Anti-Tax Jihadists Declare War on Students, Teachers

It's always easier when your opponent makes your argument for you.

Ellie Corcoran's "Say No To Everything" listserv is an absolutely wonderful compendium of casual evil.

Apparently, one correspondent has identified the root of Clarence's non-existent, manufactured school tax problem:

It's the teachers (emphases mine).

What can be done though? NYS teachers never have to negotiate so the current gravy train keeps rolling on. [link redacted]
I agree that Clarence teachers have an obscenely sweet deal but what can we do? The only hopes are that the governor will respond to the local districts, several of whom have protested and plead, for the release of some of our money back to local districts(I am not optimistic), or we can let the BOE take the programs away from the kids (which is really only a drop in the bucket but they are the only drops that we can take). As I see it, the problem is the teachers' salaries; and sadly there is just about nothing that we can do about it. I don't expect the teachers union to have a crisis of conscience causing them to toss their old contracts or the Triborough amendment. If you were a Clarence kid, as I was, you may remember that a lot of these programs existed for you plus bussing to and from. Stuff has been taken from the kids. The kids need to have a reason to want to be in school. Common Core alone certainly won't hold their interest.
I don't mean to be defeatist; but really what can be done? Maybe if the district bankrupts we could renegotiate.”

So this person is having something of a crisis of conscience. As a Clarence kid, he or she remembers the programs that existed to give him or her, "a reason to want to be in school", and is torn because voting no on the budget  means "the BOE [will have to] take the programs away from the kids".

What does the leader of the local anti-school, anti-student, and anti-teacher cabal conclude? You won't believe it. (Emphases mine)

Thank you so much for your response; and thank you for sending that link. I never saw it before. I agree w/ everything you said. However, if we don’t at least bring it to the public’s awareness, it will always be, and we will be enabling them, like an alcoholic. The kids won’t suffer. They will still learn. I went to a free college prep school in Boston, MA. I had 7 yrs of Latin, Greek Mythology, no sports or art clubs. It was part of the Boston Public School System, and we could pick our colleges when we graduated. I also taught in the Boston School System for $4,980 when teachers taught because they loved it. 

I’m not recommending this, but we, as taxpayers, have to draw the line someplace, because it will neverchange if we don’t. We at least have some power by defeating the budget. 

Eventually, the governor, the teachers, the unions, will realize that this can’t keep going on. The other point I need to make is that if this budget goes through, the taxes will eventually be so high, that we will have to move out of Clarence, have a hard time selling our houses, and no one is going to want to move here because of high taxes. We have to work on the short term goal 1st (defeating the budget) and then continue to work on the long term goals like the Triborough, the unfunded mandates and union power etc. If we don’t, shame on us. We deserve the taxes we pay. Thanks again

Clarence teachers don't have "an obscenely sweet deal". They are professionals, many of them with master's degrees. On top of that, the state ranks over 85% of them as "highly effective".  As I wrote before, you don't punish them by giving them minimum wage and no benefits, like some McDonald's worker - you give high performers a bonus. It's no wonder people aren't going in for teaching anymore. Who needs long hours, myriad bureaucracies, intrusive and annoying reviews, curriculum control, testing, and anti-tax jihadists gunning for their wages and benefits?

We're starting a hashtag throughout social media. If you're in Clarence and you have a positive school-related story to tell, use #ClarenceYES. Want some examples? The Pirates of Penzance was amazing. #ClarenceYES. Congratulations to the Mock Trial Club for winning the countywide petition! #ClarenceYES. The choral concert last week was a triumph! #ClarenceYES.

It's at least refreshing that Ellie Corcoran can decide for your kids and mine whether they will "suffer" if music and sports programs are eliminated thanks to their agitation against the teachers and budget. Clarence, after all, has one of the best music curricula in the country #ClarenceYES. Kids who were in the musical are attending audition-only programs to go into musical careers, but Ellie Corcoran figures they don't need to be exposed to this sort of thing in High School, and teachers should just make $5k per year if they like teaching so much.

Teachers must not love teaching, Corcoran thinks, because they earn a living.

A scan of Massachusetts' online pension database reveals that Corcoran doesn't receive one. Could it be because she wasn't a full-time teacher? Maybe she was fired for being ineffective, or for some other reason? Maybe she was just a substitute? Maybe she's just making it up? Maybe she's bitter over it, and taking it out on teachers? Who knows, but the teaching professionals we've encountered in Clarence have almost universally deserved whatever salary and benefits they earn - which, for someone with a master's degree, isn't a whole lot, even if it's $100,000 after 20+ years of service.

But the central falsehood in Corcoran's thesis is how Clarence's taxes are sky-high. Now, of course Clarence taxes are higher than those found in places with horrible, underfunded schools like Florida, Alabama, or South Carolina. But in comparison with other similarly situated towns in Erie County, we're a bargain.

My county and town taxes amount to about 1% of my home's assessed value. My school tax is another 1.35% of my home's assessed value. 

Put another way, I pay about $9.29 per $1,000 of assessed value for town and county tax, and under $15 per $1,000 of assessed value for school taxes. 

In Williamsville, the school tax rate is over $18 per $1,000 of assessed value. In Orchard Park, it's over $30. In East Aurora, it's $36 per $1,000. In Sloan, it's $57 per $1,000 of assessed value. 

Corcoran and her clowns are spreading lies and misinformation, but at least they're honest about wanting to harm the students.

There will be a rally Monday the 30th at 6pm in support of our schools, and the final budget working group session is at 7pm at the lecture hall. Corcoran's clowns will be there to whine about how it's not important to bus kids and how we need to cut everything that isn't "Latin, Greek, Mythology".

These people want to vote "no" on a budget that hasn't even been finalized yet, much less presented or voted on. This isn't principle, this is war. War on your kids, war on your property value, war on our teachers, and war on our school district.

#ClarenceYES. 

Ellie Corcoran: Obama Assassination is a Punch Line

Post by Clarence Watchdog.

Where Were You, Anti-Student Cabal?

It was a great meeting of the board of education last night at the Middle School.  There was a really inspirational and fascinating presentation that engineering and technology faculty from the middle school and high school gave the board. Two students talked about how much they've learned thanks to the technology that's available to them in the district, from the CAD programs they use at the middle and high schools, to the 3D printer they have at the high school. A recent alumna talked about how the technology curriculum at Clarence schools set her up for a job as an architectural engineer in New York City.

In fact, we learned that the investment that the district makes in its engineering and technology curricula results in 100% job placement with an overall economic impact of over $9 million in salaries being paid to Clarence engineering graduates.

But you weren't there.

Dr. Hicks took some time to briefly congratulate and praise the cast, crew, orchestra, and faculty advisers who worked very hard to pull off an astounding Spring musical, "Pirates of Penzance".

But you weren't there.

I didn't see you at the musical, either. There was a free performance available through the Senior Center.

Where were you? Surely you're not choosing to remain deliberately ignorant to the amazing achievements that our students are making with faculty guidance?

We know that you were meeting and plotting on Thursday to vote down the budget in May. We know that Joe Lombardo refused to listen to anything that board members Maryellen Kloss and Susan Altman had to say when they showed up, saying that he refused to be "brainwashed" by them. We know that Ellie Corcoran wasn't interested in learning about facts, but only about voting down a budget that - worst-case scenario - is 32% less than what she paid in 2006.

We know that your little group is full of shit when it comes to your claims that you want the students to have a good education. If so, why did you recommend that the district eliminate all AP courses? Why make cuts to art and music?

I mean, you guys have been bleating on senselessly about "local control" of the district, but doing what you suggest would force the district to abandon all state aid and make up the entire budget from local sources. Your school taxes would either skyrocket, or - this is the part you want - the district would have to essentially cut its way into mediocrity.

Let's not kid ourselves. You didn't show up to hear about the great things going on in the district because that doesn't comport with your agenda. You've made up your mind to portray the district as a spendthrift that's only good because our kids are well-off. Good luck with that. The students, parents, and alumni are going to make sure you fail.

Running Clarence Schools Like A Business

Did you see the Clarence High School production of Pirates of Penzance this past weekend? These dedicated and talented kids - with the help from their faculty advisers - put on a Broadway-caliber show that was absolutely world class. Everyone from the amazing pit orchestra, to the tech crew, to the cast itself deserves kudos. They have been diligently working on this since late 2014, and their hard work paid off.

It's not just some accident of talent. It's how that talent is nurtured, developed, and grown. It starts with the music programs in the elementary schools, to instrument instruction, to singing, and then is further enhanced by the bands, orchestra, chorus, plays, and musicals that are done at the middle school. 

By the time these kids get to high school, those who are dedicated to drama, music, tech, and singing are well on their way to becoming professionals. It's simply an amazing progression to watch, and the Clarence High School's annual musical productions are absolutely incredible; a testament not only to talent, but to teaching. 

Joe Lombardo is a member of Clarence's anti-tax cabal. He released this "open letter" last week.  

The Clarence school tax compounding an additional 2, 3 or 4 % every year has gone on far too long. The school board and the superintendent are doing the community a great disservice when they present another tax increase that is backed by excuses of “it’s not us, it’s Albany”.

Well, it is Albany, at least in part. Since 2008, the Clarence Central School District alone has lost over $16 million in state aid that was due and owing to it, thanks to the Gap Elimination Adjustment. In order to maintain the educational standards that help maintain Clarence's excellence, that money has to be made up in some way.  In Clarence's case, it was made through cuts, dipping into the fund balance, and through modest increases in the local school tax.

Here's a reminder of what we lost just 2 years ago as a result of the budget fiasco of 2013:

• Since 2011, the district has cut 113 full-time positions; 53 of them in 2013 alone. 
• In 2013, the high school lost art, math, English, tech, and business teachers. The entire family & consumer science department was cut, and we lost a guidance counselor. 
• In 2013, the middle school lost an art, English, and science teacher. 
• In 2013, the cuts in the revote budget eliminated 3 K-5 teachers, two librarians, and 12 teacher's aides.
• In 2013, the cuts in the revote budget eliminated four music teachers, the last social worker, and summer school. 
• In 2013, the cuts in the revote budget eliminated 23 high school clubs and extracurricular activities
• In 2013, the cuts in the revote budget eliminated 15 middle school clubs and extracurricular activities
• When these clubs are eliminated, parents must find privately funded alternatives. This hurts the poorest families hardest. 
• In 2013, the revote budget eliminated all HS freshman sports, affecting 90 kids. 
• In 2013, the revote budget eliminated all modified sports in the middle school, affecting 225 kids. 

I would like to take the opportunity to remind members of the school board that they are elected officials in charge of leading the realm of education and function of our schools. The only goal of our school board and superintendent should be to protect the quality and sustainability of the Clarence School District even when threatened by Albany and its politics. The days of being beholden to Albany over the residents of Clarence need to come to an end.

No one likes being condescended to, and there is no question that the school board has performed its functions as well as it can under the circumstances; between fiscal assaults and unfunded mandates from Albany on the one hand, and the local anti-school district destroyers on the other, they have their hands full.

The board has a fiduciary responsibility to balance results with costs and eliminate waste.

What "waste"? Clarence is cost-effective and frugal.

• 3rd best overall cost-effectiveness out of 432 Upstate NY districts
• 6th overall best administrative efficiency in all of Upstate NY 
• 6th lowest spending per pupil in New York State 
• 2nd lowest spending per pupil in Erie County 
• 7th highest rating for college readiness in Upstate NY. 
• 2nd lowest full value school tax rate in Western New York 
• 3rd highest academic ranking in Western New York

They claim that Albany has forced unreasonable costs and mandates upon them and that they feel the pain too. If that's the case, then the school board needs to step up to the plate. It’s time for a coalition of school districts banded across the state with the set forth goal to abolish imprudent mandates, costs and curriculum by means of dissent and boycott.

WTAF does this mean? Look at what Ken-Ton has done. They made a big public show about rejecting the state's testing, and stopped just when they realized that they would lose all of their state funding if they did so. I suppose Clarence could, if it wanted to, make a similar show, but to what end? Does Mr. Lombardo not think that districts are vocally complaining to whomever will listen? Mr. Lombardo doesn't attend school board meetings, or else he would know that Albany mandates are a constant and continuous source of pain and anxiety.

Here's the very strongly-worded letter that Superintendent Hicks sent to Governor Cuomo. Mr. Lombardo must have missed it.  Here's the district's legislative advocacy page. There are additional materials there having to do with Albany activism for and by the Clarence school district.

Mr. Lombardo's best and strongest advice is for the board and superintendent to do stuff that's already been done?

The end result is to restore all school decision making back to the local level. The only outreach to state government for relief thus far has been to eliminate the Gap Elimination Adjustment. This would only give the schools more money to pay for ineffectual and wasteful mandates.

Which mandates are "ineffectual" and "wasteful"?  Those are convenient adjectives that are not backed up by any, y'know, data or facts.  Which mandates, specifically, would Mr. Lombardo like to see abolished? Changed?

It does not solve the problem of compounding taxes or the difficulty of educating under blanket mandates. I cannot conceive why anyone would argue against putting the power to run the schools back in the hands of our elected school board. It’s time to shuffle the deck that has been stacked against local control of schools. A vote in disapproval of this year’s budget is not a vote to destroy education in Clarence. It is to send a message to the school board that they need to begin work on regaining the helm of our school from the selfish captains in Albany. Regards,Joe Lombardo Jr.

Well, that's all well and good, but what Mr. Lombardo is suggesting is not possible under current law, because our school districts and systems are creations and subsets of state law and government.

Make no mistake: it might make Mr. Lombardo and his school-destroying, student-hating cohorts feel better by mouthing that they don't want to "destroy education in Clarence", but they tried it once, and they're apparently willing to try again.  Disapproval of a within-cap levy increase would do to the schools what 2013 did, and force Clarence students out of programs, eliminate teachers, get rid of electives, and do palpable and real harm to students and their educations.

For what? What is the underlying complaint here, you ask?

You can look up any property's school tax history at this link.

Joe Lombardo's property has an assessed full value of $492,000. Only $403,000 of that is taxable, because it's located in an agricultural district.

In 2006, Joe Lombardo's school tax bill was $6,234.31. His property was, at the time, assessed at $475,000, only $393,491 of which was taxable due to agricultural and STAR exemptions.

If Joe Lombardo's 2006 payment of $6,234 merely went up by the rate of inflation, his tax bill today should be $7,227.

Instead, his school tax for 2014 was $5,524 - about $710 less than in 2006; a drop of 11.3%. 

What's so "unsustainable" about a drop of 11.3% over 9 years? 

His school tax in 2014 was $5,450. That means it went up $74, and he received a rebate check for that amount because the levy was below the cap.

These people are out to rob your kids of their education over a tax increase of 20 cents per day that they get back in the form of a rebate check. 

Also, be ready for the inevitable assault on teachers and their salaries and benefits. But when it happens, remember this:

A lot of times, these anti-tax types talk about "running government like a business".  If you ran a multi-million dollar corporation and almost 85% of your key employees were exceeding expectations, you wouldn't cut their pay and benefits, you'd give them a damn bonus. 

The lies are coming fast, and they're more desperate than ever, because they've been losing. Don't let the lies stand. Our students, teachers, school board, and administrators deserve better. 

Cabal Seeks to Destroy Schools Again

There was a meeting at anti-school, anti-student tea party activist Ellie Corcoran's house on Thursday. A small handful of people showed up to conspire to vote down a budget that hasn't even been presented yet.

Interestingly enough, the flyer inviting people to her house said, "we need your ideas".

Two school board members came to answer any questions about the budget and the budget creation process, and to engage in a discussion with people who are opposed to it.

(Someone asked, so I should clarify: the two school board members were NOT Showalter or Lahti. They were Kloss and Altman. They went with good intentions in an effort to explain the budget process and why the numbers were where they were. The "study group" wanted nothing to do with them). 

They quickly learned that the meeting wasn't to exchange ideas about how the budget is created, why the cap is over 4% this year, or ways to cut spending or increase state aid. The "study group" didn't want to "study" anything; they were just there to kill the budget, and, in turn, kill the schools.

They are conspiring to kill your kids' education and the quality of Clarence schools.

Here's the message that the cabal's leader sent out after the meeting.

From: "Study Group" 

Date: March 13, 2015 at 4:36:18 PM EDT 

To: "Study Group" 

Subject: meeting update 

Hi Everyone, I’d say the meeting was a success. About 10 people came w/ great input, and motivation, and we now have a good start. 

1. We are going to start by passing out flyers and try to contact every home in Clarence.. I did 100 in an hour. If you can help, let me know. I will get flyers to you and assign streets unless you have another preference for streets……..and ask your friends and neighbors if they would be willing to help, also. Also, if you are willing to print fliers, let me know. That will save us money 

2. We need to grow our volunteer base. Eventually we will be making phone calls, posting signs, going to meetings etc etc. I will let you know as we need people. 

3. We are going to need money…….for signs, more flyers, and any other type of advertising etc to get the word out, so if you have any suggestions on how we can get donations, or if you would be willing to donate, let me know. Sources will not be revealed. We are grass roots only. 

4. Next meeting is here, 5141 Willow Brook Rd, Clarence, on Thurs, March 26, at 6:30. 

5. I’m attaching the simple flier again. Please forward to anyone you know in Clarence and ask them to forward it. We’ve got to get the word out. 

6. The next Special Budget Meeting for the Clarence School District is Mon, March 30, 7:00 CHS LECTURE HALL. 

Please plan on attending. We need to get their attention, and let them know we simply cannot afford this. 

Thank you 

Ellie

That original flyer was packed up with utter garbage. It's filled with lies, trying to scare people into believing that their taxes are going to double in 15 years. It's absolutely false, and doesn't reflect past practice.

Ellie's own school tax was over $2900 in 2006.

In 2014, it was $1900

How is a $1000 drop "unsustainable?"

In any event, Keep Clarence Schools Great is on the case. You can throw them a few bucks to help protect your kids' teachers, programs, clubs, extracurriculars, and sports here.

Remember: this is what the district lost the last time Ellie Corcoran and her crowd voted down a school budget. We can't afford more cuts, and we can't let them pretend they care about the quality of our schools.

OMG SCHOOL TAXES ARE GONNA DOUBLE!

No, they aren't.

There's a flyer being circulated around town. Here's the rebuttal:

Lies In Clarence