Agenda Meeting Wrapup

Any comments?

Secret Meetings?

I got an email from a reader suggesting that the current school board has been holding secret meetings on topics unknown. Does anyone have information they want to share?

Reminder: Agenda Meeting Tonight

Make sure to check in and see what new tricks the board has up their collective sleeves. In the MHS LGI room at 7:30 P.M. Don't forget the committee meetings either.

Now It's Time For YOUR Three Minutes

Last evening, I received this as a comment to the Morrisville Schizophrenia entry from February 20. I posted it there, but thought it was worthy of a posting of its own.

Do you agree or disagree with the writer?

Posted by over40yrsinmville to Save The Morrisville School at April 7, 2008 8:00 PM
over40yrsinmville has left a new comment on your post "Morrisville Schizophrenia":

I have lived in this town for 46 yrs so far. I was born and raised here. Though I didn't attend MHS, all my good friends were from MHS. I went to Egan by my choice, not because I thought MHS wasn't a fine school. I went through Holy Trinity and thought I would finnish at Egan. I married a MHS Grad. We have three wonderful Boys. All of who Graduated from MHS. One is still working his way through college. One graduated Cum Laude from a very fine Private College. This fine college presented him with a VERY generous Financial package, (almost tuition free), He did this because of his hard work in MHS and the help of the best teachers at MHS. My last boy is a freshman at another fine private college. Again all because of hard work and the great teachers of MHS. All three boys finnished in the top of their respective class at MHS. I used to think very highly of this town and was proud to call this town my home. Unfortunately, I can't say that now. I'm so amazed at the disinterest our elected officials have in this community. They claim that is not true. I don't see any proof of their work in beautifying this town. We have become the laughing stock of communities. Our schoolboard doesn't care of the future of this town either. The only thing in their eyes are dollar signs. Well people, you have to spend money in order to make money. No person in their right mind would want to move into this town, as it stands right now, and I don't blame them. I only wish the "residents" who have only been here a few years would wake up and see the light, just maybe we could move ahead. Until then, I'm so afraid to imagine how much worse this town might become.

Media Alert/Sneaker Drive on Channel 10

I got a late tip that the sneaker drive is being profiled on WCAU Channel 10 at 6:15 P.M. tonight.

UPDATE: 7:30 P.M. Great story! See the Morrisville High School National Honor Society in action. Congratulations to advisor Elizabeth Glaum-Lathbury, junior Michael Leather, 8th grader Keivanna Lacey, junior Nichole Kamann, and the rest of the middle and senior high honor society members for a job well done.

Maybe you can bring a pair of sneakers to the board agenda meeting to prove to the naysayers on the board that people out there still care about the great job Morrisville kids are doing inside and outside of the classroom? The next agenda meeting is Wednesday April 9 at 7:30 P.M. and the next business meeting is April 23.

Video and Still Pictures or if you want to help

Students Step Up, Send Sneakers To Africa

POSTED: 5:57 pm EDT April 7, 2008
UPDATED: 6:55 pm EDT April 7, 2008

MORRISVILLE, Pa. -- Bucks County is a long way from Africa. But some students there with big hearts are taking a big step to bridge the borders with, of all things, old sneakers.

In Morrisville Middle/Senior High School classroom, you might not be able to tell what lesson the students are learning from a bunch of old sneakers, but the lesson is one of compassion.

"All my friends know me for having a lot of shoes," Michael Leather, an 11th-grader, said. "I always like to have great shoes."

Leather is learning that not everyone can afford great shoes, clothes or even food. He is one of several students gathering old sneakers to help people living in African villages.

Keivanna Lacey, an eighth-grader, said she knows about poverty in Africa firsthand. She visited Chad with her family three years ago during the sweltering summer.

"We have air conditioning and everything, and people there were just fanning themselves," Lacey said.

French teacher Elizabeth Glaum-Lathbury read about the program called the Perpetual Prosperity Pumps Foundation in a magazine.

"Lot of the kids come back from Christmas, and they have a new cell phone, and they have a lot of gadgets," Glaum-Lathbury said. "I think it's important for them to understand that not everyone has everything."

The donated shoes are refurbished and sent to Ghana. That's where they're sold, and the money from the sales helps families in Africa.

The school's goal is to collect 600 sneakers by the end of the school year.

That will give a family intensive training and resources in organic farming for a year to help sustain them for decades.

"I think it's a rewarding experience because we're able to collect shoes and give hope to other people in different countries," Nichole Kamann, an 11th-grader, said.

Kamann said she hopes someday she can see her footprint on the world.

"I really want to go over there and see what kind of a difference we can make," she said.

In that sense, the school lesson is really a life lesson.

For information on how you can donate, click here.

“We do pretty well for a small school.”

As a followup to the MHS Students Working in Community post on March 24, the BCCT has an update. I love the last line though. For all you anti-Morrisville school people, read and be ashamed and ask yourself: What did YOU do to help other than to come out to a board meeting and trample on the work of these students and their teachers?

Sneakers make tracks to Africa

By MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times

Do you have any sneakers hanging around unused at home?

Don't throw them away.

Drop them off at Morrisville Middle/Senior High School, where students are trying to collect at least 600 pairs to help families in African villages.

So far, National Honor Society adviser Elizabeth Glaum-Lathbury and her middle school counterpart, Patti Ebert, who represents the school's 21st Century Service Learning Club, have collected about 70 pairs for the project.

The money made from refurbishing and selling the sneakers could kick-start a new family farm or provide clean drinking water.

“We get to help other kids who aren't as fortunate. It's something we can do to help kids on another continent,” said Kyle Burger, a sophomore and one of the 25 members of the honor society.

Glaum-Lathbury saw the idea in a National Honor Society Leadership magazine, in which she read about Perpetual Prosperity Pumps Foundation. It's a nonprofit organization trying to collect sneakers across the nation.

While the foundation wants only sneakers in adult sizes seven and larger, Glaum-Lathbury and Ebert welcome people to clean their closets of any size.

“I'll give the smaller sizes to other organizations, like the Red Cross or the Salvation Army,” said Glaum-Lathbury, who has gathered 25 to 30 small pairs so far.

Her classroom has a round bin about 4 feet high that's filling up with athletic footwear. The side of the bin is printed with a vertical ruler displaying what the old footwear could buy. For instance, 50 sneakers can purchase a bicycle. Three hundred is good for a colonized bee hive, which could serve as a starter hive for a honey farmer. Five hundred sneakers are enough for a quarter acre of a vegetable farm, while 600 sneakers buy more than a year of training in intensive organic farming.

Irrigation systems, malaria medication and micro-finance training are just a few of the other possible long-term benefits.

Glaum-Lathbury handed out fliers about the program to students from sixth to 12th grade, and Ebert and another teacher distributed fliers to community groups. Students passed along the message to donate sneakers among friends and family.

Kyle said he would like to do more service projects that touch international communities.

Right now, the students are involved in other, locally oriented service projects.

Both middle school and high school students will walk up to 8 miles in Newtown's Tyler State Park to raise money for multiple sclerosis on May 4.

The students try to do 10 service projects a year, including a monthly food drive with a specific theme, like juice, baby food and cereal.

A future idea to raise donations is to charge both a bit of cash and a donated item like a sneaker or a can of food to get into a school dance, said Ebert.

“Next year we'll try to team up and get someone from Philabundance [hunger relief organization] to talk about what's needed in area communities,” said Glaum-Lathbury. “It would give students a true picture of what's needed.”

Then the students can pick better themes for food collection next year, she said.

“We do pretty well for a small school.”

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

For more information about the nonprofit Perpetual Prosperity Pumps Foundation and a comprehensive list of sneaker collection sites, go to http://www.pppafrica.org/. You can drop off your old sneakers and soccer cleats at the Morrisville Middle/Senior High School's front office, at 550 West Palmer St. in Morrisville.

Manasee Wagh can be reached at 215-949-4206 or mwagh@phillyBurbs.com.

April 7, 2008 5:07 AM

It STILL Ain't Just Us!

The results are in and it seems that students nationally are failing to be proficient. I'm not sure that my math skills are good enough to count up all of the children being left behind.

Let's be sure to note that all our students nationally should be doing better, but it's pretty clear that Dr. Yonson and her cabinet are doing the job here in Morrisville.

U.S. Students Achieve Mixed Results on Writing Test
New York Times
By SAM DILLON

About a third of the nation's eighth-grade students, and roughly a quarter of its high school seniors, are proficient writers, according to nationwide test results.

That proportion of students demonstrating writing proficiency is about the same as in 2002, when a similar exam was last given.

But the results of the latest test, administered last year, also found modest increases in the skills of lower-performing students. Nearly 9 students in 10 can now demonstrate at least a basic achievement in writing, defined as partial mastery of the skills needed for proficient work.

As in the past, girls outperformed boys by far, most decisively at the eighth-grade level, where 41 percent of them achieved proficiency, compared with 20 percent of boys. The racial achievement gap narrowed slightly, with black and Hispanic students’ writing improving a bit more than did whites’.

The results for eighth graders, though not for seniors, were broken down by states, the top performers of which were New Jersey, where 56 percent of students scored at or above proficiency levels, and Connecticut, where the number was 53 percent. Nineteen states ranked above New York, where it was 31 percent.

That a third of the nation’s eighth graders can write with proficiency may not sound like much, but it is the best performance by eighth-grade students in any subject tested in the national assessment in the last three years. Only 17 percent of eighth graders were proficient on the 2006 history exam, for example.

Though some experts questioned whether the writing test, which requires students to compose only brief essays in a short time, was an accurate measure of their ability, officials of the government’s testing program said they were encouraged by the results.

“I am happy to report, paraphrasing Mark Twain, that the death of writing has been greatly exaggerated,” said Amanda P. Avallone, an eighth-grade English teacher who is vice chairwoman of the board that oversees the testing program, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as “the nation’s report card.”

The results were released at the Library of Congress in Washington. The host, James H. Billington, the librarian of Congress, drew laughs when he expressed concern about “the slow destruction of the basic unit of human thought — the sentence,” as young Americans do most of their writing in disjointed prose composed in Internet chat rooms or in cellphone text messages.

“The sentence is the biggest casualty,” Mr. Billington said. “To what extent is students’ writing getting clearer?”

Ms. Avallone sought to allay his concern.

“I know that the sentence has not been put to rest as a unit of communication,” she said.

Ms. Avallone also said the difference in scores between girls and boys might result in part from lower literacy expectations for boys in the public schools.

“These days I seldom if ever hear the message that math and science do not matter for girls,” she said, “yet I do still encounter the myth that many boys won’t really need to write very much or very well once they leave school.”

The national writing test was given to 140,000 eighth graders and 28,000 12th graders selected to form a representative sample of all students nationwide in the two grades. Each student wrote two 25-minute essays intended to measure skills at writing to inform, persuade and tell stories.

Thirty-three percent of eighth graders scored at or above the proficiency level, which the test designers defined as competency in carrying out challenging academic tasks. Eighty-eight percent scored at or above the basic level, up from 85 percent in 2002.

“These results pleased and encouraged me,” said Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of the Great City Schools, which represents the nation’s 60 largest urban districts. “A lot of cities have introduced explicit writing programs. You go into urban schools and you see hallways lined with samples of student writing. Writing programs have gotten better.”

If Mr. Casserly was encouraged, some others were not, particularly in light of other indicators of Americans’ writing prowess. A survey of 120 corporations conducted by the College Board in 2003, for instance, concluded that a third of employees in the nation’s blue-chip companies, including many recent college graduates, wrote poorly.

“American students’ writing skills are deteriorating,” said Will Fitzhugh, founder of The Concord Review, a journal that features history research papers written by high school students.

Mr. Fitzhugh expressed skepticism that the national assessment accurately measured students’ overall writing skills, because, he said, it tested only their ability to write brief essays jotted out in half an hour.

“The only way to assess the kind of writing that students will have to do in college,” he said, “is to have them write a term paper, and then have somebody sit down and grade it. And nobody wants to do that, because it’s too costly.”

Strip Mall Sunday

I received some interesting news this morning while sitting in church. It was announced from the pulpit that at long last, it seems like there could be a tenant in the former Pryor's Pharmacy/The Record Collector storefront at the intersection of Pennsylvania and Bridge under the watchful gaze of Robert Morris himself.

The only problem is that it seems that the proposed tenant is apparently a less than G-Rated adult facility. The exact nature of the business that would be going in there was not disclosed. What was disclosed was that the zoning board would be entertaining a variance request at their meeting tomorrow, Monday evening, at 7:30 P.M.

If there is anyone who has more specific or better information, would you please share it with all of us?

We can argue about a great number of things, but I really do not think any of the respectable citizens here in the borough would want an adult oriented facility right at our main intersection. Please, show up for the meeting Monday evening, or call the borough directly at 215-295-8181 to register your opposition.

Gateway Land Sale Update

Nice to see that Morrisville can appear in the local Trenton newspapers once in a while. Here's a story on the first step of the Gateway project land sale.

Land sale to create office park
To be built on former site of bar
Sunday, April 06, 2008
BY CURT YESKE
Special to the Times

MORRISVILLE, Pa. -- The former site of a nuisance bar on East Bridge Street between North Delmorr and Central avenues will be developed into an office project as a result of an agreement between the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission and borough officials.

The land was acquired more than 10 years ago prior to the renovation of the Lower Trenton Morrisville Free Bridge (the "Trenton Makes" bridge) and was considered excess land by the current members of the interstate agency who said the sale will help the Morrisville Economic Development Corp.'s effort at revitalization.

The commission agreed to sell the property -- which no longer has a bar on it -- for its appraised value of $100,000. Morrisville officials have said they in turn plan to sell the property to a private developer who plans to build an office park with a publicly accessible recreational trail.

In published reports, developer Penn Jersey Real Properties estimated the project would create 400 to 600 jobs and involve a 55,000-square-foot building.

"This property transaction will provide economic, recreational and aesthetic dividends for Morrisville," said Frank G. McCartney, the commission's executive director. "The borough has always been an important partner with the commission, and we are happy to be able to support its revitalization efforts."

"With this sale we are one step closer to bringing in new taxes and hundreds of new jobs into the borough," said Morrisville Councilman George Bolos, chairman of the development corporation. "We appreciate the commission's willingness to recognize the importance of this project in the future of the borough."

RFPs Are Meant to be Ignored

So here we go again, spending "emergency" repair money cluelessly. tossing it after issues without an overall plan. The Emperor's snarling "But what if there's a fire" comments have spurred immediate action on advertising for a RFP. Contrast that, of course, to the RFP that was commissioned in December. Emperor Billy-Boy meant to read it and approve it for publication quickly, but well, it wasn't a priority, so it got ignored.

But, BY GOD! What if there's a fire! responses mean the RFP gets done pretty quickly.



NOTICE TO BIDDERS
The Board of School Directors are requesting bids for the individual items listed below. Specifications may be obtained from the Business Office, School District of Borough of Morrisville, 550 West Palmer St., Morrisville, PA 19067 (215-736-5933). The individual items and bid opening times are as follows: Electrical Repair Work
8:30 a.m. April 21, 2008
Fire Alarm/
Fire Suppression Repairs
9:30 a.m. April 21, 2008
Plumbing Code Repairs
10:30 a.m. April 21, 2008
Sealed Bids must be received before the above listed deadlines at which time they will be opened publicly in Conference Room F-10 of the Mid/Sr. High School. The owner reserves the right to waive any information and to accept or reject any/all bids in its best interest.
Marlys Mihok
Secretary

Appeared in: Bucks County Courier Times on Friday, 04/04/2008

It's a dance that everyone gets to participate in, but I ask why anyone would really bid on these jobs? Yes, I know, it's like the lottery (you cant win it unless you're in it) but why would I, as a somewhat respected and competent craftsman, bid on something with these yokels? The board freely and cluelessly meanders through the process, ignoring those who have actually done the hard work of planning a construction project AND shepherding it through the PlanCon process. Here they reject reality and replace it with their own rather unusual reality. Paging Adam Savage: The Emperor is calling.

But therein lies the answer: They will have many, many bids. Because as anyone knows, when a client has money to throw away and can afford to do the same job two or three times, it's always better to be there to be awarded the same work repeatedly. Without an overarching plan here to control spending, that is exactly what will happen.

Make sure you take note of the disjointed thinking patterns. The Emperor is aghast at the costs for special education students and wants to nickel and dime those costs. But when it comes to supporting the construction industry, it's belly up to the bar time!

Progress on Gateway?

4.3.2008
Bridge commission sells land to Morrisville EDC

The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission has reached an agreement to sell about an acre of land to Morrisville’s economic development corporation, the commission announced Thursday afternoon. The move could make way for a new office complex in the borough that has residents split.

The commission will sell the property on East Bridge Street at North Delmorr and Central avenues to the EDC for $100,000. The EDC is then expected to sell the property to Morrisville-based developer Penn Jersey Real Properties looking to build the Morrisville Gateway Center.

Are We Being Shunned?

Shunning is a word that usually brings to mind our Amish friends in Lancaster County. However, is Morrisville being shunned by potential teachers?

It was brought out at the March business meeting that some teacher candidates are canceling their interviews or rejecting job offers because they do not believe that the Morrisville school district would provide a stable employment environment.

I am very mindful that airing our dirty laundry in public is a cause of this. I also understand that this blog is one of those washing machines leaving the stains behind. That is definitely the double edged sword of public discussion. The BCCT and even Comcast airing our monthly free-for-alls certainly contribute as well.

I know the dissension has been around for many years, and we're going to be paying the price for it.

Is this a good place to work? That's a fair question, considering there's a revolving door on the administration wing at the high school. Change the board: change the superintendent and business administrator. If the new board has its way, Dr. Yonson will be leaving shortly, just like her predecessor.

If the high school teachers are going to be out of jobs in a few years, why would any candidates accept jobs today? There are plenty of surrounding districts that offer more stability.

Let's remember how strident and contentious the Stop the School people have been. They have been bullies from day 1 and are only interested in one thing: Lower taxes. That's fine, but they have savaged and berated good people left and right, and persist in doing it today. If you missed where Ed Frankenfield gets verbally abused to the point of being taken to the hospital, check out this months business meeting now playing on channel 28.

This is no way to run a community. Even if you wanted lower taxes and wanted to stop the school, is this REALLY the way you wanted things to go?

It's time for the reckoning. This is the bed we've had made for us, and now it's time to lay down in it.

Don't You Find It Amazing?

I'm watching the replay of the business meeting, and it is amazing to see just how cocky and arrogant our bully Emperor is. Really. Just watch it. It's a great show in public, but on tape he really gets two thumbs up for most obnoxious performance by an elected official.

Isn't there someone out there who can give him some warm fuzzies? Anyone?

Are Other School Districts Doing Better?

Doesn't seem like it...

Just go away

Regarding the March 1 article about the Neshaminy school board planning to have a workshop to enhance communications between members: This did not at all come as a surprise to me after watching the board meetings. After seeing board member William O'Connor operate, there is no question that the Neshaminy board is having problems.

From the moment that O'Connor was sworn in, he has been one-sided in his thinking. O'Connor's Web site is incredible with all the anonymous comments. If someone has something to say, he or she should put their name on the comment. Why doesn't he just try to do the job he was elected to do?

I hope O'Connor quits the board, as he has threatened, as a favor to the public.

Stop the whining

I was disturbed after reading the March 6 editorial, “Dissing Democracy.”

Neshaminy school board member William O'Connor stated he cannot see himself serving on the board any longer if the board could not work together to solve serious issues. O'Connor has only been on the board for three months and he is already talking about leaving.

It is hard to believe this because the O'Connors have been loyal board attendees for years and should know the ins and outs of board meetings. If O'Connor is thinking of leaving, then he apparently has his own personal agenda and is frustrated.

O'Connor must stop whining and represent the entire Neshaminy community. He should not get upset when events don't go his way.

Here's the original editorial. I really like the last lines. Too bad the Emperor does not tolerate public discussion and revelation of information.

Dissing democracy

Russia held an election this week and it was amazing that a nation so sprawling and diverse produced such a huge plurality of votes for one presidential candidate. That democracy is suffocating under the boot of resurgent totalitarianism might have something to do with the margin of victory. Conflicting points of view simply aren't welcome.

With that in mind, we turn to the Neshaminy school board and its plan to hold a so-called retreat.

The board has some big helpings on its plate, including the possibility of closing schools, teacher contract negotiations and a multimillion dollar deficit. In the interest of forging a spirit of cooperation and at the administration's request, board members have agreed to a workshop/retreat in order to “get everyone in place,” according to Superintendent Paul Kadri.

Seems that there's been disagreement among members and, God forbid, behind-the-scenes conflict. This has strained the cohesiveness of the board, some members complain.

“I cannot see myself serving on this board any longer if this continues,” member William O'Connor fretted.

Pardon us if we don't share O'Connor's alarm. But isn't disagreement — even conflict — part of democracy?

We don't elect anybody with the expectation that he or she will fall into lockstep agreement with their elected colleagues. If so, they're not doing much independent or critical thinking. Nor are they serving their constituents well.

In fact, doesn't a diversity of ideas produce a variety of solutions from which to pick? And aren't debate and compromise key elements of good government?

Speaking of good government, we note that the “retreat” will be a closed-door affair at an undisclosed time and location. It's worrisome, though not surprising, that this passes muster with Pennsylvania's woeful open meetings law. The only way anyone will know if board members discuss business that ought to be discussed openly is if a member has the conscience to come forward. We hope that's the case.

Meanwhile, Neshaminy residents should hope that board members aren't cowed into acquiescence despite their gut feelings or against their better judgment. Indeed, we encourage members to be vocal — whether they agree or disagree with their colleagues.

Discussion is a good thing. Public discussion is even better.

Miscellaneous Items

First off, kudos to phillyburbs.com and their new homepage.




Let's also remember that the PSSA testing is taking place over the next few days.

There's five districts that exceeded the 4.4% cap. Morrisville, as we know, is not one of them.

The Bucks County Technical School budget is out. Fulminations from the Stop the Schoolers to follow!

Complete breakdown of communication causes major issue with school construction! Correction: Oopsie corrected with media coverage attached. Check out the reader comments to complete the hilarity.

Education Articles of Note

The CSI crew won't be adding any new techs from the Las Vegas/Clark County Schools System anytime soon.
91% + 87% + 88% = FAILED

But...do we need to know this anyway?
What is the Rationale for Requiring Higher Mathematics Proficiency for All K-12 Students?

And why did we do so poorly?
It’s not easy to understand why students perform dismally on high school standard math tests

Starting over from scratch is easier than rebuilding and restoring?
Vallas: New Orleans is a breeze

At Least We're An Example

Here's a letter from today's BCCT regarding the new William Tennent High School. Sounds like someone has seen the long term effects of our bad decisions here in Morrisville. I'll post the direct link shortly.

The right decision

I believe that, in our great country, governments at all levels should operate as constitutional republics, wherein elected officials govern the people as opposed to direct democracies wherein the elected officials are bound by the so-called will of the people as oftentimes expressed by referendums.
In theory — at least at the local level, certainly not at the federal level — I wouldn’t have a big problem with a referendum vote as long as the electorate was informed of the facts surrounding the issue at hand and understood the facts and voted accordingly as opposed to voting based on emotion or self-interest or to follow a party line. I’m not big on anarchy or mob rule!
I have witnessed cases where the voting public was purposely given false information promulgated by a vocal minority of community members that resulted in the defeat of a worthwhile referendum in one case, and the passing of a very questionable, if not detrimental referendum in another case.
Regarding the construction of a new William Tennent High School,all the facts indicate that it is in the best interest of everyone concerned that a new building be constructed, as opposed to renovating the existing building or, as some have suggested, do nothing. Since people tend to vote with their wallets, a referendum asking for approval to raise their school tax would likely be rejected by the residents of the Centennial School District. In this case compliance with the will of the people would be a tragedy.
Robert A. Shaffer Upper Southampton

Documents Now Available

The rather incoherent and poorly written defeasement defense documents are available at the district website. Considering that the defeasement was approved January 30 and actually done in February, the documents are available on a timetable similar to the meeting minutes.

Also available is the proposed 2008-2009 budget.

Here's the district's strategery plan too.

Discussion?

Residents may see lower taxes

The BCCT today covers the budgetary aspect of Wednesday night's slugfest and headlines the story as "Residents may see lower taxes." Note the "may" in the headline. That's only because it's a proposed budget. The "may" there does not really apply. The correct word is "will." That's why the Emperor and His Court of Toadies exist.

I'm sure that if commonwealth law allowed it, the budget would start out something like this: We have decreed that the taxes are absolutely lowered in this, the first Royal Budget Proclamation released in the first Year of the Reign of William I, over all the Dominions and Countries which then did, or thereafter should belong, to the Imperial Educational Crown of this Realm.

I love the way royalty sure can speak the lingo goodly!

We've discussed this before, and the lower taxes are a certainty. The actual amount was the only variable. And I welcome it. Lord knows how much I cringe each month as that escrow payment goes out. Keeping in mind the story told Wednesday evening by one of the seniors in the audience, I know the folks on fixed incomes welcome it as well.

Echoing Ed Frankenfield for a moment though, what's the plan? Lower the taxes, and then what? "Shhh...", says the Emperor. "It's a secret."

My cloudy, cracked, and overused crystal ball sees what's next. Tell me if you agree.

In the first year, the bond money is returned, the taxes are lowered, and the Emperor basks in the general huzzahs and acclamations. As a result of this popularity, there is a general exodus of talented people from the district as well. Lily pads will be installed in the district offices as loyal toadies receive the jobs they were promised.

In year 2, it's much harder. The three schools are still here, and without an overall strategy (as in the Frankenfield plea for a plan), money is thrown left and right at issues and problems. All of a sudden, the money used to repair something yesterday becomes meaningless as it now has to be replaced today. The budget, well folded, spindled, and mutilated, has no room for the expansion to cover the rising expenses that we all face. Where does the money come from? Glad you asked.

Watch November 2009. There will be a general election that will have four board seats up (depending of course, on the primary results from the previous May), but there will be a referendum on the ballot to raise the taxes because they were lowered too much this year. And when the referendum fails, then what?

Yes, I did say that taxes are being lowered too much. Without an overall plan in place, there is no real way to plan for the future and how to pay for it. This is no different than the idiots who took out home mortgages without a clear plan on how to actually pay for them. We're all paying for the home mortgage mess. And we're going to all pay for the penny-wise and pound-foolish follies right here at home.

And then all local control will be stripped from Morrisville. The Hellmann dream of having the state come in will finally be fulfilled. We'll be mandated to do certain things and pay certain costs. And there will be no one to complain to.

Update on Ed Frankenfield

I received this message and the poster asked that it be spread out to the public. Please consider dropping Ed a line. He has come through for all of the people of Morrisville. Despite the "shame on you" catcalls the other night from some of the duller witted people in the crowd, Ed has a vision and sees a future for this little town and all of us together.

I'd like to request that you put this information up as a post, please.
Ed Frankenfield is in the ICU at Frankford Hospital (Oxford Valley).
I spoke with his wife, Pat and she said he'll probably be in the
hospital for a while as he's fighting a bad case of pneumonia. It
would be great if we can get a Santa-bag of Get Well cards mailed to
Ed's house. The address is 613 Crown St., Morrisville, 19067.

--Some believe there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills -- against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New World, and 32 year old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. ‘Give me a place to stand,’ said Archimedes, ‘and I will move the world.’ These men moved the world, and so can we all. - Robert F. Kennedy