Keystone State Education Coalition

Established in 2006, the Keystone State Education Coalition is a growing grass roots, non-partisan public education advocacy group of several hundred locally elected, volunteer school board members and administrators from school districts throughout Pennsylvania. Our mission is to evaluate, discuss and inform our boards, district constituents and legislators on legislative issues of common interest and to facilitate active engagement in public education advocacy.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

PA Ed Policy Roundup May 28: PA Supreme Court: Charter Enrollment Caps Legal and Binding

Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 3250 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher leaders, 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 and Twitter

These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org

Visit us on Facebook at KeystoneStateEducationCoalition

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

The Keystone State Education Coalition is pleased to be listed among the friends and allies of The Network for Public Education. Are you a member?

Keystone State Education Coalition

Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for May 28, 2014:

PA Supreme Court: Charter Enrollment Caps Legal and Binding

"Research is clear that the education process should start early with high-quality pre-kindergarten that capitalizes on a child's most rapid period of brain development. It also shows this high quality start results in improved long-term academic performance and can increase graduation rates by as much as 44 percent. Unfortunately less than 30 percent of Pennsylvania's 3 and 4-year olds have access to high-quality Pre-K. When state lawmakers return to Harrisburg in June, they should ensure that more kids are served by accepting Governor Corbett's proposed increase to Pre-K Counts as part of the final budget."

Pre-K education is an issue for the military, too: PennLive letters

PennLive Letters to the Editor on May 27, 2014 at 6:16 AM By THOMAS J. 'TJ' WILSON, III, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret), Executive Advisory Council, Mission: Readiness: Military Leaders for Kids, Biglerville

Adding new technology to our Armed Forces' arsenal is a critical national security strategy. New weapons - like the Navy's Laser Weapon System - will redefine naval warfare. Leading edge military equipment, however, is only as good as the men and women operating it. That is why I find a Department of Defense report so troubling. It shows 75 percent of young Americans are unfit for military service because they are either too poorly educated, have serious criminal records, or are obese. This level of ineligibility among our young adults presents a real recruiting problem for the Armed Forces and a potential national security challenge.

http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2014/05/pre-k_education_is_an_issue_fo.html#incart_river

"There is no dispute that the charter school signed the 2005 charter," Justice Seamus P. McCaffery wrote in an opinion posted Tuesday afternoon on the court's website. "By doing so, it agreed to all the terms of the charter, including the enrollment cap."

State high court rules in favor of SRC charter case

MARTHA WOODALL, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: May 28, 2014, 1:08 AM

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court gave a rare bit of good news Tuesday to the cash-strapped Philadelphia School Reform Commission. The top court unanimously reversed a lower-court ruling that said the school district had illegally capped enrollment at Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School. The lower court had said the school should be paid $1.3 million from the district for students it had enrolled above the 675 enrollment maximum in its signed agreement. The Supreme Court overturned the lower court, said the charter was bound by the terms of an agreement it had signed with the district in 2005, and was not entitled to the additional money.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20140528_State_Supreme_Court_rules_in_favor_of_SRC_in_charter_case.html#lBHHX2mumVva7XgC.99

School District will try to revoke Palmer's charter

By Martha Woodall, Inquirer Staff Writer POSTED: May 25, 2014

The School District of Philadelphia has dropped plans to suspend its agreement with a troubled charter school July 1, but will move ahead with a hearing to revoke it. The district said Friday it was pursuing just revocation of Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School because a court battle over the School Reform Commission's power to suspend a charter could take months to resolve. The district said it would proceed with a charter-revocation hearing, set for June 2, that would allow Palmer Leadership to present its case for staying open. Walter D. Palmer, founder and board president, said Friday he was pleased that suspension was off the table. He said the school still hoped to negotiate with the district to resolve issues, but would participate in a hearing.

http://articles.philly.com/2014-05-25/news/50072095_1_palmer-leadership-learning-state-charter-school-law-injunction

Lawmakers say new funds Gov. Corbett wants for schools in doubt

Lancaster Online By JEFF HAWKES | Staff Writer Posted: Tuesday, May 27, 2014 9:26 am

A projected billion-dollar revenue shortfall has some state lawmakers advising schools not to count on millions in extra funding Gov. Tom Corbett proposed in February. In his election-year budget address, Corbett announced Ready to Learn grants totaling $241 million in new school funds. Lancaster County's 16 districts would have split $8.4 million. Without the money, some districts say they'll have to balance budgets by making cuts or drawing from reserves.

"Clearly my advice (to schools) would be not to count on (state) funding above what they were spending last year," said Sen. Lloyd Smucker, a Republican from West Lampeter Township.

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lawmakers-say-new-funds-gov-corbett-wants-for-schools-in/article_81ffd19e-e5a2-11e3-aebf-0017a43b2370.html

Gov. Corbett unleashes on teachers union

REGINA MEDINA, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER MEDINAR@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-5985 POSTED: Tuesday, May 27, 2014, 3:01 AM

GOV. CORBETT let national and local teachers-union leaders have it, accusing them in a letter of using last week's death of a student at South Philadelphia's Jackson Elementary as an opportunity "to grandstand and make a political statement," the letter says. The May 23 correspondence was directed to Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan, American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania president Ted Kirsch and national AFT president Randi Weingarten. "I am deeply troubled that the union leadership of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers - and by extension the American Federation of Teachers - would use the recent tragedy at Andrew Jackson Elementary School as an opportunity to make a political statement and to further your self-serving agenda," Corbett wrote.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20140527_Gov__Corbett_unleashes_on_teachers__union.html#tlwIFSpbLF7gdw4G.99

"Sheetz - former director of school health services at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health - said the findings were of particular interest in Philadelphia, where last week a first grader died after becoming ill at a school that had no full-time nurse. Jackson Elementary student Sebastian Gerena, 7, died of a congenital heart defect. It is unclear whether a full-time nurse at the school would have made a difference."

School nurses save, not cost money, new study says

KRISTEN A. GRAHAM, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: May 28, 2014, 1:08 AM

Across the country, full-time school nurses are often early victims of budget cuts, sacrificed to make ends meet in strapped school systems like Philadelphia's. But having nurses can save money, according to a new study published in the Journal of American Medicine Association Pediatrics. Every dollar spent on nursing services, the authors concluded, saves $2.20 in medical costs and lost productivity from teachers and parents. "I quite frankly don't understand how a school can function without a school nurse," Anne Sheetz, senior author of the study, said Tuesday.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20140528_School_nurses_save__not_cost_money__new_study_says.html#WOdKiwv53MhwGMth.99

Oh says he can scrounge $70 million for Philly schools

WHYY Newsworks BY TOM MACDONALD MAY 26, 2014

With prospects of a cigarette tax for Philadelphia burning down in Harrisburg, a Republican councilman is searching the city's proverbial couch cushions for cash. Councilman David Oh, one of three Republicans on council, said he and his staff have gone over Philadelphia's budget and taken some dollars from departments where they appear to have too much money to cobble together more funding for the public schools. "In the mayor's budget which he proposed, there is typically money that is somewhat in excess of what the department actually spends by the end of the year," Oh said. "When you add it all up it's about $74 million that we could look at."

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/68316-oh-says-he-can-scrounge-70-million-for-philly-schools?linktype=hp_topstory

Pittsburgh teacher absenteeism called 'startling'

By Eleanor Chute / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette May 22, 2014 10:42 PM

While Pittsburgh Public Schools has been pushing to improve student attendance, the National Council on Teacher Quality has taken a look at teacher attendance. In a report released Thursday, the council found that city teachers were out of the classroom an average of 12 days in 2012-13. About a quarter of days counted are ones approved by the district -- not sick or personal days -- including professional development and designing the district's teacher evaluation system.

http://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2014/05/23/City-teacher-absenteeism-called-startling/stories/201405230050#ixzz330LimMgY

"I wrote to Pittsburgh Public Schools superintendent Linda Lane and her Cabinet on March 26 concerning this absenteeism due to testing. It is therefore “startling” to me that Ms. Lane expressed surprise and concern when teachers used fewer than their allotted sick days but that she was not “startled” by missed classroom time related to testing. Perhaps instead of teacher bashing and using misleading headlines, you should focus on how to best support our hard-working educators."

Teacher bashing

Post-Gazette Letter to the Editor by LINDA DOERNBERG May 28, 2014 12:00 AM

The writer is a child advocate and reading specialist, who volunteers in the Pittsburgh Public Schools.

I am writing in response to Eleanor Chute’s article with the headline “Pittsburgh Teacher Absenteeism Called ‘Startling’ ” (May 23). Perhaps a better headline might have been “Dedicated teachers take fewer than allotted sick days.” With teachers constantly in contact with sick children it is “startling” that they do not miss more days. Every moment in a child’s education is precious. However, I know of teachers forced to leave their classrooms for six days in a row due to PSSA testing.

http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/letters/2014/05/28/Teacher-bashing/stories/201405280043#ixzz330MUZL6p

Saucon Valley: Teachers' contract proposal costly

The six-year deal contract proposal would have included a total 36 percent tax hike.

By Jacqueline Palochko, Of The Morning Call 10:30 p.m. EDT, May 27, 2014

Saucon Valley teachers' latest proposal would have raised property taxes dramatically and cost the school district up to $24 million in one year. Last week, the union presented the school district with a new contract proposal that the school board says is the most costly proposal yet during the two years of negotiations. During a presentation Tuesday night, the board's chief negotiator, Ed Inghrim, said there's very little chance the district will approve the proposal.

"They're asking for a contract for what we would have seen in a roaring economy," he said. "We're not in a roaring economy."

"Public School Employees’ Retirement System will cost the district $6.5 million, up from $5 million. Of that $1.5 million increase, the state contributes 50 percent. As Director Don Cadge framed this, half of the increase in property taxes needed to fund this budget goes to the retirement/pension costs."

Springfield (Delco) board approves tax hike; outsourcing of busing still being considered

By SUSAN L. SERBIN, Times Correspondent POSTED: 05/27/14, 10:08 PM EDT

SPRINGFIELD — The school board approved the 2014-2015 general fund budget of $72.8 million at the proposed preliminary final stage. It calls for a 2.54 percent tax increase, but, as Executive Director Don Mooney said, there are still unknown factors. Barring substantial changes by final adoption in June, the millage rate will be 30.0442. This puts school taxes at $3,004 for a property assessed at $100,000; $4,390 for the median assessment of $146,130; and $7,511 for a property with an assessed value of $250,000. The dollar increase of the respective values is $74, $108 and $186.

http://www.delcotimes.com/social-affairs/20140527/springfield-board-approves-tax-hike-outsourcing-of-busing-still-being-considered

"This was related to his cozy relationship with various organized labor organizations, as well as opposition to school choice and his propensity to vote for various types of corporate welfare," Knepper said. "So we took issue with his voting record."

Write-in challenger takes GOP primary, but Fleck gets Dems' nod in Pa.

WHYY Newsworks BY MARY WILSON MAY 28, 2014

Pennsylvania's first openly gay state lawmaker says he nearly lost his re-election effort because of voters' reaction to his sexual orientation, not his voting record. Rep. Mike Fleck, R-Huntingdon, has unofficially lost the Republican primary for his House district, but has won the Democratic primary by a margin of 15 write-in votes. The Department of State, which oversees elections, is expected to certify the results next week, making them final.

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/68442-write-in-challenger-takes-gop-primary-but-fleck-prevails-among-dem-voters-in-pa-primary?linktype=hp_topstory

"It also comes as some urban school districts—largely Democratic areas such as Newark, New York City, and Philadelphia—try to come to grips with the explosion of public charter schools and the ways in which they are transforming the public education landscape and redefining the traditional public school structure. In those cities, advocates on both sides of the charter debate have sparred over funding, space, and resources."

Report Maps Charter Populations in Congressional Districts

Education Week Charters & Choice Blog By Denisa R. Superville on May 22, 2014 5:55 PM

A new report by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, which shows where charter schools—and their students—are located by congressional districts, underlines the increasing growth of public charters. The report, "Details from the Dashboard," which was released Thursday, shows that 25 congressional districts each have more than 15,000 students enrolled in public charter schools, 67 have more than 10,000 students, while 102 have 20 or more public charters located within their boundaries. Twenty of the 25 congressional districts with the largest public charter enrollment are represented by Democrats. The report comes nearly two weeks after the U.S. House of Representatives voted 360- 45 to approve a new charter bill that would make it easier for successful charter operators to expand. The bill also will encourage charters to widen their outreach to special student populations, including students with disabilities and English-language learners, two groups that charter schools have been criticized for not doing their fair share to enroll.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/charterschoice/2014/05/a_new_report_by_the.html

Ohio’s charter school dropouts soar, push state in opposite direction of U.S.

By Doug Livingston Beacon Journal education writer Published: May 25, 2014 - 11:18 PM

In 2010 at age 17, Al Tonyo dropped out of a vocational high school in Cleveland but still wanted a diploma. So, he enrolled at Life Skills High School of Cleveland, one of 77 publicly funded Ohio charter schools that markets itself as a flexible alternative to traditional public schools. Then, he dropped out again. Tonyo was no exception.

Charter schools such as Life Skills, operated by Akron-based White Hat Management and targeting dropouts, are sending Ohio spinning off in the wrong direction. Dropout rates nationally are on the decline, but Ohio’s rate is on the rise.

http://www.ohio.com/news/local/ohio-s-charter-school-dropouts-soar-push-state-in-opposite-direction-of-u-s-1.490893#.U4R6BiYHPTQ.twitter

E-Rate Is Billions Short on Meeting Schools' Wireless-Network Needs, Analysis Finds

Education Week Digital Education Blog By Benjamin Herold on May 28, 2014 6:41 AM

An estimated $3.2 billion in new funds are needed to realize President Barack Obama's goal of providing all students with high-speed wireless Internet connections inside their schools and libraries by 2018, concludes a new analysis by two prominent education-technology organizations. That staggering sum represents a needed investment above and beyond the $2.4 billion currently directed to schools and libraries each year as part of the federal E-rate program. It does not include the additional billions needed to provide schools and libraries with broadband connections to the outside world, nor does it account for the estimated $1.6 billion annually it would take to maintain new in-school wireless networks once they are built.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2014/05/e-rate_is_billions_short_on_me.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW

“How Public School Funding Works in Pennsylvania—Or Doesn’t: What You Need to Know” When: Friday, May 30, 2014, 9 am to 12 pm Where: Marriott Hotel in Conshohocken, PA
Session I: "Funding Schools: What Pennsylvania Can Learn from Other States"
Key Pennsylvania legislators and public officials will respond to a presentation by Professor Robert C. Knoeppel of Clemson University, an expert on emerging trends and ideas in public school finance.

Introduction: Representative Steve Santarsiero
Moderator: Rob Wonderling, President and CEO, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce
Panel:
Charles Zogby, Secretary of the Budget, Commonwealth of PA, Senator Patrick Browne, Senator Anthony Williams, Representative Bernie O'Neill, Representative James Roebuck
Session II: "Why Smart Investments in Public Schools Are Critical to Pennsylvania's Economic Future"

A discussion with a panel of CEOs who are major employers in the region.
Introduction: Rob Loughery, Chair, Bucks County Commissioners
Panel (confirmed to date):
Michael Pearson, President and CEO, Union Packaging, Philip Rinaldi, CEO, Philadelphia Energy Solutions, Bryan Hancock, Principal, McKinsey & Company, and author: "The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools"
You can register for this free event here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-public-school-funding-works-in-pennsylvania-or-doesnt-what-you-need-to-know-tickets-11527064761?ref=ebtnebregn

2014 CONFERENCE ON THE STATE OF EDUCATION IN PENNSYLVANIA

60 YEARS AFTER BROWN HOW ARE THE CHILDREN? WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?

Saturday, May 31, 2014 - 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (8:30 Registration)

MARCUS FOSTER STUDENT UNION 2^ND FLR. CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, DE Co. Campus

Keynote Speaker: Dan Hardy – Retired Reporter -Philadelphia Inquirer

Distressed Schools: How Did it Come to This?

PANELS:

The State of Education in Pennsylvania 60 Years after Brown
Keystones and Graduation: Cut the Connection
How Harrisburg Cut District Funding, Poured on the Keystones, and Connected them to Graduation
Financing Our Schools: What Does it Cost to Educate a Child in 2014 and How Should We Fund It?
Effective Advocacy – How to be Heard in Harrisburg - And - What We Need to be Saying

For more info and registration: http://www.naacpmediabranch.org/#

Apply Now! EPLC’s 2014-2015 Education Policy Fellowship Program

Education Policy and Leadership Center

Click here to read more about EPLC’s Education Policy Fellowship Program, including: 2014-15 Schedule 2014-15 Application Past Speakers Program Alumni And More Information

PCCY invites you to get on the School Spirit Bus to Harrisburg on Tuesday June 10th for Fair and Full School Funding!

Public Citizens for Children and Youth

On Tuesday June 10^th, Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) will be going to Harrisburg. Join committed parents, leaders, and community members from around state to make it clear to Harrisburg that PA students need fair and full funding now! We are providing free transportation to and from Harrisburg as well as lunch. Please arrive at the United Way Building located at 1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway no later than8:15am. The bus will depart at 8:30am sharp! Reserve your seat today by emailing us at info@pccy.org or calling us at 215-563-5848 x11. You can download and share our flyer by clicking here. We hope to see you there!

Pennsylvania Education Summit Wednesday, June 11, 2014 from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM (EDT) Camp Hill, PA

PA Business-Education Partnership

Featuring:

Welcome By Governor Tom Corbett (invited)

Remarks Acting Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq (confirmed)

Perceptions & comments of business leaders, educators, college presidents, and advocacy groups

Full agenda here: http://www.bipac.net/pbc/2014-PA-Education-Summit-Agenda.pdf

Registration: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/pennsylvania-education-summit-tickets-11529363637?aff=eorgf

2014 PA Gubernatorial Candidate Plans for Education and Arts/Culture in PA

Education Policy and Leadership Center

Below is an alphabetical list of the 2014 Gubernatorial Candidates and links to information about their plans, if elected, for education and arts/culture in Pennsylvania. This list will be updated, as more information becomes available.

http://www.eplc.org/2014-gubernatorial-candidate-plans-for-education-and-artsculture-in-pa/

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

PA Ed Policy Roundup May 27: Senator Dinniman will propose legislation to remove graduation requirement from Keystone Exams

These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org

Visit us on Facebook at KeystoneStateEducationCoalition

Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg

The Keystone State Education Coalition is pleased to be listed among the friends and allies of The Network for Public Education. Are you a member?

Keystone State Education Coalition

Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for May 27, 2014:

Senator Dinniman will propose legislation to remove graduation requirement from Keystone Exams.

"Dinniman, D-19th of West Whiteland, said he will propose legislation next week to remove the graduation requirement from the Keystone Exams. By ending the graduation requirement, Dinniman said this could “stop punishing those students, stop stamping failure on those students, who because of a lack of resources, don’t have an equal opportunity and chance to succeed on these exams, and put that money back into teaching and not into testing.”

Schools want state funding needed for state tests

By Ginger Dunbar, Daily Local News POSTED: 05/24/14, 3:47 PM EDT

DOWNINGTOWN — School officials from five counties gathered Wednesday to say that Pennsylvania school district budgets need more state funding as the mandated Keystone Exams are costly in preparation time and testing expenses. State Sen. Andrew Dinniman, co-chairman of the senate education committee, hosted the education roundtable to listen to the issues concerning public education funds. “You have to realize that most of the mandates on the public schools, these unfunded mandates, are not put on by the legislature,” Dinniman said. “They are put the schools by the state board of education. And the state board of education never thinks about the costs of these mandates.”

http://www.dailylocal.com/social-affairs/20140524/schools-want-state-funding-needed-for-state-tests

N.J. pension fund troubles echo in Pa.

WHYY Newsworks BY MARY WILSON MAY 27, 2014

New Jersey and Pennsylvania are caught between a rock and a hard place: the budget shortfalls that make deferring pension fund contributions so tempting, and the credit downgrades that await them if they skip more scheduled payments on ballooning pension debt. Pennsylvania and New Jersey are sister-states when it comes to their public pension systems: both have systems of similar size (roughly $130 billion), with a similarly sized unfunded liability (between $46 billion and $47 billion). Both states also face eye-popping budget gaps, imperiling the money needed to stay on a payment plan for the debt.

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/68364-nj-pension-fund-troubles-echo-in-pa?linktype=hp_topstory

"There perhaps never be a better opportunity to put in place – once and for all – a true, fair funding formula for public education in Pennsylvania."

Editorial: Stage set in push for fair education funding in Pa.

Delco Times Editorial May 25, 2014

….Interesting thing about Pennsylvania. We do not routinely dump governors after one term. We have elected incumbents for a second term forever. Then we switch parties and give the other party eight years. In addition, dating back to the 1930s, in mid-term elections the state has an almost allergic reaction to candidates who are the same party as the person who inhabits the White House. Corbett no doubt is well aware of that. Look for him to link Wolf to Obama and try to make the president’s woes Wolf’s. He also should be quite cognizant of something else. A lot of people in this state continue to point an accusing finger at him for the deplorable state of education funding.

http://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/20140524/editorial-stage-set-in-push-for-fair-education-funding-in-pa

Official: Oversight needed for state’s cyber schools

Tribune Democrat by Justin Dennis jdennis@tribdem.com May 22, 2014

JOHNSTOWN — State charter and cyber charter school enrollment has exploded, creating a new academic landscape that some say severely disrupts the tax bases of established public school districts. Parallel concerns on oversight and administrative accountability are also fueling the controversy, in light of the 2013 indictment of Nicholas Trombetta, CEO of Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School – or PA Cyber – which is one of the nation’s largest online schools. He’s accused of diverting $1 million in taxpayer dollars toward his own ends. Regardless, more parents than ever are choosing to pull their kids from brick and mortar public school districts. There are several reasons why, according to Carolyn Dumaresq, acting state education secretary.

http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/x1396860377/Official-Oversight-needed-for-state-s-cyber-schools

"But the frayed nerves in Perkiomen Valley are typical of what school administrators and their local communities are facing across Pennsylvania as a statewide crisis in education funding enters its fifth year. Budget-crunchers say they have made all the easy choices and all that's left are steep tax hikes or cuts to classroom learning."
Perkiomen Valley schools have their own problems

KATHY BOCCELLA, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER POSTED: Monday, May 26, 2014, 1:08 AM

Hundreds of students walking out of classes to protest teacher layoffs. Angry parents crowding school board meetings every two weeks, protesting proposed cuts in the classroom. Talk of a bus trip to Harrisburg to plead with lawmakers for a fair-funding formula. This isn't Philadelphia, where the school budget crisis has generated national headlines. In the Perkiomen Valley School District, in an affluent nook of central Montgomery County, education cuts are nothing like those associated with a $200 million gap, or the loss of school nurses and libraries that has rocked its big-city neighbor. But five years of penny-pinching and property-tax hikes have caused passion and anger to boil over in this leafy-green suburban area nonetheless.

U.S.

Steel's property tax accords soften blow to neighbors

By Robert Zullo / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette May 26, 2014 11:08 PM

U.S. Steel has settled two of the three legal challenges filed after the huge assessment reductions the company won last year for its large industrial properties in Allegheny County opened big budget holes for some local school districts and municipalities. The two settlements, which set the 2013 and 2014 tax values for parcels that compose the Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock and the Clairton Coke Works, are closer to the original county assessments the company challenged last year and soften the blow for school districts and municipalities that were facing what could have been severe reductions in real estate tax revenue.

Philly Schools have emergency procedures; not all have defibrillators or staff trained in CPR

the notebook by Dale Mezzacappa on May 23 2014 Posted in Latest news

Accounts of the collapse of a 7-year-old boy at Jackson Elementary School on Wednesday say that at least two first responders -- a library volunteer who was a retired nurse and an employee of a behavioral health organization trained in CPR -- were not regular staffers and just happened to be in the building. That raises the question of whether Jackson had in place an emergency plan required by the state departments of Health and Education that identifies "specially trained" staff and specifies staff responsibilities. "In true emergency situations, the school should do all in its power to render emergency care," say the guidelines. "To prepare for emergencies that can be reasonably anticipated in the student population, the school should have written first aid policies and emergency management practices in place. These policies and procedures should reflect staff responsibilities and district expectations for staff action in an emergency situation, including identifying specially trained and designated individuals who, in addition to the nurse, will render first aid."

http://thenotebook.org/blog/147288/schools-required-have-emergency-plans-not-defibrillators-or-staffers-trained-cpr

Flipped learning is giving Western Pa. students a head start in classroom

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Megan Harris 412-388-5815 Staff Reporter Monday - May 26, 2014

Nicole Avon spent a lot of late nights with her computer at the kitchen table. “The first year was pretty rough,” she said. “We didn't flip a few lessons, we flipped the whole class.” She and fellow Mars Area physics teacher Janet Adams dubbed their voices over every lecture — more than 90 between them — and sent students links to watch them at home. “We saved 15, 20 minutes every class by not giving those long-winded presentations (in person) every day,” she said. “Over a whole school year, that's a lot more free time to learn.”

State award highlights Penn Manor's ag education strengths

Lancaster Online By KARA NEWHOUSE | Staff Writer Posted: Monday, May 26, 2014 5:55 pm

Lancaster County is well known for its agriculture, and some local schools are doing their part to keep that tradition alive. An informal survey of county public schools found that at least 7 of 17 school districts, as well as Lancaster County Career and Technology Center, have agriculture education programs with one or more full-time teachers and a Future Farmers of America chapter. Among those, Penn Manor High School, boasts the largest program with four teachers and 115 active FFA members. The school's ag program was recently was named Outstanding Secondary Program in Pennsylvania by the state Association of Agricultural Educators.

http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/state-award-highlights-penn-manor-s-ag-education-strengths/article_7cc37f64-e520-11e3-82ad-0017a43b2370.html

Students 'blast off' after space program saved

Philly.com by KATHY MATHESON, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS POSTED: Friday, May 23, 2014, 12:54 AM

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - In recent years, students at Northeast High School have virtually saved mankind from a meteor, discovered water on Mars and repaired the International Space Station. But their current mission to establish a habitat on the moon was nearly aborted because of education budget cuts. The Space Research Center, started 52 years ago as the first NASA-recognized high school space program, was saved by more than $13,000 in donations after the nearly broke Philadelphia school district could not afford to fund it.

Issue Brief: Early Childhood Education In Pennsylvania

Research for Action by Elizabeth Park and John Sludden April 2014

Introduction - Early childhood education has emerged as a priority for state and national policymakers, even in the face of declining education budgets elsewhere. For example, 30 states increased funding for early childhood education in 2013, and 25 governors addressed the issue in 2013 state of the state speeches.1 At the federal level, the Obama Administration proposed a $75 billion increase in early education funding; while this proposal stalled,2 the federal government increased spending in Early Head Start by $1 billion last year.3 Pennsylvania has likewise worked to expand early education investments over the past decade, including the establishment of a dedicated funding stream for pre-K in 2004-05.

This focus is warranted from a research perspective, especially as it relates to low income students. Reardon (2011) notes “students in the bottom quintile of family socioeconomic status score more than a standard deviation below those in the top quintile on standardized tests of math and reading when they enter kindergarten,” and this gap persists through high school.5 With 20 percent of Pennsylvania’s children living in families earning below the federal poverty level,6 and with more than 300,000 students attending schools in areas of concentrated poverty, there is substantial need for investment in early childhood education programs.7 This PACER brief examines the research and policy base surrounding early childhood education.

http://www.researchforaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/RFA-PACER-on-Early-Childhood-Ed-April-2014.pdf

BULLYING: HOW TO COMBAT IT

Jean Jacques Crawb's Blog Posted on May 24, 2014by jeanjacquescrawb

BULLYING- WHAT’S THE ANSWER?

If you go into the lobby of the Department of Education in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, you will see large placards displayed which inform one about how bullying is being handled throughout the Commonwealth. It is mostly a description of programs that highlight bullying and its negative consequences and educational tools that might help in its eradication.

It’s not that I don’t believe in education, it’s just that in the case of bullying, it does not work. If what they mean is that we should read about bullying and teach from a prescribed curriculum for kindergarten to twelfth grade, I don’t believe that it will work. If bullying is such a great problem in our schools, and evidently in our society (I read Jonathan Martin and the Miami Dophins), how come no one has come up with a solution yet.

Once again, I will make use of my experience as a principal, assistant principal and human relations coordinator. I still feel that unless you have had some experience in a school, whether elementary or secondary, or even at the post-secondary level, you will have difficulty in seeing what must really be done.

http://jeanjacquescrawb.wordpress.com/2014/05/24/bullying-how-to-combat-it/

"With tensions running high over issues surrounding academic benchmarks, standardized testing and performance evaluations for educators, unlikely coalitions of teachers, lawmakers and parents from the left and right are increasingly banding together to push back against what they see as onerous changes in education policy. Some have Tea Party Republicans and teachers unions on the same side."

Unlikely Allies Uniting to Fight School Changes

New York Times By MOTOKO RICH MAY 26, 2014

SMYRNA, Tenn. — She is a fan of MSNBC, supports abortion rights and increased government spending in schools, and believes unions should have the right to strike. He watches Fox News, opposes abortion and is a fiscal conservative who voted three years ago to strip teachers unions of collective bargaining rights. Yet Emily Mitchell, a wiry, 4-foot-9-inch Democrat and first-grade teacher at David Youree Elementary School here, sees State Representative Rick Womick, a 6-foot-2-inch conservative Republican, as an important ally. Their common cause: battling new high-stakes standardized tests and some other hot-button policies in public education.

“I always viewed him as the enemy, the guy that would never see our side,” said Ms. Mitchell, who is president of the Rutherford County chapter of the Tennessee Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union. But after she met Mr. Womick at a church function in February of last year, she said, “I realized that even though he’s polar opposite politically from what I believe in, we both agreed on a lot of things on education.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/27/us/unlikely-allies-uniting-to-fight-school-changes.html?ref=education

The Charter School-Hedge Fund Romance

Education Week Reality Check Blog By Walt Gardner on May 23, 2014 7:58 AM

The adage that the money trail almost always leads to the answer to any question is once again on display by the interest hedge funds have shown in charter schools ("Why Hedge Funds Love Charter Schools," Huffington Post, May 20). They are taking advantage of a change in the federal tax code that provides substantial tax credits to businesses that locate and hire residents in economically depressed urban and rural areas. Readers who are so inclined can check out the specifics by referring to the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act of 2000. But in a nutshell, hedge funds (and others) are allowed to combine the tax credit with other tax breaks at the same time they are collecting interest on any money they lend out. As a result, it's quite possible for hedge funds to double their money in seven years. That's not a bad investment at all these days.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/walt_gardners_reality_check/2014/05/the_charter_school-hedge_fund_romance.html

No. 1 Shanghai may drop out of PISA

Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog BY VALERIE STRAUSS May 26 at 5:18 pm

First in 2009 and then in 2012, Shanghai’s 15-year-old students (or, rather, a supposed representative group) were No. 1 in the world on the recent Program for International Student Assessment reading, math and science exams. But now, according to a popular Shanghai newspaper, Shanghai is considering dropping out of PISA. Why?

The title of the article in Xinmin Wanbao goes a long way to answer that question: “Not interested in No. 1 on International Tests, Focusing on Reducing Academic Burden: Shanghai May Drop Out of PISA.” According to the article, explained in the following post by scholar Yong Zhao, Shanghai officials want to de-emphasize standardized test scores, homework and rote learning that has characterized Chinese education. And PISA, which is sponsored by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, emphasizes standardized test scores.

Last year, China began a major education reform initiative designed to increase student engagement and end student boredom and anxiety — and reduce the importance of standardized test scores.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/05/26/no-1-shanghai-may-drop-out-of-pisa/

“Not Interested in Being #1:” Shanghai May Ditch PISA

Yong Zhao's Blog 25 MAY 2014 2,875 ONE COMMENT

“Not interested in #1 on International Tests, Focusing on Reducing Academic Burden: Shanghai May Drop Out of PISA” is the headline of a story in Xinmin Wanbao[original story in Chinese], a popular newspaper in Shanghai. Published on March 7^th 2014, the story reports that Shanghai “is considering to withdraw from the next round of PISA in 2015” because “Shanghai does not need so-called ‘#1 schools,’” said Yi Houqin, a high level official of Shanghai Education Commission. “What it needs are schools that follow sound educational principles, respect principles of students’ physical and psychological development, and lay a solid foundation for students’ lifelong development,” says the article, quoting Mr. Yi.

http://zhaolearning.com/2014/05/25/not-interested-in-being-1-shanghai-may-ditch-pisa/

Public Schools Outperform Private Schools, Book Says

Education Week By Holly Yettick Published Online: May 13, 2014

The recent publication of a scholarly book has reopened the debate surrounding the academic achievement of public vs. private schools. Public schools achieve the same or better mathematics results as private schools with demographically similar students, concludesThe Public School Advantage: Why Public Schools Outperform Private Schools, published in November by the University of Chicago Press. The authors are Christopher and Sarah Lubienski, a husband-and-wife team of education professors at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Central to the controversy is their suggestion that vouchers, which provide public funding for private school tuition, are based on the premise that private schools do better—an assumption that is undercut by the book's overall findings. The Lubienskis' analysis draws on data from the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, as well as the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/05/14/31publicprivate.h33.html

2014 CONFERENCE ON THE STATE OF EDUCATION IN PENNSYLVANIA

60 YEARS AFTER BROWN HOW ARE THE CHILDREN? WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?

Saturday, May 31, 2014 - 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (8:30 Registration)

MARCUS FOSTER STUDENT UNION 2^ND FLR. CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, DE Co. Campus

Keynote Speaker: Dan Hardy – Retired Reporter -Philadelphia Inquirer

Distressed Schools: How Did it Come to This?

PANELS:

The State of Education in Pennsylvania 60 Years after Brown
Keystones and Graduation: Cut the Connection
How Harrisburg Cut District Funding, Poured on the Keystones, and Connected them to Graduation
Financing Our Schools: What Does it Cost to Educate a Child in 2014 and How Should We Fund It?
Effective Advocacy – How to be Heard in Harrisburg - And - What We Need to be Saying

For more info and registration: http://www.naacpmediabranch.org/#

Apply Now! EPLC’s 2014-2015 Education Policy Fellowship Program

Education Policy and Leadership Center

Click here to read more about EPLC’s Education Policy Fellowship Program, including: 2014-15 Schedule 2014-15 Application Past Speakers Program Alumni And More Information

PCCY invites you to get on the School Spirit Bus to Harrisburg on Tuesday June 10th for Fair and Full School Funding!

Public Citizens for Children and Youth

Pennsylvania Education Summit Wednesday, June 11, 2014 from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM (EDT) Camp Hill, PA

PA Business-Education Partnership

Featuring:

Welcome By Governor Tom Corbett (invited)

Remarks Acting Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq (confirmed)

Perceptions & comments of business leaders, educators, college presidents, and advocacy groups

Full agenda here: http://www.bipac.net/pbc/2014-PA-Education-Summit-Agenda.pdf

Registration: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/pennsylvania-education-summit-tickets-11529363637?aff=eorgf

2014 PA Gubernatorial Candidate Plans for Education and Arts/Culture in PA

Education Policy and Leadership Center

http://www.eplc.org/2014-gubernatorial-candidate-plans-for-education-and-artsculture-in-pa/

Friday, May 23, 2014

Policy Roundup May 23: Texas superintendent tells parents: Your children’s standardized test scores don’t mean much

These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org

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Keystone State Education Coalition

Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for May 23, 2014:

Texas superintendent tells parents: Your children’s standardized test scores don’t mean much

"The fact of the matter is that the School Reform Commission and District leadership have refused to create or uphold a budget and vision for schools that keeps our children safe – and they continue to do so today."

School District leaders should take a stand now or resign

the notebook by Helen Gym on May 22 2014 Posted in Commentary

A beloved 7-year-old child from Jackson Elementary School died yesterday, but don’t call it a tragedy. Tragedies are for things outside your control, things we couldn’t possibly predict, and for which we have no warning. Tragedy is not the right word when this is the second child to die who was in a school without a school nurse. Tragedy is not the right word when the District creates a policy by which only students pre-determined as “medically fragile” are entitled to a full-time nurse. Tragedy is not the right word when Jackson Elementary until five years ago had a nurse five days a week. Today? They see her six days a month.

Tragedy is not the right word when the Department of Health requires schools to have a medical team and emergency health plan, and our District’s plan is to cross its fingers and call 911. Tragedy is not the right word when the District presents public budgets that ensure a dangerous level of staffing even as they beg for hundreds of millions of dollars in funding.

Let's be clear: The losses of essential staff at schools are not just budget cuts. These are human-rights abuses happening to our own children on our watch.

Call it willful neglect. Call it child endangerment. But don’t call it a tragedy.

http://thenotebook.org/blog/147281/school-district-leaders-take-stand-or-resign

DN Editorial: Sick of it all

Philly Daily News Editorial POSTED: Friday, May 23, 2014, 3:01 AM

THE DEATH of any child is a tragedy. The death of two children who fell ill while at school is unspeakable. And while the cause of death for a first-grader at Andrew Jackson School has not been determined, both cases demand that we take a hard look at the impact the district's budget realities may be having on children. When the Jackson student died Wednesday, there was no school nurse on duty. Nor was there a school nurse on duty in October when a sixth-grader had an asthma attack and subsequently died. We don't know whether a nurse would have made a difference in either case, but we do know nurses play a critical role in the health, safety and ability to learn for thousands of children who go to school each day.

http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20140523_DN_Editorial__Sick_of_it_all.html#37FfBlE8hhvFbTb5.99

Death of Philadelphia 1st Grader Energizes Protests Over District Budget Cuts

Education Week District Dossier Blog By Denisa R. Superville on May 22, 2014 9:23 AM

UPDATED

Some Philadelphia schools staff members are expected to wear black to school today in memory of a 7-year-old 1st grader who died Wednesday after he fell ill at school.

Students from several schools, including Kensington High School for the Performing Arts, Central High School, and Science Leadership Academy, are also expected to march from City Hall to Gov. Tom Corbett's office at 4 p.m. today to call for more funding for the city's schools.

Update: (11:15 a.m.) And dozens of parents and community supporters gathered on the steps of Andrew Jackson School, a South Philadelphia elementary school where a student fell ill on Wednesday and later died, to speak out about the student's death and ask for more money for the schools, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Inquirer's update included a statement from Melissa Wilde, the president of Friends of Jackson and a parent of a kindergartner and 1st grader.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/District_Dossier/2014/05/some_philadelphia_schools_staf.html

Schwartz tanks, Cawley outpolls Corbett, the Midstate rises and TV uber alles - some winners and losers from Tuesday's primary election: John L. Micek

By John L. Micek | jmicek@pennlive.com on May 22, 2014 at 11:35 AM

The dust has settled. The winners and losers have been declared. And some of the professional campaign folks are off to other states, greener pastures and new candidates. So now seems as good a time as any to take quick stock of the primary election that was and run down a list of the day's winners and losers. Because history is written by the victors, the winners get first shot:

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2014/05/schwartz_tanks_the_midstate_ri.html

The All of the Above Election: Terry Madonna and Michael L. Young

PennLive Op-Ed By Terry Madonna and Michael L. Young

on May 22, 2014 at 2:00 PM, updated May 22, 2014 at 2:11 PM

Before Election Day, the outcome is unknown while the possibilities are numerous. Post-election, we know exactly what happened. The problem is to make some sense of it. Here are six succinct take aways that try to make some sense of what happened to Pennsylvania Democrats in their May 20th primary, while suggesting what it may mean for the November general election:

http://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2014/05/the_all_of_the_above_election.html#incart_river

Editorial: Lawmakers need to cash out their $140M surplus

Delco Times Editorial POSTED: 05/22/14, 10:06 PM EDT |

This seems like common sense: If you have a deficit, you can’t have a surplus. Those two concepts seem mutually exclusive — unless, perhaps, you’re talking about government finances.

In Pennsylvania, officials are projecting a budget deficit of more than $1 billion. And yet, at the same time, the Legislature is sitting on a “surplus” of perhaps $140 million, according to some reports. How can that be?

http://www.delcotimes.com/opinion/20140522/editorial-lawmakers-need-to-cash-out-their-140m-surplus

PA Supreme Court pushes forward charter school’s lawsuit against Philly

By Maura Pennington | PA Independent May 21, 2014

PHILADELPHIA — The relationship between the School District of Philadelphia and the 86 public charter schools in the city has grown strained as financial struggles have intensified.

Now, the state Supreme Court has stepped in. In March, a charter school filed a lawsuit against the district and the School Reform Commission over the legality of the SRC’s suspensions of the school code to enforce enrollment caps and withhold per-pupil payments. West Philadelphia Achievement Charter Elementary School requested a preliminary injunction to prevent the school district from taking action against the school. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted that last week, moving the case forward. The outcome could be relevant to the entire charter sector in Pennsylvania.

http://paindependent.com/2014/05/pa-supreme-court-pushes-forward-charter-schools-lawsuit-against-philly/

Educators demand removal of Keystone Exam graduation requirement

Chester County Press 20 May 17:37 , Published by ACL Lieberman

Key educational stakeholders from across southeastern Pennsylvania came together to denounce the educational and financial impact of Keystone Exams, the end-of-year assessments which could prevent some high school seniors from receiving their diplomas three years from now. The consensus among attendees of the April 24 Keystone Impact Briefing is that the Keystone Exams must be removed as a graduation requirement for Pennsylvania students.

The new regulations that went into effect March 1, 2014 require every public high school student in Pennsylvania, beginning with the Class of 2017, to pass the Keystone Exams in Language Arts, Algebra 1 and Biology in order to receive a high school diploma from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The Keystone Impact Briefing featured a stakeholder panel discussion followed by an open question period for Pennsylvania state legislators, including Senator Andy Dinniman, Representative Dan Truitt and Representative Chris Ross.

http://www.chestercounty.com/2014/05/20/41589/educators-demand-removal-of-keystone-exam-graduation-requirement

Acting ed secretary touts Pa. standards

Tribune Democrat by Justin Dennis jdennis@tribdem.com May 22, 2014

JOHNSTOWN — Carolyn Dumaresq, the acting Pennsylvania education secretary, said this is her second “tour of duty” in the state department – she said, sometimes, it feels like combat.
She sat down with The Tribune-Democrat on Monday to help illustrate and contextualize the “major shifts” within the department’s last three years, which she helped shepherd in after her appointment by Gov. Tom Corbett in August last year.

http://www.tribune-democrat.com/local/x1760074506/Acting-ed-secretary-touts-Pa-standards

"Parents United believes "a lot of public policy around education is being shaped out of the public eye," Helen Gym, its co-founder, said. "We're also concerned about the role of big money shaping our education policies." Attached to the settlement were spreadsheets outlining some $35,000 PSP spent on lobbying in 2012 and 2013. It also listed its largest funders - including the William Penn Foundation, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, securities trader Jeffrey Yass, businessman and PSP cofounder Michael O'Neill, the Maguire Foundation, and the Patricia Kind Foundation."

Phila. Ethics Board fines school improvement group

BOB WARNER, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER LAST UPDATED: Thursday, May 22, 2014, 8:37 PM POSTED: Thursday, May 22, 2014, 2:48 PM

The Board of Ethics announced its first enforcement action under the city's lobbying ordinance Thursday, fining the Philadelphia School Partnership $1,500 for an 18-month delay in registering as a lobbying organization and filing required financial disclosures. The partnership, a nonprofit that has raised millions with a goal of improving public, private and charter schools, signed a settlement agreeing to pay the fine and file reports outlining its 2012 and 2013 lobbying costs.

Philadelphia ethics board fines education group $1,500

BY DAVE DAVIES MAY 22, 2014

The Philadelphia Board of Ethics has fined the Philadelphia School Partnership, and education policy group, $1,500 for violating the city's lobbyist disclosure law. The nonprofit partnership invests in traditional public, charter and private schools it regards as innovative, as well as advocating for government policies that give school administrators more flexibility. Shane Creamer, ethics board executive director, said the group should have registered in 2012 under a city law requiring disclosure of lobbying activities. That year, the partnership spent more than $14,000 on activities including flying city and school district officials to Denver to visit a charter school.

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/68299-philadelphia-ethics-board-fines-education-group-1500?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

City Council now has fallback plan if Harrisburg doesn't come through for Philly schools

WHYY Newsworks BY TOM MACDONALD MAY 22, 2014

Philadelphia City Council has added a fallback position to ensure sales tax money does go to the city's school district. The bill contains enabling legislation to send an estimated $120 million from a sales tax surcharge to the schools in perpetuity. Implementing a law passed in the state Legislature last year, it's a fallback in the event that council can't get a city cigarette tax through Harrisburg, Councilman Curtis Jones said Thursday. "We're optimistic that the Pennsylvania Legislature will give us some relief, but at the end of the day our children will be educated," Jones said. City Council hopes to have the cigarette tax in place so some of the sales tax revenue could help fill underfunded pension accounts. The bill modification sends a message since the schools are requesting the sales tax money ... and more, said Councilwoman Maria Quiñones-Sánchez. "I think it's important that, no matter what, this council is committed to the $120 million, and I think it's important that we put it on the table so that we can move to the discussion of the additional $75 million that is needed, that is expected, from the city of Philadelphia by the [School Reform Commission]," she said.

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/68292-city-council-now-has-fallback-plan-if-harrisburg-doesnt-come-through-for-philly-schools?linktype=hp_topstory

School Officials Renew Their Plea For Funding At City Council

CBS Philly By Pat Loeb May 21, 2014 6:12 PM

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — Philadelphia school officials told city council, today, the deadline for massive lay-offs is getting close and a failure to to come up with funding

will mean dire conditions in schools next year. The district says it needs $216 million just to maintain current services, which it says are inadequate. Superintendent Bill Hite says if it doesn’t get the money

in the next several weeks, it will have to begin making painful cuts. “We are trying not to have to send out over a thousand lay-off notices. It has irreversible implications for our district and costs associated with it, separation costs.

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2014/05/21/school-officials-renew-their-plea-for-funding-at-city-council/

Allentown schools approves Executive Education charter, rejects Arts Academy

Executive Education Academy is in; arts charter out. Budget would hike taxes 5.85% and cut 89 jobs.

By Adam Clark, Of The Morning Call 11:31 p.m. EDT, May 22, 2014

As the fifth vote in support of the Executive Education Academy Charter School was cast, Bob Lysek let out an audible sigh of relief. Lysek, chief executive officer of the new charter school, and his supporters may have been the only people to leave Thursday's Allentown School Board meeting happy. In a two-hour meeting that highlighted the challenges facing urban districts, school directors approved the Executive Education Academy, rejected the proposed Arts Academy Charter Elementary School and signed off on a proposed final budget that raises taxes 5.85 percent and eliminates 89 jobs

Tweeting the Education News, Minute by Minute

Education Week Education and the Media Blog By Mark Walsh on May 21, 2014 9:07 PM

Nashville, Tenn. For reporters who cover big (or even small) school systems, the board of education meeting is a necessary, though often mind-numbing, duty.

Boards of education are supposed to be the pillars of local representative democracy, bringing high-minded citizens together to set policies for educating the young. They are often driven by other goals.

If you cover the Philadelphia public schools, as Kristen Graham does for The Philadelphia Inquirer, or the Jefferson County, Ky., school system, as Toni Konz does for The Louisville Courier-Journal, there's no way around covering board meetings that can last five hours or more. But as both those reporters described in a session this week at the Education Writers Association national conference at Vanderbilt University here, you can make the time pass faster, and more usefully, with Twitter.

Graham, whose Twitter handle is @newskag, said she started tweeting during meetings of the School Reform Commission (a state-appointed body that oversees the 72,000-student district) "because I was really bored." But Twitter "has dramatically changed the way I cover my beat."

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/education_and_the_media/2014/05/tweeting_the_education_news_minute_by_minute.html

"The way schools are funded — mainly through local real estate taxes — creates a built-in advantage for schools in rich communities, where schools can hire the best teachers, build the best labs and buy the best computers and where the wealthy can surround their children with the children of other wealthy people. Tracking also happens within schools, where students are often separated by ability. “Advanced children are all put together; they all know each other and learn from each other’s habits,” said Sal Khan, the founder of the Khan Academy of online education. “At the low end, it’s an intellectual wasteland.”

For Schools, Long Road to a Level Playing Field

New York Times by Eduardo Porter MAY 20, 2014

In the American national mythology, there are few more revered ideas than the belief in education’s power to provide every child a shot at success and to overcome entrenched inequality. In developing its system of public education, the United States took care to avoid the European model of providing high-quality education only to the best, most advantaged students, while generally channeling children from a working-class background into vocational tracks at an early age. While it often fell short of the ideal, the United States aimed to provide universal comprehensive education to every child, creating “an egalitarian system that put the elite systems of Europe to shame,” the Harvard economists Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz wrote in their book, “The Race Between Education and Technology.” By the early 20th century, young Americans were much more educated than their peers in almost every European country.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/21/business/economy/for-schools-long-road-to-a-level-playing-field.html?_r=0

Blogger's note: check out the maps showing the gerrymandered evolution of my congressional district (PA-7) in this article…..

What 60 years of political gerrymandering looks like

Washington Post BY CHRISTOPHER INGRAHAM May 21 at 8:07 am

Last week I wrote about the most gerrymandered congressional districts in the United States, as measured by how geometrically compact they are. I found that districts in some states are a bit of a hot mess, particularly in North Carolina and Maryland. The natural follow-up question: have they always been that way? To answer that, I grabbed historic district "shapefiles" and did the same geometric analysis for a handful of states, going back to the 83rd Congress, which convened in 1953. In nearly every state, the average gerrymander index value -- that is, the average of the gerrymander scores for all districts in a given state -- has risen substantially since then.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/05/21/what-60-years-of-political-gerrymandering-looks-like/?Post+generic=%3Ftid%3Dsm_twitter_washingtonpost

Restorative Justice: A Different Approach to Discipline

We Are Teachers Blog By Deva Dalporto

Suspensions at Bunche High School, a continuation school in a high-crime, high-poverty community of Oakland, Calif., dropped by 51% last year. Disrespect for teachers has declined; the school is safer. Students are more focused on their studies and many have stopped cutting class. Teachers at the school say these positive results are due in large part to a radically different approach to discipline called restorative justice: a bold alternative to the typical zero tolerance policies that lead to mandatory suspensions and expulsions. “Restorative justice is a major cultural shift from a punitive model to a restorative model,” said David Yusem, Program Manager of Restorative Justice for the Oakland Unified School District, one of the first districts in the nation to embrace the practice. Oakland first introduced the program in 2006 at its Cole Middle School. District leaders planned to close the school due to low test scores when it started a restorative justice pilot program. In the three years since embracing the practice, suspensions dropped by 87%, violence decreased dramatically and expulsions became non-existent. The district took notice and in 2009, it overhauled its system and made restorative justice the new model for handling disciplinary problems. In 2011 it hired a program manager and created a system to roll it out to all the schools in the district.

http://www.weareteachers.com/hot-topics/special-reports/restorative-justice-a-different-approach-to-discipline?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social%20Media&utm_campaign=Restorative%20Justice%20Report&utm_content=FresnoMicrosite-0214

Texas superintendent tells parents: Your children’s standardized test scores don’t mean much

Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog BY VALERIE STRAUSS May 22 at 4:00 pm

Paul Jones, superintendent of the Paris Independent School District in Texas,posted a rather unusual letter to parents on the district’s website. Jones informed parents that they would soon receive their children’s scores on state-mandated standardized tests and that they shouldn’t put very much stock into them. In fact, he told them they were part of a “punitive” system in which assessments “do not reflect the quality of teaching or learning.” Jones adds his voice to the growing chorus of educators — teachers, principals and superintendents — who are publicly protesting the school reform movement uses standardized tests as the main measure of quality. A Chicago principal publicly blasted Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s school reform program, and more protests are taking place around the country every week.

Here is the letter Jones posted for parents in his district:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/05/22/texas-superintendent-tells-parents-your-childrens-standardized-test-scores-dont-mean-much/

2014 CONFERENCE ON THE STATE OF EDUCATION IN PENNSYLVANIA

60 YEARS AFTER BROWN HOW ARE THE CHILDREN? WHAT ARE THE ISSUES?

Saturday, May 31, 2014 - 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM (8:30 Registration)

MARCUS FOSTER STUDENT UNION 2^ND FLR. CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, DE Co. Campus

Keynote Speaker: Dan Hardy – Retired Reporter -Philadelphia Inquirer

Distressed Schools: How Did it Come to This?

PANELS:

The State of Education in Pennsylvania 60 Years after Brown
Keystones and Graduation: Cut the Connection
How Harrisburg Cut District Funding, Poured on the Keystones, and Connected them to Graduation
Financing Our Schools: What Does it Cost to Educate a Child in 2014 and How Should We Fund It?
Effective Advocacy – How to be Heard in Harrisburg - And - What We Need to be Saying

For more info and registration: http://www.naacpmediabranch.org/#

Apply Now! EPLC’s 2014-2015 Education Policy Fellowship Program

Education Policy and Leadership Center

Click here to read more about EPLC’s Education Policy Fellowship Program, including: 2014-15 Schedule 2014-15 Application Past Speakers Program Alumni And More Information

PCCY invites you to get on the School Spirit Bus to Harrisburg on Tuesday June 10th for Fair and Full School Funding!

Public Citizens for Children and Youth

Pennsylvania Education Summit Wednesday, June 11, 2014 from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM (EDT) Camp Hill, PA

PA Business-Education Partnership

Featuring:

Welcome By Governor Tom Corbett (invited)

Remarks Acting Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq (confirmed)

Perceptions & comments of business leaders, educators, college presidents, and advocacy groups

Full agenda here: http://www.bipac.net/pbc/2014-PA-Education-Summit-Agenda.pdf

Registration: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/pennsylvania-education-summit-tickets-11529363637?aff=eorgf

2014 PA Gubernatorial Candidate Plans for Education and Arts/Culture in PA

Education Policy and Leadership Center

http://www.eplc.org/2014-gubernatorial-candidate-plans-for-education-and-artsculture-in-pa/

Keystone State Education Coalition

Pages

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

PA Ed Policy Roundup May 28: PA Supreme Court: Charter Enrollment Caps Legal and Binding

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

PA Ed Policy Roundup May 27: Senator Dinniman will propose legislation to remove graduation requirement from Keystone Exams

Friday, May 23, 2014

Policy Roundup May 23: Texas superintendent tells parents: Your children’s standardized test scores don’t mean much

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