elementary schools as “off-track,” 64 as “near-track” and 21 as “on-track,”
categories based on their progress toward meeting five-year goals in reading,
math, and college readiness. The benchmarks for the report were gleaned through
the district’s internal reading assessment, AIMSweb. Those considered on-track
are likely to reach the goal of having 62% of students proficient by 2026. In a
stark example of inequity within the district, the board’s data show that
schools considered on track enroll fewer than 5,000 students and are
disproportionately white, while the near-track and off-track schools enroll
more than 31,000 students in the grades studied, kindergarten to third grade.
https://philadelphia.chalkbeat.org/2021/1/29/22256660/philadelphia-board-gets-report-on-low-achievement-racial-disparities-promises-change
As schools seek to
reopen, here’s what local data say about in-person classes and COVID-19
As schools
seek to reopen, administrators are cautiously optimistic that they can keep
students in classrooms.
Inquirer by Jason Laughlin, and Maddie Hanna January 31, 2021
On Monday,
the Cheltenham School District will reopen classrooms for the first time since
emptying them almost a year ago as COVID-19 hit the area. Though coronavirus
cases are higher now than in the fall, Superintendent Wagner Marseille feels
prepared. The district has consulted health experts, installed air purifiers in
its oldest buildings, and watched as other communities have ushered students
back into schools. “It was fear of the unknown,” Marseille said of starting the
school year online. But many schools have been in person since the fall, “and
they have found ways to make it work.” As has become commonplace during the
pandemic, uncertainty abounds. Marseille was unsure enough teachers would
return to work Monday to staff in-person classes, something he warned parents
was a possibility as late as Friday night. And after months of students staying
home, predictions of significant snowfall could make their first day back a
snow day. But more in-person schooling is coming. Marseille is among the
educators buoyed by federal health officials who say data from several states and Europe indicate “little evidence that schools have
contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission.”
https://fusion.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/school-philadelphia-cheltenham-covid-reopen-pennsylvania-wissahickon-safety-20210131.html
Will Philly’s third
attempt at school reopening stick? Teachers are wary and parents are split.
If any
teacher chooses not to go back over safety concerns, “we support them in making
that decision," a member of the teacher's union's Caucus of Working
Educators said.
Inquirer by Kristen
A. Graham Published Jan 30, 2021
After
COVID-19 abruptly ended 120,000 Philadelphia students’ in-person education in
March, children were set to return to classrooms in September until community
pushback scuttled that attempt. The next plan had some young people returning
in November. But a surge in coronavirus cases kept doors closed. Superintendent
William R. Hite Jr. announced Wednesday the district was trying again: Prekindergarten through second-grade
students can return to classes two days a week beginning Feb. 22, with staff
who work with those children due back Feb. 8. Will this return plan stick? It’s
not clear; the teachers’ union hasn’t signed off, though Mayor Jim Kenney, City
Council, and the school board have emphasized their desire to have children
back in school as soon as possible.
https://fusion.inquirer.com/education/philadelphia-school-district-reopening-20210130.html
As 2,000 NEPA
educators receive COVID-19 vaccine, others wait for their turn
Times
Tribune BY SARAH HOFIUS HALL AND KATHLEEN BOLUS STAFF WRITERS Jan 31, 2021
School
personnel in at least 13 of the 22 school districts in Lackawanna, Pike,
Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties have received at least the first dose
of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The
superintendent of the Riverside School District reaches out to health care
providers daily, desperately seeking COVID-19 vaccinations to keep employees
safe and in the classroom.
As he sees
nearly 2,000 educators in Northeast Pennsylvania get the opportunity, he
wonders when Riverside’s staff will receive the same. “Our teachers are in the
trenches. We are fighting for their health and safety,” Superintendent Paul
Brennan said. “And we’re also fighting for our society. The work we do helps
make society run.” But in Northeast Pennsylvania, vaccine distributions to
school districts are often based on local connections, and not a statewide
plan. Superintendents are left to reach out to hospitals, pharmacies and other
medical facilities daily, hoping to secure enough doses for employees. For some
districts, such as Scranton, a vaccinated staff will mean the district is one
step closer to reopening its doors for the first time since March.
https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/education/as-2-000-nepa-educators-receive-covid-19-vaccine-others-wait-for-their-turn/article_f220d33f-1937-5f56-840c-bcba2fa22e77.html
The local Black
history hidden in Philadelphia’s school names
WHYY By Avi Wolfman-Arent February 1, 2021
Philadelphia’s
school buildings are a tribute to its past. That’s true of the structures
themselves, some of which date back over a century. But it’s also a nod to the
people commemorated in the names of those school buildings. Those names — in
ways big and small — help tell the city’s history. The vast majority of public
schools in the city are
named after white men. (The
school-namers of yore were partial to Union Civil War soldiers and former
school board officials.) Still, in a city that didn’t have a statue of a Black
person on public land until
2017, school buildings are among the rare public
spaces with any echo of Philadelphia’s Black history. In this handful of names
with city roots, there are stories long forgotten and glimpses of an overlooked
past. And to mark the start of Black History Month, WHYY wanted to tell some of
those stories.
https://whyy.org/articles/the-local-black-history-hidden-in-philadelphias-school-names/
Wilkes-Barre Area
planning to resume in-person learning March 1
Citizens
Voice BY
MICHAEL P. BUFFER STAFF WRITER Jan 28, 2021
Wilkes-Barre
Area School District tentatively plans to resume in-person instruction March 1,
Superintendent Brian Costello announced Thursday. The district will remain in
the fully remote learning mode in February because Luzerne County continues to
have substantial COVID-19 transmission, Costello said, noting recommendations
from the state health and education departments. 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 state
guidance is not a mandate. A county has substantial transmission when the test
positivity rate is at least 10% or the COVID-19 incidence rate is at least 100
cases per 100,000 residents over seven days. Test positivity in Luzerne County
was 11.9% from Jan. 15-21, and the county incidence rate was 295.5. Wilkes-Barre
Area began the school year in September with in-person learning for students
who chose that option 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/education/wilkes-barre-area-planning-to-resume-in-person-learning-march-1/article_8fb1a1f1-5cfe-5d82-9be5-39bafccf741d.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share
Which Centre County
schools are operating remotely due to COVID-19? Here’s a running list
Centre Daily
Times BY
MARLEY PARISH JANUARY 29, 2021 08:32 AM, UPDATED
JANUARY 29, 2021 11:19 AM
Since
reopening in August, Centre County school districts have been forced to make
adjustments to instructional plans as community COVID-19 cases continue to rise
and statewide mitigation efforts aim to slow virus transmission. The
Centre Daily Times is keeping a running list of school closures and planned
reopenings. Because area schools are not required to publicly announce
confirmed cases or building closures, this list may not be comprehensive but
will be updated weekly with any changes or updates to instructional plans. If a
school closure is not listed, or to provide more information, please email
cdtnewstips@centredaily.com.
https://www.centredaily.com/news/rebuild/article247509800.html#storylink=mainstage_card
Philly school board
silences teachers, parents, and students with new meeting structure | Opinion
This board
cannot achieve any of their stated goals unless they repair the trust and
relationships with the people in the schools: the students, families, and
teachers.
by Stephanie
King, For The Inquirer Published Jan 29, 2021
Stephanie
King is the president of Kearny Friends, the community group supporting Gen.
Philip Kearny School in Northern Liberties.
Philadelphia
schools freed themselves from the state control of the School Reform Commission
thanks to the sustained activism of numerous parents, teachers, and students
across the city. But now that we have a school board appointed by the mayor,
the current board and superintendent seem determined, at every opportunity, to
shut out the voices of those they serve. With the unveiling of their new “Goals
and Guardrails,” the board has promised a renewed focus,
but they have repeatedly shown contempt for our voices. According to the school
board, Goals and Guardrails aims to prioritize diverse voices and to create
time for the board to spend more of its time scrutinizing the administration on
academic performance. This board cannot achieve any of their stated goals
unless they repair the trust and relationships with the people in the schools:
the students, families, and teachers. Instead, the board has responded to
increased education activism by introducing a raft of new
policies designed to silence the participation of
their main constituents. Changes include limiting the number of speakers at
each board meeting to 10 students and 30 members of the general public and
restricting each speaker to two minutes. The board has replaced committee
meetings — which were the only chance for the public to comment on initiatives
before they come to a vote at action meetings — with written comments that are
little more than a suggestion box.
https://fusion.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/philadelphia-school-board-goals-and-guardrails-parents-meetings-20210129.html
Area school officials
planning to spend COVID-19 relief funding
Wilkes Barre
Citizens Voice BY
MICHAEL P. BUFFER STAFF WRITER February 1, 2021
Area school
officials are busy planning applications for the latest federal allocation of
COVID-19 relief money. School districts in Luzerne County and the Bear Creek
Community Charter School will receive a total of $61.7 million, according to a
preliminary estimate from the state Department of Education. The funding is
from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act’s
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund passed by Congress in
December. Pennsylvania’s allocation is $2.2 billion. Allocations will be about
four times what schools received in the first round of relief funding last
spring. Districts must submit applications to receive their allotments. Lake-Lehman
School District’s allotment of nearly $1.1 million “necessitates time and
collaboration prior to making a spending plan,” Superintendent James McGovern
said. Funds may be applied to costs dating back to the onset of the national
emergency on March 13, 2020, and can cover spending obligations through Sept.
30, 2023. “We are carefully analyzing our needs,” Wyoming Area Superintendent
Janet Serino said. Districts and charter schools can use the funds for various
purposes including: technology, sanitization, improving indoor air quality,
facility improvements to reduce virus-transmission risk and addressing learning
loss among students. Wyoming Valley West School District is “in the very early
stages of putting together a committee to examine and implement a comprehensive
needs assessment plan” on how to spend its allocation of nearly $7.6 million,
Superintendent David Tosh said. “Recouping lost learning for students and
infusing new, more advanced technology will be critical components of the plan
that is in the very early stages as we complete the application,” Tosh said.
https://www.citizensvoice.com/news/area-school-officials-planning-to-spend-covid-19-relief-funding/article_fe05f7f1-e382-5b21-a511-2c042bd1f4e3.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=user-share
Keystone Oaks
teachers go on strike
HALLIE LAUER
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette FEB 1, 2021 6:00 AM
The teachers
at Keystone Oaks School District announced Sunday that they will go on strike
Monday, as they and the district’s board of school directors have not yet
reached an agreement on a new contract. Classes are canceled until further
notice. However, the district must complete 180 days of school by June 15,
according to state law, which leaves the union only six days to strike. That
means the strike can last no longer than Feb. 9, based on the number of makeup
days the district has remaining. “Our hope is that an agreement can be reached
and students can return to classes as soon as possible,” Superintendent William
Stropkaj said in a statement on the school district’s website.
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2021/01/31/Keystone-Oaks-teachers-plan-to-go-on-strike-monday-Feb-1-contract/stories/202101310223
Angela Reese, wife of
Mike Reese, to run for late husband’s state House seat
Trib Live by
JACOB
TIERNEY | Friday, January 29,
2021 7:15 p.m.
Angela Reese
said she hopes to carry on her late husband’s legacy by running for his former
seat in the state House. Mike Reese, 42, a Republican, died of an apparent brain aneurysm Jan. 2. He was reelected in November to
a seventh term representing the 59th Legislative District after running
unopposed. “It was a very difficult decision, not something I wanted to have to
think about right away. … I spent a lot of time talking with family and close
friends, and it just seemed like the right thing to do,” Angela Reese said. “We
did everything as a family, and I just wanted to continue that and continue his
legacy.” A special election to
fill the seat will be held May 18.
https://triblive.com/local/westmoreland/angie-reese-wife-of-mike-reese-to-run-for-late-husbands-state-house-seat/
Improper mask usage?
No playing. Bethlehem made right call to suspend Liberty High School hoops team
By PAUL
MUSCHICK THE MORNING CALL |JAN 29, 2021 AT 8:00
AM
I hope other
school districts are willing to bench their sports teams if they don’t wear
masks properly while competing, as Bethlehem Area recently did. Superintendent
Joseph Roy suspended the Liberty High School boys basketball team from
practices and games for three days. His decision came after he and school board
members saw photos of players wearing masks around their chin or under their
nose during a game last week. Not all school districts require athletes to wear
masks. But those that do need to enforce the rule. Liberty plays in the Eastern
Pennsylvania Conference, which requires masks.
https://www.mcall.com/opinion/mc-opi-liberty-basketball-mask-suspension-muschick-20210129-fri4a6tfavhenbvljk55myhtpq-story.html
Radnor school
officials outline mascot change procedures
Delco Times By
Richard Ilgenfritz rilgenfritz@21st-centurymedia.com Jan 29, 2021
RADNOR –
Months after voting to dump the Raiders name and Native American imagery, Radnor
school officials have begun moving toward its rebranding. In September, the
board voted unanimously to drop all Native American imagery. On the same night,
they cast a second vote to drop the Raiders nickname. At Tuesday night’s school
board meeting, Michael Petitti, director of communications for the school
district, and Dan Bechtold, director of secondary teaching and learning,
outlined the steps moving forward to decide on a new nickname and mascot. But
first they have to continue the purging of all the older images. According to
Petitti, district officials will identify instances where Native American
imagery, including anything with the “R” and feathers or the name Raiders and
remove it. The Native American head on the side of the school has already been
removed, he said. Other items, such as a score table with a Native American
image and chairs with both the name Raiders and an image of a Native American,
have been selected to be removed, he said. Although some things have been
removed and changed, one uncertainty is how much everything will cost the
district.
https://www.delcotimes.com/news/radnor-school-officials-outline-mascot-change-procedures/article_6a94d067-982b-5dbf-9504-8f1f705bd60b.html
Why we’re removing
comments on most of Inquirer.com
The comments
on far too many Inquirer.com stories are toxic and have gotten worse as
mounting extremism and election denialism pollute our national discourse. Our
staff and readers deserve better.
The
Philadelphia Inquirer February 1, 2021
As of today,
we are removing comments from most of Inquirer.com. Comments will still be available on Sports
stories and our Inquirer Live events, and there will be other ways for people
to engage with our journalism and our journalists, including our letters
section, social media channels and other features that our readers have become
accustomed to, as well as new capabilities that we’re developing. Here’s more
about this change and what you can expect to see.
https://fusion.inquirer.com/about/philadelphia-inquirer-comments-section-changes-20210201.html
Flip in control of
U.S. Senate may give both of Pa.’s members more clout, in different ways
Penn Live By Charles Thompson |
cthompson@pennlive.com Posted Jan
29, 2021
There is a
case to be made that the control-shifting results of the 2020 elections could
amplify the clout of both of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senators — one Democrat, one
Republican — in the upcoming 117th Congress. Besides the inauguration of
President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the big change this year, after the two January
run-off elections in Georgia, is the retaking of the Senate by the Democrats. Of course, 50 Democrats to 50
Republicans with Vice President Kamala Harris as tie-breaker is the slimmest
majority any party can have. But, said Jessica Taylor, who watches U.S. Senate
politics for the Cook Political Report newsletter, “it is still a majority, so
I think it’s better (for any senator) to be in power than out of power. And the
fact that they (Democrats) have the power in the House and the White House also
carries a lot of weight.” That’s good news for Sen. Robert P. Casey, a
third-term Democrat who goes from a member of the minority party seemingly destined
to butt heads with the Republican president, to being part of a majority with a
chance to work with a Democrat in the Oval Office. And some say the shift also
may make for interesting times for Republican Sen. Patrick Toomey, who has been
called upon to broker bipartisan deals in the past, and whose skills in that
regard may be needed more than ever as Democrats try to move some policy ideas
with bipartisan support.
https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/01/flip-in-control-of-us-senate-may-give-both-of-pas-members-more-clout-in-different-ways.html
Biden administration
urged to allow states to cancel spring standardized testing
Washington Post
By Valerie
Strauss Reporter Jan. 30, 2021 at 6:00 a.m. EST
Calls are
growing for President Biden and Miguel Cardona, the man expected to be
confirmed as his education secretary, to give states permission not to give
student federally mandated standardized tests this spring. Some states have
already declared they will seek a waiver from the federal mandate, and now more
than 70 local, state and national organizations joined to sign a letter (see
text below) to Cardona urging him to let states use other assessments to
determine how much progress students have made this year. More than 10,000
individuals signed it as well.
The letter
says in part: “It does not take a standardized assessment to know that for
millions of America’s children, the burden of learning remotely, either full-
or part-time, expands academic learning gaps between haves and have nots.
Whenever children are able to return fully to their classrooms, every
instructional moment should be dedicated to teaching, not to teasing out test
score gaps that we already know exist. If the tests are given this spring, the
scores will not be released until the fall of 2021 when students have different
teachers and may even be enrolled in a different school. Scores will have
little to no diagnostic value when they finally arrive. Simply put, a test is a
measure, not a remedy.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/01/30/biden-administration-urged-allow-states-cancel-spring-standardized-testing/
School reopenings are
Biden's first big test
Beaver County
Times Opinion By Michael R. Bloomberg February 1, 2021
America’s
schoolchildren and teachers have just gotten some very good news from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. After reviewing data from multiple
studies in the U.S. and abroad, the agency has concluded that in-person
schooling poses very little risk of coronavirus transmission as long as basic
safety precautions are followed. That should send a clear message to governors,
mayors and teachers union leaders: It’s time to open the schools. In addition
to the terrible toll COVID-19 has taken on the nation’s health, it’s been a
calamity for American education. Only about 15% of school districts offered
full-time in-person classes last fall. For students and parents elsewhere, the
pandemic has meant navigating novel and often dubious remote-learning software.
Any parent of a young child can attest that virtual instruction typically falls
somewhere between subpar and hopeless.
https://www.timesonline.com/story/opinion/2021/02/01/op-ed-school-reopenings-president-bidens-first-big-test/4309486001/
“The problem is not that schools are
unsafe for children,” Mr. Johnson said last week. “The problem is schools may
nonetheless act as vectors for transmission, causing the virus to spread
between households.”
Europe’s Schools Are
Closing Again on Concerns They Spread Covid-19
Countries
are abandoning pledges to keep classrooms open as concerns mount over
children’s capacity to pass on the virus
Wall Street Journal
by Ruth Bender Updated Jan. 16, 2021 9:40 am ET
BERLIN—As
U.S. authorities debate whether to keep schools open, a consensus is emerging
in Europe that children are a considerable factor in the spread of Covid-19—and
more countries are shutting schools for the first time since the spring. Closures
have been announced recently in the U.K., Germany, Ireland, Austria, Denmark
and the Netherlands on concerns about a more infectious variant of the virus first detected in the U.K. and rising case
counts despite lockdowns. While the debate continues, recent studies and
outbreaks show that schoolchildren, even younger ones, can play a significant
role in spreading infections. “In the second wave we acquired much more
evidence that schoolchildren are almost equally, if not more infected by
SARS-CoV-2 than others,“ said Antoine Flahault, director of the University of
Geneva’s Institute of Global Health. Schools have represented one of the most
contentious issues of the pandemic given the possible long-term impact of
closures on children and the economic fallout from parents being forced to stay
home. The recent shutdown of schools was especially dramatic in England. U.K.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson initially planned to keep elementary
schools there open after the Christmas break, but changed course amid soaring infections. After one day back, schools were closed
until further notice. Plans to gradually reopen high schools through January
were also scrapped.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/europes-schools-are-closing-again-on-concerns-they-spread-covid-19-11610805601
PSBA: Upcoming PA budget
recap webinar Feb. 3rd
POSTED
ON JANUARY 15, 2021 IN PSBA NEWS
On Tuesday,
February 2, Gov. Tom Wolf will present his 2021-22 state budget proposal before
a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives. Following the
governor’s budget address, the Senate and House appropriations committees will
convene hearings beginning March 15 on specific components of the proposal. The
PSBA Government Affairs team will be providing members with complete coverage
of the governor’s budget proposal, budget details and resources for school
boards on February 3 from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Claim your spot for the budget
recap here.
https://www.psba.org/2021/01/gov-wolf-to-present-budget-address-february-2/
Join PFPS and NPE for
“Fighting Voucher Legislation in 2021: An Update on State Voucher Bills and
Tools to Oppose Them” Webinar Feb. 4th 4 p.m.
Author: PFPS
Posted: Jan 28, 2021
Public Funds
Public Schools resumes our engaging and well attended webinar series begun in
2020 with the first installment of 2021. Join PFPS and the Network for Public
Education on Thursday, February 4, at 4 p.m. EST for an important and topical
webinar, “Fighting Voucher Legislation in 2021: An Update on State Voucher
Bills and Tools to Oppose Them.”
Panelists
will discuss the significant private school voucher bills that have already
been introduced in State Legislatures around the country, additional legislative
action to watch for during 2021 legislative sessions, and tools and resources
made available to advocates by PFPS and others. The webinar will feature
representatives from the SPLC Action Fund and Education Law Center, which
support the PFPS campaign, and from the National Coalition for Public
Education, as well as Carol Burris, Executive Director of the Network for
Public Education.
Use
this link to register for Fighting Voucher Legislation: An Update
on State Voucher Bills and Tools to Oppose Them on February 4 at 4 p.m.
EST.
https://pfps.org/join-pfps-and-npe-for-%E2%80%9Cfighting-voucher-legislation-in-2021-an-update-on-state-voucher-bills-and-tools-to-oppose-them%E2%80%9D.html
EDUCATION
CONVERSATION: An Introduction to the Philadelphia School Board’s “Goals and
Guardrails” Initiative
Philadelphia
Education Fund Free Virtual Event Thursday February 4, 2021 9:00
am - 10:15 am
Attend a
typical school board meeting anywhere in the country, and the agenda will
likely be largely made up of financial, contracting, and spending resolutions.
What if, instead of school operations, a school board were to focus its
attention on student achievement? Might that accelerate gains for students?
Could that improve the student experience? Would that deliver educational
equity? Two years ago, the Philadelphia
Board of Education began consulting with education leaders across the country
to explore this question. The answer, announced just last month, is Goals and
Guardrails. The initiative has been described by former board member, Lee
Huang, as both “obvious and revolutionary.” And, Superintendent Bill Hite
called it a “game changer.” To learn more about this approach and what it might
mean for Philadelphia’s schoolchildren, register for this free event here.
Panelists
- Leticia Egea-Hinton, Vice President,
Board of Education
- Mallory Fix Lopez, Member, Board of
Education
- Angela McIver, Member, Board of
Education
https://philaedfund.org/event/an-introduction-to-the-philadelphia-school-boards-goals-and-guardrails-initiative/
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
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
342 PA school boards have
adopted charter reform resolutions
Charter school funding reform continues to be
a concern as over 330 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.
