Steve+Says

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= Maybe School Vouchers Failed, But They Aren't Going Away = = T.E.A.C.H. Co-Founder Steven Singer suggests voting out legislators who vote against public education. =

=“Almost.” It’s a scary word sometimes.=

=Like when you put freshly brewed coffee too close to the edge and it ALMOST spills over ...=

=Like when you’re running late to work, gun that yellow light and ALMOST get clipped by an oncoming minivan...=

=Like when your tiny toddler teeters at the top of the steps and ALMOST tumbles down ...=

=At times like these, ALMOST is both a terror and a relief.=

=That’s how all of Pennsylvania feels now that our state legislators ALMOST passed a bill to enact school vouchers and expand charter schools.=

=We feel sick that it ALMOST happened, yet relieved that in the end common sense prevailed. Vouchers failed to muster enough support to make it to the floor, and later, a score of Republicans sided with nearly all House Democrats against a school-reform measure by a vote of 105-90. =

=Had it been passed, it would have further crippled our public schools still reeling from $860 million in unnecessary budget cuts.=

=This bill would have been nothing more than a taxpayer subsidy for religious, parochial and charter schools. It would have traded the unmistakable educational gains public school students are making throughout the state for unproven or failing programs.=

=For example, take cyber charter schools, which would have been rubber-stamped for approval across Pennsylvania without any say by local residents had Gov. Corbett gotten his wish.=

=Only two of the 12 cyber charter schools operating in Pennsylvania made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) last year. Compare that with 500 public school districts of which 83 percent made AYP in 2010, according to the state Department of Education. Such a measure would trade success for failure.=

=Moreover, cyber schools boost profits by shortchanging kids on costs. About 30,000 Pennsylvania students are enrolled in online schools at an average cost of about $10,000 per student. That is double or more what it costs the companies to educate those children online, according to state Auditor General Jack Wagner.=

=After all, how much does it really cost to plop a kid in front of a computer compared with actually having people and facilities to educate them? However, this is seen as a positive for the business-minded because it translates into massive profits. It’s extremely unfair for the taxpayer to be paying for additional expenses, such as advertising and lobbying state officials — initiatives our public schools can’t legally do.=

=Brick-and-mortar charter schools fare a little better with 71 percent making AYP in 2010. However, that is not a success compared with the much larger portion of students in public schools getting a better education.=

=It is important to note that the average annual administrative expenditure per student for charter schools is DOUBLE the cost of traditional public schools. In other words, charters of all stripes spend much more to run the business and advertise but much less on actually educating the kids. Replacing educational institutions that place kids first for those who put profits first would have been criminal.=

=As for parochial and religious schools, it’s hard to make a comparison because they aren’t required to take these same state tests or held to any open records or financial accountability laws. However, voucher schemes have been tried throughout the country and every one has failed to show an improvement in students’ education. Why would you replace something that’s working with something that’s completely unproven?=

=If legislators are really concerned with helping students, they should focus on measures that have been proven to be successful — early childhood education, safe and secure schools, and individualized attention through smaller class sizes and programs like tutoring and community supports. Lawmakers truly concerned about the kids should reverse this year’s unconscionable funding formula that reduces state aid to the poorest schools while hardly altering funding to the wealthiest districts.=

=In short, Gov. Corbett’s educational “reform” plan would have been disastrous, and legislators know it. Constituents made their disapproval plain in hundreds of thousand of phone calls, emails, letters, protests and even public opinion polls finding more than two-thirds of Pennsylvanians against the measure.=

=Only the most tone deaf lawmakers could ignore such an outcry. It’s unfortunate that our local GOP representatives could not hear voters' cries. Reps. Rick Saccone (R-Jefferson Hills), George Dunbar (R-North Huntingdon), Eli Evankovich (R-Export), Mark Mustio (R-Moon) and Randy Vulakovich (R-Fox Chapel) all voted in lockstep with the governor. (State Sens. Jane Orie (R-McCandless) and Kim Ward (R-Greensburg) supported a similar Senate bill.) =

=If it weren’t for the Democrats and those 20 free-thinking Republicans who proved they weren’t beholden to anyone else’s political agenda, we wouldn’t be celebrating common sense today. We’d be mourning another hammer blow to our kids’ educations. It’s a pity that there are still politicians who put special interests' campaign contributions and radical ideology before what’s good for kids.=

=Perhaps our local GOP representatives who are too cowardly to stand up for what’s right need a more unmistakable message. Let them know you’ve had enough of partisan posturing that goes against facts and simple logic.=

=This Election Day, show these hearing-impaired politicians what your voice sounds like — vote them out!=

=Steven Singer= =T.E.A.C.H.=

=//The above letter was published in several local PATCH Internet Newspapers on 12/23/11.//=

=[|Canon-McMillan]= =[|Chartiers Valley]= =[|Cranberry]= =[|Dormont-Brookline]= =[|Forest Hills-Regent Square]= =[|North Hills]= =[|Peters Township]= =[|Pine-Richland]= =[|Plum-Oakmont]= =[|Sewickley]= =[|Upper St. Clair]=

= Anyone who wants to do something positive for public education should contact those elected officials who voted "no" and thank them. Tell all of the others we expect them to do the right thing in the future. We MUST let them know that "the people" are watching! =

=-Jill Fleming-Salopek= =TEACH Co-Founder=

= We also need to let those legislators who voted in favor of the governor's "reform" package how disappointed we are in them. Please take 5 minutes of your time to show these reps your disappointment of their stance on Public Education and the future of our children. Hopefully, we can put enough heat on them to change their minds. =

=Here is a copy of the email addresses of the representatives that voted yes for A7732. The message that follows is a pre-drafted letter from Susan Gobreski, Education Voters. If you want to take a minute to copy and paste, we could send a message to all the (yes)voting PA Representatives rather quickly. =

=Representatives that Voted YES to A7732 =

=wadolph@pahousegop.com ; raument@pahousegop.com ; sbarrar@pahousegop.com ; jbear@pahousegop.com ; kbenninghoff@pahousegop.com ; sbloom@pahousegop.com ; jchristiana@pahousegop.com ; <span style="color: #3f52b8; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">jcox@pahousegop.com <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">; <span style="color: #3f52b8; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">tcreighton@pahousegop.com <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">; <span style="color: #3f52b8; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">lculver@pahousegop.com <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">; <span style="color: #3f52b8; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">bcutler@pahousegop.com <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">; <span style="color: #3f52b8; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">mdavidson@pahousegop.com <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">; <span style="color: #3f52b8; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">gday@pahousegop.com <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">; <span style="color: #3f52b8; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">sdelozier@pahousegop.com <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">; <span style="color: #3f52b8; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">gdenlinger@pahousegop.com <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">; <span style="color: #3f52b8; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">gdunbar@pahousegop.com <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">; <span style="color: #3f52b8; font-family: Tahoma,sans-serif; font-size: 11.3333px;">bellis@pahousegop.com <span style="color: #000000; 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=<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">Dear Legislator, = =<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Calibri,sans-serif;">I would like to take this moment to express my disappointment in your vote for amendment A00732 regarding charter school legislation. It is __important__ that any charter school __legislation__ __support local involvement by the school district and the taxpayers__. In addition, any charter school reform legislation should __address the issues facing charter school funding__. These issues are important to me and all Pennsylvanians and unfortunately were not included in amendment A7732, in which you voted for. Please consider these concerns in future considerations of charter school legislation. =

= Like most western Pennsylvanians, I’m a born Democrat. =

= However, as the Christmas season nears, I’d like to thank a Republican - 20 of them actually. =

= I’d like to recognize the 20 Republican state Representatives who voted with House Democrats 105-90 against Gov. Corbett’s radical education “reform” package. Had it been passed, it would have further crippled our public schools still reeling from $860 million in unnecessary budget cuts. =

= This bill would have been nothing more than a taxpayer subsidy for religious, parochial and charter schools. It would have traded the unmistakable educational gains public school students are making throughout the sate for unproven or failing programs. =

= And legislators know it. =

= Constituents made their disapproval plain in hundreds of thousand of phone calls, emails, letters, protests and even public opinion polls finding more than 2/3 of Pennsylvanians against the measure. =

= Only the most tone deaf lawmakers could ignore such an outcry. It’s unfortunate that Mon-valley’s GOP representatives - Reps. Rick Saccone, George Dunbar, Eli Evankovich, Mark Mustio and Randy Vulakovich - could not hear voters’ cries. =

= Perhaps they need a more unmistakable message. This election day show these hearing impaired politicians what your voice sounds like - vote them out! =

= -Steven Singer = = TEACH Web Organizer =

=//The above letter was printed in the McKeesport Daily News on 12/21/11.//=

=Focus - School Vouchers= = ADMINISTRATORS ASKED TO BOYOTT PA. PRINCIPALS ACADEMY FRIDAY! = = = =

= || = = =
 * || West Mifflin Superintendent Dr. Daniel Castagna || =

= At Thursday’s Principals Academy professional development for new administrators at Nemacolin, Dr. Otto Graff and Mr. Joe Werlinich invited the Superintendent of Propel Charter schools (Carol Wooten) to speak. Tomorrow, Dr. Nick Trombetta, CEO of PA Cyber is speaking at 9:30 am. =

= I am extremely appalled by this. I respect both Joe and Otto as professionals and myself attended the Principals Academy and found it very informative. I am surprised and disappointed that in the midst of the attack on public education, Nick Trombetta would be involved in such an important training for new Principals in our area. =

= I received numerous texts this morning from administrators I know in the area who just sat through a presentation on Thursday about how great charter schools are doing. They are appalled. =

= **It is my opinion that we ask our administrators to not attend tomorrow’s meeting**. =

= WE CAN NO LONGER SIT STILL AND WATCH THIS HAPPEN? I AM NOW CHALLENGING ALL SUPERINTENDENTS TO TAKE ACTION. =

= ** Listen, sitting back and saying nothing is the same as supporting Cyber/Charter schools. ** =

= ** Take action or just sit back and watch your profession be attacked. ** =

= Unbelievable! =

= Dr. Daniel R. Castagna = = Superintendent = = West Mifflin Area School District =

= P.S. -  =

= T he Pennsylvania Department of Education created the PVAAS (value added) system to measure growth of students from one year to the next. This came as a result of the constant scrutiny that the current state test was under. Many people believed it was unfair for a school’s or student’s success to be measured by a single exam given once a year. What the PVAAS system was designed to do is measure how much progress a student makes within that school year. So regardless of how someone scored the last time they took the state exam, they could still show growth in academic areas. This is considered the fairest and most unbiased way to measure student’s progress. PVAAS uses five color coded categories to measure this growth – Blue, light blue, green, yellow and red. From top to bottom blue is the best (shows the most growth) and red is the worst. As defined by PDE, a red color code means that there is significant evidence that the school did not meet the standard for PA academic growth. =

= FACT – PA Cyber ranks amongst the lowest PVAAs scores in Pennsylvania. PA Cyber's average growth index is in the RED. Students are not showing the growth that even the poorest public schools are. Another important lesson for PA cyber, money can’t buy you everything. =

=Here is how you find the information= =- Go to @https://pvaas.sas.com/evaas/signin.jsf= =- Click on Visit Public Site...= =- Then click on the reports= =- Scroll down for "District Value Added"= =- Choose Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School - look at Grades 9-11 ** Math Growth is MINUS 88.2 .... ** Scary!== ||||~ =District Name ||||~ =Growth Measure over Grades Relative to= ||
 * ~ =Growth Standard= ||^  ||~ =State= ||

=
 * =Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School= || =2011= || = -1.8 = || =-3.1= ||
 * =Pennsylvania Distance Learning Charter School= || =2011= || = -4.6 = || =-5.6= ||
 * =Pennsylvania Distance Learning Charter School= || =2011= || = -4.6 = || =-5.6= ||

= STEVE SAYS! = = Read the Latest Ramblings of TEACH's Web Organizer =

= When Governor Cobrett said a “day of reckoning” was coming, I don’t think this is quite what he meant. =

= However, voters in Pennsylvania and across the country made his prediction come true for Far-Right Republicans on election day. =

= Just look at the results: Ohio voters repealed controversial legislation to curb union rights, Mississippi taxpayers rejected a radical amendment to define fertilized eggs as people and even Pittsburghers decided .25 mills wasn’t too much to pay to keep the library going. =

= Taken as a whole, America is not a far-right country. We don’t want to go back to “the good old days” before FDR and the New Deal. Americans believe workers have rights and those rights shouldn’t be trampled by the government. Americans believe lawmakers should stay out of a woman’s uterus. Americans believe it’s patriotic to pay your taxes and they expect those taxes to pay for the basic services our grandfathers enjoyed. =

= Corbett and his cronies basking in millions in campaign contributions from special interest groups got a reminder it is still “We The People” who say how this country is run. =

= Election Day 2011 was just a preview. A “day of reckoning” is still to come. =

=<span class="ecxabody2" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Steven Singer = =<span class="ecxabody2" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Web Organizer =

==

= Is Gov. Corbett Education's 'Caped Crusader?' = =//(The following letter was published in various PATCH community Internet Newspapers on 10/19/11.)//=

=Superman, where are you?=

=Filmmaker [|Davis Guggenheim] tells us America’s waiting for a caped crusader to solve our education crisis. Us regular Joes just aren’t up to the task. Well, look up in the sky, it’s a bird ... it’s a plane ... no, it’s a Republican governor!=

=Fresh from slashing $860 million from public schools budgets, Gov. Tom Corbett has swept in to finish the job of “saving” Pennsylvania’s school kids with his [|new education proposals].=

=Just in the nick of time too. This year alone, Pennsylvania’s public schools have increased class sizes, stopped tutoring children who fall behind, eliminated electives like music and art, stopped replacing crumbling textbooks or outdated computers, started charging fees to participate in extracurricular activities like sports and fired more than 14,000 educators.=

=Who’s to blame for such short-sighted policies? It’s that darn Obama and his stimulus money, isn’t it? I never trusted him with his hope and change. But, no. Schools funded all of these things BEFORE any stimulus money came in. So why did they stop?=

=Gov. Corbett, no doubt donning a red cape and wearing trunks outside of his pants, cut education funding far below what it was before the stimulus money—he just put a huge chunk aside for a rainy day and called it all “education funding” so his creative accountants could claim he’s INCREASING education budgets. Maybe math is different on his planet.=

=Why not actually increase education budgets or at the very least leave them untouched? Because Kal-el [i.e. Corbett’s Krypton name] has sworn to his father Jor-el [Read: conservative anti-tax ideologue Grover Norquist] that he won’t increase taxes no matter what—not even on an abundant natural resource like Marcellus Shale that every other Marcellus-abundant state taxes.=

=He won’t even use a $1 billion tax surplus. Nor will he prioritize funds for education over, say, $2.48 billion in additional prison spending.=

=Unfortunately, our hero’s “principled stance” isn’t working out so well. But never fear. Here he comes to save the day ... again.=

=Corbett surveys the damage around him and figures the best way to help students is to make sure they DO go to schools that have lower class sizes, have opportunities to participate in a variety of extracurricular activities, attend schools that have tutoring, new textbooks and technology.=

=It’s just those schools won’t be public schools. They’ll be parochial and charter schools.=

=The problem, he says, taking a heroic stance, is that public schools are broken and the only way to fix them is to allow kids to escape into the hands of corporations and the clergy.=

=Um. Excuse me, Governor? Jimmy Olsen here with the Daily Planet. Just a few questions. Setting budget constraints aside, how are public schools broken?=

=Yes, urban districts with a preponderance of poor children have higher dropout rates than more affluent districts. Is that really surprising? Many underprivileged students are more worried about where their next meal’s coming from, where they’re going to sleep and if they’re safe, than with reading and writing.= =That’s not a failure of education. That’s a failure of society. Until we tackle poverty—the root cause of the achievement gap—we’ll never solve the disparity in test scores. How is going to a different school building going to fix that?=

=Second, is there any evidence that charter and parochial schools do a better job than public schools? There have been dozens of studies on the matter and they’ve all found that, taken as a whole, public schools outperform their corporate and religious counterparts.=

=Yes, there are some charter and parochial schools that do better than public institutions, but they are few and far between. If that’s so, what makes you think sending kids to these institutions will benefit them?=

=Finally, if public schools are broken, why not fix them? Wouldn’t it be more fiscally responsible to repair the damage instead of hopping into the life boats?= =That would take an honest evaluation of the real problems, such as slashing education budgets and a national love affair with modeling schools after corporations and sports teams, forcing them to compete for limited resources.=

=Kids aren’t widgets or test scores. They’re people and require different methods to succeed. After all, in a competitive model, there’s always a winner and a loser. In education, we don’t want any losers—we want everyone to learn.=

=But there’s no answer from our hero. With a quick “Up, up and away!” he’s off into the sky, but we can see the outline of his bulging wallet as he flies. It’s a wallet filled to overflowing with contributions from parochial and charter school lobbyists like the Koch Brothers and Michelle Rhee.=

=Will we have to wait for another hero from on high to set things right? Or will truth—our governor’s only Kryptonite—be enough to bring him and his cronies down to Earth?= =That, dear reader, depends on the credulity of the voting public.=

=Tune in next time ....=

=<span class="ecxabody2" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Steven Singer = =<span class="ecxabody2" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Web Organizer =

=See the Original letter in a PATCH NEWSPAPER near you:=

=[|Cranberry]= =[|Dormont-Brookline]= =[|Peters]= =[|Pine-Richland]= =[|Plum-Oakmont]= =[|Upper St. Clair]=

= **<span class="ecxmaintitle1" style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Seeing through Corbett’s plan ** = // **<span class="ecxmaintitle1" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">(Published in the McKeesport Daily News on 10/14/11) ** //

= **<span class="ecxabody2" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">G **ov. Corbett’s school reform proposal defies logic. He says public schools are broken and the only way to fix them is to allow kids to escape to charter and parochial schools. How are public schools broken? =

=<span class="ecxabody2" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Yes, urban districts with a pre­ponderance of poor children have higher dropout rates than more affluent districts. Is that really surprising? Many underprivileged students are more worried about where their next meal’s coming from, where they’re going to sleep and if they’re safe, than with read­ing and writing. That’s not a fail­ure of education. That’s a failure of society. Until we tackle poverty — the root cause of the achieve­ment gap — we’ll never solve the disparity in test scores. How is going to a different school building going to fix that? =

=<span class="ecxabody2" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Second, if public schools are broken, why not fix them? Wouldn’t it be more fiscally responsible to repair the dam­age instead of hopping into the life boats? That would take an honest eval­uation of the real problems such as an unnecessary $860 million K-12 budget cut this year orchestrated by the good governor. =

=<span class="ecxabody2" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">So why does Corbett make such outlandish suggestions? = = Just follow the money — right from charter and paro­chial lobbyists into his pocket. =

=<span class="ecxabody2" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">NOW it makes sense! =

=<span class="ecxabody2" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Steven Singer = =<span class="ecxabody2" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">Web Organizer =

= RICH SAYS! = = What We Face in the Next Round to Destroy Education =

= =

= Today at 10:00 A.M., governor Corbett presented his school reform proposal. The four areas of the proposal are: =

= 1. __Charter School Reform__: Corbett will create a Charter School Commission to approve charter school applications. This will remove the ability for a public school district to deny the creation of a charter school within its boundaries. =

= 2. __Opportunity Scholarships__: Students who attend a school district in the bottom 5% of failing schools and =

= A.) make 130% or less than the poverty level will be able to take 100% of state subsidy to educate that child. =

= B.) make less that 180% of the poverty level will be able to take 75% of state subsidy to educate that child. =

= *This equates to about $5,525 for scenario one and about $4,144 for scenario two. =

= 3. __Business Scholarship (E.I.T.C.)__: Businesses will have the ability to provide a scholarship to students who would like to attend another educational setting but do not meet the criteria for an __Opportunity Scholarship.__ Businesses who participate in this program will be given tax credits. =

= 4. __Employee Evaluation__: A major factor for all teacher and administrator evaluations will be student achievement. =

= KEY POINTS: = = 1. There will no change with how charter or private schools will be evaluated. =

= 2. Governor Corbett is stating the Commonwealth’s dropout rate is due to poor teachers and administrator! =

= 3. Governor Corbett spoke in generalization’s focusing on Philadelphia’s dropout rate of 45% as if it is the norm for the state. =

= 4. Governor Corbett’s jaw dropped when he found that 99.4% of teachers and 99.2% of administrators received the highest level of the evaluation. (the state PDE 5501 only has satisfactory or unsatisfactory) This astounded him since there is a dropout rate of 45%. (again using Philadelphia’s number) =

= 5. Governor Corbett and Ron Tomalis stress that charter schools ARE public schools. =

= Answer the following question, “What type of person do you want to be, the one who waits and then reacts to the situation or the one who dictates what the situation will be?” =

= We cannot wait to see how this proposal unfolds, now is the time to contact your legislator and voice your opinion! =

=<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 110%;">Richard M. Fine = =<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 110%;">Assistant Superintendent = =<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 110%;">South Allegheny School District = =<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 110%;">(412) 675-3070 ext. 1211 =

=Educators urge Gov. Corbett to provide resources for all students, not just a few= =Corbett presents education plan= =Pushing the unwanted in Pennsylvania=

= DAVID SAYS! = = Read an Emergency Announcement from PSEA =



= **After consistent pressure from the General Assembly telling him that he must lead on issues, today, PSEA has learned that Governor Tom Corbett will likely hold a press conference, as early as next Monday, to announce his plans for “education reform”. While no specifics have been provided at this point, PSEA Government Relations staff is being informed that the Governor will lay out his plan for Charter School reform and possibly a significantly scaled back voucher program. Additionally, we expect that he will speak to the issue of teacher evaluation and possibly eliminating seniority rights for professional employees. ** =

= **PSEA is closely monitoring these developments. It does appear that no final agreement has been reached between the House, Senate and Governor on these issues, which means our voices can make a difference. PSEA will be poised to act immediately following the Governor’s press conference. And, we will need members to make contacts to their legislators in high volumes in the days following the press conference. The more pressure we can place on the legislature, the greater our chances are of stopping this, yet to be seen, proposal in the fall legislative session.** =

**<span style="color: #004080; font-family: 'Chalkboard','serif';">A child is more than a test score. **

= === = **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Chalkboard','serif';">David Taylor ** = = **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Chalkboard','serif';">National Board Certified Mathematics Teacher ** = = **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Chalkboard','serif';">South Fayette Education Association President ** = = **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Chalkboard','serif';">PSEA Board of Directors, Western Region, 2nd Chair ** = = **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Chalkboard','serif';">South Fayette Township School District ** =

= STEVE SAYS! = = Read the Latest Ramblings of TEACH's Web Organizer =

= Next time you attend a school board meeting, take a look at the agenda. A closer look. =

= You’ll find all kinds of reports at the top of the page. Every administrator and board member will have something to say before even one vote is cast. =

= There’s the board president’s report, the superintendent’s report, the director of secondary education’s report, the director of elementary education’s report, the solicitor’s report, the business manager’s report, the athletic director’s report ... heck, most meeting’s even have a student or two give a report of some kind. =

= But where’s the teacher’s report? =

= Does any district have a report from the teachers in the district as a regular feature of its voting meeting? I haven’t seen it, and I used to be a journalist. I sat in on the board meetings of just about every school district in the Mon-Valley and Westmoreland County at one time or another. Not one teacher’s report. =

= Why is that? Teachers are the majority in any school district. They’ve got to be at least 75% of the employees in an entire district. Yet we never hear from them. =

= Oh, sure, the board will call up individual teachers who’ve done something special like receive a grant or had their Kindergarten class plant smiley faces around the rose garden. But why don’t school boards hear from teachers about the less frilly stuff - things like the working conditions in the school, the safety of certain situations, the difficulties every one of them face that could help directors make smarter decisions about the way districts should be run? =

= Wouldn’t it be beneficial to know if parents were providing the district with working phone numbers with which to call home in case of an emergency? Wouldn’t it be helpful to know if certain lunch periods were understaffed and presented a safety hazard to students in case a stampede broke out? Wouldn’t it be good to know if disciplinary concerns were being handled in a fast, efficient manner? =

= Yes, administrators could answer those questions, but would their answers be as informed as those on the front lines? Administrators - no matter how diligent - have it in there own best interest to paint a rosey picture of the status quo. If not, the finger could easily point back to them. Teachers, on the other hand, are elements of change and reform. You’ll get a “This is the best start of school we’ve had in 10 years” from an administrator. From teachers, you’ll get the truth. =

= It just makes one wonder: Does the public deserve to know what’s really going on? Should teachers be just wage slaves or part of the decision-making body of a school? Do school directors want any of that? =

= -Steven Singer = = Web Organizer =

=

= Charlie Batch is my hero. There. I’ve said it. =

= We live in an age when penny-pinching politicians slash the education budgets for poor children while leaving the progeny of the wealthy relatively untouched. =

= We live in a time when the government is more concerned with private companies making profits off of our childrens’ education than the quality of the education they receive. =

= We live in an era in which sound educational policy involves segregating students with tuition vouchers instead of fixing the problems our public schools face shackled to federal mandates that cause the high drop out rates they claim to be an attempt at staunching. =

= But even today - in an educational dark age when the blind lead the rest of us over a cliff in the name “accountability” - we still have men like Charlie Batch. =

= His record of charitable works rivals his achievements on the football field. His Best of the Batch Foundation has been a saving grace for children from the Mon-Valley and beyond. =

= However, I think his quiet heroism is best exemplified by his visit to Steel Valley School District this week. Without fanfare he came to classrooms in the elementary and middle schools dropping off generous Giant Eagle bags full of much needed school supplies for teachers and students. They just contained simple things - pens, pencils, paper, paper clips, hand sanitizer, tissues, etc. It was the kind of thoughtful donation anyone could make, but it was a Steelers Quarterback and hometown hero making it. =

= Moreover, he didn’t stay for a “thank you.” He shook a few hands and went on his way. =

= Our so-called leaders could learn a lot from Charlie Batch. =

= = = Congratulations to South Allegheny School District for once again being at the forefront of the fight against anti-education legislation! =

= By being the first local school to sign on to a class action lawsuit against the state for inequitable education funding, SA again shows us the way to stand against one political party's unfair, unnecessary and unconscionable attack on the public education system - an attack on poor children. =

= Pennsylvania's Constitution states, "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." What legislators have done in passing the 2011-12 budget, clearly violates this mandate. = = When legislators slash education spending by cutting more from poorer schools than richer ones, someone needs to take a stand. =

= When politicians decrease education while increasing prison spending and tax cuts for the wealthy, someone needs to take a stand. =

= When lawmakers downsize the most fundamental service a society provides while the state's flush with surplus cash, someone needs to take a stand. =

= At the time these measures were proposed, SA administrators, staff, parents and students were some of the most committed members of T.E.A.C.H. picketing legislators, rallying in Harrisburg and even just putting up signs in their back yards. And now this. =

= SA is standing tall. Will other schools, churches and public organizations join them? =

= Being a pathfinder is a lonely business, and we at T.E.A.C.H. want to commend SA and its brave board of directors for having the foresight, courage and conviction to stare evil in the eye and spit in it. =

= -Steven Singer = = Web Organizer = =SA signs on to possible class action lawsuit against Corbett=

= Over the last month or so my faith in the inherent goodness of humanity has been drop-kicked in the seat of its pants. =

= H.L. Mencken famously quipped, “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.” =

= Yeah, but does that go for our ethical intelligence, too? I mean, stupid, sure, but did anyone ever go broke underestimating the morality of the American people? I mean you want to think that if someone saw a stranger’s child drowning in a pond, they’d at least try to get the poor kid out. Especially if that someone’s an Olympic swimmer and the pond’s only 3 feet deep! =

= But I must be mistaken. The kid’s floating face down in muck while everyone else has a summer picnic. =

= According to the latest [|Quinnipiac University poll] a modest percentage of Pennsylvanians approve of the job Gov. Tom Corbett is doing - 44-36 percent approve - his first noticeable boost since he took office in January. And all this AFTER he pushed through $900 million in unnecessary budget cuts to K-12 education while lowering business taxes, raising prison spending, handing out WAM money like it was Christmas and leaving corporate tax loopholes and a $650 million tax surplus untouched. =

= Sure, voters disapprove, 45-41 percent, of the way Mr. Corbett is handling the state budget, but not enough to affect his overall score. =

= So let me get this straight. Pennsylvania, the state in which I grew up, the state in which I’ve lived my entire life, is the kind of place that approves of pillaging and looting school kids' educations and giving the plunder to corporations, prison inmates and politicians. =

= Is that really true? Do my fellow Pennsylvanians who look like me, talk like me, eat at the same Primanti’s restaurant, go to the same Steeler games - do they really not care that our state government has stolen money that should be going to kids education and given it to people who don’t need it? =

= Where’s the outrage? =

= Oh, it’s there. Here-and-there. Just not everywhere. And why would it be? The budget cuts weren’t everywhere either. They were only here-and-there, too. The poorest public school districts lost the most money. The richest districts lost peanuts. =

= Perhaps if the budget cuts were evenly distributed, so would be the outrage. Instead we have another version of the all-American concept - NIMBY. Not In My Back Yard. =

= Sure, the Governor and Republican legislature slashed economic support for public schools - but not MY public school. That only affects THOSE kids, not MY kids. =

= Pennsylvania, you should be ashamed. =

= -Steven Singer = = Web Organizer = =News= =home=