Watch: SRC meeting on blended learning

Submitted by thenotebook on Mon, 05/13/2013 - 17:28 | Permalink

Blended learning is the subject of tonight's School Reform Commission meeting. The list of scheduled speakers includes Chris Lehmann, principal of Science Leadership Academy and Lisa Nutter, head of Philadelphia Academies and wife of the mayor.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. 

District staff recommends closing Imani Charter

Submitted by David Limm on Mon, 05/13/2013 - 14:39 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

Imani Education Circle Charter School in Germantown may have to fight to stay open beyond the end of this school year.

According to a list of pending resolutions for the School Reform Commission's Wednesday meeting, District staff is recommending that the 14-year-old charter be closed down. 

District gets tough with two charters over money dispute

Submitted by thenotebook on Mon, 05/13/2013 - 10:34 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner

Discovery Charter School officials say the District's threat to revoke its charter could lead to default on a bond being used to build a new facility at Belmont and Parkside in West Philadelphia. (Benjamin Herold/WHYY)

Philadelphia School District officials are recommending that Discovery Charter School in West Philadelphia be shut down, due to a high-stakes dispute over enrollment caps and $406,000.

Confronted with a similar threat, Mariana Bracetti Academy Charter in Kensington last month repaid the District more than $435,000.  

The School Reform Commission could vote on Discovery's future later this week.

With Superintendent William Hite pushing a freeze on charter expansion due to the District's budget crisis, charter operators around the city will be watching the stand-off with Discovery closely as they consider their own plans to grow.

Notes from the news, May 13

Submitted by thenotebook on Mon, 05/13/2013 - 09:38 Posted in Notes from the news | Permalink

Corbett's education secretary said to be looking for a new job. Inquirer

District's nursing cuts are putting students at risk. NewsWorks

Charter school lawyers ask judge to postpone whistleblower's suit. Inquirer

Teacher: The PSSA is the wrong way to test some schoolchildren. Inquirer

Parents are mobilizing, the way they know how. Notebook

PSP will give $600K to eight Catholic high schools. Inquirer

School funding mess heats up city controller race. Daily News

Councilwomen to Gov: Shadow a Philly kid for a day to see your cuts. Patriot-News

Paul Vallas' "Nixon goes to China" moment. Answer Sheet

Math skills at age 7 predict how much money you'll make. Atlantic

News summary from Keystone State Education Coalition

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5 Northwest Philly teachers win Lindback awards near end of tumultuous school year

Submitted by thenotebook on Fri, 05/10/2013 - 15:14 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Aaron Moselle for NewsWorks

​When it comes to teaching, Catherine Michini is exceedingly humble.

In fact, the longtime math teacher said she felt funny receiving the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation's Distinguished Teaching Award this week. The honor is handed out each year to one teacher at each of the city's public high schools.

Being singled out is just not her style.

Parents are mobilizing, the way they know how

Submitted by thenotebook on Fri, 05/10/2013 - 11:55 Posted in Commentary | Permalink

by Kristen Poole

Hundreds of students marched to City Hall yesterday demanding that the city help with the School District's dire budget shortfall. It was an admirable, even inspiring moment of collective civic action. The students, who came from many different schools, organized a march in the ways expected from young people today: over social media, through text messaging, and by word of mouth.

The demonstration was both highly visible and audible. It could be tracked with news helicopters in the air and documented by iPhones on the ground.

Lately, there has been a surge of activity more difficult to see and hear. I'm referring to the activity of hundreds of parents fighting for the schools. Those of us with work to do, dinner to cook, and kids to car-pool haven’t been staging large Occupy Wall Street-type protests. But don’t mistake our lack of chanting on Broad Street for silence.

Notes from the news, May 10

Submitted by thenotebook on Fri, 05/10/2013 - 09:43 Posted in Notes from the news | Permalink

Schools' need for money center of attention in Philadelphia. NewsWorks via Notebook

See also: Philly schools seek $304M to avoid harmful cuts. AP

City leaders pledge effort to find $180 million in additional school funding. Inquirer

Students protest at City Hall as debate heats up over school funding. City Paper

See also: ​Students stage protest march on Broad Street. 6ABC 

Protesting budget cuts, students march on City Hall. NewsWorks via Notebook

​​Students marched on City Hall and School District to protest budget cuts. NBC10

Nutter proposes alcohol, tobacco tax hikes to help fill school budget shortfall. Daily News

If the District wants parental support for more funding, it must redo the budget. Inquirer

Council President: City won’t give School District more money until the state does. CBS Philly

The education gap has narrowed sharply for Latinos the last decade. NY Times

News summary from Keystone State Education Coalition

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Protesting budget cuts, students march on City Hall

Submitted by thenotebook on Thu, 05/09/2013 - 18:26 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

Two days after hundreds of students from around the city rallied outside School District headquarters protesting budget cuts, hundreds more left school today to march on City Hall.  (Video by NewsWorks)

Schools' need for money center of attention in Philadelphia

Submitted by thenotebook on Thu, 05/09/2013 - 17:54 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Tom MacDonald for NewsWorks

Time is running out on efforts to close the Philadelphia School District's $300 million budget shortfall. Mayor Nutter led a rally for school funding in South Philadelphia while City Council continues to wrestle with the budget.

Parents at North Philly school to protest budget cuts

Submitted by thenotebook on Thu, 05/09/2013 - 13:44 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

Parents at Julia de Burgos School in the Fairhill section of North Philadelphia plan to protest the District's proposed school budget cuts on Friday morning.

Tassie Rivera, a parent leader at de Burgos, is organizing the rally, which is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. in front of the school. Rivera, whose son is in 3rd grade, said she was shocked into action after she received a letter from the school outlining the slashing impact the District's financial crisis would have on the school's budget and urging parents to help.

Notes from the news, May 9

Submitted by thenotebook on Thu, 05/09/2013 - 10:04 Posted in Notes from the news | Permalink

South Philly High teacher wins $20K award for ed-tech startup. Notebook

City and state leaders are playing a game of "chicken" against the city's students. Inquirer

How a few Philly high school students organized themselves into a few hundred in four days. AxisPhilly

Plan to fund $60 million School District request begins to take shape. Daily News

Councilwoman tells Corbett to come visit a Philly school. Inquirer

Nutter and Hite will rally in support of cash-starved District. CBS Philly

City Council not a part of mayor's rally to support school funding. Daily News

Musician launches campaign to help save music programs in Philly schools. Burlington County Times

Corbett's liquor-funded grant program bill was introduced to the state House. Patriot-News

How to rejuvenate yourself and your students after testing. Edutopia

Poverty and student achievement: Are we comparing the wrong groups? Answer Sheet

News summary from Keystone State Education Coalition

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South Philly High teacher wins $20K award for ed-tech startup

Submitted by thenotebook on Wed, 05/08/2013 - 16:48 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Benjamin Herold for NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner

Creating social networks to help kids share books.

Data-mining to pinpoint potential dropouts from online courses.

Sending digital "nudges" about good study habits to the smartphones of college students.

These days, it seems everyone is an ed-tech entrepreneur.

Rifts deepen over direction of education policy in U.S.

Submitted by thenotebook on Wed, 05/08/2013 - 13:54 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

This is a reprint of an article that originally appeared at Education Week.

by Michele McNeil

In statehouses and cities across the country, battles are raging over the direction of education policy — from the standards that will shape what students learn to how test results will be used to judge a teacher's performance.

Students and teachers, in passive resistance, are refusing to take and give standardized tests. Protesters have marched to the White House over what they see as the privatization of the nation's schools. Professional and citizen lobbyists are packing hearings in state capitols to argue that the federal government is trying to dictate curricula through the use of common standards.

New advocacy groups, meanwhile, are taking their fight city to city by pouring record sums of money into school board races.

Notes from the news, May 8

Submitted by thenotebook on Wed, 05/08/2013 - 09:57 Posted in Notes from the news | Permalink

City students converge to protest budget cuts. Inquirer

See also: Philly students protest school budget cuts. NBC 10

Hundreds of Philadelphia students protest budget cuts. 6ABC 

On school closings, lack of information fuels rumors. AxisPhilly

The shortage of school nurses is having a big impact on Philadelphia schools. CBS Philly

Corbett's pension reform plan now in the mix but it has key detractors. Patriot-News

59 teachers named Lindback award winners. Notebook

Students march on District headquarters, protesting doomsday budget. Notebook

What I learned from teaching at a "core virtues" school. Atlantic

How Union City, NJ became a model for educational innovation. Daily Beast

News summary from Keystone State Education Coalition

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Students march on District headquarters, protesting doomsday budget

Submitted by thenotebook on Tue, 05/07/2013 - 22:13 Posted in Latest news | Permalink

by Holly Otterbein for NewsWorks

Philadelphia School District students are furious that they may have to endure even more cuts after they've already lost several nurses, central office staff members and a beloved annual musical at the High School for Creative and Performing Arts.

A group of roughly 250 students marched to the District's headquarters at 440 N. Broad St., where they held their own sort of musical on Tuesday afternoon to protest what some have called next year's "doomsday budget."