I have been following House Bill 1326 and see that it is up for second consideration on Monday, June 13, 2011.
House Calendar In the article,
Amid budget cuts, Pa. public school districts also may see their taxing authority curtailed, I had to laugh.
Dave Davare, director of research services for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, said boards are usually reluctant to raise taxes. He argues they have become the focus of the debate because schools get about 70 percent of property taxes, with counties and local municipalities splitting the rest.
"We can put out information, districts have websites, but to what extent are people looking at it, using it and understanding it?" Davare said. "You go to a lot of school board meetings, and you'll find a lot of times very few people in attendance, unless you're talking about hiring a new football coach or firing a football coach."
The School Board majority had no problem raising our taxes 10.5% last year, and turn around and say that they are holding the line this year. Could it mean that they took too much from us last year? Or is it because it is an election year? Or is it that it is the calm before the storm waiting for that second bond?
I had to laugh because a director for the PSBA was quoted as saying that school districts put out information on their websites, but are people looking at it and using it? It is pretty clear to me that Kindergarten parents, thankfully, weren't reading it yesterday. Dismissal was uneventful.
The representative from the PSBA also went on to say that few people attend school board meetings unless it is about hiring or firing football coaches. Where are all those people now when they were insisiting that we "absolutely" must have the sports complex? I find that happening right here on this blog. I have been asking for candidates or "Key Communicators" to record public meetings that would not be public otherwise, and I get no response except from one KC who was asked to record a meeting. We are still in search for someone to record the architect's update. It is sad that only three people have come forward admitting that they are on the superintendent's task force to communicate. Two of the three mention it on their campaign websites. We don't know who belongs to the committee, never hear anything from them, and only two from last year's list signed the infamous petition to cap the high school project. We get the link to the Harris survey indirectly from the School District. We have Policy meetings scheduled at inopportune times, forecasts disappear, and audit and finance committees vanish. Is that how the District is putting out information as the PSBA claims?
Governor Corbett's education secretary, Ron Tomalis said that,
if the exceptions are eliminated, he expects tax increase referendums to become far more common. And if they continue to fail, he said, that would reflect a disconnect between the school board and taxpayers.
"Would it mean more work on the part of school district officials? Yes, but that work would entail, first and foremost, controlling costs, and second, communication with the citizens of the district about exactly where the money is going, what it's being used for," Tomalis said.
A disconnect between the school board and taxpayers? Here? Communication with the citizens of the district about our tax dollars? I hope these bills pass, for our sakes.
