Saturday, March 30, 2013

Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for March 30, 2013: In Camden, let them eat computers; Oh Atlanta; Glenn Beck: Common Core a Chinese-Muslim Conspiracy


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1900 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, 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.

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?

These daily emails are archived at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg


Keystone State Education Coalition:
Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for March 30, 2013:
In Camden, let them eat computers; Oh Atlanta; Glenn Beck: Common Core a Chinese-Muslim Conspiracy


Help spread the message of the PA School Funding Campaign for the 2013-2014 State Budget:




Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School FAST FACTS
Quakertown Community School District

“A student receiving speech services at Washington School District for one 30-minute session per week costs $569 while, for the same time in a cyberschool, the cost is $8,461.”
Cost, outcome of cybereducation questioned by Washington administrator
By Christie Campbell Staff Writer  chriscam@observer-reporter.com
published mar 29, 2013 at 11:23 pm (updated mar 29, 2013 at 11:23 pm
By attaching her computer mouse to an oscillating fan, one cyberschool student was able to pretend she was working on her computer throughout the school day.  That admission, to the cyberschool coordinator for Washington School District, is just one reason why the district is questioning the effectiveness and accountability of charter and cyberschools in Pennsylvania.
In the past five years, the district has spent $1.9 million in tuition so that 60 to 65 students could enroll in cyberschools.  At the same time, there is little to show that those students were receiving a good education. In fact, attempts by administrators to get attendance and progress reports, as well as notification when a student dropped out of a cyberschool, were met with a “cease and desist” letter from an attorney for the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School in Beaver.

Our take: Time for charter school reform
York Daily Record Editorial 03/28/2013 07:55:28 AM EDT
The governor and state lawmakers have a pretty crowded agenda up there in Harrisburg, with pension reform, lottery and liquor store privatization and a number of other issues, but one thing state leaders really need to accomplish this year is reform of the charter school system in Pennsylvania.  From funding to authorization and accountability, lawmakers need to get a better handle on this burgeoning sector of public education.

“In Part I of this series I spelled out how Gureghian, the charter school magnate, has spread campaign money around Pennsylvania, becoming Governor Tom Corbett's biggest contributor. Undoubtedly aided by this influence, Gureghian has become a very wealthy man on the backs of the taxpayers. But Gureghian hasn't confined his political contributions to Pennsylvania.
According to New Jersey election records, Gureghian has been donating money to New Jersey politicians around the state since at least 1997.”
Jersey Jazzman Blog THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013
The Selling Out of Camden's Schools, Part II
This Monday, Governor Chris Christie and Education Commissioner Chris Cerf announced that they were going to disenfranchise the Camden Board of Education and take direct control of the city's schoolsOne of the most interesting aspects of the story was how little outcry there was from the region's Democratic politicians against a Republican governor taking over Camden's education system.

Here’s a link to our continuing posting on Mr. Gureghian

Philly: The District’s budget: Key facts and figures
The notebook by Paul Socolar on Mar 29 2013 Posted in Latest news
The School Reform Commission adopted a $2.66 billion “lump-sum budget” Thursday evening. The lump-sum budget provides overall projections for revenue, expenses, and any surplus or deficit, but does not include a detailed breakdown. The detailed budget typically comes in late April and must be adopted by May 31.  From the budget and Thursday's presentation by District staff, here are some key numbers on this year and how officials propose to close a huge gap for next year.

SHARING OUR INQUIRIES – MARCH 23-30 By Mike Johanek
Top of Form
Have you heard the one about the Finnish extrovert? Part I
Have you heard the one about the Finnish extrovert?  He looks down at the other person’s shoes when he speaks.  I first heard that joke told about physicists some years ago.  I just heard it again on Wednesday from a Finnish education expert during our visit at the Helsinki Normal Lyceum.
What does this have to do with our group inquiry into Finnish education?

Education Policy and Leadership Center Education Notebook – Thursday, March 28, 2013

Pottstown Mercury Thursday, March 28, 2013
How much is your child's teacher paid?
Wondering what the average salary is for a teacher in your school district? Wondering how much your child's teacher gets paid? You can find out using the search option below.  Enter information in any of the fields to carry out a search. You do not have to fill out all the fields in order to search.

Updated: 7:55 p.m. Friday, March 29, 2013 | Posted: 9:56 a.m. Friday, March 29, 2013
Former APS Superintendent Beverly Hall indicted
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution By Rhonda Cook and Mark Niesse
Former Atlanta schools Superintendent Beverly Hall was the leader of a corrupt organization that used students’ test scores to earn bonuses if they rose, or intimidation and termination if they fell, according to a 65-count indictment returned Friday.  Grand jurors have been meeting for months, sorting out the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal, and on Friday they made clear their outrage at what they had been hearing by setting a bond of $7.5 million for Hall. She and the other 34 indicted — all for racketeering — have until Tuesday to surrender. They reached a decision after 45 minutes of deliberation.

Ex-Schools Chief in Atlanta Is Indicted in Testing Scandal
New York Times By MICHAEL WINERIP  Published: March 29, 2013
During his 35 years as a Georgia state investigator, Richard Hyde has persuaded all sorts of criminals — corrupt judges, drug dealers, money launderers, racketeers — to turn state’s evidence, but until Jackie Parks, he had never tried to flip an elementary school teacher.
It worked.  In the fall of 2010, Ms. Parks, a third-grade teacher at Venetian Hills Elementary School in southwest Atlanta, agreed to become Witness No. 1 for Mr. Hyde, in what would develop into the most widespread public school cheating scandal in memory.

Atlanta’s former schools chief charged under law used against Mafia
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog  by Valerie Strauss on March 30, 2013 at 11:09 am
In 2009, Beverly Hall was tapped as the National Superintendent of the Year, hailed for driving up standardized test scores in the Atlanta Public Schools and turning the system “into a model of urban school reform.  But the scores were illusory, and Hall was just indicted under a law used against Mafia leaders, charged with leading a “corrupt” organization in which students’ standardized test scores were used to reward or punish teachers.  Yes, a law used against members of the Gambino crime family is being used against educators and school administrators in a test-cheating scandal.

School board legislation gains new support in the U.S. Congress
NSBA School Board News Today by Joetta Sack-Min March 29th, 2013
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has signed on to the Local School Board Governance and Flexibility Act, a measure proposed by the National School Boards Association (NSBA). The bill, H.R. 1386, is designed to protect local school district governance from unnecessary and counter-productive federal intrusion from the U.S. Department of Education.
The bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on March 21 by Reps. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.) and Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) It is now cosponsored by Reps. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), Ron Kind (D-Wis.), and David Valadao (R-Calif.).
NSBA is now seeking an original sponsor for the legislation in the Senate, and it is urging school board members to contact their members of Congress to support the bill while the lawmakers are in their home districts next week.

National School Board group seeks curbs on U.S. Ed Secretary
SI&A Cabinet Report By Tom Chorneau Thursday, March 28, 2013
The National School Boards Association and its 90,000 members are sponsoring legislation aimed at curbing the authority of the U.S. Secretary of Education – an outgrowth likely stemming from the group’s chilly relationship with the Obama administration during the president’s first term.
HR 1386 by Congressmen Aaron Schock, R-Illinois and Patrick Meehan, R-Pennsylvania would prohibit the U.S. Department of Education from adopting any new regulations, rules or grant requirements without first offering the education community 60 days to provide written comments.
The bill would also restrict the education secretary from taking any new regulatory action that would conflict with the “power and authority” of local educational agencies or would add additional costs not supported by federal funding.
“A lot of the policies of the department have just been stepping over the authority of a locally-elected school board to make decisions that are in the best interest of their community and students,” said Erika Hoffman, legislative advocate for the California School Boards Association.

Key education activists protesting in D.C. next week
Washington Post Answer Sheet Blog by Valerie Strauss on March 29, 2013 at 6:00 am
Education activists opposed to corporate-based school reform are converging on Washington D.C. next week for the second annual United Opt Out National event on the grounds of the U.S. Education Department. Among those who will be speaking at the event are education historian Diane Ravitch, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, veteran educator Deborah Meier, and early childhood expert Nancy Carlsson-Paige.
The four-day event — to be attended by teachers, students, parents and others — will start on April 4th and include a march to the White House in an effort to get the attention of President Obama, who has been a big disappointment to people who thought he would push progressive school reform policies. Instead, his Education Department has pushed a corporate-based reform agenda that includes an accountability system based on standardized tests — against the advice of assessment experts — and initiatives that have fueled the privatization of public education and attacks on teachers.

Vouchers Don’t Work: Evidence from Milwaukee
Diane Ravitch’s Blog by Diane Ravitch March 29, 2013
Now that 17 states have authorized vouchers to “save kids from failing schools,” it is time to review the evidence from Milwaukee, which has had vouchers for 22 years.
The “independent evaluator” of the Milwaukee and D.C. voucher programs is Patrick J. Wolf of the University of Arkansas. As we learned during school choice week earlier this year, Wolf is a strong supporter of school choice and he even wrote an editorial saying that his home state of Minnesota needs more school choice because it was in danger of falling behind Arkansas in doing so. How much more independent can an evaluator be? It is perhaps also noteworthy that the University of Arkansas is generously funded by Arkansas’s biggest philanthropy, the Walton Foundation, which pours millions every year into charters and vouchers and anything that has the possibility of undermining public schools.

Dirksen Congressional Center's COMMUNICATOR UPDATE: March 2013
Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional Center's “reformatted” Communicator–a web-based e-newsletter providing educators with news and ideas to improve the understanding of Congress:http://www.webcommunicator.org.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
  1. Highlights from The Center’s Web Suite
  2. New at Congress for Kids
  3. Highlights from The Dirksen Congressional Center
  4. More Information About Congress
  5. Congressional Humor

From the “you can’t make this stuff up” department…….
“It’s all going to happen, Beck said, thanks to a devious indoctrination program operating in America today, by which he means the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCS). “
Glenn Beck: Education standards are a Chinese-Muslim conspiracy
By Stephen C. Webster Friday, March 29, 2013 13:10 EDT
Conspiracy theorist Glenn Beck warned viewers of his Internet channel Thursday night that a set of public education standards encouraging math and language development is actually a massive global conspiracy designed to help the Chinese and, somehow, Muslims, take over the United States.  “I believe that you are… then going to be co-ruled by a thugocracy of this part of the world, and I think it’s going to be, at least in our case, I think it’s going to be China,” Beck said as he randomly placed colored dots on a chalkboard with a drawing of a world map. “China will be the balance of our power. They will use Muslam– Islam, as the real enforcers that they will then help us, and whoever is in power will be ruled by an American. But uh, it will be a technocrat that will answer to China, and they will stomp things out and use Islam as much as they have to to get rid of anybody who’s, uh, standing up, I think.”


Education Voters PA ACTION ALERT – Call to action day April 10th

Mark your calendar for the next Call to Action Day on Wednesday April 10th - where thousands of Pennsylvanians will take 10 minutes to call their State Senators and House members.

PENN-FINN LEARNINGS 2013: SHARING OUR INQUIRIES – MARCH 23-30
A group from the Penn Graduate School of Education is visiting Finland to see their education system.  Follow their blog…..

PSBA opens nominations for the Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award
PSBA website 3/15/2013
The nomination process is now open and applications will be accepted until June 21, 2013.
In 2011, PSBA created a new award to honor the memory of its long-term chief lobbyist, who died unexpectedly. The Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award may be presented annually to the individual school director or entire school board to recognize outstanding leadership in legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of public education and students that are consistent with the positions in PSBAs Legislative Platform. The nomination process is now open and applications will be accepted until June 21, 2013. The award will be presented during the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference in October.

PSBA officer applications due April 30
PSBA’s website 2/15/2013
Candidates seeking election to PSBA officer posts in 2014 must file an expression of interest for the office desired to be interviewed by the PSBA Leadership Development Committee.
This new committee replaces the former Nominations Committee. Deadline for filing is April 30. The application shall be marked received at PSBA headquarters or mailed first class and postmarked by the deadline to be considered timely filed. Expression of interest forms can be found online at www.psba.org/about/psba/board-of-directors/officers/electing-officers.asp.

Edcamp Philly 2013 at UPENN May 18th, 2013
For those of you who have never gone to an Edcamp before, please make a note of the unusual part of the morning where we will build the schedule. Edcamp doesn’t believe in paying fancy people to come and talk at you about teaching! At an Edcamp, the people attending – the participants - facilitate sessions on teaching and learning! So Edcamp won’t succeed without a whole bunch of you wanting to run a session of some kind! What kinds of sessions might you run?
What: Edcamp Philly is an"unconference" devoted to K-12 Education issues and ideas.
Where: University of Pennsylvania  When: May 18, 2013  Cost: FREE!
               
2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on Advocacy and Issues
April 6, 2013 The Penn Stater Convention Center Hotel; State College, PA
Strategic leadership, school budgeting and advocacy are key issues facing today's school district leaders. For your school district to truly thrive, leaders must maintain a solid understanding of these three functions. Attend the 2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on Advocacy and Issues to ensure you have the skills you need to take your district to the next level.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for March 29, 2013: Gureghian takes his formula to Camden, NJ


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1900 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, 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 at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg                                                                     

Keystone State Education Coalition:
Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for March 29, 2013:
Gureghian takes his formula to Camden, NJ



Help spread the message of the PA School Funding Campaign for the 2013-2014 State Budget:




Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School FAST FACTS
Quakertown Community School District

Camden announces new charter school to open in September
By Jason Laday/South Jersey Times  on March 21, 2013 at 5:58 PM
CAMDEN — Officials on Thursday announced a newly approved public charter school in North Camden, scheduled to begin serving up to 300 elementary school students beginning as early as September.  Students at the new Camden Community Charter School — which will soon break ground at what has long been an empty lot near the intersection of 8th and Linden streets — will be provided with free laptops and at-home Internet access through a partnership between Comcast and a local charity.  The new charter school will be managed by CSMI Education Management LLC, which operates Chester Community Charter School in Pennsylvania, and whose founder and CEO, Vahan Gureghian, is one half of the foundation providing the free laptops and Internet access to students. The other half, Danielle Gureghian, serves as executive vice president and general counsel for the group.

Jersey Jazzman is a great New Jersey education blogger; he did his homework on this….
Jersey Jazzman Blog THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2013
The Selling Out of Camden's Schools: Part I
Now that the state has officially taken control of Camden's schools, what changes are we likely to see? What's in store for the city's children and their schools?
The best place to find an answer may be right down the Delaware RiverA charter school made famous in Chester, PA is setting up shop in Camden.

Debate continues on Chester Upland school closures
Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013
Delco Times By JOHN KOPP jkopp@delcotimes.com @DT_JohnKopp
The financial and academic recovery plan designed to boost the Chester Upland School District requires the district to restructure its schools, a process that includes consolidations and closings.
Receiver Joseph Watkins held a hearing Wednesday to consider proposals to close several buildings by the beginning of next school year.

Gov. Tom Corbett announces Lehigh Valley effort to promote manufacturing jobs - UPDATE
By Precious Petty | The Express-Times  on March 28, 2013 at 8:24 PM
As a 1960s high school kid, Gov. Tom Corbett said he associated manufacturing with the "dirty jobs" found in Pittsburgh's steel mills.  Steel mills haven't changed -- they're still dirty -- but manufacturing jobs have, and some of the best one are found in tidy, high-tech equipment-filled labs like the one Corbett toured today at Lehigh Career & Technical Institute, he said.

Lehigh Valley officials criticize state education, human services funding
By Lynn Olanoff | The Express-Times  on March 28, 2013 at 6:28 PM
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed minor increase in state funding will do nothing to make up two years of severe cuts to education and human services, Lehigh Valley officials told a Corbett representative today in Bethlehem.

“But the district's chances for getting more money from Harrisburg do not look good.
Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware) said Thursday that the state is facing "a very tight budget" and that "there is no surplus waiting to be allocated."
Philly School Reform Commission passes $2.7B preliminary 2013-14 budget
Kristen A. Graham, Inquirer Staff Writer POSTED: Friday, March 29, 2013, 4:45 AM
Already in dire financial straits, the Philadelphia School District must now find ways to plug a hole of as much as $304 million next year.  The School Reform Commission on Thursday night passed a $2.7 billion preliminary 2013-14 budget with few details and multiple question marks.
Its current gap-filling plan requires $120 million in new money from the state, $60 million in new city funding, and pay cuts of roughly 10 percent from all employees, including teachers and other unionized workers.  Each of those line items will be a tough sell, to say the least.

Philly budget banks on $180M in new aid, 10% pay cuts
by thenotebook on Mar 28 2013 Posted in Latest news
by Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner
[Updated, 10:15 p.m.] The struggling Philadelphia School District, hoping to close a $242 million budget shortfall for next school year, plans to slash labor costs by 10 percent more and hope for a huge influx of cash from the state and city.
The School Reform Commission voted Thursday evening to approve this so-called "lump-sum budget," which totals $2.66 billion. The 2013-14 school year will be the third in a row in which the District, staggered by sharp reductions in state and federal aid as well as poor financial planning, has had to make deep and painful cuts to balance its books.
In a press briefing Thursday afternoon, Superintendent William Hite told reporters the District would ask for $120 million from Harrisburg and $60 million from City Hall, part of a painful effort to fix the District's "structural deficit" without again resorting to borrowing money to pay its bills.

Pa. budget chief Zogby: Some pension changes needed by June
By PETER JACKSON, Associated Press Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Lawmakers need to reduce taxpayers' share of payments into Pennsylvania's major state pension funds in the next few years even if the rest of Gov. Tom Corbett's pension-overhaul proposals bog down, the governor's top budget adviser said Wednesday.  Budget Secretary Charles Zogby said Corbett's $28.4 billion state budget plan for the year starting July 1 includes $175 million in savings from a proposed short-term reduction in taxpayers' contributions to the pensions of hundreds of thousands of state and school employees. Similar deferrals would avert sharp increases in the following two years.
Failure to approve the changes would require cuts elsewhere in the budget, he said.

Corbett gears up for court fight over pension reform
Governor seeks to get around 1934 precedent that protects public pensions.
By Steve Esack, Call Harrisburg Bureau 9:08 p.m. EDT, March 27, 2013
HARRISBURG — Gov. Tom Corbett's legal chief said Wednesday that the administration is ready for a court battle over pension reform plans that are tied to the governor's proposed 2013-14 budget.  "This is something we can handle in-house," General Counsel Jim Schultz said.
Winning, however, is another matter.
Since 1934, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that pension benefits are contractual obligations that cannot be taken away as long as workers abide by the terms of their employment. The precedent has withstood numerous challenges over the decades. But the administration first has to persuade the Legislature to back the pension plans in a law before Schultz can attempt to change precedent with his legal argument he plans to use against lawsuits that have been promised by state workers and teachers unions.

‘Hybrid learning’ ahead, says Pa. Department of Education Secretary Tomalis
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review By Bill Zlatos  Published: Friday, March 29, 2013, 12:13 a.m.
With help from the Internet, schools one day will tailor education to individual students, who might choose from among 100 languages to learn, the state's top education official predicted on Thursday.  “I think the new parents will drive that conversation,” Ronald Tomalis, secretary of the state Department of Education, said during a wide-ranging discussion with Tribune-Review editors and reporters.
South Side celebrates middle school honor
By Abdul Al-Nakhli For The Times | Posted: Friday, March 29, 2013 12:15 am
GREENE TWP. — It was an afternoon of celebration Wednesday as students, faculty and guests gathered at South Side Middle School to acknowledge being named a “School to Watch.”
“We get to celebrate our young people, their achievements, their perseverance and their successes,” said acting Superintendent Tammy Adams. “Students, you should know your teachers, your counselors and principals and entire staff are very proud of you today.”
South Side was one of four middle schools statewide to receive the honor from the Pennsylvania Association for Middle Level Education through its Don Eichhorn: Schools to Watch program.

Schwartz poll: Leads primary and general for guv
Post=Gazette Early Returns by Tim McNulty on Thursday, 28 March 2013 3:34 pm.
U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz's nascent gubernatorial campaign did polling two weeks ago claiming the MontCo congresswoman is the leader in the ever-expanding Democratic field clamoring to take on Tom Corbett next year, and would be the top vote-getter out of the crucial Philadelphia media market.  Schwartz would lead a three-way Dem race among Treasurer Rob McCord and businessman/Rendell cabinet member Tom Wolf with 31% to their 12 and 5% respectively. Once voters are read bios of the trio (listed in pdf below) her lead is 58% to their 14 and 8%. In a wide field including Joe Sestak, former DEP Secretary John Hanger and others she's still squeaks by as the leader, with 18% to Sestak's 15%

The Keystone State Education Coalition is pleased to be listed among the Friends and Allies of the Network for Public Education
Network for Public Education NPE News Issue #3 March 28, 2013

“The real lesson to draw from these facts is that the future of the country is directly linked to how well the 90 percent of American students in public schools are being educated. The nation's future workers, military troops, scientists, doctors, and political leaders will be drawn mostly from children now being educated in public schools. If we want a bright future, we must focus national attention on making public schools as good as they can be.”
Proportion of U.S. Students in Private Schools is 10 Percent and Declining
Huffington Post by Jack Jennings Posted: 03/28/2013 12:31 pm
Founder, and former President, Center on Education Policy
One in 10 U.S. students in grades preK-12 attends a private school, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education. Surprised it's not a higher share?
Perhaps even more surprisingly, the private school share of total enrollments has decreased over the past 15 years, from about 12 percent to 10 percent. This trend seems unlikely to reverse. The U.S. Department of Education projects that in 2021, private schools will enroll about 9 percent of preK-12 students, while public schools will enroll 91 percent.

10th Period Blog by Stephen Dyer SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2013
3 out of 4 Ohio Charters get Fs on New Report Card
I was stunned to read this weekend that 3 out of 4 Charter Schools in this state will receive Fs under the new state report card. However, I was even more stunned by the response of Bill Sims, president and CEO of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools.  Here was his answer to why 3 out of 4 of his schools are failing, (according to the Gongwer (subscription only) story):

In Maine, More Advanced Placement classes to be offered online
Thanks to a funding increase, a program providing universal access to advanced classes can also take more students.
By Noel K. Gallagher ngallagher@mainetoday.com  Staff Writer March 25,2013
Maine is increasing funding and expanding courses for a program that provides free online Advanced Placement courses to students who can't get them at their local high school.
"I firmly believe that it's a very, very important program," said Dave Patterson, who oversees AP4ALL for the state Department of Education. The department is currently accepting applications for this fall.  This year, there are about 200 students in the 17 AP courses. Next year the state will offer 21 courses and could have as many as 420 students enrolled.


Education Voters PA ACTION ALERT – Call to action day April 10th

Mark your calendar for the next Call to Action Day on Wednesday April 10th - where thousands of Pennsylvanians will take 10 minutes to call their State Senators and House members.

PENN-FINN LEARNINGS 2013: SHARING OUR INQUIRIES – MARCH 23-30
A group from the Penn Graduate School of Education is visiting Finland to see their education system.  Follow their blog…..

PSBA opens nominations for the Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award
PSBA website 3/15/2013
The nomination process is now open and applications will be accepted until June 21, 2013.
In 2011, PSBA created a new award to honor the memory of its long-term chief lobbyist, who died unexpectedly. The Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award may be presented annually to the individual school director or entire school board to recognize outstanding leadership in legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of public education and students that are consistent with the positions in PSBAs Legislative Platform. The nomination process is now open and applications will be accepted until June 21, 2013. The award will be presented during the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference in October.

PSBA officer applications due April 30
PSBA’s website 2/15/2013
Candidates seeking election to PSBA officer posts in 2014 must file an expression of interest for the office desired to be interviewed by the PSBA Leadership Development Committee.
This new committee replaces the former Nominations Committee. Deadline for filing is April 30. The application shall be marked received at PSBA headquarters or mailed first class and postmarked by the deadline to be considered timely filed. Expression of interest forms can be found online at www.psba.org/about/psba/board-of-directors/officers/electing-officers.asp.

Edcamp Philly 2013 at UPENN May 18th, 2013
For those of you who have never gone to an Edcamp before, please make a note of the unusual part of the morning where we will build the schedule. Edcamp doesn’t believe in paying fancy people to come and talk at you about teaching! At an Edcamp, the people attending – the participants - facilitate sessions on teaching and learning! So Edcamp won’t succeed without a whole bunch of you wanting to run a session of some kind! What kinds of sessions might you run?
What: Edcamp Philly is an"unconference" devoted to K-12 Education issues and ideas.
Where: University of Pennsylvania  When: May 18, 2013  Cost: FREE!
               
2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on Advocacy and Issues
April 6, 2013 The Penn Stater Convention Center Hotel; State College, PA
Strategic leadership, school budgeting and advocacy are key issues facing today's school district leaders. For your school district to truly thrive, leaders must maintain a solid understanding of these three functions. Attend the 2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on Advocacy and Issues to ensure you have the skills you need to take your district to the next level.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for March 28, 2013: Read it again: Profits and Questions at Online Charter Schools


Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now reach more than 1900 Pennsylvania education policymakers – school directors, administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, 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 at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
Follow us on Twitter at @lfeinberg                                                                     

Keystone State Education Coalition:
Pennsylvania Education Policy Roundup for March 28, 2013:
Read it again: Profits and Questions at Online Charter Schools


Help spread the message of the PA School Funding Campaign for the 2013-2014 State Budget:




Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School FAST FACTS
Quakertown Community School District

If you missed this December 2011 New York Times piece by Stephanie Saul you should take a few minutes to read it – especially if you are a recently elected Pennsylvania State legislator.
Profits and Questions at Online Charter Schools
New York Times By STEPHANIE SAUL  Published: December 12, 2011 
By almost every educational measure, the Agora Cyber Charter School is failing. 
Nearly 60 percent of its students are behind grade level in math. Nearly 50 percent trail in reading. A third do not graduate on time. And hundreds of children, from kindergartners to seniors, withdraw within months after they enroll.
By Wall Street standards, though, Agora is a remarkable success that has helped enrich K12 Inc., the publicly traded company that manages the school. And the entire enterprise is paid for by taxpayers.

Mercer County charter school executive director fined
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review By Jason Cato  Published: Tuesday, March 26, 2013, 10:48 p.m.
The Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission on Tuesday fined the executive director of a Mercer County charter school for leasing properties he and his family controlled for the school's use without board approval.  James Gentile, executive director of Keystone Education Center Charter School, violated conflict of interest rules, the commission said. It fined him $7,000.
The charter school, founded in 1997, accepts students from 40 school districts in Western Pennsylvania.
“Real opportunities are there for the state to assist our local communities with significant statutory reforms: Fix the pension problem, reform cyberschool funding, deal with the property tax and recognize that special education funding is woefully inadequate to provide the services we are required to provide.  A resolution of any one of these issues would help.”
Superintendents' forum: Commonwealth not meeting its constitutional obligation
Reading Eagle By Dr. Gary L. Otto Originally Published: 3/27/2013
Superintendent, Daniel Boone School District
Since there is no mention of the word "education" in the U.S. Constitution, public education fundamentally is a state responsibility as is mandated under the Pennsylvania Constitution, which states in Article III, Section 14, "The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education."  Given this language in our state Constitution, the state has adopted statutory language, primarily in laws promulgated in the Pennsylvania School Code and state Board of Education regulations to carry out is constitutional mandate.

After Years of Debate, Keystone Exams Get Passed
WESA 90.5 Pittsburgh NPR By JARED ADKINS March 25, 2013
After more than four years of debate and revision, the Keystone Exam will more than likely be coming to schools across Pennsylvania.  After receiving approval by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, the regulations will now go to the House and Senate Education committees and Independent Regulatory Review Commission for consideration.
The exam plans however, come with some new regulations — the Pennsylvania Common Core Standards. These new requirements must be implemented across the state in English, arts and mathematics by July 1.  These regulations are similar to the Common Core Standards initiative already underway in 45 states. However, Department of Education spokesman Tim Eller said Pennsylvania tailored its standards to better match students' needs across the state.

Debate continues on CUSD school closures
Delco Times By JOHN KOPP jkopp@delcotimes.com @DT_JohnKopp  March 27, 2013
The financial and academic recovery plan designed to boost the Chester Upland School District requires the district to restructure its schools, a process that includes consolidations and closings.
Receiver Joseph Watkins held a hearing Wednesday to consider proposals to close several buildings by the beginning of next school year.

PSP's Gleason cited by Waltons as a 'reformer to watch'
The notebook by Dale Mezzacappa on Mar 27 2013
Mark Gleason, the executive director of the Philadelphia School Partnership, has been named one of four "education reformers to watch" nationwide by the Walton Family Foundation.
Walton, which has given some $1 billion to its education causes, is one of the country's leading backers of parental choice in education, including vouchers and the expansion of charter schools. It believes that choice is the best path to equal opportunity for low-income students.

Are a handful of benevolent billionaires protecting us from the unionized minions of greedy teachers?  I posted a comment regarding the Waltons’ school reform largesse on the notebook article above and received a reply with a link to this July 2012 WSJ piece:
Teachers Unions Give Broadly
Beyond Their Political Donations, Two Largest Federations Contribute to an Array of Outside Groups
Wall Street Journal By ALICIA MUNDY July 12, 2012, 7:54 p.m. ET
What do the American Ireland Fund, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network have in common?
All have received some of the more than $330 million that America's two largest teachers unions spent in the past five years on outside causes, political campaigns, lobbying and issue education.
The contributions—totaling more than $200 million from the National Education Association and more than $130 million from the American Federation of Teachers—were disclosed in annual reports that unions file with the Labor Department detailing their spending on political activities and advocacy work, as well as separate political-action-committee filings.

Pennsylvania Could Lose Billions Under Ryan Budget
Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center Press Release March 27, 2013
Congressman Paul Ryan's Plan Cuts Almost One in Five Dollars of Federal Funding to States and Localities, Harming Schools, Health Care, Housing, Report Finds  
Read the Full Report (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities)
HARRISBURG, PA (March 27, 2013) — Critical federal funding for Pennsylvania's schools, health care, clean water, law enforcement, and other key services would be slashed under a budget plan approved last week by the U.S. House of Representatives authored by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan.   "Chairman Ryan's budget would place the burden of deficit reduction squarely on the backs of Pennsylvania's low-income and middle-class families while providing big new tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest individuals," said Sharon Ward, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. "With our communities and economy still reeling from deep state budget cuts, another round of funding cuts to our schools, public safety, and health is unsustainable." 
Chairman Ryan's budget would cut by 18 percent the part of the federal budget that supports schools, public safety, and a range of other state and local services, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, co-released today with the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center. And that's on top of sharp cuts already scheduled to hit these programs. 

Congress Tweaks State Special Education Spending Mandates
Education Week Politics K-12 Blog By Alyson Klein on March 25, 2013 3:41 PM
States that run afoul of federal rules for special education funding will be punished—though not forever—under a technical, but important tweak to state maintenance of effort under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The change, which was crafted with the help of the U.S. Department of Education, was included in the giant spending bill for the rest of this fiscal year (better known in Inside the Beltway as a continuing resolution, or CR) that Congress passed this month.  Under maintenance of effort—or MOE, in wonky Washingtonspeak—states can't cut their own education spending below whatever amount they spent the previous year and still tap federal dollars for special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, unless they get special permission from the department.

Crowds join Loop protest against Chicago school closings
Union leads supporters in rally, march, sit-in; Emanuel says time for negotiations is over
Chicago Tribune By Ellen Jean Hirst and Bridget DoyleTribune reporters March 28, 2013
On a day when Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the time for negotiations on school closings was over, the Chicago Teachers Union led hundreds of supporters in a highly orchestrated downtown rally and march as part of its continuing efforts to derail the district's plan to shut 53 elementary schools.  CTU President Karen Lewis was cheered when she took the microphone at Daley Plaza late Wednesday afternoon and repeated her argument that the Chicago Public Schools' decision to close schools with predominantly African-American enrollments is racist.

In Chicago, Dozens Arrested As They Protest School Closures
NPR by EYDER PERALTA March 27, 2013 8:46 PM
Hundreds of demonstrators, along with the Chicago Teachers Union, marched through the city today demanding that City Hall walk back its plan to close 53 elementary schools and one high school in response to a $1 billion budget deficit.

With Vouchers, States Shift Aid for Schools to Families
New York Times By FERNANDA SANTOS and MOTOKO RICH  Published: March 27, 2013
PHOENIX — A growing number of lawmakers across the country are taking steps to redefine public education, shifting the debate from the classroom to the pocketbook. Instead of simply financing a traditional system of neighborhood schools, legislators and some governors are headed toward funneling public money directly to families, who would be free to choose the kind of schooling they believe is best for their children, be it public, charter, private, religious, online or at home.

Texas House votes to reduce high-stakes testing, change graduation requirements
By Kate Alexander American-Statesman Staff Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The Texas House on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to loosen high school graduation requirements and significantly reduce high-stakes testing after a daylong debate in which legislators grappled with how academic rigor and flexibility can co-exist.  House Bill 5 won preliminary passage on a 145-2 vote. State Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, who unsuccessfully pushed an amendment aimed at steering more students toward college, and state Rep. Naomi Gonzalez, D-El Paso, were the only nays.
The legislation reduces from 15 to five the number of end-of-course exams needed for graduation from high school and amounts to an about-face for Texas, which has been at the forefront of the standardized testing movement. The required tests would be algebra, biology, U.S. history and 10th-grade reading and writing.


Education Voters PA ACTION ALERT – Call to action day April 10th

Mark your calendar for the next Call to Action Day on Wednesday April 10th - where thousands of Pennsylvanians will take 10 minutes to call their State Senators and House members.

PENN-FINN LEARNINGS 2013: SHARING OUR INQUIRIES – MARCH 23-30
A group from the Penn Graduate School of Education is visiting Finland to see their education system.  Follow their blog…..

PSBA opens nominations for the Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award
PSBA website 3/15/2013
The nomination process is now open and applications will be accepted until June 21, 2013.
In 2011, PSBA created a new award to honor the memory of its long-term chief lobbyist, who died unexpectedly. The Timothy M. Allwein Advocacy Award may be presented annually to the individual school director or entire school board to recognize outstanding leadership in legislative advocacy efforts on behalf of public education and students that are consistent with the positions in PSBAs Legislative Platform. The nomination process is now open and applications will be accepted until June 21, 2013. The award will be presented during the PASA-PSBA School Leadership Conference in October.

PSBA officer applications due April 30
PSBA’s website 2/15/2013
Candidates seeking election to PSBA officer posts in 2014 must file an expression of interest for the office desired to be interviewed by the PSBA Leadership Development Committee.
This new committee replaces the former Nominations Committee. Deadline for filing is April 30. The application shall be marked received at PSBA headquarters or mailed first class and postmarked by the deadline to be considered timely filed. Expression of interest forms can be found online at www.psba.org/about/psba/board-of-directors/officers/electing-officers.asp.

Edcamp Philly 2013 at UPENN May 18th, 2013
For those of you who have never gone to an Edcamp before, please make a note of the unusual part of the morning where we will build the schedule. Edcamp doesn’t believe in paying fancy people to come and talk at you about teaching! At an Edcamp, the people attending – the participants - facilitate sessions on teaching and learning! So Edcamp won’t succeed without a whole bunch of you wanting to run a session of some kind! What kinds of sessions might you run?
What: Edcamp Philly is an"unconference" devoted to K-12 Education issues and ideas.
Where: University of Pennsylvania  When: May 18, 2013  Cost: FREE!
               
2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on Advocacy and Issues
April 6, 2013 The Penn Stater Convention Center Hotel; State College, PA
Strategic leadership, school budgeting and advocacy are key issues facing today's school district leaders. For your school district to truly thrive, leaders must maintain a solid understanding of these three functions. Attend the 2013 PSBA Leadership Symposium on Advocacy and Issues to ensure you have the skills you need to take your district to the next level.