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Video Project to Highlight Impact of Education Budget Cuts

11 Aug

Notes from the Field

Submitted by Ian Moran, Program Manager

Education Voters of Pennsylvania

August 11,2011

Gov. Corbett and the state legislature recently passed a budget containing nearly $1 BILLION in cuts to our public schools!  This is already having a negative impact on students and communities throughout the state.  We need to tell our (or the) story of how these cuts are hurting our communities and why public education is so critical to the success of the entire state.

Education Voters Institute of Pennsylvania (EVI) is conducting a video project to highlight both the impact of cuts to critical programs that serve kids, and the importance of education to our communities and our economy. Tell us about how a program has affected you, or what the schools are like in your community, or who was the first person in your family to go to college.  It can be a video short, or just a personal story told directly into the camera.  Across Pennsylvania, students, parents, community leaders are speaking up about how we are affected by these choices.

What happened with this year’s budget was a travesty, and it didn’t need to happen.  If we’re going to overcome the same obstacles next year we need make our voices heard and start laying the groundwork for change NOW!

CLICK HERE for full details: http://www.educationvoterspa.org/index.php/video-contest/

 

 

 

For the Children’s Sake

09 Aug

Notes from the Field

Submitted by Frank Murphy on August 9, 2011

School district negotiators seem to be making minimal progress in achieving the goal of acquiring $75,000,000 in union contract concessions.  In dealing with an astronomical budget short fall of $629,000,000, employee givebacks are an important element in Arlene Ackerman’s plan to deal with the negative consequences of her extravagant three-year spending spree as Superintendent of Schools.  In previous posts, here and here, I have discussed her imprudent management of district funds.

It isn’t as though union leaders have been universally opposed to discussing the possibility of contract concessions as a way to help chisel away more of the district’s deficit.  Representatives of the bargaining units for district administrators and facility maintenance workers have already reached tentative agreements with district officials.  Members of these two union locals, however, have yet to approve these plans. Read the rest of this entry »

 

Stealth Principal Bonuses

04 Aug

Notes from the Field

Submitted by Frank Murphy on August 4, 2011

The revelation that a handful of School District of Philadelphia principals are receiving bonuses for either helping to plan the rollout of Promise Academies or to continue as the principal of these schools for a second year has stirred another round of controversy concerning Arlene Ackerman’s effectiveness as the leader of the Philadelphia School District.

The timing of this news release couldn’t have been more inopportune for Ackerman.  This revelation was made the day before a special vote on contract givebacks was scheduled for the members of the Commonwealth Association of School Administrators (CASA).  This union, which represents school district principals and other administrators, has been considering accepting economic concessions to their negotiated agreement in order to assist in closing the School District’s gaping budget deficit.

The fact that some seemingly favored principals either had received or are slated to receive bonuses of $10,000 apparently is information that took the leadership of CASA by surprise.  As a result they have been placed in an awkward and embarrassing position.  Read the rest of this entry »

 

A Million Dollar Ackerman Buyout: Just Do It

02 Aug

Notes From the Field

Submitted by Frank Murphy on August 2, 2011

With the start of a new school year rapidly approaching, the news coming out of the School District of Philadelphia continues to be centered on reactions to rumors about Arlene Ackerman’s imminent departure.  Will she go? Will she stay?

Pennsylvania State Representative Michael McGeehan is vocally and publically opposed to Ackerman remaining as the leader of the Philadelphia School District.  Pundits such as Phil Goldsmith, Karen Heller, John Baer, and Brian Hickey have all expressed the opinion that Arlene Ackerman has lost the confidence and good will of the Philadelphia community. On the other hand, a small group of Ackerman supporters have been publically lobbying for her to continue on as the chief school administrator until the end of her contract in 2014.

Although the proposal to accelerate Ackerman’s departure is winning growing support, there is far less of a willingness to see her benefit from a lucrative financial settlement in order to so.  (According to this report in the Philadelphia Inquirer, it may cost $1.5 million to buy out the remaining years on Ackerman’s contract.)  There are two prominent objections to a “buy out” proposition. There is the obvious concern that a district already dealing with a $629 million deficit cannot afford such a large severance payment.  Then of course is the understandable reluctance to generously reward a leader who has failed to avert a fiscal catastrophe of this magnitude in the first place.

Whether we can afford this settlement and/or even offer it in the first place are not the questions we should be considering at this point.  Instead we should be wondering whether we can afford to continue on with Arlene Ackerman. Read the rest of this entry »

 

Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action

28 Jul

Notes from the Field

by Frank Murphy on Jul 28, 2011

This Saturday, the Save Our Schools March and National Call to Action will take place in Washington D.C. The rally, which will be staged at the ellipse, starts at noon.  Around 1:30 p.m., participants will march to the White House where the demonstration will continue.

Many readers will recognize that most, if not all, of the issues that we regularly discuss in the comments of the Notebook blog are represented in the march’s guiding principles.

In an earlier post on City School Stories, I wrote about the significance of this event and how it relates to the education reform turmoil currently occurring in the School District of Philadelphia.

Participating in this national demonstration is just one more way for public school parents, teachers, and students to express their dissatisfaction with the course of school reforms, not only in their local communities but throughout the nation as well.

Parents Across America, one of the sponsoring organizations of the march and rally, offers a wealth of relevant information on their website for anyone concerned about the current direction of school reform in our nation. PAA’s position papers are intended to be useful guides for teachers and parents who are committed to promoting policies that will help to strengthen public schools.

PAA also offers fact sheets including:

Hopefully, a good representation of our Philadelphia school community will be present in D.C. this Saturday. Will you be there?

Let us know how it goes and follow tweets about the march via the #SOSmarch hashtag.Save Our Schools March

 

 

 

A Penny For Your PSSA Test Thoughts

26 Jul

Reflections of an Author

Submitted by Frank Murphy on July 26, 2011

Not long after Congress passed the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act, I attended a principals’ meeting where a regional staffer briefed us on the future implications of this new piece of legislation.   Schools in districts across the state had been participating in the administration of the PSSA test for several years prior to this new federal accountability mandate.  At that time, test results for the three grades being assessed (grades 5,8, and 11), were reported back to individual districts simply as average scale scores for each of their schools.  With NCLB, all students in grades 3- 8 and grade 11 would now be required to take the PSSA.  This would be phased in over a few years to give the state time to develop tests at each grade level. NCLB also dramatically changed the manner in which states and school districts would be expected to communicate test results to the public.  From this point forward, scoring bands labeled Advanced and Proficient were introduced to describe those students considered to be demonstrating academic achievement that was on grade level or above expectations.  For those students who did not do as well on the test, the labels Basic or Below Basic were applied.

In addition to school averages by grade level, test results would be reported according to special subgroups, including economically disadvantaged, race, special education and English language proficiency. For a school to receive the designation of making Adequate Yearly Progress, it must meet or exceed each of its performance targets.  If even one of its subgroups did not meet its target, the school would be designated as a failure. The eventual goal/requirement of NCLB was for every student in the nation to minimally achieve the scoring band of Proficient.

When I first heard the descriptions of the various expectations and sanctions detailed in NCLB, the “gotcha” provisions of this law took me back. Read the rest of this entry »

 

How Does the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School Explain its Test Results?

21 Jul

Reflections: Then and Now

Submitted by Frank Murphy on July 21, 2011

There are currently eleven cyber charter schools operating in Pennsylvania.  The functions of these schools, for the most part, are invisible to public scrutiny.

One of the 89 schools whose PSSA test scores are under investigation by the Pennsylvania Department of Education is the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School.  According to a study conducted by Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) on behalf of the state, the test results of multiple grades of this school were flagged for potential irregularities.

I had written a post earlier this year concerning the large sum of funding this school receives from state-mandated charter school payments. This money is drawn from the operational budgets of the local public school districts where its cyber school students live. I noted how this one virtual school receives more funding per school year than the entire budgets of many Pennsylvania school districts serving multiple schools.

In my post, I noted that “how cyber schools spend their hefty share of public education funds” is a question deserving of an in-depth response. I requested that the managers of the cyber charter schools operating in our state, explain to the general public exactly how they expend the funds they receive.

Now would be a good time for the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School’s manager to respond to this request, particularly in light of its suspect PSSA test scores.  In consideration of the large amount of public tax dollars expended on the operation of this cyber charter school, it is a reasonable idea to expect a high degree of accountability from its administrators.

With Pennsylvania’s cyber charter schools receiving a significant proportion of  local taxpayers’ funds statewide, it appears that accountability to the public is long overdue. Read the rest of this entry »

 

“AYP Anyway I Can Get It”

19 Jul

Reflections: Then and Now

Submitted by Frank Murphy on July 19, 2011

In light of cheating scandals in Atlanta, Washington, Los Angeles, Houston, and now Philadelphia, it is a good time to reexamine the school reform tactics of one of Paul Vallas’ chief aides during his tenure as CEO of the Philadelphia.  In Confessions of an Urban Principal I refer to this administrator as “Deputy Slide”.  I bestowed this title upon her after listening to the advice she offered regarding how to achieve the AYP goal for my school.

She explained to me that she and Paul wanted to see a significant increase in the number of schools in the District that would make AYP.  In order to do so, she said that she would take AYP any way she could get it.

The conversation I had with Deputy Slide was instructive.  Before meeting with her I had suspected that the test results of some schools in the district had been manipulated.  After our conversation, I was sure that my suspicions were well founded.

I didn’t appreciate this administrator’s attempt to pressure me in to engaging in unethical behavior.   The frank manner in which she expressed her views took me back.  At the time, I thought my encounter with Deputy Slide was an unusual event.

Now I can reasonably speculate that there are many Deputy Slides who are in positions of power in our nation’s school districts. I wonder how many educators they have pressured to deliver AYP in any manner they could? Read the rest of this entry »

 

“It’s OK to Be You.”

14 Jul

Reflections of an Author

Submitted by Frank Murphy on July 14, 2011

The Attic Youth Center is an independent organization in Philadelphia dedicated to the work of making life better for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth of our city. In order to get its message out to young people who have been victimized by homophobic bullying, the Attic has initiated an advertising campaign on our public transportation system.  Posters are displayed on SEPTA buses and subway cars carrying the following message: “It’s OK to Be You.”

According to a report issued in 2009 by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a national nonprofit group focused on LGBT issues, many gay and lesbian students in Pennsylvania schools are often bullied and harassed by their classmates. The same report noted that about 85% of LGBT students nationally were harassed at school in 2008. These troubling statistics should be cause for concern regarding how well the adults in our schools are addressing inappropriate student behavior.

All educational professionals working with children must be committed to the belief that they are responsible for creating and maintaining a safe school environment for every child entrusted to their care. This is a proposition that I embrace and promote in my own work as an educator. The Attic’s message is one that is important for all of us in schools to fully support. Every person, whether a young person or an adult, should feel comfortable to say” “It’s OK to Be Me”.

The following piece was cross-posted in the Philadelphia School Notebook and City School Stories on October 26, 2010.  It is a message that I believe is worth repeating over and over again, until the day comes when schools are a safe place for all LGBT youth. Read the rest of this entry »

 

How Did They Get Those Test Results?

12 Jul

Reflections: Then and Now

Submitted by Frank Murphy: July 12, 2011

In the school world, July and August are historically slow paced and uneventful months.  During these summer days, taking a break from the regular routines of the work year is the typical thing to do.  This time also offers a good opportunity to catch up on work that has been put off for too long.

After a busy school year of posting book installments and topical themes, I have been looking forward to slowing the pace at cityschoolstories.com.  My intention is to spend most of my writing time this summer off-line.  While doing so, I plan to keep the blog active by reposting some of my favorite pieces from the past year. These will be ones I think are worth saying at least one more time.

I choose today’s selection after reading this post on the Notebook.  It relates the results of a 2009 Pennsylvania Department of Education report, which identified dozens of Pennsylvania schools having questionable test score results on the state’s annual assessment test.  Twenty-two schools managed by the Philadelphia School District and seven charter schools located in Philadelphia were included on this list.   One of the schools identified is the same school I had talked about in an early September installment of Confessions of an Urban Principal.  Back then in 2004, I wondered how this school managed to obtain amazing increases in the number of students who scored at the proficient and advanced levels on the PSSA test.  Now it appears the Pennsylvania Department of Education is also wondering how this school achieved these results in 2009. Read the rest of this entry »