Free Press – June 26, 2006

Property Tax Reform Integrated Math Dr Thompson Criticises

Dear Friends,

Good morning. Before I get to a university professor who criticized last week’s column about Integrated Math, let me comment first about a movie which every American should see…and second, how the state legislature short changed us on property tax reform.

First, our daughter Catherine, Mighty Betsy and I saw “An Inconvenient Truth” at the County Theater in Doylestown last week. Because MB was at a meeting in Doylestown, I took Catherine out for dinner by myself. For those of you who are wondering who the young woman was at my table, relax, it was just Catherine. I pay close attention to the advice which my late father gave to me years ago: “Always be where you’re supposed to be and with the person that you’re supposed to be with.”

Anyway, “Google” on the Internet writes this about the movie: “An Inconvenient Truth is a feature film documentary on the Earth’s climate crisis. The film features former Vice President Al Gore and is directed by Davis Guggenheim.” It won tremendous acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

Some predict that the film may rebuild Al Gore’s presidential ambitions. “An Inconvenient Truth” is compelling and believable. The audience at the County broke into applause at the end of the movie. There’s a global warming website you can access. It is www.climatecrisis.net.

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The state legislature was blowing smoke last week when it passed the property tax reform measure. The Morning Call published a table showing the average property tax savings for residents in the Quakertown, Pennridge and Palisades school districts. If the state nets $400 million from slot machine profits, Quakertown, Pennridge, and Palisades property owners will see a savings of $136, $109, and $113, respectively. If the state nets $1 billion, Quakertown, Pennridge, and Palisades residents will save $234, $187, and $194, respectively.

And the legislators call this paltry reduction, property tax reform? Rubbish! The only decent element of the tax bill is the referendum requirement, which would require school boards to get voter approval for future property tax increases that exceed inflation.

The legislature failed to address the imbalance of tax support for the 501 school districts. For example, the New Hope Solebury School District spends twice per student that poor Somerset County in Western Pennsylvania does. That’s because the real estate base is rich in NH- Solebury and poor in Somerset. Pennsylvania shouldn’t support public schools via the property tax. Instead, it should be pegged to a broad based tax like income.

My advice is to vote against every state representative and senator until the legislature abandons the property tax for public schools.

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For several weeks, I’ve been writing about Integrated Math, the system that Quakertown and Pennridge School districts are using. Several parents and recent graduates of Quakertown complain that students are not prepared for college math. Jim Scanlon, Quakertown’s able superintendent is surveying the math and science teachers to see if they agree with the criticism. He told me that he’d release the results this week. Quakertown begins the seventh year of Integrated Math this fall.

Several weeks ago, Jim disclosed that Integrated Math had increased the test scores of the elementary school children but had not made a positive impact on senior high students. Last Saturday, I had a chat with a good friend who’s been a successful superintendent at several New Jersey public schools.

Carol Conger believes that the reason why students are having trouble with the new math program is because of teachers, not Integrated Math. Carol experienced new math with excellent results. “But we had to prepare the teachers for the change,” she said. “Whenever there’s a curriculum change, its success depends upon whether the teachers are committed to the program and whether they’ve been adequately prepared.”

I thought of Carol when I received a critical Email from a university professor about the June 22 column. He objected to me lumping teacher salaries with student performance. He suggested that because I’ve never taught in the public schools, I should refrain from criticizing teachers. And last, he told me in no uncertain words that I didn’t provide both sides of the argument.

First, you’ve read many of my columns where I propose paying teachers even more than they are receiving. But I couple that with the expectation that American public schools should be in session as long as their European and Asian competition are. And I believe that because of tenure and the teachers’ unions, ridding a school of ineffective teachers is all but impossible.

What my critical professor and many in the education business forget is that America’s public schools are a monopoly without independent regulation. Pennsylvania utilities and public transportation are monopolies but they face the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which reviews rate hikes and the like. Those of you who say that the Pennsylvania Department of Education provides that oversight should liken the PDE to a fox watching over the hen house.

I did agree with the professor on one point. “The one key piece is parents,” he wrote. “Yes, the math program may have its issues, however where is the home support that parents are supposed to provide? Studies show that the school community in conjunction with parents and good teacher professional development creates successful students.”

He’s absolutely right about that.

In the meantime, I’ll have a chat with Jim Scanlon this week to see how the Integrated Math survey turned out. Stay tuned.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith