From the PSBA: How to Run for School Board
Serving as a school board member is one of the most important responsibilities a citizen can undertake. You, if elected to serve, and your fellow board members will establish educational standards to shape the future of your community and society.
Being a board member is a complex and varied job, often frustrating as you struggle long hours with problems that never seem to be resolved. But it also is rewarding as you watch students achieve success and lead happy, productive lives as a result of an environment you'll help to improve.
School board members are charged, by law, with providing quality education for the youth of your community. You should work for the best interests of all pupils and all citizens, a task requiring constant effort and a strong commitment to serving other people. If you are truly interested in devoting your time and talents to meeting this challenge, your local school administration and your state school boards association applaud your decision to run for election and wish you the best of luck. We stand ready and willing to serve you.
* How to become a candidate
* Running for office
* Who is eligible?
* What is a school board?
* Board responsibility
* Board organization
How to become a candidate
School board members in Pennsylvania are elected officials. Members are elected for a four-year term, with the election process calling for five members being eligible for re-election during one election cycle and four being eligible in the next cycle. This 5-4 rotation eliminates having nine new members on a school board and ensures continuity.
There are three ways school districts in Pennsylvania may elect board members: at large, by region or by a combination of these.
* If board members are elected at large, they may live anywhere in the district and be elected for any position.
* If a region plan is approved, school directors who reside in the region are elected by and from each region.
* Where a combination at large and region plan is approved, all regions have an equal number of school directors who reside in each region and who are elected by each region.
Vacancies caused by resignation, death, etc., are filled by an appointment process conducted by the remaining board members.
Such an appointee serves the unexpired portion of the person's term until the next school board election in November of odd-numbered years. At most, an appointee will serve two years.
Running for office
To become a school board candidate, you must file a petition signed by at least 10 qualified voters of the school district for the political party with which the petition will be filed. (Signature requirements may vary in city school districts with at-large elections. Contact your county voter registration office.) To cross-file in a primary election (that is, to run on both political parties), a registered Democrat or Republican must circulate a proper petition for the other party. The petition must contain signatures as previously mentioned. If elected on both party ballots in the primaries, a candidate will appear on both party ballots in the general election.
Primary elections usually are held on the third Tuesday in May. In presidential election years, the primary is held in April. Candidates may circulate petitions for three weeks (from the 13th Tuesday to the 10th Tuesday) prior to the primary.
Each candidate for the office of school director must file a statement of financial interest for the preceding calendar year with the local school district. A copy of the statement must be attached to the nomination petition and filed with the county board of elections and with the school board secretary. Incumbent school directors who are not candidates must file a financial interest statement annually with the school district by May 1. The district must maintain the statements for public inspection for at least five years.
The Campaign Expense Reporting Law, Act 171 of 1978, also requires candidates to file expense reports. The reports must be filed by the second Friday before the primary election with the county board of elections. The law was amended to permit local candidates who are not aided by committees and who do not intend to receive or expend more than $250 in a reporting period to file an affidavit with their nomination petitions excusing them from filing pre-election and postelection reports.
School board elections occur in November of odd-numbered years.
Each election year, the state Bureau of Elections distributes a complete election calendar with specific dates and other legal requirements to all county offices. Nomination petitions, financial interest statements, campaign finance reports and other information can be secured from the county or municipal offices.
Who is eligible?
To be eligible to be elected or appointed to a Pennsylvania school board, one must be:
* A citizen of Pennsylvania.
* Of good moral character.
* At least 18 years old.
* A resident of the school district for at least one year prior to election or appointment.
An individual may be ineligible to run for or hold the office of school director subject to state or federal law. The following items do not constitute an exhaustive list of legal requirements related to eligibility. Other state and federal laws may determine eligibility.
* The PA Constitution bars from elective office anyone convicted of an "infamous" crime, which the courts have interpreted to include various misdemeanors based on the nature of the crime and all felonies.
* Section 324 of the PA School Code prohibits school directors from being employed by, or doing business with, the district where they are elected or appointed, subject to certain exceptions. These prohibitions remain in effect for the duration of the term for which the school director was elected or appointed, even if the person leaves office before the term expires. The employment prohibition contains exceptions for specific positions. Also, the business prohibition contains an exception that would require an interpretation of the PA Public Official and Employee Ethics Act. For more information, contact the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission at (800) 932-0936.
* Section 322 of the School Code contains a list of municipal offices that are incompatible with holding the office of school director. County, borough and township codes also contain their own restrictions for holding offices concurrently.
* The Hatch Act, a federal statute, prohibits federal employees, and some state and local government employees whose job functions "involve" federal funding, from running for partisan elective office. The Hatch Act only prohibits running for election, but does not prohibit holding the office if appointed. For more information, visit the U.S. Office of Special Counsel's Web site at www.osc.org.
* The military services have regulations similar to the Hatch Act, but not always coextensive, which may prohibit both holding the office as well as running for it.
What is a school board?
A school board is a legislative body of citizens called school directors, who are elected A school board is a legislative body of citizens called school directors who are elected locally by their fellow citizens and who serve as agents of the state legislature. Each board consists of nine members who serve four-year terms of office without pay.
School directors, although locally elected, are really state officials, co-partners with the legislature. They are designated by school law to administer the school system in each district.
Constitutional mandate
Public education is fundamentally a state responsibility. A system of free public education is mandated under the state constitution, which states in Article II, Section 14: “ The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education. ... ”
Constitutional recognition of the public schools as a legislative function is further found in Article IX, Section 10, in which a school district is described as a “ unit of local government.”
Public education thus enjoys special status under the state constitution and is the only public service so mandated by the constitution.
To carry out this mandate, the General Assembly created school districts and school boards. It conferred broad legal powers to the local boards, making them autonomous in many of their operations. Therefore, the school board is a political subdivision of the state for the purpose of convenient administration of the schools.
Legislative authority
The General Assembly created the State Board of Education, the Department of Education, the intermediate unit structure and other state agencies. These agencies administer the state laws that control the state ' s public education system. There are, therefore, several governing influences upon a board of school directors.
The School Laws of Pennsylvania is the primary compilation of the statutes enacted by the legislature having direct and pertinent reference to public education, its programs, its operation and its management. In addition, rules and regulation of the State Board, guidelines of the Department of Education, opinions and interpretations of the state attorney general and court decrees all influence local board operation.
Effective school boards concentrate their time and energy on determining what it is the schools should accomplish and developing policies to carry out these goals.
In Pennsylvania
* Public schools are a creation of the state constitution.
* Public schools are a responsibility of the General Assembly, the legislative branch of PA state government.
* School boards, created by the General Assembly, serve as local legislative bodies for the public schools within the framework of state laws.
* A school board's authority is applied through the collective decisions of the entire board acting as a governing body.
Board responsibility
In essence, school boards have three functions: planning, setting policy and evaluating results.
* Planning -- Boards are required to engage in strategic planning by regulations of the State Board of Education. Appropriate reports of the results of such planning must be filed with the Department of Education.
* Setting policy -- The central responsibility of a board, both in theory and in law, is to be the policy-forming body. Policy means actions of the board that set written goals and objectives for the school.
* Evaluating results -- The board must evaluate the results of planning. Evaluation “ completes the loop ” and, in fact, leads inevitably to more planning. Evaluation occurs all the time, both formally and informally. As a group, the board is not an administrative body; neither should it be a “ rubber stamp ” for professional educators. The selection of competent administrators who understand their role is to carry out public policies established by the board is one of the board ' s most important functions.
Some required duties
* Adopt courses of study in consultation with the superintendent.
* Establish the length of the school term.
* Adopt textbooks.
* Elect superintendents and hire necessary employees.
* Enter into written contracts with professional employees and into collective bargaining agreements.
* Adopt the annual budget.
* Levy taxes; appoint a tax collector under certain circumstances.
* Provide necessary grounds and school buildings.
* Prescribe, adopt and enforce reasonable rules and regulations regarding school activities, publications and organizations.
* Provide special education for children with mental or physical disabilities.
Some permissive functions
* Elect and appoint assistant superintendents.
* Appoint a solicitor and other board employees.
* Purchase, receive or condemn land for school purposes as determined by the board.
* Sell unneeded lands and buildings.
* Enter into written agreements with boards, or other districts, for attendance and tuition of pupils in high school.
* Provide for food or milk for undernourished and poor children.
* Create or increase indebtedness within certain limitations.Authorize attendance of board members or of the superintendent or other employees at educational meetings, and pay necessary expenses.
* Enter into group insurance contracts. Provide for: insurance on school buildings and property; personal liability insurance for school employees against injury to pupils; accident insurance for pupils against injury in participation, or transportation to, athletic events.
* Suspend or expel pupils from school under certain conditions, or cause them to be brought before the juvenile court.
Some prohibited actions
* May not authorize construction of schools without prior approval of plans and specifications by the departments of Education and Labor and Industry.
* May not hire work to be done, purchase materials or enter into contracts that will cause sums budgeted for specific purposes to be exceeded.
* May not hire certain relatives of board members, except by a majority vote of the board excluding the member who is related to the employer or applicant.
* Shall not demand, request or accept in any way a gift from a teacher or administrator.
* Shall not require religious or political tests of officers or employees.
* Shall not engage in illegal discrimination on the basis of race, creed or color.
Board organization
Officers of a school board include a president, vice president, treasurer and secretary. By law, all school boards organize during the first week of December. At this meeting, a president and vice president are elected to serve one-year terms of office. A treasurer, however, is elected in May to serve a one-year term that begins the first day of July. Every fourth year in May, the board elects a school board secretary whose term of office is four years.
* The school fiscal calendar for the majority of public school districts is July 1-June 30. Districts of the first, first class A and second class may, by majority vote, establish a fiscal year to coincide with the calendar year.
* Each school district is assigned to an intermediate unit, which is operated by a governing board composed of locally elected school directors from the school districts that make up the intermediate unit. IU board members serve three-year terms and may succeed themselves without limitation, as long as they remain local board members.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Goal Setting
As a public service to the Emperor and Board of Accomplices, here is a short introduction to goal setting. The in the real world, this is how it's done.
"It's not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each
step must be itself a goal and a step likewise."
Goethe (1749-1832)
Goal Setting involves establishing specific, measurable and time targeted objectives. Work on the theory of goal-setting suggests that it is an effective tool for making progress by ensuring that participants are clearly aware of what is expected from them, if an objective is to be achieved. On a personal level, setting goals is a process that allows people to specify then work towards their own objectives - most commonly with financial or career-based goals. Goal setting is a major component of Personal development literature.
The business technique of Management by objectives uses the principle of goal setting. In business, goal setting has the advantages of encouraging participants to put in substantial effort; and, because every member is aware of what is expected of.... him or her (high role perception), little room is left for inadequate effort going unnoticed.
To be most effective goals should be tangible, specific, realistic and have a time targeted for completion. There must be realistic plans to achieve the intended goal. For example, setting a goal to go to Mars on a shoe string budget is not a realistic goal while setting a goal to go to Hawaii as a backpacker is a possible goal with possible, realistic plans.
Goal setting also requires motivation. You need to understand why you want the goal. In the motivation film "The Opus" released in 2008, achievement expert, Douglas Vermeeren, explains this important principle clearly, "When people talk of clarity it often gets described as just writing down your goals. The most important element is often left out. That is finding your motivation. If you want to get to your goals quickly you have got to clarity on why you want it. What does it mean to you? Why do you need it in your life? And the stronger and more important they why - the more power you will have to pursue that goal. "
In the same film, Dr. Brandon Leach, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, cites that even if someone is largely self-motivated they still must have the necessary skill set to reach the goal they have set. Said Leach, "In my mind, it is completely preposterous to say that motivation is always the most important intangible to possess if one wants to reach a goal of theirs. It's absurd. For example, if some young child sets to be a wizard or witch and is incredibly motivated to do, it's pretty obvious to conclude that he's going to need more than this, oh so important, motivation and seven volumes of Harry Potter."
Some people feel that one possible drawback of goal setting is that implicit learning may be inhibited. This is because goal setting may encourage simple focus on an outcome without openness to exploration, understanding or growth.[citation needed] "Goals provide a sense of direction and purpose" (Goldstein, 1993, p.96). Locke et al. (1981) examined the behavioral effects of goal-setting, concluding that 90% of laboratory and field studies involving specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than easy or no goals.
While some managers would believe it is sufficient to urge employees to ‘do their best’, Locke and Latham have a clear contradicting view on this. The authors state that people who are told to ‘do their best’ will not do so. ‘Doing your best’ has no external referent which implies that it is useless in eliciting specific behavior. To elicit some specific form of behavior from others, it is important that this person has a clear view of what is expected from him/her. A goal is thereby of vital importance because it facilitates an individual in focusing their efforts in a specified direction. In other words; goals canalize behavior (Cummings & Worley p. 368). However when goals are established at a management level and thereafter solely laid down, employee motivation with regard to achieving these goals is rather suppressed (Locke & Latham, 2002 p.705). In order to increase motivation the employees not only need to be allowed to participate in the goal setting process but the goals have to be challenging as well (Cummings & Worley p. 369).
Managers can not be constantly able to drive motivation and keep track of an employee’s work on a continuous basis. Goals are therefore an important tool for managers since goals have the ability to function as a self-regulatory mechanism that acquires an employee a certain amount of guidance [1] have distilled four mechanisms through which goal setting is able to affect individual performance:
1) Goals focus attention towards goal-relevant activities and away from goal-irrelevant activities.
2) Goals serve as an energizer; higher goals will induce greater effort while low goals induce lesser effort.
3) Goals affect persistence; constraints with regard to resources will affect work pace.
4) Goals activate cognitive knowledge and strategies which allows employees to cope with the situation at hand. Through an understanding of the effect of goal setting on individual performance organizations are able to use goal setting to benefit organizational performance. [2] have therefore indicated three moderators which indicate the success of goal setting:
I. Goal commitment – people will perform better when they are committed to achieve certain goals. Goal commitment is dependent of : a. The importance of the expected outcomes of goal attainment and; b. Self-efficacy; ones belief that (s)he is able to achieve the goals.
II. Feedback – keep track of performance to allow employees to see how effective they have been in attaining the goals. Without proper feedback channels it is impossible to adapt or adjust to the required behavior.
III. Task complexity – more difficult goals require more cognitive strategies and well developed skills. The more difficult the tasks ahead, a smaller group of people will possess the necessary skills and strategies. From an organizational perspective it is thereby more difficult to successfully attain more difficult goals since resources become more scarce.
IV. Employee motivation - The more employees are motivated, the more they are stimulated and interested in accepting goals.
V. Macro-economical characteristics. The position of the economy in the conjucture puts pressure or simply relieves the organization. This means that some goals are easier set in specific macro-economical surroundings. Depression is for instance the least successful conjucturial phase for goal setting.
These success factors are not to be seen independently. For example the expected outcomes of goals are positively influenced when employees are involved in the goal setting process. Not only does participation increase commitment in attaining the goals that are set, participation influences self-efficacy as well. In addition to this feedback is necessary to monitor ones progress. When this is left aside, an employee might (s)he is not making enough progress. This can reduce self-efficacy and thereby harm the performance outcomes in the long run [3].
"It's not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each
step must be itself a goal and a step likewise."
Goethe (1749-1832)
Goal Setting involves establishing specific, measurable and time targeted objectives. Work on the theory of goal-setting suggests that it is an effective tool for making progress by ensuring that participants are clearly aware of what is expected from them, if an objective is to be achieved. On a personal level, setting goals is a process that allows people to specify then work towards their own objectives - most commonly with financial or career-based goals. Goal setting is a major component of Personal development literature.
The business technique of Management by objectives uses the principle of goal setting. In business, goal setting has the advantages of encouraging participants to put in substantial effort; and, because every member is aware of what is expected of.... him or her (high role perception), little room is left for inadequate effort going unnoticed.
To be most effective goals should be tangible, specific, realistic and have a time targeted for completion. There must be realistic plans to achieve the intended goal. For example, setting a goal to go to Mars on a shoe string budget is not a realistic goal while setting a goal to go to Hawaii as a backpacker is a possible goal with possible, realistic plans.
Goal setting also requires motivation. You need to understand why you want the goal. In the motivation film "The Opus" released in 2008, achievement expert, Douglas Vermeeren, explains this important principle clearly, "When people talk of clarity it often gets described as just writing down your goals. The most important element is often left out. That is finding your motivation. If you want to get to your goals quickly you have got to clarity on why you want it. What does it mean to you? Why do you need it in your life? And the stronger and more important they why - the more power you will have to pursue that goal. "
In the same film, Dr. Brandon Leach, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, cites that even if someone is largely self-motivated they still must have the necessary skill set to reach the goal they have set. Said Leach, "In my mind, it is completely preposterous to say that motivation is always the most important intangible to possess if one wants to reach a goal of theirs. It's absurd. For example, if some young child sets to be a wizard or witch and is incredibly motivated to do, it's pretty obvious to conclude that he's going to need more than this, oh so important, motivation and seven volumes of Harry Potter."
Some people feel that one possible drawback of goal setting is that implicit learning may be inhibited. This is because goal setting may encourage simple focus on an outcome without openness to exploration, understanding or growth.[citation needed] "Goals provide a sense of direction and purpose" (Goldstein, 1993, p.96). Locke et al. (1981) examined the behavioral effects of goal-setting, concluding that 90% of laboratory and field studies involving specific and challenging goals led to higher performance than easy or no goals.
While some managers would believe it is sufficient to urge employees to ‘do their best’, Locke and Latham have a clear contradicting view on this. The authors state that people who are told to ‘do their best’ will not do so. ‘Doing your best’ has no external referent which implies that it is useless in eliciting specific behavior. To elicit some specific form of behavior from others, it is important that this person has a clear view of what is expected from him/her. A goal is thereby of vital importance because it facilitates an individual in focusing their efforts in a specified direction. In other words; goals canalize behavior (Cummings & Worley p. 368). However when goals are established at a management level and thereafter solely laid down, employee motivation with regard to achieving these goals is rather suppressed (Locke & Latham, 2002 p.705). In order to increase motivation the employees not only need to be allowed to participate in the goal setting process but the goals have to be challenging as well (Cummings & Worley p. 369).
Managers can not be constantly able to drive motivation and keep track of an employee’s work on a continuous basis. Goals are therefore an important tool for managers since goals have the ability to function as a self-regulatory mechanism that acquires an employee a certain amount of guidance [1] have distilled four mechanisms through which goal setting is able to affect individual performance:
1) Goals focus attention towards goal-relevant activities and away from goal-irrelevant activities.
2) Goals serve as an energizer; higher goals will induce greater effort while low goals induce lesser effort.
3) Goals affect persistence; constraints with regard to resources will affect work pace.
4) Goals activate cognitive knowledge and strategies which allows employees to cope with the situation at hand. Through an understanding of the effect of goal setting on individual performance organizations are able to use goal setting to benefit organizational performance. [2] have therefore indicated three moderators which indicate the success of goal setting:
I. Goal commitment – people will perform better when they are committed to achieve certain goals. Goal commitment is dependent of : a. The importance of the expected outcomes of goal attainment and; b. Self-efficacy; ones belief that (s)he is able to achieve the goals.
II. Feedback – keep track of performance to allow employees to see how effective they have been in attaining the goals. Without proper feedback channels it is impossible to adapt or adjust to the required behavior.
III. Task complexity – more difficult goals require more cognitive strategies and well developed skills. The more difficult the tasks ahead, a smaller group of people will possess the necessary skills and strategies. From an organizational perspective it is thereby more difficult to successfully attain more difficult goals since resources become more scarce.
IV. Employee motivation - The more employees are motivated, the more they are stimulated and interested in accepting goals.
V. Macro-economical characteristics. The position of the economy in the conjucture puts pressure or simply relieves the organization. This means that some goals are easier set in specific macro-economical surroundings. Depression is for instance the least successful conjucturial phase for goal setting.
These success factors are not to be seen independently. For example the expected outcomes of goals are positively influenced when employees are involved in the goal setting process. Not only does participation increase commitment in attaining the goals that are set, participation influences self-efficacy as well. In addition to this feedback is necessary to monitor ones progress. When this is left aside, an employee might (s)he is not making enough progress. This can reduce self-efficacy and thereby harm the performance outcomes in the long run [3].
Special Education: Class Action?
Here's a story and video from WFMZ Channel 69 in Allentown, PA about a class action special education suit for Reading and Lancaster students. There is a second article from the AP that appeared on PennLive.com
POSTED: 06-20-2008 10:51 PM ET | MODIFIED: 06-20-2008 10:52 PM ET
Special Education Funding Fight in Court
A U.S. district judge is deciding if a special education funding lawsuit in Pennsylvania should have class-action status. The suit was filed in federal court in 2006, on behalf of special education students in Reading and Lancaster. It says the state's funding formula short changes some urban districts...because it assumes 16 percent of all students in each district require special-education services. But the number varies from district to district. A legal advocacy group for the poor wants the state Education Department to revise the formula. The Education Department says special-education disputes should be resolved through administrative hearings.
---------------------------------------------
Pa. special ed formula attacked in federal court
6/20/2008, 4:16 p.m. EDT
By MARTHA RAFFAELE
The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's special-education funding formula is under attack by a federal lawsuit that claims the state shortchanges needy school districts with large numbers of learning-disabled students.
The Community Justice Project, a Harrisburg-based legal advocacy group for the poor, wants the state Education Department to revise the formula, which assumes that 16 percent of all students in each of Pennsylvania's 501 school districts need special-education services.
The state has used the formula since 1994 to distribute special-education aid among the districts.
But the formula ignores factors such as the actual number of special-education students, the cost of providing needed services and a school district's ability to pay for special education with local property-tax dollars, said Evalynn Welling, a lawyer with the organization's Pittsburgh office.
"We have a systemic failure to distribute special-education funds in an equitable fashion," Welling said Friday during a hearing on the plaintiffs' request for class-action status.
U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane did not immediately rule on the request. Kane said she would leave the court record open for 10 days to give attorneys for both sides time to file affidavits, then issue an order.
The organization filed the lawsuit in 2006 on behalf of seven special-education students and their parents in the Reading and Lancaster school districts.
All seven, identified only by their initials, have struggled in school because they have been deprived of services such as tutoring and teachers' aides, according to the lawsuit. Some are also trying to learn English as a second language, but lack bilingual instructors.
Because the formula applies the same assumption of special-education enrollment statewide, districts with lower enrollments are more richly rewarded by the state on a per-pupil basis, the lawsuit alleges.
Special education students make up about one-quarter of the public-school enrollment in Lancaster and about 15 percent in Reading. The state's funding per special education pupil for those districts amounted to $2,861 and $3,581 respectively for the 2005-06 school year, according to the lawsuit.
By contrast, the Mars Area School District in Butler County, where roughly 5 percent of students are enrolled in special education, received $7,827 in per-pupil state funding during the same year.
Pennsylvania had more than 270,000 students enrolled in special education, or about 15 percent of all public school students, during the 2005-06 school year.
The Education Department has not formally responded to the lawsuit's allegations that the formula is unfair. Michael L. Harvey, a state attorney representing the agency, declined to comment on them after Friday's hearing.
The agency has tried unsuccessfully to have the suit dismissed on grounds that the students and their parents failed to seek administrative hearings to resolve their disputes before going to court. During Friday's hearing, Harvey alluded to that argument as he tried to make the case for denying the plaintiffs' application for class-action status.
Parents who dispute whether their children are receiving appropriate services must first initiate so-called "due process" hearings at the local level, according to the Education Department. They can appeal to an administrative panel appointed by the department, and then state or federal courts, if they are dissatisfied with the local ruling.
___
On the Net:
Community Justice Project: http://www.communityjusticeproject.org
Pennsylvania Department of Education: http://www.pde.state.pa.us
POSTED: 06-20-2008 10:51 PM ET | MODIFIED: 06-20-2008 10:52 PM ET
Special Education Funding Fight in Court
A U.S. district judge is deciding if a special education funding lawsuit in Pennsylvania should have class-action status. The suit was filed in federal court in 2006, on behalf of special education students in Reading and Lancaster. It says the state's funding formula short changes some urban districts...because it assumes 16 percent of all students in each district require special-education services. But the number varies from district to district. A legal advocacy group for the poor wants the state Education Department to revise the formula. The Education Department says special-education disputes should be resolved through administrative hearings.
---------------------------------------------
Pa. special ed formula attacked in federal court
6/20/2008, 4:16 p.m. EDT
By MARTHA RAFFAELE
The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's special-education funding formula is under attack by a federal lawsuit that claims the state shortchanges needy school districts with large numbers of learning-disabled students.
The Community Justice Project, a Harrisburg-based legal advocacy group for the poor, wants the state Education Department to revise the formula, which assumes that 16 percent of all students in each of Pennsylvania's 501 school districts need special-education services.
The state has used the formula since 1994 to distribute special-education aid among the districts.
But the formula ignores factors such as the actual number of special-education students, the cost of providing needed services and a school district's ability to pay for special education with local property-tax dollars, said Evalynn Welling, a lawyer with the organization's Pittsburgh office.
"We have a systemic failure to distribute special-education funds in an equitable fashion," Welling said Friday during a hearing on the plaintiffs' request for class-action status.
U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane did not immediately rule on the request. Kane said she would leave the court record open for 10 days to give attorneys for both sides time to file affidavits, then issue an order.
The organization filed the lawsuit in 2006 on behalf of seven special-education students and their parents in the Reading and Lancaster school districts.
All seven, identified only by their initials, have struggled in school because they have been deprived of services such as tutoring and teachers' aides, according to the lawsuit. Some are also trying to learn English as a second language, but lack bilingual instructors.
Because the formula applies the same assumption of special-education enrollment statewide, districts with lower enrollments are more richly rewarded by the state on a per-pupil basis, the lawsuit alleges.
Special education students make up about one-quarter of the public-school enrollment in Lancaster and about 15 percent in Reading. The state's funding per special education pupil for those districts amounted to $2,861 and $3,581 respectively for the 2005-06 school year, according to the lawsuit.
By contrast, the Mars Area School District in Butler County, where roughly 5 percent of students are enrolled in special education, received $7,827 in per-pupil state funding during the same year.
Pennsylvania had more than 270,000 students enrolled in special education, or about 15 percent of all public school students, during the 2005-06 school year.
The Education Department has not formally responded to the lawsuit's allegations that the formula is unfair. Michael L. Harvey, a state attorney representing the agency, declined to comment on them after Friday's hearing.
The agency has tried unsuccessfully to have the suit dismissed on grounds that the students and their parents failed to seek administrative hearings to resolve their disputes before going to court. During Friday's hearing, Harvey alluded to that argument as he tried to make the case for denying the plaintiffs' application for class-action status.
Parents who dispute whether their children are receiving appropriate services must first initiate so-called "due process" hearings at the local level, according to the Education Department. They can appeal to an administrative panel appointed by the department, and then state or federal courts, if they are dissatisfied with the local ruling.
___
On the Net:
Community Justice Project: http://www.communityjusticeproject.org
Pennsylvania Department of Education: http://www.pde.state.pa.us
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Way to Go!
Here's an article from the BCCT highlighting the North Penn School District and their first ever community-wide survey.
"...Only great organizations critically review performance on an ongoing basis." I wonder where the Morrisville School District falls on that organizational spectrum.
I also noted the board president's webpage: "As the current School Board President I find it important to defend the school district’s reputation when it is being unfairly or unduly criticized." Hmmm...other board presidents give out diplomas and defend their district. Thankfully the Emperor would not stoop to such mundane and irrelevant tasks.
From the school website: "The North Penn School District recently took its commitment to continuous improvement to another level through its extensive survey of all stakeholders, including students, staff, parents and community members. The Board of School Directors knows that every organization has areas for improvement, but only great organizations critically review performance on an ongoing basis. This survey was part of North Penn’s quality improvement work.
Conducted in March 2008, questionnaires were mailed to more than 40,000 community members, including parents. Concurrently, all students in 5th through 12th grade and all district employees were given the opportunity to complete a questionnaire as well. In all, more than 13,000 questionnaires were completed and analyzed.
Surveys were carefully developed and validated through the involvement of stakeholders, including focus groups, to help design the survey questions and other various opportunities for input. Working with outside consultants, NPSD used a completely secure online or hardcopy administration of the survey, which was scored independent of any district personnel."
School district receives positive response
By AUBREY WHELAN
The Intelligencer
More than 13,000 residents, teachers, parents and students in the North Penn School District applauded the district's teachers, curriculum and safety, participating in the most comprehensive survey the district has ever conducted.
But those same people also expressed concerns on issues like school lunches, internal communication and transitioning students from one grade level to another.
The district is using the results of the survey, which were recently posted on the district's Web site, npenn.org, to develop goals for its six-year strategic plan.
Surveys were mailed to more than 40,000 community members in March. “We mailed it to all community residents, and that included all our parents, staff members and students in fifth grade through 12th grade,” said Christine Liberaski, the district's coordinator of school and community services. The district has conducted surveys in the past, but none as comprehensive as this one, she added.
Liberaski said questions were geared toward the various demographics surveyed.
“We asked whether families thought they were getting communication from the school district ... whether students showed respect for each other, whether staff showed respect for students. Did they feel that the schools are providing a quality education?” she said.
Areas the school has set goals to improve include the quality and variety of school lunches, Liberaski said. Respondents also raised concerns about the fairness of school rules and how students transition from elementary school to middle school to high school.
District Superintendent Bob Hassler said while such concerns are typical, they help district officials pinpoint areas for improvement.
“For example, at the high school, you have five different assistant principals,” he said, addressing some respondents' concerns about the fairness of school rules. “It's something that I think will always be there, just because of the human factor.” But, he said, the strength of the district lies in gathering feedback from its stakeholders, the people who pay taxes and send children to the schools and the students themselves.
“What I'm happy about is we're the type of organization that wants to find out how we can improve,” he said. “The more people we can get involved, the more suggestions, the better it's going to be for our students.”
"...Only great organizations critically review performance on an ongoing basis." I wonder where the Morrisville School District falls on that organizational spectrum.
I also noted the board president's webpage: "As the current School Board President I find it important to defend the school district’s reputation when it is being unfairly or unduly criticized." Hmmm...other board presidents give out diplomas and defend their district. Thankfully the Emperor would not stoop to such mundane and irrelevant tasks.
From the school website: "The North Penn School District recently took its commitment to continuous improvement to another level through its extensive survey of all stakeholders, including students, staff, parents and community members. The Board of School Directors knows that every organization has areas for improvement, but only great organizations critically review performance on an ongoing basis. This survey was part of North Penn’s quality improvement work.
Conducted in March 2008, questionnaires were mailed to more than 40,000 community members, including parents. Concurrently, all students in 5th through 12th grade and all district employees were given the opportunity to complete a questionnaire as well. In all, more than 13,000 questionnaires were completed and analyzed.
Surveys were carefully developed and validated through the involvement of stakeholders, including focus groups, to help design the survey questions and other various opportunities for input. Working with outside consultants, NPSD used a completely secure online or hardcopy administration of the survey, which was scored independent of any district personnel."
School district receives positive response
By AUBREY WHELAN
The Intelligencer
More than 13,000 residents, teachers, parents and students in the North Penn School District applauded the district's teachers, curriculum and safety, participating in the most comprehensive survey the district has ever conducted.
But those same people also expressed concerns on issues like school lunches, internal communication and transitioning students from one grade level to another.
The district is using the results of the survey, which were recently posted on the district's Web site, npenn.org, to develop goals for its six-year strategic plan.
Surveys were mailed to more than 40,000 community members in March. “We mailed it to all community residents, and that included all our parents, staff members and students in fifth grade through 12th grade,” said Christine Liberaski, the district's coordinator of school and community services. The district has conducted surveys in the past, but none as comprehensive as this one, she added.
Liberaski said questions were geared toward the various demographics surveyed.
“We asked whether families thought they were getting communication from the school district ... whether students showed respect for each other, whether staff showed respect for students. Did they feel that the schools are providing a quality education?” she said.
Areas the school has set goals to improve include the quality and variety of school lunches, Liberaski said. Respondents also raised concerns about the fairness of school rules and how students transition from elementary school to middle school to high school.
District Superintendent Bob Hassler said while such concerns are typical, they help district officials pinpoint areas for improvement.
“For example, at the high school, you have five different assistant principals,” he said, addressing some respondents' concerns about the fairness of school rules. “It's something that I think will always be there, just because of the human factor.” But, he said, the strength of the district lies in gathering feedback from its stakeholders, the people who pay taxes and send children to the schools and the students themselves.
“What I'm happy about is we're the type of organization that wants to find out how we can improve,” he said. “The more people we can get involved, the more suggestions, the better it's going to be for our students.”
Guest Opinion: Financial and Moral Responsibility
Here's a guest opinion that was posted as a comment to the Budget Approval Due Tonight posting.
Well done, Peter. Well done.
Peter has left a new comment on your post "Budget Approval Due Tonight":
Before I respond, Anonymous, let's start with the definition of mandate:
Main Entry: man·date
Pronunciation: \Ėman-ĖdÄt\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French & Latin; Middle French mandat, from Latin mandatum, from neuter of mandatus, past participle of mandare to entrust, enjoin, probably irregular from manus hand + -dere to put — more at manual, do
Date: 1501
1: an authoritative command; especially : a formal order from a superior court or official to an inferior one
2: an authorization to act given to a representative (accepted the mandate of the people)
3 a: an order or commission granted by the League of Nations to a member nation for the establishment of a responsible government over a former German colony or other conquered territory b: a mandated territory
OK, with that out of the way, lets look at this two ways, financial and moral.
FINANCIAL
Financially, this town is at odds on how to improve things. There are the progressives (how I would classify most the of contributors to this blog, myself included) and the depressives (how I would classify the Board and Council majorities. A.K.A. NSN's on this blog). The progressives believe that by improving the town now, which, yes, does cost some money up front, we will save, even collect dividends, in the future. It is an investment for the future. That is the core of why most of us believed in a new school. A motto for this group might be, a stitch in time saves nine.
The depressives on the other hand believe that we need to keep taxes down at all costs. A motto on for this group might be, a penny saved is a penny earned.
I don't think we'll ever see eye-to-eye. These are deep, philosophical differences that are hard to overcome.
Now, financially, to answer your question, "how many more years do you believe we can afford to PROPERLY fund mandates with double digit annual increases?" I can't answer this for anyone other than for my family, however, I challenge the notion of double-digit increases. The state mandates (there's that word again) a max increase. Oh, but what about the exceptions, you ask. Yes, there are exceptions for things outside of our control, such as increased costs of special needs kids. Which leads to...
MORAL
We have a moral obligation to our community to educate our kids. It is our civic duty. At what costs? Well, at whatever the cost is to give our kids an appropriate education, to give them a chance at a future. This is a tenet of the progressives. Notice I am not asking for gold covered text books and marble-floored buildings. Yes, I think a new school was going to help build our community AND save money, but we never asked for a Taj Majal, no matter how you may have tried to spin it, Anonymous. Now, at this point, we are hoping to just keep our failing buildings and simply educate the kids, and so far it's not looking too promising that even that will happen.
I will say it again. We have a moral obligation to educate our kids. The current budget underfunds this mission, even at the pleas of the community and the real professionals, the administration.
So, you say, "Sooner or later, something has to give." Given the current budget, and Dr. Yonson's statement the other night that they will somehow figure out a way to appropriately deal with special education, etc, that means that, yes, something has to give. Sadly it will be education. Education will have to give and our kids will lose. We will give our kids a second rate education because YOU want lower goddamn taxes!
We have a moral obligation to our community to educate our kids.
Well done, Peter. Well done.
Peter has left a new comment on your post "Budget Approval Due Tonight":
Before I respond, Anonymous, let's start with the definition of mandate:
Main Entry: man·date
Pronunciation: \Ėman-ĖdÄt\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French & Latin; Middle French mandat, from Latin mandatum, from neuter of mandatus, past participle of mandare to entrust, enjoin, probably irregular from manus hand + -dere to put — more at manual, do
Date: 1501
1: an authoritative command; especially : a formal order from a superior court or official to an inferior one
2: an authorization to act given to a representative (accepted the mandate of the people)
3 a: an order or commission granted by the League of Nations to a member nation for the establishment of a responsible government over a former German colony or other conquered territory b: a mandated territory
OK, with that out of the way, lets look at this two ways, financial and moral.
FINANCIAL
Financially, this town is at odds on how to improve things. There are the progressives (how I would classify most the of contributors to this blog, myself included) and the depressives (how I would classify the Board and Council majorities. A.K.A. NSN's on this blog). The progressives believe that by improving the town now, which, yes, does cost some money up front, we will save, even collect dividends, in the future. It is an investment for the future. That is the core of why most of us believed in a new school. A motto for this group might be, a stitch in time saves nine.
The depressives on the other hand believe that we need to keep taxes down at all costs. A motto on for this group might be, a penny saved is a penny earned.
I don't think we'll ever see eye-to-eye. These are deep, philosophical differences that are hard to overcome.
Now, financially, to answer your question, "how many more years do you believe we can afford to PROPERLY fund mandates with double digit annual increases?" I can't answer this for anyone other than for my family, however, I challenge the notion of double-digit increases. The state mandates (there's that word again) a max increase. Oh, but what about the exceptions, you ask. Yes, there are exceptions for things outside of our control, such as increased costs of special needs kids. Which leads to...
MORAL
We have a moral obligation to our community to educate our kids. It is our civic duty. At what costs? Well, at whatever the cost is to give our kids an appropriate education, to give them a chance at a future. This is a tenet of the progressives. Notice I am not asking for gold covered text books and marble-floored buildings. Yes, I think a new school was going to help build our community AND save money, but we never asked for a Taj Majal, no matter how you may have tried to spin it, Anonymous. Now, at this point, we are hoping to just keep our failing buildings and simply educate the kids, and so far it's not looking too promising that even that will happen.
I will say it again. We have a moral obligation to educate our kids. The current budget underfunds this mission, even at the pleas of the community and the real professionals, the administration.
So, you say, "Sooner or later, something has to give." Given the current budget, and Dr. Yonson's statement the other night that they will somehow figure out a way to appropriately deal with special education, etc, that means that, yes, something has to give. Sadly it will be education. Education will have to give and our kids will lose. We will give our kids a second rate education because YOU want lower goddamn taxes!
We have a moral obligation to our community to educate our kids.
Area School Budget Roundup
The BCCT this morning compares the area school budgets and finds that Morrisville is the lone exception in producing lower taxes. The budget reporting is again not mentioning the "d" word: "defeasement." The savings in Morrisville comes at the cost of not investing in the future. Don't be fooled that this board is a tax cutting machine and that this will be a luxury-pared budget. The budget was bare bones before, and now even the skeleton is feeling the pain.
Some taxpayers smile; others frown
By THERESA HEGEL
The Intelligencer
Many homeowners in Bucks and Montgomery counties will see dips in next year's property bill — thanks to money skimmed from state gambling slots — with residents in several districts emerging as the clear winners.
Expected gaming credits will save eligible property owners in Lower Bucks anywhere from $166 in Centennial to just more than $290 in Bristol Township, according to state estimates.
In most cases, the gaming funds will help offset tax increases and allow qualified property owners to realize at least some savings on their tax bills.
But in Morrisville, where the school board is looking at ways to cut costs in the cash-strapped district, the $218 gaming credit will be assessed to eligible tax bills in addition to an average $321 reduction in taxes.
Morrisville's tax reduction is the exception in the area, with most other districts experiencing some sort of tax increase. However, residents with homestead exclusions will reap the benefits of state casino revenue. Such homeowners — and there are about 350,000 of them in Bucks and Montgomery counties — could see savings ranging from $25 to almost $200. For the rest, the annual tax bill will increase.
Two area school districts— New Hope-Solebury and Upper Moreland — budgeted higher than the property tax relief they were allotted. New Hope-Solebury residents essentially will break even, with only a $4 difference between the district's average tax hike and the $266 to be distributed to each homeowner with an exemption.
“It's a wash,” board President William Behre said at an April meeting. “That's fine with me.”
The majority of Upper Moreland's increase is slated to pay off a $34.5 million high school renovation project. Excluding that keeps the district's tax increase solidly under the 4.4 percent cap mandated by the state's Act 1.
The law is an attempt to keep school spending closer in line with taxpayers' wages. Increases higher than 4.4 percent must be approved by district voters, though districts can apply for larger rate caps to offset debt payments, as Upper Moreland did.
Centennial, New Hope-Solebury and Palisades also applied for exceptions, allowing them to raise taxes beyond 4.4 percent. Though North Penn qualified for an exception as well, the district did not push taxes past the state cap.
Because property values and incomes are lower in Quakertown, the district would have been permitted to raise taxes up to 5.1 percent without having to apply to the state. Instead, the school board approved a budget raising taxes by 4.5 percent, just a sliver above the general cap.
In addition to the usual suspects of salary and benefits, many districts credited rapidly increasing fuel and heating oil costs for inflating their budgets.
Palisades, for example, had to tack about $350,000 onto its final budget once heating bids and fuel estimates were taken into account. The lowest bid the district received for heating was more than twice its current rate.
Education reporters Joan Hellyer, Rachel Canelli and Manasee Wagh contributed to this article.
Theresa Hegel can be reached at 215-538-6381 or thegel@phillyBurbs.com
Some taxpayers smile; others frown
By THERESA HEGEL
The Intelligencer
Many homeowners in Bucks and Montgomery counties will see dips in next year's property bill — thanks to money skimmed from state gambling slots — with residents in several districts emerging as the clear winners.
Expected gaming credits will save eligible property owners in Lower Bucks anywhere from $166 in Centennial to just more than $290 in Bristol Township, according to state estimates.
In most cases, the gaming funds will help offset tax increases and allow qualified property owners to realize at least some savings on their tax bills.
But in Morrisville, where the school board is looking at ways to cut costs in the cash-strapped district, the $218 gaming credit will be assessed to eligible tax bills in addition to an average $321 reduction in taxes.
Morrisville's tax reduction is the exception in the area, with most other districts experiencing some sort of tax increase. However, residents with homestead exclusions will reap the benefits of state casino revenue. Such homeowners — and there are about 350,000 of them in Bucks and Montgomery counties — could see savings ranging from $25 to almost $200. For the rest, the annual tax bill will increase.
Two area school districts— New Hope-Solebury and Upper Moreland — budgeted higher than the property tax relief they were allotted. New Hope-Solebury residents essentially will break even, with only a $4 difference between the district's average tax hike and the $266 to be distributed to each homeowner with an exemption.
“It's a wash,” board President William Behre said at an April meeting. “That's fine with me.”
The majority of Upper Moreland's increase is slated to pay off a $34.5 million high school renovation project. Excluding that keeps the district's tax increase solidly under the 4.4 percent cap mandated by the state's Act 1.
The law is an attempt to keep school spending closer in line with taxpayers' wages. Increases higher than 4.4 percent must be approved by district voters, though districts can apply for larger rate caps to offset debt payments, as Upper Moreland did.
Centennial, New Hope-Solebury and Palisades also applied for exceptions, allowing them to raise taxes beyond 4.4 percent. Though North Penn qualified for an exception as well, the district did not push taxes past the state cap.
Because property values and incomes are lower in Quakertown, the district would have been permitted to raise taxes up to 5.1 percent without having to apply to the state. Instead, the school board approved a budget raising taxes by 4.5 percent, just a sliver above the general cap.
In addition to the usual suspects of salary and benefits, many districts credited rapidly increasing fuel and heating oil costs for inflating their budgets.
Palisades, for example, had to tack about $350,000 onto its final budget once heating bids and fuel estimates were taken into account. The lowest bid the district received for heating was more than twice its current rate.
Education reporters Joan Hellyer, Rachel Canelli and Manasee Wagh contributed to this article.
Theresa Hegel can be reached at 215-538-6381 or thegel@phillyBurbs.com
Arena Football, Anyone?
Congrats to MHS alum Chris Jackson, now playing for the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League. As a gesture of thanks for Morrisville's support of the Soul's 13-3 season, the Soul is handing out free tickets to all township residents who show up Tuesday, July 1, from 4-7 p.m. at Williamson Park for "Chris Jackson Day."
Soul Morrisville Playoff Promotion Gain National Attention
PHILADELPHIA, June 27 -- The Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League is offering free tickets for its July 5 playoff game to all 10,096 residents of the team's star wide receiver's hometown in a holiday weekend promotion that CNBC has suggested might be the "best ever."
Star player Chris Jackson, a candidate for the Arena League Offensive Player of the Year, grew up in Morrisville, a Bucks County town just outside of Philadelphia, before heading to the west coast and developing into an elite athlete who is now on the verge of the league's all-time receiving records. The Soul, owned in part by rock star Jon Bon Jovi, acquired Jackson in free agency before the 2008 season, bringing him home and filling a talent need on the field.
As a gesture of thanks for the town's support of the Soul's 13-3 season, the Soul is handing out free tickets to all township residents who show up Tuesday, July 1, from 4-7 p.m. at Williamson Park for "Chris Jackson Day."
It is unusual for such large numbers of tickets to be available for the team that leads the league in attendance, but the Wachovia Center game landed on Saturday, July 5, at 7 p.m. That date and time has been locked in because of live television commitments and it is smack in the middle of the Independence Day weekend, when thousands of Soul fans will be on pre-arranged holiday at the Jersey Shore, planning to watch the game on ESPN.
"We're a close-knit, sports-oriented town. People have been wearing Chris Jackson jerseys all season, so this is great for us," said Morrisville Borough Council President Nancy Sherlock. "Here in Morrisville, we know who our neighbors are and we support them. We're thrilled to count Chris Jackson and his family as our own."
CNBC Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell's Friday blog headline reads: AFL's Philadelphia Soul: Offering the Best Sports Promotion Ever? with Rovell commenting, "How crazy is that? Talk about a cheering section."
"We just don't do things halfway," said team General Manager Rich Lisk. "So, the Philadelphia Soul is all in for Morrisville, in honor of Chris Jackson."
By virtue of its successful regular season, the Soul is the first seed in the playoffs with the July 5 opponent to be determined during this weekend's games. If the team wins July 5, it hosts the National Conference Championship Game the following weekend. The Arena Bowl is scheduled for July 29 in New Orleans.
Soul Morrisville Playoff Promotion Gain National Attention
PHILADELPHIA, June 27 -- The Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League is offering free tickets for its July 5 playoff game to all 10,096 residents of the team's star wide receiver's hometown in a holiday weekend promotion that CNBC has suggested might be the "best ever."
Star player Chris Jackson, a candidate for the Arena League Offensive Player of the Year, grew up in Morrisville, a Bucks County town just outside of Philadelphia, before heading to the west coast and developing into an elite athlete who is now on the verge of the league's all-time receiving records. The Soul, owned in part by rock star Jon Bon Jovi, acquired Jackson in free agency before the 2008 season, bringing him home and filling a talent need on the field.
As a gesture of thanks for the town's support of the Soul's 13-3 season, the Soul is handing out free tickets to all township residents who show up Tuesday, July 1, from 4-7 p.m. at Williamson Park for "Chris Jackson Day."
It is unusual for such large numbers of tickets to be available for the team that leads the league in attendance, but the Wachovia Center game landed on Saturday, July 5, at 7 p.m. That date and time has been locked in because of live television commitments and it is smack in the middle of the Independence Day weekend, when thousands of Soul fans will be on pre-arranged holiday at the Jersey Shore, planning to watch the game on ESPN.
"We're a close-knit, sports-oriented town. People have been wearing Chris Jackson jerseys all season, so this is great for us," said Morrisville Borough Council President Nancy Sherlock. "Here in Morrisville, we know who our neighbors are and we support them. We're thrilled to count Chris Jackson and his family as our own."
CNBC Sports Business Reporter Darren Rovell's Friday blog headline reads: AFL's Philadelphia Soul: Offering the Best Sports Promotion Ever? with Rovell commenting, "How crazy is that? Talk about a cheering section."
"We just don't do things halfway," said team General Manager Rich Lisk. "So, the Philadelphia Soul is all in for Morrisville, in honor of Chris Jackson."
By virtue of its successful regular season, the Soul is the first seed in the playoffs with the July 5 opponent to be determined during this weekend's games. If the team wins July 5, it hosts the National Conference Championship Game the following weekend. The Arena Bowl is scheduled for July 29 in New Orleans.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Fortune Telling in Morrisville
The Morrisville School District is performing the same dance I've seen in business quite often, and even participated in a few times. The organization is making the transformation from a vibrant and viable entity to something we talk about from the dim mists of the "good old days."
Sometimes the death throes come in a blaze of glory, as we learned recently with Bear Stearns. The comet blazes mightily and flames out leaving everyone stunned and confused. No, MSD is not going to go out with a bang, but with the metaphorical whimper.
The board of directors (our intrepid Stop the School board, also known as the Emperor and his Accomplices) is providing uncertain and confusing direction for the future. Remember the Frankenfield question: "What is your plan?" In every single job interview and at least once a year in my annual reviews, the question is asked: "What is your plan? Where do you see yourself in five years?" Everyone works toward a goal. That goal has to be defined by the vision makers at the top.
Since the vision is undefined, we have to read between the lines, and the lines speak of destruction: Don't hire teachers or staff. Lower the taxes, no matter the cost. Close the schools. Tuition out the students. Treat the administration like untrustworthy lackeys. That attitude filters through the organization and sets off the alarm bells of self-preservation in everyone. When they start asking the "five years" question of themselves, they are faced with what the district is expected to look like in 2013. "It's the end of the world as we know it" is not an unexpected conclusion.
These people have families, homes, cars, and visions and plans of their own for their lives. They all depend on an expectation of continued employment to make these dreams come true.
So now, those who are able or willing will be making the circuit on Monster.com and sending out their resumes. We're going to see a drain of some of the best and the brightest from MSD leaving for other greener pastures.
That happens all the time, but the reverse side of the exodus is that replacements come in. Here's where the dynamics fall apart. The future of MSD is cloudy and murky, and even the medium on Pennsylvania Avenue can see that. I think Helen Keller would have had a 90% chance in seeing it.
Imagine an applicant coming into a board meeting to see what the district is like. I would expect that a cartoonish outline of the person would be left in the wall as they made the hastiest exit known to man since Bugs Bunny.
The first interview question would be, "Do you want to work for the Emperor and his Board of Accomplices?" How many of us would answer yes? Tends to cut down the interviewing time, doesn't it?
Let's fast forward a year from now. Who replaced any of the departed people? Were their positions left vacant and the "do more with less" slack taken up by the survivors? How many of these survivors saw the handwriting on the wall and lit out for greener pastures of their own? No disrespect meant to any future district hires, but what of the caliber of the people who came in? We're not paying the best wages and overall job security is pretty minimal.
It was easy to attract applicants to the RMS Titanic when it was the indestructible behemoth. When you hire on a crew to staff a doomed ship, the applicant flow diminishes slightly.
Can this still be reversed? Possibly. Without more parents and concerned taxpayers showing up to challenge the self-destructive behavior of this board, this is the future. The PDE or the state appointed undertakers will just sift through the wreckage. Let's remember that our kids are in that wreckage.
Sometimes the death throes come in a blaze of glory, as we learned recently with Bear Stearns. The comet blazes mightily and flames out leaving everyone stunned and confused. No, MSD is not going to go out with a bang, but with the metaphorical whimper.
The board of directors (our intrepid Stop the School board, also known as the Emperor and his Accomplices) is providing uncertain and confusing direction for the future. Remember the Frankenfield question: "What is your plan?" In every single job interview and at least once a year in my annual reviews, the question is asked: "What is your plan? Where do you see yourself in five years?" Everyone works toward a goal. That goal has to be defined by the vision makers at the top.
Since the vision is undefined, we have to read between the lines, and the lines speak of destruction: Don't hire teachers or staff. Lower the taxes, no matter the cost. Close the schools. Tuition out the students. Treat the administration like untrustworthy lackeys. That attitude filters through the organization and sets off the alarm bells of self-preservation in everyone. When they start asking the "five years" question of themselves, they are faced with what the district is expected to look like in 2013. "It's the end of the world as we know it" is not an unexpected conclusion.
These people have families, homes, cars, and visions and plans of their own for their lives. They all depend on an expectation of continued employment to make these dreams come true.
So now, those who are able or willing will be making the circuit on Monster.com and sending out their resumes. We're going to see a drain of some of the best and the brightest from MSD leaving for other greener pastures.
That happens all the time, but the reverse side of the exodus is that replacements come in. Here's where the dynamics fall apart. The future of MSD is cloudy and murky, and even the medium on Pennsylvania Avenue can see that. I think Helen Keller would have had a 90% chance in seeing it.
Imagine an applicant coming into a board meeting to see what the district is like. I would expect that a cartoonish outline of the person would be left in the wall as they made the hastiest exit known to man since Bugs Bunny.
The first interview question would be, "Do you want to work for the Emperor and his Board of Accomplices?" How many of us would answer yes? Tends to cut down the interviewing time, doesn't it?
Let's fast forward a year from now. Who replaced any of the departed people? Were their positions left vacant and the "do more with less" slack taken up by the survivors? How many of these survivors saw the handwriting on the wall and lit out for greener pastures of their own? No disrespect meant to any future district hires, but what of the caliber of the people who came in? We're not paying the best wages and overall job security is pretty minimal.
It was easy to attract applicants to the RMS Titanic when it was the indestructible behemoth. When you hire on a crew to staff a doomed ship, the applicant flow diminishes slightly.
Can this still be reversed? Possibly. Without more parents and concerned taxpayers showing up to challenge the self-destructive behavior of this board, this is the future. The PDE or the state appointed undertakers will just sift through the wreckage. Let's remember that our kids are in that wreckage.
Resignation: Rumor or Fact? (Apparent Fact)
I received one comment regarding a very recent higher profile resignation within the school district. Without more information or confirmation, there's no post.
ORIGINAL POST 10:15 A.M.
UPDATE: 2:15 P.M. Apparently the exodus is beginning. With the retirement of elementary principal Karen Huggins comes the apparent resignation of Melanie Gehrens, principal of the Middle/Senior High School. It is being reported that she will be moving to the Bristol Township School District as the Supervisor of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction.
I do not have official word of this, but have received too many different reports for this to be completely made up.
ORIGINAL POST 10:15 A.M.
UPDATE: 2:15 P.M. Apparently the exodus is beginning. With the retirement of elementary principal Karen Huggins comes the apparent resignation of Melanie Gehrens, principal of the Middle/Senior High School. It is being reported that she will be moving to the Bristol Township School District as the Supervisor of Secondary Curriculum and Instruction.
I do not have official word of this, but have received too many different reports for this to be completely made up.
“This is ridiculous.”
Here's a background article on Wednesday night's meeting from the BCCT this morning.
Raucous? That's mild understatement. It started in the past with an extremely hostile audience led by those same people who now grace the dais. Soda cans and food packages made their start here too, provided back then by the stop the school side as a disruption for the pro school board members. The change in board majority ensured that the practice would eventually shift over to the other side now.
The food thing is a little over the top from BOTH sides. A quiet drink or small snack might be in order. After all, these are four or five hours marathons, but the practice THEN and the practice NOW of using these snacks as disruptive tools is childish at best.
The identification of the Hellmann-Radosti-Mihok voting axis is accurate but is missing a few members. Brenda Worob and Bill Farrell talk a big game about "independence" and "self-directed thought", but in the end come down on the short-sighted side far more often than a true "independent" would.
Jack Buckman has had an issue with late night meetings through his borough council days, so this is not a new position for him. I would like to know how he had enough information about the budget to be able to cast a vote approving it. Was he aware that he can be held PERSONALLY liable for civil damages as a result of his vote?
Until this school board remembers that they are NOT the local board of taxation, but the SCHOOL board, we're in for more late night meeting follies. The irony is that the Emperor and his accomplices themselves have created the firestorm they find themselves enmeshed in. When they were in the audience, they discarded reasoned discourse and discussion in favor of shouting, screaming, and outright mis-characterization of facts to make their points. Now that they are in charge, the wheel of karma has spun and they are now reaping what they have sowed in terms of audience behavior.
I'd like to say that the anti-board audience is wrong (and in the real world they are!), but it's also the only language these yahoos on the dais understand. Confrontation, maximum disruption, and agitation are their signatures. IRONY ALERT: We've elected a board largely made up of the village idiots to control the schools where we educate our young. And we did it only because we wanted to save a few bucks.
They also never, ever, even to this day, thought about a long term plan and released it to the public. "Stop the school" was all they had. They did it. Now what? I've been asking that question for almost a year now and silence is still the only response. Has it occurred to the Emperor and the board of accomplices that if they dialed back the angry rhetoric a bit and actually opened their mouths to EXPLAIN, that the results would be better?
"Those sitting near the front could hear Yonson say under her breath, 'This is ridiculous.' ” Oh, no, Dr. Yonson. Ridiculous is still a few miles down this pothole riddled highway. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses...
Raucous atmosphere at school board meeting
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Morrisville meetings are known for their raucous mud-slinging. But Wednesday's meeting was one for the books.
From the shortening of Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson's contract from five to three years to the board president's proposal of across-the-board hiring freezes in the district, diehards on both sides of the issues stuck it out to watch events unfold past midnight.
One spectator started singing “It's the end of the school as we know it,” to the tune of rock band REM's “It's the End of the World as We Know It.”
At least eight people stood at the microphone to protest the board majority's decision to cut Yonson's five-year contract. Some said it was “a slap in the face” and “an insult.”
The routine replacement of aides and teachers who leave the district became fuel for a debate that raged for more than an hour.
Board President William Hellmann got worked up over hiring new staff. To save money, he suggested a hiring freeze, which elicited gaping mouths and stares of disbelief from administrators and boos from audience members.
Yonson explained that the employees are necessary, that they fulfilled vital educational functions, helping to make significant academic gains in the last couple of years.
For example, elementary math performances have risen in the past couple of years. This year's raw unofficial PSSA data shows considerable improvement in 11th-grade scores, from 11 percent proficiency to 55 percent proficiency, said Yonson.
“Do not expect to have the same results if we reduce staff,” she said.
Hellmann's determination to freeze hirings stems from the district's teachers contract, which stipulates a roughly 12:1 student to staff ratio.
Though most general classes are more than 20 students in size, according to Yonson, some kids who need particular help have more aides or teachers.
The bottom line for some board members was the ratio, though.
“It's too much. It's a problem,” was Hellmann's constant refrain about the number of staff needed to teach fewer than 1,000 students and run the district at an annual cost of $19.88 million.
“Our budget's way too high,” he said repeatedly.
Residents who didn't like what Hellmann had to say settled back with containers of goodies, opening them loudly and rumpling them during Hellmann's remarks.
The approximately 75 spectators filling the meeting room in Morrisville's high school during the five-hour meeting seemed as if they were a sporting event.
They booed and cheered repeatedly depending on who was talking.
Some demanded that Hellmann be heard. Others talked over him.
In the end, at least some of the votes did swing toward staff replacements, though Hellmann and board members Marlys Mihok and Alfred Radosti tended to vote against them. Their practice of siding together on just about every vote prompted a resident to demand that the board not “follow the leader.”
Throughout the noisy meeting, Hellmann and opposing board member Robin Reithmeyer drowned each other out, and Hellmann seemed to turn a deaf ear to Yonson's explanations of how the school system works.
Those sitting near the front could hear Yonson say under her breath, “This is ridiculous.”
John Buckman, who replaced the late Edward Frankenfield on the board last week, thought the meeting dragged on too long.
“It was way too long, that's crazy. If I was getting paid and paid by the hour, maybe I wouldn't care,” he said Friday, chuckling. “We've got to find a way to cut the time.”
Buckman, a former school director and borough councilman, said taking so much time is unfair to board members and the public. But he noted asking questions and airing grievances is good. He believes it's valuable to be up-front and communicate.
However, the board and the administration seem to clash frequently.
“In politics, forget it. It's just that way,” said Buckman. “They talk the subject over and over and over. You're not going to get away from it totally.”
Raucous? That's mild understatement. It started in the past with an extremely hostile audience led by those same people who now grace the dais. Soda cans and food packages made their start here too, provided back then by the stop the school side as a disruption for the pro school board members. The change in board majority ensured that the practice would eventually shift over to the other side now.
The food thing is a little over the top from BOTH sides. A quiet drink or small snack might be in order. After all, these are four or five hours marathons, but the practice THEN and the practice NOW of using these snacks as disruptive tools is childish at best.
The identification of the Hellmann-Radosti-Mihok voting axis is accurate but is missing a few members. Brenda Worob and Bill Farrell talk a big game about "independence" and "self-directed thought", but in the end come down on the short-sighted side far more often than a true "independent" would.
Jack Buckman has had an issue with late night meetings through his borough council days, so this is not a new position for him. I would like to know how he had enough information about the budget to be able to cast a vote approving it. Was he aware that he can be held PERSONALLY liable for civil damages as a result of his vote?
Until this school board remembers that they are NOT the local board of taxation, but the SCHOOL board, we're in for more late night meeting follies. The irony is that the Emperor and his accomplices themselves have created the firestorm they find themselves enmeshed in. When they were in the audience, they discarded reasoned discourse and discussion in favor of shouting, screaming, and outright mis-characterization of facts to make their points. Now that they are in charge, the wheel of karma has spun and they are now reaping what they have sowed in terms of audience behavior.
I'd like to say that the anti-board audience is wrong (and in the real world they are!), but it's also the only language these yahoos on the dais understand. Confrontation, maximum disruption, and agitation are their signatures. IRONY ALERT: We've elected a board largely made up of the village idiots to control the schools where we educate our young. And we did it only because we wanted to save a few bucks.
They also never, ever, even to this day, thought about a long term plan and released it to the public. "Stop the school" was all they had. They did it. Now what? I've been asking that question for almost a year now and silence is still the only response. Has it occurred to the Emperor and the board of accomplices that if they dialed back the angry rhetoric a bit and actually opened their mouths to EXPLAIN, that the results would be better?
"Those sitting near the front could hear Yonson say under her breath, 'This is ridiculous.' ” Oh, no, Dr. Yonson. Ridiculous is still a few miles down this pothole riddled highway. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses...
Raucous atmosphere at school board meeting
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Morrisville meetings are known for their raucous mud-slinging. But Wednesday's meeting was one for the books.
From the shortening of Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson's contract from five to three years to the board president's proposal of across-the-board hiring freezes in the district, diehards on both sides of the issues stuck it out to watch events unfold past midnight.
One spectator started singing “It's the end of the school as we know it,” to the tune of rock band REM's “It's the End of the World as We Know It.”
At least eight people stood at the microphone to protest the board majority's decision to cut Yonson's five-year contract. Some said it was “a slap in the face” and “an insult.”
The routine replacement of aides and teachers who leave the district became fuel for a debate that raged for more than an hour.
Board President William Hellmann got worked up over hiring new staff. To save money, he suggested a hiring freeze, which elicited gaping mouths and stares of disbelief from administrators and boos from audience members.
Yonson explained that the employees are necessary, that they fulfilled vital educational functions, helping to make significant academic gains in the last couple of years.
For example, elementary math performances have risen in the past couple of years. This year's raw unofficial PSSA data shows considerable improvement in 11th-grade scores, from 11 percent proficiency to 55 percent proficiency, said Yonson.
“Do not expect to have the same results if we reduce staff,” she said.
Hellmann's determination to freeze hirings stems from the district's teachers contract, which stipulates a roughly 12:1 student to staff ratio.
Though most general classes are more than 20 students in size, according to Yonson, some kids who need particular help have more aides or teachers.
The bottom line for some board members was the ratio, though.
“It's too much. It's a problem,” was Hellmann's constant refrain about the number of staff needed to teach fewer than 1,000 students and run the district at an annual cost of $19.88 million.
“Our budget's way too high,” he said repeatedly.
Residents who didn't like what Hellmann had to say settled back with containers of goodies, opening them loudly and rumpling them during Hellmann's remarks.
The approximately 75 spectators filling the meeting room in Morrisville's high school during the five-hour meeting seemed as if they were a sporting event.
They booed and cheered repeatedly depending on who was talking.
Some demanded that Hellmann be heard. Others talked over him.
In the end, at least some of the votes did swing toward staff replacements, though Hellmann and board members Marlys Mihok and Alfred Radosti tended to vote against them. Their practice of siding together on just about every vote prompted a resident to demand that the board not “follow the leader.”
Throughout the noisy meeting, Hellmann and opposing board member Robin Reithmeyer drowned each other out, and Hellmann seemed to turn a deaf ear to Yonson's explanations of how the school system works.
Those sitting near the front could hear Yonson say under her breath, “This is ridiculous.”
John Buckman, who replaced the late Edward Frankenfield on the board last week, thought the meeting dragged on too long.
“It was way too long, that's crazy. If I was getting paid and paid by the hour, maybe I wouldn't care,” he said Friday, chuckling. “We've got to find a way to cut the time.”
Buckman, a former school director and borough councilman, said taking so much time is unfair to board members and the public. But he noted asking questions and airing grievances is good. He believes it's valuable to be up-front and communicate.
However, the board and the administration seem to clash frequently.
“In politics, forget it. It's just that way,” said Buckman. “They talk the subject over and over and over. You're not going to get away from it totally.”
Schools News Around the Blogosphere
The next big thing: smaller schools
Baltimore Sun
Across the nation, urban school districts are breaking up large schools and replacing them with smaller ones. In Baltimore, new high schools with as few as 400 to 500 students have been carved out of old ones with enrollments of 2,000 or more.
To be a good parent requires a firm, affectionate patience
Providence Journal
Julia Steiny
Standing on the beach, on one of those recent scorching days, I saw a little boy in blue swim trunks careening across the beach, a 4-year-old with a mission. He had a white rock shaped roughly like a round loaf of bakery bread. He presented it with pride to a woman I assumed was his mom.
Documentary Chronicles Pitfalls of American Education in Global Economy
Diverse Magazine
by Michelle Nealy
Diverse reporter Michelle Nealy chats with Indianapolis venture-capitalist-turned-filmmaker, Bob Compton, about his provocative new documentary, "2 Million Minutes." The film chronicles six students from India , the United States and China during their high school years. Compton highlights the pitfalls of American education in today's global economy and praises those cultures that revere academic achievement.
NEW READING FIRST DATA FROM STATES SHOWS IMPRESSIVE GAINS IN READING PROFICIENCY
United States Department of Education
Students From Nearly Every Grade and Every Subgroup Show Improvement
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced new data from the states showing impressive gains for Reading First students. The achievement data submitted by state education agencies (SEAs) and compiled and analyzed by the Education Department's contractor, American Institutes for Research, showed improvement in nearly every grade and subgroup, including English language learners and students with disabilities.
Restraint and Seclusion on Children with Disabilities in Florida Public Schools
There are many families from counties all over Florida who have children with Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders that are being restrained, put in time-out and forced locked seclusion rooms in the public school system. Our children are being injured physically and mentally because of their disabilities and the lack of appropriate programs and highly qualified teachers and aides available to educate them. Most of the aides that are hired have little or no background in children with Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Across US, schools feel budget pinch
Christian Science Monitor
By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo
Slashed funding and rising costs are forcing school districts to cut back, even close down. Lynn, Mass. - The Fallon elementary school is a joyous place. But last week, some parents, students, and staff felt as blue as the hallway walls. On Friday, the small school in Lynn, Mass., shut its doors - not just for the summer, but for good.
EducationNews National Coverage
Poll: Half say schools aren't preparing kids
USA Today
WASHINGTON (AP) - It's not much of a report card. Half of Americans say U.S. schools are doing only a fair to poor job preparing kids for college and the work force. Even more feel that way about the skills kids need to survive as adults, an Associated Press poll released Friday finds.
Baltimore Sun
Across the nation, urban school districts are breaking up large schools and replacing them with smaller ones. In Baltimore, new high schools with as few as 400 to 500 students have been carved out of old ones with enrollments of 2,000 or more.
To be a good parent requires a firm, affectionate patience
Providence Journal
Julia Steiny
Standing on the beach, on one of those recent scorching days, I saw a little boy in blue swim trunks careening across the beach, a 4-year-old with a mission. He had a white rock shaped roughly like a round loaf of bakery bread. He presented it with pride to a woman I assumed was his mom.
Documentary Chronicles Pitfalls of American Education in Global Economy
Diverse Magazine
by Michelle Nealy
Diverse reporter Michelle Nealy chats with Indianapolis venture-capitalist-turned-filmmaker, Bob Compton, about his provocative new documentary, "2 Million Minutes." The film chronicles six students from India , the United States and China during their high school years. Compton highlights the pitfalls of American education in today's global economy and praises those cultures that revere academic achievement.
NEW READING FIRST DATA FROM STATES SHOWS IMPRESSIVE GAINS IN READING PROFICIENCY
United States Department of Education
Students From Nearly Every Grade and Every Subgroup Show Improvement
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings today announced new data from the states showing impressive gains for Reading First students. The achievement data submitted by state education agencies (SEAs) and compiled and analyzed by the Education Department's contractor, American Institutes for Research, showed improvement in nearly every grade and subgroup, including English language learners and students with disabilities.
Restraint and Seclusion on Children with Disabilities in Florida Public Schools
There are many families from counties all over Florida who have children with Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders that are being restrained, put in time-out and forced locked seclusion rooms in the public school system. Our children are being injured physically and mentally because of their disabilities and the lack of appropriate programs and highly qualified teachers and aides available to educate them. Most of the aides that are hired have little or no background in children with Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Across US, schools feel budget pinch
Christian Science Monitor
By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo
Slashed funding and rising costs are forcing school districts to cut back, even close down. Lynn, Mass. - The Fallon elementary school is a joyous place. But last week, some parents, students, and staff felt as blue as the hallway walls. On Friday, the small school in Lynn, Mass., shut its doors - not just for the summer, but for good.
EducationNews National Coverage
Poll: Half say schools aren't preparing kids
USA Today
WASHINGTON (AP) - It's not much of a report card. Half of Americans say U.S. schools are doing only a fair to poor job preparing kids for college and the work force. Even more feel that way about the skills kids need to survive as adults, an Associated Press poll released Friday finds.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Relink to Budget Article
Thanks to the sharp eyed emailers who noted that the couriertimesnow.com website and phillyburbs.com websites have different content. Phillyburbs has more content.
I'm still disappointed in the article. It mentions nothing about defeasement being the lion's share of the savings, and the vote was not 5-2. It was 5-3.
Let's give credit where credit is due. Voting YES to provide an inadequately funded special education, charter school, and alternative education budget were: President William Hellmann, Vice President Al Radosti, Secretary Marlys Mihok, Treasurer Brenda Worob, and newcomer Jack Buckman. Voting NO were: Joe Kemp, Robin Reithmeyer, and William Farrell. Former Treasurer Gloria Heater was absent.
Budget includes $321 tax decrease
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
MORRISVILLE -- Residents in Morrisville can expect to pay $321 less in taxes next year.
Taxes will lessen to $3,371 for a homeowner with the borough's average assessed property of $18,000.
Those eligible for the homestead/farmstead exclusion will see a further decline of $218. The exclusion is property tax relief from state slot machine revenue.
It's a relief to many residents, but falling taxes come with consequences.
A pared-down budget that is a result of this tax reduction could be a drain on programs and services for approximately 1,000 Morrisville students.
The board voted 5-2 late Wednesday evening on a $19.88 million budget for next school year. To lower taxes, expenditures are down by about 3 percent from this year.
The approved budget is far short of what is necessary to fully provide for upcoming special education, charter school and alternative school costs required by the state, according to the district.
“This option is a big no-no,” as far as district auditors and the state Department of Education are concerned, said Reba Dunford, the district's business administrator.
An estimated $2.2 million will be needed just for special education for about 250 students, 11 more than this year's average. This year, special education expenses were about $1.9 million, according to Kimberly Myers, Morrisville's supervisor of pupil personnel services.
The district also had to account for teacher contracts, which account for $10 million of the budget. The average teacher salary in Morrisville is about $70,000 a year, and the district employs 71 teachers and seven professional support staff members.
Rising fuel prices pushed the final budget skyward by another $22,400.
For the past few months board members have been arguing with the administration about how to crop those expenses, which keep rising.
State law says they are uncontrollable costs that have to be paid.
Last month, board members, including President William Hellmann, requested that Dunford reduce the projected necessary increases in special education and charter and alternative schools.
Hellmann, who was voted into office on the promise of tightening belts and lowering taxes, has repeatedly said that the school district spends too much.
“It's too much. It's a problem,” Hellmann said several times at Wednesday night's meeting.
He hasn't yet explained how to cover those costs but has said he doesn't trust the administration's cost estimates. Hellmann thinks certain expenditures have been padded so there is more money in the budget, making it a kind of wish list.
Yonson has expressed frustration with this view on several occasions and stressed that the administration has specified only a “bare-bones budget.”
Several residents requested the board vote for a budget that would safeguard as much of the uncontrollable costs as possible.
To achieve some kind of compromise between board members and the administration's recommendations, Dunford presented four different budget options before the vote.
Each retained the same tax decrease and a millage decrease of 17.8 mills, yielding a total millage of 187.3.
The differences among the budget possibilities involved funding partial increases in charter and alternative schools and special education services.
The highest expenditure option was around $20.1 million because it included taking about $182,000 from savings for those schools and services. That is still far less than what Elizabeth Yonson, the district's superintendent, has said is necessary to fully provide for students who need those services next year.
The board voted for the lowest expenditure option, which leaves out much of the required increase.
Now the district will have to pull the money from other areas and look for ways to reduce costs without cutting state-mandated services, warned Yonson. What those areas may be are still up in the air.
The budget options Dunford presented utilized varying amounts of the fund balance, the district's savings account.
Yonson said the district would somehow pay for all mandated services, no matter what.
Manasee Wagh can be reached at 215-949-4206 or mwagh@phillyBurbs.com.
June 27, 2008 6:11 AM
I'm still disappointed in the article. It mentions nothing about defeasement being the lion's share of the savings, and the vote was not 5-2. It was 5-3.
Let's give credit where credit is due. Voting YES to provide an inadequately funded special education, charter school, and alternative education budget were: President William Hellmann, Vice President Al Radosti, Secretary Marlys Mihok, Treasurer Brenda Worob, and newcomer Jack Buckman. Voting NO were: Joe Kemp, Robin Reithmeyer, and William Farrell. Former Treasurer Gloria Heater was absent.
Budget includes $321 tax decrease
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
MORRISVILLE -- Residents in Morrisville can expect to pay $321 less in taxes next year.
Taxes will lessen to $3,371 for a homeowner with the borough's average assessed property of $18,000.
Those eligible for the homestead/farmstead exclusion will see a further decline of $218. The exclusion is property tax relief from state slot machine revenue.
It's a relief to many residents, but falling taxes come with consequences.
A pared-down budget that is a result of this tax reduction could be a drain on programs and services for approximately 1,000 Morrisville students.
The board voted 5-2 late Wednesday evening on a $19.88 million budget for next school year. To lower taxes, expenditures are down by about 3 percent from this year.
The approved budget is far short of what is necessary to fully provide for upcoming special education, charter school and alternative school costs required by the state, according to the district.
“This option is a big no-no,” as far as district auditors and the state Department of Education are concerned, said Reba Dunford, the district's business administrator.
An estimated $2.2 million will be needed just for special education for about 250 students, 11 more than this year's average. This year, special education expenses were about $1.9 million, according to Kimberly Myers, Morrisville's supervisor of pupil personnel services.
The district also had to account for teacher contracts, which account for $10 million of the budget. The average teacher salary in Morrisville is about $70,000 a year, and the district employs 71 teachers and seven professional support staff members.
Rising fuel prices pushed the final budget skyward by another $22,400.
For the past few months board members have been arguing with the administration about how to crop those expenses, which keep rising.
State law says they are uncontrollable costs that have to be paid.
Last month, board members, including President William Hellmann, requested that Dunford reduce the projected necessary increases in special education and charter and alternative schools.
Hellmann, who was voted into office on the promise of tightening belts and lowering taxes, has repeatedly said that the school district spends too much.
“It's too much. It's a problem,” Hellmann said several times at Wednesday night's meeting.
He hasn't yet explained how to cover those costs but has said he doesn't trust the administration's cost estimates. Hellmann thinks certain expenditures have been padded so there is more money in the budget, making it a kind of wish list.
Yonson has expressed frustration with this view on several occasions and stressed that the administration has specified only a “bare-bones budget.”
Several residents requested the board vote for a budget that would safeguard as much of the uncontrollable costs as possible.
To achieve some kind of compromise between board members and the administration's recommendations, Dunford presented four different budget options before the vote.
Each retained the same tax decrease and a millage decrease of 17.8 mills, yielding a total millage of 187.3.
The differences among the budget possibilities involved funding partial increases in charter and alternative schools and special education services.
The highest expenditure option was around $20.1 million because it included taking about $182,000 from savings for those schools and services. That is still far less than what Elizabeth Yonson, the district's superintendent, has said is necessary to fully provide for students who need those services next year.
The board voted for the lowest expenditure option, which leaves out much of the required increase.
Now the district will have to pull the money from other areas and look for ways to reduce costs without cutting state-mandated services, warned Yonson. What those areas may be are still up in the air.
The budget options Dunford presented utilized varying amounts of the fund balance, the district's savings account.
Yonson said the district would somehow pay for all mandated services, no matter what.
Manasee Wagh can be reached at 215-949-4206 or mwagh@phillyBurbs.com.
June 27, 2008 6:11 AM
Email your complaints
Thanks to Dianne for her comment requesting contact information where we can send complaints or requests for information.
Here's a few to start off:
Government
Governor Ed Rendell email: web form only website
Senator Charles McIlhinney: email: cmcilhinney@pasen.gov website
Representative John Galloway email:web form only website
Here's a few to start off:
Government
Governor Ed Rendell email: web form only website
Senator Charles McIlhinney: email: cmcilhinney@pasen.gov website
Representative John Galloway email:web form only website
couriertimesnow.com
Kudos to the new Courier Times website. There's three separate stories posted here about Wednesday night's Morrisville school board meeting.
The first story is member Joe Kemp urging the board majority to do their homework before making changes. The story is sad in that Joe Kemp needs to use BCCT columnist Kate Fratti as his means of communication because the Emperor and his blindly subservient accomplices are unapproachable and indifferent. If you're not pleased with the way the current Stop the School majority is acting, drop them a line at SchoolBoard@mv.org. If you copy savethemorrisvilleschool@yahoo.com, I'll print it as well.
In the second story, the board's shameful treatment of Dr. Elizabeth Yonson is chronicled. Memo to the Emperor and accomplices: You're lucky that Morrisville has this talented administrator at all. If she doesn't sue the ever living crap out of you, it's because she's a better human being alone than you could ever collectively aspire to be. Go. Have the common decency to be ashamed. Especially those board members who keep talking the big talk about being independent, but when the Emperor commands, you keep on running to his beck and call. You may talk the talk, but the audience can clearly see the walk, and it doesn't match the talk.
The third story mentions the dilemma of economics. How do you pay for what you need? Parents are well versed in that daily struggle. Are average taxpayers? Yes, they are. But do some of them really understand the definition of a "community"? Let's also note that the reporter neglected to mention why the millage is lower. Answer: The penny-wise and pound-foolish bond defeasement.
MV school director pleads his case
Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 3:01 pm by Columnist Kate Fratti
Morrisville School Board member Joe Kemp today in an email urged the board majority, yet again, to do its homework before committing the troubled district to big change. Kemp, a minority member, worries the board leadership’s serious interest in a plan to tuition out high-school students to save money isn’t being aired in open.”The board should have [Solicitor] Mike Fitzpatrick draft formal letters to any and all school districts or private schools that we may wish to consider for a tuition program. He should also give us his opinion about the legality of such a plan,” he said.
“Talks should be held between a committee of the board and the teachers’ union with legal representation on both sides to see if there is any way to tuition students that will be acceptable by the union.
“We should find out if privatizing our high school means that all private school students would have their tuitions paid by the district. We should consider hiring an architectural firm that works with school districts to tell us the costs of converting our MHS to either a grade school or a K-12.
“We should find out the costs regarding busing as a factor in sending high school students out of the district and would that then make the district a busing district.
Superintendent contract shortened
Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 4:37 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
Morrisville’s school board majority approved shortening Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson’s contract at Wednesday night’s meeting. The contract was revised to three years instead of five.Yonson has been with the district for at least three years. The previous board renewed her contract for five years, from July 1 this year to June 30, 2013.
Under her leadership, Morrisville schools made several gains, including high performance levels in elementary school math.
Board President William Hellmann did not provide a concrete reason for shortening her contract. He thanked Yonson for doing an exemplary job and said a shorter contract was a better choice.
Yonson herself said it was an irregular course of action. After their first contract expires, most Bucks superintendents who get their contracts renewed do receive five-year contracts, she said.
Fewer taxes = fewer educational services?
Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 5:09 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
Residents in Morrisville can expect to pay $321 less in taxes next year.
The school board approved a $19.88 million budget Wednesday.
Taxes will lessen to $3,371 for a homeowner with the borough’s average assessed property of $18,000.
Those who were eligible for the homestead/farmstead exclusion will see a further decline of $218.
But there will be consequences, warned administrators. The new budget doesn’t account for all of the $2.2 million needed for special education services and additional money needed for alternative and charter schools.
The district will find a way to pay for all of those uncontrollable costs, but cuts may need to be made in other areas, said administrators. The state mandates that special education and charter and alternative schools must be paid for fully.
The first story is member Joe Kemp urging the board majority to do their homework before making changes. The story is sad in that Joe Kemp needs to use BCCT columnist Kate Fratti as his means of communication because the Emperor and his blindly subservient accomplices are unapproachable and indifferent. If you're not pleased with the way the current Stop the School majority is acting, drop them a line at SchoolBoard@mv.org. If you copy savethemorrisvilleschool@yahoo.com, I'll print it as well.
In the second story, the board's shameful treatment of Dr. Elizabeth Yonson is chronicled. Memo to the Emperor and accomplices: You're lucky that Morrisville has this talented administrator at all. If she doesn't sue the ever living crap out of you, it's because she's a better human being alone than you could ever collectively aspire to be. Go. Have the common decency to be ashamed. Especially those board members who keep talking the big talk about being independent, but when the Emperor commands, you keep on running to his beck and call. You may talk the talk, but the audience can clearly see the walk, and it doesn't match the talk.
The third story mentions the dilemma of economics. How do you pay for what you need? Parents are well versed in that daily struggle. Are average taxpayers? Yes, they are. But do some of them really understand the definition of a "community"? Let's also note that the reporter neglected to mention why the millage is lower. Answer: The penny-wise and pound-foolish bond defeasement.
MV school director pleads his case
Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 3:01 pm by Columnist Kate Fratti
Morrisville School Board member Joe Kemp today in an email urged the board majority, yet again, to do its homework before committing the troubled district to big change. Kemp, a minority member, worries the board leadership’s serious interest in a plan to tuition out high-school students to save money isn’t being aired in open.”The board should have [Solicitor] Mike Fitzpatrick draft formal letters to any and all school districts or private schools that we may wish to consider for a tuition program. He should also give us his opinion about the legality of such a plan,” he said.
“Talks should be held between a committee of the board and the teachers’ union with legal representation on both sides to see if there is any way to tuition students that will be acceptable by the union.
“We should find out if privatizing our high school means that all private school students would have their tuitions paid by the district. We should consider hiring an architectural firm that works with school districts to tell us the costs of converting our MHS to either a grade school or a K-12.
“We should find out the costs regarding busing as a factor in sending high school students out of the district and would that then make the district a busing district.
Superintendent contract shortened
Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 4:37 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
Morrisville’s school board majority approved shortening Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson’s contract at Wednesday night’s meeting. The contract was revised to three years instead of five.Yonson has been with the district for at least three years. The previous board renewed her contract for five years, from July 1 this year to June 30, 2013.
Under her leadership, Morrisville schools made several gains, including high performance levels in elementary school math.
Board President William Hellmann did not provide a concrete reason for shortening her contract. He thanked Yonson for doing an exemplary job and said a shorter contract was a better choice.
Yonson herself said it was an irregular course of action. After their first contract expires, most Bucks superintendents who get their contracts renewed do receive five-year contracts, she said.
Fewer taxes = fewer educational services?
Posted in News on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 5:09 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
Residents in Morrisville can expect to pay $321 less in taxes next year.
The school board approved a $19.88 million budget Wednesday.
Taxes will lessen to $3,371 for a homeowner with the borough’s average assessed property of $18,000.
Those who were eligible for the homestead/farmstead exclusion will see a further decline of $218.
But there will be consequences, warned administrators. The new budget doesn’t account for all of the $2.2 million needed for special education services and additional money needed for alternative and charter schools.
The district will find a way to pay for all of those uncontrollable costs, but cuts may need to be made in other areas, said administrators. The state mandates that special education and charter and alternative schools must be paid for fully.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Comic Relief
Two views of the last night's business meeting courtesy of Dilbert and Real Life.
Imagine what we could accomplish without the Emperor. Who is willing to step up and make the first move on dethroning the Emperor?
Another midnight meeting filled with bickering?
Imagine what we could accomplish without the Emperor. Who is willing to step up and make the first move on dethroning the Emperor?
Another midnight meeting filled with bickering?
News From the Budget Talks
What's the scoop from last night? Dr. Yonson? The budget? The teacher contract and student ratios?
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Superintendent Yonson in Jeopardy??
Thanks to jon for pointing this out. Check out the board agenda for tonight.
ACTION ITEMS
5.1. Approval, Rescind October 24, 2007 Board Action Approving Employment Contract
for Superintendent of Schools
5.2. Approval, Employment Contract for Superintendent of Schools
ACTION ITEMS
5.1. Approval, Rescind October 24, 2007 Board Action Approving Employment Contract
for Superintendent of Schools
5.2. Approval, Employment Contract for Superintendent of Schools
Important reminder for tonight's meeting
Reminder to those attending tonight - the board is obligated to provide opportunity for public comment before making decisions on anything. Therefore if after tonight's public session there are significant new proposals or changes to the budget that have not been publicly discussed or advertised by the board, the public has the right to an opportunity for comment. Though we might expect that this will be stifled, you do have a right to stand and request to be heard. Take careful note of the response. Given the pattern of secrecy and the weight of tonight's decisions, be on the lookout for surprises - and assert your right to be heard!
Mother Bear
Mother Bear
Budget Approval Due Tonight
Don't forget that tonight is the regular monthly school board meeting. The proposed budget was approved unanimously as a working document. What work has been done on it, or has it even changed? There's only one way to find out. Be there. Meeting starts at 7:30 P.M. in the LGI.
This budget has an impact down the road. The proposed millage is 187.3, which represents quite a drop. The savings are almost completely from the costs of the now defeased bond being removed.
There's the special education costs to consider as well. This is an unfunded mandate. We have to provide these services by law, but the money to provide them comes from homeowners. Cutting them is not an option. We need to secure funding elsewhere.
Using the 4.4% cap currently in place, the most that the budget can be next year is 195.5 mills unless exceptions are applied for. You think things are tight now? Watch the 2009-2010 budget process.
This budget has an impact down the road. The proposed millage is 187.3, which represents quite a drop. The savings are almost completely from the costs of the now defeased bond being removed.
There's the special education costs to consider as well. This is an unfunded mandate. We have to provide these services by law, but the money to provide them comes from homeowners. Cutting them is not an option. We need to secure funding elsewhere.
Using the 4.4% cap currently in place, the most that the budget can be next year is 195.5 mills unless exceptions are applied for. You think things are tight now? Watch the 2009-2010 budget process.
Pennsbury Renovations Keep on Rolling
While the headline gives you a chuckle as you focus on an unusual mental picture to start your morning,(think First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt with Stacy and Clinton on What Not To Wear) this morning's BCCT story shows the real expense level connected with building maintenance.
Translation: It doesn't stop. The low to nonexistent level of expenditures Morrisville has earmarked for renovations and upgrades over the past 20-30 years means that the bill is coming due, well, just about...now. And the maƮtre d' is anxious because the district's Visa card was just rejected for the third time.
Study to determine renovations needed for Eleanor Roosevelt
By MANASEE WAGH
Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School in Falls will be getting a much-needed overhaul.
Architects are about to conduct a feasibility study on the 45-year-old Pennsbury school, which houses about 500 students.
“One of the biggest reasons is that the school is not air conditioned. We’re adding air conditioning in our schools and replacing old, inefficient heating systems,” said Gregory Lucidi, the school board president.
In the cases of some schools, the heating systems date back to the original construction, he added.
The district has been repairing buildings to eliminate problems with electrical systems, leaky roofs and inefficient windows that leak heat during cold seasons, said Lucidi. Replacing older windows with more efficient ones helps control fuel costs.
The lack of air conditioning in several buildings is particularly bothersome.
During a heat wave two weeks ago, when temperatures soared well into the 90s, children were sent home early from all three of the Pennsbury middle schools and three of its elementary schools. Most of the structures don’t have air conditioning.
The two high school buildings have air conditioning.
The next step for Eleanor Roosevelt involves finding out exactly what repairs need to be tackled. Based on the feasibility study, architects will present the district with an approximate list of repairs and an estimated cost.
The timeline from the feasibility study to complete renovations is still hazy, said Lucidi.
Usually the feasibility study and the board’s consideration of the architect’s specific findings take a few months, Lucidi said. Then the district starts the approval process with the school’s municipality. A district may need to get approval for zoning variances, for example.
It also has to plow through a process for state approvals.
Once all approvals are obtained, the board starts the process of going out to bid on the specific renovation requirements.
“Schools are kind of unique. They’re occupied, so renovations have to work around students,” said Lucidi. Usually work starts directly after school lets out for the summer. Then, during the subsequent school year, architects and engineers do whatever work they can, and generally finish up in the next summer, he said.
That’s how it worked for Oxford Valley Elementary School, originally built in 1953.
Structural, plumbing, electrical, heating and air-conditioning renovations should be done by the end of summer.
In at least the past five years, Pennsbury has plunged into renovations on several of its schools, like Penn Valley, Manor and Walt Disney Elementary schools and Pennsbury High School West.
Planned renovations for 77-year-old Makefield Elementary are awaiting approval by Lower Makefield officials.
“The renovations will protect a lot of the original architectural treatments that are still intact, to preserve the historic integrity of the structure,” said district spokeswoman Ann Langtry.
Makefield Elementary and the Fallsington administration building, dating to 1917, are the two oldest structures in the school district, she said.
The district will likely scrutinize middle schools next, said Lucidi.
Translation: It doesn't stop. The low to nonexistent level of expenditures Morrisville has earmarked for renovations and upgrades over the past 20-30 years means that the bill is coming due, well, just about...now. And the maƮtre d' is anxious because the district's Visa card was just rejected for the third time.
Study to determine renovations needed for Eleanor Roosevelt
By MANASEE WAGH
Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School in Falls will be getting a much-needed overhaul.
Architects are about to conduct a feasibility study on the 45-year-old Pennsbury school, which houses about 500 students.
“One of the biggest reasons is that the school is not air conditioned. We’re adding air conditioning in our schools and replacing old, inefficient heating systems,” said Gregory Lucidi, the school board president.
In the cases of some schools, the heating systems date back to the original construction, he added.
The district has been repairing buildings to eliminate problems with electrical systems, leaky roofs and inefficient windows that leak heat during cold seasons, said Lucidi. Replacing older windows with more efficient ones helps control fuel costs.
The lack of air conditioning in several buildings is particularly bothersome.
During a heat wave two weeks ago, when temperatures soared well into the 90s, children were sent home early from all three of the Pennsbury middle schools and three of its elementary schools. Most of the structures don’t have air conditioning.
The two high school buildings have air conditioning.
The next step for Eleanor Roosevelt involves finding out exactly what repairs need to be tackled. Based on the feasibility study, architects will present the district with an approximate list of repairs and an estimated cost.
The timeline from the feasibility study to complete renovations is still hazy, said Lucidi.
Usually the feasibility study and the board’s consideration of the architect’s specific findings take a few months, Lucidi said. Then the district starts the approval process with the school’s municipality. A district may need to get approval for zoning variances, for example.
It also has to plow through a process for state approvals.
Once all approvals are obtained, the board starts the process of going out to bid on the specific renovation requirements.
“Schools are kind of unique. They’re occupied, so renovations have to work around students,” said Lucidi. Usually work starts directly after school lets out for the summer. Then, during the subsequent school year, architects and engineers do whatever work they can, and generally finish up in the next summer, he said.
That’s how it worked for Oxford Valley Elementary School, originally built in 1953.
Structural, plumbing, electrical, heating and air-conditioning renovations should be done by the end of summer.
In at least the past five years, Pennsbury has plunged into renovations on several of its schools, like Penn Valley, Manor and Walt Disney Elementary schools and Pennsbury High School West.
Planned renovations for 77-year-old Makefield Elementary are awaiting approval by Lower Makefield officials.
“The renovations will protect a lot of the original architectural treatments that are still intact, to preserve the historic integrity of the structure,” said district spokeswoman Ann Langtry.
Makefield Elementary and the Fallsington administration building, dating to 1917, are the two oldest structures in the school district, she said.
The district will likely scrutinize middle schools next, said Lucidi.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Gateway Redux
Oh...another swing, and another miss. The batter is down in the count 0 and 2.
He's really been struggling out there today. He just doesn't seem to have his rhythm down. He's really fighting hard to stay out of a slump. This is a batter with Hall of Fame stats who puts his all into every play.
Right you are. Here's the windup...and here's the pitch...
But instead of a mano-a-mano style duel between a pitcher and a batter, this is between Dan Jones and the Penn Jersey group versus a divided Morrisville, the Morrisville of the past and the Morrisville of the future.
I give Dan Jones high marks for his tenacity and perseverance. He's been metaphorically shot at and beaten down twice now, yet he's still standing. He's still looking to develop a more robust Morrisville of the future.
Dan: God bless. You're working with a borough council that is spineless at best. There's not very many leaders down there on Union Street, and we're sadly losing one of them. [Shout out to George Bolos: We need many many more visionaries like you on council.] I wish you exceedingly well on this third try to bring business back to Morrisville and I hope everyone supports you just as deeply as you're supporting Morrisville!
Developer proposes new site
By DANNY ADLER
A Morrisville developer, who had proposed the polarizing and now scrapped Gateway Center office complex, has filed plans for another office building at the same spot on East Bridge Street.
The newly proposed office building, a three-story, 20,000-square-foot structure, is less than half the size of the almost 50,000-square-foot Gateway Center, according to plans filed at borough hall by Penn Jersey Real Properties.
The building also would not require an inch of borough-owned land, unlike the Gateway Center that asked for anywhere from 2,000 square feet to 2 acres of land at the southern end of Williamson Park — one of the big issues that turned residents and some council members against the old proposal.
The Gateway Center proposal was killed last month when Morrisville’s borough council voted against the concept of the office complex. Supporters had called the Gateway Center a positive move to revitalize Morrisville’s downtown and aid in tax relief while others had concerns from parking and traffic issues to fears of losing borough-owned green space.
Borough officials said the plans for the new office building, dated June 12, will go to the planning commission for review.
Plans for the new building have it laid out on East Bridge Street between Central and North Delmorr avenues on land owned by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. In April, the bridge commission and Morrisville’s economic development corporation reached an agreement of sale of about 1 acre of land there. The economic development corporation would then sell the land to Penn Jersey.
The area where the complex is planned will contain the 20,000-square-foot building and two parking lots with 63 parking spaces combined. Thirty-one percent of the lot size will remain open space.
The plans are available for public view at borough hall, 35 Union St.
He's really been struggling out there today. He just doesn't seem to have his rhythm down. He's really fighting hard to stay out of a slump. This is a batter with Hall of Fame stats who puts his all into every play.
Right you are. Here's the windup...and here's the pitch...
But instead of a mano-a-mano style duel between a pitcher and a batter, this is between Dan Jones and the Penn Jersey group versus a divided Morrisville, the Morrisville of the past and the Morrisville of the future.
I give Dan Jones high marks for his tenacity and perseverance. He's been metaphorically shot at and beaten down twice now, yet he's still standing. He's still looking to develop a more robust Morrisville of the future.
Dan: God bless. You're working with a borough council that is spineless at best. There's not very many leaders down there on Union Street, and we're sadly losing one of them. [Shout out to George Bolos: We need many many more visionaries like you on council.] I wish you exceedingly well on this third try to bring business back to Morrisville and I hope everyone supports you just as deeply as you're supporting Morrisville!
Developer proposes new site
By DANNY ADLER
A Morrisville developer, who had proposed the polarizing and now scrapped Gateway Center office complex, has filed plans for another office building at the same spot on East Bridge Street.
The newly proposed office building, a three-story, 20,000-square-foot structure, is less than half the size of the almost 50,000-square-foot Gateway Center, according to plans filed at borough hall by Penn Jersey Real Properties.
The building also would not require an inch of borough-owned land, unlike the Gateway Center that asked for anywhere from 2,000 square feet to 2 acres of land at the southern end of Williamson Park — one of the big issues that turned residents and some council members against the old proposal.
The Gateway Center proposal was killed last month when Morrisville’s borough council voted against the concept of the office complex. Supporters had called the Gateway Center a positive move to revitalize Morrisville’s downtown and aid in tax relief while others had concerns from parking and traffic issues to fears of losing borough-owned green space.
Borough officials said the plans for the new office building, dated June 12, will go to the planning commission for review.
Plans for the new building have it laid out on East Bridge Street between Central and North Delmorr avenues on land owned by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. In April, the bridge commission and Morrisville’s economic development corporation reached an agreement of sale of about 1 acre of land there. The economic development corporation would then sell the land to Penn Jersey.
The area where the complex is planned will contain the 20,000-square-foot building and two parking lots with 63 parking spaces combined. Thirty-one percent of the lot size will remain open space.
The plans are available for public view at borough hall, 35 Union St.
Monday, June 23, 2008
21st Century Interact Service Learning Club
From the Inquirer: Congrats to the recent grads at MHS who participated in the 21st Century Interact Service Learning Club [See third story down.].
Seniors at Morrisville Middle/Senior High School who participated in the 21st Century Interact Service Learning Club in the Morrisville School District were honored for their participation at an awards ceremony June 5.
Members of the club volunteer for community service, and this year have helped with activities including Lights on After School and Read Across America, and serving at the Trenton Soup Kitchen. The club adviser is Kathy DeFinis.
Three of the students who were honored each participated in nearly 300 hours of community service. They are Jerod Jenkins, Jonah Moore and Ernie Santone. The remaining honorees were Kimberly Charles, Breana Frazier, Justin Howell, Matthew Miller, Sarah O'Connor, Joelle Peterson-Spann, Jody Pour, John Ruthrauff and Barbara Steele.
Seniors at Morrisville Middle/Senior High School who participated in the 21st Century Interact Service Learning Club in the Morrisville School District were honored for their participation at an awards ceremony June 5.
Members of the club volunteer for community service, and this year have helped with activities including Lights on After School and Read Across America, and serving at the Trenton Soup Kitchen. The club adviser is Kathy DeFinis.
Three of the students who were honored each participated in nearly 300 hours of community service. They are Jerod Jenkins, Jonah Moore and Ernie Santone. The remaining honorees were Kimberly Charles, Breana Frazier, Justin Howell, Matthew Miller, Sarah O'Connor, Joelle Peterson-Spann, Jody Pour, John Ruthrauff and Barbara Steele.
Community Meeting Tomorrow, June 24
A reminder to everyone who is concerned with the Emperor's farm program: Tomorrow night, the Community Action group will be meeting in the LGI at 7:00 P.M.
As was pointed out earlier, this is a real committee made up of real board members where real ideas and discussion can take place.
Do not show up expecting to tell the Emperor anything. He will not be there, but other board members will be. If you are silent now, don't start weeping and wailing as your high schoolers are bused off to parts unknown in a few years. Come out and shape the future.
As was pointed out earlier, this is a real committee made up of real board members where real ideas and discussion can take place.
Do not show up expecting to tell the Emperor anything. He will not be there, but other board members will be. If you are silent now, don't start weeping and wailing as your high schoolers are bused off to parts unknown in a few years. Come out and shape the future.
MV Borough Council Wrapup
Here's the wrapup of the council meeting from last week. What was accomplished? You be the judge. At least there was a resolution keeping the doggies safe. Taxpayers...ummm, not so much.
What did they do to lower our taxes?
PUBLIC MEETING WRAP
Morrisville Council
215-295-8181
When: Monday, June 16
Issue: Pay bills; payment to Morrisville Fire Co. for $25,000 and Morrisville Ambulance Squad for $7,000; request the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission to transfer $56,000 from one of the curb and sidewalk projects to the median island and traffic signal installation project; award contract to Armour and Sons Electric for the median island and traffic signal installation project in the amount of $353,601.55 subject to the bridge commission’s approval of the fund transfer; have solicitor proceed to have referendum on the November 2008 election ballot to increase the millage to support the Morrisville Ambulance Squad to 2 mills, which is 1.5 mills more than permitted by the borough code
Vote: Approved 8-0 by Nancy Sherlock, Kathryn Panzitta, George Bolos, Jane Burger, Eileen Dreisbach, Rita Ledger, Dave Rivella and Stephen Worob
Issue: Adopt ordinance amending Chapter 86 of the code of ordinances for collection of insufficient-fund charges
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Final plan for Falkowski/Kulpinski subdivision contingent on requirements stated by the borough engineer
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Advertise traffic ordinance with proposed amendments to Chapter 435 of the code of ordinances for vehicles and traffic
Impact: New traffic signs will go up throughout the borough.
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Approve the tennis program presented by the National Junior Tennis League of Trenton
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Resolution to establish recreation program director position
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Resolutions supporting state House Bill 2532, addressing the cropping or cutting of the ears, tail docking, debarking or surgical birth of dogs by anyone other than veterinarians; House Bill 1065, pertaining to cruelty to animals; House Bill 2525, pertaining to animal kennels; and House Bill 2553, pertaining to dangerous dogs
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Preliminary minor subdivision plan for Christopher Urban at 121 Grandview Ave.
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Resolution to enter into a mutual aid agreement between the Morrisville Fire Co. and the Trenton, N.J., Hazardous Materials Team
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Authorize solicitor to prepare and advertise an amendment to the zoning ordinance regarding signage
Vote: Approved unanimously
What did they do to lower our taxes?
PUBLIC MEETING WRAP
Morrisville Council
215-295-8181
When: Monday, June 16
Issue: Pay bills; payment to Morrisville Fire Co. for $25,000 and Morrisville Ambulance Squad for $7,000; request the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission to transfer $56,000 from one of the curb and sidewalk projects to the median island and traffic signal installation project; award contract to Armour and Sons Electric for the median island and traffic signal installation project in the amount of $353,601.55 subject to the bridge commission’s approval of the fund transfer; have solicitor proceed to have referendum on the November 2008 election ballot to increase the millage to support the Morrisville Ambulance Squad to 2 mills, which is 1.5 mills more than permitted by the borough code
Vote: Approved 8-0 by Nancy Sherlock, Kathryn Panzitta, George Bolos, Jane Burger, Eileen Dreisbach, Rita Ledger, Dave Rivella and Stephen Worob
Issue: Adopt ordinance amending Chapter 86 of the code of ordinances for collection of insufficient-fund charges
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Final plan for Falkowski/Kulpinski subdivision contingent on requirements stated by the borough engineer
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Advertise traffic ordinance with proposed amendments to Chapter 435 of the code of ordinances for vehicles and traffic
Impact: New traffic signs will go up throughout the borough.
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Approve the tennis program presented by the National Junior Tennis League of Trenton
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Resolution to establish recreation program director position
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Resolutions supporting state House Bill 2532, addressing the cropping or cutting of the ears, tail docking, debarking or surgical birth of dogs by anyone other than veterinarians; House Bill 1065, pertaining to cruelty to animals; House Bill 2525, pertaining to animal kennels; and House Bill 2553, pertaining to dangerous dogs
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Preliminary minor subdivision plan for Christopher Urban at 121 Grandview Ave.
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Resolution to enter into a mutual aid agreement between the Morrisville Fire Co. and the Trenton, N.J., Hazardous Materials Team
Vote: Approved unanimously
Issue: Authorize solicitor to prepare and advertise an amendment to the zoning ordinance regarding signage
Vote: Approved unanimously
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Y Cant Johnee Reed and Test Good?
At last! The answer to why our students can't read or perform well on tests: Wikipedia!
This is a piece of fallacious crap. Just because bad information is out there doesn't mean we have to read it or accept it as gospel. One of the skills acquired through consistent reading is the ability to apply critical thinking to the information.
The internet is a wonderful place to research information. At the single press of an "enter" key, all sorts of information is thrown at you. It's up to you to read and comprehend that Elvis is not Bigfoot and that JFK did not stage Diana's death. What used to take me hours to research at the library can be done in moments. I'll agree that Encyclopedia Brittanica is an "authoritative resource" far more responsible than Wikipedia ever will be, but even back in the pre-digital day, I still had to cite three authoritative sources for my information that did not use the same root information.
The answer is not to ban Wikipedia. That's the cowardly and easy way out. Do the hard work of retraining the students to use their brains for more than just insulation and to constantly carry a 50 pound of bag of salt for use while reading. A lot of grains are needed for each trip through cyberspace.
Memo to students: The teachers know about Google too. Do the real work. The shortcuts will lead to disaster.
Is there a message in there for our intrepid Emperor and accomplices as well?
Falling exam passes blamed on Wikipedia 'littered with inaccuracies'
Published Date: 21 June 2008
By MARTYN McLAUGHLIN
WIKIPEDIA and other online research sources were yesterday blamed for Scotland's falling exam pass rates.
The Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC) said pupils are turning to websites and internet resources that contain inaccurate or deliberately misleading information before passing it off as their own work.
The group singled out online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which allows entries to be logged or updated by anyone and is not verified by researchers, as the main source of information.
Standard Grade pass rates were down for the first time in four years last year and the SPTC is now calling for pupils to be given lessons on using the internet appropriately for additional research purposes "before the problem gets out of hand".
Eleanor Coner, the SPTC's information officer, said: "Children are very IT-savvy, but they are rubbish at researching. The sad fact is most children these days use libraries for computers, not the books. We accept that as a sign of the times, but schools must teach pupils not to believe everything they read.
"It's dangerous when the internet is littered with opinion and inaccurate information which could be taken as fact.
"Internet plagiarism is a problem. Pupils think 'I'll nick that and nobody will notice', but the Scottish Qualifications Authority has robust ways of checking for plagiarism and parents are worried their children will fail their exams."
Ronnie Smith, the general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, said there was a higher risk of inaccurate information on the internet than in books. He added: "We need to make sure youngsters don't take what they read online as fact."
Several further education institutions have already banned students from using the interactive encyclopaedia. At one college in Vermont in the US, a history professor found several students repeated the same error in exam papers. On discovering the information came from Wikipedia, the college outlawed its future use.
Ms Coner said overuse of the internet also meant students did not develop interpretative skills.
She said: "Pupils are in danger of believing what they read. It's part of our short-cut culture, where we will do anything to pass a test, without properly engaging with the information or questions that are being asked.
"It's all very well to glance at a website for research, but you have to check what you are reading is correct. Anything can be untrue. I can claim to be a world expert on anything if I set up a website on the internet."
Alan Johnson, the UK Education Secretary, was lambasted earlier this year for suggesting the website could be a positive educational tool for children.
He described the internet as "an incredible force for good in education", singling out Wikipedia for praise.
A disclaimer on Wikipedia states "it is important to note that fledgling, or less well monitored, articles may be susceptible to vandalism and insertion of false information".
Boasting over two million articles, Wikipedia is used by about 6 per cent of internet users, significantly more than the traffic to more authorised sites, such as those of newspapers. Its articles are mainly edited by a team of volunteers.
'There is a great deal of misinformation on the net'
LAST week I heard the writer Colin Bateman describe how, on looking himself up on Wikipedia, he was dismayed to discover that his young son had gone online and added the sentence: "Mr Bateman is currently suffering from penile dysfunction." Fortunately his dad saw the funny side – and was proud his child could spell "dysfunction" correctly.
In common with students everywhere, I use Wikipedia as a research tool, and so does my son. Occasionally, I come across areas where there is academic dissent – for example on whether Homer was an individual poet, and this is usually clearly indicated.
There are subjects on which I wouldn't trust any open-edit web resource, because I've come across too many conspiracy theorists in my time. But generally I think the biggest risk of using any internet source is that it leads to plagiarism, intended or unintended.
It is so easy to cut and paste, meaning only to put together some useful notes, and then to draw on them too heavily without acknowledging the source. At the extreme it is all too easy to buy "off the peg" essays on any subject.
When I was studying public health, we were trained to test the reliability of health-related websites, because there is a great deal of subjective misinformation on the net which may appear reliable.
The great strength of the internet is that it means we can amass information very readily, but it is hard to distinguish between authoritative, scientifically tested information, and something more akin to rumour.
One topic in my son's Higher History course is the civil rights movement in the US. Starting from the simplest of internet queries, it wasn't long before he got into quite contentious issues, which were presented in very partial terms by organisations with vested interests.
It was hugely useful to him to develop the skill of challenging what was presented as "fact", but it is a skill that has to be learnt, and which many internet users won't have. Of course, that skill isn't just useful for assessing the reliability of the internet. Mr Bateman, for example, earns his living by making up stories.
• Miranda Harvey is a parent of a pupil at Boroughmuir High School, Edinburgh.
Politics
POLITICIANS and their parties are among those Wikipedia entries most vulnerable to deliberate misinformation.
During his time in Downing Street, Tony Blair may have been alarmed to find himself slurred as "George Bush's bitch-boy".
The SNP's entry has previously seen the party described as one "influenced by childish Jacobitism", while Scottish Labour has been dubbed a "fascist organisation".
Celebrity
AS WELL as political heavy-hitters, the realm of celebrity is a favourite for Wikipedia's mischief-makers.
At different times, Kylie Minogue has had her genealogical history thrown into doubt after her entry claimed that she was "the more beautiful and talented older sister" of Michael Jackson.
Robbie Williams suffered an even crueller entry – it was at one point alleged on Wikipedia that he made a living from eating hamsters in pubs in and around Stoke.
Fantasists
WIKIPEDIA is seen by some as a blank canvas where self-publicists can promote themselves. In 2006, a call centre worker from Glasgow was exposed after concocting an elaborate alter ego through his Wikipedia page, which gave the impression he was a highly decorated war hero.
Alan Mcilwraith, renaming himself Captain Sir Alan, claimed to have been an officer in the Parachute Regiment, who finished top of his class at Sandhurst before going on to become a terrorism expert.
After two years of conducting this charade, someone who knew Mcilwraith revealed the sham.
This is a piece of fallacious crap. Just because bad information is out there doesn't mean we have to read it or accept it as gospel. One of the skills acquired through consistent reading is the ability to apply critical thinking to the information.
The internet is a wonderful place to research information. At the single press of an "enter" key, all sorts of information is thrown at you. It's up to you to read and comprehend that Elvis is not Bigfoot and that JFK did not stage Diana's death. What used to take me hours to research at the library can be done in moments. I'll agree that Encyclopedia Brittanica is an "authoritative resource" far more responsible than Wikipedia ever will be, but even back in the pre-digital day, I still had to cite three authoritative sources for my information that did not use the same root information.
The answer is not to ban Wikipedia. That's the cowardly and easy way out. Do the hard work of retraining the students to use their brains for more than just insulation and to constantly carry a 50 pound of bag of salt for use while reading. A lot of grains are needed for each trip through cyberspace.
Memo to students: The teachers know about Google too. Do the real work. The shortcuts will lead to disaster.
Is there a message in there for our intrepid Emperor and accomplices as well?
Falling exam passes blamed on Wikipedia 'littered with inaccuracies'
Published Date: 21 June 2008
By MARTYN McLAUGHLIN
WIKIPEDIA and other online research sources were yesterday blamed for Scotland's falling exam pass rates.
The Scottish Parent Teacher Council (SPTC) said pupils are turning to websites and internet resources that contain inaccurate or deliberately misleading information before passing it off as their own work.
The group singled out online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which allows entries to be logged or updated by anyone and is not verified by researchers, as the main source of information.
Standard Grade pass rates were down for the first time in four years last year and the SPTC is now calling for pupils to be given lessons on using the internet appropriately for additional research purposes "before the problem gets out of hand".
Eleanor Coner, the SPTC's information officer, said: "Children are very IT-savvy, but they are rubbish at researching. The sad fact is most children these days use libraries for computers, not the books. We accept that as a sign of the times, but schools must teach pupils not to believe everything they read.
"It's dangerous when the internet is littered with opinion and inaccurate information which could be taken as fact.
"Internet plagiarism is a problem. Pupils think 'I'll nick that and nobody will notice', but the Scottish Qualifications Authority has robust ways of checking for plagiarism and parents are worried their children will fail their exams."
Ronnie Smith, the general secretary of the Educational Institute of Scotland, said there was a higher risk of inaccurate information on the internet than in books. He added: "We need to make sure youngsters don't take what they read online as fact."
Several further education institutions have already banned students from using the interactive encyclopaedia. At one college in Vermont in the US, a history professor found several students repeated the same error in exam papers. On discovering the information came from Wikipedia, the college outlawed its future use.
Ms Coner said overuse of the internet also meant students did not develop interpretative skills.
She said: "Pupils are in danger of believing what they read. It's part of our short-cut culture, where we will do anything to pass a test, without properly engaging with the information or questions that are being asked.
"It's all very well to glance at a website for research, but you have to check what you are reading is correct. Anything can be untrue. I can claim to be a world expert on anything if I set up a website on the internet."
Alan Johnson, the UK Education Secretary, was lambasted earlier this year for suggesting the website could be a positive educational tool for children.
He described the internet as "an incredible force for good in education", singling out Wikipedia for praise.
A disclaimer on Wikipedia states "it is important to note that fledgling, or less well monitored, articles may be susceptible to vandalism and insertion of false information".
Boasting over two million articles, Wikipedia is used by about 6 per cent of internet users, significantly more than the traffic to more authorised sites, such as those of newspapers. Its articles are mainly edited by a team of volunteers.
'There is a great deal of misinformation on the net'
LAST week I heard the writer Colin Bateman describe how, on looking himself up on Wikipedia, he was dismayed to discover that his young son had gone online and added the sentence: "Mr Bateman is currently suffering from penile dysfunction." Fortunately his dad saw the funny side – and was proud his child could spell "dysfunction" correctly.
In common with students everywhere, I use Wikipedia as a research tool, and so does my son. Occasionally, I come across areas where there is academic dissent – for example on whether Homer was an individual poet, and this is usually clearly indicated.
There are subjects on which I wouldn't trust any open-edit web resource, because I've come across too many conspiracy theorists in my time. But generally I think the biggest risk of using any internet source is that it leads to plagiarism, intended or unintended.
It is so easy to cut and paste, meaning only to put together some useful notes, and then to draw on them too heavily without acknowledging the source. At the extreme it is all too easy to buy "off the peg" essays on any subject.
When I was studying public health, we were trained to test the reliability of health-related websites, because there is a great deal of subjective misinformation on the net which may appear reliable.
The great strength of the internet is that it means we can amass information very readily, but it is hard to distinguish between authoritative, scientifically tested information, and something more akin to rumour.
One topic in my son's Higher History course is the civil rights movement in the US. Starting from the simplest of internet queries, it wasn't long before he got into quite contentious issues, which were presented in very partial terms by organisations with vested interests.
It was hugely useful to him to develop the skill of challenging what was presented as "fact", but it is a skill that has to be learnt, and which many internet users won't have. Of course, that skill isn't just useful for assessing the reliability of the internet. Mr Bateman, for example, earns his living by making up stories.
• Miranda Harvey is a parent of a pupil at Boroughmuir High School, Edinburgh.
Politics
POLITICIANS and their parties are among those Wikipedia entries most vulnerable to deliberate misinformation.
During his time in Downing Street, Tony Blair may have been alarmed to find himself slurred as "George Bush's bitch-boy".
The SNP's entry has previously seen the party described as one "influenced by childish Jacobitism", while Scottish Labour has been dubbed a "fascist organisation".
Celebrity
AS WELL as political heavy-hitters, the realm of celebrity is a favourite for Wikipedia's mischief-makers.
At different times, Kylie Minogue has had her genealogical history thrown into doubt after her entry claimed that she was "the more beautiful and talented older sister" of Michael Jackson.
Robbie Williams suffered an even crueller entry – it was at one point alleged on Wikipedia that he made a living from eating hamsters in pubs in and around Stoke.
Fantasists
WIKIPEDIA is seen by some as a blank canvas where self-publicists can promote themselves. In 2006, a call centre worker from Glasgow was exposed after concocting an elaborate alter ego through his Wikipedia page, which gave the impression he was a highly decorated war hero.
Alan Mcilwraith, renaming himself Captain Sir Alan, claimed to have been an officer in the Parachute Regiment, who finished top of his class at Sandhurst before going on to become a terrorism expert.
After two years of conducting this charade, someone who knew Mcilwraith revealed the sham.
Pennsylvania Taxation and Assessment Update
The Inquirer had part one of this series last week and it was mentioned in this post. Part 2 today looks at the city of Philadelphia.
Real-Estate Roulette
Philadelphia’s ‘unbelievable’ assessments confound property owners with wildly inequitable taxes.
By Anthony R. Wood and Dylan Purcell
Inquirer Staff Writers
Of the 400,000 homeowners in Philadelphia, only 3 percent receive property-tax bills based on the true value of their real estate.
For the remaining 387,000, the amounts they are charged are wrong, and often wildly so - derived from assessments that, on average, are 39 percent off the mark, according to an analysis by The Inquirer.
The appraisals border on the randomness of Ping-Pong balls popped from a lottery machine, with winners and losers. [More at philly.com website]
Real-Estate Roulette
Philadelphia’s ‘unbelievable’ assessments confound property owners with wildly inequitable taxes.
By Anthony R. Wood and Dylan Purcell
Inquirer Staff Writers
Of the 400,000 homeowners in Philadelphia, only 3 percent receive property-tax bills based on the true value of their real estate.
For the remaining 387,000, the amounts they are charged are wrong, and often wildly so - derived from assessments that, on average, are 39 percent off the mark, according to an analysis by The Inquirer.
The appraisals border on the randomness of Ping-Pong balls popped from a lottery machine, with winners and losers. [More at philly.com website]
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