Start winding down sports programs in public schools. Set a 5-7 year time frame for a phase out of all sports-related programs.

If parents/students want to participate in sports, then have private individuals or groups establish club programs.

roger, great start with getting the fiscal house in order.

I do not know how much more blood they can squeeze out of the taxpayers! WE are self employed so its very hard to raise our income when things go up. we have to adjust our ways to manage our budget. I don't think you can leave it to the school board. Unless they would decide to take a pay cut (heaven forbid they should do that or the teachers for that matter). I think somehow we need to voice our opinionin writing, maybe a survey, on this and stick to the outcome not like the stadium vote. Vote against one and we get two!

Roger, same old story; you both are on the right track!! Public Education should be that, and that alone. To much emphasis is placed on athletics in nearly every school district in Western Pennsylvania. To be fair, those students heading into Sophmore, Junior and Senior classes this year should be the concluding group of Publicly Funded recreational athletes. The final sporting events will be with the graduating class of 2015.
While we are at it, cut after school cash cow programs. Unless the after school activity is tutoring and/ or mentoring, it is a waste.

Let's focus on academics first, kids will just have to join intramural community league teams. If your community has no such intramural team or organization, I suggest you and your neighbors start one!!

Sorry Kelly, collective bargaining of Public sector unions is not the American free market way. Far from it. Private sector unions yes, but public no. Corbet needs to do the same to PA's public unions that Scott Walker did to Wisconsin's public unions. The taxpayers shouldn't be beholden to the jack booted thugs of the public unions.

The best and most cost-effective way to fund education would be through a voucher system. Each child would receice a certain amount of money from the local, state, and federal education departments, and then the parents would decide where to send the child to school. If schools had to compete in order to attract and retain students, they would quickly figure out how to deliver the best education--and the best teachers--and would do so within the funding available for each student. The public school virtual monopoly benefits no one but the teachers' unions. Certainly not the students. I call it a monopoly because many parents would LOVE to send their children to private or parochial school, but can't afford pay the tuition ON TOP OF paying such high public school taxes. I know, because I am one of them!

Oops...recieve

Agree Isabella- there need to be real limits on collective bargaining, such as increased employee contribution to healthcare and increased employee contribution to the pension- just like in the private sector, Kelly (If we are going to start comparing to the private sector). This is so crucial AND believe it or not, would benefit the students by realizing real cost savings. Real cost savings can then translate to HIRING more teachers... Which can lead to smaller class sizes..Who would have thunk it!

Why is the Patch not running a story on the group of PIne-Richland residents that are leading this discussion with the School Board already? They have made suggestions and proposals to the District at school board meetings. Yournorthhills.com ran a great story about it.

And before my words get parsed, my point about the private sector is that in many industries, employees are asked to pay more for their healthcare (as I experienced this year) with employers contributing less and less to retirement plans (hence employees needing to supplement with their own higher contributions).

Kelley,
I send my two daughters to private school. The teachers there make about half what the overpaid teacher's union people make, and both school score much high on all standardized test.

The school system's unilaterally raise our taxes to pay teacher's wages way beyond their performance.

Collective bargaining is the American Way - in private enterprises, but not in government. Collective bargaining in government is nothing but greed. I say privatize the schools, then parents send their kids where they want and pay for actual performance, not greedy teachers.

I have to agree with Roger. Taxpayers fund millions in sports activities, when it should be spent on things such as tutoring and academics.

To Parent #2:
here is a website that lists the wages for teachers and administrators. Teacher's salaries are public knowledge as well as all school bargaining agreements.
http://php.app.com/PAteachers11/search.php

We have wonderful teachers here. In my opinion, the best; but a very small few exist that can not be removed because of tenure.

Our family has taken some deep cuts as well and yet our school board continues to give raises to administrators who make well over 130K a year and throw millions into turf fields. Some folks living in the community have already reviewed the detailed line item budgets and made suggestions for cuts. We can not make the school board act upon those suggestions. It seems their solution, for now, is make parents pay for high school classes and sports. Our family paid close to $1000 for this last year. It is my understanding the school district now wants to pay to renovate the unused outside basketball court so they can charge fees to groups who might want to use it. At school board meetings the district has said they are looking into these creative ways of generating income; also naming rights.

This school funding crisis has been brewing for well over 2 years now. I am glad people are finally paying attention and trying to generate viable solutions for all stakeholders.

The private schools have smaller classrooms therefore teachers can help the students more, ensuring good test results. It doesn't matter what your test results are if you are a good student you will do well no matter where you go to school. If you work hard and set goals you will succeed, private scool or public.
Teachers aren't greedy, they deserve to be paid to teach our children. I certainly don't want their job. Nor would they want the stressful one I have that I am paid very well for. Not sure what private school your children go to but mine has a unionized teachers union. Make no mistake, there are teachers there that should has lost their job years ago but the union protects BAD teachers.
The budgets need to be balanced and cuts need to be made and perhaps the public schools can learn from private schools on how to fundraise for things instead of paying for them out of the budget.
Cutting sports is not the answer. Athletics is part of an education, being part of a team teaches more than you can know. I do like the idea of privatizing the schools, but the kids who need extra help or the kids who have no family support will fall through the cracks. Not sure what the answers are but the bottom line is, I want my children to get a good education and I will do whatever I need to ensure they are getting it. I know one thing cutting teachers salary is not the answer!

Cut out postions that are not needed. Too many people at the school are making a lot of money and their jobs are not necessary, I once read here on the Patch some person got a new title (Director of Student Services). His salary went from $50,000 to $100,000 because of this promotion. Seriously????? Did we really need this postion? Doesn't the principal and the asst. principal do this???? This is only one postion I have read about, how many others got a new title and a enormous raise like that??? Its ridiculous. Once again, its out of control spending with others people money!

The teacher's pensions and benefits are killing us.

Hold teachers responsible for their students progress and get rid of the union.

I agree with the idea of cutting sports programs, but that will never happen. I agree with the idea of vouchers, but that will never happen. I agree with the idea of cutting public employee unions, but that will never happen. All of the things that need to happen to cut costs and keep taxes in line here in our school districts will NEVER HAPPEN!!! So... here is how I personally am combatting the problem of school districts constantly raising taxes. I am leaving. Simple as that. I always hear people say "well if you don't like it, move!" or "Don't let the door hit you on the way out!" when I complain. Well, that is exactly what I am doing. After years of hard work, saving my pennies, I at 31 years of age am finally buying my very first house, in Nevada. I have lived here in Western Pa my whole life, I have a pretty decent paying job, I work hard, but I really am being taxed to death here. I have tried voting for the red team, I have tried voting for the blue team, but no one wants to really actually fix anything. So, as sad as this is, I have adopted the "Every man for himself" attitude, and once construction on my house is complete... I am jumping this sinking ship! I wish you all the best of luck, but that is really all you have.

I have one guestion. Why do all the pay cuts or pay freezes start from the bottom and never work there way to the top? Administrators (principals, superintendents) are never asked to do this. What about the lavish lifestyle our congressmen(women) have? They continue to take pay raises. You don't see them taking pay cuts or a pay freeze. They have tbe BEST health care that we pay for and they have the BEST pension plan tbat we pay for. The best way to pay for all this is to cut funding so the local governments and school boards have to raise taxes. This is not just for paying teachers. Building maintence, school supplies etc.. Oh don't forget about the mercedes benz the superintent drives when he or she is not driving their bemer. If I misspelled anything, I don't care. I'm still learning how to use this smartphone that I can barely afford. The government did not buy my phone nor does it pay the bill. This is a whole different issue with the taxes and fees on the bill.

What did you think was going to happen when your governor cut so much money from public education? Who did yout think was going to have to make up the difference if you want to maintain current curriculum levels,athletic teams,etc.? Maybe if we stopped voting against our own best interests and blaming our fellow working and middle class citizens for these problems we could overcome this stupidity! The arrogant audacity expressed by so many who think they have the right to determine who does and doesn`t earn a good living...does or doesn`t deserve benefits or pensions(when did having good benefits and pensions become a crime against society?) Perhaps you need to re-examine how the billionaires campaign of misinformation has brainwashed you into bickering with each other and voting against your own best interests.! Want good schools,parks,police,roads,etc? You have to pay your share.and stop whining about it.

There is a problem if you tie student preformence to teacher's salaries. What opif that teacher has a student that doesn't wish to learn. Sometimes, there are just students who don't do what's required to do well. A teacher should not be punished for that.

We urge everyone to join the emerging activist efforts to lobby Harrisburg to make realistic changes to the Public Service Emplyees pension formula. This is the BIG NUT TO CRACK !

Kelly, I didn't think I would have to spell it out for you, but since you coudn't figure out that Parent#2 was referring to you when she addressed you as Kelley, well, I guess you do need me to spell it out for you.

I'll type slowly. I don't dislike teachers, in fact I know several and they are great friends. It's the public union leadership I am referring to when I use the term jack booted thugs. I thought that was clear since I kept using the term union. My bad. So, to recap, I like teachers, but dislike the public union leadership. And to further clarify, I am only speaking about teacher public unions, not police or fire. I thought that was clear too, but again, my bad.

Oh, and don't worry about my kids, they will do just fine.

Great discussion here but there is not a good answer...Schools overspent with federal stimulus money years ago and did not think about the future. As this was going on, schools also did not contribute to the pension system. Add those two factors with a teacher population that is moving up on the pay scale and you have a huge problem.

How do we fix the problem? It starts with cutting unncessary costs, freezing pay for a year from superintendent on down and unfortunately raising taxes if needed. The teacher contract is up and it will be interesting to see what happens. I am guessing a 1 year pay freeze with increased health care contributions.

Unions are what they are...but don't forget that the teachers have continually contributed to the pension system that has caused all these problems. The unions also did not stop PR from getting rid of 3 "bad teachers" the past 4 years at the high school. Some in the district might not realize it but if administrators do their job and observe teachers, a bad teacher can be removed from the classroom. One was in english another in science and the third is slipping my mind right now.

Susan -- I can spell "receive," but have a hard time typing on my phone touch screen. After I saw that I had posted a second typo, I gave up. Lol...

Andy, regarding "separation of church and state," it is not in the constitution. That phrase was originally written in an 1802 letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists, in which he assured them that they would not be PREVENTED from practicing their religion.

There IS an "establishment clause," which says the government will not establish an official state religion, nor prevent citizens from the "free exercise" of the religion of their choice. In a voucher program, an education or tuition allowance is given to the PARENTS of each student to spend on the school of their CHOICE (public, private secular, or private religious). This hardly violates the establishment clause.

As to their having been some problems with voucher programs, that is to be expected when implementing any NEW program. (By the way, given the dismal and ever-declining levels of student performance the public schools are producing, I find that remark humorous. Just look where our students rank in math and science compared to students from other industrialized nations.) When the voucher system becomes more widely implemented, any issues will be worked out.

Regarding curriculum, standardized testing will quickly reveal which schools deserve to grow and thrive and which ones will go out of business.

Also, ALL teachers should be paid based on performance, whether they work for public or private schools. And I don't want to hear the tired old argument that the teacher has no control over a student's home life, and therefore, the student's performance. First of all, I believe that CAN be accounted for when assessing a teacher's performance. And second, the public school teachers' unions are simply reaping what they have sown for decades. For the past 50 years, public schools have moved further and further away from instilling any notion of morality into the students that they teach. Instead, they have bent over backwards to pretend that ALL types of behavior are acceptable, that there is nothing immoral about children having sex and getting pregnant in high school (or even younger!), that nothing (except failing to use birth control) is wrong, that no one should judge anything--ever--and that every type of living arrangement is equally suited to the raising of children. Congratulations! Your students believed you. Don't come whining to us about the results.

I believe that teachers can be tied to some student performance level but that can't be the only measurement. There are too many factors that go into paying by performance. Would their pay be based on just performance? Or, from other aspects such as lesson plans, volunteerting for extra curricular activities, etc. Tying their pay to performance is like paying a dentists pay to the percent of patients that do not get any cavities...The dentist says " I told them to brush after every meal and floss daily, what happened?"

So how do you set up the pay for performance? Test before the year and at the end of the year? There goes two more days that students are not learning in the classroom. Do you measure the % improvement or overall gain by a teachers students? Do you take into consideration past classes as well? Think of someone going into Spanish I, I am guessing they score close to a 0 on the initial exam. At the end of the year it will look like they learned a lot. Did they? Or is it because they had little prior knowledge so the gains look great. Then take a 9th grade Biology class where students learned some Biology in middle school. Those students gains are not as great as the Spanish students. So, what teacher is better? Many,many flaws!

Sorry, but tying performance to pay as the ONLY measurement will never be done (administrators agree!) and is absurd. It could be one of the parts of their criteria but not the only one.

Get the parents back involved in the schools and not to just 'watch' their children perform! Parents should be active in the schools and not just in the extras the PTA provides.

Eliminate all of the school boards and institute a single county school board.

I am just throwing this out for discussion. Our district raises salaries from approximately 65K to 95K+ several years before retirement so teachers get the highest pension and benefits plan from the state. (I am not saying teachers do not deserve 95K a year. I am suggesting looking at how the state system is "played".) I also agree with the previous suggestions with starting cuts from the top down. Our district administration office received well over 30K this year in raises. The district I am in spends close to 2 million dollars every year just to support extra curricular sports and spends 500K to support extra curricular academic activities. They just spent 2.5 million on a brand new turf field for practices and JV--not the main football field; while cutting 5K from academic extra curricular team competitions in the name of saving money. Do you all think that is alright?

I think sports is of value to children; however, it is my opinion when it begins to take priority over educational academics, it is a serious issue that needs to be looked at.

While principals are not part of the union then why has this director of student services or whatever her title is,(third title in as many years) been tossed around in different positions, created ones at that, with a terrible track record as principal and not let go. it's not being misinformed, its a waste of a high salary,( 6 figures) its a JOKE!, employees know and parents know it too.

It is refreshing to see so many discussion threads about so many issues that are truly pertinent to the larger discussion of public education in America, and what that means.

Some of the threads are disturbing due to the lack of understanding of how the schools are financed, what a school budget looks like, and how benefits are funded. However, it seems a lot of people here are starting to understand how problematic the system has become. I recall all of the passion expressed in the recent upheaval in Wisconsin, and recall discussing with peers that every State will soon be experiencing similar upheaval.

All of the topics presented here (well most of them!) are going to be part of the equation to fix public schooling. There is no single magic bullet. However, all of the solutions require the participation of educated citizenry. Take some time to learn some of the basics about school financing and school budgets. Take more time to attend school board meetings to understand who stands for what in your local community, take more time to become an activist for what you want to happen in your district. And, most of all, spend the greatest amount of time helping your kids thrive in your school.

This is one of the most topical and important strings I have read in a long time and each of you should be applauded for taking the time to share your point of view! There are, in fact, 400 people on the Chartiers Valley Taskforce for Academic Excellence and we have one agenda: make the changes necessary to hold our leaders accountable for raising the bar on academics. If you would like to join our taskforce, please email chartiersvalleyacademicexcellence@live.com and tell us you want to join our effort. You will get updates on the decisions of our school board and a history of what has taken place over the last 2 years. Finally, please bring your opinions to the school board meetings. They meet virtually every other Tuesday evening at 7:30pm in the Administration building adjacent to the Intermediate School (times and dates can be found at www.cvsd.net). You collectively outlined above what is at stake....it's time for us to get this right!

What a great discussion...sad state for education but where was everyone (including myself!) when our school board voted on Eden Hall as well as the High School expansion. $80 million for two schools? Cut out some of the non-essentials from those buildings and you save 10-20 million. It sure would be nice to have that now...Its not the principals, teachers, custodians or support staff that overspent but they will suffer along with our children.

An article in the "your north hills" section of the tribune- review actually reported on July 26 that Pine-Richland teachers make from $43,661 to $95,650 annually, or $29 to $64 per hour. And a whopping 20% make more than $92,000 in pay. All for working 9 months a year with mainly clean polite kids with college educated parents, plus low contributions into retirement and health care. PROFESSIONALS do not belong in a union.

Crosbycat-
Salaries seem right but I would like to know where they got the hourly rate from. Does this include getting to school early and staying late? For my son in special ed, his teacher would spend at least an extra hour a day with him. That lowers her hourly rate by over 11%. I also doubt this is all the extra time she put in, she was worth every penny!! There would be many, many teachers there at 4pm when I would pick up my child (school is over around 2:30).

Retirement costs are what they are, set by the state and raised by Ridge before he left office. This was where government officials got a 50% raise in retirement and public employees got a 25% raise in retirement. They also raised public contributions by 12% at this time. I don't like the system, as I put in 6% and am matched up to 10% at my job. But, it is not the teachers fault, start with the government and work their way down. The average teacher's retirement is 60K a year which is a lot. Do you realize that the average for college professors is double that, while some are getting over 440K a year (PSU has 3). But the teachers are the problem???? Change the governments retirement, then the professors and then the teachers. Lets start from the top, not from the bottom-

Back to basics why isotope always the unions fault with you.The facts point to the people in charge being the problem.An example is a quad at one of the schools not having duct work run for HVAC
..Looking the other way when union members pointed it out.Then hiring the same friends to build high school addition.

vouchers are an interesting topic. if the state issued a 4000.00 voucher to attend a religious school such as st, patricks in canonsburg it would save approx. 7000.00 since st pats receives no state subsidy. an increase of a 100 students--700,000.00.maybe competition would be good.

Out-of-control spending threatens to engulf our economy here in Pennsylvania and threatens education budgets. In just the next five years, taxpayer contributions to state pensions are set to increase 257 percent. That's the equivalent of more than $1,000 in additional taxes on the average household in Pennsylvania! Higher pension payments in the form of increased property taxes or reduced education opportunities have arrived. And I will bet that many of you voted over the last two decades for the people who created this mess.
Likewise the growing cost of Medicaid, which currently consumes 31 percent of Pennsylvania’s total operating budget, is growing out of control. As welfare costs continue to climb, they will crowd out other departments like Education and Transportation. Yet we have citizens blaming Corbett who did not create this problem for trying to fix it.
If any of this surprises you maybe you should quit watching TV for a week and take a look at the state budget, Pennsylvania’s unfunded liabilities (ran up by the last several administrations and approved by the legislature) and the cost that Obamacare is planning to force on the state. Then will you go to the polls to vote you can vote to reform and stop this mess or like many Pennsylvanians accept the Representative who lies and blames the other guy the best.

Hey - it's really easy in Upper St. Clair - they could save $300,000 EVERY YEAR by eliminating the IB program. Oh, wait....other public schools in the area canNOT choose that option - their districts cannot afford the IB program - just USC!!!

Blah blah

I don't have many ideas, but one would be to at least hire teachers that don't put movies or T.V. shows on in class so we can at least get our moneys worth. I wouldn't normally condone posting to Facebook while in class, but considering my child just posted "How the heck is watching South Park educational?" says that she is probably learning more from Facebook than watching South Park in class. Last year one teacher routinely showed the series Gilmore Girls in class, as well as movies. My child is a senior. I don't think Seneca Valley has quite the good teachers people think they do. Lazy, if you ask me.