Archives for category: Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania: Governor Corbett’s Attack on Higher Education

By dianeravitch
January 24, 2014 //
7

In an article on Salon, writer James Cersonsky describes the state GOP’s attack on universities.

He calls it “the Enron-esque Higher Ed Plan: Fire Tenured Faculty to Fund Students Dorms.”

In Tom Corbett’s Pennsylvania, he says, if it’s public and it’s education, burn it down!

The same can be said for K-12 education.

Corbett is up for re-election.

The good news is that his poll numbers are down. Only 36% of voters approve of his performance, and about as many support him. All of the Democratic contenders have higher numbers in a poll published last month.

 

 

 

Categories Higher Education, Pennsylvania

Governor Corbett Runs Away from Visit to Philly High School

By dianeravitch
January 17, 2014 //
16

There was much buzz on the Internet yesterday because Governor Tom Corbett announced his intention to visit a public school in Philadelphia! Imagine that!

But today, after hearing that protestors might show up, he canceled the visit and retreated to the local Chamber of Commerce.
He boldly announced that he never runs away from anything as he ran away.

Jake Blumgart reports:

““I don’t run from anything,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett said on Friday, after running away from a planned event at Central High School in North Philadelphia. Speaking at a press conference several miles to the south, held at the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce’s headquarters in The Bellevue, a swanky Center City office building, Corbett insisted, “I make decisions head on, but I was not going to be a distraction to the school day or the school students.” The students may well have been distracted by the fact that they had waited for a speaker who cancelled at the last minute.

“Education has dogged Corbett since the early days of his administration, when he proposed a $1.2 billion cut to public school funding in his first budget. A crippling reduction exceeding $865 million made it through the legislature, with the poorest school districts bearing the brunt thanks to the elimination of a mechanism that provided more money for schools with greater needs. (As the Education Law Center put it, “the cuts have been up to 10 times larger in poor districts on a per-student basis.”) Now, in a difficult election year, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that his budget address early next month will contain between $100 million and $200 million in restored education dollars, funded by pension reforms.

“Friday’s event at Central could have been another aspect of Corbett’s attempt to improve his image on public education. At the planned presentation ceremony, he would have given the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Academics to three high schools: Central, Masterman, and George Washington Carver. This comes during a school year where the Philadelphia School District faced a budgetary gap of more than $300 million, forcing deep cuts. Now many schools are forced to share nurses, counselors and other essential support staff. Funding for most extracurricular activities has been zeroed out, while arts, music and physical education have been decimated.”

Parents might understandably be unhappy with Corbett since his budget cuts have stripped the Philly schools of basic staff and resources. Last fall, a 12-year-old student died of an asthma attack because her school lost funding for a full-time nurse.

Corbett’s poll numbers are very low, giving one hope that voters across the state want a change.

Categories Budget Cuts, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Gates Threatens to Yank $40 Million from Pittsburgh

By dianeravitch
January 14, 2014 //
32

According to Rick Cohen of the Nonprofit Quarterly, the Gates Foundation is threatening to take away $40 million from the Pittsburgh public schools if the district and union don’t agree on a plan to evaluate teachers by test scores, to reward the “best,” and retrain the rest.

Does the Gates Foundation know that eminent researchers warn that VAM is inaccurate? Does it care that VAM has not worked anywhere?

The group in Pittsburgh that is most critical of the union is A+ Schools. Cohen points out that Gates is one of its major funders.

Cohen writes:

“This is probably an extreme example of “high-stakes testing” of teachers. With a significant reliance on student test scores for determining teacher performance, teachers are duly wary of standardized tests, which diminish the socioeconomic factors of student performance, even when the consequences could be teacher dismissals and even school closings. In this case, the high stake facing the teachers’ union is the school district’s loss of a free $40 million.”

(The word “diminish” in the previous paragraph is wrong. It should say “reflect to a large degree.”)

What is so distressing is that the Gates Foundation acts as if it bought public education in Pittsburgh and has the right to call the shots. Guess they never heard of the concept of democratic control of the schools. They are familiar only with plutocratic control.

Who will hold the Gates Foundation accountable for the damage it is wreaking on education?

Categories Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Pennsylvania, Teacher Evaluations, Teachers, Unions

“Look at That, Pittsburgh! We Did It!”

By dianeravitch
December 19, 2013 //
10

Pennsylvania blogger Yinzercation explains the stunning victory of the education justice movement in Pittsburgh. Parents, educators, and community members organized, mobilized, and elected new members to the school board.

The new board canceled a contract with TFA and reversed the closing of an elementary school.

Santa came early in Pittsburgh

Categories Pennsylvania, Supporting public schools, Teach for America TFA

New School Board in Pittsburgh Cancels Contract with TFA

By dianeravitch
December 18, 2013 //
34

A newly elected school board in Pittsburgh voted to cancel a contract with Teach for America, reversing the vote of the previous school board, which planned to hire 30 TFA recruits.

The motion passed with six affirmative votes; two opposed and an abstention. The outgoing board previously approved the contract, 6-3.

This was remarkable because it is one of the few times–maybe the first time–that a school board rejected a TFA contract and recognized how controversial it is to hire young inexperienced teachers for the neediest students.

The school board also voted to keep open an elementary school that the previous board had decided to close.

 

Categories Closing schools, Pennsylvania, Teach for America TFA

Pennsylvania: Stop Charter Expansion Now!

By dianeravitch
December 3, 2013 //
5

Pennsylvania is home to some of the nation’s most unscrupulous charter operators, some of whom are under criminal investigation or on trial for fraud and misappropriation of public funds. But say this for some of the sleaziest: they give generously to political campaigns. That is why the Legislature is considering SB 1085, which would allow new charters to open without local approval.

If you want to protect public schools in Pennsylvania from reckless privatization, if you want to maintain local control, take action now to oppose SB 1085.

Here is advice from the pro-public education Keystone State Education Coalition:

SB1085 ALERT:

Charter School Reform bill is on the PA Senate calendar for December 3rd.

Call your state senator; urge them to vote no on SB1085 which would remove local control over tax dollars.

Use this link to find contact information for your state senator:

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/member_information/contact.cfm?body=S

1. If you are concerned about SB1085 giving unelected charter operators the power to spend tax dollars without any local oversight or control, please call your state senator’s office and let them know ASAP.

Urge them to maintain local control over tax dollars by locally elected, locally accountable school boards; urge them to vote no on SB1085.

SB1085 would allow colleges and universities to authorize new charter schools without local approval.
SB1085 would eliminate enrollment caps on charter schools. This will allow for the unfettered expansion of charter schools in PA.
SB1085 would increase the initial term of a charter from 3 years to 5 years, and allow a charter school to be granted a 10 year renewal
SB1085 would allow two or more charters to consolidate and transfer oversight to the PA Department of Education; local taxpayers would still pay the tuition
SB1085 would remove the provision that requires charter applications to be evaluated based on the extent to which the school may serve as a model for other public schools.
2. Please forward this alert to any interested public education stakeholders.

3. If you have a few minutes more to spare, please consider calling any or all of these Senate officers:

Majority Leader Senator Dominic Pileggi
(717) 787-4712 FAX: (717) 783-7490

dpileggi@pasen.gov

Majority Whip Senator Patrick Browne
(717) 787-1349 FAX: (717) 772-3458

pbrowne@pasen.gov

Majority Caucus Chair Senator Michael Waugh
(717) 787-3817 FAX: (717) 783-1900

mwaugh@pasen.gov

Majority Caucus Secretary Senator Robert Robbins
(717) 787-1322 FAX: (717) 772-0577

rrobbins@pasen.gov

Majority Appropriations Chair Senator Jake Corman
(717) 787-1377 FAX: (717) 772-3146

jcorman@pasen.gov

Majority Caucus Administrator Senator John Gordner
(717) 787-8928 FAX: (717) 787-9715

jgordner@pasen.gov

Majority Policy Committee Chair Senator Edwin Erickson
(717) 787-1350 FAX: (717) 787-0196

eerickson@pasen.gov

You can also use this Education Voters PA link to send an email to your state senator opposing SB1085:

http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6041/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=8833

Categories Charter Schools, Pennsylvania, Supporting public schools

Cyber Charters: The Worst Schools in Pennsylvania, and More on the Way

By dianeravitch
November 29, 2013 //
16

Adam Schott and James Jack write here about the poor performance of cyber charters in Pennsylvania.

You might even say the abysmal performance of cyber charters.

Pennsylvania has 16, more of them than any state in the nation, and six more want to open. No wonder they want to open. It is a lucrative business.

They write:

If it was viewed as a single school district, Pennsylvania’s expansive cyber charter sector would represent Pennsylvania’s second-largest district, with more than 35,000 students attending 16 schools statewide. Cyber charters received approximately $366 million in taxpayer funds in 2012-13—drawing payments from 498 of the state’s 500 school districts.

Their performance is awful:

In 2011-2012, just one of the state’s then 12 cyber charter schools met state academic thresholds for adequate yearly progress, while eight schools landed in one of several stages of “corrective action”—the lowest level of academic performance.

A 2011 report by Stanford’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes that examined Pennsylvania charter schools found that “performance at cyber charter schools was substantially lower than the performance at brick-and-mortar charters.”

Last week, Research for Action and our colleagues at the Education Law Center weighed new data: School Performance Profile scores, which are at the heart of the state’s new accountability plan under its No Child Left Behind waiver. We examined scores for the 11 cyber charter schools for which complete data were available—together, these schools educate nearly 17,000 students, or roughly half of the statewide cyber charter enrollment.

All 11 cybers scored among the lowest schools in the state. Not one of these cyber schools met or exceeded the average performance of Pennsylvania’s public and charter schools.

In fact, according to the state’s data, the average performance of cyber charters was more than 33 points behind that of traditional public schools, and nearly 23 points behind brick-and-mortar charter schools. Put another way, cyber charters—despite recent expansion—represent less than one half of one percent of the state’s schools, yet account for more than one-third of the state’s lowest-scoring based on that data.

 

Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools enroll a student population that broadly reflects the state as a whole in terms of special education identification rates, English language learner status, and other characteristics. Yet the sector’s performance is well below that of the overwhelming majority of public schools, both traditional and brick-and-mortar charter schools.

 

Pennsylvania policymakers have an obligation to make decisions informed by all available evidence. We urge them to carefully consider the performance data on cyber charters as they consider further expansion of this sector.

Adam Schott is Director of Policy Research at Research for Action and a former Executive Director of the State Board of Education. James Jack is a Senior Research Associate at RFA.

Categories Charter Schools, Education Reform, For-Profit, On-Line Education, Pennsylvania

Jury Trial in Philadelphia Hears Fraud Charges Against Charter Founder

By dianeravitch
November 27, 2013 //
4

Charter school founder June Brown is on trial in Philadelphia for collecting multiple salaries from the charter schools and management firms she opened.

Brown is accused of defrauding the four charter schools she founded of $6.7 million and then conspiring with two former administrators to obstruct justice by orchestrating a cover-up.

Meanwhile, business leaders in Philadelphia hope to open more charter schools in that beleaguered city, where the public schools have been decimated by budget cuts and layoffs.

Categories Charter Schools, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

What Do Philadelphia Students Want?

By dianeravitch
November 2, 2013 //
20

A high school student wrote this letter to Mark NAISON of the BATS, who sent it to me:

Mr Naison:

Hello, my name is Madeline Clapier. I am a senior at Constitution High School which is a school in Philadelphia that focuses on law and history. Currently, we as a school are facing massive budget cuts and our student government is attempting to rally against the cuts. We have put together seven points that we believe are necessary to the “efficient education” due to us by the state constitution. I’m reaching out to you because you have been apart of working for the restoration of schools. I would like to know how to effectively rally for the education we believe is necessary for the future of our city. So, if you have any tips on how we should go forward with our mission that would be greatly appreciated.

Our seven expectations for our city’s schools are attached.

Thank you,
Madeline Clapier

Expectations for Philadelphia Public Schools

“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.” -PA Constitution

A counselor should be a reality for all Philadelphia School District students. The counselors should be around for all school days, not just once or twice a month. They are necessary for not only emotional support, but a plethora of other things including (but not limited to) college help, peer mediation, working papers, SAT/ACT waivers, and college recommendations.

We should not be dealing with class sizes where students have to share desks or bring in chairs. It should not be a daily dilemma to find a seat in any classroom. Each and every classroom should be able to fit the expected amount of students and that number should not exceed 33 students.

If a school is a college prep school then students should be able to choose SAT prep classes or other college prep classes to help prepare the student body for their future. Likewise if the school is advertised as a science, history, or art school they should be able to afford their equipment.

After school activities are something that each college looks for on any application. They teach students to critically think, work together and much more.

There is something sickening about the fact that there is not a nurse in every school. It is very clear that students are only expected to get sick on certain days. What about the other days of the week?

Electives are an essential piece of every high school experience. Students should be given the opportunity to pick and choose some things that interest them. This way students have the classes like Spanish and Art History that colleges expect them to have learned.

Most of all we believe the state of Pennsylvania and the School District of Philadelphia need to follow their social responsibility of creating a proper learning environment for Philadelphia students.

Categories Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Students

Reader: Governor Corbett Should Be Prosecuted

By dianeravitch
October 7, 2013 //
7

This letter comes in response to a post by TeacherBiz, aka
Ani McHugh.

Dr. Ravitch, I worked for 29 years for NJEA and six for PSEA. I worked with local teacher associations in some
of the poorest cities in both those states (NJ and PA), including
Chester-Upland.

What is happening in CU is nothing short of a criminal assault on the poorest of the poor, led by politicians who have allowed the state to have a funding formula which penalizes
poor districts and then criticizes them for “failing.”

Corbett, a
former prosecutor, should himself be prosecuted for failing to
enforce the state constitution, which calls for a “thorough and
efficient” system of public schools. By contrast, New Jersey’s
Supreme Court forced the cowards in the legislature to fund poor
districts at the same level as the wealthy districts, with some
impressive results.

I love your work. And oh,
by the way, Ani McHugh is my daughter, of whom I am inordinately
proud. Robert P. Broderick
Beverly, NJ

Categories Accountability, Budget Cuts, Charter Schools, Pennsylvania
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