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The Tredyffrin Easttown Education Association (TEEA) and the T/E School Board have signed a tentative 3- year teachers’ contract for July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2017. After the teachers ratification, the School Board will take action at Monday’s school board meeting on the contract.

The contract protects the jobs of the District teachers and includes no furloughs or demotions clause through June 2017. The teachers will receive salary increases based on their step movement in the matrix. Not certain how this equates to percentage yearly increase or budget impact – need some help to understand.

2.013 Salary Progression

Through the end of the contract, the salary of Employees will be determined by placing them on the Salary Schedule as agreed to by Employer and Bargaining Agent as set forth herein.

Effective July 1, 2014, current Employees except those at maximum, will move one (1) vertical step on the Salary Schedule. Each employee is limited to one column movement per year subject to Section 2.025.

Effective July 1, 2015, current Employees except those at maximum will move one (1) vertical step on the Salary Schedule. Each employee is limited to one column movement per year subject to Section 2.025.

Effective July 1, 2016, current Employees except those at maximum will move one (1) vertical step on the Salary Schedule. Each employee is limited to one column movement per year subject to Section 2.025.

For all Employees hired prior to July 1, 1995, no Master’s Equivalency achieved after January 1, 1997, will be recognized as a Master’s Degree on the Salary Schedule.

Unless specifically mentioned in this Section, Section 2.013 does not apply to Health Room Nurses.

I was surprised to see a distance e-learning pilot program included in the contract. If you recall, TEEA previously filed a suit (and won) against the District over their implementation of distance learning. However, this contract includes a Distance E-Learning Pilot Program that will run the length of the contract, expiring on June 30, 2017. The e-learning opportunities will be offered to students by non-bargaining sources at the discretion of the District. The rapid growth of information technologies has influenced the way in which education is delivered and experienced – it is encouraging that the teachers’ contract includes an agreement for this pilot program in the District.

It looks like the teachers should be pleased with this 3-year contract!

It’s Official — Democrat Marian Moskowitz to challenge incumbent Warren Kampf for the PA State House 157!

February 18, 2014

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UPDATE: At today’s Chester County Democratic Nominating Convention Jed Grobstein withdrew and Marian Moskowitz was endorsed by acclamation.

A two term incumbent, State Rep Warren Kampf (R-157) has announced his decision to seek a third term for the office. However, it is now official — there is another challenger for the job.

I received a press release today from Democratic candidate Marian Moskowitz officially declaring her candidacy for the PA State House 157 race. (See press release below). A successful local businesswoman, Moskowitz joins previously declared Democrat candidate, teacher and campaign organizer Jed Grobstein.

Moskowitz has an impressive list of accomplishments in the business community, including multiple real estate projects such as the award-winning Franklin Commons, created from an abandoned factory building in Phoenixville. Economic redevelopment and job creation combined with her successful business and real estate background makes Moskowitz a formidable candidate for the PA State House 157 race.

Democratic committeepersons will vote at the Chester County Democratic Nominating Convention on the candidate to support. The purpose of the Nominating Convention is to select the 2014 U.S. Congressional and PA Statewide candidates to be endorsed by the Chester County Democratic Committee. Only one Democratic candidate can receive the party’s endorsement in each race, including the 157.

TREDYFFRIN BUSINESSWOMAN TO CHALLENGE FOR PA. HOUSE SEAT

Marian Moskowitz, a 30-year resident of Tredyffrin, today announced her candidacy for the 157th Legislative District seat currently held by Warren Kampf. A successful businesswoman, community leader and a Democrat who calls herself a “consensus builder,” Moskowitz seeks to bring a fresh voice to Harrisburg. “It is critical that we have people in office who know how to create jobs, understand the importance of education funding and are sensitive to the issues that women face every day,” Moskowitz said.

Moskowitz, 58, has two children who attended Tredyffrin-Easttown schools, three stepchildren and five grandchildren. She has been married to Malvern attorney David Moskowitz for 29 years.

A former paralegal, Moskowitz has been a principal in multiple real estate projects and many small businesses. Her most notable real estate development work has been the adaptive re-use of an abandoned Phoenixville factory into Franklin Commons. Started in 2006, it is now a vibrant educational and mixed use complex and was named “Best Mixed-Use Project of 2011” by the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Moskowitz said her business ventures have created numerous jobs. She has been directly involved in day-to-day management and administration in both for-profit and non-profit sectors with leading roles in budgeting, finance, sales and human resources. She was named “Outstanding Citizen of the Year” by the Phoenixville Chamber of Commerce in 2011 and has been honored by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.

A member of the board of directors of the Chester County Economic Development Council for five years, Moskowitz was appointed to the Board of Trustees of West Chester University by Gov. Rendell in 2006 and re-appointed by Gov. Corbett in 2013. She also serves on the board of trustees of Neumann University and the board of directors of the Colonial Theatre and is the co-chair of the fundraising committee for its expansion.

“I have worked very hard over the years to help foster economic development in this community and in Chester County,” Moskowitz said. “I know I could do so much more in the state legislature to encourage growth in this District.”

She scoffed at the increase in school funding in Governor Corbett’s recently released budget. “He has not even given us back what he took from us in the first year of his administration,” she said. “As a trustee of West Chester University, I see firsthand how these cuts have affected our students. We must do everything possible to make our educational institutions our first priority.”

Moskowitz also believes women need better representation in Harrisburg. “Of 253 members of the Pa. House and Senate, only 45 are women. Yet there are so many issues up for vote that are important to women. ” she said. “We need to give women more support in business. I have owned and run numerous companies and know firsthand the problems women encounter in business.”

Moskowitz was born and raised in Philadelphia and, unable to afford college, became a switchboard operator at age 17. She took community college classes when she could pay for them and at age 34, became an adult college student at Neumann University. She earned a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in real estate in 1991, taking classes at night so that she could continue to work and raise her family. Moskowitz believes Franklin Commons is a testament to her belief in the value of education. “I’ve very proud of Franklin Commons,” she said. “It’s the only building I know of where you can begin your educational career at 3 months old and continue to get an Associate’s and, in some instances, a four-year degree.”

The 157th Legislative District includes Tredyffrin and Schuylkill townships, parts of Phoenixville in Chester County and parts of Upper Providence township in Montgomery County.

This is Moskowitz’s first foray into politics. “I look forward to the challenge,” she said. “I have a wide network of colleagues from both parties. I like to think of myself as someone who brings people together and gets things done.”

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T/E School District institutes 7-minute clock-in and clock-out rule for aides and paras & progressive discipline for violation

February 14, 2014

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A bit of background —

On February 4, I received a copy of a memo dated January 31, 2014 from Sue Tiede, Director of TESD Personnel. Tiede’s letter went to ‘All Employees paid on an Hourly Basis’ (aides/paras) with the subject line, ‘Attendance & Punctuality’. Although I was told that ‘all aides and paras’ received the letter, that was not accurate – some of the aides and paras did not receive the letter until this week, 10+ days later. On Wednesday, February 12, aides and paras across the District were called individually into the principal offices of their respective schools to read Tiede’s letter. Before discussing the contents of Tiede’s letter, I have a problem with lack of District cohesive communication.

Memo to T/E aides and paras –

The focus of Tiede’s memo is the District’s establishment of a 7-minute period of clocking-in and clocking-out for hourly employees. These employees are only permitted to clock-in within a 7-minute period before their scheduled start time and within a 7-minute period after your scheduled end time. If scheduled to start work at 7AM, employees can only clock-in between 6:53AM – 7AM. If scheduled to end your workday at 3:30PM, employees can only clock-out between 3:30PM-3:37PM.

Having set the guidelines for the 7-minute clock-in and clock-out period in her memo, Tiede then details the progressive discipline measures for violation. A three level discipline approach, aides and paras receive a verbal warning and written notice for their first offense. An employee receiving a second violation receives a written warning in theur personnel file with threat of suspension or discharge if another violation occurs. If an employees is cited for a third violation of the 7-minute rule, they are subject to suspension without pay and possible termination.

I find the contents and tone of Tiede’s letter demeaning and threatening to the District hourly employees. District aides, paras and substitute teachers currently do not have District provided health coverage. TESD aides, paras and substitute teachers do not have the benefit of organized union protection as do other District employees — the teachers (TEEA) and members of TENIG.

What is driving this letter of intimidation from the District? In my opinion, the answer is Affordable Care Act and a way for the administration to make certain that hourly employees not go over the 30-hour limit that requires employee covered health coverage. By instituting this policy of progressive discipline, the District is not considering the safety of flight risk children and special needs children. Did the District explain this new 7-minute policy to the parents of these children? There will be situations occur where aides and paras are required to choose between remaining with a child or risking disciplinary action by not clocking-out within the 7-minute window. The use of time clocks for our District educators is nothing more than a different category of factory worker.

Was this 7-minute District policy and corresponding disciplinary action vetted by the School Board members? Was their discussion about the ramifications of this policy for special education students and their parents? Is this just another approach by the District to outsource the aides and paras – meaning, intimidate and threatened these employees to the point that they just leave.

Last spring, we saw the backlash from the public over the School Board’s attempt to outsource the aides and paras rather than comply with the Affordable Care Act — is this letter to District’s hourly workers, and its contents, a precursor to round two this spring? As previously mentioned on Community Matters, the School Board has repeatedly delayed any further public discussion of the ACA compliance issues — meeting after meeting. Perhaps part of the back-story to the Board’s continuing resistance to discuss the associated ACA compliance issues is related to Sue Tiede’s letter to the aides and paras.

I encourage you to read the letter below, draw your own conclusions and welcome your comments on Community Matters.. Please share the information with District parents, particularly those parents (and their children) who rely on the services of these targeted District employees. On the offside chance that School Board members are unaware of Sue Tiede’s letter to the aides and paras, I will email them a copy of this post.

T/E Schools Closed Tomorrow — Thursday, February 13th

February 12, 2014

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TESD Calendar update — Students will have 179 school days & other updates

February 11, 2014

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An article written by Yuge Xiao & Lavi Ben-Dorin in StogaNews online this morning, reports on the school board meeting and the updated school calendar, stating that“… students now have 179 school days. Staff will still have 191 days, with the last being on June 30. Originally, the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District (TESD) had scheduled 182 instructional days (the state requirement is 180). However, the district has chosen to not reschedule the two additional days.”

Thanks to Ray Clarke for attending TESD the meeting last night — Finance and Special School Board meeting — his notes are offered below:

Ray Clarke – Notes from February 10 Finance & Special School Board Meeting

1. Off-off-the-presses Affordable Care Act changes. The Board committed that the district will analyze the impact and report the results at the February 24th Board meeting. This is a hard commitment.

ACA Change: Companies with 100 workers or more are getting a different kind of one-year grace period. Instead of being required in 2015 to offer coverage to 95 percent of full-time workers, these bigger employers can avoid a fine by offering insurance to 70 percent of them next year

2. As suggested by some CM commenters, there are ways to save Spring Break and have the last day no later than June 20th: reducing instructional days from 182 to the state minimum of 180 and also counting three non-instructional days towards the 180. At the moment (before the the next storm on Thursday!) there are two days that remain to be used in this way and thus preserve Spring Break. The explanation wasn’t the clearest and I didn’t have a good angle on the screen, so the public should check the TESD web site for the approved calendar. Interesting here that the recently hired cafeteria manager was credited with bringing these ideas to the District from his previous public accounting (I think) experience.

3. The preliminary Budget was approved, with the authorization to file for Exceptions, which – if approved by the State – the Board has the discretion to use to whatever extent they deem necessary for the final Budget, which has to be passed by June 30th. Governor Corbett’s PA budget proposes reducing the increase in PSERS, which Art McDonnell stated would have the effect of reducing expenses by $600,000, if enacted exactly as-is. (I think that benefit is net of the state’s contribution, and presumably therefore the allowed exception would also be reduced by this amount – giving an allowed exception tax increase of ~0.6% rather than the current 1.1%). Many moving pieces here, and obviously important to make sure that the latest and best information is brought to bear on the final decision. Much reference to the March and April budget workshops, which hopefully can include fine-tuning across the board, incorporating things like salary “breakage”, for example.

4. Not discussed at the Board or Finance Committee, but there is an important Education Committee meeting tomorrow at 1:30pm. Topics include a review of the Special Education program (which we have told will be over-spending this year’s budget by $850,000 [over 5%], for over 1,000 students receiving special education services in the District]. Also on the Agenda, enrollment projections. At 12:30pm the Legislative Committee will be reviewing the Governor’s education budget and perhaps providing some insight on its prospects.

5. The district’s transportation staff drove the bus routes on Sunday to check that the roads were cleared sufficiently to allow the schools to open today – quite an effort and accomplishment, I think.

Tredyffrin Township Supervisors fire their Public Works Director, Scott Cannon over Environmental Violations

February 10, 2014

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Last Friday, in the midst of the winter storm power outage, I received a curious email from Tredyffrin Township notifying of a special Board of Supervisors meeting for Monday night. There was only one item listed on the special meeting agenda – ‘personnel matter’.

Rather than attend the scheduled T/E School District Finance meeting, I choose the BOS meeting. Sitting in the back of Keene Hall was Scott Cannon, Public Works Director along with Hillary Mallory, Parks & Recreation Director and Mimi Gleason, former Township Manager.

After the pledge of allegiance and a brief update on the power outage, BOS Chair Mike Heaberg asked for a motion to terminate the employment of Scott Cannon, Director of Public Works. John DiBuonaventuro made the motion, Mark Freed seconded it and with a unanimous vote of 6-0 the motion passed – Scott Cannon terminated.

Having only worked for the township for a little over 2 years, why was Scott Cannon terminated? Following the vote to terminate Cannon’s employment, Heaberg read a prepared statement.

The recommendation for Cannon’s termination was from the township manager Bill Martin. After an investigation, Martin based his recommendation to terminate Cannon on several acts of misperformance including:

Cannon engaged in conduct and directed vendors and subordinates involving two instances of improper disposal of materials on Township property in a manner prohibited by PA environmental law. (The locations are not accessible by the public, have been identified by DEP, and cannot be identified until the investigation is completed).
In the fourth quarter of 2013, Cannon engaged certain contractors to provide goods/services to the Township in violation of the procurement procedures. In every incident of impropriety, the work was performed at a cost that was appropriate.

Heaberg noted that the township’s existing internal controls and procedures revealed the irregularities and Martin learned of the environmental violations on January 24. Martin immediately notified Heaberg. Following meetings with Heaberg, Martin, township solicitor Vince Donohue and members of the Personnel Committee, Cannon was put on paid administrative leave on Monday, January 27. On that same day, the Police Department conducted a personnel investigation and Donohue contacted DEP and reported environmental violations. The township is committed to providing complete cooperation to the DEP Bureau of Investigation.

The township’s investigation by the Police Department is ongoing but sufficient information was provided to support Martin’s recommendation to terminate Cannon. As the investigation developed, Martin suspended Cannon without pay effective February 3 and notified him that he would seek approval from BOS tonight to terminate his employment.

As follow-up to the environmental violations, the township has hired Sovereign Consulting to conduct testing of the affected areas with oversight from DEP. Further investigation is being done by the DEP and the township police are working with the Chester County Detectives. Additional training is being provided to department heads and the township is reviewing policies and commissioning an internal audit.

As I sat there listening to Heaberg’s press release detailing Cannon’s firing, my minded drifted to the Harry Marrone township scandal in 2005. Remember – Marrone was the township’s Finance Director and over a period of 3 years stole $75,000. He was caught when it was discovered that he was using Township checks to pay the property taxes on his Jersey Shore house. The investigation also revealed that a personal leave of absence taken by Marrone actually had him in the midwest in a Federal penitentiary serving time for tax invasion. At the time Marrone was arrested, he had worked for the township for over 12 years and was 70 years old. It should be noted that Marrone did make full restitution to the township.

Cannon’s situation is different – for restitution purposes, how do you put a price tag on environmental violations? I suppose if the DEP fined the Township, there could be a basis for a financial settlement between the Township and Cannon. The Township hired Cannon in November 2011, when Mimi Gleason was township manager – to my knowledge, since her resignation from Tredyffrin Township, she has never attended a BOS meeting, until tonight. Cannon was not represented at the BOS meeting by an attorney, did not make a public statement, nor did anyone his behalf.

Obviously, the township needs to immediately find another Public Works Director. This could not come at a worse time with severe winter storms, power outages, downed trees, closed roads and the recent sewer break in Valley Forge Park. It is my understanding, that following Cannon’s suspension (and now termination) Dean Wilkins, Public Works Foreman is acting director of the department. With the nor easterner and a foot of snow predicted for Thursday, Wilkins and the township’s public works employees have their work cut out for themselves. I know that Dean and his guys are up for the challenge – thank you in advance from a grateful resident!

How will T/E School District make up snow days?

February 9, 2014

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T/E School District made the decision late today that the kids will return to school tomorrow with a 2-hour delay opening. With many roads inaccessible to buses, the District asks that you have your child board at the closest bus stop located on an accessible road.

The revised Emergency Make-Up Day Schedule, as of 2/7/14:
Day 1: June 17, 2014
Day 2: June 18, 2014
Day 3: June 19, 2014
Day 4: June 20, 2014
Day 5: February 17, 2014
Day 6: April 14, 2014
Day 7: April 15, 2014
Day 8: April 16, 2014
Day 9: April 17, 2014

The District has scheduled eight make-up days so far, including President’s Day on Monday, February 17 which is now an instructional day. There are only two days remaining in Spring Break, Thursday, April 17 and Friday, April 18.

As the snow days keep adding up, some school districts are looking at ‘outside the box’ options and are getting creative when it comes to make up days. In Colonial School District in Delaware, the students will start school 5 min. early and stay 5 min. late starting tomorrow. By adding 10 min. to the instructional day, Colonial SD will make up two snow days by June. In Indiana, the Department of Education is discussing adding an hour on to the school day for six days to make up one day. If successful, they will add an hour to another six day period if additional make up days are required.

Some schools, in Ohio, Illinois and West Virginia, are allowing “e-learning days” to make up snow days. In Ohio, most school districts have already maxed out their five snow days. A state law passed in 2011 permits them to redefine three of the snow days as e-learning days. To meet state class-time requirements and avoid tacking on days into summer vacation, Ohio schools have the option to submit a lesson plan to the state outlining their e-learning day. (Of Ohio’s 615 school districts, 156 submitted plans for e-learning days).

How about attending school on Saturday? With no extra snow days in the calendar, Virginia Beach Public Schools decided to make up the instructional time lost over the course of three Saturdays in March. Certainly, there are pros and cons to each of these creative approaches although an extra 5-min. in the morning and extra 5-min. in the afternoon would appear to be low impact. The School Board will vote on the revised emergency make-up day schedule at Monday night’s TESD meeting.

Power slowly returning to Tredyffrin Township — 1,100 remain without power on Sunday night

February 9, 2014

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As the weekend ends, there’s a snow/ice mixture falling outside, with a National Weather Service prediction of an additional 1-3 inches. After the last week this community has endured, no one is smiling about tonight’s snow or more in the forecast for later in the week.

It’s been five days since the historic Winter Storm Nika plummeted the Philadelphia region into darkness. At its peak, there were 850,000 utility customers without power; restoration of power has now brought the number down to about 38,000 remaining households. A review of the PECO website shows the majority without power in the region are customers in Chester County – 13,000 remain without power tonight. Tredyffrin Township remains the focal point of power outages in Chester County. Although there is improvement in restoration, there are still 1,100 households without power on this cold, snowy Sunday night.

Today I ventured out around the township and the vastness of the winter storm damage is remarkable. Although the tree damage is township wide, in my opinion, the highest concentration of damage is on Valley Forge Mountain. Both Tredyffrin and Schuylkill residents on VF Mountain have sustained major property damage – actually, I don’t think there are many houses that escaped the destruction. After driving in that area, it’s now understandable why I’ve heard it described as a ‘war zone’.

Other areas that continue to be plagued with power outages and/or property damage is the Great Valley, especially along Yellow Springs Road, Croton Road between Upper Gulph and Warner Roads, Strafford train station area including Crestline, W. Valley and Homestead Roads, Chesterbrook Boulevard, N. Valley between Swedesford and Lancaster Ave.

Although we all understand that this winter storm was monumental in many ways, once the region has its power fully restored, there needs to be a thorough review – what worked and what didn’t work. In my opinion, PECO came up short on a number of levels. First off, although the major power outage occurred on early Wednesday morning, it was Friday before PECO appeared to get itself fully mobilized, 48 hours after many residents had lost power. By Friday, it finally became obvious to PECO officials, that they needed to call in reinforcements – and help did come, from Arkansas to Canada. I saw one impressive line of 20+ Pike Utility trucks from North Carolina leaving PECO’s Berwyn location this afternoon. It was reported that over 5,000 utility workers arrived to help restore power to the region.

Arguably, the most annoying thing that PECO did was to provide misinformation to its customers – I have yet to find anyone who received an accurate estimated time of restoration from PECO. Rather than constantly changing individuals’ restoration time (making it impossible for people to plan) PECO should have just said that they didn’t know when service would be restored. That approach would have been preferable to giving people false hope with their ‘by 11 PM’ daily speech! We had a displaced family from Croton Road staying with us during the power outage and PECO changed their estimate time of restoration multiple times during any given day, adding immeasurable stress to an already stressful situation. And this went on for 5 days until late this afternoon when service was restored and they returned home to 30-something degree temperatures (inside the house!) and major tree damage outside.

My criticism of PECO is not directed at those men and women serving on the front lines during this winter storm. No, those workers in the field actually ‘doing the work’ are greatly appreciated and thanked for their efforts. It was wonderful how excited people became when they saw utility trucks rolling into their neighborhood! The criticism for misinformation, lack of communication and slowness to respond rests squarely with those at the top of the PECO pyramid.

One last note — If your power has not been restored, you need to call PECO and report the outage (again).

Improving Conditions in Tredyffrin Township — Power Returning to Many Households!

February 7, 2014

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What’s the saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day” – the same could be say about restoring power to Tredyffrin Township and its surrounding areas. Downed power lines and toppled trees left many roads impassable and neighborhoods with dangerous conditions. Winter Storm Nika is PECO’s second worst in their history in terms of power loss, exceeded only by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. However, as the third day without power ends for many residents, there are improving conditions to report.

Friday evening, I received a phone call from Tredyffrin Township Police Supt. Giaimo offering some updates:

Tredyffrin Township now has a crew of 75 PECO trucks, each with 2 employees, dedicated to our township and focused on completing the restoration of all power to residents.
The repairs on the main sewer break at Rts 252 & 23 in Valley Forge National Historic Park are progressing and the township’s Public Works and Engineering Departments are moving quickly to resolve the problem.
Tredyffrin Township building is open as a warming and charging station. Although the website states the building is open until midnight, the township building will be open through the night, Saturday and Sunday, if needed. Coffee and tea is available.
Supt. Giaimo strongly urged residents to check on their elderly neighbors. If you are without power and need a place to stay, the police have an updated list of available local hotels. They are also arranging for transportation to West Chester shelters, either by buses or in some cases, the police are driving the residents. Residents are encouraged to utilize the resources available at the township building.
Much improvement has been made on the road closures with many re-opened today.

Supt. Giaimo assured me that many in the Police Department “have been working around the clock to keep people as safe as possible”.

I have been in contact with Township Manager Bill Martin. Just as the police chief, the township manager is also working very long hours but wanted me to know that “the hard work is done by all the staff – public works, police and support staff. They work above and beyond anything I have seen in all my years of public service, they care so much about what they do and the residents.”

The hope is that most of Tredyffrin Township should have their power restored by Saturday night – although it may be Sunday for some of the outlining areas.

People are reporting repair crews have arrived from all over the US –Ohio, Illinois, Alabama, Florida, North and South Carolina, Connecticut, Massachusetts and even crews from Canada! It was interesting to hear a PECO representative say that they usually don’t receive a high volume complaints in a power outage until about the 72 hour mark but that this time the complaints started at less than 24 hours into the outage. However, unlike the August storm of Hurricane Sandy, residents are dealing with below-zero temperatures during Winter Storm Nika.

Although I think that PECO could have moved quicker to organize following the power outage and PennDOT did not do its best at handling snow and ice covered roads, I have the highest praise for our home team in Tredyffrin – Supt. Giaimo and the Police Department and Township Manager Bill Martin and his support staff, public works and engineering staff. In addition, we thank the Berwyn Fire Company Chief Eamon Brazunas and his staff of volunteer fire fighters and Chief Ira Dutter and the volunteers of Paoli Fire Company. Many of these folks are exhausted having worked long hours, and in many cases leaving their own families and houses with similar power outages to help us – the residents of Tredyffrin – and deserve our appreciation and gratitude!

Incumbent State Rep Warren Kampf (R) has Democrat challenger(s) for PA 157 race!

February 4, 2014

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Democrat Jed Grobstein of Paoli released the following press release today officially throwing his hat in the ring in the PA State House 157 race. Conestoga High School grad and former high school teacher in South Bronx, NY, Grobstein believes that he can make a difference in Harrisburg. According to the press release, Grobstein will focus his campaign on Gov. Corbett’s educational budget cuts and State Rep Warren Kampf’s voting record on the transportation bill.

Things may get interesting for the PA State House 157 race because Grobstein may not be the only Democrat looking to unseat the Republican incumbent. I have also been told by several people in the last couple of days that Democrat Marian Moskowitz, a real estate attorney from Malvern has also decided to enter the 157 race. This could be an interesting local campaign season!

PRESS RELEASE: Teacher Announces Campaign for PA 157th with $51,000 on Hand, Takes Kampf to Task for $1 billion in Cuts to Education

Jed Grobstein today announced his bid for the Democratic nomination to the State House in the Pennsylvania 157th, saying “Warren Kampf has taken our residents for granted for far too long. Pennsylvania needs smart, proactive leadership in Harrisburg, and not just a gaggle of Corbett yes-men. As a teacher in the South Bronx, I learned how to listen, how to be a problem-solver, and how to bring people together, and I think we need more of that in Harrisburg.”

Grobstein’s campaign, Jed for PA House, filed its 2013 annual report showing that it had raised more than $40,000 in just eight weeks. The campaign also reported having more than $51,000 on hand.

Grobstein noted that Warren Kampf “has worked with Gov. Corbett to cut $1 billion from education, and to make it more difficult for mothers to receive the health care they need. He unconditionally refused to support a bipartisan transportation bill and attempted to deny funding to critical transportation infrastructure, bridges, highways and our own Paoli Transportation Center.”

Grobstein served as a math teacher and a Democratic organizer, and he is proud to be running for office less than a mile from his childhood home. While teaching math in the South Bronx, Grobstein worked as the chairman of his department and founded the advocacy organization ‘Keep Our Schools Alive’ to encourage parents, students and teachers to participate in their school’s governance.

A graduate of Conestoga High School in Berwyn and Pomona College in Los Angeles, Grobstein received his Masters in Education from City College in New York. Teaching in the South Bronx, Grobstein served as chair of his Math Department and worked to develop new curriculum for the classroom while integrating assessment and instruction.

When New York City began closing high schools in 2009, Grobstein organized and founded ‘Keep Our Schools Alive’ (KOSA) to encourage stakeholders, parents, students and teachers, to participate in the city’s decision-making process. KOSA argued that the school closings were arbitrary and that the city had failed to engage essential stakeholders. The State Supreme Court agreed, and in 2010 it reversed the city’s decision, saying that the Department of Education had failed to gather sufficient community input.

Grobstein returned to Pennsylvania at the end of 2010 to pursue a career in the United States Marine Corps. When a shoulder injury prevented him from enlisting, Jed accepted a staff position with Organizing for America on President Obama’s re-election campaign. Following that election Jed served as campaign manager for Delaware County’s Democratic slate and produced historic gains in a county long known for its Republican dominance.

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Pattye Benson

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