Daily postings
from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1500
Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators,
legislators, members of the press and a broad array of education advocacy
organizations via emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.
These daily
emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us
on Twitter at @lfeinberg
Please note that the Allegheny County
Legislative Forum scheduled for Thursday, April 12th at North Hills
High School
Education Policy and Leadership Center
PA Auditor General’s Office: Taxpayers and school districts could
have saved approximately $86 million in 2009-2010 if cybers received funding
based on what they spent per student.
On March 20, the PA House
Education Committee held an informational hearing with Pennsylvania
- During the 2009-2010 school year, school
districts paid nearly $800 million to charter and cyber charter schools.
Cyber charter schools received over one-third of this money.
- Cybers continue to receive the same funding as
brick and mortar charters even though they spend approximately $3,000 less
per student.
- Taxpayers and school districts could have saved
approximately $86 million in 2009-2010 if cybers received funding based on
what they spent per student.
- Cyber enrollment has more than doubled over the
last five years, which has resulted in school district tuition payments to
cybers tripling from $70 million in 2004-2005 to over $250 million in
2009-2010.
- The amount of required tuition payments from
school districts are expected to climb even faster and higher due to the
addition of two new cybers over the past two years, and seven new cybers
projected to open in September 2012.
Marks also reminded
lawmakers of the AG's special report (issued in 2010) on charter and cyber
charter school funding that concluded that the current charter school funding
formulas for non-special and special education students resulted in tuition
inequities that were unfavorable to school districts, charter schools, and
taxpayers. Since the release of that report, no action has been taken to
correct the flawed charter school funding formula. In fact, the action by the
Governor and the General Assembly this past budget, which eliminated funding
for charter school reimbursement to school districts, only exacerbated the
funding inequities and created a $224 million local funding gap for school
districts and taxpayers to fill.
To read the written
testimony, click here.
Revenue Shortfall for Fiscal Year Not Likely to be as Dire as
Administration Predictions
The Pennsylvania
Budget and Policy
Center April
6, 2012
March Revenue Tracker: Biggest Tax Collection Month of the Year Exceeds
Estimates
General Fund
collections in March totaled $4.06 billion, which was $95 million, or 2.4%,
higher than Corbett administration targets for the month. The strong showing
reduces Pennsylvania
In February, Corbett
administration officials predicted a year-end revenue shortfall of $719 million
and built their 2012-13 spending plan around it. Healthy collections in March
likely mean that the year-end shortfall will not be as severe. This could help
reduce some of the painful cuts proposed for 2012-13.
Political, legal fights over school vouchers' fate
Updated: 04/08/2012 04:31:44 PM EDT
For all the arguments in
favor of vouchers, there are opponents who say vouchers erode public schools by
taking away money, violate the separation of church and state by giving public
dollars to religious-based private schools, and aren't a proven way to improve
test scores.
Even among supporters,
there's dissension over whether vouchers should only be offered to low-income
students on a limited basis or made available to anyone. There's also division
among black and Hispanic leaders as to whether vouchers help or hurt kids in
urban schools.
Many opponents also
dislike scholarship programs that provide tax benefits to businesses or
individuals for contributing to a fund to pay for private school. They say
those programs undermine public schools by keeping tax revenues out of state
treasuries, an important source of education dollars.
The Mock Bake Sale for Public Education will be held today, Monday
April 9th at 12:00 noon
in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg
In
addition to being PA Department of Education Press Secretary, Tim Eller is also
a member of the Susquenita
School
Budget numbers do show
governor backs education
Published:
Sunday, April 08,
2012 , 1:00 AM
Erica Burg’s op-ed
“Corbett cut school districts to the core” is a clear call to raise taxes,
something Gov. Tom Corbett promised not to do. Before taxpayers gather for the
mock bake sale, consider this: Each year, taxpayers invest $26 billion in
public education.
Posted: Fri, Apr. 6, 2012 , 3:01 AM
FINAL FRONTIER? Charter school stiffs employees, kids
By DAVID GAMBACORTA Philadelphia
BETH GRIMM had been an
educator all her life, and wasn't going to let something like breast cancer
stop her from doing her job. So, on
March 7 - two weeks before she was to undergo a mastectomy - she took the train
from Lancaster to Philadelphia ,
where she met for several hours with two freshmen from the Frontier Virtual
Charter High
School
Some school directors say eliminating positions now is sound fiscal
management. Others say it's an unnecessary blow to the quality of education.
By Adam Clark, Of The
Morning Call 9:19 p.m. EDT, April 7, 2012
It's a preliminary
budget most local school boards see only in their dreams. No deficit. No
layoffs. No tax hike. No major cuts to academic programming.
But at Saucon Valley
Yet for some school
directors, another balanced budget isn't good enough.
Worried about the
rising costs of pensions and the uncertainty of state education funding, they
want to cut expenses now as a safeguard for the future.
Disgusted with standardized tests, group of Seattle
A rebellion over standardized school testing in the Seattle Hill
neighborhood southeast of Everett
By Danny Westneat
Seattle Times staff columnist
The
folks in the sprawling suburban developments near Mill Creek and Snohomish
insist they are usually rule-following types.
"We didn't go into this looking to start some big rebellion,"
says Michelle Purcell, a mom of three in the Seattle Hill neighborhood
southeast of Everett
But a
rebellion it has become. One that echoes a larger uprising around the country.
The
parents of 70 students (and counting) at one elementary school are refusing to
have their kids take the standardized tests mandated by the feds under No Child
Left Behind.
They're
not the only ones asking. Texas — the birthplace of No Child Left Behind — was
in the news last month when more than 100 school districts passed resolutions
saying high-stakes standardized testing is "strangling" public
schools. The schools commissioner there recently likened the "assessment
and accountability regime" in education to the military-industrial
complex.
It all
began with good intentions. The tests were billed as a way to make sure every
child meets basic standards, rather than being passed through the system and
forgotten. But mostly the tests are used to try to judge whether entire schools
could be considered failing — and then restructured. They weren't designed as
learning aids for individual kids.
The
Seattle Hill parents are walking out just as this state is doubling down on
standardized testing. We're about to tie the test scores to teacher evaluations
as well. That may or may not lead to better teaching. But one thing is certain:
Even more time and money will be spent focusing on those tests. My hunch: What's happening at Seattle Hill is
just the first of many cries from school parents that we've had enough.
Stephen Krashen: Testing and Teaching to the
Test: It's going to get Worse
Guest post by Stephen Krashen
Phillip K. Howard tells us that "To fix America
It's going to get a lot worse. The US Department of Education is developing a massive new
testing program, with far more testing than ever before, and they have made no
secret about it.
More grade levels to be tested: The new plan will
require, as was the case with NCLB, tests in reading and math in grades three
through eight and once in high school, but there is serious discussion of
extending the tests to higher and lower grades.
STATEWIDE PRESS COVERAGE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT BUDGETS
Here are more than 400 articles since
January 23rd detailing budget cuts, program cuts, staffing cuts and
tax increases being discussed by local school districts
The PA House Democratic Caucus has been tracking daily press coverage on
school district budgets statewide:
http://www.pahouse.com/school_funding_2011cuts.asp?utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=http%3a%2f%2fwww.pahouse.com%2fschool_funding_2011cuts.asp&utm_campaign=Crisis+in+Public+Education
REMEMBER TO VOTE! TUESDAY, APRIL 24th
Tuesday,
April 24 is Primary Election Day
in Pennsylvania
Polls open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m. Click here to find your polling place. During the Primary, registered members of the
Republican and Democrat parties are eligible to vote to nominate the candidates
that will represent their party on the ballot in the November General Election. ALL
voters will be required to show a photo ID before voting at a polling place in
the November 2012 Election. Click here for
more information on the new Voter ID law.
Stand Up for Public Education!
East Penn Education Forum on April 25th
7:00 – 9:00 pm
What’s at Stake? Discover how high-stakes testing and funding
cuts are impacting our kids and schools.
Hosted by: East Penn Invested Citizens (EPIC), Salisbury Parent Advisory,
Allentown Parent Groups and a coalition of Lehigh Valley Parents
Where: East Penn Administration Building School Board Meeting Room, 800 Pine Street
Stand Up for Public Education!
Wed., April 11, 2012 7:00 pm Town Hall Meeting on Education at Bucknell University
Meeting with legislators from Columbia
Where:
The Forum, Room 272, Elaine
Langone Center
Bucknell University Moore Avenue Lewisburg , PA 17837
7
p.m. – School directors and administrators meet with legislators (PSBA
Legislative Meeting)
7:30
p.m. – Town Hall Meeting on Education – Please invite your PTO/PTA and other
parent/ community groups to join us! The
purpose of the 7 p.m. meeting is for school directors and administrators to
discuss the impact of the governor’s 2011-12 budget proposal on their school
districts. At 7:30 p.m., the meeting will be open to all interested parents and
other members of the community who would like to come out in support of their
public schools and ask their legislators to take their message back to Harrisburg
Please
RSVP By April 4, to Kathy Swope, PSBA Region 6 director, at (570)
523-3336 or email swope@ptd.net
Has your board considered this draft resolution yet?
PSBA Sample Board
Resolution regarding the budget
Please consider bringing this sample resolution to
the members of your board.
http://www.psba.org/issues-advocacy/issues-research/state-budget/Budget_resolution-02212012.doc
PA Partnerships for
Children – Take action on the Governor’s Budget
The governor’s budget plan cuts funding for proven
programs like Child Care Works, Keystone STARS and the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship
program, Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts and the Head Start Supplemental Assistance
Program. These are among the most cost-effective
investments we can make in education. Gov. Corbett’s budget plan also runs counter
to a pledge he made when he ran for governor in 2010. He acknowledged the
benefits of early childhood education and promised to increase funding to
double the number of children who would benefit from early learning
opportunities.
We need your help to tell lawmakers: if you cut
these programs – you close the door to early learning! Click here to tell your state legislators to fund early childhood education programs
at the same level they approved for this year’s budget.
Education Voters PA –
Take action on the Governor’s Budget
The Governor’s proposal starts the process,
but it isn’t all decided: our legislators can play an important role in standing
up for our priorities. Last year, public outcry helped prevent nearly
$300 million in additional cuts. We heard from the Governor, and we know
where he stands. Now, we
need to ask our legislators: what is your position on supporting our schools?
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