Dear Colleagues,
This morning the Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard the oral argument regarding the fair education-funding lawsuit.
The courtroom, hallways and an additional overflow courtroom were filled with individuals who believed in our cause. I was extremely proud to be there to represent our organization. Some individuals drove from Erie to show their support.
The question before the court was simple in nature: do Pennsylvania schools and families get their day in court to prove that education funding in PA is inequitable and inadequate? This question was posed to the seven Supreme Court justices who were engaged in the argument. The presentation of the argument was organized, concise and very informative and was supported with valid facts.
Folks, today was a good step forward to helping ALL kids in Pennsylvania. As a result of PARRS supporting this, you can feel very confident we are doing the RIGHT thing. By doing the right thing we are not going to be welcomed by the general assembly with open arms. But as I said, this cause is for KIDS.
I assume we will get some decision perhaps in February and or March. If the result is positive then we are off to court to make our case. The timing of the courts decision could come at the same time of the release of the budget…perhaps a perfect storm in the making.
I will keep you posted and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Ed Albert
Assistant Executive Director
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Lawsuit
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
You can bet on this????
Pension reform and Internet gambling rolled into budget talks
Morning Call by Steve Esack Contact Reporter Call Harrisburg Bureau May 23, 2016
Pension reform and Internet gambling rolled into PA budget and tax talks
HARRISBURG — With Memorial Day just days away, half of the state Legislature is expected to act this week on a series of bills that could become bargaining chips in final budget talks that will heat up next month. The House's voting calendar, always subject to change, says lawmakers are scheduled to take up a bill changing the state pension system for new hires. Another bill on the docket would legalize fantasy sports and online gambling while putting slot machines in airports.
The governor will consider the pension and gambling bills as part of broader budget talks, specifically pertaining to new sources of revenue, said Wolf's spokesman, Jeff Sheridan. The Republicans who control the House and Senate want Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf to enact the pension changes to limit taxpayer risk over time by reducing the percentage of the guaranteed retirement payments workers get. Under the bill, state employees and school teachers would have their retirement savings invested in a guaranteed pension plan if they earn below $50,000. Retirement savings for income above $50,000 would be put in a 401(k)-style plan.
Badams: 'You deserve to know'
By MADELEINE O'NEILL madeleine.o'neill@timesnews.com24 May 2016 — Erie Times-News
Erie schools Superintendent Jay Badams on Monday spoke to those who will be most affected by potential cuts to the district's budget: the students. Badams traveled to the Erie School District's four high schools to explain why he has asked the Erie School Board to consider major budget cuts to make up for an expected $4.3 million shortfall in 2016-17. He has also proposed closing the district's high schools and busing those students to other area schools as soon as 2017-18 to make up for the educational inequities a slashed budget would create. "It's kind of scary to hear about," said Alina Bovkun, a senior at Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy, who said that rumors have been flying in the days since news broke of Badams' proposals. "We've just been hearing they're going to be closing down the schools." Badams spoke to a full house in Collegiate Academy's auditorium, his first stop on a one-day tour that also included Central Career and Technical School, East High School and Strong Vincent High School.
http://new.mynewsonthego.com/erie/reader/story.aspx?id=58a6ba18-0ed3-4605-b342-b7939928de4d
W-B Area approves plan to cut programs, jobs
Citizens Voice BY MICHAEL BUFFER Published: May 24, 2016
WILKES-BARRE — The Wilkes-Barre Area School Board voted 8-1 Monday night to proceed with a plan to cut programs and lay off dozens of teachers. Ned Evans was the sole dissenting vote. More than 200 people packed the meeting to witness the fate of a plan to suspend library services and education courses in technology, family/consumer science and art. Monday’s regular board meeting at GAR Junior Senior High School began at 7 p.m. The public comment portion of the meeting included more than 40 speakers and continued late into the night. The school board was considering a “horrible idea” to lay off 37 teachers and not replace 12 retiring teachers, said Jeff Ney, president of the Wilkes-Barre Area teachers’ union. “It’s not about myself,” said Deborah Pride, a family/consumer sciences teacher at Meyers Junior Senior High School. “I implore you to reconsider. It’s about the kids.” The layoffs and the cuts to programs and services would take effect after the current school year.
Letter to the Editor: Inadequate school funding jeopardizes Wilkes-Barre schools and state’s future
Letter by Russell A. Carpenella MAY 23RD, 2016 11:22 AM
The Wilkes-Barre Area School District is expected to cut its budget by $11 million over four years. At least two high schools will be combined, class sizes will be larger, and there will be fewer teachers. The population of Wilkes-Barre isn’t going down significantly. Most kids in Wilkes-Barre schools don’t have the economic choice of moving. These facts make me fear for the future of this city – and the state as a whole. It’s well-known that poor education is a precursor to poverty, and poverty is a precursor to crime. Unless Republican leadership in the state Legislature steps up and starts funding our schools, many cities such as Wilkes-Barre across the Keystone State will suffer. We can raise property taxes only so high. We need a state budget that funds our schools.
Leechburg Area School District projects real estate tax increase but tries to pare budget
Trib Live BY MARY ANN THOMAS | Monday, May 23, 2016, 11:40 p.m.
Leechburg Area School District residents' real estate taxes could increase by about 4 percent in Armstrong County and 6 percent in Westmoreland County for next school year.
The school board gave preliminary approval to a $13.9 million budget that is about $700,000 more than this year's. Leechburg and Gilpin residents can expect an average annual increase in property taxes of $76, while in West Leechburg, the district's lone Westmoreland County community, residents will pay about $132 more. The preliminary budget is a “work in progress,” said school board member Anthony Shea and Bill McNamee, the district's interim business manager. The state Department of Education approved the district's request to raise taxes beyond the state-set limit of 3.5 percent because the money is needed for increased pension and special education costs. Shea said the preliminary budget is a “placeholder.” “No one wants to raise taxes,” he said. “We will try to get the budget closer to a zero tax increase. That may not happen, but that is our goal.” The uptick in the 2016-17 budget mainly is because of increases in contracted salaries and contributions to the Public School Employees' Retirement System, McNamee said.
http://triblive.com/news/valleynewsdispatch/10499499-74/tax-budget-leechburg
No hike planned for Apollo-Ridge taxpayers
Trib Live BY GEORGE GUIDO | Monday, May 23, 2016, 11:40 p.m.
Real estate taxes will remain the same in the Apollo-Ridge School District next year.
The school board on Monday approved a $24.1 million preliminary budget for the 2016-17 school year that keeps the tax rate at 62.9 mills for residents of Apollo, North Apollo and Kiski Township. Real estate taxes in the Indiana County portion of the school district will remain at 14.9 mills.
Through an equalization process mandated by the state, residents in different counties pay about the same in real estate taxes even though the counties have different assessments.
http://triblive.com/news/valleynewsdispatch/10517746-74/budget-apollo-board
Millcreek district passes budget
By ERICA ERWIN erica.erwin@timesnews.com24 May 2016 — Erie Times-News
Millcreek Township residents will pay more in property taxes to their school district as part of a budget that also eliminates some programs but largely retains staff. The Millcreek School Board on Monday passed a $95 million final budget for 2016-17 that includes a nearly 0.20 mill tax increase, bringing the millage rate to 13.7788. The increase translates into a roughly $20 increase in annual property taxes for the owner of a $100,000 home or, put another way, an additional $2 in taxes for every $10,000 of a home's assessed value. Board members Lou Aliota and Mike Kobylka were the only "no" votes. "I cannot vote for a tax increase," Aliota said.
Millcreek schools Superintendent William Hall called the increase a good compromise. It is below the 0.39 mill increase, or index, permitted under Act 1, the state's property tax relief law.
http://new.mynewsonthego.com/erie/reader/story.aspx?id=b78b5284-7577-4aaa-b951-5e69fed5aef5
Penn Hills School Board Trying To Move Forward After District Audit
KDKA May 24, 2016 12:17 AM By Ralph Iannotti
PENN HILLS (KDKA) — The Penn Hills School Board met Monday night in the first meeting since last week’s bombshell audit report from the state auditor general, which strongly criticized the district’s financial mismanagement. Virginia Dougherty, of Penn Hills, said, “We feel we are caged animals, and in frustration, we turn on one another.” Former School Director Carolyn Faggioli admitted when she was on the board, members knew they were faced with a worsening financial situation. Faggioli said part of the problem, she believed, was due to outside influence.
“We need to get our heads out of the sand,” Faggioli said. “We need to take politics out of the school board; we will be much better off.”
Demand for Pre-K is high, but availability varies across neighborhoods
The notebook by Fabiola Cineas May 23, 2016 — 4:38pm
The School District is making its spring push to enroll as many of the city’s 3- and 4-year-olds as possible in pre-kindergarten for the fall. Although the District wants more families to sign up, this year the challenge is less about pre-K awareness among families and more about access.
That’s because in certain neighborhoods, there just aren’t enough pre-K seats to match demand.
In Kensington and the Lower Northeast, for example, enrollment has already outpaced the available seats. And when this happens, the enrollment process becomes a game and Philadelphia is “like a big chess board,” said Diane Castelbuono, deputy chief of the Office of Early Education, who leads the enrollment effort.
School District may miss out on ride-sharing revenue
Inquirer by Jason Laughlin, Staff Writer @jasmlaughlin Updated: MAY 24, 2016 — 1:07 AM EDT
An agreement between Philadelphia, the Parking Authority, and ride-share businesses virtually guarantees that the School District will not see a financial benefit if a bill to regulate such services as UberX and Lyft is passed as written. Under the tax structure proposed by the bill, ride-share businesses would likely have to generate much more money than anticipated to create enough taxable income for the schools to benefit. The structure is primarily designed to ensure that the Parking Authority will recover the cost - as much as $4 million - expected to be spent on regulating an estimated 15,000 vehicles used in ride sharing, a PPA spokesman said. The point of the bill was to ensure that ride sharing had a legal framework in the city, said Brian Abernathy, a deputy managing director and a mediator in negotiations. Money to the district would have been a nice side benefit, but wasn't the goal. "The city would love to see the School District get additional revenue, but this isn't a School District revenue bill," he said.
“Tax” on Uber and Lyft Would Actually Be a $4 Million Windfall to the PPA
And guarantee nothing for Philadelphia schools. At least that’s how the bill is written right now.
PhillyMag BY JARED BREY | MAY 23, 2016 AT 7:30 AM
First it looked like it was for the kids, and now it looks like it’s for the Parking Authority.
A bill in the state Senate that would allow alternative taxi services like Uber and Lyft to operate legally was initially written so that the tax revenue the services generated in Philly would be split between the Philadelphia Parking Authority and the Philadelphia School District, with two thirds of the money going to education. But the bill, which was approved by the state House Committee on Consumer Affairs earlier this month, has undergone an obscure but meaningful change. In the current version, PPA is guaranteed $4 million in revenue from Uber and Lyft before the schools can collect a dime. The first version of the bill levied a 1 percent tax on the total revenue from all fares in Philadelphia. Two thirds of that was to be given to the School District, with one third given to the Philadelphia Parking Authority, which would be charged with regulating the services in the city. But the latest version of the bill approved by the House committee lays out a different scheme.
Read more at http://www.phillymag.com/citified/2016/05/23/uber-lyft-tax-philadelphia-school-district/#F6JBzWygJpLA7KTX.99
DN Editorial: Charter Schools Office rightly exercising its power
Philly Daily News Updated: MAY 23, 2016 — 3:01 AM EDT
IMAGINE A FEW students whose year-end report cards show so many failing grades that the teacher recommends that they not graduate. Now suppose the principal intervened and said, "Not so fast, let's give them another chance." This would not be good for the students, or for teachers, or for the school system, and it would be bad for education overall. In a way, that's what happened last week during the process of renewing a handful of charter schools, during a meeting of the School Reform Commission. The district's Charter Schools Office recommended nonrenewals for four schools; Vare and Audenreid, run by Kenny Gamble's Universal Companies, and Stetson and Olney High School, run by Aspira. The SRC essentially passed on voting to support these nonrenewals, and gave Aspira a week to prove it can fix the many financial and governance problems that were brought to light in the charter office's renewal reports, which evaluates schools on academic success, organizational viability, and financial health and sustainability.
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20160523_Exercising_its_power.html#DKgJIFWM8Ys0lhgS.99
What Are Massachusetts Public Schools Doing Right?
Widely seen as the best public-school system in the U.S., the Massachusetts school system’s success can offer lessons to other states.
The Atlantic by ALIA WONG MAY 23, 2016
When it comes to the story of Massachusetts’s public schools, the takeaway, according to the state’s former education secretary, Paul Reville, is that “doing well isn’t good enough.” Massachusetts is widely seen as having the best school system in the country: Just 2 percent of its high-schoolers drop out, for example, and its students’ math and reading scores rank No. 1 nationally. It even performs toward the top on international education indices. But as Reville and others intimately familiar with the Bay State’s school-improvement efforts emphasized in a panel at the Education Writers Association National Seminar earlier this month, the “Massachusetts story” is complicated. The Bay State’s famous successes are juxtaposed with stubborn achievement gaps and concentrations of poverty that have made across-the-board strides all but impossible. Income-based disparities in academic performance have actually grown over the last decade or so, and last year the state’s achievement gap was the third highest in the nation.
Opt Out 2.0: Snapshot of Spring Testing Season
Education Writers Association BLOG: THE EDUCATED REPORTER MAY 20, 2016 by ERIK ROBELEN
With state testing season wrapping up, the decision by some families to skip the K-12 exams in protest this spring has once again sparked widespread discussion – and news coverage around the country. In San Diego, for example, teachers handed out fliers to parents earlier this month informing them of the right to keep their children from taking state tests, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. A local teachers’ union official cited worries about the amount of testing, as well as its relevance and accuracy for gauging student learning. In Tennessee, where the opt-out movement appeared to be gaining steam this spring, as reported by Chalkbeat Tennessee and other outlets, it became a moot point after the bulk of state testing for grades 3-8 was canceled altogether in April. That decision followed a series of problems with the administration of the assessments for English language arts and math. The actions come as concerns have risen about the volume of standardized testing at the K-12 level, its perceived impact on instruction, and its use in evaluating schools, students and teachers.
http://www.ewa.org/blog-educated-reporter/opt-out-20-snapshot-spring-testing-season
Supreme Court rules Virginia lawmakers didn't have the right to appeal redistricting
Vox Updated by Libby Nelson on May 23, 2016, 10:23 a.m. ET @libbyanelson
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Monday that a group of Virginia Republican lawmakers appealing over a court-ordered redistricting plan didn't have the legal standing to bring their case. This ends a long argument over redrawing Virginia's third congressional district without implying that incumbent lawmakers have the right to a fair shot at reelection. The case, Wittman v. Personhuballah, dealt with the argument around Virginia's 3rd congressional district, redrawn as part of the state's redistricting in 2012. The new boundaries drawn by the state legislature slightly increased the share of black voters in the district, which is heavily Democratic, from 53 percent to 56 percent. A federal trial court ruled that this was racial gerrymandering — that the Republican-dominated state legislature was drawing boundaries based on voters' races, which isn't allowed, rather than for other, permitted purposes, such as protecting incumbents. And after the Virginia legislature couldn't agree on how to redraw the district, the court did it for them.
http://www.vox.com/2016/5/23/11644160/wittman-personhuballah-redistricting-supreme-court
Why a social media fight between Campbell Brown and her critics matters
Washington Post Answer Sheet By Valerie Strauss May 23 at 12:01 PM
Another day, another fight in the education world. This one is worth delving into because it is really not about who said what but about fundamental understandings — and misunderstandings — of standardized testing data and how it drives policy. This one started when education activist Campbell Brown said that two-thirds of U.S. eighth graders are below grade level in reading and math. Tom Loveless, a former Harvard professor and teacher who researches student achievement, then tweeted that he has never seen data showing that, and asked Brown to explain her sourcing. She said that she was referring to proficiency rates on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. NAEP, as the test is known, is sometimes referred to as “the nation’s report card” because it is seen as the most consistent measure of U.S. student achievement since the 1990s. It is administered every two years to groups of U.S. students in the fourth and eighth grades, and less frequently to high school students. When Loveless told her that NAEP proficiency scores do not refer to grade level, a social media fight ensued between Campbell and her critics. In this post, Carol Burris, a former award-winning high school principal who got involved in the Twitter exchange, explains why the substance of this debate matters.
PASCD Executive Director
101 Foxfire Lane
Lewisberry Pa. 17339
717-766-0898
rnilsen_pascd@comcast.net
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Furlough bill update
Capitolwire: Republicans appear to link teacher furlough bill to increased education spending.
The article text follows:
Capitolwire: Republicans appear to link teacher furlough bill to increased education spending.
By /cwMailForm.asp?recipient=csmith@capitolwire.com Christen Smith <br>Staff Reporter<br>Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (May 17) - No budget season at the state Capitol would be complete without some horse trading behind the scenes - a tradition that's appeared to be absent from this year's negotiations, in their infancy, thus far.
That was, until, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, R-Centre, offered a thinly-veiled threat Tuesday should Gov. Tom Wolf veto House Bill 805, as he's promised.
"I don't advocate for the status-quo, but I can tell you this: If he does veto the bill - and we're going to have a budget done very soon I hope - and the governor is going to want more dollars for education, well guess what we're going to want, we're going to want this piece of legislation to go along with any new dollars in education," Corman told reporters during a press conference with Republican caucus leaders on the fate of the controversial teacher furlough bill.
Republican leaders have been pressuring Wolf to change his mind about HB 805 cwArticle.asp?articleId=2400518 since it passed the Senate last week.
The bill, which would base teacher furloughs more on performance, not just seniority, has been characterized by the administration as a misguided attempt to meddle in local-level school board decisions and encourage "mass layoffs."
"This is not the type of policy we should be discussing," said Wolf spokesman Jeff Sheridan via email Tuesday. "We should all be focused on ensuring schools are appropriately funded and students are learning the skills they need to be successful in the 21st century."
The administration's tunnel vision, Republican leaders say, stands in the way of improving school performance.
"At the end of the day, the discussion on education does not begin and end just with more money," said House Majority Leader Dave Reed, R-Indiana. "It's part of the discussion, but the discussion cannot just be about the quantity of the dollars provided. We've also got to focus on the quality of the product produced with those dollars and this bill moves us forward in that direction."
Steve Miskin, Reed's spokesman, said it's the same position leadership has held since the bill was introduced last year - increased spending without accountability won't produce the results Wolf and his allies seek.
Jenn Kocher, Corman's spokeswoman, agreed, saying "this is nothing different than what we have been saying for a long time."
But until Tuesday, leaders had not tied that idea to budget negotiations. Now, it appears, HB 805 could be a part of any deal brokered between the administration and the General Assembly, much in the same way pension reform and liquor modernization factored into the failed "framework" of last year's budget.
Corman stopped short of declaring HB 805 a linchpin, however.
"Look if we get into a budget discussion soon, which we all hope we will, and he doesn't sign this, we're not going to walk away from this," he said. "It's too important to walk away from. It will be like every other piece of the budgetary process negotiation. We do education as part of the budget. This is something we think is very, very important."
"I'm telling you this is something we will be advocating strongly for," he added.
Kocher further clarified Corman's position in an email after the press conference.
"The Senator never said we would not be doing a budget without this measure to protect excellent teachers," she said. "It is not a line in the sand. It's simply a very important issue that can provide reform to a system to ensure that our schools continue to have excellent teachers working with our children."
The Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state's largest teacher's union, chided Republicans for politicizing the bill.
"After a nearly $1 billion school funding cut and 27,000 K-12 jobs lost in the last four years, the Republican leadership in the General Assembly ought to be focusing on how to adequately fund schools and bring class sizes back down instead of trying to get rid of more teachers and making threats to hold Pennsylvania children's education hostage," said PSEA spokesman Wythe Keever.
The criticism doesn't appear to phase the leaders.
"We shouldn't be preserving the job of a low performing teacher and furloughing a high performing teacher merely because one has more seniority over the other," Reed said. "It's a pretty basic concept that I'm pretty sure almost every single parent across this state would agree with."
"The solution for continuing to ensure that we have excellent schools is not simply putting more and more taxpayer dollars into the system," Kocher said. "We must also take a close look at how we can use reforms to improve the system. This bill is a commonsense way to achieve that. We just provided $200 million in additional money for education and throughout that - we were not the ones who were using children as hostages. Far from it."
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Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Funding Trick
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Friday, April 29, 2016
Thursday, April 28, 2016
$$$$$$$$
Special recognition
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Funding/ Supreme Court????
The PA Supreme Court will hear argument for the school funding lawsuit this year, perhaps as early as in May.
Throughout Pennsylvania, our schools have not received adequate and equitable funding to meet our children’s educational needs. But our Constitution says, “The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of the Commonwealth.”
The state government is breaking its own law and our kids are suffering.
Public education advocates have a very important role to play in demanding action and then holding state lawmakers accountable for ensuring that all schools receive adequate and equitable funding to meet our children’s educational needs.
We MUST raise awareness of the school funding problem in our communities and demand action from every branch of government. Write a letter to the editor, ask your school board or community organization to pass a resolution in support of the lawsuit and/or call your lawmaker to say that it is time for Harrisburg to meet its Constitutional obligation to Pennsylvania’s children.
What You Can Do
- Learn more by reading the Updated 2-26-16 Lawsuit FAQs from ELC and PILCOP
• Write a letter to the editor of your local newspapers. Visit our Updated Write a Letter to the Editor to Support the Lawsuit for talking points and a link that will allow you to email your letter to your local newspapers.
• Attend to a school board meeting in your community and ask your school board to pass a resolution in support of the lawsuit. Download our Sample Resolution in Support of PA School Funding Lawsuit and our Frequently Asked Questions about Passing a Resolution in Support of the School Funding Lawsuit for more information.
Read why organizations and school boards are supporting plaintiffs in the school funding lawsuit
The bipartisan Basic Education Funding Commission did great work putting together a funding formula. But without significant sustained additional state investment, kids who are in kindergarten now will graduate before there is adequate funding in our high poverty districts. The mission of public education is to create informed American citizens; our students are our future employees, coworkers and taxpayers. Our concern and responsibility for kids must not end at our township’s borders. That’s why I encouraged our school board, in a well-funded district, to pass a resolution in support of the lawsuit. Lawrence Feinberg, Haverford Township School Board member.
As an organization that fights for equality and justice, the ACLU of Pennsylvania supports efforts to make sure that every Pennsylvania student, rich or poor, has an equal shot at a quality education. The current funding system is fundamentally unfair and puts already disadvantaged students even further behind their wealthier peers. Our constitution demands better for Pennsylvania’s children.” Reggie Shuford, Executive Director, ACLU of Pennsylvania.
The failure of Harrisburg to act appropriately to ensure that all Pennsylvania students receive an adequately funded education has created a system where the quality of education that a student receives is dependent upon her zip code. This is unacceptable. The League of Women Voters of PA commends the plaintiffs for their courage in fighting to hold Harrisburg accountable and re-enforce the constitutional right of every child to receive an education that will allow them to become productive members of society. Suzanne Almeida, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania
These resolutions of support from school districts across the state highlight the stark fact that public education affects us all. Like our clients, these districts are of all shapes and sizes, from all corners of the state. Now it is time for this case to be heard, so that the public will have clearly laid before them the facts we all know to be true: Pennsylvania’s system of funding education has been broken for generations, and if we are to prosper as a Commonwealth, it must be fixed. Jennifer Clarke, Executive Director of the Public Interest Law Center
We are pleased that so many school districts and organizations across the state are joining with us to ask the courts to take action on this important issue. In response to the Legislature’s continuing failure to adequately and equitably fund our schools, only the courts can ensure our students receive the educational opportunities to which they are constitutionally entitled. We are asking the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to recognize this duty and give parents, students, and school districts their day in court. Deborah Gordon Klehr, Executive Director of the Education Law Center