Help end the school property tax now

The short presentation (9 minutes)


NOW is the time to contact your state representative and senator.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly – Find Your Legislator


The thorough presentation from the nonpartisan Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations (40 minutes) 


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From the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition:

There is no “Holy Grail” of property tax reform. Any property tax reform measure will involve shifting the tax levy from one type of tax to another – there’s no free ride. But there are ways to fund our schools and to ensure a better education for our children that are fairer and more effective than property taxes.

Many Pennsylvanians lose their homes and a lifetime’s work to sheriff’s sales each year because they can no longer afford to pay their property taxes. Senior citizens on fixed incomes are increasingly forced to sell their homes because of unrelenting increases in their tax burden. Young families cannot afford to purchase a home because the per-month property tax escrow is simply too high. Multi-generational family farms are being sold piece by piece to pay property taxes, devastating Pennsylvania agriculture. School districts in areas of the state with limited population and no commercial tax base are in distress and are unable to afford to give their children a quality education. Job losses, out migration, and abysmal state economic performance caused by burdensome property taxes are devastating Pennsylvania’s economy.

To read more click here: http://www.ptcc.us/solution.htm

NOW is the time to contact your state representative and senator.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly – Find Your Legislator

More on this in the newspapers (this list is updated as more articles appear):

Reading Eagle  …the school tax is based on the antiquated notion that a person who owns property has lots of money.

Lebanon Daily News …  ”an engaged and outraged public may be the only power capable of forcing a majority of lawmakers to do what is right.”

Shippensburg News-Chronicle …HB76, sponsored by state Rep. Jim Cox (R-129), has 62 co-sponsors, both Republican and Democrat.

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A tsunami of debt headed our way… update

An update on an old post:  A tsunami of debt headed our way

Where did it come from?

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Teacher’s resignation letter: ‘My profession … no longer exists’

“…and “data driven” education seeks only conformity, standardization, testing and a zombie-like adherence to the shallow and generic Common Core, along with a lockstep of oversimplified so-called Essential Learnings. Creativity, academic freedom, teacher autonomy, experimentation and innovation are being stifled in a misguided effort to fix what is not broken…”

Read more –>  Teacher’s resignation letter: ‘My profession … no longer exists’

Also –>  Why There’s a Backlash against Common Core – Lindsey M. Burke – National Review Online

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Property Tax Revolution (North Dakota)

 

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When is a finger, a pencil, or a piece of paper a gun?

When you’re in school apparently. The tragedy of the Sandy Hook shooting has made people more aware of exactly what sort of “weapons” have been successfully removed from our schools with the weapons-free policies that have been in place for years.

At the the last NASD school board meeting Joselyn Burros addressed the board on these matters and on more effective ways of protecting the pupils. You can read about it in this Patch news article:

Nazareth Mom Cautions Against ‘Fear Mongering’ After Sandy Hook

Also, a related article:

Kids Suspended for Using ‘Finger’ Guns: What do you Think?

So, what do you think, and has it happened around here more than has been reported?

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The Machine: The Truth Behind Teachers Unions

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Edu Workshop Banner

Who Should Attend: New School Board Directors, experienced School Board Directors, citizens who are exploring a run for School Board Director in the next School Board Director elections in 2013 and regular citizens who want to be better watchdogs of their local School Board.

 When: May 12, 2012 (full day)

Registration at 8:30 AM

(Kickoff at (9:00 AM)

Cost: $20 per person (includes morning coffee, donuts & lunch)

Location: ST. JOHN’S UCC of Howertown, 22 Atlas Road, Northampton, PA

Curriculum: (We will try to duplicate the previous November 2011 Workshop as much as possible.)

  • Ed Inghrim (Saucon Valley School Board Director) – Two separate sessions on Teacher Contracts and Pensions
  • Simon Campbell (Pennsbury School Board Director) – “How did we get here (current state of education)”
  • Eric Adams (Concerned citizen and parent.) – Curriculum
  • Presentations by citizen watchdogs on school district accountability
  • Janice Bowman (Allentown, PA Citizen Watchdog) – Review of her work in Allentown
  • Local watchdog leader – Presentation on their local group
  • Hayden Phillips – School District accounting, using the Nazareth Area School District
  • Priya Abraham (Commonwealth Foundation) – The PA Sunshine and Right to Know laws: What are they? How do I use them? Examples of implementation & links/people to reference for specific advice.

(Please detach & mail this section with payment)

Education Reform Workshop: May 12, 2012

NAME:______________________________

EMAIL______________________________

Amount Enclosed:_________________

MAIL TO: LVTP, P.O. Box 91011, Allentown, PA 18109

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