Bucks
Organ Donor
Dear Friends,
Good morning. When I heard that the New York state legislature was rewriting the rules for organ donation, I thought about Dr. Arthur Caplan, the Chairman of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Medical Ethics.
Three years ago, I wrote a column about him. An advocate for organ donation, Caplan gave an interesting lecture for the celebration of Benjamin Franklin’s 301st birthday.
Caplan believes that if Franklin had known that organs could be harvested and transplanted, he would have insisted that citizens donate their organs at death. Caplan gave a compelling argument about the need for organs.
“There is a desperate need for hearts, lungs, livers, and kidneys,” he began. “Too few Americans have volunteered to become organ donors.
“Franklin would have reversed the process,” Caplan continued. “Franklin would have made organ donation mandatory unless a citizen refused to participate in the program during his lifetime.
Caplan reasoned that most Americans believe in the value of organ transplants. USA Today agrees with Caplan. USA Today’s “Snapshot” (May 3) asked this question to 5,100 adults: “If a close relative died today without making their wishes known, would you donate their organs?” Sixty-one percent said yes while 39 percent said no.”
Three years ago, Jane Brody wrote about the problem of organ shortages in the New York Times. “As of June, 97,000 people [in America] awaited lifesaving transplants, and each day the waiting list grows five times faster than the donation rate,” she began (Aug. 28, 2007). “People typically wait three to five years for donated organs and each day 17 of them die.”
According to USA Today (June 30), that figure has grown to 107,991.
I thought about Brody’s article and Caplan’s lecture when I read about the New York State legislature’s attempt to correct this problem. “Living in New York has long cost an arm and a leg,” Selwyn Duke wrote for U. S. News and World Report (April 30). “Under a proposed law, all [New York] state residents would automatically be enrolled as organ donors- without their consent.
“Proposed by democrat Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, the law would presume consent and allow for the harvesting of a deceased resident’s body parts unless the person had taken the step of opting out of the program,” Duke said.
There was legislation, which would have mirrored the New York proposal, but it died in committee in 1993. I do not know whether there’s a bill in the General Assembly today. One of our state representatives or state senators will surely inform me.
Are Pennsylvania lawmakers ready to begin this process? We’ll have to stay tuned.
In the meantime, all of us need not wait for the Pennsylvania legislature to enact mandatory organ donation unless a citizen chooses during his lifetime to opt out. We can sign up for organ donation very easily. My driver’s license says that I am an organ donor. If something happens to me, all my body parts will be harvested.
I urge you to do likewise.
And now for a few extra tidbits; first some good news.
The Associated Press reported that
more Americans volunteered in their communities last year than at any time
since 2005. Americans spent almost 100 million more hours helping out last
year, reflecting an increase in both the number of volunteers and the volunteer
rate in the population as a whole. The typical volunteer donated about 52 hours
for the year. My late father used to say that volunteerism made
Item.
It seems that all Bucks County school districts are increasing property taxes. But there is a wide disparity about the economic pain. The average tax bill in the Palisades school district will increase by $163, but in the Quakertown district, the average cost will be $213 more.
As expected, Quakertown school taxpayers are irritated. And when you factor in Quakertown borough’s charges for electricity, water and sewer, Quakertown residents may consider moving. It will be interesting to watch the Quakertown school board and municipal elections next year. It won’t be fun for local incumbents in 2011.
What all taxpayers should ask…especially school taxpayers…is this: how do our local schools measure up to foreign competition? America’s public schools lag far behind Asian and European performance in math, reading and science. Yet, American taxpayers spend more money on education than the foreign competition.
Part of the problem is that American schools run on a 185 teaching days school year dictated by the 19th century agriculture economy. On the other hand, the foreign competition teaches up to 240 days.
Another is the quality of teaching. I believe that America doesn’t value public school teachers as much as the foreign competition does. Do the brightest and best college students aspire to be investment bankers rather than teachers?
Has tenure stagnated the quality of public school teachers?
Look at this fascinating Associated Press story about Colorado’s public schools. “The state is changing the rules for how teachers earn and keep the sweeping job protections known as tenure, linking student performance to job security despite outcry from teacher unions that have steadfastly defended the system for decades,” The Associated Press article began (June 13).
“Colorado’s legislature changed the tenure rules,” the AP continued. “It requires teachers to be evaluated annually, with at least half of their ratings based on whether their students progressed during the school year. Teachers could lose tenure if their students don’t show progress for two consecutive years.
“Under the old system, teachers simply had to work for three years to gain tenure, the typical wait around the country.”
There are approximately 40,000 teachers in Colorado. On average, school districts across America dismiss 2.1 percent of teachers annually, generally for bad conduct rather than performance.
Will the change in Colorado’s tenure system be contagious? I sure hope so.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith