News Headlines
Public education is always changing and keeping up with these changes is a challenge. PSBA helps keep our members informed and keeps you current with the issues facing public education.
News Categories
PSBA News
-
PSBA Responds to PDE Memo on Validation of Local Assessments:
PDE's July 28 memo, "Establishing Validity of Local Assessments," has raised several questions for PSBA members. Read the memo from Executive Director Thomas J. Gentzel sharing member concerns and offering suggestions to improve the process.
View Story -
Official notice: Proposed bylaws revisions:
In accordance with Article XII, Section 6 of the PSBA Bylaws, notice is hereby given that the following revisions* to the bylaws were properly submitted to and approved by the Bylaws Committee and subsequently recommended by the PSBA Board of Directors for consideration at the annual business meeting of the association on Thursday, Oct. 16, at the Hershey Lodge & Convention Center:
View Story -
Board Self-assessment Program Promotes Effective Governance:
Chances are your school entity is one of the nearly 80% that has adopted the PSBA Standards for Effective School Governance or a local variation.
View Story -
Districts Adopt Effective Governance Standards:
Thanks are extended to these districts statewide that adopted PSBA Standards for Effective School Governance
View Story -
Members Only Login and Your Member ID:
Your PSBA member ID belongs only to you! Please don't use someone else's ID to log in to Members' Only.
View Story -
How to Log In to the New Site:
Visitors to PSBA’s new Web site will notice an enhanced Members Only area which will allow more people to participate. Logging in is easy!
View Story
Education News
-
Test score melt down in high school:
Between the last year of middle school and the junior year in high school, something happens to Pennsylvania students -- and it's not just puberty. After years of building on math and reading skills and showing consistent gains on state tests, those improvements come to a screeching halt in high school. Not only do students stop improving in reading, they actually seem to lose math skills.
View Story -
Law lets twins stay together in school:
Starting this fall in Pennsylvania, parents of multibirths can choose to place their children in the same classrooms if they are in the same grade level and school. The measure, dubbed the "twins law," was slipped into the education section of the state budget, which passed July 4.
View Story -
Back to school: Shaky economy hits kids:
Hard times and higher fuel prices will follow kids back to school this fall. Children will walk farther to the bus stop, pay more for lunch, study from old textbooks and wear last year's clothes. Field trips? Forget about it.
View Story -
Switch to 4-day week a local call:
Few Pennsylvania school districts have inquired about switching to a four-day school week even though the concept would not lead to legislative hurdles at the state level, officials from two state education agencies said Wednesday.
View Story -
Most Pa. schools meet state guidelines:
Most school districts are meeting the state's academic benchmarks, and more students are performing at grade level than in past years on the state assessment tests, the state Pennsylvania Department of Education said today.
View Story -
Group faults school districts for too-strict enrollment rules:
A nonprofit advocacy group says that students are being turned away from public schools in Pennsylvania because school districts aren't adhering to state laws regarding enrollment.
View Story -
ACT scores down, but more students college-ready:
Average scores on the ACT college entrance exam dipped slightly for the high school class of 2008 as the number of students taking the exam jumped by 9 percent compared to last year.
View Story -
Rendell names new chairman of education board:
The chief executive officer of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia will lead Pennsylvania's State Board of Education. Gov. Ed Rendell announced the appointment of Joseph Torsella as board chairman today.
View Story -
Exit Scramble:
A decade-long push by states to make high school students pass an exit exam before getting their diplomas has stalled as politically sensitive student-failure rates contribute to a growing public backlash against high-stakes testing.
View Story -
With exit tests dead, state turns to Plan B:
The proposal to mandate high school exit exams fizzled, but the state Department of Education is moving to Plan B to ensure a high school diploma has value.
View Story -
Lack of agreement hindering property tax reform:
When it comes to property tax reform, most would agree it needs to be done. The rub comes when you ask people how.
View Story -
Schools move to eject cars from campuses:
High schools and colleges are steering students away from cars to save money on gas, save the environment and promote physical fitness.
View Story -
Study questions grading system:
Without hacking into a computer or handing in extra-credit work, failing grades could be turned into passing grades — just by using a different grading system.
View Story -
Special education needs soar:
Pennsylvania expects children with special needs to be taught in the same classrooms as their peers whenever possible — not segregated in special rooms for the entire school day.
View Story -
Growing hesitancy over a military test:
Every school year, at hundreds of high schools across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, students are asked - and sometimes required - to take a vocational aptitude test with a strange-sounding name - the ASVAB, which stands for Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.
View Story -
Washington Supreme Court says privacy trumps identifying teacher in cases of unsubstantiated sexual :
The Washington State Supreme Court issued a ruling Thursday that pitted the fear of stigmatizing an innocent teacher against the threat of allowing sexual predators in the schools to escape detection.
View Story -
Special education needs soar:
Pennsylvania expects children with special needs to be taught in the same classrooms as their peers whenever possible — not segregated in special rooms for the entire school day.
View Story -
Questions abound in Monaca-Center merger:
The Center Area and Monaca school districts have brought a raft of merger questions to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The department's general answer is one worthy of a shoe advertisement: "Just do it."
View Story -
Feds: No risk to children from synthetic fields:
Children aren't at risk for lead exposure from synthetic athletic fields, according to a report Wednesday from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
View Story -
State pension funds lose value:
It has been a rocky year for all kinds of investors, and Pennsylvania's major state pension funds are not immune. Both funds, which together issue monthly retirement checks to 275,000 retired public school and state employees, see declines in their investments.
View Story -
Pa.'s reverse tax-appeal tangle:
$1 billion at stake for school districts over next decade.
View Story -
Districts must account for how they spend:
A $275 million boost in state money for public schools includes unprecedented accountability measures for districts with the biggest gains.
View Story -
School districts still rely on local taxes :
While many local school districts will see additional dollars in its basic education subsidy thanks to this year's state budget, none will rely any less on local taxes to ensure their expenses are met.
View Story