Thursday, December 27, 2012

Words of Wisdom from Mr. Compromise

Without compromise, we'll go over the 'fiscal cliff'


Posted: Thursday, December 27, 2012 12:15 am | Updated: 7:04 pm, Wed Dec 26, 2012.

The “fiscal cliff” coming Jan. 1 will test Republicans and Democrats. The November 2012 elections are over, and it is now time for Republicans and Democrats to come together and solve the country’s fiscal cliff dilemma. The huge deficits and accumulated debt incurred by our federal government are coming to a head. If the president and Congress do not reach a compromise by the end of this year, automatic, drastic spending cuts and substantial income tax increases will hit almost all Americans on Jan. 1 to the tune of at least $600 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Economists have repeatedly warned the president and Congress this will tip the country back into a substantial recession, with more unemployment and more job layoffs across the board. The next day after the recent elections, the stock market got clobbered. 401(k) retirement plan balances that most Americans own got whacked, also.Both the Republicans and Democrats are going to have to compromise in order to arrive at a deal that will be good for all Americans. This means tax increases in exchange for spending cuts. Anybody who knows me knows that I do not like tax increases. In fact, I prefer tax decreases. Substantial tax increases mean there will be no meaningful reform or efficiency measures taken on entitlement and other federal government spending programs.

 
But in order to reach a deal between the two parties, compromise will be needed at the end of the day. Neither side is going to get all that it wants. In fact, if the president and Congress allow the fiscal cliff to occur, it will be political suicide for all involved. States risk losing billions of dollars in block grants if no fix is found. The cuts will affect state education, police, health care and infrastructure spending. Even if a fiscal cliff deal is reached by the end of the year, our problems will not be solved. Bill Gross, the PIMCO bond guru (with over $1.9 trillion under asset management) has stated the U.S. fiscal cliff is deeper than advertised. “It is a Grand Canyon” rather than just a cliff.
I agree with Mr. Gross. Tax increases on the “wealthy” (those making over $250,000 per year) to the tune of a top tax rate of 39.6 percent instead of the current top tax rate of 35 percent will generate approximately $80 billion, according to most reports I have read. We have more than a trillion-dollar deficit each year, with over $16 trillion in total U.S. debt that’s growing by billions each day. The Fitch Bond Ratings stated “tax increases and spending cuts implied by the fiscal cliff would not fully address the longer-term drivers of higher public spending and the narrow and volatile tax base.” This debt and annual deficits are so huge that there will have to be substantial tax increases and even more substantial spending cuts. A pro-growth economic strategy also must be incorporated into the equation.
One item not discussed very much is the very low-interest rate environment we are in. This has allowed the federal government to borrow billions of dollars at a very low interest expense. These interest rates are at an artificially low rate due primarily to “quantitative easing” by the Federal Reserve Bank. What happens if financial market forces (i.e., global bond holders) propel interest rates higher? The federal deficit will grow even larger, and by a substantial amount. The increased interest payments owed to bond holders will take way from other federal government programs such as defense, education and social welfare programs such as food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. This, in turn, could produce social unrest such as what we are seeing now in Greece and other foreign countries. This debt accumulation must stop because it is putting our national security at risk.
I do not see how the president and Congress will be able to make a deal by the end of the year on this complicated issue. We are only a few days away from the deadline. I imagine Congress and the president will agree to an extension of the fiscal cliff in order to give themselves more time to reach a deal. In other words, they will “kick the can down the road.”
For the sake of our country, I advise the following:
Republicans and Democrats, start compromising now.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Potluck #68


Wishing All a Safe and Merry Christmas!

Morrisville Police Chief to Step Down Dec. 31

Morrisville police chief to step down Dec. 31
Posted: Monday, December 24, 2012 12:00 am | Updated: 5:29 am, Mon Dec 24, 2012.
After nine years with the Morrisville police department, Chief Jack Jones will step down at the end of the year.Morrisville Borough Council unanimously voted to “involuntarily retire” Jones during a recent council meeting so he can qualify for a pension without serving the mandatory 12 years as chief.
Council members also voted 5-2 to give three years of health benefits to the retiring chief, whose contract expires at the end of the year. His salary would have been $82,103 next year had he stayed on, according to figures in the 2013 municipal budget.
Council members Eileen Dreisbach and Todd Sanford voted against extending the medical benefits package.
“I’d like to give everyone health benefits but I think that three years is excessive,” said Dreisbach.
Beginning Jan. 1, Lt. Tom Herron will serve as temporary chief, said Council President Nancy Sherlock.
“Lt. Herron will fill in for Chief Jones for several weeks,” she said. “It hasn’t been determined yet what the next step will be in appointing a new police chief.”
The Morrisville police force has 10 full-time and four part-time officers. The borough is 1.5 square miles and home to about 8,000 residents.
Jones was well liked by the community, said borough Manager Tom Bates.
“I would like to thank Jack Jones for doing a good job,” said Councilman Victor Cicero, a former borough police chief. “He was a friend and a colleague and I hope he enjoys his retirement.”
Jones has served in law enforcement for the past 45 years and became chief in Morrisville in 2003.
“I’m looking forward to being able to relax when I leave,” said Jones, who turns 71 in May. “I’m also hoping to travel a little bit with my wife, Janie.”
Jones said he is looking forward to spending time with his three daughters and seven grandchildren.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

NRA: More Guns in Schools; Local Police: Not Likely

NRA: more guns in schools; local police: not likely

Posted: Saturday, December 22, 2012 6:00 pm | Updated: 7:44 pm, Sat Dec 22, 2012.
The NRA wants to make schools what police often call “hard targets.”Guns and police officers in all American schools are what’s needed to stop the next killer “waiting in the wings,” the National Rifle Association declared Friday, taking a no-retreat stance in the face of growing calls for gun control after the Connecticut shootings that claimed the lives of 26 children and school staff.NRA CEA Wayne LaPierre said Congress should immediately appropriate funds to post an armed police officer in every school.
“Idiots,” one local official responded when told of the call for police in schools.
Many law enforcement personnel said it just isn’t practical.
“Back in my days in the legislature we would all have great ideas about things but before they were considered on the floor of either house it had to have a fiscal note attached to it…an explanation of what it would cost,” District Attorney David Heckler said. “(The NRA recommendations) have got to fail that.”
For many local police, it becomes a money issue. There are more than 132,000 schools in the United States, according to the Department of Education.
“In a perfect world an officer could serve as a deterrent, however, in most cases, police don’t have the manpower or the money to make it happen,” Buckingham police Sgt. J.R. Landis said Friday.
Some members of Congress who had long scoffed at gun-control proposals have begun to suggest some concessions could be made, and a fierce debate over legislation seems likely next month. President Barack Obama has demanded “real action, right now.”
The nation’s largest gun-rights lobby broke its weeklong silence on the shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary School with a defiant presentation. The event was billed as a news conference, but NRA leaders took no questions. Twice, they were interrupted by banner-waving protesters who were removed by security.
While Congress acts, LaPierre said the NRA would develop a school emergency response program that would include volunteers from the group’s 4.3 million members to help guard children.
Falls Lt. Henry Ward said the NRA’s suggestion is just not plausible. Ward said there are 15 schools in the jurisdiction covered by the Falls police department, which would require 15 police officers to staff them weekdays and an additional 10 officers to cover days off, vacations and training days. Ward broke down the lower-end cost of a police officer — including salary, yearly training expenses, equipment and benefits — to be at a minimum, $100,000. So to staff all the Falls schools with an officer would cost Falls $2.5 million.
Pennridge Regional Police Chief David Mettin said it would lead to seven more officers for his department, which he said was not feasible.
“If we ensure the safety of the schools, someone with the intent to kill would move to the malls, hospitals, mass transit hubs,” Mettin said. “Under the NRA ‘solution’ we would then add police to all of those locations as well.”
Some had predicted that after the slaughter of a score of elementary-school children by a man using a semi-automatic rifle, the group might soften its stance, at least slightly. Instead, LaPierre delivered a 25-minute tirade against the notion that another gun law would stop killings in a culture where children are exposed daily to violence in video games, movies and music videos. He argued that guns are the solution, not the problem.
“Before Congress reconvenes, before we engage in any lengthy debate over legislation, regulation or anything else; as soon as our kids return to school after the holiday break, we need to have every single school in America immediately deploy a protection program proven to work,” LaPierre said. “And by that I mean armed security.”
The NRA talk about utilizing volunteers and retired military and police officers for school security worries Ward.
“I’m two years away from being eligible for retirement and my skill set is not where it used to be,” Ward said.
To have 100 percent round accuracy capability under stress an officer would have to spend his entire day training on the range, according to Ward.
Heckler offered a different solution than putting armed men in schools. He said he would like to see a bi-partisan, non-aligned committee examine the facts about what happened in Sandy Hook and other mass killings.
The district attorney, a former state legislator, former judge and noted gun afficionado, said the committee should be made of people in the middle, not those who want to ban all guns or those who think that there should be no restrictions on gun ownership.
“I really believe we have failed the part of our population that has problems with mental health, and for some time,” Heckler said.
There is a federally maintained database of the mentally ill — people so declared by their states — a 1997 Supreme Court ruling that states can’t be required to contribute information has left significant gaps. However, creation of a mandatory national database probably would have had little impact on the ability of suspected shooters in four mass shootings since 2011 to get and use powerful weapons. The other people accused either stole the weapons used in the attacks or had not been ruled by courts to be “mentally defective” before the shootings.
Heckler said he authored the part of the Pennsylvania’s uniform firearms act that prohibits several people, including those who have been involuntarily committed to a mental health facility, from legally owning guns.
“That would not have caught (Adam Lanza),” Heckler said. “But perhaps we can revisit that.”
Heckler said he had hoped to push the issue much farther at the time, but events in Sandy Hook have opened the door to real mental health care reform, he said.
This is not the first time Heckler has expressed his concerns about inadequate care for the mentally ill. After a Perkasie police officer shot and killed a handcuffed Michael Marino, 26, of Quakertown, Heckler criticized state policies that for decades have taken the mentally ill out of care facilities and, in his words, “into conflict with police.”
Marino, according to investigators, knocked over two officers while handcuffed and off medications meant to govern his mental health. One of the officers subsequently shot and killed Marino. And that’s not the only case of a violent or even deadly confrontation between mentally or emotionally unstable people and Bucks County police in recent years.
He called gun violence pandemic, noting that it isn’t just a problem in terms of mass shootings by people that often we learn later were mentally ill, but also “young males who are not adequately socialized, not fully mature human beings,” who have no aversion to taking another life.
Ward and Heckler both agreed with many of the assessments the NRA made in their statement, including the violence in video games. But it’s not just that there is graphic violence and depictions of death. Kids are learning advanced tactics playing Halo and Medal of Honor and other “shooter” games.
“They are learning how to clear corners, clear rooms,” Ward said. “(The kids who kill) are acting like military because they’ve done it 3,000 times.”
Heckler was also critical of graphic depictions of violence throughout American culture. He questioned why we don’t shelter children, especially young children, from violence and distorted affects of violence like we shelter them from sex and distorted images of sex.
“The problem is society,” Ward said, summing up his analysis. “It’s not so much what’s in a person’s hands that is the problem, but it is what is in their hearts and heads.”

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Morrisville Gets Past George School

Morrisville gets past George School

Posted: Thursday, December 20, 2012 12:00 am | Updated: 6:39 am, Thu Dec 20, 2012.
MORRISVILLE — George School showed up with a game plan against local rival Morrisville.Unfortunately, the Bulldogs woke up, turned the tables around and cruised to a 52-34 victory Wednesday night in a non-league boys basketball game at Morrisville.
“We were just trying to spread the ball around, but then we struggled with their pressure a little too much, and we weren’t getting rebounds,” said Cougars coach John Stevens.
Spreading the ball around seemed to work for a while. There was much more passing than scoring in the early part of the game as George School opened up a six-point lead (12-6) in the opening quarter. There really wasn’t much of a clear advantage on the boards, although at times it seemed as though the Bulldogs had the upper hand.
“We could tell that they had a good plan,” said Morrisville coach Orick Smith. “We came out sluggish. We weren’t doing a very good job of moving the ball, and we were a little out of rhythm.
“Once we settled down, it was about ball reversal. Once we started moving the ball, we started to find the shots that we wanted.”
The Bulldogs’ Anthony Bollard halved that early lead by tapping in an offensive rebound, drawing a foul and converting the three-point opportunity to make it 12-9. The teams then traded baskets as the first quarter ended with the Cougars still up, 14-11.
One notable difference was the physical aspect of the George School’s game. The Cougars sent the Bulldogs to the line for 20 shots, with Morrisville converting 16.
Rickey Melendez made one of two foul shots; Bollard made 2 of 2, and then Nick Castillo made a layup to open up a 16-14 lead for Morrisville in the second quarter.
Sekou Kaba then made a layup and a short jump shot to put the George School up, 18-16, but that would be that last lead held by the Cougars.
Donald Kinslow scored to tie the game, and then Melendez scored twice, the second time on a layup after a steal, and Castillo took advantage of the George School’s penalty situation and sank both ends of a one-and-one foul to open up a 24-18 lead for Morrisville.
The Cougars stayed close at halftime (26-22), but the Bulldogs opened the second half with a 12-point run, outscored the visitors, 17-6, in the third quarter and ran away with the game.
“We weren’t getting good opportunities in the second half, and on the ones that we did get, we didn’t hit the shot,” said Stevens. “We also didn’t play very good defense in the second half.”
“We got the game back to our tempo and played good defense (in the second half),” Smith said. “(George School) couldn’t find the shots that they wanted to take.”
Melendez led Morrisville with 18 points, and teammate Kinslow kicked in 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. George Long led the Cougars with 10 points. Muhammad Johnson added eight points and six boards.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

No Residents Show Up For Meeting On Future Of Morrisville Schools

MORRISVILLE SCHOOLS
No residents show up for meeting on future of Morrisville schools

Posted: Tuesday, December 18, 2012 1:05 pm

Zero.
That's the number of Morrisville residents who attended last week's Education Committee meeting, during which the future of the borough's school district was discussed.
School board director and committee member Jack Buckman took community members to task at the meeting, saying they “react” after decisions are made instead of being part of the process to find solutions.
He and school board President Damon Miller, also on the committee, encouraged the community to participate in the decision-making on the future education of the town's children.
Miller said whatever route the district takes will affect the community for the next 15 to 20 years, so it's important for the parents and taxpayers to let their voices be heard.
He added the process is transparent and committee members will inform residents of any additional information received from the administration.
Officials don't anticipate any changes in the next year school year, however, they are aware of the district's tight finances and the need for adjustments. The state is providing limited financial help to small districts, such as Morrisville. In addition, salary and benefit increases are taking a big chunk of the yearly budgets.
The committee's meetings aren't recorded, therefore, not available on cable channel or the school's website.
The committee is in the early stages on the future of education issue. So far nine options are on the table. They are:
  • Keep the status quo;
  • Five-period day (currently, the high school runs with six periods);
  • Cyber courses;
  • Increasing the number of students attending Bucks County Technical High School in Bristol Township;
  • Tuition out high school students;
  • Increase dual enrollment with Bucks County Community College;
  • Full district merger;
  • Split schedule (staggering school entrance times);
  • Multi-district cyber courses (a pool of districts offering a variety of cyber classes).
The education committee meets at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month in the LGI room at the high school building on Palmer Avenue.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

School Officials Say They Will Re-evaluate Security Measures

School officials say they will re-evaluate security measures

Posted: Saturday, December 15, 2012 6:35 pm | Updated: 9:48 pm, Sat Dec 15, 2012.
Local school officials pledged to continue to reinforce and re-evaluate their security measures in light of the mass shooting Friday at an elementary school in Connecticut.
“(We want) to make sure we are doing all that is reasonably possible to keep our children safe,” Centennial Superintendent Jennifer Cressman said on the district’s website.
As a precaution, Centennial officials increased patrols at all schools on Friday to make sure all safety protocols were being followed, the superintendent said.
“There have not been any threats at any of our facilities,” she emphasized.
Centennial and other area districts posted information on their websites about how to discuss the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School with children. School officials asked parents to encourage their kids to let an adult know if they are frightened, deeply sad or concerned about their safety.
“It is important to reassure children that the adults in their lives are doing everything they can to make their school, home, and neighborhood safe for them,” Pennsbury officials said on the district’s website.
Counseling supports will be available for students if needed when they get back to school on Monday, Pennsbury spokesman Ann Langtry said.
In addition, school principals are talking over the weekend with teachers and other school staff members about “closely monitoring our students in the wake of this tragedy and the ongoing news coverage,” Langtry said.
Officials in neighboring Morrisville are taking similar steps.
“It’s important to make the children feel safe, without making them afraid to come to school,” Superintendent William Ferrara said Saturday in a written statement.
Ferrara will be available to discuss the district’s safety plan at 7 p.m. on Wednesday during his regularly scheduled superintendent’s advisory meeting at Morrisville Intermediate/High School, spokeswoman Pat Wandling said.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Hometown Hero

Pastor Gary Taylor: A hometown hero to his family, community and nation

Gary Taylor by June Portnoy
For the past 23 years, Gary Taylor has lived in Morrisville and ministered as the Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Morrisville. During this time, he has also served in the military, going on two tours of overseas duty.
Plus, he and his wife of 34 years have raised five children, one of whom was born with Down syndrome and one who was incapacitated after enduring a heart attack at the young age of 21.
Despite Gary’s busy schedule and family tragedy, he continues to “keep the faith,” devoting his life to supporting his family, community and nation.
For all of these reasons, Harold Wilcox, a lifetime Morrisville resident, nominated Gary for this month’s Times Publishing Newspapers’ Hometown Hero award.
“Gary is always there for anyone who needs him,” says Harold.
Being there for his family has been a top priority for Gary. He and his wife, Lois, both children of pastors, are the proud parents of Joshua, 19, Jamie, 22, Caleb, 24, Jonathan, 28 and Charissa, 30. They were all home schooled, but are well known in the area because they all played sports at Morrisville High School.
Parenthood has had its challenges for Gary and Lois. Joshua was not only born with Down syndrome, but also with a hole in his heart. He was in and out of hospitals for the first five years of his life.
Jonathan was a senior at Cedarville University studying to become an electrical engineer when he suffered a severe heart attack that resulted in brain damage. Today, Jonathan requires round-the-clock care and remains on a feeding tube.
“We could have easily placed him in a nursing home, but I believe that we have a responsibility to care for our family, and we wanted him with us,” says Pastor Taylor. “We try to make his life as comfortable and pleasant as possible by surrounding him with his family.”
“Pastor Taylor is probably the strongest Christian man I know,” says Harold. “Lots of people would have walked away from their religion after enduring all he did with his sons, but his faith has remained strong, which sets a great example to the community.”
One of Pastor Taylor’s top priorities for the First Baptist Church of Morrisville is that the church be as involved in the community as possible.
“We participate in almost everything in town, as well as hosting various events throughout the year,” says Pastor Taylor. “I want to show the community that we are here to help.”
“Statistically, the average pastor stays at his church for about three years,” says Harold. “Morrisville has seen so many pastors come and go, but Pastor Taylor is the exception.”
“Because I have lived and worked in Morrisville for so long, people know who I am and what to expect from me,” says Pastor Taylor. “I believe this gives me credibility. People who join this church are looking for a stabile environment.”
When Jonathon had his heart attack in 2008, Pastor Taylor had to find a new home that was handicapped accessible.
“I could have moved anywhere, but I refused to move out of Morrisville,” says Pastor Taylor. “I believe Morrisville is a valuable town and a well-hidden jewel. I am committed to this community and to the people who live here.”
He is also committed to his nation and supportive of our military.
“I wanted to have the same experience as these vets, so I could better empathize with them,” says Pastor Taylor.
As a result, he served in the National Guard for 20 years, and for the past three-plus years has been a member of the Army Reserves. While with the National Guard, Pastor Taylor served in Kosovo from 2003 until 2004, and as an Army Reserve, he served in Kuwait from 2010 until 2011. During both tours he served as a chaplain.
Pastor Taylor currently serves in the Atlantic Division, 75th Training Command at Fort Dix, training other chaplains prior to being deployed.
“I could not do my pastor or military job without the support of my wife,” says Pastor Taylor, who nominates Lois as his Hometown Hero. “While I was away twice for a year at a time, she took care of our family and remained active in church ministry. She is always lending a hand to the church, and is known in the community for hosting a chapel program at our home for some of the school sports teams.”
Together, Pastor Taylor and Lois are making the world a better place to live.
PHOTO CAP: Pastor Gary Taylor and his wife, Lois.

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Morrisville Adopts 2013 Budget With No Tax Hike

Morrisville adopts 2013 budget with no tax hike


Posted: Monday, December 10, 2012 10:00 pm | Updated: 1:51 am, Tue Dec 11, 2012.



Morrisville Borough Council voted Monday night to approve a 2013 final budget of $5.6 million with no property tax increase.That means the borough’s millage rate will remain at 40.93 mills next year.
The council voted 5-3 to approve the $5,660,929 spending plan. Council members Eileen Dreisbach, Todd Sanford and Debbie Smith voted no.
The 2013 budget will also charge residents about $20 less for trash pickup next year.
“It’s a balanced budget with no tax increase,” said borough Manager Tom Bates. “The residents will also get another break on sanitation and recycling fees.”
The 2012 final budget charged residents $52 less for trash pickup, bringing the total reduction over the last two years to $72, he said.
Morrisville’s budget comprises eight separate funds totaling the $5.6 million spending plan.
Roughly 28 percent of that money, $1.6 million, will go toward supporting the police department. The other largest line item in the spending plan is sanitation at $1.03 million.
The borough will spend nearly 10 percent of its budget, $538,204, on administrative costs while $223,835 will go toward recreational programs.
Other funds include library at $209,935, street lighting at $164,397, emergency services at $122,535 and pensions at $29,532.
The budget also calls for a transfer of $51,759 from the general fund to the capital reserve fund for the purchase of a new police radio system.
As required by contract, the non-uniformed administrative employees will receive a 3 percent raise. Increases for police officers of between 4 and 6 percent were also included in the plan.
One mill is equal to $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed property value. To calculate your tax, multiply the millage figure by your assessed property value. Don’t forget to add three decimal places to the millage figure to get the accurate tax. For example, a 25-mill increase on a home assessed at $5,000 amounts to .025 times $5,000 or $125 in taxes.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

State Begins Using Keystone Exams Before Securing Federal Approval

State begins using Keystone Exams before securing federal approval

Posted: Tuesday, December 4, 2012 10:30 am | Updated: 2:40 pm, Tue Dec 4, 2012.

Pennsylvania is starting this week to test high school juniors with a Keystone Exam to see how much they know about biology.
That has area students worried that they haven't been properly prepared.
Keystone Exams will be used later this school year to test juniors to see if they are learning at their grade level in algebra 1 and literature, officials said.
Most high school juniors studied those subjects at least one to two years ago. Some expressed concern that the time away from the subjects could affect their scores on what state officials say are "more rigorous" tests.
“It is pretty inconvenient for students who haven't really worked with these topics for over a year like (me),” said Lennox McGrain, a Council Rock High School South junior. Lennox, 16, is a member of the newspaper’s reality team.
“We've been doing a fair amount of ‘crash review’ in class,” Lennox said. “I don't know how much help that will be to us, but hopefully the exams aren't more difficult than expected.”
The state education department is making the move to the Keystone Exams for secondary students before securing approval from the U.S. Department of Education, a spokesman said. It initially sought federal permission early this year to use the Keystone tests instead of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment exams used previously to test high school juniors.
“Through verbal and email discussions, the department has not received any indication that this request will be denied, and since the Keystone Exams are more rigorous, the department anticipates the U.S. Department of Education will approve the request,” state education department spokesman Tim Eller said.
States are required to let the U.S. Department of Education know if any "significant changes" will be made to its assessments system, an official at the federal agency said on Tuesday.
The testing changes can be implemented before states receive full federal approval, said the U.S. Department of Education official who asked not to be identified.
Federal authorities are evaluating Pennsylvania's proposed changes and "anticipate having a response ready soon," the official said.
The PSSA tests -- administered to students in third- through eighth-grade -- test kids' overall abilities in mathematics, reading, science and writing. The Keystone Exams test secondary students' abilities in specific areas of a subject, the state education department spokesman said.
Like the PSSA tests for younger students, the Keystone results will be used to determine Adequate Yearly Progress for secondary students, Eller said. The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires states to test students to see if they are achieving AYP status.
“I don't think the results of this first year of testing for juniors will be successful,” said Joanna Spiel, 17, a Pennsbury High School junior and also a reality panel member. “This is because when we learned the material for the courses we were never told that we would be later tested (about them).”
The state education department did not inform districts until summer that the Keystone Exams would be used instead of the PSSAs for secondary students. That was after schools had already set up their PSSA schedule for 2012-13.
Educators had a few months to reshuffle their school calendar to accommodate the testing.
For instance in Neshaminy, during the PSSA testing days in previous years, juniors would arrive at normal time in the morning for the tests. Each session lasted about three hours. Afterward, freshmen, sophomores and seniors would arrive at school in the late morning to take a half-day of regular classes with the juniors.
With the Keystone Exams, the routine is reversed, according to the schedule posted at www.neshaminy.k12.pa.us. All students will report for class in the morning on Thursday and Friday and go through an abbreviated schedule of classes. Freshmen, sophomores and seniors will be dismissed at 12:14 p.m. and juniors will take the Keystone Exam in biology for the last two hours of each school day.
Neshaminy plans to follow a similar routine later in the school year to administer the other Keystone tests, principal Robert McGee said in a newsletter posted on the district’s website.
Juniors will not be the only students who take the Keystone Exams this school year, officials said. Younger students who already have taken or are taking the algebra 1, biology or literature courses will take the respective standardized exam, the state education department spokesman said.
The testing could range from seventh- through 10th-grade students, depending on when they take the specified English, math or science class, he said. Testing schedules and windows vary by school.
For Neshaminy, that means the high school “will be administering in excess of 4,000 Keystone exams this year,” McGee said in the newsletter.
Kristen Lovely, a junior at Council Rock High School North in Newtown Township, started taking the Keystone biology test Tuesday. She said she understands the reasoning for standardized exams to test students’ development.
But Kristen, 16, another reality team member, questions the state’s handling of the changeover to the Keystone Exams.
“I do not think we are properly prepared to the fullest extent. I specifically mean the math exam, which is designed to test students on algebra 1,” Kristen said. “Some of these review questions are questions that I was asked back in eighth grade. I don't have my eighth grade notes, and I have more pressing issues than to go relearn an entire chapter of algebra online.”
Fellow CR North junior David Augustine also took issue with the "inconvenience" of the test taking.
"My physics teacher had to take time out of her lessons to teach us biology so we are behind on our (physics course) material," said David, 16, a reality team member.
The Keystones will be administered to only secondary students who have taken algebra 1, biology or literature. The state will again use the PSSA tests in math, reading, science and writing in early 2013 to test third- through eighth-graders to see if they are learning at grade level, officials said.

House Panel Submits Report on Property Taxes


House panel submits report on property taxes

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Posted: Tuesday, December 4, 2012 5:55 am | Updated: 7:32 am, Tue Dec 4, 2012.
A report by a House committee studying property tax reform didn’t come up with a plan to fix a decades-old problem, but the members believe the group’s recommendations will give the new General Assembly ideas to move toward a solution.
“All of us were under the impression that this would not be a silver bullet,” said Tom Quigley, Republican chairman of the House Select Committee on Property Tax Reform. “We weren’t going to find a magic solution.”
But Quigley said the group’s efforts, which included six public informational meetings followed by four hearings on its findings, were worth the time, for an “issue that has bedeviled the commonwealth for the last 40 years. ... It’s better to have this type of discussion, this type of discourse, than nothing at all.”
The 13-member bipartisan committee was formed by Quigley’s House Resolution 774 to gather information about the many complex issues surrounding property tax reform.
State Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-153, said, “We’ve heard the cry of taxpayers: ‘please change the way we fund our schools.’ Everybody agrees that local property taxes are not as equitable or as fair as they can be.”
She said the committee “collected a lot of valuable information and will go back to their standing committees to craft legislation that looks at the funding formula.”
The recommendations in the 20-page report, which can be found at pahousegop.com, were adopted unanimously. They include for the state to:
  • Allow for a homestead and farmstead exemption of up to 100 percent of the property value. The state constitution allows for a 50 percent exclusion of the median homestead’s assessed value.
  • Develop legislation to grant local taxing jurisdictions more diversified taxing options that allow revenue-neutral tax shifts in the collection of local revenues.
  • Review all state-imposed public education requirements that are not mandated by federal statute or regulation, for cost-effectiveness, fairness and/or educational value.
  • Develop a new funding formula for special education, based on the actual costs of providing special education instruction and service.
  • Determine the true costs of educating a student at a charter school and at a cybercharter school, and the effects on local school budgets and property taxes.
“We have tried to come up with recommendations that will garner broad-based support in the General Assembly,” said state Rep. Justin Simmons, R-131, of Lehigh and Northampton counties.
He called the recommendations a “road map for change.”
State Rep. RoseMarie Swanger, R-102, of Lebanon, said “This is not an easy fix, not an easy issue to tackle. So many components enter into this.”
Quigley said the recommendations were “low-hanging fruit that should have been taken care of a while ago.”
He developed his resolution in June after House Bill 1776 — the Property Tax Independence Act — was tabled. That legislation had been touted as the solution to the state’s property tax woes.
It would eliminate residential property taxes and replace the local revenue by increasing the sales-tax base, the sales-tax rate and the personal-income-tax rate.
A recent report by the state’s Independent Fiscal Office found that revenues provided by the proposal would be $1.5 billion short in 2013-14 and grow to a $2 billion shortfall in 2017-18.
Swanger, a proponent of HB 1776, said 10,000 Pennsylvania families lose their homes each year for failing to pay property taxes.
“It is unconscionable that in 2012 the property rights of Pennsylvania citizens are jeopardized by property taxes,” she said.
The plan has drawn mixed reviews from local lawmakers.
Reps. Marguerite Quinn, R-143, and Steve Santarsiero, D-31, have spoken out against it. State Rep. John Galloway, D-140, is a fan.
“It doesn’t get rid of property taxes ... it’s not the right way to go,” Santarsiero said.
Quinn said the measure wouldn’t be a tax cut, but a tax shift, and the shift would hurt area districts.
“When we send a dollar to Harrisburg, we get back change,” she said. “Your property taxes stay local. When we raise a dollar locally, we get that back, dollar for dollar.”
Said Galloway, “First and foremost, the property tax is killing people in my district. People whose kids graduated from school 35 years ago are still paying this tax. It is something that scares the living hell out of them.”
Quigley, who represented the 146th District of Montgomery County, wasn’t re-elected last month. However, Dean said she is in the process of proposing a new resolution for the committee to continue its work.
“I think we have an opportunity here, and I don’t want to see this work evaporated,” she said. “I think we’re on the way to good ideas.”