MUST+READS

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= THE NEW LIE! = = SAME AS THE OLD LIE! = =Is the Corbett administration cutting education funding or increasing it?=

=Depends on who you ask.=

=Educators say the state has cut almost $1 billion from public education since Corbett took power.=

=Corbett says he's increased education funding to historic highs.=

=What's the truth?=

= FACT: School districts across the state are increasing class sizes and cutting programs that work for students. =

=Would that be happening if the administration were raising funding?=

= FACT: Corbett has eliminated $500 million or more in long-standing state programs to support the public schools, including the charter school reimbursement program, accountability block grant program, education assistance tutoring program, and dual enrollment program. =

=How can that possibly be a historic increase in education funding?=

= BAIT AND SWITCH: State Education Secretary Ron Tomalis explains that the Corbett administration's claim of boosting education includes $300 million in teacher pension contributions this year. That is the only real increase in education spending this year. =

= SOLUTION: So when a Republican apologist says Corbett has increased education funding, what he means is that the administration has increased it's obligation to retired employees but cut its support for current students. =

=Would you call that an education increase?=

=It's your call.=

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= OCCUPY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION = =A group of activists is planning a four-day protest event starting next week called “Occupy the DOE in D.C.” that is aimed at alerting the Obama administration to growing unhappiness with its education reform policies.= =The event includes seminars, led by professors, activists and others, as well as marches and speeches that together are designed to express opposition to the education policies of President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, which critics say have, among other things, increased the importance of high-stakes tests and promoted charter schools at the expense of traditional public schools.= =Unlike some other Occupy protests, the organizers of this one got the required permits to stage all of the planned events.=

=“Occupy the DOE” is being organized by United Opt Out, an organization of parents, educators, students and social activists seeking to end the high-stakes testing regimen in public education today and create a balanced accountability system.=

=United Opt Out encourages parents to use “opt out” rules in their school districts that allow students to stay home when standardized tests are given. They say that the focus on high-stakes standardized testing in the No Child Left Behind era — and now the Race to the Top program — has failed to improve student achievement and instead has narrowed curricula, wasted public resources and caused anxiety and fear for students and teachers.=

=Occupy movement targets education-reform efforts=

= THERE GOES $11 MILLION FOR OUR SCHOOLS! = = = Earlier this week, Governor Corbett asked where he was supposed to get the money to fund public education in Pennsylvania. Yesterday, he signed into law a new Voter ID bill, which does not appear to solve any actual problem in the state, will most certainly face expensive legal challenge, and worse, will cost taxpayers an estimated $11 MILLION to implement.

The __Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center__ reports that other states have faced "substantial financial burdens" after passing similar laws: "**Indiana**, with about half as many registered voters as Pennsylvania, adopted a voter ID law in 2005 and spent **$12.2 million** over four years implementing it. **Missouri** has estimated voter ID legislation would cost **$17.4 million** over three years to inform its 4.1 million registered voters of the new requirements. Independent estimates for a proposed **North** **Carolina** law range from **$18 million to $25 million** over three years." (__May 2011 report__)

Even taxpayers who are not outraged by the new law's attempt to disenfranchise voters should be incensed that the Governor is signing new legislation expected to cost our state $11 MILLION. He says, "We are reducing the funding in education because we do not have the money — it’s that simple." (See "__The Old Divide and Conquer Tactic__") No. What's simple is not passing unneeded laws that spend more money while proposing additional devastating cuts to our schools at the same time. $11 MILLION would pay for a whole lot of teachers.

Note to the Pennsylvania legislature: it's time to focus on real problems in the state - like reversing the proposed budget cuts to public education - not imaginary ones that waste taxpayer money. =There Goes 11-million for Our Schools=

= CORBETT'S BUDGET: MORE EDUCATION CUTS! = = $94 MILLION CUT FROM K-12! = = HIGHER EDUCATION CUT BY 30%! = =//Capitolwire// //Bureau Chief Peter DeCoursey points out in a __ recent article __, “//For a guy who ran for governor saying school districts were over-funded and could and should do more with less money, Gov. Corbett sure does everything he can now to hide the fact that he is governing as he promised in his campaign…. Why is he trying to hide this clear policy goal now?... it is about his only declared policy on which he shilly-shallies about what he did.”=

=Read More=

= FIND OUT HOW MUCH YOUR SCHOOL IS LOSING! = == =School funding cuts clear with new online calculator=

= [|Please Contact your legislators now]. Tell them to oppose Gov. Corbett's proposal and give our students and schools the funding they need. =



= $10 BILLION FEDERAL PROGRAM CUT PROPOSED. TOOMEY VOTES IN FAVOR! CASEY AGAINST. = =**Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK),**offered an amendment to the surface transportation bill that would have set an arbitrary cut of $10 billion to spending caps agreed to by Congress last year, resulting in more cuts to education and other critical programs. The amendment, which required 60 votes to pass, failed by a vote of 52-46. Senator Pat Toomey voted in favor of the cuts. Senator Robert Casey voted against it.=

=Who stands with the right wing ideologues determined to cut the size of government regardless of who gets hurt? Who stands with children, families and working people?=

=See how the full Senate voted.=

= IS OUR ADVOCACY WORKING? YINZERCATION SAYS "YES!" = = We’ve called our legislators, written them letters, and met with them; we’ve hosted house parties, a teach-in, and public forums; we’ve held a rally in a snowstorm, published op-ed pieces, and submitted letters-to-the-editor. //But is it working?// =

= The simple answer is yes. But to understand //how// it’s working, we have to piece together what is going on around the state. =

= Yes, Education Advocacy is Working! (and here’s how we know) =

= AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA FROM T.E.A.C.H. = =

= =President Obama:=

=I want to thank you for your comments at the National Governors Association on 2/27/12 asking our nation’s governors to invest in education.=

=I teach middle school English in Pennsylvania - a state in which public schools are under attack. Gov. Corbett cut $860 million from education in the current budget and proposes an additional $94 million next year.=

=These cuts have had a devastating effect on our schools: 70% have increased class sizes, 44% have reduced course offerings, 35% have reduced or eliminated tutoring and 14,159 education jobs were eliminated or left vacant.=

=We simply cannot go on this way. Our kids are suffering and will not be able to compete.=

=I know you have repeatedly pushed for increased federal education funding. In October you pushed for an additional $35 billion to help keep or rehire teachers, police and firefighters. However, this was voted down. I know that your proposed 2013 federal budget includes education funding increases.=

=Thank you for your efforts. I know it’s more than we’d get from any Republican presidential candidate, and you can count on my support in the general election.=

=However, isn’t there more you can do to help us? We need real leadership - someone who can change the conversation, someone who will put education first. Frankly, sir, I don’t see you doing that.=

=Your education policy has been disappointing. You seem to support the same test-driven, school-rating, pro-charter-school policy as the GOP.=

=We yearn for schools that don’t rate students and teachers on standardized multiple-choice tests, that emphasize improving students’ home lives more than increasing the number of charter schools and that are less eager to follow the lead of billionaire reformers.=

=Thankfully, you’ve not been in favor of school vouchers. However, we also need you to turn away from these other conservative educational policies that the majority of our country’s teachers will tell you is faulty. We need you to turn away form corporate education “reform” that has been repeatedly proven empty in peer-reviewed studies.=

=Please, Sir. I voted for you in 2008 because I believed your message of hope. Like many others I believed you were different from all the others. You cannot imagine the surge of support you would receive if you would just prove our faith justified. You’ve been a good president - well deserving of a second term. However, we need more than good. Our kids need it. I beg you to come back to us and help restore the American dream.=

=Thank You,= =Steven Singer= =T.E.A.C.H. Co-founder=

= **Take Action Today:** Urge Congress to pass a budget resolution that reflects the President’s emphasis on education as a top priority. =

= PRESIDENT OBAMA CALLS ON GOVERNORS TO INVEST IN EDUCATION =

media type="custom" key="12820604" =**A**t the National Governors Association meeting on 2/27/12, **President Obama** called on governors to “invest more in education. Invest more in our children and in our future….We don’t have to choose between resources and reform; we need resources and reform.” The President continued, “Other countries are doubling down on education and their investment in teachers — and we should, too.” =

=Meanwhile**, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum**, called President Obama a "snob" for urging more Americans to attend college.=

= = = BIASED REPORTING = = =

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= = = = = =Pittsburgh Tribune Review’s Conservative bias was on display in a misleading article on the front page of Thursday's (2/16/12) edition.= = =

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= = =The article “[|Struggling Pittsburgh Public Schools pay lobbyists $400,000]” purported to be an investigation into a questionable practice by Pittsburgh Public Schools. However, the piece credited to Bob Bauder was really a one-sided and misleading propaganda piece for Gov. Corbett’s political agenda.= = =

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= = =The article begins by juxtaposing actions taken by Pittsburgh Public Schools to survive state budget cuts with paying $400,000 to an individual to lobby on its behalf over four years. By lumping the $400,000 sum together, it inflates the figure. It’s really a $100,000 salary. Nowhere in the article does it mention the amount of budget cuts Pittsburgh Public has faced. This hides the fact that the money spent on lobbying by Pittsburgh Public is a fraction of the more than $30 million it's lost in state funding. The authors gloss over that fact instead insinuating that Pittsburgh Public administrators are wasting funds on lobbying that could be used for education thereby justifying the governor’s proposal to cut their funding in the first place.= = =

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= = =Moreover, the article neglects to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by pro-Corbett forces to lobby on his behalf. The article insinuates that this is a one-sided practice by public schools.= = =

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= = =The Tribune Review has repeatedly been condemned nationally for its Right wing bias. The paper is owned by Richard Mellon Scaife, principal heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune, ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the 400 richest Americans. Scaife has contributed hundreds of millions to radical Republicans such as Rick Santorum. The editorial slant of the Tribune Review frequently favors Tea Party causes and occasionally has misleading and biased articles such as the one above.= = =

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= = = T.E.A.C.H. BLOCKED FROM CORBETT'S FACEBOOK PAGE! = = = = = =

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= = =T.E.A.C.H. member and furloughed Steel Valley teacher Pat Connelly had a message for Governor Tom Corbett. He wasn't swearing, rude or vulgar. However, when he posted the following message on the governor's facebook page, he was blocked. Read it yourself and see if you think it was block worthy:= = =

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= = = Governor Corbett, = = = = Please take the time to read [|the article posted on the Tribune Review's web-site] and realize that the cuts that you make have a direct influence on peoples' lives. I am a dedicated teacher of 14 years until I was furloughed as a direct result of your attacks on education. After seeing that more budget cuts are coming, I want to help other families not to feel the pain that you are causing. Please, stop your attack...We surrender! Please stop trying to balance the budget on the backs of children and the teachers that are tying to make a difference in improving the lives of the future of Pennsylvania. = = =

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= = =[|Visit Corbett's facebook page and post your own message.]= = = =Will you too be blocked?= = = = CORBETT'S BUDGET: MORE EDUCATION CUTS! = = = = $94 MILLION CUT FROM K-12! = = = = HIGHER EDUCATION CUT BY 30%! = = =

= = =Using a complicated fiscal shell game to “redesign school and district” basic education funding, the state budget proposal Gov. Tom Corbett unveiled Tuesday, 2/7/12, represents an unwise experiment that will cause chaos in the public schools and eliminate research-tested, classroom-proven programs, the president of Pennsylvania’s largest school employee union said today.= = = = = = = = = = = Michael Crossey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said that the governor’s budget proposal would do nothing to avert the growing financial crisis in Pennsylvania’s school districts. = = “This proposal is an unwise experiment with the education of 1.8 million public school students,” Crossey said. “It leaves school officials and property taxpayers to figure out how to close a two-year, nearly $1 billion funding gap.” = = = = = = = = = = = Crossey said the governor’s budget proposal uses an accounting gimmick, combining line items for employee Social Security contributions and transportation costs in an attempt to create the appearance of an increase in the state’s main basic education subsidy to public schools. As a result, school districts could receive $94 million less in state funding that will actually go to support students in the classroom. (See chart below.)= = = = = = = =PROPOSED STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT EDUCATION BLOCK GRANTS= = = **ARE $94 MILLION LESS THAN THE 2011-12 TOTAL** || **FOR THE COMBINED LINE ITEMS** || //in $ thousands// || 2011-12 || == 2012-13 || Student Achievement Education Block Grants ||  || == 6,516,087 || Basic Education Funding || == 5,354,328 || == 0 || Accountability Block Grants || == 100,000 || == 0 || Pupil Transportation || == 537,958 || == 0 || Nonpublic Pupil Transportation || == 76,640 || == 0 || School Employees Social Security || == 541,560 || == 0 || Total (Combined Lines) || == 6,610,486 || == 6,516,087 || Change from 2011-12 ||  || == -94,399 || = = =media type="youtube" key="GmrhLDMEHTg" height="480" width="853"= = = = = = = =“Public schools are facing the second year of dramatic state funding cuts,” Crossey said. “Public school students need state support for programs that work, not accounting tricks.”= = = = = = = == = = = = = = Gov. Corbett suggested that school districts “adjust” to meet their own needs. Unfortunately his budget once again leaves them with fewer resources, and the only “adjustments” are likely to be even larger classes, elimination of additional programs, and fewer opportunities for children, Crossey said. = = == = = = = = = Gov. Corbett’s budget proposal did not even mention, much less address, the plight facing districts in fiscal crisis like Chester Upland and York City – districts which may not be able to pay their bills in the current academic year. = = == = = = = = = = Crossey pointed out that Gov. Corbett’s budget cuts have so far eliminated more than half a billion dollars in state support for programs that have helped to increase student achievement over the past decade(See chart below.) As a result, school districts now have no state help to cover growing charter school payments and will lose all accountability block grant funds, which pay for full-day kindergarten and class size reduction initiatives. To make matters worse, the Corbett administration has also cut the basic education subsidy by $420 million. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = “For the second year in a row, the governor wants to reverse course on smart public school investments that work for our students,” Crossey said. “So far, his public education track record is all about cutting effective programs.” = = == = = = = = = According to Crossey, school districts across the state have already cut programs and staff. In the wake of this proposal, public schools will be forced to raise taxes or cut even more. A study released by the Pennsylvania School Administrators Association and the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials in September indicated that: = = = = = = = = “Public school students need their elected state officials to be the responsible adults who will provide for their education, instead of hiding behind accounting tricks to paper over that responsibility,” Crossey said. “Public school students deserve a great education. It’s up to all of us – teachers, school administrators, citizens, and elected state officials – to assume some responsibility, and make sure they get a quality education.” = = “Gov. Corbett’s massive budget cuts are hurting students across the Commonwealth,” Crossey said. “The students can’t afford another year of devastating cuts, especially when there are better options to balance the budget.” = =
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 * =XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX= || = FY 2010-2011 = || = FY 2011 -2012 = || = FY 2012-2013 (Gov. Proposed) = ||
 * =Charter School Reimbursement Program= || =$219,825,000= || =$0= || =$0= ||
 * =Accountability Block Grant Program= || =$254,526,000= || =$100,000,000= || =$0= ||
 * =Education Assistance (Tutoring) Program= || =$46,701,000= || =$0= || =$0= ||
 * =Dual Enrollment Program= || =$6,827,000= || =$0= || =$0= ||
 * =Basic Education Subsidy (for classroom instruction)= || =$5,774,685,000= || =$5,354,629,000= || =$5,354,629,000= ||
 * =Basic Education Subsidy (for classroom instruction)= || =$5,774,685,000= || =$5,354,629,000= || =$5,354,629,000= ||
 * = 70 percent of school districts increased class sizes. =
 * = 44 percent of school districts reduced course offerings. =
 * = 35 percent of school districts reduced or eliminated tutoring programs. =
 * = 14,159 school district positions were eliminated or left vacant. =

= = == = = = "Please as educators take note again of the arrogant and blatant attack on public education. We have made many strides this year to unite…may our unity spread to include all public educators in this battle…remember what happens now will affect our profession forever…and the **WAR ISN’T OVER UNTIL ONE SIDE QUITS**! I don’t know about you…but to me **QUITTING IS NOT AN OPTION**!" = = = =- West Mifflin Superintendent Dr. Daniel Castagna= = = =2/7/12= = =

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= = = [|Please Contact your legislators now]. Tell them to oppose Gov. Corbett's proposal and give our students and schools the funding they need. = = =

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= = = HIGHER EDUCATION CUTS = = = = In what one national group called the most severe public university cuts proposed anywhere in the nation this year, the 14 state-owned universities belonging to the State System of Higher Education would see a 20 percent reduction, while three state-related schools -- the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State and Temple universities -- would absorb an even bigger cut of 30 percent. = = = = At Penn State, the $64 million loss would reduce general support from $227.5 million to $163.5 million. Last year, it lost $68 million. = = = = The 14 State System schools (including California, Clarion, Edinboro, Indiana and Slippery Rock universities in Western Pennsylvania) would see support drop to $330.2 million from $412.8 million, a nearly $83 million loss. = = = = Officials said the cuts, if enacted, would bring their subsidy within $2 million of 1988-89 levels. It would mean the 14 schools have lost $170 million in two years plus half the system's capital budget and money intended to reduce a backlog of deferred building maintenance. = = =

= = = Pitt had no immediate comment on Mr. Corbett's proposal to cut its general support to $95.3 million from $136.1 million, a $41 million loss. = = =

= = = The state's 14 community colleges would receive $221.9 million, down from $230.7 million in 2011-12. = = =

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= = = FIND OUT HOW MUCH YOUR SCHOOL IS LOSING! = = = == = = =School funding cuts clear with new online calculator= = =

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= = =State-related universities decry proposed state subsidy cuts= = = =The more Pennsylvanians learn about Gov. Corbett's budget, the less they like it.= = = =Corbett says 'We reduced education funding if you look at it as a whole'= = = = » Text of Gov. Corbett's address. = = = = Higher education proposal termed nation's most onerous = = = = Lawmakers to Corbett - Hands off education funding = = = = CLEAR Coalition's 2012-2013 Budget Response = = = =Governor proposes lean budget, with big higher ed cuts= = = =Public School Students Need State Support, Not Accounting Tricks= = = = = = CALL TO ACTION: = = ANTI-UNION BILL PASSES HOUSE AND SENATE! ON TO OBAMA. PLEASE CALL HIM! = = Anti-worker, anti-union language has been attached at the last minute to the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill moving through Congress. The House passed the bill by a vote of 248-169 on Friday, 2/3/12. It then passed the Senate 75-20 with a majority of Democrats backing it on Monday. 2/6/12. The bill now goes on to President Obama for signing. =

= The provisions in question would effectively end organizing and start to erode contracts for airline and rail workers. Ultimately they threaten to undermine even the strongest unions. First, the controversial provisions take away the right for a secret ballot – tantamount to voter suppression. Second, they essentially codify minority-rule elections, so that if Union A receives 40 percent of the votes, Union B receives 25 percent of the votes, and the remaining 35 percent of the employees vote “no union,” the run-off will be between Union A and no union, even though 65 percent of the employees resoundingly defeated the “no union” option. The bill also includes a provision allowing for wholesale decertification of a whole host of unions. More information is available at: @http://www.afanet.org/=

=National Education Association is standing strong with our union brothers and sisters in opposing this language.=

= Please [|email President Obama by clicking here.] =

=Or call the White House comment line: 202-456-1111 = = It only takes a minute. = = You can use this brief message: =

= Hello, my name is _, and I am a constituent. I am calling to ask the President not to sign the FAA Reauthorization Bill with the unrelated labor provision that would gut collective bargaining rights for aviation and rail workers. This has no place in a bill for funding of aviation safety, health, and security. Please don't sign the bill with this measure still intact. Thank you. =

=Senate Passes FAA Bill With Anti-Union Measure= =NEA Letter Against Anti-Union Bill=

= T.E.A.C.H. ATTENDS DOWNTOWN PITTSBURGH FIRST FRIDAY RALLY =



= = = T.E.A.C.H. members Ryan Dunmire, Pat Connelly , and Jill Fleming-Salopek attended the First Friday Event at Mellon Square in Downtown Pittsburgh on Friday, 2/3/12. The Mon Valley Unemployed Committee along with many other groups, such as MOVE ON Pittsburgh, sponsor these events the first Friday of every month to promote awareness and share information about unemployment and public sector jobs. Ryan Dunmire, Tony Lodico, a priest, and other unemployed people from various fields spoke about the impact of budget cuts and supporting bills to extend unemployment and create jobs. About 50 people attended and the rally lasted for about an hour. =

[|More on Mon-Valley Unemployed Committee]

= $30 MILLION PROPOSED TO FUND 19 STRUGGLING PA. SCHOOLS = =Legislation proposed by state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York, would direct $30 million in state funds to 19 academically and fiscally distressed school districts to be used to improve academic achievement.= =The legislator, who is running for auditor general, said during a news conference Wednesday in Harrisburg that it's time for the state to pump more money into fiscally and academically struggling school districts rather than cutting their state funding.= ="This is about driving real reform to districts that need it most," Mr. DePasquale said.= = The Priority Assistance Grant for Education (PAGE) includes the following Western Pennsylvania districts: Steel Valley, Woodland Hills, McKeesport Area, Clairton, Sto-Rox and Aliquippa. =

=Under the program, school districts would use those funds to pay for a range of proven, research-based programs such as full-day kindergarten, class size reductions, or tutoring initiatives. The impact of the funds would be monitored by a state commission.=

=Priority school districts would be authorized to use PAGE grant funds for three types of initiatives: proven, research-based programs, expenditures essential to the continued operation of the school district, or reinstating programs cut or curtailed due to budget cuts.=

> =“We need that revenue stream. I mean, if not, you’re going to be looking at cuts in other programs,” he said.= > =“And let’s call it like we see it. There is one part of the budget that has been increasing in the last six years, and that’s corrections. I mean we’re building four new prisons across Pennsylvania,” De Pasquale continued.= > =DePasquale wants 30 million for struggling school districts= > =PSEA president supports bill to invest in struggling schools= > =[|More on PAGE]=

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= T.E.A.C.H. won the Education Voters Institute of Pennsylvania's video contest in the Group Category!!! =

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= The purpose of the contest is to highlight both the impact of cuts to critical programs that serve kids, and the importance of education to our communities and our economy. Winning videos will be shared with legislators, our members, the online community and more.=

= The video features and was made completely by furloughed Steel Valley teachers including the project director - furloughed Steel Valley Middle School Language Arts teacher Jonathan Edwards .=

=Other video entries can be seen by clicking the above link or scrolling down to our MUST SEE VIDEOS below.=

= Congratulations to Jonathan, Heather Huber, Jen Pecora, Rebecca Russell and everyone else involved in making the video! =

=Steel Valley-based TEACH group’s video wins award= = [|Video Contest Facebook Page] = =More Information on the Contest=

= DUNMIRE: TOOMEY STANDS WITH THE 1% AGAINST THE MIDDLE CLASS!!! = =

= =Senator Pat Toomey made it clear where he stands - with corporations and the mega-rich and against middle class families and values. TEACH member Ryan Dunmire met with Toomey on Friday along with four other citizens representing [|One Pittsburgh].=

=Among Toomey's shocking statements:=
 * = He claimed to have no idea what the Delaware tax loophole is - an infamous weak point in the state's tax law allowing corporations to avoid paying state taxes.=


 * = He claimed ignorance of the crisis in the Chester Upland School District - the poorest school in Pennsylvania, which has been crippled by state budget cuts so that it will close unless it receives monetary aide that Gov. Corbett's administration is refusing.=


 * = He's in favor of replacing public education with a voucher system - making him at odds with 3/4 of Pennsylvania voters.=


 * = Anyone facing hard economic times can simply work harder to pull themselves out of poverty regardless of childcare needs, education, physical or mental handicaps, the availability of well-paying jobs or any other concerns.=

=Read all about Dunmire's meeting with Toomey below:=

=TEACH Meets With Toomey= = Activist Group Disappointed with Senator Toomey Following Face-to-Face Meeting =

= TWO MYTHS BEHIND EDUCATION "REFORM" = =Most "education reform" is predicated on two myths:=

= 1. That America is a meritocracy where equal opportunities are available for the taking. =

= 2. That the incentives of a competitive free market system assure that for-profit organizations will perform more efficiently and effectively than government or non-profit ones. =

=It can only be these assumptions that drive policy makers and their well-heeled funders to continue beating their heads against the wall of evidence that America's educational system is getting worse.=

= **Myth One** = =Powerful politicians and wealthy folks (often one and the same) are compelled to embrace the myth of meritocracy for to question it would be to question their own success. It is uncomfortable to think that your success in life is partly or primarily due to the circumstances of your birth or to simple good fortune.=

=But any objective analysis yields a very different conclusion: That skin color and social/economic class will be among the primary determinants in one's life. This does not mean that if you are black and/or poor that there is no possibility of success. It does mean that success will be hard won against long odds.= =Unfortunately, in a system controlled by folks who scored primarily by being born on second or third base, objective analysis is rare. To acknowledge your own privilege, particularly white privilege, requires at least considering giving some of it up. . . and that's a wildly unpopular notion in today's America, where you get what you deserve and you deserve what you get. And to acknowledge that some Americans suffer from deep structural disadvantages carries the inevitable corollary that you might have benefited from structural advantages -- another idea that is contrary to the myth of meritocracy.=

=Translated to education, this myth means that any child in America can and should do just as well as any other. And so the poor performance of children in many communities, particularly poor communities of color, must be explained in some other way. It's the lousy teachers. It's the union. It's irresponsible parenting. It's the public education "monopoly." =

== = **Myth Two** = =The myth that free markets and profit incentives lead to efficiency and effectiveness has always been questionable, but it gained nearly religious status beginning in the Reagan era. According to Reagan and his acolytes, governments, including public schools and other institutions, are the problem and freedom to make money is the solution. While a free market economy is a reasonable (albeit ethically blind) system for trading goods and services, it is a horrid way to provide for basic human needs, particularly education.=

=Whether in education, prisons or health care, free market incentives work directly against the purposes of the human service being provided.=

= The incursion of profit motives into education has had only negative effects. The widely discredited era of "phonics-first" was instigated through lobbying by the publishing companies that produced the instructional materials and made millions.= =Recent //New York Times //articles have provided similar evidence of the extent to which Pearson, McGraw Hill, Harcourt, Kaplan and others have lobbied for educational testing policies from which they profit. For-profit "universities" look more and more like outright scams.=

= And yet, despite all of the evidence arguing against the "profit model," the individuals who are currently having the most impact on education (it's called bang for the buck) are Bill Gates and Eli Broad, two extraordinarily wealthy products of the profit model. Because of the dual myths of meritocracy and free market magic, these otherwise unqualified men are treated like education oracles. =

=Yes, garbage in and garbage out. As long as we hold on to these two myths, all the testing in the world is just rearranging the deck chairs.= = The problems with education in America will be addressed only when we recognize that it's all about race, class and inequity. = =Education 'Reform' -- Garbage In, Garbage Out=

= NEW REPORT FINDS FUNDING IS KEY TO STUDENT PERFORMANCE =

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= =Amid major slashes to public funding, political leaders have cited assertions that money doesn't affect student learning to sometimes justify cutting billions in education dollars. But a new report stifles the money-means-education debate, saying that money does matter, and the common political rhetoric has little basis in research.=

=Friday's report by the Albert Shanker Institute, titled "Revisiting The Age-Old Question: Does Money Matter In Education?" cites empirical evidence that shows many of the ways in which schools currently spend money do improve student outcomes, and when schools have larger budgets, they're empowered to spend more opportunistically and productively. The Shanker Institute is an independent nonprofit.=

= "In short, money matters, resources that cost money matter, and the more equitable distribution of school funding can improve outcomes," the report's author Bruce Baker writes. "Policymakers would be well advised to rely on high-quality research to guide the critical choices they make regarding school finance." =

== = Based on his compilation of empirical evidence, Baker draws the following conclusions: =
 * = In direct tests of the relationship between financial resources and student outcomes, money matters. =


 * = Schooling resources which cost money, including reducing class sizes and increasing teacher salaries, are positively associated with student outcomes. =


 * = Sustained improvements to the level and distribution of funding across local public school districts can lead to improvements in the level and distribution of student outcomes. =

== =In the Shanker policy brief, however, Baker notes that the "primary source of doubt" with regards to a positive funding-to-performance correlation is a 1986 finding by Stanford University economist Eric Hanushek that "There appears to be no strong or systematic relationship between school expenditures and student performance." Data-driven reformers have also regularly pointed to figures that show educational expenditures ballooning while student test scores have plateaued.=

= But Baker argues that the evidence on which those are based are flawed. The National Assessment of Education Progress, he says, ignores through standardized testing the fact that achievement gaps have narrowed, while the "true effect" of funding on educational outcomes is hard to isolate. =

="Using the simple juxtaposition of two trends -- spending and average test scores -- to draw causal inferences about how one affects the other is irresponsible and not at all compelling," Baker writes. "No rigorous empirical study of which I am aware validates that increased funding for schools in general, or targeted to specific populations, has led to any substantive, measured reduction in student outcomes or other 'harm.' Arguably, if this were the case, it would open new doors to school finance litigation against states which choose to increase funding to schools."=

=Baker acknowledges that while money alone may not be the answer, more equitable and adequate allocation of school funding at least provides a needed foundation to help boost student performance.=

="Clearly, money can be spent poorly and have limited influence on school quality. Or, money can be spent well and have substantive positive influence. But money that's not there can't do either," Baker writes. "The available evidence leaves little doubt: Sufficient financial resources are a necessary underlying condition for providing quality education." =

=Money Matters, Affects Student Performance, Outcomes=

= U.S. TEACHERS WORK LONGEST HOURS = =

= =One of the more frustrating things for teachers is to know how hard they work, but have to listen to how much time they supposedly get off.=

=However, a study from the [|Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] finds that American teachers work the longest of any major development countries.=

=The organization's study of 27 member nations found that 1,097 average hours of instruction provided by U.S. teachers was the highest. The figure goes to 1,913 hours in a year when the time teachers spend on work at home and outside the classroom is taken into account. The study is based on data from 2008, the latest year available.=

=Following American teachers in hours spent per work on instruction were: New Zealand, 985; France, 926; Spain, 880; South Korea, 840; Israel, 755; Russia, 738; Japan, 709; England, 654; Greece, 593; and Poland, 513.=

= Gov. Corbett's 2012-13 State Budget Plan is Expected Feb. 7. Will it be More of the Same Slash and Burn? =

=Last year, Gov. Corbett and the GOP legislature cut $900 million from education. This year the saber rattling has already begun.=

= Sources close to the governor said the administration is planning for reductions of $156.6 million. =

=Through December, the state reports that revenues are running $468 million under projections thus far on a $27.16 billion budget.=

=House and Senate Democrats contend the shortfall is a creation of the administration’s own monthly projections, which they say set higher-than-normal income targets for the first half of the fiscal year. In raw dollars, the Democrats have noted, revenues are running 1.5 percent ahead of last year.=

= The state House and Senate share a cash reserve in excess of $188 million. =

= However, the Governor has already asked for a spending freeze in THIS fiscal year. [| On Jan. 4, Corbett called for an immediate freeze]on $222.4 million in state spending as a result of revenues that continue to run short of the administration’s official estimates for the 2011-12 fiscal year.=

=Those agencies asked to freeze spending include higher education but not K-12. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, was asked to save $21.1 million, and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, face a freeze request of $20.6 million.=

= The two higher-education entities make up a little less than two-thirds of the total request from independent entities. =

=Nearly a decade of unprecedented education progress is now at risk due to mean-spirited, ill-conceived education priorities that have eliminated critical support for local schools. An estimated 15,000 teaching jobs have been lost just since June. The Chester Upland School District is now bankrupt with teachers working without pay since the beginning of January. Another dozen school districts will soon likely face a similar fate. Only one year ago, we were a national model for education success. =

media type="youtube" key="ILy7SWdfK5s" height="480" width="640"

=Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have been able to identify nearly $1 billion in new revenues from smart policy changes, efficiencies and a responsible shale tax. We can make these necessary improvements that will boost our economy without increasing the burden on working families. =

=Will the Governor continue to chop away at our kids futures? Will the GOP controlled legislature continue to back him up? And, most importantly, will voters hold them responsible come election day? =

=[|Testimony of the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) Given at a Public Hearing Regarding Fiscally Distressed School Districts in Pennsylvania Presented to the Senate Education Committee January 24, 2012 By Michael J. Crossey PSEA President]=

=Not concerned about budget cuts to public education? Then you are NOT paying attention=



= ONLINE SCHOOLS DON'T EDUCATE WELL BUT MAKE PROFITS =

= The New York Times published an article about The Agora Cyber School showcasing how it is failing students but making profits. This school is being utilized by Pennsylvania families as an alternative to pubic education. For instance, West Mifflin School District paid them ** $74,310 ** in the 2009-2010 school year to educate students, according to Superintendent Dr. Daniel Castagna. However, Agora's 11th grade Math PSSA scores were below 27% Proficient and Agora's PVAAS scores were MINUS 88% growth. This is well below the education students would have received in almost any public school. =

= HOW ARE WE LOSING STUDENTS TO THESE ONLINE SCHOOLS? =

=From the New York Times article:=

=“These folks are fundamentally trying to do to public education what the banks did with home mortgages.” =

=“In Pennsylvania, about 30,000 students are enrolled in online schools at an average cost of about $10,000 per student. The state auditor general, Jack Wagner, said that is double or more what it costs the companies to educate those children online. “ =

=“It’s extremely unfair for the taxpayer to be paying for additional expenses, such as advertising,” Mr. Wagner said. Much of the public money also goes toward lobbying state officials, an activity that Ronald J. Packard, chief executive of K12, has called a “core competency” of the company. =

=[|Online Schools Score Better on Wallstreet Than in Classrooms]=

= TEACH GOES TO WASHINGTON FOR UNEMPLOYMENT EXTENTION = =

= = TEACH member and furloughed Steel Valley teacher Jill Fleming-Salopek went to Washington, D.C., on Thursday, 11/30/11, to advocate for the recently introduced Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act. The bill is awaiting action in Congress. Like previous emergency extensions, the bill would allow laid-off workers to collect up to 99 weeks of benefits, rather than the usual 26 weeks provided under most state programs. Considering the 14,000 education jobs slashed from Pennsylvania districts this year because of the state legislature's ridiculously one-sided budget, there are a lot of people out there who need an extension on unemployment benefits.=

= "Unemployment compensation right now is our essential lifeline," said Fleming-Salopek, a laid-off teacher from Munhall, Pa., who spoke at the press event. "My husband, who is also a teacher, is working, and the unemployment benefits are a critical supplement to that income for our family because we not only have our three kids but my mother, who is quadriplegic and suffers from MS, lives with us as well. If Congress does not reauthorize the federal unemployment extensions before December 31st, at that point I would have only 13 more weeks of benefit eligibility – and then no federal unemployment benefits at all." =

=The extension bill has drawn support from Democrats, including U.S. Reps. Sander Levin of Michigan, Lloyd Doggett of Texas, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, and James Clyburn of South Carolina, along with Sens. Tom Harkin of Iowa, and Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.=

=[|Millions Counting on Congress to Extend Unemployment Benefits]= =[|Unemployed Workers Deliver 75,000 Petitions to Capitol Hill, Demand Action on Jobs]=



= NEWT GINGRICH SHOULD APOLOGIZE FOR TARGETING KIDS! =

=

=

= Newt Gingrich had the cruel audacity to recently suggest that we fire school janitors and put our nation's poorest children to work scrubbing schools. He called the labor laws protecting children "stupid" and suggested that children of poverty lack a strong work ethic. =

= Mr. Gingrich can pick on teachers all he wants - they're adults and can take it. But he's taken to singling out our most vulnerable students, and we've had enough. =

= **Let's demand that Newt Gingrich apologize** =

= There's no spinning or explaining away Newt Gingrich's hurtful remarks. Nothing less than a full apology will suffice. =

= That's why we're asking educators nationwide to sign our petition demanding Newt Gingrich apologize for his offensive remarks aimed at our poorest students. =

= By signing this petition, you'll send a clear message that it's unacceptable to score cheap political points by targeting our nation's low-income students. This is your chance to fight back against Newt Gingrich's elitist ideology and to be a strong voice for kids. = = Let's make sure Newt Gingrich hears us loud and clear! =

= Karen M. White =

= Political Director, National Education Association =

= **Newt Gingrich is targeting kids - that's where we draw the line** = = =

= P.S. Just sign the petition demanding Newt Gingrich apologize, and we'll also show you how you can play a role in keeping Newt Gingrich and his divisive politics out of the White House! =

=[|More from the NEA] =

= CATHOLIC DIOCESE WON'T TIE TUITION TO LOBBYING FOR SB1 - BUT IT SURE HELPS! = =Private school advocates have found a new way to lobby for vouchers. “Principals in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh were told last month that parents who received tuition assistance had to lobby state legislators to pass a school voucher bill -- and document it -- or lose their funding,” the [|Post-Gazette] reported yesterday. Assistant superintendent Ronald T. Bowes’ email said “we must be relentless in our efforts to help pass school choice this year. I am asking you to inform parents that have received tuition assistance that they must contact their legislators and return the contact form attached to you in order to receive a grant next year.” The Diocese, while still supporting Gov. Corbett’s voucher bill, now says it will not tie financial aide to lobbying for SB 1. However, if parents “wish to voluntarily inform [the Diocese] that such contacts have been made, it would help.” We’re sure it would.=

=Diocese Says Private School Tuition Not Contingent on Lobbying of Legislators - But It Sure Helps=

= PAY RAISE FOR LEGISLATORS - = = PAY FREEZE FOR TEACHERS =

= On Thursday, 12/1/11, Pennsylvania's state legislature will get a 3% raise that no one thinks it deserves. “After big-time state budget-slashing last spring, including funding for public education, many area teachers, administrators and other school workers approved wage freezes or even cuts. For our lawmakers to accept a 3 percent cost-of-living boost – or any benefit for that matter – without so much as a vote is appalling,” the [|Tribune-Democrat]writes. “There is nothing holding a pay freeze back but gumption. Republicans now control the state House and Senate. They have been adamant about rooting out waste. It’s time to focus that ardent belt-tightening on their own house,” the [|Patriot-News] adds. Rather than stop the automatic raises, many will announce they are donating theirs. But there’s something they leave out. “Gov. Corbett says that he may donate his salary hike to charity because people can't ‘opt out’ of pay hikes. (That should be fixed.) This is the ‘false halo’ effect. Since pensions are based on income, the employee gets to make a noble gesture and get financially rewarded in the end anyway,” the [|Daily News] points out. No wonder the law isn’t getting changed.=

= GOV. CORBETT'S APPROVAL RATINGS PLUMMET - AGAIN! =

=Gov. Corbett’s agenda, and his seeming apathy towards getting anything done, isn’t agreeing with Pennsylvanians. According to a poll released yesterday, “If voters could do the 2010 election for Governor over again their support would split evenly with 45% each for Corbett and Democratic opponent Dan Onorato.” In 2010 Corbett won by 9% of the vote. “The numbers still show a decent amount of buyer's remorse among PA voters for having elected Corbett.” And yet, those numbers are still better than his approval rating. “His approval numbers are still under water—37% of voters approve of him to 43% who disapprove.” The Governor may think he’s doing everything right, but the people of Pennsylvania are beginning to think that they have made a terrible mistake.=

= **EVEN THE TEA PARTY DOESN'T WANT SCHOOL VOUCHERS!** =

= We already knew Gov. Corbett’s far-right wing agenda—especially his expensive private school voucher plan—was unpopular with Pennsylvanians, but we didn’t expect the Tea Party to back us up. According a new poll “commissioned by UNITEPA in cooperation with Independence Hall Tea Party Association” (it’s found right under a flier for a Glenn Beck lecture), 45% of Pennsylvanians—including half of Republicans!—oppose “tax-payer funded vouchers…to attend a private school.” 42% of both Democrats and Republicans would be less likely to vote for their representative if they voted for the voucher plan, as opposed to 26% and 30%, respectively, who would be more likely to vote for them. Even the Tea Party is pointing out that no one wants the Guv’s agenda. If he’s lost the Tea Party, he’s lost far-right Pennsylvania. =

= For more on how vouchers were ineffective in Milwaukee, click here: = = ** WHY DIDN'T CORBETT ARREST ALLEGED PSU PEDOPHILE? ** =



= Like many people are doing across the state and nation, the lead front page story in today's //Inquirer // asks why the Guv didn't do more to stop Jerry Sandusky. For his part, Corbett doesn't think there was more to do. “Gov. Corbett said Wednesday the three-year investigation that led to child-rape charges against former football coach Jerry Sandusky moved ‘as quickly as it possibly could’ and dismissed as misinformed any suggestion that law enforcement officials may have left a potential predator unchecked.” Under Corbett, the AG's office had just one trooper assigned to the case--and then didn't know where Sandusky was when they went to arrest him. “Could anybody guarantee that he wasn’t out there touching children? There are no guarantees, unless he was sitting in jail,” Corbett said. Yeah, that's the point. =

= Questions are swirling around the Guv’s involvement with the PSU investigation. Why, as attorney general, did he bring no charges against Jerry Sandusky and have just one state trooper on the case. Why as Governor did he “personally approve a $3 million state grant to The Second Mile Foundation, which prosecutors contend provided sexual assault victims for its founder”? Now we have an answer. A million reasons, actually. “Two dozen current and former board members at The Second Mile gave money to Gov. Tom Corbett’s 2010 campaign,” Deadspin reports. “Past and present board members of Sandusky’s charity and their businesses or families gave $641,481.21” to his campaign. So he had motivation not to embarrass the charity, but they weren’t the only player in his pocket. Last year drilling billionaire Terrence Pegula and his wife gave Penn State a record $88 million dollars. For the athletic department. The //Daily News// reported “Marcellus Shale driller Terry Pegula and his wife Kim, gave $305,000 to [Corbett’s] campaign,” his top donors. The Guv has long put the interests of his donors over those of Pennsylvanians, but this time he went too far, and put our children in harm’s way. =

= While the Penn State abuse crisis now dominates local news and politics, during the years he knew about it, things were business as usual for Tom Corbett. The AP notes today that “only one trooper was assigned to the case after the state took it over in 2009. It wasn’t until Corbett became governor early this year that his former investigations supervisor in the attorney general’s office, Frank Noonan, became state police commissioner and put seven more investigators on it.” If he thought this case was important, why put only one man on it? “Gov. Tom Corbett this summer approved a $3 million state grant to The Second Mile, the charity founded by suspected child molester Jerry Sandusky, despite knowing about the sex abuse investigation that later resulted in charges against Mr. Sandusky,” the //Post-Gazette// adds. “The grant is now on hold, said Mr. Corbett's spokesman, Eric Shirk.” So he was fine with it, even after the //Patriot-News// reported on the investigation and the grant back in March, until the public began to question his inaction. "If the grand jury had acted sooner, prodded by prosecutors, even prodded by a former attorney general who became governor (and therefore a Penn State trustee), an accused predator would have been identified sooner and, potentially, further abuse averted," writes the //Daily News//’ John Baer. There’s a lot the Guv could have done in this case. He just didn’t. =

= Gov. Corbett may have prosecuted many people as Attorney General, but yesterday he went on the defensive about not prosecuting one. “Gov. Tom Corbett [yesterday] defended the amount of time it took for the attorney general's office to bring charges against accused child molester and former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky,” the //Post-Gazette// reported. “In 2009 and 2010, then-state Attorney General Tom Corbett clearly had a lot of things on his plate - including,” the //Daily News// added, “his own time-consuming and successful campaign for governor. Now, questions are emerging over how quickly Corbett's office jumped during those years on” the Penn State abuse crisis. The //Standard-Speaker//notes the Guv has been “close-mouthed when asked what he did as the previous state attorney general to protect public safety” during the multi-year investigation. In a radio interview, he claimed that they needed time to find evidence, despite having the allegation since 2008. “Asked if he was concerned that Mr. Sandusky might have victimized more children during the investigation, the governor said ‘we have no knowledge one way or another so of course you worry about that.’” Nearly three years to gather evidence and you have “no knowledge” if his alleged abuse continued? What exactly were you doing all that time? =

= Gov. Corbett made the rounds on the Sunday shows to address the horrible events at Penn State. But he didn’t address everything. “The investigation into former PSU football coach Jerry Sandusky began when Mr. Corbett was attorney general, more than two years ago. Although the charges against Mr. Sandusky were recommended by a grand jury that took testimony early this year, after Mr. Corbett became governor, the investigation was conducted by investigators for the attorney general's office,” the //Times-Tribune// wrote yesterday. “The governor was right when he declared Thursday that ‘when it comes to the safety of children...there can be no hesitancy to act.’ That raises the question, in turn, of why it took nearly three years to bring charges against Mr. Sandusky.” According to the //Patriot-News//, Victim One's mother said, “We expected you just arrest people who do stuff like that...We didn’t realize it was going to be this difficult and take this long.” If Corbett had a reason for waiting, and letting this alleged monster roam free, he needs to let us know. He owes that to Pennsylvanians. =

= SO LONG! DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU ON THE WAY OUT! =

= After spearheading a far-right-wing agenda against the will—and to the detriment—of his constituents, it looked like it would take a comical gerrymandering of the 15th District to keep Sen. Piccola in office. Now it looks like even that wasn’t enough. =

= “ State Sen. Jeffrey Piccola, one of the Capitol's most vocal advocates for taxpayer-funded school vouchers and architect of a bill to let the state take over the City of Harrisburg's finances, says he will not seek reelection next year ,” the //Inquirer// reports today. After it became clear that he could not win reelection in his Harrisburg based district, the PA GOP re-cut his district in a “C” shape, surrounding and excluding the city. =

= However, like so many others, he became disappointed with the Guv's lack of leadership. “ He expected things to move once we had a Republican governor and a big Republican House majority and instead, they have moved slowly or not at all ,” Capitolwire adds. Unable to ram their agenda through, he’s decided to ride off into the sunset. The far-right side of it, anyway. =

=Piccola retiring at the end of term=

= REAL EDUCATION REFORM: PA. CYBER CHANGES PROPOSED =

=While Gov. Tom Corbett and the Republicans are ramming through unproven school voucher legislation that Pennsylvanians don't want, State Rep. Mike Fleck (D-Huntingdon) is seeking co-sponsors for a bill to enact real education reform. Fleck proposes the state hold the state's cyber charter schools to the same standards it does public schools.=

=Pennsylvania currently has more than 50,000 students enrolled in cyber charter schools, while the regulation and guidance of these schools has gone unaddressed. Funding is based on the state share provided to the resident district of enrolled students; this amount is a supplement to the local share within a district and has no correlation to the actual cost of educating a student at a cyber charter school. Among other things, Fleck's proposed bill hopes to address this disparity.=

=The bill proposes to:=


 * =Apply Sunshine and Right to Know laws to cyber charter schools.=


 * =Prohibit cyber charter schools from using state education funding for lobbying, paid media or bonuses.=


 * =Suspend cyber charter schools that fail to meet AYP for 5 or more consecutive years.=


 * =Require cyber charter schools to address truancy of students and set minimum online hours of instruction.=


 * =Establish annual audits=


 * =Apply federal IDEA and No Child Left Behind to cyber charter schools.=

=Click here for a pdf from Rep. Fleck with more information.= =[|More Information]= =[|How Online Learning Companies Bought America's Schools]=

= NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND REAUTHORIZATION OUT OF COMMITTEE, MAY BE PASSED BY CHRISTMAS! =

=A long-stalled, bipartisan rewrite of the widely-disparaged No Child Left Behind Act was approved by the Senate education committee on Thursday, and supporters hope to bring the measure to the Senate floor for a vote by Christmas. If accomplished, this would put the kibosh on the administration’s plan to offer states waivers from key parts of the current NCLB law.=

=However, the bill faces steep political hurdles, with opposition expected from civil rights and business leaders who see it as a step back on student accountability and Republican lawmakers likely to say it doesn’t pull back enough on the federal role in K-12 education.=

=The new bill would keep the NCLB law’s regime of testing students in grades 3 through 8 and once in high school. And it would retain the law’s focus on breaking out achievement data for various subgroups of students, including racial minorities, students with disabilities, and English-language learners.= =But the version approved by the committee also would drastically scale back the accountability system at the heart of the NCLB law. Among other changes, the panel's bill would:=

=• Scrap the law’s signature yardstick, known as Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP.=

=• Put a halt to federally-directed interventions for all but the lowest performing schools and schools with persistent achievement gaps between low-income.=

=• Lay out a series of federal interventions for turning around the lowest-performing schools based in part on the administrations regulations for the School Improvement Grant program.=

=• Call on states to craft college-and-career standards, but not require them to join the Common Core State Initiative, which nearly all states already have done; and=

=• Streamline the Department of Education by consolidating 82 programs into about 40 broader baskets of funding.=

= A draft version of the measure would have called for states to craft teacher evaluations that took into account student achievement. But that provision was scrapped at the behest of committee Republicans, who said it would amount to a federal mandate of what should be a state and local issue. = = The GOP priorities jibed with those of the National Education Association, a 3.2 million member union, which also saw the provision as a federal intrusion. =

=The NEA also saw eye-to-eye with the GOP on another change to the bill, which passed with bipartisan support during committee consideration. That provision would permit states to submit their own ideas to the U.S. secretary of education for turning around the lowest-performing schools. = = Sen. Lamar Alexander said his amendment would give states the flexibility to develop turnaround options that might work better than those spelled out in the bill.=

=NCLB bill clears Senate committee= ==

= $35 BILLION TO HELP CASH- = = STRAPPED STATES KEEP OR REHIRE TEACHERS, POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS KILLED BY GOP =

=Despite a campaign-style push this week by President Barack Obama, the Senate on Thursday scuttled pared-back jobs legislation aimed at helping state and local governments avoid layoffs of teachers and firefighters.=

=Senate Republicans filibustered Obama's latest jobs measure to death just as they killed his broader $447 billion jobs plan last week.=

=The 50-50 vote came in relation to a motion to simply take up the bill and fell well short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster. Democrats Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut broke with Obama on the vote.=

=Thursday's $35 billion measure combined $30 billion for state and local governments to hire teachers and other school workers with $5 billion to help pay the salaries of police officers, firefighters and other first responders. The White House says the measure would "support" almost 400,000 education jobs for one year.=

="In the coming school year, many school districts will have to make another round of difficult decisions that will cost jobs and put the education of the nation's children at risk," a White House policy statement said.=

="Protecting millionaires and defeating President Obama are more important to my Republican colleagues than creating jobs and getting our economy back on track," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said.=

= NOTE: Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) voted in favor of passing the bill. Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) voted against it. =

=Senate rejects consideration of funds for teaching jobs=

= YORK COUNTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS BLAST CORBETT'S VOUCHER, CHARTER PLANS =

= Editor's note: This letter from the association York County school superintendents was sent to Gov. Tom Corbett and local state legislators. =

=Dear Gov. Corbett:=

=As superintendents we are committed to quality education for all children in Pennsylvania not just those in our region. By focusing on tuition vouchers and the expansion of charter schools without appropriate reform and accountability, we believe your education reform plan raises many more questions than answers and may have negative short and long term effects on K-12 education in Pennsylvania.=

=Specifically, our first concern is with regard to nonpublic schools. It should be noted nonpublic schools are not accountable in the same manner as public schools. They do not necessarily hold students to the same rigorous academic standards and graduation requirements as public schools, and they are not required to assess their students using any state measures of student achievement. Costs for the various voucher proposals have been estimated at more than $1 billion at a time when public school education has been cut by more than $930 million. A report released in July 2011 by the National Center for Education Policy examined a decade's worth of research on school vouchers and concludes that vouchers have no clear positive effect on student academic achievement and showed mixed outcomes for students overall.=

=The second area of concern is charter schools. While there are some examples of effective charter schools, such examples are not representative of charters as a whole. National research clearly indicates that students in many charter schools have significantly lower learning gains even in Pennsylvania. A report released by the Center for Research on Educational Outcomes (CREDO) at Stanford University in April 2011 showed that students in Pennsylvania charter schools on average make smaller learning gains compared to the educational gains of those students in public schools. A 2009 Pennsylvania School Boards Association study found similar results. A look at the 2011 PSSA scores of Pennsylvania's charter schools further affirms this trend. Based on the Department of Education's numbers, just 56 percent of charter schools reached targets for AYP.=

=The overall lack of accountability for charter schools under the current system places the burden on the local community and taxpayers who must foot the bill for the charter schools whether or not the charter school is providing a quality education. We believe that at the very least, charter schools must first be made to adhere to appropriate funding and governance standards by establishing and maintaining financial and academic accountability. Your proposal with a central authorizer or multiple authorizers will have no direct connection or responsibility to the local community and taxpayers who pay the bills.=

=The Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA) recently released ideas for school reform that offered 11 suggestions for improving student achievement and strengthening schools including but not limited to improvements to the teacher evaluation system and providing schools with the tools for success. We also believe quality teachers are an important ingredient for the success of students and welcome the opportunity to have appropriate funding and tools for success.=

=In closing, nearly 90 percent of Pennsylvania's school children attend public schools. This is a significant majority of our children and any education reform will have a profound impact on the future of these children, the commonwealth and the nation. We welcome the opportunity for dialog with your office regarding the strengthening rather than the weakening of public school education in Pennsylvania.=

=Scott A. Deisley, Red Lion Area School District superintendent= =Emilie M. Lonardi, West York Area School District superintendent= =Barbara A. Rupp, South Western School District superintendent= =Thomas R. Hensley, Southern York School District superintendent= =Alan Moyer, Hanover Public School District superintendent= =Michael S. Snell, Central York School District superintendent= =Rona Kaufmann, South Eastern School District superintendent= =Jody Nace, Northeastern School District superintendent= =Michael D. Thew, Lincoln Intermediate Unit No. 12 executive director= =Robert Krantz, Dover Area School District superintendent= =Kathryn L. Orban, York Suburban School District superintendent= =Stewart Weinberg, Dallastown Area School District superintendent= =Robert Lombardo, Spring Grove Area School District superintendent= =Darla Pianowski, Eastern York School District superintendent= =Deborah L. Wortham, School District of the City of York superintendent=

=Superintendents criticize Corbett's reform plan=

= T.E.A.C.H. MEMBERS PROTEST WITH OCCUPY PITTSBURGH =





=Members of the Occupy Pittsburgh protest group demanded on Wednesday, 10/19/11, that Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly investigate whether the commonwealth has a stake in claims that Bank of New York Mellon overcharged pension funds by $2 billion.= =Camped for a fifth day on Mellon Green, a small park the bank owns Downtown, protestes picketed the bank's regional headquarters on Grant Street today before marching to Ms. Kelly's office on Forbes Avenue to push for the inquiry.= =Kelly's staff allowed a representative from among the protestors inside.= = The protestors sent Jill Fleming-Salopek, 39, of Munhall, a laid-off 16-year veteran teacher in the Steel Valley School District. = = "The attorney general needs to investigate these accusations and answer to the people, not the corporations," Mrs. Fleming-Salopek said. "Mellon has been skimming off the top and it's another reason our pensions are in trouble." = =New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman filed suit against BNY Mellon accusing the bank of overcharging pension funds, who thought the bank was making low-cost foreign currency trades for them, by nearly $2 billion. The bank faces litigation in California, Virginia, Florida and Massachusetts over similar issues.= = Mrs. Fleming-Salopek said she was the chair of the school's English department, a mother of three and was living the American dream when she fell victim to budget cuts and was laid off in June 2010. = = "I've worked my whole life. I've never been on unemployment," she said. "I didn't even know how to apply for it and now I'm depending on it." =

= Concerns were raised that BNY Mellon was ripping off PSERS pension funds including the Steel Valley custodians. =

= A PSERS spokesman said that the custodian contract is actually between the State Treasurer and BNY Mellon. This is the contract under which BNY Mellon serves as the custodian for PSERS investment holdings. The Treasury is aware of the issues and looking into them. Treasury will need to get a proper accounting on the foreign currency trades, and it will be up to Treasury to take legal action if it finds that BNY Mellow has overcharged. =

= So any information will have to come from Treasury. The information will probably be shared with PSERS after Treasury had completed their investigation. =

=Occupy Pittsburgh demands Pa. check claims on BNY Mellon = =Occupy Pittsburgh Protests BNY Mellon=

=[|MORE]=



= TRIPLE WAMMY BODY BLOWS TO EDUCATION =

=Mark your calendars. Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2011, was a horrible day for public education. A trifecta of negative news hit the stands all at once:=

= 1) Remember Obama's $447 billion jobs bill that included $60 billion in new education spending? Remember the bill that was promised to save as many as 280,000 education jobs? Well Senate Republicans just killed it. Despite concerns that the administration's estimates of its effects may have been inflated, it would certainly have helped stop the bleeding for states' education budgets that have already been slashed by Republican legislators. R.I.P., Hope.=

=Obama Jobs Plan Voted Down By Senate=

= 2) In Pennsylvania, Governor Corbett released his new education initiatives - support for charter and parochial schools and more cuts for the public sector. The governor claims children from poor areas will benefit by being able to go to charters and parochial schools instead of public school. This despite the fact that no evidence supports these claims. In fact, there are a slew of studies that show just the opposite - namely that public schools usually outperform charter and parochial schools. So why this proposal? Follow the money. The state GOP and governor Corbett, in particular, are racking in campaign cash from charter and parochial lobbyists.=

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

= 3) A new Senate NCLB reauthorization proposal has finally been made. While not as bad as Obama's waiver scheme, it does little to fix the debilitating problems with the existing legislation. It still tests students into the ground and uses a completely unjustified corporate model to organize our childrens' education. Kids are not widgets. They're not test scores. This reauthorization takes none of that into account. It's just more of the same. R.I.P., change.=

=No Child Left Behind Overhaul Plan Released=

= MOST STATES AT LOWER K-12 EDUCATION SPENDING LEVELS THAN PRE-RECESSION AND PLAN TO MAKE MORE CUTS THIS YEAR =

=Most states have cut state funding for schools this year, and a majority of states are funding K-12 education at levels lower than before the recession, after adjusting for inflation.=

=A survey published Thursday by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities examined 46 states -- where 95 percent of the country's elementary and secondary students reside.=

=Of the states studied, 37 have trimmed K-12 educational funding since last year, after adjusting for inflation At least 30 states are funding schools at levels lower than they were in 2008.=

= Since nearly half of all education spending is state-funded, according to the report, state cutbacks force districts to raise revenue on their own -- which is difficult -- or trim resources like educational services and lay off teachers -- thus threatening educational reform efforts. The cuts have also hurt economic recovery, as 194,000 school jobs nationwide were lost between August 2010 and August 2011 -- more than three times the cuts in the year before. =

== =The loss of educational funding across the country results from various factors, including depressed revenues, difficulty in raising new funds, rising costs and depleting emergency federal aid, according to the report.=

=Still, a few states have increased educational funding for various reasons. Some states like Maryland, Massachusetts and Iowa have prioritized and focused on sustaining or improving education funds amid tighter finances. Alaska, Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming have faced fewer budget cuts and can draw on large oil and gas revenues. =

=While states balance their budgets, they also face the added burden of less federal support as $100 billion in federal stimulus money for education dries up.=

=Michigan saw the 8th largest cuts in educational funding dollars this year compared to last, according to the report. For Detroit Public Schools alone, the district has been looking for every way to close a $327 million deficit. Measures include major cuts to teacher pay and workforce.=

=Earlier this year, Texas cut public education funding by $5 billion amid a $15 revenue shortfall statewide. Texas' cuts place it right next to Michigan, ranking 7th in the dollar amount reduced since last year and 3rd for percent change in spending per student since last year. Analysts predict that the cuts will cost Texas 49,000 education jobs over the next two years.=

=Wisconsin in June adopted a budget that drops $800 million from state education funding. The state had the 2nd largest cuts in dollar amounts for per-student spending since last year.=

=The CBPP report's authors Phil Oliff and Michael Leachman suggest that states consider other measures to raise revenue and calls on the federal government to increase educational support like that of the American Jobs Act that aim to hire and retain teachers.=

==

=K-12 Education Funding - Most States At Levels Lower Than Pre-Recession, Cut Spending This Year=

= OH NO SHE DIDN'T! ELIZABETH WARREN JUST TOLD IT LIKE IT IS! = =Every now and then, someone comes along and says something that makes everything clear. **Elizabeth Warren, candidate for Senate in Massachusetts, just did that, and the world is taking notice**.= =Since we posted her quote on Facebook, it's been **shared over 140,000 times**—because it's hitting folks across America just like it hit us. As Tea Party politicians make disingenuous excuses from the right-wing about why the super-rich can't pay their fair share, Elizabeth Warren sets the record straight.=

=Elizabeth Warren has been a tireless advocate for consumer rights, holding big banks accountable and creating the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She's one of the great progressive voices on fixing the economy.=

=Now she's taking on corporate-backed Sen. Scott Brown and his $10 million war chest. She has only been in the race for two weeks, but **she is already out to a narrow lead over Brown in the most recent poll.**=

= **Click here to donate to her campaign.**=

= WHY DO TEACHERS NEED TENURE? BECAUSE ALL IT TAKES IS ONE! =

= Why do teachers need tenure? Because all it takes is ONE. Just ONE can ruin a career, ruin a family, and ruin a life. =

= //All it takes is **ONE** student, ONE parent, ONE teacher, or just ONE person with a bone to pick to create any type of accusation that will in an instant destroy a teacher's career.// =

= //All it takes is **ONE** person in administration with an agenda, or who just does not like the teacher to destroy a teacher's career.// =

= //All it takes is **ONE** investigator, be that an internal investigator, or from law enforcement, to not take a story with that proverbial grain of salt, or one who lacks the higher order thinking skills to see through the inanity of an accusation to destroy a teacher's career.// =

= //All it takes just **ONE** lawyer to bring a teacher up on 3020-a charges (in New York State) that wishes to make a name for themselves and feels that in order to make up for some severe Freudian shortcomings, must levy all his or her wrath on a teacher.// =

= //All it takes is **ONE** incompetent defense attorney paid for by the union, that is overworked, underpaid, and under qualified to destroy a teacher's career.// =

= //All it takes is **ONE** administrative law judge that is paid an exorbitant salary, along with perks such as per diem allowances for food and hotels that doesn't want to bit the hand that feeds it so said judge can strike a false Solomanic bargain, or worse, find a teacher guilty.// =

= //All it takes is **ONE** leaker to a local tabloid newspaper that puts that teacher on its front page to brand that teacher as inhuman, or worse, to destroy that teacher's career.// =

= //All it takes is **ONE** mayor that has some type of Napoleonic complex to destroy a teacher's career.// =

= So what can be done to combat this abuse? =

= //All it takes is **ONE** teacher, somewhere, and anywhere to stand up, plant their feet firmly, and refuse to be thrown under the bus.// =

= //All it takes is **ONE** parent to stick up not only for their children's education, but to support teachers.// =

= //All it takes is **ONE** teacher to join forces with parents to stop the abuse of the educational system in New York City and the rest of the country by politicians and know-nothings.// =

= //All it takes is **ONE** parent to start a groundswell and say, "I will not allow my child to be mentally abused anymore by taking high stake wasteful exams anymore!"// =

= All it takes is **ONE.** Whoever is reading this can be that ONE to turn the tide. =

=Why do Teachers Need Tenure? Because All It Takes Is ONE=

= MOVING BEYOND "BLAME THE TEACHER" = =Most of the current efforts to improve public education begin with the flawed assumption that the basic problem is teacher performance. This "blame the teacher" attitude has led to an emphasis on standardized tests, narrow teacher evaluation criteria, merit pay, erosion of tenure, privatization, vouchers and charter schools. The primary goal of these measures has been greater teacher accountability — as if the weaknesses of public education were due to an invasion of our classrooms by uncaring and incompetent teachers. That is the premise of the [|documentary], "Waiting for [|Superman]," and of the attacks on teachers and their unions by politicians across the country.=

=We see distressing parallels between this approach to quality in education and the approaches that failed so badly in U.S. manufacturing. Recall the reaction of domestic manufacturers in the 1970s as Japanese competitors began to take market share: Many managers and an army of experts blamed American workers. They denounced workers' "blue-collar blues," lackadaisical attitudes and union job protections as the chief impediments to higher quality, productivity and competitiveness.=

=It took nearly two decades for manufacturers to realize that this diagnosis was deeply flawed and that the recommendations that flowed from it were leading U.S. industry further into decline. Much of the current wave of school reform is informed by the same management myths. Instead of seeing teachers as key contributors to system improvement efforts, reformers are focused on making teachers more replaceable. Instead of involving teachers and their unions in collaborative reform, they are being pushed aside as impediments to top-down decision-making. Instead of bringing teachers together to help each other become more effective professionals, district administrators are resorting to simplistic quantified individual performance measures. In reality, schools are collaborative, not individual, enterprises, so teaching quality and school performance depend above all on whether the institutional systems support teachers' efforts.=

=There are, thankfully, some examples of education reform that have moved beyond the blame-the-teacher view. A 2010 study by researchers at [|Rutgers University] unpacked the lessons of six cases — from across the country, urban and rural, large and small — in which teachers, unions and administrators have worked together in their school districts to improve student performance.=

=These cases and many others like them were highlighted in February at the [|U.S. Department of Education]'s conference on "Advancing Student Achievement Through Labor-Management Collaboration," and in October at the "National Conference on Collaborative School Reform," organized by the [|American Federation of Teachers] working with Rutgers University, [|Cornell University] and [|MIT]. These districts offer proven models consistent with the best practices of U.S. industry.=

=As school begins, we would do well to remember that in education as in industry, progress toward quality will require collaboration among administrators, teachers and their unions.=

=Moving beyond 'blame the teacher'=

= ANOTHER STUDY FINDS SCHOOLS WITH HIGH POVERTY NEGATIVELY IMPACT STUDENT PERFORMANCE. WILL LEGISLATORS BE ABLE TO CONNECT THE DOTS? =

= You'd think it would be an easy inference to make. Almost every so-called "failing school" in the country is from a high poverty area. Yet legislators just can't see how poverty is a factor. It's all the teachers faults. =

= Lucky for politicians yet another study connects the dots for them. =

= The performance of New York City students on state tests is not just impacted by their poverty level – but remarkably, by the poverty level of their schools as well, according to a wide-ranging analysis of city schools data. =

= The report by the Independent Budget Office found that students in grades 3 to 8 from low-income families scored 16 percentage points higher on reading tests in 2010 if they attended a low-poverty school rather than a high-poverty school. =

= The difference for students from high-income families who attended a low-poverty school rather than a high-poverty school was even greater – of 31 percentage points. = = In fact, the effects of a school’s poverty level were so great that poor students in a low-poverty school scored 4 percentage points higher on reading tests last year than did students from high-income families attending high-poverty schools. =

= Similar links were seen between poverty and math test performance. =

=FULL CITY SCHOOLS DATA REPORT= =Schools with high poverty level negatively impacts student performance=

= IN PENNSYLVANIA IT'S THE KIDS WHO LOSE MOST FROM EDUCATION BUDGET CUTS =

=

= = When Gov. Corbett and Pennsylvania GOP voted to slash K-12 education by more than $900 million, they were warned of the cost to the state's children in terms of program cuts and loss of school services. Now the results are coming in. =

= According to an August survey by the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials : =


 * = 44 percent of districts eliminated electives =


 * = 35 percent ended tutoring =


 * = 25 percent cut summer school programs =


 * = 41 percent delayed buying textbooks =


 * = 58 percent didn't make technology upgrades =


 * = More than 50 percent reduced or eliminated student field trips. =


 * = 31 percent established or increased fees for participation in extracurricular activities. =


 * = Nearly one-third reduced or eliminated extracurricular activities for students, including sports. =


 * = About 24 percent increased the fees they charge to community groups for the use of school facilities for sports, recreation or other purposes. =


 * = More than 14,000 educators lost their jobs =

= Two hundred ninety-four school districts responded to the survey. The survey found an average of 28.5 positions were cut in the districts. =

=Survey - State lost more than 14,000 school jobs=

= PA. UNEMPLOYMENT UP AGAIN BECAUSE OF GOP BUDGET SLASHING MORE THAN 14,000 EDUCATION JOBS = = Thanks, Governor Corbett and legislative Republicans! Your tireless efforts to slash education spending has spurred the unemployment rate in Pennsylvania rise for the third straight month erasing year-long gains. In July, joblessness rose 4-tenths of a percentage point from, 7.8 percent to 8.2 percent in August, the Department of Labor and Industry reported on 9/15/11. =

= The increase nearly erases all gains in employment since January, when the unemployment rate was 8.3 percent. Pennsylvania's unemployment rate was still below the national rate of 9.1 percent for the month. =

=Pennsylvania public school employees are hitting the unemployment line in unprecedented numbers this summer. =

= A report conducted by two statewide education groups found that more than 14,000 Pennsylvanians lost school jobs this summer  in the wake of a $900 million reduction in state and federal school subsidies. That comes to 3,556 teachers, 739 administrators and 4,000 other employees have lost their jobs and 5,883 positions have been left vacant in nearly 60 percent of the state's 500 school districts. =

= As a result of lost jobs and budget constraints, students are sitting in larger classes and getting access to fewer electives and less up-to-date material in the school districts that responded to the August survey by the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials. =

= "We have not seen personnel and program reductions of this magnitude in education for decades," said Jay Himes, executive director of the school business officials group. =

=If this is what is meant by trickle down economics, we can only hope Republicans zip up their flies. =

=Survey - State lost more than 14,000 school jobs= =Year-long employment gains wiped out by recent losses=

= OBAMA'S JOBS BILL COULD PUT 280,000 FURLOUGHED TEACHERS BACK TO WORK! =

=“Pass this jobs bill, and thousands of teachers in every state will go back to work. These are the men and women charged with preparing our children for a world where the competition has never been tougher. But while they're adding teachers in places like South Korea, we're laying them off in droves. It's unfair to our kids. It undermines their future and ours. And it has to stop. Pass this bill, and put our teachers back in the classroom where they belong," President Obama said during his speech to congress.=

=The president included $60 billion in relief for cash-strapped school districts in his jobs package.=

="This will be huge," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. "Everywhere we go, we hear about ... how big the need is." The bill would save 280,000 teacher jobs, he said.=

=It's a great start. But is it enough?=

= = **Jobs Package and Education** = === =President Barack Obama last week unveiled a $447 billion jobs bill that would include $60 billion in new education spending. Among the highlights:= = **Jobs Money** = = **Infrastructure Aid** = = **Higher Education** = =SOURCE: The White House=
 * = **$30 billion** to help prevent teacher layoffs and create jobs=
 * =Money could be used for compensation and benefits=
 * = **$25 billion** to revamp K-12 facilities=
 * =40 percent would go to 100 large school districts, based on need, and 60 percent to states thought a formula=
 * =Uses could include emergency repair and renovation, energy-efficiency upgrades, new science and computer labs, and modifications under the Americans with Disabilities Act=
 * = **$5 billion** to revamp community college facilities=

=Uncertainty Surrounds Jobs Plan, but Schools Eager for Cash= =Teachers Union Leaders Pleased With 60 Billion For Education In Obama's Jobs Plan=

= LESS THAN 1 IN 3 APPROVE OF GOV. CORBETT IN POLL =



=Maybe people aren't as happy with Gov. Corbett as we've been lead to believe. According to a Franklin & Marshall College poll out Thursday, only thirty two percent of voters approve of Gov. [|Tom Corbett]'s job performance. Freshman U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., gets a 29 percent approval rating. = = Just 9 percent are undecided about Corbett, whose first budget got plenty of attention because of cuts. 20 percent said they didn't know enough about Toomey to make up their minds. =

= Corbett's job performance rating is lower than both former Govs. [|Ed Rendell], a Democrat, and [|Tom Ridge], a Republican, at the same point in their tenures, pollster G. Terry [|Madonna]said. Between 1991 and 2011, the average positive gubernatorial approval rating was 46 percent. Ouch. The same poll shows that roughly 2 out of 3 of the state’s residents “continue to support an extraction tax on Marcellus shale natural gas drillers.” In other words, the drilling tax is outpolling the Guv by a margin of 2:1. =

=Jobs, economy top Pennsylvania concerns=

=Teacher Pay - U.S. Ranks 22nd Out Of 27 Countries =



=Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development released Building a High Quality Teaching Profession: Lessons from Around the World, which analyzes how high-performing countries have created highly professional and effective teaching forces. Included in this report is a telling chart which shows that American teachers are paid less than teachers in many other countries.= =For each participating nation, OECD calculated the ratio of the average salaries of teachers with 15 years' experience to the average earnings of full-time workers with a college degree. The U.S. ranked 22nd out of 27 countries on this measure. In the U.S., teachers earned less than 60% of the average pay for full-time college-educated workers. In many other countries, teachers earn between 80% and 100% of the college-educated average.= =To address this issue and make teaching in the U.S. more attractive, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has called for teacher salaries that start at $60,000 and eventually rise to $150,000 -- far higher than current teacher pay in nearly all U.S. school districts. Clearly, compensation is not the only reason why people do not go into teaching, but it is a major consideration. As Secretary Duncan said in a speech to the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards on July 29:= > = Money is never the reason why people enter teaching, but it is the reason why some people do __not__ enter teaching, or leave as they start to think about beginning a family or buying a home. Today, too often the heart-breaking reality is that a good teacher with a decade of classroom experience is hard-pressed to raise a family on a teacher's salary. = =Last year, McKinsey & Co, a major market researching firm, concluded that the U.S. was not attracting enough higher-performing college students to teaching. (See Closing the Talent Gap: Attracting and Retaining Top-Third Graduates to a Career in Teaching.) To make U.S. teacher salaries competitive with those of other careers open to top students would mean paying teachers around $65,000 to $150,000 a year. McKinsey found that three high-achieving countries recruit //all// of their teachers from the top third of the academic talent pool. In the U.S., by contrast, top-achievers account for 23 percent of all new teachers and just 14 percent of new teachers in high-poverty schools.= =Secretary Duncan, OECD, and others who have studied how to improve the quality of our nation's teaching force have rightly called for a comprehensive approach that will lead to greater professionalization of teaching. On one hand, teachers must have greater autonomy similar to other professionals, and they must have the tools, resources, and support needed to be professional. On the other hand, there must be much greater rigor in admitting people into teaching and in determining who should stay in the profession. Higher salaries are a fundamental, indispensable ingredient for both new and veteran teachers.=

=It is difficult to advocate for higher salaries for teachers during these hard economic times, but we aren't going to make long term progress economically if we don't have a better educated citizenry. Business leaders have been saying this for years. Paying teachers higher wages and getting and retaining good teachers is integral to achieving that goal.=

=Teacher Pay - U.S. Ranks 22nd Out Of 27 Countries= =Bring Teachers' Pay Into This Century=

= OBAMA & DUNCAN ARE DEAD WRONG ON NCLB WAIVERS AND SHOULD BE OPPOSED BY SCHOOLS AND STATES. =

=

= =Faced with a looming deadline and a deadlocked legislature, Barack Obama is employing a strategy many wish he had in the recent debt ceiling talks: He’s bypassing Congress altogether. On 8/8/11, [|Obama approved a Department of Education plan] to grant waivers allowing states to bypass the most stringent and unrealistic requirements of the Bush-era education law known as No Child Left Behind, including its fairy-tale provision that all schools must be 100 percent proficient in reading and math by 2014, in exchange for the adoption of certain policy priorities.=

= However, there's strings attached. If they accept the deal, they have to enact "reforms." States will lock in ever more counter-productive educational practices based on the misuse of test scores, including linking teacher evaluation to student scores and firing the staff or privatizing control over lower performing schools - actions for which there is no evidence that they will improve education. The [|National Academy of Sciences report] offers rather a definitive conclusion. Nine years of test and standards-driven reform has yielded virtually no increase in student learning. Programs in [|Texas] and [|New York] designed to pay teachers more for test scores have not even yielded higher scores. The cheating scandals unfolding in "poverty is no excuse" urban districts like Atlanta, Baltimore and Washington, DC, are showing that the whole system of values we have built up around test scores is crumbling. More test security will not rescue this. =

= States could, however, refuse to sign on to Education Secretary Arne Duncan’s reform program, however, that would result in the denial of waivers and return them to unrealistic NCLB accountability. Neither choice will help children or schools. And it's probably illegal, too.=

= The most logical response to the cheating scandals in Atlanta, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., and elsewhere is to dial back the emphasis on testing. Unfortunately, Duncan will almost certainly not do so. Rather, the department will back heavier (and costly) policing of classrooms in an effort to stop cheating. But policing will not stop the most harmful forms of cheating: teaching to the test and narrowing curriculum, which cheat kids out of a meaningful education. =

= Mass resistance is likely the only course remaining to combat the administrations wrong-headed waiver policy. States should stop imposing additional sanctions on schools, as some states have said they will do. They should simultaneously refuse Duncan’s deal. This would be a good time to call Obama and Duncan's bluff. =

= To really win fundamental changes in federal and state policies, teachers, parents and students must visibly and effectively stand together to tell Congress that test-and-punish can no longer be the law of the land. = = Organizing town meetings to clearly express opposition and build effective resistance is one valuable tool. (For others, see @http://www.fairtest.org/seven-ways-work-nclb-reform.) Boycotts have brought down testing regimes in Japan and England. Unions also will have to step up to support more effective forms of resistance, forms that can lead to cutting back on testing, helping instead of punishing schools, and installing educationally beneficial forms of accountability (see http://www.edaccountability.org). =

=Finally, the whole process has many policy experts claiming it's illegal. The administration is attempting to overhaul NCLB behind Congress’s back. In other words, instead of waiting for Congress to change the way teachers are evaluated or schools are punished, Duncan is hoping to do it himself by forcing the states’ hands. This goes beyond the constitutional powers given to the Executive Branch of our government. =

= Which leaves another option to block waivers. States could sue the Department of Education, claiming it deserved a waiver but didn’t want to participate in Duncan’s reforms. Then it would be up to the courts. =

=Why Obama’s New Plan to Reform Education Is Likely Illegal= =Why states should refuse Duncan’s NCLB waivers= =Say No to Duncan Dollars - Rookie Reform has Run its Course=

= BAD TEACHERS DON'T MAKE IT PAST 5 YEARS IN THE CLASSROOM. YET LEGISLATORS STILL FOCUS ON "IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY". =



= According to a McKinsey study, 14 percent of American teachers leave after only one year, and 46 percent quit before their fifth year. Almost half of teachers leave the field after just five years, according to the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future, and the debate surrounding how to keep teachers in the profession is still evolving. In countries with the highest results on international tests, teacher turnover rates are much lower—around 3 percent. =

= In short, almost anyone who's bad at teaching or can't hack it leaves before being on the job five years. So why do legislators and corporate "reformers" bemoan the "quality" of our nations teachers? Anyone with experience already has been tried by fire. =

= Moreover, this constant cycling in and out of new teachers is a costly phenomena. Students miss being taught by experienced educators, and schools and districts nationwide spend about $2.2 billion per year recruiting and training replacements. =

= So why are all these teachers packing up their desks and leaving the classroom? Here are the top five reasons, according to TakePart.com: =

= 5. BURNOUT - Researchers think that extended hours are wearing out educators. =

= 4. THREAT OF LAYOFFS - Tens of thousands of teachers have been laid off over the last four years. =

= 3. LOW WAGES - The current national average starting salary for teachers is just above $35,000. (Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said last month that teachers should be making between $60,000 and $150,000 annually). =

= 2. TESTING PRESSURE - Standardized test scores have become a much heftier factor in evaluating teachers since No Child Left Behind was introduced 10 years ago. =

= 1. POOR WORKING CONDITIONS - Teachers say they are offered few resources and little support. More entry-level teachers than senior-level educators are also placed in high-needs schools. =

=Why Teachers Keep Leaving the Classroom= =Top 5 Reasons Why Teacher Turnover Is Rising=

=<span style="background-color: #00ff00; color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 300%;">A Contract for the American Dream. = =

=

= "I have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American Dream." = = –Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1963 March on Washington =

=We, the American people, promise to defend and advance a simple ideal: liberty and justice... for all. Americans who are willing to work hard and play by the rules should be able to find a decent job, get a good home in a strong community, retire with dignity and give their kids a better life. Every one of us—rich, poor or in-between, regardless of skin color or birthplace, no matter their sexual orientation or gender—has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is our covenant, our compact, our contract with one another. It is a promise we can fulfill—but only by working together.=

=Today, the American Dream is under threat. Our veterans are coming home to few jobs and little hope on the home front. Our young people are graduating off a cliff, burdened by heavy debt, into the worst job market in half a century. The big banks that American taxpayers bailed out won't cut homeowners a break. Our firefighters, nurses, cops and teachers—America's everyday heroes—are being thrown out onto the street. We believe:=


 * = **AMERICA IS NOT BROKE.** America is rich—still the wealthiest nation ever. But too many at the top are grabbing the gains. No person or corporation should be allowed to take from America while giving little or nothing back. The super-rich who got tax breaks and bailouts should now pay full taxes—and help create jobs here, not overseas. Those who do well in America should do well by America.=


 * = **AMERICANS NEED JOBS, NOT CUTS.** Many of our best workers are sitting idle, while the work of rebuilding America goes undone. Together, we must rebuild our country, reinvest in our people and jump-start the industries of the future. Millions of jobless Americans would love the opportunity to become working, tax-paying members of their communities again. We have a jobs crisis, not a deficit crisis.=

=To produce this Contract for the American Dream, 131,203 Americans came together online and in their communities. We wrote and rated 25,904 ideas. Together, we identified the 10 most critical steps to get our economy back on track and restore the American Dream:=


 * 1) = **INVEST IN AMERICA'S INFRASTRUCTURE.** Rebuild our crumbling bridges, dams, levees, ports, water and sewer lines, railways, roads and public transit. We must invest in high-speed Internet and a modern, energy-saving electric grid. These investments will create good jobs and rebuild America. To help finance these projects, we need national and state infrastructure banks.=
 * 2) = **CREATE 21ST-CENTURY ENERGY JOBS.** We should invest in American businesses that can power our country with innovative technologies like wind turbines, solar panels, geothermal systems, hybrid and electric cars, and next-generation batteries. And we should put Americans to work making our homes and buildings energy efficient. We can create good, green jobs in America, address the climate crisis, and build the clean energy economy.=
 * 3) = **INVEST IN PUBLIC EDUCATION.** We should provide universal access to early childhood education, make school funding equitable, invest in high-quality teachers, and build safe, well-equipped school buildings for our students. A high-quality education system, from universal preschool to vocational training and affordable higher education, is critical for our future and can create badly needed jobs now.=
 * 4) = **OFFER MEDICARE FOR ALL.** We should expand Medicare so it's available to all Americans, and reform it to provide even more cost-effective, quality care. The Affordable Care Act is a good start and we must implement it—but it's not enough. We can save trillions of dollars by joining every other industrialized country—paying much less for health care while getting the same or better results.=
 * 5) = **MAKE WORK PAY.** Americans have a right to fair minimum and living wages, to organize and collectively bargain, to enjoy equal opportunity and to earn equal pay for equal work. Corporate assaults on these rights bring down wages and benefits for all of us. They must be outlawed.=
 * 6) = **SECURE SOCIAL SECURITY.** Keep Social Security sound, and strengthen the retirement, disability, and survivors' protections Americans earn through their hard work. Pay for it by removing the cap on the Social Security tax, so that upper-income people pay into Social Security on all they make, just like the rest of us.=
 * 7) = **RETURN TO FAIRER TAX RATES.** End, once and for all, the Bush-era tax giveaways for the rich, which the rest of us—or our kids—must pay eventually. Also, we must outlaw corporate tax havens and tax breaks for shipping jobs overseas. Lastly, with millionaires and billionaires taking a growing share of our country's wealth, we should add new tax brackets for those making more than $1 million each year.=
 * 8) = **END THE WARS AND INVEST AT HOME.** Our troops have done everything that's been asked of them, and it's time to bring them home to good jobs here. We're sending $3 billion each week overseas that we should be investing to rebuild America.=
 * 9) = **TAX WALL STREET SPECULATION.** A tiny fee of 1/20th of 1% on each Wall Street trade would raise tens of billions of dollars annually with little impact on actual investment. This would reduce speculation, "flash trading," and outrageous bankers' bonuses—and we'd have a lot more money to spend on Main Street job creation.=
 * 10) = **STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY.** We need clean, fair elections—where no one's right to vote can be taken away, and where money doesn't buy you your own member of Congress. We must ban anonymous political influence, slam shut the lobbyists' revolving door in D.C. and publicly finance elections. Immigrants who want to join in our democracy deserve a clear path to citizenship. We must stop giving corporations the rights of people when it comes to our elections. And we must ensure our judiciary's respect for the Constitution. Together, we will reclaim our democracy to get our country back on track.=

=Click [|HERE] to add your name.=

=A CONTRACT FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM=



= SCHOOL VOUCHERS ARE "RISK FREE" - WHEN IT DOESN'T INVOLVE YOUR KIDS. =



=Education Secretary Ronald Tomalis, a choice supporter, said at a hearing on school tuition vouchers held 8/3/11 that school choice is risk-free.=

="These kids are already in schools that are failing. This [current] system that has been in place for 150 years and has worked well for many of us isn't working for these children."=

= See? No risk. Sure a stack of independent scientific reports finds no academic benefit for those using vouchers, but these kids are already being screwed - vouchers can't screw them up any more! =

= What a ringing endorsement of our state's education policy! =

= We could focus on a way to make every public school great, we could ask why all these so-called "failing" schools are located in poorer districts that aren't funded to the same level as richer districts... NAH! Let's just do this school voucher thing! =

=Why is Tomalis' opinion even being quoted in our state's media? He has no background in public education. He's a political science major whose only brush with schools was working in the Bush Administration on implementing the disastrous No Child Left Behind law.=

=Would we let an auto mechanic determine medical policy? Would we listen to a fisherman on police procedure? Would we consult a professional swimmer as legal council? If not, then why are we listening to a political stooge like Tomalis on education policy?=

=There certainly is risk in that!=

=School choice is risk-free, education secretary says=

= DEBT CEILING DEAL MEANS ADDITIONAL BILLIONS IN FEDERAL K-12 EDUCATION CUTS! =



=After the passage of a bill to lift the federal debt ceiling and stave off a financial default, education advocates are just beginning to take stock of what this will mean for K-12 education. And it's not at all clear. Among other things, the deal places 10-year caps on federal spending, including a $7 billion reduction in fiscal 2012 spending below current levels.=

= The [|Committee for Education Funding], a coalition of 85 education groups, estimated proposed cuts would amount to 6.7 percent in most agencies, which for the U.S. Department of Education would translate into about $3 billion. That's a lot of money. =

= In essence, the pie has gotten smaller for next budget year, leaving fewer dollars to be spread among agencies, including the Education Department. And a decade's worth of spending caps is bound to put pressure on federal education spending. =

= In looking at the new cap on federal discretionary spending of $7 billion below current levels, the Committee for Education Funding points out the current levels already reflect $1.25 billion in education cuts imposed in the [|current-year budget battle] that consumed Congress a few months ago. =

= In general, however, any deal that puts further pressure on state budgets—such as by reducing federal funds that go to states—will only make it tougher for states to fund K-12 education, which is a huge financial responsibility. =

=The plan was approved by the House and Senate and signed by the President into law. It includes no tax increases or cuts in Medicare or Social Security benefits.=

= Keith Olbermann's Debt Ceiling Special Comment: 'Our Government Has Now Given Up The Concept Of Right And Wrong' = media type="custom" key="10116753"

=Will the Federal Debt Committee Cut K-12 Funding?= =What the Debt Deal Means for Kids in School= =Debt Ceiling Deal - Big Questions for K-12= =[|Debt Ceiling Deal: What It Means for Pell Grants]= =[|Labor's Discontent With Obama Surfaces Yet Again with Debt Deal]= =[|Debt Ceiling Deal A Major Setback For American Labor Market]=

= SCHOOL VOUCHERS ONCE AGAIN SHOWN NOT TO IMPROVE ACADEMIC OUTCOMES! SUPPORTERS RESPOND BY TOUTING THE VALUE OF CHOICE! =



=This week, the Center on Education Policy released a report that reviews ten years of research on voucher programs in Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, and Washington, D.C. The main conclusion is that students using vouchers to attend private schools do not generally attain higher test scores than public school students. The report also points out that much of the research over the last ten years has been conducted by pro-voucher organizations, and yet these organizations have not conclusively shown higher academic achievement resulting from vouchers. =

= In addition, the old argument that poor children in the inner city deserve the same right to a good education in a private school as do children of more affluent parents who could afford the tuition has not only been debunked but it is fading from the legislation. The new voucher programs are not focused on poor students. This year, the state of Indiana enacted a voucher program that is available to middle-income families. The state of Wisconsin has expanded eligibility for the Milwaukee voucher program to include higher-income families in suburban districts and Racine. Douglas County, Colorado, has outdone those two states and created a voucher program for students from families of any income level. Children of millionaires in Douglas County, as well as children of middle-income and poor families, will be able to use public tax dollars to pay for private school tuition in Colorado.=

= The public debate ought to revolve around the clear issue of whether we as a nation want good public schools for all students, most particularly for low-income students. The main issue should not be whether poor inner-city kids should receive public support to attend private schools. If we really cared about improving the education of low-income students, we would guarantee them high-quality preschool programs, experienced elementary and secondary teachers, high academic standards and fair funding. That is what research tells us will really help those kids and what we ought to commit to doing. =

= Today, 90% of American students attend public schools. Clearly, the future of America is being formed in the public schools where the vast majority of tomorrow's citizens and workers are being educated. We should not get sidetracked into debates about vouchers. We should stay focused on how to improve all public schools and how to provide a good education for children from low-income families. =

=Seeing their main rationale unfulfilled, the proponents of vouchers in the last several years have shifted to new reasons for vouchers, such as the inherent value of parents choosing their children's schools.=

=School Vouchers - No Clear Advantage in Academic Achievement= =School Voucher Students' Scores Show No Significant Change, Study Reports= =Voucher Advocacy Shifting Focus, Report Says= =No Choice - Pennsylvania School Voucher plan could leave disabled students out to dry= =GOP's hands are all over financial support for vouchers= =School Vouchers Archive=

= FINANCIAL WOES WILL FORCE SCHOOLS TO PROVIDE ONLY THE BARE MINIMUM REQUIRED BY LAW! =



=School districts nationwide are experiencing unprecedented financial hardships, and the situation is likely to worsen in the coming years, according to a William T. Hartman, professor of education leadership at Penn State.=

=In his paper, titled “Train Wreck Ahead: Financial Conditions Facing School Districts,” Hartman pointed out that all three major sources of revenue are limited or declining. =

=“Local tax increases will be difficult due to tax limitation measures and local resistance from taxpayers,” he said. “State funding for education is now being driven by lack of state revenues from state deficits, a political ideology to cut spending, and a general hostility to public education from some politicians. Extra federal funding from the stimulus money is now gone and will not be replaced.”=

= Without adequate revenues to maintain or expand programs, districts are forced to turn to expenditure reductions to balance their budgets. All the while, there is no letup in the state and federal mandates for student achievement. =

= What is needed, said Hartman, is a concept he calls RESET -- that is, to reset a district’s expenditure level down to available revenues. “The concept is easy to understand, but it is extraordinarily difficult to achieve while maintaining the educational integrity of the district, reaching mandated student achievement levels, and meeting community expectations,” he said.=

= “Of necessity, the focus will be more on what is required under the school code, rather than what has been offered in the past,” said Hartman. “The list is both surprising and disheartening if even partially implemented.” =

=Among the academic areas that are not mandated are vocational education, business education, home economics, computer science, art and music. The list for potential elimination goes on: elective courses not required for graduation, libraries, student services (guidance counselors, school psychologists, school nurses), extracurricular activities (athletics, band, chorus, student government), and any limits on class size. = =School districts' financial woes likely to continue, professor says= =Texas Schools are Expected to charge Fees for Basic Services=

= HONORABLE MENTION = =A CONTRACT FOR THE AMERICAN DREAM=

=Why even the best teachers cannot overcome crowded classrooms= =Confessions of a Cheating Teacher= =D.C. Teacher Says Teachers Are Overpaid - a Modest Proposal=

= TALLY UP THE SAVINGS OF EDUCATION BUDGET CUTS! =



=Over the next week, NPR's Claudio Sanchez will report some startling statistics about the cost - in dollars and cents - of high school dropouts. Subtract that cost to the savings gained by states like Pennsylvania who've cut K-12 public education by $900 million. Hint: you won't see a net savings. =

=Before any budget cuts, Sanchez told NPR's Linda Wertheimer on Weekend Edition Sunday that:=


 * = dropouts cost taxpayers between $320 billion and $350 billion a year in lost wages, taxable income, health, welfare and incarceration costs, among others. =


 * = Of the 3.8 million students that start high school this year, a quarter won't receive a diploma. =


 * = Those who don't finish will earn $200,000 less than those who do over their lifetime, and $1 million less than a college graduate. =


 * = Dropouts are not eligible for 90 percent of the jobs in our economy =


 * = a student drops out of high school every 26 seconds in the U.S., contributing to a rising unemployment rate. =

= Given the trend to trim education budgets as cost-saving measures and the woefully inadequate No Child Left Behind legislation, the cost of our increasing dropout population will far outstrip any savings from budget cuts. As the saying goes, "PAY NOW OR PAY LATER." =

=NPR is discussing the issue through the lens of five people across the country. See the full schedule and profiles of the subjects at NPR.=



= IS THIS WHAT THEY MEAN BY "JOB CREATION"!? =



=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">According to Gov. Tom Corbett's own gubernatorial campaign [|Website], his number one priority as governor is job creation. However, one of his first actions as governor has resulted in swelling the unemployment line to levels unheard of in Pennsylvania even during the closure of the Steel Mills! =

=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">The governor's 2011-12 state budget that eventually cut $900 million ( actually less than he originally proposed) from K-12 education has booted thousands of former school employees from the classroom to the Welfare office. =


 * =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 150%;">Nearly 4,000 teachers and about 1,700 school support workers across Pennsylvania have received furloughs since March. =


 * =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 150%;">Philadelphia schools, alone, have furloughed 1,498 teachers and 857 school support workers. =


 * =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 150%;">Pittsburgh Public Schools, furloughed 147 central office workers already and are preparing to furlough 25 teachers next week and additional support staff and aides in early August. =


 * =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 150%;"> Roughly 2,200 teacher layoffs and about 800 layoffs of support personnel ranging from classroom aides to cafeteria and maintenance workers have been reported by the PSEA. =


 * =<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 150%;">An additional 2,200 positions have been eliminated through a gradual reduction in the work force when workers resign or retire and are not replaced. =

=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">"It's pretty much across the board in the state. We've never seen anything like this. Even in the late 1970s when the steel mills were closing and people were moving away, it wasn't anything like this" for the schools, said Butch Santicola, who has been PSEA's western regional spokesman for four decades. =

=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 120%;">If "Job Creation" is the governor's number one priority, we'd hate to see what's at the bottom of his list! =

=Subsidy cuts fill jobless rolls with former school employees=

= HONORABLE MENTION = =Confessions of a Cheating Teacher=

=Public Schools, Private Budgets - How Charter Schools Spend Our Money= =To improve U.S. education, it’s time to treat teachers as professionals= =Want to stop teachers from cheating? A history lesson from corporate America= =The Real Cheating Scandal of Our Public Schools=

= MERIT-PAY DEBUNKED AS INEFFECTIVE IN THREE STUDIES! WILL LAWS PROPOSING IT SUBSIDE? =

media type="custom" key="10111423"

= Teachers who receive cash incentives don't prove to have more positive attitudes toward their work, nor do they yield better performing students, according to a study released today by nonprofit research group RAND Corporation. =

= Study author Julie Marsh suggests that a bonus program would be more effective if educators have "buy-in," understand the program and its criteria and see the bonuses as worth putting forth an extra effort to earn. = = "These characteristics were lacking in many schools participating in the New York City program, and were a key reason why some educators said the program did not influence them to change their behavior," she said. =

= The report studied almost 200 high-needs New York City public schools between 2007 and 2010. During this three-year period, the city distributed $56 million in performance bonuses to school teachers and staff, //The New York Times// reports. =

> = "I find no evidence that teacher incentives increase student performance, attendance, or graduation, nor do I find any evidence that the incentives change student or teacher behavior. If anything, teacher incentives may decrease student achievement, especially in larger schools." = = =
 * = A similar study by the National Center on Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University also showed that a performance-based bonus program had no effect on student achievement among Nashville schools. =
 * = Another study by the National Bureau of Economic Research in March based on a randomized survey of the 200 New York City schools yielded similar results. Researcher Roland G. Fryer writes: =

=Consequently, the New York City Department of Education announced Sunday that the program will be discontinued. In addition, Florida education advocates are calling on Governor Rick Scott to look to New York City after their teacher merit pay program was [|**abandoned Monday**].= = "I applaud New York for doing what's fiscally responsible and realizing that political ideology shouldn't set the tone for what we put into practice," said Colleen Wood, Save Duval Schools Executive Director. A Merit-Pay initiative was approved in Florida but not yet put into practice.=

=Will a slew of new merit-pay initiatives either just passed or proposed in states across the country be repealed or left without support? Only time will tell.=

=Arne Duncan Boosts Merit Pay At Teaching Conference= =Will NYC's Decision on Merit-Pay Become a Trend?= =Merit-Based Teacher Bonuses Have Little Effect On Student Performance, New York Ends Incentives Program= =New York City Abandons Teacher Bonus Program Because It Was Ineffective= =Ohio School District Adopts Merit Pay for Teachers= =Thoughts on the Failure of Merit Pay= =Teacher Pay Policy Shift By National Education Association=

= UNIONS DECRY GANG OF SIX DEFICIT REDUCTION PLAN =

=Unions Go After Gang Of Six Deficit-Cutting Plan=

= States Continue Push to Toughen Teacher Policies. Changes afoot for evaluation, tenure, and collective bargaining. = = = =In the first six months of this year, at least a dozen state legislatures passed laws, which their governors signed, altering teachers’ conditions of employment. Actions affected include collective bargaining, seniority, evaluations, and tenure, among other policies. In some categories without "YES" designations, similar legislation by that state may have taken effect in previous years. Some states’ actions on tenure, seniority, and= =evaluation could ultimately have an influence on collective bargaining.= = Sources: Education commission of the States; national conference of State Legislatures; Education Week.=
 * = State = || = Bill # = || = Restricts Collective Bargaining? = || = Reduces the Role of Seniority in Layoffs? = || = Ties Teacher Evaluations to Student Achievement? = || = Places Additional Restrictions or Conditions on Tenure? = ||
 * =Arkansas= || =HB 2178= ||  ||   || = YES = ||   ||
 * =Florida= || =SB 736= ||  || = YES = || = YES = || = YES = ||
 * =Idaho= || =SB 1108= || = YES = || = YES = || = YES = || = YES = ||
 * =Illinois= || =SB 7= || = YES = || = YES = ||  || = YES = ||
 * =Indiana= || =SEA 1 and SB 575= || = YES = ||  || = YES = || = YES = ||
 * =Michigan= || =SB 158= || = YES = ||  ||   ||   ||
 * =Nevada= || =AB 229= ||  || = YES = || = YES = ||   ||
 * =Ohio= || =SB 5= || = YES = || = YES = || = YES = || = YES = ||
 * =Tennessee= || =SB 1528= || = YES = ||  ||   || = YES = ||
 * =Utah= || =SB 256 and SB 73= ||  || = YES = || = YES = ||   ||
 * =Wisconsin= || =ACT 10= || = YES = ||  ||   ||   ||
 * =Wyoming= ||  ||   ||   ||   ||   ||

=Download as a PDF HERE: legislative highlights.pdf=

=[|States Continue Push to Toughen Teacher Policies]=

= Video Reveals Special Interests Successful Plan to Destroy Teachers and Unions in Illinois. Looks Too Familiar! =

media type="youtube" key="kog8g9sTDSo?version=3" height="390" width="640" =You know the part in the spy movie where the bad guy calmly explains his plan before dashing away with our hero left in great peril? Well shudder in horror as a special interest founder describes in fine detail how his group dismantled Illinois teachers unions piece-by-piece. Hear how great wads of hedge-fund and other corporate cash came to bear on the last legislative election in Illinois, how teacher unions were lured to the table and how they were totally manhandled by the best lawyers and negotiators that money can buy, how union leaders became complicit, scared, weak, groveling.=

=Jonah Edelman, the founder of the influential and cash-heavy education advocacy group Stand for Children, was video taped giving a talk at the Aspen Ideas Festival on Tuesday, June 28. It is a narrative of how Stand for Children systematically chose its political allies in Illinois, invested over $600,000 in nine state legislative races, raised another $3 million, and exacted concession after concession from the state's teachers unions.=

= The only thing we're missing in Pennsylvania is the video. Let's not fall for the same tricks they did in Illinois! =

=Frank Talk About School Reform Politicking Draws Ire=

= NEA GIVES OBAMA EARLY 2012 ENDORSEMENT DESPITE ADMINISTRATION'S CURRENT DESTRUCTIVE EDUCATION POLICIES! =
 * [[image:obama_1207317c.jpg align="center"]] ||
 * President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan ||

=[|Despite a lot of hand-wringing], delegates to the National Education Association's Representative Assembly approved [|an early endorsement] for President Barack Obama, and by a good margin: 5,414 delegates, or 72.04 percent.=

= Make no mistake: his administration has accomplished many things that are good for this country that Republicans just wouldn't have done : reforming healthcare for the first time in close to a century, taking steps to halt the biggest economic disaster since the Great Depression (losing 700,000 jobs a month), ending combat operations in Iraq and now beginning to draw down troops in Afghanistan, repealing "Don't Ask Don't Tell", removing Bush-era restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research, saving the auto industry and making a profit for the American people along the way, making significant reforms on Wall Street (maybe not all we wanted, but definitely more than we have ever had before) - and, finally, his decision to complete the mission to remove Osama bin Laden.=

= However, when it comes to education, Obama has been headed in the wrong direction. =

=When President Bush pushed for the fatally flawed No Child Left Behind to be enacted at the beginning of his first term, it was to be expected. This was a Republican president who bought into the idea that education would function better if it were governed by the principles of big business.= =After eight years of the Bush doctrine, it appeared that better times were ahead. President Obama was= =elected and the Democratic Party had control of the House and Senate. No Child Left Behind could be eliminated and the focus could have been properly shifted toward curing the societal problems that have made it so difficult to educate many inner-city children.=

=Instead the president ignored pleas to put an actual educator in charge of the Education Department and installed Arne Duncan, the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, (the title providing clear evidence what direction he would take) as Secretary of Education.= =After that, the president put his imprint on Duncan's Race to the Top "reform," which offered the same cures for ailing schools that the GOP and the billionaires sought. If a public school is in trouble, close it or fire all of its teachers. Offer merit pay based on the scores from standardized tests that were never intended to offer a complete (at most, barely a partial) picture of the quality of education a school provides. Pour money into charter schools, even when evidence exists that the education they offer is not any better, and sometimes worse, than that provided by public schools. =

=When a Rhode Island board of education fired all of the teachers at a high school with low scores, President Obama went cheerfully along with Duncan's praise for the action as "courageous" and something that would= =help children. Not once did either man say that there is something horribly wrong with a system that throws out all teachers, even the good, some perhaps excellent, who have devoted their lives to helping children. And how could they say anything against it? It was their plan the Rhode Island board was following.= =At public schools, meanwhile, we are forced to teach to the test, offer scores of practice standardized tests, and replace the kind of education that could turn children into lifelong learners with a test prep emphasis that teaches them how to bubble in an answer but does nothing to help them think.=

= There was never a doubt that the president would get the endorsement, but there was some real doubt about whether the Obama endorsement was going to go through this year or next. A number of delegates did not want to go forward with an endorsement right now, figuring they'd have more leverage with the president if the endorsement was delayed until next year's conference. And at least a few felt that the NEA should call for the removal of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan as the price for an early Obama endorsement —the delegates earlier approved a measure listing [|13 frustrations] with the secretary—but the call for Duncan's ouster [|didn't come to pass.]=

=The president has spoken eloquently of the need for parents and students to take charge of their education. But he, as President Bush did before him, has placed the blame for these perceived shortcomings in American public education on classroom teachers. = =This is what NEA has chosen to endorse for re-election in 2012... a year and a half before the ballots are cast.= =With all unions under attack, the NEA had the opportunity to hold back its endorsement and perhaps gain some concessions from the president, some assurances that a second Obama Administration will not continue the destructive policies of the first.= =Instead, NEA's leadership continued its recent policy of capitulating to the forces that that would love to eventually destroy public education (and the NEA itself).=

=//(Randy Turner Contributed to this post)//=


 * [[image:duncan4obama.jpg align="center"]] ||
 * Our Impersonation of the NEA ||

=NEA Endorsement of Obama is a Suicide Pact for Education= =Arne Duncan's Authority Over No Child Left Behind Questioned= =NEA's Delegates Approve Obama Endorsement, Dues Increase= =NEA Endorses Obama's Bid for Second Term= =Biden To NEA - Policy Disagreements Are 'A Fight Within The Family'= =13 Things the NEA Hates About Arne Duncan= =Teacher Pay Policy Shift By National Education Association=

= HONORABLE MENTION = =Standardized testing for preschoolers= =Testing in Schools Isn't Working=

= State Education Rankings: The Best And Worst For Math And Science - Pa. Ranked 22nd in Country - AVERAGE = =In recently released rankings of how states' primary education systems are preparing students for careers in engineering, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New Jersey top the list. Mississippi trails as the worst in the country, following West Virginia and Louisiana.=

=[|FULL STORY AND RANKINGS]=

= STUDIES SHOW AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS PUT LITTLE EFFORT INTO ACADEMICS. MEANWHILE, NEW GOP BILL WOULD HAVE PA. TEACHERS EVALUATED USING STUDENT'S TEST SCORES! =



=Legislation introduced in June by Senate Education Committee Chairman Jeffrey Piccola (R., Dauphin) and backed by the Corbett administration would require for the first time the use of student performance in teacher rating systems. The administration wants standardized test scores to be a large measure of how educators are judged when it comes to whether they keep their jobs, and, eventually, whether they receive tenure or merit pay. The change could become a statewide mandate next year. = =Acting education secretary, Ronald Tomalis, said in an interview that a new system was a high priority. He favors having student performance count for 50 percent of a teacher's rating, he said.=

=However, major studies support the common sense notion of personal responsibility over the blame game.= =In 2005, a study of 90,000 high school students in 26 states by Indiana University found that 55 percent spent three hours or less a week preparing for their classes. Just 11 percent of those who reported they were on the college track spent seven or more hours a week on assigned reading, less than an hour and a half a day. It's pretty commonly known that many students spend more time texting and socializing than they do studying.=

=A major study of 2,3000 college students, released earlier this year by the University of Chicago, found that half did not take a single course in which they had to write more than 20 pages during the semester, a third did not take any courses with more than 40 pages of assigned reading a week, and, on average, students spent only 12-14 hours a week studying. Not surprisingly, students improved only 0.18 standard deviations over the first two years of college in tests of critical thinking, analytical reasoning, problem solving and writing.=

=If we want to close the achievement gap, it may be useful to focus on how we instill responsibility in students, for moral character is at least as important a precursor of success in school and life as is math. Many American children, it would seem, could use a much heavier dose of responsibility than they currently accept. We owe it to them, to their future and to ours, to demand that they take it. It will not solve all the student achievement problems, to be sure, but those problems will never get solved without it.= =Maybe it's time to stop blaming everyone else for the achievement gap except the students, themselves.=

=Who's Responsible for Improving Student Achievement?= =Pa. Bill would Use Student Performance to Rate Teachers=

= LESSONS LEARNED: TREAT SCHOOLS LIKE CORPORATIONS, AND THEY'LL START ACTING LIKE THEM - THEY'LL CHEAT! =

media type="custom" key="10001569"

=Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal announced on 7/5/11 that widespread cheating inflated Atlanta Public Schools' 2009 state standardized tests scores.= =The product of a two-year investigation, the report concluded that systematic cheating occurred within Atlanta Public Schools -- which had been lauded for its quick testing gains -- including at least 44 of the 56 examined schools. The report implicated 38 principals, noting that 178 educators pled the Fifth Amendment when questioned. Eighty-two other educators confessed to various forms of cheating, including erasing wrong answers on students' multiple choice exams and then replacing them with the correct ones.= = "Cheating was caused by a number of factors but primarily by the pressure to meet targets in the data-driven environment," according to the report's summary. "A culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation existed in APS, which created a conspiracy of silence and deniability with respect to standardized test misconduct." = = "School districts don’t have incentives for policing themselves. Their reputations depend on a steady rise in performance that accountability mandates of No Child Left Behind require, " said Aaron Pallas, a professor at Columbia University's Teachers College.=

= The lesson learned here is a simple one: pressures placed on teachers by corporate-model education policies that stress standardized test scores -- such as No Child Left Behind -- foster an environment ripe for cheating. After all, through 2008 what did Wall Street firms like AIG, Lehman Brothers and Goldman-Sachs do to show their share holders they were making huge profits when they were actually bottoming out? THEY COOKED THE BOOKS! = = And with about 15 states preparing to tie test scores to teacher evaluations after a nationwide legislative push toward test-based accountability, the pressure is only bound to increase. =

=Atlanta is not alone in allegedly gaming its numbers. Cheating headlines have popped up in the last month alone from Baltimore, Norfolk, Va. , Philadelphia , Washington, D.C. , and Florida. = = While Congress struggles to overhaul No Child Left Behind, it might embed more provisions for monitoring tests. But states might see this as yet another unfunded mandate. = = As we get closer to this deadline of 100% proficiency under NCLB by 2014, it's not surprising that there are schools and districts where these things happen again and again. =

= Remember: only a few short years ago, Corporations and Wall Street crashed the economy into the ground for short term profits. Is this really the best model for our schools? =

media type="custom" key="10001561"

=Cheating scandal adds fuel to debate over high-stakes tests= =Atlanta Public Schools Shaken By Cheating Report= =Atlanta Cheating Scandal - Arne Duncan 'Stunned'= =Rampant Cheating - Educators Accused Of Tampering With Students' Tests From D.C. To Pennsylvania= =Pa. looking into possible cheating on state tests=

= Study Shows Pa. Charter Schools Less Effective Than Public Schools. Legislators Respond by Proposing New Laws Easing Charter School Start-ups! =



= Rep. Tom Killion (R-Chester Count) introduced House Bill 1711, a bill that would allow charter schools to avoid a requirement that they apply to school districts for approval to set up. Charter schools would have the option of applying to the district or a state board. The board would include three appointees by the governor and four by legislative leaders of both parties. In a scaled-down version of his bill, only applicants in the lowest performing 10 percent of Pennsylvania schools would be allowed the option of applying to the board, Killion said. =

=No votes has come so far, but insiders say Gov. Corbett is pushing hard for passage before the end of June, perhaps adding this legislation as an amendment to other proposals. Members of both parties have so far asked for more time to analyze the legislation before voting.=

=Such measures come as the Senate proposes to hold to the House Republican budget eliminating $224 million in state funding to public school districts for charter school reimbursement, as part of a nearly $1 billion cut in public education funding.=

= A [|study] released by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes in April 2011 = = shows that students in Pennsylvania charter schools on average make smaller learning gains in reading = = and math than their traditional public school counterparts. The Stanford study notes that strong= =examples of quality charters do exist in the state, but policymakers need to "drive quality throughout= =the sector.”=

=They found that students at nearly half of the charter schools made significantly lower learning gains in both subjects than their traditional public school counterparts. Researchers also reported what they described as "alarming" results among all cyber charter schools, which are online-only schools. The report said cyber students in Pennsylvania perform substantially lower than students at traditional public school in both subjects.=

=Pennsylvania currently has 135 charter schools and 12 cyber charter schools. H.B. 1711 would allow as= =many as 92 school districts – the lowest performing 10 percent of school districts on state standardized= =reading or math tests – to convert individual school buildings into charter schools.=

=Detroit Charter High Schools Underperform Public Counterparts, Analysis Shows= =PSEA PRESIDENT SAYS PROPOSED CHANGES TO CHARTER SCHOOL LAW UNDERMINE PUBLIC EDUCATION AND LOCAL CONTROL= =Charter schools on state's agenda= =Study questions state's charter school system=

=<span style="background-color: #00ff00; color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 300%;">Candidate Corbett was for Education. Governor Corbett? Not so Much! = =

= Back when he was Candidate Corbett, the Governor said that, “I will work to ensure that the children of Pennsylvania have every educational advantage when it comes to competing for the jobs of the future – and I believe it starts with early childhood education.” But as the budget nears completion, it’s crystal clear that Corbett’s promise didn’t apply to actually //funding// that early childhood education. As the online subscription news service Capitolwire notes: “Corbett ran as a governor who vowed to spend more on early childhood, and has now cut the two major early childhood programs from $339 million to $150 million” – a reference to pre-k and full-day kindergarten. =

= Gov. Corbett Nominates School Voucher All-Star to the State Board of Education! = = Gov. Corbett took a break from budget negotiations 6/22/11 to nominate a new member of the State Board of Education: Colleen A. Sheehan. We only know one person by that name – a former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House, college professor… and school voucher supporter. In fact, Dr. Sheehan is on the board of directors of the pro-voucher Reach Foundation and she even penned a scholarly article creatively arguing the constitutionality of taxpayer-funded private-school vouchers. The 1998 piece – now cited by the right-wing Commonwealth Foundation – reads like an ode to Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, with frequent references to the “original intent of the framers” of the Constitution, though we have a hard time believing that the framers imagined making law based on pro-voucher campaign cash raining down on Harrisburg. In any event, even if the Guv can’t get a voucher bill passed, at least he can get another voucher backer in a position of power. =

= **House Republicans New School Voucher Laws Fail June Approval! They'll Be Back! ** = =

= 11th-hour negotiations over a controversial proposal to create student tuition vouchers - a move Corbett has supported - failed when the House and Senate could not reach agreement. But voucher advocates are sure to revive the issue later in the year. = = With hours away from the budget deadline, Gov. Corbett was still pushing for taxpayer-funded private-school vouchers – even while he was trying to cut public school funding by over $1 billion. As the Pittsburgh //Tribune-Review// reported: “Gov. Tom Corbett said he still wants to see this legislation approved before lawmakers leave for recess on June 30.” For Corbett – who received $300,000 in campaign cash from voucher advocates – the late push is just another way to repay powerful donors. But why would the Legislature want to go along with it now. After all, it’s a big expensive program at a time when they’re being asked to make painful budget cuts – and for most legislators, the bill doesn’t even benefit their constituents. And even voucher supporters like the Harrisburg //Patriot-News// are calling on lawmakers to prevent an “11th-hour deal.” So will the General Assembly actually stick it to the taxpayers in order to deliver a win for yet another special interest? Stat tuned. =

= = = Education experts converged in Harrisburg on 6/22/11 for a hastily convened public hearing on efforts to expand school choice, but their remarks were not entered into the record and only three lawmakers stuck around to hear them. That’s because Education Committee Democrats complained that Republicans erred when they gave school-choice opponents only a day’s notice of the hearing instead of the five required under House rules, according to Pittsburgh //Post-Gazette//’s Early Returns blog. =

=Despite a clear lack of public support for taxpayer-funded private-school vouchers and a price tag of hundreds of millions of dollars, a group of House Republicans is trying to force a voucher bill through the Legislature. And this time, they’re bringing friends: local Tea Party leaders and the state branch of Americans for Prosperity, the right-wing advocacy group associated with the billionaire Koch Brothers.=

=However, support for any of Pennsylvania's proposed voucher legislation is hard to come by on either side of the aisle. An analysis by the right-wing Cato Institute calls the voucher plan “a loss for educational freedom” and even compares the proposal to “the abdication of regulatory responsibility… [that] gave us out-of-control federal agencies like the EPA.” And these are the Governor's friends!=

=So why attempt to push forward these laws now? The bills provide little to no “school choice” for Republicans’ own constituents – and they’re being introduced so late that they’d be unlikely to make it all the way through the legislative process before the summer recess even in the best of circumstances. Then again, a $100,000 donation from Students First to the GOP may help explain this behavior. It looks like special interests really do speak louder than ordinary voters.=

=Procedural Block to Vouchers Talk= =Two GOP House members to introduce voucher legislation= =Debunking the Myths About Vouchers= =Focus on School Vouchers=

= The Associated Press Slams Pennsylvania Budget Plan to Cut the Poorest Schools Funding More than the Wealthiest Schools! =

==

=When Gov. Tom Corbett chose to cut Pennsylvania's way out of a projected multibillion-dollar budget deficit, he started by taking a disproportionate chunk of state aid away from the state's poorest school districts.=

= Why not approach it by taking a disproportionate amount of state aid away from the districts that can best afford it — the wealthiest? =

=The proposed cuts fell most heavily on the poorest districts because they receive the lion's share of state aid, Corbett's education secretary, Ron Tomalis, said. In fact, some districts stand to lose more money than would even be sent to other, wealthier districts, he said.=

= Some suggest that it would be fairer to ask school districts to absorb a uniform per-student reduction in state aid, rather than the wild disparity in per-student reductions that resulted from the budget plan Corbett proposed in March. =

=At this point, top lawmakers appear to be in the final weeks of assembling a budget that will deliver a heavy reduction in state aid to public schools, and they are unlikely to reverse the approach to cuts in state aid originally taken by Corbett.=



=Why Do Poorest Pa. Schools Have to Take Bigger Cuts?= =[|Pottstown Mercury Editorial on Disproportionate Budget Cuts]= =See Exactly How Disproportionate the Cuts Really Are!= =No School district Escapes Corbett's Budget Cuts= =Click here for an analysis of the biggest and smallest education cuts to schools in Western Pa:= ==

= HONORABLE MENTION =

=Walmart Family Rewards Education Reformers= =Internet Sales Tax Would Cover More Than 46,000 Teacher Salaries=

= Milwaukee School Voucher Program discriminates based on disability! = = Is Pa. Senate Bill 1 Really Such a Good Idea!? =



=Milwaukee's voucher system, which allows low-income students to attend private schools using tax dollars, discriminates based on disability, according to a complaint filed Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation and Disability Rights Wisconsin.=

=The complaint seeks an investigation into the system, which the groups allege segregates Milwaukee students, and expresses the desire to end the alleged discrimination, halt efforts to expand the system until the discrimination is fixed and mandate better oversight.=

=The complaint names the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, the State of Wisconsin and two private schools that accept vouchers.=

= "Our data point to large discrepancies in student populations with formally identified special-education needs between the Milwaukee Public Schools and the schools that participate in the voucher program ," said Wisconsin's Department of Public Instruction spokesman Patrick Gasper. "We have expressed this fact to state elected leaders in the past."=

=The suit comes as Wisconsin and other states seek to expand their voucher programs. Along with charter schools, voucher programs are a central part of the "school choice" movement, which advocates say allows families to decide the best education route for their children. Tuesday's filing touches on the pervasive criticism that such programs are ill-equipped or choose not to serve high-needs populations. =

= = =Milwaukee's Voucher Program Discriminates Based On Disabilities, ACLU Says= =Do School Vouchers Really Improve Student Achievement?= =Tea Party Gears Up For 2012 In Contentious School Voucher Fight= =Focus on School Vouchers=

= = = New Jersey Plans to Privatize Public Schools!!! =


 * [[image:Corbett-Christie.jpg align="center"]] ||
 * Governors Chris Christie and Tom Corbett - idealogical blood brothers. ||

=New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced a pilot program on Thursday that would allow private companies to run public schools in some of the state's chronically underperforming school districts.=

=The public-private partnership would authorize school management organizations to operate five schools, and would target some of the 100,000 New Jersey students now enrolled in 200 chronically failing schools, the governor's office said.=

=The state's teachers union, which has clashed with the Republican governor over cuts to school aid and other issues, said the plan was part of Christie's "ongoing effort to privatize public education in New Jersey."=

= Christie's proposal comes amid a contentious national debate over how to improve public schools and the role of the private sector -- including autonomous charter schools -- in the education of American schoolchildren. =

=The New Jersey proposal comes on the heels of a ruling by the state's highest court that Christie's education cuts of about $1 billion last year were unconstitutional and had shortchanged disadvantaged students.= = = =The court ordered the state to spend about $500 million more on its poorest schools in the next year.=

= Think it can't happen here? New Jersey is just a year ahead of Pennsylvania! = = = =Chris Christie Announces Plan To Privatize New Jersey Public Schools=

= HONORABLE MENTION = = = =In What Other Profession...= =Pennsylvania is 'Selectively Dismantling' Public Education= =Educational Budget Cuts are Unconscionable -- and Unconstitutional=

= Can Republicans Read? = =Given House Bill 1485 that strips $1.2 billion from education and Senate Bill 1 that proposes using hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to subsidize private and parochial schools, one wonders...= = = =Consider this:=

= The [|Pennsylvania Constitution] says, = = = = B. Education Public School System =

= Section 14  =

= 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. =

= Public School Money Not Available to Sectarian Schools  =

= Section 15  =

= __No__ money raised for the support of the public schools of the Commonwealth shall be appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school. =

= = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 110%; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> = = <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">When sworn into office, Pennsylvania legislators promise to uphold the state Constitution. Therefore, regardless of party affiliation, an elected official in the state of Pennsylvania is required to support public education. That means they cannot cry poor when it comes to our state's children while giving hundreds of millions in tax breaks to corporations. That means they can not support a voucher bill that will take taxpayer money and divert it to private and religious schools and "dismantle" community-based public schools. = =Pennsylvania is 'Selectively Dismantling' Public Education= =Educational Budget Cuts are Unconscionable -- and Unconstitutional=

= In What Other Profession... =

= = = <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In what other profession <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> are the licensed professionals considered the LEAST knowledgeable about the job? You seldom if ever hear “that guy couldn’t possibly know a thing about law enforcement – he’s a police officer”, or “she can’t be trusted talking about fire safety – she’s a firefighter.” =

= <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In what other profession <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> is experience viewed as a liability rather than an asset? You won’t find a contractor advertising “choose me – I’ve never done this before”, and your doctor won’t recommend a surgeon on the basis of her “having very little experience with the procedure”. =

= <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In what other profession <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> is the desire for competitive salary viewed as proof of callous indifference towards the job? You won’t hear many say “that lawyer charges a lot of money, she obviously doesn’t care about her clients”, or “that coach earns millions – clearly he doesn’t care about the team.” =

= <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But look around. You’ll find droves of armchair educators who summarily dismiss any statement about education when it comes from a teacher. Likewise, it’s easy to find politicians, pundits, and profiteers who refer to our veteran teachers as <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: serif; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">ineffective, overpriced “dead wood” __ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. Only the rookies could possibly be any good, or worth the <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: serif; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">food-stamp-eligible __ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> starting salaries we pay them. =

= <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">And if teachers dare ask for a raise, this is taken by many as clear evidence that teachers don’t give a porcupine’s posterior about kids. In fact, some say if teachers really cared about their students they would <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: serif; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">insist on earning LESS money __ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. =

= <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If that entire attitude weren’t bad enough, <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">what other profession <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> is legally held to PERFECTION by 2014? Are police required to eliminate all crime? Are firefighters required to eliminate all fires? Are <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">doctors <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> required to cure all patients? Are lawyers required to win all cases? Are coaches required to win all games? Of course they aren’t. = = <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For no other profession do so many outsiders refuse to accept the realities of an imperfect world. Crime happens. Fire happens. Illness happens. As for lawyers and coaches, where there’s a winner there must also be a loser. People accept all these realities, until they apply to public education. =

= <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">If a poverty-stricken, drug-addled meth-cooker burns down his house, suffers third degree burns, and then goes to jail; we don’t blame the police, fire department, doctors, and defense attorneys for his predicament. But if that kid doesn’t graduate high school, it’s clearly the teacher’s fault. =

=In What Other Profession...=

= HONORABLE MENTION =

=North Carolina Lawmaker's Third-Grade Daughter Writes Him Letter To Protest Education Cuts= =Charter Schools Tied to Turkey Grow in Texas= =PA Lawmakers Seek Ban on Teachers Strikes= =Philly Judge Halts Teacher Layoffs, For Now=

=Cooperation, Not Competition - the Finish Model= =The International Education Divide= =Report Finds National Testing Push Yielded Few Learning Advances=

= =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 32px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; font-size: 70%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Is it possible that the U.S. has been heading in the wrong direction for most of the 30 years it has been focused on school reform? That's the conclusion a of two major reports on education that came out this week. =



=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The first, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Standing on the Shoulders of Giants", written largely by Marc Tucker of the National Center for Education and the Economy, contrasts the approaches taken by five high performing (but quite different) entities -- Toronto, Japan, Finland, Shanghai and Singapore -- with what we have been doing here. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The essential message: <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">those places aren't doing any of the stuff we have focused on -- charter schools, alternate certification, pay for performance, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">to name a few of our 'magic bullets.' Instead, they have developed comprehensive systems: their teachers are drawn from the top of the class, are trained carefully and, if hired, are paid like other professionals. They spend more on the children who are the toughest to educate and they expect their best teachers to work in the toughest schools. They do not rely heavily on machine-scored multiple choice tests but are inclined to trust and respect the judgements of teachers. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You can <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: serif; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">[|read the paper here] __. = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Accompanying Marc Tucker's paper is a fascinating document, "Ten Myths about Education in the U.S." <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #551a8b; font-family: serif; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Read it here] __ =

=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Read More: = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #551a8b; font-family: serif; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">The International Education Divide __ = =

=



=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The second <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">a new <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #551a8b; font-family: serif; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">National Research Council report __ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">finds that education policies pushing more tests haven't necessarily led to more learning. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The tests educators rely on are often too narrow to measure student progress, according to the study. The testing system also failed to adequately safeguard itself, the study added, providing ways for teachers and students to produce results that seemed to reflect performance without actually teaching much. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Heavily testing students and relying on their scores in order to hold schools -- and in some cases teachers -- accountable has become the norm in education policy. The No Child Left Behind Act, the largest piece of education legislation on the federal level, for example, uses performance on math and reading exams to gauge whether schools are failing or succeeding -- and which schools are closed or phased out. = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The report comes as congress works to <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: serif; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">reauthorize __ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">and overhaul No Child Left Behind, and as states countrywide pass <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: serif; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">laws __ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #800080; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">that link the hiring and firing of teachers to their students' performance on standardized tests. = = = media type="custom" key="9663822" = = = = = = = = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff0000; font-family: serif; font-size: 70%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Read More: = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 70%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #551a8b; font-family: serif; font-size: 32px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Report Finds National Testing Push Yielded Few Learning Advances __ =

=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 70%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff0000; font-family: serif; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">HONORABLE MENTION = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 70%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #551a8b; font-family: serif; font-size: 32px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Cooperation, Not Competition - the Finish Model __ = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 70%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #551a8b; font-family: serif; font-size: 32px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Pennsylvania is 'Selectively Dismantling' Public Education __ = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 70%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #551a8b; font-family: serif; font-size: 32px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Investing in Prisons Over Education is Not Being Smart on Crime __ = =<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 70%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">__<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #551a8b; font-family: serif; font-size: 32px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Survey Says Severe School Cuts Coming __ =

=<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: serif; font-size: 70%; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">PDF: __<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ee; font-family: serif; font-size: 32px; text-align: start; vertical-align: baseline;">Read the report on school finances __ =

= =

= A survey of Pennsylvania school districts released Thursday suggests teacher layoffs, instructional program cuts and tax increases beyond inflation are increasingly likely if Gov. Tom Corbett's cut of more than $1 billion in education subsidies stands: =

= 31% of districts expect to boost taxes beyond the inflation rate = = = = 71% expect to cut instructional programs  = = 64% will eliminate tutoring  = = 51% will end summer school  = = 31% will end all-day kindergarten  = = 66% plan to lay off instructional staff  = = 70% anticipate non-instructional staff layoffs. = = =

=Survey Says Severe School Cuts Coming=

=PDF: Read the report on school finances= = =

= HONORABLE MENTION = =Saccone Defends State GOP Budget Proposal= =School Funding Loss for 2011-12=

=

= =A Penn State Administrator shows exactly how the SHOCK DOCTRINE is being used to dupe Pennsylvania into buying Gov. Corbet's lies. In short, between maintaining the worthless PSSA system (NCLB) and implementing a set of new initiatives, the Corbett administration may end up costing taxpayers more than he's cutting from education! = = = = Shock Doctrine Case Study - PA Public Schools =

= HONORABLE MENTION = = Why the Black-White Gap Was Closing When It Was = = The Myth of 'Throwing Money at the Problem' =

= = = = = = =State Sen. John Eichelberger stated on his March 31st blog, "I got my usual anti-freedom emails from public school employees." Here are several questions that were recently sent to Eichelberger. His response is at the bottom of the page. YOU HAVE TO READ IT TO BELIEVE IT! = =State Sen. John Eichelberger Responds to Questions=

= = =home=