Homestead Exemption Notices

: "Homeowners in the Brandywine Heights School District will be sent notices and applications for tax relief under the Homeowner Tax Relief Act of 2004 in the next two weeks.
The applications must be submitted to the Berks County Assessment Office by March 1, Steven E. Fischer, business manager, told the school board Monday night." Other Board News

This is great the district has to shell out close to $5,000 to mail these applications twice because of state mandates but homeowners may or may not have some relief in 2006. Any relief is dependent on the Slots For Tots revenue. Homeowners have to file by March 1, 2005 or they will forfeit any relief. Try to discourage your neighbors from filing because the fewer people file means more for us that do. Who comes up with this stuff?

When Something Sounds Too Good To Be True ...

Todays Reading Eagle:
Eliminating school property taxes in exchange for a 4.5 percent tax on business receipts would leave a roughly $4 billion gap in public school funding, a state Revenue Department tax analyst testified Tuesday.
C. Daniel Hassell, deputy secretary for tax policy, estimated that the plan would eliminate about $10 billion in property and local wage and per capita taxes by 2007-2008, when a phase-out of school property taxes would be completed.

Rep. Samuel E. Rohrer, a Robeson Township Republican and one of the sponsors of the tax-swap plan, questioned the department’s ability to analyze the plan as thoroughly as Fishkind.
“I would say the numbers of the plan do add up,” Rohrer said. “You just got to look at them in the proper way.”
After the hearing, Rohrer said the department may have been using a 4 percent tax rate for its analysis.
A previous version of the property-tax swap plan, and the one Fishkind used for its analysis, called for a 4 percent sales tax on all goods and services.
But the analysis Hassell provided showed the calculation was done using a 4.5 percent business-receipts tax.

Rep. Thomas M. Tigue, a Luzerne County Democrat, said that based on Hassell’s analysis, the state would need to impose an 11.5 percent business-receipts tax to generate enough revenue to replace the property and local taxes eliminated under the tax-swap plan.
“I’m looking at the bottom line, and it just doesn’t add up,” Tigue said.
He said he wants to see the figures add up if property taxes are eliminated
Reading Eagle 9.29.04

Using either the 4.5% or the 11.5% have they factored in the loss of business in the state these increases will create? These studies usually look at current revenues and work out the percentage never taking into account how people don't have to shop in PA. Projections for increased taxes usually fall short and projections for lower revenue from tax cuts often are too pessimistic because people can quickly change their buying habits.

How will schools be financed during recessions when the tax revenues drop off?

How will the money be given out to the districts? Giving out money strictly on average attendance will not work. City schools with large number of non-English speaking children and urban poor have costly needs. They are gong to be clamouring for higher amounts. We live in a rural districts with not many votes which will put us on the short end of the stick.

While housing will benefit from no property taxes but how much of the savings will be eaten up by federal income tax?

Can we even be sure that the money will come on schedule? Last year the state funds were held up for months while they bickered resulting in some districts having to borrow money to meet their obligations.

While soaring property taxes are a burden, we could be in serious danger of throwing the uneducated baby out with the bath.

There will be a meeting on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. in the Brandywine Heights Middle School to discuss this issue. Several local legislatures are scheduled to be in attendance.

One Way To Turn A Profit In The Cafeteria

It was not the sort of letter a school delights in sending home to its families.
"Dear Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grade Parents:

"It is with great regret that I tell you that your child may have been exposed to alcohol today at lunch," said the missive signed by Alexander Harvey IV, head of the private Alexandria Country Day School.
It was tequila and margarita mix, to be precise, left in the refrigerator in a pitcher and mistaken for limeade by kitchen staff, who poured it into small cups and served it to children as a lunch treat, he wrote. MORE

Best Wishes

There was a post today about all the fine teachers at Brandywine. Unfortunately for us Barb Samide, currently a MS gifted teacher, was appointed the principal of the Harry S. Truman Elementary School in Salisbury township. The editorial staff would like to extend our thanks and best wishes to her.

"Economic Growth from Hurricanes Could Outweigh Costs"

There has been a lot of discussions at school board meetings about how to improve the tax base. This article in U.S.A. Today shows one way. We should just burn Topton to the ground. Then after it is rebuilt we do it again. According to this article the only thing standing between us and economic prosperity is the volunteer fire department. Think of all the new jobs that can be "created". It is amazing how these articles that defy all economic sense can be written in reputable newspapers.

SEP. COW AGENDA

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE
September 27, 2004 7:00 p.m.

I. BOARD OF DIRECTORS
A. Re-appointment of BCTC Representative (Bollinger)

II. BUDGET/FINANCEffRANSPORTATION
A. Act 72 Notice

B. Section 125 Spending Account Resolution

C. Food Service Profit & Loss

D. BCIU Special Education Transportation
Scranton School for Deaf - $79. 14/day
Deverux School - $135.06/ day
Vanguard School - $165.88/day

III. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
A. Conference Attendance
Kuznick
Johnson

B. Homebound Instruction

C. Grs. K - 8 Gifted CuITiculum D. Field Trip Request

IV. PERSONNEL REPORT
A. Co-CuITicular Appointments
Ben Stephens - Co-Detention Monitor
Johanna Hall- Asst. MS Field Hockey

B. Appointment - Paraprofessional
Study Hall Monitor (Cranage Replacement)
4 hr. Custodian (Bechtel Replacement)

C. Maternity Leave Request

D. Mentor Approval

E. Re-Appointment of After School Study Hall Montior

F. Appointment - Professional (Schiffert Replacement)

G. Change of Status - Paraprofessional
Bortz - Replacement increase of time from 4 to 6 hrs.
Koch - Increase of time from 2 to 6 hrs.
Repko- Increase of time from 4 to 6 hrs.

V. PROPERTY REPORT
A. High School SinkHole #3
B. Rockland Water Notice

In Case You Have Been Asleep The Past Few Years

“The United States spends nearly 50% more on health care than any other nation – 14% of its economic output in 2002 vs. 10.9% in Germany, 9.6% in Canada, 9.7% in France and 7.7% in the United Kingdom. U.S. health costs are on a trajectory to consume 18.4% of every dollar we spend by 2013.

“If we received something for this extra spending, fine. But we don’t” Studies show that the additional expenditure yields no overall added health benefit. Other studies have shown that about 15 to 20 cents of every health care dollar is either pure waste or pays for inappropriate or excessive care. As a result:

* Health-insurance premiums jumped an average 40% from 2000 to 2003.

* Two-thirds of 4,600 small business owners in a recent survey ranked health costs as their top problem

* Large companies increasingly complain that they are at a disadvantage in the global marketplace because of the rising health tab

* Businesses have held back on hiring or wage increases because of it

* Two in five adults had problems paying medical bills last year.

(Source: "Health Care Costs: A Runaway Train," by Steven Findlay in USA Today)

We Think - They Sweat

"In the US, the Industrial Revolution is dead. Kiss it good-bye. Heating,
stirring, mixing, stamping, and bolting have all been played out. These are no
longer things that make America great. Instead it's, uh, thinking. I know what
you're thinking, "Why didn't I think of that?" It's what people who think they
are smart call Intellectual Property. This "IP" is the Silicon Valley model."

...
"Look at a laptop. It sells for $1000. $200 of that is for an Intel chip (Intel's
gross profit is $180) and $100 for Windows XP (Microsoft's gross profit is
$99.99!) The margin of those two products is more than the gross margins of all
the companies that make the other components combined and of the laptop itself"
...

"But how did we get here? The biggest change since World War II is that design
and manufacture are no longer linked. Computers and communications moves designs
around in nanoseconds, while industrial era factories locate near cheap labor. A
computer on a chip, operating system, wireless packet switching networks, these
are all highly intelligent properties that come from mind instead of matter. But
so is a Nike Swoosh, an anti-intelligent Adam Sandler movie or Baywatch rerun, a
pill to stop the runs from eating a Happy Meal, Vanilla Diet Coke and a venti
double decaf blended caramel macchiato with a twist at Starbucks."
- Running Money by Andy Kessler


Schools are criticized and budgets are cut from those non-important classes like music and art. They may not help with the SAT or help the school meet the No Child Left Behind standards. However, these are the very courses that help develop the creativity that will be vital to their "We Think They Sweat" future. Even if the kid can't draw or play a tune they do help develop the ability to not just spit out answers but think innovatively. The capability to if not create the next new-thing, at the very least recognize and improve it.

"Playing the Final -- An Experiment in Pedagogy"

The final exam is worth fifteen points and I offer the students a choice -- they can either take a standard academic essay exam or they can Play the Final. Most choose to play.

What is interesting to me as an observer of this event, is how effectively this exam measures students' knowledge and their overall citizenship in the class. Given that the exam is public, students study not just because they want to "get a good grade" but because they don't want to embarrass themselves in front of the group. The exam itself is a learning experience quite different from the usual student experience of cramming before the exam and forgetting immediately afterwards. When a question is asked, many students look up the answer in their notes so as to be prepared if the questionee requests help. All of the exam questions are asked and answered publicly and there is discussion of the answers in between rounds, so the exam ends up being a review of the entire course. IGDA - Ivory Tower

Taxpayer's Group Meeting

A taxpayers group in the Brandywine Heights School District has scheduled a town meeting with local legislators to discuss tax relief, including a proposal to eliminate school property taxes.

The meeting is set for Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. in the Brandywine Heights Middle School.

Joan Falcone of the Taxpayer Association of Brandywine Heights Area School District said the meeting will focus on a tax-swap plan proposed in Harrisburg.

The plan, advocated by state Rep. Samuel E. Rohrer, a Robeson Township Republican, would eliminate school property taxes by imposing a 4.5 percent tax on total receipts of retailers and most businesses.

The town meeting will allow people to ask questions about the plan, said Falcone, whose husband, Floyd, is president of the taxpayers group.

“It’s a very complicated tax bill,” she said. “We believe it’s probably going to save all the senior citizens their homes in Pennsylvania. People are losing their homes every year.”

At 26.15 mills, Brandywine Heights’ tax rate is the highest among Berks County school districts.

Falcone said the group expects Rohrer to attend along with state Sen. Michael A. O’Pake, a Reading Democrat; and state representatives Dennis E. Leh, an Amity Township Republican; and Douglas G. Reichley and Paul W. Semmel, Lehigh County Republicans who represent parts of Berks.

Falcone said organizers hope to keep the meeting nonpartisan, and that they expect to discuss other tax-relief plans and solicit ideas from the politicians.

Surprise Surprise

More than 25 percent of public school teachers in Washington and Baltimore send their children to private schools, a new study reports.

Nationwide, public school teachers are almost twice as likely as other parents to choose private schools for their own children ...

Michael Pons, spokesman for the National Education Association, the 2.7-million-member public school union, declined a request for comment on the study's findings. The American Federation of Teachers also declined to comment ..." Article

Big surprise that the unions that are most opposed to school choice and any meaningful reform, other then throwing money at the problem, have no comment.

Should Have Taken Them To Hermans For Ice Cream

"A Luzerne County man was held for court Monday on charges he and his wife took their two grandchildren with them when they drove to Reading to buy heroin.
William R. Davis, 47, Ebervale, is charged with possessing and intending to deliver heroin, possessing drug paraphernalia, conspiracy and endangering the welfare of children.
He was returned to Berks County Prison in lieu of $25,000 bail following the hearing before District Justice Gloria W. Stitzel.
...

Cardell said that when he asked the couple if there were any drugs in the car, Vicki Davis removed a plastic bag from her pants containing the heroin, which was valued at about $1,500. She also pulled two syringes from her bra, he said.

Their grandchildren, a boy and girl ages 7 and 3, were in the back seat, investigators said. " Article

Never Can Tell

Not much to do with the school district or education but it is interesting. Have to love it when all the experts are proven wrong. Instead of putting Mom & Pop bookstores out of business it has given even the smallest a world wide customer base.

"It wasn't meant to be like this. The internet was supposed to bid farewell to the need for buying books in shops. When the dotcom bubble was at its peak, web gurus claimed sites such as Amazon would undercut and undermine traditional bookstores, and that ebooks would eventually do away with 'dead tree' media altogether.

But what no one saw coming was that the internet would, in fact, provide a lifeline for possibly the least fashionable and most technologically backward part of the marketplace: old books. ". MORE

Teacher Arrested After Bookmark Called Concealed Weapon

"TAMPA, Fla. -- A weight may soon be lifted off a Maryland woman charged with carrying a concealed weapon in an airport.
It wasn't a gun or a knife. It was a weighted bookmark.
Kathryn Harrington was flying home from vacation last month when screeners at the Tampa, Fla., airport found her bookmark. It's an 8.5-inch leather strip with small lead weights at each end.
Airport police said it resembled a weighted weapon that could be used to knock people unconscious. So the 52-year-old special education teacher was handcuffed, put into a police car, and charged with carrying a concealed weapon.
She faced a possible criminal trial and a $10,000 fine. But the state declined to prosecute, and the Transportation Security Administration said it probably won't impose a fine.
Harrington said she'll never again carry her bookmark into an airport." Article

Can't believe they are going to let her get away with this. They should have thrown the book at her. You do have to wonder if the head cop told his young assistant "Book her Danno".

Superintendent relishes post

"Taking the helm of a school district with the highest property tax rate in the county may not seem like an attractive job to some.
One would have to work to ensure quality education is not sacrificed while residents desparate to lower taxes place you under a microscope.
But Brandywine Heights Area School District (BHASD) Superintendent Dr. John P. Curtin relishes his new position."Patriot Article

Sometimes a little hardship just what your child needs

"It's funny. Sixty years ago, my grandparents worked in the fields from dawn to dusk to make sure their kids didn't go hungry. And now, surrounded by modern conveniences, what concerns me is how to raise my children so that they will be hungry for success. " MORE

New Contest

The school just created a new page to answer questions arising from board meetings. The contest for today is to see who can find this page with the fewest clicks. You are on the honor system. This click doesn't count.

Courage, Determination, and Perseverance

Deserves a little mention.


Bullets beat Oley, snap streak at 93
Oley Valley loses a Berks League field hockey game for the first time since October 1996.

By Brian Rippey
Reading Eagle
The last 10 minutes seemed like nearly eight years to Lyndsay Trenge.
After scoring the tiebreaking goal against Oley Valley Tuesday afternoon, Trenge and her Brandywine Heights teammates kept waiting to hear the horn marking the end of the game. And kept waiting, and waiting.

When the horn finally sounded in Topton, Brandywine players raced onto the field to celebrate a 2-1 Berks III win that ended Oley Valley’s 93-game league unbeaten streak. The Lynx had not lost a Berks League game since a 2-1 setback to Kutztown Oct. 9, 1996.

“You have to give Brandywine all the credit,” Oley Valley coach Donna Long said. “They stepped up and we didn’t.”

“It was a shock to us all,” Trenge said. “We knew we had the potential to do it but we just didn’t know if we could push it to that level.”

The Bullets (3-0, 6-0) were unable to play to Oley Valley’s level in the first half. The Lynx (2-1, 5-1) took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Lauren Solley, assisted by Kristen Wanner, with 6:16 left in the first half.

The Lynx dominated much of the first 30 minutes, outshooting Brandywine Heights 13-0.

Only a strong effort by goalie Audrey Hoffman prevented the Bullets from falling into a deeper hole. Hoffman made 12 of her 13 saves in the first half.

“She played a smart game,” Brandywine coach Donna Hordendorf said. “The girls needed to mark their people and let Audrey do her job, and they gave her the room she needed.”

Hoffman gave the Bullets the boost they needed to show they could stay with the Lynx. In the second half, Brandywine’s offense came to life and began pressuring the defense.

Christy Miller got Brandywine even with 19:43 left off an assist from Trenge. With 9:45 left, Trenge put the Bullets on the road to their monumental win by scoring off an assist from Amy Hordendorf.

“I actually didn’t see it because it went between the goalie’s legs,” Trenge said. “But as soon as it hit the back of the cage I was pretty much speechless.”

Trenge and her teammates continued to slow the Lynx attack for the final 10 minutes. Oley Valley, which suffered just its second league loss in 128 games spanning 10 seasons, was limited to one shot in the second half.

But the final minutes seemed to drag as Brandywine players peeked to sideline to see when the timekeeper would alert the official that the game was in the final minute.

“We kept looking over at Mrs. Benjamin (timekeeper), waiting for her to stand up with the horn and blow it for the game to be over,” Trenge said. “It was great. I don’t think that hit us yet.”

The victory changes the landscape of Berks III, a division the Lynx have won 12 straight times. The Bullets have placed themselves in the favorite role previously occupied by Oley Valley, winner of four straight Berks County titles and seven of the last eight.

“At some point it was going to end,” Long said. “It will be interesting to see how we can bounce back from it.”

Contact Brian Rippey at 610-371-5070 or brippey@readingeagle.com.


Article:

A Little Political News

Since the discussion board has mentioned politics this breaking news may be of some interest

"Faced with the second major controversy this month about its reporting on President Bush's National Guard service, CBS News on Friday defended its report that President Bush had used $3 bills to bribe Texas Air National Guard officials in 1973.
The latest dispute erupted after the CBS News program '60 Minutes II' reported earlier this week that Bush had used several thousand $3 bills to buy the silence of National Guard officials who were questioning whether he had met his service obligations. The program featured color photocopies of some of the currency allegedly used to pay the bribes" MORE

Looks a little suspect but they are talking about the Republic Of Texas so maybe they did have $3.00 bills. Got to love little bloggers bringing down CBS and professional news guys like Ra^ther.

New Poet Laureate

Selecting A Reader
BY TED KOOSER
First, I would have her be beautiful,
and walking carefully up on my poetry
at the loneliest moment of an afternoon,
her hair still damp at the neck
from washing it. She should be wearing
a raincoat, an old one, dirty
from not having money enough for the cleaners.
She will take out her glasses, and there
in the bookstore, she will thumb
over my poems, then put the book back
up on its shelf. She will say to herself,
"For that kind of money, I can get
my raincoat cleaned." And she will.

Today’s New York Times Sunday Magazine contains an interview with the new poet laureate, Ted Kooser.

Oley schools probing asthma problem

Article: "The Pennsylvania Department of Health, in conjunction with the Oley Valley School District, plans to investigate why a high rate of asthma exists among Oley students.
The district has the second-highest rate of student-asthma cases in the state, according to data collected from 1997 through the 2002-03 school year.
During that six-year period, Oley Valley's rate of asthma among students was 17.14 percent, well above the statewide average of 7.9 percent.
The Bradford Area School District, McKean County, ranked the highest with 18.15 percent of its students reported to have asthma.
Asthma rates are increasing nationally, but the reason for the increase is unknown, said Dr. James N. Logue, director of the health department's division of environmental health epidemiology."

We Have No Problems

Going over all the posts from the past week about taxes, lunches, sports, health care cost which all look like real, woe is us, problems. Then I came upon this article. It really puts things in perspective.

September 10, 2004 -- The terrified 10-year-old boy videotaped by his terrorist captors during the Russian school seize is miraculously alive — thanks, he said, to being quiet as a mouse and because "God was with me."

"I saw things that give me nightmares, and my body has been wounded," fourth-grader Georgy Farniyev said yesterday from his hospital bed.

"But I am alive. I am alive!"
New York Post Online Edition: news

New group to benefit Fleetwood schools

The Fleetwood School District Foundation, a certified nonprofit, was recently formed to benefit athletics and academics through fund-raising. Its first project is to fund $1.5 million is athletic-field improvements.
The next meeting will be at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 13 in the school district’s boardroom.Article

Reading Eagle - school board hears from irate taxpayers

The Brandywine Heights School Board got an earful again Tuesday night from some residents angered over what is the county’s highest property-tax rate at 26.15 mills.

The $166,000 monthly cost of employee health, disability and life insurance was attacked as an example of expenses that the taxpayers could no longer afford. It must be addressed in the current teacher-contact negotiations, said one district resident.

A projected $85,000 cafeteria deficit could be all but eliminated by stopping the undercharging of adults for cafeteria meals, said Topton resident Elaine Falcone. A suggestion that teachers could easily afford to pay $5 instead of the current $2.50 drew loud applause.

The $7,600 the board approved for the installation of batting cages at the high school was cited as another example of unnecessary expenditures.

Resident Kathy M. Duffy even suggested that perhaps some legal action could be taken against previous board members who approved construction of the new $30.5 million high school that some at the meeting criticized as not needed.

The district’s $2.2 million reserve fund could reduce taxes by 4.2 mills or almost $700 on a typical $150,000 house, one resident said.

The question about where the taxpayers’ responsibility ends prompted more applause.

Duffy invited board members to attend the Sept. 29 meeting of Taxpayers of Brandywine School District, a group of 200 residents organizing to end school funding through property taxes.

The meeting will be held in the American Legion in Topton. The time has not been established.

Board member Michael Grossman was absent.

Contact correspondent Stephen F. DeLucas at 610-371-5000 or news@readingeagle.com.

Examples of Trends in Student Portraits

Seniors Rule or what were they thinking about.

Teaching Test Tricks

In less than a decade, by 2013-14, every student in America will be required to reach proficiency in reading and math, according to the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). But those students who need help the most may be left behind nonetheless — owing to the perverse incentives and simplistic growth targets that characterize most states' approaches to meeting NCLB requirements

...

A measurement model detailed in Putting Education to the Test — a new study by the Pacific Research Institute — calculates a rate of expected academic change, or REACH, using an individual student's test scores to come up with an annual individual improvement target for that student. In other words, given a student's current location on the ability scale, the REACH model tells teachers, principals, parents, and officials how much that student needs to grow each year in order to be proficient by the time he leaves school.

This would be an invaluable tool for instructors starting the school year with a classroom full of new and unfamiliar students. It enables teachers to channel help to those students most in need, a key goal of NCLB.

Since this model measures and projects how each individual student is progressing toward proficiency, it can be used to evaluate whether a particular education program has helped or hurt student achievement. Class-size reduction, for example, has been highly touted — but it needs to be evaluated on how much it actually helps individual students.

.......

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