Chowhound Website Unfair to Paoli’s Carangi Bakery — a Touch of South Philly in our Backyard

The Paoli small business community is thrilled to welcome Carangi Bakery in to the neighborhood.  The Paoli Business & Professional Association has used Carangi’s for the last couple of monthly for our noontime meetings.  As a board member of PBPA, I have to tell you their sandwiches and stromboli were great, but the cannoli’s . . well, let’s just say that they are unbelievable!

Like most new businesses, there are growing pains and learning curves.  Although Carangi Bakery has had their Philadelphia location for years, the Paoli location is new — I think they opened this location in early fall.  One of my friends raved about the bread and pies she had for Thanksgiving, so I know that they were opened by that point.  But like all new businesses, sometimes things may not go as you planned or as you wished.  Case in point, apparently Christmas Eve the store was a bit chaotic and customers did not leave as satisfied as the owners would have preferred.  One dissatisfied customer decided in the last week to leave a very negative comment on the Chowhound website concerning their Christmas Eve experience.  Although I think the comment was unnessarily personal and more negative than required, people are entitled to their opinion. But the problem is when the bakery owner tried to leave an apology comment on the Chowhound website it was immediately deleted.  John Petersen visits the bakery regularly and he tried to leave a positive comment on the Chowhound website and that too was removed. 

I am not sure what the deal is with the administrator of the Chowhound website, but I figure the best way to counter balance the one negative comment is to make a personal appeal on Community Matters for Carangi Bakery.  My suggestion to all the readers . . . is go visit Carangi Bakery and take a touch of South Philly home with you! (And don’t forget the cannolis.) 

Carangi Bakery is located on Lancaster Avenue in the old 4 Seasons store.  A link to their website is: http://www.carangibakery.com/

Let’s make this new business feel really welcome . . . and be sure to tell the owner you read about them on Community Matters.

A Community Matters Reader with Specific TESD Budget Questions . . . Can We Help with Answers?

One of our Community Matters readers, ‘Full of Questions’ sent in a comment which contained specific questions that we may be able to answer for him/her.  As I often do, if there is a comment that I think needs frontpage attention, I post it here so that everyone sees it. Read through the questions and respond if you think you can help — please label your responses to match the numbered questions.

Full of Questions writes . . .

I have enjoyed reading the posts on this site.  Unfortunately I still have so many questions that are unanswered and I have no idea where to get the answers.  Maybe someone out there can help me to understand this whole situation better…

1.  Why – when we are in a budget crisis – are we buying office space and renovating new buildings?  How much have these new acquisitions cost us, the taxpayers, in the past two years?  Has this contributed to the $9 mil we now need to find somewhere?

2. Someone mentioned that administrators get a stipend to pay for the healthcare plan of their choice.  If an admin does not use this do they get to pocket this money?  I am asking since I know of at least 3 administrators that have teachers that work in the district.  Do they just get to get a free ride on their spouses plan and then still get to pocket their stipend?  In essence we would be paying them twice for their healthplan.

3.  Why have the number of administrators at the educational offices increased over the past 4 years?  It appears that there used to be ~10 admin at the ESC but now there are ~15.  Why do we need this additional staffing?  It seems that as prinicpals have been promoted new positions have been created at the educational offices for them (ie. Donavan, Dinkins, Gusick)

4.  Looking at the posted link for teacher salaries I can also see admin salaries.  Building on the previous point – the admin salaries make up ~$3.5 mil of the budget.  That number does not include whatever stipend they get for healthcare.  That number does not include the money we are paying for them to go back to school and earn their doctorates.  Again – why do we need to have this many admin each costing us well over ~100,000-$200,000/year?

5.  What are these on-line classes they are talking about offering at the high school?  I would have liked more information about this instead of reading about it in a blog…  How much are these going to cost us?  Or are they using it as a way to outsource teaching for a cheaper cost?

It has been several times that everything is out in the open – but I truly find that hard to believe when it seems something new pops up each time I read this blog or minutes to one of the committee or board meetings.   If anyone can answer any of these questions I would really appreciate it.  I am trying not to place blame, although it is hard not to given the circumstances.  I just feel that I do not have all of the facts.  Is the teachers union to blame for trying to get a good contract for their teachers?  Is the board to blame for accepting a contract that they could not support financially given the other financial obligations (ie. new buildings, admin, etc.)?  Are the administrators to blame for not giving the board all of the information they need to make an educated decision?

Specifics on Pennsylvania $161 Million Budget Cuts Announced

In December, Governor Rendell vowed to cut an additional $170 million from Pennsylvania’s state budget in order to make up for lower-than-anticipated tax revenues. It looks like the specifics of those cuts have now been finalized. Here is a press release with the specific cuts but I am confused. I thought that the recent approval of the tables games was to help the budget situation? And here I thought that the state was going to help us with the teacher’s pension contribution increase?  How is that going to be possible?

   Pennsylvania Budget Cuts Another $161 Million

Pennsylvania’s budget took another hit, as the state released details of a $161 million round of cuts, which Gov. Ed Rendell ordered last month. Each department was instructed to cut another one percent from its current budget and while some trimmed each program equally, other departments eliminated programs to make the cut.

The Department of Community and Economic Development shed almost $11 million, cutting in whole the $200,000 previously allotted for the Super Computer Center, $1.23 million for infrastructure technical assistance and $1 million for minority business development. Funding for agile manufacturing, powdered metals and digital & robotic technology, together less than $1 million, was also cut.

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources lost $1 million even as its forest land fetched bids above $5,000 per acre today from natural gas drillers looking to tap into the Marcellus Shale. Cuts to the Department of Environmental Protection totaled $3.8 million and were an even one percent across all programs.

Education funding fell by $27.8 million, eliminating the $1.9 million mobile science education program, $400,000 of higher education assistance, and $2 million for community education councils.

In health services, a $2.6 million biotechnology research program was stripped of its funding. Children’s Hospital lost its $200,000 share from the Department of Emergency Management while the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh had its $431,000 health appropriation cut to $215,000. Health care clinics that were due to receive $3 million from the Department of Public Welfare were cut from the budget, as were acute care hospitals, slated for $4.7 million in funding.

Several programs under the executive branch were eliminated, including safe neighborhoods, violence reduction, and $1.25 million for agricultural research, promotion, education and exports. Food marketing and research and the farm school nutrition initiatives were also axed.

Another $1 million was cut from the governor’s grants to the arts. Museums took another hit during this round.  Museums took another hit during this round. General museum assistance grants were slashed by a third and specific funding for the Carnegie Museum of National History and the Carnegie Science Center was cut in half from $113,000 each to $57,000.

 The Department of Labor and Industry cut is New Choices/New Options program, a $1.5 million initiative to retrain and place individuals looking for new careers.

Should TESD Follow Downingtown School Board ‘s Lead and Urge Teacher Pension Reform?

One of our neighbors, the Downingtown School Board recently approved a resolution that calls for the state to change Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS). Driving their decision is the predicted dramatic increase in PSERS contribution from school districts. Looking ahead to the upcoming years, the teacher’s pension increase will greatly affect the school district’s budget and then the taxpayers.

According to one of the Downingtown School Board members, their PSERS contribution is going from a little over 4% to about 31% in 2012! School Board member Robert Yorcyk, who introduced the resolution to the other board members explained, “Considering that salary and benefits make up about 70 percent of the budget, the increase to 31 percent would represent about 15 percent of the budget or half of what we have left to support education.”  The Downingtown School District pays about $4 million in teacher pension contributions – that number will rise to $7 million in 2011 and by 2014-15 retirement contributions are expected to hit $36 million! The school district estimates that in just 5 years, PSERS contributions will increase nine-fold.

If I understand the PSERS plan correctly, employees and employers alike contribute and that money is then invested, . . . the pension payout is guaranteed (regardless of the market economics). The real problem is that due to the volatility of the market, school districts are being forced to pay larger pension contributions because the pension investments have not kept pace with what is guaranteed in the payouts of the pensions.

The state House of Representatives is reviewing changes in the PSER bill. The new plan would actually put a cap on the school district contributions. If the pension payout required additional funds, the bill would require the state to be responsible for the difference. The Downingtown School Board signed their recent resolution to urge the state to lessen the burden on taxpayers and the school district (understanding that the teacher benefits will remain the same).

Should the Tredyffrin Easttown School District take a similar stand? Should our school board members be encouraged to follow Downingtown’s lead?