Even funnier: Imagine if Croc was a School Board Member...
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Hellmann's Symphony Number Four
From today's Non Sequitur.
It used to be number nine, but everything's being cut to the bone these days.
Welcome to back to school night 2010 in the Emperor's domain. Your kid's teacher is their teacher too.
It used to be number nine, but everything's being cut to the bone these days.
Welcome to back to school night 2010 in the Emperor's domain. Your kid's teacher is their teacher too.
So Who Is Running for Office in Morrisville?
For being six weeks out, the Morrisville school board and borough council races are pretty quiet. Even our friends in Trenton have already had meet the candidate evenings. Do you remember when the stop the school people ducked out on telling the public what they stood for or even just dismissed as lies what they already planned to do. Look what we got.
Demand the candidates answer questions this time around.
School board candidates field voters' questions
Sunday, April 05, 2009
BY CARMEN CUSIDO
HAMILTON -- More than 100 residents turned out to ask candidates running for school board questions about the budget, school facilities and students illegally attending Hamilton schools who live elsewhere.
Seven of the eight candidates appeared at the forum last Wednesday. They are vying for three three-year terms on the board.
The majority of the residents at the candidate's night were from the Hamilton Democratic Club, which sponsored the event at the township library, but others were not affiliated with the club, said Marilyn Jose, the club's president.
"These candidates' nights are really nonpartisan," said Jose, "it gives (residents) a chance to sit down and talk with the candidates."
The most recognizable candidate is Richard Kanka, who along with wife Maureen, founded the Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation and helped establish Megan's Law for identifying child predators. The Kankas were in the national spotlight after their daughter's rape and murder 15 years ago.
Kanka is running on a slate with former township councilwoman Eileen P. Thornton and Chris Nnajiofor, supervisor of education for the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission.
"I'll bring stabilization to our funding," Kanka said.
Susan Ferrara, who previously sat on a school board in Dewitt, N.Y., said people are frustrated that students in the district are just getting by.
"We have to get kids out of the mindset that the world begins and ends in Hamilton," Ferrara said. Her running mate, Bruno Falvo, was not at Wednesday's event, and has not actively campaigned. Ferrara has said Falvo has been pressured to quit.
One man, who did not want to be identified, asked school board President Eric Hamilton, an incumbent in the race, about out-of-district students who illegally attend Hamilton schools. The township last year passed an ordinance that includes a $2,000 fine plus restitution for education costs for illegal students.
Hamilton said the district has been aggressive in removing out-of-district students and collecting fines. He is running on a slate with Troy Stevenson, the board's vice president, and Ronald Tola, who has a background in facilities management.
Donald Ryland, a Mercer County corrections officer, had not made up his mind who he'll vote for, but he was impressed with Stevenson because of his background in law enforcement as an officer in the county sheriff's department, and Nnajiofor because of his knowledge of educational leadership.
"I identify with (Stevenson's) law enforcement background the most. ... When education fails, it tends to lead to an increased chance of a life of crime."
Another voter, Tom Walls Sr., is inclined to vote for the Kanka, Thornton, Nnajiofor slate.
"Hamilton Township has to focus on the education of students, not peripheral things like sports, band and social life," Walls said, adding that he likes Thornton's experience in municipal governance and Nnajiofor's background in educational leadership. He thought Kanka, father of two district graduates, seemed to be in line with his slate.
Tola, Thornton and Nnajiofor have been endorsed by the Hamilton Township Education Association.
Demand the candidates answer questions this time around.
School board candidates field voters' questions
Sunday, April 05, 2009
BY CARMEN CUSIDO
HAMILTON -- More than 100 residents turned out to ask candidates running for school board questions about the budget, school facilities and students illegally attending Hamilton schools who live elsewhere.
Seven of the eight candidates appeared at the forum last Wednesday. They are vying for three three-year terms on the board.
The majority of the residents at the candidate's night were from the Hamilton Democratic Club, which sponsored the event at the township library, but others were not affiliated with the club, said Marilyn Jose, the club's president.
"These candidates' nights are really nonpartisan," said Jose, "it gives (residents) a chance to sit down and talk with the candidates."
The most recognizable candidate is Richard Kanka, who along with wife Maureen, founded the Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation and helped establish Megan's Law for identifying child predators. The Kankas were in the national spotlight after their daughter's rape and murder 15 years ago.
Kanka is running on a slate with former township councilwoman Eileen P. Thornton and Chris Nnajiofor, supervisor of education for the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission.
"I'll bring stabilization to our funding," Kanka said.
Susan Ferrara, who previously sat on a school board in Dewitt, N.Y., said people are frustrated that students in the district are just getting by.
"We have to get kids out of the mindset that the world begins and ends in Hamilton," Ferrara said. Her running mate, Bruno Falvo, was not at Wednesday's event, and has not actively campaigned. Ferrara has said Falvo has been pressured to quit.
One man, who did not want to be identified, asked school board President Eric Hamilton, an incumbent in the race, about out-of-district students who illegally attend Hamilton schools. The township last year passed an ordinance that includes a $2,000 fine plus restitution for education costs for illegal students.
Hamilton said the district has been aggressive in removing out-of-district students and collecting fines. He is running on a slate with Troy Stevenson, the board's vice president, and Ronald Tola, who has a background in facilities management.
Donald Ryland, a Mercer County corrections officer, had not made up his mind who he'll vote for, but he was impressed with Stevenson because of his background in law enforcement as an officer in the county sheriff's department, and Nnajiofor because of his knowledge of educational leadership.
"I identify with (Stevenson's) law enforcement background the most. ... When education fails, it tends to lead to an increased chance of a life of crime."
Another voter, Tom Walls Sr., is inclined to vote for the Kanka, Thornton, Nnajiofor slate.
"Hamilton Township has to focus on the education of students, not peripheral things like sports, band and social life," Walls said, adding that he likes Thornton's experience in municipal governance and Nnajiofor's background in educational leadership. He thought Kanka, father of two district graduates, seemed to be in line with his slate.
Tola, Thornton and Nnajiofor have been endorsed by the Hamilton Township Education Association.
Would You Like a Pension?
From the BCCT.
Before we break out the tar and pitchforks, let's remember it's not the teachers who set up this system, but our elected hoi-polloi in Harrisburg.
Public pensions more lucrative than private
By: GARY WECKSELBLATT
Bucks County Courier Times
In a 2006 report for the Commonwealth Foundation, a government watchdog group, senior fellow Richard C. Dreyfus wrote that Pennsylvania public pension funds, which cover legislators, judges, public school employees and other state employees, are more generous than plans in other states and are far more generous than a representative group of major private employers in Pennsylvania.
In Nov. 2008, the Employee Benefit Research Institute, whose goal is to "enhance the development of sound employee benefit programs and sound public policy through objective research and education" reported median pay for public pensions nationally in 2007 was $23,721, compared to $12,599 for those drawing a retirement check in the private sector.
The Congressional Research Service said government workers are twice as likely to get a pension as those who work for private companies and the typical benefit "is far more generous."
But supporters of those pensions say they serve a purpose.
"You don't hear people say I'm leaving the private sector to make more money," said Stephen Herzenberg, an economist with Keystone Research.
Herzenberg, who researched "The State of Working Pennsylvania 2008" with Mark Price, concluded "the top 1 percent of Pennsylvania earners captured a stunning 79 percent of all growth in personal income between 2001 and 2005."
Another find showed "the average income of the bottom 90 percent of Pennsylvania families fell by 4 percent between 2001 and 2005."
"Good, secure pensions are actually in part compensation for having lower wages," Herzenberg said. "In Bucks and Montgomery counties, you have the pick of the crop of teachers who could make more money with private companies but they choose to teach because it's a very important thing to do."
Herzenberg said the decline in private pensions is the problem, not the generosity of public retirement plans.
"This Wall Street collapse makes it plain that we can't rely on 401(k)s for pension security. So the right policy in response is not to strip everyone back to 401(k)s," he said. "It's how do we get secure pensions for more private sector workers as well as school custodians."
Wyphe Keever concurs. Keever, assistant communications director for the Public School Employees Retirement System, said "the public sector is often pitted in what I call a race to the bottom. At the bottom is retirement insecurity for all, where no one has enough money to retire. That's not good for the private sector, that's not good for the public sector."
Jeff Clay, PSERS' executive director, calls it "class warfare."
"People say I don't have it so you shouldn't either. These are difficult times. We should be coming together looking for solutions instead of scapegoating."
But that divide between those who have government benefits and those who don't appears to be accelerating.
"The local and state government pension crisis will dwarf just about any fiscal issue because these systems are so generous," said Pete Sepp, vice-president for policy and communications with the National Taxpayer Union. "The problem we'll have with Social Security 20 years from now is happening right now with pensions.
"The challenge is to try and stop the bleeding by reforming the system for new hirers. That will buy us a little time at least."
Matt Brouillette, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, said his group did an analysis of 44 major corporations in Pennsylvania and all are phasing out defined benefit pensions.
"They're too unaffordable and too unpredictable," he said. "Like most things in Harrisburg, it requires a major controversial crisis to get anything done, and we're certainly on the verge of that. It could very well mean bringing pitchforks to the Capitol steps."
Before we break out the tar and pitchforks, let's remember it's not the teachers who set up this system, but our elected hoi-polloi in Harrisburg.
Public pensions more lucrative than private
By: GARY WECKSELBLATT
Bucks County Courier Times
In a 2006 report for the Commonwealth Foundation, a government watchdog group, senior fellow Richard C. Dreyfus wrote that Pennsylvania public pension funds, which cover legislators, judges, public school employees and other state employees, are more generous than plans in other states and are far more generous than a representative group of major private employers in Pennsylvania.
In Nov. 2008, the Employee Benefit Research Institute, whose goal is to "enhance the development of sound employee benefit programs and sound public policy through objective research and education" reported median pay for public pensions nationally in 2007 was $23,721, compared to $12,599 for those drawing a retirement check in the private sector.
The Congressional Research Service said government workers are twice as likely to get a pension as those who work for private companies and the typical benefit "is far more generous."
But supporters of those pensions say they serve a purpose.
"You don't hear people say I'm leaving the private sector to make more money," said Stephen Herzenberg, an economist with Keystone Research.
Herzenberg, who researched "The State of Working Pennsylvania 2008" with Mark Price, concluded "the top 1 percent of Pennsylvania earners captured a stunning 79 percent of all growth in personal income between 2001 and 2005."
Another find showed "the average income of the bottom 90 percent of Pennsylvania families fell by 4 percent between 2001 and 2005."
"Good, secure pensions are actually in part compensation for having lower wages," Herzenberg said. "In Bucks and Montgomery counties, you have the pick of the crop of teachers who could make more money with private companies but they choose to teach because it's a very important thing to do."
Herzenberg said the decline in private pensions is the problem, not the generosity of public retirement plans.
"This Wall Street collapse makes it plain that we can't rely on 401(k)s for pension security. So the right policy in response is not to strip everyone back to 401(k)s," he said. "It's how do we get secure pensions for more private sector workers as well as school custodians."
Wyphe Keever concurs. Keever, assistant communications director for the Public School Employees Retirement System, said "the public sector is often pitted in what I call a race to the bottom. At the bottom is retirement insecurity for all, where no one has enough money to retire. That's not good for the private sector, that's not good for the public sector."
Jeff Clay, PSERS' executive director, calls it "class warfare."
"People say I don't have it so you shouldn't either. These are difficult times. We should be coming together looking for solutions instead of scapegoating."
But that divide between those who have government benefits and those who don't appears to be accelerating.
"The local and state government pension crisis will dwarf just about any fiscal issue because these systems are so generous," said Pete Sepp, vice-president for policy and communications with the National Taxpayer Union. "The problem we'll have with Social Security 20 years from now is happening right now with pensions.
"The challenge is to try and stop the bleeding by reforming the system for new hirers. That will buy us a little time at least."
Matt Brouillette, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, said his group did an analysis of 44 major corporations in Pennsylvania and all are phasing out defined benefit pensions.
"They're too unaffordable and too unpredictable," he said. "Like most things in Harrisburg, it requires a major controversial crisis to get anything done, and we're certainly on the verge of that. It could very well mean bringing pitchforks to the Capitol steps."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)