SCRANTON'S BRAIN DRAIN

POVERTY CRISIS CONTRIBUTORS

"IT'S AS IF HIGH ACHIEVEMENT CONCEPT IS WHITE NOISE."

Disgruntled Teacher (Veteran Member)

2012-11-03 02:01:16

"All politics is local."

Tip O'Neill, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

1977 - 1987

Local politics is killing us in Scranton - not national politics. Everything negative that we've become over the past twenty years, including unemployed, can be attributed directly to short sighted, and inept political leadership. This failure of local political leadership is most evident on the Scranton School Board. The SSD's short comings and failures have been highly publicized over the years. The end result is: the SSD has become a low-achieving public school district. This condition is unacceptable because the only natural resource we have left around here that can be developed is our people. And yet, according to the recently published Brookings Institute report, we don't have many highly educated people living here at all. That's the case because there are no jobs in Scranton that require any special technical skills or a college degree. We invest nearly 120 million dollars annually in our public school system... for what?

To put it in perspective; there has been over 1000 dropouts from the Scranton School District since the new high school was built. On the other hand, and I think it not unreasonable to assume - that there has been an equal number of students who finished at the top of their class in the district over that same time period. But once this second group acquired marketable skills or a degree - they left the area (brain drain). The dropouts stay. What else are the skill-less to do? Some will compete for scarce low paying service industry jobs. Many more will rely on social services and government assistance for their day-to-day existence. Additionally these unskilled SSD dropouts that stay are procreating. And now, it's their children who are entering the public school system today. The failure of the SSD is becoming generational. The public school system was developed to be combat poverty, not contribute to it. The SSD is fast becoming a major contributor to Scranton's poverty crisis.

The district has high achievers.. the problem is, the SSD just doesn't produce enough of them to attract any real industry to our region.. see Brookings Report.

Sondra Meyers, a senior fellow for International, Civic and Cultural Projects at the U of S was an OP-ED guest columnist in the TT (Scranton Times-Tribune) this summer and she discussed the tiny island nation of Taiwan in her article. She reported that the country - lacking large deposits of natural resources; invests a substantial amount of its budget on education. Not surprisingly, Taiwan is near the top of the list in student achievement world-wide, and Taiwan is not far behind number one in high achievement, Finland. Both country's have strong economies in part because they cultivate their richest resource - their people. They're smart about education in those countries too. They're innovative. They quickly disregard what doesn't work, and improve on the things that do. You will never witness anything like that happening in the SSD. Never.. ever...

The biggest failure of the SSD political leadership is that they've never pursued a high achievement agenda. They never even mention the words. It's as if the high achievement concept is white noise. The political leadership can't wrap its head around it. For example: The SSD never applied for the federal government Race To The Top high achievement initiative grant money worth millions of dollars. They did not apply for the grant contest in part, because, it would require setting a high achievement agenda. The political leadership on the school board dosen't believe high achievement is possible citing the high student poverty level as the reason. At that narrow minded dismissal of the problem the conversation ends.

Further evidence of their failure is the pending privatization of an alternative school being planned for the large "at risk" student population the SSD has. The district has failed these kids, and is now set to farm out to a private, for-profit entity, the job these politicians could not do. That says a lot about what we are as a city. We really don't give a rat's ass about education. Therefore, why the hell would industry leaders ever consider locating to Scranton? They won't.. Would you? The achievement level of the local school district is one of the first things they look at. That has got to be a hard sell for Austin Burke.

That reminds me of the president's visit to Scranton High School last spring. You know he checked on the SSD's achievement numbers before he arrived to possibly give the political leadership an Attaboy! if the numbers looked good. I wonder how the conversation went between the U.S. President and the school board president. "Nice building you have here, Bob."

There has been an abundance of data available over the past decade foreshadowing what was to come. If interpreted and used correctly; it could have helped develop long term high achievement education policies. But for that to have happened in Scranton, it would have required the political leadership to connect the dots. Unfortunately for us, all of our dot connectors moved to where the skilled jobs are. The end result being that broad-minded, forward thinking political leadership is in very short supply in this city.

The high unemployment has been with us since 2008, and it is here to stay. The employment outlook will never improve unless the Scranton School District becomes the number one high achieving public school system in Northeast PA.

There is great opportunity in Scranton politics for a young person with a good head on their shoulders looking to make a name for them-self. The challenge here is to turn the Scranton School District into a high-achieving public school system. That type of political leadership can vault a career-minded politician right out of this local political cesspool, right onto the state or national stage.

It's amusing to watch all the local political hacks attempt to advance their political careers beyond the valley, only to fail miserable. They fail because they can't connect the dots. They fail to think the unemployment problem through. They can all tell you the area needs family sustaining jobs. But they don't see that the only local taxing body of the three in Scranton, that has any real control over its outcomes is the public school system. A high achieving public school system is our only real shot at improving our local economy. And it has to be the Scranton School District.

As Scranton goes, so goes the valley.

Sorry about the length of this post folks.

MaMa Bear (Guru)

2012-11-03 05:27:13

Educated children might start asking questions... The smart ones have to move.

Disgruntled Teacher (Veteran Member)

2012-11-03 07:46:00

The U.S. Secretary of Education said we need to educate our way to a better economy. The Race to the Top grant program was designed to stimulate innovation on the local level to improve our schools. Great public schools are the core of a sustainable and strong local economy. It's time to try the education approach to combat high unemployment and poverty. If they fix the failing Scranton Public School System, all the other socioeconomic problems will start to improve dramatically. The education approach will work far more effectively. Twenty years of failed recovery plans says a lot about the what doesn't work. But.. The definition of insanity is... The phrase holds true for the way the SSD is managed as well.

Scranton Political Times -> Main Message Board

-> Ryan slammed Biden over Scranton's high unemployment rate in the VP debate

United Way of Lackawanna County: update on a five-part series.

United Way of Lackawanna County: A five-part Series.

United Way of Lackawanna County: A five-part Series.

I. Organizational Structure

Recently the biased Scranton Times ran a page one article on how the state of Pennsylvania is reviewing the salaries of non-profit organization executives who administer PA taxpayer funds. The article featured Mr. Gary Drapek, President of the United Way of Lackawanna County, lamenting that he would lose a portion of his pay with the cuts in state programs.

I want the reader to understand that the United Way of Lackawanna and Wayne Counties is structured as a non-profit entity and represented as a humanitarian organization. In reality, they are both a quasi-governmental agency and a non-profit marketing entity that gives a portion of their revenue to human services agency to help the disadvantaged. They are a quasi-governmental agency in that they are given tax payer funds to directly administer in social services programs. Further, they are mainly a marketing firm with highly paid marketing executives to create advertising and marketing initiatives to pull on the heart strings of the public so they can elicit money from your paycheck to help the poor, only a fraction of which makes it to help the needy. More about that in this five-part series.

Since the Scranton Times is in league with the non-profit organizations and the left-wing of the political spectrum, they failed to mention the specifics of Mr. Drapek's compensation. According to IRS 990 documents, Mr. Drapek received $95,000 in compensation in the 2010 reporting year as well as $7,600 in benefits for a total of $102,600. This is up from $101,034 in compensation and benefits reported in 2009. Mr. Jack Evans, Sr. Vice-President of Finance received a total of $70,578 in total compensation and benefits in 2010 up from $69,174 in 2009.

It would take 3,330 hourly employees in Northeastern PA to take $1 per week out of their checks for an entire year just to pay the salary and benefits of the top two people at United Way!!

Save your money and become an Active American. Donate food, toys, or clothing to the poor during the holiday season. Try to avoid using your hard-earned cash. Take direct control of your giving to ensure all of your funds make a difference for a needy person. 15% solution: It only takes a 15% cut in funds to topple or create major reform in an organization. In order for Northeastern Pennsylvania, especially Scranton, we need societal institutions and government that have the people's interests first and objective truthful media outlets. Until that time, our area will not improve socially or economically.

Part II: Deception Through Omission of Information

For a corporate entity or a non-profit entity, the two main financial documents are the balance sheet and the income statement. If you wanted to invest in Coca-Cola, Pepsi, UPS, General Motors, or other American corporations, you can go to their website and view their balance sheet and income statement for each quarter of the year very easily.

Non-profit entities are required to file Form 990, the income statement, each year with the Internal Revenue Service. By law the non-profit entity does not have to post it on their website, but must furnish you a copy upon your request as an individual. But that is a labor intensive process for an individual donor to do their due diligence on the efficiency and prudent fiscal management of an organization.

If you go to the website of the United Way of Lackawanna County you will find their balance sheet included in their 2011-2012 annual report. They very cleverly omit their income statement, Form 990, from their annual report or any part of their website so that you cannot see the high salaries of the executives and the large portion of donations they spend on salaries, benefits, and marketing, thus leaving an alarmingly small fraction for the poor. This is the clever deception of donors through omission of information.

If you look at the website of the United Way of Lehigh Valley, the Allentown area, the IRS FORM 990, the income statement, is clearly posted on their website for your review. They make it transparent to the donor where all funds are going and they make it easy for you to review this information.

Transparency of information leads to prudent decisions by donors to non-profits. Transparency in governmental institutions leads to sound spending, to an informed electorate, and to prevention of corruption. Look for transparency in all societal organizations you deal with including city governments, social groups, churches, and non-profit entities. When you do not find this, it should be a warning bell for you. In our next segment, we will examine the lack of efficiency of donated dollars to the poor. We will attempt to follow the money.

PART III: Inefficient use of funds

Only 49 cents of every donated dollar to the United Way of Lackawanna and Wayne Counties makes it to the needy. As per IRS Form 990 for the 2010 tax year, they had revenue of $3,447,432 while only $2,290,386 was paid out to human services agencies. This means they have 33.6% of overhead and expenses, and 66.4% of funds were passed on to providers. Assuming 25% overhead at the actual service provider, you only get 49 cents of every donated dollar gets spent on the needy. Now I would really like to know if this bothers anybody else in this forum, because I think it is a damn shame.

Further for 2010, 21% of all United Way of Lackawanna County Revenue was spent on salaries and benefits. What I would like the reader to take away from this is that these people are not the selfless nuns, priests, pastors, and rabbis of your youth, who help the poor and the needy out of their commitment to God or humanity. They are large corporate entities who only help the poor after they extract their pound of flesh. As with other local institutions, like Scranton City Government, Scranton Teachers, Lackawanna County Goverment, the needs of the people who run the local societal institutions come first. Once the member of the local government and non-profit agencies take care of themselves and their families lavishly, then they throw the scraps to the remainder of society. I am interested in your comments.

Part IV: Lack of Anti Coercion Policy.

The United Way of Lackawanna and Wayne Counties does not have an anti coercion policy on their website, even though the national headquarters has issued an anti-coercion policy. I will paste it below for reader information. This should be common practice but they fail to observe it. For example, the United Way of Chester County posts the National Headquarters Anit Coercion Policy right on their website. The United Way of Lehigh Valley addresses the anti-coercion policy under their frequently asked questions area.

I would like to hear from readers on this topic. Now it is well known in this area, that managers and department heads at local large office companies where the United Way shirts during work like a Gary Drapek gestapo. This changes the dynamic to coercion, from "Do you wish to give to United Way? to "Are you loyal to your boss and company?" So you will donate if you know what is good for you. The policy from national headquarters clearly states that solicitation by managers in corporations is to be avoided. While in college many years ago, I worked for a large retail grocery store, they forced me to give so they would have 100% participation. I hear that this still goes on today. The policy is printed below as stated:

UNITED WAY POLICY AGAINST COERCION

United Ways understand that fund-raising success depends on how much potential donors

know and understand the organizations seeking support. Fund-raising should always be

conducted in a voluntary manner; coercion creates animosity, hinders communication and

understanding and eventually leads to decreased support.

For years United Ways have been concerned about the use of undue pressure in

fund-raising and are opposed to any type of coercion. Any semblance of pressure - whether

real, implied or perceived - is contradictory to the operating standards of United Way.

United Ways continually try to prevent the use of coercion in their campaigns by

encouraging peer solicitation, rather than solicitation of employees by managers. In

addition, United Ways conduct training programs for fund-raisers that stress information

and education, and discourage the practice of seeking 100 percent participation in a

campaign, as that may inadvertently encourage coercion.

To underscore their conviction about this policy, United Way of Americas Board of

Governors adopted the following policy statement:

The Board of Governors of United Way of America believes that the most

responsive contributors are those who have the opportunity to become

informed and involved. A well-planned campaign with an effective

communications program, conducted by committed volunteers, will ensure

responsive contributors. While we have always been unalterably opposed to

coercion, we do recognize a responsibility to state our beliefs formally, as

freedom of choice is a basic tenet of our democratic society.

Giving is a personal matter and decision; no form of coercion is acceptable.

__________________

Part V: Conclusions and further action

Based upon all of my findings, I am going to approach members of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Lackawanna County and ask them to publish the national anti-coercion policy of the United Way organization and press them to publish all of present and past IRS 990 forms so that people who are inclined to give have transparent information on the quality of this organization. Each donor can then make their own judgments.

My own opinion is that charitable giving should be a private family decision and not a workplace decision, so I personally do not like their whole model of doing things. I would ask others to consider becoming an "Active American." Make conscious decisions about helping and charity in your home, and then take all precaution and action to ensure that your funds, toys, and food make it into the proper hands. Local charities where you can physically walk up with your donations and you can visually see people being helped offers the best peace of mind like food banks, local libraries, soup kitchens, Toys for Tots, and so forth.

If you do not have resources, help a neighbor in need by giving a ride, cutting the lawn, or taking a person to the store. Being neighborly, kind, and a good steward of resources will ensure that people will get help without enriching all of the bureaucrats.

__________________
ORIGINAL POSTER: WOLFRAM
@ HTTP://SCRANTONPOLITICALTIMES.COM

TOPIC: United Way of Lackawanna County: A five-part Series.: United Way of Lackawanna County: A five-part Serie...

TOPIC: United Way of Lackawanna County: A five-part Series.: United Way of Lackawanna County: A five-part Series. I. Organizational Structure Recently the biased Scranton Times ran a page...

WILK-FM - Our "Experts" Are Not Up To The Job

Bridges

Uploaded by TheGreenSweater on Mar 24, 2008

While ethically neutral, rhetoric, science, politics, etc. are often greatly useful in the promotion and enactment of personal/in-group agendas. What are "important events and important ideas" to you? What is truly ours? What does it mean to "put into the river?" How does a creation come to have "its own utility and its own use?" What is living "in the past" vis a vis time, "the river," now, staying power, and ideas?

Music: "Bridges" by Utah Phillips and Ani DiFranco
Video footage: Borrowed from my local library...various sources :-)
Produced/Edited by: TheGreenSweater

a re-blog from the wordpress site: Let's Gets Honest. Follow the link to view the post in it's entirety

Quips, Thinks and Links on the Most Essential Matters… [http://familycourtmatters.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/quips-thinks-and-links-on-the-most-essential-matters/]

by Let's Get Honest

My Ideal signature block would show my Current Understanding as Quips with Links for "thinks."

There has to be a way to check facts and assemble a workable theory that doesn't entail slavery for most and freedom for some. That alone is an ECONOMIC matter, a COMMERCE matter, and as such, has to be dealt with -- what are these courts really for? We can say "kids for cash" and "stop child-trafficking" til we are blue in the face, but sooner or later such things as the murder/suicide of Georgia Senator Nancy Schaeffer and her husband -- which was most likely NOT anything close to a murder/suicide -- has to be dealt with. As do the troublesome indicators such as The Franklin Coverup (Nebraska, Senator John DeCamp reported on on, which tied in foster care, Boys Town (Omaha), financial institutions (Countrywide), DRUGS, and blackmail of politicians. Plus murder and some absolutely horrific and blood-chilling circumstances -- in the heartland of America. This particular scenario (Franklin) was also tied by some to Los Angeles and the drug trade. What happened? How did it happen?

. . .

JURISDICTION sets RIGHTS.
USConstitution Title28/IV sets Jurisdiction
Citizenship in USA, Inc. = YOU became collateral for U$A Debt

War=Debt Collection. pSILENT weapons = biological warfare by few to enslave MOST.

I blog FAMILY COURT aspects @ LGH ~ FCF~ LACKaWantsTo (& here*)

Tavistock's History: Read!

~ Now Abide These Three" I Cor 13.

Socially, when a nation turns it back on enough of these matters, it becomes immune to abuse, and insensitized to how dangerous the entire society actually is. It's hardly conducive to maintaining a solid work life when one has a conscience about the level of violence we accept by membership in this country and contributing our life energies to life in the United States.

Some of us have also contributed children, and fought YEARS to get an honest explanation or rationale of why we should sacrifice them, and why some policeman (or woman), judge (male or female), or domestic violence outfit/child protection agency -- or (if you tend towards the other side) fathers' rights groups -- couldn't get this thing solved, and let us get on with "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" (or at least, as long as possible in the "LIFE" part) without further extortion, trauma, or disruption.

We are not getting this, so I have deduced will have to assemble what works, while dealing with what doesn't, including lack of closure. Here's the essence of where I am now -- although to see the backup documentation, please go (most recently) to the link called "here" below, which is Scranton Political Times where my commenting and posting research has gotten outrageous. (I'm giving them a day off).

. . .

JURISDICTION sets RIGHTS.
USConstitution Title28/IV sets Jurisdiction
Citizenship in USA, Inc. = YOU became collateral for U$A Debt

War=Debt Collection. pSILENT weapons = biological warfare by few to enslave MOST.

I blog FAMILY COURT aspects @ LGH ~ FCF~ LACKaWantsTo (& here*)

Tavistock's History: Read!

~ Now Abide These Three" I Cor 13.

*"here" in context=Scranton Political Times, a forum where I've been hanging out (and contributing) since 11/17/11. Lackawanna County being right next to the infamous "Luzerne County" of the two judges caught in the "Kids for Cash" scheme. (which I've blogged much earlier, here-- before joining the forum) which can become confusing as the local bloggers are upset about FAMILY COURT matters (particularly a certain GAL & GAL program as applied in custody -- not juvenile court -- cases). It's questionable how many flesh and blood (as opposed to virtual usernames) individuals are currently participating on this thread. I'd make it a maximum of perhaps FOUR at this point (if that), but I continue to put things out for general purpose, while continuing to learn myself.

The concept of username versus real person would provide a comparison for flesh and blood person and "legal" person. The declared "unalienable" rights come I gather with the flesh and blood, but as we tend to form inappropriate relationships with not only other flesh and blood people, we also unwittingly and because of our culture ALSO have in this country repeatedly (MOST of us, I say) formed or been induced to give consent to forming -- LEGAL PERSON relationships with our own government.

People without an intrinsic center and ability to navigate life because they have acquired the skills needed to understand and cope with rapidly changing circumstances -- and guide them, versus passively float through them -- cannot protect freedom for themselves OR others associated with them. I find at this point in life (let's called it well into the latter half) that I CAN unlearn previous poor lessons, and I CAN acquire skills -- but doing so will increasingly result in a refusal to submit to abuse, control, and inappropriate boundaries, and repeatedly saying "NO," or going one's own way.

Whether or not one can do this often relates to what you may have that someone else wants, i.e., some other sociopath or sociopathic, controlling, "abusive" etc. -- system, particularly FAMILY systems. The "family law system" being a microcosm of what I now call "USA, Inc." has become so because of things like Federal/State relationships, because of "welfare" and because of -- bottom line -- what amounts to the ongoing DOUBLE-SET of STANDARDS.

This double set of standards defines the "elite/peasant" standard, the "God/Dog" standard, or the "us/them" circumstances. it particularly applies --as I continue to find, and am amazed at how brazen it is (hidden in open) -- when it comes to federally funded grants. The word "federal" has a specific meaning and immunities, and its reach throughout the country is also significant.

Double Standards is THE definition of Hypocrisy, and of self-anointed, or improperly anointed "leadership" when dealing with the masses. Am I a socialist? Hell no! I am who I am -- I live in this century and have crossed the millennium trying to escape being a POW (though circulating somewhat locally, I was not "free" in any sense of the words; there was a known "leash" and system of unwritten and not entirely predictable severe punishments such that no peace existed, almost, while I cohabited within a marriage.) HOWEVER I find years later that so widely spread is enabling abuse and slave-like situations in local communities (enclaves) that MOST will sacrifice others rather than themselves, or rather than risking their own families or interests when dealing with an out-of-ilcontrol psycho in their family line, their religious community, or their neighborhood -- in fact almost anywhere.

So what is done instead? "The Professionals" (government, or its contractors) are expected to do cleanup. Most self-preserving individuals in families or in work relationships have already bought, paid, and traded or been bred into the (false) idea that government, while at places evil, or dysfunctional (which is it?), is not all THAT bad, and is a NECESSARY evil that we should lay low and continue to pay for -- or it might be our families next, after they're done with the outcast/fringe, marginalized population who have nothing but themselves to blame for being: outcast/fringe, marginalized, or in short poor ("low-income"). Consciences about this can be sometimes eased for the price of admission (tithe, or just time) at the local religious institution, whether storefront or of beautiful architecture (with or without icons/imagery) and performing arts inside.

If this religious institution takes in funds (debt-dollars, actually) and is 'tax-exempt' - it is part of the problem. Beyond that, many religious institutions are MORE than "part of the problem," they are the source of it, large-scale!

Unfortunately, our current technology of war -- which includes distributing the debt for war on all and collecting in advance to create more technologies of (war) -- has met that there are fewer safe and free places to live, eat, sleep, work, or even die. There is not privacy. If land is owned, water, electricity, and roads may not be.

Vehicles may be owned, but they are also to be licensed -- which (as I'm coming to learn) -- like MARRIAGES -- means that "the Lord" (said government) giveth, and the Lord (said government) determines whether or not, when, and how -- it taketh away, and from whom.

If the government has "given" at some point in time -- and one has consumed -- then it appears that one has consented to do COMMERCE from said government (without understanding well who it was, seemed like a good deal at the time, everyone else is doing it, right? -- except maybe a few kooks, which reminds me of Waco, or Ruby Ridge, or (fill in the blank with one's biggest or most notable public nightmare). Again, see: