today’s news and information gleanings from here and there!
Quote for today… “The school districts who have managed budgets and kept taxes low will be punished. The others who have mis-managed money and taxed and spent will be rewarded. Another failed liberal idea.” – Repeat quote for the day from last Friday.
- “River Park Trail Services Building Ribbon Cutting Friday, May 1, 2015 1:00 pm with additional activities later in the day. More information to follow.” – A community announcement at the Borough Website
- Time to change that splash page to “a letter from Tom Corbett, FORMER governor.”
- It’s tomorrow. Beware the “ides of March?” NOT. – “The soothsayer’s warning to Julius Caesar, “Beware the Ides of March,” has forever imbued that date with a sense of foreboding. But in Roman times the expression ‘Ides of March’ did not necessarily evoke a dark mood—it was simply the standard way of saying ‘March 15.’ Surely such a fanciful expression must signify something more than merely another day of the year? Not so. Even in Shakespeare’s time, sixteen centuries later, audiences attending his play Julius Caesar wouldn’t have blinked twice upon hearing the date called the Ides.” – InfoPlease
Julius Caesar figured it was just another day.
- That’s one thought: “The fact of the matter is that school districts across Pennsylvania are struggling as a result of misguided funding cuts that have starved our classrooms of resources and put our children at a disadvantage.” Governor Wolf, in a statement about the abrupt resignation of the York School District’s Chief Recovery Officer.
- Another might be “misguided spending.”
Columbia news, views & reviews 
Our state legislature for years has deferred doing the right thing. They always do what is politically correct. Our politicians have got to change the inefficient old ways that this state has always been run. We can’t keep operating with rediculous things like 500 school districts for one state. We as tacpayers in Pa pay way too much for things like administrative services. We don’t have a funding issue because we pay more per pupil than most states, its just less actually goes to teaching our students.
Great points, Joe.
Here’s a bit more on that: “It’s true that Pennsylvania’s per-pupil spending of $13,340 in 2012 — the latest data available from the U.S. Census — ranks 13th highest in the country. That’s well above the national average of $10,608 per pupil (though less than neighboring states such as New York, $19,552; New Jersey, $17,266; Delaware, $13,865; and Maryland, $13,609. But that’s largely due to the generosity of local taxpayers, not the state. The $5,813 in per-pupil dollars coming from the state in Pennsylvania in 2012 ranked 21st — and was less than every abutting state except Ohio. The per-pupil dollars coming from local sources — $8,967 in 2012 — ranked 6th.
“As a percentage of elementary/secondary public school funding, Pennsylvania’s state contribution — 36.1 percent — is well below the national average of 45.5 percent, and ranks 45th.
“In other words, Pennsylvania is “one of the top states in the country in what we spend per pupil on education” because of generous local contributions, not state dollars.”
SOURCE: http://www.factcheck.org/2014/06/playing-politics-with-education/
We agree: There are way too many public school systems. With too many administratiors and too many school boards and too many separate athletic facilities, etc. etc. etc.
But maybe that’s what folks want; they want to have their kids be able to participate in every activity at every level – they just want someone else to help pay for everything.
This is called entitlement. This is the reason the state is in the financial bind its in. Too nany takers, not enougg payers. If these parents want these amneties for their kids & can’t afford it, get anothee job.