For the rest of the article, go to School districts think outside the classroom to compete with charters

Cyber schools established outside of brick and mortar establishments have seen growth in recent years, prompting the efforts put forth by Spring-Ford Area School District, Phoenixville Area School District, Boyertown Area School District and Pottstown School District.

In his presentation on Boyertown’s cyber school initiative, Superintendent Dion Betts outlined two motivations for the program: to recoup some of the money lost when students go to other programs outside the district and to provide a better cyber program than what the current cyber school programs provide.

For the rest of the article, go to School districts think outside the classroom to compete with charters

“After 36 years in public education, it is time for me to start a new, active chapter of my life. I am extremely proud of the work we have done to build the best cyber charter school in Pennsylvania and I look forward to continuing to do what I love most: advocating for students,” Trombetta said.

Founded in 2000, PA Cyber is a public school that brings together proven academic methodologies and modern technology to offer a compelling alternative to traditional brick-and-mortar public schools for K-12 students across Pennsylvania. PA Cyber has experienced extraordinary success and growth in the past twelve years. The school served 500 K-12 students in 2000 and now has more than 11,000 K-12 students across the commonwealth enrolled.

For the rest of the article, go to The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School announces interim CEO

For the rest of the article, go to Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School graduate wins West Point acceptance

West Point got the point. Hannah Tuffy will be a member of the incoming corps of cadets this fall.

Dr. Nick Trombetta, PA Cyber’s CEO, said she is the first graduate of the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School to win appointment to the Academy.

Lt. Col. Thomas, commander of the ROTC program at Cedarville (Ohio) University, wrote in his nomination: “She is smart, physically strong and mentally tough.  . . I would be remiss if I do not comment on her personal strength and peer leadership.  She has been a cadet in my ROTC Battalion for this one semester and has accomplished more in that one semester than most of the juniors . . . The United States Military Academy will be making a mistake if they do not accept this cadet.  The Army deserves future officers like her.”

Commonwealth Connections Academy is a leading virtual public charter school that serves students in grades K-12 from across Pennsylvania. Commonwealth Connections Academy was the sole virtual school to qualify and participate in this year’s National Competition, and is also the only virtual school to place within the top three nationally in the four-year history of the Real World Design Challenge.

An annual and nationally recognized program, the Real World Design Competition is sponsored by a public-private partnership (including partners such as Cessna Aircraft and NASA Langley Research Center) with the goal of increasing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education and providing students access to real world engineering experiences. This year, 45 total states, independent states, and territories participated in the Challenge, while 30 total teams moved on or participated in the National Competition.

For the rest of the article, go to Commonwealth Connections Academy Team Becomes First Cyber School Finalist at National Engineering Challenge

The board voted unanimously to hire Allan Berkhimer as the new principal of the Saltsburg Middle/High School and to appoint Holly M. Hall to a vacant Region III board seat.

Berkhimer will receive a starting salary of $77,500 through the 2012-13 school year, prorated to the number of days worked. His first day at the Saltsburg school will be determined by his release date at the Shade-Central City School District in Cairnbrook, where he has been employed as a junior/senior high school principal for the last five years.

He previously served as a social studies teacher at the senior high and junior high levels in the Hollidaysburg Area School District. He also completed three years of active duty with the U.S. Army, serving stateside as a specialist in an air defense artillery unit.

Berkhimer will succeed Tom Trunzo, a former Saltsburg teacher and coach and Marion Center High School principal who returned from retirement on an interim basis after Saltsburg’s previous principal, Eric Kostic, left for another position.

School board President Ed Smith said Berkhimer “stood out among three excellent candidates.”

Berkhimer said he was attracted to the opening at Blairsville-Saltsburg because of the district’s “very contemporary and progressive approach to education.”

He referred to the district’s recent successful launch of its own virtual academy, to compete with cyber charter schools that have been attracting some students away from traditional public schools. The district also has approved an agreement with Apple that will provide an iPad 2 tablet device for each student in grades 9-12.

For the rest of the article, go to Blairsville-Saltsburg hires principal, appoints director

But they are not alone as total taxpayer contributions for school and state worker pensions will increase from $1.7 billion in 2011-12 to more than $6.1 billion in 2016-17—a 257 percent increase. Next school year, the average homeowner will pay an additional $370 just for increases in required pension contributions.

Unfortunately, those with perpetual palms up are repeating the popular narrative that simply blames state lawmakers. This old yarn ignores how the Pennsylvania State Education Association was complicit in the crisis. The PSEA lobbied not only for increases in pension benefits, but also for the 2003 and 2010 legislation to delay pension payments.

Finally, many discussions on education spending ignore the most exciting part of the story: the great success of school choice. School choice programs such as charter schools, cyber charter schools and scholarships offered through business tax credits give Pennsylvania’s children quality education with fewer tax dollars. Schools of choice—private, charter, and home school—save taxpayers $4.3 billion annually.

For the rest of the article, go to LTE: Education Spending … the Rest of the Story

On March 9, according to the Philadelphia Daily News, the Frontier school laid off its entire teaching staff. For the past month, the PDN reports, classes have been suspended and Frontier’s 85 students have been hanging around at home, unsure of what the future holds.

News of the faculty implosion at Frontier comes within hours of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest monthly jobs report — a document that seems encouraging until you look past the headline.

The unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent in March, according to the report issued Friday — a continuation of the very gradual decline it’s been on since September. But analysts believe that number is dwindling because more and more job seekers aregetting frustrated and abandoning their search, thereby falling out of the ranks of the officially “unemployed.”

And many of the new jobs added in March were low-paying positions in the food services industry – not the kind of work that will drive a broader economic recovery.

For the rest of the article, go to Frontier Virtual Charter High School Fires Entire Teaching Staff

Saucon is one of a number of Lehigh Valley schools trying to stem the flow of money out of the district to charter schools and to entice students back with the promise of a district diploma.

Superintendent Sandra Fellin is proposing a multifaceted program that in addition to creating a cyber high school would allow students to make up credits for courses they’ve failed, attend summer school online and bring in new electives.

Fellin presented her plan to the school board Tuesday after months of research and it was well received.

For the rest of the article, go to Saucon Valley School District exploring online classes