|
[7/29/2010]
|
Weekly Column: Medication Clean-up Day to be Hosted in Lower Paxton Township
In an effort to create a safer environment in our area, the Pennsylvania Medical Society and Drug Free Pennsylvania will host a “Medication Clean-Up Day” in the near future to give residents an opportunity to empty their medicine cabinets and discard medications they no longer need.
|
|
[7/21/2010]
|
Weekly Column: School Choice Movement Continues to Grow
Additional options needed to help fill gap in education system
Opportunity and choice should be at the core of our approach for educating Pennsylvania’s youth in the 21st Century. That’s why throughout my service in the state Senate and in my current role as the Chairman of the Senate Education Committee I have been advocating and fighting to ensure that families have a chance to receive a quality education in the City of Harrisburg and throughout the entire region.
|
|
[7/15/2010]
|
Weekly Column: Parent Petition & Report Card Gives Voice to Families in Child's Education
In this day and age with the ever-changing and competitive global economy, it is important schools produce the best and brightest students ready to succeed in the workforce or on to pursue a higher education. Unfortunately, some of our school districts in Pennsylvania are simply underperforming and failing to deliver the results that they should.
|
|
[7/12/2010]
|
Piccola Bill Would Allow Parents to Petition for School Closure
HARRISBURG—(July 9, 2010) – Parents would be given the power to petition for a school closure or change in management when a school is ranked as one of the state’s lowest-performing, under a bill introduced by state Sen. Jeffrey Piccola (R-15). The legislation would also require the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to publish a web-based State Report Card, identifying those schools scoring in the bottom 5% on state assessment exams.
|
|
[7/7/2010]
|
Weekly Column: Passage of Budget Was Timely, But Flawed
The state budget was passed by the General Assembly – on time -- for the first time -- under this administration although the Governor did not sign it into law until after the June 30th deadline. However, my frustration with the $28 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2010-2011 resulted on many levels, despite its timeliness.
|
|
[7/6/2010]
|
Harrisburg School District to Earn Money to Innovate
Former Empowerment Districts Must Compete for School Improvement Grants
HARRISBURG—Pennsylvania’s Education Empowerment law may have expired on June 30, but the state’s efforts to turn around failing school districts are continuing in the form of incentive grants, to be awarded to the six former “empowerment” school districts that take steps to implement reforms.
|
|
[7/1/2010]
|
Weekly Column: Legislation Alleviating High Cost of College Textbooks Moves Through Senate
There's no escaping the fact that the price of college tuition continues to rise. Unfortunately, already strained student and family budgets are also feeling pressure from another source – the high cost of college textbooks. Prices have climbed to the point that a growing number of students are choosing not to buy them. That’s why the rising cost of college textbooks has recently been the subject of legislative efforts throughout the country.
|
