From the BCCT.
Don't get me wrong. The aim here is healthier students and I'm all for that. It's just that you can't MAKE kids healthy by becoming the celebrations police. It takes a personal commitment and personal responsibility.
Parents: Wake up and be a parent. Monitor what the kids eat and stop OVERbuying the stuff they shouldn't be eating.
Students: Drop the Wii controller and get outside. Find a sport. PLAY. Have fun.
District distributes wellness pamphlet
Foods with sugar are supposed to be limited for classroom celebrations.
By JOAN HELLYER
STAFF WRITER
Joan Hellyer can be reached at 215-949-4048 or jhellyer@phillyBurbs.com.
What rewards can a Bristol Township teacher use to celebrate a student’s success in the classroom? What can Bristol Township parents send in with their kids for a classroom party? What are the nutritional guidelines for Bristol Township schools to abide by during fundraising activities? Answers to those and other questions are spelled out in an informational booklet that’s being distributed this week to district students, teachers and administrators, spokeswoman Eileen Kelliher said. It includes healthy-choice guidelines that are part of a wellness policy approved several years ago by the school board, she said.
A recent survey by the district’s Healthy Kids initiative suggests that while the policy was previously adhered to, efforts to maintain the wellness mandate have waned, Kelliher said.
The district began implementing the Healthy Kids project earlier this year in an effort to reduce an obesity rate of roughly 30 percent among district elementary school students, according to project officials.
Given the results of the wellness survey, District Health Coordinator Avis Anderson teamed up with Pam Duffy, the Healthy Kids coordinator, to produce the informational packet, Kelliher said.
In it, Anderson and Duffy explain the wellness policy is based on nutritional standards. For instance, it limits the amount of foods that contain sugar to two or three items during classroom parties. The offered items also need to include fresh fruits, vegetables, water, 100 percent fruit juice or milk, according to the booklet.
Anderson and Duffy provide numerous healthy alternatives to sweet treats as rewards or during celebrations and to help raise money for district schools.
For classroom rewards, they suggest giving toys or trinkets like rubber balls or finger puppets. Instead of selling cakes and candies during fundraisers, they suggest selling magazine subscriptions.
Nominal expenses to produce the blue-covered information booklets were covered with money from a $300,000 Tufts University grant the district is using to fund its Healthy Kids initiative, Kelliher said.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Baby, It's COLD Outside!
From the BCCT.
Donate your new or gently used hats, gloves, mittens and scarves this season.
The Morrisville Middle/Senior High School’s 21st Century Service Learning/Interact Club will collect cold weather items through January.
People can drop them off at the school, 550 Palmer Ave., and at The Ivins House, 80 W. Trenton Ave., both in Morrisville. The American Red Cross Lower Bucks County homeless shelter, The Salvation Army and The Ivins House will distribute the donations to those in need.
The senior high Service Learning/Interact Club is made up of student in grades nine through 12 who live in Morrisville and do projects throughout the year to help the community.
Donate your new or gently used hats, gloves, mittens and scarves this season.
The Morrisville Middle/Senior High School’s 21st Century Service Learning/Interact Club will collect cold weather items through January.
People can drop them off at the school, 550 Palmer Ave., and at The Ivins House, 80 W. Trenton Ave., both in Morrisville. The American Red Cross Lower Bucks County homeless shelter, The Salvation Army and The Ivins House will distribute the donations to those in need.
The senior high Service Learning/Interact Club is made up of student in grades nine through 12 who live in Morrisville and do projects throughout the year to help the community.
Honors for CB East and West
From the BCCT.
CB East and West ranked among top schools by U.S. News
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Central Bucks East High School and Central Bucks West High School are among the best high schools in America.
U.S. News & World Report and School Evaluation Services placed them in the top 604 out of more than 21,000 public high schools recognized in 48 states, based on their students' college readiness.
“We are incredibly proud of our student body, our staff and our surrounding community. An achievement of this nature is the result of a caring school community, and we're excited by the opportunities our school creates for its students,” said Abe Lucabaugh, the principal at Central Bucks East.
CB West and CB East serve about 3,000 Doylestown-area students in grades 10 through 12.
School Evaluation Services, a K-12 education data research business run by Standard & Poor's, only assigned individual rankings to the top 100 Gold Medal schools.
No other area school was ranked on the America's Best High Schools list. However, not all high schools provided sufficient data to be rated for the list, according to School Evaluation Services.
In Pennsylvania, two schools won a Top 100 distinction. Masterman Julia R Secondary School in Philadelphia is No. 53 and Conestoga Senior High School in Chester County is No. 79.
Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Va., is No. 1 in the country for the second year in a row.
School Evaluation Services placed participating schools at gold, silver or bronze levels or honorable mention, depending on how well they achieved the following criteria:
* Achievement levels for all students in reading and math core subjects on state accountability tests.
* Ability to achieve proficiency rates on state tests for the school's least advantaged student groups.
* Providing students with a challenging college-ready curriculum, measured through a college readiness index derived from participation and performance on AP tests.
The ranking system by School Evaluation Services is the only one that considers the performance of students at every level within a school, according to the organization.
CB East and CB West were placed in the silver medal level.
The top 100 high schools include 18 charter schools and 16 magnet schools. Student populations in the top schools vary greatly, ranging from 125 in Limestone, Maine, to 4,296 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
CB East and West ranked among top schools by U.S. News
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Central Bucks East High School and Central Bucks West High School are among the best high schools in America.
U.S. News & World Report and School Evaluation Services placed them in the top 604 out of more than 21,000 public high schools recognized in 48 states, based on their students' college readiness.
“We are incredibly proud of our student body, our staff and our surrounding community. An achievement of this nature is the result of a caring school community, and we're excited by the opportunities our school creates for its students,” said Abe Lucabaugh, the principal at Central Bucks East.
CB West and CB East serve about 3,000 Doylestown-area students in grades 10 through 12.
School Evaluation Services, a K-12 education data research business run by Standard & Poor's, only assigned individual rankings to the top 100 Gold Medal schools.
No other area school was ranked on the America's Best High Schools list. However, not all high schools provided sufficient data to be rated for the list, according to School Evaluation Services.
In Pennsylvania, two schools won a Top 100 distinction. Masterman Julia R Secondary School in Philadelphia is No. 53 and Conestoga Senior High School in Chester County is No. 79.
Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria, Va., is No. 1 in the country for the second year in a row.
School Evaluation Services placed participating schools at gold, silver or bronze levels or honorable mention, depending on how well they achieved the following criteria:
* Achievement levels for all students in reading and math core subjects on state accountability tests.
* Ability to achieve proficiency rates on state tests for the school's least advantaged student groups.
* Providing students with a challenging college-ready curriculum, measured through a college readiness index derived from participation and performance on AP tests.
The ranking system by School Evaluation Services is the only one that considers the performance of students at every level within a school, according to the organization.
CB East and CB West were placed in the silver medal level.
The top 100 high schools include 18 charter schools and 16 magnet schools. Student populations in the top schools vary greatly, ranging from 125 in Limestone, Maine, to 4,296 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Money crunch hits Central Bucks
From the Intelligencer.
Money crunch hits CB
By CHRISTINA KRISTOFIC
Central Bucks School District is freezing spending on curriculum and athletics, borrowing and hiring new teachers next year and discretionary spending at each of its schools.
“We’re looking at everything we can to try to save as much money as we can,” district business manager David Matyas said this week.
“We’re going to look at what can we not buy this year. … Is it library books, textbooks? We’re looking at everything.”
Asked if the district is looking at a property tax rate increase for next school year, Matyas said, “We don’t have much clarity on that at all. …We probably won’t until February.”
Central Bucks’ budget for the 2008-09 school year is approximately $267 million.
Revenue hasn’t been coming in as district officials expected when they first drafted the budget at this time last year. The state Department of Education cut its subsidy to Central Bucks by about $1 million earlier this year, and district officials can’t begin to guess what the state might provide next year. Matyas told the school board he anticipates real estate transfer tax revenue will be about $765,000 less than the $4.27 million in the budget.
The district will likely earn about as much interest on its investments as officials expected — approximately $2.28 million.
Matyas said the district might get about $100,000 more in property tax revenue than the $174 million officials budgeted.
“You might as well call that flat. That’s nothing for a budget of our size,” Matyas said.
And earned income tax revenue is expected to be about $700,000 more than the $17.3 million in the district’s budget.
Expenses for this school year have been “pretty much on target,” Matyas said. But, as with everywhere else, expenses are expected to rise next year.
District officials are also trying to prepare for an expected spike in Central Bucks’ contribution to the state retirement program in 2012-13. Matyas said the district currently contributes approximately $10 million, and will have to contribute about $20 million in 2012-13.
The building, curriculum and athletic budgets — the budgets over which Matyas said the district has “some discretion” — will be frozen for the 2009-10 budget year. Finance director Tom McCambridge said the budgets make up about 3 percent of the school district’s overall budget.
The building budgets, Matyas explained, are managed by school principals and include the number of hours teacher aides work, how much copier machines get used, textbook purchases, library book purchases and cosmetic changes to the buildings.
The curriculum budget is the money the district spends on new curricula and training for teachers to implement it.
“For example, this year, we’re implementing a new science curriculum at the elementary level. That’s part of the curriculum budget. There’s a lot of staff development in that, a lot of new materials,” Matyas said. “That’s part of this year’s budget, so that will go through. The timing was good on that.”
The athletic budget is the money the district spends on coaches’ salaries, field-painting, and athletic uniforms and equipment.
Student enrollment in Central Bucks has been leveling out (the district gained only two new students this year), so district officials have decided not to create any new teaching positions.
Matyas said district officials don’t know yet what enrollment might be next year.
“We’re hoping it’s flat. We’re hoping we’re not going to experience any enrollment pressure. Enrollment pressure means new teaching positions,” Matyas said. “If we have one new kid or 500 new kids, our philosophy today is that we’re not hiring any new teaching positions.”
There is one exception to that rule, Matyas said.
District officials expect to hire five new autistic support teachers and one gifted support teacher.
“We have more special ed students we know that are coming into the K-12 population from pre-school. We also have students that are moving from the elementary to secondary level,” Matyas explained.
Matyas will present a draft budget of expenses to the school board at its regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Money crunch hits CB
By CHRISTINA KRISTOFIC
Central Bucks School District is freezing spending on curriculum and athletics, borrowing and hiring new teachers next year and discretionary spending at each of its schools.
“We’re looking at everything we can to try to save as much money as we can,” district business manager David Matyas said this week.
“We’re going to look at what can we not buy this year. … Is it library books, textbooks? We’re looking at everything.”
Asked if the district is looking at a property tax rate increase for next school year, Matyas said, “We don’t have much clarity on that at all. …We probably won’t until February.”
Central Bucks’ budget for the 2008-09 school year is approximately $267 million.
Revenue hasn’t been coming in as district officials expected when they first drafted the budget at this time last year. The state Department of Education cut its subsidy to Central Bucks by about $1 million earlier this year, and district officials can’t begin to guess what the state might provide next year. Matyas told the school board he anticipates real estate transfer tax revenue will be about $765,000 less than the $4.27 million in the budget.
The district will likely earn about as much interest on its investments as officials expected — approximately $2.28 million.
Matyas said the district might get about $100,000 more in property tax revenue than the $174 million officials budgeted.
“You might as well call that flat. That’s nothing for a budget of our size,” Matyas said.
And earned income tax revenue is expected to be about $700,000 more than the $17.3 million in the district’s budget.
Expenses for this school year have been “pretty much on target,” Matyas said. But, as with everywhere else, expenses are expected to rise next year.
District officials are also trying to prepare for an expected spike in Central Bucks’ contribution to the state retirement program in 2012-13. Matyas said the district currently contributes approximately $10 million, and will have to contribute about $20 million in 2012-13.
The building, curriculum and athletic budgets — the budgets over which Matyas said the district has “some discretion” — will be frozen for the 2009-10 budget year. Finance director Tom McCambridge said the budgets make up about 3 percent of the school district’s overall budget.
The building budgets, Matyas explained, are managed by school principals and include the number of hours teacher aides work, how much copier machines get used, textbook purchases, library book purchases and cosmetic changes to the buildings.
The curriculum budget is the money the district spends on new curricula and training for teachers to implement it.
“For example, this year, we’re implementing a new science curriculum at the elementary level. That’s part of the curriculum budget. There’s a lot of staff development in that, a lot of new materials,” Matyas said. “That’s part of this year’s budget, so that will go through. The timing was good on that.”
The athletic budget is the money the district spends on coaches’ salaries, field-painting, and athletic uniforms and equipment.
Student enrollment in Central Bucks has been leveling out (the district gained only two new students this year), so district officials have decided not to create any new teaching positions.
Matyas said district officials don’t know yet what enrollment might be next year.
“We’re hoping it’s flat. We’re hoping we’re not going to experience any enrollment pressure. Enrollment pressure means new teaching positions,” Matyas said. “If we have one new kid or 500 new kids, our philosophy today is that we’re not hiring any new teaching positions.”
There is one exception to that rule, Matyas said.
District officials expect to hire five new autistic support teachers and one gifted support teacher.
“We have more special ed students we know that are coming into the K-12 population from pre-school. We also have students that are moving from the elementary to secondary level,” Matyas explained.
Matyas will present a draft budget of expenses to the school board at its regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Reorganization Wrapup
From the BCCT. No changes in Morrisville.
Same headline, different day. No change in Morrisville...
School boards elect new officers
By JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Courier Times
State law requires all governing bodies in Pennsylvania's 501 public school districts to elect officers during the first week of December for the next year. Seven of the Lower Bucks County school boards reorganized Dec. 1. Council Rock's board reorganized Thursday night. Bucks County Technical High School's joint board committee will choose its officers during its Dec. 16 meeting. Here are the results of last week's reorganization meetings:
BENSALEM
The Bensalem school board voted 8-0 to appoint Harry Kramer to another term as its president.
The board split 5-3 in its selection of a new vice president.
Eugene Rothenberg was appointed vice president as he and Dr. Lewis Brandt, Kramer, Heather Nicholas and Stephen Nowmos voted in favor of the nomination.
Carol McGuire, Rose Jacobs and Carol Jones voted in favor of McGuire filling the post.
The board also split 5-3 to reappoint Begley, Carlin and Mandio as its solicitor.
The three no voters, as they did during the 2007 reorganization meeting, suggested the district's governing body get annual bids for the post instead of just reappointing the longtime solicitor.
James Bodnar did not attend the meeting.
BRISTOL
The Bristol school board voted 6-0 to appoint David Chichilitti to another term as board president.
The board, in separate 6-0 votes, also decided to reappoint John D'Angelo as vice president and James Petrino as treasurer.
Board member Mary Jane Paglione arrived at the meeting after the officers were selected, according to meeting records. Steve Cullen and Louis Persichetti Jr. did not attend the meeting.
BRISTOL TOWNSHIP
Bristol Township school board members voted 6-3 to elect W. Earl Bruck as president.
Bruck, who succeeds board member Stacey Pressley as president, joined Helen Cini, Frederick Black, Michele Haines, Sean Norman and Bruce Prendergast Jr. in approving the nomination.
Pressley, Angela Nober and Stacy Gerlach voted against the appointment.
The board also split 7-2 in its appointment of Cini as its vice president, with Pressley and Nober voting against. She succeeds Nober.
CENTENNIAL
Thomas Reinboth replaced Michael Monaghan as board president. Cynthia Mueller remains the vice president and Betty Huf will stay as the assistant secretary. All votes were unanimous.
Monaghan said he did not seek another year as president because of recent health problems. Reinboth commended Monaghan on his year of service as president.
Monaghan represents Region 3, which includes Warminster west of York Road, plus the Speedway section. Reinboth represents Region 2, which includes Ivyland and Warminster east of York Road except the Speedway section.
Traditionally, the regional school board alternates its leadership between Warminster and Upper Southampton every two years.
COUNCIL ROCK
The Council Rock school board unanimously approved Paul Anagnostakos as the next president. Board member Jerold S. Grupp participated in Thursday night's meeting via telephone.
Board members then voted 6-3 for Bernadette Heenan to fill the vice president's seat. Board members Kyle McKessy, Wendi Thomas and Richard Abramson voted for Grupp.
The governing body also approved 8-0 the firm of Eastburn and Gray to continue as the school board's solicitor. Board member Patricia Vaccaro-Sexton was not present for the solictor's vote.
MORRISVILLE
Joseph Kemp nominated Robin Reithmeyer to be president during the reorganization meeting but Kemp and Reithmeyer lost that vote 7-2.
Then, in separate votes, the board appointed the current officers to another year of service, with William Hellmann as president, Alfred Radosti as vice president, Marlys Mihok as secretary and Brenda Worob as treasurer. Kemp and Reithmeyer voted against Hellmann's and Radosti's appointments.
The board also voted unanimously to retain Michael Fitzpatrick as its solicitor.
NESHAMINY
The school board elected Ritchie Webb, in a 5-4 vote, to succeed Rick Eccles as president. Board members William O'Connor, Bill Spitz, Irene Boyle and Joseph Blasch voted no.
Several motions to appoint Frank Koziol, Kim Koutsouradis or Joseph Blasch as vice president failed. Koziol served as vice president for the past year.
The board will try again to elect its vice president during its 7 p.m. meeting Monday night at Herbert Hoover Elementary School on Trenton Road in Middletown, officials said.
The board reappointed Begley, Carlin and Mandio as its solicitor in a 6-3 vote. Blasch, O'Connor and Spitz voted against that firm.
Board members also approved the PA Open Records Law Act 3-2008 Session.
PENNSBURY
All Pennsbury school board officers retained their former positions.
Gregory Lucidi will serve another year as president, Arlene Gordon is vice president and Richard Johnson is the board secretary.
Compiled by education reporters Joan Hellyer, Rachel Canelli and Manasee Wagh
Same headline, different day. No change in Morrisville...
School boards elect new officers
By JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Courier Times
State law requires all governing bodies in Pennsylvania's 501 public school districts to elect officers during the first week of December for the next year. Seven of the Lower Bucks County school boards reorganized Dec. 1. Council Rock's board reorganized Thursday night. Bucks County Technical High School's joint board committee will choose its officers during its Dec. 16 meeting. Here are the results of last week's reorganization meetings:
BENSALEM
The Bensalem school board voted 8-0 to appoint Harry Kramer to another term as its president.
The board split 5-3 in its selection of a new vice president.
Eugene Rothenberg was appointed vice president as he and Dr. Lewis Brandt, Kramer, Heather Nicholas and Stephen Nowmos voted in favor of the nomination.
Carol McGuire, Rose Jacobs and Carol Jones voted in favor of McGuire filling the post.
The board also split 5-3 to reappoint Begley, Carlin and Mandio as its solicitor.
The three no voters, as they did during the 2007 reorganization meeting, suggested the district's governing body get annual bids for the post instead of just reappointing the longtime solicitor.
James Bodnar did not attend the meeting.
BRISTOL
The Bristol school board voted 6-0 to appoint David Chichilitti to another term as board president.
The board, in separate 6-0 votes, also decided to reappoint John D'Angelo as vice president and James Petrino as treasurer.
Board member Mary Jane Paglione arrived at the meeting after the officers were selected, according to meeting records. Steve Cullen and Louis Persichetti Jr. did not attend the meeting.
BRISTOL TOWNSHIP
Bristol Township school board members voted 6-3 to elect W. Earl Bruck as president.
Bruck, who succeeds board member Stacey Pressley as president, joined Helen Cini, Frederick Black, Michele Haines, Sean Norman and Bruce Prendergast Jr. in approving the nomination.
Pressley, Angela Nober and Stacy Gerlach voted against the appointment.
The board also split 7-2 in its appointment of Cini as its vice president, with Pressley and Nober voting against. She succeeds Nober.
CENTENNIAL
Thomas Reinboth replaced Michael Monaghan as board president. Cynthia Mueller remains the vice president and Betty Huf will stay as the assistant secretary. All votes were unanimous.
Monaghan said he did not seek another year as president because of recent health problems. Reinboth commended Monaghan on his year of service as president.
Monaghan represents Region 3, which includes Warminster west of York Road, plus the Speedway section. Reinboth represents Region 2, which includes Ivyland and Warminster east of York Road except the Speedway section.
Traditionally, the regional school board alternates its leadership between Warminster and Upper Southampton every two years.
COUNCIL ROCK
The Council Rock school board unanimously approved Paul Anagnostakos as the next president. Board member Jerold S. Grupp participated in Thursday night's meeting via telephone.
Board members then voted 6-3 for Bernadette Heenan to fill the vice president's seat. Board members Kyle McKessy, Wendi Thomas and Richard Abramson voted for Grupp.
The governing body also approved 8-0 the firm of Eastburn and Gray to continue as the school board's solicitor. Board member Patricia Vaccaro-Sexton was not present for the solictor's vote.
MORRISVILLE
Joseph Kemp nominated Robin Reithmeyer to be president during the reorganization meeting but Kemp and Reithmeyer lost that vote 7-2.
Then, in separate votes, the board appointed the current officers to another year of service, with William Hellmann as president, Alfred Radosti as vice president, Marlys Mihok as secretary and Brenda Worob as treasurer. Kemp and Reithmeyer voted against Hellmann's and Radosti's appointments.
The board also voted unanimously to retain Michael Fitzpatrick as its solicitor.
NESHAMINY
The school board elected Ritchie Webb, in a 5-4 vote, to succeed Rick Eccles as president. Board members William O'Connor, Bill Spitz, Irene Boyle and Joseph Blasch voted no.
Several motions to appoint Frank Koziol, Kim Koutsouradis or Joseph Blasch as vice president failed. Koziol served as vice president for the past year.
The board will try again to elect its vice president during its 7 p.m. meeting Monday night at Herbert Hoover Elementary School on Trenton Road in Middletown, officials said.
The board reappointed Begley, Carlin and Mandio as its solicitor in a 6-3 vote. Blasch, O'Connor and Spitz voted against that firm.
Board members also approved the PA Open Records Law Act 3-2008 Session.
PENNSBURY
All Pennsbury school board officers retained their former positions.
Gregory Lucidi will serve another year as president, Arlene Gordon is vice president and Richard Johnson is the board secretary.
Compiled by education reporters Joan Hellyer, Rachel Canelli and Manasee Wagh
Winterfest
From the BCCT. I know I enjoyed the day and hope you did also. Any stories you want to share?
Pictures from the day posted at the BCCT.
Residents take part in Winterfest
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
The fortunes of this country seemed to change on Christmas night.
Little more than five months after the Declaration of Independence was signed, America's prospects in the fight for liberty looked grim. The troops were hungry and underpaid, and beating England's armies was starting to look hopeless in the winter of 1776.
So when George Washington and his troops battled freezing temperatures on Dec. 25 to overcome enemy Hessian soldiers in a surprise attack, their victory convinced the fledgling nation to keep up the fight.
Washington planned his attack from Summerseat, a historic house in what is now Morrisville.
Revolutionary War re-enactor Jim Gibson of Fallsington portrayed Washington on Saturday during a re-enactment of his historic December arrival at Summerseat.
Accompanied by several re-enactors dressed as soldiers, Gibson rode down Hillcrest Avenue to Summerseat in his carriage. He informed the residents that his troops would be commandeering their home. Dressed in royal blue and khaki with a blue sash denoting his rank, Gibson gave a rousing speech taken from Washington's letters and past speeches.
“The price of liberty is not cheap, but as it takes root it becomes a tree of rapid growth,” he said. “As a tree it flourishes, watered by the blood of patriots.”
From Summerseat, Washington planned the crossing of the Delaware with his men and 18 cannons. They faced a group of unprepared Hessians, emerging with no casualties.
With that victory, Washington was able to convince more men to join the Army, ensuring the victory over England, said Jim Slotterbeck, whose eyes welled with tears as he talked about the dedication of the troops.
“It was a pivotal moment,” he said. “It's the sincerity, and how they gave up everything for their country,” Slotterbeck wore Colonial garb to portray Summerseat owner Thomas Barclay.
The house, preserved and maintained by the Historic Morrisville Society, was packed with people enjoying glimpses of history, including traditional and holiday decorations by the Makefield Lakes Garden Club.
Patrick Peters portrayed a Colonial-era apothecary surgeon. On a table he arranged knives, a bone saw, dental instruments, medicinal herbs and other items his character would have used.
Ivy Attenborough paid close attention to Peters' descriptions about surgery without anesthesia and the use of herbs in the 1800s.
“Learning how they lived with their medicine was amazing,” said Ivy, 9, of Morrisville.
Ivy explored toy trains and books about trains in the house by the Southampton Railroad Station Society and the National Railway Historical Society.
People bought hot dogs, chili and pastries as well as raffle tickets for gift baskets. The raffle and food raised funds to maintain Summerseat.
The event was part of Morrisville's annual daylong Winterfest celebration.
Kids had breakfast with Santa at the Holy Trinity School and enjoyed a parade. At the Morrisville Senior Center, children had their pictures taken with Santa while parents checked out items for sale at the center's Christmas bazaar.
Residents visited the YMCA's craft fair, where tables were crammed with jewelry, scarves and other handmade gifts.
“The setup is just beautiful,” said Kathy Panzitta, who was exiting the craft fair with several purchases. Panzitta is vice president of the Morrisville Borough Council.
The day ended with a live nativity scene and a “Celebrate the Season” concert at First Baptist Church of Morrisville.
Pictures from the day posted at the BCCT.
Residents take part in Winterfest
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
The fortunes of this country seemed to change on Christmas night.
Little more than five months after the Declaration of Independence was signed, America's prospects in the fight for liberty looked grim. The troops were hungry and underpaid, and beating England's armies was starting to look hopeless in the winter of 1776.
So when George Washington and his troops battled freezing temperatures on Dec. 25 to overcome enemy Hessian soldiers in a surprise attack, their victory convinced the fledgling nation to keep up the fight.
Washington planned his attack from Summerseat, a historic house in what is now Morrisville.
Revolutionary War re-enactor Jim Gibson of Fallsington portrayed Washington on Saturday during a re-enactment of his historic December arrival at Summerseat.
Accompanied by several re-enactors dressed as soldiers, Gibson rode down Hillcrest Avenue to Summerseat in his carriage. He informed the residents that his troops would be commandeering their home. Dressed in royal blue and khaki with a blue sash denoting his rank, Gibson gave a rousing speech taken from Washington's letters and past speeches.
“The price of liberty is not cheap, but as it takes root it becomes a tree of rapid growth,” he said. “As a tree it flourishes, watered by the blood of patriots.”
From Summerseat, Washington planned the crossing of the Delaware with his men and 18 cannons. They faced a group of unprepared Hessians, emerging with no casualties.
With that victory, Washington was able to convince more men to join the Army, ensuring the victory over England, said Jim Slotterbeck, whose eyes welled with tears as he talked about the dedication of the troops.
“It was a pivotal moment,” he said. “It's the sincerity, and how they gave up everything for their country,” Slotterbeck wore Colonial garb to portray Summerseat owner Thomas Barclay.
The house, preserved and maintained by the Historic Morrisville Society, was packed with people enjoying glimpses of history, including traditional and holiday decorations by the Makefield Lakes Garden Club.
Patrick Peters portrayed a Colonial-era apothecary surgeon. On a table he arranged knives, a bone saw, dental instruments, medicinal herbs and other items his character would have used.
Ivy Attenborough paid close attention to Peters' descriptions about surgery without anesthesia and the use of herbs in the 1800s.
“Learning how they lived with their medicine was amazing,” said Ivy, 9, of Morrisville.
Ivy explored toy trains and books about trains in the house by the Southampton Railroad Station Society and the National Railway Historical Society.
People bought hot dogs, chili and pastries as well as raffle tickets for gift baskets. The raffle and food raised funds to maintain Summerseat.
The event was part of Morrisville's annual daylong Winterfest celebration.
Kids had breakfast with Santa at the Holy Trinity School and enjoyed a parade. At the Morrisville Senior Center, children had their pictures taken with Santa while parents checked out items for sale at the center's Christmas bazaar.
Residents visited the YMCA's craft fair, where tables were crammed with jewelry, scarves and other handmade gifts.
“The setup is just beautiful,” said Kathy Panzitta, who was exiting the craft fair with several purchases. Panzitta is vice president of the Morrisville Borough Council.
The day ended with a live nativity scene and a “Celebrate the Season” concert at First Baptist Church of Morrisville.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Enjoy Winterfest...
There will be no posting today. You should be out enjoying Winterfest. I know I will. Stop by and say hello. I'll be the one with the coat and gloves.
Pearls Before Swine today illustrates the value of public input into the local political process. Imagine the Emperor playing the part of Rat...
Pearls Before Swine today illustrates the value of public input into the local political process. Imagine the Emperor playing the part of Rat...
Friday, December 5, 2008
Winterfest Schedule
Morrisville Winterfest December 6, 2008
8:30-11am Holy Trinity's Breakfast with Santa
Call: Audrey 215 295 9235 or Michele 215 295 6230 for advance tickets
and prices.
Tickets on sale until 12/3/08.and will NOT be sold at door. Bring a
camera for pictures with Santa!
9am-2pm Morrisville YMCA Craft Fair & Flea Market
Variety of crafts, jewelry, holiday gifts…. Food by Lumpylicious BBQ
200 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Call Kim 215 428 2598
9am-2pm Senior Center Christmas Bazaar 31 E. Cleveland Ave
AM refreshments & lunch available, bake sale, crafters, FREE pictures
w/ Santa, Gift Boxed Money shirt, raffles & door prizes 215 295 0567
10am-11:30 Winterfest Parade 215 736 0346
Post Road to S. Pennsylvania Ave., to Delaware Ave., to Washington
St., to Lafayette St., to Hillcrest Ave., to N. Pennsylvania Ave., ending
At The Morrisville YMCA!
10:00am-3:00pm Summerseat Remembers
Historic reenactors, including George Washington (scheduled to arrive at 11).
Come have lunch. Home made chili, soup & baked goods.
Basket raffle & 50/50...
Hillcrest and Legion Ave
4pm-7pm Live Nativity & FBC Open House 50 N. Penn. Ave.
LIVE nativity, refreshments, "Celebrate the Season" Concert @ 6pm,
Gingerbread House & coloring contest awards @ 7pm,
Solid Rock Youth Center 7-9pm
5pm-6pm Robert Morris Plaza Activities Bridge St. & PA Ave.
Caroling, reading of Twas The Night Before Christmas, annual
Tree lighting and the arrival of Santa Claus
5pm-8pm BRIDGE STREET BLOCK PARTY!
Enjoy your local Morrisville Business Community after hours!
LIVE entertainment, DJ, FREE refreshments Call 215 295 3430
5pm-8pm Morrisville Rescue Squad Open House
Washington St., Refreshments, entertainment, pictures with Santa…
8:30-11am Holy Trinity's Breakfast with Santa
Call: Audrey 215 295 9235 or Michele 215 295 6230 for advance tickets
and prices.
Tickets on sale until 12/3/08.and will NOT be sold at door. Bring a
camera for pictures with Santa!
9am-2pm Morrisville YMCA Craft Fair & Flea Market
Variety of crafts, jewelry, holiday gifts…. Food by Lumpylicious BBQ
200 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Call Kim 215 428 2598
9am-2pm Senior Center Christmas Bazaar 31 E. Cleveland Ave
AM refreshments & lunch available, bake sale, crafters, FREE pictures
w/ Santa, Gift Boxed Money shirt, raffles & door prizes 215 295 0567
10am-11:30 Winterfest Parade 215 736 0346
Post Road to S. Pennsylvania Ave., to Delaware Ave., to Washington
St., to Lafayette St., to Hillcrest Ave., to N. Pennsylvania Ave., ending
At The Morrisville YMCA!
10:00am-3:00pm Summerseat Remembers
Historic reenactors, including George Washington (scheduled to arrive at 11).
Come have lunch. Home made chili, soup & baked goods.
Basket raffle & 50/50...
Hillcrest and Legion Ave
4pm-7pm Live Nativity & FBC Open House 50 N. Penn. Ave.
LIVE nativity, refreshments, "Celebrate the Season" Concert @ 6pm,
Gingerbread House & coloring contest awards @ 7pm,
Solid Rock Youth Center 7-9pm
5pm-6pm Robert Morris Plaza Activities Bridge St. & PA Ave.
Caroling, reading of Twas The Night Before Christmas, annual
Tree lighting and the arrival of Santa Claus
5pm-8pm BRIDGE STREET BLOCK PARTY!
Enjoy your local Morrisville Business Community after hours!
LIVE entertainment, DJ, FREE refreshments Call 215 295 3430
5pm-8pm Morrisville Rescue Squad Open House
Washington St., Refreshments, entertainment, pictures with Santa…
Same Animosity Remains on School Board
I just liked the headline.
New leaders elected, same animosity remains on OJR School Board
By: Laura Catalano, For the Spring-Ford Reporter 12/05/2008
The Owen J. Roberts School Board elected Edward Kerner as board president for 2009, at a series of three meetings Monday that were regularly interspersed by arguments.
Board member Debbie Bissland was named vice president.
The board voted 8-1 on both those appointments, with Barbara McMeekin casting the lone dissenting vote.
But later in the meeting the board sparred over several matters, including a decision not to accept a gift of fleece jackets presented by administrators. And outgoing President John Dutton read closing remarks that were heavily critical of the superintendent and served to highlight the growing rift between the board and administration.
The meeting was actually a series of three meetings that included the brief, final meeting with Dutton as president, a reorganization meeting during which the new president was elected, and a regular business meeting.
The first meeting began with Superintendent Myra Forrest acknowledging Dutton for his dedication and presenting him with a plaque to honor his year as president. She then acknowledged all school board members, in honor of January's School Director Recognition Month. The board does not meet again until the end of January.
The administration traditionally presents board members with a gift, and Forrest showed them fleece jackets that would be ordered for each member for the second year in a row.
Following that, Dutton gave his outgoing remarks. They provided a sharp contrast to Forrest's overtures of appreciation. About half of his brief statement was a condemnation of Forrest
"It is a year that no other president of the Owen J. Roberts School Board has ever had," Dutton said, reading from a prepared statement.
He noted that two board members had resigned, two replacements had been appointed and new lawyers had been hired. He then went on to blast a fellow board member and the superintendent.
"Another board member has consistently gone to the newspapers with confidential information that was discussed in executive sessions," he accused.
He laid blame on the superintendent, claiming she failed "to give the board all the information they needed to make the most informed decisions and the right choices." And he accused her of "stacking the meetings to try to intimidate the board into voting her way."
District teachers and administrators have regularly come to meetings and voiced support for Forrest and her recommendations. Dutton noted that when the board voted down her recommendations, Forrest often proposed them again.
"Dr. Forrest was under the mistaken impression that the board works for her," Dutton read. "It's just the opposite."
He concluded by saying, "I have always had the best interest of the students in my mind first and then the taxpayers."
Forrest, seated next to Dutton, made no comment on the remarks.
However, on Tuesday, Forrest made this statement: "Mr. Dutton's comments were unprofessional, appalling, and shocking, especially in the public forum in which they were made."
She insisted that "the comments were not consistent with the outstanding academic, athletic, and artistic achievements that the Owen J. Roberts School District has attained this year. It would be preferable that the leadership of the board work with administration to establish a communications protocol so we could continue to move forward in a positive direction."
Later, during the business meeting, McMeekin brought up the fleece jackets that had been offered to the board and suggested the board forego the gift and use the money "to hire a staff person or buy textbooks."
The board approved that motion with Eugene Endress, former head of the OJR Taxpayers Alliance, casting the only apparent negative vote. But immediately after the vote, Dutton reacted angrily to the decision.
"I'm going to freeze my a-- off this winter!" he said. "That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard."
Later Dutton said he was planning to cancel his reservation to a conference for school board members in April, stating "I'm not allowed to get a fleece, I'm not going to San Diego."
At the end of the meeting parent Karen Shimer approached the board, and reminded them that the district's Web site maintains that the board should "lead with respect."
"I think your hearts are in the right place," Shimer said, "But the impression you're making I don't think is one you want to make."
New leaders elected, same animosity remains on OJR School Board
By: Laura Catalano, For the Spring-Ford Reporter 12/05/2008
The Owen J. Roberts School Board elected Edward Kerner as board president for 2009, at a series of three meetings Monday that were regularly interspersed by arguments.
Board member Debbie Bissland was named vice president.
The board voted 8-1 on both those appointments, with Barbara McMeekin casting the lone dissenting vote.
But later in the meeting the board sparred over several matters, including a decision not to accept a gift of fleece jackets presented by administrators. And outgoing President John Dutton read closing remarks that were heavily critical of the superintendent and served to highlight the growing rift between the board and administration.
The meeting was actually a series of three meetings that included the brief, final meeting with Dutton as president, a reorganization meeting during which the new president was elected, and a regular business meeting.
The first meeting began with Superintendent Myra Forrest acknowledging Dutton for his dedication and presenting him with a plaque to honor his year as president. She then acknowledged all school board members, in honor of January's School Director Recognition Month. The board does not meet again until the end of January.
The administration traditionally presents board members with a gift, and Forrest showed them fleece jackets that would be ordered for each member for the second year in a row.
Following that, Dutton gave his outgoing remarks. They provided a sharp contrast to Forrest's overtures of appreciation. About half of his brief statement was a condemnation of Forrest
"It is a year that no other president of the Owen J. Roberts School Board has ever had," Dutton said, reading from a prepared statement.
He noted that two board members had resigned, two replacements had been appointed and new lawyers had been hired. He then went on to blast a fellow board member and the superintendent.
"Another board member has consistently gone to the newspapers with confidential information that was discussed in executive sessions," he accused.
He laid blame on the superintendent, claiming she failed "to give the board all the information they needed to make the most informed decisions and the right choices." And he accused her of "stacking the meetings to try to intimidate the board into voting her way."
District teachers and administrators have regularly come to meetings and voiced support for Forrest and her recommendations. Dutton noted that when the board voted down her recommendations, Forrest often proposed them again.
"Dr. Forrest was under the mistaken impression that the board works for her," Dutton read. "It's just the opposite."
He concluded by saying, "I have always had the best interest of the students in my mind first and then the taxpayers."
Forrest, seated next to Dutton, made no comment on the remarks.
However, on Tuesday, Forrest made this statement: "Mr. Dutton's comments were unprofessional, appalling, and shocking, especially in the public forum in which they were made."
She insisted that "the comments were not consistent with the outstanding academic, athletic, and artistic achievements that the Owen J. Roberts School District has attained this year. It would be preferable that the leadership of the board work with administration to establish a communications protocol so we could continue to move forward in a positive direction."
Later, during the business meeting, McMeekin brought up the fleece jackets that had been offered to the board and suggested the board forego the gift and use the money "to hire a staff person or buy textbooks."
The board approved that motion with Eugene Endress, former head of the OJR Taxpayers Alliance, casting the only apparent negative vote. But immediately after the vote, Dutton reacted angrily to the decision.
"I'm going to freeze my a-- off this winter!" he said. "That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard."
Later Dutton said he was planning to cancel his reservation to a conference for school board members in April, stating "I'm not allowed to get a fleece, I'm not going to San Diego."
At the end of the meeting parent Karen Shimer approached the board, and reminded them that the district's Web site maintains that the board should "lead with respect."
"I think your hearts are in the right place," Shimer said, "But the impression you're making I don't think is one you want to make."
Who Let the Dogs Out?
From the BCCT.
Canine team to seek out drugs
By JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Courier Times
The Bensalem school board has hired a canine search company to help find prescription drugs that students bring to school without permission.
The searches are needed because the medications could be misused as stimulants or depressants, said Superintendent James Lombardo on Monday night after the board approved the random searches.
The Partnership for a Drug Free America's annual tracking study suggests prescription drug abuse among teens and young adults is a serious problem in the United States.
The recently released study found that one in five teens has abused a prescription pain medication, one in five reported abusing prescription stimulants and tranquilizers and one in 10 teens has abused cough medication.
Hiring Interquest Detection Canines of Eastern Pennsylvania is part of the district's ongoing effort to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for its students, Lombardo said.
Bensalem is among several area school districts to enlist Interquest searches in its anti-drug enforcement efforts. Centennial, Central Bucks and Council Rock also have utilized the firm in the last several years.
“We want to make sure the schools are as safe as they can be,” the Bensalem superintendent said after the school board agreed to hire the firm at a cost of $215 per three-hour search.
District officials will decide when and where the searches take place, Lombardo said.
They began considering the searches in the spring after dealing with a couple of cases where students brought prescription medications to school.
Lombardo would not say what medications were brought in or identify the schools where the incidents took place.
Students who are prescribed medication are supposed to bring it to the school nurse, Lombardo said. Students who bring medications to school without going through proper channels face suspension. If they bring the prescriptions to school to give to other students, they face expulsion, he said.
The agreement with Interquest runs through June.
Canine team to seek out drugs
By JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Courier Times
The Bensalem school board has hired a canine search company to help find prescription drugs that students bring to school without permission.
The searches are needed because the medications could be misused as stimulants or depressants, said Superintendent James Lombardo on Monday night after the board approved the random searches.
The Partnership for a Drug Free America's annual tracking study suggests prescription drug abuse among teens and young adults is a serious problem in the United States.
The recently released study found that one in five teens has abused a prescription pain medication, one in five reported abusing prescription stimulants and tranquilizers and one in 10 teens has abused cough medication.
Hiring Interquest Detection Canines of Eastern Pennsylvania is part of the district's ongoing effort to provide a safe and healthy learning environment for its students, Lombardo said.
Bensalem is among several area school districts to enlist Interquest searches in its anti-drug enforcement efforts. Centennial, Central Bucks and Council Rock also have utilized the firm in the last several years.
“We want to make sure the schools are as safe as they can be,” the Bensalem superintendent said after the school board agreed to hire the firm at a cost of $215 per three-hour search.
District officials will decide when and where the searches take place, Lombardo said.
They began considering the searches in the spring after dealing with a couple of cases where students brought prescription medications to school.
Lombardo would not say what medications were brought in or identify the schools where the incidents took place.
Students who are prescribed medication are supposed to bring it to the school nurse, Lombardo said. Students who bring medications to school without going through proper channels face suspension. If they bring the prescriptions to school to give to other students, they face expulsion, he said.
The agreement with Interquest runs through June.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Stockham Building Update
From the BCCT.
Gym coming to building at center of dispute
Lawyers say a federal lawsuit over a strip club denied at the same building is moving forward.
By DANNY ADLER
A fitness center is coming to a Morrisville location that’s been the focus of a federal lawsuit over a New Jersey company’s constitutional right to put a strip club and a commercial sign there.
Signs posted at the Stockham Building in Morrisville’s downtown district announce the future opening of Champion Fitness Center, even though the building’s owner and a possible lessee are suing the borough and its zoning hearing board.
While the lawsuit goes through U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, owners of the mostly vacant building are moving on.
The gym was part of the proposed plan for the Stockham Building, a four-story masonry structure at the southeast corner of Bridge Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. Bucks County records say the building was built in 1927.
It’s unclear when the 24-hour gym will open and which floor — or floors — it will occupy. Some exercise and office equipment can be seen through the new ground floor windows, which until recently were boarded up.
The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching Champion Fitness Center owner Tarek Hassieb for more information.
Even with the apparent signs of progress for the 18,800-squarefoot building, lawyers said they’re continuing the federal suit.
Stockham Interests LLC, the landlord, and 10 Enterprises LLC, a lessee, said Morrisville’s ordinances prohibit “First Amendment protected expression” to bring the strip club to the Stockham Building. The suit was filed a few months after zoning officials in May denied variances to allow the club.
The borough has challenged that its ordinances are not unconstitutional and that “adult entertainment” is not permitted in the Stockham Building’s central commercial zoning district. According to borough officials, Morrisville allows adult entertainment establishments in the borough’s industrial-zoned areas between Route 1 and West Philadelphia Avenue.
There is a strip club and bar, Sugar and Spice, about one-third of a mile south of the Stockham Building on Pennsylvania Avenue. Sugar and Spice is zoned residential, but the club is grandfathered in, zoning officials said.
Luke Lirot, an attorney from Clearwater, Fla., representing Stockham Interests and 10 Enterprises, said in a telephone interview last week that Morrisville is attempting to “zone out” adult businesses. Borough solicitor James Downey III has said Morrisville has its zoning for “good municipal planning.”
The Pennsylvania Department of State’s Web site lists the president of 10 Enterprises as Ralph Friedman of Jenkintown. Todd Colarusso is a principal of Stockham Interests.
In an order issued Nov. 12, U.S. District Court Judge Berle M. Schiller said Stockham Interests’ and 10 Enterprises’ free speech claims can proceed. The judge dismissed other claims issued by the two parties and denied Stockham Interests’ request for in excess of $75,000 in damages.
Lirot on Monday filed documents that focus heavily on the constitutional issues of the litigation. He said the documents focus on the absence of any “reasonable” locations to put such an establishment and the lack of evidence that the proposal would cause any increases in crime or declining property values.
“The bottom line is, we felt that the application was erroneously denied,” Lirot said.
Gym coming to building at center of dispute
Lawyers say a federal lawsuit over a strip club denied at the same building is moving forward.
By DANNY ADLER
A fitness center is coming to a Morrisville location that’s been the focus of a federal lawsuit over a New Jersey company’s constitutional right to put a strip club and a commercial sign there.
Signs posted at the Stockham Building in Morrisville’s downtown district announce the future opening of Champion Fitness Center, even though the building’s owner and a possible lessee are suing the borough and its zoning hearing board.
While the lawsuit goes through U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, owners of the mostly vacant building are moving on.
The gym was part of the proposed plan for the Stockham Building, a four-story masonry structure at the southeast corner of Bridge Street and Pennsylvania Avenue. Bucks County records say the building was built in 1927.
It’s unclear when the 24-hour gym will open and which floor — or floors — it will occupy. Some exercise and office equipment can be seen through the new ground floor windows, which until recently were boarded up.
The newspaper was unsuccessful in reaching Champion Fitness Center owner Tarek Hassieb for more information.
Even with the apparent signs of progress for the 18,800-squarefoot building, lawyers said they’re continuing the federal suit.
Stockham Interests LLC, the landlord, and 10 Enterprises LLC, a lessee, said Morrisville’s ordinances prohibit “First Amendment protected expression” to bring the strip club to the Stockham Building. The suit was filed a few months after zoning officials in May denied variances to allow the club.
The borough has challenged that its ordinances are not unconstitutional and that “adult entertainment” is not permitted in the Stockham Building’s central commercial zoning district. According to borough officials, Morrisville allows adult entertainment establishments in the borough’s industrial-zoned areas between Route 1 and West Philadelphia Avenue.
There is a strip club and bar, Sugar and Spice, about one-third of a mile south of the Stockham Building on Pennsylvania Avenue. Sugar and Spice is zoned residential, but the club is grandfathered in, zoning officials said.
Luke Lirot, an attorney from Clearwater, Fla., representing Stockham Interests and 10 Enterprises, said in a telephone interview last week that Morrisville is attempting to “zone out” adult businesses. Borough solicitor James Downey III has said Morrisville has its zoning for “good municipal planning.”
The Pennsylvania Department of State’s Web site lists the president of 10 Enterprises as Ralph Friedman of Jenkintown. Todd Colarusso is a principal of Stockham Interests.
In an order issued Nov. 12, U.S. District Court Judge Berle M. Schiller said Stockham Interests’ and 10 Enterprises’ free speech claims can proceed. The judge dismissed other claims issued by the two parties and denied Stockham Interests’ request for in excess of $75,000 in damages.
Lirot on Monday filed documents that focus heavily on the constitutional issues of the litigation. He said the documents focus on the absence of any “reasonable” locations to put such an establishment and the lack of evidence that the proposal would cause any increases in crime or declining property values.
“The bottom line is, we felt that the application was erroneously denied,” Lirot said.
Some giving raises back
From the BCCT.
State legislators giving back raises
Many said they would return them to the state or donate them to charity.
By RACHEL CANELLI
’Tis the season to be giving — back, that is. And state politicians are no exception.
Many local lawmakers publicly announced Wednesday that they’ll either be returning the 2.8 percent automatic cost of living allowance to the commonwealth, or donating their raises to charity.
If all the money goes back to the state, it would total about $506,000.
“People all across Pennsylvania are losing their jobs, and of those lucky enough to stay employed, many are not getting a raise this year,” Rep. John Galloway, D-140, said in a statement about his roughly $2,000 return to the state’s general fund. “If they’re not getting a raise, then why should their elected officials get one?”
Responding to public pressure and House leadership’s call on its members to give back the COLA money, Galloway called the raises an “irresponsible use of tax dollars in these tough economic times.”
While state law prohibits legislators from refusing the and women have the option of donating the funds to charity. Many said they’re awaiting direction from leadership on how to return the dollars to the state treasury. Either way, officials pointed out they still have to pay income taxes on the amount.
Despite that, area politicians, including Rep. Anthony Melio, D-141, Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-6, and Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-12, confirmed Wednesday that they’ll be giving back the COLA raises to the commonwealth.
“I hope and pray that times get better for all the poor people having a rough time,” said Melio.
Before the give-back announcements, some lawmakers, including Rep. Katharine Watson, R-144, had already quietly decided to return the increases.
“It’s not right at this time when so many others are hurting,” she said of the raise estimated to be about $2,100. “It was a matter of my conscience and I don’t expect credit for it. I appreciate that it’s public dollars and it’s just part of what we’re supposed to do. It’s up to the members and their circumstances.”
Watson and Rep. Scott Petri, R-178, both talked about the need for a better process to lower the increases, provide the ability to suspend them, especially during tough times, or get rid of the COLA.
“People are suffering,” said Petri. “The goal is to reduce expenditures in Harrisburg.”
That’s why Rep. Marguerite Quinn, R-143, is co-sponsoring a bill in the works to repeal Act 51 of 1995, which instituted the automatic raises. She and several other legislators, including Rep. Rick Taylor, D-151, and Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-18, have vowed to donate their increases to charity.
Reps.-elect Steve Santarsiero, D-31, and Frank Farry, R-142, who will be sworn in Jan. 6, have also affirmed they’ll return the COLA money.
“I want to make sure my constituents get the benefit of that money,” said Farry, who’s donating his funds to athletic associations in his district.
Santarsiero is committed to giving his adjustment to the state treasury in response to the worsening economy.
Although the politicians admitted that returning the COLA money will not solve the financial crisis, they said they should be sacrificing since everyone else is tightening their belts.
“Is it going to balance the $2 billion hole? No, it’s a small drop in the bucket,” Taylor said. “But it’s a statement that we understand the issue.”
State legislators giving back raises
Many said they would return them to the state or donate them to charity.
By RACHEL CANELLI
’Tis the season to be giving — back, that is. And state politicians are no exception.
Many local lawmakers publicly announced Wednesday that they’ll either be returning the 2.8 percent automatic cost of living allowance to the commonwealth, or donating their raises to charity.
If all the money goes back to the state, it would total about $506,000.
“People all across Pennsylvania are losing their jobs, and of those lucky enough to stay employed, many are not getting a raise this year,” Rep. John Galloway, D-140, said in a statement about his roughly $2,000 return to the state’s general fund. “If they’re not getting a raise, then why should their elected officials get one?”
Responding to public pressure and House leadership’s call on its members to give back the COLA money, Galloway called the raises an “irresponsible use of tax dollars in these tough economic times.”
While state law prohibits legislators from refusing the and women have the option of donating the funds to charity. Many said they’re awaiting direction from leadership on how to return the dollars to the state treasury. Either way, officials pointed out they still have to pay income taxes on the amount.
Despite that, area politicians, including Rep. Anthony Melio, D-141, Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-6, and Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-12, confirmed Wednesday that they’ll be giving back the COLA raises to the commonwealth.
“I hope and pray that times get better for all the poor people having a rough time,” said Melio.
Before the give-back announcements, some lawmakers, including Rep. Katharine Watson, R-144, had already quietly decided to return the increases.
“It’s not right at this time when so many others are hurting,” she said of the raise estimated to be about $2,100. “It was a matter of my conscience and I don’t expect credit for it. I appreciate that it’s public dollars and it’s just part of what we’re supposed to do. It’s up to the members and their circumstances.”
Watson and Rep. Scott Petri, R-178, both talked about the need for a better process to lower the increases, provide the ability to suspend them, especially during tough times, or get rid of the COLA.
“People are suffering,” said Petri. “The goal is to reduce expenditures in Harrisburg.”
That’s why Rep. Marguerite Quinn, R-143, is co-sponsoring a bill in the works to repeal Act 51 of 1995, which instituted the automatic raises. She and several other legislators, including Rep. Rick Taylor, D-151, and Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-18, have vowed to donate their increases to charity.
Reps.-elect Steve Santarsiero, D-31, and Frank Farry, R-142, who will be sworn in Jan. 6, have also affirmed they’ll return the COLA money.
“I want to make sure my constituents get the benefit of that money,” said Farry, who’s donating his funds to athletic associations in his district.
Santarsiero is committed to giving his adjustment to the state treasury in response to the worsening economy.
Although the politicians admitted that returning the COLA money will not solve the financial crisis, they said they should be sacrificing since everyone else is tightening their belts.
“Is it going to balance the $2 billion hole? No, it’s a small drop in the bucket,” Taylor said. “But it’s a statement that we understand the issue.”
Inclusive School Week
From the BCCT.
All together now
Jeannette Hallak Morrisville
We are in the midst of the 8th Annual Inclusive School Week.
During the week, the focus is on what it means to provide an inclusive education.
Inclusive practices believe that all students with disabilities attend the same classes with children without disabilities. It’s about making sure that our school districts’ education system works for all students, including minorities, students of low socio-economic status, and students with disabilities.
Research has shown that inclusive practices are successful and improve academic achievement for all students.
Not that long ago many of our children were excluded from classrooms. On May 17, 1954, in the court decision, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled, “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.”
I challenge each school in Lower Bucks County to celebrate Inclusive School Week and recognize those teachers who are already making their curriculum relevant for each and every child.
To celebrate, please visit: http://www.inclusiveschools.org
All together now
Jeannette Hallak Morrisville
We are in the midst of the 8th Annual Inclusive School Week.
During the week, the focus is on what it means to provide an inclusive education.
Inclusive practices believe that all students with disabilities attend the same classes with children without disabilities. It’s about making sure that our school districts’ education system works for all students, including minorities, students of low socio-economic status, and students with disabilities.
Research has shown that inclusive practices are successful and improve academic achievement for all students.
Not that long ago many of our children were excluded from classrooms. On May 17, 1954, in the court decision, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren ruled, “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.”
I challenge each school in Lower Bucks County to celebrate Inclusive School Week and recognize those teachers who are already making their curriculum relevant for each and every child.
To celebrate, please visit: http://www.inclusiveschools.org
New Businesses Flock to Morrisville
I got this tip from a reader. Thanks for the info.
Borough Council: Congratulations on exceeding expectations for attracting new business to town.
See the new smoke shop on Bridge St where the Pinball place was?
Whats that make it now? 7, 8 9?????????? How much can one town smoke?
Borough Council: Congratulations on exceeding expectations for attracting new business to town.
See the new smoke shop on Bridge St where the Pinball place was?
Whats that make it now? 7, 8 9?????????? How much can one town smoke?
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Galloway Rejects Pay Increase
Remember this question?
Kudos to Rep. Galloway!
What's Senator McIlhinney going to do?
Galloway returns pay increase to the taxpayers
Pennsylvania lawmakers received an automatic 2.8 percent increase in their salaries on Monday, Dec. 1. I am writing to let you know that I am rejecting the increase and returning it to the state treasury.
The cost-of-living increase was issued in accordance with a 1995 law that provides an annual COLA to state elected officials based on a cost-of-living index.
But during these tough economic times, with many residents struggling and the state facing a large budget deficit, the legislature should be looking for ways to cut spending and direct precious tax dollars toward property tax reduction and infrastructure projects that will create jobs and boost our economy.
If all 203 lawmakers return their raises it would save the state roughly $400,000. In this economy, every penny of it can make a difference.
I look forward to serving you in the 2009-10 legislative session. Please contact me if I may be of service to you and your family.
Kudos to Rep. Galloway!
What's Senator McIlhinney going to do?
Galloway returns pay increase to the taxpayers
Pennsylvania lawmakers received an automatic 2.8 percent increase in their salaries on Monday, Dec. 1. I am writing to let you know that I am rejecting the increase and returning it to the state treasury.
The cost-of-living increase was issued in accordance with a 1995 law that provides an annual COLA to state elected officials based on a cost-of-living index.
But during these tough economic times, with many residents struggling and the state facing a large budget deficit, the legislature should be looking for ways to cut spending and direct precious tax dollars toward property tax reduction and infrastructure projects that will create jobs and boost our economy.
If all 203 lawmakers return their raises it would save the state roughly $400,000. In this economy, every penny of it can make a difference.
I look forward to serving you in the 2009-10 legislative session. Please contact me if I may be of service to you and your family.
How To Fix America's Schools
From TIME
Rhee Tackles Classroom Challenge
By Amanda Ripley / Washington Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008
Rebecca Greenfield for TIME
In 11th grade, Allante Rhodes spent 50 minutes a day in a Microsoft Word class at Anacostia Senior High School in Washington. He was determined to go to college, and he figured that knowing Word was a prerequisite. But on a good day, only six of the school's 14 computers worked. He never knew which ones until he sat down and searched for a flicker of life on the screen. "It was like Russian roulette," says Rhodes, a tall young man with an older man's steady gaze. If he picked the wrong computer, the teacher would give him a handout. He would spend the rest of the period learning to use Microsoft Word with a pencil and paper.
One day last fall, tired of this absurdity, Rhodes e-mailed Michelle Rhee, the new, bold-talking chancellor running the District of Columbia Public Schools system. His teacher had given him the address, which was on the chancellor's home page. He was nervous when he hit SEND, but the words were reasonable. "Computers are slowly becoming something that we use every day," he wrote. "And learning how to use them is a major factor in our lives. So I'm just bringing this to your attention." He didn't expect to hear back. Rhee answered the same day. It was the beginning of an unusual relationship.
The U.S. spends more per pupil on elementary and high school education than most developed nations. Yet it is behind most of them in the math and science abilities of its children. Young Americans today are less likely than their parents were to finish high school. This is an issue that is warping the nation's economy and security, and the causes are not as mysterious as they seem. The biggest problem with U.S. public schools is ineffective teaching, according to decades of research. And Washington, which spends more money per pupil than the vast majority of large districts, is the problem writ extreme, a laboratory that failure made. (See pictures of a diverse group of American teens.)
Rhee took over Anacostia High and the district's 143 other schools in June 2007, when Mayor Adrian Fenty named her chancellor. Her appointment stunned the city. Rhee, then 37, had no experience running a school, let alone a district with 46,000 students that ranks last in math among 11 urban school systems. When Fenty called her, she was running a nonprofit called the New Teacher Project, which helps schools recruit good teachers. Most problematic of all, Rhee is not from Washington. She is from Ohio, and she is Korean American in a majority-African-American city. "I was," she says now, "the worst pick on the face of the earth."
But Rhee came highly recommended by another prominent school reformer: Joel Klein, chancellor of New York City's schools. And Rhee was once a teacher--in a Baltimore elementary school with Teach for America--and the experience convinced her that good teachers could alter the lives of kids like Rhodes.
Anacostia High has a 24% graduation rate, and only 21% of its students read at grade level. Rhodes is well aware of the miserable statistics, and when he first saw his new chancellor from afar, he thought she looked petite, foreign and underqualified. "I was like, She doesn't look ready for urban kids." But after they exchanged e-mails, he agreed to meet her downtown. He realized almost at once that he had underestimated her. "She actually sat with me," he says, "and talked eye to eye, like I was one of her co-workers." They decided to meet again, this time at Anacostia High. Rhodes began to talk about Rhee to his classmates, and they started writing an agenda for the meeting, detailing all the things that were wrong with the D.C. school system. They had much to tell.
Rhee has promised to make Washington the highest-performing urban school district in the nation, a prospect that, if realized, could transform the way schools across the country are run. She is attempting to do this through a relentless focus on finding--and rewarding--strong teachers, purging incompetent ones and weakening the tenure system that keeps bad teachers in the classroom. This fall, Rhee was asked to meet with both presidential campaigns to discuss school reform. In the last debate, each candidate tried to claim her as his own, with Barack Obama calling her a "wonderful new superintendent."
Hard as it is to imagine Washington schools ranking among the best in the country, the city does have some things working in its favor. The system is relatively small, making it easier to redirect. As in New York City, the board of education was recently dissolved, which means changes can be made without waiting for the blessing of a fractious body of overseers. And now that a third of Washington's kids are in charter schools, there is intense pressure on the public system to keep the students it still has. If they keep fleeing the system at the current rate, enrollment will drop 50% every 10 years.
Each week, Rhee gets e-mails from superintendents in other cities. They understand that if she succeeds, Rhee could do something no one has done before: she could prove that low-income urban kids can catch up with kids in the suburbs. The radicalism of this idea cannot be overstated. Now, without proof that cities can revolutionize their worst schools, there is always a fine excuse. Superintendents, parents and teachers in urban school districts lament systemic problems they cannot control: poverty, hunger, violence and negligent parents. They bicker over small improvements such as class size and curriculum, like diplomats touring a refugee camp and talking about the need for nicer curtains. To the extent they intervene at all, politicians respond by either throwing more money at the problem (if they're on the left) or making it easier for some parents to send their kids to private schools (if they're on the right).
Meanwhile, millions of students left behind in confused classrooms spend another day learning nothing. [Story continues at TIME.com]
Rhee Tackles Classroom Challenge
By Amanda Ripley / Washington Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008
Rebecca Greenfield for TIME
In 11th grade, Allante Rhodes spent 50 minutes a day in a Microsoft Word class at Anacostia Senior High School in Washington. He was determined to go to college, and he figured that knowing Word was a prerequisite. But on a good day, only six of the school's 14 computers worked. He never knew which ones until he sat down and searched for a flicker of life on the screen. "It was like Russian roulette," says Rhodes, a tall young man with an older man's steady gaze. If he picked the wrong computer, the teacher would give him a handout. He would spend the rest of the period learning to use Microsoft Word with a pencil and paper.
One day last fall, tired of this absurdity, Rhodes e-mailed Michelle Rhee, the new, bold-talking chancellor running the District of Columbia Public Schools system. His teacher had given him the address, which was on the chancellor's home page. He was nervous when he hit SEND, but the words were reasonable. "Computers are slowly becoming something that we use every day," he wrote. "And learning how to use them is a major factor in our lives. So I'm just bringing this to your attention." He didn't expect to hear back. Rhee answered the same day. It was the beginning of an unusual relationship.
The U.S. spends more per pupil on elementary and high school education than most developed nations. Yet it is behind most of them in the math and science abilities of its children. Young Americans today are less likely than their parents were to finish high school. This is an issue that is warping the nation's economy and security, and the causes are not as mysterious as they seem. The biggest problem with U.S. public schools is ineffective teaching, according to decades of research. And Washington, which spends more money per pupil than the vast majority of large districts, is the problem writ extreme, a laboratory that failure made. (See pictures of a diverse group of American teens.)
Rhee took over Anacostia High and the district's 143 other schools in June 2007, when Mayor Adrian Fenty named her chancellor. Her appointment stunned the city. Rhee, then 37, had no experience running a school, let alone a district with 46,000 students that ranks last in math among 11 urban school systems. When Fenty called her, she was running a nonprofit called the New Teacher Project, which helps schools recruit good teachers. Most problematic of all, Rhee is not from Washington. She is from Ohio, and she is Korean American in a majority-African-American city. "I was," she says now, "the worst pick on the face of the earth."
But Rhee came highly recommended by another prominent school reformer: Joel Klein, chancellor of New York City's schools. And Rhee was once a teacher--in a Baltimore elementary school with Teach for America--and the experience convinced her that good teachers could alter the lives of kids like Rhodes.
Anacostia High has a 24% graduation rate, and only 21% of its students read at grade level. Rhodes is well aware of the miserable statistics, and when he first saw his new chancellor from afar, he thought she looked petite, foreign and underqualified. "I was like, She doesn't look ready for urban kids." But after they exchanged e-mails, he agreed to meet her downtown. He realized almost at once that he had underestimated her. "She actually sat with me," he says, "and talked eye to eye, like I was one of her co-workers." They decided to meet again, this time at Anacostia High. Rhodes began to talk about Rhee to his classmates, and they started writing an agenda for the meeting, detailing all the things that were wrong with the D.C. school system. They had much to tell.
Rhee has promised to make Washington the highest-performing urban school district in the nation, a prospect that, if realized, could transform the way schools across the country are run. She is attempting to do this through a relentless focus on finding--and rewarding--strong teachers, purging incompetent ones and weakening the tenure system that keeps bad teachers in the classroom. This fall, Rhee was asked to meet with both presidential campaigns to discuss school reform. In the last debate, each candidate tried to claim her as his own, with Barack Obama calling her a "wonderful new superintendent."
Hard as it is to imagine Washington schools ranking among the best in the country, the city does have some things working in its favor. The system is relatively small, making it easier to redirect. As in New York City, the board of education was recently dissolved, which means changes can be made without waiting for the blessing of a fractious body of overseers. And now that a third of Washington's kids are in charter schools, there is intense pressure on the public system to keep the students it still has. If they keep fleeing the system at the current rate, enrollment will drop 50% every 10 years.
Each week, Rhee gets e-mails from superintendents in other cities. They understand that if she succeeds, Rhee could do something no one has done before: she could prove that low-income urban kids can catch up with kids in the suburbs. The radicalism of this idea cannot be overstated. Now, without proof that cities can revolutionize their worst schools, there is always a fine excuse. Superintendents, parents and teachers in urban school districts lament systemic problems they cannot control: poverty, hunger, violence and negligent parents. They bicker over small improvements such as class size and curriculum, like diplomats touring a refugee camp and talking about the need for nicer curtains. To the extent they intervene at all, politicians respond by either throwing more money at the problem (if they're on the left) or making it easier for some parents to send their kids to private schools (if they're on the right).
Meanwhile, millions of students left behind in confused classrooms spend another day learning nothing. [Story continues at TIME.com]
How Obama can fix education
From the Boston Globe.
How Obama can fix education
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist / December 3, 2008
IF MONEY were the key to great education, Sasha and Malia Obama might be getting ready to transfer next month to the Francis-Stevens Education Center, the Washington, D.C., public school assigned to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., which will be the girls' new address as of Jan. 20.
The District of Columbia, after all, boasts one of the most amply funded school systems in America. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the DC public schools spend about $13,700 per pupil. That is a level of funding more lavish than in 48 states and half again as generous as the national per-pupil expenditure of $9,150.
But bigger budgets, alas, don't guarantee educational excellence. Its abundant spending notwithstanding, DC's public school system ranks among the worst in the nation.
"In reading and math, the District's public school students score at the bottom among 11 major city school systems, even when poor children are compared only with other poor children," The Washington Post reported last year. According to the authoritative National Assessment of Education Progress, only one in seven fourth-graders is ranked at grade-level ("proficient") or better in reading and math. Among eighth-graders, only one in eight is proficient in reading; only one in 12 can handle eighth-grade math.
So to no one's surprise, the Obama girls will not be attending public school in Washington. Barack and Michelle Obama have decided to enroll their daughters in Sidwell Friends, the same private school that Chelsea Clinton attended when she was First Daughter.
The president-elect has taken a bit of heat for rejecting public education for Sasha and Malia. Critics point out that Obama cast himself as a staunch supporter of public schools during the presidential campaign. "We need to fix and improve our public schools," he told the NAACP convention in July, "not throw our hands up and walk away from them." When Time magazine asked the candidates whether parents should be given vouchers to enable them to send their children to better schools, his reply was adamant: "No. I believe that public education in America should foster innovation and provide students with varied, high-quality learning opportunities."
Now in fairness to the Obamas, an ideological commitment to public schools hardly obliges them to send their kids to one - especially when the local school system is as wretched as Washington, D.C.'s. The Obamas' first and deepest responsibility is to their daughters; to have enrolled the girls in the District's failing public system just to make a political point would have been appallingly irresponsible.
But in fairness to the critics, why doesn't Obama want other parents - poorer parents - to be able to do better by their children too? Candidates have been promising to "fix and improve our public schools" for decades, and for decades the schools have remained stubbornly mediocre, hefty spending increases notwithstanding. More promises won't do anything for the parents whose kids are stuck in the public schools Sasha and Malia will be spared. Vouchers, on the other hand, would.
Not every school can be a Sidwell Friends, but every school ought to have something Sidwell Friends benefits from every day. Money isn't the root of Sidwell Friends' success. Neither is the size of its classes, or its well-appointed facilities, or its loyal alumni. Sidwell Friends thrives because it has competition - and DC's public schools stagnate because they don't. Public education is essentially a monopoly, and monopolies tend to be costly, unimaginative, and indifferent to their customers' needs. Private and parochial schools, by contrast, cannot succeed if they lose the goodwill and confidence of the parents who choose them to educate their children.
The DC school system spends $13,700 per student, and most of those students can't even read or do simple math. Imagine what would happen if that money were channeled to parents instead, through vouchers that would let them freely choose their kids' schools. Imagine the energy, innovation, and diversity such competition would beget. Imagine the accountability and excellence it would lead to. Imagine the improvement in the lives of Washington's children. Imagine - 54 years after Brown v. Board of Education - achieving educational equality at last.
Public education doesn't have to be a lethargic and mediocre monopoly. Let vouchers stimulate competition, and education would be revolutionized. If that isn't change worth believing in, Mr. Obama, what is?
How Obama can fix education
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist / December 3, 2008
IF MONEY were the key to great education, Sasha and Malia Obama might be getting ready to transfer next month to the Francis-Stevens Education Center, the Washington, D.C., public school assigned to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., which will be the girls' new address as of Jan. 20.
The District of Columbia, after all, boasts one of the most amply funded school systems in America. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the DC public schools spend about $13,700 per pupil. That is a level of funding more lavish than in 48 states and half again as generous as the national per-pupil expenditure of $9,150.
But bigger budgets, alas, don't guarantee educational excellence. Its abundant spending notwithstanding, DC's public school system ranks among the worst in the nation.
"In reading and math, the District's public school students score at the bottom among 11 major city school systems, even when poor children are compared only with other poor children," The Washington Post reported last year. According to the authoritative National Assessment of Education Progress, only one in seven fourth-graders is ranked at grade-level ("proficient") or better in reading and math. Among eighth-graders, only one in eight is proficient in reading; only one in 12 can handle eighth-grade math.
So to no one's surprise, the Obama girls will not be attending public school in Washington. Barack and Michelle Obama have decided to enroll their daughters in Sidwell Friends, the same private school that Chelsea Clinton attended when she was First Daughter.
The president-elect has taken a bit of heat for rejecting public education for Sasha and Malia. Critics point out that Obama cast himself as a staunch supporter of public schools during the presidential campaign. "We need to fix and improve our public schools," he told the NAACP convention in July, "not throw our hands up and walk away from them." When Time magazine asked the candidates whether parents should be given vouchers to enable them to send their children to better schools, his reply was adamant: "No. I believe that public education in America should foster innovation and provide students with varied, high-quality learning opportunities."
Now in fairness to the Obamas, an ideological commitment to public schools hardly obliges them to send their kids to one - especially when the local school system is as wretched as Washington, D.C.'s. The Obamas' first and deepest responsibility is to their daughters; to have enrolled the girls in the District's failing public system just to make a political point would have been appallingly irresponsible.
But in fairness to the critics, why doesn't Obama want other parents - poorer parents - to be able to do better by their children too? Candidates have been promising to "fix and improve our public schools" for decades, and for decades the schools have remained stubbornly mediocre, hefty spending increases notwithstanding. More promises won't do anything for the parents whose kids are stuck in the public schools Sasha and Malia will be spared. Vouchers, on the other hand, would.
Not every school can be a Sidwell Friends, but every school ought to have something Sidwell Friends benefits from every day. Money isn't the root of Sidwell Friends' success. Neither is the size of its classes, or its well-appointed facilities, or its loyal alumni. Sidwell Friends thrives because it has competition - and DC's public schools stagnate because they don't. Public education is essentially a monopoly, and monopolies tend to be costly, unimaginative, and indifferent to their customers' needs. Private and parochial schools, by contrast, cannot succeed if they lose the goodwill and confidence of the parents who choose them to educate their children.
The DC school system spends $13,700 per student, and most of those students can't even read or do simple math. Imagine what would happen if that money were channeled to parents instead, through vouchers that would let them freely choose their kids' schools. Imagine the energy, innovation, and diversity such competition would beget. Imagine the accountability and excellence it would lead to. Imagine the improvement in the lives of Washington's children. Imagine - 54 years after Brown v. Board of Education - achieving educational equality at last.
Public education doesn't have to be a lethargic and mediocre monopoly. Let vouchers stimulate competition, and education would be revolutionized. If that isn't change worth believing in, Mr. Obama, what is?
Property Tax/Rent Rebate Deadline is Fast Approaching
PA Governor Rendell Says Property Tax/Rent Rebate Deadline is Fast Approaching
128,000 more Seniors Encouraged to Apply Before Dec. 31
HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Edward G. Rendell today reminded eligible residents to apply by Dec. 31 for rebates up to $650 from Pennsylvania's expanded Property Tax/Rent Rebate program.
"More than half a million seniors already received rebates this year, but we know there are about 128,000 more people who qualify but haven't yet applied," Governor Rendell said. "I encourage all Pennsylvanians to consider if anyone they know -- parents, grandparents or friends -- may qualify for a rebate and help those loved ones apply before the Dec. 31 deadline.
"These rebates helped eliminate school property taxes for more than 113,000 seniors this year, and I don't want a single qualifying senior to miss out on this help to pay their taxes."
The rebate program benefits eligible Pennsylvanians age 65 and older; widows and widowers age 50 and older; and people with disabilities age 18 and older. The 2006 program expansion increased the income limit from $15,000 to $35,000 (which excludes half of Social Security income) for homeowners and raised the maximum rebate for both homeowners and renters from $500 to $650.
Property Tax/Rent Rebate claim forms (PA-1000) and information are available online at www.PaPropertyTaxRelief.com and by calling 1-888-222-9190, between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Residents requesting forms by mail must call or submit Web site requests by Monday, Dec. 22, to allow sufficient time for mailing. Forms can be downloaded from the Web site until Dec. 31.
Forms and assistance also are available at Department of Revenue district offices (listed in the government section of local telephone directories), local Area Agencies on Aging, senior centers and state legislators' offices. Claimants are reminded to provide all the necessary income, property tax or rental information for their claims to be processed accurately and quickly. Applications must be postmarked by Wednesday, Dec. 31, in order to be considered.
"There are people and offices all over the state ready and willing to help seniors through the application process," said Acting Secretary of Revenue Stephen Stetler. "The program deadline is nearing, but time still remains for residents to explore the program and apply for rebates."
Pennsylvania is providing a total of $786 million in property tax relief this year, including expanded rebates from the state's senior citizen Property Tax/Rent Rebate program and first-ever general property tax relief for all homeowners that was distributed through school districts this past summer. As a result, an estimated 113,000 seniors had their entire school property tax bills eliminated.
Act 1 of Special Session 2006 delivered the largest property tax cut in Pennsylvania history, using proceeds from slots gaming. In addition to the expanded rebate program, the law provides state-funded tax relief through reductions in the tax bills that school districts send out each summer. The broad-based property tax relief started this year at an average of nearly $200 per household across the state.
About 600,000 seniors are expected to benefit from rebates this year, compared to 314,000 before the program's expansion in 2006. Last year, 564,000 seniors received more than $240 million in rebates. So far this year, about 600,000 people have applied for a rebate and, as of Nov. 24, rebates totaling $262 million have been sent to more than 590,000 homeowners and renters.
The expanded household income limits and maximum rebate amounts are:
Renters with incomes between $0 and $8,000 now receive a $650 rebate and those with incomes between $8,001 and $15,000 receive a $500 rebate.
The Property Tax/Rent Rebate program is one of five programs supported by the Pennsylvania Lottery. Since the program's 1971 inception, more than $3.8 billion has been paid to qualified applicants. The expanded portion of the rebate program is funded with revenue from slots gaming.
The Rendell administration is committed to creating a first-rate public education system, protecting our most vulnerable citizens and continuing economic investment to support our communities and businesses. To find out more about Governor Rendell's initiatives and to sign up for his weekly newsletter, visit his Web site at: www.governor.state.pa.us.
CONTACT: Chuck Ardo 717-783-1116
Web site: http://www.governor.state.pa.us/
http://www.PaPropertyTaxRelief.com/
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Teacher Pay
Here's an article from the BCCT looking at the recent Souderton teacher's strike and teacher pay. The best part of the story are the reader comments.
Thank God that this would never happen here in Morr...
Oh. Sorry. My bad.
Teachers: Pay driving them away
By LOU SESSINGER
Staff Writer
The Souderton Area school board listened impassively as three teachers claimed the board’s rigid stance during the current labor dispute over salary is driving talented teachers to districts willing to pay more — and quality of education in Souderton is suffering.
Speaking during the public comment section of last Tuesday night’s school board meeting, speech therapist Allison Moran said the recent resignation of three of her colleagues, “due to the contract this board has presented,” has reduced the number of full-time district speech therapists to two.
One took a job in Upper Perkiomen and two were hired by Upper Dublin, she said, adding that those who went to Upper Dublin got more money.
“Quality teachers and speech therapists cannot be kept in this district without adequate compensation,” she said.
School district solicitor Jeffrey Sultanik said the board was aware of a trend in which school districts are competing for a limited number of speech therapists.
“The board would be prepared to address this issue by having a different compensation scale arranged for speech therapists,” he said. “Compensation should be determined to a certain extent by supply and demand, and this board is prepared right now to sit down and negotiate a separate compensation scale for speech therapists.
“But you’re shaking your head no because it runs contrary to your concept of unionism, which keeps everybody’s salary at the same level, not withstanding supply and demand,” he added.
Science teacher Christopher Luck said he had a master’s degree, was certified to teach both chemistry and physics, was in his ninth year with the school district and earned $53,600 a year, several thousand dollars less than he would be paid at neighboring North Penn or Pennridge.
He said he has seen many of his colleagues leave Souderton for higher pay elsewhere.
“Do you really want quality teachers to leave?” he asked.
Christine Jackson, a physics teacher with 16 years’ experience, said this year the board’s attitude toward teacher salaries “left us with no choice” but to go on strike or find employment elsewhere.
“We’re disheartened by your lack of respect to teachers and administrators … and your unwillingness to strengthen the district,” she said.
The teachers union went on strike for 15 days at the start of the school year in September.
The school district has offered a three-year contract with pay raises averaging 2.5 percent. The union wants a four-year pact with raises averaging 8.2 percent.
The labor impasse is now in a phase of nonbinding arbitration.
Thank God that this would never happen here in Morr...
Oh. Sorry. My bad.
Teachers: Pay driving them away
By LOU SESSINGER
Staff Writer
The Souderton Area school board listened impassively as three teachers claimed the board’s rigid stance during the current labor dispute over salary is driving talented teachers to districts willing to pay more — and quality of education in Souderton is suffering.
Speaking during the public comment section of last Tuesday night’s school board meeting, speech therapist Allison Moran said the recent resignation of three of her colleagues, “due to the contract this board has presented,” has reduced the number of full-time district speech therapists to two.
One took a job in Upper Perkiomen and two were hired by Upper Dublin, she said, adding that those who went to Upper Dublin got more money.
“Quality teachers and speech therapists cannot be kept in this district without adequate compensation,” she said.
School district solicitor Jeffrey Sultanik said the board was aware of a trend in which school districts are competing for a limited number of speech therapists.
“The board would be prepared to address this issue by having a different compensation scale arranged for speech therapists,” he said. “Compensation should be determined to a certain extent by supply and demand, and this board is prepared right now to sit down and negotiate a separate compensation scale for speech therapists.
“But you’re shaking your head no because it runs contrary to your concept of unionism, which keeps everybody’s salary at the same level, not withstanding supply and demand,” he added.
Science teacher Christopher Luck said he had a master’s degree, was certified to teach both chemistry and physics, was in his ninth year with the school district and earned $53,600 a year, several thousand dollars less than he would be paid at neighboring North Penn or Pennridge.
He said he has seen many of his colleagues leave Souderton for higher pay elsewhere.
“Do you really want quality teachers to leave?” he asked.
Christine Jackson, a physics teacher with 16 years’ experience, said this year the board’s attitude toward teacher salaries “left us with no choice” but to go on strike or find employment elsewhere.
“We’re disheartened by your lack of respect to teachers and administrators … and your unwillingness to strengthen the district,” she said.
The teachers union went on strike for 15 days at the start of the school year in September.
The school district has offered a three-year contract with pay raises averaging 2.5 percent. The union wants a four-year pact with raises averaging 8.2 percent.
The labor impasse is now in a phase of nonbinding arbitration.
Reorg Recap
Any updates from last night's reorganization meeting? Is the new boss the same as the old boss?
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