State, Community Leaders Unite to Tackle Pennsylvania's High School Dropout Problem
Secretaries of Education, Labor & Industry Discuss Multi-faceted Approaches
HARRISBURG, Pa., Nov. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- New strategies to keep students engaged in school and on track to earning a high school diploma were discussed today at a summit, hosted by the Rendell administration and community partners.
"It is our obligation as educators to ensure that all students finish high school with a diploma in hand," Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak said. "A meaningful diploma is truly a ticket to success that helps our students become productive citizens."
Local elected officials, business leaders and prominent child advocacy organizations gathered at the Pennsylvania's Dropout Prevention and Re-Engagement Summit to develop an action plan for increasing the state's high school graduation rate in order to ensure that Pennsylvania's young people are better prepared for college, work and life.
A report, commissioned by America's Promise Alliance, the nation's largest alliance of organizations working on behalf of children and youth, found that only about half of all students served by the school systems in the nation's 50 largest cities graduate from high school. In Pennsylvania, approximately one-in-five (21 percent) 9th grade students do not graduate four years later. Nationwide, nearly one out of every three public high school students drops out before graduation. That's 1.2 million students each year, or nearly 7,000 each school day.
Pennsylvania's comprehensive approach to curbing dropouts has three main components: prevention, intervention and re-engagement.
Prevention efforts are aimed at helping at-risk children get off to a solid start through programs such as Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, state funding for Head Start and block grant funding for full-day kindergarten. The Department of Education also works closely with the Department of Public Welfare to administer early intervention programs to aid children with particular educational or developmental needs.
Intervention and re-engagement programs include tutoring, alternative education programs and a host of efforts to make high school more challenging and engaging for students.
These efforts include:
-- Classrooms for the Future, a three-year investment to provide laptop
computers, high-speed Internet access and state-of-the-art software to
high school classrooms across the state.
-- A Dual Enrollment program that allows high school students to take
college-level, credit-bearing courses at local community and four-year
colleges and universities while earning credit towards high school
graduation.
-- Project 720, named for the number of days a Pennsylvania student spends
in school from 9th through 12th grades. Project 720 ensures high school
students have access to rigorous academic coursework in core subjects,
provides additional Advanced Placement courses and offers smaller
learning environments for better student-teacher interaction.
-- A Resiliency/Wellness Approach, which is based upon six key
environmental protective factors or positive human development domains.
If these domains are strongly and well implemented in schools, they will
promote positive social and emotional development, and will support
student academic achievement.
All of these efforts are aimed at creating a more rigorous and relevant high school environment that keeps students engaged.
The summit is part of America's Promise Dropout Prevention Campaign, a national effort to reduce high school dropout rates and prepare children for college, work and life. The campaign includes a series of Dropout Prevention Summits that will be held in every state and 50 communities over the next two years.
The lead sponsor for the national campaign is the State Farm Insurance Company. State Farm is joined by AT&T, The Boeing Company, Casey Family Programs, Ford Motor Company Fund, ING Foundation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation. For more information or to learn how to get involved, visit www.americaspromise.org.
Pennsylvania's summit is co-sponsored by the departments of Education, Labor & Industry, Health, and Public Welfare; the Governor's Commission for Children and Families; the Institute for Global Education & Service Learning; PennSERVE; Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children; Pennsylvania Statewide/Afterschool Youth Development Network; the Pennsylvania Workforce Investment Board; the Philadelphia Youth Network; Summit Health and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
For more information on Pennsylvania's summit, visit
www.center-school.org/americas_promise.php.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Getting relief from the tax man
From the BCCT
Getting relief from the tax man
Bucks County will likely lose a few million dollars because of lower assessments.
By JENNA PORTNOY
Because they appealed their assessments this year, 1,600 of your neighbors will pay lower property taxes.
In fact, 90 percent of Bucks County home and business owners who requested relief got it.
That’s good news for residents - who likes paying taxes? - but not so good for governments facing budget deficits.
All told, the assessment reductions amount to $86 million in taxable value that school districts, municipalities and the county can no longer rely on to generate revenue.
“The township managers meet each week,” said Gail Weniger of Warwick. “The topic is, ‘What are you doing with your budget?’ because that’s what everyone’s worried about right now.”
The reduction in assessments - the figures used to set taxes - is one factor that prompted Warwick to consider its first meaningful tax increase in years. Owners of homes assessed at the township average of $40,000 are expected to pay $80 more next year.
“We certainly have cut the nonessentials,” Weniger said. “We’re down to the bone at this point.”
On top of limiting capital spending, the township slashed budgets for seminars, non-emergency overtime, part timers and office equipment, hoping small-ticket items will add up.
“In another year, you would say, ‘Why would you cut that?’ “ she said. “But this year it all has to go.”
Thanks to new construction, however, the overall assessed value of property countywide was practically flat compared with the end of last year. Countywide assessments total about $8 billion and increased just threetenths of 1 percent. That slight bump is not enough to offset the rising cost of running government, including increases in fuel costs and union workers’ salaries, and the decreased revenue, such as real estate transfer taxes.
Warwick’s total assessed value ticked up a bit, too, by about onetenth of 1 percent. New Britain saw the biggest increase - about 4 percent - while Ivyland took the biggest hit with a decrease of 1 percent.
But even a net increase in total assessment value does not translate to smooth sailing for business administrators.
Bucks County will likely lose a few million dollars due to the reduced property assessments, said Brian Hessenthaler, director of finance and administration. He also expects more people will be unable to pay their taxes, so instead of a typical 98 percent collection rate, he’s projecting a delinquency rate of about 4 percent.
Preliminary budget numbers will not be released until Nov. 26, but he hopes to make up the shortfall. As always, departments should look for ways to be more efficient without sacrificing service and Hessenthaler might have to tap the county’s rainy day fund.
Not since 2000 have as many property owners requested relief. This year, 1,775 property owners filed appeals, which is more than three times as many as last year.
Reductions were also awarded at a higher rate than usual. The percentage of successful appeals topped 90 percent - the highest rate since 2002, the earliest year for which figures were readily available from the county.
The ratio was similar in Montgomery County, where 80 to 90 percent of residential appeals and 60 to 70 percent of commercial appeals resulted in reductions, said Assessment Appeals Board Chairman Dennis Sharkey.
It’s up to the counties’ Assessment Appeals Boards, whose three members are appointed by county commissioners, to rule on property owners’ requests for assessment changes. While residents generally want their assessments to go down, school districts also petition the board to increase assessments on commercial properties they feel should be paying higher taxes.
Every fall, county appraisers research cases and make recommendations to the board, which recently issued its rulings.
The down housing market and recessionary economy likely prompted this year’s rush of appeals in Bucks.
“We know what’s happening out in the marketplace,” said Jim Roberts, a Quakertown councilman and Assessment Appeals Board member in Bucks. “We understand that. They don’t have to feel on edge or nervous about asking.”
Few property owners think about their assessment until the tax bill arrives, Roberts noted. That’s when the assessed value of a property really matters and if it no longer reflects current market value residents could be paying too much.
Some residents in newer homes have argued their taxes subsidize the owners of older homes, whose property taxes are based on values set during the last countywide reassessment - in 1972.
Only new construction and significantly renovated homes get new assessments. State lawmakers have called for rolling reassessments - to be done at the time of sale - but the method is prohibited in Pennsylvania. Also illegal are spot assessments, which would let the county reassess all the homes in a development based on just a few successful appeals.
Appealing an assessment is relatively easy. Property owners present evidence of recently sold comparable homes - same style and same neighborhood - that prove an assessment is based on a disproportionately high market value. (An appeal form can be downloaded at www.buckscounty.org. The county will accept 2010 annual appeals from Jan. 1 through Aug. 1.)
The process worked for 100 homeowners in age-restricted developments.
Appraiser James Dougherty of Lower Makefield filed appeals on behalf of 33 residents of the Realen-built Flowers Mill community in Middletown. All will save at least $1,000 on their tax bills, he said.
In Northampton, Jean and Bill Brenner filed appeals for 67 of their neighbors at Toll Brothers’ Regency at Northampton. Again, all assessments went down, with the biggest reduction amounting to 24 percent, she said.
For example, the Brenners’ assessment was reduced by nearly $10,000 to $45,890; the corresponding market value is $504,286, which is lower than the previous $590,213, but not as low as the $480,000 the Brenners believe their home is worth.
If 2009 school, county and municipal tax rates stay the same, the Brenners will save about $1,300 on a tax bill of $7,568.
Getting relief from the tax man
Bucks County will likely lose a few million dollars because of lower assessments.
By JENNA PORTNOY
Because they appealed their assessments this year, 1,600 of your neighbors will pay lower property taxes.
In fact, 90 percent of Bucks County home and business owners who requested relief got it.
That’s good news for residents - who likes paying taxes? - but not so good for governments facing budget deficits.
All told, the assessment reductions amount to $86 million in taxable value that school districts, municipalities and the county can no longer rely on to generate revenue.
“The township managers meet each week,” said Gail Weniger of Warwick. “The topic is, ‘What are you doing with your budget?’ because that’s what everyone’s worried about right now.”
The reduction in assessments - the figures used to set taxes - is one factor that prompted Warwick to consider its first meaningful tax increase in years. Owners of homes assessed at the township average of $40,000 are expected to pay $80 more next year.
“We certainly have cut the nonessentials,” Weniger said. “We’re down to the bone at this point.”
On top of limiting capital spending, the township slashed budgets for seminars, non-emergency overtime, part timers and office equipment, hoping small-ticket items will add up.
“In another year, you would say, ‘Why would you cut that?’ “ she said. “But this year it all has to go.”
Thanks to new construction, however, the overall assessed value of property countywide was practically flat compared with the end of last year. Countywide assessments total about $8 billion and increased just threetenths of 1 percent. That slight bump is not enough to offset the rising cost of running government, including increases in fuel costs and union workers’ salaries, and the decreased revenue, such as real estate transfer taxes.
Warwick’s total assessed value ticked up a bit, too, by about onetenth of 1 percent. New Britain saw the biggest increase - about 4 percent - while Ivyland took the biggest hit with a decrease of 1 percent.
But even a net increase in total assessment value does not translate to smooth sailing for business administrators.
Bucks County will likely lose a few million dollars due to the reduced property assessments, said Brian Hessenthaler, director of finance and administration. He also expects more people will be unable to pay their taxes, so instead of a typical 98 percent collection rate, he’s projecting a delinquency rate of about 4 percent.
Preliminary budget numbers will not be released until Nov. 26, but he hopes to make up the shortfall. As always, departments should look for ways to be more efficient without sacrificing service and Hessenthaler might have to tap the county’s rainy day fund.
Not since 2000 have as many property owners requested relief. This year, 1,775 property owners filed appeals, which is more than three times as many as last year.
Reductions were also awarded at a higher rate than usual. The percentage of successful appeals topped 90 percent - the highest rate since 2002, the earliest year for which figures were readily available from the county.
The ratio was similar in Montgomery County, where 80 to 90 percent of residential appeals and 60 to 70 percent of commercial appeals resulted in reductions, said Assessment Appeals Board Chairman Dennis Sharkey.
It’s up to the counties’ Assessment Appeals Boards, whose three members are appointed by county commissioners, to rule on property owners’ requests for assessment changes. While residents generally want their assessments to go down, school districts also petition the board to increase assessments on commercial properties they feel should be paying higher taxes.
Every fall, county appraisers research cases and make recommendations to the board, which recently issued its rulings.
The down housing market and recessionary economy likely prompted this year’s rush of appeals in Bucks.
“We know what’s happening out in the marketplace,” said Jim Roberts, a Quakertown councilman and Assessment Appeals Board member in Bucks. “We understand that. They don’t have to feel on edge or nervous about asking.”
Few property owners think about their assessment until the tax bill arrives, Roberts noted. That’s when the assessed value of a property really matters and if it no longer reflects current market value residents could be paying too much.
Some residents in newer homes have argued their taxes subsidize the owners of older homes, whose property taxes are based on values set during the last countywide reassessment - in 1972.
Only new construction and significantly renovated homes get new assessments. State lawmakers have called for rolling reassessments - to be done at the time of sale - but the method is prohibited in Pennsylvania. Also illegal are spot assessments, which would let the county reassess all the homes in a development based on just a few successful appeals.
Appealing an assessment is relatively easy. Property owners present evidence of recently sold comparable homes - same style and same neighborhood - that prove an assessment is based on a disproportionately high market value. (An appeal form can be downloaded at www.buckscounty.org. The county will accept 2010 annual appeals from Jan. 1 through Aug. 1.)
The process worked for 100 homeowners in age-restricted developments.
Appraiser James Dougherty of Lower Makefield filed appeals on behalf of 33 residents of the Realen-built Flowers Mill community in Middletown. All will save at least $1,000 on their tax bills, he said.
In Northampton, Jean and Bill Brenner filed appeals for 67 of their neighbors at Toll Brothers’ Regency at Northampton. Again, all assessments went down, with the biggest reduction amounting to 24 percent, she said.
For example, the Brenners’ assessment was reduced by nearly $10,000 to $45,890; the corresponding market value is $504,286, which is lower than the previous $590,213, but not as low as the $480,000 the Brenners believe their home is worth.
If 2009 school, county and municipal tax rates stay the same, the Brenners will save about $1,300 on a tax bill of $7,568.
Micromanagement is a bad thing?
From the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail. "Board President micromanagement"... Hmmm...
State may be on the verge of taking over another school system
by Ry Rivard Friday November 14, 2008
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The state may consider a takeover of the Randolph County school system after an audit found a laundry list of problems.
The cited problems include the county's decision to keep several hundred thousand dollars in an uninsured account, its persistently low test scores, its non-compliant hiring practices and a school board president attempting to micromanage the system.
Randolph County school officials say they are trying hard to correct the problems cited in the 151-page report by the state's Office of Education Performance Audits. They also said some things the county is written up for are not violations of state law or are simply not true.
County school administrators came to the state Board of Education meeting in Charleston this week to respond to some of the allegations in the report. Because of a technical error, many board members had yet to read the audit. So the board delayed taking any action until at least December.
"The worst thing is they can come over and take over Randolph County," said county school board president Ed Tyre.
The auditing team visited the county in late February and into March. When they came back in October to check progress, they found many problems remained uncorrected and discovered others. They found a series of personnel hiring, posting and transfer practices that were inconsistent with state requirements, financial problems, and deteriorating conditions at school facilities.
Among other financial problems, auditors found that the county left nearly $700,000 in uninsured bank accounts. Generally, the county treasurer or banks catch and correct such a situation.
The auditors also concluded that the school board, primarily board president Tyre, "is attempting to micromanage" the school system. Tyre "encourages persons with problems/issues to contact him rather than the central office." The auditors based that conclusion on interviews, documents and observations.
Tyre said the auditors attended only one board meeting.
"I do question things and the people elect me and I will question things," he said. "If they think I'm going to sit there and be a rubber stamp, they're crazy."
Tyre said he tells people with problems to use the chain of command. He also thinks he's been on the losing side of more votes than other board members.
The auditors think Superintendent Susan Hinzman does not advise or guide the board "in critical moments when leadership needs to be shown." They say Hinzman also failed to take actions to correct many of the school system's problems, though some "had just been taken or were being taken" during the week in October when the auditors came back to visit the county.
In general, the school system central office is "too loosely organized" to support school improvement, the report found.
The central office has seen some turnover in recent years, Tyre said.
The team also found:
# Only two of the four high schools offered Advanced Placement classes. When the auditors returned in October, the other two schools offered AP classes, but nobody was enrolled in them.
# Graduation rates decreased while dropout rates went up, though both met state standards. The report says that despite county board member concern about both, school system administrators did not prepare a plan to deal with the situations.
# The county listed the value of its land, buildings, equipment and vehicles in way that was not compliant with state education department standards, and that means the county did not properly safeguard its assets and increased the risk of loss.
# The county was unable to show it had competitively bid beverage and snack contracts or the $24,000 purchase of a van.
In general, the auditors found "no evidence of preventive maintenance" on school buildings by the county or individual schools.
Board president Tyre said the county has an $800,000 surplus and most of it will be set aside for maintenance.
Among problems the auditors found in Randolph County:
# The fire alarm system at Elkins High School was inoperable during the team's first visit.
# Stained ceiling tiles at Beverly Elementary. When auditors came back months later, crews had spray-painted the tiles and failed to fix the leaks. Ongoing roof leaks at Jennings Randolph Elementary were also not addressed.
# Lighting levels at George Ward Elementary were too low for reading. The county failed to submit a plan to correct that and other problems there, including poor temperature control and ventilation. When the team returned, it still found temperature and ventilation problems. The county said it would add windows to the poorly lit classroom.
# Elevated carbon dioxide levels at several schools.
# Several facilities did not have appropriate safety measures and provided unrestricted access by the public to their facilities.
The auditors also observed some errors that "could have a big impact" on how the county finds the most qualified applicant for a position.
The county administrator in charge of personnel is doing two full time jobs, the auditors found. Donna Simmons is both director of special education and the personnel administrator. The auditors said this was "unrealistic for two highly sensitive legal areas." She receives a $500 monthly pay supplement for handling personnel matters.
The report says Simmons was not trained to be personnel supervisor before taking on the duties in July, which was after the auditors' first visit.
Simmons says it's not unusual for a director of special education to have several responsibilities in the same county.
"It's very rare, unless you're in a larger county, that you have one person doing one job," she said.
State officials say the county has ongoing problems meeting standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind initiative, even though it has taken corrective measures for the past two years to bring up scores.
The county saw a decline on the statewide achievement test in three of six groups. The largest drop was a nearly 6 percent decline in math ability among elementary students.
It's not clear what the state might do. The agenda for the school board's Wednesday meeting called for some action on the accreditation status of the county, though it was not certain what the auditors would recommend. In the report, auditors concluded that conditions within the structure and operation of Randolph County "are not ordinary."
Principal David Roth of Elkins Middle School told the state board that the auditing report should be fundamentally about improving schools instead of "making a list of what is wrong." He said auditing "inevitably leads to demoralizing" those who need to improve and is not conducive to success.
State may be on the verge of taking over another school system
by Ry Rivard Friday November 14, 2008
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The state may consider a takeover of the Randolph County school system after an audit found a laundry list of problems.
The cited problems include the county's decision to keep several hundred thousand dollars in an uninsured account, its persistently low test scores, its non-compliant hiring practices and a school board president attempting to micromanage the system.
Randolph County school officials say they are trying hard to correct the problems cited in the 151-page report by the state's Office of Education Performance Audits. They also said some things the county is written up for are not violations of state law or are simply not true.
County school administrators came to the state Board of Education meeting in Charleston this week to respond to some of the allegations in the report. Because of a technical error, many board members had yet to read the audit. So the board delayed taking any action until at least December.
"The worst thing is they can come over and take over Randolph County," said county school board president Ed Tyre.
The auditing team visited the county in late February and into March. When they came back in October to check progress, they found many problems remained uncorrected and discovered others. They found a series of personnel hiring, posting and transfer practices that were inconsistent with state requirements, financial problems, and deteriorating conditions at school facilities.
Among other financial problems, auditors found that the county left nearly $700,000 in uninsured bank accounts. Generally, the county treasurer or banks catch and correct such a situation.
The auditors also concluded that the school board, primarily board president Tyre, "is attempting to micromanage" the school system. Tyre "encourages persons with problems/issues to contact him rather than the central office." The auditors based that conclusion on interviews, documents and observations.
Tyre said the auditors attended only one board meeting.
"I do question things and the people elect me and I will question things," he said. "If they think I'm going to sit there and be a rubber stamp, they're crazy."
Tyre said he tells people with problems to use the chain of command. He also thinks he's been on the losing side of more votes than other board members.
The auditors think Superintendent Susan Hinzman does not advise or guide the board "in critical moments when leadership needs to be shown." They say Hinzman also failed to take actions to correct many of the school system's problems, though some "had just been taken or were being taken" during the week in October when the auditors came back to visit the county.
In general, the school system central office is "too loosely organized" to support school improvement, the report found.
The central office has seen some turnover in recent years, Tyre said.
The team also found:
# Only two of the four high schools offered Advanced Placement classes. When the auditors returned in October, the other two schools offered AP classes, but nobody was enrolled in them.
# Graduation rates decreased while dropout rates went up, though both met state standards. The report says that despite county board member concern about both, school system administrators did not prepare a plan to deal with the situations.
# The county listed the value of its land, buildings, equipment and vehicles in way that was not compliant with state education department standards, and that means the county did not properly safeguard its assets and increased the risk of loss.
# The county was unable to show it had competitively bid beverage and snack contracts or the $24,000 purchase of a van.
In general, the auditors found "no evidence of preventive maintenance" on school buildings by the county or individual schools.
Board president Tyre said the county has an $800,000 surplus and most of it will be set aside for maintenance.
Among problems the auditors found in Randolph County:
# The fire alarm system at Elkins High School was inoperable during the team's first visit.
# Stained ceiling tiles at Beverly Elementary. When auditors came back months later, crews had spray-painted the tiles and failed to fix the leaks. Ongoing roof leaks at Jennings Randolph Elementary were also not addressed.
# Lighting levels at George Ward Elementary were too low for reading. The county failed to submit a plan to correct that and other problems there, including poor temperature control and ventilation. When the team returned, it still found temperature and ventilation problems. The county said it would add windows to the poorly lit classroom.
# Elevated carbon dioxide levels at several schools.
# Several facilities did not have appropriate safety measures and provided unrestricted access by the public to their facilities.
The auditors also observed some errors that "could have a big impact" on how the county finds the most qualified applicant for a position.
The county administrator in charge of personnel is doing two full time jobs, the auditors found. Donna Simmons is both director of special education and the personnel administrator. The auditors said this was "unrealistic for two highly sensitive legal areas." She receives a $500 monthly pay supplement for handling personnel matters.
The report says Simmons was not trained to be personnel supervisor before taking on the duties in July, which was after the auditors' first visit.
Simmons says it's not unusual for a director of special education to have several responsibilities in the same county.
"It's very rare, unless you're in a larger county, that you have one person doing one job," she said.
State officials say the county has ongoing problems meeting standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind initiative, even though it has taken corrective measures for the past two years to bring up scores.
The county saw a decline on the statewide achievement test in three of six groups. The largest drop was a nearly 6 percent decline in math ability among elementary students.
It's not clear what the state might do. The agenda for the school board's Wednesday meeting called for some action on the accreditation status of the county, though it was not certain what the auditors would recommend. In the report, auditors concluded that conditions within the structure and operation of Randolph County "are not ordinary."
Principal David Roth of Elkins Middle School told the state board that the auditing report should be fundamentally about improving schools instead of "making a list of what is wrong." He said auditing "inevitably leads to demoralizing" those who need to improve and is not conducive to success.
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