Anonymous wrote:
"New Post:
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As part of the Campaign for Fair Education Funding, Education Voters PA has organized a Call to Action for Public Education on Thursday, May 14th. The goal of this Call to Action is for you to call your legislators and the Governor to make sure they make the development of a fair and predictable Basic Education Funding formula a priority in this legislative session. I encourage you to participate in the Call to Action.
Below are the names of our legislators and contact numbers to make it a bit easier for you to make the call. Please spread the word to your email lists and ask them to do the same. This is really important for all of us to do. We can make a difference!
PA House Representative - The Honorable Ed Gainey 412-665-5502
PA Senate Representative - The Honorable Jay Costa 412-241-6690
Governor Wolf Liaison office - 717-787-5825
Thanks in advance for your support. "
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14 comments:
Anonymous also wrote:
"Follow up to New Post:
Support sufficient funding for public schools that
provides every student with the opportunity to learn, to
meet state standards, and to be self-sufficient adults,
ready for college and the workforce. Money matters
when it comes to providing programs and services.
Drive out state funding to districts using a formula that
is based on real factors and the real costs of delivering
services, including student factors such as the number of
students who live in poverty, who are English language
learners, and who are homeless. It should also take into
account district factors such as the sparsity/size of the
district, local tax effort, local wealth, and the number of
students attending charter schools.
Please support a long-term, student-driven, and
equitable funding formula that provides adequate
resources for every student to be able to meet academic
standards. "
For more information, visit
educationvoterspa.org or
fairfundingpa.org
Or call 215-564-2299
Nothing wrong with asking for more money.
But I've got to say this. If you would actually poll PPS classroom teachers, and ask them what they need most to help their students learn, I'll bet "money" wouldn't even be in the top three answers.
My opinion as to the top three answers:
1. Help with classroom discipline. Orderly classrooms are a must!
2. Freedom to teach each class as the teacher sees best. No more one size fits all.
3. Less interference from outside "consultants".
There is no doubt that you are absolutely correct, teacher in PPS.
However, there is only one agenda, and that is funding for adults, lots of funding for adults ( adults who are not qualified, certified or equipped as educators).
Students are not on the agenda at all and teachers are there to be blamed for the curriculum, the discipline, and the teaching/learning process. Yet, they no autonomy, and therefore no control over any of the three for which they are blamed.
So we need more adults, executives, consultants, managers, directors, etc. to break all financial limits---get rich quick schemes by everyone large and small---from courageous conversations, to restorative practices, to teach for america, to america's choice, to mathematica, to rand corporation studies and false conclusions/solutions, etc., etc.
And they are screening candidates for school board who support this runaway golden train that is transporting adults to secure futures on the backs of our grossly underserved students and subverted classroom teachers.
2:33
PPS classroom teachers need their own_____ Call To Action. It's been a long time coming.
Your first three answers are a terrific start.
Friends and neighbors are your grass roots.
our high per pupil spending all goes to testing corp., unneeded published packaged curriculum, consultants, and the admin building.
why would i ask for more of that?
public does not have a clue what it is all about
they think it goes to teachers and kids
So true. And the same goes for many legislators.
The teachers are right! Now the money is going to Restorative Practices and Community Schools INSTEAD of teachers, classrooms and students!
"Equitable funding formulas" always result in more "free money" for entrepreneurs. The money never gets anywhere near students or teachers in public schools.
If you ask parents in economically depressed neighborhoods, what they always request are strong vocational programs in well-paying trades.
Questioner, those vocational programs are very expensive to run and I bet that is why they were phased out over the years. At least three times there has been fanfare and discussion at board meetings about agreements/programs between the school district and trades. What comes of it and is it as useful as making a kid employable on graduation day armed with skills he/she learned in a vocational classroom?
When can anyone remember a call to action organized by teachers and and students to change the status quo in the classroom as 2:33 suggests ? Friends and neighbors and community groups can make your voices heard. I'm certain phones were ringing non-stop at the House and Senate offices.
Change can happen and yesterdays call to action is a guide on how it can be done.
From today's P-G
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2015/05/16/Black-students-teachers-call-for-more-diversity-in-classes-hiring/stories/201505160082
Do we really believe that our African American students would be better students behavior wise and academically if their teachers were of color also? When I taught in PPS, it didn't matter what color the teacher was. If the student was there to learn, they learned.
If I am an African American teacher today, I wouldn't want to teach in PPS because of everything that goes on outside of the classroom.
Compensation Disparities
http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/8353996-74/teachers-allegheny-pennsylvania#axzz3aOwu8d00
(new topic)
While on the surface I'm sure people will say that "of course" suburban districts have more highly paid educators, and that this is why they have high rankings. But perhaps these high ratings by U.S. News and World Report and Pittsburgh Business Times could be the result of the large number of seasoned teachers.
One of the biggest complaints that families had previously was the high turn over of teachers in the rougher schools- and conversely the stability in thehigher scoring schools. This has been lost since 2006-- and now we try for a team of rookies (as some suburban schools sometimes refer to new teachers). New teachrs do invigorate a school, especially when combined with experienced teachers.
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