From the BCCT.
This is why parents and schools need to be working together. The teachers cannot do it without the parents. The parents cannot do it without the teachers. It's as simple as that.
Teens face gun charges
By: MATT COUGHLIN
The Intelligencer
A 15-year-old Council Rock South sophomore planned to bring a gun to school, threaten or even shoot a teacher and said he had no qualms about hurting anyone who got in his way, according to police.
He and two other 15-year-olds from the Holland section of Northampton hatched two separate sets of plans that involved the same stolen handgun to get what they wanted earlier this week, investigators said. Instead, they face criminal charges.
The boy who planned to intimidate his teacher was upset that she was telling his parents he was doing poorly in class and wanted to change her mind, or if not, shoot her, police said.
The other two planned to use the gun to threaten someone in Middletown, according to police. However, they were arrested before they could find their target.
On Monday, a Middletown resident called 911 to report two suspicious juveniles looking at houses in his neighborhood. Police said they found the two 15-year-olds walking toward the Neshaminy Creek along Brownsville Road near Woodbine Avenue. The two appeared to be casing the homes, though police said they planned to intimidate someone in that neighborhood.
Police said the teens were evasive when questioned. Officers found a stolen Walther P22 concealed in one of the teen's pants and both were arrested. Someone had unsuccessfully tried to scratch the serial numbers off the gun, police said. However, police traced the gun's registration to a man on West Patricia Road in Northampton. He didn't know the gun had been stolen until Middletown police contacted him after the arrests.
The capture of his friends and seizure of the stolen gun foiled the plans of the would-be school shooter, police said. School officials learned about the threats from other students, and the boy was detained until police could take him into custody.
The stolen gun the teen planned to use was never in the school, police said.
But investigators said he did have the gun in his hands at some point before his friends were caught with it Monday. That's why, in addition to charges of making terroristic threats, the teen arrested at Council Rock South is charged with receiving stolen property, possession of an instrument of crime and possession of a firearm by a minor. He remains at the county juvenile detention center in Edison pending a hearing next week.
The two teens arrested by Middletown police Monday also were sent to Edison, where they have been charged with attempted burglary, attempted trespassing, criminal mischief and conspiracy. The one who had the gun at the time of arrest also faces charges of carrying a concealed firearm, a minor carrying a firearm, receiving stolen property and altering the serial numbers on the gun, police said.
March 28, 2009 12:00 AM
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Step Away From that Coffee
From the front page of the BCCT.
I'm looking at my breakfast table: The bacon is bad for me. Ditto the eggs. The hash browns are dripping with butter. And now my coffee is a problem.
Did anyone tell the good people over at Dunkin Donuts about this?
Yum. This is a good breakfast!
Study: Hot beverages may increase throat cancer risk
Scientists have found people who drink extremely hot beverages experience an inflammation of the lining of the esophagus, damaging the protective tissue over time, which can increase cancer risk.
By JO CIAVAGLIA
STAFF WRITER
Most people know that cigarettes and excessive alcohol can kill you, but what about a cup of hot coffee or tea?
For more than 20 years, scientists have speculated about a possible connection between super hot beverages and increased risk of some throat cancers, but study outcomes have been mixed. But a study of Iranian tea drinkers provides new strong evidence of a link, researchers say.
The latest results published online in the British Medical Journal last week found abnormally high rates of squamous cell esophageal cancer among people living in a Northern Iran province where alcohol is forbidden, tobacco use is rare, but very hot black tea is a daily staple.
The observational study analyzed the smoking, alcohol and tea habits of 871 people, 300 of them recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer and found a strong link between drink temperatures and the likelihood they developed esophageal cancer.
Participants answered questions about their tea-drinking habits including the temperature and how long they let the tea brew before drinking it. Nearly all participants said they drank black tea daily.
Squamous cell esophageal cancer was eight times as common among people who drank “very hot” tea, compared to warm or lukewarm tea drinkers. By the same comparison, hot tea drinkers were twice as likely as warm or lukewarm tea drinkers to have esophageal cancer.
The scientists classified warm beverages as anything below 149 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot beverage, considered higher than 156 degrees Fahrenheit, doubled the risk of esophageal cancer.
Study participants who frequently drank tea at 158 degrees Fahrenheit or above had an eight-fold increased risk of esophageal cancer. Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
The researchers concluded that allowing beverages to cool before drinking reduces the cancer risk.
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is the most common type of esophageal cancer responsible for a half-million deaths each year worldwide. Tobacco and alcohol use are the most common causes of windpipe cancer in Europe and America, but scientists also theorized that frequent consumption of hot drinks might play a role.
For Abington Memorial Hospital oncologist Dr. Mark Sundermeyer, what makes the new study interesting is it removed the two biggest cancer risk factors —tobacco and alcohol — which allowed the focus to remain on beverage temperature.
What scientists have found is that people who drink extremely hot beverages experience an inflammation of the lining of the esophagus. Over time, it results in damage to the protective tissue.
The damaged lining likely doesn’t cause the cancer, but it does allow carcinogenic compounds in foods to enter the body, Sundermeyer explained.
Sundermeyer added it’s unclear what the findings would mean to Americans. He knows of no scientific studies looking at the average temperature of hot beverages in the United States. His hunch, though, is U.S. restaurants tend to serve superheated drinks.
“I could very well see someone make a cup of coffee and it’s that hot,” he said.
I'm looking at my breakfast table: The bacon is bad for me. Ditto the eggs. The hash browns are dripping with butter. And now my coffee is a problem.
Did anyone tell the good people over at Dunkin Donuts about this?
Yum. This is a good breakfast!
Study: Hot beverages may increase throat cancer risk
Scientists have found people who drink extremely hot beverages experience an inflammation of the lining of the esophagus, damaging the protective tissue over time, which can increase cancer risk.
By JO CIAVAGLIA
STAFF WRITER
Most people know that cigarettes and excessive alcohol can kill you, but what about a cup of hot coffee or tea?
For more than 20 years, scientists have speculated about a possible connection between super hot beverages and increased risk of some throat cancers, but study outcomes have been mixed. But a study of Iranian tea drinkers provides new strong evidence of a link, researchers say.
The latest results published online in the British Medical Journal last week found abnormally high rates of squamous cell esophageal cancer among people living in a Northern Iran province where alcohol is forbidden, tobacco use is rare, but very hot black tea is a daily staple.
The observational study analyzed the smoking, alcohol and tea habits of 871 people, 300 of them recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer and found a strong link between drink temperatures and the likelihood they developed esophageal cancer.
Participants answered questions about their tea-drinking habits including the temperature and how long they let the tea brew before drinking it. Nearly all participants said they drank black tea daily.
Squamous cell esophageal cancer was eight times as common among people who drank “very hot” tea, compared to warm or lukewarm tea drinkers. By the same comparison, hot tea drinkers were twice as likely as warm or lukewarm tea drinkers to have esophageal cancer.
The scientists classified warm beverages as anything below 149 degrees Fahrenheit. Hot beverage, considered higher than 156 degrees Fahrenheit, doubled the risk of esophageal cancer.
Study participants who frequently drank tea at 158 degrees Fahrenheit or above had an eight-fold increased risk of esophageal cancer. Water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
The researchers concluded that allowing beverages to cool before drinking reduces the cancer risk.
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is the most common type of esophageal cancer responsible for a half-million deaths each year worldwide. Tobacco and alcohol use are the most common causes of windpipe cancer in Europe and America, but scientists also theorized that frequent consumption of hot drinks might play a role.
For Abington Memorial Hospital oncologist Dr. Mark Sundermeyer, what makes the new study interesting is it removed the two biggest cancer risk factors —tobacco and alcohol — which allowed the focus to remain on beverage temperature.
What scientists have found is that people who drink extremely hot beverages experience an inflammation of the lining of the esophagus. Over time, it results in damage to the protective tissue.
The damaged lining likely doesn’t cause the cancer, but it does allow carcinogenic compounds in foods to enter the body, Sundermeyer explained.
Sundermeyer added it’s unclear what the findings would mean to Americans. He knows of no scientific studies looking at the average temperature of hot beverages in the United States. His hunch, though, is U.S. restaurants tend to serve superheated drinks.
“I could very well see someone make a cup of coffee and it’s that hot,” he said.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Awards and Savings and Election Hijinks
From the BCCT.
There's an interesting discussion about the plaque awarded by the school board to Ron Stout. Once again, there's some pre-electoral shenanigans going on as some commenters on this blog have pointed out as well as the commenters to this story.
Would anyone think "there is more than a slight appearance of a conflict of interest" in presenting this award? Heavens to Betsy!
Did the board pay for the plaque? Then when was the public vote authorizing it?
Was the plaque paid for and presented by private citizens? Then why was it presented at a school board meeting under the implied endorsement and consent of the school board?
BUCKS BRIEFS
Bucks County Courier Times
School renovations set
The board approved bid proposals of $3.44 million for asbestos abatement, window replacement, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical work at Morrisville Middle/Senior High School this summer.
The work was expected to cost about $4 million, but the bids came in lower.
"We're very happy with the results of these bids," said Bill Corfield of Vitetta, the architectural firm handling the work. He surmised that costs have dropped because of the economy.
Savings on major items allowed the board to accept bids on all items needing renovation, not just the HVAC and window replacement. The work on boilers, classroom ventilators, windows and other systems will improve efficiency and save the district in future energy costs, said board President William Hellmann.
Resident Ron Stout received a plaque for ideas that saved the district money. His suggestion to have the high school's hot water piping tested for reliability instead of simply replacing it saved $719,000 on renovations, said board member Maryls Mihok, who presented the plaque to Stout at the Tuesday board meeting. The pipes were found to be sound enough to continue being used.
Stout, who's running for school board, brought up ideas that should save the district $200,000 in future Grandview renovations, Mihok said. "I don't care who saved us money. I would have given the award to anybody," Mihok said.
Comments
Broken For Sure, 03-27-09, 10:46 am | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
"School renovations set"
(Stout, who's running for school board, brought up ideas that should save the district $200,000 in future Grandview renovations, Mihok said. "I don't care who saved us money. I would have given the award to anybody," Mihok said.)
Campaigning has come early to Morrisville Borough - and thanks to people like Mrs. Mihok, its ugly, but not surprising.
You would give an award to anybody? Really? I doubt it, although you did give one to Ron Stout so that statement may be very true. From what I can see, Robin Reithmeyer has saved the school district millions in legal fees for pointing out wrong-doings of the present school board majority in Morrisville, so WHERE'S HER PLAQUE?! The previous school board majority was undermining the community in a big way and the current school board majority is just more of the same. Its just disgusting. When watching school board meetings on the TV its such a dog and pony show, (and now we even have awards, WOW.)
Is this the same Marlys Mihok who, just last week, went to a Morrisville Council meeting and blasted Councilman Rivella, accusing him of accepting campaign contributions, (as Mr. Rivella pointed out, it may be new to Morrisville but it certainly isn't new to politics) and accusing him of being on council just to get a Responsible Contracting Ordinance in place, (From what I've heard the RCO was actually put before council by another person long before Mr. Rivella was even elected to council.) Mrs. Mihok, where's Mr. Rivella’s plaque for trying to save the borough millions of dollars with this ordinance?! It would be nice if Mr. Stout could formulate a sentence or two on his own for a change so that he wouldn't need his very small circle of friends like Mrs. Mihok and her cronies to try to build him up by awarding him a bogus plaque at a televised school board meeting. NO GRANDSTANDING THERE AT ALL! Yeah right.
As for Mr. Rivella and the ordinance, I’ll tell you right now that I supported this guy and I continue to do so. Mr. Rivella’s got what it takes to take on people like Jane Burger, Marlys Mihok and their kind and he and his group will actually be able to make positive changes in Morrisville once they successfully get the same old guard off council in November. I CAN’T WAIT!
I’ve been watching and I can clearly see a few things about Dave Rivella. He’s a family man who's dedicated to Morrisville Borough and he's working hard to move Morrisville forward in spite of the people on council who don’t want this. If Mr. Rivella was in any other profession, he would naturally go to the people surrounding him for fundraising purposes so why would it be any different because he’s a union guy?! Wake up people, this is how its done. Are you trying to say that everyone else should be allowed to fundraise but he should not?! As Mr. Rivella rightly pointed out at the last televised council meeting, all of his campaigning finance contributions have been public record since 2007 but are just now being brought up, as we are in another campaign cycle, ( by the very people he won his seat from, by the very people who don’t want change of any kind - unless they're dismantling the school system that is.) I believe these people are jealous and running scared because they know that Mr. Rivella seemed to actually have people who thought enough of him and his fellow "good Democrats" to support them where as the likes of Mrs. Mihok, Mrs. Burger and their kind have to rely on negativity. This kind of behavior by these naysayers puts Morrisville in a bad light and is disgusting to watch.
AwHellYeah, 03-27-09, 12:56 pm | Rate: Flag 2 Flag | Flag Report
Robin Reithmeyer hasn't saved the district anything. She is your typical politician.
Broken For Sure, 03-27-09, 2:25 pm | Rate: Flag -2 Flag | Flag Report
AwHellYeah
"Robin Reithmeyer hasn't saved the district anything. She is your typical politician."
I don't agree, although I can understand why someone may think she. She does her thing of standing up to the school board majority, but I just can't give her any credit for being a politician. She voted for Fitzpatrick not once but twice. I'm sure there were people in her own party who weren't too happy about that. Is she outspoken...yes ...is she a politician, her actions say differently...a nd I just don't see it.
AwHellYeah, 03-27-09, 2:31 pm | Rate: Flag 1 Flag | Flag Report
Go to a Democratic Club meeting then.
Broken For Sure, 03-27-09, 5:07 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
Simply being involved as a Democrat or Republican does not make you a political person per say. You are simply promoting your fundamental beliefs with others. Having a party affiliation does not make you a politician. Being involved within either the Democratic or Republican parties or any other party does not make you a politician. I believe there are many people in Bucks County alone who belong to political clubs yet are not politicians. Its a mean business and I can understand why it isn't for everyone. Mrs. Reithmeyer is clearly not politically savvy, although she is, I believe from what I can see trying to do what SHE feels is correct as a Morrisville School Director. I believe that if she was fighting with the board majority instead of***ainst them she would be there hero. But then again there is only room for one of them and this week it seems to be Mr. Stout, award in hand. (I mean no harm...just a little joke...very little though it may be)
There's an interesting discussion about the plaque awarded by the school board to Ron Stout. Once again, there's some pre-electoral shenanigans going on as some commenters on this blog have pointed out as well as the commenters to this story.
Would anyone think "there is more than a slight appearance of a conflict of interest" in presenting this award? Heavens to Betsy!
Did the board pay for the plaque? Then when was the public vote authorizing it?
Was the plaque paid for and presented by private citizens? Then why was it presented at a school board meeting under the implied endorsement and consent of the school board?
BUCKS BRIEFS
Bucks County Courier Times
School renovations set
The board approved bid proposals of $3.44 million for asbestos abatement, window replacement, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, plumbing and electrical work at Morrisville Middle/Senior High School this summer.
The work was expected to cost about $4 million, but the bids came in lower.
"We're very happy with the results of these bids," said Bill Corfield of Vitetta, the architectural firm handling the work. He surmised that costs have dropped because of the economy.
Savings on major items allowed the board to accept bids on all items needing renovation, not just the HVAC and window replacement. The work on boilers, classroom ventilators, windows and other systems will improve efficiency and save the district in future energy costs, said board President William Hellmann.
Resident Ron Stout received a plaque for ideas that saved the district money. His suggestion to have the high school's hot water piping tested for reliability instead of simply replacing it saved $719,000 on renovations, said board member Maryls Mihok, who presented the plaque to Stout at the Tuesday board meeting. The pipes were found to be sound enough to continue being used.
Stout, who's running for school board, brought up ideas that should save the district $200,000 in future Grandview renovations, Mihok said. "I don't care who saved us money. I would have given the award to anybody," Mihok said.
Comments
Broken For Sure, 03-27-09, 10:46 am | Rate: Flag -3 Flag | Flag Report
"School renovations set"
(Stout, who's running for school board, brought up ideas that should save the district $200,000 in future Grandview renovations, Mihok said. "I don't care who saved us money. I would have given the award to anybody," Mihok said.)
Campaigning has come early to Morrisville Borough - and thanks to people like Mrs. Mihok, its ugly, but not surprising.
You would give an award to anybody? Really? I doubt it, although you did give one to Ron Stout so that statement may be very true. From what I can see, Robin Reithmeyer has saved the school district millions in legal fees for pointing out wrong-doings of the present school board majority in Morrisville, so WHERE'S HER PLAQUE?! The previous school board majority was undermining the community in a big way and the current school board majority is just more of the same. Its just disgusting. When watching school board meetings on the TV its such a dog and pony show, (and now we even have awards, WOW.)
Is this the same Marlys Mihok who, just last week, went to a Morrisville Council meeting and blasted Councilman Rivella, accusing him of accepting campaign contributions, (as Mr. Rivella pointed out, it may be new to Morrisville but it certainly isn't new to politics) and accusing him of being on council just to get a Responsible Contracting Ordinance in place, (From what I've heard the RCO was actually put before council by another person long before Mr. Rivella was even elected to council.) Mrs. Mihok, where's Mr. Rivella’s plaque for trying to save the borough millions of dollars with this ordinance?! It would be nice if Mr. Stout could formulate a sentence or two on his own for a change so that he wouldn't need his very small circle of friends like Mrs. Mihok and her cronies to try to build him up by awarding him a bogus plaque at a televised school board meeting. NO GRANDSTANDING THERE AT ALL! Yeah right.
As for Mr. Rivella and the ordinance, I’ll tell you right now that I supported this guy and I continue to do so. Mr. Rivella’s got what it takes to take on people like Jane Burger, Marlys Mihok and their kind and he and his group will actually be able to make positive changes in Morrisville once they successfully get the same old guard off council in November. I CAN’T WAIT!
I’ve been watching and I can clearly see a few things about Dave Rivella. He’s a family man who's dedicated to Morrisville Borough and he's working hard to move Morrisville forward in spite of the people on council who don’t want this. If Mr. Rivella was in any other profession, he would naturally go to the people surrounding him for fundraising purposes so why would it be any different because he’s a union guy?! Wake up people, this is how its done. Are you trying to say that everyone else should be allowed to fundraise but he should not?! As Mr. Rivella rightly pointed out at the last televised council meeting, all of his campaigning finance contributions have been public record since 2007 but are just now being brought up, as we are in another campaign cycle, ( by the very people he won his seat from, by the very people who don’t want change of any kind - unless they're dismantling the school system that is.) I believe these people are jealous and running scared because they know that Mr. Rivella seemed to actually have people who thought enough of him and his fellow "good Democrats" to support them where as the likes of Mrs. Mihok, Mrs. Burger and their kind have to rely on negativity. This kind of behavior by these naysayers puts Morrisville in a bad light and is disgusting to watch.
AwHellYeah, 03-27-09, 12:56 pm | Rate: Flag 2 Flag | Flag Report
Robin Reithmeyer hasn't saved the district anything. She is your typical politician.
Broken For Sure, 03-27-09, 2:25 pm | Rate: Flag -2 Flag | Flag Report
AwHellYeah
"Robin Reithmeyer hasn't saved the district anything. She is your typical politician."
I don't agree, although I can understand why someone may think she. She does her thing of standing up to the school board majority, but I just can't give her any credit for being a politician. She voted for Fitzpatrick not once but twice. I'm sure there were people in her own party who weren't too happy about that. Is she outspoken...yes ...is she a politician, her actions say differently...a nd I just don't see it.
AwHellYeah, 03-27-09, 2:31 pm | Rate: Flag 1 Flag | Flag Report
Go to a Democratic Club meeting then.
Broken For Sure, 03-27-09, 5:07 pm | Rate: Flag 0 Flag | Flag Report
Simply being involved as a Democrat or Republican does not make you a political person per say. You are simply promoting your fundamental beliefs with others. Having a party affiliation does not make you a politician. Being involved within either the Democratic or Republican parties or any other party does not make you a politician. I believe there are many people in Bucks County alone who belong to political clubs yet are not politicians. Its a mean business and I can understand why it isn't for everyone. Mrs. Reithmeyer is clearly not politically savvy, although she is, I believe from what I can see trying to do what SHE feels is correct as a Morrisville School Director. I believe that if she was fighting with the board majority instead of***ainst them she would be there hero. But then again there is only room for one of them and this week it seems to be Mr. Stout, award in hand. (I mean no harm...just a little joke...very little though it may be)
Public Budget Meetings
From the BCCT.
Why would any school board want to do this in public? Keep it quiet: That's the Emperor's philosophy.
Pennsbury to hold budget meetings in a public forum
By: MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Pennsbury wants residents to participate in one or more of three open forum discussions on school district budget planning for next year.
In a difficult budget year in which Pennsbury is looking for ways to save money in all departments, the district wants as much input from residents and stakeholders as possible, CEO Paul Long said during a recent board meeting.
"We will use a town meeting forum at for these discussions, which will enable residents to have dialogue with school board members and administrators. At each forum, a budget update will be presented and then residents will be invited to share their ideas and comment on education and finance at Pennsbury. Locations for these public discussions were selected to provide convenience for school district residents," said school board President Gregory Lucidi in a prepared statement.
The meetings are scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.:
April 7, Pennwood Middle School auditorium, 1523 Makefield Road
May 7, Afton Elementary School cafeteria, 1673 Quarry Road
June 4, Walt Disney Elementary School auditorium, 200 Lakeside Drive North
Call: 215-428-4178.
Manasee Wagh can be reached at 215-949-4206 or mwagh@phillyBurbs.com.
March 28, 2009 12:00 AM
Why would any school board want to do this in public? Keep it quiet: That's the Emperor's philosophy.
Pennsbury to hold budget meetings in a public forum
By: MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Pennsbury wants residents to participate in one or more of three open forum discussions on school district budget planning for next year.
In a difficult budget year in which Pennsbury is looking for ways to save money in all departments, the district wants as much input from residents and stakeholders as possible, CEO Paul Long said during a recent board meeting.
"We will use a town meeting forum at for these discussions, which will enable residents to have dialogue with school board members and administrators. At each forum, a budget update will be presented and then residents will be invited to share their ideas and comment on education and finance at Pennsbury. Locations for these public discussions were selected to provide convenience for school district residents," said school board President Gregory Lucidi in a prepared statement.
The meetings are scheduled from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.:
April 7, Pennwood Middle School auditorium, 1523 Makefield Road
May 7, Afton Elementary School cafeteria, 1673 Quarry Road
June 4, Walt Disney Elementary School auditorium, 200 Lakeside Drive North
Call: 215-428-4178.
Manasee Wagh can be reached at 215-949-4206 or mwagh@phillyBurbs.com.
March 28, 2009 12:00 AM
Unions enter fact-finding in contract impasses
From the Intelligencer
Unions enter fact-finding in contract impasses
By: LOU SESSINGER
The Intelligencer
The school board is working on contracts with teacher aides, secretaries and teachers.
Labor strife involving three employee unions continues to be the center of attention in the Souderton Area School District, and there continues to be little information about the progress of resolving that strife.
That was the essence of school district solicitor Jeffrey Sultanik's update to the school board at its meeting Thursday night.
Sultanik reported that the unions representing the district's teacher aides (Souderton Area Educational Support Personnel Association) and secretaries (Souderton Area Secretaries Association) have entered what is known as "fact-finding" in their contract impasse with the district.
The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board has appointed a fact finder to review the contract offers of the two unions and the district and recommend a settlement.
Health benefits and salaries have been reported to be the issues dividing the parties, but details of the contract offers haven't been made public because of the bargaining process.
Sultanik said that the school board can expect to receive the fact finder's recommended settlement on Monday.
The recommendation will not be made public, and the unions and school board will have between five and 10 days to vote whether to accept or reject it.
"If both sides accept it, we'll have a settlement," Sultanik said.
If either side rejects it, the recommendation will be made public, and the unions and school board will have a period of time during which they'll take a second vote.
The process involving the aides' and secretaries' unions is "a somewhat different procedure" than that governing the contract impasse with the teachers union (Souderton Area Education Association), the solicitor said.
Following a strike that delayed the start of the school year in September, the union and board are in a process of non-binding arbitration. After a series of confidential hearings on both sides' final best offer, the three-member arbitration panel will recommend a settlement.
Both sides will vote to accept or reject it. If either side rejects it, the union could stage a second strike of limited duration.
School Director Eric R. MacDougall asked when the board could expect to receive the arbitrators' report.
"I don't know," Sultanik replied, "but I suspect it will be after this current process (involving the aides and secretaries) is completed.
"Four to six weeks is my best guess."
The school board has offered the teachers a three-year contract with pay raises of 2.5 percent a year. The union is seeking raises of 8 percent a year to bring their salaries in line with those of school districts in the region.
Lou Sessinger can be contacted at 215-345-3148 or lsessinger@phillyBurbs.com.
March 27, 2009 02:41 AM
Unions enter fact-finding in contract impasses
By: LOU SESSINGER
The Intelligencer
The school board is working on contracts with teacher aides, secretaries and teachers.
Labor strife involving three employee unions continues to be the center of attention in the Souderton Area School District, and there continues to be little information about the progress of resolving that strife.
That was the essence of school district solicitor Jeffrey Sultanik's update to the school board at its meeting Thursday night.
Sultanik reported that the unions representing the district's teacher aides (Souderton Area Educational Support Personnel Association) and secretaries (Souderton Area Secretaries Association) have entered what is known as "fact-finding" in their contract impasse with the district.
The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board has appointed a fact finder to review the contract offers of the two unions and the district and recommend a settlement.
Health benefits and salaries have been reported to be the issues dividing the parties, but details of the contract offers haven't been made public because of the bargaining process.
Sultanik said that the school board can expect to receive the fact finder's recommended settlement on Monday.
The recommendation will not be made public, and the unions and school board will have between five and 10 days to vote whether to accept or reject it.
"If both sides accept it, we'll have a settlement," Sultanik said.
If either side rejects it, the recommendation will be made public, and the unions and school board will have a period of time during which they'll take a second vote.
The process involving the aides' and secretaries' unions is "a somewhat different procedure" than that governing the contract impasse with the teachers union (Souderton Area Education Association), the solicitor said.
Following a strike that delayed the start of the school year in September, the union and board are in a process of non-binding arbitration. After a series of confidential hearings on both sides' final best offer, the three-member arbitration panel will recommend a settlement.
Both sides will vote to accept or reject it. If either side rejects it, the union could stage a second strike of limited duration.
School Director Eric R. MacDougall asked when the board could expect to receive the arbitrators' report.
"I don't know," Sultanik replied, "but I suspect it will be after this current process (involving the aides and secretaries) is completed.
"Four to six weeks is my best guess."
The school board has offered the teachers a three-year contract with pay raises of 2.5 percent a year. The union is seeking raises of 8 percent a year to bring their salaries in line with those of school districts in the region.
Lou Sessinger can be contacted at 215-345-3148 or lsessinger@phillyBurbs.com.
March 27, 2009 02:41 AM
Friday, March 27, 2009
Bristol Redistricting Blues
From the BCCT.
Parents split on proposed redistricting
By: JOAN HELLYER
Burlington County Times
Some Bristol Township parents are happy that their kids could be transferred from one district elementary school to another. Others are up in arms at the prospect that their kids or others in the area could face a second change in their school assignment within the last three years.
The emotions ran from one extreme to another Wednesday night at Lafayette Elementary School as parents reviewed a proposed redistricting plan for about 40 students in attendance area 44A.
It involves kids who live within walking distance of Maple Shade Elementary School. Their neighborhood had been assigned to Maple Shade until about three years ago, when the school board reassigned the area to Lafayette to better balance the student population in the two schools.
Now the population has shifted again, and a revision in assignments is needed, Lafayette Principal Jim Moore told the estimated 50 district residents who attended the information session in the school cafeteria.
The affected area is within the neighborhood bounded by Glenrose Avenue on the west, Arthur Avenue to the north behind Franklin Delano Roosevelt Middle School, Dixon Avenue to the east and Newport Road to the south, according to district officials.
Students within that area who attend Lafayette this year may continue to attend their current school if their parents want them to, district officials said. But, new enrollees to the district and kindergarten students would have to attend Maple Shade.
The rest of the students who are in the attendance area that borders Route 13 and Route 413 would continue to go to Lafayette, according to the proposal, as they have done so for the past three years since the previous redistricting.
The thought of another change brought back old wounds from the last reassignment for some parents.
“That is why the neighborhood and community doesn’t trust you,” parent Paula Hess told board members who attended the information session.
Others, including Dorena Geier, were overjoyed that their child could soon attend an elementary school within walking distance.
“I want my kid back at Maple Shade. If [the proposed redistricting] doesn’t go through, can I still send her back? We’re right across the street,” Geier said.
The school board will consider the proposed redistricting during its April 20 meeting. The 7:30 p.m. meeting will be held in the district’s administration building off Mill Creek Road.
Joan Hellyer can be reached at 215-949-4048 or jhellyer@phillyBurbs.com.
March 26, 2009 07:48 AM
Parents split on proposed redistricting
By: JOAN HELLYER
Burlington County Times
Some Bristol Township parents are happy that their kids could be transferred from one district elementary school to another. Others are up in arms at the prospect that their kids or others in the area could face a second change in their school assignment within the last three years.
The emotions ran from one extreme to another Wednesday night at Lafayette Elementary School as parents reviewed a proposed redistricting plan for about 40 students in attendance area 44A.
It involves kids who live within walking distance of Maple Shade Elementary School. Their neighborhood had been assigned to Maple Shade until about three years ago, when the school board reassigned the area to Lafayette to better balance the student population in the two schools.
Now the population has shifted again, and a revision in assignments is needed, Lafayette Principal Jim Moore told the estimated 50 district residents who attended the information session in the school cafeteria.
The affected area is within the neighborhood bounded by Glenrose Avenue on the west, Arthur Avenue to the north behind Franklin Delano Roosevelt Middle School, Dixon Avenue to the east and Newport Road to the south, according to district officials.
Students within that area who attend Lafayette this year may continue to attend their current school if their parents want them to, district officials said. But, new enrollees to the district and kindergarten students would have to attend Maple Shade.
The rest of the students who are in the attendance area that borders Route 13 and Route 413 would continue to go to Lafayette, according to the proposal, as they have done so for the past three years since the previous redistricting.
The thought of another change brought back old wounds from the last reassignment for some parents.
“That is why the neighborhood and community doesn’t trust you,” parent Paula Hess told board members who attended the information session.
Others, including Dorena Geier, were overjoyed that their child could soon attend an elementary school within walking distance.
“I want my kid back at Maple Shade. If [the proposed redistricting] doesn’t go through, can I still send her back? We’re right across the street,” Geier said.
The school board will consider the proposed redistricting during its April 20 meeting. The 7:30 p.m. meeting will be held in the district’s administration building off Mill Creek Road.
Joan Hellyer can be reached at 215-949-4048 or jhellyer@phillyBurbs.com.
March 26, 2009 07:48 AM
Renovation Bids Top Estimate
From the Intelligencer.
This is why Morrisville can out-perform any other school district financially. We have the know-how of The Emperor, who can cost out any plan, anywhere, anytime, and it will never, ever go over budget. We don't need fancy degreed and experienced people to provide studies.
School renovation bids under estimate
By: LOU SESSINGER
The Intelligencer
If the dark cloud of the economic recession has a silver lining, it could be that some contractors anxious for work might be willing to work for less than they would in brighter financial times.
That was the message the North Penn school board heard Wednesday as it prepared to award $9.7 million in bids for renovation work at North Wales Elementary.
Those bids brought the total estimated cost of the project to about $11.2 million, said D. Michael Frist, the school district's director of business administration.
That's almost $4.5 million less than the $15.7 million the district had budgeted for the work.
"It's about 26 percent under the estimate," Frist told the board. "It has to do with the current economic climate and that the bid candidates are looking for work."
The bids the school board approved Wednesday included $3.7 million to general contractor Ernest Bock & Sons Inc; $2.4 million for HVAC work to Myco Mechanical Inc.; $881,000 for plumbing to Worth & Co. Inc; $1.3 million for electrical work to MJF Electrical Contracting Inc.; $379,000 for fire protection to Apex Plumbing & Heating Inc.; and $969,000 for site work to Bencardino Excavating Inc.
The board also approved a bid of $119,900 to Sargent Enterprises for asbestos abatement at the North Wales school.
The renovation work at the school, located on Summit Street in North Wales, includes a new lobby and main office, bus lanes, a driveway and parking lot, as well as upgraded heating, electric and sprinkler systems, new carpets and repainting.
The school opened as a high school in 1928 and became an elementary school in 1955. The work is expected to begin this summer and be completed in the summer of 2010.
Lou Sessinger can be contacted at 215-345-3148 or lsessinger@phillyBurbs.com.
March 26, 2009 02:41 AM
This is why Morrisville can out-perform any other school district financially. We have the know-how of The Emperor, who can cost out any plan, anywhere, anytime, and it will never, ever go over budget. We don't need fancy degreed and experienced people to provide studies.
School renovation bids under estimate
By: LOU SESSINGER
The Intelligencer
If the dark cloud of the economic recession has a silver lining, it could be that some contractors anxious for work might be willing to work for less than they would in brighter financial times.
That was the message the North Penn school board heard Wednesday as it prepared to award $9.7 million in bids for renovation work at North Wales Elementary.
Those bids brought the total estimated cost of the project to about $11.2 million, said D. Michael Frist, the school district's director of business administration.
That's almost $4.5 million less than the $15.7 million the district had budgeted for the work.
"It's about 26 percent under the estimate," Frist told the board. "It has to do with the current economic climate and that the bid candidates are looking for work."
The bids the school board approved Wednesday included $3.7 million to general contractor Ernest Bock & Sons Inc; $2.4 million for HVAC work to Myco Mechanical Inc.; $881,000 for plumbing to Worth & Co. Inc; $1.3 million for electrical work to MJF Electrical Contracting Inc.; $379,000 for fire protection to Apex Plumbing & Heating Inc.; and $969,000 for site work to Bencardino Excavating Inc.
The board also approved a bid of $119,900 to Sargent Enterprises for asbestos abatement at the North Wales school.
The renovation work at the school, located on Summit Street in North Wales, includes a new lobby and main office, bus lanes, a driveway and parking lot, as well as upgraded heating, electric and sprinkler systems, new carpets and repainting.
The school opened as a high school in 1928 and became an elementary school in 1955. The work is expected to begin this summer and be completed in the summer of 2010.
Lou Sessinger can be contacted at 215-345-3148 or lsessinger@phillyBurbs.com.
March 26, 2009 02:41 AM
Dilbert Explains the Emperor
From Dilbert. The Emperor and his style of collecting feedback from the group.
And so does the BCCT.
To Morrisville school board President Bill Hellmann, who apparently considers the school district his own private domain.
We refer to the early retirement plan approved by the board this week. Call it a post-dating.
Seems Hellmann developed the plan jointly with the teachers union president and sent a letter disclosing the initiative to union members. He did so, however, without the board’s approval, involvement or even some members’ awareness, according to a few disgruntled board members. And there was no mention of the plan at committee meetings or executive sessions of the board, the members complained.
Hellmann said he mentioned his intentions in February. Nonetheless, board members complained that Hellman has a very bad habit of not telling the board what he is doing or thinking.
For all the good it will do, we remind Mr. Hellmann that the Morrisville School District is not a kingdom and he is not its king.
And so does the BCCT.
To Morrisville school board President Bill Hellmann, who apparently considers the school district his own private domain.
We refer to the early retirement plan approved by the board this week. Call it a post-dating.
Seems Hellmann developed the plan jointly with the teachers union president and sent a letter disclosing the initiative to union members. He did so, however, without the board’s approval, involvement or even some members’ awareness, according to a few disgruntled board members. And there was no mention of the plan at committee meetings or executive sessions of the board, the members complained.
Hellmann said he mentioned his intentions in February. Nonetheless, board members complained that Hellman has a very bad habit of not telling the board what he is doing or thinking.
For all the good it will do, we remind Mr. Hellmann that the Morrisville School District is not a kingdom and he is not its king.
Free Admission With Badge
From the BCCT.
Meeting features police security
By: DANNY ADLER
Bucks County Courier Times
Township meetings have become increasingly hostile, with shouting, name calling and heckling among residents and supervisors.
Some new faces joined the usual cast and crew at this week's Northampton Board of Supervisors.
Two police officers, one in uniform, the other in plainclothes, were asked to stand guard at Wednesday's meeting by township Manager Bob Pellegrino. This happened two weeks after Pellegrino called police to a supervisors meeting because of a raucous recess.
Northampton's meetings have been increasingly hostile, with shouting matches, name calling and heckling - residents versus supervisors, residents versus residents, supervisors versus supervisors.
With the officers there, Wednesday's meeting was, by far, the most civil in quite some time. But not everyone appreciated the police presence.
Supervisor Jim Cunningham said he was troubled by the police presence at the supervisors meeting and at a Northampton Bucks County Municipal Authority meeting down the street last week. He requested police be excused from sitting through public meetings.
"It's my belief that their presence in these meetings only serves to fuel any resentments or hostilities that the residents have," he said. "There are more pressing matters I'm sure that they would have to tend to in the community."
Supervisors Chairman Vincent J. Deon agreed, but also noted the good behavior at the meeting with the cops sitting in the audience.
"I agree 100 percent with you, Mr. Cunningham. But it's pretty clear that the civility and decorum has gone up about 105 percent with them in the room," he said of the police officers. "There are others of us that believe the same way, but it's the safety of this board that Bob Pellegrino is partly in charge of."
Pellegrino, who didn't attend Wednesday's meeting, said Thursday that it was his decision alone to have police on site. He said he wants to ensure order and make sure everyone is safe at Northampton's meetings. The police, he said, are there only to break up any possible physical confrontations.
The move also was criticized by some residents, including Tim Snee.
"What kind of paranoia is going on that you have to have armed police here at our meetings?" he asked. "What are we going to do next? Metal detectors? Are we going to have to take our shoes off before we come in? Put everything in a crate when we come in, put it through an X-ray machine? This is ridiculous."
People who attended the meeting two weeks ago at town hall said tempers flared during the public comment portion. During the recess, arguments broke out and there was a potential physical confrontation brewing, they said. That's when Pellegrino called the police.
Meeting features police security
By: DANNY ADLER
Bucks County Courier Times
Township meetings have become increasingly hostile, with shouting, name calling and heckling among residents and supervisors.
Some new faces joined the usual cast and crew at this week's Northampton Board of Supervisors.
Two police officers, one in uniform, the other in plainclothes, were asked to stand guard at Wednesday's meeting by township Manager Bob Pellegrino. This happened two weeks after Pellegrino called police to a supervisors meeting because of a raucous recess.
Northampton's meetings have been increasingly hostile, with shouting matches, name calling and heckling - residents versus supervisors, residents versus residents, supervisors versus supervisors.
With the officers there, Wednesday's meeting was, by far, the most civil in quite some time. But not everyone appreciated the police presence.
Supervisor Jim Cunningham said he was troubled by the police presence at the supervisors meeting and at a Northampton Bucks County Municipal Authority meeting down the street last week. He requested police be excused from sitting through public meetings.
"It's my belief that their presence in these meetings only serves to fuel any resentments or hostilities that the residents have," he said. "There are more pressing matters I'm sure that they would have to tend to in the community."
Supervisors Chairman Vincent J. Deon agreed, but also noted the good behavior at the meeting with the cops sitting in the audience.
"I agree 100 percent with you, Mr. Cunningham. But it's pretty clear that the civility and decorum has gone up about 105 percent with them in the room," he said of the police officers. "There are others of us that believe the same way, but it's the safety of this board that Bob Pellegrino is partly in charge of."
Pellegrino, who didn't attend Wednesday's meeting, said Thursday that it was his decision alone to have police on site. He said he wants to ensure order and make sure everyone is safe at Northampton's meetings. The police, he said, are there only to break up any possible physical confrontations.
The move also was criticized by some residents, including Tim Snee.
"What kind of paranoia is going on that you have to have armed police here at our meetings?" he asked. "What are we going to do next? Metal detectors? Are we going to have to take our shoes off before we come in? Put everything in a crate when we come in, put it through an X-ray machine? This is ridiculous."
People who attended the meeting two weeks ago at town hall said tempers flared during the public comment portion. During the recess, arguments broke out and there was a potential physical confrontation brewing, they said. That's when Pellegrino called the police.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Thanks For Your Career, Now Get Out!
From the BCCT.
In a completely standard move, the Morrisville board launched another surprise. Attention Morrisville teachers: Yes, YOU! The one with the grey hair and the college diploma chiseled into a stone tablet. We pay you too much and can replace you with someone at half your salary. Thanks for the memories. Now get out. You have one month to decide.
This is mitigated by union prez King mentioning that he initiated the talks and I do not blame him. Looking out for these people is his job. If I had the time in, I'd escape this district too. The chaos and uncertainty this board leaves in its wake is reason enough.
The administration had a hard time finding replacements for teachers one at a time. Can you imagine filling nine spots or more?
Good point. WILL these teachers be replaced? The (patent pending) Do More With Less Magic-8 Ball says *shake*shake*shake* "Fewer seats needed at 2009 staff Christmas party"
Board to offer retirement packages
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
In an effort to save money, the Morrisville school board agreed Wednesday to allow eligible staff members to take advantage of an early retirement incentive plan.
The move, approved 6-2, was not without its critics.
Board members Gloria Heater and Robin Reithmeyer opposed the offer. Reithmeyer said board President William Hellmann had acted on his own to offer the incentive plan and that other board members were not aware of it until last week, several days after Hellmann sent a March 5 letter with incentive plan details to the teachers union.
In addition, the plan was not brought up in a board committee meeting or in executive session, Reithmeyer said.
At Tuesday's meeting, union President Drew King said he had initiated talks with Hellmann and the district by presenting them with a rationale for such a plan.
Hellmann and the administration had responded to King's request and worked closely to come up with a proposal for the union, said district solicitor Michael Fitzpatrick. School code was not broken because their offer could not have gone into effect until a consensus of the board voted on it, he said.
Reithmeyer said Hellmann does not openly let the board know what he is doing and thinking. He said he had communicated his intentions regarding the retirement incentive plan to the board in February.
The incentive plan is valid for full-time permanent professional employees who have had 15 years of continuous service with the district and want to retire on June 30. It offers two options: either a lump sum of up to $70,000 or medical premium reimbursement to age 65, capped at $1,200 per month. That's if nine or more eligible staff members take the offer. The lump sum payment amount will be less if fewer people opt to take the offer.
How much the district would save depends on how many decide to take advantage of the incentive and how and if the district decides to replace them, said Paul DeAngelo, the district's business administrator. Individual teachers have until April 30 to apply.
March 26, 2009 02:11 AM
In a completely standard move, the Morrisville board launched another surprise. Attention Morrisville teachers: Yes, YOU! The one with the grey hair and the college diploma chiseled into a stone tablet. We pay you too much and can replace you with someone at half your salary. Thanks for the memories. Now get out. You have one month to decide.
This is mitigated by union prez King mentioning that he initiated the talks and I do not blame him. Looking out for these people is his job. If I had the time in, I'd escape this district too. The chaos and uncertainty this board leaves in its wake is reason enough.
The administration had a hard time finding replacements for teachers one at a time. Can you imagine filling nine spots or more?
Good point. WILL these teachers be replaced? The (patent pending) Do More With Less Magic-8 Ball says *shake*shake*shake* "Fewer seats needed at 2009 staff Christmas party"
Board to offer retirement packages
By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
In an effort to save money, the Morrisville school board agreed Wednesday to allow eligible staff members to take advantage of an early retirement incentive plan.
The move, approved 6-2, was not without its critics.
Board members Gloria Heater and Robin Reithmeyer opposed the offer. Reithmeyer said board President William Hellmann had acted on his own to offer the incentive plan and that other board members were not aware of it until last week, several days after Hellmann sent a March 5 letter with incentive plan details to the teachers union.
In addition, the plan was not brought up in a board committee meeting or in executive session, Reithmeyer said.
At Tuesday's meeting, union President Drew King said he had initiated talks with Hellmann and the district by presenting them with a rationale for such a plan.
Hellmann and the administration had responded to King's request and worked closely to come up with a proposal for the union, said district solicitor Michael Fitzpatrick. School code was not broken because their offer could not have gone into effect until a consensus of the board voted on it, he said.
Reithmeyer said Hellmann does not openly let the board know what he is doing and thinking. He said he had communicated his intentions regarding the retirement incentive plan to the board in February.
The incentive plan is valid for full-time permanent professional employees who have had 15 years of continuous service with the district and want to retire on June 30. It offers two options: either a lump sum of up to $70,000 or medical premium reimbursement to age 65, capped at $1,200 per month. That's if nine or more eligible staff members take the offer. The lump sum payment amount will be less if fewer people opt to take the offer.
How much the district would save depends on how many decide to take advantage of the incentive and how and if the district decides to replace them, said Paul DeAngelo, the district's business administrator. Individual teachers have until April 30 to apply.
March 26, 2009 02:11 AM
"Just trying to help other people"
From the BCCT.
Real heroes. That sums it up. And these four live right here in town riding the big red trucks when YOUR house or business is threatened.
Give up a big round of applause for all the firefighters.
'Just trying to help other people'
By: DANNY ADLER
Bucks County Courier Times
Four firefighters are among a group of 39 people to be honored as "Real Heroes of Bucks County."
Four volunteer firefighters headed home in the early hours of one September morning knowing they did everything they could.
Twenty-five-year-old Morrisville Fire Co. Chief Matt Wiedenhaefer, then the deputy chief, and fellow firefighters Jason DeShields, 29, John Weiss III, 25, and Tim Jones, 38, pulled an unconscious young couple from their flaming garden-level home at Colonial Gardens Apartments on Plaza Boulevard,
The firefighters never got to know much about the couple, though. The two, who were burned and inhaled smoke as a kitchen fire destroyed their apartment, died in the days following the incident.
"It's a damn shame," the chief said recently, while sitting with his comrades in the fire station's office, which is adorned with pictures of Morrisville fires, including the fatal Colonial Gardens blaze. "But it's one of those things where you know that you did everything you could."
He never questioned what else they could have done. "We did absolutely everything," he said.
As Weiss led the way, dousing the fire in the blacked-out apartment, Wiedenhaefer, DeShields and Jones helped with the hose and patted around looking for bodies, although no reports of entrapment had reached them.
Once inside, Jones said, the firefighters evaluated the whole situation, the heat, the smoke, the darkness.
And then, "Oh + we got a body, now we gotta get him out. There's 7,000 things going through your [mind]. You're playing every scenario out in your head in about 15 seconds, if that."
DeShields first found the young woman in the living room. She was taken out the front door. Shortly after, in a rear bedroom, he found the man, whose heart was not beating. Firefighters got him outside through a rear window, and rescue workers got his heart pumping again. Both were rushed to area hospitals. It was the first time DeShields found people inside during a call.
"It's like feeling a big pile of clothes, but then you realize that it's not a pile of clothes. You feel that arm, you know you got somebody," DeShields said. "It's a totally different ballgame once you feel that."
And it wasn't easy. The only light the firefighters had was the glow of the flames they were fighting. "If you literally cover your eyes, that's what you see. You see nothing. You can walk straight into a wall," Weiss said.
The firefighters - among 39 people to be honored by the American Red Cross as "Real Heroes of Bucks County" Thursday - all joined the company for various reasons, family ties, community safety, the adrenaline rush. But they'll admit, what they did was just part of the gig.
"It's not a glory thing, or anything like that," Wiedenhaefer said. "You're just trying to help other people and make sure they're OK."
March 25, 2009 02:10 AM
Real heroes. That sums it up. And these four live right here in town riding the big red trucks when YOUR house or business is threatened.
Give up a big round of applause for all the firefighters.
'Just trying to help other people'
By: DANNY ADLER
Bucks County Courier Times
Four firefighters are among a group of 39 people to be honored as "Real Heroes of Bucks County."
Four volunteer firefighters headed home in the early hours of one September morning knowing they did everything they could.
Twenty-five-year-old Morrisville Fire Co. Chief Matt Wiedenhaefer, then the deputy chief, and fellow firefighters Jason DeShields, 29, John Weiss III, 25, and Tim Jones, 38, pulled an unconscious young couple from their flaming garden-level home at Colonial Gardens Apartments on Plaza Boulevard,
The firefighters never got to know much about the couple, though. The two, who were burned and inhaled smoke as a kitchen fire destroyed their apartment, died in the days following the incident.
"It's a damn shame," the chief said recently, while sitting with his comrades in the fire station's office, which is adorned with pictures of Morrisville fires, including the fatal Colonial Gardens blaze. "But it's one of those things where you know that you did everything you could."
He never questioned what else they could have done. "We did absolutely everything," he said.
As Weiss led the way, dousing the fire in the blacked-out apartment, Wiedenhaefer, DeShields and Jones helped with the hose and patted around looking for bodies, although no reports of entrapment had reached them.
Once inside, Jones said, the firefighters evaluated the whole situation, the heat, the smoke, the darkness.
And then, "Oh + we got a body, now we gotta get him out. There's 7,000 things going through your [mind]. You're playing every scenario out in your head in about 15 seconds, if that."
DeShields first found the young woman in the living room. She was taken out the front door. Shortly after, in a rear bedroom, he found the man, whose heart was not beating. Firefighters got him outside through a rear window, and rescue workers got his heart pumping again. Both were rushed to area hospitals. It was the first time DeShields found people inside during a call.
"It's like feeling a big pile of clothes, but then you realize that it's not a pile of clothes. You feel that arm, you know you got somebody," DeShields said. "It's a totally different ballgame once you feel that."
And it wasn't easy. The only light the firefighters had was the glow of the flames they were fighting. "If you literally cover your eyes, that's what you see. You see nothing. You can walk straight into a wall," Weiss said.
The firefighters - among 39 people to be honored by the American Red Cross as "Real Heroes of Bucks County" Thursday - all joined the company for various reasons, family ties, community safety, the adrenaline rush. But they'll admit, what they did was just part of the gig.
"It's not a glory thing, or anything like that," Wiedenhaefer said. "You're just trying to help other people and make sure they're OK."
March 25, 2009 02:10 AM
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wednesday Night Follies TONIGHT
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Policy Committee
The Policy Committee Meeting scheduled for March 25 at 6:30 pm is cancelled.
Board Meeting
The monthly school board meeting will be held in the LGI room located in the Middle Senior High School at 7:30 p.m. in the LGI Room of the Morrisville Middle Senior High School, 550 W. Palmer Street, Morrisville, PA.
Policy Committee
The Policy Committee Meeting scheduled for March 25 at 6:30 pm is cancelled.
Board Meeting
The monthly school board meeting will be held in the LGI room located in the Middle Senior High School at 7:30 p.m. in the LGI Room of the Morrisville Middle Senior High School, 550 W. Palmer Street, Morrisville, PA.
Neshaminy Administrators Say YES
From the BCCT.
Divide and conquer works.
Administrators OK offer rejected by teachers
By: RACHEL CANELLI
Bucks County Courier Times
The teachers union president maintains that their counter-offer is not being reported accurately, but would not discuss details.
Neshaminy's almost three dozen administrators Tuesday afternoon ratified a new three-year agreement proposed by the district that the teachers rejected, officials said during Tuesday night's board meeting.
The 30-plus members of the Neshaminy School District Administrators Association unanimously approved the deal that will replace the one that expires June 30, according to that group's President Paul Minotti.
Mirroring the contract that the educators union turned down, the offer, which still has to be approved by the board in April, includes a 3 percent annual salary increase and a requirement that employees pay 15, 16 and 17 percent toward health care premiums over three years.
"This new agreement is, in my opinion, an extremely responsible one that goes a long way toward helping the students of Neshaminy by controlling future costs," board President Ritchie Webb read from a statement. "If other bargaining groups in the district follow this example, it would go a long way to resolving our financial crisis, saving jobs and preventing program cuts. It's my hope that the (Neshaminy Federation of Teachers) will follow the administrators' lead so we can reach an agreement with them."
Union President Louise Boyd, who was at the meeting, said only that the district's claim that the teachers counter-offered a 6 percent annual salary increase, including steps, and a requirement for no change to the medical insurance package is inaccurate. Boyd would not reveal the union's offer and declined to comment further.
While slight changes were made to the board's proposal to the administrators, officials did not disclose what those were.
The board's offer suggested changing the medical plan from Blue Cross PC15 to a less expensive PC 20/30/70 and the drug plan from Rx 5/20 to a cheaper Rx 5/30. But administrators still would have the option of a Keystone HMO, according to the board's statement.
The district's proposal recommended removing the full benefits package and a $27,000 incentive upon retirement, as well as the single source item, which allows employees to pay a $5 generic fee for $20 brand name drugs when generics aren't available, the same as proposed to the teachers union. The board's deal also called for reducing opt-out sharing from 37 percent to 25 percent; that's the amount of the premiums the district pays to employees who use their spouse's insurance, said Webb.
And, finally, the contract asked to eliminate any future annual, long-term service bonuses, which are $1,750 for employees with 20 to 24 years, $2,150 for 25 to 29 years, $2,550 for 30 to 34 years and $3,000 for 35 years or more, officials said.
Administrators' salaries, excluding cabinet members, can range from about $100,000 to $124,000, officials said.
Although Middletown resident and businessman Larry Pastor admitted the board's agreement with administrators was significant progress, he also said he and many other taxpayers still have concerns about the overall budget. He encouraged the educators and the 500-member support staff to make reasonable offers, including concessions to ease the burden on homeowners.
Steve Rodos, a retired attorney and Langhorne resident, though, said bashing teachers isn't productive and doesn't recognize the staff's efforts. He asked why the non-salary part of the budget, such as special education and transportation, can increase unquestioned. Rodos also urged the union to adopt the same contract as the administrators.
March 25, 2009 02:11 AM
Divide and conquer works.
Administrators OK offer rejected by teachers
By: RACHEL CANELLI
Bucks County Courier Times
The teachers union president maintains that their counter-offer is not being reported accurately, but would not discuss details.
Neshaminy's almost three dozen administrators Tuesday afternoon ratified a new three-year agreement proposed by the district that the teachers rejected, officials said during Tuesday night's board meeting.
The 30-plus members of the Neshaminy School District Administrators Association unanimously approved the deal that will replace the one that expires June 30, according to that group's President Paul Minotti.
Mirroring the contract that the educators union turned down, the offer, which still has to be approved by the board in April, includes a 3 percent annual salary increase and a requirement that employees pay 15, 16 and 17 percent toward health care premiums over three years.
"This new agreement is, in my opinion, an extremely responsible one that goes a long way toward helping the students of Neshaminy by controlling future costs," board President Ritchie Webb read from a statement. "If other bargaining groups in the district follow this example, it would go a long way to resolving our financial crisis, saving jobs and preventing program cuts. It's my hope that the (Neshaminy Federation of Teachers) will follow the administrators' lead so we can reach an agreement with them."
Union President Louise Boyd, who was at the meeting, said only that the district's claim that the teachers counter-offered a 6 percent annual salary increase, including steps, and a requirement for no change to the medical insurance package is inaccurate. Boyd would not reveal the union's offer and declined to comment further.
While slight changes were made to the board's proposal to the administrators, officials did not disclose what those were.
The board's offer suggested changing the medical plan from Blue Cross PC15 to a less expensive PC 20/30/70 and the drug plan from Rx 5/20 to a cheaper Rx 5/30. But administrators still would have the option of a Keystone HMO, according to the board's statement.
The district's proposal recommended removing the full benefits package and a $27,000 incentive upon retirement, as well as the single source item, which allows employees to pay a $5 generic fee for $20 brand name drugs when generics aren't available, the same as proposed to the teachers union. The board's deal also called for reducing opt-out sharing from 37 percent to 25 percent; that's the amount of the premiums the district pays to employees who use their spouse's insurance, said Webb.
And, finally, the contract asked to eliminate any future annual, long-term service bonuses, which are $1,750 for employees with 20 to 24 years, $2,150 for 25 to 29 years, $2,550 for 30 to 34 years and $3,000 for 35 years or more, officials said.
Administrators' salaries, excluding cabinet members, can range from about $100,000 to $124,000, officials said.
Although Middletown resident and businessman Larry Pastor admitted the board's agreement with administrators was significant progress, he also said he and many other taxpayers still have concerns about the overall budget. He encouraged the educators and the 500-member support staff to make reasonable offers, including concessions to ease the burden on homeowners.
Steve Rodos, a retired attorney and Langhorne resident, though, said bashing teachers isn't productive and doesn't recognize the staff's efforts. He asked why the non-salary part of the budget, such as special education and transportation, can increase unquestioned. Rodos also urged the union to adopt the same contract as the administrators.
March 25, 2009 02:11 AM
There's No Place Like Home
From the Intelligencer.
"There is no sense of community between the students and parents of Riegelsville and the school district in Easton. There is a sense of loneliness and isolation that is very detrimental to their education..."
Glad we don't have that here in Morrisville. Or will we?
Riegelsville makes case for school district move
By: AMANDA CREGAN
The Intelligencer
The Riegelsville Tax and Education Coalition argued there's no sense of community with Easton schools.
Kids' birthday parties, baseball games and PTA meetings are just a slice of what makes up a rural community, but decades of lost moments and relationships that often grow from those events have taken their toll on Riegelsville parents.
They say the divide they must endure between their quiet borough and the urban Easton Area School District miles away is hurting their children.
Residents united in a show of force in a Bucks County courtroom Monday in their continued battle to allow Riegelsville children to attend Palisades School District.
It was an opportunity to explain the disconnect they feel because the majority of Riegelsville students are bused across county lines into Northampton County to attend Easton schools, even passing through neighboring Wilson School District.
Monday's hearing before Bucks County Judge Clyde Waite was the Riegelsville Tax and Education Coalition's second chance to present its argument why students living in the Upper Bucks community would be better off to attend Palisades, a 10-minute drive, rather than the Easton district, a 30-minute drive.
A state appeals court allowed the group this repeat opportunity. Transcripts of Monday's expert and resident testimony will be presented to state Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak, who must again make a ruling.
He had previously ruled against the Riegelsville coalition, but this time around he's been ordered by Commonwealth Court to make a new decision based on the testimony and explain his reasoning.
Attorneys and superintendents from Palisades and Easton were present at the hearing, each party objecting to the Riegelsville transfer.
Coalition attorney James Sweeney called the relationship between Riegelsville and Easton schools strange on Monday.
"There is no sense of community between the students and parents of Riegelsville and the school district in Easton. There is a sense of loneliness and isolation that is very detrimental to their education," he said.
Citing a tedious, dangerous school bus ride along Route 611; overcrowded, poorly performing Easton schools; an unwillingness of parents and students from the urban school district to socialize with Riegelsville families; and few opportunities for after-school activities because of the long commute, Sweeney argued that the 65 students from the 1-square-mile borough would be better served academically and socially at Palisades.
Riegelsville parents emphasized their kids are stressed because they straddle different worlds.
Borough children participate in community events and sports teams throughout the rural Palisades area and even practice on school fields. But they go to school in a different world.
Damian Newton says he can't explain to his third-grader why he doesn't know any of his classmates.
"It's very hard for him to socially interact with the kids who live on Southside. He says, 'Why do I have to go to class? I don't know anybody who goes to school.' "
The fight to transfer school districts is nearly unprecedented.
"We're embarking on relatively unchartered territory here," said Judge Waite. "The statute itself has not been amended in decades."
Although Waite urges a fast resolution for community members, documents will be delivered to Harrisburg in a couple of weeks, and there is no time limit for
The state education secretary to make a final ruling.
Amanda Cregan can be reached at 215-538-6371 or acregan@phillyBurbs.com.
March 24, 2009 02:40 AM
"There is no sense of community between the students and parents of Riegelsville and the school district in Easton. There is a sense of loneliness and isolation that is very detrimental to their education..."
Glad we don't have that here in Morrisville. Or will we?
Riegelsville makes case for school district move
By: AMANDA CREGAN
The Intelligencer
The Riegelsville Tax and Education Coalition argued there's no sense of community with Easton schools.
Kids' birthday parties, baseball games and PTA meetings are just a slice of what makes up a rural community, but decades of lost moments and relationships that often grow from those events have taken their toll on Riegelsville parents.
They say the divide they must endure between their quiet borough and the urban Easton Area School District miles away is hurting their children.
Residents united in a show of force in a Bucks County courtroom Monday in their continued battle to allow Riegelsville children to attend Palisades School District.
It was an opportunity to explain the disconnect they feel because the majority of Riegelsville students are bused across county lines into Northampton County to attend Easton schools, even passing through neighboring Wilson School District.
Monday's hearing before Bucks County Judge Clyde Waite was the Riegelsville Tax and Education Coalition's second chance to present its argument why students living in the Upper Bucks community would be better off to attend Palisades, a 10-minute drive, rather than the Easton district, a 30-minute drive.
A state appeals court allowed the group this repeat opportunity. Transcripts of Monday's expert and resident testimony will be presented to state Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak, who must again make a ruling.
He had previously ruled against the Riegelsville coalition, but this time around he's been ordered by Commonwealth Court to make a new decision based on the testimony and explain his reasoning.
Attorneys and superintendents from Palisades and Easton were present at the hearing, each party objecting to the Riegelsville transfer.
Coalition attorney James Sweeney called the relationship between Riegelsville and Easton schools strange on Monday.
"There is no sense of community between the students and parents of Riegelsville and the school district in Easton. There is a sense of loneliness and isolation that is very detrimental to their education," he said.
Citing a tedious, dangerous school bus ride along Route 611; overcrowded, poorly performing Easton schools; an unwillingness of parents and students from the urban school district to socialize with Riegelsville families; and few opportunities for after-school activities because of the long commute, Sweeney argued that the 65 students from the 1-square-mile borough would be better served academically and socially at Palisades.
Riegelsville parents emphasized their kids are stressed because they straddle different worlds.
Borough children participate in community events and sports teams throughout the rural Palisades area and even practice on school fields. But they go to school in a different world.
Damian Newton says he can't explain to his third-grader why he doesn't know any of his classmates.
"It's very hard for him to socially interact with the kids who live on Southside. He says, 'Why do I have to go to class? I don't know anybody who goes to school.' "
The fight to transfer school districts is nearly unprecedented.
"We're embarking on relatively unchartered territory here," said Judge Waite. "The statute itself has not been amended in decades."
Although Waite urges a fast resolution for community members, documents will be delivered to Harrisburg in a couple of weeks, and there is no time limit for
The state education secretary to make a final ruling.
Amanda Cregan can be reached at 215-538-6371 or acregan@phillyBurbs.com.
March 24, 2009 02:40 AM
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tech School Budget: “That is so not going to fly."
From the BCCT.
Joint board panel OKs $22.4M budget plan
BY JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Technical High School’s proposed $22.4 million budget for 2009-10 is about $700,000 greater than the current school year’s financial plan.
The 2.9 percent growth in the “bare bones” budget was needed to cover increased operating expenses, school officials said.
The comprehensive technical high school’s joint board committee, made up of board members from the six sending school systems, voted 10-4 Monday night to send the proposed budget back to the respective feeder boards for consideration.
Bensalem’s proposed share is $3,135,268, Bristol’s is $733,313, Bristol Township’s suggested share is $6,503,272, Morrisville’s share is $528,077, Neshaminy’s proposed share is $3,921,993 and Pennsbury’s is $3,643,532.
According to the proposed 2009-10 budget, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury would pay less than in the current year, and Bensalem, Bristol and Bristol Township would pay more. “That is so not going to fly. I just want to let you know,” said Stacy Gerlach, a joint board member from Bristol Township.
Gerlach joined fellow Bristol Township school board members Helen Cini and Bruce Prendergast and Neshaminy’s Frank Koziol in voting against sending the budget.
Bensalem’s Harry Kramer, Heather Nicholas, Eugene Rothenberg, Bristol’s James Petrino, Morrisville’s John Buckman, Neshaminy’s Richard Eccles and Kim Koutsouradis and Pennsbury’s Wayne DeBlasio, Gene Dolnick and Arlene Governatore voted to send the proposed budget to the districts.
The projected 2009-10 budget needs to be approved by at least four of the sending boards and at least 28 board members from those districts before it can be enacted.
Joint board panel OKs $22.4M budget plan
BY JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Technical High School’s proposed $22.4 million budget for 2009-10 is about $700,000 greater than the current school year’s financial plan.
The 2.9 percent growth in the “bare bones” budget was needed to cover increased operating expenses, school officials said.
The comprehensive technical high school’s joint board committee, made up of board members from the six sending school systems, voted 10-4 Monday night to send the proposed budget back to the respective feeder boards for consideration.
Bensalem’s proposed share is $3,135,268, Bristol’s is $733,313, Bristol Township’s suggested share is $6,503,272, Morrisville’s share is $528,077, Neshaminy’s proposed share is $3,921,993 and Pennsbury’s is $3,643,532.
According to the proposed 2009-10 budget, Morrisville, Neshaminy and Pennsbury would pay less than in the current year, and Bensalem, Bristol and Bristol Township would pay more. “That is so not going to fly. I just want to let you know,” said Stacy Gerlach, a joint board member from Bristol Township.
Gerlach joined fellow Bristol Township school board members Helen Cini and Bruce Prendergast and Neshaminy’s Frank Koziol in voting against sending the budget.
Bensalem’s Harry Kramer, Heather Nicholas, Eugene Rothenberg, Bristol’s James Petrino, Morrisville’s John Buckman, Neshaminy’s Richard Eccles and Kim Koutsouradis and Pennsbury’s Wayne DeBlasio, Gene Dolnick and Arlene Governatore voted to send the proposed budget to the districts.
The projected 2009-10 budget needs to be approved by at least four of the sending boards and at least 28 board members from those districts before it can be enacted.
How to Spend Money
From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The PDE, along with recovery.gov, ed.gov, and recovery.pa.gov, have a guide for how to spend the "money" that the stimulus package will provide.
Who knew that the New Deal programs of the 21st century would all have dot-something at the end of their names?
Schools dig into stimulus arithmetic
Monday, March 23, 2009
By Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Woodland Hills Superintendent Walter Calinger has lots of ideas on how to improve the school district.
Now, thanks to the federal economic stimulus bill, he will have extra money -- an estimated $4.6 million this year -- to help pay for some of them.
"The stimulus money just comes at the right time," Dr. Calinger said.
The Woodland Hills school board this month approved plans -- at least some of which might be helped by stimulus money -- to open a comprehensive learning academy, extend hours at the high school for some students, allow high school students to take free college courses and combine elementary and intermediate schools.
Across Pennsylvania, at least $2.6 billion in federal stimulus money will be doled out -- for early childhood, elementary and secondary, and higher education -- with the goal of using it by Sept. 30, 2011.
Local school district leaders are developing ideas that could meet the federal and state guidelines without kicking up districts' ongoing costs when the money runs out.
"It's a godsend to us," said Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt. "It's perfectly timed because we're really through the first phase of analyzing what we're succeeding at and where we need to make extra effort."
While the district hasn't decided how to spend the estimated $43.2 million it will receive this year, Mr. Roosevelt said, "The likelihood is there will be significant extended time on learning, likely focus on middle school and likely focus on literacy."
If the district does use any of the money for school renovation, he said, the top priority likely would be career and technical education.
For those who are hoping the closed Schenley High School building will be renovated, Mr. Roosevelt said, "There's not monies sufficient to bring a project of that magnitude to the table, nor is it consistent with the very clear Obama administration edict that the money be used primarily on student gains."
Districts may receive a portion of their money in the coming weeks, but Pittsburgh, like some others, doesn't expect to start spending it immediately because planning needs to be done.
The U.S. Department of Education plans to release half of the special education money and half of the money for Title 1, a program aimed at improving math and reading achievement of low-income children, by the end of the month.
Federal guidelines call on states to make that portion of special ed money available to local schools by the end of April and the Title 1 money to be awarded to local schools "as quickly as possible, consistent with prudent management."
The state Department of Education's list of estimated amounts from the stimulus package, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, includes specific amounts for basic education subsidy in 2009-10 and in 2010-11.
Some are still urging the state to change some of the proposed allocations, including James Testerman, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, who would like to see some stimulus money used to address a looming pension issue.
The state is advising school districts to treat the basic education subsidy increases "as being built into the state's funding base" and for ongoing services.
The current proposal calls for stimulus money to cover all of the increases in the basic education subsidy for the next two years, using an equity formula that is being phased in.
After that, it will be up to the state to continue funding any increases.
The rest of the money is for one-time expenditures that do not need to be sustained and is to be used by Sept. 30, 2011.
"I don't think you're going to see a lot of districts going out and starting a lot of expensive new programs or hiring a lot of new teachers," said Tim Allwein, assistant executive director for governmental and member relations of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
He said schools are more likely to buy new textbooks, update science lab equipment, improve libraries, "things that sometimes get left behind in years districts have limited funds."
By the time the money runs out, Dr. Calinger said, Woodland Hills may have improved enough to attract students back, reducing the district's costs for charter schools and school busing.
Mr. Roosevelt said he thinks Pittsburgh may be able to compete for additional money after the stimulus is over because he expects the school system's innovations will prove effective.
Both the federal and state governments have put restrictions on how the money can be spent. The state Department of Education conducted online seminars for school leaders last week and earlier posted a guide at www.pde.state.pa.us/stimulus.
School districts that receive basic education subsidy increases greater than inflation must spend at least 80 percent on specific "proven academic programs," including pre-kindergarten, extended school day or year, tutoring, class size reduction and new curricula.
Permitted expenditures also vary by category. For example, only subgrants from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund can be used to modernize and improve school facilities, and technology improvement money can't be used for early childhood education.
Thelma Szarell, superintendent of the West Greene School District, which is estimated to receive about $1 million this year, hopes to spend some of it to add computers and buy a site license for Fast ForWord software to improve literacy skills of high school students.
She said it would cost about $75,000 initially and $4,500 a year -- which the district could budget -- to sustain it.
She has been looking into the program for a few years, but said, "We've never been able to participate because we just never had that kind of startup money."
Some school officials plan to see whether they can cover some school renovations with part of the money.
David Goodin, superintendent of Connellsville Area School District, which is expected to receive about $5.9 million this year, said the district already was in the midst of a feasibility study of its high school, including a look at the roof, boiler and other problems.
Connellsville also is considering trying to use some money to bring the shops in the career and technology education program up to industry standards.
Mr. Goodin said the district's financial picture already was sound without the stimulus money, but said, "To us, the stimulus money is kind of like a shot of adrenalin."
Fran Serenka, superintendent of Sto-Rox School District, which is expected to get about $1.7 million this year, said the district is looking at ways to round out programs supporting both academics and behavior. Ideas include adding another literacy and math coach for the secondary level and adding more drills and practice in math and language arts.
McKeesport Area School District -- which is expected to get about $4.6 million this year -- is reviewing its strategic plan and facilities plans.
"There are so many different things that we have in our plans that we haven't been able to fund that it won't cover them all," Superintendent Shirley Golofski said.
One possibility is buying more assistive technology, such as communications devices, for special education students. Another is more professional development for teachers.
Jeannette School District, which is expected to receive about $1.5 million this year, is exploring ways to support reading in the primary grades and possibly expand a high school literacy course, Superintendent Sharon Marks said.
"You don't want to spend it before you know you have it. We're constructing a budget as if we don't have it. It'll be a nice boost," she said.
Education writer Eleanor Chute can be reached at echute@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1955.
First published on March 23, 2009 at 12:00 am
The PDE, along with recovery.gov, ed.gov, and recovery.pa.gov, have a guide for how to spend the "money" that the stimulus package will provide.
Who knew that the New Deal programs of the 21st century would all have dot-something at the end of their names?
Schools dig into stimulus arithmetic
Monday, March 23, 2009
By Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Woodland Hills Superintendent Walter Calinger has lots of ideas on how to improve the school district.
Now, thanks to the federal economic stimulus bill, he will have extra money -- an estimated $4.6 million this year -- to help pay for some of them.
"The stimulus money just comes at the right time," Dr. Calinger said.
The Woodland Hills school board this month approved plans -- at least some of which might be helped by stimulus money -- to open a comprehensive learning academy, extend hours at the high school for some students, allow high school students to take free college courses and combine elementary and intermediate schools.
Across Pennsylvania, at least $2.6 billion in federal stimulus money will be doled out -- for early childhood, elementary and secondary, and higher education -- with the goal of using it by Sept. 30, 2011.
Local school district leaders are developing ideas that could meet the federal and state guidelines without kicking up districts' ongoing costs when the money runs out.
"It's a godsend to us," said Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Mark Roosevelt. "It's perfectly timed because we're really through the first phase of analyzing what we're succeeding at and where we need to make extra effort."
While the district hasn't decided how to spend the estimated $43.2 million it will receive this year, Mr. Roosevelt said, "The likelihood is there will be significant extended time on learning, likely focus on middle school and likely focus on literacy."
If the district does use any of the money for school renovation, he said, the top priority likely would be career and technical education.
For those who are hoping the closed Schenley High School building will be renovated, Mr. Roosevelt said, "There's not monies sufficient to bring a project of that magnitude to the table, nor is it consistent with the very clear Obama administration edict that the money be used primarily on student gains."
Districts may receive a portion of their money in the coming weeks, but Pittsburgh, like some others, doesn't expect to start spending it immediately because planning needs to be done.
The U.S. Department of Education plans to release half of the special education money and half of the money for Title 1, a program aimed at improving math and reading achievement of low-income children, by the end of the month.
Federal guidelines call on states to make that portion of special ed money available to local schools by the end of April and the Title 1 money to be awarded to local schools "as quickly as possible, consistent with prudent management."
The state Department of Education's list of estimated amounts from the stimulus package, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, includes specific amounts for basic education subsidy in 2009-10 and in 2010-11.
Some are still urging the state to change some of the proposed allocations, including James Testerman, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, who would like to see some stimulus money used to address a looming pension issue.
The state is advising school districts to treat the basic education subsidy increases "as being built into the state's funding base" and for ongoing services.
The current proposal calls for stimulus money to cover all of the increases in the basic education subsidy for the next two years, using an equity formula that is being phased in.
After that, it will be up to the state to continue funding any increases.
The rest of the money is for one-time expenditures that do not need to be sustained and is to be used by Sept. 30, 2011.
"I don't think you're going to see a lot of districts going out and starting a lot of expensive new programs or hiring a lot of new teachers," said Tim Allwein, assistant executive director for governmental and member relations of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
He said schools are more likely to buy new textbooks, update science lab equipment, improve libraries, "things that sometimes get left behind in years districts have limited funds."
By the time the money runs out, Dr. Calinger said, Woodland Hills may have improved enough to attract students back, reducing the district's costs for charter schools and school busing.
Mr. Roosevelt said he thinks Pittsburgh may be able to compete for additional money after the stimulus is over because he expects the school system's innovations will prove effective.
Both the federal and state governments have put restrictions on how the money can be spent. The state Department of Education conducted online seminars for school leaders last week and earlier posted a guide at www.pde.state.pa.us/stimulus.
School districts that receive basic education subsidy increases greater than inflation must spend at least 80 percent on specific "proven academic programs," including pre-kindergarten, extended school day or year, tutoring, class size reduction and new curricula.
Permitted expenditures also vary by category. For example, only subgrants from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund can be used to modernize and improve school facilities, and technology improvement money can't be used for early childhood education.
Thelma Szarell, superintendent of the West Greene School District, which is estimated to receive about $1 million this year, hopes to spend some of it to add computers and buy a site license for Fast ForWord software to improve literacy skills of high school students.
She said it would cost about $75,000 initially and $4,500 a year -- which the district could budget -- to sustain it.
She has been looking into the program for a few years, but said, "We've never been able to participate because we just never had that kind of startup money."
Some school officials plan to see whether they can cover some school renovations with part of the money.
David Goodin, superintendent of Connellsville Area School District, which is expected to receive about $5.9 million this year, said the district already was in the midst of a feasibility study of its high school, including a look at the roof, boiler and other problems.
Connellsville also is considering trying to use some money to bring the shops in the career and technology education program up to industry standards.
Mr. Goodin said the district's financial picture already was sound without the stimulus money, but said, "To us, the stimulus money is kind of like a shot of adrenalin."
Fran Serenka, superintendent of Sto-Rox School District, which is expected to get about $1.7 million this year, said the district is looking at ways to round out programs supporting both academics and behavior. Ideas include adding another literacy and math coach for the secondary level and adding more drills and practice in math and language arts.
McKeesport Area School District -- which is expected to get about $4.6 million this year -- is reviewing its strategic plan and facilities plans.
"There are so many different things that we have in our plans that we haven't been able to fund that it won't cover them all," Superintendent Shirley Golofski said.
One possibility is buying more assistive technology, such as communications devices, for special education students. Another is more professional development for teachers.
Jeannette School District, which is expected to receive about $1.5 million this year, is exploring ways to support reading in the primary grades and possibly expand a high school literacy course, Superintendent Sharon Marks said.
"You don't want to spend it before you know you have it. We're constructing a budget as if we don't have it. It'll be a nice boost," she said.
Education writer Eleanor Chute can be reached at echute@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1955.
First published on March 23, 2009 at 12:00 am
Monday, March 23, 2009
Caution: School Merging Ahead
From the Inquirer.
CAUTION: SCHOOLS MERGING AHEAD
Rendell says Pa. has too many school districts, but his cure may be worse than the problem.
Bob Martin is a former Inquirer writer and editor Posted on Sun, Mar. 22, 2009
School districts are like errant siblings. You beat them up, bawl them out, and shame them into good behavior - until an outsider comes along and starts coercing them. Then you put up your fists and say you'll defend them to the death.
These days, the outsider is Gov. Rendell, who wants to force consolidation of hundreds of school districts statewide. He believes that Pennsylvania's 501 school districts are too many, that consolidation would reduce administrative costs and taxes while enhancing academics through greater course offerings and extracurricular programs. His education press secretary, Michael Race, says that arguments against the plan are "excuses for inaction" and constitute an "us- against-them parochialism that doesn't serve anyone in Pennsylvania."
But isn't parochialism just a pejorative way of defining local control - and might not inaction be the wiser course when the cure is worse than the problem?
In 2006, the state's Legislative Budget and Finance Commission paid Standard & Poor's $236,573 to study the cost-effectiveness of consolidating Pennsylvania's school districts. Among its findings:
The optimum school district size for cost-effectiveness is 2,500-2,999 students.
There is "virtually no correlation" between size of enrollment and standardized test scores.
Consolidation would face "considerable opposition," involving such factors as socioeconomic and demographic differences between school districts, the potential for longer bus routes for schoolchildren, less local control, and "a loss of local identity due to different community cultures and traditions."
Despite these conclusions, the Rendell administration feels that consolidations "have to be done on a much broader scale," Race said. So its draft legislation (yet to be introduced) would mandate that every school district in Pennsylvania have at least 5,000 students. Of the 62 districts in Southeastern Pennsylvania, 34 have projected enrollments of fewer than 5,000 students in the 2011-12 school year. Under the proposal, they would be forced into shotgun marriages with other districts and require all-new school boards.
In these districts, where a two-block change in the bus route can pack a meeting room with angry parents, consolidation is sure to stir gale-force winds of protest from a coalition of school staff, school board members, parents, students, and yes, even taxpayers. If politics makes strange bedfellows, they're going to need an extra-large mattress for this horde.
Let's assume a merger model of two districts with different demographics.
New contracts would have to be negotiated with every union, whether it be for teachers, custodians, clerical staff, or bus drivers. Any union worth its dues will fight to bring every category of employee up to the pay and benefit level of the best existing contract - and that means more taxes.
One superintendent would lose his or her job, but both would have existing multiyear contracts still in force from their prior districts. So the "losing" superintendent would keep getting paid for the duration of his contract, even if he or she wasn't working.
Assuming that the No Child Left Behind Act is reauthorized by Congress, an academically proficient district being merged with another that had failed to make adequate yearly progress under the law could face intervention and eventual sanctions for its inherited, underperforming schools.
Merging districts would assume one another's debt and pension obligations, which could affect bond ratings and also spell higher taxes.
If the consequences of consolidations raise hackles, then Rendell's method for achieving the new school district alignment is sure to trigger outrage.
Whereas the prior school consolidation in Pennsylvania (from 2,700 to 501 districts) stretched over about 25 years last century, the governor is seeking to put this one in place in about 30 months.
The task seems mind-boggling: Under the proposed enabling legislation, leaders from both parties and branches of the General Assembly would appoint a 12-member study commission. It would have one year to hold 10 public hearings statewide and then approve up to two consolidation plans for General Assembly consideration. If no plan were endorsed by the commission, it would be sent back out to the hustings for 10 more public hearings and then directed to approve a proposal within six months.
Once the plan or plans got to the General Assembly, legislators would vote them up or down without amendment. That's right. Your elected representative could not modify the new districts' boundaries. Otherwise, Race said, consolidation could be "subject to death by a thousand cuts."
And if the General Assembly voted the plan down, then the State Board of Education could draw up the new districts itself.
So, first an appointed commission proposes - and then possibly an appointed board imposes - a measure that could affect 1.8 million schoolchildren and legions of parents, taxpayers, and interest groups across Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, our state legislators (with the exception of the 12 on the panel) would be reduced to political eunuchs. It's not my idea of democracy.
Napoleon Bonaparte said that a revolution is an idea that has found its bayonets. Ed Rendell has an idea, but let's hope he's several bayonets short of a revolution.
E-mail Bob Martin at inkwire86@verizon.net.
FORCED TO COMBINE?
Rendell's draft plan would require school districts with fewer than 5,000 students to consolidate. Area districts at risk and their projected 2011-12 enrollment:
Bucks County
Bristol Borough 1,271
Morrisville 728
New Hope-Solebury 1,671
Palisades 1,809
Chester County
Great Valley 4,255
Kennett Consolid. 4,398
Octorara Area 2,782
Oxford Area 4,164
Phoenixville Area 3,200
Twin Valley 3,782
Unionville-Chadds Ford 4,219
Delaware County
Chester Upland 2,765
Chichester 3,359
Interboro 3,561
Marple Newtown 3,434
Penn-Delco 3,497
Radnor Township 3,628
Rose Tree-Media 3,631
Southeast Delco 4,100
Springfield 3,505
Wallingford-
Swarthmore 3,437
Montgomery County
Colonial 4,991
Upper Dublin 4,150
Upper Merion 3,907
Upper Moreland 2,936
Upper Perkiomen 3,344
Wissahickon 4,364
Cheltenham 4,105
Hatboro-Horsham 4,893
Jenkintown 538
Lower Moreland 2,476
Pottsgrove 3,259
Pottstown 3,102
Springfield 2,116
SOURCE: Enrollment Projections, Pa. Dept of Education, 2009
CAUTION: SCHOOLS MERGING AHEAD
Rendell says Pa. has too many school districts, but his cure may be worse than the problem.
Bob Martin is a former Inquirer writer and editor Posted on Sun, Mar. 22, 2009
School districts are like errant siblings. You beat them up, bawl them out, and shame them into good behavior - until an outsider comes along and starts coercing them. Then you put up your fists and say you'll defend them to the death.
These days, the outsider is Gov. Rendell, who wants to force consolidation of hundreds of school districts statewide. He believes that Pennsylvania's 501 school districts are too many, that consolidation would reduce administrative costs and taxes while enhancing academics through greater course offerings and extracurricular programs. His education press secretary, Michael Race, says that arguments against the plan are "excuses for inaction" and constitute an "us- against-them parochialism that doesn't serve anyone in Pennsylvania."
But isn't parochialism just a pejorative way of defining local control - and might not inaction be the wiser course when the cure is worse than the problem?
In 2006, the state's Legislative Budget and Finance Commission paid Standard & Poor's $236,573 to study the cost-effectiveness of consolidating Pennsylvania's school districts. Among its findings:
The optimum school district size for cost-effectiveness is 2,500-2,999 students.
There is "virtually no correlation" between size of enrollment and standardized test scores.
Consolidation would face "considerable opposition," involving such factors as socioeconomic and demographic differences between school districts, the potential for longer bus routes for schoolchildren, less local control, and "a loss of local identity due to different community cultures and traditions."
Despite these conclusions, the Rendell administration feels that consolidations "have to be done on a much broader scale," Race said. So its draft legislation (yet to be introduced) would mandate that every school district in Pennsylvania have at least 5,000 students. Of the 62 districts in Southeastern Pennsylvania, 34 have projected enrollments of fewer than 5,000 students in the 2011-12 school year. Under the proposal, they would be forced into shotgun marriages with other districts and require all-new school boards.
In these districts, where a two-block change in the bus route can pack a meeting room with angry parents, consolidation is sure to stir gale-force winds of protest from a coalition of school staff, school board members, parents, students, and yes, even taxpayers. If politics makes strange bedfellows, they're going to need an extra-large mattress for this horde.
Let's assume a merger model of two districts with different demographics.
New contracts would have to be negotiated with every union, whether it be for teachers, custodians, clerical staff, or bus drivers. Any union worth its dues will fight to bring every category of employee up to the pay and benefit level of the best existing contract - and that means more taxes.
One superintendent would lose his or her job, but both would have existing multiyear contracts still in force from their prior districts. So the "losing" superintendent would keep getting paid for the duration of his contract, even if he or she wasn't working.
Assuming that the No Child Left Behind Act is reauthorized by Congress, an academically proficient district being merged with another that had failed to make adequate yearly progress under the law could face intervention and eventual sanctions for its inherited, underperforming schools.
Merging districts would assume one another's debt and pension obligations, which could affect bond ratings and also spell higher taxes.
If the consequences of consolidations raise hackles, then Rendell's method for achieving the new school district alignment is sure to trigger outrage.
Whereas the prior school consolidation in Pennsylvania (from 2,700 to 501 districts) stretched over about 25 years last century, the governor is seeking to put this one in place in about 30 months.
The task seems mind-boggling: Under the proposed enabling legislation, leaders from both parties and branches of the General Assembly would appoint a 12-member study commission. It would have one year to hold 10 public hearings statewide and then approve up to two consolidation plans for General Assembly consideration. If no plan were endorsed by the commission, it would be sent back out to the hustings for 10 more public hearings and then directed to approve a proposal within six months.
Once the plan or plans got to the General Assembly, legislators would vote them up or down without amendment. That's right. Your elected representative could not modify the new districts' boundaries. Otherwise, Race said, consolidation could be "subject to death by a thousand cuts."
And if the General Assembly voted the plan down, then the State Board of Education could draw up the new districts itself.
So, first an appointed commission proposes - and then possibly an appointed board imposes - a measure that could affect 1.8 million schoolchildren and legions of parents, taxpayers, and interest groups across Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, our state legislators (with the exception of the 12 on the panel) would be reduced to political eunuchs. It's not my idea of democracy.
Napoleon Bonaparte said that a revolution is an idea that has found its bayonets. Ed Rendell has an idea, but let's hope he's several bayonets short of a revolution.
E-mail Bob Martin at inkwire86@verizon.net.
FORCED TO COMBINE?
Rendell's draft plan would require school districts with fewer than 5,000 students to consolidate. Area districts at risk and their projected 2011-12 enrollment:
Bucks County
Bristol Borough 1,271
Morrisville 728
New Hope-Solebury 1,671
Palisades 1,809
Chester County
Great Valley 4,255
Kennett Consolid. 4,398
Octorara Area 2,782
Oxford Area 4,164
Phoenixville Area 3,200
Twin Valley 3,782
Unionville-Chadds Ford 4,219
Delaware County
Chester Upland 2,765
Chichester 3,359
Interboro 3,561
Marple Newtown 3,434
Penn-Delco 3,497
Radnor Township 3,628
Rose Tree-Media 3,631
Southeast Delco 4,100
Springfield 3,505
Wallingford-
Swarthmore 3,437
Montgomery County
Colonial 4,991
Upper Dublin 4,150
Upper Merion 3,907
Upper Moreland 2,936
Upper Perkiomen 3,344
Wissahickon 4,364
Cheltenham 4,105
Hatboro-Horsham 4,893
Jenkintown 538
Lower Moreland 2,476
Pottsgrove 3,259
Pottstown 3,102
Springfield 2,116
SOURCE: Enrollment Projections, Pa. Dept of Education, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Federal school funds coming up short
From the BCCT.
The government printing presses are working 24/7 and still not making enough "money" for everyone.
Federal school funds coming up short
The amount of stimulus money local school districts receive will be dropped from the original House version to what was passed in the Senate. Still, districts are glad to get it.
By GARY WECKSELBLATT
When Jack Myers first heard about the stimulus money coming to school districts, the calculator in his brain began working.
“I already had the money spent in my mind,” said Myers, director of business operations for the Bensalem School District.
Had he done so in actuality, his district would be about $1.5 million in the red.
From the time the U.S. House passed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act back in January until the state this month listed who’s getting what, the stimulus money coming to area schools has become less stimulating.
Bensalem has taken the largest monetary hit. Expecting $4.5 million, the district now is estimated to receive $3 million.
Bristol Township and Pennsbury are $1 million losers.
Upper Moreland had its money nearly cut in half, from just under $1.3 million to under $700,000.
Pennridge and Souderton were shorted the least, each losing just more than $50,000 of the approximately $2 million stimulus.
Seventeen area districts expecting $44.3 million of the two-year, $2.2 billion state allotment now are estimated to receive $34.6 million, according to the state department of education. That’s nearly $10 million, or 22 percent, less than anticipated.
“The bottom line is, it sure beats not getting anything,” Myers said. “We’re very happy to have this money.”
But Myers, like other business managers and school board members, said they’re still uncertain how much money they’ll be getting, what they can use it for, when it will get to them and what strings will be attached.
“Until I have a check in my hand, I’m very reserved in my enthusiasm,” said Linda Palsky of the Pennsbury school board. “Until you actually see the criteria and regulations in black and white, you don’t really know how this will all work out.
“Sometimes things look good in the short term … but then in the long term you’re left with unfunded mandates.”
“We’re kind of sitting, waiting for the official word. The problem is we’re not exactly sure how we can use that money yet,” said David Matyas, business manager for Central Bucks.
The state’s $2.6 billion deficit leaves a lot to still be determined, Matyas said. “We won’t know our exact allocation until the state finalizes its budget.”
Funding is split into five categories: Title I, for reading and math programs in districts where the poverty level is at least 5 percent; Title II-D, which integrates technology into the curriculum; Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or special education; basic education funding; and state fiscal stabilization grants for school renovations.
The stimulus money helped the state achieve its basic education funding goal, which started a new funding formula a year ago. Pushed by Gov. Ed Rendell, the plan is to spend $2.6 billion over the six years to help ensure adequate funding in all districts.
Without the additional federal dollars, “we couldn’t have achieved our commitment this year or next,” said Leah Harris, assistant press secretary with the state Department of Education.
She said only 47 of the state’s 501 districts don’t receive Title I money. Eleven, however, are local. In addition, those same schools were left out of the stabilization grant money because it was allocated through the same Title I formula.
For districts that qualify, stabilization money replaces stimulus funds for school construction in the original House version. The money was eliminated during negotiations in the Senate to woo Sens. Arlen Specter, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. The three Republicans sought to cut the package, and school construction was wrapped into an overall construction category that the state could divvy up.
But a district like Central Bucks, for example, which would have received $663,500 in construction money from the House bill, is shut out of stabilization grant money, which can be used for modernization or repairs.
Back on Jan. 29, when Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy held a press conference at Harry S Truman High School to announce $5 million in funding for the Bristol Township School District — a number that’s fallen to $4 million — school board President Earl Bruck was pleased to hear of the $1.7 million coming for school construction.
“We have a document from our engineers that says we have $100 million in renovations we need to implement,” he said that day. “This is a start.”
That start has been cut, as his district’s stabilization grant is $642,800. It is, however, the highest of any area district.
Bruck said he still has those renovations to do, but you don’t know what to do until you get official guidelines from the state.
“I’m cautiously optimistic, hoping things turn out the way they said they would. But you don’t know until you get the details.”
“This additional money is to prevent devastating cuts and an increase in property taxes that would be unfair in these tough economic times,” said Adam Abrams, a spokesman for Murphy.
Myers, Bensalem’s business manager, said tax hikes still will happen.
“The school board is still going to have to raise taxes, they’re just not going to have to raise them as much. Whatever money we get will certainly help the taxpayer and help us maintain our programs.”
“The stimulus means we should hire people, but the money’s only coming for two years. What do you do after that? Fire them? As you can see, it’s a conundrum,” Matyas said.
The government printing presses are working 24/7 and still not making enough "money" for everyone.
Federal school funds coming up short
The amount of stimulus money local school districts receive will be dropped from the original House version to what was passed in the Senate. Still, districts are glad to get it.
By GARY WECKSELBLATT
When Jack Myers first heard about the stimulus money coming to school districts, the calculator in his brain began working.
“I already had the money spent in my mind,” said Myers, director of business operations for the Bensalem School District.
Had he done so in actuality, his district would be about $1.5 million in the red.
From the time the U.S. House passed the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act back in January until the state this month listed who’s getting what, the stimulus money coming to area schools has become less stimulating.
Bensalem has taken the largest monetary hit. Expecting $4.5 million, the district now is estimated to receive $3 million.
Bristol Township and Pennsbury are $1 million losers.
Upper Moreland had its money nearly cut in half, from just under $1.3 million to under $700,000.
Pennridge and Souderton were shorted the least, each losing just more than $50,000 of the approximately $2 million stimulus.
Seventeen area districts expecting $44.3 million of the two-year, $2.2 billion state allotment now are estimated to receive $34.6 million, according to the state department of education. That’s nearly $10 million, or 22 percent, less than anticipated.“The bottom line is, it sure beats not getting anything,” Myers said. “We’re very happy to have this money.”
But Myers, like other business managers and school board members, said they’re still uncertain how much money they’ll be getting, what they can use it for, when it will get to them and what strings will be attached.
“Until I have a check in my hand, I’m very reserved in my enthusiasm,” said Linda Palsky of the Pennsbury school board. “Until you actually see the criteria and regulations in black and white, you don’t really know how this will all work out.
“Sometimes things look good in the short term … but then in the long term you’re left with unfunded mandates.”
“We’re kind of sitting, waiting for the official word. The problem is we’re not exactly sure how we can use that money yet,” said David Matyas, business manager for Central Bucks.
The state’s $2.6 billion deficit leaves a lot to still be determined, Matyas said. “We won’t know our exact allocation until the state finalizes its budget.”
Funding is split into five categories: Title I, for reading and math programs in districts where the poverty level is at least 5 percent; Title II-D, which integrates technology into the curriculum; Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) or special education; basic education funding; and state fiscal stabilization grants for school renovations.
The stimulus money helped the state achieve its basic education funding goal, which started a new funding formula a year ago. Pushed by Gov. Ed Rendell, the plan is to spend $2.6 billion over the six years to help ensure adequate funding in all districts.
Without the additional federal dollars, “we couldn’t have achieved our commitment this year or next,” said Leah Harris, assistant press secretary with the state Department of Education.
She said only 47 of the state’s 501 districts don’t receive Title I money. Eleven, however, are local. In addition, those same schools were left out of the stabilization grant money because it was allocated through the same Title I formula.
For districts that qualify, stabilization money replaces stimulus funds for school construction in the original House version. The money was eliminated during negotiations in the Senate to woo Sens. Arlen Specter, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. The three Republicans sought to cut the package, and school construction was wrapped into an overall construction category that the state could divvy up.
But a district like Central Bucks, for example, which would have received $663,500 in construction money from the House bill, is shut out of stabilization grant money, which can be used for modernization or repairs.
Back on Jan. 29, when Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy held a press conference at Harry S Truman High School to announce $5 million in funding for the Bristol Township School District — a number that’s fallen to $4 million — school board President Earl Bruck was pleased to hear of the $1.7 million coming for school construction.
“We have a document from our engineers that says we have $100 million in renovations we need to implement,” he said that day. “This is a start.”
That start has been cut, as his district’s stabilization grant is $642,800. It is, however, the highest of any area district.
Bruck said he still has those renovations to do, but you don’t know what to do until you get official guidelines from the state.
“I’m cautiously optimistic, hoping things turn out the way they said they would. But you don’t know until you get the details.”
“This additional money is to prevent devastating cuts and an increase in property taxes that would be unfair in these tough economic times,” said Adam Abrams, a spokesman for Murphy.
Myers, Bensalem’s business manager, said tax hikes still will happen.
“The school board is still going to have to raise taxes, they’re just not going to have to raise them as much. Whatever money we get will certainly help the taxpayer and help us maintain our programs.”
“The stimulus means we should hire people, but the money’s only coming for two years. What do you do after that? Fire them? As you can see, it’s a conundrum,” Matyas said.
Shall We Get Rid of the Lawyers?
From the New York Review of Books.
Shall We Get Rid of the Lawyers?, By Anthony Lewis
Life Without Lawyers: Liberating Americans from Too Much Law, by Philip K. Howard
Norton, 221 pp., $24.95
Justice Hugo L. Black once told me that he thought all government departments and agencies should be abolished every five or ten years. Black was a senator from Alabama for ten years and a Supreme Court justice for thirty-four, and he knew just about everything there was to know about how government works. His startling idea—and I think he was serious—was his way of dealing with the encrustations of bureaucracy.
Reading Philip K. Howard's book, I suddenly recalled Justice Black's remark. Not that their concerns are the same, just the sweeping character of their responses. Howard is worried about what he deems the excessively legalized American society. He begins his book as follows:
"Sometimes I wonder how it came to this," a teacher in Wyoming told me, "where teachers no longer have authority to run the classroom and parents are afraid to go on field trips for fear of being sued." Thomas Jefferson might have the same question. How did the land of freedom become a legal minefield? Americans tiptoe through law all day long, avoiding any acts that might offend someone or erupt into a legal claim. Legal fears constantly divert us from doing what we think is right.
Howard argues his case with horror stories. A five-year-old girl in kindergarten in St. Petersburg, Florida, goes on a tear, throwing books and pencils on the floor and ripping papers off the bulletin board—in her classroom and in the principal's office, where she is steered. No teacher stops her, because everyone is bound by a rule against touching children. Eventually they call the police, who take the child away in handcuffs.
Absurd? Yes. But Howard says the rule against touching children, apparently adopted in fear of accusations of pedophilia, is now nearly universal. His daughter's college roommate, teaching beginning swimmers in Harlem, had to ask the children for permission before holding them up in the water: ask every time.
Josh Kaplowitz, a college graduate in the Teach for America program, put his hand on the back of a seventh-grade student who was misbehaving to usher him out of the classroom. He was sued for $20 million—and criminally indicted. The criminal charge was eventually dropped, but the school settled the civil lawsuit by paying $90,000, Howard says.
A 2004 survey cited by Howard found that 78 percent of middle school and high school teachers have been accused by their students of lawlessness or violating their rights. Broward County, Florida, Howard says, prohibited children from running in playgrounds after settling 189 playground lawsuits in five years.
Then there is the much-lamented case of the $54 million trousers. A lawyer in Washington sued a dry cleaner for that amount for allegedly losing a pair of his pants. The case and the plaintiff were much mocked in newspaper stories. But I do not remember reading what Howard tells us: that it dragged on for two years, cost the Korean immigrants who owned the store $100,000 in legal fees, and led them to close the store.
Medical malpractice is a familiar source of discontent about overlegalization. Howard cites a 2006 study by the Harvard School of Public Health finding that 25 percent of payments for malpractice were made in cases where there was in fact no negligence—and 25 percent of meritorious claims got nothing. He urges the adoption of specialized health care courts, which would give lower but fairer awards. The obstacle to such a system for rationalizing—and evening out—malpractice judgments is not only the natural opposition of plaintiffs' lawyers, who are famously a major source of campaign contributions to Democrats. I believe it is that Americans may actually prefer the lottery approach, gambling that they may be the lucky winners of huge awards.
The broadest reform urged by Howard, and likely the most controversial, is to eliminate the tendency of American law in civil damage cases to advance the interest of particular individuals without fair regard to the needs of the community. He offers painful examples from the experience of federal laws granting rights to children with disabilities.
In Hartford, Connecticut, in 2002, a boy with autism in the seventh grade began attacking other students and kicking his teacher. His parents rejected a request that he be moved to a school where he could not injure others. The school instituted legal proceedings required by federal law. "After almost two years of legal hearings," Howard writes, the hearing officer issued an order that the boy be removed from the school. Howard's account of that case appears to come from a story in the Hartford Courant, which said that the hearings lasted two months, not two years, and that the boy was apparently "adjusting well" in a new school. There is no indication that Howard did any independent research on the case.
In a school near Houston, Texas, Howard says, it took eight due process hearings at a cost of more than $100,000 to force the removal of an autistic eight-year-old boy. Then his mother announced that she was returning him to the school. Two teachers resigned, one of whom had spent twenty-two days the previous year in meetings and hearings about the boy. Howard gives no instances of misbehavior by the boy. In the online footnotes for the book he cites as sources for this passage two "education lawyers" in Houston, not any of the principals in the dispute.
The first special education law, passed in 1975, which required "specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents or guardians, to meet the unique needs of a handicapped child," was an honorable response to terrible injustices, as Howard concedes—previously, "dis abled children were ignored or locked away in awful institutions." But he argues that Congress and the courts, in expanding other rights, particularly due process "rights," from the 1970s onward, wrongly moved from guaranteeing fair treatment of handicapped children to protecting individuals while imposing unfair burdens on teachers and other students.
I come to Howard's book with a fair amount of skepticism. Any system of law will produce outrageous outcomes from time to time—the $54 million trousers. And the demand for law "reform" often is really a campaign on behalf of big companies and other institutions that do not want to pay large damages for their wrongdoing.
Judge Richard Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is one of the most highly regarded judges in the country, and no one would call him a soft-headed sentimentalist. In a recent book, How Judges Think, he discusses the legal philosophy he calls "legalism," which tries to confine legal interpretation to narrow historical and rational grounds. "The currently most influential incarnations of legalism," he writes, turn out
to be guided by a political judgment: that there are too many legally enforceable rights. Today's exaltation of legalism is to a significant extent a reaction by politically conservative legal thinkers, including a number of prominent judges, to the expansion of rights and liability—particularly the rights of tort (including civil rights) plaintiffs, breach-of-contract defendants, prisoners, consumers, workers, and criminal defendants....[1]
Some proposals by advocates of "law reform" transparently serve conservative interests. One, for example, is the idea that losing parties in civil lawsuits should have to pay the lawyers' fees of the winners. That sounds fair, but its practical result would be to make it forbiddingly risky for anyone but the well-off to sue. Defendants with deep pockets could incur enormous costs, which would have to be paid by plaintiffs who lost lawsuits.
Howard does not make the fee- shifting proposal, and he does not come across as a stalking-horse for the interests of large corporations, insurance companies, and other frequent defendants in tort cases. The examples he gives in his parade of horribles seem outrageous. But I doubt that they sustain his indictment of the entire legal system. Do Americans really "tiptoe through law all day long"? I don't. Do "legal fears constantly divert us from doing what we think is right"? Something like that may indeed be so in some fields; doctors do often practice defensive medicine, ordering unnecessary tests in case of litigation, and schools do worry about lawsuits. But for the society as a whole it is surely an overstatement.
Nor does Howard dig deep enough to explain the excesses of American tort law and the eagerness to seek vast damages for civil injuries. He blames the overreaching of Earl Warren's Supreme Court in its sympathy for the little man, and the mood of antipathy to large institutions starting in the 1960s. He does not explore deeper social causes.
This country is notoriously lacking in safety nets that are taken for granted in other advanced societies. Medical care is guaranteed by the state, by one method or another, in Canada and all European countries; in the United States upward of 40 million people have no medical insurance. Around 46 percent of employed Americans get not even one day of paid sick leave—which is guaranteed by law in 145 other countries. Lawsuits are often a substitute for safety nets.
There is a historical example that makes the point: workers' compensation. Employees injured on the job used to have to bring tort actions against their employer; that required proof of negligence, and complicated doctrines were developed by some courts to deny the claims of plaintiffs. Early in the twentieth century a movement led by Louis D. Brandeis—then a reformist private lawyer in Boston, later a Supreme Court justice—sought a system that would compensate the injured without regard to negligence, and in return would bar lawsuits. By 1949 every state had a workers' compensation law. It is a perfect example of a safety net that assures limited compensation without the gamble of litigation.
With his sweeping characterization of a society in the grip of pettifogging law, Howard might have been expected to call for drastic changes. But his proposals are quite modest: hardly what he promises in his title, a way to life without lawyers.
First, he argues, "judges must draw boundaries of reasonableness as a matter of law," curbing the excesses of juries. Invoking his principle of concern for societal needs over individual claims, he says a rule of law should reject legal claims that "might undermine reasonable activities of people not in the courtroom," such as a claim that would result in playgrounds being stripped of equipment. Knowing that judges will keep the boundaries of lawsuits reasonable, he says, "will be an important boost to our daily freedom."
Howard calls for state legislatures to pass statutes calling on judges to set such reasonable boundaries. But many courts do so already. A case he cites is actually an example. At a block party in Bayonne, New Jersey, a five-year-old riding around on a bicycle with training wheels bumped a one-year-old, who required stitches. The baby's parents sued the other parents at the party for not exercising proper supervision. But the New Jersey Supreme Court dismissed the claim, saying that the law does not require parents to defend "honest errors" at a block party—lest people stop giving block parties.
Second, he says that judges should actively manage cases to prevent them from dragging on and wandering into issues beyond the law. Again, courts in some states, including my own, Massachusetts, have exercised such judicial control over the duration and scope of cases.
Third, Howard would set up special courts requiring expertise on the part of judges, notably to hear claims of medical malpractice. An expert health court, he says, would "likely pay more people, with lower average awards and dramatically lower legal expenses." He is surely correct. But that is an issue not of legalism but of major social policy. It would take something like a political miracle to overcome resistance to the idea.
Howard omits or passes lightly over problems that are probably as burdensome to society as excessive legalization. In public education, for example, teachers' unions have opposed merit increases and resisted the hiring of new teachers, however talented and well-informed, if they lack formal qualification such as graduate degrees.
State courts handle the overwhelming proportion of litigation in this country. In 2007, 384,330 cases were filed in federal trial and appellate courts, not including bankruptcy cases. In the state courts there were 47.3 million, not including traffic cases. Howard does not mention the greatest current threat to the fairness of state courts and their entitlement to public respect. That is the increasingly expensive political campaigns for judgeships. In most states, judges are either elected or must face the voters after they have been on the bench for some years. The elections used to be routine affairs. No longer. In states such as Ohio, Illinois, and Texas, candidates raise millions—mostly from lawyers and from corporations with interests before the court.
An appalling example of where huge campaign contributions for judges can lead is Caperton v. Massey, a case now before the Supreme Court of the United States. A West Virginia jury awarded damages of $50 million in a tort action against the A.T. Massey Coal Co. While the case was on appeal, Massey's CEO, Don Blankenship, contributed $3 million on behalf of Brent Benjamin, a candidate for the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, either by himself or through a political action group. (That was 60 percent of all spending in support of Benjamin.) Benjamin was elected. When the court heard Massey's appeal, Benjamin declined to recuse himself from the case. The court reversed the damage judgment, deciding in Massey's favor by a vote of 3 to 2. Justice Benjamin cast the deciding vote.
The claim now before the US Supreme Court is that Benjamin's refusal to recuse himself denied Massey's opponents the due process of law guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment: fundamental fairness. The Supreme Court evidently had difficulty deciding whether to hear the case, considering it at several conferences before granting review, and it is easy to understand why. Does the Court want to get into the business of deciding whether a state judge's refusal to recuse himself is a violation of the federal Constitution? How much of a campaign contribution should disqualify a judge from sitting on the contributor's case? If expensive judicial elections are allowable, where do we draw such lines? On the other hand, the claims of elementary justice here seem strong.
Of course the problem of state judicial elections and campaign contributions is not Howard's subject. But the great dangers presented by such contributions put in perspective Howard's doom-laden rhetoric about the failure of judges to rein in damage suits. His tendency to hyperbole also leads him to embrace tired conservative rhetoric condemning "activist judges." He complains about judges "taking control of prisons and causing riots when they ordered children bussed to different neighborhoods. These judges felt just fine," he says,
making rulings as a matter of law that effectively preempted the legislature. The judge gallops off on a white charger to fix the ills of society but in private disputes sits on his hands, letting people in the courtroom argue anything.
That passage seems to me to compare apples and rutabagas. Bussing, with all its difficulties, was an attempt to find a way of assuring constitutional rights that had long been neglected. As for prisons, the cases he refers to started with orders by one of the great federal judges, Frank Johnson, to make Alabama improve prison medical care so grotesquely inadequate that prisoners' wounds were crawling with maggots. State legislators privately praised Judge Johnson for doing what they had failed to do.
But perhaps I am unkind to Philip Howard for letting his distress at undoubted examples of legal folly in our society lead him to overstatement. He is right in saying that we have gone too far in trying to compensate for the unfairness of life to individuals. Law does need to consider not just the plight of the disruptive student but the possible cost to the rest of the class, and to the school, of allowing his or her needs to impair the education of other students.
No magical legislation ordering courts to be more sensible will solve the problem. What is needed is more painstaking reform of legislation that puts heavy bureaucratic burdens on our institutions, such as the Privacy Act. Think of how many useless papers you have signed attesting that your doctors have informed you of their care for your right to privacy. At the same time, whether through the press or through judicial oversight, there should be unrelenting exposure of judges to public resentment of legal processes that offend common sense.
That process of judicial education is surely underway. I doubt that any other judge is going to allow two years to pass before dismissing a $54 million damage claim for a missing pair of trousers. Howard is helping the process by this and his other books,[2] and by an organization he formed in 2002, Common Good. He can be forgiven some of his hyperbole.
Shall We Get Rid of the Lawyers?, By Anthony Lewis
Life Without Lawyers: Liberating Americans from Too Much Law, by Philip K. Howard
Norton, 221 pp., $24.95
Justice Hugo L. Black once told me that he thought all government departments and agencies should be abolished every five or ten years. Black was a senator from Alabama for ten years and a Supreme Court justice for thirty-four, and he knew just about everything there was to know about how government works. His startling idea—and I think he was serious—was his way of dealing with the encrustations of bureaucracy.
Reading Philip K. Howard's book, I suddenly recalled Justice Black's remark. Not that their concerns are the same, just the sweeping character of their responses. Howard is worried about what he deems the excessively legalized American society. He begins his book as follows:
"Sometimes I wonder how it came to this," a teacher in Wyoming told me, "where teachers no longer have authority to run the classroom and parents are afraid to go on field trips for fear of being sued." Thomas Jefferson might have the same question. How did the land of freedom become a legal minefield? Americans tiptoe through law all day long, avoiding any acts that might offend someone or erupt into a legal claim. Legal fears constantly divert us from doing what we think is right.
Howard argues his case with horror stories. A five-year-old girl in kindergarten in St. Petersburg, Florida, goes on a tear, throwing books and pencils on the floor and ripping papers off the bulletin board—in her classroom and in the principal's office, where she is steered. No teacher stops her, because everyone is bound by a rule against touching children. Eventually they call the police, who take the child away in handcuffs.
Absurd? Yes. But Howard says the rule against touching children, apparently adopted in fear of accusations of pedophilia, is now nearly universal. His daughter's college roommate, teaching beginning swimmers in Harlem, had to ask the children for permission before holding them up in the water: ask every time.
Josh Kaplowitz, a college graduate in the Teach for America program, put his hand on the back of a seventh-grade student who was misbehaving to usher him out of the classroom. He was sued for $20 million—and criminally indicted. The criminal charge was eventually dropped, but the school settled the civil lawsuit by paying $90,000, Howard says.
A 2004 survey cited by Howard found that 78 percent of middle school and high school teachers have been accused by their students of lawlessness or violating their rights. Broward County, Florida, Howard says, prohibited children from running in playgrounds after settling 189 playground lawsuits in five years.
Then there is the much-lamented case of the $54 million trousers. A lawyer in Washington sued a dry cleaner for that amount for allegedly losing a pair of his pants. The case and the plaintiff were much mocked in newspaper stories. But I do not remember reading what Howard tells us: that it dragged on for two years, cost the Korean immigrants who owned the store $100,000 in legal fees, and led them to close the store.
Medical malpractice is a familiar source of discontent about overlegalization. Howard cites a 2006 study by the Harvard School of Public Health finding that 25 percent of payments for malpractice were made in cases where there was in fact no negligence—and 25 percent of meritorious claims got nothing. He urges the adoption of specialized health care courts, which would give lower but fairer awards. The obstacle to such a system for rationalizing—and evening out—malpractice judgments is not only the natural opposition of plaintiffs' lawyers, who are famously a major source of campaign contributions to Democrats. I believe it is that Americans may actually prefer the lottery approach, gambling that they may be the lucky winners of huge awards.
The broadest reform urged by Howard, and likely the most controversial, is to eliminate the tendency of American law in civil damage cases to advance the interest of particular individuals without fair regard to the needs of the community. He offers painful examples from the experience of federal laws granting rights to children with disabilities.
In Hartford, Connecticut, in 2002, a boy with autism in the seventh grade began attacking other students and kicking his teacher. His parents rejected a request that he be moved to a school where he could not injure others. The school instituted legal proceedings required by federal law. "After almost two years of legal hearings," Howard writes, the hearing officer issued an order that the boy be removed from the school. Howard's account of that case appears to come from a story in the Hartford Courant, which said that the hearings lasted two months, not two years, and that the boy was apparently "adjusting well" in a new school. There is no indication that Howard did any independent research on the case.
In a school near Houston, Texas, Howard says, it took eight due process hearings at a cost of more than $100,000 to force the removal of an autistic eight-year-old boy. Then his mother announced that she was returning him to the school. Two teachers resigned, one of whom had spent twenty-two days the previous year in meetings and hearings about the boy. Howard gives no instances of misbehavior by the boy. In the online footnotes for the book he cites as sources for this passage two "education lawyers" in Houston, not any of the principals in the dispute.
The first special education law, passed in 1975, which required "specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents or guardians, to meet the unique needs of a handicapped child," was an honorable response to terrible injustices, as Howard concedes—previously, "dis abled children were ignored or locked away in awful institutions." But he argues that Congress and the courts, in expanding other rights, particularly due process "rights," from the 1970s onward, wrongly moved from guaranteeing fair treatment of handicapped children to protecting individuals while imposing unfair burdens on teachers and other students.
I come to Howard's book with a fair amount of skepticism. Any system of law will produce outrageous outcomes from time to time—the $54 million trousers. And the demand for law "reform" often is really a campaign on behalf of big companies and other institutions that do not want to pay large damages for their wrongdoing.
Judge Richard Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit is one of the most highly regarded judges in the country, and no one would call him a soft-headed sentimentalist. In a recent book, How Judges Think, he discusses the legal philosophy he calls "legalism," which tries to confine legal interpretation to narrow historical and rational grounds. "The currently most influential incarnations of legalism," he writes, turn out
to be guided by a political judgment: that there are too many legally enforceable rights. Today's exaltation of legalism is to a significant extent a reaction by politically conservative legal thinkers, including a number of prominent judges, to the expansion of rights and liability—particularly the rights of tort (including civil rights) plaintiffs, breach-of-contract defendants, prisoners, consumers, workers, and criminal defendants....[1]
Some proposals by advocates of "law reform" transparently serve conservative interests. One, for example, is the idea that losing parties in civil lawsuits should have to pay the lawyers' fees of the winners. That sounds fair, but its practical result would be to make it forbiddingly risky for anyone but the well-off to sue. Defendants with deep pockets could incur enormous costs, which would have to be paid by plaintiffs who lost lawsuits.
Howard does not make the fee- shifting proposal, and he does not come across as a stalking-horse for the interests of large corporations, insurance companies, and other frequent defendants in tort cases. The examples he gives in his parade of horribles seem outrageous. But I doubt that they sustain his indictment of the entire legal system. Do Americans really "tiptoe through law all day long"? I don't. Do "legal fears constantly divert us from doing what we think is right"? Something like that may indeed be so in some fields; doctors do often practice defensive medicine, ordering unnecessary tests in case of litigation, and schools do worry about lawsuits. But for the society as a whole it is surely an overstatement.
Nor does Howard dig deep enough to explain the excesses of American tort law and the eagerness to seek vast damages for civil injuries. He blames the overreaching of Earl Warren's Supreme Court in its sympathy for the little man, and the mood of antipathy to large institutions starting in the 1960s. He does not explore deeper social causes.
This country is notoriously lacking in safety nets that are taken for granted in other advanced societies. Medical care is guaranteed by the state, by one method or another, in Canada and all European countries; in the United States upward of 40 million people have no medical insurance. Around 46 percent of employed Americans get not even one day of paid sick leave—which is guaranteed by law in 145 other countries. Lawsuits are often a substitute for safety nets.
There is a historical example that makes the point: workers' compensation. Employees injured on the job used to have to bring tort actions against their employer; that required proof of negligence, and complicated doctrines were developed by some courts to deny the claims of plaintiffs. Early in the twentieth century a movement led by Louis D. Brandeis—then a reformist private lawyer in Boston, later a Supreme Court justice—sought a system that would compensate the injured without regard to negligence, and in return would bar lawsuits. By 1949 every state had a workers' compensation law. It is a perfect example of a safety net that assures limited compensation without the gamble of litigation.
With his sweeping characterization of a society in the grip of pettifogging law, Howard might have been expected to call for drastic changes. But his proposals are quite modest: hardly what he promises in his title, a way to life without lawyers.
First, he argues, "judges must draw boundaries of reasonableness as a matter of law," curbing the excesses of juries. Invoking his principle of concern for societal needs over individual claims, he says a rule of law should reject legal claims that "might undermine reasonable activities of people not in the courtroom," such as a claim that would result in playgrounds being stripped of equipment. Knowing that judges will keep the boundaries of lawsuits reasonable, he says, "will be an important boost to our daily freedom."
Howard calls for state legislatures to pass statutes calling on judges to set such reasonable boundaries. But many courts do so already. A case he cites is actually an example. At a block party in Bayonne, New Jersey, a five-year-old riding around on a bicycle with training wheels bumped a one-year-old, who required stitches. The baby's parents sued the other parents at the party for not exercising proper supervision. But the New Jersey Supreme Court dismissed the claim, saying that the law does not require parents to defend "honest errors" at a block party—lest people stop giving block parties.
Second, he says that judges should actively manage cases to prevent them from dragging on and wandering into issues beyond the law. Again, courts in some states, including my own, Massachusetts, have exercised such judicial control over the duration and scope of cases.
Third, Howard would set up special courts requiring expertise on the part of judges, notably to hear claims of medical malpractice. An expert health court, he says, would "likely pay more people, with lower average awards and dramatically lower legal expenses." He is surely correct. But that is an issue not of legalism but of major social policy. It would take something like a political miracle to overcome resistance to the idea.
Howard omits or passes lightly over problems that are probably as burdensome to society as excessive legalization. In public education, for example, teachers' unions have opposed merit increases and resisted the hiring of new teachers, however talented and well-informed, if they lack formal qualification such as graduate degrees.
State courts handle the overwhelming proportion of litigation in this country. In 2007, 384,330 cases were filed in federal trial and appellate courts, not including bankruptcy cases. In the state courts there were 47.3 million, not including traffic cases. Howard does not mention the greatest current threat to the fairness of state courts and their entitlement to public respect. That is the increasingly expensive political campaigns for judgeships. In most states, judges are either elected or must face the voters after they have been on the bench for some years. The elections used to be routine affairs. No longer. In states such as Ohio, Illinois, and Texas, candidates raise millions—mostly from lawyers and from corporations with interests before the court.
An appalling example of where huge campaign contributions for judges can lead is Caperton v. Massey, a case now before the Supreme Court of the United States. A West Virginia jury awarded damages of $50 million in a tort action against the A.T. Massey Coal Co. While the case was on appeal, Massey's CEO, Don Blankenship, contributed $3 million on behalf of Brent Benjamin, a candidate for the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, either by himself or through a political action group. (That was 60 percent of all spending in support of Benjamin.) Benjamin was elected. When the court heard Massey's appeal, Benjamin declined to recuse himself from the case. The court reversed the damage judgment, deciding in Massey's favor by a vote of 3 to 2. Justice Benjamin cast the deciding vote.
The claim now before the US Supreme Court is that Benjamin's refusal to recuse himself denied Massey's opponents the due process of law guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment: fundamental fairness. The Supreme Court evidently had difficulty deciding whether to hear the case, considering it at several conferences before granting review, and it is easy to understand why. Does the Court want to get into the business of deciding whether a state judge's refusal to recuse himself is a violation of the federal Constitution? How much of a campaign contribution should disqualify a judge from sitting on the contributor's case? If expensive judicial elections are allowable, where do we draw such lines? On the other hand, the claims of elementary justice here seem strong.
Of course the problem of state judicial elections and campaign contributions is not Howard's subject. But the great dangers presented by such contributions put in perspective Howard's doom-laden rhetoric about the failure of judges to rein in damage suits. His tendency to hyperbole also leads him to embrace tired conservative rhetoric condemning "activist judges." He complains about judges "taking control of prisons and causing riots when they ordered children bussed to different neighborhoods. These judges felt just fine," he says,
making rulings as a matter of law that effectively preempted the legislature. The judge gallops off on a white charger to fix the ills of society but in private disputes sits on his hands, letting people in the courtroom argue anything.
That passage seems to me to compare apples and rutabagas. Bussing, with all its difficulties, was an attempt to find a way of assuring constitutional rights that had long been neglected. As for prisons, the cases he refers to started with orders by one of the great federal judges, Frank Johnson, to make Alabama improve prison medical care so grotesquely inadequate that prisoners' wounds were crawling with maggots. State legislators privately praised Judge Johnson for doing what they had failed to do.
But perhaps I am unkind to Philip Howard for letting his distress at undoubted examples of legal folly in our society lead him to overstatement. He is right in saying that we have gone too far in trying to compensate for the unfairness of life to individuals. Law does need to consider not just the plight of the disruptive student but the possible cost to the rest of the class, and to the school, of allowing his or her needs to impair the education of other students.
No magical legislation ordering courts to be more sensible will solve the problem. What is needed is more painstaking reform of legislation that puts heavy bureaucratic burdens on our institutions, such as the Privacy Act. Think of how many useless papers you have signed attesting that your doctors have informed you of their care for your right to privacy. At the same time, whether through the press or through judicial oversight, there should be unrelenting exposure of judges to public resentment of legal processes that offend common sense.
That process of judicial education is surely underway. I doubt that any other judge is going to allow two years to pass before dismissing a $54 million damage claim for a missing pair of trousers. Howard is helping the process by this and his other books,[2] and by an organization he formed in 2002, Common Good. He can be forgiven some of his hyperbole.
State grant money could go to waste
From the BCCT.
If you have any further problems with deciding how to handle the grant money, make the check payable to the "Morrisville School District" and send it to the attention of Paul DeAngelo, Business Administrator.
State grant money could go to waste
By JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Courier Times
The school board held off financial support for the plan until priority concerns are identified.
Bristol's municipal government has won a $250,000 state grant to fix up local ball fields, but that money could go to waste if the school district doesn't help match the funds, borough council President Ralph DiGuiseppe said.
"Do we want to invest the $500,000? It's either that or we give the $250,000 back to the state and say, 'Thank you, but no thank you.' We don't need any more fields for the borough. It's up to the school," DiGuiseppe said during the board's meeting Thursday night.
Despite the plea, the board remained noncommittal. President David Chichilitti said the board does not want to commit any money to the project until the most pressing needs for playing fields are identified.
The borough obtained the $250,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to make the improvements. It has to match the $250,000 with its own money or money from other sources in order to use the state funds, officials said. No deadline has been announced.
The municipality could contribute $150,000 if the school board would pitch in another $150,000 to secure the matching grant, DiGuiseppe said. The extra $50,000 would be used to cover design fees and other related costs, he said.
Bristol insiders say the board is taking a cautious approach to the request because the district recently paid the borough almost $500,000 in construction and permit fees for the new pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school under construction off Beaver Street.
The payment, as required by borough officials, was made in a lump sum at the beginning of the project instead of as costs were incurred. DiGuiseppe promised the school board in early 2008 that any fee money leftover at the end of the project would be used for recreational purposes.
Now that the new school is just about completed, board members want to see what taxpayer dollars will be left over from the fees to use toward the ball field renovations, district sources said.
In the meantime, Chichilitti asked that a joint committee, made up of district and borough representatives, determine what's needed to accommodate area ball teams. Once the priority concerns are identified, the board could decide if it wants to be involved in the renovation project, he said.
Board members made the request Thursday after Evan Stone, a site designer with Pennoni Associates Inc., presented an overview of the proposed improvements to four ball fields at Memorial Fields off Jefferson Avenue that would be partially paid for with the matching funds.
The $500,000 would cover costs associated with the first phase of an estimated $1.4 million project that could be done in two phases, Stone said.
This is the second time in as many months Stone gave board members an overview. During the initial presentation in February, district representatives asked Stone to go before the full board to sketch out the project. However, board members Steve Cullen, Mary Jane Paglione and Louis Persichetti Sr. did not attend Thursday's meeting.
Given their absence, Chichilitti said he was reluctant to ask board members if they wanted to help finance the work.
Chichilitti said the board wants to make sure the work addresses areas that need improvements. For instance, he said, the fields' bathrooms do not need to be replaced right now. They just need some touchup paint. As part of that review, Chichilitti asked Stone to provide the committee with specific deadlines for the process involved in securing the state grant.
He asked board member James Petrino and Athletic Director Greg Pinelli to represent the district on the committee along with another board member still to be named. DiGuiseppe agreed to appoint three municipal representatives to the committee and the board agreed to split Pennoni's fees with the borough.
If you have any further problems with deciding how to handle the grant money, make the check payable to the "Morrisville School District" and send it to the attention of Paul DeAngelo, Business Administrator.
State grant money could go to waste
By JOAN HELLYER
Bucks County Courier Times
The school board held off financial support for the plan until priority concerns are identified.
Bristol's municipal government has won a $250,000 state grant to fix up local ball fields, but that money could go to waste if the school district doesn't help match the funds, borough council President Ralph DiGuiseppe said.
"Do we want to invest the $500,000? It's either that or we give the $250,000 back to the state and say, 'Thank you, but no thank you.' We don't need any more fields for the borough. It's up to the school," DiGuiseppe said during the board's meeting Thursday night.
Despite the plea, the board remained noncommittal. President David Chichilitti said the board does not want to commit any money to the project until the most pressing needs for playing fields are identified.
The borough obtained the $250,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to make the improvements. It has to match the $250,000 with its own money or money from other sources in order to use the state funds, officials said. No deadline has been announced.
The municipality could contribute $150,000 if the school board would pitch in another $150,000 to secure the matching grant, DiGuiseppe said. The extra $50,000 would be used to cover design fees and other related costs, he said.
Bristol insiders say the board is taking a cautious approach to the request because the district recently paid the borough almost $500,000 in construction and permit fees for the new pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school under construction off Beaver Street.
The payment, as required by borough officials, was made in a lump sum at the beginning of the project instead of as costs were incurred. DiGuiseppe promised the school board in early 2008 that any fee money leftover at the end of the project would be used for recreational purposes.
Now that the new school is just about completed, board members want to see what taxpayer dollars will be left over from the fees to use toward the ball field renovations, district sources said.
In the meantime, Chichilitti asked that a joint committee, made up of district and borough representatives, determine what's needed to accommodate area ball teams. Once the priority concerns are identified, the board could decide if it wants to be involved in the renovation project, he said.
Board members made the request Thursday after Evan Stone, a site designer with Pennoni Associates Inc., presented an overview of the proposed improvements to four ball fields at Memorial Fields off Jefferson Avenue that would be partially paid for with the matching funds.
The $500,000 would cover costs associated with the first phase of an estimated $1.4 million project that could be done in two phases, Stone said.
This is the second time in as many months Stone gave board members an overview. During the initial presentation in February, district representatives asked Stone to go before the full board to sketch out the project. However, board members Steve Cullen, Mary Jane Paglione and Louis Persichetti Sr. did not attend Thursday's meeting.
Given their absence, Chichilitti said he was reluctant to ask board members if they wanted to help finance the work.
Chichilitti said the board wants to make sure the work addresses areas that need improvements. For instance, he said, the fields' bathrooms do not need to be replaced right now. They just need some touchup paint. As part of that review, Chichilitti asked Stone to provide the committee with specific deadlines for the process involved in securing the state grant.
He asked board member James Petrino and Athletic Director Greg Pinelli to represent the district on the committee along with another board member still to be named. DiGuiseppe agreed to appoint three municipal representatives to the committee and the board agreed to split Pennoni's fees with the borough.
Bigger school districts, lower taxes?
From the Inquirer.
Bigger school districts, lower taxes? Economy of scale is a wonderful thing, but it eventually plateaus and the large bureaucracy comes into existence to be undone by the nimbleness of a smaller entity. And then the cycle begins again.
The big lesson to take from this: The Emperor speaks! (see below)
Bigger school districts, lower taxes?
By Anthony R. Wood and Dan Hardy Posted on Sun, Mar. 22, 2009
Eighty percent of the state's school districts would disappear, small districts would become parts of bigger ones, and hundreds of administrative jobs would evaporate.
In one of the more ambitious initiatives of his six years in office, Gov. Rendell has called for a major reorganization of Pennsylvania's school bureaucracy, in part to tame wildly unpopular property taxes.
But based on the early response - and the long, tormented history of school district mergers - the road to school consolidation in Pennsylvania is likely to be a torturous one that could take years to navigate.
The Rendell administration holds that enlarging districts would lead to better schools and to lower - and fairer - taxes by reducing administrative costs and spreading property wealth.
School officials in financially struggling Pottstown and Morrisville like the idea. And nationally, the trend has been toward ever-larger school districts. In the 1939-40 school year, the nation had 117,108 districts. Today, it has fewer than 15,000.
But the merger idea isn't a big hit everywhere. Home rule is an issue in Lower Merion and Jenkintown, both well-off, high-achieving districts that fear losing fiscal and educational independence.
"There is no research that suggests that we would become a better school district by becoming part of a bigger school district," said Douglas Young, spokesman for the Lower Merion district.
And the state's property-tax system looms as a huge factor in any merger plan. That system is riddled with inequities fueled in large measure by disparities in real estate wealth among districts. Those disparities have widened in the four decades since the last major round of mergers.
Consolidation, theoretically, would ease some of those disparities.
Ironically, however, the very flaws in the system loom as major impediments to changing it.
While the majority of property owners might see tax decreases, some likely would have to pay more, regardless of any cost savings.
"There would be winners and losers," said State Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola, the Dauphin County Republican who chairs the Education Committee.
The Democrats haven't been holding pep rallies, either. "No one is saying this is the best thing since peanut butter and jelly, let's go do it," said State Sen. Andrew E. Dinniman (D., Chester), minority chair of the committee. "At this point, it's going nowhere."
Merger movements are under way in several states looking to whack administrative costs. A modest version is on the table in New Jersey, where school districts actually outnumber municipalities.
The Rendell plan calls for reducing the number of districts from 501 to fewer than 100.
He would appoint a special legislative commission to look into consolidation, so it is impossible to say yet how a reorganization might look.
In testimony before the Senate, however, state Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak said the administration had looked at states with county-level districts.
That's the system in Maryland, so The Inquirer looked at how the tax universe might change if Pennsylvania suddenly decided to establish countywide districts.
And, by the way, that was the recommendation of a special Pennsylvania legislative committee back in 1937.
The analysis found that property owners in 51 of the 64 districts in the four suburban counties would see tax decreases; 13 of the wealthier districts would get increases. In an all-Montgomery County district, for example, Cheltenham would see a 47 percent decrease; Upper Merion, a 48 percent increase.
Countywide districts could well make economic sense, said Steven Wray, executive director of the Philadelphia Economy League of Greater Philadelphia.
"It might spread development more evenly throughout a county," by lessening competition for high-tax business properties, he said. "It would also mean that if Upper Merion added a big box [mega-store] or a mall, it would benefit all the districts in the county."
Pennsylvania's school system once was far more balkanized.
In 1937, it had five times the districts it has today, and 34 of them had no schools, including tiny Millbourne, Delaware County. The town did have a board, however, that collected taxes and sent two kindergartners to East Lansdowne via cab every school day.
Finally, by 1967, after controversy, rebellion, lawsuits, and numerous compromises, the number of Pennsylvania districts was reduced to about 750.
Since the last round of mergers, however, economic fortunes have changed radically, and the gaps between the rich and poor have widened.
Janis Risch, head of Good Schools Pennsylvania, a reform group, argues that since schools are so dependent on the property tax, the disparities have driven well-off homeowners from poorer towns.
"For several decades, we've had a public policy that did a really good job of concentrating poverty and fostering divisiveness in communities," she said.
"To talk about consolidation without addressing that reality is missing a giant elephant in the room."
Piccola agreed that those wealth disparities were the biggest obstacle to consolidation. "You are not going to get any widespread mergers until you eliminate the property tax," he said.
Bill Hellmann, school board president in the Morrisville district, which has fewer than 1,000 students and struggles with high taxes and deteriorating facilities, said he didn't foresee widespread mergers "happening voluntarily."
However, he said, he believed mergers were inevitable because many districts no longer could afford pensions and teachers' salaries. "That will drive mergers," he said. "I don't know if it is going to happen now, but it has to happen."
John Armato, spokesman for the Pottstown School District, isn't so sure. "There are 501 school districts in Pennsylvania for a reason," he said. "Everyone wants to protect their piece of the world. There are real turf issues."
Bigger school districts, lower taxes? Economy of scale is a wonderful thing, but it eventually plateaus and the large bureaucracy comes into existence to be undone by the nimbleness of a smaller entity. And then the cycle begins again.
The big lesson to take from this: The Emperor speaks! (see below)
Bigger school districts, lower taxes?
By Anthony R. Wood and Dan Hardy Posted on Sun, Mar. 22, 2009
Eighty percent of the state's school districts would disappear, small districts would become parts of bigger ones, and hundreds of administrative jobs would evaporate.
In one of the more ambitious initiatives of his six years in office, Gov. Rendell has called for a major reorganization of Pennsylvania's school bureaucracy, in part to tame wildly unpopular property taxes.
But based on the early response - and the long, tormented history of school district mergers - the road to school consolidation in Pennsylvania is likely to be a torturous one that could take years to navigate.
The Rendell administration holds that enlarging districts would lead to better schools and to lower - and fairer - taxes by reducing administrative costs and spreading property wealth.
School officials in financially struggling Pottstown and Morrisville like the idea. And nationally, the trend has been toward ever-larger school districts. In the 1939-40 school year, the nation had 117,108 districts. Today, it has fewer than 15,000.
But the merger idea isn't a big hit everywhere. Home rule is an issue in Lower Merion and Jenkintown, both well-off, high-achieving districts that fear losing fiscal and educational independence.
"There is no research that suggests that we would become a better school district by becoming part of a bigger school district," said Douglas Young, spokesman for the Lower Merion district.
And the state's property-tax system looms as a huge factor in any merger plan. That system is riddled with inequities fueled in large measure by disparities in real estate wealth among districts. Those disparities have widened in the four decades since the last major round of mergers.
Consolidation, theoretically, would ease some of those disparities.
Ironically, however, the very flaws in the system loom as major impediments to changing it.
While the majority of property owners might see tax decreases, some likely would have to pay more, regardless of any cost savings.
"There would be winners and losers," said State Sen. Jeffrey E. Piccola, the Dauphin County Republican who chairs the Education Committee.
The Democrats haven't been holding pep rallies, either. "No one is saying this is the best thing since peanut butter and jelly, let's go do it," said State Sen. Andrew E. Dinniman (D., Chester), minority chair of the committee. "At this point, it's going nowhere."
Merger movements are under way in several states looking to whack administrative costs. A modest version is on the table in New Jersey, where school districts actually outnumber municipalities.
The Rendell plan calls for reducing the number of districts from 501 to fewer than 100.
He would appoint a special legislative commission to look into consolidation, so it is impossible to say yet how a reorganization might look.
In testimony before the Senate, however, state Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak said the administration had looked at states with county-level districts.
That's the system in Maryland, so The Inquirer looked at how the tax universe might change if Pennsylvania suddenly decided to establish countywide districts.
And, by the way, that was the recommendation of a special Pennsylvania legislative committee back in 1937.
The analysis found that property owners in 51 of the 64 districts in the four suburban counties would see tax decreases; 13 of the wealthier districts would get increases. In an all-Montgomery County district, for example, Cheltenham would see a 47 percent decrease; Upper Merion, a 48 percent increase.
Countywide districts could well make economic sense, said Steven Wray, executive director of the Philadelphia Economy League of Greater Philadelphia.
"It might spread development more evenly throughout a county," by lessening competition for high-tax business properties, he said. "It would also mean that if Upper Merion added a big box [mega-store] or a mall, it would benefit all the districts in the county."
Pennsylvania's school system once was far more balkanized.
In 1937, it had five times the districts it has today, and 34 of them had no schools, including tiny Millbourne, Delaware County. The town did have a board, however, that collected taxes and sent two kindergartners to East Lansdowne via cab every school day.
Finally, by 1967, after controversy, rebellion, lawsuits, and numerous compromises, the number of Pennsylvania districts was reduced to about 750.
Since the last round of mergers, however, economic fortunes have changed radically, and the gaps between the rich and poor have widened.
Janis Risch, head of Good Schools Pennsylvania, a reform group, argues that since schools are so dependent on the property tax, the disparities have driven well-off homeowners from poorer towns.
"For several decades, we've had a public policy that did a really good job of concentrating poverty and fostering divisiveness in communities," she said.
"To talk about consolidation without addressing that reality is missing a giant elephant in the room."
Piccola agreed that those wealth disparities were the biggest obstacle to consolidation. "You are not going to get any widespread mergers until you eliminate the property tax," he said.
Bill Hellmann, school board president in the Morrisville district, which has fewer than 1,000 students and struggles with high taxes and deteriorating facilities, said he didn't foresee widespread mergers "happening voluntarily."
However, he said, he believed mergers were inevitable because many districts no longer could afford pensions and teachers' salaries. "That will drive mergers," he said. "I don't know if it is going to happen now, but it has to happen."
John Armato, spokesman for the Pottstown School District, isn't so sure. "There are 501 school districts in Pennsylvania for a reason," he said. "Everyone wants to protect their piece of the world. There are real turf issues."
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