August 5, 2011

In This Issue

* PLUS testifies before House Educ Committee

* PDE to introduce teacher evaluation pilot program

* Corbett: School Districts responsible for budget problems.

* Update on voucher proposals

* Secty Duncan uses bully pulpit to call for restructuring of teacher pipeline.

PLUS testifies at House Education Committee summer hearings on voucher proposals.  

PLUS presented testimony before the House Education Committee on August 4 in Harrisburg.  The committee held a series of informational hearings about the various proposals pending to create private school tuition vouchers and to amend Pennsylvania's charter school law.  

Read PLUS testimony  

Pa Dept of Ed to introduce pilot teacher evaluation system in fall.  PDE is planning to introduce pilot programs to change how teachers are evaluated placing more emphasis on student achievement. Pennsylvania's effort reflects reforms across the nation. More states are beginning to require school districts to use student achievement as part of their teacher evaluation process.   Read more.   

Quick Links

PLUS website
Pa School Funding Campaign
Pennsylvanians Opposed to Vouchers
Keystone State Education Coalition
Education Voters Pa
Education Law Center

Corbett says school districts hurt by budget cuts have only themselves to blame.   

 Governor Corbett recently stated that school districts have only themselves to blame for their budget problems this year. Corbett said districts that relied on $2 billion in federal stimulus money should have planned better.

""I would note that many [school districts] took federal [stimulus] money, were told the federal money would go away, made their budgets based on that, and now that money is not there," Corbett said.  

What is wrong with this analysis is only about half of the cuts in state funding for education was federal stimulus funding, now expired.  The other half of the state cuts  were to state funding. Also, he should recall that the General Assembly voted to use the federal stimulus funds in part to "backfill" state funds from the Basic Education Subsidy and then the legislators spent these freed up state funds elsewhere in the budget.     

The bottom line is that the state has cut $xx in STATE FUNDS from its budget for k-12 education with the biggest cuts in the school districts with the poorest kids. Pennsylvania students and citizens will pay the price for this poor public policy in the long run.  Read more    

"Vouchers still a priority" for September.  So said Governor Corbett in recent comments on his agenda for the fall legislative session. And meanwhile . . . 

"We think public schools should go away," said Teri Adams, 

 the head of the Independence Hall Tea Party and a leading advocate for vouchers in both Pennsylvania and  New Jersey. ""Our ultimate goal is to shut down public schools and have private schools only, eventually returning responsibility for payment to parents and private charities."

And the National Conf of State Legislators reports that as of mid-July, at least 30 states had introduced bills that would use taxpayer dollars to send children to private schools, most limited to poor or special needs children. Read more.

While research continues to show that vouchers don't have a clear positive effect on achievement.    

The Center on Education Policy released a report in July that  "concludes that vouchers have had no clear positive effect on student academic achievement."
CEP President Jack Jennings argues in a blog post that, "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."  Read more.   

 U.S. Dept. of Education Secretary Arne Duncan called for a radical restructuring of the nation's teacher pipeline.   

At a speech before the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Secretary Duncan called for higher salaries, improved performance-based teacher accountability, and a higher bar for prospective students to enter schools of education. He stated that starting  teachers should earn $60,000 per year, with salaries topping out at around $150,000.

"We must think radically differently," he said, "We must ask and answer hard questions on topics that have been off limits in the past like staffing practices and school organization, benefits packages and job security-because the answers may give us more realistic ways to afford these new professional conditions."   

Read more.