BUDGET REFORM for STUDENT LEARNING at lmsd.info - the lower merion school district alternative information source

Board Decides Smaller is Better (for this year)!

PA enacted a law in 2006 that for the first time in state history allows taxpayers, in 2007, to vote on excessive school district budgets.

In June 2006, our LMSD School Board authorized the single largest tax increase in LM’s history.  Weirdly, it turns out… we really haven’t hired any more teachers, we really didn’t buy any more books, we really didn’t give everyone monster raises, and we didn’t do anything known to the public that could reasonably explain such a record-setting-high estimated increase in expenses.  [Of course, any ‘officials’ are welcome to share their thoughts.]  Critics argued that it was a dishonest budget, that the “books were being cooked” and that it was an attack on Democracy.  (click here for chart)

Update On The Superintendents Comparison to Upper Dublin - Board Asks Citizens To Vote on New School Proposal

You may recall that, in November 2006, I took issue with the Superintendent's reference to Upper Dublin as an example of a District that is building a high school that is as big and as expensive as the new Harriton High School.  If the facts he left out of that comparison weren't enough, the Upper Dublin School Board has just demonstrated how a school board with integrity and the public trust can truly lead a community.

Is The School Board Getting Technology Right? (or, What Are We Really Getting For Our Six Million Bucks?)

If you have been following the District's so-called "budget presentations," you may have caught the technology budget presentation.  But is the District really following the advice of the consultant that it so proudly displayed at that presentation.  If you listen to the students, you may wonder if your $6,000,000.00 per year investment is really preparing them for the global economy, or is it simply impressing those who will simply never get it.  In the words of one student, "the results of its implementation suggest this [latter] conclusion."

Are We Investing in a Failing System?

Perhaps our school board leaders could take a lesson from the mayor of New York.  This quote was run in the OpinionJounal from the Wall Street Journal editorial page.

"The fact is, our education system looks a lot like the U.S. auto industry in the 1970s -- stuck in a flabby, inefficient, outdated production model driven by the needs of employees rather than consumers...

Superintendent Defends His Comparison to Upper Dublin High School

On Election Day, several high school students were seen handing out a Lower Merion School District flier that, among other things, made a case for the district's plan to build new high schools.  Many citizens sees this as a violation of Act 1 (for information on Act 1, click here), which states that: "No public funds may be used to urge any elector to vote for or against a referendum or be appropriated for political or campaign purposes."

Don't Compete with Episcopal Academy

I am writing with my concerns about the past and proposed school tax increases in the context and spirit of Pa. Act 34, and in the principals of common sense, fiscal responsibility and morality.

The power to tax must be used wisely and with the utmost concern. It is an awesome power and a responsibility not to be taken lightly, no matter what the perceived benefit to a community. Yours is to educate Everyman, and not to compete with Episcopal Academy.

Too Big and Too Expensive

The New Harriton HS is Too Big and Too Expensive!  See how our school construction compares to a fiscally responsible school district. Download a Comparison of Harriton to another Pa High School