Daily postings from the Keystone State Education Coalition now
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administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's
staff, current/former PA Secretaries of Education, Wolf education transition
team members, Superintendents, PTO/PTA officers, parent advocates, teacher
leaders, business leaders, faith-based organizations, labor organizations,
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These daily emails are archived and searchable at http://keystonestateeducationcoalition.org
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Keystone State Education Coalition
PA Ed Policy Roundup for May 20, 2015:
'Charters are public schools that are funded
with public money… How that money is used is the public’s business."
School directors,
superintendents and administrators are encouraged to register and attend this
event.
Bucks / Lehigh / Northampton Legislative
Council
Wednesday, May 20, 2015 from 7:00 PM to
9:00 PM Quakertown Community School District, 100 Commerce Drive Quakertown, PA 18951
Featured
Guests: Former House Education Committee Chair Paul Clymer and New PSERS Chief
(former Rep) Glenn Grell
Wolf, Pittsburgh
By Clarece Polke / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
May 19, 2015 2:19 PM
A panel of
administrators from Pittsburgh Public Schools presented to Gov. Tom Wolf today
areas within the district in need of additional funding. The governor met with district superintendent
Linda Lane
and a team of administrators at Pittsburgh Roosevelt PreK-5 in Carrick to
discuss how resources from his proposed state budget could be allocated among
programs of greatest need. Carol
Barone-Martin, executive director of early childhood education, and Derrick
Hardy, principal of Pittsburgh Milliones 6-12, were among the handful of
administrators who each gave brief presentations. Ms. Lane emphasized the importance of
having additional support services, including mental health professionals, for
students, particularly from high-poverty backgrounds.
Governor Wolf Tells PA Chamber to Stop Putting Oil and Gas
Interests Ahead of Children and Schools
Governor
Wolf Press Release 05/18/2015
Harrisburg, PA - Governor Tom Wolf today sent a letter to
the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry regarding their misguided
opposition to a commonsense severance tax in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania remains
the only major gas-producing state in the country without a tax on natural
gas. Since the introduction of Governor
Wolf’s budget, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry has repeatedly
put oil and gas interests over the interests of children and fixing our
schools. Instead of working with the governor on shared priorities including
greater investments in education, manufacturing, workforce development, as well
as major business tax cuts that will enable companies to invest in Pennsylvania
and grow here these groups are simply supporting the status quo.
Wolf,
business leaders clash over proposed natural-gas tax
Philly.com by PETER JACKSON, THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS POSTED:May 18, 2015, 6:02 PM
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - Gov. Tom Wolf clashed Monday with a coalition of
more than a dozen business groups that is trying to derail his proposed
severance tax on natural-gas drilling, charging that they are putting gas and
oil interests ahead of the schools and children that Wolf says will benefit
from his plan. "We cannot keep
doing the same thing and expecting different results in Pennsylvania,"
Wolf said in a response to the coalition led by the Pennsylvania Chamber of
Business and Industry. "Now is the time to do big things in
Pennsylvania."
Six
judges nominated to vie for three seats on Pa. Supreme Court
Trib Live By Melissa
Daniels Tuesday, May 19, 2015, 10:54 p.m.
Six judges have a shot at securing one of three open Pennsylvania Supreme Court seats in November, the result of a quiet but expensive primary race. On the Democratic side, voters chose Superior Court Judge David Wecht, 53, ofIndiana
Township Bucks County
Six judges have a shot at securing one of three open Pennsylvania Supreme Court seats in November, the result of a quiet but expensive primary race. On the Democratic side, voters chose Superior Court Judge David Wecht, 53, of
By Christian Alexandersen |
calexandersen@pennlive.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on May 19, 2015 at 11:36 PM, updated May 20, 2015 at 12:33 AM
on May 19, 2015 at 11:36 PM, updated May 20, 2015 at 12:33 AM
Voters have narrowed the field of Pennsylvania Supreme Court candidates
to six as Republicans and Democrats battle to fill an historic number of seats
on the state's highest court. The
Republicans and Democrats each have three judicial candidates moving on to the
November General election. Supreme Court justices serve 10-year terms. On Tuesday, the Democrats selected David
Wecht with 22 percent of the vote, Kevin Dougherty with 21 percent and
Christine Donohue with 21 percent with 95 percent of precincts reporting. The Republicans chose Judith Olson with 22
percent of the vote, Michael George with 22 percent and Anne Covey with 21
votes with 95 percent of precincts reporting.
"I'm left with the impression that Senator Williams did not
fully utilize one of his main strengths, and the issue he's most associated
with, which is education, which really is the No. 1 issue in the city,"
Mayor Nutter said yesterday. Nutter said
Williams might have shied away from running hard on education because he didn't
want to face scrutiny over his wealthy backers and their interests in
education. But he was attacked over them anyway."
How
Williams fell - and Kenney rose
DAVID GAMBACORTA, Daily
News Staff Writer gambacd@phillynews.com,
215-854-5994
Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2015, 12:16 AM
JIM KENNEY for the win, huh?
JIM KENNEY for the win, huh?
The former city councilman's historic landslide victory yesterday in
the Democratic mayoral primary might have seemed inevitable last week, when an
independent poll showed him with a staggering 27-point lead over his chief
rival, state Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams.
But a Kenney victory wasn't always a sure bet. Why, if you could take a trip in a custom
DeLorean back to Feb. 8 - a few days after Kenney officially announced his
candidacy - you'd find a Philadelphia Main Line billionaires and, experts said,
a bankable advantage along racial lines.
So, what the hell happened?
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150520_How_Williams_fell_-_and_Kenney_rose.html#FC4Atbf3TSkH7dj2.99
The third new seat will go to either public education advocate
Helen Gym or charter school dean Isaiah Thomas. With 98 percent of precincts
reporting, Gym led by about 1,100 votes..with little chance of her margin being
overcome.
Philly
City Council to get at least three new voices
WHYY Newsworks BY NEWSWORKS
STAFF MAY 20, 2015
Three new faces are primed to join the ranks of the 17-member body as
at-large council members. One newcomer
was guaranteed an at-large seat because Jim Kenney retired to run for mayor, but
two incumbents were also ousted: Wilson Goode Jr, and Ed Neilson, the former
state representative backed by the powerful electricians. Derek Green was the top vote-getter in the
Democratic field. He's a small business owner who's served on the staff of
retiring councilwoman Marian Tasco. He had the top ballot position.
Good
News: Pro-Public Education Candidates Win in Philadelphia
Diane Ravitch's Blog By dianeravitch May
19, 2015 //
In closely-watched primary races in Philadelphia ,
pro-public education candidates won in Philadelphia .
Helen Gym, a fierce fighter for public schools, won the Democratic nomination
for City Council. She was endorsed by the Network for Public Education.
Keystone
quagmire
In Our Opinion Editorial
By the Notebook on May 18, 2015 10:24 AM
The elephant in the room when discussing graduation rates is Pennsylvania ’s Keystone
exams. This year’s sophomores will have to pass tests in algebra, biology, and
English to earn a diploma when requirements take effect in 2017. If they fail,
they can repeat the test or try to pass a “performance-based assessment” that
takes an estimated 10 hours to complete. The District has estimated that only 22 percent of this year’s seniors
would meet the new graduation standards. Even in high-performing districts,
barely 70 percent of students are passing biology Keystones. Unquestionably, we must ensure that a high
school diploma actually means something is necessary. As districts push hard to
improve graduation rates – and as administrators try to avoid the “failing
school” label – pressure mounts to graduate students even if they haven’t met
basic requirements. Beyond the horror stories of functionally illiterate,
unemployable Philadelphia
grads is the more widespread problem of students who should be college-ready
but can’t place out of remedial community college classes.
"But there is no reason
for the charters not to be responsive directly to Right to Know requests about
particular aspects of their operations. The charters often complain that their
critics misstate how they operate. So, they should embrace the highest level of
transparency not merely as a duty, but as an opportunity to perfect the record." …. Charters are public schools
that are funded with public money — including per-student tuition payments from
the home public school districts of charter students. How that money is used is
the public’s business."
Editorial: Disclosure
charters’ duty
Scranton Times-Tribune BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD Published: May 19, 2015
Public charter
schools apparently are more like conventional public schools than their
advocates believe. Confronted with Right
to Know Law requests from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association about
their operations, 160 charter schools initially responded collectively through
a spokesman by questioning the PSBA’s motives. That’s how school districts
often respond to Right to Know requests, rather than embracing transparency as
an important aspect of conducting public business. The PSBA recently submitted information
requests to 160 charter schools with physical locations and another 20 “cyber”
charter schools that operate online. It asked for data on charters’ contracts
with private management companies, advanced placement courses, administrative
salaries and other personnel costs, advertising budgets, charters’
relationships with foundations and educational improvement organizations, and
leases.
"In actuality, the
Charter School Law requires that a school district that granted a charter be
given access only to certain records of the charter school, and fails to assure
any access to records of other charter schools the district pays for resident
students to attend. Moreover, the law does not specifically mention financial
records as a part of that access, and gives school districts no access at all
to the records of cyber charter schools, which are authorized by the Department
of Education. The Right-to-Know Law
provides the most efficient means, if not the only means, for PSBA to collect the
requested information directly from the source."
STATEMENT: PSBA questions Charter Coalition’s
directive to its members to violate Right-to-Know Law
PSBA website posted
by Steve Robinson May 19, 2015
On May 15, the
Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) filed a Right-to-Know request to
all charter and cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania seeking financial and
academic information that is subject to disclosure under the Right-to-Know
Law (“RTK”), in an effort to better understand the operations, financial
needs and expenses of Pennsylvania charter schools (see news release on filing). A
Pennsylvania Coalition of Public Charter Schools spokesperson quickly reacted
by suggesting that charter schools should ignore their obligations under the
RTK, along with the misleading claim that school districts already have the
requested information. The Coalition’s
spokesperson, Lauren Hawk, stated in an interview with the online state
political news service Capitolwire that “The Pennsylvania Coalition of Public
Charter Schools has no problem with either transparency or full responsiveness
to legitimate RTK requests, but when the law is being used to harass, rather
than inform, then the requests should be denied.”
PSBA questions why
the Coalition would authorize Ms. Hawk to encourage its members to deliberately
violate state law.
"Which raises an
important question: What is there in the long and less-than-stellar history of
the Pennsylvania General Assembly that gives a reasonable person hope that
present and future lawmakers, individually and collectively, will do the right
thing by fully funding public schools when and if revenues from income and
sales taxes stagnate or decline?
Sadly, the answer is a
resounding “nothing.”
Can we trust state lawmakers to adequately fund
education?
Post Gazette Letter by BOB UHRINIAK May 20, 2015 12:00 AM
Local control of
public education in Pennsylvania could be in
serious trouble if the property tax reform proposals being pushed in Harrisburg become law. Although the details haven’t been worked out,
the legislation would increase the commonwealth’s income and sales taxes. The
resulting revenue would then be sent along to school districts, which would be
required to reduce property taxes. The
legislation also includes safeguards that, as columnist Brian O’Neill wrote
Sunday, make sure “that [property] taxes don’t just go down but stay down” (“Proposed Tax Swap Adds Up to Complex, Tantalizing Effort,” May
17). This requirement is potentially
lethal because it strips local school districts of the flexibility they need to
fund an education system that reflects the needs and expectations of the
communities they serve. Instead, money will come from and power will reside in Harrisburg .
At Monday’s school
board meeting, the Conestoga Valley Education Association made a show of
solidarity with 197 support staff whose jobs will soon be outsourced. CV signed a contract May 11 with
Malvern-based School Operation Services Group of Lancaster to provide the district with
custodial, cafeteria and classroom aide workers. Last week, those employees
learned the private contractor would be their new employer as of July 1. The savings for the district will be $600,000
by 2020, Superintendent Gerald Huesken said.
By Christina
Tatu Of The Morning Call May
19, 2015
The Saucon Valley
"The $94,474,708
spending package represents a $3.5 million increase over the current year’s
$90, 963,403 budget. That increase is driven primarily by a hike in personnel
costs will by $3.1 million. Of that, about $1 million is the result of a state
mandated increase in the district’s contribution to the Public School Employees
Retirement System (PSERS). As with all
school districts in the state, Owen J. Roberts’ contribution to PSERS has been
rising steadily each year, and will continue to do so for the next several
years, reaching over 27 percent by 2018. To cover those costs, the district has
set aside a portion of its fund balance specifically to handle the annual PSERS
increases, thereby lessening the impact on taxpayers."
OJR school budget includes
1.9 percent tax hike
By Laura Catalano, For Digital First Media POSTED: 05/19/15, 5:54 PM EDT |
SOUTH COVENTRY
>> The Owen J. Roberts School Board unanimously approved the final
general fund budget for the 2015-16 school year that hikes property taxes by
1.9 percent. The .5 mill increase
raises the taxes levied by the district to 28.8262 mills, or about $2.88 per
100 dollars of assessed property value. For the average homeowner with a
property assessed at $159,000, that equates to an additional $85 in taxes to
the district each year, according to district Chief Financial Officer Jaclin
Krumrine. Krumrine noted that the budget
keeps the tax increase within the state’s Act 1 index.
"Among our challenges
and concerns include the following areas: uncertainty of commonwealth funding, increasing
costs in special education, with little to no meaningful assistance in funding
from the commonwealth," he said. "School choice comes at a cost. Next
year we are once again budgeting approximately $2.4 million in payments"
to charter and cybercharter schools."
By Margie Peterson Special
to The Morning Call May 20, 2015
WITF Written by Ben
Allen and Radio Pennsylvania | May 19, 2015 3:41 AM
(Reading) -- A
recent national report paints an optimistic picture of how far
Pennsylvania public schools have come. Overall
in the three years surveyed, the statewide high school graduation rate rose
three percentage points. Among the five
largest districts, Reading finishes right in the middle when ranked by
improvements in the high school graduation rate. In a district that is about 80 percent
Hispanic, the graduation rate jumped six percentage points from 2011 and
2013. That pushes its rate just above Allentown for 2013, with the next
closest - Philadelphia - at 70 percent.
Daniel Boone School Board
OKs tentative final budget with no tax increase
Reading Eagle By Anthony Orozco Tuesday May 19, 2015 12:01 AM
The Daniel Boone
School Board approved a tentative final budget Monday night that does not
increase taxes. But the futures of 11
teaching positions and dozens of cafeteria workers remains up in the air. The $53.09 million tentative final budget for
the 2015-16 school year will leave the real estate tax millage rate at 28.9618. Under that rate, the owner of a property
assessed at $100,000 would continue to pay about $2,896 in school taxes annually.
- See more at:
http://readingeagle.com/news/article/daniel-boone-school-board-oks-tentative-final-budget-with-no-tax-increase#sthash.dPtxJcnf.dpuf
Ten years later, city's
'dropout crisis' improves
KRISTEN A.
GRAHAM, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER POSTED:May
20, 2015, 1:07 AM
Nearly a decade
after a landmark study flagged a "dropout crisis" in Philadelphia , more city youths are graduating
from high school on time and fewer are dropping out. Still, some groups - African American and
Hispanic males, teen mothers, students involved in the juvenile justice or
child welfare systems - lag significantly, a follow-up study to be released
Wednesday has found. Just over half of
the students who entered city high schools between 1997 and 2001 graduated on
time. That figure jumped 12 percentage points, to 64 percent, by the class that
entered in 2008. The dropout rate decreased
to 25 percent from 29 percent in the same time period.
SRC to vote on turning over
Young Scholars-Douglass to Mastery
the notebook By Dale
Mezzacappa on May 19, 2015 10:01 PM
The School Reform
Commission plans to vote on a
resolution Thursday that keeps open the academically struggling Young
Scholars Frederick Douglass charter school in North Philadelphia on the
condition that its management be taken over by Mastery Charter. Douglass is one of the initial seven
low-performing District schools given to a charter operator for academic
turnaround in 2010 under the Renaissance Schools initiative, and it is the
first to be recommended for transfer from one charter operator to
another. The current operator,
Scholar Academies, runs two other schools in Philadelphia ,
as well as schools in Washington , DC and Trenton .
One of its other Philadelphia
charters, Kenderton Elementary, is also a Renaissance school that the
organization took over in 2013.
Voters support an end to
School Reform Commission
JOE BRANDT, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER BRANDTJ@PHILLYNEWS.COM, 215-854-4890
POSTED: Wednesday, May 20, 2015, 12:16 AM
CITY VOTERS approved
abolishing the School Reform Commission and answered "yes" to each of
three other questions on the ballot in yesterday's election. The vote to abolish the SRC won't elicit any
immediate action, said City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, who sponsored the
ballot question - and also won the Democratic primary for re-election to her
Council seat. "This gives us a
chance to talk about it with the governor," Blackwell said of the SRC
question in a phone interview before the results were known. "People feel they need a more-connected
board," possibly including relatives of students in the district, she
said. Blackwell also sponsored a ballot
question on creating an independent Commission on Universal Pre-Kindergarten,
which would have 17 members appointed by the mayor and Council and work on
funding and implementing pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds without reducing existing
funding for education. The commission would send a funding strategy to Council
each year until one is adopted.
NLRB blocks union election
at Stetson Charter School
THE NATIONAL Labor
Relations Board yesterday blocked a union vote set for later this week at John B.
Stetson Charter
School Pennsylvania , has
violated federal law. The school has interfered with employee rights under the
National Labor Relations Act, according to the union, by:
"A visibly frustrated
Gov. Mark Dayton of Minnesota pledged on
Tuesday to veto an education funding bill that would lift state spending on
schools by $400 million over the next two years — an increase that Mr. Dayton
said was inadequate to serve the needs of Minnesota
A
Vow to Veto a Schools Bill in Minnesota
New York Times By JULIE BOSMAN MAY 19, 2015
A visibly frustrated
Gov. Mark Dayton of Minnesota pledged on
Tuesday to veto an education funding bill that would lift state spending on
schools by $400 million over the next two years — an increase that Mr. Dayton
said was inadequate to serve the needs of Minnesota schoolchildren. Mr. Dayton, a
Democrat, had advocated universal prekindergarten for the state’s 4-year-olds,
an initiative that was not included in the bill, which passed in the final day
of the legislative session. Minnesota
had a budget surplus of $1.9 billion this year, leading many lawmakers to say
recently that they expected the governor and the Legislature to reach a
compromise. Instead, the divided
Legislature appears headed for a special session. A long-planned renovation at
the Capitol began shortly after the session ended Monday at midnight, leaving
lawmakers without a place to resume work. At a news conference on Tuesday,
Governor Dayton suggested holding the session in a tent on the Capitol lawn.
Allegations Against Charter School
NPR State Impact
Ohio BY KAREN
KASLER MAY 7, 2015 | 3:46 PM
Allegations that an
online charter school may be getting paid for hundreds of students who haven’t
logged-on in months has fired up the debate about how to track schools that
don’t have classrooms, but do get millions in state funding. The two ranking members on the Ohio House
Education Committee each got an anonymous e-mail showing 402 students were
truant for months at Ohio Virtual Academy, which
has more than 13,000 students. But only
14 of those students have been withdrawn.
The End of Separation of
Church and State?
Diane Ravitch's Blog
By dianeravitch May 19, 2015 //
Governor Andrew
Cuomo has
proposed a tuition tax credit bill that is widely recognized as a
backdoor voucher. The tax credits would benefit wealthy individuals and
corporations. Cuomo has said this measure is a high-priority for him, and he
has campaigned with Catholic clerics and in Orthodox Jewish communities. The rationale, as with all privatization
proposals, is to help low-income students escape “failing schools.” In fact,
the plan will drain at least $150 million annually from the state’s education
funds, which will harm far more low-income students than those who depart for
religious schools.
"The lawsuit — which is
said to be the first of its kind in the country — speaks to a central problem
with many federal and state school reform efforts: a focus on holding students,
teacher and schools “accountable” through standardized test scores and less (if
any at all) on the mental and physical conditions in which many students come
to school every day."
Should schools be required to address students’
trauma? Unprecedented lawsuit says ‘yes.’
Should public
schools be required to directly address the trauma that many students experience
outside of class but that affects their academic performance? An unprecedented
federal class-action lawsuit in California
charges that the Compton
Unified School
District United
States today is the affect of childhood
trauma on students’ opportunity to learn. The widely known, but little
addressed scientific fact of life is that childhood trauma can negatively
effect the capacity of any child to learn and to succeed in school.”
$75 Billion
Early-Education Bill Resurrected in U.S.
Education Week Early
Years Blog By Christina Samuels on May
19, 2015 4:25 PM
Cross-posted
on Politics K-12 By Lauren Camera Washington
Members of Congress
have resurrected a legislative plan to expand early-childhood education
programs for children birth through 5 years of age, but they don't expect it to
get very far despite it having some bipartisan support. Reps. Bobby Scott, D-Va., and Richard Hanna,
R-N.Y., along with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and 19 other Senate Democratic
co-sponsors, introduced the Strong Start for America's Children Act Tuesday.
The measure was originally proposed in 2013 and relies on a federal-state
partnership. But the hefty price
tag attached to the proposal—roughly $75 billion over 10 years—will likely be a
non-starter for most Republicans in both chambers.
School directors, superintendents and
administrators are encouraged to register and attend this event.
Bucks / Lehigh /
Northampton Legislative Council
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Quakertown Community School District, 100 Commerce
Drive Quakertown, PA 18951
Welcome by Paul Stepanoff , Board President , QCSD
Introduction of Paul Clymer, State of State Education
Mr. Glenn Grell , PSERS Executive Director
Introduction by Dr. Bill Harner, Superintendent QCSD
Panel of Superintendents and Elected School Directors from Bucks / Lehigh
/ Northampton Counties
Introduction by Mark B. Miller, Board Vice President, Centennial SD
TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION:
1) The status of 2015-16 budget in their district (including proposed tax
increase)
2) PSERS impact on their budget
3) Proposed use of any new funding from Commonwealth
Larry Feinberg and Ron Williams
Benefit and need for County Wide Legislative Council in Delaware and
Montgomery Counties respectively
Dr. Tom Seidenberger (Retired Superintendent ) - Circuit Rider Update
SAVE The DATE: Northwestern PA School Funding Forum
May 28, 2015 7:00 PM Jefferson Educational
Society 3207 State St.
Erie , PA 16508
Panelists
Conneaut School
District
Mr. Jarrin
Sperry, Superintendent, Ms. Jody Sperry, Board President
Corry School
District
Mr. William Nichols,
Superintendent
Fort LeBoeuf
School District
Mr. Richard Emerick,
Assistant Superintendent
Girard School
District
Dr. James Tracy,
Superintendent
Harbor Creek
School District
Ms. Christine
Mitchell, Board President
Millcreek School
District
Mr. William Hall,
Superintendent Mr. Aaron O'Toole, Director of Finance and Accounting
Keynote Speaker
Mr. Jay Himes,
Executive Director, Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials
PHILLY DISTRICT TO HOLD
COMMUNITY BUDGET MEETINGS
Wednesday,
May 20
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