On Tuesday, June 22, 2021, the PA Senate Education Committee voted unanimously to move Governor Wolfâs nomination of Acting Education Secretary Noe Ortega to full status to the Senate floor without a recommendation. He was confirmed by the full Senate on a 44-6 vote later that day.
Category: State Government Actions
PA First Lady, Physician General, Teen Advocates Emphasize Vaccine Safety for Teens and Young Adults (June 20, 2021)
On June 17, 2021, First Lady Frances Wolf and Acting Physician General Dr. Denise Johnson moderated a panel discussion on vaccine safety for teens and young adults. The panel, hosted by the Governorâs Advisory Commission on African American Affairs, was entitled Vax Facts: Teen Edition. This was the fifth event in a series that seeks to provide relevant and accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines and address the questions of concerned citizens.
First Lady Wolf and Dr. Johnson were joined by teen and young adult advocates who are stepping up to encourage other young Pennsylvanians to get informed and get vaccinated: Ramir Burks, Clarion University (Pittsburgh), Mitchell Howard, Recent graduate of South Fayette HS (McDonald); Kendell Dixon, Abington Friends School (Philadelphia); Angely Keosann, Philly Teen VAXX Ambassador (Philadelphia); and Nina Dilworth, Philly Teen VAXX Ambassador (Philadelphia).
Teens and young adult leaders across the commonwealth have stepped up as leaders to communicate with their peers about the importance of COVID-19 vaccines, to educate their communities on vaccine safety and to help young Pennsylvanians get vaccinated.
âCOVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, and theyâre our best protection from the virus,â Acting Physician General Dr. Denise Johnson said. âCurrently, everyone 12 and older is eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Itâs important that everyone who is eligible gets vaccinated not only to protect themselves, but to protect those who cannot get vaccinated yet, such as children under the age of 12. We must continue to wear our masks and take precautions to keep each other safeâwe have the power to end this pandemic.â
COVID-19 vaccines are free, safe, reliable and accessible, and youth as young as age 12 are eligible to be vaccinated. People are advised to visit vaccines.gov (vacunas.gov en espaùol) to find a vaccine provider.
BSE Director Clancy: LEAs to Submit Table 8A Report to IUs by July 9th (June 19, 2021)
On June 16, 2021, BSE Director Clancy issued a PennLink communique titled July 2021 Special Education Table 8A Submission. The memo states that in July 2021 local educational agencies (LEAs) assigned to this yearâs reporting cohort will submit their data for Special Education Table 8A, Report of Children with Disabilities Evaluated July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021. Below is a list of all LEAs required to submit Table 8A this July. If an LEA does not appear on this list, the LEA is not required to submit Table 8A data in July 2021.
Table 8A data is collected on a cyclical basis. Those LEAs that are to submit Table 8A to the Bureau of Special Education (BSE) will be informed of such in June this year. Regardless of their reporting status, all LEAs in the state must continue to collect and maintain data regarding timely evaluations so that the LEA can assess its on-going compliance and program effectiveness and be prepared to report data to the state when notified to do so.
Table 8A is used for two purposes: (1) To calculate and report to the federal Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) an annual state rate of compliance with timelines for completing initial evaluations of students to determine their eligibility for special education under the State Performance Plan; and (2) To report to the public on the performance of LEAs in the commonwealth in complying with the required timelines.
Data collected over the past several years on compliance with timelines for initial evaluations show that while many LEAs have achieved full compliance, others have not. When LEAs do not comply and improve performance, the overall state rate reported to OSEP is negatively affected. Further, any LEA that reports less than 100 percent compliance with timelines will be required to engage in quarterly reporting to the BSE to document correction of noncompliance. Therefore, it is imperative that all LEAs be as accurate as possible in collecting and reporting Table 8A data.
OSEP has advised that states should factor out from their Table 8A calculation those students whose evaluation timelines are affected by two exceptions in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act regulations. Specifically, Section 300.301(d) allows that the 60-day timeline for completing initial evaluations does not apply to a public agency if (1) the parent of a child repeatedly fails or refuses to produce the child for the evaluation, or (2) a child enrolls in a school of another agency after the timeline has begun and prior to a determination by the prior agency as to whether the child is a child with a disability. This second exception applies only if the subsequent public agency is making sufficient progress to ensure prompt completion of the evaluation and the parent and subsequent agency agree to a specific time when the evaluation will be completed. To ensure accurate reporting, it is critical that when a delay in meeting timelines occurs, LEAs must correctly code the reasons for the delay in accordance with the exceptions above.
The Table 8A Template for the July 2020 submission is available on the Special Education Data Reporting website at http://penndata.hbg.psu.edu under the Data Management tab in the 2020-2021 section; scroll down to Table 8A Template.
LEAs are to submit their Table 8A to their Intermediate Unit Data Manager no later than July 9, 2021.
Questions regarding completion and submission of Table 8A should be referred to the Intermediate Unit Data Manager. Questions regarding this Penn*Link may be referred to Jodi Rissinger in the BSE at [email protected].
Governor Wolf Calls for Fair Funding for PA Public Schools (June 9, 2021)
According to a June 9, 2021 PA Newsroom press release, continuing their commitment to students and working families, Governor Tom Wolf and House and Senate Democratic Leaders held a Capitol press conference to highlight the injustice in the stateâs school funding system and call for fair funding of every district.
The stateâs outdated process for funding schools is based on student enrollment in 1992, without considering changes in student counts or current school district costs today. That forces growing school districts across urban, suburban and rural communities to make up for underfunding from the state by raising property taxes, increasing the burden on homeowners and businesses.
The fair funding formula signed by Gov. Wolf in 2016 was a major bipartisan achievement, but only applies to new funding. Last year, only 11 percent, or $700 million, of state funding ran through it. The remaining 89 percent, or $5.5 billion, is disbursed using the unfair system still stuck 30 years in the past. Many districts do not receive the state funding to meet the needs of their students.
The governor joined House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton, Senate Democratic Leader Jay Costa, House Democratic Appropriations Chairman Matthew Bradford, Senate Democratic Appropriations Chairman Vince Hughes and House and Senate Democratic members, as well as education experts and stakeholders to deliver a united message of support for Pennsylvaniaâs children.
The governorâs education agenda also includes bipartisan charter school accountability reform that improves the quality of education and modernizes how Pennsylvania funds charter schools to match costs rather than forcing school districts to overpay. The estimated $395 million a year in savings includes $185 million by funding special education in charter schools the same way the state does for all other public schools and $210 million a year by establishing a statewide cyber charter school tuition rate. The plan also protects students by creating charter school performance standards that hold low-performing charter schools accountable and protects the public trust by improving transparency so for-profit charter school companies are accountable to parents and taxpayers.
To view the press release in its entirety, click here.
PAPSA Signs on to Letter to PA Senate Opposing SB 733 (June 8, 2021)
On June 8, 2021, PAPSA joined 24 other organizations in sending a letter to members of the Pennsylvania Senate in opposition to Senate Bill 733 â Education Opportunity Account Scholarships (EOASs) respectfully urging all members of the Senate to vote no on the bill, which would create a tuition voucher program for students with special needs costing taxpayers an estimated $600 million. SB 733 changes the name of tuition vouchers to âeducation savings accountsâ or âeducation opportunity account scholarshipsâ and it is feared that SB 733 would lessen educational opportunities for students, while leading to funding cuts and higher local property taxes.
From a special education perspective, the bill expressly prohibits the commonwealth or its agencies from regulating an educational program in a nonpublic school. This effectively means the state would be prohibited from requiring a nonpublic school receiving state education resources to comply with IDEA or state regulations governing special education, even though those resources would be allocated under the proposed voucher program to provide educational supports and services to students with disabilities. Ultimately, families and students would be more vulnerable without these protections.
In essence , the letter contends that SB 733 diminishes support for K-12 public education and would undermine Pennsylvaniaâs responsibility to ensure every student in every community has equal access to public education. School districts in Pennsylvania are already underfunded, and this legislation requires that state money for EOAS vouchers be deducted from a school districtâs subsidy.
To view the letter in its entirety, click here.
To view SB 773, click here.