It’s your turn
The conversation over school consolidation got a little more substantive last week.
That’s because last Friday the 137-page study was unveiled on combining the administrations of Fayette County’s six school districts, with predicted savings of more than $20 million a year.
The study, which was conducted by consultants hired by state Rep. Timothy Mahoney, D-South Union Township, is a good first step. The study does lay out cost savings, which do look pretty good, including $7.1 million to reduce the staff to the same ratio of students to staff that existed in 2003-04; $1.5 million to close between seven and nine elementary schools; $300,000 to reduce up to seven maintenance positions; $1.5 million to close one vocational school.
Also among the potential savings are: $3.1 million in recovered money paid to charter schools; $3.4 million for elimination of central office staff; $693,000 to eliminate administration support staff; $1.9 million to eliminate up to 47 buses for more efficient transportation and $546,000 to make the food service program solvent.
All these savings would mean property taxes could be reduced across the county, which would be a welcome change for taxpayers who have been hit with steady increases over the past couple of decades.
We’ve long encouraged people to reserve judgment on this issue until they saw the cold, hard facts of the study. Now that those are available, the time has come for people to voice their opinions.
In that vein, we urge all local residents to attend one of the four public meetings being held on the issue. They are each set to begin at 6 p.m. and will be held on Tuesday at the Ivory Ballroom at 62 W. Peter St., Uniontown; on Wednesday at the Connellsville Volunteer Fire Department at 905 Fireman St., Connellsville; Thursday at the Collier Volunteer Fire Department, 404 Collier Rd., Uniontown, and Thursday, Nov. 9 at Lone Star Restaurant on Route 40 in Farmington.
We urge people to take a close look at the study before they make up their minds. You can read the study yourself on Mahoney’s website http://www.pahouse.com/mahoney/. Light reading it’s not, but Fayette County residents owe it to themselves to read the study and determine for themselves if it makes sense or not.
It is our hope that members of Fayette County’s six school boards will keep an open mind as well. After all, the study was done by professionals, not political hacks.
In the end, there are two major problems that will need to be addressed directly in the coming years.
The first is that Gov. Tom Corbett and the state legislature, dominated by his fellow Republicans, have decided that the state must cut back on funding for education. Democratic legislators, including those representing residents in our area, disagree, but there’s nothing they can do about it because the Republicans control everything in Harrisburg.
The second major problem is the huge decrease in Fayette County’s population. According to the 2010 census, Fayette County had a population decline of 12 percent over the last decade. Our population drop of 12,281 was the second highest in the state, trailing only Allegheny County.
Unfortunately those numbers are reflected in the enrollment of our local school districts. Over the last 10 years, the county’s school enrollment has dropped by 2,989 or approximately 14 percent, dipping from 20,909 to 17,920. And the projections call for the county’s enrollment to decline by another 10 percent in the next decade, dropping by 1,790 students from 17,920 to 16,130.
So, clearly something has to be done. Local taxpayers can’t be expected to pay more to educate fewer students. That simply doesn’t add up.
The consolidation of school district administrations might not be the total solution to this problem. Perhaps there’s another idea out there that could spur things along. And maybe the idea of replacing 54 school board members with nine isn’t the answer either.
There certainly are concerns about centralizing power. Maybe it would make sense to come up with a compromise of sorts.
But whatever the solution, the status quo can’t continue. Change must come. In fact, change is coming and it’s just a matter of how we deal with it.
Mahoney, to his credit, is trying to help local residents deal with this problem. He has to be given credit for sticking his neck out and trying to help the situation. The easy thing would have been to stay away from this controversy and do nothing. But he’s trying, and the least local residents can do is applaud him for doing that.
Personal character attacks on Mahoney or anyone else serve no purpose. This issue is too important to be used as a political tool. We need an honest exchange of views, not character assassinations.
If you disagree with the conclusions of the study or how the numbers were drawn up, that’s fine. We look forward to hearing all sides of this issue at the upcoming public meetings. Everything must be on the table for discussion.
Fayette County residents need to talk about this crucial issue. It’s a conversation the county desperately needs to be having. But emotions shouldn’t rule the day as they often do on controversial issues. Any decisions on this issue should be based on logic, not on hearsay or rumor.
Anything less will be a detriment for all residents of Fayette County.