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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 18, 2009
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Dear Friend:
On Thursday, August 13th, the State Board of Education
voted 14-2 (with one abstention) to approve the final-form regulations for the
Governor's Keystone Exams assessment scheme. The regulations will now go to the
House and Senate Education Committees prior to being voted on by the Independent
Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC). The regulations can still be defeated on
several fronts:
- The House and Senate
Education Committee could vote down the final-form regulations within the next
20 days. Please tell your legislator that the final-form regulations for
Keystone Exams (#006-312) are currently before the House and Senate Education
Committees and ask them to oppose the regulations.
- The Senate
could vote down Senate Resolution 156 – a "Sense of the Senate Resolution" that
would endorse the regulations. Please tell your Senator to oppose
Senate
Resolution 156.
- The House could
send to the Governor my legislation (Senate Bill 281), which would require
legislative approval of all new graduation requirements. SB 281 passed the
Senate 48-1 in June and now awaits consideration in the House Appropriations
Committee. Please ask your House member to request that House Leadership
take up SB 281 as soon as possible.
- The
Governor and General Assembly have yet to pass a final budget for FY 2009-2010.
The Governor has requested $18 million in funding for the Keystone Exams.
Please ask your legislators to oppose funding for Keystone Exams.
- The Independent
Regulatory Review Commission could vote down the regulations. Please submit
your comments on the regulation (#006-312) to IRRC online at
http://www.irrc.state.pa.us/Contact.cfm
To locate your legislator, please go to the General
Assembly's home page and type your full Zip Code in the upper right-hand corner
--
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/index.cfm
Attached is a copy of a letter I recently sent to my Senate
Republican colleagues outlining my major concerns about the Keystone Exams.
Feel free to incorporate some of these points in your comments.
Thank you for your continued advocacy on this important
educational issue.
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