EAST PENN SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOL DIRECTOR
(Vote for no more than Four - 4 Year Term)
(Alburtis, Emmaus & Macungie Boroughs and Lower Macungie &
Upper Milford Townships)
DEM
Jennifer Bandle - Emmaus, PA 18049
Alan Earnshaw - Macungie, PA 18062
William A. Ehrlich - Emmaus, PA 18049
Francee E. Fuller - Alburtis, PA 18011
Rebecca Heid - Emmaus, PA 18049
Giovanni Landi - Emmaus, PA 18049
Mike Policano - Macungie, PA 18062
Nancy Watkins - Emmaus, PA 18049
REP
Jennifer Bandle - Emmaus, PA 18049
John F. Belin - Emmaus, PA 18049
Alan Earnshaw - Macungie, PA 18062
William A. Ehrlich - Emmaus, PA 18049
Francee E. Fuller - Alburtis, PA 18011
Rebecca Heid - Emmaus, PA 18049
Giovanni Landi - Emmaus, PA 18049
Michael Moxley - Macungie, PA 18062
Mike Policano - Macungie, PA 18062
Mark Prinzinger - East Texas, PA 18046
Nancy Watkins - Emmaus, PA 18049
25 comments:
Is this Earnshaw dude legit?
Maybe Stolz will finally have some allies
Bernie,
What does red font mean?
Before Mr. Stolz lines up allies, he may want to actually learn about his position so when he casts his votes he understands what he's voting about, the legal and contract ramifications, etc. Examples would be his constant "no" votes on continuing education for teachers and his lack of knowledge regarding state laws governing the approval of charter schools.
I've been attending school board and borough council meetings for years. I have attended at least a dozen East Penn board meetings since Mr. Stolz was elected. I have never seen a person so unprepared for meetings in my life.
The last thing we need in East Penn are allies that are as ill-equipped for the position as Mr. Stolz.
To: 8:03. Please keep us informed. Some of us work nights and long hours and are not able to attend meetings. Share your opinions now, before election, so we can at least hear opposing views. You're not telling us how to vote, but giving us a point of view. Thank you.
815am, I'll do so, but remember I'm one opinion so be sure to gather a few in forming your opinion.
To be frank, I have not been impressed with several members of the school board. I only responded about Mr. Stolz because of the 717am post.
The red font, which I added, shows candidates that are only on one ballot.
Anon 7:17,
Earnshaw is an incumbent member.
earnshaw's the board pres and is being sued for repeatedly violating the sunshine act. hes more likely to work w/ Shanker than w/ Stolz
throw the bums out!!!
8:03 I could not agree more with you.
The more one learns about this guy Stolz, the worse it gets. He ran on a 'no tax' platform and that is all he cares about. Never raise taxes again. Doesn't matter if the District goes down the tubes; just don't raise taxes and everything will be fine.
Well, everything won't be fine. Taxes are but one issue a Board member must address.
Property values and the economic health of the communities the District serves depends upon these schools maintaining high standards and a reputation for quality. This inexperienced young many is toying with our community and, apparently, thinks he has nothing to lose by doing so.
Let's get some decent, experienced and level-headed people on that Board!
Anon 3:05,
Well, while you castigate Stolz for always voting "no" on tax hikes, you expose yourself.
Your position is to always support tax hikes.
The issue is SPENDING and providing enough EDUCATION SPENDING.
The facts are clear. East Penn spending has grown at 2x the inflation rate EVEN WHEN ACCOUNTING FOR STUDENT ENROLLMENST increases.
Is this justified? Or should school boards treat every tax dollar like a precious commodity?
East Penn has not. The spending growth in non-education areas are unjustifiable.
While taxes have grown, so has the tax base. In fact, over the last five years or so, the tax base has grown by an average of roughly $50 million a year. Not tax dollars, but the tax base. This still provides a natural increase in tax revenues.
The problem is that the school board finds ways to spend money at an even faster rate.
You are an advocate of Big Government. Spend every dollar you can get, and then demand more.
How is this responsible? If per student spending produced better results, then NYC, DC, Chicago and LA would have the best school districts producing the best students in the world.
What is the reality? They are among the worst.
So Spending does not equal better education.
So why should taxpayers follow your failed and ludicrous model?
Stolz also advocates completely open, transparent government so taxpayers can review spending. This is the enemy of any Big Government advocate, because the reality will be exposed.
And regarding junkets and conferences - how does that produce better teachers? Anything you need can be found on the internet. Research is available everywhere about what works, what doesn't.
This is no different than Bankers flying around all over to resorts for conferences. Do you support that also?
If not, you are a bit of a hypocrite.
And your argument that higher property taxes = higher property values is ludicrous as well. If so, why not triple school taxes this year? You should all make a fortune. Or are you motivated by greed?
Why not focus on providing the best education possible with the lowest tax rate possible? This is the business model - produce the best quality product at the lowest cost.
It is achievable as long as people like you open your eyes and admit, maybe, just maybe government wastes money.
Such examples will come to light soon enough.
Joe Hilliard,
I agree with many of your points - I am a fiscal conservative who wants our kids to get the best education possible.
However, the problem for the conservative side at East Penn is that Julian Stolz is a lousy board member. He can't think on his feet and comes into meetings woefully unprepared (except for what he's been told to say by the Slozer contingent, that he knows cold).
I give Mr. Stolz credit for being willing to serve, but if I were to grade him it would be a D because he has been unwilling to learn what he needs to know to be able to communicate well, sway opinions when he has something legitimate to say, and serve effectively.
Just saying no without offering sound, well thought reasons as well as offering alternatives... That's Julian Stolz. And that's not only a waste of a board seat, it makes it impossible for the conservative side to be heard.
I've seen a point raised several times on this blog - we need a much higher quality of school board member. Julian Stolz is not it.
This blog entry focuses on current candidates to East Penn School District and is NOT a forum in which to pursue your personal vendetta against Stolz. Pursue that elsewhere. When Stolz runs for something and I choose to write about it, you can blast him. But I've had enough of this childish behavior.
Anon,
Julian has offered alternatives. He has not received seconds or majority votes.
There is a certain point that he is "unprepared" for meetings. However, we had an entire Congress that couldn't read a major piece of legislation. Senator Specter didn't even know what was in it. I have seen Allentown City Council as "woefully unprepared" and no understanding of the issues - nor could they answer the questions asked by the public.
I also have the impression that the "prep work" done by a lot of the East Penn school board is working out their spin statements to justify a vote that they already determined. I don't think they grasp much either. But this will come out soon...
So, for a young kid, he seems pretty average for most politicians including those who have been around for 40 years.
But, to quote the Bard, "methinks (they) do protest too much". If he was such a bumbling incompetent he does seem to have them on the run and worried. That speaks volumes to me.
Anon 7:17
Earnshaw was the past President. He voted for 4 of the last five tax increases. He has approved budgets that increased spending more than twice the rate of inflation - even when factoring in enrollment increases... etc.
That is no ally to taxpayers.
That is another Big Spending politican who has little regard for taxpayers except to say, "Gee, I feel really bad, but we really, really have to raise your taxes again."
"Where's that next spending increase?"
The subject here is the candidates above, not the Joe Haas vendetta against Stolz. I have deleted an anonymous post in which Haas contnues that vendetta after being warned to stop.
I did not check my sitemeter before posting the above comment. Joe Haas has telephoned me and told me he did not post the comments slamming Stolz and I will accept his word.
Joe,
Actually, I am the current president of the East Penn School Board, not the past president. I was elected to that post for the first time 3 1/2 months ago by my fellow board members. (By law, the board elects a president and vice president each December for one year terms.)
Yes, I have voted to increase taxes. I have also voted against tax increases. I have voted for capital projects, and I have voted against capital projects. Why? Because every decision has an impact on the educational program, which is a lot more than reading, writing, and arithmetic--it includes the arts, sciences, and, yes, extracurricular activities such as field trips, clubs, and athletics. I consider that impact, along with regulatory requirements (especially onerous for special education), for every vote I cast. My final test is the affordability of a program. Taxpayer impact is always a consideration of mine, but the students and their education come first.
As you may know, school director is a non-partisan position, which is why we are allowed to file in both primaries, regardless of our political party affiliation (or lack thereof). I don't even know the political party to which most of my fellow board members belong--it's simply not relevant to a school board.
Joe, you've been critical of our budgets that increase taxes. You have not specifically said so, but can I take it that you believe we should be able to pass budgets that do not include tax increases? As I have told you in the past, I would welcome your ideas on what specific expenses we should cut in order to make that happen. To date, I have not heard any suggestions from you of specific expenses we should eliminate.
Alan,
Thre will be a whole slew of examples of out of control spending. And solutions.
That is what elections are for.
Or form a citizen review board to come up with ideas to control spending. I would be happy to serve.
cont'd...
Actually, such a citizen group has already been formed...
Retired ASD teacher here.
Alan, I am impressed with your response and congratulate you for reading here.
School taxes HAVE NO CHOICE but to go up. Otherwise, we would still be purchasing a loaf of bread for 20 cents.
The wise school board raises taxes slightly every year.
Thank you for your service.
I can think of few duties more important than the obligation to provide for the education of our young. It appears to me that is Alan's primary focus. School board politics, no matter whether it is Nazareth or Emmaus, is often a tangled web of all kinds of sub-issues in which we all tend to lose sight of the big question - are we educating our children. Alan Earnshaw, to his credit, seems to have retained that perspective. A lot of these "citizen" groups lose it because they exalt other issues over our core obligation. Incidentally, the school board is a citizens' group, too. They serve at no pay and are elected by the people.
Retired ASD Teacher and Bernie,
Thanks for your words of support. Mr. Hilliard sometimes makes selective use of data to make his points. It is true that East Penn has had five years of tax increases, four of which I voted for. However, during the two prior years, the property tax rate was kept flat, the per capita tax was eliminated, and a senior citizens tax rebate program was implemented. He gives us no credit for those efforts. He only talks about the last five years, not all seven budgets for which I (and Francee Fuller) have been on the board. If you're going to complain about my record, please complain about my entire record, not just the parts you think you can use to make political hay.
Oh, and about those tax increases? They were below the rate of increase of education spending in both the Commonwealth and Lehigh County. East Penn's tax rate is the third lowest in the county (out of 9 school districts), and our median per-pupil spending in 2006-07 was 240th out of 501 school districts in the Commonwealth, less than 1% above the statewide median. Our per-pupil administrative costs are 61st lowest in the Commonwealth, and we just eliminated over a quarter of a million dollars in administrative salaries, which should move us to an even lower rank.
I think that it is great that so many want to serve the district.
Mr Earnshaw, thank you for taking the time to post comments here, and thank you for volunteering to serve the district. While not everyone may agree with every decision that you have made, you have handled yourself professionally, and I am sure that you have had the district interest in the forefront. I hope that people that review this blog, realize that serving on the school board is a usually thankless duty, and that we are all members of the district. We should strive to work together towards the same goal, a school system that we can all be proud of.
For those interested.
Order of Appearance for the East Penn School Director Ballot
John Belin
Rebbecca Heid
Jennifer Bandle
Francee Fuller
Nancy Watkins
Alan Earnshaw
Giovanni Landi
Mike Policano
Michael Moxley (me)
Mark Prinzinger
William Ehrlich
Allan,
Happened to find this blog and wanted to let you know that it is not as easy to run as a non-party affiliated candidate as you imply in one of your notes.
Unless they've changed the law since my election in 1989, an independent candidate is NOT allowed to run in the primary at all. To run in the primary for school board, you must be a member of at least one party, and then you are also allow to crossfile by getting a member of that party to circulate to get a petition with 10 signatures.
An independent candidate is not allowed to crossfile in the other party's primary since he doesn't have a party to file in first.
Thus, independent candidates need to get petitions with the 2% voter threshold (which is usually between 100-200 for epsd) during a period in the summer.
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