PA Rep. Tim Mahoney Proposal to House Education Cmte Shows Goal To Wrest Local Control

Not Enough Said

PA Rep. Tim Mahoney Proposal to House Education Cmte Shows Goal To Wrest Local Control

House Resolution 231 submitted to House Education Committee, April 25, 2011

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/bill_history.cfm?syear=2011&sind=0&body=H&type=R&bn=231

Rep. Tim Mahoney's goal pressing forward for November, 2011

School district consolidation study to begin

May 13, 2011.
School district consolidation study to begin By Carla DeStefano Herald-Standard heraldstandard.com | 0 comments

An education management company has been hired to perform a consolidation study that will examine the potential cost savings of combining all six Fayette County school districts.

According to state Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-South Union Township, who proposed the consolidation, officials of The Education Management Group (EMG) LLC will begin the study immediately with a projected completion date sometime in August.

"My goal is to have it on the referendum in November," Mahoney said.

http://www.heraldstandard.com/news/local_news/school-district-consolidation-study-to-begin/article_8945ac45-6710-50c8-83a4-ecbb6c48c735.html

We ask on other pages whether state Rep. Mahoney and the Herald-Standard.com have read the PA Economy League Report which highlights specifically:

There is no referendum process for PA school districts to merger or to consolidate districts.

However, there is a way for PA school districts currently to merge or to consolidate two or more districts.

Rep. Mahoney had submitted legislation to "remind" school districts they could now consolidate or merge, or share services.

We know several Fayette districts have gone the route of sharing some costs.

We also know as we discuss in No Public Referendum Required for Two or More School Districts to Merge the school board directors can already listen to the will of the local people they represent in their own districts, if such arises, or among themselves determine outright consolidation is what the people desire - and they represent their will - can outready be accomplished by a simple majority vote in a meeting of the school board directors considering a merger.

So we have asked: Why the need to take away what already exists - local control of districts over their own destiny, and put that control in the domain of the entire county of voters?

Why a county referendum wherein voters in the county are enabled, by Rep. Mahoney's legislation, because the county has no jurisdiction over local school districts consolidation or merging plans?

We have asked this question numerous times while researching studies that show that student enrollment over 3,000 produces less cost-efficiency and in fact increases per pupil costs.

In a larger consolidated district, drop out rates rise.

Local identity and unity is impacted.

Look through our links particularly the link to Education Northwest. That site info highlights several notable studies and should be read by anybody who has already formed an opinion of support for Rep. Mahoney's Plan for consolidation of school districts, by way of a "county" referendum.

In the final analysis the conclusion arrived at must be stated: The reason why Rep. Mahoney, Fay-Penn Economic Development Council and the Herald-Standard.com newspaper are so dead-set on somehow pusing a referendum on the people of the smaller school districts is to "wrest control" from them by means of imposing a county-wide consolidated district - if they can get it.

Read our other pages.

Fayette Special: Model for Other Power Grabbing PA State Legislators to Follow

https://dirtline.tripod.com/notenoughsaid/id57.html

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