We're into the Dog Days of August now. Back to School is just around the corner.
What's on your minds?
43 comments:
Anonymous
said...
It's always good to hear from the local Equal Opportunity Haters.
Blame unemployment on broken promise of ObamaCare Story Comments (14) ShareShare Print Create a hardcopy of this page Font Size: Default font size Larger font size Share Posted: Monday, August 1, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 3:06 pm, Fri Jul 29, 2011.
Blame unemployment on broken promise of ObamaCare 14 comments
There are many suggested reasons, most of them related to the Great Recession's unregulated financial industry, why our unemployment remains high. Of course, many of these factors — monetary, political and social — are interrelated, often with great complexity. The one most often cited in public is that businesses both large and small are reluctant to hire because the overall economy seems still fragile and very uncertain. There is much fear of the unknown future.
More cynical commentators claim that business people are just completely selfish and greedy, keeping everything for themselves, believing "After us, the deluge!"
Yet, I feel that there is a basically unrecognized reality that contributes greatly to our present unemployment and that is the loss of opportunity to adopt single-payer heath care. In other words, I am advocating more Medicare — Medicare for all, rather than severely limiting and destroying it!
Everyone screams about big corporations taking so many of our jobs out of the country. One good reason for this was that the cost of covering their American employees' health care kept rising rapidly without end. This meant that our companies couldn't compete with other developed nations in which there is government-sponsored universal medical coverage — or with undeveloped nations in which there is no health care insurance at all.
We are also told that our small businesses are the genesis of our greatest number of jobs and so it is very easy to see how out-of-control health care costs can threaten and ruin Main Street.
Right now small business owners are weary of taking the risk of hiring because there is much confusion concerning the future requirements and costs of Obamacare when it fully takes effect.
Obama, despite promising single-payer when he was campaigning, after elected negotiated singularly and privately with the big health care insurance companies and Big Pharma, thus killing any chances for American universal health care. He claimed that it was impossible to do otherwise because these institutions were already very well established and it was therefore impossible to upset this status quo.
So, we have before us an astonishing phenomenon: the most powerful man on earth saying, "You can't fight City Hall!"
Yet, he doesn't seem reluctant now to throw well-established and proven essential programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid under the bus. Why is this? Is he actually in the case fighting City Hall? I don't think so. He is still deeply within its bosom, for I suspect that he is really a yuppie (yes, they are still around) — young-upward-moving professionals and this includes Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor — who are basically extremely ambitious status-seekers and social climbers.
Obama's mother was in many ways a hippie academic who rebelled against our superficial, social climbing, keep-ahead-of-the-Joneses society. She was right and I am sure she would not be proud of him if she were still alive, even though he became our first African-American president.
Saw that. She's got a thing against Yuppies. Unfortunately, her definition of Yuppies is extremely broad and inclusive. I like the flood (deluge) reference too. Is it possible to be anti-everything? She comes very close.
Another sideline hater..All she ever does is pour scorn on anyone and everyone. I don't recall her ever making one bit of difference, just another self-important letter writer, whose endless drivel fills the op-ed pages every chance she gets. Just another pimple on the face of progress.
We received a robo call yesterday to say that Mike Fitzpatrick will be having a town hall style community meeting at Morrisville's high school tonight.
Thanks for backing me Jane and Marlys and Al and Bill and Jack. You can count on me to continue working hard to support our Tea Party leadreship in cutting your SS, disability, and Medicare. But I'm such a nice well dressed seemingly friendly guy that you'll like me for it anyway.
I'm sure the police will be on hand with a strong turnout to stop any audience members from getting rowdy. Remember how the Tea Partiers got rowdy with Murphy?
Yeah, but the Tea Party is always right and anybody else's viewpoint is unacceptable. So there's a difference. Figures a liberal wouldn't understand! ;-)
Isn't that leberals? As in tax and spend leberals, as in
"we dont want all that dirty jersey bridge traffic here. thats why we stopped that horrible gateway project that would have increased traffic to levels too large for our quite little town. thank GOD leaders in morrisville know this and save out town from the tax and spend leberals"
Lay off the man. Fitz is throwing down some more burdens and sacrifices on the middle class and poor so the job creator class can go about their business of creating jobs - after losing millions of jobs by greedily melting down financial markets and then getting showered taxpayer bailout money. Now would be a good time for the job creators to start creatng jobs, don't you think? When do you think they'll start?
They have been creating jobs. Overseas. Why else do you think they need tax breaks on their corporate jets? They need frequent visits to where they've outsourced the jobs. Jet planes and jet fuel and jet pilots cost money you know.
I stand behind everything I've ever said anywhere about you.
Do I think you have lied? No, I don't think you have, I KNOW you have.
Have you put out inaccurate information as a Board Member? Yes, yes you have.
Do I find your multi-year campaign of taking pictures of children disturbing, despite your claims that it's because you're a "child safety advocate"? Yes, yes I do.
Do I think your stretch as I.U. rep. where you only made 6 out of 26 meetings (23%) was shoddy representation? Yes, yes I do.
Do I think you behave in extremely partisan, mean-spirited ways? Yes.
Do I wish you were not re-elected to the School Board for these and other reasons? Yes.
Do I think you're a bully when you have allies surrounding you, but a coward when you don't? Yes, and you just proved it tonight.
After the Fitzpatrick Town Hall last night, Marlys came by to talk to Pat Wandling, who was sitting in a corner of the LGI near me. As I was trying to quietly pass by to leave, Marlys made a flippant remark about me being "Mr. Anonymous". I told her she should zip it if she doesn't have anything nice to say. She made what sounded to my ears like an insincere apology, and I equally insincerely told her to have a fine evening. She told me to do the same. I told her I'd say anything I've ever said about her right to her face. She turned her head and walked away, not wanting to engage. I'll give her props for that. That was her best move. Bullies need company to back them up, and she didn't really have any at that point.
So I posted some (repeat, some) of the things that really bug me about her. That's all.
In my opinion, she's just functioning as usual as an antagonizing wedge-driver on a continuous fishing expedition of [INSERT NEGATIVE NOUN HERE].
Did I say that or did I just think it?
Hey, at least she either reads this blog (that I make no secret about running) or has cronies telling her things about it.
I'd like to be not blogging at all or blogging about gumdrops and rainbows, but as Superintendent Bill Ferrara said at the end of last night's Town Hall Meeting, he welcomes the input, and we should all have the objective of pointing things out in the hopes of making them better.
bensalem schools Board appoints superintendent Story Comments ShareShare Print Create a hardcopy of this page Font Size: Default font size Larger font size Share Posted: Thursday, August 4, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 6:22 am, Thu Aug 4, 2011.
Board appoints superintendent By James McGinnis Staff writer Calkins Media, Inc. | 0 comments
Administrative changes continued in the Bensalem School District on Wednesday as the board appointed a new superintendent and a new director of pupil personnel.
Assistant Superintendent David Baugh was promoted to lead the district and promised to “carry the load with vision, determination and integrity.”
Baugh holds a doctorate in education from Seton Hall University and joined the district as assistant superintendent in 2009.
He will receive an annual salary of $159,900, officials said.
Baugh replaces William Gretzula.
The former superintendent tendered his resignation on June 8. At the time, Gretzula said he wanted to return to the classroom in a teaching job that might allow him more time with his family.
Yet a month later, he accepted a position as supervisor of curriculum and instruction for professional development and assessment.
During a special July 6 board meeting, the school board also voted to hire Serena Rosen as supervisor of curriculum and instruction for secondary level education.
Director of Pupil Personnel Monica McHale-Small replaces Ann Marie Klibert, who is set to retire in September.
McHale-Small, who previously worked as director of secondary teaching and learning in the Springfield School District, is contracted to receive an annual salary of $124,754 from Bensalem.
Bensalem also begins the new school year with a new high school principal. Robert Anderson replaces the retiring Francis Perry, who ran Bensalem High School for the last six years.
Wednesday’s night’s agenda also include a public hearing on the application for Keystone Academy Charter School.
In February, the board voted to reject plans for the charter after listing 23 concerns and factual discrepancies in the application submitted by prospective founders of the school.
A revised application was submitted to the district June 20 yet none but Keystone’s attorney could attend Wednesday’s meeting.
No audience members spoke during the hearing on the school.
District officials said they continue to have concerns about the application, which still lists the school as opening in September 2011.
In its initial application, Keystone said it would operate a K-12 school with about 40 students per grade. Its founders said they planned to rent classroom space in the Metropolitan Industrial Center off Somerton Road in Bensalem’s Trevose section. According to the application, all students would be required to wear “simple uniforms.”
No official action was taken on the application Wednesday. The school board could vote on the application during next meeting on Aug. 24.
Pennsylvania Charter School law allows applicants to revise denied applications and resubmit them.
The law requires local school boards to act on such applications at a public meeting within 45 days.
We would really be getting somewhere if everybody in 19067 put the right school district on their taxes.
Yardley postal branch renews lease until 2016 By GEMA MARIA DUARTE Staff writer Calkins Media, Inc. | 0 comments
Yardley residents will continue having the comfort of their own postal office, at least until December 2016.
The town council unanimously voted Tuesday night to amend the lease agreement with the U.S. Postal Service for the rental of the Yardley station for $19,200 per year from Jan. 1, 2012 through Dec. 31, 2016.
The Main Street Yardley office is a branch of the Morrisville Post Office in Falls. The two have the same zip code, 19067. The Yardley office is a portion of a borough-owned building adjoining borough hall.
But the deal didn't go through without some negotiations.
In April 2007, Yardley and the postal service settled on a five-year lease of $19,200 per year. Recently, the postal service's real estate agent asked Yardley to reduce the yearly rent by 5 percent.
"The agent had indicated that the postal service is closing post offices around the country that they felt were not profitable and (landlords) were asking for too much in their lease agreement," said council President Joe Hunter at this week's meeting.
Earlier this year, there were rumors the Yardley branch was closing.
However it isn't on the list of about 3,700 post offices nationwide the postal service is studying for potential closing, Cathy Yarosky, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia region, said Wednesday.
Because the Yardley station is convenient for residents and businesses and the rental money helps the borough's budget, the council negotiated to keep the leasing rate from 2007 of $19,200 per year until 2016, Hunter said.
That said, the only way that the postal service can break a lease is if the contract has a "termination clause," Yarosky said. According to Yardley's copy of that contract, there's no such clause.
We would really be getting somewhere if everybody paid their taxes and bills. That is what these dead-beats correctly think of as waste, fraud and abuse when its done by someone other than themselves.
You are correct, in a way. Below is excerpted from wikipedia.
Robert Morris- Later Life
Morris founded several canal companies, a steam engine company, and launched a hot air balloon from his garden on Market Street. He had the first iron rolling mill in America. His icehouse was the model for one Washington installed at Mount Vernon. He backed the new Chestnut Street Theater, started the Horticultural Society and had a green house with lemon trees in it.
On March 12, 1791 he contracted with Massachusetts to purchase what is now essentially all of Western New York west (sic, east) of the Genesee River for $333,333.33.[14] The land, which had been a substantial portion of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, was conveyed to Morris in five deeds on May 11, 1791.
His son Thomas settled the peace with the Six Nations, who had sided with the British during the Revolution. Then Morris sold most of the vast tract to the Holland Land Company in 1792-1793.
In 1794 he began construction of a mansion on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia designed by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. The unfinished mansion became known as "Morris's folly",[15] and the land eventually became Sansom Street. Marbles from this house were purchased by Latrobe and adorn buildings and monuments from Rhode Island to Charlestown, SC.
Morris was later heavily involved in unsuccessful land speculations, investing in the District of Columbia, and purchasing over 6,000,000 acres (24,000 km²) in the rural south. An expected loan from Holland never materialized because England and the Dutch declared war on Revolutionary France. The subsequent Napoleonic Wars ruined the market for American lands and Morris's highly leveraged company collapsed. The financial markets of England, the United States, and the Caribbean were also suffering from the deflation associated with the Panic of 1797. Thus Morris was "land rich and cash poor" (he owned more land than any other American at the time, but didn't have enough hard money to pay his creditors).[16]
Although he attempted to avoid his creditors by remaining at "The Hills", his country estate on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, his creditors literally pursued him to his gate. After he was sued by a former partner, a fraud who at that time was serving time in debtor's prison himself, he was arrested and imprisoned for debt in Prune Street prison in Philadelphia from February 1798 to August 1801.
Morris's economic failure reduced the fortunes of many other prominent Federalists who had invested in his ventures (e.g., Henry Lee). Morris's political adversaries used his bankruptcy to gain political power in Pennsylvania. Governor Thomas McKean was elected and refined the art of political patronage in America. McKean’s party then picked the Pennsylvania members of the electoral college for the election of 1800, and this helped Thomas Jefferson become president.
The US Congress passed its first bankruptcy legislation, the temporary Bankruptcy Act of 1800, in part, to get Morris out of prison.[17] After his release, and suffering from poor health, Morris spent the rest of his life in retirement. He was assisted by his wife, who had supported him throughout his misfortune. Morris died on May 8, 1806, in Philadelphia, and is buried in the family vault of Bishop William White, his brother-in-law, at Christ Church.[18]
Posted: Friday, August 5, 2011 10:06 am | Updated: 9:06 pm, Fri Aug 5, 2011. By Chris English Staff Writer | 0 comments Going briskly about his business at the Bristol Borough School District administration building, Gregory Wright has the confident, self-assured look of a man who has found the right job at the right time. That impression is right on the money, said Wright, who took over Aug. 1 as the district's new superintendent. "I've always wanted to be a superintendent and lead a school district," he said. "I think I bring a good set of skills to the job. I think I have good leadership and good details skills, and I certainly like what I see here in Bristol. I've already seen teachers having meetings and getting their classrooms ready. I met a few students during the interview process and they seem like great kids. "Those are things you see in a community that's very involved in its school district, and I see signs all around me that this is a very involved community." Wright, 42, came to Bristol after three years as curriculum director at the William Penn School District in Delaware County. In Bristol, he succeeded Broadus Davis, who retired June 30. Before William Penn, Wright had been principal at a school in the Delco School District in Delaware County, principal at a Philadelphia charter school and an English teacher for several years in the Philadelphia School District. A native of Chambersburg, Wright has a bachelor's degree in communications from Shippensburg University, a master's degree in education from Temple University and an MBA recently earned at Drexel University. "We had over two dozen applicants for the superintendent's job and Greg absolutely stood out to me," said Bristol Borough school board President Ralph DiGuiseppe III. "He is young and energetic and brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. He brings all the aspects of the traditional educational world but also an MBA, which should really help in terms of the budget and other financial issues. I'm very confident in him going forward and think we'll be very comfortable working with him." Wright's three-year contract includes a starting annual salary of $135,000. Other perks include three weeks of vacation, three personal days and commuting expenses of $2,000 a year. Wright, his wife, Nillie, and daughters Emily, 8, and Julie, 7, live in Havertown, Delaware County, but are moving soon to Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County, roughly a 45-minute commute from Bristol. While the $135,000 annual salary is second lowest among the 13 superintendents in Bucks County, Bristol Borough is also one of smallest school districts in the county. Wright said the pay is fair, and it represents a $12,000 raise from the $123,000 he was making at William Penn. It's slightly more than the $134,136 Davis was earning when he retired. "Ultimately, I'll be graded by the residents on how their tax money is being spent," said Wright. "If I'm successful, I don't think my salary will be an issue and, if I'm not, they will let me know about it." One of the first issues Wright had to address as superintendent was a report issued by the state Department of Education that "flagged" several districts across the state for possible cheating or other irregularities on the 2009 PSSA standardized tests. Bristol received four flags for third- and fifth-grade tests at Snyder-Girotti Elementary School. "The word 'cheating' got the headlines, but cheating referred to erasures on the tests and that was just one of the flags," said Wright. "We were not flagged for cheating. We were flagged for some data issues, which have been fixed. We have submitted our response to the state, which will ultimately decide whether it's been resolved, but I believe it has been."
Wright has plenty of other things to concentrate on in his new job, and he believes the MBA will serve him well in handling those challenges. "Traditionally, if you wanted to be a superintendent, you got a doctorate degree, but I decided to get an MBA instead and I feel very confident that what I got out of that experience is going to make me a much better superintendent," he said. "I think a business degree is valuable to a superintendent. In addition to everything else about finances, there is also a lot of leadership training involved in getting an MBA. It's really an all-encompassing kind of educational experience." With only two schools and about 1,300 students, Bristol Borough is not only one of the county's smallest districts, it's also among the smallest school districts in the state. "I don't think being superintendent at a small district as opposed to a large one is as different as some people would have you believe," said Wright. "The issues are still the same. The issues are still instruction and finances. If you manage correctly, you can manage two buildings or 11 buildings." Wright said he and his family are looking forward to their new home in Bala Cynwyd and have no plans to move into Bristol, but he is quick to compliment the town and school district. "Bristol is such a unique place," he said. "It's a tight-knit community, and the staff I've met here in the school district have all been around here awhile and I feel very good about them. I'm looking forward to a long career here. All the tools are here. Everything is here to be successful. I think Bristol has already had many successes and I'm looking forward to having many more."
What they make Current annual salaries for superintendents in Bucks County school districts, from highest to lowest 1. Robert Laws, Central Bucks, $250,106 2. Mark Klein, Council Rock, $189,095 3. Louis Muenker, Neshaminy, $180,353 4. Raymond Boccuti, New Hope-Solebury, $175,996 5. Lisa Andrejko, Quakertown Community, $174,272 6. Kevin McHugh, Pennsbury, $170,000 7. Bridget O'Connell, Palisades, $165,000 8. Robert Kish, Pennridge, $164,320 9. David Baugh, Bensalem, $159,900 10. Jennifer Cressman, Centennial, $155,000 11. Samuel Lee, Bristol Township, $137,500 12. Gregory Wright, Bristol Borough, $135,000 13. Bill Ferrara, Morrisville, $120,000
That sounds about right for Ferrara. An untested and inexperienced superintendent is probably the best Morrisville can afford. He's an obedient Hellmann-Mihok-Radosti lapdog, so there's a plus.
the new school is a dead issue Steve you know that it can not be built without putting it on the ballot and the town voting on it and we know that will never happen but since it's all you and you and scared SOC group have to spew
43 comments:
It's always good to hear from the local Equal Opportunity Haters.
Blame unemployment on broken promise of ObamaCare
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Posted: Monday, August 1, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 3:06 pm, Fri Jul 29, 2011.
Blame unemployment on broken promise of ObamaCare 14 comments
There are many suggested reasons, most of them related to the Great Recession's unregulated financial industry, why our unemployment remains high. Of course, many of these factors — monetary, political and social — are interrelated, often with great complexity. The one most often cited in public is that businesses both large and small are reluctant to hire because the overall economy seems still fragile and very uncertain. There is much fear of the unknown future.
More cynical commentators claim that business people are just completely selfish and greedy, keeping everything for themselves, believing "After us, the deluge!"
Yet, I feel that there is a basically unrecognized reality that contributes greatly to our present unemployment and that is the loss of opportunity to adopt single-payer heath care. In other words, I am advocating more Medicare — Medicare for all, rather than severely limiting and destroying it!
Everyone screams about big corporations taking so many of our jobs out of the country. One good reason for this was that the cost of covering their American employees' health care kept rising rapidly without end. This meant that our companies couldn't compete with other developed nations in which there is government-sponsored universal medical coverage — or with undeveloped nations in which there is no health care insurance at all.
We are also told that our small businesses are the genesis of our greatest number of jobs and so it is very easy to see how out-of-control health care costs can threaten and ruin Main Street.
Right now small business owners are weary of taking the risk of hiring because there is much confusion concerning the future requirements and costs of Obamacare when it fully takes effect.
Obama, despite promising single-payer when he was campaigning, after elected negotiated singularly and privately with the big health care insurance companies and Big Pharma, thus killing any chances for American universal health care. He claimed that it was impossible to do otherwise because these institutions were already very well established and it was therefore impossible to upset this status quo.
So, we have before us an astonishing phenomenon: the most powerful man on earth saying, "You can't fight City Hall!"
Yet, he doesn't seem reluctant now to throw well-established and proven essential programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid under the bus. Why is this? Is he actually in the case fighting City Hall? I don't think so. He is still deeply within its bosom, for I suspect that he is really a yuppie (yes, they are still around) — young-upward-moving professionals and this includes Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor — who are basically extremely ambitious status-seekers and social climbers.
Obama's mother was in many ways a hippie academic who rebelled against our superficial, social climbing, keep-ahead-of-the-Joneses society. She was right and I am sure she would not be proud of him if she were still alive, even though he became our first African-American president.
Gloria del Vecchio
Morrisville
Saw that. She's got a thing against Yuppies. Unfortunately, her definition of Yuppies is extremely broad and inclusive. I like the flood (deluge) reference too. Is it possible to be anti-everything? She comes very close.
For some reason it reminds me of this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qse_wf57tZM
Another sideline hater..All she ever does is pour scorn on anyone and everyone. I don't recall her ever making one bit of difference, just another self-important letter writer, whose endless drivel fills the op-ed pages every chance she gets. Just another pimple on the face of progress.
Is there a Superintendent Meeting for August? I do not see one on the calendar.
No, the next meeting is Sept 14.
We received a robo call yesterday to say that Mike Fitzpatrick will be having a town hall style community meeting at Morrisville's high school tonight.
Let's hope he can find the place. He was AWOL as solicitor
Here is the public announcement of the town hall meeting. http://fitzpatrick.house.gov/town-hall-announcement
Town Hall Announcement
Join me for a Town Hall Meeting
Date: Wednesday, August 3
Time: 7:30-8:30pm
Location: Morrisville High School
If you have any questions, please call my office at (215) 579-8102.
Thank you and I look forward to seeing you there.
Thanks for backing me Jane and Marlys and Al and Bill and Jack.
You can count on me to continue working hard to support our Tea Party leadreship in cutting your SS, disability, and Medicare.
But I'm such a nice well dressed seemingly friendly guy that you'll like me for it anyway.
He's all about the big corporate money that owns the G.O.P and the Tea Party, but he needs "useful idiots" to buy it too.
"Thanks for backing me Jane and Marlys and Al and Bill and Jack."
Don't forget Steve.
I'm sure the police will be on hand with a strong turnout to stop any audience members from getting rowdy. Remember how the Tea Partiers got rowdy with Murphy?
Yeah, but the Tea Party is always right and anybody else's viewpoint is unacceptable. So there's a difference. Figures a liberal wouldn't understand! ;-)
Isn't that leberals? As in tax and spend leberals, as in
"we dont want all that dirty jersey bridge traffic here. thats why we stopped that horrible gateway project that would have increased traffic to levels too large for our quite little town. thank GOD leaders in morrisville know this and save out town from the tax and spend leberals"
Lay off the man. Fitz is throwing down some more burdens and sacrifices on the middle class and poor so the job creator class can go about their business of creating jobs - after losing millions of jobs by greedily melting down financial markets and then getting showered taxpayer bailout money. Now would be a good time for the job creators to start creatng jobs, don't you think? When do you think they'll start?
They have been creating jobs. Overseas. Why else do you think they need tax breaks on their corporate jets? They need frequent visits to where they've outsourced the jobs. Jet planes and jet fuel and jet pilots cost money you know.
SUCKAHS!!!!
Caviar and Dom Perignon in the 1st Class cabin ain't no walk in the park either.
I pray to God Fitzpatrick wears his lapel pin to prove he's a Real American.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRO93Wa8LeA
Auditorium, LGI, Gym, where?
The MORRISVILLE SUMMER CONCERT SERIES 2011
MORRISVILLE JAZZ FESTIVAL - 8TH ANNUAL
- FREE -
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Williamson Park, Morrisville
Featuring: Music and Entertainment
This year's Festival will include the following performances:
1-3pm The Naturals
3-5pm Karen rodriquez/Latin Jazz Ensemble
5-7pm Kevin Ripley Trio
7-9pm Thursday Night Jazz Band
Bring your blanket or chair
Take Care,
- Janet
follow the smell of unlimited anonymous corporate money and hypocrisy
Be sure to say you're a campaign donor. You'll get a front row seat!
I swear it was just for the bus ride!
No extra charge for being thrown under it either. Can I get my 2010 vote for him back?
you can give your vote to the new school board members kartal, parker, miller and stoneburner
Angry says have you read the updates lately?
a.k.a. "Mr. Anonymous"
Dear Marlys,
I stand behind everything I've ever said anywhere about you.
Do I think you have lied? No, I don't think you have, I KNOW you have.
Have you put out inaccurate information as a Board Member? Yes, yes you have.
Do I find your multi-year campaign of taking pictures of children disturbing, despite your claims that it's because you're a "child safety advocate"? Yes, yes I do.
Do I think your stretch as I.U. rep. where you only made 6 out of 26 meetings (23%) was shoddy representation? Yes, yes I do.
Do I think you behave in extremely partisan, mean-spirited ways? Yes.
Do I wish you were not re-elected to the School Board for these and other reasons? Yes.
Do I think you're a bully when you have allies surrounding you, but a coward when you don't? Yes, and you just proved it tonight.
Marlys,
Do I find this statement of yours reprehensible?
"I will never ever ever be responsible for any child because I am a school board member".
YES.
Wow, Jon. What happened last night?
Not much really, just typical Marlys.
After the Fitzpatrick Town Hall last night, Marlys came by to talk to Pat Wandling, who was sitting in a corner of the LGI near me. As I was trying to quietly pass by to leave, Marlys made a flippant remark about me being "Mr. Anonymous". I told her she should zip it if she doesn't have anything nice to say. She made what sounded to my ears like an insincere apology, and I equally insincerely told her to have a fine evening. She told me to do the same. I told her I'd say anything I've ever said about her right to her face. She turned her head and walked away, not wanting to engage. I'll give her props for that. That was her best move. Bullies need company to back them up, and she didn't really have any at that point.
So I posted some (repeat, some) of the things that really bug me about her. That's all.
How could Marlys challenge you as "anonymous" unless she already knew who it was? Is her SOC data Gestapo working overtime?
In my opinion, she's just functioning as usual as an antagonizing wedge-driver on a continuous fishing expedition of [INSERT NEGATIVE NOUN HERE].
Did I say that or did I just think it?
Hey, at least she either reads this blog (that I make no secret about running) or has cronies telling her things about it.
I'd like to be not blogging at all or blogging about gumdrops and rainbows, but as Superintendent Bill Ferrara said at the end of last night's Town Hall Meeting, he welcomes the input, and we should all have the objective of pointing things out in the hopes of making them better.
bensalem schools
Board appoints superintendent
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Posted: Thursday, August 4, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 6:22 am, Thu Aug 4, 2011.
Board appoints superintendent
By James McGinnis
Staff writer Calkins Media, Inc. | 0 comments
Administrative changes continued in the Bensalem School District on Wednesday as the board appointed a new superintendent and a new director of pupil personnel.
Assistant Superintendent David Baugh was promoted to lead the district and promised to “carry the load with vision, determination and integrity.”
Baugh holds a doctorate in education from Seton Hall University and joined the district as assistant superintendent in 2009.
He will receive an annual salary of $159,900, officials said.
Baugh replaces William Gretzula.
The former superintendent tendered his resignation on June 8. At the time, Gretzula said he wanted to return to the classroom in a teaching job that might allow him more time with his family.
Yet a month later, he accepted a position as supervisor of curriculum and instruction for professional development and assessment.
During a special July 6 board meeting, the school board also voted to hire Serena Rosen as supervisor of curriculum and instruction for secondary level education.
Director of Pupil Personnel Monica McHale-Small replaces Ann Marie Klibert, who is set to retire in September.
McHale-Small, who previously worked as director of secondary teaching and learning in the Springfield School District, is contracted to receive an annual salary of $124,754 from Bensalem.
Bensalem also begins the new school year with a new high school principal. Robert Anderson replaces the retiring Francis Perry, who ran Bensalem High School for the last six years.
Wednesday’s night’s agenda also include a public hearing on the application for Keystone Academy Charter School.
In February, the board voted to reject plans for the charter after listing 23 concerns and factual discrepancies in the application submitted by prospective founders of the school.
A revised application was submitted to the district June 20 yet none but Keystone’s attorney could attend Wednesday’s meeting.
No audience members spoke during the hearing on the school.
District officials said they continue to have concerns about the application, which still lists the school as opening in September 2011.
In its initial application, Keystone said it would operate a K-12 school with about 40 students per grade. Its founders said they planned to rent classroom space in the Metropolitan Industrial Center off Somerton Road in Bensalem’s Trevose section. According to the application, all students would be required to wear “simple uniforms.”
No official action was taken on the application Wednesday. The school board could vote on the application during next meeting on Aug. 24.
Pennsylvania Charter School law allows applicants to revise denied applications and resubmit them.
The law requires local school boards to act on such applications at a public meeting within 45 days.
We would really be getting somewhere if everybody in 19067 put the right school district on their taxes.
Yardley postal branch renews lease until 2016
By GEMA MARIA DUARTE Staff writer Calkins Media, Inc. | 0 comments
Yardley residents will continue having the comfort of their own postal office, at least until December 2016.
The town council unanimously voted Tuesday night to amend the lease agreement with the U.S. Postal Service for the rental of the Yardley station for $19,200 per year from Jan. 1, 2012 through Dec. 31, 2016.
The Main Street Yardley office is a branch of the Morrisville Post Office in Falls. The two have the same zip code, 19067. The Yardley office is a portion of a borough-owned building adjoining borough hall.
But the deal didn't go through without some negotiations.
In April 2007, Yardley and the postal service settled on a five-year lease of $19,200 per year. Recently, the postal service's real estate agent asked Yardley to reduce the yearly rent by 5 percent.
"The agent had indicated that the postal service is closing post offices around the country that they felt were not profitable and (landlords) were asking for too much in their lease agreement," said council President Joe Hunter at this week's meeting.
Earlier this year, there were rumors the Yardley branch was closing.
However it isn't on the list of about 3,700 post offices nationwide the postal service is studying for potential closing, Cathy Yarosky, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia region, said Wednesday.
Because the Yardley station is convenient for residents and businesses and the rental money helps the borough's budget, the council negotiated to keep the leasing rate from 2007 of $19,200 per year until 2016, Hunter said.
That said, the only way that the postal service can break a lease is if the contract has a "termination clause," Yarosky said. According to Yardley's copy of that contract, there's no such clause.
We would really be getting somewhere if everybody paid their taxes and bills.
That is what these dead-beats correctly think of as waste, fraud and abuse when its done by someone other than themselves.
thank GOD we have real patriots in morrisville! four more years!
You are correct, in a way. Below is excerpted from wikipedia.
Robert Morris- Later Life
Morris founded several canal companies, a steam engine company, and launched a hot air balloon from his garden on Market Street. He had the first iron rolling mill in America. His icehouse was the model for one Washington installed at Mount Vernon. He backed the new Chestnut Street Theater, started the Horticultural Society and had a green house with lemon trees in it.
On March 12, 1791 he contracted with Massachusetts to purchase what is now essentially all of Western New York west (sic, east) of the Genesee River for $333,333.33.[14] The land, which had been a substantial portion of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, was conveyed to Morris in five deeds on May 11, 1791.
His son Thomas settled the peace with the Six Nations, who had sided with the British during the Revolution. Then Morris sold most of the vast tract to the Holland Land Company in 1792-1793.
In 1794 he began construction of a mansion on Chestnut Street in Philadelphia designed by Pierre Charles L'Enfant. The unfinished mansion became known as "Morris's folly",[15] and the land eventually became Sansom Street. Marbles from this house were purchased by Latrobe and adorn buildings and monuments from Rhode Island to Charlestown, SC.
Morris was later heavily involved in unsuccessful land speculations, investing in the District of Columbia, and purchasing over 6,000,000 acres (24,000 km²) in the rural south. An expected loan from Holland never materialized because England and the Dutch declared war on Revolutionary France. The subsequent Napoleonic Wars ruined the market for American lands and Morris's highly leveraged company collapsed. The financial markets of England, the United States, and the Caribbean were also suffering from the deflation associated with the Panic of 1797. Thus Morris was "land rich and cash poor" (he owned more land than any other American at the time, but didn't have enough hard money to pay his creditors).[16]
Although he attempted to avoid his creditors by remaining at "The Hills", his country estate on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, his creditors literally pursued him to his gate. After he was sued by a former partner, a fraud who at that time was serving time in debtor's prison himself, he was arrested and imprisoned for debt in Prune Street prison in Philadelphia from February 1798 to August 1801.
Morris's economic failure reduced the fortunes of many other prominent Federalists who had invested in his ventures (e.g., Henry Lee). Morris's political adversaries used his bankruptcy to gain political power in Pennsylvania. Governor Thomas McKean was elected and refined the art of political patronage in America. McKean’s party then picked the Pennsylvania members of the electoral college for the election of 1800, and this helped Thomas Jefferson become president.
The US Congress passed its first bankruptcy legislation, the temporary Bankruptcy Act of 1800, in part, to get Morris out of prison.[17]
After his release, and suffering from poor health, Morris spent the rest of his life in retirement. He was assisted by his wife, who had supported him throughout his misfortune. Morris died on May 8, 1806, in Philadelphia, and is buried in the family vault of Bishop William White, his brother-in-law, at Christ Church.[18]
New superintendent takes over in Bristol schools
Posted: Friday, August 5, 2011 10:06 am | Updated: 9:06 pm, Fri Aug 5, 2011.
By Chris English Staff Writer | 0 comments
Going briskly about his business at the Bristol Borough School District administration building, Gregory Wright has the confident, self-assured look of a man who has found the right job at the right time.
That impression is right on the money, said Wright, who took over Aug. 1 as the district's new superintendent.
"I've always wanted to be a superintendent and lead a school district," he said. "I think I bring a good set of skills to the job. I think I have good leadership and good details skills, and I certainly like what I see here in Bristol. I've already seen teachers having meetings and getting their classrooms ready. I met a few students during the interview process and they seem like great kids.
"Those are things you see in a community that's very involved in its school district, and I see signs all around me that this is a very involved community."
Wright, 42, came to Bristol after three years as curriculum director at the William Penn School District in Delaware County. In Bristol, he succeeded Broadus Davis, who retired June 30.
Before William Penn, Wright had been principal at a school in the Delco School District in Delaware County, principal at a Philadelphia charter school and an English teacher for several years in the Philadelphia School District.
A native of Chambersburg, Wright has a bachelor's degree in communications from Shippensburg University, a master's degree in education from Temple University and an MBA recently earned at Drexel University.
"We had over two dozen applicants for the superintendent's job and Greg absolutely stood out to me," said Bristol Borough school board President Ralph DiGuiseppe III. "He is young and energetic and brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. He brings all the aspects of the traditional educational world but also an MBA, which should really help in terms of the budget and other financial issues. I'm very confident in him going forward and think we'll be very comfortable working with him."
Wright's three-year contract includes a starting annual salary of $135,000. Other perks include three weeks of vacation, three personal days and commuting expenses of $2,000 a year.
Wright, his wife, Nillie, and daughters Emily, 8, and Julie, 7, live in Havertown, Delaware County, but are moving soon to Bala Cynwyd, Montgomery County, roughly a 45-minute commute from Bristol.
While the $135,000 annual salary is second lowest among the 13 superintendents in Bucks County, Bristol Borough is also one of smallest school districts in the county. Wright said the pay is fair, and it represents a $12,000 raise from the $123,000 he was making at William Penn. It's slightly more than the $134,136 Davis was earning when he retired.
"Ultimately, I'll be graded by the residents on how their tax money is being spent," said Wright. "If I'm successful, I don't think my salary will be an issue and, if I'm not, they will let me know about it."
One of the first issues Wright had to address as superintendent was a report issued by the state Department of Education that "flagged" several districts across the state for possible cheating or other irregularities on the 2009 PSSA standardized tests.
Bristol received four flags for third- and fifth-grade tests at Snyder-Girotti Elementary School.
"The word 'cheating' got the headlines, but cheating referred to erasures on the tests and that was just one of the flags," said Wright. "We were not flagged for cheating. We were flagged for some data issues, which have been fixed. We have submitted our response to the state, which will ultimately decide whether it's been resolved, but I believe it has been."
Wright has plenty of other things to concentrate on in his new job, and he believes the MBA will serve him well in handling those challenges.
"Traditionally, if you wanted to be a superintendent, you got a doctorate degree, but I decided to get an MBA instead and I feel very confident that what I got out of that experience is going to make me a much better superintendent," he said. "I think a business degree is valuable to a superintendent. In addition to everything else about finances, there is also a lot of leadership training involved in getting an MBA. It's really an all-encompassing kind of educational experience."
With only two schools and about 1,300 students, Bristol Borough is not only one of the county's smallest districts, it's also among the smallest school districts in the state.
"I don't think being superintendent at a small district as opposed to a large one is as different as some people would have you believe," said Wright. "The issues are still the same. The issues are still instruction and finances. If you manage correctly, you can manage two buildings or 11 buildings."
Wright said he and his family are looking forward to their new home in Bala Cynwyd and have no plans to move into Bristol, but he is quick to compliment the town and school district.
"Bristol is such a unique place," he said. "It's a tight-knit community, and the staff I've met here in the school district have all been around here awhile and I feel very good about them. I'm looking forward to a long career here. All the tools are here. Everything is here to be successful. I think Bristol has already had many successes and I'm looking forward to having many more."
What they make
Current annual salaries for superintendents in Bucks County school districts, from highest to lowest
1. Robert Laws, Central Bucks, $250,106
2. Mark Klein, Council Rock, $189,095
3. Louis Muenker, Neshaminy, $180,353
4. Raymond Boccuti, New Hope-Solebury, $175,996
5. Lisa Andrejko, Quakertown Community, $174,272
6. Kevin McHugh, Pennsbury, $170,000
7. Bridget O'Connell, Palisades, $165,000
8. Robert Kish, Pennridge, $164,320
9. David Baugh, Bensalem, $159,900
10. Jennifer Cressman, Centennial, $155,000
11. Samuel Lee, Bristol Township, $137,500
12. Gregory Wright, Bristol Borough, $135,000
13. Bill Ferrara, Morrisville, $120,000
That sounds about right for Ferrara. An untested and inexperienced superintendent is probably the best Morrisville can afford. He's an obedient Hellmann-Mihok-Radosti lapdog, so there's a plus.
the new school is a dead issue Steve you know that it can not be built without putting it on the ballot and the town voting on it and we know that will never happen but since it's all you and you and scared SOC group have to spew
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