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Rural and Small Schools
September 2001 |
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Page Index:
PARSS MOVES INTO
CYBERSPACE
PARSS BOND POOL
STATE BUDGET ADVANTAGES SOME
DISTRICTS
Joe
Says...Cyber School, Schmyber School
BOARD CHANGES
HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN
BROOKVILLE
BANDWAGONISM (HERE TODAY GONE TOMORROW)
PARSS ACTIVITIES |
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| PARSS MOVES INTO
CYBERSPACE... |
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In concert with the 21st century march toward flexibility, the PARSS Board has decided that it will ship its office into Cyberspace. As of July 1, 2001 there will be no physical location for PARSS within the City of Harrisburg. Formerly, PARSS shared an office at the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Building. Now PARSS operates via FAX - 717-236-5840, email at
jfbard@home. Com or arnold @parss.org and a drop box at 22 South 22nd St., Harrisburg, PA 17104.
The Board felt that it could well spend the funds elsewhere, that the office was in use only a few days a month and that meetings could be held at other places in town. The alternate numbers for FAX and voice mail and email means that there will be quicker and more efficient service for PARSS members. |
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| PARSS BOND
POOL... |
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In an effort to be of some additional service to our members, PARSS has teamed up with Milt Lopus and Associates to create a PARSS Bond Pool. The program, whose official title is the PA School Capital Access Program is a tax-exempt bond program designed to enable school districts and community colleges in PA to access variable rate debt efficiently and quickly.
The PARSS Bond Pool provides borrowers with:
o A fully flexible variable rate pool for financing capital projects
and current period refundings.
o Borrowers will have access to interest rate protection products
and strategies not typically available to municipal issuers and
the option of fixing their debt for longer terms.
o An extremely cost-effective method for borrowers to access variable
rate debt with ease of execution.
o No hidden costs associated with the issuance of bond pool bonds.
PARSS believes that its sponsorship of this $200,000,00 bond pool, issued through the Harrisburg Authority, can provide substantial savings in interest costs over time. Smaller issuers can take advantage of the benefits of the variable rate feature. Interest rate protection products can be utilized to limit risk in the event of increases in interest rates. There is a lower overall cost of borrowing.
For further information, please contact Milt Lopus and Associates at 717-234-1300. |
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| STATE BUDGET ADVANTAGES SOME DISTRICTS... |
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If you were growing, small, poor or spent tons on special education, you might have done well in this state budget. However, the overall picture is of a non-system teetering on the brink of collapse. Since over 75% of all state funds are still distributed through the old ESBE system, using 1989-90 figures, the contradictions of that system are still a great part of how funds are distributed to the school districts in the Commonwealth.
Growing districts received a small sum of money as did small districts of under 1500 students. The new variable in the small district money was that it was given out without using an aid ratio. It appears that this was done to include some districts whose aid ratios had dipped below .50, as well as to districts, while fairly wealthy, were having problems of increased taxation at high rates.
The House Resolution 42 Committee began its work with an organizational meeting on July 19th. It is comprised of seven Democrats and seven Republicans, with the Chair being Mr.
Civera, representative from Delaware County. One of the more interesting observations of the composition of the committee is that it is overwhelmingly suburban, no city representation, and three members from Delaware County.
Although the drop dead date for the report was September 15, 2001, it has been extended to February 15, 2002. |
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 Joe
Says...Cyber School, Schmyber School |
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Having spent more than 30 years involved in public education in Pennsylvania, and having worked all of it from a base in Harrisburg, I can say with whatever authority that earns me, that I have not in all that time, seen anything as arrogant, undemocratic and disrespectful of the people of this state, as the tripe being served out as "cyber charter schools".
I am sure that the audience for this newsletter understands the terminology, but just in case someone does not, I will briefly explain: A cyber school is established when some entity is allowed to create a charter school with the purpose of providing instruction solely over the internet, via computer. There is no school to attend; indeed there is no attendance to be taken. The charter holder provides the instruction, and probably the hardware. It also acts as a registrar in keeping records, and of course issues grades and diplomas. No alma mater is required.
My purpose here is not to condemn the idea of distance learning, or the use of technology for educational purposes. Both are powerful tools in the effort to educate and to level the field of opportunity. I agree with and support both of these concepts, in theory and in practice. My mama didn't raise any
Luddites.
No, my condemnation is for those in positions of elected political leadership, and appointed executive policy jobs, who state their belief in the sanctity of local control, and the need to improve education for our children, then put their stamp of approval on this kettle of rotted fish and tell us it is a happy meal. Who are the ninnies here, them or us?
My vote for ninnyhood goes to them and I am seeing signs that some of "us" aren't going to take it any more. Lead by PSBA's filing of a suit, some more districts are now beginning to contest the constitutionality of charter schools, the legality of allowing cyber charter schools to be created, as well as the perceived violation of the compulsory attendance laws, and the requirement that districts pay tuition for these students sight unseen. There is also a major question as to whether or not cyber schools can even qualify for status as a charter school, given the belief of many that they are a form of home schooling.
The issues for those in public education revolve around these entities lack of accountability, and the expectation of the lawgivers in Harrisburg that your district should just quietly and willingly cough up $7,000 a year, or so, for a student you probably didn't even know was out there. Further, you should not expect to ask any nosy questions, like "is this child learning anything?" I don't know exactly when it became accepted practice to spend taxpayer's money on a program or service and not expect those responsible to be accountable for what they do and how they spend the money, but I'm pretty sure it started in the Ridge administration. The assumption seems to be that if those folks tell you something is in the public's interest, you should accept it and keep on
truckin'.
As they are being created, run and funded, cyber charter schools are bad educational practice and worse public policy. There is no number of William Bennett's, or his ideological clones, that can change that state of affairs by inanely repeating mantras like "educational establishment" and "school reform". These folks can only continue to deny us the legitimacy of our professional knowledge and experience, as well as the quality of the work and learning done by our teachers and students, if we let them.
This issue is a very good place to draw the line. |
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| BOARD
CHANGES... |
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Time and the retirement system have a habit of marching on. At the end of the school year, PARSS learned that two of tis stalwarts have decided to hang up their nameplates and retire. Dr. Jane
(Karper) Daschbach of the Troy Area School District and Mr. Richard Neff of the Canton Area School District have retired as of the end of the summer of 2001.
Both Jane and Dick have been on the PARSS board for a number of years and have seen the organization grow to its present status. They have directly participated in the growth and we will miss them. Joe Bard, Executive Director of PARSS said, "Dick and Jane were the sort of people that you could always count on, their retirement will leave us with some big shoes to fill." Best wishes to both of them in the next part of their lives. |
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| HISTORIC PRESERVATION IN
BROOKVILLE... |
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You may understand that the Commonwealth of PA favors new construction, in school buildings, rather than renovations. However, in 1998 preservationists convinced the state that the guidelines for redoing a school could meet all current code requirements. In some cases, older buildings had a better safety track record than some of the newer schools. Historic buildings were the focus of these new guidelines. That is not to say that renovation is always the answer, but in the case of the Northside Elementary School in Brookville Area School District (Jefferson County), preservation was the by word.
The 2.1 million dollar renovation was completed in 1998. The two story building was originally built in 1989. All classrooms were enlarged to meet current standards including the Americans with Disabilities Act. The results of the construction were so pleasing to the eye, that the architects, Hayes Large, entered a poster of the building in a first ever competition sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Northside won the first prize of $2,000 dollars. The national contest included schools from across the United States, Mayor Anthony Williams of Washington, D.C., Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and Trust President Richard Moe presented the winning poster at the Cleveland Elementary School, a historic school in Washington, D.C.
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BANDWAGONISM (HERE TODAY GONE TOMORROW)... |
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In November of 2002, we will have the quadrennial election for Governor of the Commonwealth of PA. PARSS has been meeting with the staffs of some of the candidates to get some sort of feeling of how they might approach school funding and taxation. We will be meeting with the other candidates before long. We should then have some idea about what the future holds in store.
Obviously, the past is prologue to what will happen. When the Commonwealth of PA decided that 2500 school districts was a bit much, they created the Consolidation Act of 1965, during Mr. Scranton's term and whittled that down to 505 school districts. The final whittling came with a consolidation of four school districts in Allegheny County by the feds for integration reasons. That school district is now Woodland Hills.
The Consolidation Act also prescribed a test that was to be given to all students in the Commonwealth to determine if bigger really was better. That test was created in the late 1960s and had a voluntary test run in 1969. That test was called the Test of Educational Quality Assessment. It lasted for quite a while until it was replaced by the TELLS test followed by the TELS test and then the TELLS test.
In recent memory, we have created a statewide test called PSSA, with its accompanying movement to standards-based education, proficiency certificates on diplomas, aligning curriculum to match the standards and then to match the test.
Recently, I heard a young superintendent say that the standards movement and high stakes testing are here to stay. No new Governor of the Commonwealth will ever dare to replace the current set of trends. I guess getting old has some virtue. I can remember thinking the same thing about many different programs that seemed to have value over the past 40 years.
Just recently, I remembered the Lead Teacher Program, the Madeline Hunter Technique, Project 81, the New Math,
BSCS, Human Relations, Training, Every School a Good School, Cooperative Vocational Programming, Instructional Support Teams, Long Range Planning, Strategic Planning, Scope and Sequence,
Summerhill, Schools Without Failure, Schools to Work, Channel One, Back to Site-Based Basics, Mini-Courses, School Based Management, Portfolio Assessment, Self Esteem and so many others that came to mind.
I am aware that some school districts are still using some of these programs and techniques. However, they have passed from the public scene over time, never again to make the cover of the Department of Education's publications. I am wistful when I look over the list. I was involved with many of these efforts and saw them and their funding come to an end.
Will I be writing a similar article in ten years looking back at Cyber Schools, Charter Schools, Vouchers, Standards, High Stakes Testing, Curriculum Alignment, Independent Schools, Privatization and saying, I wonder what became of them? |
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PARSS ACTIVITIES... |
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As you may be aware, most rural folks do not brag about their comings and goings and their accomplishments. PARSS is trying to change that image with articles in the newsletter, our website, www.parss.org and our message board. We will also depart from that rural habit by telling you about some of the things that the organization is doing.
As the demands of public education increase, with no concomitant change in the way we are funded, PARSS tries to fill some of the needs of school districts. We have done that in the past by offering a credit line with Zions Bank for small projects, doing financial reviews, doing research, presenting institutes and generally trying to be of some help.
In two instances, districts called us to do some things that we have not been doing of late. We are doing a thorough review of the Transportation system in the RedBank Valley School District (Clarion County) and we are doing a Superintendent's search in the Blue Mountain School District (Schuylkill County). Each of these requests came directly from the school district. We believe that PARSS has a handle on the needs of rural school districts and tailors each activity to suit each school district.
As you have seen in the article about the new PARSS Bond Pool, we continue to try and be of service in the area of making financial services available to our members. |
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