ASD Hiring Outside Lobbyist, Barring Direct Talks With State Legislators

There's a minor, $24 million budget gap, in Allentown School District's financing plan. So you might think that the new Superintendent, Gerald L. Zahorchak, D.Ed., would focus on spending limited resources in the classroom, at least to the extent that it stops students from shooting each other.

You'd be wrong.

Dr.Zahorchak plans to spend $40,000 of your money to hire an outside lobbyist to grease the wheels in Harrisburg. Ronald Lench a former Democratic state legislator, has been tapped for the role. He should work out just great with Republican Governor Tom Corbett, a Republican Senate and a Republican House.

Allentown School District is represented by one state senator and three house members. Do they really need a lobbyist? Is this really an attempt to improve public education or help out a pal in Harrisburg? Isn't this something that should be done by a Superintendent?

Amazingly, that's not all. Apparently, the four state legislators who do wish to speak to administrators must now go through a PR person. No more direct talks.

School board member Bob Smith, contacted on Sunday night, was totally surprised by these changes. He tells me he has not yet been asked to approve any outside lobbyist, and was completely unaware that state legislators can no longer talk directly to school officials.

"Pat [Browne] can call me anytime he wants," says Smith. But what about a principal? If Senator Browne wants to speak to a school administrator, he has to be cleared.

Does this sound like a school district that is just digging a deeper hole for itself?

Updated Noon: School Board Prez tries to Save Bottom-Feeding Blogger! The affable President of Allentown's School District, Jeff Glazier, was kind enough to drop by and confirm that the Board has, in fact, hired outside lobbyist Ron Lench. He places the annual figure at $33,600, and not the $40,000 I mention. He also denies there is any gatekeeping going on, but I'm sticking to my guns on that claim. You can read Jeff's comments in the comments section of this post. (Note to self: Do not use the word "guns" around an Allentown school board member.)

Rich Grucela: A Nurse in Every School

Imagine a 17 year old high school senior who suffers a rare heart attack at school. Imagine a ten year old who suddenly experiences seizures in class. Now imagine that in both of those instances, there's no school nurse. The ten year old survived, but the high school senior is now dead.

State Rep. Rich Grucela (D-Northampton) has just introduced legislation designed to save lives. It will require every school district to employ full-time nurses. These professionals are often a child's only resource for conditions like asthma and diabetes, or drug and alcohol abuse, school violence and teenage pregnancy.

"School nurses are of fundamental importance to a successful school system," said Grucela, a former teacher who also serves on the House Education Committee. "They help create and maintain a safe school environment through education and outreach, in addition to performing essential health screenings and immunizations. They are also familiar with and can monitor chronic illnesses, which could require immediate attention at any given time."

"Most importantly, if a medical emergency arises, a school nurse is a professional health-care provider who is on hand to immediately assist a student," Grucela added.

The cost for this proposal would be evenly shared by the state and individual school districts.

According to a 2008 National Association of School Nurses report, Pennsylvania schools have one nurse for every 832 students. That's much better than the national average, which is one nurse for every 1,461 students. More than 50% of U.S. public schools have no full-time Registered Nurses.

State Capitol Rally For Educational Justice on Tuesday

Good Schools PA, a statewide network of citizens who support public education, has organized an “Eyes on Education” action day in Harrisburg on Tuesday, June 17. This rally is being planned as part of an effort to obtain educational justice here in Pennsylvania. Suburban school districts tend to have large sums of money at their disposal, while city school districts get a pittance. Parents are forced to flee to the 'burbs simply to make sure their children get a decent education.

The land of midnight payraises is considering legislation that would establish a permanent funding formula to provide adequate funds and allow school districts to plan with greater certainty about future funding. The rally is intended to make sure something actually happens.

Free bus service to and from Harrisburg is available thanks to Good Schools PA. The bus will depart the Allentown Fairgrounds (near the Farmer’s Market) at 8:30 AM and return at 5:00. PM. Click here for the FLYER and here for the DAY’S AGENDA. There will also be a student photography exhibit documenting the aspirations and challenges that students in several school districts face every day.

Allentown's Failing Public Schools: One Woman's Experience

Her name is Linda. She's definitely one of the have nots, a struggling single mother with three children. She works six days a week to keep them fed and clothed. She's also one of those Latinos, often called "animals," or worse, at the enlightened Morning Call forum. I wish some of the loving people there could meet her. I've seen her without noticing her, like so many other moms and dads who drop their kids off at football practice.

On Sunday, her day off, she was among hundreds of parents who groaned or cheered as Easton's Li'l Rovers ran all over the junior pee wees at Allentown's East Side. I had purchased one of those loud $5 fog horns, and was hoping to blast away after every Huskie score. The fog horn, like the rest of us of the Li'l Huskie crowd, was mute in the face of a very impressive Easton victory.

After the game was over, as Linda's son and my grandson took turns chasing each other with water bottles, I spoke to this courageous mother for the first time. I want to share her thoughts with you.

She's one of those moms who refuses to let her kids play videogames - she buys them books. I'll bet they love that. But she places a high priority on her children's education. She told me all three of her kids now go to Catholic schools. It's killing her financially, even with a reduced tuition. But her experience with Allentown's public schools gives her no choice.

Her oldest son is a gifted student who was first enrolled at Harrison Morton Middle School. Classified as an "honor student," school officials actively discouraged him from fraternizing with anyone outside his group. Now I suppose the reason for this might be to keep bright kids away from bad influences. But this is so impractical. Many of the kids he had to shun were in his own neighborhood. For this quiet young man, it was pure hell. You see, in addition to being smart, he's also a gifted athlete. Jealous kids in his neighborhood began to get the idea that this boy was getting just a little too uppity. So one day after school, thirty of them decided to jump him. Amazingly, the school officials who demanded this segregation in the first place, were nowhere to be found. The boy was rescued by his mother.

Now he goes to Catholic school.

Her youngest son is another bright boy, and a very fast running back. I listened today as he convincingly laid out all the problems with East Side's football program, and how they could be fixed. I told him he should shed his pads and start coaching. This young athlete completed his first two grades at Ritter Elementary, and was just starting his third. He had just one teensy problem. He couldn't read. Indifferent school officials pushed him through anyway.

Amazingly, four months after starting Catholic school, he could read.

Linda is just one person. And I know plenty of good people teaching in the Allentown School District. My nephew was one of them, but the last time I spoke to him, he was also very frustrated by what he saw. After hearing Linda tell me much the same thing, I know Allentown School District has a problem. It appears to be more interested in warehousing kids than educating them.