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administrators, legislators, legislative and congressional staffers, Governor's
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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 April 20, 2016:
Follow the Students First PAC Money
Rally in Harrisburg with the Campaign for Fair Education Funding
on May 2nd 12:30 Main Rotunda!
Public schools in Pennsylvania are a far cry from the
“thorough and efficient” system of education promised guaranteed under our
state constitution. That’s why we want YOU to join Education Law Center and
members of the Campaign for Fair Education Funding in Harrisburg on May 2nd!
Buses of supporters are leaving from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia - please
register below so we can help you arrive on time for the 12:30 press conference
in the Main Rotunda! Questions? Email smalloy@elc-pa.org
for more details.
2016 Campaign Contributions by Students
First PAC
PA
Department of State Campaign Finance Website
Recipient Date Amount
CEPHAS,
MORGAN FRIENDS FOR 4/12/2016 $1,000.00
CITIZENS
ALLIANCE OF PA PAC 3/18/2016 $100,000.00
DISANTO
FOR SENATE 2/5/2016 $5,000.00
EDUCATION
OPPORTUNITY PAC 2/8/2016 $62,500.00
EXCELLENT
SCHOOLS PA 3/11/2016 $52,000.00
KILLION,
THOMAS VICTORY COM 3/28/2016 $5,000.00
KILLION,
THOMAS VICTORY COM 3/28/2016 $5,000.00
MCGINNIS,
JOHN FRIENDS OF 3/22/2016 $5,000.00
REGAN,
MIKE FOR SENATE 3/10/2016 $10,000.00
REGAN,
MIKE FOR SENATE 4/18/2016 $10,000.00
TORSELLA,
JOE FRIENDS OF 2/8/2016 $10,000.00
WILLIAMS
FOR SENATE 3/9/2016 $25,000.00
Building Philly's community schools from
the bottom up
Kenney initiative
seeks to remove barriers to effective learning
BY HAYDEN MITMAN PhillyVoice Staff APRIL 19, 2016
Susan
Gobreski has her work cut out for her.
The
newly appointed director of the community schools initiative for the city's
Office of Education is tasked with bringing a potentially transformative
citywide program to Philadelphia. With a
proposed budget of about $39.6 million over the next five years, Gobreski and
her team plan to transform 25 city schools into "community
schools" over the next five years – at a pace of about five to seven a
year. In an interview Thursday we chatted with Gobreski about the program:
So
what's a "community school"?
The
initiative has been promoted as a way to transform schools into community
hubs to boost student performance and revitalize neighborhoods by providing
access to basic programs and services. It would involve a coordinated effort
by parents, educators and community members. Right
now, the education office, in conjunction with the school district, is
gathering feedback from students, parents, school administrators and staff, and
service providers to learn about the communities, the potential for community
partnerships, and assess the needs of schools.
Sign-up to stay informed on the City's strategy to increase
community schools throughout Philadelphia. Find out about community roundtables
and town hall meetings so you lend your voice to the planning and development
of this important initiative!
Philly Community
Schools
Brown Bag Discussion Series on Community
Schools with the Mayor's Office of Education
Want to
learn more about #CommunitySchools? Join us for a Brown Bag Discussion with @sgobreski.
Select
one (or more!) *
Thursday,
May 5 at 12pm
Thursday,
May 19 at 4pm
Thursday,
June 2 at 12pm
Thursday,
June 16 at 4pm
Registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kpIqpThbEApFV292wd_eVWtI7yPO15vqm1R9hMChacg/viewform?c=0&w=1
Philly School
budget hearing this week focus on possible closings
Philly Trib by Wilford Shamlin III Tribune Staff
Writer Posted: Tuesday,
April 19, 2016 12:00 am
The
School Reform Commission is set to hear from the public this week as it
formulates its spending plan for the next school year. The SRC, a state-controlled body that
administers city public schools, will hold a budget hearing 5:30 p.m. Thursday
at the school education center, 440 N. Broad St. At a meeting last month, Superintendent
William Hite has mentioned the possibility of closing up to three schools,
starting in fiscal year 2018, to compensate for increased operating costs.
Officials anticipate higher pension costs and potential losses from the city’s
real-estate property assessment —called actual value initiative (API) — and a
state tax on cigarette pack sales. The financial impact could exceed $400
million in the next five years, according to the school district’s projections.
“Now, due to the way education is funded in Pennsylvania,
each new charter seat costs the District money and forces cutbacks in
District-run schools, a situation that some have likened to
"cannibalization" or a "Hunger Games" approach to
school funding. Wolf replaced
Green shortly after he voted to approve five new charter
schools out of 39 applications. Neff voted no on all of them.”
Green sues to
regain SRC chairmanship
His suit says that
Wolf replaced him for ideological reasons and due to the opposition of the PFT
to his pro-charter views.
The notebook
by Dale Mezzacappa April 19, 2016 — 6:04pm
School
Reform Commissioner Bill Green said Tuesday that he was filing suit to regain
his position as chair of the SRC, a position he lost a year ago when Gov. Wolf
replaced him with former Masterman principal Marjorie Neff. Green and his attorney, David Osborne, said
Wolf, a Democrat, was "meddling" with the SRC for ideological reasons
– primarily his opposition to the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers
and his pro-charter views. They said Wolf overstepped his authority in removing Green, who was
appointed chair by Wolf's predecessor, Republican Tom Corbett. SRC members can only be removed from office
for wrongdoing or malfeasance. Green and Osborne said that the SRC chairmanship
constitutes an "office." Green remains a member of the SRC. Green is being represented by the Fairness
Center, based in Harrisburg. On its website, it describes itself as a
"nonprofit public interest law firm offering free legal services to those
facing unjust treatment from public employee union leaders." Osborne said
it is the organization's policy not to release its funders, but one of its
trustees is Matthew Brouillette, head of the conservative Commonwealth
Foundation.
Green files
suit to get SRC chairmanship back
Inquirer
by Jeff Gammage and Martha Woodall,
STAFF WRITERS Updated: APRIL
20, 2016 — 1:08 AM EDT
Bill
Green believes he knows a way to help the beleaguered Philadelphia schools:
restore him to his job as chairman of the School Reform Commission. On Tuesday, he formally announced the filing
of a lawsuit that aims to lift him from the ranks of commission membership and
place him back at its head. State
legislators "might have more confidence in sending the district
money" if he were in charge, he said after a news conference at School
District offices. His main purpose in
suing to overturn his ouster by Gov. Wolf, Green said, is to prove a point of
law, and protect the independence of the SRC and the office of chairman. Not everyone saw it that way. The
Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools, an advocacy group, said Green's
"pointless power grab" diverts attention from the SRC's inability to
provide safe and effective city schools.
It called on Green to drop his suit, filed in Commonwealth Court. In a statement, Wolf asserted his legal right
to replace Green. "Gov. Wolf will
continue fighting for more funding for education and to provide a new path
forward for Philadelphia's schools," the statement said.
Baldwin-Whitehall school board hears
details of cuts needed to balance budget
Post Gazette
By Margaret Smykla April 20, 2016 1:08 AM
Details
on $2.1 million in proposed professional and operations staff reductions to
help balance a proposed $62.3 million budget for the 2016-17 school year in the
Baldwin-Whitehall School District were presented at Tuesday’s special meeting
of the board. A 0.83 mill tax increase,
which would generate an additional $1.5 million, is also required for a
balanced budget. No academic programs
would be eliminated. The budget
presentation was conducted by superintendent Randal Lutz and business manager
Mark Cherpak. Mr. Lutz called it a “bare
bones budget.”
Spring-Ford
budget deficit drops, tax hike still likely
By Eric Devlin,
The Mercury POSTED: 04/19/16,
4:06 PM EDT | UPDATED: 8 HRS AGO
Royersford
>> As the school year winds down, Spring-Ford Area School District
officials have begun ramping up budget talks. So far the district has managed
to cut its projected budget deficit in half, but the hope of a zero-percent tax
increase still may not be in the cards this year, officials say. The finance committee is set to outline the
proposed budget during its May 10 meeting before it makes a recommendation to
the board likely during the May 16 work session. When the board approved the 2016-17 preliminary budget of $150
million this past January, it was grappling with a $4.3 million
deficit. Through various line item changes and by utilizing different funds,
the district has managed to cut that deficit down to somewhere between $2
million and $2.3 million, board President Tom DiBello said Monday.
Transparency is key when undergoing major
construction project
Lancaster
Online by LNP Editorial Board Apr 19, 2016
THE
ISSUE: The School District of Lancaster plans to renovate or rebuild at least
three schools for a price tag of around $75 million. In January, architects
proposed a plan that would make changes to nine schools for $157 million. The
school board will likely vote in May on which of the nine will be renovated.
The Pennsylvania Legislature on Wednesday passed a plan to borrow up to $2.5
billion to help fund school construction projects through PlanCon, the planning and construction workbook, which is a
set of forms and procedures used to apply for state reimbursement for major
school construction projects.
When
ceiling tiles are falling inside classrooms, when there is no functioning heat
or air conditioning, when a school goes an entire century without renovations —
you know it’s time for a change. In
situations like these, we’re sure it’s easy for a school board to become hasty
or impatient, spend beyond their means and raise property taxes on their
constituents. The School District of Lancaster has chosen not to go down that
road. And we appreciate their thoroughness and thoughtfulness throughout this
process.
Highlands
students, teachers return to class after strike
Trib
Live BY TOM YERACE | Tuesday, April 19, 2016,
9:21 a.m.
There
will not be a second strike by Highlands School District teachers this year,
according to a state teachers union official.
Matt Edgell, of the Pennsylvania State Education Association and
spokesman for the teachers in the Highlands Education Association, said there
would not be enough time for a second strike.
The first strike, which lasted four days, ended when the HEA's 190
teachers returned to their classrooms Tuesday.
A second strike is allowed under state law, with the stipulation that
the required 180 days of instruction for students be completed by June 30. The law's requirement for non-binding but
mandatory arbitration before a second strike is the main obstacle. “There is not a plan to do a second strike,”
Edgell said. “The window would be too tight to do non-binding arbitration and
then do a second strike.” The strike by
the Highlands Education Association began April 13 and kept 2,574 students —
from Brackenridge, Harrison, Fawn and Tarentum — out of class after the union
and school board couldn't reach an agreement.
“Catasauqua Superintendent Robert Spengler said his
district expects to pay about $12,000 a year for a regular education student
and $25,000 for a special education student to attend. The district has taken a hit in the last few
years as charter school offerings have ballooned in the Valley, according to
Spengler. As of February, the state Department of Education said there were
three charter schools operating in Northampton County and nine in Lehigh
County. Spengler said the district is
adjusting to how the burgeoning charter school options have forced the district
to dole out tuition payments. In the 2014-15 school year, Catasauqua paid
$801,378 in tuition to charter schools. That number jumped to more than $1
million in the span of a year.”
New charter school to open doors in
Catasauqua this fall
Sarah M. Wojcik Contact Reporter Of The Morning
Call April 20, 2016
CATASAUQUA
— A new charter school in Catasauqua will join the growing ranks of the
alternative education options in the Lehigh Valley with classes starting in
September. The Innovative Arts Academy
Charter School will share space with the Medical Academy
Charter School at 330 Howertown Road when it opens this fall. The charter
school will occupy space previously filled by the Lehigh Valley Christian High
School, now located on Winchester Road in South Whitehall Township. Kelly Bauer, vice president of the school's
board of directors, said the charter school serving students from 6th through
12th grades will specialize in graphic design, journalism, culinary arts and
fashion design. "What we're doing
differently is preparing students for the workforce while they're still in high
school. It's a challenging market out there," Bauer said. "This
school is meant to expand the thoughts of what a school can be."
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/catasauqua/mc-catasauqua-innovative-arts-academy-20160420-story.html
85 Best Pa.
High Schools: U.S. News Rankings 2016
U.S. News & World
Report has released its annual ranking of high schools. Here are the top
schools in Pennsylvania.
Newtown
Patch By KARA SEYMOUR (Patch
Staff) - April 19, 2016 10:40 am ET
Perhaps
the most respected of publications that surveys the top high schools in the
nation came out with its 2016 list this week.
U.S. News evaluated more than 28,000 schools to determine the top public
high schools nationally, and in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. All schools in the 2016 U.S. News Best High
Schools rankings have graduating students who get exposure to college-level
work by passing at least one AP or IB exam, according to the publication.
U.S.
News also looked at the following criteria:
- Overall student performance on
state-required tests;
- How effectively schools educated their
disadvantaged students – those of black, Hispanic and low-income
backgrounds;
- High school graduation rates (new this
year);
- How well they prepared students for
college based on participation in and performance on AP and IB exams.
Read the
full methodology here.
Here is the list of top schools in Pennsylvania. (Schools in
the top 500 nationally were so noted):
ESSA rulemaking committee concludes
negotiations
NSBA on
April 19, 2016 by Michelle Healy
The
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) negotiated rulemaking committee completed its
third and final session today coming to consensus on the assessment
(testing) issues but failing to reach agreement on supplement, not
supplant (ESSA provisions requiring that federal Title I funds be used in
addition to state and local education investments and not as a substitute for
such). The U.S. Department of
Education (the Department) is bound to the agreement on the
assessment regulations. However, because consensus was not reached on
supplement, not supplant issues, the Secretary of Education can proceed in
publishing those regulations without being bound to the negotiations or the
draft regulations discussed during negotiations.
- See
more at: https://www.nsba.org/newsroom/essa-rulemaking-committee-concludes-negotiations#sthash.ztJ8R7XA.dpuf
ESSA
Negotiated Rulemaking Committee Agrees on Testing Issues
Education
Week By Alyson Klein on April 19,
2016 4:34 PM
Washington
After
eight days of negotiations and countless proposals, a panel of educators,
advocates, and officials from the U.S. Department of Education came to
agreement on assessment regulations under the Every Student Succeeds Act. Those
rules are now on their way to becoming official, after they've been published
in the fedral register. But the
panel was unable to come to accord on a sticky spending issue called
"supplement-not-supplant" which essentially deals with how federal funds
are supposed to be used relative to local and state spending. That means the
department will write its own rules on this issue. The toughest part of the assessment
negotiation was on tests for students with severe cognitive disabilities. Under
ESSA, states are only supposed to give those tests to 1 percent of their
students overall, or about 10 percent of students in special education.
Individual districts, however, can exceed that cap. And states can get a waiver
from the department if they need to go over the 1 percent. After hours of back-and-forth, the
negotiators eventually rejected an attempt to define "severe cognitive
disabilities." Instead they agreed to require states to define the
term on their own.
Neil deGrasse
Tyson Defends Arts Education in Viral Video
Education
Week By Stacey Decker on April 19, 2016 9:20 AM
"If there is a country
without art, that's not a country I want to live in." - Neil deGrasse
Tyson
A clip
from StarTalk, a late-night talk show on
the National Geographic Channel hosted by renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse
Tyson, has generated buzz lately.
Originally
posted to Facebook by the National Geographic Channel this past December, it's
since surpassed 2 million views. The video, which includes Tyson's
co-hosts Maeve Higgins and guest Monica Lopez-Gonzalez, shows him interviewing
musician David Byrne (former frontman
of the Talking Heads). The question they answer jointly? "How important is
arts education?" Both argue—very
eloquently—that the arts contribute to the betterment of scientific pursuits by
encouraging creativity, and that art programs shouldn't be cut from the school
curriculum.
"Bringing
different worlds together has definite tangible benefits and to cut one or
separate them is to injure them or cripple them," says Byrne. Others—like proponents of the effort to add arts to STEM,
making it STEAM—have been making similar arguments for years. What resonates about this clip, though, is
that an astrophysicist can make such an impassioned case for protecting the
arts. "We measure the success of a civilization by how well they treat
their creative people," says Tyson.
Teachers talk back: The effect of being
evaluated by student test scores
Washington
Post Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss April 17
Just about every time you turn around, you can find, somewhere, a
new survey or report or brief or poll that includes “teacher voices.” They are
usually funded by a foundation that has some small or, often, huge investment
in corporate school reform, and the reports somehow find a way to validate some
reform tenets. Here is a new survey that includes the voices of
teachers from an entirely different source — with different results. Anthony Cody, a veteran educator who
co-founded the nonprofit Network for Public Education with education historian
and activist Diane Ravitch, assembled a team of teachers and administrators
from across the country to write a report on the effect of teacher
evaluation systems that require student standardized test scores to be a
factor. The team created a survey and
received nearly 3,000 responses from teachers and administrators in 48
states. Based of the responses, the team wrote a report, titled
“Teachers Talk Back: Educators on the Impact of Teacher Evaluation.” The
report, released this weekend at the national conference of the Network
for Public Education in Raleigh, N.C., finds widespread dismay at how
test-based evaluation systems have affected students, teachers and schools.
Rally in Harrisburg with the Campaign for
Fair Education Funding on May 2nd 12:30 Main Rotunda!
Public
schools in Pennsylvania are a far cry from the “thorough and efficient” system
of education promised guaranteed under our state constitution. That’s why we
want YOU to join Education Law Center and members of the Campaign for Fair
Education Funding in Harrisburg on May 2nd! Buses of supporters are leaving from
Pittsburgh and Philadelphia - please register below so we can help you arrive
on time for the 12:30 press conference in the Main Rotunda! Questions? Email smalloy@elc-pa.org for more details.
Electing PSBA Officers – Applications Due
by April 30th
All
persons seeking nomination for elected positions of the Association shall send
applications to the attention of the chair of the Leadership Development
Committee during the month of April, an Application
for Nomination to be provided by the Association expressing interest
in the office sought. “The Application for nomination shall be marked received
at PSBA Headquarters or mailed first class and postmarked by April 30 to be
considered and timely filed. If said date falls on a Saturday, Sunday or
holiday, then the Application for Nomination shall be considered timely filed
if marked received at PSBA headquarters or mailed and postmarked on the next
business day.” (PSBA
Bylaws, Article IV, Section 5.E.).
Open
positions are:
- 2017 President
Elect (one-year term)
- 2017 Vice
President (one-year term)
- 2017-19 Central Section at
Large Representative – includes Regions 4, 5, 6, 9 and
12 (three-year term)
In
addition to the application form, PSBA Governing
Board Policy 302 asks that all candidates furnish with their
application a recent, print quality photograph and letters of application. The
application form specifies no less than two and no more than four letters of
recommendation, some or all of which preferably should be from school districts
in different PSBA regions as well as from community groups and other sources
that can provide a description of the candidate’s involvement with and
effectiveness in leadership positions. PSBA Governing
Board Policy 108 also outlines the campaign procedures of candidates.
All
terms of office commence January 1 following election.
Join the Pennsylvania Principals Association at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 21, 2016, at The
Capitol in Harrisburg, PA, for its second annual Principals' Lobby Day.
Pennsylvania
Principals Association Monday, March 21, 2016 9:31 AM
To register, contact Dr. Joseph Clapper at clapper@paprincipals.org by
Tuesday, June 14, 2016. If you need assistance, we will provide
information about how to contact your legislators to schedule meetings.
Click here for the informational flyer, which includes
important issues to discuss with your legislators.
2016 PA Educational
Leadership Summit July 24-26 State College
Summit Sponsors:
PA Principals Association - PA Association of School Administrators
- PA Association of Middle Level Educators - PA Association of
Supervision and Curriculum Development
The 2016
Educational Leadership Summit, co-sponsored by four leading Pennsylvania education associations,
provides an excellent opportunity for school district administrative teams and
instructional leaders to learn, share and plan together at a quality venue in
"Happy Valley."
Featuring Grant
Lichtman, author of EdJourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education,
Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera (invited), and Dana
Lightman, author of POWER Optimism: Enjoy the Life You Have...
Create the Success You Want, keynote speakers, high quality breakout
sessions, table talks on hot topics and district team planning and job alike
sessions provides practical ideas that can be immediately reviewed and
discussed at the summit before returning back to your district. Register and pay by April 30, 2016 for the
discounted "early bird" registration rate:
Interested in letting our
elected leadership know your thoughts on education funding, a severance tax,
property taxes and the budget?
Governor Tom Wolf,
(717) 787-2500
Speaker of the
House Rep. Mike Turzai, (717) 772-9943
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
House Majority Leader Rep. Dave Reed, (717) 705-7173
Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Joe Scarnati, (717) 787-7084
Senate Majority Leader Sen. Jake Corman, (717) 787-1377
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