Friday, October 31, 2008
Voters Guide
Don't forget that Election Day is Tuesday. The polls are open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM
It doesn't work unless YOU get out, and VOTE. This is a link to a video from Steven Spielberg and a large group of very recognizable Hollywood stars.
Not sure how this works? BucksCounty.org has a "Voting 101" website.
Not sure how to use the machines? Check out the explanation and video from BucksCounty.org.
Not sure who is running? There's more than the Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin fight for the White House. Here's a sample ballot for Morrisville residents, including the ambulance company tax hike. [Page 3 of the PDF file.]
Not sure where to vote? VotesPA.com can show you the way. Enter your address, and one of the four Morrisville ward polling places will appear.
Morrisville 1st, Morrisville Senior Citizens Center, 31 E Cleveland Ave
Morrisville 2nd, Morrisville Library Building, 300 N Pennsylvania Ave
Morrisville 3rd, Capitol View Fire Company, 528 N Pennsylvania Ave
Morrisville 4th, Grandview Elementary School, Grandview Ave
What should I bring with me? All voters who appear at a polling place for the first time must show proof of identification. Approved forms of photo identification include:
* Pennsylvania driver's license or PennDOT ID card
* ID issued by any Commonwealth agency
* ID issued by the U.S. Government
* U.S. Passport
* U.S. Armed Forces ID
* Student ID
* Employee ID
If you do not have a photo ID, you can use a non-photo identification that includes your name and address. Approved forms of non-photo identification include:
* Confirmation issued by the County Voter Registration Office
* Non-photo ID issued by the Commonwealth
* Non-photo ID issued by U.S. Government
* Firearm Permit
* Current utility bill
* Current bank statement
* Current paycheck
* Government check
If you do not bring your ID on Election Day, vote with a provisional ballot.
Don't leave without voting!
In addition to proper identification, you may choose to bring the following items with you to the polls:
* A list of the candidates on the ballot and who you plan to vote for
What NOT to Bring:
* Weapons or firearms
* Alcohol or drugs
Having problems? Ghostbusters can't help, but here's where you can get assistance:
Bucks County Board of Elections
55 E. Court St.
Doylestown, PA 18901
Board of Elections - 215-348-6154
elections@co.bucks.pa.us
Lower Bucks County
7321 New Falls Road
Levittown, PA 19055
Phone: 215-949-5800
Now the only thing missing is you.
It doesn't work unless YOU get out, and VOTE. This is a link to a video from Steven Spielberg and a large group of very recognizable Hollywood stars.
Not sure how this works? BucksCounty.org has a "Voting 101" website.
Not sure how to use the machines? Check out the explanation and video from BucksCounty.org.
Not sure who is running? There's more than the Obama/Biden vs. McCain/Palin fight for the White House. Here's a sample ballot for Morrisville residents, including the ambulance company tax hike. [Page 3 of the PDF file.]
Not sure where to vote? VotesPA.com can show you the way. Enter your address, and one of the four Morrisville ward polling places will appear.
Morrisville 1st, Morrisville Senior Citizens Center, 31 E Cleveland Ave
Morrisville 2nd, Morrisville Library Building, 300 N Pennsylvania Ave
Morrisville 3rd, Capitol View Fire Company, 528 N Pennsylvania Ave
Morrisville 4th, Grandview Elementary School, Grandview Ave
What should I bring with me? All voters who appear at a polling place for the first time must show proof of identification. Approved forms of photo identification include:
* Pennsylvania driver's license or PennDOT ID card
* ID issued by any Commonwealth agency
* ID issued by the U.S. Government
* U.S. Passport
* U.S. Armed Forces ID
* Student ID
* Employee ID
If you do not have a photo ID, you can use a non-photo identification that includes your name and address. Approved forms of non-photo identification include:
* Confirmation issued by the County Voter Registration Office
* Non-photo ID issued by the Commonwealth
* Non-photo ID issued by U.S. Government
* Firearm Permit
* Current utility bill
* Current bank statement
* Current paycheck
* Government check
If you do not bring your ID on Election Day, vote with a provisional ballot.
Don't leave without voting!
In addition to proper identification, you may choose to bring the following items with you to the polls:
* A list of the candidates on the ballot and who you plan to vote for
What NOT to Bring:
* Weapons or firearms
* Alcohol or drugs
Having problems? Ghostbusters can't help, but here's where you can get assistance:
Bucks County Board of Elections
55 E. Court St.
Doylestown, PA 18901
Board of Elections - 215-348-6154
elections@co.bucks.pa.us
Lower Bucks County
7321 New Falls Road
Levittown, PA 19055
Phone: 215-949-5800
Now the only thing missing is you.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Ambulance Squad Tax Hike Vote Next Week
From the BCCT. We've mentioned the referendum here and here previously. Next week, we get to decide to tax ourselves for necessary services.
Check out the BCCT story comments. They are pretty interesting.
Referendum could raise taxes $30 for ambulance squad
By DANNY ADLER, Bucks County Courier Times
Voters in Morrisville will have a say on whether to increase the borough's EMS fund to support the Morrisville Ambulance Squad.
If approved, the borough can increase the EMS fund to 2 mills, which is 1.5 mills more than permitted by the borough code without being approved by voters in a referendum, officials said. The millage for the EMS fund is maxed-out at a half mill.
The millage increase would raise property taxes for the average homeowner by about $30 a year. That translates to about $90,000 more for the EMS fund.
If the referendum fails, the ambulance squad would have to find other ways to raise funds, officials said.
Borough officials said the ambulance squad, with its roughly $450,000 annual budget, entered 2008 with a $14,000 deficit.
Danny Adler can be reached at 215-949-4205 or dadler@phillyBurbs.com.
Ballot question: Shall Morrisville Borough levy an annual tax of two mills for the support of Ambulance and Rescue Squads serving the Borough of Morrisville? YES or NO
Plain English: The ballot question asks the voters of Morrisville whether the borough should assess an annual tax of 2 mills for the purpose of funding ambulance and rescue services serving Morrisville.
A vote of yes approves the levying of a tax of 2 mills for this purpose.
Check out the BCCT story comments. They are pretty interesting.
Referendum could raise taxes $30 for ambulance squad
By DANNY ADLER, Bucks County Courier Times
Voters in Morrisville will have a say on whether to increase the borough's EMS fund to support the Morrisville Ambulance Squad.
If approved, the borough can increase the EMS fund to 2 mills, which is 1.5 mills more than permitted by the borough code without being approved by voters in a referendum, officials said. The millage for the EMS fund is maxed-out at a half mill.
The millage increase would raise property taxes for the average homeowner by about $30 a year. That translates to about $90,000 more for the EMS fund.
If the referendum fails, the ambulance squad would have to find other ways to raise funds, officials said.
Borough officials said the ambulance squad, with its roughly $450,000 annual budget, entered 2008 with a $14,000 deficit.
Danny Adler can be reached at 215-949-4205 or dadler@phillyBurbs.com.
Ballot question: Shall Morrisville Borough levy an annual tax of two mills for the support of Ambulance and Rescue Squads serving the Borough of Morrisville? YES or NO
Plain English: The ballot question asks the voters of Morrisville whether the borough should assess an annual tax of 2 mills for the purpose of funding ambulance and rescue services serving Morrisville.
A vote of yes approves the levying of a tax of 2 mills for this purpose.
Business administrator named
From the BCCT.
Business administrator named
BY MANASEE WAGH
The Morrisville School Board voted to make Paul DeAngelo the district’s new business administrator Wednesday.
DeAngelo will assume the role on Nov. 17 at an annual salary of $102,000. He replaces Reba Dunford, who served in the position for about three and a half years. She left on Oct. 18 to become business administrator at North Montgomery County Vocational Technical High School. An interim business administrator is now filling the job.
DeAngelo has been the business administrator at the approximately 10,000-student Coatesville Area School District for four years. In comparison, Morrisville’s public schools teach about 1,040 students.
“The district is very lucky to have Mr. Paul DeAngelo as our new business administrator. His experience with the Coatesville School District will serve him well in his new capacity. He also has experience in the business world prior to Coatesville. He’ll be able to bring both perspectives to the job,” said Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson.
Board member Robin Reithmeyer was also pleased with the pick.
“I think he’s a good guy. He brings good ideas to the table,” she said.
The board interviewed eight candidates for the job.
Business administrator named
BY MANASEE WAGH
The Morrisville School Board voted to make Paul DeAngelo the district’s new business administrator Wednesday.
DeAngelo will assume the role on Nov. 17 at an annual salary of $102,000. He replaces Reba Dunford, who served in the position for about three and a half years. She left on Oct. 18 to become business administrator at North Montgomery County Vocational Technical High School. An interim business administrator is now filling the job.
DeAngelo has been the business administrator at the approximately 10,000-student Coatesville Area School District for four years. In comparison, Morrisville’s public schools teach about 1,040 students.
“The district is very lucky to have Mr. Paul DeAngelo as our new business administrator. His experience with the Coatesville School District will serve him well in his new capacity. He also has experience in the business world prior to Coatesville. He’ll be able to bring both perspectives to the job,” said Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson.
Board member Robin Reithmeyer was also pleased with the pick.
“I think he’s a good guy. He brings good ideas to the table,” she said.
The board interviewed eight candidates for the job.
Go Phils!
Congratulations to the Phillies, 2008 World Champions.
Just how long WAS the 6th inning anyway? Something like 47 hours?
Just how long WAS the 6th inning anyway? Something like 47 hours?
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
From the UK: Education and US Presidential Elections
Here's a view of the US presidential race from the UK side of the pond from the Guardian. Education and critical thinking skills are the basis we use for choosing the leaders we deserve, not the leaders we need.
I'm not completely convinced by his theory. It's very much biased to a liberal point of view, but there's no denying that he hit on the problem: "Ignorant politicians are elected by ignorant people. US education, like the US health system, is notorious for its failures."
How these gibbering numbskulls came to dominate Washington
The degradation of intelligence and learning in American politics results from a series of interlocking tragedies
George Monbiot, The Guardian, Tuesday October 28 2008
How was it allowed to happen? How did politics in the US come to be dominated by people who make a virtue out of ignorance? Was it charity that has permitted mankind's closest living relative to spend two terms as president? How did Sarah Palin, Dan Quayle and other such gibbering numbskulls get to where they are? How could Republican rallies in 2008 be drowned out by screaming ignoramuses insisting that Barack Obama was a Muslim and a terrorist?
Like most people on my side of the Atlantic, I have for many years been mystified by American politics. The US has the world's best universities and attracts the world's finest minds. It dominates discoveries in science and medicine. Its wealth and power depend on the application of knowledge. Yet, uniquely among the developed nations (with the possible exception of Australia), learning is a grave political disadvantage.
There have been exceptions over the past century - Franklin Roosevelt, JF Kennedy and Bill Clinton tempered their intellectualism with the common touch and survived - but Adlai Stevenson, Al Gore and John Kerry were successfully tarred by their opponents as members of a cerebral elite (as if this were not a qualification for the presidency). Perhaps the defining moment in the collapse of intelligent politics was Ronald Reagan's response to Jimmy Carter during the 1980 presidential debate. Carter - stumbling a little, using long words - carefully enumerated the benefits of national health insurance. Reagan smiled and said: "There you go again." His own health programme would have appalled most Americans, had he explained it as carefully as Carter had done, but he had found a formula for avoiding tough political issues and making his opponents look like wonks.
It wasn't always like this. The founding fathers of the republic - Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton and others - were among the greatest thinkers of their age. They felt no need to make a secret of it. How did the project they launched degenerate into George W Bush and Sarah Palin?
On one level, this is easy to answer. Ignorant politicians are elected by ignorant people. US education, like the US health system, is notorious for its failures. In the most powerful nation on earth, one adult in five believes the sun revolves round the earth; only 26% accept that evolution takes place by means of natural selection; two-thirds of young adults are unable to find Iraq on a map; two-thirds of US voters cannot name the three branches of government; the maths skills of 15-year-olds in the US are ranked 24th out of the 29 countries of the OECD. But this merely extends the mystery: how did so many US citizens become so stupid, and so suspicious of intelligence? Susan Jacoby's book The Age of American Unreason provides the fullest explanation I have read so far. She shows that the degradation of US politics results from a series of interlocking tragedies.
One theme is both familiar and clear: religion - in particular fundamentalist religion - makes you stupid. The US is the only rich country in which Christian fundamentalism is vast and growing.
Jacoby shows that there was once a certain logic to its anti-rationalism. During the first few decades after the publication of The Origin of Species, for instance, Americans had good reason to reject the theory of natural selection and to treat public intellectuals with suspicion. From the beginning, Darwin's theory was mixed up in the US with the brutal philosophy - now known as social Darwinism - of the British writer Herbert Spencer. Spencer's doctrine, promoted in the popular press with the help of funding from Andrew Carnegie, John D Rockefeller and Thomas Edison, suggested that millionaires stood at the top of a scala natura established by evolution. By preventing unfit people being weeded out, government intervention weakened the nation. Gross economic inequalities were both justifiable and necessary.
Darwinism, in other words, became indistinguishable from the most bestial form of laissez-faire economics. Many Christians responded with revulsion. It is profoundly ironic that the doctrine rejected a century ago by such prominent fundamentalists as William Jennings Bryan is now central to the economic thinking of the Christian right. Modern fundamentalists reject the science of Darwinian evolution and accept the pseudoscience of social Darwinism.
But there were other, more powerful, reasons for the intellectual isolation of the fundamentalists. The US is peculiar in devolving the control of education to local authorities. Teaching in the southern states was dominated by the views of an ignorant aristocracy of planters, and a great educational gulf opened up. "In the south", Jacoby writes, "what can only be described as an intellectual blockade was imposed in order to keep out any ideas that might threaten the social order."
The Southern Baptist Convention, now the biggest denomination in the US, was to slavery and segregation what the Dutch Reformed Church was to apartheid in South Africa. It has done more than any other force to keep the south stupid. In the 1960s it tried to stave off desegregation by establishing a system of private Christian schools and universities. A student can now progress from kindergarten to a higher degree without any exposure to secular teaching. Southern Baptist beliefs pass intact through the public school system as well. A survey by researchers at the University of Texas in 1998 found that one in four of the state's state school biology teachers believed humans and dinosaurs lived on earth at the same time.
This tragedy has been assisted by the American fetishisation of self-education. Though he greatly regretted his lack of formal teaching, Abraham Lincoln's career is repeatedly cited as evidence that good education, provided by the state, is unnecessary: all that is required to succeed is determination and rugged individualism. This might have served people well when genuine self-education movements, like the one built around the Little Blue Books in the first half of the 20th century, were in vogue. In the age of infotainment, it is a recipe for confusion.
Besides fundamentalist religion, perhaps the most potent reason intellectuals struggle in elections is that intellectualism has been equated with subversion. The brief flirtation of some thinkers with communism a long time ago has been used to create an impression in the public mind that all intellectuals are communists. Almost every day men such as Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly rage against the "liberal elites" destroying America.
The spectre of pointy-headed alien subversives was crucial to the election of Reagan and Bush. A genuine intellectual elite - like the neocons (some of them former communists) surrounding Bush - has managed to pitch the political conflict as a battle between ordinary Americans and an over-educated pinko establishment. Any attempt to challenge the ideas of the rightwing elite has been successfully branded as elitism.
Obama has a lot to offer the US, but none of this will stop if he wins. Until the great failures of the US education system are reversed or religious fundamentalism withers, there will be political opportunities for people, like Bush and Palin, who flaunt their ignorance.
I'm not completely convinced by his theory. It's very much biased to a liberal point of view, but there's no denying that he hit on the problem: "Ignorant politicians are elected by ignorant people. US education, like the US health system, is notorious for its failures."
How these gibbering numbskulls came to dominate Washington
The degradation of intelligence and learning in American politics results from a series of interlocking tragedies
George Monbiot, The Guardian, Tuesday October 28 2008
How was it allowed to happen? How did politics in the US come to be dominated by people who make a virtue out of ignorance? Was it charity that has permitted mankind's closest living relative to spend two terms as president? How did Sarah Palin, Dan Quayle and other such gibbering numbskulls get to where they are? How could Republican rallies in 2008 be drowned out by screaming ignoramuses insisting that Barack Obama was a Muslim and a terrorist?
Like most people on my side of the Atlantic, I have for many years been mystified by American politics. The US has the world's best universities and attracts the world's finest minds. It dominates discoveries in science and medicine. Its wealth and power depend on the application of knowledge. Yet, uniquely among the developed nations (with the possible exception of Australia), learning is a grave political disadvantage.
There have been exceptions over the past century - Franklin Roosevelt, JF Kennedy and Bill Clinton tempered their intellectualism with the common touch and survived - but Adlai Stevenson, Al Gore and John Kerry were successfully tarred by their opponents as members of a cerebral elite (as if this were not a qualification for the presidency). Perhaps the defining moment in the collapse of intelligent politics was Ronald Reagan's response to Jimmy Carter during the 1980 presidential debate. Carter - stumbling a little, using long words - carefully enumerated the benefits of national health insurance. Reagan smiled and said: "There you go again." His own health programme would have appalled most Americans, had he explained it as carefully as Carter had done, but he had found a formula for avoiding tough political issues and making his opponents look like wonks.
It wasn't always like this. The founding fathers of the republic - Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton and others - were among the greatest thinkers of their age. They felt no need to make a secret of it. How did the project they launched degenerate into George W Bush and Sarah Palin?
On one level, this is easy to answer. Ignorant politicians are elected by ignorant people. US education, like the US health system, is notorious for its failures. In the most powerful nation on earth, one adult in five believes the sun revolves round the earth; only 26% accept that evolution takes place by means of natural selection; two-thirds of young adults are unable to find Iraq on a map; two-thirds of US voters cannot name the three branches of government; the maths skills of 15-year-olds in the US are ranked 24th out of the 29 countries of the OECD. But this merely extends the mystery: how did so many US citizens become so stupid, and so suspicious of intelligence? Susan Jacoby's book The Age of American Unreason provides the fullest explanation I have read so far. She shows that the degradation of US politics results from a series of interlocking tragedies.
One theme is both familiar and clear: religion - in particular fundamentalist religion - makes you stupid. The US is the only rich country in which Christian fundamentalism is vast and growing.
Jacoby shows that there was once a certain logic to its anti-rationalism. During the first few decades after the publication of The Origin of Species, for instance, Americans had good reason to reject the theory of natural selection and to treat public intellectuals with suspicion. From the beginning, Darwin's theory was mixed up in the US with the brutal philosophy - now known as social Darwinism - of the British writer Herbert Spencer. Spencer's doctrine, promoted in the popular press with the help of funding from Andrew Carnegie, John D Rockefeller and Thomas Edison, suggested that millionaires stood at the top of a scala natura established by evolution. By preventing unfit people being weeded out, government intervention weakened the nation. Gross economic inequalities were both justifiable and necessary.
Darwinism, in other words, became indistinguishable from the most bestial form of laissez-faire economics. Many Christians responded with revulsion. It is profoundly ironic that the doctrine rejected a century ago by such prominent fundamentalists as William Jennings Bryan is now central to the economic thinking of the Christian right. Modern fundamentalists reject the science of Darwinian evolution and accept the pseudoscience of social Darwinism.
But there were other, more powerful, reasons for the intellectual isolation of the fundamentalists. The US is peculiar in devolving the control of education to local authorities. Teaching in the southern states was dominated by the views of an ignorant aristocracy of planters, and a great educational gulf opened up. "In the south", Jacoby writes, "what can only be described as an intellectual blockade was imposed in order to keep out any ideas that might threaten the social order."
The Southern Baptist Convention, now the biggest denomination in the US, was to slavery and segregation what the Dutch Reformed Church was to apartheid in South Africa. It has done more than any other force to keep the south stupid. In the 1960s it tried to stave off desegregation by establishing a system of private Christian schools and universities. A student can now progress from kindergarten to a higher degree without any exposure to secular teaching. Southern Baptist beliefs pass intact through the public school system as well. A survey by researchers at the University of Texas in 1998 found that one in four of the state's state school biology teachers believed humans and dinosaurs lived on earth at the same time.
This tragedy has been assisted by the American fetishisation of self-education. Though he greatly regretted his lack of formal teaching, Abraham Lincoln's career is repeatedly cited as evidence that good education, provided by the state, is unnecessary: all that is required to succeed is determination and rugged individualism. This might have served people well when genuine self-education movements, like the one built around the Little Blue Books in the first half of the 20th century, were in vogue. In the age of infotainment, it is a recipe for confusion.
Besides fundamentalist religion, perhaps the most potent reason intellectuals struggle in elections is that intellectualism has been equated with subversion. The brief flirtation of some thinkers with communism a long time ago has been used to create an impression in the public mind that all intellectuals are communists. Almost every day men such as Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly rage against the "liberal elites" destroying America.
The spectre of pointy-headed alien subversives was crucial to the election of Reagan and Bush. A genuine intellectual elite - like the neocons (some of them former communists) surrounding Bush - has managed to pitch the political conflict as a battle between ordinary Americans and an over-educated pinko establishment. Any attempt to challenge the ideas of the rightwing elite has been successfully branded as elitism.
Obama has a lot to offer the US, but none of this will stop if he wins. Until the great failures of the US education system are reversed or religious fundamentalism withers, there will be political opportunities for people, like Bush and Palin, who flaunt their ignorance.
Phillies in the Classroom
From the BCCT. As we endure a second delay in game 5, area businesses and schools run Phillie red in support of the almost World Series champs.
Schools put Phillies to work in classroom
By HILARY BENTMAN
The Intelligencer
With Phillies phever reaching epidemic proportions, it's no surprise that the excitement has infiltrated the classrooms.
Local school children have been sporting their caps, T-shirts and jerseys, and rallying and cheering for their home team.
But some schools are taking it a step further, incorporating the Phillies and their World Series run into the curriculum.
There is perhaps no better place to do this than in the Souderton Area School District, which helped turn a lanky teenage boy into a World Series superstar.
Last week, fifth graders at Lower Salford Elementary School wrote letters to Phillies southpaw and Souderton alum, Jamie Moyer, offering the veteran athlete some advice for his start against the Tampa Bay Rays in game three on Saturday.
Some of the advice was just sound baseball. Lena wrote, “Keep throwing strikes — they are the key.”
Others, like Cole, offered encouragement. “Do your best and what my coach tells me is "every pitch is a new pitch.' So if you walk one batter, focus on the next.”
And still other advice was just good-old fashioned fun. “Get black makeup and put two lines on your cheeks so you look tough. Pitch very fast and in the middle,” offered Taylor.
School principal Donna Huff compiled the advice and on Friday hand-delivered it to Moyer's mom, who still lives in Souderton. Huff is not sure if Moyer read it, but judging by his commanding performance Saturday, which ended in the Phillies' 5-4 win, Moyer certainly heeded their wisdom.
Nearby at Indian Valley Middle School, teachers were using Moyer's local status to talk to students about the four pillars of character — caring, honesty, responsibility and respect — qualities they say are inherent in their famous graduate, who is known for his extensive humanitarian work off the diamond.
“I know of no one in professional sports that exemplifies (those traits like) Jamie Moyer,” said Doug Henning, dean of students for the school, who said the kids have other sports heroes but see Moyer as a role model.
Souderton students were not the only ones enjoying their Phillies in school.
More than 100 fifth-graders at Quarry Hill Elementary School in the Pennsbury School District had a Phillies Problem Solving Tailgate Party last week.
Complete with hot dogs, banners and Phillies gear, the students had to solve baseball-related math, word and logic problems, and tackle Phillies-inspired word scrambles. Students also ran relay races, featuring multiplication problems and the old spin around on a bat until you're too dizzy to stand.
“We wanted to be able to celebrate the Phillies going into the World Series but we wanted to include academics as well,” said Jen Wodotinsky, one of the fifth-grade teachers involved with the event. “Even though it was educational it was still fun.”
Schools put Phillies to work in classroom
By HILARY BENTMAN
The Intelligencer
With Phillies phever reaching epidemic proportions, it's no surprise that the excitement has infiltrated the classrooms.
Local school children have been sporting their caps, T-shirts and jerseys, and rallying and cheering for their home team.
But some schools are taking it a step further, incorporating the Phillies and their World Series run into the curriculum.
There is perhaps no better place to do this than in the Souderton Area School District, which helped turn a lanky teenage boy into a World Series superstar.
Last week, fifth graders at Lower Salford Elementary School wrote letters to Phillies southpaw and Souderton alum, Jamie Moyer, offering the veteran athlete some advice for his start against the Tampa Bay Rays in game three on Saturday.
Some of the advice was just sound baseball. Lena wrote, “Keep throwing strikes — they are the key.”
Others, like Cole, offered encouragement. “Do your best and what my coach tells me is "every pitch is a new pitch.' So if you walk one batter, focus on the next.”
And still other advice was just good-old fashioned fun. “Get black makeup and put two lines on your cheeks so you look tough. Pitch very fast and in the middle,” offered Taylor.
School principal Donna Huff compiled the advice and on Friday hand-delivered it to Moyer's mom, who still lives in Souderton. Huff is not sure if Moyer read it, but judging by his commanding performance Saturday, which ended in the Phillies' 5-4 win, Moyer certainly heeded their wisdom.
Nearby at Indian Valley Middle School, teachers were using Moyer's local status to talk to students about the four pillars of character — caring, honesty, responsibility and respect — qualities they say are inherent in their famous graduate, who is known for his extensive humanitarian work off the diamond.
“I know of no one in professional sports that exemplifies (those traits like) Jamie Moyer,” said Doug Henning, dean of students for the school, who said the kids have other sports heroes but see Moyer as a role model.
Souderton students were not the only ones enjoying their Phillies in school.
More than 100 fifth-graders at Quarry Hill Elementary School in the Pennsbury School District had a Phillies Problem Solving Tailgate Party last week.
Complete with hot dogs, banners and Phillies gear, the students had to solve baseball-related math, word and logic problems, and tackle Phillies-inspired word scrambles. Students also ran relay races, featuring multiplication problems and the old spin around on a bat until you're too dizzy to stand.
“We wanted to be able to celebrate the Phillies going into the World Series but we wanted to include academics as well,” said Jen Wodotinsky, one of the fifth-grade teachers involved with the event. “Even though it was educational it was still fun.”
Special Meeting Tonight
Come on out for the fun tonight at the LGI. Meeting starts at 7:30 and you can be home in time to see the baseball game.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Politician Keeps Promise
From the Inquirer.
Pa. governor keeps '04 World Series promise to boy
The Associated Press Posted on Mon, Oct. 27, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - Jake Lancianese is a 10-year-old who knows the two things you need when calling in a promise from a politician: a good memory and rock-solid documentation.
That's how the fifth-grader from Aston got to attend Game 4 of the World Series with Gov. Ed Rendell on Sunday.
Rendell visited Hilltop Elementary School in 2004, when Jake was in first grade, and asked students why early childhood education was important. What would happen, he asked, if a strong building was built on a weak foundation?
Jake raised his hand. "It would fall down."
Rendell told the boy he was right, and added that the next time the Phillies made it to the World Series he would get him a ticket.
The governor promptly forgot. Not Jake.
When the Phillies took a two-game lead on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National Division Championship Series earlier this month, Jake composed a letter to Rendell , in cursive. That's how you write to a governor, he said.
"Well, it took us four years, but we're almost there," he wrote. "I was hoping you'd still be the governor when they made it and lucky for me you are."
The 4-foot-9, 80-pound first baseman included his baseball card from last summer at the Phillies Baseball Academy and a copy of an article in the Delaware County Daily Times about Rendell's visit to his school.
Jake highlighted the lines about the Phillies ticket.
After receiving the boy's letter , sent by certified mail , Rendell told his wife, Midge, an appellate court judge, that they'd be attending the game with a guest.
"I got the letter (and) it blew me away," Rendell said. "What blew me away was first of all, he remembered. Secondly, he was a such a great Phillies fan. And thirdly, he did such a great job in building his case."
Rendell called the package "a better presentation than I get from members of my own staff when making a point, or lawyers making a case."
From their seats 23 rows behind the visitor's dugout, the Rendells, Jake and his father, Pat, a third-shift Amtrak maintenance foreman, watched the Phillies rout the Rays 10-2.
Jake wore his Phillies cap and hooded sweat shirt, and brought his mitt in case of foul balls. A politician's promise was fulfilled.
"I thought I had a pretty good chance of getting the ticket," Jake said, "because he's a pretty good guy."
Rendell said: "I always believe with young people, you have to reward boldness. Any kid who has guts to do that and build a case so carefully, I had no choice. It was such a remarkable thing."
Pa. governor keeps '04 World Series promise to boy
The Associated Press Posted on Mon, Oct. 27, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - Jake Lancianese is a 10-year-old who knows the two things you need when calling in a promise from a politician: a good memory and rock-solid documentation.
That's how the fifth-grader from Aston got to attend Game 4 of the World Series with Gov. Ed Rendell on Sunday.
Rendell visited Hilltop Elementary School in 2004, when Jake was in first grade, and asked students why early childhood education was important. What would happen, he asked, if a strong building was built on a weak foundation?
Jake raised his hand. "It would fall down."
Rendell told the boy he was right, and added that the next time the Phillies made it to the World Series he would get him a ticket.
The governor promptly forgot. Not Jake.
When the Phillies took a two-game lead on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National Division Championship Series earlier this month, Jake composed a letter to Rendell , in cursive. That's how you write to a governor, he said.
"Well, it took us four years, but we're almost there," he wrote. "I was hoping you'd still be the governor when they made it and lucky for me you are."
The 4-foot-9, 80-pound first baseman included his baseball card from last summer at the Phillies Baseball Academy and a copy of an article in the Delaware County Daily Times about Rendell's visit to his school.
Jake highlighted the lines about the Phillies ticket.
After receiving the boy's letter , sent by certified mail , Rendell told his wife, Midge, an appellate court judge, that they'd be attending the game with a guest.
"I got the letter (and) it blew me away," Rendell said. "What blew me away was first of all, he remembered. Secondly, he was a such a great Phillies fan. And thirdly, he did such a great job in building his case."
Rendell called the package "a better presentation than I get from members of my own staff when making a point, or lawyers making a case."
From their seats 23 rows behind the visitor's dugout, the Rendells, Jake and his father, Pat, a third-shift Amtrak maintenance foreman, watched the Phillies rout the Rays 10-2.
Jake wore his Phillies cap and hooded sweat shirt, and brought his mitt in case of foul balls. A politician's promise was fulfilled.
"I thought I had a pretty good chance of getting the ticket," Jake said, "because he's a pretty good guy."
Rendell said: "I always believe with young people, you have to reward boldness. Any kid who has guts to do that and build a case so carefully, I had no choice. It was such a remarkable thing."
Steil describes bill to end teacher strikes
From the BCCT.
Steil describes bill to end teacher strikes
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Parents and teachers recently listened to state Rep. Dave Steil describe the workings of a bill to end teacher strikes.
Strike-Free Education Act House Bill 1369, if passed by the state Legislature, would make strikes illegal and add several mediation steps to the bargaining process between teachers unions and school districts. If those steps still result in a stalemate, the new law ultimately would require four negotiating sessions a month until an agreement is reached. It would make each step of the process transparent to the public.
Steil, R-31, plans to retire shortly. He urged listeners to ask their state representatives to support the bill.
“It happens when a mass of people get behind it and say, "We want this done,' ” he said.
The meeting last week at the Yardley Community Center and attended by about 35 people who wanted to know more about the legislation, was organized by local teacher strikes opponent Simon Campbell of Lower Makefield.
Jill Basile, the parent of a child in the Souderton School District, also spoke at the meeting.
The Souderton district was shut down recently for 13 school days during a strike. Basile's anger propelled her into action, she said. She made fliers, called the local media and is meeting with local politicians to garner more support for strike-free legislation.
Lower Makefield resident Rafe Schach thought it would be good for Pennsylvania to study the contract negotiation practices of the 37 states that already make teacher strikes illegal. Shach's children go to private school but he is interested in ending strikes, he said.
Campbell's concern with ending strikes began after Pennsbury School District teachers went on strike for 21 days during a contract dispute in 2005. He organized StopTeacherStrikes.com, a group of parents and teachers who support the strike-free bill.
“A private organization should not have the right to shut down a public learning facility,” said Campbell at the meeting.
Pennsbury teachers union vice president Michelle Marcinkus attended the first half-hour of the meeting. She said she wanted to see how many interested people would show up.
Steil describes bill to end teacher strikes
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Parents and teachers recently listened to state Rep. Dave Steil describe the workings of a bill to end teacher strikes.
Strike-Free Education Act House Bill 1369, if passed by the state Legislature, would make strikes illegal and add several mediation steps to the bargaining process between teachers unions and school districts. If those steps still result in a stalemate, the new law ultimately would require four negotiating sessions a month until an agreement is reached. It would make each step of the process transparent to the public.
Steil, R-31, plans to retire shortly. He urged listeners to ask their state representatives to support the bill.
“It happens when a mass of people get behind it and say, "We want this done,' ” he said.
The meeting last week at the Yardley Community Center and attended by about 35 people who wanted to know more about the legislation, was organized by local teacher strikes opponent Simon Campbell of Lower Makefield.
Jill Basile, the parent of a child in the Souderton School District, also spoke at the meeting.
The Souderton district was shut down recently for 13 school days during a strike. Basile's anger propelled her into action, she said. She made fliers, called the local media and is meeting with local politicians to garner more support for strike-free legislation.
Lower Makefield resident Rafe Schach thought it would be good for Pennsylvania to study the contract negotiation practices of the 37 states that already make teacher strikes illegal. Shach's children go to private school but he is interested in ending strikes, he said.
Campbell's concern with ending strikes began after Pennsbury School District teachers went on strike for 21 days during a contract dispute in 2005. He organized StopTeacherStrikes.com, a group of parents and teachers who support the strike-free bill.
“A private organization should not have the right to shut down a public learning facility,” said Campbell at the meeting.
Pennsbury teachers union vice president Michelle Marcinkus attended the first half-hour of the meeting. She said she wanted to see how many interested people would show up.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Special Meeting Reminder
From the BCCT.
FOR SPECIAL SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
NOTICE, it is hereby given that the Morrisville Borough School District Board of School Directors shall hold a special meeting on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the LGI Room at the School District's Middle/Senior High School, 550 West Palmer Street, Morrisville, Pennsylvania. The purpose of the special meeting is to appoint a Business Manager, review and consider the award of electrical bids, and any other business that comes before the board.
Marlys Mihok, Secretary
Appeared in: Bucks County Courier Times on Sunday, 10/26/2008
FOR SPECIAL SCHOOL BOARD MEETING
NOTICE, it is hereby given that the Morrisville Borough School District Board of School Directors shall hold a special meeting on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 beginning at 7:30 p.m. in the LGI Room at the School District's Middle/Senior High School, 550 West Palmer Street, Morrisville, Pennsylvania. The purpose of the special meeting is to appoint a Business Manager, review and consider the award of electrical bids, and any other business that comes before the board.
Marlys Mihok, Secretary
Appeared in: Bucks County Courier Times on Sunday, 10/26/2008
School-Business Chemistry in Bristol Township
From the BCCT.
Experimental education
By JOHN ANASTASI
Staff Writer
Scientists at Rhodia’s Bristol Township research and development center took a “chemistry is cool” message and some hands-on experiments to four elementary schools in Lower Bucks and Burlington counties last week.
Reaching out to young people is vital at a time when schools are churning out fewer American scientists and the country is “losing its intellectual property prowess” through expiring patents, said John Cherkauskas Jr., vice president of research and development at the Bristol Township facility.
“Of the scientists training in the United States, my feeling is that a third to half of them are from other countries,” Cherkauskas said, referring to postgraduate training. “The more interesting we make science to students, the better off it is.”
As part of National Chemistry Week, 20 scientists visited Snyder-Girotti Elementary School in Bristol, Lafayette Elementary School in Bristol Township, Fountain Woods Elementary School in the Burlington Township School District and St. Paul’s School in Burlington.
“We try to promote science on both sides of the river,” Cherkauskas said.
Headquartered in France, Rhodia has a presence in 25 countries. Its North American headquarters is in Middlesex County, N.J. Rhodia boasts a diverse portfolio of chemicals used in everything from automobiles and electronics to home care and health and beauty products.
Its market diversity has helped the company weather financial troubles in certain industries, while its far-reaching geographic footprint has helped insulate it from economic slowdowns in certain counties. But it also came with a drawback.
“We were more diverse, but that made it difficult for Wall Street to understand our strategy,” said Cherkauskas, who added that realization prompted the company to pull back and sharpen its focus.
The company sold off some of its business and, in 2005, moved its research and development activity to a smaller property that had previously belonged to Rohm and Haas in Bristol Township.
There Rhodia and about 140 of its permanent and temporary research and development employees worked on several key products segments.
The company produces chemicals used in personal care products like body washes. It also makes a pesticide additive that helps the liquid coat a surface rather than bounce off, a chemical that makes paint easier to apply and a product used in automobile catalytic converters.
“Chemistry is important in everything we do,” Cherkauskas said of society. “We need to instill awareness of the importance of chemistry and show chemistry in a positive light. That can stimulate young people to a career.”
Kati Bryson, sixth-grade teacher at Lafayette Elementary School, said that after Rhodia’s scientists appeared at the Bristol Township school during last year’s National Chemistry Week she noticed that the students seemed more excited about the possibility of a career in science after taking part in some experiments.
“I think their eyes were opened,” said Bryson. “I think it’s a wonderful program. … It lets the kids meet scientists and know they are real people. It gives them a good impression of scientists.”
Experimental education
By JOHN ANASTASI
Staff Writer
Scientists at Rhodia’s Bristol Township research and development center took a “chemistry is cool” message and some hands-on experiments to four elementary schools in Lower Bucks and Burlington counties last week.
Reaching out to young people is vital at a time when schools are churning out fewer American scientists and the country is “losing its intellectual property prowess” through expiring patents, said John Cherkauskas Jr., vice president of research and development at the Bristol Township facility.
“Of the scientists training in the United States, my feeling is that a third to half of them are from other countries,” Cherkauskas said, referring to postgraduate training. “The more interesting we make science to students, the better off it is.”
As part of National Chemistry Week, 20 scientists visited Snyder-Girotti Elementary School in Bristol, Lafayette Elementary School in Bristol Township, Fountain Woods Elementary School in the Burlington Township School District and St. Paul’s School in Burlington.
“We try to promote science on both sides of the river,” Cherkauskas said.
Headquartered in France, Rhodia has a presence in 25 countries. Its North American headquarters is in Middlesex County, N.J. Rhodia boasts a diverse portfolio of chemicals used in everything from automobiles and electronics to home care and health and beauty products.
Its market diversity has helped the company weather financial troubles in certain industries, while its far-reaching geographic footprint has helped insulate it from economic slowdowns in certain counties. But it also came with a drawback.
“We were more diverse, but that made it difficult for Wall Street to understand our strategy,” said Cherkauskas, who added that realization prompted the company to pull back and sharpen its focus.
The company sold off some of its business and, in 2005, moved its research and development activity to a smaller property that had previously belonged to Rohm and Haas in Bristol Township.
There Rhodia and about 140 of its permanent and temporary research and development employees worked on several key products segments.
The company produces chemicals used in personal care products like body washes. It also makes a pesticide additive that helps the liquid coat a surface rather than bounce off, a chemical that makes paint easier to apply and a product used in automobile catalytic converters.
“Chemistry is important in everything we do,” Cherkauskas said of society. “We need to instill awareness of the importance of chemistry and show chemistry in a positive light. That can stimulate young people to a career.”
Kati Bryson, sixth-grade teacher at Lafayette Elementary School, said that after Rhodia’s scientists appeared at the Bristol Township school during last year’s National Chemistry Week she noticed that the students seemed more excited about the possibility of a career in science after taking part in some experiments.
“I think their eyes were opened,” said Bryson. “I think it’s a wonderful program. … It lets the kids meet scientists and know they are real people. It gives them a good impression of scientists.”
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Borough Council Recap
From the BCCT
PUBLIC MEETING WRAP
Morrisville Council
215-295-8181
When: Monday, Oct. 20
Issue: Nominate Edward Albertson to fill council vacancy.
Vote: Approved 4-3 by Jane Burger, Eileen Dreisbach, Rita Ledger and Stephen Worob. Nancy Sherlock, Kathryn Panzitta and David Rivella voted to nominate Fred Kerner.
Issue: Appoint Albertson to the council.
Vote: Approved 7-0.
Issue: Accept Aug. 18 meeting minutes.
Vote: Approved 7-0.
Issue: Pay bills; acknowledge receipt of $64,835.24 from Department of the Auditor General and distribute 100 percent to the Morrisville Fire Co.; award the 2008-09 consortium salt bid; pay $172,402.10 for curb and sidewalk project; pay $79,005.01 for median island and traffic signal installation project; approve change order for curb and sidewalk project and library boiler replacement; pay $8,892 for boiler replacement project; award bid for storm sewer construction to L.C. Costa Contractors for $30,700; award contract for library slate roof repairs to Alper Enterprises for $2,700.
Vote: Approved unanimously.
Issue: Acknowledge 2009 community development block grant application for the Morrisville Library air conditioning installation for $194,500; accept state Department of Community and Economic Development grant for $44,500 for an emergency generator for borough hall.
Vote: Approved unanimously.
Issue: Appoint Lillian Piscopo to the recreation board.
Vote: Approved 6-1-1. Ledger voted no. Albertson abstained.
Issue: Appoint Patricia Brofman to the recreation board.
Vote: Approved 5-2-1. Ledger and Panzitta voted no. Albertson abstained.
Issue: Approve 2008 Halloween policy; appoint borough manager George Mount as the borough’s open records officer; set an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission policy; accept resignation of Andy Thompson from the Landmark Towns of Bucks County steering committee.
Vote: Approved unanimously.
Issue: Deny the preliminary plan for Penn Jersey Real Properties because applicant withdrew plans.
Vote: Approved unanimously.
Issue: Authorize borough manager to submit grant to DCED in the amount of $5,000 for replacement handguns for the borough police department.
Vote: Approved unanimously.
Issue: Advertise rental registration ordinance.
Vote: Approved unanimously.
PUBLIC MEETING WRAP
Morrisville Council
215-295-8181
When: Monday, Oct. 20
Issue: Nominate Edward Albertson to fill council vacancy.
Vote: Approved 4-3 by Jane Burger, Eileen Dreisbach, Rita Ledger and Stephen Worob. Nancy Sherlock, Kathryn Panzitta and David Rivella voted to nominate Fred Kerner.
Issue: Appoint Albertson to the council.
Vote: Approved 7-0.
Issue: Accept Aug. 18 meeting minutes.
Vote: Approved 7-0.
Issue: Pay bills; acknowledge receipt of $64,835.24 from Department of the Auditor General and distribute 100 percent to the Morrisville Fire Co.; award the 2008-09 consortium salt bid; pay $172,402.10 for curb and sidewalk project; pay $79,005.01 for median island and traffic signal installation project; approve change order for curb and sidewalk project and library boiler replacement; pay $8,892 for boiler replacement project; award bid for storm sewer construction to L.C. Costa Contractors for $30,700; award contract for library slate roof repairs to Alper Enterprises for $2,700.
Vote: Approved unanimously.
Issue: Acknowledge 2009 community development block grant application for the Morrisville Library air conditioning installation for $194,500; accept state Department of Community and Economic Development grant for $44,500 for an emergency generator for borough hall.
Vote: Approved unanimously.
Issue: Appoint Lillian Piscopo to the recreation board.
Vote: Approved 6-1-1. Ledger voted no. Albertson abstained.
Issue: Appoint Patricia Brofman to the recreation board.
Vote: Approved 5-2-1. Ledger and Panzitta voted no. Albertson abstained.
Issue: Approve 2008 Halloween policy; appoint borough manager George Mount as the borough’s open records officer; set an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission policy; accept resignation of Andy Thompson from the Landmark Towns of Bucks County steering committee.
Vote: Approved unanimously.
Issue: Deny the preliminary plan for Penn Jersey Real Properties because applicant withdrew plans.
Vote: Approved unanimously.
Issue: Authorize borough manager to submit grant to DCED in the amount of $5,000 for replacement handguns for the borough police department.
Vote: Approved unanimously.
Issue: Advertise rental registration ordinance.
Vote: Approved unanimously.
Will Pa. graduation exams improve public education?
A press release from the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Will Pa. graduation exams improve public education?
Gov. Rendell has been pushing the idea of a statewide graduation requirement that all students pass a test (his latest gives one of four options) before graduating. Rendell's plans are taking heat from both lawmakers and education interest groups.
Almost half (47 percent) of Pennsylvania's 11th-grade students don't meet proficiency standards on the PSSA in math, while 35 percent underachieve in reading. Yet, most of these students graduate anyway. The Commonwealth Foundation's examination of student performance results -- given that the state's standards are far below the national standards -- indicates that our public schools are worse than we thought they were.
So is a graduation exam the answer?
Some think that graduation rates are already too low in Pennsylvania (only 60 percent of black males graduate, according to one analysis). Others think too many graduate when they aren't adequately prepared. Last year, 23 states (representing 64 percent of students) had some sort of graduation exam. And at least one study shows that graduation exams do not reduce graduation rates -- though some question whether the exams are meaningful at all.
We don't have any problem with high-stakes testing. After all, "teaching to the test" isn't a problem, if a test adequately measures what children should have learned. But is the State Board of Education the proper entity to create the test?
On the one hand, we like the idea of local control, rather than standards set by a state bureaucracy. On the other hand, it is clear that local government isn't always committed to excellence - see, for instance, the Pittsburgh School District's decision to make 50 percent the lowest possible score on any test.
One thing is certain: Pennsylvania has a long way to go to improve the quality of our public education system, and as our recent experience has shown, simply spending more isn't going to improve the quality of our schools.
Instead, Pennsylvania could look to Florida, which implemented high academic standards and tests, held schools and students accountable, ended social promotion (both before graduation and at earlier grades), and offered an array of school-choice options for families.
Will a graduation exam requirement improve our schools? If so, who should craft it? If not, what should the state do to improve its public schools?
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Will Pa. graduation exams improve public education?
Gov. Rendell has been pushing the idea of a statewide graduation requirement that all students pass a test (his latest gives one of four options) before graduating. Rendell's plans are taking heat from both lawmakers and education interest groups.
Almost half (47 percent) of Pennsylvania's 11th-grade students don't meet proficiency standards on the PSSA in math, while 35 percent underachieve in reading. Yet, most of these students graduate anyway. The Commonwealth Foundation's examination of student performance results -- given that the state's standards are far below the national standards -- indicates that our public schools are worse than we thought they were.
So is a graduation exam the answer?
Some think that graduation rates are already too low in Pennsylvania (only 60 percent of black males graduate, according to one analysis). Others think too many graduate when they aren't adequately prepared. Last year, 23 states (representing 64 percent of students) had some sort of graduation exam. And at least one study shows that graduation exams do not reduce graduation rates -- though some question whether the exams are meaningful at all.
We don't have any problem with high-stakes testing. After all, "teaching to the test" isn't a problem, if a test adequately measures what children should have learned. But is the State Board of Education the proper entity to create the test?
On the one hand, we like the idea of local control, rather than standards set by a state bureaucracy. On the other hand, it is clear that local government isn't always committed to excellence - see, for instance, the Pittsburgh School District's decision to make 50 percent the lowest possible score on any test.
One thing is certain: Pennsylvania has a long way to go to improve the quality of our public education system, and as our recent experience has shown, simply spending more isn't going to improve the quality of our schools.
Instead, Pennsylvania could look to Florida, which implemented high academic standards and tests, held schools and students accountable, ended social promotion (both before graduation and at earlier grades), and offered an array of school-choice options for families.
Will a graduation exam requirement improve our schools? If so, who should craft it? If not, what should the state do to improve its public schools?
SchoolBoardTransparency.org: Transparency in Teacher Strikes and Negotiations
A press release from the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives
10/23/08
Pennsylvania school boards get a hand-up
#1 in the nation for teacher strikes
Today, the Commonwealth Foundation announced the launch of a new project engaging in an effort to provide greater transparency in negotiations between school boards and labor unions.
As part of a year-long campaign to provide greater transparency in school district labor negotiations, the Commonwealth Foundation has unveiled a new website and blog, SchoolBoardTransparency.org. SchoolBoardTransparency.org will offer insight and advice in the labor negotiations process for school boards and citizens. The site will provide regular posts on issues, news, and best practices in school district labor negotiations, and allows users to comment and create posts on a moderated blog.
The project will also include a "how-to" manual for school board members looking to provide greater transparency during union negotiations and a resource for media covering public school labor negotiations. The guides will provide the important questions to ask and explain the key issues typically involved in labor negotiation contracts.
Fred D. Baldwin, a school board member of the Carlisle Area School District in Pennsylvania for 14 years and board president for 12 years, is spearheading the project. "Bringing transparency to the board-union bargaining process would encourage both boards and unions to make more realistic proposals," Mr. Baldwin said. "When both sides tell the public what they're proposing and why, the result will be fewer misleading rumors, shorter bargaining periods and fewer teacher strikes. This doesn't require changing the law, just school boards acting on the principle of 'no taxation without information.'"
"The frequency of teacher strikes and long-unresolved labor negotiations in Pennsylvania is partly the result of a lack of openness and public understanding of the underlying issues," said Matthew Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation and a former teacher and public school board member. "Transparency in the negotiation process is crucial if we are seriously committed to improving education and safeguarding taxpayers."
Transparent school labor negotiations and openness in how school districts spend taxpayer money will provide for a more informed debate during contract negotiations, teacher strikes, and school budget discussions. The Commonwealth Foundation's goal is to ensure that citizens have the tools they need to evaluate how their property taxes are spent and to decide on future property tax increases. More transparency in labor negotiations will also make sure the public has adequate information to help school boards and unions set spending priorities during contract negotiations and their annual budget setting.
# # #
The Commonwealth Foundation (www.CommonwealthFoundation.org) is an independent, non-profit public policy research and educational institute based in Harrisburg, PA. For more, visit SchoolBoardTransparency.org.
10/23/08
Pennsylvania school boards get a hand-up
#1 in the nation for teacher strikes
Today, the Commonwealth Foundation announced the launch of a new project engaging in an effort to provide greater transparency in negotiations between school boards and labor unions.
As part of a year-long campaign to provide greater transparency in school district labor negotiations, the Commonwealth Foundation has unveiled a new website and blog, SchoolBoardTransparency.org. SchoolBoardTransparency.org will offer insight and advice in the labor negotiations process for school boards and citizens. The site will provide regular posts on issues, news, and best practices in school district labor negotiations, and allows users to comment and create posts on a moderated blog.
The project will also include a "how-to" manual for school board members looking to provide greater transparency during union negotiations and a resource for media covering public school labor negotiations. The guides will provide the important questions to ask and explain the key issues typically involved in labor negotiation contracts.
Fred D. Baldwin, a school board member of the Carlisle Area School District in Pennsylvania for 14 years and board president for 12 years, is spearheading the project. "Bringing transparency to the board-union bargaining process would encourage both boards and unions to make more realistic proposals," Mr. Baldwin said. "When both sides tell the public what they're proposing and why, the result will be fewer misleading rumors, shorter bargaining periods and fewer teacher strikes. This doesn't require changing the law, just school boards acting on the principle of 'no taxation without information.'"
"The frequency of teacher strikes and long-unresolved labor negotiations in Pennsylvania is partly the result of a lack of openness and public understanding of the underlying issues," said Matthew Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation and a former teacher and public school board member. "Transparency in the negotiation process is crucial if we are seriously committed to improving education and safeguarding taxpayers."
Transparent school labor negotiations and openness in how school districts spend taxpayer money will provide for a more informed debate during contract negotiations, teacher strikes, and school budget discussions. The Commonwealth Foundation's goal is to ensure that citizens have the tools they need to evaluate how their property taxes are spent and to decide on future property tax increases. More transparency in labor negotiations will also make sure the public has adequate information to help school boards and unions set spending priorities during contract negotiations and their annual budget setting.
# # #
The Commonwealth Foundation (www.CommonwealthFoundation.org) is an independent, non-profit public policy research and educational institute based in Harrisburg, PA. For more, visit SchoolBoardTransparency.org.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Mailbag 2: Check the Checks
Here's an email from a sharp eyed parent who apparently had some time to look over the October business meeting minutes.
Anyone have any answers?
Thank you Marlys Mihok! Now each month we can look over the check register and see exactly where our money goes.
Does anyone know why the PSBA conference expenses for Dr Yonson and Mrs Mihok are different? In check 35075, entry 1888 for Dr Yonson is for $199.00. Entry 1887 for Mrs Mihok is $315.00. Why is there a $116.00 difference?
Then there's the entries for legal services. In check 35133, entry 2038 is for $108.00 to Begley, Carlin marked "bond issue defasance". Ignoring the spelling error, I thought defeasance was a done deal. Why are we incurring any more expenses?
Then there's check 35202 to Sweet, Stevens, Katz and Williams for special education legal fees for $878.11. Was that in the original budget? What services were cut to pay for this?
How about check 35120? That's twenty lunches for the pre-K students for twenty days. That's 400 lunches for $1000.00, or $2.50 per lunch. I'm told the high school lunches are $2.50 each. Are the elementary lunches the same price? Even if they are .25 cents cheaper, that would save $100.00
Anyone have any answers?
Thank you Marlys Mihok! Now each month we can look over the check register and see exactly where our money goes.
Does anyone know why the PSBA conference expenses for Dr Yonson and Mrs Mihok are different? In check 35075, entry 1888 for Dr Yonson is for $199.00. Entry 1887 for Mrs Mihok is $315.00. Why is there a $116.00 difference?
Then there's the entries for legal services. In check 35133, entry 2038 is for $108.00 to Begley, Carlin marked "bond issue defasance". Ignoring the spelling error, I thought defeasance was a done deal. Why are we incurring any more expenses?
Then there's check 35202 to Sweet, Stevens, Katz and Williams for special education legal fees for $878.11. Was that in the original budget? What services were cut to pay for this?
How about check 35120? That's twenty lunches for the pre-K students for twenty days. That's 400 lunches for $1000.00, or $2.50 per lunch. I'm told the high school lunches are $2.50 each. Are the elementary lunches the same price? Even if they are .25 cents cheaper, that would save $100.00
MHS tops other schools in blood drives
From the BCCT. Here's those darned kids, faculty, and staff at Morrisville High School gettin' all mavericky and doin' good for the community.
Will they do it again? You betcha!
Morrisville High School tops other schools in blood drives
Posted in News on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 10:28 am by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
The American Red Cross Blood Services Penn-Jersey Region has named Morrisville High School the High School of the Year for Bucks County.
The school collected more blood than any other school in the region during its two blood drives in the last several months. That combined with the growth in its blood collection from the last school year deemed Morrisville High School the top donor school.
Representatives from the school will attend an awards ceremony next Wednesday at Mercer County College in West Windsor, N.J.
This is the 11th annual American Red Cross All High School Event, which examines blood donations at more than 300 high schools throughout the region.
Will they do it again? You betcha!
Morrisville High School tops other schools in blood drives
Posted in News on Friday, October 24th, 2008 at 10:28 am by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
The American Red Cross Blood Services Penn-Jersey Region has named Morrisville High School the High School of the Year for Bucks County.
The school collected more blood than any other school in the region during its two blood drives in the last several months. That combined with the growth in its blood collection from the last school year deemed Morrisville High School the top donor school.
Representatives from the school will attend an awards ceremony next Wednesday at Mercer County College in West Windsor, N.J.
This is the 11th annual American Red Cross All High School Event, which examines blood donations at more than 300 high schools throughout the region.
Mailbag 1: Mother Bear
Here's another question from Mother Bear. I'm betting answers will not be forthcoming.
I am guessing that the board majority elected not to follow PDE Plan Con specs for a reason. Could that reason be that once the district begins major renovations, building/s in their entirety will need to be brought to PDE code?As several former studies revealed, the cost of renovation would then approach that of building new, with little operating cost reduction.
Did the board opt out of state reimbursement because of a loophole in the oversight of public school facilities? If so, then given the priorities of this board majority, which by every indication have nothing to do with the well being of children, this explains their twisted decision. If it isn't so, then they truly are being flippant with public money.
So, take your pick, would you prefer the board to be flippant with your money, or your children's lives? What a pathetic choice. Further, the seeming lack of true state oversight to protect our children is not just disheartening, but disgusting.
I am guessing that the board majority elected not to follow PDE Plan Con specs for a reason. Could that reason be that once the district begins major renovations, building/s in their entirety will need to be brought to PDE code?As several former studies revealed, the cost of renovation would then approach that of building new, with little operating cost reduction.
Did the board opt out of state reimbursement because of a loophole in the oversight of public school facilities? If so, then given the priorities of this board majority, which by every indication have nothing to do with the well being of children, this explains their twisted decision. If it isn't so, then they truly are being flippant with public money.
So, take your pick, would you prefer the board to be flippant with your money, or your children's lives? What a pathetic choice. Further, the seeming lack of true state oversight to protect our children is not just disheartening, but disgusting.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Business Meeting Update
From the BCCT
New acting principal at Morrisville’s elementary schools
Posted in News on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
The Morrisville School Board voted 7-0 Wednesday to hire Laurie Ruffing as Acting Principal for both Grandview and M. R. Reiter Elementary Schools.About 440 students attend the two schools.
Ruffing replaces Karen Huggins, who retired from the district on June 30 but helped with administrative duties part-time this summer.
Ruffing’s position will become effective Oct. 27 at a salary of $65,000.
She has been a first-grade teacher in the district for the past four years, said Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson. A long-term substitute will take over Ruffing’s teaching position.
The board went into executive session from 8:35 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. during Wednesday’s meeting to discuss legal and personnel issues.
When it returned, William Hellmann, board president, announced a special meeting in the LGI Room of the Morrisville Middle/Senior High School on Wednesday, Oct. 29 to vote on a new business administrator to replace recently retired Reba Dunford.
New acting principal at Morrisville’s elementary schools
Posted in News on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 at 2:20 pm by Courier Times reporter Manasee Wagh
The Morrisville School Board voted 7-0 Wednesday to hire Laurie Ruffing as Acting Principal for both Grandview and M. R. Reiter Elementary Schools.About 440 students attend the two schools.
Ruffing replaces Karen Huggins, who retired from the district on June 30 but helped with administrative duties part-time this summer.
Ruffing’s position will become effective Oct. 27 at a salary of $65,000.
She has been a first-grade teacher in the district for the past four years, said Superintendent Elizabeth Yonson. A long-term substitute will take over Ruffing’s teaching position.
The board went into executive session from 8:35 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. during Wednesday’s meeting to discuss legal and personnel issues.
When it returned, William Hellmann, board president, announced a special meeting in the LGI Room of the Morrisville Middle/Senior High School on Wednesday, Oct. 29 to vote on a new business administrator to replace recently retired Reba Dunford.
The Perils of Dropping Out
From the Philadelphia Business Journal
Pa. study points up perils of dropping out
Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 2:49 PM EDT
The future for high school dropouts in Pennsylvania is not a bright one, according to a report released on Thursday which shows that twice as many are unemployed and living in poverty than their peers with diplomas.
A dropout in Pennsylvania can expect to earn roughly $19,000 per year, compared to the $45,000 earned by a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree, according to the report, “Dropping Back In: Re-engaging Out-of-School-Youth,” which was released by the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, a statewide children’s advocacy group. Dropouts are also twice as likely to live in poverty as youth who have earned a high school diploma and three times as likely as youth who have attended some college or earned an associate’s degree, the child’s advocacy group reported.
“In today’s high-tech world, securing a high school diploma is a must but far too many Pennsylvania children fail to graduate,” said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO of PA Partnerships for Children. “It is imperative that we provide the necessary supports to not only keep kids in school and prevent them from dropping out in the first place, but to find a way to re-engage them in their education once they have dropped out.”
Last year, Pennsylvania had a 20 percent graduation gap, meaning that 20 percent of the ninth graders in the 2003-04 school year failed to graduate from the same school district four years later.
The report recommended several options to the state in addressing and preventing dropouts, including support to advance the literacy skills of struggling students, accelerated learning and credit recovery for students who are over-age and severely under-credited, and evening classes and online courses to address the particular needs of out-of-school youth.
A high school diploma is a must in today’s ever-changing high-tech world, but it shouldn’t be the finish line because young people will need to extend their education beyond high school to access high-skill, high-wage occupations, the study concluded.
Pa. study points up perils of dropping out
Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 2:49 PM EDT
The future for high school dropouts in Pennsylvania is not a bright one, according to a report released on Thursday which shows that twice as many are unemployed and living in poverty than their peers with diplomas.
A dropout in Pennsylvania can expect to earn roughly $19,000 per year, compared to the $45,000 earned by a college graduate with a bachelor’s degree, according to the report, “Dropping Back In: Re-engaging Out-of-School-Youth,” which was released by the Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, a statewide children’s advocacy group. Dropouts are also twice as likely to live in poverty as youth who have earned a high school diploma and three times as likely as youth who have attended some college or earned an associate’s degree, the child’s advocacy group reported.
“In today’s high-tech world, securing a high school diploma is a must but far too many Pennsylvania children fail to graduate,” said Joan L. Benso, president and CEO of PA Partnerships for Children. “It is imperative that we provide the necessary supports to not only keep kids in school and prevent them from dropping out in the first place, but to find a way to re-engage them in their education once they have dropped out.”
Last year, Pennsylvania had a 20 percent graduation gap, meaning that 20 percent of the ninth graders in the 2003-04 school year failed to graduate from the same school district four years later.
The report recommended several options to the state in addressing and preventing dropouts, including support to advance the literacy skills of struggling students, accelerated learning and credit recovery for students who are over-age and severely under-credited, and evening classes and online courses to address the particular needs of out-of-school youth.
A high school diploma is a must in today’s ever-changing high-tech world, but it shouldn’t be the finish line because young people will need to extend their education beyond high school to access high-skill, high-wage occupations, the study concluded.
Halloween Happenings at Y
From the BCCT.
The Morrisville YMCA is hosting its Halloween Happenings from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 200 N. Pennsylvania Ave. Kids can get decked out in the Halloween best and trick-or-treat through the YMCA’s hallways. YMCA officials say it’s a safe alternative to trick-or-treating through neighborhoods. There’s no cost for the event, but a canned or dried food donation is necessary to get in. For more info, call the YMCA at 215-736-8077.
The Morrisville YMCA is hosting its Halloween Happenings from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 200 N. Pennsylvania Ave. Kids can get decked out in the Halloween best and trick-or-treat through the YMCA’s hallways. YMCA officials say it’s a safe alternative to trick-or-treating through neighborhoods. There’s no cost for the event, but a canned or dried food donation is necessary to get in. For more info, call the YMCA at 215-736-8077.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Education Policy: McCain and Obama
From CQ Politics, a comparison of the Obama and McCain education initiatives.
Welcome to CQ Politics' guide to the policy positions, voting behavior and public statements of Barack Obama and John McCain. Notes, Votes and Quotes provides a serious and non-partisan examination of Obama and McCain's stands on the key issues of the day; what they propose to do as president; how they have voted in the Senate, according to CQ's unparalleled coverage of congressional voting behavior; and what they have said about these issues. We'll continue to add new issues until the election, so check back regularly.
Education
NOTES: Obama's education proposals include increasing funding for Head Start; amending the Bush administration education law known as "No Child Left Behind"; doubling funding for federal charter schools; recruiting new teachers, particularly in math and the sciences; and offering a $4,000 college tuition credit for any recipient who agrees to complete 100 hours of community service.
NOTES: McCain supports increased school choice proposals, including a voucher system. He would pay bonuses to teachers who agree to work in the most troubled schools. He supports alternative routes to teacher certification. McCain says his proposals would give more control to parents, teachers and principals.
VOTES: Obama in 2007 was one of 79 senators who voted for a bill to cut government subsidies to student loan firms by about $20 billion and redirect most of the money to aid for students and college graduates. The bill also increased the maximum Pell grant award by $1,090 over five years. McCain missed the vote. (Senate Roll Call Vote 326, Sept. 7, 2007)
VOTES: McCain in 2001 voted for No Child Left Behind, as did 86 other senators. Obama was not a U.S. senator at the time. (Senate Roll Call Vote 371, Dec. 18, 2001)
McCain in 1998 was one of 59 senators who voted for to allow individuals to contribute up to $2,000 a year of after-tax funds in tax-sheltered savings accounts to use to pay educational expenses. (Senate Roll Call Vote 169, June 24, 1998)
QUOTES: "This probably has more to do with our economic future than anything and that means it also has a national security implication, because there's never been a nation on earth that saw its economy decline and continued to maintain its primacy as a military power. So we've got to get our education system right. Now, typically, what's happened is that there's been a debate between more money or reform, and I think we need both." (Barack Obama at 3rd presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., Oct. 15, 2008)
"So what I want to do is focus on early childhood education, providing teachers higher salaries in exchange for more support. ... Charter schools, I doubled the number of charter schools in Illinois despite some reservations from teachers unions. I think it's important to foster competition inside the public schools." (Barack Obama at 3rd presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., Oct. 15, 2008)
"Where we disagree is on the idea tha we can somehow give out vouchers -- give vouchers as a way of securing the problems in our education system." (Barack Obama at 3rd presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., Oct. 15, 2008)
"The main components of my education agenda at the federal level are to, number one, adequately fund federal mandates like No Child Left Behind or special education, to free up resources at local school levels so that they can do more with the money that they have. Number two, to provide billions of dollars in funding for early childhood education programs, so that kids are getting prepared when they start school. Number three, providing additional money to hire, retain and train excellent teachers, which is probably the single biggest determinant as to whether children do well in school." (Barack Obama remarks at campaign event in Zanesville, Ohio, July 1, 2008)
QUOTES: "Now as far as the No Child Left Behind is concerned, it was a great first beginning in my view. It had its flaws, it had its problems, the first time we had looked at the issue of education in America from a nationwide perspective. And we need to fix a lot of the problems. We need to sit down and reauthorize it." (John McCain at 3rd presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., Oct. 15, 2008)
"Education is the civil rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained, but what is the value of access to a failing school? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice. Let's remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work." (John McCain acceptance speech at Republican National Convention, Sept. 4, 2008)
"When a public school fails, repeatedly, to meet these minimal objectives, parents ask only for a choice in the education of their children. Some parents may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private school. Many will choose a charter school. No entrenched bureaucracy or union should deny parents that choice and children that opportunity." (John McCain remarks to National Urban League National Conference, Aug. 1, 2008)
"We need training -- job training and education programs for those that have lost their jobs and those that are in danger of losing their jobs, training and education programs that work. And there are training and education programs that work, utilizing our community colleges to help those people get back into the economy." (John McCain remarks at campaign event in Miami, Fla., June 6, 2008)
Welcome to CQ Politics' guide to the policy positions, voting behavior and public statements of Barack Obama and John McCain. Notes, Votes and Quotes provides a serious and non-partisan examination of Obama and McCain's stands on the key issues of the day; what they propose to do as president; how they have voted in the Senate, according to CQ's unparalleled coverage of congressional voting behavior; and what they have said about these issues. We'll continue to add new issues until the election, so check back regularly.
Education
NOTES: Obama's education proposals include increasing funding for Head Start; amending the Bush administration education law known as "No Child Left Behind"; doubling funding for federal charter schools; recruiting new teachers, particularly in math and the sciences; and offering a $4,000 college tuition credit for any recipient who agrees to complete 100 hours of community service.
NOTES: McCain supports increased school choice proposals, including a voucher system. He would pay bonuses to teachers who agree to work in the most troubled schools. He supports alternative routes to teacher certification. McCain says his proposals would give more control to parents, teachers and principals.
VOTES: Obama in 2007 was one of 79 senators who voted for a bill to cut government subsidies to student loan firms by about $20 billion and redirect most of the money to aid for students and college graduates. The bill also increased the maximum Pell grant award by $1,090 over five years. McCain missed the vote. (Senate Roll Call Vote 326, Sept. 7, 2007)
VOTES: McCain in 2001 voted for No Child Left Behind, as did 86 other senators. Obama was not a U.S. senator at the time. (Senate Roll Call Vote 371, Dec. 18, 2001)
McCain in 1998 was one of 59 senators who voted for to allow individuals to contribute up to $2,000 a year of after-tax funds in tax-sheltered savings accounts to use to pay educational expenses. (Senate Roll Call Vote 169, June 24, 1998)
QUOTES: "This probably has more to do with our economic future than anything and that means it also has a national security implication, because there's never been a nation on earth that saw its economy decline and continued to maintain its primacy as a military power. So we've got to get our education system right. Now, typically, what's happened is that there's been a debate between more money or reform, and I think we need both." (Barack Obama at 3rd presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., Oct. 15, 2008)
"So what I want to do is focus on early childhood education, providing teachers higher salaries in exchange for more support. ... Charter schools, I doubled the number of charter schools in Illinois despite some reservations from teachers unions. I think it's important to foster competition inside the public schools." (Barack Obama at 3rd presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., Oct. 15, 2008)
"Where we disagree is on the idea tha we can somehow give out vouchers -- give vouchers as a way of securing the problems in our education system." (Barack Obama at 3rd presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., Oct. 15, 2008)
"The main components of my education agenda at the federal level are to, number one, adequately fund federal mandates like No Child Left Behind or special education, to free up resources at local school levels so that they can do more with the money that they have. Number two, to provide billions of dollars in funding for early childhood education programs, so that kids are getting prepared when they start school. Number three, providing additional money to hire, retain and train excellent teachers, which is probably the single biggest determinant as to whether children do well in school." (Barack Obama remarks at campaign event in Zanesville, Ohio, July 1, 2008)
QUOTES: "Now as far as the No Child Left Behind is concerned, it was a great first beginning in my view. It had its flaws, it had its problems, the first time we had looked at the issue of education in America from a nationwide perspective. And we need to fix a lot of the problems. We need to sit down and reauthorize it." (John McCain at 3rd presidential debate in Hempstead, N.Y., Oct. 15, 2008)
"Education is the civil rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained, but what is the value of access to a failing school? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice. Let's remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work." (John McCain acceptance speech at Republican National Convention, Sept. 4, 2008)
"When a public school fails, repeatedly, to meet these minimal objectives, parents ask only for a choice in the education of their children. Some parents may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private school. Many will choose a charter school. No entrenched bureaucracy or union should deny parents that choice and children that opportunity." (John McCain remarks to National Urban League National Conference, Aug. 1, 2008)
"We need training -- job training and education programs for those that have lost their jobs and those that are in danger of losing their jobs, training and education programs that work. And there are training and education programs that work, utilizing our community colleges to help those people get back into the economy." (John McCain remarks at campaign event in Miami, Fla., June 6, 2008)
State Budget Cutting
From the Inquirer. Can cuts in K-12 funding be far behind?
Pa. universities facing budget cuts
By Susan Snyder Inquirer Staff Writer Posted on Thu, Oct. 23, 2008
The 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, including West Chester and Cheyney, will be faced with some unexpected budget slashing in the coming months, courtesy of the cash-strapped state.
The state system's board today is expected to approve a request from Gov. Rendell to give back 4.25 percent, or about $22 million, of its state appropriation for 2008-09, which was $498.5 million.
Looking to next year, the board is also expected to put the state on notice that it will need a 5.7 percent hike in funding over the current year. The funding request is part of a proposed 2009-10 budget that the state system is required to submit to the state by Oct. 31. Under that proposed budget, the state system would increase tuition by 4 percent.
State system spokesman Kenn Marshall said the numbers were preliminary, and the state board won't vote on a tuition hike until July, after the state budget is approved.
The state system's committee approved the numbers even though economic troubles are looming.
"The feeling of the board is we needed to ask for what we needed. It's important that the legislature and governor's office knows this is what we really need to operate," Marshall said.
Earlier this month Rendell ordered a number of austerity measures to keep Pennsylvania's budget balanced, including directing cabinet secretaries to trim their spending by 4.25 percent.
State-related institutions, including Pennsylvania State University, the University of Pittsburgh, Lincoln University and Temple University, were also asked to plan for 4.25 percent cuts in their state funding this year.
Temple announced it would institute a hiring freeze and restrict travel in response. Penn State will not fill positions, will hold off on equipment purchases, and will ask all departments to look for other efficiencies.
The state system universities will need to forego hires, defer maintenance, or make other cuts, Marshall said.
"It will be up to each university to decide how they do it," he said.
West Chester, one of the largest universities in the system, will lose about $2.4 million, and Cheyney, already struggling financially, will see a drop of $680,000. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the largest in the state system, will see the biggest fall - $2.7 million.
While Rendell asked the schools only to plan for a possible cut at this point, officials expect it will occur "unless things really turn around very quickly," Marshall said.
Pa. universities facing budget cuts
By Susan Snyder Inquirer Staff Writer Posted on Thu, Oct. 23, 2008
The 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, including West Chester and Cheyney, will be faced with some unexpected budget slashing in the coming months, courtesy of the cash-strapped state.
The state system's board today is expected to approve a request from Gov. Rendell to give back 4.25 percent, or about $22 million, of its state appropriation for 2008-09, which was $498.5 million.
Looking to next year, the board is also expected to put the state on notice that it will need a 5.7 percent hike in funding over the current year. The funding request is part of a proposed 2009-10 budget that the state system is required to submit to the state by Oct. 31. Under that proposed budget, the state system would increase tuition by 4 percent.
State system spokesman Kenn Marshall said the numbers were preliminary, and the state board won't vote on a tuition hike until July, after the state budget is approved.
The state system's committee approved the numbers even though economic troubles are looming.
"The feeling of the board is we needed to ask for what we needed. It's important that the legislature and governor's office knows this is what we really need to operate," Marshall said.
Earlier this month Rendell ordered a number of austerity measures to keep Pennsylvania's budget balanced, including directing cabinet secretaries to trim their spending by 4.25 percent.
State-related institutions, including Pennsylvania State University, the University of Pittsburgh, Lincoln University and Temple University, were also asked to plan for 4.25 percent cuts in their state funding this year.
Temple announced it would institute a hiring freeze and restrict travel in response. Penn State will not fill positions, will hold off on equipment purchases, and will ask all departments to look for other efficiencies.
The state system universities will need to forego hires, defer maintenance, or make other cuts, Marshall said.
"It will be up to each university to decide how they do it," he said.
West Chester, one of the largest universities in the system, will lose about $2.4 million, and Cheyney, already struggling financially, will see a drop of $680,000. Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the largest in the state system, will see the biggest fall - $2.7 million.
While Rendell asked the schools only to plan for a possible cut at this point, officials expect it will occur "unless things really turn around very quickly," Marshall said.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Food for fright
From the BCCT
Food for fright
Posted in Community on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 4:31 pm by Gwen Shrift
The Morrisville Ambulance Squad has a deal for you - bring a non-perishable item for the Morrisville Presbyterian Church’s food pantry, and they’ll knock a dollar off the admission price before scaring you silly at their haunted house fundraiser.
The event takes place Oct. 24-26 and Oct. 31-Nov. 1, starting at 7 p.m. each date. Hauntings take place at 139 Washington St. Full admission is $3; with food donation, $2.
The church’s food center is open on Wednesdays from 9:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 7 to 8 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month.
Food for fright
Posted in Community on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 4:31 pm by Gwen Shrift
The Morrisville Ambulance Squad has a deal for you - bring a non-perishable item for the Morrisville Presbyterian Church’s food pantry, and they’ll knock a dollar off the admission price before scaring you silly at their haunted house fundraiser.
The event takes place Oct. 24-26 and Oct. 31-Nov. 1, starting at 7 p.m. each date. Hauntings take place at 139 Washington St. Full admission is $3; with food donation, $2.
The church’s food center is open on Wednesdays from 9:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 7 to 8 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month.
Baseball or the People's Business?
From the BCCT. I wonder how the Emperor and his minions will approach this?
I figure the discussion, re-discussion, clarification, re-clarification, and re-re-discussion (followed by a Q&A session) over Grandview student safety on the roads will take a good amount of time alone. And that's just one piece of new business. There's a whole lot of old business to clog up anyone's night.
Officials hope to steal home from meetings
Others plan to keep track of World Series games during meetings with cell phones and other devices.
By JOAN HELLYER
Harry Kramer has his game plan set for the Bensalem school board meeting scheduled to begin tonight, less than an hour before the first pitch in the first game of the World Series.
“I am going to try to get through that meeting as quickly as humanly possible, because I know people really want to see the Phillies,” said Kramer, the board president. “They don’t want to see our smiling faces on TV.”
Kramer admits he wants to get home in time to cheer on the Phils as they take on the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1, but promises the district’s operations won’t be a victim of his game plan.
“We’re going to do everything by the book,” Kramer said. “All the business is going to be covered 100 percent. However, it’s going to be done in an expedient manner.”
No such luck for other local government boards, like the Buckingham supervisors, who also meet tonight, according to Chairwoman Maggie Rash.
The Buckingham board, which is known for meetings that often run late into the night, has a full agenda. The supervisors plan to keep track of the game’s score with their iPhones and other electronic devices as they work their way through the township’s business, according to Rash.
Despite Phanatic support for the Phillies during the team’s quest to win the World Series, area government boards are generally keeping to their meeting schedules this week and next, officials said.
Some, like the Bensalem school board, will be able to wrap up business quickly.
Others, not so much. This group includes the Horsham council, which gets its first look at the municipality’s proposed 2009 municipal budget Monday night, said township Manager Mike McGee. That’s when Game 5 is scheduled to be played.
“There’s no tax increase because we have a significant carryover of surplus funds to next year,” the manager said, adding that he doesn’t expect the Monday night meeting to be a long, drawn-out process.
“I can’t imagine the meeting going past 9 o’clock, especially if the Phillies are playing, because then we’ll have very few residents here. Maybe we should make the agenda longer then,” McGee joked.
The Penndel Council also will review its proposed 2009 budget Monday night, said President Ward McMasters.
“It’s the way it goes. I can’t not have it. We’re going for it. At this point of the year, you don’t have a whole lot of choice, because you have a lot of things to get done,” McMasters said. “Besides, there may not even be a fifth game. So who knows? We may not even have to worry about it.”
I figure the discussion, re-discussion, clarification, re-clarification, and re-re-discussion (followed by a Q&A session) over Grandview student safety on the roads will take a good amount of time alone. And that's just one piece of new business. There's a whole lot of old business to clog up anyone's night.
Officials hope to steal home from meetings
Others plan to keep track of World Series games during meetings with cell phones and other devices.
By JOAN HELLYER
Harry Kramer has his game plan set for the Bensalem school board meeting scheduled to begin tonight, less than an hour before the first pitch in the first game of the World Series.
“I am going to try to get through that meeting as quickly as humanly possible, because I know people really want to see the Phillies,” said Kramer, the board president. “They don’t want to see our smiling faces on TV.”
Kramer admits he wants to get home in time to cheer on the Phils as they take on the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1, but promises the district’s operations won’t be a victim of his game plan.
“We’re going to do everything by the book,” Kramer said. “All the business is going to be covered 100 percent. However, it’s going to be done in an expedient manner.”
No such luck for other local government boards, like the Buckingham supervisors, who also meet tonight, according to Chairwoman Maggie Rash.
The Buckingham board, which is known for meetings that often run late into the night, has a full agenda. The supervisors plan to keep track of the game’s score with their iPhones and other electronic devices as they work their way through the township’s business, according to Rash.
Despite Phanatic support for the Phillies during the team’s quest to win the World Series, area government boards are generally keeping to their meeting schedules this week and next, officials said.
Some, like the Bensalem school board, will be able to wrap up business quickly.
Others, not so much. This group includes the Horsham council, which gets its first look at the municipality’s proposed 2009 municipal budget Monday night, said township Manager Mike McGee. That’s when Game 5 is scheduled to be played.
“There’s no tax increase because we have a significant carryover of surplus funds to next year,” the manager said, adding that he doesn’t expect the Monday night meeting to be a long, drawn-out process.
“I can’t imagine the meeting going past 9 o’clock, especially if the Phillies are playing, because then we’ll have very few residents here. Maybe we should make the agenda longer then,” McGee joked.
The Penndel Council also will review its proposed 2009 budget Monday night, said President Ward McMasters.
“It’s the way it goes. I can’t not have it. We’re going for it. At this point of the year, you don’t have a whole lot of choice, because you have a lot of things to get done,” McMasters said. “Besides, there may not even be a fifth game. So who knows? We may not even have to worry about it.”
Borough Council Recap
From the BCCT.
First off, congrats and good wishes to Councilman Albertson.
Now let's check the box scores:
* Dems 6, GOP 2 (a big swing from the GOP control of a few months ago)
* Council 3, PJRP 0 (this most recent defeat for PJRP might be better to call a forfeit since the plans were withdrawn. Anyone know the scoop on that?)
* Citizens: zero tax relief (let's hope Councilman Albertson can help turn that around. Can we afford to wait another year to sweep out the do-nothing council?)
Memo to the Dems: The GOP may have ruled the roost for many previous years, but you're in charge now. If you don't get your collective act together and get new life in this town, you'll be tagged with the error on the play and be relegated back to minority status.
P.S.: Go Phils!
Council appoints Democrat to fill vacant seat
The Morrisville Borough Council appointed Democrat Edward Albertson to fill a council seat left vacant last month by Republican George Bolos.
Albertson, who works for the Public Service Enterprise Group energy company in New Jersey, Monday night edged out Fred Kerner, vice chairman of the Morrisville Democratic Club, for the Third Ward council seat in a 4-3 vote.
Council Democrats Eileen Dreisbach and Rita Ledger, as well as Republicans Jane Burger and Stephen Worob voted to nominate Albertson. Democrats Nancy Sherlock, Kathryn Panzitta and David Rivella voted for Kerner, who works in the mail room at Rider University.
The face of the eight-member board is now made up of six Democrats and two Republicans.
Albertson was sworn in by District Judge Michael Burns. He shook hands with his new colleagues and took his seat behind the council’s dais.
Bolos resigned last month because he moved to Virginia with his family.
In other business Monday night, the council unanimously denied preliminary plans for an office building at East Bridge Street and North Delmorr Avenue that was developer Penn Jersey Real Properties’ second attempt of sorts for a Morrisville Gateway Center.
The controversial Gateway Center proposal was killed in May by a lack of council support. A month later, Penn Jersey proposed an office building that was less than half the size of the Gateway Center proposal.
The council denied the second project because Penn Jersey withdrew its plans, officials said.
The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching Penn Jersey officials for comment.
First off, congrats and good wishes to Councilman Albertson.
Now let's check the box scores:
* Dems 6, GOP 2 (a big swing from the GOP control of a few months ago)
* Council 3, PJRP 0 (this most recent defeat for PJRP might be better to call a forfeit since the plans were withdrawn. Anyone know the scoop on that?)
* Citizens: zero tax relief (let's hope Councilman Albertson can help turn that around. Can we afford to wait another year to sweep out the do-nothing council?)
Memo to the Dems: The GOP may have ruled the roost for many previous years, but you're in charge now. If you don't get your collective act together and get new life in this town, you'll be tagged with the error on the play and be relegated back to minority status.
P.S.: Go Phils!
Council appoints Democrat to fill vacant seat
The Morrisville Borough Council appointed Democrat Edward Albertson to fill a council seat left vacant last month by Republican George Bolos.
Albertson, who works for the Public Service Enterprise Group energy company in New Jersey, Monday night edged out Fred Kerner, vice chairman of the Morrisville Democratic Club, for the Third Ward council seat in a 4-3 vote.
Council Democrats Eileen Dreisbach and Rita Ledger, as well as Republicans Jane Burger and Stephen Worob voted to nominate Albertson. Democrats Nancy Sherlock, Kathryn Panzitta and David Rivella voted for Kerner, who works in the mail room at Rider University.
The face of the eight-member board is now made up of six Democrats and two Republicans.
Albertson was sworn in by District Judge Michael Burns. He shook hands with his new colleagues and took his seat behind the council’s dais.
Bolos resigned last month because he moved to Virginia with his family.
In other business Monday night, the council unanimously denied preliminary plans for an office building at East Bridge Street and North Delmorr Avenue that was developer Penn Jersey Real Properties’ second attempt of sorts for a Morrisville Gateway Center.
The controversial Gateway Center proposal was killed in May by a lack of council support. A month later, Penn Jersey proposed an office building that was less than half the size of the Gateway Center proposal.
The council denied the second project because Penn Jersey withdrew its plans, officials said.
The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching Penn Jersey officials for comment.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
District parting with green to go green
From the BCCT.
District parting with green to go green
By CHRISTINA KRISTOFIC
Central Bucks School District saved more than $70,000 in utilities by having a four-day workweek over the summer.
And district officials hope that they will continue to save on utilities by implementing a new $19.8 million energy initiative, which includes the installation of equipment and software — computerized boiler controls, occupancy sensors for lighting, occupancy sensors for the heating and air-conditioning systems, and machines that shut off the vending machines at night — in all of the district’s 26 buildings.
The district will also improve insulation in many of its buildings, install solar-powered heaters at the pools at Central Bucks East and South high schools, and replace the lighting in some of its buildings.
District officials estimate that the initiative will save more than $18 million in utility costs in the first 20 years, after initiative-related expenses have been paid.
The initiative was approved unanimously by the school board last week.
“It’s so refreshing when we can put money and time and energy into something like this, that’s actually going to have such a great payback,” board President Geryl McMullin said.
“We’re trying desperately to become more green in the school district.”
McMullin said she’d like to take the money the district saves from the energy initiative and invest it into other environmentally friendly initiatives.
“We’ve got a lot of buildings. We use a lot of electricity and we use a lot of fuel. And we need to do our best to do our part,” she said.
District officials decided in June to close 21 of the district’s 26 buildings on Fridays for seven weeks over the summer. Superintendent N. Robert Laws estimated at the time that the four-day workweek would save the district about $53,000 in utility costs.
The actual savings turned out to be $71,554, operations director Scott Kennedy reported last week.
Johnson Controls Inc., an international company with headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis., is working with Central Bucks to install the new equipment and software over the next 14 months. The equipment and software will be installed in phases, and Johnson Controls and district staff are currently working on the schedule, Kennedy said.
The project will cost the school district $14.8 million up front; the district is making a down payment of $7.5 million and financing the remaining $7.3 million over 15 years at a rate of 4 percent. District officials estimate that — with loan interest, software licensing fees and training costs — the project will ultimately cost $19.8 million over 20 years.
Johnson Controls has guaranteed that the district will begin to see savings in utility costs after the equipment and software are installed.
District officials expect to see total savings over 20 years of $38.8 million.
After it has paid the $19.8 million in expenses, the district expects to have a total utility savings of more than $18.9 million.
Johnson Controls will also provide the school with educational materials — to be used in the classroom — about energy efficiency.
District parting with green to go green
By CHRISTINA KRISTOFIC
Central Bucks School District saved more than $70,000 in utilities by having a four-day workweek over the summer.
And district officials hope that they will continue to save on utilities by implementing a new $19.8 million energy initiative, which includes the installation of equipment and software — computerized boiler controls, occupancy sensors for lighting, occupancy sensors for the heating and air-conditioning systems, and machines that shut off the vending machines at night — in all of the district’s 26 buildings.
The district will also improve insulation in many of its buildings, install solar-powered heaters at the pools at Central Bucks East and South high schools, and replace the lighting in some of its buildings.
District officials estimate that the initiative will save more than $18 million in utility costs in the first 20 years, after initiative-related expenses have been paid.
The initiative was approved unanimously by the school board last week.
“It’s so refreshing when we can put money and time and energy into something like this, that’s actually going to have such a great payback,” board President Geryl McMullin said.
“We’re trying desperately to become more green in the school district.”
McMullin said she’d like to take the money the district saves from the energy initiative and invest it into other environmentally friendly initiatives.
“We’ve got a lot of buildings. We use a lot of electricity and we use a lot of fuel. And we need to do our best to do our part,” she said.
District officials decided in June to close 21 of the district’s 26 buildings on Fridays for seven weeks over the summer. Superintendent N. Robert Laws estimated at the time that the four-day workweek would save the district about $53,000 in utility costs.
The actual savings turned out to be $71,554, operations director Scott Kennedy reported last week.
Johnson Controls Inc., an international company with headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis., is working with Central Bucks to install the new equipment and software over the next 14 months. The equipment and software will be installed in phases, and Johnson Controls and district staff are currently working on the schedule, Kennedy said.
The project will cost the school district $14.8 million up front; the district is making a down payment of $7.5 million and financing the remaining $7.3 million over 15 years at a rate of 4 percent. District officials estimate that — with loan interest, software licensing fees and training costs — the project will ultimately cost $19.8 million over 20 years.
Johnson Controls has guaranteed that the district will begin to see savings in utility costs after the equipment and software are installed.
District officials expect to see total savings over 20 years of $38.8 million.
After it has paid the $19.8 million in expenses, the district expects to have a total utility savings of more than $18.9 million.
Johnson Controls will also provide the school with educational materials — to be used in the classroom — about energy efficiency.
School Board Business Meeting Reminder
Tomorrow, Wednesday October 22, 7:30 P.M. in the LGI
Morrisville school board: 7:30 p.m., Large Group Instruction Room of the Middle/Senior High School, 550 W. Palmer St. Agenda: agreement with engineering firm for upgrade services to the high school and surveys of elementary schools, acceptance of grants and donations.
Morrisville school board: 7:30 p.m., Large Group Instruction Room of the Middle/Senior High School, 550 W. Palmer St. Agenda: agreement with engineering firm for upgrade services to the high school and surveys of elementary schools, acceptance of grants and donations.
Career center helps kids get ready for future
From the BCCT
Career center helps kids get ready for future
By JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Courier Times
BRISTOL TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS - Lombardi walked into the new career center at Harry S Truman High School last week not knowing what to do after he graduates.
Less than an hour later, the Truman senior left the center armed with a list of potential careers that might be a good fit for him. The list is based on the answers Jeremy gave during an online survey of his interests and goals. It includes graphic designer, landscaper and airport grounds crew member.
“It really helped me out with possible careers for after high school,” Jeremy, 19, said of the list. “It shows me I've got the world at my fingertips, basically.”
The Bristol Township school used Project 720 funds from the state to create the career center to help Truman students develop a post-high school plan, said Mark Kaye, a retired guidance counselor who oversees the facility.
It includes computers, online career strategy programs, an overhead video screen for presentations and a meeting area for students, counselors and college and trade representatives. Students can do online searches about colleges and universities, apply for free online to Bucks County Community College and make a reservation to take the SAT test at a neighboring high school.
“It's helping us with our future and it's great that we have a center to do that,” said Truman senior Samantha Kurfuss, 17, who plans to pursue a career in criminal justice, phlebotomy or forensic science.
Project 720, named for the number of days a student is in high school, was established a few years ago to provide students with personalized attention, tougher classes and a more rigorous senior year.
Gov. Ed Rendell pushed for the program because surveys suggest an estimated 40 percent of high school graduates are not ready for college and other grads entering the workforce often lack basic math and communication skills, state officials said.
The Morrisville and Palisades school districts were among the first in the state to receive Project 720 grants, which are awarded over a three-year period.
Morrisville used the $120,000 it received between 2005-08 to develop a high school curriculum that includes four years of required mathematics classes and other initiatives, including mentoring and apprenticeship programs, district officials said.
Palisades used the $150,000 during the same time period to expand summer reading programs, integrate technology into math classes and, like Truman, help students develop plans for their career paths.
Bristol Township's Project 720 grant for $217,119 is spread out in three installments between 2007-10.
Once all the Truman seniors have access to the center this year, counselors will arrange interviews with juniors and sophomores to get them thinking about their futures, Kaye said. Ninth-graders at the district's Benjamin Franklin Freshman Academy also are taking the career survey online to help them begin plotting a plan for the future, he said.
Matt Kohler, a Truman senior, had to ask where the center was when he received notice of an interview time. Now he's glad he found it.
“It helps so much. It gives kids so many opportunities,” said Matt, 17, who plans to be a social studies teacher. “It's probably the most important room in the school in my opinion, because it will help you determine where to go after school.”
Several area school districts are receiving Project 720 grants in three installments between 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 to better prepare their students for life after high school. In addition to Bristol Township, the districts are:
BRISTOL
$165,405 to establish a college and career center in the guidance office at Bristol Borough Junior/Senior High School, provide more than 200 virtual online courses to students, establish a reading apprenticeship program and redesign the school's math program.
HATBORO-HORSHAM
$120,000 to establish student internships, integrate Pennsylvania career education and work standards into core academic courses, create a standalone course called Pathways Seminar for high school juniors to address transition planning and personal finance and establish a Student Success Center where students meet with college representatives and speakers from various professions and use numerous resources to develop a post-secondary plan.
LOWER MORELAND
The district is in the process of receiving Project 720 grant money totaling $90,000. The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching district officials Friday for information on how the money will be used.
NORTH PENN
$150,000 to bring in an academic intervention specialist to serve as a success coach and provide academic support for underachieving students. The money also is being used to support student incentive programs and curriculum enhancements, expand the high school's advanced placement program and increase after-school and Saturday academic support activities.
SOUDERTON
$196,770 to implement a more rigorous and relevant curriculum to help students focus their attention on their post-high school plans, and to enhance the high school's Career Pathways initiative.
Sources: Pennsylvania Department of Education and local school districts
Career center helps kids get ready for future
By JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Courier Times
BRISTOL TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS - Lombardi walked into the new career center at Harry S Truman High School last week not knowing what to do after he graduates.
Less than an hour later, the Truman senior left the center armed with a list of potential careers that might be a good fit for him. The list is based on the answers Jeremy gave during an online survey of his interests and goals. It includes graphic designer, landscaper and airport grounds crew member.
“It really helped me out with possible careers for after high school,” Jeremy, 19, said of the list. “It shows me I've got the world at my fingertips, basically.”
The Bristol Township school used Project 720 funds from the state to create the career center to help Truman students develop a post-high school plan, said Mark Kaye, a retired guidance counselor who oversees the facility.
It includes computers, online career strategy programs, an overhead video screen for presentations and a meeting area for students, counselors and college and trade representatives. Students can do online searches about colleges and universities, apply for free online to Bucks County Community College and make a reservation to take the SAT test at a neighboring high school.
“It's helping us with our future and it's great that we have a center to do that,” said Truman senior Samantha Kurfuss, 17, who plans to pursue a career in criminal justice, phlebotomy or forensic science.
Project 720, named for the number of days a student is in high school, was established a few years ago to provide students with personalized attention, tougher classes and a more rigorous senior year.
Gov. Ed Rendell pushed for the program because surveys suggest an estimated 40 percent of high school graduates are not ready for college and other grads entering the workforce often lack basic math and communication skills, state officials said.
The Morrisville and Palisades school districts were among the first in the state to receive Project 720 grants, which are awarded over a three-year period.
Morrisville used the $120,000 it received between 2005-08 to develop a high school curriculum that includes four years of required mathematics classes and other initiatives, including mentoring and apprenticeship programs, district officials said.
Palisades used the $150,000 during the same time period to expand summer reading programs, integrate technology into math classes and, like Truman, help students develop plans for their career paths.
Bristol Township's Project 720 grant for $217,119 is spread out in three installments between 2007-10.
Once all the Truman seniors have access to the center this year, counselors will arrange interviews with juniors and sophomores to get them thinking about their futures, Kaye said. Ninth-graders at the district's Benjamin Franklin Freshman Academy also are taking the career survey online to help them begin plotting a plan for the future, he said.
Matt Kohler, a Truman senior, had to ask where the center was when he received notice of an interview time. Now he's glad he found it.
“It helps so much. It gives kids so many opportunities,” said Matt, 17, who plans to be a social studies teacher. “It's probably the most important room in the school in my opinion, because it will help you determine where to go after school.”
Several area school districts are receiving Project 720 grants in three installments between 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 to better prepare their students for life after high school. In addition to Bristol Township, the districts are:
BRISTOL
$165,405 to establish a college and career center in the guidance office at Bristol Borough Junior/Senior High School, provide more than 200 virtual online courses to students, establish a reading apprenticeship program and redesign the school's math program.
HATBORO-HORSHAM
$120,000 to establish student internships, integrate Pennsylvania career education and work standards into core academic courses, create a standalone course called Pathways Seminar for high school juniors to address transition planning and personal finance and establish a Student Success Center where students meet with college representatives and speakers from various professions and use numerous resources to develop a post-secondary plan.
LOWER MORELAND
The district is in the process of receiving Project 720 grant money totaling $90,000. The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching district officials Friday for information on how the money will be used.
NORTH PENN
$150,000 to bring in an academic intervention specialist to serve as a success coach and provide academic support for underachieving students. The money also is being used to support student incentive programs and curriculum enhancements, expand the high school's advanced placement program and increase after-school and Saturday academic support activities.
SOUDERTON
$196,770 to implement a more rigorous and relevant curriculum to help students focus their attention on their post-high school plans, and to enhance the high school's Career Pathways initiative.
Sources: Pennsylvania Department of Education and local school districts
Monday, October 20, 2008
Pennsylvania state Autism Laws
From the Lompoc Record
Parents press states for autism insurance laws
By CARLA K. JOHNSON
CHICAGO - In Washington state, Reza and Arzu Forough pay more than $1,000 a week for behavior therapy for their 12-year-old autistic son.
In Indiana, Sean and Michele Trivedi get the same type of therapy for their 11-year-old daughter. But they pay $3,000 a year and their health insurance covers the rest.
Two families. Two states. Big difference in out-of-pocket costs.
If autism advocates get their way, more states will follow Indiana's lead by requiring health insurers to cover intensive and costly behavior therapy for autism.
In the past two years, six states _ Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana _ passed laws requiring such coverage, costing in some cases up to $50,000 a year per child.
The powerful advocacy group Autism Speaks has endorsed bills in New Jersey, Virginia and Michigan and is targeting at least 10 more states in 2009, including New York, California and Ohio.
Other states, including Illinois, have similar bills in the works but aren't working directly with Autism Speaks.
"This is the hottest trend in mandates we've seen in a long time," said J.P. Wieske, a lobbyist for an insurance coalition that argues that these state requirements drive up insurance costs for everyone. "It is hard to fight them."
For lawmakers, voting against these measures means voting against parents who are struggling to do the best for their children.
Parents tell moving stories about how behavior therapy works better than anything they've tried. In two states, bills got nicknames like "Steven's Law" and "Ryan's Law," so voting against them was tough.
Arzu Forough of Kirkland, Wash., who is pushing a bill in her state, credits behavior therapy for teaching her son Shayan, at age 3, to make a sound to ask for a drink of water. Now 12, he is learning to converse about his favorite food and music, and to talk about his frustrations rather than throw tantrums.
Trained therapists, using principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA), created a system of rewards to teach Shayan these skills. As a preschooler, he got a piece of cheese when he said "bubba" for water. Now a therapist rewards him with tokens when he responds in conversation. He uses the tokens to "buy" privileges like going for a car ride.
Shayan's improvements are a welcome relief to his mother, who once called for police help with her out-of-control son while she was driving.
"I pulled over to the side of the road," she said. "I had to call the police to drive behind me so I could drive safely home."
The Foroughs have health insurance, but it doesn't cover Shayan's therapy. Although they both work full time, they must live rent-free with her elderly mother to be able to afford his treatment.
Meanwhile, the Trivedi family of the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel, get 25 hours a week of behavior therapy for 11-year-old Ellie. They contribute co-pays and a deductible, totaling about $3,000. Insurance pays the rest, about $47,000 a year.
Michele Trivedi is an autism activist. She fought for years after a vaguely worded 2001 Indiana law required coverage but insurers still refused to pay for ABA. Finally in 2006, she helped convince the state's insurance commissioner to issue a bulletin spelling out what was expected of insurers.
"It's no longer acceptable that blatant discrimination against people with autism occur," Trivedi said.
Autism is a range of disorders that hinder the ability to communicate and interact. Most doctors believe there is no cure. An estimated 1 in 150 American children are diagnosed with it.
Supporters say behavior therapy has decades of research behind it and can save money in the long run by keeping people out of institutions. Researchers agree, but say much remains unknown about which therapy works best for autistic kids, whether long-term gains can be claimed, and whether it works with older children.
Some states require behavior therapy coverage up to age 18 or 21. But the scientific evidence for ABA is strongest for the youngest, ages 2 to 5. Some researchers have reported on individual children with autism who no longer appeared disabled when they reached school age.
The most rigorous studies, though, show mixed results. A study published in 2000 showed that preschoolers who got intensive behavior therapy had greater gains in IQ than children who didn't get the therapy. But there was little difference in the two group's language development or the intensity of behavior problems. And the children most severely affected by autism showed no comparative gain.
Another study in preschoolers, published in 2005, showed little difference between an intensive ABA-based program run by therapists and less-intensive therapy from parents; children in both groups improved.
When it comes to older children, the research is sparse, said Tristram Smith of the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, who co-authored the 2000 autism study.
"You could make a decent case for the little kids up to 6 or 7 that (insurance mandates) would be appropriate," Smith said. "I think it would be hard to make that case for older kids."
Another autism researcher, Laura Schreibman of the University of California at San Diego, said "fly-by-night" behavior therapists could defraud insurers with ineffective therapy.
"I would like to see insurance cover this kind of intervention because it's documented to be effective," she said. "But insurance companies have every right to monitor whether it's working. If it's been two years and there are no gains, an insurance company should be saying, 'What are we paying for here?'"
The Council for Affordable Health Insurance, the industry lobbying arm, estimates autism mandates increase the cost of insurance by less than 1 percent by themselves, but when combined with other requirements make insurance less affordable.
Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans, said the industry has been wary of laws ordering a specific treatment because when new scientific evidence emerges, the mandate remains frozen. And she questions whether behavior therapy is medical or educational.
The American Academy of Pediatrics includes ABA therapy in its clinical report on autism, but describes it as an "educational intervention."
"There has been an effort to transfer the response to autism from school systems to the health care system," Pisano said.
Nevertheless, some big companies and the U.S. military are providing ABA-based autism therapy as a benefit.
The U.S. military's Tricare health insurance program not only covers up to $2,500 a month for the therapy, but also recently expanded the definition of who can provide it to make it more accessible. And some self-insured companies, including Microsoft and Home Depot, pay for autism behavior therapy.
Gaining insurance coverage state by state is the top lobbying priority for Autism Speaks.
"It's the No. 1 thing we hear from parents," said Elizabeth Emken, the group's vice president of government relations. "What's more difficult than knowing there's an effective treatment for your children, but you can't afford to offer it to them because it's not covered by insurance?"
A new federal law requiring insurers to make coverage for mental health conditions equitable with other health coverage was tacked onto the recent financial industry bailout package.
Autism Speaks applauds the law, but says autism is not a psychological condition and that the insurance industry has refused to cover autism treatments in states with mental health parity laws on the books.
"We hope it sets the stage for the Congress and the next president to continue this effort to end discrimination in the health insurance marketplace," Emken said. "Whichever party is elected, autism will be on the table and be a major point of discussion. There may have to be a federal mandate."
Parents press states for autism insurance laws
By CARLA K. JOHNSON
CHICAGO - In Washington state, Reza and Arzu Forough pay more than $1,000 a week for behavior therapy for their 12-year-old autistic son.
In Indiana, Sean and Michele Trivedi get the same type of therapy for their 11-year-old daughter. But they pay $3,000 a year and their health insurance covers the rest.
Two families. Two states. Big difference in out-of-pocket costs.
If autism advocates get their way, more states will follow Indiana's lead by requiring health insurers to cover intensive and costly behavior therapy for autism.
In the past two years, six states _ Texas, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana _ passed laws requiring such coverage, costing in some cases up to $50,000 a year per child.
The powerful advocacy group Autism Speaks has endorsed bills in New Jersey, Virginia and Michigan and is targeting at least 10 more states in 2009, including New York, California and Ohio.
Other states, including Illinois, have similar bills in the works but aren't working directly with Autism Speaks.
"This is the hottest trend in mandates we've seen in a long time," said J.P. Wieske, a lobbyist for an insurance coalition that argues that these state requirements drive up insurance costs for everyone. "It is hard to fight them."
For lawmakers, voting against these measures means voting against parents who are struggling to do the best for their children.
Parents tell moving stories about how behavior therapy works better than anything they've tried. In two states, bills got nicknames like "Steven's Law" and "Ryan's Law," so voting against them was tough.
Arzu Forough of Kirkland, Wash., who is pushing a bill in her state, credits behavior therapy for teaching her son Shayan, at age 3, to make a sound to ask for a drink of water. Now 12, he is learning to converse about his favorite food and music, and to talk about his frustrations rather than throw tantrums.
Trained therapists, using principles of applied behavior analysis (ABA), created a system of rewards to teach Shayan these skills. As a preschooler, he got a piece of cheese when he said "bubba" for water. Now a therapist rewards him with tokens when he responds in conversation. He uses the tokens to "buy" privileges like going for a car ride.
Shayan's improvements are a welcome relief to his mother, who once called for police help with her out-of-control son while she was driving.
"I pulled over to the side of the road," she said. "I had to call the police to drive behind me so I could drive safely home."
The Foroughs have health insurance, but it doesn't cover Shayan's therapy. Although they both work full time, they must live rent-free with her elderly mother to be able to afford his treatment.
Meanwhile, the Trivedi family of the Indianapolis suburb of Carmel, get 25 hours a week of behavior therapy for 11-year-old Ellie. They contribute co-pays and a deductible, totaling about $3,000. Insurance pays the rest, about $47,000 a year.
Michele Trivedi is an autism activist. She fought for years after a vaguely worded 2001 Indiana law required coverage but insurers still refused to pay for ABA. Finally in 2006, she helped convince the state's insurance commissioner to issue a bulletin spelling out what was expected of insurers.
"It's no longer acceptable that blatant discrimination against people with autism occur," Trivedi said.
Autism is a range of disorders that hinder the ability to communicate and interact. Most doctors believe there is no cure. An estimated 1 in 150 American children are diagnosed with it.
Supporters say behavior therapy has decades of research behind it and can save money in the long run by keeping people out of institutions. Researchers agree, but say much remains unknown about which therapy works best for autistic kids, whether long-term gains can be claimed, and whether it works with older children.
Some states require behavior therapy coverage up to age 18 or 21. But the scientific evidence for ABA is strongest for the youngest, ages 2 to 5. Some researchers have reported on individual children with autism who no longer appeared disabled when they reached school age.
The most rigorous studies, though, show mixed results. A study published in 2000 showed that preschoolers who got intensive behavior therapy had greater gains in IQ than children who didn't get the therapy. But there was little difference in the two group's language development or the intensity of behavior problems. And the children most severely affected by autism showed no comparative gain.
Another study in preschoolers, published in 2005, showed little difference between an intensive ABA-based program run by therapists and less-intensive therapy from parents; children in both groups improved.
When it comes to older children, the research is sparse, said Tristram Smith of the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, who co-authored the 2000 autism study.
"You could make a decent case for the little kids up to 6 or 7 that (insurance mandates) would be appropriate," Smith said. "I think it would be hard to make that case for older kids."
Another autism researcher, Laura Schreibman of the University of California at San Diego, said "fly-by-night" behavior therapists could defraud insurers with ineffective therapy.
"I would like to see insurance cover this kind of intervention because it's documented to be effective," she said. "But insurance companies have every right to monitor whether it's working. If it's been two years and there are no gains, an insurance company should be saying, 'What are we paying for here?'"
The Council for Affordable Health Insurance, the industry lobbying arm, estimates autism mandates increase the cost of insurance by less than 1 percent by themselves, but when combined with other requirements make insurance less affordable.
Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for America's Health Insurance Plans, said the industry has been wary of laws ordering a specific treatment because when new scientific evidence emerges, the mandate remains frozen. And she questions whether behavior therapy is medical or educational.
The American Academy of Pediatrics includes ABA therapy in its clinical report on autism, but describes it as an "educational intervention."
"There has been an effort to transfer the response to autism from school systems to the health care system," Pisano said.
Nevertheless, some big companies and the U.S. military are providing ABA-based autism therapy as a benefit.
The U.S. military's Tricare health insurance program not only covers up to $2,500 a month for the therapy, but also recently expanded the definition of who can provide it to make it more accessible. And some self-insured companies, including Microsoft and Home Depot, pay for autism behavior therapy.
Gaining insurance coverage state by state is the top lobbying priority for Autism Speaks.
"It's the No. 1 thing we hear from parents," said Elizabeth Emken, the group's vice president of government relations. "What's more difficult than knowing there's an effective treatment for your children, but you can't afford to offer it to them because it's not covered by insurance?"
A new federal law requiring insurers to make coverage for mental health conditions equitable with other health coverage was tacked onto the recent financial industry bailout package.
Autism Speaks applauds the law, but says autism is not a psychological condition and that the insurance industry has refused to cover autism treatments in states with mental health parity laws on the books.
"We hope it sets the stage for the Congress and the next president to continue this effort to end discrimination in the health insurance marketplace," Emken said. "Whichever party is elected, autism will be on the table and be a major point of discussion. There may have to be a federal mandate."
"They've been able to wait out the anger of citizens"
From the Phoenixville News.
Lawmakers near session end with mixed marks
By MARK SCOLFORO 10/20/2008
It may be too kind to grade what has sometimes sarcastically been called the Era of Reform in Harrisburg as an incomplete.
Nearly two years ago, state lawmakers eagerly seized the mantle of reform in hopes of getting back into the good graces of voters angered by their dead-of-night vote to jack up their own salaries.
As the 2007-08 session winds to a close, legislators again find themselves under a dark cloud of their own creation. In this case it consists of allegations that bonus payments to staffers and other public expenditures were illegal campaign subsidies.
The fall campaign's final stretch of knocking on doors, dining on rubber chicken and marching in parades is sure to bring questions for Harrisburg's political class about what has been done to improve the integrity of state government.
At this point, that record basically consists of an impressive new Right-to-Know Law and a few dozen changes to the rules that govern the day-to-day operations of the House and Senate. (Those rules already have been suspended occasionally and could be weakened in January.)
As for campaign contribution limits, a less partisan redistricting process, a prohibition on gifts from lobbyists, a smaller Legislature, term limits, merit selection of appeals judges or a ban on performance bonuses for state workers? Nothing.
Forget about a constitutional convention — the House rejected even studying the idea.
Part of the problem is there is no consensus on what constitutes "reform," a term that can be hijacked by lawmakers needing to polish up whatever issue they happen to advocate. "I'm disappointed that this could occur during the Era of Reform" as faux outrage has nearly become a state Capitol cliche.
Last year, as the House voted against partially random selection of its eight-member Ethics Committee, Rep. Kate Harper was undoubtedly speaking for many of her colleagues when she brought up the R-word.
"I stand here at my peril, knowing that the cause of reform is so well-liked by the press that if the cafeteria offered a sandwich made of dead skunk called 'reform du jour,' we'd probably all order it and eat it," said Harper, R-Montgomery.
Reform even spawned its own miniature lobbying class, drawn from many of the same people who helped successfully pressure the General Assembly to repeal the July 2005 pay raise.
Their reviews of the record so far are withering:
l "Most legislators flunked out of reform school and are on scholarship from Lobby U," said Eric Epstein of RocktheCapitol.org.
l "We're more likely to see reform resulting from trials and court proceedings than we are from the Legislature doing its job," said Democracy Rising PA co-founder Tim Potts.
l "As they have in the past, they've been able to wait out the anger of citizens," said Commonwealth Foundation president Matthew Brouillette.
l "If this was the so-called Reform Legislature, maybe the next Legislature is the Last Chance Legislature before the voters really get riled up," said Common Cause of Pennsylvania's Barry Kauffman.
But lawmakers who helped lead reform efforts see a prelude to what they hope will be additional efforts to make state government more ethical, understandable and accountable.
Rep. Babette Josephs, the Philadelphia Democrat who chairs the House State Government Committee, said top on her list of priorities for next year are ways to modernize voting rules, including relaxed qualifications for absentee ballots and a later deadline for new registrants.
"We've accomplished more reform in this session than in any session in the last decade at least," said Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, co-chair of the House's reform commission. "The rules changes in the House — no disrespect to the Senate — were just a lot more expansive than what the Senate accomplished."
Senate GOP leaders note that some of their marquee reforms got stalled in the House, including tougher penalties for Sunshine Law violations, a formal ban on lame duck sessions and elimination of state government bonuses.
There's always next year, said Sen. Jeff Piccola, R-Dauphin.
"I think the public pressure on the Legislature to make changes is going to be tremendous," he said.
Lawmakers near session end with mixed marks
By MARK SCOLFORO 10/20/2008
It may be too kind to grade what has sometimes sarcastically been called the Era of Reform in Harrisburg as an incomplete.
Nearly two years ago, state lawmakers eagerly seized the mantle of reform in hopes of getting back into the good graces of voters angered by their dead-of-night vote to jack up their own salaries.
As the 2007-08 session winds to a close, legislators again find themselves under a dark cloud of their own creation. In this case it consists of allegations that bonus payments to staffers and other public expenditures were illegal campaign subsidies.
The fall campaign's final stretch of knocking on doors, dining on rubber chicken and marching in parades is sure to bring questions for Harrisburg's political class about what has been done to improve the integrity of state government.
At this point, that record basically consists of an impressive new Right-to-Know Law and a few dozen changes to the rules that govern the day-to-day operations of the House and Senate. (Those rules already have been suspended occasionally and could be weakened in January.)
As for campaign contribution limits, a less partisan redistricting process, a prohibition on gifts from lobbyists, a smaller Legislature, term limits, merit selection of appeals judges or a ban on performance bonuses for state workers? Nothing.
Forget about a constitutional convention — the House rejected even studying the idea.
Part of the problem is there is no consensus on what constitutes "reform," a term that can be hijacked by lawmakers needing to polish up whatever issue they happen to advocate. "I'm disappointed that this could occur during the Era of Reform" as faux outrage has nearly become a state Capitol cliche.
Last year, as the House voted against partially random selection of its eight-member Ethics Committee, Rep. Kate Harper was undoubtedly speaking for many of her colleagues when she brought up the R-word.
"I stand here at my peril, knowing that the cause of reform is so well-liked by the press that if the cafeteria offered a sandwich made of dead skunk called 'reform du jour,' we'd probably all order it and eat it," said Harper, R-Montgomery.
Reform even spawned its own miniature lobbying class, drawn from many of the same people who helped successfully pressure the General Assembly to repeal the July 2005 pay raise.
Their reviews of the record so far are withering:
l "Most legislators flunked out of reform school and are on scholarship from Lobby U," said Eric Epstein of RocktheCapitol.org.
l "We're more likely to see reform resulting from trials and court proceedings than we are from the Legislature doing its job," said Democracy Rising PA co-founder Tim Potts.
l "As they have in the past, they've been able to wait out the anger of citizens," said Commonwealth Foundation president Matthew Brouillette.
l "If this was the so-called Reform Legislature, maybe the next Legislature is the Last Chance Legislature before the voters really get riled up," said Common Cause of Pennsylvania's Barry Kauffman.
But lawmakers who helped lead reform efforts see a prelude to what they hope will be additional efforts to make state government more ethical, understandable and accountable.
Rep. Babette Josephs, the Philadelphia Democrat who chairs the House State Government Committee, said top on her list of priorities for next year are ways to modernize voting rules, including relaxed qualifications for absentee ballots and a later deadline for new registrants.
"We've accomplished more reform in this session than in any session in the last decade at least," said Rep. Josh Shapiro, D-Montgomery, co-chair of the House's reform commission. "The rules changes in the House — no disrespect to the Senate — were just a lot more expansive than what the Senate accomplished."
Senate GOP leaders note that some of their marquee reforms got stalled in the House, including tougher penalties for Sunshine Law violations, a formal ban on lame duck sessions and elimination of state government bonuses.
There's always next year, said Sen. Jeff Piccola, R-Dauphin.
"I think the public pressure on the Legislature to make changes is going to be tremendous," he said.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Delaware County 55+ Coalition
From the Delaware County Times
A vote for the ages
Sunday, October 19, 2008 6:50 AM EDT
By Vicky Thomas vthomas@delcotimes.com
Tony Santore has nothing against educators or successful schools.
“Our concern is, what real accountability do school districts have to the average taxpayer?” he said.
Santore is the founder of the Delaware County 55+ Coalition, a grassroots taxpayer advocacy group composed of six Delaware County active adult communities — Fox Hill Farm, Riviera, Belmont, Fox Field, Creekside and Windsor.
A 72-year-old retired health-care administrator, Santore resides in Fox Hill Farm, a sprawling village in Concord with manicured lawns and 500 uniform homes.
It’s also located in the Garnet Valley School District, which costs Santore about $6,000 each year in property taxes.
“We have not been unreasonable with our approach. We’re not adverse to good education. We’ve been there. We’ve benefited,” said Santore. “I have nothing against educators; my daughters are educators. But as a guy who managed a health-care organization, I can tell you, you don’t give a blank check to anybody. There’s accountability. You can’t do that and continue to have a viable economy.”
There are about 7,000 members in the 55+ Coalition, adding up to a good amount of political clout.
“What we found early on, legislators did not want to deal with it because it’s a hot potato,” Santore said.
“The other thing is, I hate to say it, but we found so many of our citizens who are affected by it really didn’t know what was going on. All they knew was their tax bill was going up. We spent a lot of effort educating our community with newsletters, fliers, developing an e-mail mailing list.”
Whether or not legislators and taxpayers are paying attention, the property-tax situation in Pennsylvania is an issue that needs action now, Santore said.
“A lot of people have been forced out of their homes, and it’s gotten worse, and it’s not just confined to the seniors,” he said.
Informal beginnings
The 55+ Coalition originally came together to protest the now-infamous legislative pay raise of 2005, which was approved in a late-night vote that spurred a whirlwind of voter backlash.
“I thought that was an opportune time to pull together. I knew of these other communities, and I just reached out to them,” said Santore. “We had a representative from each community, and as I remember, we immediately jumped into the task of getting to our lawmakers and voicing our anger. We met with them individually, we sent letters, we held a petition drive.”
The variety of skill sets contributed by the members helped the growing coalition, Santore said.
“People brought different perspectives and backgrounds to the table, and they were all helpful because they had all been in different lines of work. They were all good and not self-serving,” he said.
He realized his own experience as a hospital administrator translated well into community activism.
“I managed to spend a lot of my time on the state level and national level dealing with politicians and staffs, being able to testify on different issues of concern of our industry,” said Santore.
“I found while I was not naive then or now to think a few voices can make a tremendous difference, I find most people will complain but won’t do anything and won’t work at it,” he said.
The coalition attended rallies in Harrisburg and at the Delaware County Courthouse to protest the nighttime pay raise.
“Basically, what we said is we weren’t being unreasonable ... With the legislators, our point of view was, you’re entitled to make a decent living, however, you don’t do it this way. You don’t do things in the dead of night behind close doors and not visible,” he said.
In November of 2005, Gov. Ed Rendell signed a law repealing the controversial pay raises. Some legislators opted to return the bonuses they received in the form of unvouchered expenses.
“It was not because of us so much, but because of the outcry across the state, and they stayed away from it ever since,” he said.
“I guess that experience emboldened us a bit. It was not only us. What you found was (that) on a statewide basis, the same thing was happening. There was an awakening of taxpayers, groups and organizations who began to take notice … and consider other things that are of importance,” said Santore.
Taking it statewide
From there, the coalition decided to shift its focus to property-tax reform and funding for local school districts.
“What we found was that if there is a right of passage that occurs every spring, it’s your property tax goes up. You can count on it. In some parts of the state, it goes up out of sight,” Santore said.
By reaching out to other groups across the state through the Internet, the coalition teamed up with other grassroots organizations that were advocating for property-tax reform.
“All of the sudden, you had the emergence of these groups. It was an exciting thing because of the fact that these are just average folks. We’re not professional lobbyists who have an ax to grind that accrues to our personal or financial benefit,” he said.
These groups now belong to the umbrella group Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayers Associations, a network of 30 grassroots taxpayer organizations with a total membership of roughly 700,000 people.
“(The PTCA) packages statewide stuff, compiles e-mail lists, and gives support and encouragement to small groups who were upset across the state and wanted to get involved,” Santore said.
“While it did not negate what (the 55+ Coalition is) doing at a local level, we still felt … networking with the statewide organization would do a variety of things, including giving us more information about what’s going on in Harrisburg and linking us with other groups in state,” Santore said.
The PTCA connects with other taxpayers without nearby local groups through the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition, headed by David Baldinger.
The Web and e-mail based group’s Web site gets about 175-200 hits a day.
“I have subscribers from all over the state and local groups from in the area,” said Baldinger, a Berks County resident.
A group out of Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County was the most recent organization to join the PTCA about six weeks ago, Baldinger said.
“We have a large number of supporters, but not enough to pressure the legislators. We’re going to keep building until the legislators have to listen to us. Considering how much we’ve grown, we hope to have a lot more success,” he said.
Pushing reform
Santore said the property tax rebate from slot machines isn’t enough to be considered reform.
“We did get a small rebate this past year, I think out here it came out to $250, but what good is it if your taxes go up X amount every year, which they do? You’re always behind the ball,” he said.
PTCA, PTCC and the 55+ Coalition are outspoken supporters of HB 1275, or the School Property Tax Elimination Act of 2007, introduced by state Rep. Sam Rohrer, R-Berks.
The controversial plan would completely eliminate property taxes, but would cost taxpayers extra sales tax on goods and services that are currently tax-free, such as accounting bills or dry cleaning fees.
The Rendell administration has said it would hurt low-income families on tight budgets and would not generate enough money to offset the lost property-tax revenue.
Opponents also say that Pennsylvania businesses would suffer with a broader sales tax when consumers flee to border states, such as Delaware, for tax-free shopping and services.
Supporters insist that savings from eliminated property taxes would offset the broader sales tax, and would increase fairness since everyone would contribute.
HB 1275 has been in the appropriations committee since September 2007.
Teamed with fellow members of the PTCA, the 55+ Coalition participated in a rally that drew hundreds to Harrisburg last June to show their support of HB 1275.
“We worked long and hard to support that legislation, and we really had reason to believe we had a good chance of getting that bill through the House because of the intensity and volume of what was happening across the state. People were saying they just can’t continue to pay escalating property taxes anymore,” said Santore.
“People came up from across the state and told the human story of what they’re faced with. Some had to give up their home after being there for 40 years. This thing is not only confined to just seniors … young couples can’t afford to buy new homes, or are paying $9,000, $10,000 in property taxes. How long could you go on, even in a good school system?
“The sad part was that like so many things, and especially in the history of property tax reform, in attempts to reform what is really an archaic system, it became a political hot potato,” he said.
“It’s not that we’re turning around to do anything that would hurt quality education, but like in any organization or institution … there are budgets and there are budgets. What can we do that’s less expensive, maybe we don’t need too many frills. Let’s focus on basics with education, good teachers, salaries, we’re supportive of that.”
A call for action
Santore admits he’s not optimistic for property tax reform to become a reality anytime soon.
However, his pessimism should not be confused for a white flag of surrender.
“I learned in all the positions I held, pretty much you’re foolish if you think you can divorce yourself from the political situation and not be involved,” he said.
People are struggling with property taxes, a reality that shouldn’t be ignored, Santore said.
“You can’t get away from the fact we don’t have the money,” he said.
“The economic downturn and the credit crisis we’re in, all of these things were seen, they were predicted … you just can’t put your head in the sand. You have to turn around and look at what is happening year after year with escalation of property taxes and impact it has on people, and at some point, just like we’re seeing now with the subprime mortgage lending, the bubble has to burst.”
With the 2008 legislative session recently ending and Election Day still a few weeks away, the 55+ Coalition is in a holding pattern.
“We’re focusing on the election, waiting to see who is elected and when the new session starts we’ll take it from there. We’re supporting our lawmakers who support our efforts. Statewide our efforts are to take those who have not been supportive of our efforts to reform property tax and get them out of office.”
Santore said he hopes more people will become involved with property tax issues.
“People feel powerless. What can I do? I can’t do anything, I can’t fight system,” he said. “I feel one thing we’ve been able to as a coalition has been to educate people in a variety of ways, to let them know there is a venue or vehicle through us that we can express their feelings.”
A vote for the ages
Sunday, October 19, 2008 6:50 AM EDT
By Vicky Thomas vthomas@delcotimes.com
Tony Santore has nothing against educators or successful schools.
“Our concern is, what real accountability do school districts have to the average taxpayer?” he said.
Santore is the founder of the Delaware County 55+ Coalition, a grassroots taxpayer advocacy group composed of six Delaware County active adult communities — Fox Hill Farm, Riviera, Belmont, Fox Field, Creekside and Windsor.
A 72-year-old retired health-care administrator, Santore resides in Fox Hill Farm, a sprawling village in Concord with manicured lawns and 500 uniform homes.
It’s also located in the Garnet Valley School District, which costs Santore about $6,000 each year in property taxes.
“We have not been unreasonable with our approach. We’re not adverse to good education. We’ve been there. We’ve benefited,” said Santore. “I have nothing against educators; my daughters are educators. But as a guy who managed a health-care organization, I can tell you, you don’t give a blank check to anybody. There’s accountability. You can’t do that and continue to have a viable economy.”
There are about 7,000 members in the 55+ Coalition, adding up to a good amount of political clout.
“What we found early on, legislators did not want to deal with it because it’s a hot potato,” Santore said.
“The other thing is, I hate to say it, but we found so many of our citizens who are affected by it really didn’t know what was going on. All they knew was their tax bill was going up. We spent a lot of effort educating our community with newsletters, fliers, developing an e-mail mailing list.”
Whether or not legislators and taxpayers are paying attention, the property-tax situation in Pennsylvania is an issue that needs action now, Santore said.
“A lot of people have been forced out of their homes, and it’s gotten worse, and it’s not just confined to the seniors,” he said.
Informal beginnings
The 55+ Coalition originally came together to protest the now-infamous legislative pay raise of 2005, which was approved in a late-night vote that spurred a whirlwind of voter backlash.
“I thought that was an opportune time to pull together. I knew of these other communities, and I just reached out to them,” said Santore. “We had a representative from each community, and as I remember, we immediately jumped into the task of getting to our lawmakers and voicing our anger. We met with them individually, we sent letters, we held a petition drive.”
The variety of skill sets contributed by the members helped the growing coalition, Santore said.
“People brought different perspectives and backgrounds to the table, and they were all helpful because they had all been in different lines of work. They were all good and not self-serving,” he said.
He realized his own experience as a hospital administrator translated well into community activism.
“I managed to spend a lot of my time on the state level and national level dealing with politicians and staffs, being able to testify on different issues of concern of our industry,” said Santore.
“I found while I was not naive then or now to think a few voices can make a tremendous difference, I find most people will complain but won’t do anything and won’t work at it,” he said.
The coalition attended rallies in Harrisburg and at the Delaware County Courthouse to protest the nighttime pay raise.
“Basically, what we said is we weren’t being unreasonable ... With the legislators, our point of view was, you’re entitled to make a decent living, however, you don’t do it this way. You don’t do things in the dead of night behind close doors and not visible,” he said.
In November of 2005, Gov. Ed Rendell signed a law repealing the controversial pay raises. Some legislators opted to return the bonuses they received in the form of unvouchered expenses.
“It was not because of us so much, but because of the outcry across the state, and they stayed away from it ever since,” he said.
“I guess that experience emboldened us a bit. It was not only us. What you found was (that) on a statewide basis, the same thing was happening. There was an awakening of taxpayers, groups and organizations who began to take notice … and consider other things that are of importance,” said Santore.
Taking it statewide
From there, the coalition decided to shift its focus to property-tax reform and funding for local school districts.
“What we found was that if there is a right of passage that occurs every spring, it’s your property tax goes up. You can count on it. In some parts of the state, it goes up out of sight,” Santore said.
By reaching out to other groups across the state through the Internet, the coalition teamed up with other grassroots organizations that were advocating for property-tax reform.
“All of the sudden, you had the emergence of these groups. It was an exciting thing because of the fact that these are just average folks. We’re not professional lobbyists who have an ax to grind that accrues to our personal or financial benefit,” he said.
These groups now belong to the umbrella group Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayers Associations, a network of 30 grassroots taxpayer organizations with a total membership of roughly 700,000 people.
“(The PTCA) packages statewide stuff, compiles e-mail lists, and gives support and encouragement to small groups who were upset across the state and wanted to get involved,” Santore said.
“While it did not negate what (the 55+ Coalition is) doing at a local level, we still felt … networking with the statewide organization would do a variety of things, including giving us more information about what’s going on in Harrisburg and linking us with other groups in state,” Santore said.
The PTCA connects with other taxpayers without nearby local groups through the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition, headed by David Baldinger.
The Web and e-mail based group’s Web site gets about 175-200 hits a day.
“I have subscribers from all over the state and local groups from in the area,” said Baldinger, a Berks County resident.
A group out of Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County was the most recent organization to join the PTCA about six weeks ago, Baldinger said.
“We have a large number of supporters, but not enough to pressure the legislators. We’re going to keep building until the legislators have to listen to us. Considering how much we’ve grown, we hope to have a lot more success,” he said.
Pushing reform
Santore said the property tax rebate from slot machines isn’t enough to be considered reform.
“We did get a small rebate this past year, I think out here it came out to $250, but what good is it if your taxes go up X amount every year, which they do? You’re always behind the ball,” he said.
PTCA, PTCC and the 55+ Coalition are outspoken supporters of HB 1275, or the School Property Tax Elimination Act of 2007, introduced by state Rep. Sam Rohrer, R-Berks.
The controversial plan would completely eliminate property taxes, but would cost taxpayers extra sales tax on goods and services that are currently tax-free, such as accounting bills or dry cleaning fees.
The Rendell administration has said it would hurt low-income families on tight budgets and would not generate enough money to offset the lost property-tax revenue.
Opponents also say that Pennsylvania businesses would suffer with a broader sales tax when consumers flee to border states, such as Delaware, for tax-free shopping and services.
Supporters insist that savings from eliminated property taxes would offset the broader sales tax, and would increase fairness since everyone would contribute.
HB 1275 has been in the appropriations committee since September 2007.
Teamed with fellow members of the PTCA, the 55+ Coalition participated in a rally that drew hundreds to Harrisburg last June to show their support of HB 1275.
“We worked long and hard to support that legislation, and we really had reason to believe we had a good chance of getting that bill through the House because of the intensity and volume of what was happening across the state. People were saying they just can’t continue to pay escalating property taxes anymore,” said Santore.
“People came up from across the state and told the human story of what they’re faced with. Some had to give up their home after being there for 40 years. This thing is not only confined to just seniors … young couples can’t afford to buy new homes, or are paying $9,000, $10,000 in property taxes. How long could you go on, even in a good school system?
“The sad part was that like so many things, and especially in the history of property tax reform, in attempts to reform what is really an archaic system, it became a political hot potato,” he said.
“It’s not that we’re turning around to do anything that would hurt quality education, but like in any organization or institution … there are budgets and there are budgets. What can we do that’s less expensive, maybe we don’t need too many frills. Let’s focus on basics with education, good teachers, salaries, we’re supportive of that.”
A call for action
Santore admits he’s not optimistic for property tax reform to become a reality anytime soon.
However, his pessimism should not be confused for a white flag of surrender.
“I learned in all the positions I held, pretty much you’re foolish if you think you can divorce yourself from the political situation and not be involved,” he said.
People are struggling with property taxes, a reality that shouldn’t be ignored, Santore said.
“You can’t get away from the fact we don’t have the money,” he said.
“The economic downturn and the credit crisis we’re in, all of these things were seen, they were predicted … you just can’t put your head in the sand. You have to turn around and look at what is happening year after year with escalation of property taxes and impact it has on people, and at some point, just like we’re seeing now with the subprime mortgage lending, the bubble has to burst.”
With the 2008 legislative session recently ending and Election Day still a few weeks away, the 55+ Coalition is in a holding pattern.
“We’re focusing on the election, waiting to see who is elected and when the new session starts we’ll take it from there. We’re supporting our lawmakers who support our efforts. Statewide our efforts are to take those who have not been supportive of our efforts to reform property tax and get them out of office.”
Santore said he hopes more people will become involved with property tax issues.
“People feel powerless. What can I do? I can’t do anything, I can’t fight system,” he said. “I feel one thing we’ve been able to as a coalition has been to educate people in a variety of ways, to let them know there is a venue or vehicle through us that we can express their feelings.”
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Schools News Around the Blogosphere
Blackman v. District of Columbia
D.C. to Aid Students With Special Needs
Washington Post
Pilot programs aim to make the school system a more welcoming place for children with learning disabilities or behavioral challenges. District officials, under mounting pressure from a federal judge to overhaul special education services in public schools, promised significant improvements over the next year, including the return of some children now in private schools because the city could not meet their needs.
Well-Paid Teachers? I'm on Board
New York Times
By Christine Gralow
When I recently saw an ad for a $125,000-a-year teaching job at a New York City charter school, my first thought was that it must be some sort of phishing scam. Everyone knows teachers don't make $125,000. My second thought was, "Why shouldn't we?"
Students Are No Longer Surpassing Parents' Educational Achievement
Diverse Magazine
by Robin Chen Delos
The American tradition of generational upward mobility is at a standstill, and for some minority groups the younger generation is obtaining postsecondary education at lower levels than older adults, according to a new report released Thursday by the American Council on Education (ACE).
7 proposed Philadelphia charter schools in limbo
Philadelphia Inquirer
Five months after winning conditional approval, seven charter schools are still in limbo, unsure whether they'll get the green light to start school next year, and unable to access grant money awarded them, secure buildings or hire teachers.
financial crisis will cause a huge influx of private school kid
Meltdown may burn public schools
New York Daily News
Public school parents fear the financial crisis will cause a huge influx of private school kids into the already overcrowded public system. Many of the city's 35,000-plus private school students are concentrated in Manhattan's overstuffed Districts 2 and 3.
Layoffs, trims in education, services coming
D.C. to Aid Students With Special Needs
Washington Post
Pilot programs aim to make the school system a more welcoming place for children with learning disabilities or behavioral challenges. District officials, under mounting pressure from a federal judge to overhaul special education services in public schools, promised significant improvements over the next year, including the return of some children now in private schools because the city could not meet their needs.
Well-Paid Teachers? I'm on Board
New York Times
By Christine Gralow
When I recently saw an ad for a $125,000-a-year teaching job at a New York City charter school, my first thought was that it must be some sort of phishing scam. Everyone knows teachers don't make $125,000. My second thought was, "Why shouldn't we?"
Students Are No Longer Surpassing Parents' Educational Achievement
Diverse Magazine
by Robin Chen Delos
The American tradition of generational upward mobility is at a standstill, and for some minority groups the younger generation is obtaining postsecondary education at lower levels than older adults, according to a new report released Thursday by the American Council on Education (ACE).
7 proposed Philadelphia charter schools in limbo
Philadelphia Inquirer
Five months after winning conditional approval, seven charter schools are still in limbo, unsure whether they'll get the green light to start school next year, and unable to access grant money awarded them, secure buildings or hire teachers.
financial crisis will cause a huge influx of private school kid
Meltdown may burn public schools
New York Daily News
Public school parents fear the financial crisis will cause a huge influx of private school kids into the already overcrowded public system. Many of the city's 35,000-plus private school students are concentrated in Manhattan's overstuffed Districts 2 and 3.
Layoffs, trims in education, services coming
Out of the Frying Pan?
From the Inquirer. Something to think about when the farming plan is presented.
Editorial: Safer Schools Posted on Sat, Oct. 18, 2008
By the book
The Philadelphia School District finally gets it. Persistently violent and unruly students must be removed from school to restore order and create a positive learning environment.
School District chief Arlene Ackerman on Wednesday announced a disciplinary crackdown to expel the most violent students and tighten codes for others. "We mean business," she promised.
Plagued by escalating violence, the school district should have taken a harder line years ago by removing serious troublemakers as quickly as possible.
Although it has a zero-tolerance policy that would allow it to do so, the district has not expelled a single student in four years. Instead, offenders were transferred to alternative schools - or worse, left in the very classroom where offenses occurred.
By refusing to expel students who brought weapons to school, the district violated state and federal laws, according to Jack Stollsteimer, the state's safe-schools advocate. In the 2006-07 school year, only 34 percent of the nearly 1,000 students caught with weapons were sent to alternative classrooms.
With 20 city schools deemed "persistently dangerous" last year - and more than 5,000 criminal offenses in schools across the district - that must change.
Strict discipline would help curb violence and give control of classrooms back to teachers and students who want to learn. An expulsion can last for up to a year.
Discipline also must be meted out swiftly and fairly to send a strong message to students that disruptive behavior will no longer be tolerated.
In another step in the right direction, principals can now suspend students for up to 10 days, the maximum allowed by state law. Previously, no student was removed from Philadelphia schools for more than five days.
Of course, the school district cannot focus solely on punishment. Officials also must try to intervene before discipline problems occur by providing services to help students with chronic behavioral problems.
Ackerman's announced crackdown was applauded by the School Reform Commission and Mayor Nutter, who has charged her with improving the school system by drastically cutting the dropout rate and boosting the graduation rate.
The stronger punishments were recommended by a committee of school-safety experts as part of a plan to revamp the discipline system. Before Ackerman, the district had dismissed the committee's findings. But Ackerman, in a hopeful sign of progress, embraced the recommendations.
The district should move quickly to implement the new policies, which include creating a safety cabinet within Ackerman's office and assigning an administrator at every school to oversee safety issues
By enforcing discipline and holding students accountable, the school district can more effectively change the culture and climate in schools. A few bad apples should not be allowed to wreak havoc for the majority of students. They want to learn.
Editorial: Safer Schools Posted on Sat, Oct. 18, 2008
By the book
The Philadelphia School District finally gets it. Persistently violent and unruly students must be removed from school to restore order and create a positive learning environment.
School District chief Arlene Ackerman on Wednesday announced a disciplinary crackdown to expel the most violent students and tighten codes for others. "We mean business," she promised.
Plagued by escalating violence, the school district should have taken a harder line years ago by removing serious troublemakers as quickly as possible.
Although it has a zero-tolerance policy that would allow it to do so, the district has not expelled a single student in four years. Instead, offenders were transferred to alternative schools - or worse, left in the very classroom where offenses occurred.
By refusing to expel students who brought weapons to school, the district violated state and federal laws, according to Jack Stollsteimer, the state's safe-schools advocate. In the 2006-07 school year, only 34 percent of the nearly 1,000 students caught with weapons were sent to alternative classrooms.
With 20 city schools deemed "persistently dangerous" last year - and more than 5,000 criminal offenses in schools across the district - that must change.
Strict discipline would help curb violence and give control of classrooms back to teachers and students who want to learn. An expulsion can last for up to a year.
Discipline also must be meted out swiftly and fairly to send a strong message to students that disruptive behavior will no longer be tolerated.
In another step in the right direction, principals can now suspend students for up to 10 days, the maximum allowed by state law. Previously, no student was removed from Philadelphia schools for more than five days.
Of course, the school district cannot focus solely on punishment. Officials also must try to intervene before discipline problems occur by providing services to help students with chronic behavioral problems.
Ackerman's announced crackdown was applauded by the School Reform Commission and Mayor Nutter, who has charged her with improving the school system by drastically cutting the dropout rate and boosting the graduation rate.
The stronger punishments were recommended by a committee of school-safety experts as part of a plan to revamp the discipline system. Before Ackerman, the district had dismissed the committee's findings. But Ackerman, in a hopeful sign of progress, embraced the recommendations.
The district should move quickly to implement the new policies, which include creating a safety cabinet within Ackerman's office and assigning an administrator at every school to oversee safety issues
By enforcing discipline and holding students accountable, the school district can more effectively change the culture and climate in schools. A few bad apples should not be allowed to wreak havoc for the majority of students. They want to learn.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)