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ScrantonPoliticalDiscussionBoard -> ScrantonPoliticalDiscussionBoard -> What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
Post Info TOPIC: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
Read the post below and take a poll ... are you in support of or against Senate Bill 20 concerning School Strikes? [4 vote(s)]

I am in full support of Senate Bill 20
50.0%
I think that the concept of Senate Bill 20 is a good one, however I think that the Bill needs more refining
50.0%
I DO NOT support Senate Bill 20
0.0%
I have no opinion
0.0%
LusOnlyVoice


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Date:
What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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Has anyone seen the Flyer put out by Senator Mellow? Anyway I received this flyer in my mail yesterday ... I have to say the it was full of good things (if it's all true). Very informational and helpful ... anyway ... in that flyer was a paragraph concering the reintroduction of Senate Bill 20, this is what the flyer said:

I have reintroduced Senate Bill 20, which would ban school strikes by imposing strict negotiation parameters and a reasonable timeline for both sides to reach an agreement through a variety of means. If the remain at an imapsse, my proposal requires negotiators to submit their "last best offer" to an impartial county judge who would then ratify on of the final offers as the final settlement plan. My legistlation is fair to all sides and encourages settlement over confrontation. It also protects the taxpayers against huge retroactive pay packages and consequential large spikes in property tax rates. The bill is now in the Senate Labor and Industry Committee.


I personally don't know what I think of this bill ... but was hoping to have some input from the members here ... what are your thoughts on this?

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Agamemnon


Scranton Guy

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RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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Here's a llink the full text of the bill...

PA Senate Bill 20

I just scanned the bill (I'll read the full text later today or tomorrow), but at first pass this seems reasonable to me.

I do have some "skin in this game", as my wife is a teacher in the SSD. Neither her nor I like the idea of teachers going out on strike...it simply isn't what professionals do. Teachers rightfully compare themselves to doctors and lawyers, but yet I've never seen either picketing against an employer. Conversely, I seriously question the capabilities of some school board directors, both in Scranton and in other districts. A school board is like a corporate board of directors...except for the fact that you wouldn't see a bus driver with a GED on a corporate board of directors. As a result, I do think that teachers need some measure of protection against horrible board decision making.




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LusOnlyVoice


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RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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I understand what it is you are saying Ag ... but lets take a look at the credentials of all of the School Board Members ... I think that we sometimes judge people harshly because they may have a GED over a High School Diploma ... and I know what you may be thinking on this one ... that a School Director should have finished high school. However one of the things that the Bus Driver had wanted to take a look at when he first ran was the Drop Out rate and he wanted to try and implement programs to help kids stay in school and not make the mistake he made ... I remember it well. He was in favor of the New Scranton HS ... and it was not the popular thing ... he was in favor of smaller neighborhood elementary schools ... and he felt that since he was the average person that he would be able to understand more about the burden that was placed on the taxpayers. He educated his children in the SSD ...

I don't think that a construction worker (Todd Hartman) or a Prison Guard (Pat O'Malley) is anymore qualified ... or a bored housewife turned insurance salesperson (Kathleen McGuigan) and how many before them ... are anymore qualified than this Bus Driver with a GED (Bob Lesh). But that's only my opinion.

I was rather disappointed that Joseph X. Garvey did not win a second term as he was great with numbers ...

If we take a look back in history ... how many people who have done great things did not graduate from High School? There were many ... here are just a few but the list goes on and on:

Mary Lyon.........American women's education pioneer; early American teacher; founder of Mount Holyoke College (America's first women's college)

Horace Greeley.... American newspaper publisher-editor; U.S. Congressman; 1872 U.S. Presidential candidate; co-founder of the Republican party in the United States

Rod McKuen.........best-selling American poet (elementary school dropout)

Alfred E. Smith.....New York Governor; 1928 Democratic U.S. Presidential candidate (elementary school dropout)

Anton van Leeuwenhoek....Dutch microscope maker; world's first microbiologist; discoverer of bacteria, blood cells, and sperm cells)

Walter Nash.......New Zealand Prime Minister 1957-1960; knighted (United Kingdom: Sir Walter Nash)

Philip Emeagwali....supercomputer scientist; one of the pioneers of the Internet (high-IQ high-school dropout; left school in native Nigeria due to war conditions and lack of tuition money; continued to study on his own and earned an equivalency diploma; later won a scholarship to Oregon College of Education in the United States; transferred after one year to Oregon State University)

Ansel Adams.........American wilderness photographer; photography book author; Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient

Peter Jennings......Canadian-born American television journalist; evening news anchorman

W. Clement Stone....self-made multimillionaire (some sources indicate billionaire) American businessman-author; founder of "Success" magazine (elementary school dropout; later attended high-school night courses and then some college)

Walter L. Smith.....former president of Florida A&M University (equivalency diploma, at age 23)


-- Edited by LusOnlyVoice at 08:41, 2008-07-05

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Glenn Cashuric

Date:
RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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I can't vote because I can't log on at this forum. Should I take a hint?

GC

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Agamemnon


Scranton Guy

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Date:
RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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Glenn,

Did you actually take the 32 seconds to register? I did change the forum a bit to require registration...but it's an immediate registration.

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Glenn Cashuric


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RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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After 30 seconds on anything I go into IFG mode.

GC

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Agamemnon


Scranton Guy

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Date:
RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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Well thanks for registering Glenn (it must have taken less than 32 seconds).

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"Hope at least gives you the option of living" - Harry Nilsson
Glenn Cashuric


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RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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It did! Eighteen seconds and I was ready to go.

Bob Mellow started the whole teacher funding and retirement mess. Now that he wants (not gonna happen) to be governor, he suddenly has a solution. Most of the legislative leadership will be under indictment soon, so the teacher strike thing will likely be put on the back burner until the new governor takes over in 2011.

GC

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Agamemnon


Scranton Guy

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Date:
RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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Things I would find less painful than voting Bob Mellow for governor of Pennsylvania:

  1. Pluck all the hairs from my body one at a time using a dull pair of tweezers.
  2. Doing my taxes via paper 1040 long form, complete with all appropriate schedules.
  3. The morning after drinking lots of tequila.
  4. Listening to George W. Bush talk...about anything.
  5. Watch a double feature of "Sleepless in Seatle" & "You've Got Mail"


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"Hope at least gives you the option of living" - Harry Nilsson
LusOnlyVoice


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RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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You know Ag ... you had me until #5 ... I like those movies!

I think that it needs a bit of tweaking ... I think that the parties involved should ratify their own contracts ... I don't think that a contract should be forced by a judge ... however I am for not striking and making all parties involved in negotiations work on ratifying the contract working evenings and weekends ... and not allowing for strikes ... I have never been a fan of strikes ... it's a lose lose situation if you ask me.

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Agamemnon


Scranton Guy

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RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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Lus,

Regarding the whole GED thing, you are right, I do make that judgement when it comes to the Director in question. It's no so much the GED thing as it is the notion that we have people running a multi-million dollar organization who basically have very little in the way of qualifications to run a multi-million dollar organization. My wife's family knows Bob Lesh well, and he is a decent guy. However, "decent guy" doesn't help him with the ability to analyze financial statements or negotiate labor contracts. Call me nuts, but if, for example, there was a board running the county transportation system (is it still called 'COLTS'?), I'd think that Mr Lesh would be well qualifiied for such a position.

In part this all rolls up the fact that I don't view the Scranton School District as being well managed. In my opinion, the are administratively top-heavy...in part (I surmise) because most members of the 'Board of Directors' really don't have much experience/qualifications managing such an organization, so the bureaucracy of the District ends up running and perpetuating itself. The business person in my cringes when I think about it, because in the private sector, there is just so much more emphasis on cost and efficiency.

So my apologies to Mr Lesh and anyone else out there with a GED. I mean no offense...although I still do think that people who run a school district should have some measure of experience in actually running things.

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LusOnlyVoice


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RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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I understand what it is you are saying ... and I do agree that there really should be some sort of qualifications for these people who decide to run for office be it School Board or City Council ... whatever office they should choose to run for ... Our system needs some tweeking that's for sure ...

As far as negotiating contract with unionized employees of the SSD ... none of the School Directors are directly involved in the process ... oh they are given information ... but Harry McGrath and Mr. John Vail do the negotiating for the district. They submit the final document to the Board for approval ... and I would put money on it that not even half of them read the damn contracts that they approve. Just my opinion.



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Agamemnon


Scranton Guy

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RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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I wonder if any members of the Board have ever personally been involved in contract negotiations...either from a management or a labor perspective?  It seems to me that when you are working with a unionized workforce, having some experience in that arena would be helpful.

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LusOnlyVoice


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RE: What are your thougts on Senate Bill 20, Concerning School Strikes?
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Ag not to get off topic but I sent you a Private Message.

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