From the Philadelphia Public Schools Notebook.
35 advocacy groups ask legislators to fix special education funding
by Brett Schaeffer
Pennsylvania last year adopted a landmark funding formula for basic education, putting more dollars into the neediest schools and implementing rigorous accountability measures for school districts.
However, special education students have been left out of the equation.
A coalition of groups is now sending the message that it’s time for the General Assembly to approach special education funding with the same sharp eye its members approached basic education funding in 2008.
The state’s new basic education funding formula was based on a 2007 “costing-out” study, conducted by the private education policy consulting firm Augenblick, Palaich and Associates, Inc. Though the study recommended that special education be funded based on student and district needs, a new funding system for students with disabilities was not part of the 2008 reforms.
Now, using the findings from a new February 2009 Augenblick report, more than 35 disabilities advocacy groups throughout Pennsylvania are rallying support for a bill to reform special education funding.
“In 2008, the General Assembly and the Governor reformed state funding for basic education, based on the 2007 ‘costing-out’ study. Similar improvements are now needed for special education funding if the education finance system is to be whole,” said Janis Risch, executive director of Good Schools Pennsylvania, in the new report.
The report indicates that nearly 400 school districts are inadequately funding special education, averaging an annual shortfall of almost $1 million per district. Statewide, the total gap in annual funding for special education is $380 million. The average per pupil shortfall is $1,947, based on a total of 195,000 students in the districts that have a funding gap.
The report, which was funded by the Education Law Center, the Disability Rights Network, and The Arc of Pennsylvania, identifies fundamental needs that often go underserved, such as proper teacher training, investment in assistive technology devices and materials, and support programs.
The report also underscores the importance of finishing the funding reforms begun last year and outlines the broader benefits special education funding reform would provide to the entire school community, including reduced teacher turnover, improved classroom culture, and stronger overall education programs.
The School District of Philadelphia, which educates the greatest number of special education students in Pennsylvania, had a special education funding gap of more than $17 million in 2006-07, the year analyzed in the report.
While Philadelphia’s per student funding gap – approximately $500 – is certainly not as wide as special education funding shortfalls in other districts, figures from the Pennsylvania State Data Center show that Philadelphia is coming up short in its outcomes for special education students.
Data Center numbers reveal a 30 percent dropout rate for Philadelphia’s special education high school students – more than double the statewide average. And while more than 300 of the state’s 501 districts have met their Adequate Yearly Progress targets for special education students under the No Child Left Behind law, Philadelphia has not.
Put simply, reforming the special education funding formula can help Philadelphia improve its outcomes. All students benefit when special education students receive instruction that prepares them for meaningful employment, higher education, and self-sufficiency.
To see the full February 2009 report and data on Pennsylvania special education funding, including those for the School District of Philadelphia, go to www.reformspecialedfunding.org.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Board members to phone it in
From the BCCT.
Panel to review phone policy again
Posted in News on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 9:11 am by Education Reporter Rachel Canelli
A proposed policy that would allow directors to participate in meetings by phone got a busy signal Tuesday night when officials debated the rule’s language.
So, instead of voting on the procedure, Neshaminy school board members agreed to let the policy committee review and revise it again.
As written, the process would let no more than one director per meeting call into a public board meeting and vote via phone. And each board member would be able to make such a request only once a year and at the board president’s discretion.
But board member William O’Connor, who requested the policy so that he wouldn’t have to miss too many board meetings for unexpected business trips, disagreed with the wording. The original draft permitted two people each meeting twice per year, and did not require the president’s permission, administrators said.
“This is to allow a person to participate,” said O’Connor. “It’s not meant as a convenience to phone in from home. And none of us needs permission from the board president to come here. It’s our ability based on the people who elected us.”
Jacqueline Rattigan, director of elementary and secondary education, said the committee made those changes so people wouldn’t abuse the policy.
Board member Irene Boyle said she didn’t understand the big deal.
“When you start something new, you go slow,” she said.
The wording was supposed to mean that directors should request to participate in a meeting via phone, not ask the president’s consent, said board member Susan Cummings.
Board members Kim Koutsouradis and Ritchie Webb said they’re concerned that the rule would encourage people not to come to meetings, or meetings could be moved to the auditorium, where it’s hard to hear on a phone.
“I have no idea why we’re trying to make this so hard,” said board member William Spitz. “What’s the harm in allowing it? If abuse happens, we could change the policy.”
The concept already is used in some districts including Council Rock, where a board member recently participated by phone for more than one meeting after having surgery, officials said. Neshaminy also allowed board member Joseph Blasch to attend an executive session by phone, Blasch said.
After not allowing a councilman who was on military duty overseas to vote from his post, the Tullytown council later agreed to let members on active military duty vote by phone early last year.
But board member Frank Koziol argued that he’s against it because if only five votes out of more than 200 in the past few years failed due to a director’s absence, the procedure’s not necessary.
“When you run for office, you know if you’re elected you’re accepting the responsibility of attending meetings to represent people,” said Koziol. “It’s impossible to feel the passion of a speaker, or the mood of an audience over the telephone. Attendance is not mandatory, it’s expected.”
Panel to review phone policy again
Posted in News on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 9:11 am by Education Reporter Rachel Canelli
A proposed policy that would allow directors to participate in meetings by phone got a busy signal Tuesday night when officials debated the rule’s language.
So, instead of voting on the procedure, Neshaminy school board members agreed to let the policy committee review and revise it again.
As written, the process would let no more than one director per meeting call into a public board meeting and vote via phone. And each board member would be able to make such a request only once a year and at the board president’s discretion.
But board member William O’Connor, who requested the policy so that he wouldn’t have to miss too many board meetings for unexpected business trips, disagreed with the wording. The original draft permitted two people each meeting twice per year, and did not require the president’s permission, administrators said.
“This is to allow a person to participate,” said O’Connor. “It’s not meant as a convenience to phone in from home. And none of us needs permission from the board president to come here. It’s our ability based on the people who elected us.”
Jacqueline Rattigan, director of elementary and secondary education, said the committee made those changes so people wouldn’t abuse the policy.
Board member Irene Boyle said she didn’t understand the big deal.
“When you start something new, you go slow,” she said.
The wording was supposed to mean that directors should request to participate in a meeting via phone, not ask the president’s consent, said board member Susan Cummings.
Board members Kim Koutsouradis and Ritchie Webb said they’re concerned that the rule would encourage people not to come to meetings, or meetings could be moved to the auditorium, where it’s hard to hear on a phone.
“I have no idea why we’re trying to make this so hard,” said board member William Spitz. “What’s the harm in allowing it? If abuse happens, we could change the policy.”
The concept already is used in some districts including Council Rock, where a board member recently participated by phone for more than one meeting after having surgery, officials said. Neshaminy also allowed board member Joseph Blasch to attend an executive session by phone, Blasch said.
After not allowing a councilman who was on military duty overseas to vote from his post, the Tullytown council later agreed to let members on active military duty vote by phone early last year.
But board member Frank Koziol argued that he’s against it because if only five votes out of more than 200 in the past few years failed due to a director’s absence, the procedure’s not necessary.
“When you run for office, you know if you’re elected you’re accepting the responsibility of attending meetings to represent people,” said Koziol. “It’s impossible to feel the passion of a speaker, or the mood of an audience over the telephone. Attendance is not mandatory, it’s expected.”
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Pennsbury residents happy with quality of education
From the BCCT.
Residents happy with quality of education
But results of a survey also showed residents thought “teacher salaries and benefits should be frozen.”
By MANASEE WAGH
The verdict is in for Pennsbury.
Residents are very satisfied with the education the district provides. They want teacher salaries to remain competitive but they also want the state to ban teacher strikes.
These are some highlights of a random, scientific poll of 501 Pennsbury residents in Tullytown, Falls, Lower Makefield and Yardley in December. The results were released this week.
The approximately 14-minute telephone survey polled residents about a wide range of topics, including educational programs, funding, teacher salaries, taxes, facilities, class size and classroom technology.
“The results were not unexpected but reaffirmed what we believe to be true,” said board President Gregory Lucidi. “I believe the results will be a very useful tool in shaping policy. People are equally concerned with taxes and education. That means we need to find a balance between providing an appropriate education and being fiscally responsible.”
School board members worked with UNICOM-ARC, a St. Louis, Mo., research and communications company, to develop the 61-question telephone poll. Pennsbury paid the company $23,000 to administer the survey and compile and analyze the results. In part, the outcome indicated that:
Respondents “overwhelmingly” thought educational programs and spending should take priority over facilities and teacher salaries.
Almost 84 percent responded that teachers did an “excellent” or “good” job, and about 62 percent thought teacher salaries should be kept competitive with those of neighboring districts. Pennsbury teacher salaries rank in the top 10 of 727 school districts and educational institutions in the state. Salaries start at $45,000 and peak at $98,222.
About four in 10 thought “teacher salaries and benefits should be frozen at their current level,” and a little more than 43 percent thought “teachers should receive only a costof-living salary increase.”
Almost 70 percent of respondents agreed that it should be illegal for teachers to strike.
Residents gave Pennsbury higher grades for providing a quality education compared to other state public schools. Almost nine in 10 respondents said elementary education is “excellent” or “good.”
Almost nine in 10 respondents said the district keeps students safe and secure.
About seven in 10 perceived the district to be in “healthy” financial condition, though almost 14 percent said the district “needs additional revenue.”
About 51 percent think “the district spends tax dollars cost effectively.” However, almost 63 percent agreed that “people like me can’t afford to pay higher property taxes, no matter how important the cause might be.”
More than 81 percent said the district should not increase its spending in the coming year, due to the current economic climate.
About 49 percent said they were “moderately” informed about the district, and 32 percent said they were “very well” informed. The board will be referring to the survey results while making decisions about finances, education programs and other issues, Lucidi said.
“I keep a copy of the results with me all the time,” he said. “I do look at it a lot. It really lets us know what the public thinks about the kind of job we’re doing, what kind of job our teachers are doing, our safety, buildings, technology.”
The results give him a clear direction on where to go in the next contract negotiation, he added.
“It tells us that we do want to seek more contributions for health care from teachers. It also lets us know that people believe teachers are well compensated, but salaries need to remain competitive,” he said.
Results on other topics also helped him look at where people stand in a variety of areas, Lucidi added.
Prior to the research company’s analysis, the teachers union and school board agreed to extend the current labor contract for another year with no cost of living increases. Taxpayers still will pay more than $1 million so teachers can continue to receive pay increases for longevity and educational attainment next year.
After UNICOM-ARC reported its results in February, the school board voted to forego applying for exceptions that would have allowed the district to raise taxes above the state limit of 4.1 percent. Lucidi said that many factors, especially the economy, influenced his vote for keeping taxes within that limit.
Some residents complained at board meetings that polling 500 people was not enough to get a good idea of what the district’s 700,000 residents think.
However, the poll was fairly representative because a computer program picked residents randomly, said Sharon Gotter, director of research at UNICOM-ARC, which has helped hundreds of school districts conduct resident surveys. The questionnaire also required residents to answer questions about gender, age, education level, salary, number of years living in the district and whether the respondent was a Pennsbury parent. Results included only questionnaires that respondents completed fully, Gotter said.
For a sample of about 500, the margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percent, according to the company.
The school district also conducts other surveys periodically on specific topics. Recently, parents responded to questions sent home with students about the possibility of school uniforms and making bus transportation more efficient. Another survey was recently mailed to every resident to get more public input on a range of school-related topics.
Lucidi said he would like to see more residents attend board meetings and speak up.
“Honestly, I don’t think we can get enough public input,” he said. “Public opinion is very, very important to the school board.”
Residents happy with quality of education
But results of a survey also showed residents thought “teacher salaries and benefits should be frozen.”
By MANASEE WAGH
The verdict is in for Pennsbury.
Residents are very satisfied with the education the district provides. They want teacher salaries to remain competitive but they also want the state to ban teacher strikes.
These are some highlights of a random, scientific poll of 501 Pennsbury residents in Tullytown, Falls, Lower Makefield and Yardley in December. The results were released this week.
The approximately 14-minute telephone survey polled residents about a wide range of topics, including educational programs, funding, teacher salaries, taxes, facilities, class size and classroom technology.
“The results were not unexpected but reaffirmed what we believe to be true,” said board President Gregory Lucidi. “I believe the results will be a very useful tool in shaping policy. People are equally concerned with taxes and education. That means we need to find a balance between providing an appropriate education and being fiscally responsible.”
School board members worked with UNICOM-ARC, a St. Louis, Mo., research and communications company, to develop the 61-question telephone poll. Pennsbury paid the company $23,000 to administer the survey and compile and analyze the results. In part, the outcome indicated that:
Respondents “overwhelmingly” thought educational programs and spending should take priority over facilities and teacher salaries.
Almost 84 percent responded that teachers did an “excellent” or “good” job, and about 62 percent thought teacher salaries should be kept competitive with those of neighboring districts. Pennsbury teacher salaries rank in the top 10 of 727 school districts and educational institutions in the state. Salaries start at $45,000 and peak at $98,222.
About four in 10 thought “teacher salaries and benefits should be frozen at their current level,” and a little more than 43 percent thought “teachers should receive only a costof-living salary increase.”
Almost 70 percent of respondents agreed that it should be illegal for teachers to strike.
Residents gave Pennsbury higher grades for providing a quality education compared to other state public schools. Almost nine in 10 respondents said elementary education is “excellent” or “good.”
Almost nine in 10 respondents said the district keeps students safe and secure.
About seven in 10 perceived the district to be in “healthy” financial condition, though almost 14 percent said the district “needs additional revenue.”
About 51 percent think “the district spends tax dollars cost effectively.” However, almost 63 percent agreed that “people like me can’t afford to pay higher property taxes, no matter how important the cause might be.”
More than 81 percent said the district should not increase its spending in the coming year, due to the current economic climate.
About 49 percent said they were “moderately” informed about the district, and 32 percent said they were “very well” informed. The board will be referring to the survey results while making decisions about finances, education programs and other issues, Lucidi said.
“I keep a copy of the results with me all the time,” he said. “I do look at it a lot. It really lets us know what the public thinks about the kind of job we’re doing, what kind of job our teachers are doing, our safety, buildings, technology.”
The results give him a clear direction on where to go in the next contract negotiation, he added.
“It tells us that we do want to seek more contributions for health care from teachers. It also lets us know that people believe teachers are well compensated, but salaries need to remain competitive,” he said.
Results on other topics also helped him look at where people stand in a variety of areas, Lucidi added.
Prior to the research company’s analysis, the teachers union and school board agreed to extend the current labor contract for another year with no cost of living increases. Taxpayers still will pay more than $1 million so teachers can continue to receive pay increases for longevity and educational attainment next year.
After UNICOM-ARC reported its results in February, the school board voted to forego applying for exceptions that would have allowed the district to raise taxes above the state limit of 4.1 percent. Lucidi said that many factors, especially the economy, influenced his vote for keeping taxes within that limit.
Some residents complained at board meetings that polling 500 people was not enough to get a good idea of what the district’s 700,000 residents think.
However, the poll was fairly representative because a computer program picked residents randomly, said Sharon Gotter, director of research at UNICOM-ARC, which has helped hundreds of school districts conduct resident surveys. The questionnaire also required residents to answer questions about gender, age, education level, salary, number of years living in the district and whether the respondent was a Pennsbury parent. Results included only questionnaires that respondents completed fully, Gotter said.
For a sample of about 500, the margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percent, according to the company.
The school district also conducts other surveys periodically on specific topics. Recently, parents responded to questions sent home with students about the possibility of school uniforms and making bus transportation more efficient. Another survey was recently mailed to every resident to get more public input on a range of school-related topics.
Lucidi said he would like to see more residents attend board meetings and speak up.
“Honestly, I don’t think we can get enough public input,” he said. “Public opinion is very, very important to the school board.”
Neshaminy taxpayers continue to revolt
From the BCCT.
I don't know all the ins and outs of the Neshaminy issues, but when I read this, there's a stream of consciousness flow of thoughts that occur to me.
* Who's in charge? It's not the parents of the students to be educated.
* Why are the teachers and the teacher's union always automatically evil?
* Why are the taxpayers always automatically good?
* Why wouldn't you want to pay the teachers well when it comes to educating the next generation? (Remember, they educate the same people who will pick and/or staff your nursing home in decades to come.)
* Why would Neshaminy want to follow previous bad examples of class warfare?
* Why would the teachers not bargain in good faith?
* Why would the board not bargain in good faith?
Will teachers stand with us as members of the community?
By LARRY PASTOR JR.
Bucks County Courier Times
I know many of you are pleased that the Neshaminy school board is standing up to the outrageous contract proposal from the teachers. It's a relief for you to read articles, letters to the editor and guest opinions that express shared anger over teachers' avaricious demands.
You've likely been upset for years about the ridiculously high taxes you've been paying for teachers' excessive pay and benefits. And, of course, you know that, by rejecting the most recent board offer, teachers have once again confirmed that they are not in any way concerned about your family's financial stress.
If you've had the opportunity to attend board meetings, you probably have noticed the abundance of teachers present. You can't miss the T-shirts signifying their commitment to digging even deeper into your pockets. You may have also noticed teachers have yet to defend their demands.
Do they continue to stand with the union against their neighbors? Or, do they now step up and support their community? How can they, through this arrogant sense of entitlement, disregard the financial hardships that everyone now faces? How can they ask more of financially strapped retired and elderly, struggling families, many with single parents trying to make ends meet and all those who have lost pay and jobs?
Can they ask their neighbors to pay more so they can continue benefits and raises nearly non-existent in other professions? Are they willing to be the cause of extreme cutbacks in important programs for all of our children, just to get more for their own families?
As the country braces for the days to come, are the teachers not in this with us? After a generation of rebuilding the reputation of the teaching profession, do they really want to flush all of the goodwill away due to their inflexible greed? Will any of them have the courage and moral conviction to stand up against what is so obviously wrong?
Each one, as an individual, not as a union member, will have to answer these questions.
Tax increases over two decades have resulted in our teachers being among the highest paid in the state and enjoying one of the richest contracts in the country. Beyond a point of fair compensation, which our teachers contract exceeded years ago, it is proven that money has diminishing returns on improving teacher quality.
Now that contract negotiations are at a crucial point, taxpayers need to speak in "unison" that teachers have to adapt to our changing world. Unfortunately, the board and district residents are at a significant disadvantage to the union due to the following:
1) By law the district collects union dues through payroll deduction then sends a check to the union.
2) Non-union teachers are required to pay fair share (80 percent) dues as a condition of employment.
3) The union has secured exclusive bargaining rights.
4) Pennsylvania is one of only 13 states still permitting teacher strikes.
Why are these things important? Money from forced dues fuels union power over the board. The well-paid union leadership uses the money to prevent the election of fiscally responsible board members and politicians who will stand up for the taxpayer. Vast amounts of money are used to ensure the laws are written to give them maximum advantage over boards and taxpayers. Finally, dues support strikes when their demands are not met. The union wields a very big club against its own teachers and taxpayers alike. Now through legalized extortion, every few years we allow them to beat the school board and all of us into submission.
In the meantime what can taxpayers do?
* Get mad as hell and tell them you won't take it anymore!
* Organize any size group you can and contact the board
* Come to board meetings, www.neshaminyinfo.blogspot.com.
* Demand the board withdraw the contract offer teachers rejected.
* Support a much reduced counteroffer and dismissal if they strike.
* Tell the board you want district collection of union dues to stop.
* Demand future negotiations are visible to the public and any contract is presented at a public hearing before anybody approves it.
* Vote in the May 19 primary for board candidates who support taxpayers.
If each taxpayer gets engaged, in any small way possible, we can make a difference. With enough of our voices, we will be heard and together we can make a stand.
March 12, 2009 01:10 AM
I don't know all the ins and outs of the Neshaminy issues, but when I read this, there's a stream of consciousness flow of thoughts that occur to me.
* Who's in charge? It's not the parents of the students to be educated.
* Why are the teachers and the teacher's union always automatically evil?
* Why are the taxpayers always automatically good?
* Why wouldn't you want to pay the teachers well when it comes to educating the next generation? (Remember, they educate the same people who will pick and/or staff your nursing home in decades to come.)
* Why would Neshaminy want to follow previous bad examples of class warfare?
* Why would the teachers not bargain in good faith?
* Why would the board not bargain in good faith?
Will teachers stand with us as members of the community?
By LARRY PASTOR JR.
Bucks County Courier Times
I know many of you are pleased that the Neshaminy school board is standing up to the outrageous contract proposal from the teachers. It's a relief for you to read articles, letters to the editor and guest opinions that express shared anger over teachers' avaricious demands.
You've likely been upset for years about the ridiculously high taxes you've been paying for teachers' excessive pay and benefits. And, of course, you know that, by rejecting the most recent board offer, teachers have once again confirmed that they are not in any way concerned about your family's financial stress.
If you've had the opportunity to attend board meetings, you probably have noticed the abundance of teachers present. You can't miss the T-shirts signifying their commitment to digging even deeper into your pockets. You may have also noticed teachers have yet to defend their demands.
Do they continue to stand with the union against their neighbors? Or, do they now step up and support their community? How can they, through this arrogant sense of entitlement, disregard the financial hardships that everyone now faces? How can they ask more of financially strapped retired and elderly, struggling families, many with single parents trying to make ends meet and all those who have lost pay and jobs?
Can they ask their neighbors to pay more so they can continue benefits and raises nearly non-existent in other professions? Are they willing to be the cause of extreme cutbacks in important programs for all of our children, just to get more for their own families?
As the country braces for the days to come, are the teachers not in this with us? After a generation of rebuilding the reputation of the teaching profession, do they really want to flush all of the goodwill away due to their inflexible greed? Will any of them have the courage and moral conviction to stand up against what is so obviously wrong?
Each one, as an individual, not as a union member, will have to answer these questions.
Tax increases over two decades have resulted in our teachers being among the highest paid in the state and enjoying one of the richest contracts in the country. Beyond a point of fair compensation, which our teachers contract exceeded years ago, it is proven that money has diminishing returns on improving teacher quality.
Now that contract negotiations are at a crucial point, taxpayers need to speak in "unison" that teachers have to adapt to our changing world. Unfortunately, the board and district residents are at a significant disadvantage to the union due to the following:
1) By law the district collects union dues through payroll deduction then sends a check to the union.
2) Non-union teachers are required to pay fair share (80 percent) dues as a condition of employment.
3) The union has secured exclusive bargaining rights.
4) Pennsylvania is one of only 13 states still permitting teacher strikes.
Why are these things important? Money from forced dues fuels union power over the board. The well-paid union leadership uses the money to prevent the election of fiscally responsible board members and politicians who will stand up for the taxpayer. Vast amounts of money are used to ensure the laws are written to give them maximum advantage over boards and taxpayers. Finally, dues support strikes when their demands are not met. The union wields a very big club against its own teachers and taxpayers alike. Now through legalized extortion, every few years we allow them to beat the school board and all of us into submission.
In the meantime what can taxpayers do?
* Get mad as hell and tell them you won't take it anymore!
* Organize any size group you can and contact the board
* Come to board meetings, www.neshaminyinfo.blogspot.com.
* Demand the board withdraw the contract offer teachers rejected.
* Support a much reduced counteroffer and dismissal if they strike.
* Tell the board you want district collection of union dues to stop.
* Demand future negotiations are visible to the public and any contract is presented at a public hearing before anybody approves it.
* Vote in the May 19 primary for board candidates who support taxpayers.
If each taxpayer gets engaged, in any small way possible, we can make a difference. With enough of our voices, we will be heard and together we can make a stand.
March 12, 2009 01:10 AM
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Contractor ordinance criticized
From the BCCT.
Contractor ordinance criticized
By DANNY ADLER
A half-dozen people Tuesday night blasted Morrisville’s proposed responsible-contractor ordinance for all public construction and maintenance contracts worth at least $10,000, claiming the law favors union work.
They also pointed out alleged conflicts of interest: Two councilmen, David Rivella and Edward Albertson, are union men; also, Rivella and the Morrisville Democratic Club received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from unions during the 2007 election.
Rivella denied that the ordinance was an attempt to promote union work, once again stressing that “there’s not one word in the ordinance that says union.” He added, “I really wasn’t thrilled when there was a lot of financial figures read that imply that labor paid me off, if you will, to vote for this. This is not a labor issue.”
Supporters of the ordinance say it’s designed to ensure that the contracts are awarded to responsible, qualified firms. One requirement is that the firms participate in an apprenticeship program.
Rivella said borough laws don’t define what a responsible contractor is. This proposal, expected to come to a vote Monday, would change that, he said.
The eight-page ordinance says contractors must confirm they hadn’t defaulted on any project or been prohibited from bidding on any federal, state or local government contracts in the last three years. They also must confirm they’re free of “willful violations” of federal or state safety laws, among many other things.
“It seems that this would be a very exclusionary ordinance to me, and would exclude established, reputable contractors with small businesses that cannot provide an apprenticeship program,” said resident Marlys Mihok, who sits on the Morrisville school board. “I feel that there’s more than a slight appearance of a conflict of interest.”
Jeff Zeh, president of the southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, called it a “discriminatory arrangement.”
“You have many contractors in the area that are not union and don’t participate in apprenticeship programs as defined in your ordinance that have done good work for you,” he said.
Albertson, who was appointed to the council a few months ago, noted that he did not run in the 2007 election when Morrisville Democrats accepted campaign contributions from unions.
“The training that I have received from being in a union shop I believe makes me a safe and educated employee,” Albertson said.
Contractor ordinance criticized
By DANNY ADLER
A half-dozen people Tuesday night blasted Morrisville’s proposed responsible-contractor ordinance for all public construction and maintenance contracts worth at least $10,000, claiming the law favors union work.
They also pointed out alleged conflicts of interest: Two councilmen, David Rivella and Edward Albertson, are union men; also, Rivella and the Morrisville Democratic Club received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from unions during the 2007 election.
Rivella denied that the ordinance was an attempt to promote union work, once again stressing that “there’s not one word in the ordinance that says union.” He added, “I really wasn’t thrilled when there was a lot of financial figures read that imply that labor paid me off, if you will, to vote for this. This is not a labor issue.”
Supporters of the ordinance say it’s designed to ensure that the contracts are awarded to responsible, qualified firms. One requirement is that the firms participate in an apprenticeship program.
Rivella said borough laws don’t define what a responsible contractor is. This proposal, expected to come to a vote Monday, would change that, he said.
The eight-page ordinance says contractors must confirm they hadn’t defaulted on any project or been prohibited from bidding on any federal, state or local government contracts in the last three years. They also must confirm they’re free of “willful violations” of federal or state safety laws, among many other things.
“It seems that this would be a very exclusionary ordinance to me, and would exclude established, reputable contractors with small businesses that cannot provide an apprenticeship program,” said resident Marlys Mihok, who sits on the Morrisville school board. “I feel that there’s more than a slight appearance of a conflict of interest.”
Jeff Zeh, president of the southeastern Pennsylvania chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, called it a “discriminatory arrangement.”
“You have many contractors in the area that are not union and don’t participate in apprenticeship programs as defined in your ordinance that have done good work for you,” he said.
Albertson, who was appointed to the council a few months ago, noted that he did not run in the 2007 election when Morrisville Democrats accepted campaign contributions from unions.
“The training that I have received from being in a union shop I believe makes me a safe and educated employee,” Albertson said.
Teacher strike ban to be reintroduced
From the BCCT.
Teacher strike ban to be reintroduced
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Get ready for take two in the struggle to eliminate teacher strikes.
Though Strike-Free Education Act House Bill 1369 failed to see any legislative action after he introduced it about two years ago, state Rep. Todd Rock, R-Franklin, said he'll reintroduce it today.
"The key to it is getting it out of committee. It could sit there for years," said Rock.
If passed, the bill would overhaul the negotiation process between a school district and its teachers union and would impose financial penalties for strikes and school lockouts.
"My bill still aims to provide for mediation, fact-finding and arbitration to resolve most contracts. If both sides still can't come to an agreement after certain dates, it forces them to meet four times a month and to have a public forum to lay out both sides of the case every six weeks. By the nature of all these meetings, you'd want to come to an agreement," said Rock, the bill's chief sponsor and author.
A teacher for a decade and a school board member for three years, Rock said he expects opposition to his bill - again - in the Legislature, though he believes most people are enthusiastic about stopping teacher strikes.
"The union is very big, and they have a lot of money and a lot of influence. I'm up against a lot of different factors. But every time a strike happens, I think it's a bigger negative for the teaching profession. They should have another option," said Rock.
Thirty-seven states prohibit teacher strikes.
Statewide, more than 20 school districts are at risk of a strike, according to information on Rock's Web site. More than 60 percent of all teacher strikes since 2000 have occurred in Pennsylvania, even though its teacher salaries are among the top 10 highest in the country.
"This is one of those issues that Rock is saying he's not going to let go. We're going to keep driving it into public awareness until one day it becomes law," said bill supporter and Lower Makefield resident Simon Campbell.
He became a local proponent of stopping teacher strikes after a 21-day strike in 2005 in his children's district, Pennsbury. Campbell said he plans to speak during Rock's press conference today in Harrisburg.
Rep. Paul Clymer, R-145, is a cosponsor of the bill. The geographic areas he represents are near the Souderton School District, where teachers went on strike during a bitter dispute for 13 days in the fall.
"I'm opposed to strikes by public employees at large, because we provide services that are important to our citizens. When you assume a position in the public arena, you do not go on strike. That doesn't mean I'm anti-union," Clymer said.
Passage of the bill wouldn't eliminate contract disputes, said Rep. Steve Santarsiero, D-31.
"You can outlaw strikes and still have a labor dispute that festers on for years," said the former Bensalem High School teacher and Pennsylvania State Education Association member.
Both sides should be required by state law to negotiate "around the clock" if an impasse occurs, he said. The two sides should have to submit their last, best offers to a Commonwealth Court judge for a final decision, Santarsiero added.
"I think it's necessary to have the threat of a judge to make a binding decision that could go against one of the parties, he said.
Rock disagrees with that.
"He's talking about binding arbitration. We have nine school board officials elected to make that decision for our community. It should not be made by an outsider to the community," he said.
The issue of whether it's best to make teacher strikes illegal is complicated, said Rep. Frank Farry, R-142, whose legislative district includes the Neshaminy School District.
Neshaminy's teachers union recently rejected a school board offer and is still negotiating its contract.
"If a bill had the proper dispute resolution to ensure that education was uninterrupted, then I think it's something we need to consider. But I still need to take a look at the language in this bill," Farry said.
Among local school districts, Pennsbury's union and school board decided to extend its current labor contract for another year with no cost-of-living increases.
Teacher strike ban to be reintroduced
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Get ready for take two in the struggle to eliminate teacher strikes.
Though Strike-Free Education Act House Bill 1369 failed to see any legislative action after he introduced it about two years ago, state Rep. Todd Rock, R-Franklin, said he'll reintroduce it today.
"The key to it is getting it out of committee. It could sit there for years," said Rock.
If passed, the bill would overhaul the negotiation process between a school district and its teachers union and would impose financial penalties for strikes and school lockouts.
"My bill still aims to provide for mediation, fact-finding and arbitration to resolve most contracts. If both sides still can't come to an agreement after certain dates, it forces them to meet four times a month and to have a public forum to lay out both sides of the case every six weeks. By the nature of all these meetings, you'd want to come to an agreement," said Rock, the bill's chief sponsor and author.
A teacher for a decade and a school board member for three years, Rock said he expects opposition to his bill - again - in the Legislature, though he believes most people are enthusiastic about stopping teacher strikes.
"The union is very big, and they have a lot of money and a lot of influence. I'm up against a lot of different factors. But every time a strike happens, I think it's a bigger negative for the teaching profession. They should have another option," said Rock.
Thirty-seven states prohibit teacher strikes.
Statewide, more than 20 school districts are at risk of a strike, according to information on Rock's Web site. More than 60 percent of all teacher strikes since 2000 have occurred in Pennsylvania, even though its teacher salaries are among the top 10 highest in the country.
"This is one of those issues that Rock is saying he's not going to let go. We're going to keep driving it into public awareness until one day it becomes law," said bill supporter and Lower Makefield resident Simon Campbell.
He became a local proponent of stopping teacher strikes after a 21-day strike in 2005 in his children's district, Pennsbury. Campbell said he plans to speak during Rock's press conference today in Harrisburg.
Rep. Paul Clymer, R-145, is a cosponsor of the bill. The geographic areas he represents are near the Souderton School District, where teachers went on strike during a bitter dispute for 13 days in the fall.
"I'm opposed to strikes by public employees at large, because we provide services that are important to our citizens. When you assume a position in the public arena, you do not go on strike. That doesn't mean I'm anti-union," Clymer said.
Passage of the bill wouldn't eliminate contract disputes, said Rep. Steve Santarsiero, D-31.
"You can outlaw strikes and still have a labor dispute that festers on for years," said the former Bensalem High School teacher and Pennsylvania State Education Association member.
Both sides should be required by state law to negotiate "around the clock" if an impasse occurs, he said. The two sides should have to submit their last, best offers to a Commonwealth Court judge for a final decision, Santarsiero added.
"I think it's necessary to have the threat of a judge to make a binding decision that could go against one of the parties, he said.
Rock disagrees with that.
"He's talking about binding arbitration. We have nine school board officials elected to make that decision for our community. It should not be made by an outsider to the community," he said.
The issue of whether it's best to make teacher strikes illegal is complicated, said Rep. Frank Farry, R-142, whose legislative district includes the Neshaminy School District.
Neshaminy's teachers union recently rejected a school board offer and is still negotiating its contract.
"If a bill had the proper dispute resolution to ensure that education was uninterrupted, then I think it's something we need to consider. But I still need to take a look at the language in this bill," Farry said.
Among local school districts, Pennsbury's union and school board decided to extend its current labor contract for another year with no cost-of-living increases.
Obama Calls for Overhaul of Education System
From the New York Times
Obama Calls for Overhaul of Education System
Article Tools Sponsored By
By DAVID STOUT and JEFF ZELENY
Published: March 10, 2009
WASHINGTON — President Obama called for sweeping changes in American education on Tuesday, urging states to lift limits on charter schools and exhorting teachers, parents and students to embrace a renewed commitment to learning from grade school through adulthood.
The president said it was time to erase limits on the number of charter schools, which his administration refers to as “laboratories of innovation,” while closing those that are not working. Teachers’ unions oppose the schools, saying they take away funding for public schools.
“I call on states to reform their charter rules, and lift caps on the number of allowable charter schools, wherever such caps are in place,” the president said, in his first major speech on education since he took office seven weeks ago. Caps now exist in 26 states and the District of Columbia, he said.
Putting limits on charter schools, even in places where they are performing well, “isn’t good for our children, our economy or our country,” the president said. He said recently in his budget message that he hoped to double financing for charter schools eventually, and that the Department of Education would help create “new, high-quality charter schools” while supporting the closing of those guilty of “chronic underperformance.”
Mr. Obama’s promotion of charter schools was virtually certain to be greeted with skepticism, at best, from teacher unions, as was his call for a system of merit pay for good teachers, which the president said would mean “treating teachers like the professionals they are, while also holding them more accountable.”
“New teachers will be mentored by experienced ones,” the president said, in an address to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce here. “Good teachers will be rewarded with more money for improved student achievement, and asked to accept more responsibilities for lifting up their schools.”
Teacher union leaders reacted cautiously. Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, said his union’s 3.2 million members “welcome the vision” laid out by the president and look forward to working with him and Education Secretary Arne Duncan “to transform public education to prepare students to compete in a global economy.”
Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers, said her union embraced “the goals and aspirations” outlined by President Obama. “As with any public policy, the devil is in the details, and it is important that teachers’ voices are heard as we implement the president’s vision,” Ms. Weingarten said.
In his address, the president said the United States’ prosperity, security and even the American dream itself are at risk unless the country reverses years of decline and restores its education system to pre-eminence. “Let there be no doubt,” Mr. Obama said. “The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens — and my fellow Americans, we have everything we need to be that nation.”
“It is time to give all Americans a complete and competitive education from the cradle up through a career,” Mr. Obama said. “We have accepted failure for too long — enough. America’s entire education system must once more be the envy of the world.”
In promoting a merit-based system of pay for teachers, which unions generally dislike because they say it could foster favoritism, the president was following through on positions he took during his campaign — and implicitly laying down a challenge to unions, traditionally reliable supporters of Democratic candidates.
The president said too many people in his party have resisted the idea of “rewarding excellence” with extra pay, while too many Republicans have opposed spending money on early education “despite compelling evidence of its importance.”
“The time for finger-pointing is over. The time for holding ourselves accountable is here,” Mr. Obama said. “What’s required is not simply new investments, but new reforms. It is time to expect more from our students.”
While the overwhelming number of teachers are “doing an outstanding job under difficult circumstances,” states and school districts should be able “to move bad teachers out of the classroom,” the president said.
While teacher unions have generally resisted merit-pay programs, there have been some successful experiments with them across the country, especially in districts where unions are involved from the beginning in developing them.
The address on Tuesday was the first step in laying out the president’s agenda to improve American schools, officials said, with more specifics to be outlined to Congress in the coming weeks. The president noted that the recently enacted stimulus package calls for spending some $5 billion on the Early Head Start and Head Start programs — an investment that he said would be rewarded by lower welfare rolls, fewer health care costs and less crime, as well as better classroom performance.
Mr. Obama set a goal of the United States having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. Nothing less than that will suffice in the 21st Century, when Americans are competing in a world made ever smaller by the Internet, the president said.
The president said the Education Department “will use only one test when deciding what ideas to support with your precious tax dollars. It’s not whether an idea is liberal or conservative but whether it works.”
Charter school proponents were elated by the president’s speech. “With 365,000 students on charter waiting lists, there is no excuse for state laws that stifle the growth of these schools,” Nelson Smith, the president and chief executive of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said in a statement.
The president said new approaches to education should extend to the traditional school day and the school calendar, both of which should be longer. “We can no longer afford an academic calendar designed for when America was a nation of farmers who needed their children at home plowing the land,” he said.
Obama Calls for Overhaul of Education System
Article Tools Sponsored By
By DAVID STOUT and JEFF ZELENY
Published: March 10, 2009
WASHINGTON — President Obama called for sweeping changes in American education on Tuesday, urging states to lift limits on charter schools and exhorting teachers, parents and students to embrace a renewed commitment to learning from grade school through adulthood.
The president said it was time to erase limits on the number of charter schools, which his administration refers to as “laboratories of innovation,” while closing those that are not working. Teachers’ unions oppose the schools, saying they take away funding for public schools.
“I call on states to reform their charter rules, and lift caps on the number of allowable charter schools, wherever such caps are in place,” the president said, in his first major speech on education since he took office seven weeks ago. Caps now exist in 26 states and the District of Columbia, he said.
Putting limits on charter schools, even in places where they are performing well, “isn’t good for our children, our economy or our country,” the president said. He said recently in his budget message that he hoped to double financing for charter schools eventually, and that the Department of Education would help create “new, high-quality charter schools” while supporting the closing of those guilty of “chronic underperformance.”
Mr. Obama’s promotion of charter schools was virtually certain to be greeted with skepticism, at best, from teacher unions, as was his call for a system of merit pay for good teachers, which the president said would mean “treating teachers like the professionals they are, while also holding them more accountable.”
“New teachers will be mentored by experienced ones,” the president said, in an address to the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce here. “Good teachers will be rewarded with more money for improved student achievement, and asked to accept more responsibilities for lifting up their schools.”
Teacher union leaders reacted cautiously. Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, said his union’s 3.2 million members “welcome the vision” laid out by the president and look forward to working with him and Education Secretary Arne Duncan “to transform public education to prepare students to compete in a global economy.”
Randi Weingarten, president of the 1.4 million-member American Federation of Teachers, said her union embraced “the goals and aspirations” outlined by President Obama. “As with any public policy, the devil is in the details, and it is important that teachers’ voices are heard as we implement the president’s vision,” Ms. Weingarten said.
In his address, the president said the United States’ prosperity, security and even the American dream itself are at risk unless the country reverses years of decline and restores its education system to pre-eminence. “Let there be no doubt,” Mr. Obama said. “The future belongs to the nation that best educates its citizens — and my fellow Americans, we have everything we need to be that nation.”
“It is time to give all Americans a complete and competitive education from the cradle up through a career,” Mr. Obama said. “We have accepted failure for too long — enough. America’s entire education system must once more be the envy of the world.”
In promoting a merit-based system of pay for teachers, which unions generally dislike because they say it could foster favoritism, the president was following through on positions he took during his campaign — and implicitly laying down a challenge to unions, traditionally reliable supporters of Democratic candidates.
The president said too many people in his party have resisted the idea of “rewarding excellence” with extra pay, while too many Republicans have opposed spending money on early education “despite compelling evidence of its importance.”
“The time for finger-pointing is over. The time for holding ourselves accountable is here,” Mr. Obama said. “What’s required is not simply new investments, but new reforms. It is time to expect more from our students.”
While the overwhelming number of teachers are “doing an outstanding job under difficult circumstances,” states and school districts should be able “to move bad teachers out of the classroom,” the president said.
While teacher unions have generally resisted merit-pay programs, there have been some successful experiments with them across the country, especially in districts where unions are involved from the beginning in developing them.
The address on Tuesday was the first step in laying out the president’s agenda to improve American schools, officials said, with more specifics to be outlined to Congress in the coming weeks. The president noted that the recently enacted stimulus package calls for spending some $5 billion on the Early Head Start and Head Start programs — an investment that he said would be rewarded by lower welfare rolls, fewer health care costs and less crime, as well as better classroom performance.
Mr. Obama set a goal of the United States having the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020. Nothing less than that will suffice in the 21st Century, when Americans are competing in a world made ever smaller by the Internet, the president said.
The president said the Education Department “will use only one test when deciding what ideas to support with your precious tax dollars. It’s not whether an idea is liberal or conservative but whether it works.”
Charter school proponents were elated by the president’s speech. “With 365,000 students on charter waiting lists, there is no excuse for state laws that stifle the growth of these schools,” Nelson Smith, the president and chief executive of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said in a statement.
The president said new approaches to education should extend to the traditional school day and the school calendar, both of which should be longer. “We can no longer afford an academic calendar designed for when America was a nation of farmers who needed their children at home plowing the land,” he said.
School buses seen as potential terrorist targets
From the BCCT.
Finally...something Morrisville doesn't have that's a good thing.
School buses seen as potential terrorist targets
By AMANDA CREGAN
Bucks County Courier Times
Terrorism experts say homeland security begins at the school bus stop.
It's a school security gap that most parents, police and school officials don't always see, but terrorists do.
School buses can be vulnerable to a potential attacker, but are often overlooked in a school district's security plan.
That's why 75 police officers, detectives, emergency workers and school administrators from across Montgomery, Bucks and the rest of the Philadelphia region spent Monday learning how to shore up the gap in a course on "School Bus Safety in a Post 9/11 Era" held at the North Montco Technical Career Center in Towamencin and hosted by the Southeast Region Terrorism Taskforce.
Bus safety is an issue that presenter Curtis Lavarello says needs be to taken seriously.
"Based on the assumption by the FBI, there will be further terrorist attacks and school buses are soft targets," said the 23-year law enforcement veteran from Florida. "It's been found that children could be the next target for terrorists."
Because school districts are so fragmented in Pennsylvania, districts each decide if they will contract out for transportation or operate their own bus system, which makes it harder to streamline bus security across the state, he said.
Police and school administrators need to better monitor their school bus yards and need to know if the buses are in a secure compound, who has access to the buses, are they monitored by guards and are the lots properly lit.
Recently, a police officer happened to drive by a dark, unsecured school bus lot in Florida and spotted someone cutting the buses' brake lines, said Lavarello.
"It's a very real threat to our children across the country in terms of homeland security," he said.
But the first line of defense in school security can start with parents at the bus stop and the school bus drivers.
Parents need to be observant of individuals they've never seen before or strange vehicles in close proximity to their child's bus stop.
A potential attacker would also notice if parents habitually chat at length with bus drivers, prolonging the bus' stop and opening the site up to attack.
Bus drivers also need to be more aware of the emotional state of students on the bus, if they are crying or seem upset or depressed. Reporting disturbed students to school officials could be a way to stop them if they plan to carry out a violent school act.
"You have to realize that what happens in school, happens on the school bus. Everyone is focusing on the protection of schools, but the bus safety is really lacking," said Sean Burke, president of School Safety Advocacy Council. "I think we're sadly misinformed to think that people who plan to do our children harm don't know this."
Finally...something Morrisville doesn't have that's a good thing.
School buses seen as potential terrorist targets
By AMANDA CREGAN
Bucks County Courier Times
Terrorism experts say homeland security begins at the school bus stop.
It's a school security gap that most parents, police and school officials don't always see, but terrorists do.
School buses can be vulnerable to a potential attacker, but are often overlooked in a school district's security plan.
That's why 75 police officers, detectives, emergency workers and school administrators from across Montgomery, Bucks and the rest of the Philadelphia region spent Monday learning how to shore up the gap in a course on "School Bus Safety in a Post 9/11 Era" held at the North Montco Technical Career Center in Towamencin and hosted by the Southeast Region Terrorism Taskforce.
Bus safety is an issue that presenter Curtis Lavarello says needs be to taken seriously.
"Based on the assumption by the FBI, there will be further terrorist attacks and school buses are soft targets," said the 23-year law enforcement veteran from Florida. "It's been found that children could be the next target for terrorists."
Because school districts are so fragmented in Pennsylvania, districts each decide if they will contract out for transportation or operate their own bus system, which makes it harder to streamline bus security across the state, he said.
Police and school administrators need to better monitor their school bus yards and need to know if the buses are in a secure compound, who has access to the buses, are they monitored by guards and are the lots properly lit.
Recently, a police officer happened to drive by a dark, unsecured school bus lot in Florida and spotted someone cutting the buses' brake lines, said Lavarello.
"It's a very real threat to our children across the country in terms of homeland security," he said.
But the first line of defense in school security can start with parents at the bus stop and the school bus drivers.
Parents need to be observant of individuals they've never seen before or strange vehicles in close proximity to their child's bus stop.
A potential attacker would also notice if parents habitually chat at length with bus drivers, prolonging the bus' stop and opening the site up to attack.
Bus drivers also need to be more aware of the emotional state of students on the bus, if they are crying or seem upset or depressed. Reporting disturbed students to school officials could be a way to stop them if they plan to carry out a violent school act.
"You have to realize that what happens in school, happens on the school bus. Everyone is focusing on the protection of schools, but the bus safety is really lacking," said Sean Burke, president of School Safety Advocacy Council. "I think we're sadly misinformed to think that people who plan to do our children harm don't know this."
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Neshaminy: Full-day kindergarten nixed
From the BCCT.
But Morrisville still has it...
Full-day kindergarten nixed
By RACHEL CANELLI
High school administrators also talked about how they're saving money.
The vote's finally in and it's no way for full-day K - at least not next year.
During a strategic action committee meeting attended by more than 60 people that focused on the budget Monday night, the Neshaminy school board voted 6-3 that with a possible $14 million deficit, the district simply cannot afford to implement a full-day kindergarten program.
Board President Ritchie Webb recommended kicking the concept, which could cost several hundred thousand dollars, back to the administration for future reconsideration.
Board members Kim Koutsouradis, Richard Eccles and Frank Koziol, though, voted against the motion and for pursuing a plan.
Eccles said Neshaminy's students need early childhood intervention to help boost standardized test scores, and Koziol said he believes grants could fund the program.
"The conversation (about full-day K) cannot go away," said acting Superintendent Lou Muenker. "It's something our community will value and needs."
Meanwhile, the Neshaminy high school administrators said they're doing their part to help trim the fat.
Principal Alex Menio said faculty members are using electronic versus paper memos, and using white instead of colored paper.
Administrators said moving the ninth grade from the middle schools up to the high school next year could save about $100,000 by condensing athletic teams. That transition will also save the 34 cents per mile Neshaminy pays teachers who need to go to more than one building during the school day.
Officials are also looking at extending the life of uniforms, moving competitions within the district and putting course selection, newsletters, handbooks and policies online.
"We need your help," Webb told the high school staff. "Look at positions. We hope you'll continue to try to help us out."
The board also combed through some of the more than 70 suggestions from the public to cut expenses.
Some residents said they support the board looking at every dollar, and making hard decisions to help families struggling to pay their taxes. While other parents, and board members said the district needs to negotiate a new teacher's contract, or ask the certified staff to come up with concessions, before hurting the kids.
Although the board members said they're working on making a deal, district officials still need to find other ways to decrease costs.
But Morrisville still has it...
Full-day kindergarten nixed
By RACHEL CANELLI
High school administrators also talked about how they're saving money.
The vote's finally in and it's no way for full-day K - at least not next year.
During a strategic action committee meeting attended by more than 60 people that focused on the budget Monday night, the Neshaminy school board voted 6-3 that with a possible $14 million deficit, the district simply cannot afford to implement a full-day kindergarten program.
Board President Ritchie Webb recommended kicking the concept, which could cost several hundred thousand dollars, back to the administration for future reconsideration.
Board members Kim Koutsouradis, Richard Eccles and Frank Koziol, though, voted against the motion and for pursuing a plan.
Eccles said Neshaminy's students need early childhood intervention to help boost standardized test scores, and Koziol said he believes grants could fund the program.
"The conversation (about full-day K) cannot go away," said acting Superintendent Lou Muenker. "It's something our community will value and needs."
Meanwhile, the Neshaminy high school administrators said they're doing their part to help trim the fat.
Principal Alex Menio said faculty members are using electronic versus paper memos, and using white instead of colored paper.
Administrators said moving the ninth grade from the middle schools up to the high school next year could save about $100,000 by condensing athletic teams. That transition will also save the 34 cents per mile Neshaminy pays teachers who need to go to more than one building during the school day.
Officials are also looking at extending the life of uniforms, moving competitions within the district and putting course selection, newsletters, handbooks and policies online.
"We need your help," Webb told the high school staff. "Look at positions. We hope you'll continue to try to help us out."
The board also combed through some of the more than 70 suggestions from the public to cut expenses.
Some residents said they support the board looking at every dollar, and making hard decisions to help families struggling to pay their taxes. While other parents, and board members said the district needs to negotiate a new teacher's contract, or ask the certified staff to come up with concessions, before hurting the kids.
Although the board members said they're working on making a deal, district officials still need to find other ways to decrease costs.
More right to know updates
From the BCCT.
The pendulum swings wildly as the new law gets tested. Who knew that those homemade tapes of school board meetings are now part of the open records law and can be requested by others?
Open records law fuels spats with municipalities
By AMANDA PALLESCHI
The Associated Press
Every community has one: the gadfly, the complainer, the curmudgeon. The concerned citizen with a comment at the ready for the most ordinary of agenda items, pen in pocket for scouring budgets line by line to account for every dollar.
They are there to keep local government honest, with help from the state's new Right to Know Law that took effect in January.
But some municipalities are starting to complain that the law is miring them in paper work and creating logistical and financial headaches.
State and county agencies have set up offices and created positions to deal with requests under the new law. Borough feuds such as the 25-year battle that Jim Kilgore has waged against the Franklintown Borough Council in northern York County are testing how the law is working.
And Kilgore isn't just an interested citizen. He's a member of Borough Council.
"Municipal government touches residents in their everyday lives more than we do," said Joanne Burkhart, the open-records officer for Cumberland County. "They have more requests than we do."
Kilgore has made 16 requests since the law was enacted, and 11 replies were due to him by last week. The law allows five business days for replies, but the borough requested the maximum 30-day extension.
His requests ran the gamut of his gripes in the 25 years he's lived in the borough. How much is the borough secretary making? How much does the borough owe in liability insurance on a public park? What did the letter of complaint about him, read aloud at the last meeting, say?
"Things look and smell funny in this borough. That's all I really want to say," Kilgore said.
Dick Blouch, the Franklintown council president, estimated that Kilgore's requests will cost the borough $1,000 for certified mail and lawyer and administrative fees.
Governments of all sizes, even in small municipalities such as Franklintown, had better get used to it, said Matt Brouillette, the CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, a Harrisburg-based nonprofit think tank that develops and promotes public policies.
"This is a new day in Pennsylvania where government is going to be more open and transparent. I don't have any sympathy for government," he said. "Go cry to somebody else. Don't cry to taxpayers and citizens."
Kilgore is serving a two-year term on the Borough Council after losing the election for a four-year term in 2007. But his involvement with its agendas and politics goes back years.
It all started with the trees, he said. In 1999, Kilgore collected the signatures of 31 borough residents unhappy with trees that the borough had planted along the sidewalks in front of their houses. The petition requested that the borough replace the sidewalks because the trees' roots were starting to break up the concrete. The borough eventually took care of the trees.
Kilgore also has complained about tax increases, a neighbor burning trash and a council member who Kilgore said made a racist remark at a gas station in town. Kilgore even was accused of lunging at borough secretary Deb Walker and threatening her during a heated discussion of the sanitation budget, and he was cited with disorderly conduct.
Blouch said Kilgore is not a new problem for the 532-resident borough with a $156,000 yearly budget. But he's escalated things recently.
"It paralyzes the function and the operation of the borough," Blouch said, noting that Walker has had to spend much of her day in the borough office on Baltimore Street searching for and collating Kilgore's requests.
"He's always been after records. It could be because he retired, so he has more time," Walker said.
While Kilgore and others like him might have long been filing requests, it is now more difficult for local governments to ignore them, said Barry Fox, the deputy director of open records for the state. His office held seminars to educate local government officials on the law before it went into effect Jan. 1.
Before then, Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law was known as one of the least transparent in the country. Now, Fox said, he sees appeals come into his office frequently from those who have been ignored _ 97 in January and February.
It all comes with the territory of more government transparency, he said. He's also seen municipal officials _ who know they have residents like Kilgore _ begin to squirm.
"These citizens exist in every municipality ... these gadflies ... We get asked a lot if they are going to come out of the woodwork now," Fox said.
Gary Berresford, the borough manager in Wormleysburg, has worried that his borough's longtime agitator will begin inundating the office with requests under the new law. That person has asked for the same documents repeatedly, Berresford said.
"It's not that they want those records _ it's that they want to harass the people to get those records," Berresford said. "They are unhappy with the borough, and they are asking for things they don't even need."
But borough councils can use the open-records law to their advantage, too.
Kilgore taped Franklintown's most recent meeting Feb. 4. The council vice president served an open-records request on behalf of six residents for Kilgore's tape. Such tapes were exempt under the state's previous Right to Know Law, but they recently were ruled fair game for such requests.
Kilgore is still waiting for his five most recent requests. He's also waiting to see whether they will help him keep his municipality on its toes.
"I used to ask about a budget and get served up some sort of legal goodie," he said.
And now?
It took the full 30 days, but Walker mailed Kilgore an itemized list of answers to his first 11 requests, with eight pages of enclosed copies of treasurer's bonds and contact information for the borough's waste management service.
Kilgore's not satisfied, he said. He said he can't read the sanitation budget. Now he's waiting eagerly for replies to his remaining five requests.
If he's still not happy with the responses, there's always the appeals process.
The pendulum swings wildly as the new law gets tested. Who knew that those homemade tapes of school board meetings are now part of the open records law and can be requested by others?
Open records law fuels spats with municipalities
By AMANDA PALLESCHI
The Associated Press
Every community has one: the gadfly, the complainer, the curmudgeon. The concerned citizen with a comment at the ready for the most ordinary of agenda items, pen in pocket for scouring budgets line by line to account for every dollar.
They are there to keep local government honest, with help from the state's new Right to Know Law that took effect in January.
But some municipalities are starting to complain that the law is miring them in paper work and creating logistical and financial headaches.
State and county agencies have set up offices and created positions to deal with requests under the new law. Borough feuds such as the 25-year battle that Jim Kilgore has waged against the Franklintown Borough Council in northern York County are testing how the law is working.
And Kilgore isn't just an interested citizen. He's a member of Borough Council.
"Municipal government touches residents in their everyday lives more than we do," said Joanne Burkhart, the open-records officer for Cumberland County. "They have more requests than we do."
Kilgore has made 16 requests since the law was enacted, and 11 replies were due to him by last week. The law allows five business days for replies, but the borough requested the maximum 30-day extension.
His requests ran the gamut of his gripes in the 25 years he's lived in the borough. How much is the borough secretary making? How much does the borough owe in liability insurance on a public park? What did the letter of complaint about him, read aloud at the last meeting, say?
"Things look and smell funny in this borough. That's all I really want to say," Kilgore said.
Dick Blouch, the Franklintown council president, estimated that Kilgore's requests will cost the borough $1,000 for certified mail and lawyer and administrative fees.
Governments of all sizes, even in small municipalities such as Franklintown, had better get used to it, said Matt Brouillette, the CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, a Harrisburg-based nonprofit think tank that develops and promotes public policies.
"This is a new day in Pennsylvania where government is going to be more open and transparent. I don't have any sympathy for government," he said. "Go cry to somebody else. Don't cry to taxpayers and citizens."
Kilgore is serving a two-year term on the Borough Council after losing the election for a four-year term in 2007. But his involvement with its agendas and politics goes back years.
It all started with the trees, he said. In 1999, Kilgore collected the signatures of 31 borough residents unhappy with trees that the borough had planted along the sidewalks in front of their houses. The petition requested that the borough replace the sidewalks because the trees' roots were starting to break up the concrete. The borough eventually took care of the trees.
Kilgore also has complained about tax increases, a neighbor burning trash and a council member who Kilgore said made a racist remark at a gas station in town. Kilgore even was accused of lunging at borough secretary Deb Walker and threatening her during a heated discussion of the sanitation budget, and he was cited with disorderly conduct.
Blouch said Kilgore is not a new problem for the 532-resident borough with a $156,000 yearly budget. But he's escalated things recently.
"It paralyzes the function and the operation of the borough," Blouch said, noting that Walker has had to spend much of her day in the borough office on Baltimore Street searching for and collating Kilgore's requests.
"He's always been after records. It could be because he retired, so he has more time," Walker said.
While Kilgore and others like him might have long been filing requests, it is now more difficult for local governments to ignore them, said Barry Fox, the deputy director of open records for the state. His office held seminars to educate local government officials on the law before it went into effect Jan. 1.
Before then, Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law was known as one of the least transparent in the country. Now, Fox said, he sees appeals come into his office frequently from those who have been ignored _ 97 in January and February.
It all comes with the territory of more government transparency, he said. He's also seen municipal officials _ who know they have residents like Kilgore _ begin to squirm.
"These citizens exist in every municipality ... these gadflies ... We get asked a lot if they are going to come out of the woodwork now," Fox said.
Gary Berresford, the borough manager in Wormleysburg, has worried that his borough's longtime agitator will begin inundating the office with requests under the new law. That person has asked for the same documents repeatedly, Berresford said.
"It's not that they want those records _ it's that they want to harass the people to get those records," Berresford said. "They are unhappy with the borough, and they are asking for things they don't even need."
But borough councils can use the open-records law to their advantage, too.
Kilgore taped Franklintown's most recent meeting Feb. 4. The council vice president served an open-records request on behalf of six residents for Kilgore's tape. Such tapes were exempt under the state's previous Right to Know Law, but they recently were ruled fair game for such requests.
Kilgore is still waiting for his five most recent requests. He's also waiting to see whether they will help him keep his municipality on its toes.
"I used to ask about a budget and get served up some sort of legal goodie," he said.
And now?
It took the full 30 days, but Walker mailed Kilgore an itemized list of answers to his first 11 requests, with eight pages of enclosed copies of treasurer's bonds and contact information for the borough's waste management service.
Kilgore's not satisfied, he said. He said he can't read the sanitation budget. Now he's waiting eagerly for replies to his remaining five requests.
If he's still not happy with the responses, there's always the appeals process.
And More Band Fallout
From the BCCT.
Another letter about the poorly phrased opinion piece condemning the band.
Yes, the BCCT has apologized for their lack of foresight and editing skills. It is not a mystery how that appeared in the paper. We know that it's good press policy to get the back and forth going with each side lining up to fire another volley of verbiage and then purchase the newspaper to see the results each day. Another day, another volley. It keeps circulation up.
Maybe, as was pointed out, the original writer did make a real hash of her point, that Pennsbury is the shining city on the hill, a beacon pointing to educational Nirvana, while Morrisville (always said with that slightly condescending twist and tone of voice), just doesn't have what it takes.
I can read the newspapers too. There's lots of people in Pennsbury who see the warts over there, as well as the good. There's good and bad in Morrisville too. Why do so many people persist in the very un-original mantra chant of Pennsbury good, Morrisville bad? Because it's easy and cheap. Aren't you tired of so many people mindlessly bashing Morrisville because it's become part of their daily day: Get up, shower, drink coffee, bash Morrisville, go to work...?
It's because right here at home, perversely, that the negative Morrisvillains dominate the political landscape. School board members who want to close the schools. Council members who want to shut the town.
If you like what you see everyday in the newspapers, then vote for the same old people with the same old ways of running things. If you want a change, then be the change and come out and vote.
And if you want Guy to do a better job of editing next time: gpetroziello@phillyBurbs.com
Misguided argument
By GUY PETROZIELLO
Bucks County Courier Times
Editor’s note: An apology has been offered.
Once again, the students of Morrisville High were the easy target of a misguided argument, when a recent guest opinion compared a live concert to a televised graduation. Though the author's points may resonate to some, she insulted the many hard-working souls of the Morrisville music program.
An apology should be offered to the students of Morrisville High School, who have felt enough negativity over the last few years, despite increasing test scores and an award-winning band.
Ken Kelman
West Philadelphia
Another letter about the poorly phrased opinion piece condemning the band.
Yes, the BCCT has apologized for their lack of foresight and editing skills. It is not a mystery how that appeared in the paper. We know that it's good press policy to get the back and forth going with each side lining up to fire another volley of verbiage and then purchase the newspaper to see the results each day. Another day, another volley. It keeps circulation up.
Maybe, as was pointed out, the original writer did make a real hash of her point, that Pennsbury is the shining city on the hill, a beacon pointing to educational Nirvana, while Morrisville (always said with that slightly condescending twist and tone of voice), just doesn't have what it takes.
I can read the newspapers too. There's lots of people in Pennsbury who see the warts over there, as well as the good. There's good and bad in Morrisville too. Why do so many people persist in the very un-original mantra chant of Pennsbury good, Morrisville bad? Because it's easy and cheap. Aren't you tired of so many people mindlessly bashing Morrisville because it's become part of their daily day: Get up, shower, drink coffee, bash Morrisville, go to work...?
It's because right here at home, perversely, that the negative Morrisvillains dominate the political landscape. School board members who want to close the schools. Council members who want to shut the town.
If you like what you see everyday in the newspapers, then vote for the same old people with the same old ways of running things. If you want a change, then be the change and come out and vote.
And if you want Guy to do a better job of editing next time: gpetroziello@phillyBurbs.com
Misguided argument
By GUY PETROZIELLO
Bucks County Courier Times
Editor’s note: An apology has been offered.
Once again, the students of Morrisville High were the easy target of a misguided argument, when a recent guest opinion compared a live concert to a televised graduation. Though the author's points may resonate to some, she insulted the many hard-working souls of the Morrisville music program.
An apology should be offered to the students of Morrisville High School, who have felt enough negativity over the last few years, despite increasing test scores and an award-winning band.
Ken Kelman
West Philadelphia
Monday, March 9, 2009
Officials worried about cost of graduation tests
From the BCCT.
Officials worried about cost of graduation tests
By RACHEL CANELLI
Although school directors are relieved that they’ll get to keep some control over statemandated graduation tests, officials are still worried about their cost.
The state Department of Education and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association struck a compromise on graduation requirements this week, reducing tensions from the past two years not only at the state level but among area school boards.
The deal will let districts use their own tests for math, English, social studies and science as long as they meet state standards. The state Education Department will split the costs of verifying the tests’ quality with local districts.
“One thing we did not need was yet another unfunded state mandate,” said Neshaminy school board member William Spitz.
He added he was pleased state education officials accepted the school board association’s input. Spitz described the proposal as strengthening graduation requirements, while allowing districts to decide what works best for them.
The agreement cleared a major hurdle to the controversial graduation competency tests by preserving the right of school districts to administer their own tests. It also delays implementation of the tests for an additional year, in place for students who graduate in 2015.
“Each district needs the flexibility and latitude to do what is best for their student population and additional state mandates are not the answer, especially unfunded mandates,” said Gregory Lucidi, president of the Pennsbury school board.
Under a new policy, juniors in that district, next year’s graduating class, will have to pass the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments in reading and math to receive diplomas, officials said. Teachers there also use alternative assessments and student portfolios to gauge pupils’ success, administrators said.
Even though Lucidi acknowledged the state’s willingness to contribute financially to the new assessments, he said it’s still not enough because taxpayers will end up footing the bill.
That’s a “huge challenge” to ask of taxpayers, especially in the current financial climate, said Harry Kramer, president of the Bensalem school board.
“Districts all over Bucks are trying to save and cut expenses without sacrificing education,” Kramer said.
But officials said they don’t know the price tag of administering the tests because it involves staffing and materials.
“There is no funding to help the students prepare for these exams, or funding to support students who cannot prove proficiency under these new rules,” said Lucidi. “I believe PDE needs to be less concerned with doing the jobs of locally elected school boards and needs to focus on more critical issues such as skyrocketing pension and special education costs.”
But the state Department of Education has argued for the graduation competency exams, saying studies show too many high school graduates aren’t prepared for higher education or work and local tests are inadequate.
State law passed last July established a one-year moratorium on any regulations regarding high school graduation requirements. The State Board of Education will continue its public hearing and input process over the next several months and will formally revisit the proposed regulations once the moratorium expires at the end of June 2009.
That’s one reason why Bristol Township school board President W. Earl Bruck said he’s reluctant to pass final judgment on the plan.
Bruck called the agreement encouraging and promising, but said his other major concern is whether the regulations will be imposed on charter, cyber and non-public schools as well.
“While there could still be an unfunded cost to local school boards, it is certainly less imposing than the proposal previously presented by the PDE,” said Bruck. “[It] reflects a recognition by the PDE that local school boards really do have the best interest of the children at heart and that their opposition to the previous plan was primarily the imposition of more involuntary, unfunded mandates.”
Staff writers Manasee Wagh and Joan Hellyer and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Officials worried about cost of graduation tests
By RACHEL CANELLI
Although school directors are relieved that they’ll get to keep some control over statemandated graduation tests, officials are still worried about their cost.
The state Department of Education and the Pennsylvania School Boards Association struck a compromise on graduation requirements this week, reducing tensions from the past two years not only at the state level but among area school boards.
The deal will let districts use their own tests for math, English, social studies and science as long as they meet state standards. The state Education Department will split the costs of verifying the tests’ quality with local districts.
“One thing we did not need was yet another unfunded state mandate,” said Neshaminy school board member William Spitz.
He added he was pleased state education officials accepted the school board association’s input. Spitz described the proposal as strengthening graduation requirements, while allowing districts to decide what works best for them.
The agreement cleared a major hurdle to the controversial graduation competency tests by preserving the right of school districts to administer their own tests. It also delays implementation of the tests for an additional year, in place for students who graduate in 2015.
“Each district needs the flexibility and latitude to do what is best for their student population and additional state mandates are not the answer, especially unfunded mandates,” said Gregory Lucidi, president of the Pennsbury school board.
Under a new policy, juniors in that district, next year’s graduating class, will have to pass the Pennsylvania System of School Assessments in reading and math to receive diplomas, officials said. Teachers there also use alternative assessments and student portfolios to gauge pupils’ success, administrators said.
Even though Lucidi acknowledged the state’s willingness to contribute financially to the new assessments, he said it’s still not enough because taxpayers will end up footing the bill.
That’s a “huge challenge” to ask of taxpayers, especially in the current financial climate, said Harry Kramer, president of the Bensalem school board.
“Districts all over Bucks are trying to save and cut expenses without sacrificing education,” Kramer said.
But officials said they don’t know the price tag of administering the tests because it involves staffing and materials.
“There is no funding to help the students prepare for these exams, or funding to support students who cannot prove proficiency under these new rules,” said Lucidi. “I believe PDE needs to be less concerned with doing the jobs of locally elected school boards and needs to focus on more critical issues such as skyrocketing pension and special education costs.”
But the state Department of Education has argued for the graduation competency exams, saying studies show too many high school graduates aren’t prepared for higher education or work and local tests are inadequate.
State law passed last July established a one-year moratorium on any regulations regarding high school graduation requirements. The State Board of Education will continue its public hearing and input process over the next several months and will formally revisit the proposed regulations once the moratorium expires at the end of June 2009.
That’s one reason why Bristol Township school board President W. Earl Bruck said he’s reluctant to pass final judgment on the plan.
Bruck called the agreement encouraging and promising, but said his other major concern is whether the regulations will be imposed on charter, cyber and non-public schools as well.
“While there could still be an unfunded cost to local school boards, it is certainly less imposing than the proposal previously presented by the PDE,” said Bruck. “[It] reflects a recognition by the PDE that local school boards really do have the best interest of the children at heart and that their opposition to the previous plan was primarily the imposition of more involuntary, unfunded mandates.”
Staff writers Manasee Wagh and Joan Hellyer and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Obama, Healthcare, and Morrisville?
While reading about the healthcare summit that President Obama attended last week, these quotes really seemed rather appropriate.
"We didn't get here by accident. The problems we face today are a direct consequence of actions that we failed to take yesterday. Since Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform nearly a century ago, we have talked and we have tinkered. We have tried and fallen short, we've stalled for time, and again we have failed to act because of Washington politics or industry lobbying."
"In this effort, every voice has to be heard. Every idea must be considered. Every option must be on the table. There should be no sacred cows. Each of us must accept that none of us will get everything that we want, and that no proposal for reform will be perfect. If that's the measure, we will never get anything done. But when it comes to addressing our health care challenge, we can no longer let the perfect be the enemy of the essential. And I don't think anybody would argue that we are on a sustainable path when it comes to health care."
"Finally, I want to be very clear at the outset that while everyone has a right to take part in this discussion, nobody has the right to take it over and dominate. The status quo is the one option that's not on the table, and those who seek to block any reform at all -- any reform at any costs will not prevail this time around."
"Nothing is harder in politics than doing something now that costs money in order to gain benefits 20 years from now," he said. "It's the single hardest thing to do in politics, and that's part of the reason why health care reform has consistently broken down."
Check out this story with a ten minute video and the text of his remarks. If he wasn't clearly talking about healthcare, he might as well be talking about Morrisville.
It's part of the reason why Morrisville has broken down too. Do you think our current elected leaders can handle the problems of Morrisville and our school district? If they are part of the solution, then re-elect them. If they're part of the problem, then boot their butts out of office.
"We didn't get here by accident. The problems we face today are a direct consequence of actions that we failed to take yesterday. Since Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform nearly a century ago, we have talked and we have tinkered. We have tried and fallen short, we've stalled for time, and again we have failed to act because of Washington politics or industry lobbying."
"In this effort, every voice has to be heard. Every idea must be considered. Every option must be on the table. There should be no sacred cows. Each of us must accept that none of us will get everything that we want, and that no proposal for reform will be perfect. If that's the measure, we will never get anything done. But when it comes to addressing our health care challenge, we can no longer let the perfect be the enemy of the essential. And I don't think anybody would argue that we are on a sustainable path when it comes to health care."
"Finally, I want to be very clear at the outset that while everyone has a right to take part in this discussion, nobody has the right to take it over and dominate. The status quo is the one option that's not on the table, and those who seek to block any reform at all -- any reform at any costs will not prevail this time around."
"Nothing is harder in politics than doing something now that costs money in order to gain benefits 20 years from now," he said. "It's the single hardest thing to do in politics, and that's part of the reason why health care reform has consistently broken down."
Check out this story with a ten minute video and the text of his remarks. If he wasn't clearly talking about healthcare, he might as well be talking about Morrisville.
It's part of the reason why Morrisville has broken down too. Do you think our current elected leaders can handle the problems of Morrisville and our school district? If they are part of the solution, then re-elect them. If they're part of the problem, then boot their butts out of office.
More Band Fallout
From the BCCT.
I notice that the newspaper has apologized at least twice now, but not the letter writer.
Derogatory comment
Bucks County Courier Times
I am appalled at the Guest Opinion by Gloria DelVecchio and cannot believe that your paper would print something so derogatory for the children of Morrisville's band to read. It is one thing for Mrs. DelVecchio to be angry with the people in Morrisville and Pennsbury; but to attack innocent children who put many long hours into practicing and gather great pleasure in playing in the band, was uncalled for.
The children of Morrisville are Morrisville's future, a future that I am very worried about. If people keep attacking our children, they will never come back and give to a community where they were treated like outcasts. We have great children in our community. I know this from all the time I spend with them. They have so much to offer and people like Mrs. DelVecchio need to spend more time with them to understand that.
As for the performance she watched on Morrisville's educational channel, it was a rebroadcast of an event that took place outside on an evening in June. We all know that sound quality of the educational channel is not all that great.
If Mrs. DelVecchio took the time to attend one of our concerts, she would see and hear what wonderful children our town is privileged to have. No one has ever walked away disappointed after one of our children's performances.
Before someone puts our children down, they should take the time to see a live performance. That way they can write an informed article. Mrs. DelVecchio and the Bucks County Courier Times owe the children of Morrisville's band an apology.
Donna Wilson
Editor’s note: We cannot speak for Mrs. DelVecchio but believe her sleight was unintentional, as her point was that Morrisville children would have greater opportunities at Pennsbury High School. In retrospect, however, her comments should have been softened. We regret that students might have been hurt.
I notice that the newspaper has apologized at least twice now, but not the letter writer.
Derogatory comment
Bucks County Courier Times
I am appalled at the Guest Opinion by Gloria DelVecchio and cannot believe that your paper would print something so derogatory for the children of Morrisville's band to read. It is one thing for Mrs. DelVecchio to be angry with the people in Morrisville and Pennsbury; but to attack innocent children who put many long hours into practicing and gather great pleasure in playing in the band, was uncalled for.
The children of Morrisville are Morrisville's future, a future that I am very worried about. If people keep attacking our children, they will never come back and give to a community where they were treated like outcasts. We have great children in our community. I know this from all the time I spend with them. They have so much to offer and people like Mrs. DelVecchio need to spend more time with them to understand that.
As for the performance she watched on Morrisville's educational channel, it was a rebroadcast of an event that took place outside on an evening in June. We all know that sound quality of the educational channel is not all that great.
If Mrs. DelVecchio took the time to attend one of our concerts, she would see and hear what wonderful children our town is privileged to have. No one has ever walked away disappointed after one of our children's performances.
Before someone puts our children down, they should take the time to see a live performance. That way they can write an informed article. Mrs. DelVecchio and the Bucks County Courier Times owe the children of Morrisville's band an apology.
Donna Wilson
Editor’s note: We cannot speak for Mrs. DelVecchio but believe her sleight was unintentional, as her point was that Morrisville children would have greater opportunities at Pennsbury High School. In retrospect, however, her comments should have been softened. We regret that students might have been hurt.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Look For the Union Worker
From the BCCT.
Boondoggle to make sure that union members get the jobs, or responsible government regulation?
The idea has merit, but I question why any council member would spend their time on an issue like this when the borough is taking a second turn around in the swirling water of a financial toilet. Is this really a pertinent issue today?
If it's about being "responsible", does this mean that there's no responsible bidding process already in place? Or that the bidding contractor is not already held responsible when placing a bid? If so, that's a glaring hole in the borough process and that needs to be addressed.
Maybe it would be better to see five shovels in the ground bringing jobs back to Morrisville rather than one perfectly trained shovel working to government specification?
I know this: All things being equal, if I have the chance to hire a local contractor over a contractor from somewhere else, the local guy wins. I want to spend my money here at home.
Council to consider contractor ordinance
By DANNY ADLER
The Morrisville council will consider a law that supporters say is designed to ensure all public construction and maintenance contracts are awarded to responsible, qualified firms that meet a long list of requirements and participate in an apprenticeship program.
Similar responsible-contractor laws have been criticized for their apprenticeship requirements, with critics saying such a rule restricts contracts to union shops. Backers say that isn’t true.
One backer of the borough’s proposed responsible-contractor ordinance is Councilman David Rivella, a union journeyman electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 269.
Rivella, a member of the borough’s ordinance committee, said the proposal will add another layer of security when the council awards contracts worth $10,000 or more. He said the ordinance in no way is meant to promote union work, or IBEW work.
“It’s about being qualified,” Rivella said. “This ordinance is for all trades.
“I don’t know why, but some people like to say that apprenticeship means union,” he added. “People like to try to tie it to that. There’s not one word in the ordinance that says union.”
As of Wednesday, there were 10,890 union apprentices and 1,430 non-union apprentices in Pennsylvania’s construction industry, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Councilwoman Jane Burger, chairwoman of the ordinance committee, said the ordinance could hurt smaller businesses that don’t have apprenticeship programs and could negatively affect smaller local contractors.
She also called the proposal limited, saying, “This does not cover all of our bids.”
Several other municipalities in Lower Bucks County have similar laws.
A responsible-contractor law was criticized by some Lower Makefield residents when the township enacted its version.
Under Morrisville’s proposed ordinance, contractors would have to confirm that they hadn’t defaulted on any project or been prohibited from bidding on any federal, state or local government contracts in the last three years. In addition to having an apprenticeship program, they’d also have to be free of “willful violations” of federal or state safety laws.
One provision in the eight page ordinance says contractors must confirm that “all employees are United States citizens or properly documented legal aliens (who can legally work in the U.S.).” Another provision would require contractors to adhere to prevailing wage rates and fringe benefit requirements.
Once a bid is awarded, the borough would have 30 days to determine whether the contractor is qualified under the ordinance. The contractor’s responsibility certification, list of subcontractors and their responsibility certifications would be available for public review.
“This actually protects taxpayer dollars because you know who you’re dealing with upfront,” Rivella said. “Basically, if the contractor has not been debarred or defaulted on any projects or doesn’t have any serious law violations, they have nothing to worry about. This is designed to weed out the unscrupulous firms with bad track records.”
The draft ordinance likely will be discussed at the borough council’s 7:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting in borough hall, 35 Union St. The council could vote on the proposal at its regular 7:30 p.m. meeting March 16 in borough hall.
Boondoggle to make sure that union members get the jobs, or responsible government regulation?
The idea has merit, but I question why any council member would spend their time on an issue like this when the borough is taking a second turn around in the swirling water of a financial toilet. Is this really a pertinent issue today?
If it's about being "responsible", does this mean that there's no responsible bidding process already in place? Or that the bidding contractor is not already held responsible when placing a bid? If so, that's a glaring hole in the borough process and that needs to be addressed.
Maybe it would be better to see five shovels in the ground bringing jobs back to Morrisville rather than one perfectly trained shovel working to government specification?
I know this: All things being equal, if I have the chance to hire a local contractor over a contractor from somewhere else, the local guy wins. I want to spend my money here at home.
Council to consider contractor ordinance
By DANNY ADLER
The Morrisville council will consider a law that supporters say is designed to ensure all public construction and maintenance contracts are awarded to responsible, qualified firms that meet a long list of requirements and participate in an apprenticeship program.
Similar responsible-contractor laws have been criticized for their apprenticeship requirements, with critics saying such a rule restricts contracts to union shops. Backers say that isn’t true.
One backer of the borough’s proposed responsible-contractor ordinance is Councilman David Rivella, a union journeyman electrician with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 269.
Rivella, a member of the borough’s ordinance committee, said the proposal will add another layer of security when the council awards contracts worth $10,000 or more. He said the ordinance in no way is meant to promote union work, or IBEW work.
“It’s about being qualified,” Rivella said. “This ordinance is for all trades.
“I don’t know why, but some people like to say that apprenticeship means union,” he added. “People like to try to tie it to that. There’s not one word in the ordinance that says union.”
As of Wednesday, there were 10,890 union apprentices and 1,430 non-union apprentices in Pennsylvania’s construction industry, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Councilwoman Jane Burger, chairwoman of the ordinance committee, said the ordinance could hurt smaller businesses that don’t have apprenticeship programs and could negatively affect smaller local contractors.
She also called the proposal limited, saying, “This does not cover all of our bids.”
Several other municipalities in Lower Bucks County have similar laws.
A responsible-contractor law was criticized by some Lower Makefield residents when the township enacted its version.
Under Morrisville’s proposed ordinance, contractors would have to confirm that they hadn’t defaulted on any project or been prohibited from bidding on any federal, state or local government contracts in the last three years. In addition to having an apprenticeship program, they’d also have to be free of “willful violations” of federal or state safety laws.
One provision in the eight page ordinance says contractors must confirm that “all employees are United States citizens or properly documented legal aliens (who can legally work in the U.S.).” Another provision would require contractors to adhere to prevailing wage rates and fringe benefit requirements.
Once a bid is awarded, the borough would have 30 days to determine whether the contractor is qualified under the ordinance. The contractor’s responsibility certification, list of subcontractors and their responsibility certifications would be available for public review.
“This actually protects taxpayer dollars because you know who you’re dealing with upfront,” Rivella said. “Basically, if the contractor has not been debarred or defaulted on any projects or doesn’t have any serious law violations, they have nothing to worry about. This is designed to weed out the unscrupulous firms with bad track records.”
The draft ordinance likely will be discussed at the borough council’s 7:30 p.m. Tuesday meeting in borough hall, 35 Union St. The council could vote on the proposal at its regular 7:30 p.m. meeting March 16 in borough hall.
Locks of Love and Gym Night
From the BCCT.
Thank you to all of the staff and students. Job well done!
Lots of donations for Locks of Love
More students than ever participated in the event this year.
By MANASEE WAGH
At least five feet of hair will soon be flying through the mail from Morrisville.
Three students and three teachers got their ponytails lopped off Friday in front of the entire student body in Morrisville Middle/Senior High School. The hair will be donated to Locks of Love, which fashions it into hairpieces for children who have lost their own hair due to medical conditions.
“I wanted to get my hair cut anyway, and I also wanted to do it for the cause,” said sixth-grader Maggie Colon, 11. Wearing the school colors, blue and gold, in her tie-dyed knee socks, and sporting blue paw prints on her cheeks, she left the event gripping several inches of hair in her hand, secured at one end by rubber bands.
Other students wearing blue and gold saturated the gym with cheers and school spirit during the school’s annual Gym Night, a primarily athletic competition pitting one half of the student body against the other.
The afternoon event started with some students and a teacher playing the national anthem on electric guitars. During a variety of games, students in grades six through eight ran in relay races, shot hoops and participated in other contests. In the evening, grades nine through 12 had their own Gym Night with similar events, including dance and cheerleading competitions and an art contest.
Kids were judged on sportsmanship and school spirit, the teachers said.
It was the third Gym Night where staff and students had their hair cut for Locks of Love, said French teacher and National Honor Society adviser Elizabeth Glaum-Lathbury. Each time she has organized the charitable event, the response has grown, especially from students, she said.
“This is a fun event and a great cause,” she said, adding that many students said they wanted to participate next year when their hair would be long enough. Locks of Love requires a hair donation to be at least 10 inches long.
The donors sat in folding chairs over a sheet of blue tarp for the quickest haircuts of their lives.
“I’ve done it twice already. I’ve been wanting to do it again,” said senior Nichole Kamann, 18, holding up a hank of dark brown hair in her fist.
Students from the National Honor Society sold more than $100 of raffle tickets to the student body for a chance to cut a teacher’s hair. The school is sending a $200 check from ticket sales and other donated funds to Locks of Love, along with the ponytails.
While the ponytails came from female heads, teacher Kevin Jones got his head shaved. It’s not enough to donate, but his gesture did raise more money through ticket sales. The rest of the time, Jones ran around dressed up as the school’s bulldog mascot and pretended to cut the hair of people in the crowd with oversized plastic scissors.
After understandably unprofessional cuts, the kids got a chance to have their hair snipped and styled by Barbara Girton, a hairdresser in a Morrisville barbershop. She volunteers to help clean up after the pony tail snips every time the school holds the event.
One of Girton’s daughters was diagnosed with leukemia a couple of years ago, so helping a Locks of Love event is more meaningful than ever to her. Her daughter is now in remission from the cancer.
“This town was very supportive through all of that,” she said. “Anytime I can do this, I don’t mind.”
Thank you to all of the staff and students. Job well done!
Lots of donations for Locks of Love
More students than ever participated in the event this year.
By MANASEE WAGH
At least five feet of hair will soon be flying through the mail from Morrisville.
Three students and three teachers got their ponytails lopped off Friday in front of the entire student body in Morrisville Middle/Senior High School. The hair will be donated to Locks of Love, which fashions it into hairpieces for children who have lost their own hair due to medical conditions.
“I wanted to get my hair cut anyway, and I also wanted to do it for the cause,” said sixth-grader Maggie Colon, 11. Wearing the school colors, blue and gold, in her tie-dyed knee socks, and sporting blue paw prints on her cheeks, she left the event gripping several inches of hair in her hand, secured at one end by rubber bands.
Other students wearing blue and gold saturated the gym with cheers and school spirit during the school’s annual Gym Night, a primarily athletic competition pitting one half of the student body against the other.
The afternoon event started with some students and a teacher playing the national anthem on electric guitars. During a variety of games, students in grades six through eight ran in relay races, shot hoops and participated in other contests. In the evening, grades nine through 12 had their own Gym Night with similar events, including dance and cheerleading competitions and an art contest.
Kids were judged on sportsmanship and school spirit, the teachers said.
It was the third Gym Night where staff and students had their hair cut for Locks of Love, said French teacher and National Honor Society adviser Elizabeth Glaum-Lathbury. Each time she has organized the charitable event, the response has grown, especially from students, she said.
“This is a fun event and a great cause,” she said, adding that many students said they wanted to participate next year when their hair would be long enough. Locks of Love requires a hair donation to be at least 10 inches long.
The donors sat in folding chairs over a sheet of blue tarp for the quickest haircuts of their lives.
“I’ve done it twice already. I’ve been wanting to do it again,” said senior Nichole Kamann, 18, holding up a hank of dark brown hair in her fist.
Students from the National Honor Society sold more than $100 of raffle tickets to the student body for a chance to cut a teacher’s hair. The school is sending a $200 check from ticket sales and other donated funds to Locks of Love, along with the ponytails.
While the ponytails came from female heads, teacher Kevin Jones got his head shaved. It’s not enough to donate, but his gesture did raise more money through ticket sales. The rest of the time, Jones ran around dressed up as the school’s bulldog mascot and pretended to cut the hair of people in the crowd with oversized plastic scissors.After understandably unprofessional cuts, the kids got a chance to have their hair snipped and styled by Barbara Girton, a hairdresser in a Morrisville barbershop. She volunteers to help clean up after the pony tail snips every time the school holds the event.
One of Girton’s daughters was diagnosed with leukemia a couple of years ago, so helping a Locks of Love event is more meaningful than ever to her. Her daughter is now in remission from the cancer.
“This town was very supportive through all of that,” she said. “Anytime I can do this, I don’t mind.”
Saturday, March 7, 2009
The Record Collector
From the Inquirer.
Does anyone remember the Record Collector? After Pryor's moved out (and before the gentleman's club brouhaha), the corner of Pennsylvania and Bridge used to host a rather amazing and eclectic collection of vinyl LP, cassette, and CD format music.
This is an example of "what coulda been" if Morrisville was a more proactive and welcoming business community.
Too bad the DeLorean's time circuits are all kerfarbled...
Music in store
Performers share space with vintage vinyl at Bordentown's Record Collector.
By Susan Van Dongen, For The Inquirer Posted on Fri, Mar. 6, 2009
On a recent Saturday night after a particularly bad week of economic news, a few dozen people enjoyed almost more live music than they could handle, and for a song.
The Buicks, one of the region's best original blues bands, rocked the room at the Record Collector, in the tiny colonial city of Bordentown. Admission was a recession-friendly 10 bucks.
There were no overpriced drinks to drain your wallet, and no elbow-to-elbow indifferent crowds disrespecting the band. People came to the Record Collector for the music, or maybe to peruse the vintage vinyl, posters and rock-and-roll memorabilia, things like a Beatles tray, a Conway Twitty ashtray, a Monkees charm bracelet, and a Jerry Garcia puppet.
It's like this every weekend at this venue, where there is live music - or sometimes comedy - offered on Friday and Saturday nights. The Record Collector welcomes singer-songwriter Lisa Bouchelle and the all-female group the Refugees tonight. It's the Figgs and Kitty & the Kowalskis on Saturday night.
The store, housed in a renovated art-deco-era bowling alley, can comfortably seat 60 people, but the number at times swells to 75 and more. If you don't want to sit, you can hang out among the records and CDs on the lower tier - not quite a mosh pit, but a fine place to dance.
Promoter and WTSR-FM DJ Randy "Now" Ellis, who used to put on punk and New Wave concerts at the former City Gardens in Trenton, isn't hesitant to reach out to the famous and bring them to Bordentown. Pete Best, the original drummer for the Beatles, was here in October and is scheduled to return July 5.
Peter Tork of the Monkees has been in Bordentown twice with his band, Shoe Suede Blues. Rockabilly great Robert Gordon put on a lively show, as did Graham Parker, Marshall Crenshaw and Ian McLagan.
Scheduled between the better-known acts are some of the tri-state area's most talented bands and performers who play rock, pop, punk, blues and world music.
Owner John Chrambanis opened the store at its Farnsworth Avenue location in the fall of 2006. He previously had a place in Morrisville, and in Trenton before that. With more than 25 years of purveying vintage vinyl to music lovers from all over the country, Chrambanis has an amazing personal collection.
"I really do have an inventory of one million records," he says.
Currently, one of the most valuable items on display at the store is Elvis Presley's first hit single, "That's All Right" with the B-side "Blue Moon of Kentucky," released in 1954. Framed and mounted, it's valued at about $1,200. There's also a recording from 1958 by Mickey Mantle titled My Favorite Hits, with the slugger singing his favorite songs, worth about $100. Previously, Chrambanis had a copy of the Beatles' 1966 release Yesterday and Today, the famed "Butcher Cover" edition, which was pulled by their record company for being in bad taste. Chrambanis sold that record for $1,500.
The tidy, well-organized store also sells sheet music, candy and other goodies, a few kitschy books and sound equipment - including turntables to play all those great records.
Free, live concerts at this vinyl haven began about a year ago, and quickly became a hit. Ellis raised the price of admission to $3, presenting the Grip Weeds to a standing-room-only crowd last July 4.
"I realized that we had something here, so I started pursuing some bigger names," Ellis says. His real coup was getting Best and his band, the beginning of a streak of top-notch concerts that doesn't seem to be slowing down.
You'll find all generations of music lovers at the Record Collector's live shows. "Bring your kids to the show," Ellis says. "It's cheaper than a baby sitter and it's a history lesson."
Does anyone remember the Record Collector? After Pryor's moved out (and before the gentleman's club brouhaha), the corner of Pennsylvania and Bridge used to host a rather amazing and eclectic collection of vinyl LP, cassette, and CD format music.
This is an example of "what coulda been" if Morrisville was a more proactive and welcoming business community.
Too bad the DeLorean's time circuits are all kerfarbled...
Music in store
Performers share space with vintage vinyl at Bordentown's Record Collector.
By Susan Van Dongen, For The Inquirer Posted on Fri, Mar. 6, 2009
On a recent Saturday night after a particularly bad week of economic news, a few dozen people enjoyed almost more live music than they could handle, and for a song.
The Buicks, one of the region's best original blues bands, rocked the room at the Record Collector, in the tiny colonial city of Bordentown. Admission was a recession-friendly 10 bucks.
There were no overpriced drinks to drain your wallet, and no elbow-to-elbow indifferent crowds disrespecting the band. People came to the Record Collector for the music, or maybe to peruse the vintage vinyl, posters and rock-and-roll memorabilia, things like a Beatles tray, a Conway Twitty ashtray, a Monkees charm bracelet, and a Jerry Garcia puppet.
It's like this every weekend at this venue, where there is live music - or sometimes comedy - offered on Friday and Saturday nights. The Record Collector welcomes singer-songwriter Lisa Bouchelle and the all-female group the Refugees tonight. It's the Figgs and Kitty & the Kowalskis on Saturday night.
The store, housed in a renovated art-deco-era bowling alley, can comfortably seat 60 people, but the number at times swells to 75 and more. If you don't want to sit, you can hang out among the records and CDs on the lower tier - not quite a mosh pit, but a fine place to dance.
Promoter and WTSR-FM DJ Randy "Now" Ellis, who used to put on punk and New Wave concerts at the former City Gardens in Trenton, isn't hesitant to reach out to the famous and bring them to Bordentown. Pete Best, the original drummer for the Beatles, was here in October and is scheduled to return July 5.
Peter Tork of the Monkees has been in Bordentown twice with his band, Shoe Suede Blues. Rockabilly great Robert Gordon put on a lively show, as did Graham Parker, Marshall Crenshaw and Ian McLagan.
Scheduled between the better-known acts are some of the tri-state area's most talented bands and performers who play rock, pop, punk, blues and world music.
Owner John Chrambanis opened the store at its Farnsworth Avenue location in the fall of 2006. He previously had a place in Morrisville, and in Trenton before that. With more than 25 years of purveying vintage vinyl to music lovers from all over the country, Chrambanis has an amazing personal collection.
"I really do have an inventory of one million records," he says.
Currently, one of the most valuable items on display at the store is Elvis Presley's first hit single, "That's All Right" with the B-side "Blue Moon of Kentucky," released in 1954. Framed and mounted, it's valued at about $1,200. There's also a recording from 1958 by Mickey Mantle titled My Favorite Hits, with the slugger singing his favorite songs, worth about $100. Previously, Chrambanis had a copy of the Beatles' 1966 release Yesterday and Today, the famed "Butcher Cover" edition, which was pulled by their record company for being in bad taste. Chrambanis sold that record for $1,500.
The tidy, well-organized store also sells sheet music, candy and other goodies, a few kitschy books and sound equipment - including turntables to play all those great records.
Free, live concerts at this vinyl haven began about a year ago, and quickly became a hit. Ellis raised the price of admission to $3, presenting the Grip Weeds to a standing-room-only crowd last July 4.
"I realized that we had something here, so I started pursuing some bigger names," Ellis says. His real coup was getting Best and his band, the beginning of a streak of top-notch concerts that doesn't seem to be slowing down.
You'll find all generations of music lovers at the Record Collector's live shows. "Bring your kids to the show," Ellis says. "It's cheaper than a baby sitter and it's a history lesson."
Dangers of an Abandoned School
From MSNBC.con.
Who knew abandoned schoolhouses were so prevalent.
And the dangers that lurk inside of them...
Alligator starts abandoned school fire
updated 10:12 p.m. ET, Fri., March. 6, 2009
PENNSYLVANIA: Authorities believe an alligator may be to blame for a fire inside an abandoned school.
The blaze began at the former Mount Jackson Elementary School in North Beaver Township, near New Castle.
Authorities said the man who owns the property, Brian Simpson, was living with a menagerie of animals in the building, including the alligator, about 70 rabbits and unspecified "aquatic animals."
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is now involved in caring for the animals rescued from the fire.
Fire Chief Paul Henry said the building's owner believes the alligator started the fire by knocking over a portable heater.
Firefighters removed the animal, but only after taping its mouth shut.
"I basically got on top of it," said Wes Osborne, of Crit-R-Done Wildlife Control. "One of the fellows in there had already handled it a little bit by the tail, and we were able to duct-tape it to keep anybody from getting bit."
Neighbors said they've been complaining about the rundown property for years.
"My concerns are the hazard to children that play in the neighborhood," said neighbor Missy Argiro. "It's an eyesore, obviously. I've known that he's had animals in there for many years. We can hear dogs barking every night."
The Fish and Game Commission said no laws were broken, so they're turning all the animals back over to the owner.
Who knew abandoned schoolhouses were so prevalent.
And the dangers that lurk inside of them...
Alligator starts abandoned school fire
updated 10:12 p.m. ET, Fri., March. 6, 2009
PENNSYLVANIA: Authorities believe an alligator may be to blame for a fire inside an abandoned school.
The blaze began at the former Mount Jackson Elementary School in North Beaver Township, near New Castle.
Authorities said the man who owns the property, Brian Simpson, was living with a menagerie of animals in the building, including the alligator, about 70 rabbits and unspecified "aquatic animals."
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is now involved in caring for the animals rescued from the fire.
Fire Chief Paul Henry said the building's owner believes the alligator started the fire by knocking over a portable heater.
Firefighters removed the animal, but only after taping its mouth shut.
"I basically got on top of it," said Wes Osborne, of Crit-R-Done Wildlife Control. "One of the fellows in there had already handled it a little bit by the tail, and we were able to duct-tape it to keep anybody from getting bit."
Neighbors said they've been complaining about the rundown property for years.
"My concerns are the hazard to children that play in the neighborhood," said neighbor Missy Argiro. "It's an eyesore, obviously. I've known that he's had animals in there for many years. We can hear dogs barking every night."
The Fish and Game Commission said no laws were broken, so they're turning all the animals back over to the owner.
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