The district is in dire financial straights and has operated in deficit since the current teachers contract was negotiated in 2004 which sent the budget off a cliff. Five board members and the superintendent will tell you that much like a household budget, the district must do whatever it takes to get in the black, although the budget numbers they have offered at public meetings are sketchy and include establishing cash reserves the administration would like to have on hand.
There is an alternate proposal supported by four board members to also eliminate the deficit without a tax increase with new casino revenue, holding the line on union contract negotiations and limiting the proposed reserves the administration has proposed. The elephant in the room that the five board members in favor of the increase will not address is employee salaries and compensation, representing 68 percent of the district budget for 2007-08.
The problem in Canon-McMillan is not complex. The board has been rife with members with close ties with the district unions, members reluctant to challenge a powerful voting block like the teachers union or the occasional member who blithely believes that a tax increase without a well-defined plan will somehow be used to build a new school.
Unfortunately, Canon-McMillan voters historically elect former district teachers and professional employees or their immediate family members, to negotiate with the district unions, creating an undeniable conflict of interest.
If most taxpayers had voted in the primary in May, the results of the school board election would have likely been very different. Taxpayers should take heed how the teachers union organized and rallied behind certain school board candidates at the polls last month.
A tax increase now will allow further concessions to our district teachers and postpone necessary hard decisions. No quarrel intended with district teachers, but their $25 monthly contributions for family health insurance premiums with no co-pays or deductibles, unlimited doctor visits and average annual raises for tenured teachers of almost 6 percent for only 190 days worked over each of the past five years do not reflect the burdens borne by the people paying for all this.
Karen Harr
Canonsburg
Best show in town
I have discovered a way for the residents of Canonsburg to save money on entertainment during the economic recession. Attend a Canon-McMillan budget meeting. First of all it's free and there is no charge for parking. Where else can you watch a comedy, a tragedy and an action movie all at the same time, live on stage? It's rated PG-13 however because of violence and foul language.
Dom Broglia
Canonsburg
Why pot won't
be legalized
It was somewhat amusing to read the Associated Press article speculating that our Pennsylvania government might consider realistic and logical laws regarding marijuana use, ("Momentum builds for legalizing pot," June 16). As long as the illegality of this drug remains a cash cow for the legal industry you may rest assured that sensible legislation will never happen, no matter what the rest of the country does.
The layers of courts, abundance of lawyers, and the dearth of common sense in Harrisburg dictate that countless lives and fortunes will continued to be squandered in the dubious pursuit of this prohibition. You would think the surge of crime spawned by prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s would provide a lesson about legislating morality.
I guess the only innovative ideas that emanate from our state capitol involve pay grabs, job selling and creative tax schemes.
Mark Livingood
Washington