Category: News

$3.5 Million Awarded to Expand Access to Gifted Education in PA

On June 27, 2024. the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced that $3.5 million in grant funding has been awarded to expand access to gifted education programming in schools and serve more students through the Pennsylvania Gifted Equity Initiative (PGEI).

Under the grant program, a total of $3.5 million will be allocated to expand gifted services under a statewide support team consisting of state level leads, intermediate units, local education agencies (LEAs), and national leaders in equity to advance the equitable practices in gifted identification across the Commonwealth. The state team will interact with 400 school districts—or 80% of school districts—and each intermediate unit will receive approximately $135,000 over the five-year grant period to serve as the training hub for their region.

The selected intermediate units are as follows:​
-Midwestern IU 4
-Tuscarora IU 11
-Lancaster-Lebanon IU 13
-Berks County IU 14
-Central Susquehanna IU 16
-BLaST IU 17
-Carbon-Lehigh IU 21
-Bucks County IU 22
-Montgomery County IU 23
-Delaware County IU 25

As research shows that there is severe underrepresentation of African American, American Indian, and Hispanic/Latino students in gifted education, PGEI will provide school districts with the tools, training, and resources necessary to implement identification procedures that will increase the number of students identified as gifted.

The program will use federal Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program funding to develop systemic technical assistance and support to help school districts better identify and provide services to gifted students. This will allow educators to use culturally responsive tools to recognize potential in students; increase identification and retention rates of underrepresented students in gifted education; encourage collaboration between institutions of higher education to prepare pre-service teachers to better serve underrepresented gifted students; and provide support and training to families.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Education, please visit the website.

Penn Analysis: Proposed $5B increase in Ed. Funding for PA Schools Would Deliver Long-term Benefits (June 25, 2024)

According to University of Pennsylvania analysts, there would be long-term benefits for public schools across the commonwealth from a $5.1 billion proposal to change the way Pennsylvania funds education. Released on June 18, 2024, the analysis by the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education quantified those prospective benefits. According to the analysis, there would be:
-Improved student outcomes including an additional 3,800 high school graduates, a 4.47% point increase in high school graduation rates, a 4.54% point increase in college enrollment and 3,860 more college enrollees, according to the report.
-Higher earnings for high school graduates over time and greater equity in staffing across school districts  with regard to teacher salaries.
-The creation of more than 18,000 K-12 jobs.

From a pupil services perspective, 82% of PA’s underfunded school systems would see student-teacher and student-counselor ratios rise to match those of well-funded systems.

According to lead researcher Brooks Bowden, associate professor of education and head of the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education, benefits of improving school quality outweigh the cost through “a strategic investment that would pay off for the state and its students [who] would have better access to teachers and counselors, succeed in higher numbers, and strengthen the state’s workforce.”

As a result of a landmark 2023 Commonwealth Court decision that found that Pennsylvania’s existing education funding system fails to meet students’ constitutional rights by failing to provide sufficient resources for schools, a judge ordered the General Assembly to come up with a fix. Subsequently, the Basic Education Funding Commission spent months holding hearings and designing a system that would pour the $5.1 billion in additional funding into state schools over seven years.

For the 2024-25 school year, the proposal would increase education spending by $864 million statewide.

Thus far, the PA House has approved the new system, which is now before the PA Senate where some stiff resistance is expected.

For more details regarding the study, visit the Philadelphia Inquirer by clicking here.  

Sickle Cell Disease, Epilepsy and Cancer could Trigger Student Civil Rights Protections (June 25, 2024)

According to a new set of resources issued on June 20, 2024 the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR), medical conditions such as sickle cell disease, epilepsy, and cancer could trigger protections in K-12 and postsecondary schools under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which protects people against disability discrimination. Some of the accommodations listed in the new resources include allowing students with cancer to consume food and water during classes and excusing students with sickle cell disease from class to go to medical appointments. In addition, students experiencing a seizure may have a sudden onset of emotions or display repetitive behaviors, such as twitches and mouth movements.

The new set of USDE resources follow OCR’s February release of guidance for civil rights protections for students with asthma, diabetes, food allergies, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or gastroesophageal reflux (GER). Schools could face an OCR investigation if there is a complaint that these rights are being violated.

OCR is responsible for enforcing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

New USDA Nutritional Standards Go into Effect on July 1st (June 24, 2024)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) rule for updating school nutrition standards is set to go into effect on July 1st. The USDA’s approved changes include new limits on added sugars and sodium in school meals, which are the largest driving costs in the rule. In fact, since  the finalized regulation is expected to cost school districts an extra 3 cents per meal on average, according to a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, the CRS pointed out that the USDA has cited several available federal resources — including its Healthy Meals Incentives initiative and the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant Program — as possible funding sources to help ease the increase in cost.

For more from K-12 Dive, click here.

Governor’s 2024-25 Proposed Budget Would Make Major Investments In ID/A Services, Workforce (June 22, 2024)

On June 20, 2024, Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh today visited Children and Adult Disability & Educational Services (CADES), a provider serving Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities and autism (ID/A) in Delaware County, and discussed the need for historic investments in Governor Josh Shapiro’s 2024-25 proposed budget, which would increase the number of Pennsylvanians who can access ID/A services, and support the professionals who care for Pennsylvanians with ID/A.

The proposed  budget has received bipartisan support and would invest $483 million in federal and state funding to provide more resources for home and community-based service providers so they have the ability to increase the average starting wage from approximately $15/hour to $17/hour; an increase in wages would both attract and retain the qualified staff who provide these essential services. The governor also announced that DHS would re-examine rates earlier than required to better support home and community-based service providers and the direct support professionals who dedicate their careers to helping Pennsylvanians with ID/A. In addition, service providers also received a one-time supplemental payment in June to assist with workforce recruitment and retention. 

Earlier this year, Governor Shapiro directed DHS to immediately release additional program capacity to counties, which will allow an additional 1,650 Pennsylvanians to receive services this year. The 2024-25 proposed budget seeks to build on this by investing $78 million in federal and state funds to serve an additional 1,500 Pennsylvanians in the next fiscal year. 

If passed, Governor Shapiro’s budget would increase the number of Pennsylvanians with ID/A who are able to receive home and community-based services, kicking off a multi-year growth strategy to make Pennsylvania a national leader and end its adult emergency waiting list. To support this growth, the budget would increase rates for providers, which will support higher wages for the direct support professionals who care for Pennsylvanians with ID/A.

To read the Governor’s budget proposal, click here.