Dear
Friends,
Good morning. A few weeks ago, I
read with interest that DeSales University was weighing the merits of starting
a medical school. Father Bernie O’Connor, its President, stated that it would
take someone with a million bucks to begin the process.
Father Bernie is one of my
favorites. Recently, I saw him for a few minutes and we talked about the
possibility. In addition, the Lehigh Valley is blessed with two excellent
hospitals, Lehigh Valley Medical, west of Allentown, and St. Luke’s in
Bethlehem. With easy proximity to the New York and Philadelphia markets, the
Lehigh Valley is growing like Topsy.
Which of the two universities,
DeSales or Lehigh, would be the site of the Lehigh Valley’s first medical
school?
Well, if DeSales former President, Father Dan
Gambet, is right, it won’t be DeSales…and maybe not Lehigh either. “A medical
school is a dream,” Gambet began. “Besides, we [DeSales] have so many other
priorities. Medical schools across the country are being spun off because of
the uncertainty of federal funding,” he continued.
Gambet thinks it would be easier to
consider a law school. There is no law school in the Lehigh Valley. “It would
take about $50 million to start a law school,” he said. Gambet told me about
Ave Maria University which recently opened its law school in Florida. He
thought the costs exceeded $75 million.
“One of the biggest problems is
accreditation,” Gambet added. “You need a big staff of highly paid people. But
I’d rather do a law school than a medical school…and that’s probably 25 years
away.”
It appears that no one is going out
on a limb. Lehigh isn’t talking about it either. Still, I wonder. So if you’re
interested in naming a medical school and have $1 million to donate, call
Father Bernie at
Item.
Last week, Jeff Glazier wrote an
Op-ed piece about the unfairness of funding public schools in the Call (Jan.
4). As you know, the state legislature is wrestling with property tax reform.
Glazier is the President of the Allentown School Board. He says that
Pennsylvania’s Basic Education Funding (BEF) distributes its resources with
little regard for equity and no regard for adequacy. For example, in Allentown,
71 percent of its students are economically disadvantaged. The expenditures per
student rank in the lowest 5 percent of the 501 state school districts.
Seventy one percent of Allentown’s
students are Hispanic (54 percent) or black (17 percent). The school district
is having problems passing the rigorous requirements of the federal program, No
Child Left Behind.
Every Pennsylvania child is supposed
to receive a quality education but the resources devoted to that task vary
tremendously. Because local property taxes provide most of the school funding,
the quality of education is determined by zip code.
Pennsylvanians are determined to
keep education under “local control.” When you think about “local control,” it
sounds great but it’s just not possible. Yes, we elect our Quakertown,
Pennridge, and Palisades school boards. But do they really run the public
schools? Who determines the budget? The teachers’ unions. Who determines the
curriculum? The state department of education. In my opinion, the only power
that the school board has is to periodically hire the school superintendent.
Outsiders determine everything else.
It would probably make more sense to
have the state fund and run the public schools. And that sounds like heresy.
The legislature and the governor should be directly responsible for public
education.
Item.
Congratulations Charley Baum. The
former owner of the Perkasie News Herald was sworn in as the District Judge in
the Pennridge area last week. He’ll do just fine.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith
Two
Kernels:
(1)
We had the two-year-old great grand son of Mighty Betsy’s sister in our house
during the Christmas holidays. What a disaster! This cute child arrived with a
virulent form of the flu and infected 20 members of our family and friends in
just 48 hours. Within days, the little monster passed his disease to residents
in Boston, Miami, Los Angeles and New York. America has come down with the flu,
thanks to him. I told his mother that I wanted a six-day warning of his next
visit…so MB and I can leave town.
(2)
Pat Robertson has struck again. The Christian broadcaster claimed last week
that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stroke was divine punishment for
dividing God’s land. “Sharon was dividing God’s land and I would say woe unto
any Prime Minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the European
Union, the United Nations, or the United States of America,” Robertson said [to
the Associated Press].
I think poor Pat has wondered off the reservation.