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.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
TANSTAAFL
Fans of the late Robert Heinlein easily recognize this acronym. The Wikipedia entry best describes it:
TANSTAAFL is an acronym for the adage "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch", popularized by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein in his 1966 novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, which discusses the problems caused by not considering the eventual outcome of an unbalanced economy. This phrase and book are popular with libertarians and the phrase is often seen in economics textbooks. In order to avoid a double negative, the acronym "TINSTAAFL" is sometimes used instead, meaning "There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch".
It demonstrates opportunity cost. Greg Mankiw described the concept as: "To get one thing that we like, we usually have to give up another thing that we like. Making decisions requires trading off one goal against another."
That having been said, there is so such a thing, at least in the schools, as a free lunch. And some of us really need it.
This entry was posted back in July and focused on the problem of what to do about free school lunches where there's no school.
It was only a few days ago that this comment was posted to that entry: Last year I received reduced lunch, family of 4, made 35k. This year I was over the income by $900. family of 4/40k a year, (so much for that raise lol) My stepson came home and asked me if we received it this year, I said no that I was 900 bucks over the limit, his response " oh most my parent's family lied to get it". I Im not angry that I didn't get it because the federal government considers me above need now, I realize cut offs need to be set somewhere but do they even audit this program; I still would choose not to lie but it was tempting. I do live in morrisville, pa. not just a random lurker!! a lurker nonetheless though. One thing of note to others, LIHEAP raised thier income limits to 44k for family of four for this upcoming season, last year it was set at 31k for family of four. That is quite an amazing jump.
As we approach Thanksgiving, the classic opportunity for us to over-indulge, let's refocus our thinking. Yes, costs for EVERYTHING have risen and it always seems like there's a lot more week left at the end of the weekly paycheck. It's hitting you pretty hard.
Cut your income in half or more, and then try to make it stretch.
I'll say it again: Check out Philabundance.org. And don't forget there's free lunch students in Morrisville too. Not sure where to start? There's always the Morrisville Presbyterian Church food bank.
TANSTAAFL is an acronym for the adage "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch", popularized by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein in his 1966 novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, which discusses the problems caused by not considering the eventual outcome of an unbalanced economy. This phrase and book are popular with libertarians and the phrase is often seen in economics textbooks. In order to avoid a double negative, the acronym "TINSTAAFL" is sometimes used instead, meaning "There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch".
It demonstrates opportunity cost. Greg Mankiw described the concept as: "To get one thing that we like, we usually have to give up another thing that we like. Making decisions requires trading off one goal against another."
That having been said, there is so such a thing, at least in the schools, as a free lunch. And some of us really need it.
This entry was posted back in July and focused on the problem of what to do about free school lunches where there's no school.
It was only a few days ago that this comment was posted to that entry: Last year I received reduced lunch, family of 4, made 35k. This year I was over the income by $900. family of 4/40k a year, (so much for that raise lol) My stepson came home and asked me if we received it this year, I said no that I was 900 bucks over the limit, his response " oh most my parent's family lied to get it". I Im not angry that I didn't get it because the federal government considers me above need now, I realize cut offs need to be set somewhere but do they even audit this program; I still would choose not to lie but it was tempting. I do live in morrisville, pa. not just a random lurker!! a lurker nonetheless though. One thing of note to others, LIHEAP raised thier income limits to 44k for family of four for this upcoming season, last year it was set at 31k for family of four. That is quite an amazing jump.
As we approach Thanksgiving, the classic opportunity for us to over-indulge, let's refocus our thinking. Yes, costs for EVERYTHING have risen and it always seems like there's a lot more week left at the end of the weekly paycheck. It's hitting you pretty hard.
Cut your income in half or more, and then try to make it stretch.
I'll say it again: Check out Philabundance.org. And don't forget there's free lunch students in Morrisville too. Not sure where to start? There's always the Morrisville Presbyterian Church food bank.
Board of Education Leadership Award
I found this link to the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) where they highlight their Board of Education Leadership Award. The selections are based on community relations, board operations and policies, board member professional development and related organizational leadership.
Want to see if our leaders in Morrisville would compare well? Here's the criteria for nomination.
Want to see if our leaders in Morrisville would compare well? Here's the criteria for nomination.
About those unpaid bills...
From the BCCT
Yearbook producer sues Truman High School
Posted in News on Friday, November 14th, 2008 at 4:45 pm by Joan Hellyer
Jostens Inc. is seeking nearly $46,000 in fees plus interest on some of the expenses from Harry S Truman High School, according to a lawsuit filed today in the county’s Court of Common Pleas.
The suit alleges the Bristol Township school has not paid all expenses due for Truman’s 2006 and 2007 yearbooks. The Minnesota-based yearbook company said Truman owes it $45,859.56.
Almost $31,500 of that amount is for unpaid yearbooks, according to the court filing.
The remainder is for a loan Jostens, Inc. provided to Truman in 2005 so it could resolve “financial issues” the school had with its former yearbook supplier, according to the suit.
Jostens, Inc. also is asking in the suit that Truman pay 18 percent interest on the near $31,500 owed for the yearbooks.
Truman has 20 days to respond to the charges, according to the county court filing.
Yearbook producer sues Truman High School
Posted in News on Friday, November 14th, 2008 at 4:45 pm by Joan Hellyer
Jostens Inc. is seeking nearly $46,000 in fees plus interest on some of the expenses from Harry S Truman High School, according to a lawsuit filed today in the county’s Court of Common Pleas.
The suit alleges the Bristol Township school has not paid all expenses due for Truman’s 2006 and 2007 yearbooks. The Minnesota-based yearbook company said Truman owes it $45,859.56.
Almost $31,500 of that amount is for unpaid yearbooks, according to the court filing.
The remainder is for a loan Jostens, Inc. provided to Truman in 2005 so it could resolve “financial issues” the school had with its former yearbook supplier, according to the suit.
Jostens, Inc. also is asking in the suit that Truman pay 18 percent interest on the near $31,500 owed for the yearbooks.
Truman has 20 days to respond to the charges, according to the county court filing.
Mini Tax Revolt?
From the BCCT.
Alternative to tax collectors considered
How to collect your taxes? That is the question. Although the district currently uses elected tax collectors to handle school taxes, Neshaminy’s finance and facilities committee will be looking at different options to see what’s most cost effective.
Why? Local tax collectors want a salary increase and district administrators are worried about being able to afford that in the current economy. According to district solicitor Thomas J. Profy III, there are other ways to collect taxes: through a private company or bank; or by using district personnel.
Board members Rick Eccles and Ritchie Webb suggested the board review those options after learning at Wednesday night’s meeting that the district’s tax collectors are requesting a 3 percent annual salary increase for the next four years, plus an additional $5 per each installment bill.
The tax collectors in Neshaminy are: Kathleen Nicastro for Hulmeville, Ellyn Schoen for Langhorne, Denise Reid for Langhorne Manor, Jennifer Yori for Lower Southampton, Thomas Kearns for Middletown and Janet Myers for Penndel.
Their salaries for 2009 will total roughly $102,000: $4,630 each for Hulmeville and Langhorne Manor, $4,684 for Langhorne, $26,201 for Lower Southampton, $55,551 for Middletown Township and $6,559 for Penndel.
At that rate, Paradise projected that paying for the tax collectors could increase to $121,000 in four years, plus another estimated $2,500 for installment costs.
The board and other taxing authorities, including municipalities and the county, must set the tax collectors’ salaries every four years. Their deadline is Feb. 15, Paradise said.
Alternative to tax collectors considered
How to collect your taxes? That is the question. Although the district currently uses elected tax collectors to handle school taxes, Neshaminy’s finance and facilities committee will be looking at different options to see what’s most cost effective.
Why? Local tax collectors want a salary increase and district administrators are worried about being able to afford that in the current economy. According to district solicitor Thomas J. Profy III, there are other ways to collect taxes: through a private company or bank; or by using district personnel.
Board members Rick Eccles and Ritchie Webb suggested the board review those options after learning at Wednesday night’s meeting that the district’s tax collectors are requesting a 3 percent annual salary increase for the next four years, plus an additional $5 per each installment bill.
The tax collectors in Neshaminy are: Kathleen Nicastro for Hulmeville, Ellyn Schoen for Langhorne, Denise Reid for Langhorne Manor, Jennifer Yori for Lower Southampton, Thomas Kearns for Middletown and Janet Myers for Penndel.
Their salaries for 2009 will total roughly $102,000: $4,630 each for Hulmeville and Langhorne Manor, $4,684 for Langhorne, $26,201 for Lower Southampton, $55,551 for Middletown Township and $6,559 for Penndel.
At that rate, Paradise projected that paying for the tax collectors could increase to $121,000 in four years, plus another estimated $2,500 for installment costs.
The board and other taxing authorities, including municipalities and the county, must set the tax collectors’ salaries every four years. Their deadline is Feb. 15, Paradise said.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Education, Philanthropy, and Common Sense
Props to Kate Fratti for highlighting Gene's work, and uber-kudos to Gene Epstein himself.
Gene’s cash kids
Gene Epstein knows full well there are old friends who purposely cross the street when they see him to avoid the charity shakedown.
Gene, a prominent Bucks philanthropist, always has an angle, a noble project, a fundraising proposition. You need to be part Mother Theresa to put up with him, which is to say patient, kind, generous to a fault.
Economy wreaking havoc on your business? Gene doesn’t want to hear it. There are poor to feed, homeless to shelter, lives to change, kids to inspire. They don’t go away in a poor economy, so how about you pony up and he’ll match your gift.
You’ve read about some of Gene’s good works in this newspaper or when he has been honored for his humanitarian efforts.
And he’s nowhere near finished. Seems Gene at 69 is spending his retirement years in Wrightstown working full-speed ahead to change the world, always reaching deep into his energy and financial reserves. He has about a dozen projects on his desk today.
He also has a way of pricking a person’s conscience. It means he’s a real pain in the neck if you’re just trying to mind your own business.
Big ideas and generosity like Gene’s may leave some of us cold, but many are grateful for his initiative. They’re happy for his ideas on how to help. All they have to do is write a check and feel good about it.
Gene’s newest project peaks my interest. Maybe because it’s based in part on his theory we don’t give our kids near enough credit for their creativity and resourcefulness. Stand back and they can work wonders, he says, but we grownups rarely are willing to stand back.
Our lack of faith in kids is a crime, says Gene, who long has lectured that the notion we must provide more for our kids than we had, is “the dumbest” parenting mistake.
It “declaws” the kid, he says. The child never is allowed to move into the mode where he must call upon his own resources. He never learns what he’s made of, or what he’s capable of, or why it matters that he’s here on Earth.
It’s a form of child neglect really, to underestimate the power of kids’ caring and imagination.
Gene never has been guilty. It’s why he’s about to hand more than 2,500 Bucks kids $10 each and challenge them to spend it well. And why he has full confidence he’s making a smart investment. He calls it the Civic Engagement Project.
He got the idea in April while watching ABC news anchor Charlie Gibson spotlight Ohio English teacher Pat Colangeli in his “Person of the Week” segment. Pat had given each of the 20 children in her classroom $10. They were encouraged to use it to help someone not as well off as they were. And if they decided they were the best charity in town, well, then they could spend it on themselves. The only rule was that they had to write an essay explaining how they’d spent the cash and why.
Those 20 kids not only didn’t squander the money, they used it to launch a student fundraising drive that netted more than $6,000, which was dispensed for all sorts of good works around their town.
So far, 15 Philadelphia schools have said they’ll participate in Gene’s version of the experiment and about 10 Bucks high school principals have written to say, “Send us that check!”
Why didn’t every invited school race to take Gene’s money? He made the offer in May, and the invitations are just being accepted now.
It comes down to whether a teacher or adviser would agree to coordinate the 100 kids in each school who’d be managing that $1,000. And Gene’s not giving any strict guidelines or ideas for charities or how the program should be run. He’s leaving that up to the kids and their adviser.
Gene’s giving the schools until the end of the year to report their results to him. The most innovative use of the money will be acknowledged at an awards ceremony.
I’ll keep you posted along the way.
Gene’s cash kids
Gene Epstein knows full well there are old friends who purposely cross the street when they see him to avoid the charity shakedown.
Gene, a prominent Bucks philanthropist, always has an angle, a noble project, a fundraising proposition. You need to be part Mother Theresa to put up with him, which is to say patient, kind, generous to a fault.
Economy wreaking havoc on your business? Gene doesn’t want to hear it. There are poor to feed, homeless to shelter, lives to change, kids to inspire. They don’t go away in a poor economy, so how about you pony up and he’ll match your gift.
You’ve read about some of Gene’s good works in this newspaper or when he has been honored for his humanitarian efforts.
And he’s nowhere near finished. Seems Gene at 69 is spending his retirement years in Wrightstown working full-speed ahead to change the world, always reaching deep into his energy and financial reserves. He has about a dozen projects on his desk today.
He also has a way of pricking a person’s conscience. It means he’s a real pain in the neck if you’re just trying to mind your own business.
Big ideas and generosity like Gene’s may leave some of us cold, but many are grateful for his initiative. They’re happy for his ideas on how to help. All they have to do is write a check and feel good about it.
Gene’s newest project peaks my interest. Maybe because it’s based in part on his theory we don’t give our kids near enough credit for their creativity and resourcefulness. Stand back and they can work wonders, he says, but we grownups rarely are willing to stand back.
Our lack of faith in kids is a crime, says Gene, who long has lectured that the notion we must provide more for our kids than we had, is “the dumbest” parenting mistake.
It “declaws” the kid, he says. The child never is allowed to move into the mode where he must call upon his own resources. He never learns what he’s made of, or what he’s capable of, or why it matters that he’s here on Earth.
It’s a form of child neglect really, to underestimate the power of kids’ caring and imagination.
Gene never has been guilty. It’s why he’s about to hand more than 2,500 Bucks kids $10 each and challenge them to spend it well. And why he has full confidence he’s making a smart investment. He calls it the Civic Engagement Project.
He got the idea in April while watching ABC news anchor Charlie Gibson spotlight Ohio English teacher Pat Colangeli in his “Person of the Week” segment. Pat had given each of the 20 children in her classroom $10. They were encouraged to use it to help someone not as well off as they were. And if they decided they were the best charity in town, well, then they could spend it on themselves. The only rule was that they had to write an essay explaining how they’d spent the cash and why.
Those 20 kids not only didn’t squander the money, they used it to launch a student fundraising drive that netted more than $6,000, which was dispensed for all sorts of good works around their town.
So far, 15 Philadelphia schools have said they’ll participate in Gene’s version of the experiment and about 10 Bucks high school principals have written to say, “Send us that check!”
Why didn’t every invited school race to take Gene’s money? He made the offer in May, and the invitations are just being accepted now.
It comes down to whether a teacher or adviser would agree to coordinate the 100 kids in each school who’d be managing that $1,000. And Gene’s not giving any strict guidelines or ideas for charities or how the program should be run. He’s leaving that up to the kids and their adviser.
Gene’s giving the schools until the end of the year to report their results to him. The most innovative use of the money will be acknowledged at an awards ceremony.
I’ll keep you posted along the way.
Neshaminy: High school renovation on schedule
From the BCCT.
High school renovation on schedule
Officials are closely watching the contingency fund, which is down to about $248,000 from $3.2 million.
By RACHEL CANELLI
Days, demolition and dollars — that’s what construction officials said they’re focusing on in the final months of the Neshaminy High School project.
With more than 122 weeks completed, and less than 46 left to go, administrators reported to the Neshaminy school board Wednesday night that the major renovation plan is on schedule.
Besides keeping an eye on remaining demolition and abatement work, officials said they’re closely watching the district’s contingency fund.
That account started at roughly $3.2 million to cover any additional work for bidders and any unforeseen costs, such as the climbing wall, which required reinforcements in the structural steel, said business administrator Joseph Paradise.
Now, the contingency is at about $248,000, said Damion Spahr, project executive for Reynolds, the firm directing the renovations.
“We’ve managed it conservatively because we didn’t want anyone to think that there was extra money out there,” Spahr reported to the board. “Is that enough? We don’t know, but we do believe that it’s plenty to get through the rest of construction. We just need to continue to hold back spending.”
More than $500,000 of the fund has been used to meet Middletown mandates, including roadwork to Old Lincoln Highway. Officials said they were withholding $100,000 for possible contractors’ claims and another $50,000 in case they needed to pave a gravel lot behind the Middletown school.
“We don’t know if when we tear down buildings we’ll find something that we don’t know is there,” said Spahr. “I’d like to see more in [the contingency], but we’re still in a manageable position. Things are going to come up. Our goal is to do what we need to and hopefully have something left.”
If the township requires the back lot to be paved, and what’s remaining in the fund can’t bear that last piece, the district and construction officials will have to look at other ways to deal with it.
While a few board members, like William Spitz, said they’re concerned about possibly having to pave that lot, other officials, including board member Ritchie Webb, said with Reynolds involved, they’re confident that there won’t be a problem.
High school renovation on schedule
Officials are closely watching the contingency fund, which is down to about $248,000 from $3.2 million.
By RACHEL CANELLI
Days, demolition and dollars — that’s what construction officials said they’re focusing on in the final months of the Neshaminy High School project.
With more than 122 weeks completed, and less than 46 left to go, administrators reported to the Neshaminy school board Wednesday night that the major renovation plan is on schedule.
Besides keeping an eye on remaining demolition and abatement work, officials said they’re closely watching the district’s contingency fund.
That account started at roughly $3.2 million to cover any additional work for bidders and any unforeseen costs, such as the climbing wall, which required reinforcements in the structural steel, said business administrator Joseph Paradise.
Now, the contingency is at about $248,000, said Damion Spahr, project executive for Reynolds, the firm directing the renovations.
“We’ve managed it conservatively because we didn’t want anyone to think that there was extra money out there,” Spahr reported to the board. “Is that enough? We don’t know, but we do believe that it’s plenty to get through the rest of construction. We just need to continue to hold back spending.”
More than $500,000 of the fund has been used to meet Middletown mandates, including roadwork to Old Lincoln Highway. Officials said they were withholding $100,000 for possible contractors’ claims and another $50,000 in case they needed to pave a gravel lot behind the Middletown school.
“We don’t know if when we tear down buildings we’ll find something that we don’t know is there,” said Spahr. “I’d like to see more in [the contingency], but we’re still in a manageable position. Things are going to come up. Our goal is to do what we need to and hopefully have something left.”
If the township requires the back lot to be paved, and what’s remaining in the fund can’t bear that last piece, the district and construction officials will have to look at other ways to deal with it.
While a few board members, like William Spitz, said they’re concerned about possibly having to pave that lot, other officials, including board member Ritchie Webb, said with Reynolds involved, they’re confident that there won’t be a problem.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Joint Council-BoE Meeting Cancelled
Board of Ed
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Joint Committee Meeting CANCELLED
The Joint Committee Meeting that was scheduled on Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 8:00 pm is CANCELLED.
Site: Off-Site Morrisville Borough Hall
Time: 8:00PM
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Joint Committee Meeting CANCELLED
The Joint Committee Meeting that was scheduled on Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 8:00 pm is CANCELLED.
Site: Off-Site Morrisville Borough Hall
Time: 8:00PM
PSSAs and Pennsbury: Perfect Together
From the BCCT.
PSSA proficiency could become grad requirement
Students would get several chances to raise their PSSA scores.
By MANASEE WAGH
Pennsbury is seriously considering making PSSA math and reading proficiency a graduation requirement.
If passed, the rule would take effect for the current junior class, which will take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams this spring.
District educators presented a plan of action to the school board about two and a half weeks ago. Board members were generally satisfied with the strategy, which would require students whose scores fall below proficient to undergo further training and testing. Educators would also look at a low-scoring student’s past schoolwork for evidence of aptitude in the weak areas.
“I was very happy with the plan they came up with. It satisfies a need and makes the test count for more than the requirements of the state or the federal government,” said board President Gregory Lucidi.
Board member Richard Johnson suggested one change to the plan.
Instead of allowing school educators to review a student’s studies, it would be more appropriate for a third party that doesn’t work for the district to review the work, he said at the October meeting. Lucidi concurred with Johnson’s opinion.
“It’s another outside check, so we’re not doing our own internal evaluations,” he said.
The third-party service could be provided fairly easily by the Bucks County Intermediate Unit No. 22, said Kevin McHugh, the district’s interim director of curriculum and instruction. No decision on an external evaluator has been finalized, but the graduation requirements team is continuing discussions, he said.
Twelve district educators and administrators, including McHugh, started considering the PSSA as a graduation prerequisite in August 2007 because it’s a way to increase student efforts to perform to their potential, said McHugh.
Since the state measures a school’s academic success using PSSA scores, districts have been looking for a way to motivate students to do well.
“There’s a sense that some 11th-graders don’t take it as seriously as maybe they could, so it’s not really a good measure of their ability,” said McHugh.
The school board is scheduled to vote on the final version of the plan Nov. 20, said Lucidi.
The proposed corrective action plan involves several steps. If a student scores basic or below basic on the 11thgrade PSSA, he or she would have the chance to take a summer remedial PSSA program.
In the fall of senior year, the student would be required to take a remedial nine-week PSSA course, as well as a retake of the exam in October. Because exam results wouldn’t be released until January, however, the student also would have to take a 4Sight assessment exam at end of the course. It’s a staterecommended test similar to the PSSA and provides another opportunity to demonstrate proficiency, said McHugh.
If the student still does not score proficient on either exam, he or she would have to take a comprehensive core assessment course during the spring semester of senior year, in which the student would develop a portfolio of work that demonstrates proficiency.
It would be the last chance to prove proficiency prior to graduation time. This time, low performance would mean no diploma.
“Instead, we’d be talking about summer school and possibly re-admission as a senior,” said McHugh.
Some special education students wouldn’t have to score proficient to graduate. They could graduate by completing their Individual Education Plans, McHugh said.
The district has also made curricular changes to ensure better understanding of core subjects in different grade levels over the last few years, he said, including more individualized reading courses and more math courses.
The changes also incorporate more reading and writing in social studies and science courses, McHugh said.
PSSA proficiency could become grad requirement
Students would get several chances to raise their PSSA scores.
By MANASEE WAGH
Pennsbury is seriously considering making PSSA math and reading proficiency a graduation requirement.
If passed, the rule would take effect for the current junior class, which will take the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams this spring.
District educators presented a plan of action to the school board about two and a half weeks ago. Board members were generally satisfied with the strategy, which would require students whose scores fall below proficient to undergo further training and testing. Educators would also look at a low-scoring student’s past schoolwork for evidence of aptitude in the weak areas.
“I was very happy with the plan they came up with. It satisfies a need and makes the test count for more than the requirements of the state or the federal government,” said board President Gregory Lucidi.
Board member Richard Johnson suggested one change to the plan.
Instead of allowing school educators to review a student’s studies, it would be more appropriate for a third party that doesn’t work for the district to review the work, he said at the October meeting. Lucidi concurred with Johnson’s opinion.
“It’s another outside check, so we’re not doing our own internal evaluations,” he said.
The third-party service could be provided fairly easily by the Bucks County Intermediate Unit No. 22, said Kevin McHugh, the district’s interim director of curriculum and instruction. No decision on an external evaluator has been finalized, but the graduation requirements team is continuing discussions, he said.
Twelve district educators and administrators, including McHugh, started considering the PSSA as a graduation prerequisite in August 2007 because it’s a way to increase student efforts to perform to their potential, said McHugh.
Since the state measures a school’s academic success using PSSA scores, districts have been looking for a way to motivate students to do well.
“There’s a sense that some 11th-graders don’t take it as seriously as maybe they could, so it’s not really a good measure of their ability,” said McHugh.
The school board is scheduled to vote on the final version of the plan Nov. 20, said Lucidi.
The proposed corrective action plan involves several steps. If a student scores basic or below basic on the 11thgrade PSSA, he or she would have the chance to take a summer remedial PSSA program.
In the fall of senior year, the student would be required to take a remedial nine-week PSSA course, as well as a retake of the exam in October. Because exam results wouldn’t be released until January, however, the student also would have to take a 4Sight assessment exam at end of the course. It’s a staterecommended test similar to the PSSA and provides another opportunity to demonstrate proficiency, said McHugh.
If the student still does not score proficient on either exam, he or she would have to take a comprehensive core assessment course during the spring semester of senior year, in which the student would develop a portfolio of work that demonstrates proficiency.
It would be the last chance to prove proficiency prior to graduation time. This time, low performance would mean no diploma.
“Instead, we’d be talking about summer school and possibly re-admission as a senior,” said McHugh.
Some special education students wouldn’t have to score proficient to graduate. They could graduate by completing their Individual Education Plans, McHugh said.
The district has also made curricular changes to ensure better understanding of core subjects in different grade levels over the last few years, he said, including more individualized reading courses and more math courses.
The changes also incorporate more reading and writing in social studies and science courses, McHugh said.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Plan for Failure
Here's an op-ed piece from the Pittsburgh Tribune Review about the high cost of education and the even higher cost of failure.
It sounds very much like the bleatings of the Emperor and his sheep. All you hear are variations on the themes of "Fix it!" and "It costs too much!" There's no focus on the very messy and very real problem of "how."
Waiter! We'd like at least some cheese with all this whine.
We're seeing it play out over and over again right here at home. "Stop the School!" Never a "what's next" plan. We've been waiting just about one year now for the people in power to show us their Nixonian secret plan.
Then we got the "it's too expensive" speeches and they slashed the budget, as well as the taxes. That's all good, but we constantly ask about next year, and there's never one word about a plan there either. In just two short months, the budget cycle for 2009-10 begins, and even the Emperor is telling you to hold on to your wallet.
Let's really focus on the performance of our current current board.
They may make even soon-to-be former President George W. Bush look good.
The costs of Pittsburgh's school failures
By Frank Gamrat & Jake Haulk
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Pittsburgh Public Schools faces serious problems -- high per pupil spending (almost $20,000) and a rapidly declining enrollment (18 percent over the last four years) -- that are seemingly intractable.
Not even the hype surrounding the plan to provide college scholarships to graduating seniors through the Pittsburgh Promise has been able to stem the losses. Another major problem confronting the district is the large number of dropouts. High dropout rates lead to significant additional costs to society.
A RAND Institute study prepared for the district estimated the graduation rate for high school freshmen to be 64 percent. A study by Jay Greene and Marcus Winters (for the Center for Civic Innovation), using a different methodology, estimates Pittsburgh's graduation rate to be 65 percent. The latter study estimates the national graduation rate to be 70 percent.
The corresponding dropout rate for the district's freshmen is roughly 35 percent, as estimated by RAND and corroborated by Greene and Winters.
This is an important figure because students who do not achieve a high school diploma are less likely to be successful in the local economy and more likely to rely on social services and be a burden on taxpayers.
Moreover, high school dropouts also have a higher rate of incarceration than those who complete their education. This has the dual effect of both raising the cost of government while decreasing the tax base.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a high school dropout earns on average $8,500 per year less than someone with a high school diploma. Lower wages translate to lower taxes paid. Furthermore, dropouts not only earn lower wages than those who graduate but they are more likely to be unemployed and need taxpayer-funded assistance.
A recent case study from the Maryland Public Policy Institute found that, on average, a high school dropout costs that state over $1,500 per year. This cost estimate included forgone state tax revenue (sales and income), incarceration costs, and Medicaid costs. It did not include forgone local wage taxes (as collected in Pennsylvania) or other public assistance costs such as welfare or housing.
Thus, in Pennsylvania, specifically Pittsburgh, the total cost of an average dropout is likely to be much higher than $1,500.
Finally, it is important to bear in mind that the dropout rate does not capture the cost impact of the poor quality of education being received by a large percentage of Pittsburgh high school graduates.
For example, 2007 scores for the district's 11th-grade students show that only 53 percent rated as proficient in reading. In math the students showed a dismally low proficiency rate of 44 percent. In some high schools fewer than 20 percent of 11th-graders managed to score at the proficient level.
At the same time, SAT scores in all but one city high school are below the national average with several schools averaging hundreds of points below the 1,017 national combined score. And what's worse, it appears the percentage of students taking the SAT exam in several schools is quite low, which suggests that only the better students even bother to take the test.
All this means that a very large fraction of graduates who are able to take advantage of the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program will be ill-prepared for post-secondary education and will probably require heavy remediation if they enroll in college -- adding to the enormous cost already incurred getting them through 13 years of public education in Pittsburgh.
Neither the students nor taxpayers can be benefiting much from such a system.
Without question, taxpayers and parents of city students should be clamoring to have the system fixed. But it appears easier to move and/or take the children out of Pittsburgh schools than to challenge politicians to address seriously the underlying problems.
So, the failed system will go on. Indeed, it is reasonable to speculate that $25,000 per student annual spending is only a few years down the road. Maybe by then 60 percent of 11th-graders will be proficient in reading.
It sounds very much like the bleatings of the Emperor and his sheep. All you hear are variations on the themes of "Fix it!" and "It costs too much!" There's no focus on the very messy and very real problem of "how."
Waiter! We'd like at least some cheese with all this whine.
We're seeing it play out over and over again right here at home. "Stop the School!" Never a "what's next" plan. We've been waiting just about one year now for the people in power to show us their Nixonian secret plan.
Then we got the "it's too expensive" speeches and they slashed the budget, as well as the taxes. That's all good, but we constantly ask about next year, and there's never one word about a plan there either. In just two short months, the budget cycle for 2009-10 begins, and even the Emperor is telling you to hold on to your wallet.
Let's really focus on the performance of our current current board.
They may make even soon-to-be former President George W. Bush look good.
The costs of Pittsburgh's school failures
By Frank Gamrat & Jake Haulk
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Pittsburgh Public Schools faces serious problems -- high per pupil spending (almost $20,000) and a rapidly declining enrollment (18 percent over the last four years) -- that are seemingly intractable.
Not even the hype surrounding the plan to provide college scholarships to graduating seniors through the Pittsburgh Promise has been able to stem the losses. Another major problem confronting the district is the large number of dropouts. High dropout rates lead to significant additional costs to society.
A RAND Institute study prepared for the district estimated the graduation rate for high school freshmen to be 64 percent. A study by Jay Greene and Marcus Winters (for the Center for Civic Innovation), using a different methodology, estimates Pittsburgh's graduation rate to be 65 percent. The latter study estimates the national graduation rate to be 70 percent.
The corresponding dropout rate for the district's freshmen is roughly 35 percent, as estimated by RAND and corroborated by Greene and Winters.
This is an important figure because students who do not achieve a high school diploma are less likely to be successful in the local economy and more likely to rely on social services and be a burden on taxpayers.
Moreover, high school dropouts also have a higher rate of incarceration than those who complete their education. This has the dual effect of both raising the cost of government while decreasing the tax base.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, a high school dropout earns on average $8,500 per year less than someone with a high school diploma. Lower wages translate to lower taxes paid. Furthermore, dropouts not only earn lower wages than those who graduate but they are more likely to be unemployed and need taxpayer-funded assistance.
A recent case study from the Maryland Public Policy Institute found that, on average, a high school dropout costs that state over $1,500 per year. This cost estimate included forgone state tax revenue (sales and income), incarceration costs, and Medicaid costs. It did not include forgone local wage taxes (as collected in Pennsylvania) or other public assistance costs such as welfare or housing.
Thus, in Pennsylvania, specifically Pittsburgh, the total cost of an average dropout is likely to be much higher than $1,500.
Finally, it is important to bear in mind that the dropout rate does not capture the cost impact of the poor quality of education being received by a large percentage of Pittsburgh high school graduates.
For example, 2007 scores for the district's 11th-grade students show that only 53 percent rated as proficient in reading. In math the students showed a dismally low proficiency rate of 44 percent. In some high schools fewer than 20 percent of 11th-graders managed to score at the proficient level.
At the same time, SAT scores in all but one city high school are below the national average with several schools averaging hundreds of points below the 1,017 national combined score. And what's worse, it appears the percentage of students taking the SAT exam in several schools is quite low, which suggests that only the better students even bother to take the test.
All this means that a very large fraction of graduates who are able to take advantage of the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program will be ill-prepared for post-secondary education and will probably require heavy remediation if they enroll in college -- adding to the enormous cost already incurred getting them through 13 years of public education in Pittsburgh.
Neither the students nor taxpayers can be benefiting much from such a system.
Without question, taxpayers and parents of city students should be clamoring to have the system fixed. But it appears easier to move and/or take the children out of Pittsburgh schools than to challenge politicians to address seriously the underlying problems.
So, the failed system will go on. Indeed, it is reasonable to speculate that $25,000 per student annual spending is only a few years down the road. Maybe by then 60 percent of 11th-graders will be proficient in reading.
Committee and Agenda Meeting Reminder
Board of Ed, Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Policy Committee Meeting
The Policy Committee Meeting will be held in the G Hall Conference Room at 6:30PM in the Middle Senior High School.
Site: HS G Hall Conference Room
Time: 6:30PM
Board Agenda Meeting
The monthly Board Agenda Meeting will be held at 7:30PM in the LGI Room of the Morrisville Middle Senior High School, 550 W. Palmer Street, Morrisville, PA.
Site: HS LGI
Time: 7:30PM
Policy Committee Meeting
The Policy Committee Meeting will be held in the G Hall Conference Room at 6:30PM in the Middle Senior High School.
Site: HS G Hall Conference Room
Time: 6:30PM
Board Agenda Meeting
The monthly Board Agenda Meeting will be held at 7:30PM in the LGI Room of the Morrisville Middle Senior High School, 550 W. Palmer Street, Morrisville, PA.
Site: HS LGI
Time: 7:30PM
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
CR Teacher Honored
From the BCCT. Congratulations!
Teacher surprised, honored by $25,000 award
Goodnoe Elementary second-grade teacher Maryann Molishus said she’s still deciding what to do with the money.
By RACHEL CANELLI
Maryann Molishus come on down! She’s the next recipient of the 2008 Milken National Educator Award. The nine-year Council Rock elementary school teacher became the latest $25,000 award winner Monday morning as officials travel the country announcing more than 70 educators during surprise school-wide ceremonies. So far, Molishus is only the second teacher chosen from Pennsylvania, administrators said. “I’m still shaking,” Molishus said after the assembly at Goodnoe Elementary School in Newtown. “I’m just really honored because there are so many good teachers in our district. And the kids are still buzzing. It’s nice to share it with them.”
Per Milken rules, the awards must be kept secret until names are announced, so no one knew, officials said. So, when the entire school, including Molishus’ second-grade class, packed the school’s gym, the students and staff thought they were there for an assembly with the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Instead officials called Molishus’ name.
“I really like to celebrate all students,” said Molishus, 39, of Churchville. “I enjoy learning with them, sharing in their excitement and trying different things like technology. It’s important to integrate that into programs because the children become so engaged and learn valuable lessons. It’s fun to come to school.”
Each year, the grants are given to teachers and principals in an attempt to attract, develop, motivate and retain talented educators. While they are ceremoniously presented with large checks during the school-wide assemblies, the teachers get the real money in Los Angeles, Calif., in April.
The winners can use the money any way they want. Previous recipients have paid for their children’s or their own education, purchased equipment for their schools, established scholarships and funded adoptions, officials said.
“There are so many good things that teachers are doing aside from one award,” said Molishus, mother of two daughters. “It’s really important to show that teachers are doing wonderful things, and that’s the point of Milken.”
In the early 1980s, education reform pioneer Lowell Milken created the awards program to acknowledge educators. Since then, more than 2,300 kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers nationwide have been recognized, according to foundation representatives.
The educators are unknowingly nominated by a blue-ribbon panel in their state. They must demonstrate the following: effective instructional practices, accomplishments beyond the classroom, leadership and motivation, administrators said.
Most recently, Molishus said she and her pupils presented a video conference with five other schools.
She said she doesn’t yet know how she’ll use the money, or celebrate her award.
“Maybe I’ll cancel homework tonight,” Molishus said.
Teacher surprised, honored by $25,000 award
Goodnoe Elementary second-grade teacher Maryann Molishus said she’s still deciding what to do with the money.
By RACHEL CANELLI
Maryann Molishus come on down! She’s the next recipient of the 2008 Milken National Educator Award. The nine-year Council Rock elementary school teacher became the latest $25,000 award winner Monday morning as officials travel the country announcing more than 70 educators during surprise school-wide ceremonies. So far, Molishus is only the second teacher chosen from Pennsylvania, administrators said. “I’m still shaking,” Molishus said after the assembly at Goodnoe Elementary School in Newtown. “I’m just really honored because there are so many good teachers in our district. And the kids are still buzzing. It’s nice to share it with them.”
Per Milken rules, the awards must be kept secret until names are announced, so no one knew, officials said. So, when the entire school, including Molishus’ second-grade class, packed the school’s gym, the students and staff thought they were there for an assembly with the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
Instead officials called Molishus’ name.
“I really like to celebrate all students,” said Molishus, 39, of Churchville. “I enjoy learning with them, sharing in their excitement and trying different things like technology. It’s important to integrate that into programs because the children become so engaged and learn valuable lessons. It’s fun to come to school.”
Each year, the grants are given to teachers and principals in an attempt to attract, develop, motivate and retain talented educators. While they are ceremoniously presented with large checks during the school-wide assemblies, the teachers get the real money in Los Angeles, Calif., in April.
The winners can use the money any way they want. Previous recipients have paid for their children’s or their own education, purchased equipment for their schools, established scholarships and funded adoptions, officials said.
“There are so many good things that teachers are doing aside from one award,” said Molishus, mother of two daughters. “It’s really important to show that teachers are doing wonderful things, and that’s the point of Milken.”
In the early 1980s, education reform pioneer Lowell Milken created the awards program to acknowledge educators. Since then, more than 2,300 kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers nationwide have been recognized, according to foundation representatives.
The educators are unknowingly nominated by a blue-ribbon panel in their state. They must demonstrate the following: effective instructional practices, accomplishments beyond the classroom, leadership and motivation, administrators said.
Most recently, Molishus said she and her pupils presented a video conference with five other schools.
She said she doesn’t yet know how she’ll use the money, or celebrate her award.
“Maybe I’ll cancel homework tonight,” Molishus said.
What Does A Superintendent Do?
From the Richmond (Va.) Times Dispatch
Do schools need superintendents: It's a Calling, Not Just a Job
By STEWART D. ROBERSON, TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST, Sunday, Nov 09, 2008 - 12:05 AM
As two of the four school boards in the metro Richmond area search for new public school superintendents, I have been asked to provide some perspectives about the role American of the superintendent in a modern school district today. I welcome this opportunity to share some thoughts about the complex nature of this key leadership position while noting that the relationship superintendents in Richmond enjoy as colleagues can be fairly characterized as a model of regional collaboration.
The success of our relationship is found in how we share many common experiences and beliefs as the chief executive officers and chief educational leaders of the school districts and communities we serve.
How has the role of superintendent evolved through the history of public education?
Since its introduction in the early 1800s, the position has evolved incrementally, becoming more extensive, complex, and demanding. The phases of evolution have included emphases upon the superintendent as teacher-scholar, organizational manager, democratic statesman, applied social scientist, and communicator. It is safe to assume that, today, all of these skills can be called upon any day of any year.
Twenty-first century superintendents receive great scrutiny from parents, teachers, board members, and elected officials. They are held responsible for the progress and achievement of students in their district's schools. The superintendent who is effective is one who finds this scrutiny and accountability personally and professionally fulfilling.
As a constitutional officer, the superintendent is the chief executive of the school board and the CEO of the large enterprise called a school district. The school board is the board of directors and sets the tone for the teamwork, which is essential for a productive school board/superintendent relationship. For this relationship to be most trusting and effective, the board embraces its policymaking role while supporting the superintendent as the chief executive, as stated in the state's and school board's job description for superintendents.
How is a superintendent like a chief executive officer?
A school district is often the largest and most complex business in the community -- transporting more people than public transportation, feeding more people than all the restaurants in the community combined, managing more square footage than most of the businesses in the community, and processing, literally, millions of e-mails daily. A school district is frequently the largest employer in the community. It is positioned, too, as the largest educational services provider -- which is, of course, our central mission.
How is the superintendent a chief educational leader?
Clearly, the educational leader role is the one which makes the superintendent position unique in our society. Effective superintendents view the position as a calling, not just a job. The opportunity to lead a school district stirs a passion. Few roles in our society offer this opportunity to help children plan for a future in which the ideals and needs of individual learners, this nation and, increasingly, our world, are advanced.
While a school district will always be a direct reflection of the community it serves, the superintendent's role is to help envision what "could be," consistent with the values and aspirations of the community. Indeed, superintendents believe that public education is the bedrock of American democracy.
A leading educator once said, "If you think you're powerful, you're delusional. However, as superintendent, you are in a position to make inherently powerful connections." A superintendent who is functioning at a high level is playing the role of democratic leader, even at a time when there is a complex mix of changing values and economic realities.
The superintendent is expected to form fruitful relationships with countless stakeholders simultaneously, while embracing the diversity of backgrounds, thoughts, and needs found in the community. Superintendents with an eye on the locality's future see themselves as accepting a moral responsibility, working to master the skills of connection, communication, collaboration, community building, child advocacy, and curricular choices.
How do you do what you do?
I perceive sometimes that others are glad that they are not expected to manage the complexities of an educational enterprise. Indeed, some acknowledge that the required time, energy, human process management, and ambiguity tolerance, particularly in politically charged and high-stakes testing arenas, would be extremely frustrating to them if they were expected to lead in the public domain.
Sometimes, folks argue that their notions of quick fixes can be panaceas to complex educational challenges. I frequently assert that "flash-in-the-pan" decision-making is usually successful only at capturing, momentarily, the public's awe. It rarely, if ever, results in long-term, positive institutional change.
A successful superintendent knows that he/she must bring a skill set which is focused upon balancing the influences of stability and change, requiring the commitment of considerable physical and mental energy, and recognizing that true, positive change occurs if the superintendent stays in place for several years, while always nurturing a culture of continuous improvement across the community.
Finally -- and most importantly -- a superintendent, like any human being, relies heavily upon the love and support of his/her own family to strike a healthy personal balance while performing this 24/7 role.
How do you make decisions?
Our most visible decisions as superintendents (such as closing schools on snow days) are those that have an immediate impact upon families and the regional economy. My favorite explanation of how such decisions are made is that I rely upon faith, intuition, and a great staff to accumulate the best available data to make the right decisions at the right time in support of our children and colleagues.
Effective decisions made for the long-term, though, must include the entire community's voice and a vigorous consensus if we want to truly make a difference in the lives of all the children whom we are called to serve.
Do schools need superintendents: It's a Calling, Not Just a Job
By STEWART D. ROBERSON, TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST, Sunday, Nov 09, 2008 - 12:05 AM
As two of the four school boards in the metro Richmond area search for new public school superintendents, I have been asked to provide some perspectives about the role American of the superintendent in a modern school district today. I welcome this opportunity to share some thoughts about the complex nature of this key leadership position while noting that the relationship superintendents in Richmond enjoy as colleagues can be fairly characterized as a model of regional collaboration.
The success of our relationship is found in how we share many common experiences and beliefs as the chief executive officers and chief educational leaders of the school districts and communities we serve.
How has the role of superintendent evolved through the history of public education?
Since its introduction in the early 1800s, the position has evolved incrementally, becoming more extensive, complex, and demanding. The phases of evolution have included emphases upon the superintendent as teacher-scholar, organizational manager, democratic statesman, applied social scientist, and communicator. It is safe to assume that, today, all of these skills can be called upon any day of any year.
Twenty-first century superintendents receive great scrutiny from parents, teachers, board members, and elected officials. They are held responsible for the progress and achievement of students in their district's schools. The superintendent who is effective is one who finds this scrutiny and accountability personally and professionally fulfilling.
As a constitutional officer, the superintendent is the chief executive of the school board and the CEO of the large enterprise called a school district. The school board is the board of directors and sets the tone for the teamwork, which is essential for a productive school board/superintendent relationship. For this relationship to be most trusting and effective, the board embraces its policymaking role while supporting the superintendent as the chief executive, as stated in the state's and school board's job description for superintendents.
How is a superintendent like a chief executive officer?
A school district is often the largest and most complex business in the community -- transporting more people than public transportation, feeding more people than all the restaurants in the community combined, managing more square footage than most of the businesses in the community, and processing, literally, millions of e-mails daily. A school district is frequently the largest employer in the community. It is positioned, too, as the largest educational services provider -- which is, of course, our central mission.
How is the superintendent a chief educational leader?
Clearly, the educational leader role is the one which makes the superintendent position unique in our society. Effective superintendents view the position as a calling, not just a job. The opportunity to lead a school district stirs a passion. Few roles in our society offer this opportunity to help children plan for a future in which the ideals and needs of individual learners, this nation and, increasingly, our world, are advanced.
While a school district will always be a direct reflection of the community it serves, the superintendent's role is to help envision what "could be," consistent with the values and aspirations of the community. Indeed, superintendents believe that public education is the bedrock of American democracy.
A leading educator once said, "If you think you're powerful, you're delusional. However, as superintendent, you are in a position to make inherently powerful connections." A superintendent who is functioning at a high level is playing the role of democratic leader, even at a time when there is a complex mix of changing values and economic realities.
The superintendent is expected to form fruitful relationships with countless stakeholders simultaneously, while embracing the diversity of backgrounds, thoughts, and needs found in the community. Superintendents with an eye on the locality's future see themselves as accepting a moral responsibility, working to master the skills of connection, communication, collaboration, community building, child advocacy, and curricular choices.
How do you do what you do?
I perceive sometimes that others are glad that they are not expected to manage the complexities of an educational enterprise. Indeed, some acknowledge that the required time, energy, human process management, and ambiguity tolerance, particularly in politically charged and high-stakes testing arenas, would be extremely frustrating to them if they were expected to lead in the public domain.
Sometimes, folks argue that their notions of quick fixes can be panaceas to complex educational challenges. I frequently assert that "flash-in-the-pan" decision-making is usually successful only at capturing, momentarily, the public's awe. It rarely, if ever, results in long-term, positive institutional change.
A successful superintendent knows that he/she must bring a skill set which is focused upon balancing the influences of stability and change, requiring the commitment of considerable physical and mental energy, and recognizing that true, positive change occurs if the superintendent stays in place for several years, while always nurturing a culture of continuous improvement across the community.
Finally -- and most importantly -- a superintendent, like any human being, relies heavily upon the love and support of his/her own family to strike a healthy personal balance while performing this 24/7 role.
How do you make decisions?
Our most visible decisions as superintendents (such as closing schools on snow days) are those that have an immediate impact upon families and the regional economy. My favorite explanation of how such decisions are made is that I rely upon faith, intuition, and a great staff to accumulate the best available data to make the right decisions at the right time in support of our children and colleagues.
Effective decisions made for the long-term, though, must include the entire community's voice and a vigorous consensus if we want to truly make a difference in the lives of all the children whom we are called to serve.
Happy Veteran's Day!
Lost in the Election Day to Thanksgiving Day rush is Veteran's Day. It's usually defined by the consumer bargains available to the pre-pre-Christmas shopper.
Today is the 90th anniversary of the end of the first "war to end all wars". OK, we all know how that turned out, but let's pause to remember the sacrifices made by that generation of American warriors and all the generations past, present, and, unfortunately, future.
Here's a story from CNN where a photographer is racing time in an effort to photograph surviving WWI vets across the world. Only ten remaining veterans are known to still live.
Are you happy living in America where we still have some Constitutionally protected freedoms? Then go thank a vet.
Photographer races clock to honor last few World War I vets
(CNN) -- Photographer David DeJonge plans to capture a vanishing bit of history Tuesday on a trip to Arlington National Cemetery near Washington.
There he hopes to photograph 107-year-old Frank Buckles -- one of the few men still alive who fought in World War I. Buckles will lay a wreath at the grave of Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, who led U.S. forces in Europe in World War I.
The visit comes 90 years to the day after the end of World War I, an occasion that led to Veteran's Day in the United States and Armistice Day in other nations.
For DeJonge, it's a poignant reminder that time is running out in his quest to find and photograph the few surviving veterans of the war, which raged from 1914 to 1918.
"In my view, America has missed the boat in documenting this part of history," said DeJonge, a portrait photographer from Zeeland, Michigan. "It was such a pivotal moment in global history."
He has raced the clock for the last two years to photograph the dwindling number of surviving World War I veterans, a mission he embraces with a keen appreciation for the ticking clock: Eight of 12 veterans he has photographed in the last two years are now dead.
"It's a tragic loss - a tragic loss for the project and for global history," he said. "These are the last breaths of the last souls who witnessed one of the most horrific wars this world has ever seen." Video Watch photo sessions with remaining veterans »
DeJonge knows of only 10 living veterans worldwide who fought during World War I.
Four live in Britain, two in Australia, two in France and two in the United States -- Buckles and 108-year-old John Babcock of Spokane, Washington, who served with Canadian forces during World War I, DeJong said.
Each week or month that passes, it seems, brings news of an aging veteran succumbing before DeJonge can find the time and money to photograph him.
Not long ago, he said, two Jamaicans who fought with the British during World War I died. The last known German, French and Austro-Hungarian veterans died in the last year as well.
"These are the last of the last," he said.
DeJonge said he first became interested in photographing war veterans in 1996, when he worked on a project to chronicle U.S. veterans of several wars. The subjects included two men who served during World War I.
He tried to interest a photography organization in a national project to document the remaining U.S. World War I vets -- about 600 were alive in the mid 1990s, DeJonge said -- but that didn't happen.
So he set out two years ago to try to do it on his own. DeJonge has received some financial help here and there, he said, but has paid most costs himself.
"I have paid about $100,000 of my own money," he said.
He spends about half his time at home in Michigan, taking photographs to earn his living. He spends the other half conducting research, traveling to points distant or photographing aging vets.
"I have an incredibly supportive wife," he said.
He is trying to find money and time to take pictures of two vets in Australia and two in France, he said. And he would love to check out unconfirmed reports of an elderly man in the Ukraine who says he served with the Russian military during what also is known as the "Great War" and "The War to End All Wars."
In March, he donated nine portraits of World War I vets that the Pentagon plans to display permanently. He traveled to Washington that month with Buckles, who drove an ambulance in Britain and France during the war as a corporal in the U.S. Army.
In a White House ceremony in March, President Bush paid tribute to Buckles, who said he lied about his age and enlisted at age 15.
"Mr. Buckles has a vivid recollection of historic times, and one way for me to honor the service of those who wore the uniform in the past and those who wear it today is to herald you, sir, and to thank you very much for your patriotism and your love for America," he said during the March ceremony.
DeJonge and Buckles plan to drive Tuesday from Buckles' cattle farm in Charles Town, West Virginia to Arlington National Cemetery near Washington.
The photographer said he feels "just an unbelievable respect" for men and women who served their country. And he savors the living history lessons they provide.
Today is the 90th anniversary of the end of the first "war to end all wars". OK, we all know how that turned out, but let's pause to remember the sacrifices made by that generation of American warriors and all the generations past, present, and, unfortunately, future.
Here's a story from CNN where a photographer is racing time in an effort to photograph surviving WWI vets across the world. Only ten remaining veterans are known to still live.
Are you happy living in America where we still have some Constitutionally protected freedoms? Then go thank a vet.
Photographer races clock to honor last few World War I vets
(CNN) -- Photographer David DeJonge plans to capture a vanishing bit of history Tuesday on a trip to Arlington National Cemetery near Washington.
There he hopes to photograph 107-year-old Frank Buckles -- one of the few men still alive who fought in World War I. Buckles will lay a wreath at the grave of Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing, who led U.S. forces in Europe in World War I.
The visit comes 90 years to the day after the end of World War I, an occasion that led to Veteran's Day in the United States and Armistice Day in other nations.
For DeJonge, it's a poignant reminder that time is running out in his quest to find and photograph the few surviving veterans of the war, which raged from 1914 to 1918.
"In my view, America has missed the boat in documenting this part of history," said DeJonge, a portrait photographer from Zeeland, Michigan. "It was such a pivotal moment in global history."
He has raced the clock for the last two years to photograph the dwindling number of surviving World War I veterans, a mission he embraces with a keen appreciation for the ticking clock: Eight of 12 veterans he has photographed in the last two years are now dead.
"It's a tragic loss - a tragic loss for the project and for global history," he said. "These are the last breaths of the last souls who witnessed one of the most horrific wars this world has ever seen." Video Watch photo sessions with remaining veterans »
DeJonge knows of only 10 living veterans worldwide who fought during World War I.
Four live in Britain, two in Australia, two in France and two in the United States -- Buckles and 108-year-old John Babcock of Spokane, Washington, who served with Canadian forces during World War I, DeJong said.
Each week or month that passes, it seems, brings news of an aging veteran succumbing before DeJonge can find the time and money to photograph him.
Not long ago, he said, two Jamaicans who fought with the British during World War I died. The last known German, French and Austro-Hungarian veterans died in the last year as well.
"These are the last of the last," he said.
DeJonge said he first became interested in photographing war veterans in 1996, when he worked on a project to chronicle U.S. veterans of several wars. The subjects included two men who served during World War I.
He tried to interest a photography organization in a national project to document the remaining U.S. World War I vets -- about 600 were alive in the mid 1990s, DeJonge said -- but that didn't happen.
So he set out two years ago to try to do it on his own. DeJonge has received some financial help here and there, he said, but has paid most costs himself.
"I have paid about $100,000 of my own money," he said.
He spends about half his time at home in Michigan, taking photographs to earn his living. He spends the other half conducting research, traveling to points distant or photographing aging vets.
"I have an incredibly supportive wife," he said.
He is trying to find money and time to take pictures of two vets in Australia and two in France, he said. And he would love to check out unconfirmed reports of an elderly man in the Ukraine who says he served with the Russian military during what also is known as the "Great War" and "The War to End All Wars."
In March, he donated nine portraits of World War I vets that the Pentagon plans to display permanently. He traveled to Washington that month with Buckles, who drove an ambulance in Britain and France during the war as a corporal in the U.S. Army.
In a White House ceremony in March, President Bush paid tribute to Buckles, who said he lied about his age and enlisted at age 15.
"Mr. Buckles has a vivid recollection of historic times, and one way for me to honor the service of those who wore the uniform in the past and those who wear it today is to herald you, sir, and to thank you very much for your patriotism and your love for America," he said during the March ceremony.
DeJonge and Buckles plan to drive Tuesday from Buckles' cattle farm in Charles Town, West Virginia to Arlington National Cemetery near Washington.
The photographer said he feels "just an unbelievable respect" for men and women who served their country. And he savors the living history lessons they provide.
Monday, November 10, 2008
But Where's the PLAN??
From the BCCT.
And so the renovations begin. The overarching renovations plan is STILL missing in action. It looks like we're going to piecemeal ourselves to death on uncoordinated fits of renovation spending.
The board members who make the political decisions won't comment on the record, so they send out Tim Lastician to take the slings and arrows instead. We're not sure when the renovations will be done...We hope it will be half done before September 2009.
This is all very reassuring...NOT! What will we do when the "Welcome Back, Students!" signs next September are accompanied by "Caution: Construction Zone" signs?
Channeling the departed Ed Frankenfield for a moment, we've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for a plan. The plan is probably out there, shrouded in secrecy and known but to only a few of the Emperor's most dedicated Kool-Aid cronies.
Why don't we want to upgrade our schools and welcome those with disabilities? Isn't it ironic that many of those taxpayers who most oppose making the schools a little more user friendly are among those who hobble most desperately up the steps to attend board meetings.
Paging Clara Peller: Where's the plan?
LOL: I don't think there's anyone back there, either.
Renovation plans moving forward
The parts and labor for the long-anticipated renovations are estimated to cost about $3.7 million plus another $400,000 in contract fees.
By MANASEE WAGH
Renovation plans at the 50-year-old Morrisville high school are swinging into gear.
The recent decision has come after years of wavering among previous and current board members about what to do with the district’s high school and two elementary schools.
Morrisville’s school board is working with Vitetta, a Philadelphia-based architectural and engineering corporation, to update old heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems at the Middle/Senior High School.
The project’s scope includes a range of new components, including ventilators for heating in classrooms, windows with better weatherproofing, expansion tanks for boilers, heating and ventilation units in the gym, locker rooms, auditorium and kitchen, gas-fired hot water heaters and parts for the air- conditioning units in the library and administrative offices.
Vitetta also will test the hot water supply and piping at the high school because it probably has corroded due to age, said the facilities manager, Tim Lastichen.
There have been no sizeable renovations to any of the district’s three schools in decades, Lastichen said.
Morrisville’s two elementary schools are also in need of similar repairs, and the school board is in talks with Vitetta to perform upgrades there.
Morrisville residents have been calling for a plan to improve the deteriorating school buildings since the current board canceled plans to build a consolidated K-12 school early this year.
Part of the original $30 million bond meant for the new school will be used instead for the renovations.
The company’s fees for overseeing the high school upgrades total about $400,000, and the cost of replacement parts and labor is expected to be around $3.7 million.
At the previous school board meeting, board member Robin Reithmeyer voted against the initiative to pursue these renovations because the district isn’t applying for state reimbursement.
Under certain circumstances, the state Department of Education can refund a school district a portion of construction project costs if the district follows the department’s approval process, called PlanCon.
Vitetta architects found the project does not meet state guidelines necessary for PlanCon approvals, said William Hellmann, board president.
Either renovation or construction is eligible for state reimbursement only under two criteria, according to the state Department of Education: adding capacity to the building, as in the case of a growing student population, or bringing the building up to modern American Disabilities Act standards.
Therefore, Morrisville’s renovations wouldn’t be eligible, according to the state.
“Believe me, if I could get money from the state, I would be the first to do it,” Hellmann said. “This work is for the health, safety and welfare of the children and teachers and needs to be done as soon as possible.”
Though a concrete timeline for completing the upgrades is not available yet, the district plans to dive in as soon as the school year is over in June. Hopefully, the work will be at least half finished before the summer ends, Lastichen said.
Originally built in 1925, the district’s two elementary schools, Grandview and M. R. Reiter, are much older than the high school.
Grandview’s front section was added to the original building in 1957 and its back section was added in 1968. Reiter needed to be renovated in the 1960s after catching fire.
“But nothing’s been touched since,” Lastichen said. “So it needs it.”
And so the renovations begin. The overarching renovations plan is STILL missing in action. It looks like we're going to piecemeal ourselves to death on uncoordinated fits of renovation spending.
The board members who make the political decisions won't comment on the record, so they send out Tim Lastician to take the slings and arrows instead. We're not sure when the renovations will be done...We hope it will be half done before September 2009.
This is all very reassuring...NOT! What will we do when the "Welcome Back, Students!" signs next September are accompanied by "Caution: Construction Zone" signs?
Channeling the departed Ed Frankenfield for a moment, we've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for a plan. The plan is probably out there, shrouded in secrecy and known but to only a few of the Emperor's most dedicated Kool-Aid cronies.
Why don't we want to upgrade our schools and welcome those with disabilities? Isn't it ironic that many of those taxpayers who most oppose making the schools a little more user friendly are among those who hobble most desperately up the steps to attend board meetings.
Paging Clara Peller: Where's the plan?
LOL: I don't think there's anyone back there, either.
Renovation plans moving forward
The parts and labor for the long-anticipated renovations are estimated to cost about $3.7 million plus another $400,000 in contract fees.
By MANASEE WAGH
Renovation plans at the 50-year-old Morrisville high school are swinging into gear.
The recent decision has come after years of wavering among previous and current board members about what to do with the district’s high school and two elementary schools.
Morrisville’s school board is working with Vitetta, a Philadelphia-based architectural and engineering corporation, to update old heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems at the Middle/Senior High School.
The project’s scope includes a range of new components, including ventilators for heating in classrooms, windows with better weatherproofing, expansion tanks for boilers, heating and ventilation units in the gym, locker rooms, auditorium and kitchen, gas-fired hot water heaters and parts for the air- conditioning units in the library and administrative offices.
Vitetta also will test the hot water supply and piping at the high school because it probably has corroded due to age, said the facilities manager, Tim Lastichen.
There have been no sizeable renovations to any of the district’s three schools in decades, Lastichen said.
Morrisville’s two elementary schools are also in need of similar repairs, and the school board is in talks with Vitetta to perform upgrades there.
Morrisville residents have been calling for a plan to improve the deteriorating school buildings since the current board canceled plans to build a consolidated K-12 school early this year.
Part of the original $30 million bond meant for the new school will be used instead for the renovations.
The company’s fees for overseeing the high school upgrades total about $400,000, and the cost of replacement parts and labor is expected to be around $3.7 million.
At the previous school board meeting, board member Robin Reithmeyer voted against the initiative to pursue these renovations because the district isn’t applying for state reimbursement.
Under certain circumstances, the state Department of Education can refund a school district a portion of construction project costs if the district follows the department’s approval process, called PlanCon.
Vitetta architects found the project does not meet state guidelines necessary for PlanCon approvals, said William Hellmann, board president.
Either renovation or construction is eligible for state reimbursement only under two criteria, according to the state Department of Education: adding capacity to the building, as in the case of a growing student population, or bringing the building up to modern American Disabilities Act standards.
Therefore, Morrisville’s renovations wouldn’t be eligible, according to the state.
“Believe me, if I could get money from the state, I would be the first to do it,” Hellmann said. “This work is for the health, safety and welfare of the children and teachers and needs to be done as soon as possible.”
Though a concrete timeline for completing the upgrades is not available yet, the district plans to dive in as soon as the school year is over in June. Hopefully, the work will be at least half finished before the summer ends, Lastichen said.
Originally built in 1925, the district’s two elementary schools, Grandview and M. R. Reiter, are much older than the high school.
Grandview’s front section was added to the original building in 1957 and its back section was added in 1968. Reiter needed to be renovated in the 1960s after catching fire.
“But nothing’s been touched since,” Lastichen said. “So it needs it.”
It's The Economy, Stupid!
From the BCCT.
That was James Carville's famous strategy in the Clinton campaign of 1992. I doubt there's anyone out there who is NOT concerned about the economy and the impact on the bottom line. "Today’s economy will affect the preparation of school budgets as far ahead as 2012 and 2013, he added." Perhaps so, but let's be a little more focused on the immediate: What's the state of revenues and expenditures in 2008-09?
Economy has schools concerned
A lag in tax collections and underperforming investments means schools might need to do more with less in the coming years or find support for a tax increase.
By THERESA HEGEL
Like the families that help to support them, school districts in the area have entered a period of belt tightening.
District business managers already dealing with drops in tax revenue and dwindling investment returns say the budget for the next school year likely will be difficult to prepare.
But most districts said administration and school boards were committed to keeping property tax millage increases at or under the 4.1 percent mandated by the state.
“The whole community is suffering,” said Pennridge Superintendent Robert Kish, noting that his district wasn’t interested in adding to the burden.
Real estate transfer taxes and interim real estate taxes — levied when properties are bought and sold or when improvements are made to an existing property — are, in many cases, down from last year’s levels.
“Homes aren’t selling,” said Robert Reichert, director of business affairs for Hatboro-Horsham School District. “People aren’t doing renovation work like they were.”
In terms of real estate transfer taxes, Pennridge received 81 percent of the level of revenue this July, August and September, when compared with last year’s intake in those months, said business administrator Bob Reinhart.
Last year’s transfer tax total of $1.6 million already represented a dip from years when the housing market was hot. Back in 2005-06, the district reaped $2.1 million from transfer taxes, he said.
So far this school year, the district is receiving 54 percent of the interim taxes it received last year, Reinhart said.
“If [the housing market slump] deepens, the issues are going to get worse than they are today,” he said.
Today’s economy will affect the preparation of school budgets as far ahead as 2012 and 2013, he added.
Bensalem School District built lower revenues into its budget, including a 30 percent decline in interim taxes and a 25 percent drop in transfer taxes.
“I’m pleased that we did take a conservative stance with respect to projected revenues,” said Jack Myers, Bensalem’s director of business operations.
By September, Bensalem had already collected $300,000 of its budgeted $1 million in transfer taxes, which Myers called a “pleasant surprise.”
Still, being on target is more a reflection of the district’s downward projections, and there are still eight months left in the fiscal year, he said.
“At this point, I’m not panicking, but I’m worried,” added Myers, who said he is constantly monitoring and “fine-tuning” the budget.
Central Bucks business manager Dave Matyas was also concerned about the 1 percent earned income tax going south if unemployment levels rise and workers don’t receive raises or bonuses because of the economy.
“Who knows where that’s going to go?” he wondered.
An unstable stock market and cuts in federal interest rates have taken their toll on districts’ coffers.
In its current budget, Bensalem assumed a 40 percent drop in interest returns for the year, Myers said.
Reichert said Hatboro-Horsham, which invests conservatively, has seen its returns cut almost in half from last year. “That’s having an effect,” he said. A deficit and subsequent spending freeze in Harrisburg also has district officials worried. Last month, state revenues fell to $565 million below expectations, and Gov. Ed Rendell outlined $311 million in spending cuts. As part of those cuts, the state Department of Education froze about one-half percent of its budget, said Leah Harris, department spokeswoman. Matyas and Reinhart both voiced concerns that the state’s budget woes would lead to lagging subsidy payments. “They’ve done it in the past,” Reinhart said. However, Harris dismissed the business managers’ concerns.
“The schedule of payment has not been affected as of right now,” she said. “We don’t anticipate that there will be a delay.”
In many ways, school districts’ financial strains mirror the situation at private-sector businesses across the state and country.
The difference is that public schools have fewer avenues for cutting expenses.
“We can’t reduce staff because our student population is not declining,” said Matyas of Central Bucks. “That’s the problem we have as a public entity.”
Instead, Hatboro-Horsham’s Reichert said, schools must become creative and “focus on doing more with less.”
For districts like Bensalem, that translates to delaying the replacement of furniture and equipment and implementing cost-effective energy strategies, such as the geothermal heating system installed at the newly renovated Snyder Middle School, Myers said.
That was James Carville's famous strategy in the Clinton campaign of 1992. I doubt there's anyone out there who is NOT concerned about the economy and the impact on the bottom line. "Today’s economy will affect the preparation of school budgets as far ahead as 2012 and 2013, he added." Perhaps so, but let's be a little more focused on the immediate: What's the state of revenues and expenditures in 2008-09?
Economy has schools concerned
A lag in tax collections and underperforming investments means schools might need to do more with less in the coming years or find support for a tax increase.
By THERESA HEGEL
Like the families that help to support them, school districts in the area have entered a period of belt tightening.
District business managers already dealing with drops in tax revenue and dwindling investment returns say the budget for the next school year likely will be difficult to prepare.
But most districts said administration and school boards were committed to keeping property tax millage increases at or under the 4.1 percent mandated by the state.
“The whole community is suffering,” said Pennridge Superintendent Robert Kish, noting that his district wasn’t interested in adding to the burden.
Real estate transfer taxes and interim real estate taxes — levied when properties are bought and sold or when improvements are made to an existing property — are, in many cases, down from last year’s levels.
“Homes aren’t selling,” said Robert Reichert, director of business affairs for Hatboro-Horsham School District. “People aren’t doing renovation work like they were.”
In terms of real estate transfer taxes, Pennridge received 81 percent of the level of revenue this July, August and September, when compared with last year’s intake in those months, said business administrator Bob Reinhart.
Last year’s transfer tax total of $1.6 million already represented a dip from years when the housing market was hot. Back in 2005-06, the district reaped $2.1 million from transfer taxes, he said.
So far this school year, the district is receiving 54 percent of the interim taxes it received last year, Reinhart said.
“If [the housing market slump] deepens, the issues are going to get worse than they are today,” he said.
Today’s economy will affect the preparation of school budgets as far ahead as 2012 and 2013, he added.
Bensalem School District built lower revenues into its budget, including a 30 percent decline in interim taxes and a 25 percent drop in transfer taxes.
“I’m pleased that we did take a conservative stance with respect to projected revenues,” said Jack Myers, Bensalem’s director of business operations.
By September, Bensalem had already collected $300,000 of its budgeted $1 million in transfer taxes, which Myers called a “pleasant surprise.”
Still, being on target is more a reflection of the district’s downward projections, and there are still eight months left in the fiscal year, he said.
“At this point, I’m not panicking, but I’m worried,” added Myers, who said he is constantly monitoring and “fine-tuning” the budget.
Central Bucks business manager Dave Matyas was also concerned about the 1 percent earned income tax going south if unemployment levels rise and workers don’t receive raises or bonuses because of the economy.
“Who knows where that’s going to go?” he wondered.
An unstable stock market and cuts in federal interest rates have taken their toll on districts’ coffers.
In its current budget, Bensalem assumed a 40 percent drop in interest returns for the year, Myers said.
Reichert said Hatboro-Horsham, which invests conservatively, has seen its returns cut almost in half from last year. “That’s having an effect,” he said. A deficit and subsequent spending freeze in Harrisburg also has district officials worried. Last month, state revenues fell to $565 million below expectations, and Gov. Ed Rendell outlined $311 million in spending cuts. As part of those cuts, the state Department of Education froze about one-half percent of its budget, said Leah Harris, department spokeswoman. Matyas and Reinhart both voiced concerns that the state’s budget woes would lead to lagging subsidy payments. “They’ve done it in the past,” Reinhart said. However, Harris dismissed the business managers’ concerns.
“The schedule of payment has not been affected as of right now,” she said. “We don’t anticipate that there will be a delay.”
In many ways, school districts’ financial strains mirror the situation at private-sector businesses across the state and country.
The difference is that public schools have fewer avenues for cutting expenses.
“We can’t reduce staff because our student population is not declining,” said Matyas of Central Bucks. “That’s the problem we have as a public entity.”
Instead, Hatboro-Horsham’s Reichert said, schools must become creative and “focus on doing more with less.”
For districts like Bensalem, that translates to delaying the replacement of furniture and equipment and implementing cost-effective energy strategies, such as the geothermal heating system installed at the newly renovated Snyder Middle School, Myers said.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Candidate, banned from district property, wins seat on school board
At least Morrisville doesn't have this problem. From the San Jose Mercury News.
Candidate, banned from district property, wins seat on Alum Rock school board
By Sharon Noguchi
Mercury News
Article Launched: 11/06/2008 05:39:14 PM PST
Dolores Marquez didn't knock on doors, send out mailers or spend a penny besides her filing fee to campaign for a seat on the Alum Rock school board.
Oh, and there also was that matter of her messy resignation and agreement never to set foot on district property or talk to employees during work hours.
Yet on Tuesday, somehow Marquez won. Even she's at a bit of a loss.
"I'm baffled," she said Thursday.
The district is not pleased. It has sued to prevent the 57-year-old retiree from serving on the school board.
"I'm not sure where we'd have board meetings," said trustee Tanya Freudenberger, mulling the possible accommodations if Marquez is seated in December. "We're not talking an ideal situation, of course."
Marquez's attorneys insist she has a right to serve, despite a March 2007 settlement terminating her 30 years of employment with the district.
The settlement alleged that she had misused district property and illegally campaigned for her husband Joe Frausto, a former Alum Rock trustee who was seeking re-election in November 2006.
"She has a constitutional right to run, and voters have a constitutional right to elect her," said James Trujillo of the California School Employees Association, which is representing Marquez.
He noted that in drafting the settlement, the district agreed to remove a clause banning Marquez from running for Alum Rock office. "They knew she might seek a governing board seat in the future," Trujillo said.
The district did not return phone calls Thursday. The school board is meeting today to discuss the suit; a court hearing is set for Nov. 25.
However, district officials and attorneys previously have insisted the settlement effectively bars Marquez from serving as a trustee. The settlement also prohibits her from doing business with the district.
Marquez's apparent win, by a slim 200 votes, surprised many in the community — including Marquez herself.
For much of the campaign season, she was out of the East San Jose district due to the birth of two granddaughters and successive family health emergencies.
She said she came out of retirement to "give back to the community."
Observers credit the luck of her name appearing first on the ballot, and her name recognition from having worked as a child welfare and attendance liaison for the district and served on various community boards.
Plus, off and on, she had been in the news. There was an old dispute with fellow candidate Esau Herrera, who also won a seat Tuesday on the five-member board.
In 1994, Herrera and Marquez sued each other, charging harassment. Among other things, Herrera had alleged that then-trustee Alex Salazar tried to run him over with a car while Marquez, a passenger in the car, shouted encouragement.
A judge told the litigants to go home and work out their differences.
Candidate, banned from district property, wins seat on Alum Rock school board
By Sharon Noguchi
Mercury News
Article Launched: 11/06/2008 05:39:14 PM PST
Dolores Marquez didn't knock on doors, send out mailers or spend a penny besides her filing fee to campaign for a seat on the Alum Rock school board.
Oh, and there also was that matter of her messy resignation and agreement never to set foot on district property or talk to employees during work hours.
Yet on Tuesday, somehow Marquez won. Even she's at a bit of a loss.
"I'm baffled," she said Thursday.
The district is not pleased. It has sued to prevent the 57-year-old retiree from serving on the school board.
"I'm not sure where we'd have board meetings," said trustee Tanya Freudenberger, mulling the possible accommodations if Marquez is seated in December. "We're not talking an ideal situation, of course."
Marquez's attorneys insist she has a right to serve, despite a March 2007 settlement terminating her 30 years of employment with the district.
The settlement alleged that she had misused district property and illegally campaigned for her husband Joe Frausto, a former Alum Rock trustee who was seeking re-election in November 2006.
"She has a constitutional right to run, and voters have a constitutional right to elect her," said James Trujillo of the California School Employees Association, which is representing Marquez.
He noted that in drafting the settlement, the district agreed to remove a clause banning Marquez from running for Alum Rock office. "They knew she might seek a governing board seat in the future," Trujillo said.
The district did not return phone calls Thursday. The school board is meeting today to discuss the suit; a court hearing is set for Nov. 25.
However, district officials and attorneys previously have insisted the settlement effectively bars Marquez from serving as a trustee. The settlement also prohibits her from doing business with the district.
Marquez's apparent win, by a slim 200 votes, surprised many in the community — including Marquez herself.
For much of the campaign season, she was out of the East San Jose district due to the birth of two granddaughters and successive family health emergencies.
She said she came out of retirement to "give back to the community."
Observers credit the luck of her name appearing first on the ballot, and her name recognition from having worked as a child welfare and attendance liaison for the district and served on various community boards.
Plus, off and on, she had been in the news. There was an old dispute with fellow candidate Esau Herrera, who also won a seat Tuesday on the five-member board.
In 1994, Herrera and Marquez sued each other, charging harassment. Among other things, Herrera had alleged that then-trustee Alex Salazar tried to run him over with a car while Marquez, a passenger in the car, shouted encouragement.
A judge told the litigants to go home and work out their differences.
Crews search for survivors in Haiti school collapse
Coverage of the school collapse in Haiti, from CNN.
Immediate need: Haiti was also ravaged by Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna, and Ike earlier this year.
There's plenty of aid organizations out there, and while we're highlighting the Red Cross here, please help where you can.
"You can help the victims of countless crises around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation by either contacting 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish), or mailing your donation with the designation to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013 or to your local American Red Cross chapter. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org."
Crews search for survivors in Haiti school collapse
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CNN) -- Rescue workers continued to search for survivors Saturday after a school collapse killed at least 50 children in Petionville near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
Clarens Renois, a journalist with the Haiti Press Network, said nearly 200 children remained trapped under rubble as of midnight Friday.
As many as 700 children were inside when the building collapsed around 10 a.m. ET Friday, officials said. Some were in class and others were in a playground, Haitian media reported.
"We are looking at major casualties here," said Alex Claudon, a Red Cross official on the scene.
President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis toured the disaster area. The Haiti Press Network quoted Preval as saying that he "heard and saw with my own eyes children appealing for help."
At least one member of the Haitian Parliament has raised questions about whether the school was built for the number of students and teachers who were inside when the College La Promesse Evangelique collapsed, Renois said. The official described the building as "not quite solid" with "weak construction."
Preval has since called for a review of building-construction guidelines.
The Haitian Civil Protection Bureau said at least 100 people have been injured, but the death toll is expected to rise.
Most of the students at the school ranged in age from 10 to 20, officials said, but some are younger. Haitian press reports said kindergarten, primary and secondary students attended the school.
"We are taking all necessary steps. The government has mobilized to save those who can be saved," Pierre-Louis said.
Preval asked residents to stay away from the area to allow police and rescue officials to do their work unimpeded.
Michaele Gedeon, president of Haiti's Red Cross, said that, while she was on the phone with rescuers trying to coordinate their efforts, she could hear the voices of distraught children.
"On the phone you can hear so many children, you know, crying, crying, and saying, "This one is dead. that one is dead,'" she said.
Claudon said hundreds of bystanders and rescue workers were digging through the rubble with their hands and rudimentary tools, but "what we need right now is heavy search-and-rescue equipment." Video Watch Red Cross official describe scene »
In a later interview, Claudon said, "Local authorities are doing their best."
About 50 to 60 patients, 30 of them severely injured, were taken to Trinite Hospital in Port-au-Prince, said Isabelle Mouniaman Nara, the head of mission in the capital for Doctors Without Borders.
Another 150 patients were treated elsewhere, Nara said Friday night.
The situation at Trinite "is under control right now," she said.
Trinite is the only hospital that is open in Port-au-Prince, Doctors Without Borders said. The other two -- General Hospital and Hospital de la Paix -- have been shut down due to worker strikes.
The school is in an extremely poor part of town and the roads are nearly impassable, Renois said. He also said an United Nations helicopter was unable to land.
"The school is poorly built," said Amelia Shaw, a journalist with United Nations TV who visited the scene.
The two-story school had an addition built in the rear over a 200-foot ravine, Shaw told CNN by telephone. The steep hillside, she said, is covered with run-down houses and shacks on both sides.
The disaster occurred when the second floor crumbled onto the first, Shaw said.
The U.S. Agency for International Development sent a Disaster Assistance Response Team, which arrived on the scene within hours of the collapse, the agency said in a news release.
After assessing the situation, USAID activated its partner, the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team. That team will be composed of 38 personnel, four search-and-rescue dogs and 31,000 pounds of rescue equipment and is expected to arrive Saturday.
The Urban Search and Rescue Team will be accompanied by four additional USAID disaster experts.
U.S. Ambassador Janet Sanderson expressed her condolences in a note, the Haiti Press Network reported.
Immediate need: Haiti was also ravaged by Hurricanes Gustav, Hanna, and Ike earlier this year.
There's plenty of aid organizations out there, and while we're highlighting the Red Cross here, please help where you can.
"You can help the victims of countless crises around the world each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross International Response Fund, which will provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. If you wish to designate your donation to a specific disaster, please do so at the time of your donation by either contacting 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish), or mailing your donation with the designation to the American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 20013 or to your local American Red Cross chapter. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org."
Crews search for survivors in Haiti school collapse
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (CNN) -- Rescue workers continued to search for survivors Saturday after a school collapse killed at least 50 children in Petionville near the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.
Clarens Renois, a journalist with the Haiti Press Network, said nearly 200 children remained trapped under rubble as of midnight Friday.
As many as 700 children were inside when the building collapsed around 10 a.m. ET Friday, officials said. Some were in class and others were in a playground, Haitian media reported.
"We are looking at major casualties here," said Alex Claudon, a Red Cross official on the scene.
President Rene Preval and Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis toured the disaster area. The Haiti Press Network quoted Preval as saying that he "heard and saw with my own eyes children appealing for help."
At least one member of the Haitian Parliament has raised questions about whether the school was built for the number of students and teachers who were inside when the College La Promesse Evangelique collapsed, Renois said. The official described the building as "not quite solid" with "weak construction."
Preval has since called for a review of building-construction guidelines.
The Haitian Civil Protection Bureau said at least 100 people have been injured, but the death toll is expected to rise.
Most of the students at the school ranged in age from 10 to 20, officials said, but some are younger. Haitian press reports said kindergarten, primary and secondary students attended the school.
"We are taking all necessary steps. The government has mobilized to save those who can be saved," Pierre-Louis said.
Preval asked residents to stay away from the area to allow police and rescue officials to do their work unimpeded.
Michaele Gedeon, president of Haiti's Red Cross, said that, while she was on the phone with rescuers trying to coordinate their efforts, she could hear the voices of distraught children.
"On the phone you can hear so many children, you know, crying, crying, and saying, "This one is dead. that one is dead,'" she said.
Claudon said hundreds of bystanders and rescue workers were digging through the rubble with their hands and rudimentary tools, but "what we need right now is heavy search-and-rescue equipment." Video Watch Red Cross official describe scene »
In a later interview, Claudon said, "Local authorities are doing their best."
About 50 to 60 patients, 30 of them severely injured, were taken to Trinite Hospital in Port-au-Prince, said Isabelle Mouniaman Nara, the head of mission in the capital for Doctors Without Borders.
Another 150 patients were treated elsewhere, Nara said Friday night.
The situation at Trinite "is under control right now," she said.
Trinite is the only hospital that is open in Port-au-Prince, Doctors Without Borders said. The other two -- General Hospital and Hospital de la Paix -- have been shut down due to worker strikes.
The school is in an extremely poor part of town and the roads are nearly impassable, Renois said. He also said an United Nations helicopter was unable to land.
"The school is poorly built," said Amelia Shaw, a journalist with United Nations TV who visited the scene.
The two-story school had an addition built in the rear over a 200-foot ravine, Shaw told CNN by telephone. The steep hillside, she said, is covered with run-down houses and shacks on both sides.
The disaster occurred when the second floor crumbled onto the first, Shaw said.
The U.S. Agency for International Development sent a Disaster Assistance Response Team, which arrived on the scene within hours of the collapse, the agency said in a news release.
After assessing the situation, USAID activated its partner, the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team. That team will be composed of 38 personnel, four search-and-rescue dogs and 31,000 pounds of rescue equipment and is expected to arrive Saturday.
The Urban Search and Rescue Team will be accompanied by four additional USAID disaster experts.
U.S. Ambassador Janet Sanderson expressed her condolences in a note, the Haiti Press Network reported.
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