| The plaintiffs in the case presented a problem to the court about a
document that had been delivered to their offices the prior day after trial had ended for
the day. This document, described by Attorney Schmidt was a "new" expert witness
report using data from the 1994-95 school year. The plaintiffs claim that there had been
an agreement that both sides would be using the 1993-94 data, for that was all that was
available in pretrial conferences up to the middle of 1996. According to the defense,
there was no such agreement, and that the data tape had been delivered to the plaintiffs
in December. Judge Pellegrini asked about the lateness of the delivery and said that he
was not aware that a judicial order was promulgated saying the 1993-94 data should be use,
but it would be more efficient for both sets of expert witness reports to be using the
same data. The plaintiffs produced some communications( not viewed by the court) that they
said showed the intent of the agreement. Attorney for the defense said that she would use
the 1993-94 data if the judge so deemed. Judge Pellegrini asked if the plaintiffs had the
data on tape. Attorney Schmidt said that the tape that had been delivered was never said
to be finance information and now appears to be without code or instructions, or ability
to have it read.
Judge Pellegrini said that did it really matter that the numbers were slightly
different. Plaintiffs answered that probably not, but it would be difficult to
cross-examine the state's expert without reviewing the tapes. An agreement was made that
if the tapes were accessible to be read and that new charts could be duplicated by the
plaintiffs, then the data could be used, if not, the 1993- data could be used.
In another "housekeeping" detail, school profile data will have to made
available to plaintiffs in a readable form, so that it can be reviewed for
cross-examination.
Dr. Thomas Holtzman, Superintendent of the Susquehanna Township School District in
Dauphin County described his school district as both urban and suburban. His residents are
both middle to upper middle class about 45% of whom have college degrees and whose
household incomes are from $50,000 to $120,000. There are very few AFDC children and a few
more free and reduced lunch children in the elementary schools. There is continued growth
in the district- office buildings, residences, and strip malls. This has been true
throughout the decade. They have the lowest millage rate in Dauphin County, where the
assessment is at full market value. They have 5 buildings a kindergarten center, early
childhood, 1-2, , 3,-5 , 6-8 middle school and a high school .
They have 2843 students in the district.
They have 146 Title I youngsters, most of whom moved out of Harrisburg to live in the
district.
86-90% of the students go on to post secondary schools, 64% to 4 year colleges
They had 7 merit semi-finalists
The students go to some of the finest colleges
They are maxed out on some of the national achievement tests and are in the process of
changing to a more challenging test
Their class sizes are from 18 students to 22 in early years and 23-25 in grades 3-5
In the high school they have an honors track as well as college prep
There is wide use of computers in the elementary schools, with labs, in which the
children can create web pages, do sophisticated research
There libraries are "state of the art with a librarian in each library
They have an extensive business partnership through which computers are donated.
They have a large volunteer program with a coordinator
They have a full extra-curricular program in both clubs, athletic and academic
competition
They coordinate a 100 summer camp program
According to Dr. Holtzman, it is important to have a full range of extra curricular
programs to have a well rounded education. Most community residents understand that. They
support it and find it to be a good use of resources. There is little in the way of drug
and alcohol problems, and there are appropriate programs for the youngster. 8% of the
students are classified as handicapped, 6% are gifted. The parents in his community are
conversant with special education mandates, legalities and rights. The district develops
programs with a great deal of input from parents and community residents. There is an
extensive strategic plan with 7 task forces and 40 committees that worked on it and
continue to work on its implementation.
Most people want their children to go onto college. "We should educate our
children with relation to the expectation of their parents." The problems are much
tougher to solve in a previous district that Dr. Holtzman was in Washington County .
Handling all of the state mandates is more difficult in a poor district. Special education
was a burden because of the large numbers of those children in the district. Most mandates
are good, but there are onerous ones when they are not backed up with funding. Poorer
districts are even more restricted by mandates.
Susquehanna Township Schools share their programs with other districts. They can be a
model for some programs.
Attorney Schmidt asked what kinds of teachers Susquehanna hired. Dr. Holtzman answered
that they sometimes have 1,700 applications for one job. Many people want to come to the
district because of the resources, the kind of community it is, it is safe and a quality
district. They have a problem with students from Harrisburg trying to go to the schools.
They have many residency documents. There was a question of the cost of living difference
between Harrisburg and Susquehanna Township, exclusive of housing. Dr. Holtzman said that
food is less expensive as are some other basic things in the Township, but that people
from Harrisburg shop in the Township.
The defense asked about the fact that Susquehanna Township is slightly above the mean
in instructional costs and that their tax effort was lower than the median. Are housing
costs higher in Susquehanna Township. The answer was yes. The defense quoted Dr. Holtzman
" Technology can be the great economic equalizer." Dr. Holtzman answered that
Technology costs a great deal of money, Link to Learn is really very small, but a step.
Technology is changing so rapidly so that it will be hard to keep up. It is not good to
borrow for technology.
Dr. John DeFlaminis, Superintendent of the Radnor School District in Delaware County.
They 2,900. 85% of the people in the community have college degrees. The average household
income is very high. There are 4 schools in the district 2 elementary schools a middle
school and a high school. Students are very high achieving.
The average SAT scores under the old norms was 1070
There are very few AFDC children and a few more on free and reduced lunch
92% of students go on to 4 year colleges
They are accepted by the finest colleges in the U.S.
Don't give national tests because the students are always in the 99th percentile
Use tests that are given in the finest private schools
They even do better than the private schools
" "Largest public private school in the state"
11.5 to one classroom teachers to students ( includes specialists)
There is a computer for each classroom
Director of Technology
27% of children are special ed. Mostly gifted 70% of all students
Going into $32,000,000 building program for high school
Average Teacher salary is $64,278
Board is frugal and has the taxpayers in mind
57 advanced placement courses
The community plays a big part in the creation of programs. The community is desirous
of a large and in dept extra-curricular program. There is a direct relationship between
extra curricular activities and academic output. Parents exercise due process rights
frequently. This makes special education more expensive. People move into the district
because of the scope of the special education program. There are 30% of all students in
the district of school age who go to private schools and are in and out of public schools,
sometimes depending on the teacher. They have the best and brightest teachers that they
can get. They sometimes have 1700 applications for one job. Community expectations are
very high. They want a quality education and therefore the spending is high. Staff have
extensive background because they do not hire novice teachers, but go for experienced
staff. Higher salaries in Radnor drive higher salaries in the area. Therefore negotiations
are tough.
Dr. DeFlaminis described one of his former jobs at I.U. 10 in Clearfield County as a
poor area with a wealthy State College School District. Dr. DeFlaminis indicated that
there were a different set of expectations between those two districts and their parents
and community. If a community in I.U. 10 wanted a Radnor program, resources would be
important. He said that "in the hollows of central Pennsylvania, there are varying
degrees of adherence to mandates. Mandates are a burden on school district. He mentioned
non-public transportation, prevailing wage, the new special education formula which has
cost an additional 2.8 million dollars since its inception in 91-92. He could cut 2
million dollars out of his budget tomorrow if the mandates were removed. A study was done
by the Pennsylvania Economy League to show all of the mandates that are in the school
code. Judge Pellegrini would not allow the study in as evidence.
Radnor programs are held up as models to other districts in the state, nation and other
countries.
Defense Attorneys asked about hiring older teachers and did more salary mean that
younger teachers weren't as good. Dr. DeFlaminis said that there is an art to the science
of teaching and that some young teachers had that talent. Money is not the prime
determiner, but is one of a number of factors in educational outputs. EQA showed that
parental expectations are the prime determiner of whether children go onto college.
Defense attorney asked about the remedial programs in Radnor being satisfactory as the
regular programs in Harmony. Dr. DeFlaminis answered that "competition in Radnor is
fierce."
Dr. Bruce Kowalski is the Superintendent of the Wallingford Swarthmore Area School
District in Delaware County. He had been the Superintendent of the Wisshahickon School
District in Montgomery County until 6 months ago. Wissahickon had major growth in the 14
years that he was there, Wallingford is stable with little growth. Wallingford is a high
socio-economic area. The majority of the community is college educated. There is a
prestigious university within the school district.
There is a low percentage of AFDC and a higher percentage of free and reduced lunches
90% go on to 4 year colleges, some of the finest in the country
They top out on state and national assessments so they do not use them
They use the ERB assessment for private schools
Their SATs are 1100 on new norm
Their class sizes range from 21-28
They have site based management
Schools can lobby things and one just got a new counselor
Computers have been donated by parents (10s of thousands of dollars in cash register
tapes)
Go computers from Unisys
Were awarded "Virtual High School"
They have 3 tracks: academically assisted, Honors Track and Advanced Placement Track
50% of high school kids have advance placement
Full time librarians in all schools
AP courses in all subjects
Special Education is 15% handicapped and 30% gifted
There are many parental demands in Wallingford, both in curriculum for the school and
special education. There is a large extra curricular program both in athletics and clubs.
Wallingford is competing with the many private schools in the area. There are 1700
applications for each position in Wallingford. He pointed out that all children in
Pennsylvania should have the opportunities that the children in Wallingford have. He has
traveled around the state, the country and internationally and he has not met a staff
person or parent who did not want these kinds of programs for their children. He is
certain that if they had a chance they would have these programs. There are some districts
in the state, that because of lack of resources, are not providing an effective education.
There is a dramatic impact made by mandates. Non public transportation to over 100 private
schools. In one case there was more money spent on transporting one child to a school than
for the rest of his education.
The special education mandates are sometimes onerous. The paperwork is extreme. To
enter and keep account of one gifted child it takes 3/4 of one mile of paper. Wallingford
provides benefits to other school districts as a model and a lab for other schools.
Tomorrow's Witness will be
Dr. Helen Sobehart, Acting Superintendent of the Fox Chapel School District in
Allegheny County
Monday January 20th will not be a court session day.
The state will begin its case on Tuesday, January 21, 1997
No witness list for January 21, 1997 is available at this time. |
