Rendell offers to pay for Upper St. Clair school program Gov. Ed Rendell has pledged $85,000 toward the cost of keeping the International Baccalaureate program at the Upper St. Clair Schools but no one is saying if that offer will be accepted or if it will save the classes.Rendell should pay for the building rehab at Schenley. Next, Rendell should give the pro-IB candidates for school board that live within USC $10,000 each as a political donation -- not as a tax-payer funded handout for a rich district that should be able to govern itself.
In a March 15 letter to Upper St. Clair School Board President William Sulkowski, Mr. Rendell says the state will fund the program.
Example: The rich getting richer and poor getting poorer.
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Rendell offers to pay for Upper St. Clair school program
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
By Laura Pace, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Gov. Ed Rendell has pledged $85,000 toward the cost of keeping the International Baccalaureate program at the Upper St. Clair Schools but no one is saying if that offer will be accepted or if it will save the classes.
In a March 15 letter to Upper St. Clair School Board President William Sulkowski, Mr. Rendell says the state will fund the program.
"Because I believe so strongly in our need to provide Pennsylvania students with the most challenging curriculum to prepare them to compete, I asked our Secretary of Education, Dr. Gerald Zahorchak to see if we could offer your district financial assistance to cover the cost of the diploma program," he wrote.
Lauren Trocano, spokeswoman for a pro-IB parent group called USC -- We're About Value and Excellence for our Schools, said the group found out about the offer last night. She did not know how the governor became aware of the elimination of the program.
The board voted 5-4 in February to eliminate the International Baccalaureate program in the district, which includes classes of several subjects for students in grades one through 12.
In addition to the state offer, private groups and individuals have offered to help fund the classes, although Mrs. Trocano did not identify them or say how much they have been offered.
A group of 10 families sued the school district in federal court last week to have the program reinstated. That suit recently was withdrawn and filed in Common Pleas Court.
"If fiscal concerns really are the issue, then we clearly have solutions in place, at least for next year," Mrs. Trocano said. "We would love the board to take these funding offers very seriously and do due diligence."
Board members did not immediately return calls seeking comment. However, Beatrice Browand, a resident and member of USC Citizens for Responsible Education, a group that opposes USC-Waves and supports the board majority that eliminated IB, said the money offer is an attempt to intrude on a local issue that should be handled by the local school board.
"I can't imagine why [Gov. Rendell] would want to bring in tax dollars to a school district like Upper St. Clair," Mrs. Browand said. "It's an easy photo op for him to come in with a check. He's a Band-Aid governor as far as I'm concerned. ? I consider that to be an insult to the educated in this community."
She said Mr. Rendell should be spending time on education and tax reform and topics such as establishing school vouchers and eliminating unfunded mandates, which burden finances of local districts.
More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Amen. See my take:
http://jonathanpotts.blogspot.com/2006/03/thats-my-money-too-you-know.html
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