Category: Government Actions

PA Senate Education Committee Approves Graduation Reforms Bill (June 14, 2018)

On Thursday, June 14, 2018, the PA Senate Education Committee amended and approved Senate Bill 1095, which provides multiple options for students to demonstrate readiness for high school graduation. The bill also eliminates the existing requirement for project-based assessments.

In particular, SB 1095 revises the current requirement that calls for students to pass the Keystone Exams in Literature, Algebra I and Biology in order to graduate. Instead, measures of success are aligned to a studentā€™s career goals and reflect the coursework and achievements earned. Under the bill, pathways would include meeting local grade-based requirements and demonstrating competency through the completion of one of four options. One option is achieving an established composite score based on performance on all three Keystone Exams. A second option is achieving established equivalent scores on a variety of alternate assessments, achieving acceptance in a registered apprenticeship program after graduation, achieving admission to higher education, or achieving success in dual enrollment/postsecondary courses. A third option is demonstrating competency through evidence specific to career and technical education (CTE) for students who are CTE concentrators. A fourth option is to present rigorous and compelling pieces of objective evidence relating to a studentā€™s career, military, or postsecondary plans that reflect readiness for graduation and which have been approved for use by the PA Board of Education.

DeVos-Led School Safety Commission Won’t Look At Role of Guns in School Violence (June 6, 2018)

On Tuesday, June 5th, US Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told a Senate committee that the federal commission on school safety will not focus on the role of guns in school violence. She also evaded questions that would draw her into a debate regarding gun control.

When the Trump administration first announced the creation of the commission, it charged the commission with bringing ā€œmeaningful and actionable recommendations to keep students safe at school.ā€ It also listed a number of areas the commission would examine. The first was age restrictions on certain firearm purchases. Other areas included the examination of ratings systems for video games, the effects of news media coverage of mass shootings, and the consumption of ā€œviolent entertainment,ā€ and funding for mental health and school infrastructure resources. The commission has also been charged with considering whether to repeal a package of Obama-era school discipline policies targeted at addressing disciplinary policies that disproportionately affect minority students.

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) pleaded with Sec. DeVos to examine the policies of other countries where school shootings are rare or nonexistent, including Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Britain.

Federal Commission on School Safety Finally Meets (June 4, 2018)

TheĀ  Federal Commission on School Safety held its first field visit on May 31 at a Maryland elementary school. At the meeting, the commission focused on positive behavioral interventions and supports. Sadly, it was without three of the four cabinet secretaries who make up the commission, despite the meeting being held so close to DC. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristen Nielsen sent surrogates in their stead. The full commission has not met since March.

Senate Moves On Amended Safety Bill (May 28, 2018)

The PA Senate is continuing to move along SB 1142, a school safety bill which would provide for the creation and implementation of the Safe2Say Program, an anonymous system of reporting unsafe, potentially harmful, dangerous, violent or criminal activities, or the threat of such activities, in schools.Ā  On April, 24, 2018 the bill was reported as committed unanimously by the Senate Education Committee and, last Monday, Senator Pat Browne offered amendment A07154, which provides for legislative intent, adds definitions, further provides for confidentiality and establishes penalties for false reports.Ā  The amendment was agreed to via voice vote and the bill went over in its order as amended.

Third Circuit Upholds Previous Decision in Boyertown Transgender Case (May 26, 2018)

On Thursday, in Philadelphia, a panel of Third Circuit Appeals Court judges unanimously affirmed a lower court’s ruling, upholding the Boyertown Area School District’s practice of allowing transgender students to use the same restrooms and locker rooms as other students. The case, Doe v. Boyertown Area School District, was filed during the 2016-17 school year by students who claimed that the school district’s policy “violated the students’ bodily privacy rights” when it decided to implement a policy that allowed students to use the restroom facilities that correspond to their gender identity. They further argued that the new policy violated their constitutional right to privacy, as well as Title IX, a federal statute that prohibits sex discrimination in education.

It took less than 20 minutes for the three-judge appeals court panel to emphatically reject arguments made on behalf of the students by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative law firm intent on legalizing anti-LGBTQ discrimination through the courts.

Lawyers for the school district have contended that it has made reasonable accommodations to ensure that no one is forced to forfeit his or her privacy. They have also averred that the school district faces an equal protection claim if it fails to continue allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice.

Despite the stunningly swift appeals court decision, the plaintiffs have stated that they will continue their legal fight.

The judges plan to issue a written opinion during the summer of 2018, which will further spell out their reasoning in a ruling that adds to a mounting body of decisions in favor of transgender students.