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“We know this has been a really hard year and a half. We are going to put resources behind education to prop the kids back up, give them time to maneuver through these changes and then get back on track with their education.”
“For America, broadband holds great power. It will either be the great equalizer for society, or it will be the great divider.”
“You have to respect what’s happening with COVID, and make sure not only the students are safe but the family and friends that would come on to campus.”
“We also believe that in this moment, we must ensure coherent opportunities for all students to actively participate in a lifetime of civic engagement and social justice activism.”
The deal will also require the state to study access and reliability of high-speed internet service statewide, including in historically underserved rural areas.
“We want to get past this and the only way to get past this is to get folks, you know, vaccinated.”
She said the proposed $3.6 billion would dramatically increase currently allocated funds for wraparound services. And she believes those are more sorely needed because of the pandemic.
“I think what has really sparked the imagination and the spirit is really seeing the possibility and the power of being a healthcare professional.”
A study by Penn State researchers found that songbirds nesting near the sound of natural gas compressors had fewer hatched eggs.
“We know that in particular young children are at risk of neurological and behavioral health consequences associated with developing bodies and that is something that lasts forever.”
University of Pittsburgh researchers slated to conduct 3-year study.
The academy began to allow more discretion in punishing honor code violations after the 1976 scandal.
While COVID-19 has greatly affected the economy, it was already in flux before the pandemic hit.
Under this latest plan, educators and staff will not be moved into Phase 1a, which would make them eligible for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Currently, about 30 percent of Pennsylvania’s K-12 schools, which serve half the total student population, are learning entirely remotely.
“For generations, our teachers, guidance counselors, nurses, students, and school staff have been sent into buildings where they can get brain damage because of chipped paint, or cancer because of asbestos.”
“If you change the six-foot rule and it was only three feet with distancing, or four feet, we could bring back more in-person learning, because of the physical space.”
The funds would allow schools to upgrade things like HVAC and ventilation systems. It would also offer funds to help expand access to reliable, high-speed broadband, in districts that can’t afford it.
“We are opposed to a one-shot federal fund replacing needed state dollars for schools.”
The proposal would increase the state’s personal income tax from 3.07% to 4.49% in the next fiscal year.
PCCY’s report found that the two-thirds of Pennsylvania school districts where enrollment has shrunk over the last thirty years receive far more funding per pupil from the state than the others that have grown.
“We were told two weeks ago it was done, ready to go. I don’t know what the hold up is.”
“I kept seeing these questions over and over: How do I run for school board? How do I help candidates run for school board?””
“We should engage in everyday actions and changes in our lifestyle, that reduce our environmental footprint, that often make us healthier and happier and save us money, things we ought to do anyway.”
A change at the state level is blocking funding for a type of one-on-one therapy when conducted at clinics rather than in the home.
“Hopefully we will get to a place where the numbers go down and we can find a way to offer these opportunities for our student athletes and community.”
While public schools in urban and suburban counties have lost students, schools in more rural counties have largely tread water.
“We must remain steadfast in our decisions to ensure the safety of our athletes is our focus.”
“We didn’t have big parties, etc. But we did have too many gatherings of too many people in ways that were not necessarily safe given the COVID situation.”
“We want to make sure, as our students are leaving and departing our system and campuses, they’re not carrying the virus home.”
State officials determined that the January Regents Exams could not be safely, equitably and fairly administered across the State given where the pandemic currently stands.
Next month, all SUNY campuses must test any student who comes on campus for COVID-19.
The school originally moved online this month.
“We can no longer operate at the same size that we once were when we were a much larger university, so our expectation is that we will align those costs and revenues.”
Syracuse University officials said late Tuesday that the number of students who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last day has risen to 45. Most are associated with a off-campus parties that occurred last week.
Cuomo said he’s taking the steps because he does not want the hot spots to spread to the rest of the state.
Pennsylvania school-choice advocates are pushing hard for a measure that would send federal coronavirus relief money directly to families to put towards private school tuition, tutoring, or other educational expenses.
Over 90% of businesses asked say more government funding is needed, and 75% support investment in affordable preschool child for children aged three and younger.
Advocates say the ruling is a win for students and families, allowing them to better hold school districts accountable for discriminatory bullying that happens under their watch.
“All kids will be getting screened with their temperature check and they will fill out a five- or six-part questionnaire.”
The new standards — which are still subject to regulatory review and approval by the state legislature — were advanced by the Pennsylvania State Board of Education last week.
NEW YORK NOW – The state’s largest teachers union filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Division of Budget over more than $5 billion in state spending that’s expected to be withheld from school districts as the state grapples with an unprecedented budget crisis.
“Instead of a frivolous lawsuit, NYSUT should turn its attention to Washington and work with us to get the assistance New York’s children deserve.”
“We want to keep students here and operating. If there has to be some mitigation efforts taken, we will keep students here as much as we can. But, we all have to remain vigilant.”
“I think that technology has really helped us. It’s an inexpensive technology. It’s a student-friendly and a faculty-friendly technology.”
“You would you think that the teenagers don’t want to be like Mom and Dad, but they will mimic your behavior. And if you’re using the phone behind the wheel, the teen drivers will too.”
Masks are strongly recommended at all other times, including in the classroom, but they are not mandatory once the student is sitting down at a socially distanced desk.
“So you wanted a party. OK, now you have to go to remote learning, which means you basically stay in the dorm. It’s a function of discipline and compliance.”
The three organizations suspended include the Theta Chi and Zeta Beta Xi fraternities and the Sigma Delta Tau sorority.
“That constitutional right doesn’t go on hold because there are financial constraints, because the state is having financial difficulties. This is a constitutional right.”
“I got boxes I’m staring at every day. My kids are staring at it. They’re like, ‘When are we gonna find a place to go?’”
Colleges in New York will be required to return to remote learning for at least two weeks if either 100 cases of COVID-19 are diagnosed, or 5% of that institution’s population tests positive, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday.
“I will be a catastrophe. Many school districts depend just about totally on state aid to get their programs running.”
“We want children to be in situations where they’re safe and supervised by trusted adults.”
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway announced she was stepping down from her position to look after her family. Working families across the country are figuring out how to provide care for their children with remote and hybrid schooling this year.
“Make no mistake, there was not a single student who gathered on the Quad [Wednesday] night who did not know and understand that it was wrong to do so.”
The president of the city’s United Federation of Teachers called for testing every student and staff member before the start of school, set for Sept. 10.
“If the pandemic was over today, and our economy was back to where it was pre-pandemic, we would probably be in a pretty good place. I think the concern really comes in when we look at the future.”
Mandatory masks, strict discipline and rigorous testing have helped the academies, including West Point and Annapolis, welcome students back to campus. Can other schools learn from their example?
The school district plans must include procedures and protocols for instruction, health screenings, and social distancing measures.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo formally gave schools the green light to reopen on Friday, saying the coronavirus infection rate was low enough in New York for students to return to class in the coming weeks.
“And the really cool thing is when you fill out a survey on your smartphone, it geolocates you. We’re able to go back to that exact same spot and we’ll do the water quality testing.”
“Districts must have a plan in place for testing related to symptomatic or exposed individuals, whether in school or through the local health department.”
“I don’t care what any bureaucrat says,” said Cuomo. “If they don’t have a good plan for reopening, no kids are going to come and no teaches are going to come.”
Coronavirus testing, online instruction, and the ability to turn on a dime are central to reopening plans
“If you have the virus under control, reopen. If you don’t have the virus under control, then you can’t reopen,”
“I appreciate the work that the Congress has done to date with the CARES Act proposals. But this current debate must create resources that support state education and educational equity.”
Classroom capacity ranges from about 19-21 students. But with social distancing, the capacity can drop to around 16 or 17 students.
“Our school board members, really their heart is in opening up the school, but they know it’s going to cost a lot of extra money this year.”
The coronavirus pandemic has affected the Special Olympics athletes and competitions.
The city aims to provide relief for working parents who either can’t afford to stay home or can’t find child care for the days that students aren’t in school.
“This whole process we’ve had an array of choices and they’ve all been bad.”
“If we give the schools the dollars they need to make sure the kids are safe and the teachers are safe and the employees are safe, we can sort of have our cake and eat it too.”
The Walden Project is an example of an outdoor independent learning program that is a possible alternative for immunocompromised students or others who can’t or don’t want to return to a traditional classroom setting during the coronavirus pandemic.
“By testing a pool, if the pool is negative, everyone is clear. If the pool is positive, we break out the samples, we run them individually, so it’s like an individual test.”
“There are some strings. They have to use it for health and education, but we don’t say one size fits all.”
Regions will be allowed to reopen schools if, by the first week of August, the infection rate remains below 5% using a 14-day average.
“We find the data is suggesting children should be wearing masks any time they are outside of their family’s home and can’t maintain a distance of 6 or more feet.”
Jerri Lynn Sparks says her 22-year-old son, Jared, and thousands of other New Yorkers with disabilities are suffering because the state has adopted “one-size-fits-all” coronavirus restrictions for group homes.
“If we’re going to get serious about bridging the urban-rural divide and making sure that schoolchildren are not left behind then we have to work together to do a few things.”
“The federal government’s demands that schools reopen without concern for health, safety and equity are simply out of touch.”
New York will decide if schools will reopen this fall in the first week of August, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday, and tasked districts across the state with coming up with plans in the event that they’re allowed to resume in-person learning.
For students, it’s a disorienting change during an already difficult time.
“We’re kind of stuck in a position where we kind of feel helpless. We feel like we should be doing something.”
“We are more than happy to provide childcare. It’s complicated. It’s not easy. But it’s our mission.”
“We are preparing to open schools, we have plans to open schools, but (edit) I’ll be honest with you. It’s two months away. Anything can happen in two months.”
“The ideal situation would be to see this kind of turnout, without having to go through the expense of the postage and printing of absentee ballots.”
Stakeholders are being asked to share what they’ve experienced during the pandemic shutdowns and how can the state improve and take proper precautions in the fall.
“It really is the best situation, I guess, that we can have. It’s a tough one. It’s really not what we want, but we’ll make the best of it.”
“The word is uncertainty. We don’t know what’s going to happen and it’s very tough for our school districts to budget.”
Most of western Pa. moves to green phase of coronavirus reopening plan next week.
Binghamton University’s president said that students will return to campus this fall as well, but more details are forthcoming.
Scientifically, there’s no clear consensus yet on the effectiveness of school closures in stopping the spread of COVID-19.
“The families claim “online learning is wholly inadequate to meet the needs of nonverbal and partially verbal children with autism who rely upon…in-person instruction.”
“Going out there and saying ‘support your local economy’ is going to make you look bad if at the same time you are saying ‘put your kids in danger.’”
“The challenge has been that school districts don’t have a list of all qualified voters within a school district, so identifying those individuals has been challenging.”
“The folks that are incarcerated in the prisons in our region are potentially a huge source of contagion.”
“Helping them see their families, making sure we’re scheduling times for Zoom and FaceTime meetings — that’s never been a part of our day.”
“I am hoping they come up with a vaccine. I will be first in line, because I want to get everybody out of the house.”
An educator and entrepreneur believes he’s found an untapped resource to help more struggling students succeed in reading. The secret? Families.
One high school in New York has found a way to have safe and memorable graduation: hold it at a drive-in movie theater.
The Steelton-Highspire School District says it’s reaching between 73 and 79 percent of its high-schoolers with online instruction.
“We’re going to have the schools closed for the rest of the year. We’re going to continue the distance learning programs.”
Students who failed Regents tests during the school year normally would have the opportunity to take them again in August.
“Politicians took notice. Nothing like this had ever happened. It was obvious that people really cared more than anyone had known about clean air and clean water.”
“They have a constitutional obligation to fulfill the needs of students, and they have not done that.”
These days, Maegen Wagner is serving as her daughter’s therapist, aide, and teacher — while balancing her own responsibilities as an educator in a nearby school district.
Around the country, losses of educators are mounting. It’s unknown whether working in schools when they were open might have exposed staff to more danger than an average workplace.
“The state is giving us the choice: ‘you decide.’ So it’s a really uncomfortable position to be in.”
The New York State School Boards Association says schools are bracing for teacher lay offs over the next year.
“This was not an easy decision but closing schools until the end of the academic year is in the best interest of our students, school employees and families.”
Binghamton University student Dino Nicolari decided to stay at his off-campus apartment. “I really have trouble working at home.”
“When we don’t provide children with accurate information, they will still seek it out, and the worry is they’ll seek it out from sources that are not accurate and more fearful.”
“I think it was good for them. They got all excited when their friends hopped on. Like, oh so and so is here and so and so is on! So, I think it helped them feel a little connected.”
Director of WSKG’s Education Department Jackie Stapleton shared some resources for learning at home and how families can maintain some normalcy.
“All of a sudden, somewhat of a train wreck happened.”
Student protesters at Syracuse University would not say if they will continue occupying Crouse-Hinds Hall during spring break next week.
“The idea of (students) returning immediately from spring break and the potential risk that could pose to this community, we made this decision out of an abundance of caution,”
School districts want to know when to cancel classes and how to access federal resources. So far, they’re not getting answers.
State-run universities are recalling about 300 study-abroad students and faculty from China, Italy, Japan, Iran and South Korea.
Overwhelmingly, schools are asking for grants to address mental health needs and to strengthen security measures.
SU officials said they tried to have a “respectful dialogue” with the students, but they were “unwilling.” Students said they were denied food, medicine and hygiene products, and were treated like prisoners.
Syracuse University officials have taken a noticeably tougher stance against protests by #NotAgainSU.
“Syracuse University administration’s handling of these crimes has been insensitive, lackadaisical, and an embarrassment.”
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is introducing a bill to fund community support programs for people who have substance use disorders, and their families.
“I’m here to tell you that this Vice President, and this President, will always stand for the right of every American family to choose where their children go to school.”
His latest ask is more than a billion dollars to clean up lead and asbestos in Pennsylvania’s schools, houses and water systems.
The New York State Comptroller’s office says the number of school districts in the state that are in fiscal stress has increased from 26 to 33.
“Early detection can be a game changer for those children with autism spectrum disorder, because it could get them access to earlier services and change the trajectory of their life.”
His legacy on education policy boils down to two words: school choice.
The proposal would close all cyber charters in the commonwealth by the 2020-21 school year.
Many Americans who get overwhelmed by student loan debt are told student debt can’t be erased through bankruptcy. Now more judges and lawyers say that’s a myth and bankruptcy can help.
Dyslexia, a language processing disorder affecting anywhere from 5% to 20% of the population, can be seen as both a challenge and an opportunity to develop creative life skills.
While New York may be first in the amount of spending per pupil, it ranks 49th in the nation in its unequal distribution of school funding.
Hundreds of educators, philanthropists and nonprofits recently convened in New York for the “Spirituality in Education” conference.
Pennsylvania was 47th overall in the opportunity gap between black and white students, 47th in the gap between Hispanic and white students and 46th in the gap between economically disadvantaged students and their wealthier peers.
Among the questions that state officials would like to see local residents discuss, are what do they want students to know before they graduate and how should students have to demonstrate that knowledge?
“We are taking prompt action on the commitments we made. We are making investments in programs and people. I believe this work, requested emphatically, insisted on by our students will make us a better place.”
The partnership between Sandy Hook Promise and the state Attorney General’s office aims to prevent mass shootings and help children dealing with problems.
“I’m writing you to wish you a very happy holidays. Remember there will always be people who care about and support you. The world is a better place with you in it.”
Carnegie Mellon University study focused on Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia
Syracuse University student protesters walked out of classes Thursday, demanding the resignations of the chancellor, public safety chief and others.
“Today and together we have an opportunity to send a clear and powerful message through our words and our deeds that we are better together.”
Winter storm warnings remain in effect for most of New York through Monday as a large winter storm moves through the region, with storm totals of a foot of snow or more expected in some spots by Monday evening.
Chancellor Kent Syverud has agreed to 16 of the 19 demands from student protestors and international students.
In the past two weeks, SU has been rocked by at least 10 incidents including racist graffiti, yelling racial slurs and hateful emails.
The proposal would allow parents in Harrisburg to use as much as $8,200 in taxpayer money toward private school tuition.
Syracuse University officials have promised action in the wake of criticism of the school’s response following the discovery of racist graffiti in a residence hall last week.
Officials are hoping early exposure to science and tech will give rural students a leg up in rapidly modernizing fields, like agriculture.
There are now 71 toys in the National Toy Hall of Fame at the Strong Museum in Rochester, which is the only collections-based museum anywhere devoted solely to studying play.
“I still stand by, the only thing that’s going to stop a gun is a gun.”
Nearly 2,000 people sent ticks to a citizen science tick testing program run by Upstate Medical University in Syracuse this year.
“We find, unfortunately, that even some of the younger students are vaping, and it seems like it’s something that’s going to continue to grow as a problem.”
Applied behavior analysts are licensed in 30 states. Pennsylvania isn’t one of them.
The state estimates that most jobs created in the next decade will require workers to use computers, and many opportunities will be STEM-related.
Advocates have long debated if online schools can replicate the academic enrichment and socialization of traditional schools. In Pennsylvania, that debate has come to the foreground.
Larry Wittig resigned from the board in 2017 after the Philadelphia Inquirer first published the allegations, but he remains school board president of the Tamaqua Area School District in Schuylkill County.
“I would say we had 20 to 30 positions that we ended up having to scrape and scour to fill, and in some cases had to find certified substitute teachers while we looked for long term solutions.”
In an affidavit filed in Gouverneur Town Court, the 10 year-old victim recalls her attackers yelling racist slurs at her, punching her in the face, ripping her hair out of her head, and kicking her in her right knee.
“You bring the gun up. Somebody comes around the corner. They’ve got something in their hand. You bring the sights up to your line of sight. You give them verbal commands. You see it’s a knife, he brings it up. You fire a shot.”
“There is no doubt that the kids that are in school today are our future.”
Strike organizers are calling on their fellow young people to skip school Friday and rally to demand greater action against climate change.
Gov. Wolf’s proposal includes specific measures that could limit cyber charter school growth
A recent study, partly conducted in rural high schools in western New York and the Finger Lakes region, looks at the influence of student-adult relationships on the rate of suicide attempts in high schools.
Prenatal classes often focus on Mom-to-be — on her shifting role and emotional needs, along with new skills. But if Dad gets sidelined early into a supporting role, research shows, everybody loses.
“Loans are definitely a barrier. They are working for years, and years, and years under incredible debt.”
A new book looks at how the struggle to pay for college has transformed the experience of the American middle class.
School districts in New York have a new tool to catch drivers who pass school buses that are stopped to drop off or pick up kids.
New research from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh shows thousands of lives could be saved each year if air quality standards were tightened.
After years of political gridlock on charter school reform, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said Tuesday he would use his executive power to hold charters to “the same ethical and transparency standards of public schools.”
Several school districts located in rural areas of central and northern New York are participating in a nationally funded program to address and potentially overcome some of the biggest obstacles facing their students.
A law to expand schools’ security options in Pennsylvania now has some school law enforcement officers miffed.
Amid a flurry of action before summer recess this year, state lawmakers created a new category of public school — with little warning or open debate — that seems designed to benefit just one charter school.
A Pennsylvania tip system created to improve school safety fielded some tips about school violence, but received far more inquiries about student mental health, according to new data.
“This latest episode of senseless gun violence resulted in the loss of one of our recent graduates—graduates in whom we place so much hope because of their potential to create a brighter tomorrow.”
The financially struggling school district in northeast Pennsylvania that threatened foster care over unpaid lunch debt is now apologizing for dozens of letters officials sent this month to parents.
