This probably gives Grover Norquist a hard-on.

[Stinky The Clown]

The Chester, PA, school district is *out*of*cash*. Broke, busted, down and out.

Chester is a poor city with a shrinking tax base.

Like most school districts, they relied on the feds and the state for part of their funding.

The feds are pretty much out of the funding biz these days. The states bore the burden for a few years. Then they ran out of resources - or they ran into repubican government.

Now here we are. There's nowhere for the poorest districts to turn. Cities like Chester can't raise taxes on their citizens who, themselves, are pretty much out of cash.

Today, the Commonwealth of PA agreed to infuse a paltry $3.2M in emergency funding.

Meanwhile, those "damned" union teachers are buying school supplies out of their meager paychecks, just trying to hold it all together.

Yeah . . . . "Race To The Top" my ass.

Fuck you, Grover. This kind of shit is the natural culmination of your activities. That part of the government that serves people directly are indeed drowning in a public bloodbath.

Fuck you, Grover.

Just fuck you to Hell.

abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=8508492

[rhett o rick]

1. This is capitalism. nm

[julian09]

6. Gop agenda cut taxes and push programs on the states.

Then they brag on low tax rates but neglect to mention that taxes for state and local government will have to go up or cancel programs.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. Yup. Grover 101

That is exactly the plan. And the plan is just now starting to cut into bone.

[HughBeaumont]

13. To quote one of their heroes: TANSTAAFL.

"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".

Well, except if you're wealthy. Then the "Free Lunches" come on the backs of the middle/working/poor.

[annabanana]

2. You said it Stinky!

I hope the community is supporting those teachers like the teachers are supporting the community...

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. I don't want to think about

pencil-dick Norquist with a hard-on. Eww.

[demmiblue]

4. I saw what you did here.

[Warren DeMontague]

5. Norquist's Rehnquist.

Yuk.

[grasswire]

8. God Bless America

Used to be a dream for millions -- the beacon of light 'round the world. Then came new conservatism. Nest-foulers.

[rhett o rick]

9. i am thinking God isnt to pleased with America. nm

[grasswire]

11. I should have added the sarcasm tag

I know what you mean.

I had a real crisis of beliefs in the late last century. I was working as a writer/editor for a very famous Republican, in Washington. A man whose name is a household word. A man who is known to be religious. I finally had to quit as a matter of conscience, because the policies he espoused, wrote about, spoke about, were so antithetical to the teachings of Christ. I could not reconcile the hard-nose conservatism with the Gospel, with the instructions left for Christians to follow. The experience threw me for a loop; radicalized me politically.

[rhett o rick]

14. Most of the time I need the sarcasm emote but not this time.

if i believed in the Christian God, i would say he is pissed at America.

[la la]

10. waiting to see what

big ed has to say about this....

[Stinky The Clown]

12. It was the closing story on his show. He had a LOT more to report.

Seems there are two charter schools that have state funding and no shortfall. At least one of them was founded by the governor's biggest (one of the biggest??) political donors. Meanwhile, the (damned union) teachers are working without pay. The $3.2M the gov gave the school district is to pay the teachers' back pay. The teachers say they will stay on the job, even without pay, for as long as they possibly can.

He said he will visit the school district "in the next few days."

[HughBeaumont]

15. Ron Paul himself is a Grovel Nerdquist pledge-signer.

That rugged indivijulist . . . pals with the Most Important Yard Gnome in History. Paul's agenda would make situations like Chester widespread. Really, ANY of the GOP would make the country one big Chester.



Pwned by Nerdquiff.



Yard Gnome.



Hero of Stormfront, WAR and Oathkeepers. Also a grand douche of the highest order.

[Neue Regel]

16. Why is the school district in such financial distress?

http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/pennsylvania/mc-chester-upland-schools-011311,0,4540499.story

"Obviously, the department is concerned about the education of the students," said Education Department press secretary Tim Eller. "But you can't keep throwing money without changing your management structure and how you're balancing your books."

The lawsuit describes years of financial troubles for the district, and points to state decisions that it said have exacerbated the problem. Chester Upland has been classified as financially distressed since 1994 and for years, until June 2010, had been governed by state oversight boards.

Between 2006 and 2010, its budget rose from $85 million to $113 million and workforce grew from 590 to 735, the lawsuit said. Enrollment over that same period fell from 4,600 to 3,700.

Eller said the board recalled several dozen staff members this year without a way to cover the $6 million cost, and the budget also did not account for $27 million for payroll, insurance, unemployment compensation and other costs.

"The board just completely ignored what's going on," Eller said. "They figured the state would step in and give them the bailout when they needed it."


Student enrollment fell by 19.5% from 2006-2010, yet the budget increased by 32.9% over the same period. How does that make any sense?