This is not Texas and they're called school directors here. It looks like the job requirements are the same.
One quoted quality really stepped out and saluted: "School board elections are not the place to resolve personal grievances against the schools (or district)"
Ask yourself: What values do the people I voted for in 2007 represent?
Ask yourself again: What do I want in 2009?
What does it take to be an Effective School Board Trustee?
Posted on April 16, 2009 at 8:59 pm
By PHYLLIS SNODGRASS
President, San Marcos Area Chamber of Commerce
It’s that time again – the time when candidates run for school board trustee for the San Marcos CISD. Why should the Chamber of Commerce care? Because school board trustees put into motion actions which ultimately lead to the success or failure of our schools. They are the governing body that the Superintendent of Schools reports to. If education is truly the number one economic development tool of our community– then school board trustees are absolutely critical to the future success of our community.
The quality and equity of education is a priority concern of educators, parents, business and community leaders and public officials in San Marcos. To ensure high quality education, the citizens of San Marcos must identify and elect Board Trustees who are qualified to meet the many difficult challenges facing the district. In an effort to identify and define the attributes that a school Board Trustee needs to meet these challenges, more than sixty leaders from 30 community organizations and many businesses came together in 1993, then again in 2007, to develop an Attribute Profile of an Effective School Board Trustee. Based on national best practices, regional experience, and the expertise of these leaders, this Attribute Profile was created.
The following organizations participated in the collaborative development of and/or endorsed this profile:
• Austin Area Research Organization (AARO)
• Austin Area Urban League
• Austin Council of PTA’s
• Austin Independent School District
• Austin Interfaith
• Austin Partners in Education
• Capital City African American Chamber of Commerce
• Capital Metro
• City of Austin Mayor’s Office
• Community Action Network
• E3 Alliance
• Executive Women International
• Greater Austin Chamber
• Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
• Junior League
• Leadership Austin
• League of Women Voters in Austin
• Real Estate Council of Austin (RECA)
• Ready By 21 Coalition
• Southwest Key
• Texas Business & Education Coalition (TBEC)
• The Austin Project
• The University of Texas at Austin
• United Way – Capital Area
• Women’s Chamber of Commerce of Texas
• Community, Civic and Business Leaders
• Other regional school district representatives
This representative and very knowledgeable group has created a brochure to help communities in Central Texas choose the very best possible school board trustees. The brochure details the qualities highlighted by this broad range of community partners as the most important attributes of a successful school board trustee.
An Effective School Board Trustee Should:
• Be a visionary, goal-directed, and willing to take risks. Be willing to set and have experience setting policy priorities.
• Have proven and appropriate organizational, fiscal and leadership skills suitable for the size and complexity of the school district.
• Demonstrate commitment to equity and access to quality education and world-class standards of achievement for all students.
• Demonstrate the ability to build consensus and to achieve collaborative outcomes.
• Value diversity and equity as criteria for decision-making.
• Be willing to set an example and establish accountability at all levels for achievement of all students, by understanding how to identify relevant data and use it appropriately.
• Practice good and efficient governance, understanding the role of policy-maker versus administrator.
• Represent the population served by our district and be a strong advocate for public education.
• Understand the need for alignment from early childhood through college and career success and across education providers to create a continuum of success for students.
• Exhibit personal qualities that embody a positive role model for our children and our community.
School board elections are not the place to resolve personal grievances against the schools (or district) nor should they be used merely as a stepping stone for future public office. Our schools deserve quality candidates that possess the above attributes and are willing to bring their knowledge and skills to the table to benefit the students of San Marcos CISD. There is a huge time commitment involved in serving as a school board trustee and each and every one of us should be thankful to our current trustees for the dedicated service that they provide to our community. A full list of questions that should be asked of every candidate for school board trustee can be found on the chamber’s website at www.sanmarcostexas.com. Our students deserve the best, and it is up to us to support the candidates that will best meet the needs of those students.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Community Craftsmen Award
From the BCCT.
Congratulations to the teachers and students who give of their time and talent. Good show!
Morrisville students show off toy-making talents
By: MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Morrisville Middle/Senior High School students have been recognized for volunteering their time and toy-making talents to benefit kids in the community.
The school recently achieved runner-up status in the national Minwax Community Craftsman Award, which rewards groups or individuals who are "doing good with wood" for other people.
Fourteen Morrisville students enrolled in woodworking made 48 toys, ranging from wooden Flintstone cars to Tic-Tac-Toe boards and two large alphabet trains. They gave the trains to displaced M.R. Reiter Elementary School Pre-K and kindergarten children to use during the school day. All the toys started as wood grown in Morrisville that was sawed by a Morrisville graduate, said technology education teacher Kevin Jones.
Some of the toy ideas come from woodworking books and the Internet, while others are unique student creations, said Jones.
This is the fourth year the students have worked on an annual toy drive in conjunction with Ivin's House, a community service organization that distributes the toys to needy children each year.
As an award, the school's technology education department will receive $1,500 worth of Minwax products. The top prize is a $5,000 cash grant, a supply of Minwax products and a consultation with leading finishing expert Bruce Johnson.
Congratulations to the teachers and students who give of their time and talent. Good show!
Morrisville students show off toy-making talents
By: MANASEE WAGH
Bucks County Courier Times
Morrisville Middle/Senior High School students have been recognized for volunteering their time and toy-making talents to benefit kids in the community.
The school recently achieved runner-up status in the national Minwax Community Craftsman Award, which rewards groups or individuals who are "doing good with wood" for other people.
Fourteen Morrisville students enrolled in woodworking made 48 toys, ranging from wooden Flintstone cars to Tic-Tac-Toe boards and two large alphabet trains. They gave the trains to displaced M.R. Reiter Elementary School Pre-K and kindergarten children to use during the school day. All the toys started as wood grown in Morrisville that was sawed by a Morrisville graduate, said technology education teacher Kevin Jones.
Some of the toy ideas come from woodworking books and the Internet, while others are unique student creations, said Jones.
This is the fourth year the students have worked on an annual toy drive in conjunction with Ivin's House, a community service organization that distributes the toys to needy children each year.
As an award, the school's technology education department will receive $1,500 worth of Minwax products. The top prize is a $5,000 cash grant, a supply of Minwax products and a consultation with leading finishing expert Bruce Johnson.
Neshaminy Budget: Good News and Bad News
From the BCCT.
Board facing tough budget decisions
By: RACHEL CANELLI
Burlington County Times
Good news! Neshaminy’s budget should fall within the Act 1 tax spending limit. The bad news: Everybody won’t like something about it. That’s what business administrator Joseph Paradise told the Neshaminy school board this week about the district’s previously projected $167 million spending plan. To meet the tax law’s allowable 4.1 percent increase, which equals 6 mills or $4.6 million in Neshaminy, officials said they need to shrink a $14 million deficit to $4.5 million.
It’s unclear who, or what, will suffer the most. But administrators said the cuts will involve program changes and elimination and service reductions from the cabinet to the custodians, including teachers.
“We’re not sure how we’re going to do that yet,” said Paradise. “It’s still a work in progress. Every part of the district will be affected. But there’s no other way to do it. There’s no magic bullet.”
Revenues, including property and business taxes, are down almost $3 million to about $153 million, Paradise reported last month. Since officials don’t want to use any more of the dwindling $1.2 million savings account, taxpayers would see an average $500 increase to help fill that gap, administrators said.
For that reason, some homeowners, many senior citizens, have been petitioning the board for a zero percent budget/tax increase.
To ease the burden, board members and administrators have discussed sharing elementary art, music and gym teachers, advertising at sporting events, reducing the pre-first program, going paperless, increasing class size, charging community groups to use facilities, eliminating lead teachers, decreasing bus routes and charging for extra-curricular activities.
Neshaminy qualifies, though, for about $3.3 million in exceptions, including for special education. So, that could bump the district’s allowable total increase to 7 percent, or 10.32 mills. But the board members previously voted to try their best not to use those.
Paradise is expected to present the updated budget to the board during its April 28 meeting, which begins at 7 p.m., in Maple Point Middle School’s board room.
Board facing tough budget decisions
By: RACHEL CANELLI
Burlington County Times
Good news! Neshaminy’s budget should fall within the Act 1 tax spending limit. The bad news: Everybody won’t like something about it. That’s what business administrator Joseph Paradise told the Neshaminy school board this week about the district’s previously projected $167 million spending plan. To meet the tax law’s allowable 4.1 percent increase, which equals 6 mills or $4.6 million in Neshaminy, officials said they need to shrink a $14 million deficit to $4.5 million.
It’s unclear who, or what, will suffer the most. But administrators said the cuts will involve program changes and elimination and service reductions from the cabinet to the custodians, including teachers.
“We’re not sure how we’re going to do that yet,” said Paradise. “It’s still a work in progress. Every part of the district will be affected. But there’s no other way to do it. There’s no magic bullet.”
Revenues, including property and business taxes, are down almost $3 million to about $153 million, Paradise reported last month. Since officials don’t want to use any more of the dwindling $1.2 million savings account, taxpayers would see an average $500 increase to help fill that gap, administrators said.
For that reason, some homeowners, many senior citizens, have been petitioning the board for a zero percent budget/tax increase.
To ease the burden, board members and administrators have discussed sharing elementary art, music and gym teachers, advertising at sporting events, reducing the pre-first program, going paperless, increasing class size, charging community groups to use facilities, eliminating lead teachers, decreasing bus routes and charging for extra-curricular activities.
Neshaminy qualifies, though, for about $3.3 million in exceptions, including for special education. So, that could bump the district’s allowable total increase to 7 percent, or 10.32 mills. But the board members previously voted to try their best not to use those.
Paradise is expected to present the updated budget to the board during its April 28 meeting, which begins at 7 p.m., in Maple Point Middle School’s board room.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Baseball in the Schools
From the BCCT.
Seems like Morrisville is in the bottom the ninth with two out, bases empty, the bottom of the order coming up, and three back to back grand slams needed to tie.
Architect says new school project is in ‘great shape’
The district has used about half of the contingency funds it set aside to cover unforeseen costs.
By JOAN HELLYER
The Bristol School District is “in the top of the ninth inning” with the construction of its new $33 million-plus school, the project’s chief architect said Thursday night.
Most of the work should be completed by June, added Angelo Rago, the district’s project representative, during the school board meeting.
The building at 450 Beaver St. will open in September and will serve approximately 1,100 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade.
School board members asked the chief architect, Michael Minton, to address rumors that the project was way over budget. It’s not, the Vitetta architect said. The district has used only about half of the contingency funds it had set aside to cover unforeseen costs in the project, Minton said.
That amounts to about 2.5 percent of the project’s entire cost.
The contingency funds, as well as capital reserve funds are being used to cover costs relating to a soil remediation delay in 2007, change orders and contractor claims, officials said.
Seems like Morrisville is in the bottom the ninth with two out, bases empty, the bottom of the order coming up, and three back to back grand slams needed to tie.
Architect says new school project is in ‘great shape’
The district has used about half of the contingency funds it set aside to cover unforeseen costs.
By JOAN HELLYER
The Bristol School District is “in the top of the ninth inning” with the construction of its new $33 million-plus school, the project’s chief architect said Thursday night.
Most of the work should be completed by June, added Angelo Rago, the district’s project representative, during the school board meeting.
The building at 450 Beaver St. will open in September and will serve approximately 1,100 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade.
School board members asked the chief architect, Michael Minton, to address rumors that the project was way over budget. It’s not, the Vitetta architect said. The district has used only about half of the contingency funds it had set aside to cover unforeseen costs in the project, Minton said.
That amounts to about 2.5 percent of the project’s entire cost.
The contingency funds, as well as capital reserve funds are being used to cover costs relating to a soil remediation delay in 2007, change orders and contractor claims, officials said.
Mayoral Candidate Question
This was posted as a comment to the post and was prepared by one of our more perspicacious observers. It deserves open and serious consideration from all of us.
Peter has left a new comment on your post "Mayoral Candidate Speaks":
Mr. Thomson,
Let me start by saying thank you for reaching out to our little community of blogheads. I am hoping we can engage in some discussion and better understand your candidacy.
I'll be frank, your association with the QSRE makes me skeptical. I realize this may be unfair as we've never met (AFAIK) and I know nothing about you other than your name is attached to the QSRE and Stop The School crowd. In my experience, people can generally be judged by the company they keep, and in my opinion the QSRE/STS crowd is what this town does not need; they (or at least the most vocal among them) stand for stagnation, status quo, anti-progress.
That said, I am interested in knowing how you would improve Morrisville's position in the world. How did you feel about the Gateway project? How would you handle the legal wrangling of the proposed burlesque club? Smoke shops? In your mind, what are the top 3 things that are wrong with MV and how do we fix them? (notice the inclusion -- this is task for us all) What are the top 3 things that are RIGHT? And how do we capitalize on them? Have you read the 10 year improvement plan that was done last year? Please give us your thoughts on that.
If the other candidates are out there reading, I'd love to hear your responses too.
I suspect most of this blog readership will be voting in May and November. I know I certainly will.
Peter has left a new comment on your post "Mayoral Candidate Speaks":
Mr. Thomson,
Let me start by saying thank you for reaching out to our little community of blogheads. I am hoping we can engage in some discussion and better understand your candidacy.
I'll be frank, your association with the QSRE makes me skeptical. I realize this may be unfair as we've never met (AFAIK) and I know nothing about you other than your name is attached to the QSRE and Stop The School crowd. In my experience, people can generally be judged by the company they keep, and in my opinion the QSRE/STS crowd is what this town does not need; they (or at least the most vocal among them) stand for stagnation, status quo, anti-progress.
That said, I am interested in knowing how you would improve Morrisville's position in the world. How did you feel about the Gateway project? How would you handle the legal wrangling of the proposed burlesque club? Smoke shops? In your mind, what are the top 3 things that are wrong with MV and how do we fix them? (notice the inclusion -- this is task for us all) What are the top 3 things that are RIGHT? And how do we capitalize on them? Have you read the 10 year improvement plan that was done last year? Please give us your thoughts on that.
If the other candidates are out there reading, I'd love to hear your responses too.
I suspect most of this blog readership will be voting in May and November. I know I certainly will.
I Ain't Bo Peep, and These Ain't Sheep
Thanks to all the emailers on this situation. We previously discussed this in this post and this post last December.
April 16, 2009
Dear Parent/Guardian:
This afternoon at 1:00 pm, Morrisville Middle/Senior High School went into restrictive movement. The purpose of the restrictive movement was to clear the school so Interquest Detection Canines could conduct a search. This search serves several purposes with the most important being ensuring a safe environment for all members of the Morrisville Middle/Senior High School community. Additionally, this will send a message to any student considering bringing harmful substances to the middle/senior high school. The school administration, faculty, and students will not tolerate this type of activity in their school.
The search lasted approximately two hours. During this time, teachers and support staff not assigned to students were available to escort any student in need of medical assistance to the nurse’s office. Students needing to use the lavatory facilities were also escorted to the lavatory. Prior to being able to use the lavatory students were searched. This was done to keep students from getting rid of any illegal substances while they were using the facilities. If a student’s locker was identified by the dog, the content of the locker and the student was searched. Additionally, the parent/guardian was immediately contacted. At no time was a student subjected to a search by the use of a dog.
Today’s search was conducted following School Board Policy (#226) and with utmost respect for student privacy. Students, teachers, staff, and parents/guardians have the right to expect to come to a safe place to learn, work, or visit.
Sincerely,
William J. Ferrara Principal
April 16, 2009
Dear Parent/Guardian:
This afternoon at 1:00 pm, Morrisville Middle/Senior High School went into restrictive movement. The purpose of the restrictive movement was to clear the school so Interquest Detection Canines could conduct a search. This search serves several purposes with the most important being ensuring a safe environment for all members of the Morrisville Middle/Senior High School community. Additionally, this will send a message to any student considering bringing harmful substances to the middle/senior high school. The school administration, faculty, and students will not tolerate this type of activity in their school.
The search lasted approximately two hours. During this time, teachers and support staff not assigned to students were available to escort any student in need of medical assistance to the nurse’s office. Students needing to use the lavatory facilities were also escorted to the lavatory. Prior to being able to use the lavatory students were searched. This was done to keep students from getting rid of any illegal substances while they were using the facilities. If a student’s locker was identified by the dog, the content of the locker and the student was searched. Additionally, the parent/guardian was immediately contacted. At no time was a student subjected to a search by the use of a dog.
Today’s search was conducted following School Board Policy (#226) and with utmost respect for student privacy. Students, teachers, staff, and parents/guardians have the right to expect to come to a safe place to learn, work, or visit.
Sincerely,
William J. Ferrara Principal
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Reading Olympics News
Thanks to the emailer for this news tip.
Our 4th and 5th grade "Grandview Greats" won a blue ribbon at tonight's reading olympics, held at Bensalem High School, with a total 60 points! Please post the good news.
Our 4th and 5th grade "Grandview Greats" won a blue ribbon at tonight's reading olympics, held at Bensalem High School, with a total 60 points! Please post the good news.
Philly Schools Plan Released
From the Inquirer
School district reform plan released
By MENSAH M. DEAN
Philadelphia Daily News Posted on Tue, Apr. 14, 2009
After fielding ideas and concerns at more than a dozen meetings attended by an estimated 3,000 people since the first week of March, the Philadelphia School District has released the final draft of Superintendent Arlene Ackerman's signature reform plan.
"Imagine 2014, a 64-page document containing the "strategic direction for our schools for the next five years," was posted on the district's Internet site - www.phila.k12.pa.us - last night.
Due to community input, the number of reforms contained in the final plan has grown since Ackerman made public the rough draft on Feb. 18.
Added to the plan are: a call to decrease the student-to-counselor ratio to 500-to-1 in elementary schools; request to expand opportunities for middle school students to take world languages; and changes in class schedules at high schools to create smaller class sizes.
In addition, the plan says English language arts, math, science and social studies courses will be updated so that they are more integrated, rigorous and relevant in preparing students for college and careers.
The core curriculum will be linked to real-world and field experiences to provide students with instruction that is relevant to their everyday lives and reflects the diversity of the student population, the plan says.
School communities will be "integrally involved" in the process of reforming failing schools, the report says. The plan calls for placing 10 such schools under new management by September 2010, and a total of about 30 schools by 2014.
While the plan states that the district has made steady progress over the last seven years under state control, major problems remain.
Just 43 percent of schools are making adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act; just 33 percent of 11th graders are proficient in reading on the state's annual exam; and in math, a 28 percent point gap exist with white and Asian students outpacing African-American and Latino students.
The School Reform Commission is scheduled to review the plan during its 2 p.m. meeting tomorrow at the district's headquarters, 440 N. Broad St. The commission will vote on the plan at its April 22 meeting.
School district reform plan released
By MENSAH M. DEAN
Philadelphia Daily News Posted on Tue, Apr. 14, 2009
After fielding ideas and concerns at more than a dozen meetings attended by an estimated 3,000 people since the first week of March, the Philadelphia School District has released the final draft of Superintendent Arlene Ackerman's signature reform plan.
"Imagine 2014, a 64-page document containing the "strategic direction for our schools for the next five years," was posted on the district's Internet site - www.phila.k12.pa.us - last night.
Due to community input, the number of reforms contained in the final plan has grown since Ackerman made public the rough draft on Feb. 18.
Added to the plan are: a call to decrease the student-to-counselor ratio to 500-to-1 in elementary schools; request to expand opportunities for middle school students to take world languages; and changes in class schedules at high schools to create smaller class sizes.
In addition, the plan says English language arts, math, science and social studies courses will be updated so that they are more integrated, rigorous and relevant in preparing students for college and careers.
The core curriculum will be linked to real-world and field experiences to provide students with instruction that is relevant to their everyday lives and reflects the diversity of the student population, the plan says.
School communities will be "integrally involved" in the process of reforming failing schools, the report says. The plan calls for placing 10 such schools under new management by September 2010, and a total of about 30 schools by 2014.
While the plan states that the district has made steady progress over the last seven years under state control, major problems remain.
Just 43 percent of schools are making adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind Act; just 33 percent of 11th graders are proficient in reading on the state's annual exam; and in math, a 28 percent point gap exist with white and Asian students outpacing African-American and Latino students.
The School Reform Commission is scheduled to review the plan during its 2 p.m. meeting tomorrow at the district's headquarters, 440 N. Broad St. The commission will vote on the plan at its April 22 meeting.
Some Officials Not Following Open Records Law
From WGAL-TV
Some Officials Not Following Open Records Law
Legislation Allows Citizens To Request Information From Any State Agency
POSTED: 5:47 pm EDT April 14, 2009
UPDATED: 9:19 am EDT April 15, 2009
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The state's new open records law is designed to help citizens better understand how government works in Pennsylvania, and in many ways it is working. But some officials are still going out of their way to keep information from the public.
Nearly every day, the public can take a tour of the state Capitol building to learn about its architecture and history. But there is a lot that goes on in the Capitol that Pennsylvania residents never hear about. That's where Terry Mutchler comes in.
"There are public officials that view the Right To Know law as a nuisance," said Mutchler.
Mutchler is executive director of the state's newly created Office of Open Records, which is tucked away in a corner of the Keystone office building in Harrisburg. She said the law has only been in effect for a few months, but that hasn't stopped some public agencies from misusing it.
"I will sometimes hear from public officials who are following the letter of the law and the spirit of the law," said Mutchler. "But I'll also hear from folks who say they'll hide their Right To Know officer so they can never receive a Right To Know request," said Mutchler.
The law allows anyone to request information from any government agency in the state, from local municipalities all the way to the governor's office.
Agencies Must Copy, Mail Records
A recent dispute involved whether government agencies are required to make copies and mail records that are requested. Some have refused to do so.
"When the law talks about postage and photo copiers, the intent is that you do, as a government official, have the obligation to photocopy and mail records," said Mutchler.
She said workers in state agencies were also recently directed by the governor's office not to answer her calls because they felt requests from her office should be handled in writing. Mutchler said her office has been busy handling these types of concerns.
"Now that we have open government, we actually have a lot of work to do within that framework to see the actual results," said Mutchler. "I think there has to be a better balance struck."
A balance that, she said, would make open government in Pennsylvania a priority.
Open Records Resources
* For a "citizen's guide" with information about how to use the law, go to:
https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/oor/rtkcitizensguidefinal.pdf
For a link to a generic form needed to file a request, go to:
https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/oor/Form-Uniform_Request.pdf
For a list of open records contacts in local government agencies across the state, go to:
https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/oor/orolist.pdf
For a list of open records contacts in state agencies, go to:
https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/oor/aoroList.pdf
For a list of open records contacts in school districts, go to:
https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/oor/orolist_sd.pdf
Some Officials Not Following Open Records Law
Legislation Allows Citizens To Request Information From Any State Agency
POSTED: 5:47 pm EDT April 14, 2009
UPDATED: 9:19 am EDT April 15, 2009
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The state's new open records law is designed to help citizens better understand how government works in Pennsylvania, and in many ways it is working. But some officials are still going out of their way to keep information from the public.
Nearly every day, the public can take a tour of the state Capitol building to learn about its architecture and history. But there is a lot that goes on in the Capitol that Pennsylvania residents never hear about. That's where Terry Mutchler comes in.
"There are public officials that view the Right To Know law as a nuisance," said Mutchler.
Mutchler is executive director of the state's newly created Office of Open Records, which is tucked away in a corner of the Keystone office building in Harrisburg. She said the law has only been in effect for a few months, but that hasn't stopped some public agencies from misusing it.
"I will sometimes hear from public officials who are following the letter of the law and the spirit of the law," said Mutchler. "But I'll also hear from folks who say they'll hide their Right To Know officer so they can never receive a Right To Know request," said Mutchler.
The law allows anyone to request information from any government agency in the state, from local municipalities all the way to the governor's office.
Agencies Must Copy, Mail Records
A recent dispute involved whether government agencies are required to make copies and mail records that are requested. Some have refused to do so.
"When the law talks about postage and photo copiers, the intent is that you do, as a government official, have the obligation to photocopy and mail records," said Mutchler.
She said workers in state agencies were also recently directed by the governor's office not to answer her calls because they felt requests from her office should be handled in writing. Mutchler said her office has been busy handling these types of concerns.
"Now that we have open government, we actually have a lot of work to do within that framework to see the actual results," said Mutchler. "I think there has to be a better balance struck."
A balance that, she said, would make open government in Pennsylvania a priority.
Open Records Resources
* For a "citizen's guide" with information about how to use the law, go to:
https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/oor/rtkcitizensguidefinal.pdf
For a link to a generic form needed to file a request, go to:
https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/oor/Form-Uniform_Request.pdf
For a list of open records contacts in local government agencies across the state, go to:
https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/oor/orolist.pdf
For a list of open records contacts in state agencies, go to:
https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/oor/aoroList.pdf
For a list of open records contacts in school districts, go to:
https://www.dced.state.pa.us/public/oor/orolist_sd.pdf
New Hope-Solebury: We're In This Together
From the BCCT.
District strives to cut more
By: FREDA R. SAVANA
Bucks County Courier Times
Like everyone else, the New Hope-Solebury School District is feeling the squeeze from the rough economy.
Wrestling to bring down costs, without damaging the small district's strong reputation, New Hope Superintendent Raymond Boccuti said Wednesday his staff has found another $287,000 to slash from next year's budget.
In an impassioned and somewhat frustrated tone, Boccuti detailed cuts ranging from $144,000 from a teacher's retirement and a resignation, to $1,000 in professional books. Part-time custodians, consultants and new computers are being axed. Updated textbooks are being pushed off for another year.
"We've looked and looked at this budget. We're doing a lot of dramatic things while preserving the integrity of the school district," Boccuti told the school board.
If the new reductions make their way out of the budget, taxpayers are still facing a 4.98 percent tax hike, or a $217 increase for the owner of a home assessed at the district average. That's down from the $314 it projected earlier this year for a $33.3 million spending plan.
"To get it to zero," said the superintendent, "you'll have to gut the fund balance and cut staff and programs."
Among the proposed cuts is the "Artist in Residence" program, which brings art into schools, for a savings of $6,500. Cutting the district's school resource officer, a New Hope police officer who visits the campus periodically, would save another $45,000, according to Boccuti.
Advertisement
The superintendent pointed out the officer has rarely been at the school in recent months, as he's been needed by the borough's police department, which is also struggling with budget cuts.
"I don't want us to be penny wise and pound foolish," said school director Laurence Fieber, expressing concern about the cuts. He suggested maybe the home and school association and the nonprofit New Hope Education Fund, which supports various school-related projects, could pick up some of the slack.
Board President Rebecca Malamis said parents offered to help when the district stopped running late buses to cut costs and would probably do it again.
"This is a time for our community to come together," she said.
Boccuti and the board agreed to discuss the program cuts with the local organizations and parents.
Parents, volunteers and community groups will be asked to help with some school programs.
April 16, 2009 02:20 AM
District strives to cut more
By: FREDA R. SAVANA
Bucks County Courier Times
Like everyone else, the New Hope-Solebury School District is feeling the squeeze from the rough economy.
Wrestling to bring down costs, without damaging the small district's strong reputation, New Hope Superintendent Raymond Boccuti said Wednesday his staff has found another $287,000 to slash from next year's budget.
In an impassioned and somewhat frustrated tone, Boccuti detailed cuts ranging from $144,000 from a teacher's retirement and a resignation, to $1,000 in professional books. Part-time custodians, consultants and new computers are being axed. Updated textbooks are being pushed off for another year.
"We've looked and looked at this budget. We're doing a lot of dramatic things while preserving the integrity of the school district," Boccuti told the school board.
If the new reductions make their way out of the budget, taxpayers are still facing a 4.98 percent tax hike, or a $217 increase for the owner of a home assessed at the district average. That's down from the $314 it projected earlier this year for a $33.3 million spending plan.
"To get it to zero," said the superintendent, "you'll have to gut the fund balance and cut staff and programs."
Among the proposed cuts is the "Artist in Residence" program, which brings art into schools, for a savings of $6,500. Cutting the district's school resource officer, a New Hope police officer who visits the campus periodically, would save another $45,000, according to Boccuti.
Advertisement
The superintendent pointed out the officer has rarely been at the school in recent months, as he's been needed by the borough's police department, which is also struggling with budget cuts.
"I don't want us to be penny wise and pound foolish," said school director Laurence Fieber, expressing concern about the cuts. He suggested maybe the home and school association and the nonprofit New Hope Education Fund, which supports various school-related projects, could pick up some of the slack.
Board President Rebecca Malamis said parents offered to help when the district stopped running late buses to cut costs and would probably do it again.
"This is a time for our community to come together," she said.
Boccuti and the board agreed to discuss the program cuts with the local organizations and parents.
Parents, volunteers and community groups will be asked to help with some school programs.
April 16, 2009 02:20 AM
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Mayoral Candidate Speaks
Here's a comment that was made to the mayoral candidate posting that deserves to see the light of day as a posting of its own.
I am accepting it as a posting from Graeme Thomson, democratic candidate for mayor in Morrisville. If it later turns out not to be his posting, this will be removed.
In the interests of full disclosure, I believe this is the same person who was the administrator of several websites many of our readers are familiar with, but I would provide the opportunity to let the poster make that disclosure. It might make some people wonder how fervently this poster advocates investment in Morrisville while his friends would not.
Graeme has left a new comment on your post "3 Dems running for Morrisville mayor":
I guess it is time for me to chime in and introduce myself.
I am running for mayor I decided to run for mayor the day our incumbent told the school board and citizens at a school board meeting something to the effect that he had spoken to 1000 people about the school issue. It is time for absentee mayor to end and to bring someone in to the position.
I moved to Morrisville, I decided to live here, because of the town and because of the people.
When I chose Morrisville for my home I worked in New York, it was certainly not because it was close to where I worked but I wanted a home where I could raise my family. I can’t think of any place better then Morrisville.
I worked for 12 years in "Advertising and Public Relations", I know better then any of the other candidates how to talk to business leaders, and I know how to show them what a great opportunity Morrisville is.
Morrisville has some hard times ahead if we do not select a business leader. The Calhoun Street Bridge is about to be shutdown for an extended period of time cutting seriously into the number of consumers coming in to Morrisville. To make matters worse PA has increased the taxes on tobacco, making it more expensive for people from New Jersey to here and buy cigarettes then buy them in NJ. I do not smoke and wish we had a better “draw” in Morrisville but at the moment it is the biggest “draw” we have for consumers. More people come to Morrisville to buy cigarettes then any other single item. While they are here people stop at some of our other business. Weather they buy a slice of pizza or a haircut every dollar they spend while they are here adds to our economy.
We need to take strong action to remind Morrisville residents of Morrisville, this is the prime time to do just that. With the cost of fuel on the rise again it is time for the town to learn how to shop local again. During the 2nd world war there were billboards all over reminding people to conserve fuel. That combined with letting people know what businesses and services we have will bring local consumers into our shops. As the shops do better in the area we will be able to meet with business owners and show them that stores in Morrisville can make profit, if you gave a business a tax free ride they will not move here if they do not think they can make profit. It will be a long process, bringing more business into Morrisville but together we can.
As for my being a puppet, life would be a lot simpler if I were. The only person who tells me what to do is my wife, and honestly even she is not completely happy with those results☺ I have always stood up for what I believe and will fight for what I think is right, and though I am willing to listen to other opinions, my decisions are my own not what I was told. I think about my words and actions before I speak or act, so I do not need handlers.
With the work and this campaign keeping me busy I can not promise to keep popping in to this blog, but I am a computer nerd both professionally and at home so this is as good of place as any to leave questions.
Even if you do not vote for me in May I hope you will get out and vote. I also hope you will support who ever is elected in November.
Think Green, Buy Local
I am accepting it as a posting from Graeme Thomson, democratic candidate for mayor in Morrisville. If it later turns out not to be his posting, this will be removed.
In the interests of full disclosure, I believe this is the same person who was the administrator of several websites many of our readers are familiar with, but I would provide the opportunity to let the poster make that disclosure. It might make some people wonder how fervently this poster advocates investment in Morrisville while his friends would not.
Graeme has left a new comment on your post "3 Dems running for Morrisville mayor":
I guess it is time for me to chime in and introduce myself.
I am running for mayor I decided to run for mayor the day our incumbent told the school board and citizens at a school board meeting something to the effect that he had spoken to 1000 people about the school issue. It is time for absentee mayor to end and to bring someone in to the position.
I moved to Morrisville, I decided to live here, because of the town and because of the people.
When I chose Morrisville for my home I worked in New York, it was certainly not because it was close to where I worked but I wanted a home where I could raise my family. I can’t think of any place better then Morrisville.
I worked for 12 years in "Advertising and Public Relations", I know better then any of the other candidates how to talk to business leaders, and I know how to show them what a great opportunity Morrisville is.
Morrisville has some hard times ahead if we do not select a business leader. The Calhoun Street Bridge is about to be shutdown for an extended period of time cutting seriously into the number of consumers coming in to Morrisville. To make matters worse PA has increased the taxes on tobacco, making it more expensive for people from New Jersey to here and buy cigarettes then buy them in NJ. I do not smoke and wish we had a better “draw” in Morrisville but at the moment it is the biggest “draw” we have for consumers. More people come to Morrisville to buy cigarettes then any other single item. While they are here people stop at some of our other business. Weather they buy a slice of pizza or a haircut every dollar they spend while they are here adds to our economy.
We need to take strong action to remind Morrisville residents of Morrisville, this is the prime time to do just that. With the cost of fuel on the rise again it is time for the town to learn how to shop local again. During the 2nd world war there were billboards all over reminding people to conserve fuel. That combined with letting people know what businesses and services we have will bring local consumers into our shops. As the shops do better in the area we will be able to meet with business owners and show them that stores in Morrisville can make profit, if you gave a business a tax free ride they will not move here if they do not think they can make profit. It will be a long process, bringing more business into Morrisville but together we can.
As for my being a puppet, life would be a lot simpler if I were. The only person who tells me what to do is my wife, and honestly even she is not completely happy with those results☺ I have always stood up for what I believe and will fight for what I think is right, and though I am willing to listen to other opinions, my decisions are my own not what I was told. I think about my words and actions before I speak or act, so I do not need handlers.
With the work and this campaign keeping me busy I can not promise to keep popping in to this blog, but I am a computer nerd both professionally and at home so this is as good of place as any to leave questions.
Even if you do not vote for me in May I hope you will get out and vote. I also hope you will support who ever is elected in November.
Think Green, Buy Local
Inefficient, expensive, but an American icon
From the Inquirer.
Inefficient, expensive, but an American icon
The neighborhood school helps to define who we are. Consolidation threatens that.
Commentary By Jonathan Zimmerman, Posted on Tue, Apr. 14, 2009
Imagine two school districts somewhere on America's checkered educational landscape. Each district has 1,000 students. But each one also has its own superintendent, clerical employees, and buses. And neither can afford electives in art, music, or technology.
Wouldn't you want to merge them?
Across the country, governors and state legislatures are trying to do exactly that. Here in Pennsylvania, Gov. Rendell has proposed a 12-member commission to suggest ways to consolidate some of our state's 501 school districts. Lawmakers in South Carolina, Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa are devising their own consolidation schemes. In these tough times, the argument goes, bigger districts will reduce administrative costs while enhancing curricula. So citizens will get more educational bang for their property-tax buck.
Only, the citizens don't see it that way. Especially in rural areas, voters have produced a flood of letters and petitions against consolidation. And in Maine, which passed a consolidation law two years ago, opponents are mounting a campaign to repeal it.
What's going on here? Part of the issue concerns money: Many voters doubt consolidation would cut costs or fear their taxes would actually go up.
But there's more. To Americans, school is not simply an institution to educate the largest number of children at the lowest expense possible. It's a symbol of community, of the geographic spaces and face-to-face relationships that help define who we are. If we give up our schools or our districts, we relinquish part of ourselves.
Consider the one-room schoolhouse, the ultimate emblem of our nation's educational localism. As late as 1913, fully one-half of the nation's students attended a single-teacher school. And they did so over the protests of state legislators and educational officials, who railed incessantly against the inefficiency of one-room schools.
In many ways, the critics were correct. These schools had children of different ages huddling around smoky stoves and reciting long passages to their young teachers, who often possessed not much more education than the kids. Meanwhile, despite the myth of the tidy "little red schoolhouse," many were barren, dilapidated shacks. They weren't even red, because parsimonious citizens refused to pay for paint.
But the schools were theirs, and that's what mattered. Often the lone public building within miles, the one-room school hosted marriages, funerals, spelling bees, and political rallies. It also featured evening dramas and debates, the only entertainment in many parts of the country.
One Utah school staged a debate about whether "a load of seed potatoes" or "a load of women" was "most needed in the community." In North Dakota, villagers deliberated on whether "the Farm Woman Works Harder and has Less Recreation than the Farm Man." (A three-judge panel ruled for the Farm Woman.)
Not surprisingly, then, these Americans bridled when states moved to consolidate their schools. "Individuality will be lost, the pride taken in 'our' school and 'our' teacher gone," warned one parent in upstate New York, identifying herself only as a "Rural Mother."
Hers was a lost cause. By 1925, 19 states had passed laws to encourage school consolidation, often giving cash awards to districts for each single-room school they closed. Thirty-five years later, in 1960, just 1 percent of our students attended a one-room school.
But we still celebrate the tiny rural school. Look at the eight entrances to the Washington headquarters of the Department of Education, installed for a 2002 rally kicking off the federal No Child Left Behind law. Each entrance is shaped like a one-room school, featuring a slanted roof and a bell tower; the only added modern element is the slogan "No Child Left Behind," emblazoned in bold letters across all of them.
"We serve the ideal of the little red schoolhouse," then-Secretary of Education Rod Paige told the rally. "It is one of the greatest symbols of America - a symbol that every child must be taught and every child must learn, that every community was involved and every parent's input valued."
How could a one-room schoolhouse become the icon for No Child Left Behind, which gave the federal government unprecedented new powers over American education? It was illogical - even laughable. Symbolically, however, it made perfect sense. Amid the anonymity and centralization of modern life, we need emblems of the local bonds that hold us together.
That's what we get from small school districts, which continue to embody America's communal ideal. A 1,000-student district is not a one-room school, to be sure, but it is still small - and it's still ours. It may not make economic or even educational sense, but it fits snugly into the story we tell about ourselves: our roots, our purpose, and our identity. Whoever wants to change that story will have to come up with a better one.
Inefficient, expensive, but an American icon
The neighborhood school helps to define who we are. Consolidation threatens that.
Commentary By Jonathan Zimmerman, Posted on Tue, Apr. 14, 2009
Imagine two school districts somewhere on America's checkered educational landscape. Each district has 1,000 students. But each one also has its own superintendent, clerical employees, and buses. And neither can afford electives in art, music, or technology.
Wouldn't you want to merge them?
Across the country, governors and state legislatures are trying to do exactly that. Here in Pennsylvania, Gov. Rendell has proposed a 12-member commission to suggest ways to consolidate some of our state's 501 school districts. Lawmakers in South Carolina, Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa are devising their own consolidation schemes. In these tough times, the argument goes, bigger districts will reduce administrative costs while enhancing curricula. So citizens will get more educational bang for their property-tax buck.
Only, the citizens don't see it that way. Especially in rural areas, voters have produced a flood of letters and petitions against consolidation. And in Maine, which passed a consolidation law two years ago, opponents are mounting a campaign to repeal it.
What's going on here? Part of the issue concerns money: Many voters doubt consolidation would cut costs or fear their taxes would actually go up.
But there's more. To Americans, school is not simply an institution to educate the largest number of children at the lowest expense possible. It's a symbol of community, of the geographic spaces and face-to-face relationships that help define who we are. If we give up our schools or our districts, we relinquish part of ourselves.
Consider the one-room schoolhouse, the ultimate emblem of our nation's educational localism. As late as 1913, fully one-half of the nation's students attended a single-teacher school. And they did so over the protests of state legislators and educational officials, who railed incessantly against the inefficiency of one-room schools.
In many ways, the critics were correct. These schools had children of different ages huddling around smoky stoves and reciting long passages to their young teachers, who often possessed not much more education than the kids. Meanwhile, despite the myth of the tidy "little red schoolhouse," many were barren, dilapidated shacks. They weren't even red, because parsimonious citizens refused to pay for paint.
But the schools were theirs, and that's what mattered. Often the lone public building within miles, the one-room school hosted marriages, funerals, spelling bees, and political rallies. It also featured evening dramas and debates, the only entertainment in many parts of the country.
One Utah school staged a debate about whether "a load of seed potatoes" or "a load of women" was "most needed in the community." In North Dakota, villagers deliberated on whether "the Farm Woman Works Harder and has Less Recreation than the Farm Man." (A three-judge panel ruled for the Farm Woman.)
Not surprisingly, then, these Americans bridled when states moved to consolidate their schools. "Individuality will be lost, the pride taken in 'our' school and 'our' teacher gone," warned one parent in upstate New York, identifying herself only as a "Rural Mother."
Hers was a lost cause. By 1925, 19 states had passed laws to encourage school consolidation, often giving cash awards to districts for each single-room school they closed. Thirty-five years later, in 1960, just 1 percent of our students attended a one-room school.
But we still celebrate the tiny rural school. Look at the eight entrances to the Washington headquarters of the Department of Education, installed for a 2002 rally kicking off the federal No Child Left Behind law. Each entrance is shaped like a one-room school, featuring a slanted roof and a bell tower; the only added modern element is the slogan "No Child Left Behind," emblazoned in bold letters across all of them.
"We serve the ideal of the little red schoolhouse," then-Secretary of Education Rod Paige told the rally. "It is one of the greatest symbols of America - a symbol that every child must be taught and every child must learn, that every community was involved and every parent's input valued."
How could a one-room schoolhouse become the icon for No Child Left Behind, which gave the federal government unprecedented new powers over American education? It was illogical - even laughable. Symbolically, however, it made perfect sense. Amid the anonymity and centralization of modern life, we need emblems of the local bonds that hold us together.
That's what we get from small school districts, which continue to embody America's communal ideal. A 1,000-student district is not a one-room school, to be sure, but it is still small - and it's still ours. It may not make economic or even educational sense, but it fits snugly into the story we tell about ourselves: our roots, our purpose, and our identity. Whoever wants to change that story will have to come up with a better one.
School district mergers worth talking about
From GoErie.com
School district mergers worth talking about
Published: April 13. 2009 12:01AM
It's easy to anticipate the following arguments against Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to pare Pennsylvania's school districts from 500 to 100.
-Large districts are unworkable.
-Smaller school districts are more attuned to the needs of the community.
-Previous mergers haven't saved money.
-Models from the business world can't be imposed on public education.
-Transportation costs would eat up savings and require students to spend too much time on the bus.
But instead of dismissing Rendell's proposal, those interested in improving public education should review Rendell's ideas with an open mind.
Rendell wants to create a legislative commission with a one-year timetable "to study how best to right-size Pennsylvania's local school districts," according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Those who work in the private sector understand that businesses continually search for ways to stay competitive. Often, this leads to consolidations within a particular business or a specific industry. School districts should not escape this scrutiny.
Rendell has said that consolidation would not require individual schools to close, but that it would reduce administrative costs. In the current economy, we have reached a tipping point. Property taxes can't be hiked every year to cover government spending that grows when everyone else is cutting back.
Erie's educational leaders and taxpayers should look to previous attempts to merge school districts and learn how those districts that passed on a merger are functioning today. The Harbor Creek and Iroquois school districts received a grant to share a business manager and considered merging in 1999. Girard and Fairview almost merged 40 years ago, but the fear of loss of local control and identity killed the merger.
How do property taxes compare for those districts now? What about course offerings for students? How have administrative costs changed over a specific time frame?
"There comes a time when you have to look beyond maintaining inefficiencies because somebody wants to maintain their school colors or mascot," said Center Area Superintendent Daniel Matsook, whose district in Beaver County will merge with Monaca on July 1. We like his blunt assessment.
We also like the attitude of Robert Puerta, board president in the Saucon Valley School District. "We should appreciate the governor's courage in raising this issue at a time when there is no consensus for such action. We never lose when we take the time to honestly discuss reform, and there are some great questions to be debated in this subject," Puerta wrote in an Op-ed for the Morning Call in Allentown.
Let the debate begin, without preconceived conclusions.
School district mergers worth talking about
Published: April 13. 2009 12:01AM
It's easy to anticipate the following arguments against Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to pare Pennsylvania's school districts from 500 to 100.
-Large districts are unworkable.
-Smaller school districts are more attuned to the needs of the community.
-Previous mergers haven't saved money.
-Models from the business world can't be imposed on public education.
-Transportation costs would eat up savings and require students to spend too much time on the bus.
But instead of dismissing Rendell's proposal, those interested in improving public education should review Rendell's ideas with an open mind.
Rendell wants to create a legislative commission with a one-year timetable "to study how best to right-size Pennsylvania's local school districts," according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Those who work in the private sector understand that businesses continually search for ways to stay competitive. Often, this leads to consolidations within a particular business or a specific industry. School districts should not escape this scrutiny.
Rendell has said that consolidation would not require individual schools to close, but that it would reduce administrative costs. In the current economy, we have reached a tipping point. Property taxes can't be hiked every year to cover government spending that grows when everyone else is cutting back.
Erie's educational leaders and taxpayers should look to previous attempts to merge school districts and learn how those districts that passed on a merger are functioning today. The Harbor Creek and Iroquois school districts received a grant to share a business manager and considered merging in 1999. Girard and Fairview almost merged 40 years ago, but the fear of loss of local control and identity killed the merger.
How do property taxes compare for those districts now? What about course offerings for students? How have administrative costs changed over a specific time frame?
"There comes a time when you have to look beyond maintaining inefficiencies because somebody wants to maintain their school colors or mascot," said Center Area Superintendent Daniel Matsook, whose district in Beaver County will merge with Monaca on July 1. We like his blunt assessment.
We also like the attitude of Robert Puerta, board president in the Saucon Valley School District. "We should appreciate the governor's courage in raising this issue at a time when there is no consensus for such action. We never lose when we take the time to honestly discuss reform, and there are some great questions to be debated in this subject," Puerta wrote in an Op-ed for the Morning Call in Allentown.
Let the debate begin, without preconceived conclusions.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Bensalem: Schools, Flooding, and Drainage
From the BCCT.
Council reviews drainage project
By: JAMES MCGINNIS
Bucks County Courier Times
Township officials say the Eddington section needs a drainage basin because its storm system is old. A Democratic activist blamed area flooding on overdevelopment.
At Monday night's Bensalem Council meeting, engineers outlined an early stage plan for a soccer-field-sized drainage basin that could reduce flooding in the Eddington section.
Carroll Engineering representative Thomas Crawley said a 10-foot deep basin located on school property behind Cornwells Elementary School could reduce the flood risk for as many as 850 homes. The basin would be located closest to Cornwells Avenue and Hulmeville Road.
Crawley said it was too early to estimate the cost of the project.
Bensalem would need to first secure the land from the school district. The council took no immediate action Monday night.
Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo said the school board was currently reviewing the plan. DiGirolamo, who ordered the engineering work, said the Eddington basin "is a major project for a major problem."
Carroll Engineering attributed the flooding in the Eddington section to the age of the neighborhood.
Democratic activist Joe Kraher also said part of the problem can be tied to overdevelopment.
Members of council rejected that argument.
Councilman Joseph Szafran and Kraher got into a heated debate over the politics of flooding and development in Bensalem. The argument ended as Council President Ed Kisselback hollered, "Stop! Stop! Stop right now!"
Councilman Bryan Allen, the lone Democrat on the township council, questioned why plans for the Eddington basin were available on the Web site of the Bensalem Republican Executive Committee but not on the township's Web site.
The plans are public information and were offered to the public during a recent school board meeting, Kisselback said. Township officials said they would try to put the plans on the government Web site soon.
April 14, 2009 02:00 AM
Council reviews drainage project
By: JAMES MCGINNIS
Bucks County Courier Times
Township officials say the Eddington section needs a drainage basin because its storm system is old. A Democratic activist blamed area flooding on overdevelopment.
At Monday night's Bensalem Council meeting, engineers outlined an early stage plan for a soccer-field-sized drainage basin that could reduce flooding in the Eddington section.
Carroll Engineering representative Thomas Crawley said a 10-foot deep basin located on school property behind Cornwells Elementary School could reduce the flood risk for as many as 850 homes. The basin would be located closest to Cornwells Avenue and Hulmeville Road.
Crawley said it was too early to estimate the cost of the project.
Bensalem would need to first secure the land from the school district. The council took no immediate action Monday night.
Mayor Joseph DiGirolamo said the school board was currently reviewing the plan. DiGirolamo, who ordered the engineering work, said the Eddington basin "is a major project for a major problem."
Carroll Engineering attributed the flooding in the Eddington section to the age of the neighborhood.
Democratic activist Joe Kraher also said part of the problem can be tied to overdevelopment.
Members of council rejected that argument.
Councilman Joseph Szafran and Kraher got into a heated debate over the politics of flooding and development in Bensalem. The argument ended as Council President Ed Kisselback hollered, "Stop! Stop! Stop right now!"
Councilman Bryan Allen, the lone Democrat on the township council, questioned why plans for the Eddington basin were available on the Web site of the Bensalem Republican Executive Committee but not on the township's Web site.
The plans are public information and were offered to the public during a recent school board meeting, Kisselback said. Township officials said they would try to put the plans on the government Web site soon.
April 14, 2009 02:00 AM
Slots Payoff
From the BCCT.
$200 tax break for Pa. homeowners
Bucks County Courier Times
Pennsylvania homeowners will receive nearly $770 million in property tax relief in 2009 under the latest installment from the historic Taxpayer Relief Act, Gov. Ed Rendell announced Monday.
Almost 2.7 million households' taxes across the state were lowered last year because of gaming revenues and, this year, the average statewide reduction is expected to be nearly $200 again.
That's good news for some local school districts, including Bristol Township, officials said.
"If we are at, or near, what we had last year, I am happy about it," said that district's school board president, W. Earl Bruck. "It will be a big help to taxpayers. I'm encouraged by it."
All Pennsylvania homeowners in 66 counties can receive reductions in the school property tax bills they will receive this summer. The state Department of Education in early May will provide the final figures, which will vary by district depending on how many homeowners signed up for their share of relief.
Other Lower Bucks school administrators, though, said they're hoping the rebate increases.
"Since it is possible that people who had not signed up for the homestead/farmstead exemption previously have now signed up in the past year + the amount of rebate to a taxpayer could be less than last year as we divide our total amount among more taxpayers eligible for the tax relief," said Robert Schoch, director of business administration in Council Rock.
The 2006 Taxpayer Relief Act created the Property Tax Relief Fund as a way to use gaming revenue to reduce property taxes for homeowners, specifically seniors.
Approximately 110,000 Pennsylvania seniors will pay no school property taxes again this year because of the tax relief, and many more will receive rebates of up to $975 in addition to the property tax relief that all homeowners receive. Nearly 580,000 seniors will be eligible for additional relief through the state's expanded Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program.
But many seniors said they'd still like to see more relief.
"Property taxes are the biggest hit seniors on a fixed income take," said Bill Kennedy, a Washington Crossing resident and president of the Bucks County Coalition of Senior Communities. "If you look at the millions taken in from gambling, $200, if we get that, is not very much."
In addition to delivering property tax relief to Pennsylvania homeowners, the law enacted the state's first-ever limits on school boards' ability to raise property taxes. Already this year, more than three in four school districts have reported they are going to keep any property tax increase at or below the rate of inflation. That includes Council Rock.
"In spite of the economic downturn, we are able to maintain the same level of property tax relief in the coming year that homeowners are receiving right now," Rendell said. "That is due in large part to the speed with which many of our venues were launched and their competitiveness with other states."
The act also dramatically expanded Pennsylvania's Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program. Before the expansion, approximately 310,000 older Pennsylvanians benefited from the program.
Now older families with incomes up to $35,000 are eligible for rebates of up to $975, including additional relief for seniors who pay a large share of their income in property taxes or who live in high property-tax areas.
Those eligible have until June 30 to sign up for the program by calling 1-888-222-9190.
Who will benefit
Revenue from slot-machine gambling money will benefit:
? Homeowners and farm owners (outside Philadelphia):
Less than $200 average reduction per household on school property tax bills for 2009-10 school year.
Home and farm owners must complete and return an application to the county to receive a reduction.
? Philadelphia residents:
2010 wage tax rate remains at 3.93 percent, a 5.7 percent reduction from 2008 rate of 4.169 percent.
? Philadelphia nonresidents who work in the city:
2010 wage tax rate remains at 3.5 percent, a 5 percent reduction from 2008 rate of 3.685 percent.
? Low-income elderly:
Seniors with income $35,000 or less can get rent or property tax rebates of up to $975.
Source: Rendell administration
April 14, 2009 02:00 AM
$200 tax break for Pa. homeowners
Bucks County Courier Times
Pennsylvania homeowners will receive nearly $770 million in property tax relief in 2009 under the latest installment from the historic Taxpayer Relief Act, Gov. Ed Rendell announced Monday.
Almost 2.7 million households' taxes across the state were lowered last year because of gaming revenues and, this year, the average statewide reduction is expected to be nearly $200 again.
That's good news for some local school districts, including Bristol Township, officials said.
"If we are at, or near, what we had last year, I am happy about it," said that district's school board president, W. Earl Bruck. "It will be a big help to taxpayers. I'm encouraged by it."
All Pennsylvania homeowners in 66 counties can receive reductions in the school property tax bills they will receive this summer. The state Department of Education in early May will provide the final figures, which will vary by district depending on how many homeowners signed up for their share of relief.
Other Lower Bucks school administrators, though, said they're hoping the rebate increases.
"Since it is possible that people who had not signed up for the homestead/farmstead exemption previously have now signed up in the past year + the amount of rebate to a taxpayer could be less than last year as we divide our total amount among more taxpayers eligible for the tax relief," said Robert Schoch, director of business administration in Council Rock.
The 2006 Taxpayer Relief Act created the Property Tax Relief Fund as a way to use gaming revenue to reduce property taxes for homeowners, specifically seniors.
Approximately 110,000 Pennsylvania seniors will pay no school property taxes again this year because of the tax relief, and many more will receive rebates of up to $975 in addition to the property tax relief that all homeowners receive. Nearly 580,000 seniors will be eligible for additional relief through the state's expanded Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program.
But many seniors said they'd still like to see more relief.
"Property taxes are the biggest hit seniors on a fixed income take," said Bill Kennedy, a Washington Crossing resident and president of the Bucks County Coalition of Senior Communities. "If you look at the millions taken in from gambling, $200, if we get that, is not very much."
In addition to delivering property tax relief to Pennsylvania homeowners, the law enacted the state's first-ever limits on school boards' ability to raise property taxes. Already this year, more than three in four school districts have reported they are going to keep any property tax increase at or below the rate of inflation. That includes Council Rock.
"In spite of the economic downturn, we are able to maintain the same level of property tax relief in the coming year that homeowners are receiving right now," Rendell said. "That is due in large part to the speed with which many of our venues were launched and their competitiveness with other states."
The act also dramatically expanded Pennsylvania's Property Tax/Rent Rebate Program. Before the expansion, approximately 310,000 older Pennsylvanians benefited from the program.
Now older families with incomes up to $35,000 are eligible for rebates of up to $975, including additional relief for seniors who pay a large share of their income in property taxes or who live in high property-tax areas.
Those eligible have until June 30 to sign up for the program by calling 1-888-222-9190.
Who will benefit
Revenue from slot-machine gambling money will benefit:
? Homeowners and farm owners (outside Philadelphia):
Less than $200 average reduction per household on school property tax bills for 2009-10 school year.
Home and farm owners must complete and return an application to the county to receive a reduction.
? Philadelphia residents:
2010 wage tax rate remains at 3.93 percent, a 5.7 percent reduction from 2008 rate of 4.169 percent.
? Philadelphia nonresidents who work in the city:
2010 wage tax rate remains at 3.5 percent, a 5 percent reduction from 2008 rate of 3.685 percent.
? Low-income elderly:
Seniors with income $35,000 or less can get rent or property tax rebates of up to $975.
Source: Rendell administration
April 14, 2009 02:00 AM
Agenda Meeting Reminder
Morrisville School Board agenda meeting:
7:30 p.m., large group instruction room of
Middle/Senior High School,
550 W. Palmer St.
To set agenda for next week’s regular meeting. 215-736-2681
7:30 p.m., large group instruction room of
Middle/Senior High School,
550 W. Palmer St.
To set agenda for next week’s regular meeting. 215-736-2681
Monday, April 13, 2009
2009-2010 Budget Links
Here's links to the budget documents
# 09-10 Budget Calendar
# Preliminary 2009-10 Budget Presentation 3/11/09
# Proposed Preliminary 2009-10 Budget as of 4-3-09
# Preliminary Proposed 2009-10 Budget Power Point
MORRISVILLE BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
In accordance with the School Budget Calendar of the School District of Borough of Morrisville, the proposed Preliminary Budget for the 2009-2010 school year will be presented at the Finance Committee Meeting on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in Conference Room G-9 located in the Middle/Senior High School, 550 West Palmer Street, Morrisville, PA.
The Board of School Directors may adopt the proposed Preliminary Budget at their monthly Board Meeting on April 22, 2009, at 7:30 p.m., in the LGI Meeting Room located in the Middle/Senior High School. The proposed Preliminary Budget is available on the website at www.mv.org and at the Business Office located in the High School.
Marlys Mihok
Board Secretary
Appeared in: Bucks County Courier Times on Sunday, 04/05/2009
# 09-10 Budget Calendar
# Preliminary 2009-10 Budget Presentation 3/11/09
# Proposed Preliminary 2009-10 Budget as of 4-3-09
# Preliminary Proposed 2009-10 Budget Power Point
MORRISVILLE BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT
In accordance with the School Budget Calendar of the School District of Borough of Morrisville, the proposed Preliminary Budget for the 2009-2010 school year will be presented at the Finance Committee Meeting on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in Conference Room G-9 located in the Middle/Senior High School, 550 West Palmer Street, Morrisville, PA.
The Board of School Directors may adopt the proposed Preliminary Budget at their monthly Board Meeting on April 22, 2009, at 7:30 p.m., in the LGI Meeting Room located in the Middle/Senior High School. The proposed Preliminary Budget is available on the website at www.mv.org and at the Business Office located in the High School.
Marlys Mihok
Board Secretary
Appeared in: Bucks County Courier Times on Sunday, 04/05/2009
In high school, tougher eligibility standards?
From the York Daily Record
In high school, tougher eligibility standards the new trend?
By SEAN McLERNON, Daily Record/Sunday News
Updated: 04/11/2009 10:34:49 PM EDT
The Northeastern school board's change to its academic eligibility requirement for extracurricular activities -- implementing tougher standards -- was motivated by the desire to stress academics first, according to Northeastern High School athletic director Bryan Stephens.
It could be the start of a local trend.
Earlier this month, the spotlight was cast on Eastern York's policy, which requires students to maintain a grade of at least 70 percent in each of their classes. It is more stringent than the PIAA requirement that student-athletes merely pass at least four full-credit subjects in an approved curriculum.
Three parents complained that Eastern's policy was too demanding, and the board agreed to review it.
Less than a week later, a Northeastern policy change that implements a 70 percent standard like the one at Eastern was passed unanimously by the school board.
The policies aren't identical. Eastern gives its students a five-day grace period to bring up a grade that drops below the threshold before the student suffers a 15-day suspension from extracurricular activities. Northeastern has no warning period, according to Stephens, but the penalty is only five days and students have to attend mandatory study hall sessions.
What the policies share more than anything else is a tougher baseline standard than most schools. And that could put athletic teams at a competitive disadvantage.
Stephens said that's not something he's concerned about.
"I'll never use that excuse," Stephens said. "I'd like to think that our kids are doing what they are supposed to be doing in the classroom and that will carry over on the field. If kids aren't keeping their grades up because they can't keep up with our policy, I don't want to say shame on us, but the policy is in place and the kids will understand what's at stake here and I'm not concerned if we suffer competitively or not.
"What's important is our kids are held to that academic standard. It's important that we're stressing the academics."
YAIAA executive director Herb Schmidt said he wasn't sure if more area schools would follow Northeastern's lead, but said any school district considering a change shouldn't be discouraged from doing so.
"I see nothing wrong with it," Schmidt said. "It shouldn't have any impact. They are there to get an education. They are there to study. That's why we refer to them as student-athletes."
At Northeastern, the change in policy does have some coaches concerned, Stephens said, mainly "about whether the kids understand what the ramifications are." Stephens said that most Northeastern students take only four classes because of block scheduling and there is little margin for error.
"I worry about kids getting stuck in a class where they just don't get it -- they don't understand the subject they have been put into and would have trouble getting out of there," Stephens said. "It's not like college when you can just go in and get a pink slip from a professor to get out."
The athletic director still expressed confidence in the school's teachers, coaches and students to step up to the task.
"I think that this policy gets us on the right track," Stephens said. "I am a firm believer and have faith in both my coaches and my kids that if they are educated and understand the policy, they are going to come through with flying colors."
Red Lion boys' basketball coach Steve Schmehl said that he doesn't anticipate a change at his school, which he said sets the bar at simply passing classes, like the PIAA standard. Schmehl said that he and most head coaches require students to get weekly grade updates and said his standard "would be higher than the standard for the school so you can catch it a little bit earlier" and avoid a suspension.
Since most students are interested in pursuing higher education after high school, Schmehl said raising standards makes sense, but it "would get pretty silly" if students were required to get higher than a 70 percent.
"If you have kids that are interested in going to college, obviously D's aren't going to cut it and a lot of times C's aren't going to cut it," Schmehl said. "Holding them to a standard of a C I don't think is a bad idea, but if you end up going any higher than that, you're going to end up losing some kids."
For the last 14 years, Central York girls' soccer coach Liz Critchfield has been coaching at the school in some capacity and said she has never had any academic issues with her athletes, who are also held to a standard similar to that set by the PIAA. Like Schmehl, she said 70 would be a reasonable grade to expect students to make, but would hesitate supporting a tougher standard than that.
Critchfield said that coaches and parents would have little to complain about if the minimum was bumped up to 70.
"Education has to be the No. 1 priority," Critchfield said. "Not every kid out there is going to become a professional athlete, and sometimes that's what parents are looking for or coaches are looking for -- a winning season -- instead of taking a look at the whole scenario."
PIAA'S STANDARDS
Academic and Curricular Requirements
1. You must pursue a curriculum defined and approved by your Principal as a full-time curriculum.
2. You must be passing at least four full-credit subjects, or the equivalent, as of each Friday during a grading period. If you fail to meet this requirement, you will lose your eligibility from the following Sunday through the Saturday immediately following the next Friday as of which you meet this requirement.
3. You must have passed at least four full-credit subjects or the equivalent during the previous grading period, except that eligibility for the first grading period is based on your final grades for the preceding school year. If you fail to meet this requirement, you will lose your eligibility for at least 10 or 15 school days of the next grading period, beginning on the first day that report cards are issued. If your school has four grading periods, you will be ineligible for at least 15 school days; if your school has six grading periods, you will be ineligible for at least 10 school days.
In high school, tougher eligibility standards the new trend?
By SEAN McLERNON, Daily Record/Sunday News
Updated: 04/11/2009 10:34:49 PM EDT
The Northeastern school board's change to its academic eligibility requirement for extracurricular activities -- implementing tougher standards -- was motivated by the desire to stress academics first, according to Northeastern High School athletic director Bryan Stephens.
It could be the start of a local trend.
Earlier this month, the spotlight was cast on Eastern York's policy, which requires students to maintain a grade of at least 70 percent in each of their classes. It is more stringent than the PIAA requirement that student-athletes merely pass at least four full-credit subjects in an approved curriculum.
Three parents complained that Eastern's policy was too demanding, and the board agreed to review it.
Less than a week later, a Northeastern policy change that implements a 70 percent standard like the one at Eastern was passed unanimously by the school board.
The policies aren't identical. Eastern gives its students a five-day grace period to bring up a grade that drops below the threshold before the student suffers a 15-day suspension from extracurricular activities. Northeastern has no warning period, according to Stephens, but the penalty is only five days and students have to attend mandatory study hall sessions.
What the policies share more than anything else is a tougher baseline standard than most schools. And that could put athletic teams at a competitive disadvantage.
Stephens said that's not something he's concerned about.
"I'll never use that excuse," Stephens said. "I'd like to think that our kids are doing what they are supposed to be doing in the classroom and that will carry over on the field. If kids aren't keeping their grades up because they can't keep up with our policy, I don't want to say shame on us, but the policy is in place and the kids will understand what's at stake here and I'm not concerned if we suffer competitively or not.
"What's important is our kids are held to that academic standard. It's important that we're stressing the academics."
YAIAA executive director Herb Schmidt said he wasn't sure if more area schools would follow Northeastern's lead, but said any school district considering a change shouldn't be discouraged from doing so.
"I see nothing wrong with it," Schmidt said. "It shouldn't have any impact. They are there to get an education. They are there to study. That's why we refer to them as student-athletes."
At Northeastern, the change in policy does have some coaches concerned, Stephens said, mainly "about whether the kids understand what the ramifications are." Stephens said that most Northeastern students take only four classes because of block scheduling and there is little margin for error.
"I worry about kids getting stuck in a class where they just don't get it -- they don't understand the subject they have been put into and would have trouble getting out of there," Stephens said. "It's not like college when you can just go in and get a pink slip from a professor to get out."
The athletic director still expressed confidence in the school's teachers, coaches and students to step up to the task.
"I think that this policy gets us on the right track," Stephens said. "I am a firm believer and have faith in both my coaches and my kids that if they are educated and understand the policy, they are going to come through with flying colors."
Red Lion boys' basketball coach Steve Schmehl said that he doesn't anticipate a change at his school, which he said sets the bar at simply passing classes, like the PIAA standard. Schmehl said that he and most head coaches require students to get weekly grade updates and said his standard "would be higher than the standard for the school so you can catch it a little bit earlier" and avoid a suspension.
Since most students are interested in pursuing higher education after high school, Schmehl said raising standards makes sense, but it "would get pretty silly" if students were required to get higher than a 70 percent.
"If you have kids that are interested in going to college, obviously D's aren't going to cut it and a lot of times C's aren't going to cut it," Schmehl said. "Holding them to a standard of a C I don't think is a bad idea, but if you end up going any higher than that, you're going to end up losing some kids."
For the last 14 years, Central York girls' soccer coach Liz Critchfield has been coaching at the school in some capacity and said she has never had any academic issues with her athletes, who are also held to a standard similar to that set by the PIAA. Like Schmehl, she said 70 would be a reasonable grade to expect students to make, but would hesitate supporting a tougher standard than that.
Critchfield said that coaches and parents would have little to complain about if the minimum was bumped up to 70.
"Education has to be the No. 1 priority," Critchfield said. "Not every kid out there is going to become a professional athlete, and sometimes that's what parents are looking for or coaches are looking for -- a winning season -- instead of taking a look at the whole scenario."
PIAA'S STANDARDS
Academic and Curricular Requirements
1. You must pursue a curriculum defined and approved by your Principal as a full-time curriculum.
2. You must be passing at least four full-credit subjects, or the equivalent, as of each Friday during a grading period. If you fail to meet this requirement, you will lose your eligibility from the following Sunday through the Saturday immediately following the next Friday as of which you meet this requirement.
3. You must have passed at least four full-credit subjects or the equivalent during the previous grading period, except that eligibility for the first grading period is based on your final grades for the preceding school year. If you fail to meet this requirement, you will lose your eligibility for at least 10 or 15 school days of the next grading period, beginning on the first day that report cards are issued. If your school has four grading periods, you will be ineligible for at least 15 school days; if your school has six grading periods, you will be ineligible for at least 10 school days.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Fee Based Government
From The New York Times.
It sounds like a great deal at first. The guy who caused the accident cleans it up. "It's responsibility!", you think. The costs are targeted right at the user.
You already have the choice of buying Acme brand peanut butter or paying top dollar for "Bob's Super-Chunky Organic Stone-Ground Hand-Mixed Kosher USDA-Approved Mother-in-Law-Approved Peanut Butter". This is just taking the thinking another step forward.
The next step is to apply it to the schools. Make the parents pay for their little angels to be educated. Why burden the childless or the seniors who have put in their time and dollars already?
This is good! Do you want there to be light? Pay the streetlight tax. Want sidewalks and curbs? Pay up!
Ambulance? Fire department? Sewers? Flood remediation? Economic bailout? Pay for it yourself!!
This is the point where the idea falls apart.
When does the notion of "community" begin to be considered? What is "your" responsibility, and what is "our" responsibility? That's the thornier question to answer. Call it the(y)our question.
Old people and the youngest of us use more health services than the rest of the population: Is that(y)our responsibility or not? Without the oldest to guide us with their experience and wisdom, and the youngest to replace us, life tends to sputter out. Is that(y)our responsibility or not?
The fire at your house? Is that(y)our responsibility or not? Oops...it spread to the next door house. Is that(y)our responsibility or not? Paging Mrs. O'Leary: Your steak is ready. You did say "well-done", right?
We were all issued legs at birth and can walk anywhere we want. Roads? Is that(y)our responsibility or not? Efficient transportation and a robust supply network. Is that(y)our responsibility or not?
The streetlight in front of your house. Is that(y)our responsibility or not? Does it prevent accidents and prevent crime too? Is that(y)our responsibility or not?
Things that make you go hmmmmm.....
Cities Turn to Fees to Fill Budget Gaps
By David Segal, The New York Times
After her sport utility vehicle sideswiped a van in early February, Shirley Kimel was amazed at how quickly a handful of police officers and firefighters in Winter Haven, Fla., showed up. But a real shock came a week later, when a letter arrived from the city billing her $316 for the cost of responding to the accident.
“I remember thinking, ‘What the heck is this?’ ” says Ms. Kimel, 67, an office manager at a furniture store. “I always thought this sort of thing was covered by my taxes.”
It used to be. But last July, Winter Haven became one of a few dozen cities in the country to start charging “accident response fees.” The idea is to shift the expense of tending to and cleaning up crashes directly to at-fault drivers. Either they, or their insurers, are expected to pay.
Such cash-per-crash ordinances tend to infuriate motorists, and they often generate bad press, but a lot of cities are finding them hard to resist. With the economy flailing and budgets strained, state and local governments are being creative about ways to raise money. And the go-to idea is to invent a fee — or simply raise one.
Ohio’s governor has proposed a budget with more than 150 new or increased fees, including a fivefold increase in the cost to renew a livestock license, as well as larger sums to register a car, order a birth certificate or dump trash in a landfill. Other fees take aim at landlords, cigarette sellers and hospitals, to name a few.
Wisconsin’s governor, James E. Doyle, has proposed a charge on slaughterhouses that would be levied on the basis of each animal slaughtered. He also wants to more than triple the application charge for an elk-hunting license to $10, an idea that has raised eyebrows because the elk population in the state is currently too small to allow an actual hunting season.
Washington’s mayor, Adrian M. Fenty, has proposed a “streetlight user fee” of $4.25 a month, to be added to electric bills, that would cover the cost of operating and maintaining the city’s streetlights. New York City recently expanded its anti-idling law to include anyone parked near a school who leaves the engine running for more than a minute. Doing that will cost you $100.
“The most dangerous places on Staten Island are the schools at drop-off and dismissal time, when parents are parked three deep in the road,” says James S. Oddo, a City Council member from Staten Island who voted for the measure. “There is a mentality here that Johnny can’t walk 100 feet, he has to be dropped off right at the front of the school — and frankly that’s why Johnny is as pudgy as he is.”
Nothing, it seems, is off the table. In Pima County, Ariz., the County Board of Supervisors increased an assortment of fees, including the cost of AIDS testing. Florida has proposed raising medical visit co-payments for inmates in state prisons. Parking fees at the Honolulu Zoo could rise by 500 percent if a proposal there goes through.
Politicians tend to regard fees as more palatable than taxes, and more focused too. If a state needs to finance an infrastructure to oversee fishing, why shouldn’t fishermen foot the bill? But groups like the nonpartisan Tax Foundation in Washington worry that governments are now using fees to shore up budget shortfalls rather than cover specific costs incurred by specific users.
“When it comes to paying for bananas, you’ve got the market as a mechanism to make sure you’re paying a fair price,” says Josh Barro, a staff economist at the Tax Foundation. “But when it comes to getting your driver’s license renewed, the government has a monopoly, and you have no idea what it costs the state or what it’s doing with the money.”
Get-tough approach
In some cases, towns say they are merely enforcing rules that have long been on the books. For the first time in years, for instance, officials at Londonderry, N.H., have mailed notices to dog owners reminding them to renew their annual dog licenses, which cost $6.50 apiece, or face a $25 fine. Town leaders think the get-tough approach could raise an additional $20,000, but Meg Seymour, the town clerk, is dreading local reaction. When the town last sent out fine notices, in 2002, the calls to her office were vicious.
“Let’s just say that we’re the ones who take the venting,” she said. “You have no idea.”
If past patterns hold, the new wave of fees is just getting started. Gary Wagner, a professor of economics at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, was one author of a study of moving-vehicle and parking tickets in North Carolina, covering a 14-year period. He found a strong correlation between a dip in government revenue and a rise in ticket-writing by the police.
“But there’s a lag time,” Mr. Wagner said. “Typically, it’s about a year after the revenues drop that the police start writing more tickets.”
If you date the start of the downturn to last September, the ticket-writing is just getting under way. And New Yorkers can expect more days like the one in mid-March, when the police wrote 9,016 driving-while-phoning tickets within 24 hours, roughly 20 times the usual number.
The “accident response fee” idea could spread, too. A company in Dayton, Ohio, called the Cost Recovery Corporation specializes in setting up collection systems for municipalities that bill for police and fire responses. (The company keeps 10 percent of billings.) Inquiries have tripled in the last year, says the company’s president, Regina Moore.
“What we’re hearing from towns is, ‘The taxpayers are all over us; they don’t want to surrender more tax money,’ ” she said. “And response fees are basically a form of restitution, like paying for a stay in jail.”
Insurance companies loathe the idea, because inevitably customers assume that a crash fee is covered by their policies. (It isn’t, in most cases.) And unlike the pay-to-stay approach to jails, crash fees rarely play well in the media. The mayor of Duluth, Minn., backed off a crash fee proposal shortly after Jay Leno joked about the city, by name, in a “Tonight Show” monologue last year.
In Winter Haven, the accident response fee seemed to leaders to be a reasonable way to help finance the police and fire departments, but so far only 20 percent of the $32,000 that has been billed to at-fault drivers has been collected.
“We chose not to contract out the collection part of this, and frankly, because of staff cuts, we don’t have enough people to handle all the paperwork,” says Joy Townsend, the city’s communications officer. “We’re now evaluating how cost-effective this program is.”
Ms. Kimel, the S.U.V. driver in Florida, will not make the numbers look any better. She has no idea whether the city will come after her for that $316 bill, but she doesn’t care.
“I’m not paying,” she said, “because it isn’t fair.”
It sounds like a great deal at first. The guy who caused the accident cleans it up. "It's responsibility!", you think. The costs are targeted right at the user.
You already have the choice of buying Acme brand peanut butter or paying top dollar for "Bob's Super-Chunky Organic Stone-Ground Hand-Mixed Kosher USDA-Approved Mother-in-Law-Approved Peanut Butter". This is just taking the thinking another step forward.
The next step is to apply it to the schools. Make the parents pay for their little angels to be educated. Why burden the childless or the seniors who have put in their time and dollars already?
This is good! Do you want there to be light? Pay the streetlight tax. Want sidewalks and curbs? Pay up!
Ambulance? Fire department? Sewers? Flood remediation? Economic bailout? Pay for it yourself!!
This is the point where the idea falls apart.
When does the notion of "community" begin to be considered? What is "your" responsibility, and what is "our" responsibility? That's the thornier question to answer. Call it the(y)our question.
Old people and the youngest of us use more health services than the rest of the population: Is that(y)our responsibility or not? Without the oldest to guide us with their experience and wisdom, and the youngest to replace us, life tends to sputter out. Is that(y)our responsibility or not?
The fire at your house? Is that(y)our responsibility or not? Oops...it spread to the next door house. Is that(y)our responsibility or not? Paging Mrs. O'Leary: Your steak is ready. You did say "well-done", right?
We were all issued legs at birth and can walk anywhere we want. Roads? Is that(y)our responsibility or not? Efficient transportation and a robust supply network. Is that(y)our responsibility or not?
The streetlight in front of your house. Is that(y)our responsibility or not? Does it prevent accidents and prevent crime too? Is that(y)our responsibility or not?
Things that make you go hmmmmm.....
Cities Turn to Fees to Fill Budget Gaps
By David Segal, The New York Times
After her sport utility vehicle sideswiped a van in early February, Shirley Kimel was amazed at how quickly a handful of police officers and firefighters in Winter Haven, Fla., showed up. But a real shock came a week later, when a letter arrived from the city billing her $316 for the cost of responding to the accident.
“I remember thinking, ‘What the heck is this?’ ” says Ms. Kimel, 67, an office manager at a furniture store. “I always thought this sort of thing was covered by my taxes.”
It used to be. But last July, Winter Haven became one of a few dozen cities in the country to start charging “accident response fees.” The idea is to shift the expense of tending to and cleaning up crashes directly to at-fault drivers. Either they, or their insurers, are expected to pay.
Such cash-per-crash ordinances tend to infuriate motorists, and they often generate bad press, but a lot of cities are finding them hard to resist. With the economy flailing and budgets strained, state and local governments are being creative about ways to raise money. And the go-to idea is to invent a fee — or simply raise one.
Ohio’s governor has proposed a budget with more than 150 new or increased fees, including a fivefold increase in the cost to renew a livestock license, as well as larger sums to register a car, order a birth certificate or dump trash in a landfill. Other fees take aim at landlords, cigarette sellers and hospitals, to name a few.
Wisconsin’s governor, James E. Doyle, has proposed a charge on slaughterhouses that would be levied on the basis of each animal slaughtered. He also wants to more than triple the application charge for an elk-hunting license to $10, an idea that has raised eyebrows because the elk population in the state is currently too small to allow an actual hunting season.
Washington’s mayor, Adrian M. Fenty, has proposed a “streetlight user fee” of $4.25 a month, to be added to electric bills, that would cover the cost of operating and maintaining the city’s streetlights. New York City recently expanded its anti-idling law to include anyone parked near a school who leaves the engine running for more than a minute. Doing that will cost you $100.
“The most dangerous places on Staten Island are the schools at drop-off and dismissal time, when parents are parked three deep in the road,” says James S. Oddo, a City Council member from Staten Island who voted for the measure. “There is a mentality here that Johnny can’t walk 100 feet, he has to be dropped off right at the front of the school — and frankly that’s why Johnny is as pudgy as he is.”
Nothing, it seems, is off the table. In Pima County, Ariz., the County Board of Supervisors increased an assortment of fees, including the cost of AIDS testing. Florida has proposed raising medical visit co-payments for inmates in state prisons. Parking fees at the Honolulu Zoo could rise by 500 percent if a proposal there goes through.
Politicians tend to regard fees as more palatable than taxes, and more focused too. If a state needs to finance an infrastructure to oversee fishing, why shouldn’t fishermen foot the bill? But groups like the nonpartisan Tax Foundation in Washington worry that governments are now using fees to shore up budget shortfalls rather than cover specific costs incurred by specific users.
“When it comes to paying for bananas, you’ve got the market as a mechanism to make sure you’re paying a fair price,” says Josh Barro, a staff economist at the Tax Foundation. “But when it comes to getting your driver’s license renewed, the government has a monopoly, and you have no idea what it costs the state or what it’s doing with the money.”
Get-tough approach
In some cases, towns say they are merely enforcing rules that have long been on the books. For the first time in years, for instance, officials at Londonderry, N.H., have mailed notices to dog owners reminding them to renew their annual dog licenses, which cost $6.50 apiece, or face a $25 fine. Town leaders think the get-tough approach could raise an additional $20,000, but Meg Seymour, the town clerk, is dreading local reaction. When the town last sent out fine notices, in 2002, the calls to her office were vicious.
“Let’s just say that we’re the ones who take the venting,” she said. “You have no idea.”
If past patterns hold, the new wave of fees is just getting started. Gary Wagner, a professor of economics at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, was one author of a study of moving-vehicle and parking tickets in North Carolina, covering a 14-year period. He found a strong correlation between a dip in government revenue and a rise in ticket-writing by the police.
“But there’s a lag time,” Mr. Wagner said. “Typically, it’s about a year after the revenues drop that the police start writing more tickets.”
If you date the start of the downturn to last September, the ticket-writing is just getting under way. And New Yorkers can expect more days like the one in mid-March, when the police wrote 9,016 driving-while-phoning tickets within 24 hours, roughly 20 times the usual number.
The “accident response fee” idea could spread, too. A company in Dayton, Ohio, called the Cost Recovery Corporation specializes in setting up collection systems for municipalities that bill for police and fire responses. (The company keeps 10 percent of billings.) Inquiries have tripled in the last year, says the company’s president, Regina Moore.
“What we’re hearing from towns is, ‘The taxpayers are all over us; they don’t want to surrender more tax money,’ ” she said. “And response fees are basically a form of restitution, like paying for a stay in jail.”
Insurance companies loathe the idea, because inevitably customers assume that a crash fee is covered by their policies. (It isn’t, in most cases.) And unlike the pay-to-stay approach to jails, crash fees rarely play well in the media. The mayor of Duluth, Minn., backed off a crash fee proposal shortly after Jay Leno joked about the city, by name, in a “Tonight Show” monologue last year.
In Winter Haven, the accident response fee seemed to leaders to be a reasonable way to help finance the police and fire departments, but so far only 20 percent of the $32,000 that has been billed to at-fault drivers has been collected.
“We chose not to contract out the collection part of this, and frankly, because of staff cuts, we don’t have enough people to handle all the paperwork,” says Joy Townsend, the city’s communications officer. “We’re now evaluating how cost-effective this program is.”
Ms. Kimel, the S.U.V. driver in Florida, will not make the numbers look any better. She has no idea whether the city will come after her for that $316 bill, but she doesn’t care.
“I’m not paying,” she said, “because it isn’t fair.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)