The Committee For Electing Democrats & Uniting People (FEDUP) has released a copy of their platform and plan.
Contained within the document is a two step plan about saving borough taxpayers money through keeping special education students in the borough school district, as opposed to those children with educational challenges being to sent to other school districts. Tax payers will save money the document claims, if borough students are educated in district schools.
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The second step of the plan includes lobbying state legislators to ensure the PA Department of Education is providing adequate funding for the school district.
FEDUP’s essential position, and main idea, is one of two options will occur if the current board re-elected.
Tax’s will be raised significantly or Bristol Borough High School will be closed in year four or five of the new teachers contract.
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School board candidates Kelly Cochran, Mark Bartuska, David Chichilitti and John D’Angelo will be running on the May ballot as part of the Bristol’s FEDUP group.
The following is a press release unaltered in any way sent to LevittownNow.com by the The Committee For Electing Democrats & Uniting People (FEDUP).
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TO ALL CONCERNED VOTERS and TAXPAYERS of BRISTOL BOROUGH
OUR PLATFORM
- KEEP BRISTOL HIGH SCHOOL OPEN
We fully understand that School Taxes in Bristol Borough are high and must be kept in check. We recognize that continuing to raise school taxes is NOT an option. That is why we were against the recently passed Teacher’s Contract. Unless something is done, Salary increases in Years 4 and 5 of this contract will result in SIGNIFICANT TAX INCREASES for every property owner in Bristol Borough.
We believe that the Teachers of Bristol Borough should be applauded for making major concessions in the recently approved contract. There is NO DOUBT that they fully recognize the financial constraints facing our school district. Yet the select few who negotiated this contract in secret were more than glad to put the district’s survival in jeopardy with the year 4 and 5 SALARY and STEP increases.
Our opponents are clearly in favor of closing the High School at the end of this 5 year Teacher contract. Mr. Kirk has attended numerous School Board meetings and openly expressed that goal. Our current Board President, Mr.DiGuiseppe went to Harrisburg, spending your TAXPAYER money, not to find out how to help SAVE Bristol High School, but to understand the process for CLOSING it down. It was only when STRONG PUBLIC SENTIMENT AGAINST CLOSING the High School became apparent, that both of these candidates have changed their public position. Don’t be fooled…
They WANT to drastically raise taxes so they can justify CLOSING the High School.
We ask you, the Voters AND Taxpayers of Bristol Borough to keep this in mind:
CLOSING BRISTOL HIGH SCHOOL WILL NOT GUARANTEE THAT SCHOOL TAXES WILL GO DOWN!!
Closing Bristol High School will put every homeowner and taxpayer of Bristol Borough at the mercy of the District with which we send our children. As the Law is currently written, our High School age students would attend Harry S. Truman High School of the Bristol Township School District. What happens when the Bristol Township School District faces the same problems and mandates that are affecting our district? They are only 2 to 3 years away from the same predicament.
Do you think they will give the taxpayers of Bristol Borough a free ride?
Do you want the Bristol Township School Board deciding what your school taxes will be in the future, with little or no say in what type of Educational product our Children receive?
- Initial estimates may be crafted to show that closing Bristol High School will result in property tax reductions….ask yourself… for how long?
- Are you willing to close Bristol High School to save $280 in School Taxes? (This is what each property owner will save if closing Bristol High School results in a $1 million savings.)
- What will the effect of not having a High School be on the VALUE OF YOUR HOME?
Our PLAN has 2 components:
First, we promise to stop sending Special Education Students outside of our district. At this moment, there are approximately 50 students being sent outside of our district, at a cost to YOU, the taxpayer of almost $1.7 million dollars. That comes to almost $35,000 per student.
Our goal is to meet the IEP’s (Individual Education Plans) of our Special Education students in house, and minimize the amount of TAXPAYER money that is spent shipping our children to these costly, more expensive schools, which provide no better services than we can do on our own.
Along with this approach, we plan to lobby our legislators in Harrisburg to ensure that the PA Department of Education is providing adequate funding to our district. We have a much higher number of Special Education students and the state must share the responsibility and provide the money for the mandates that are placed on us.
Currently, the state is allowing large, multi-national Oil and Gas companies, who earn billions of dollars in profits, to drill for natural gas across our state, while paying NO TAXES. Each one of us is required to pay taxes to pay for education in our communities, yet BIG OIL & GAS companies PAY NOTHING. This is the source of revenue that can and should be used to fund the increasing costs of Education in Pennsylvania and our team is committed to making sure that the taxpayers of Bristol get their fair share.
- PROVIDE THE TAXPAYERS OF BRISTOL BOROUGH WITH TRUE TRANSPARENCY
How often have you heard about the “transparency”of Bristol Borough School Board? After all, the meetings are on TV! We do not believe that televising Board meetings means transparency. We know that that YOU, the taxpayers, can figure out that deals that are being made behind closed doors to benefit a select few. These “Deals” are using YOUR money!!
Look at what those that control the current School Board have done:
On the very first night they got the majority they:
- Voted to spend $15,000 of your money to hire a consultant to do a broad study of the district and provide recommendations for improvements. Here we are, almost 4 years later and none of the changes recommended have been implemented…NOT ONE
- Voted to give a school district employee, the brother of a School Board member, a $5,000 raise, while at the same time, asking other employees to take NO RAISES!
- Voted to hire the personal attorney of the Board President as the School District Solicitor. As a result of having NO School Law experience, the district has been forced time and time again to double pay for legal fees…first, for our solicitor to review legal issues, and then pay for a lawyer with experience to actually represent the district. Between settlements and billed hours, our legal fees have almost QUADRUPLED.
Since that first night, they have cut program after program, but always found money to hire family members and political friends, using YOUR TAXPAYER money. All the while BLAMING previous School Boards for every problem we face.
Then, for 9 months, the 5 Board members in the majority kept everyone (other Board members and YOU, THE TAXPAYER) in the dark while negotiating the current teacher’s contract. Then they tried to slip it past everyone the night of the vote!
This is transparency? This is what you will pay over the next 5 years as a result of the TEACHER’S CONTRACT:
REMEMBER, THIS INCREASE RELATES ONLY FOR THE NEW CONTRACT!!
WE PLEDGE TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS TO REVIEW ALL CONTRACTS AND EXPENDITURES OF YOUR TAXPAYER MONEY.
