Thursday, October 6, 2011

VOUCHERS: Public says three strikes and you're out in new Madonna poll


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Corbett gears up to tackle school reform
By Brad Bumsted, TRIBUNE-REVIEW, Thursday, October 6, 2011
HARRISBURG -- Gov. Tom Corbett said on Wednesday that education reform will be his next major initiative in the fall session.  Corbett's plan could emerge as soon as next week, supporters say.

PA PASS (Parent Advocates for Public Education to Achieve Student Success)
Public Education Advocacy in Delaware County:
Public School Parents Legislative Forum in Delaware County
Thursday October 13th 7:00 – 10:00 pm
Upper Darby Performing Arts Center, 601 N. Lansdowne Ave. Drexel Hill
Moderated by the League of Women Voters
We've invited ALL state senators and representatives from Delco - Please call your legislators today and let them know that you hope to see them there.  Please ask attendees to RSVP in advance at delcolegislativeforum.eventbrite.com   If you are interested in helping out please contact Marian Rucci, Delco PA PASS County Coordinator at .rucci.papass@live.com

VOUCHERS: Public says three strikes and you're out

New Madonna Public opinion poll finds widespread support for proven school improvement strategies, opposition to state funding cuts for Pennsylvania public schools, widespread opposition to taxpayer-funded vouchers.

PSBA, Steve Robinson, Dir. of Publications & PR, 10/05/11
For the third time in a year, the public has been surveyed on its desire to spend tax dollars to send children to private or parochial schools and for the third time, the response has been overwhelmingly "no."
In a recent public opinion poll, Pennsylvanians were asked "Would you favor or oppose giving state tax dollars to parents so they can send their children to a private school of their own choosing instead of to their local public school?" Sixty five (65) percent said they strongly oppose (43%) or somewhat oppose (22%) this use of tax dollars. The poll presents the findings of a survey of 801 Pennsylvania adults designed by Terry Madonna Opinion Research and conducted September 2011.  For more detailed results of the poll findings, one-pagers are available at www.psba.org/issues-advocacy/issues-research/vouchers/index.asp

Senator Browne: Early Childhood Education Still A Top Priority.

Morning Call Capitol Ideas Blog by John Micek, October 5th
State Sen. Pat Browne ... beat the drum for importance of early childhood education funding during an event in the East Wing rotunda this morning.

Keystone Exams Pilot: Good grades for Bethlehem kids

School district's middle-schoolers outpace state in algebra practice test.

By Steve Esack, Of The Morning Call, 10:38 p.m. EDT, October 5, 2011
Middle school students in the Bethlehem Area School District did far better on the state's practice version of an algebra graduation exam than their counterparts across the state.  Results show that 64 percent of the district's middle-schoolers who took the Algebra I Keystone test last spring scored proficient or advanced, according to data presented at Monday's school board Curriculum Committee meeting. That compares with 39 percent of the 94,393 students who took the test across the state.
The algebra results were gathered in some districts as part of a statewide pilot run to check the authenticity of Pennsylvania's scoring system for three of the state's 10 planned Keystone exit exams.

Atlanta Journal Constitution Getting Schooled Blog
4:44 am October 5, 2011, by Maureen Downey
School voucher proponents argue that kids need a way out of failing schools, but research increasingly suggests that it would be more effective to provide them a way out of failing neighborhoods.

Published Online: October 5, 2011

Test Scores Raise Questions About Colo. Virtual Schools

By Burt Hubbard, I-News Network and Nancy Mitchell, Education News Colorado
Students attending Colorado's full-time online education programs have typically lagged their peers on virtually every academic indicator, from state test scores to student growth measures to high school graduation rates.
But an independent analysis of previously unreleased online school data by the I-News Network and Education News Coloradoreveals key new findings and an achievement gap that alarmed education officials


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