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Flawed charter funding more pressing; Daniel R. Castagna - Superintendent, West Mifflin Area School District; Beaver County Times; March 16, 2014.
Though he is Superintendent of WMASD, Mr. Castagna lives in Beaver.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“Rep. Jim Christiana needs to get his legislative priorities and facts straight. In his op-ed, Christiana makes a flimsy case for needless legislation prohibiting payroll deduction of union dues when instead; serious reforms are needed to fix the state’s flawed funding formula to charter/cyber-charter schools. He either doesn’t grasp the real issues facing public education or doesn’t have a real concern for taxpayers.”
[RWC] As you read this letter, please keep two things in mind. First, “charter/cyber-charter schools” are Mr. Castagna’s competitors. His use of terms like “fleeced” and “steals” likely means Mr. Castagna opposes charter schools, period. Second, Mr. Castagna appears to be coming to the aid of Big Union management (BUMs), the guys (or their reps) who sit across from him (or his reps) at the negotiating table. It’s probably no coincidence BUMs also oppose charter schools, unless those schools are operated exactly the same way as traditional public schools. In other words, as Mr. Castagna, BUMs want no competition. The AFT tries to have it both ways. Under a group title of “Damaging Public Schools,” the AFT published a piece entitled “Charter Schools” claiming “The American Federation of Teachers strongly supports charter schools that embody the core values of public education and a democratic society.” Read the full piece to see what gets AFT “support” of charter schools.
“A greater concern to Christiana should be the $365 million overpayment to charter/cyber-charter schools made at the expense of taxpayers and local school districts across the Commonwealth. Taxpayers are being fleeced to the tune of over $1 million a day as a result with no action in Harrisburg.
“They have proposed to study the issue for years, but only after recent local indictments did the legislature speak to the matter. Reform efforts have been pushed aside in favor of nonsense legislation prohibiting voluntary payroll deduction. Is this a greater legislative priority than charter school funding reform that steals millions from local Districts? It must be for Christiana.
“Christiana claims there is a cost to school districts for voluntary union dues deduction, but does not offer facts. This is because there is little or no cost to districts and taxpayers since the process is automated. As a District Superintendent, I can verify this cost is minimal. This will save taxpayers almost nothing.”
[RWC] Mr. Castagna appears to claim it is the individual employee’s choice to have union dues (or collective-bargaining fees from non-members) deducted from his paycheck. From everything I’ve read, this is not correct. In any case, taxpayers should not be the dues/fees collectors.
For the record, the government should not be involved in charitable deductions either. Why? Government should not be allowed to guide charitable giving by determining which charities are “worthy” or “unworthy” of automatic deductions. It’s also none of the government’s business.
This is probably a good time to repeat my long-held position that taxes also should not be subject to automatic/forced deduction. I believe a good way to keep taxation in check is by “hitting taxpayers between the eyes” with the magnitude of taxes by making us write tax checks every month, quarter, or whatever. Paying taxes is necessary but should not be painless. Automatic deduction tends to mask the magnitude/pain of taxes. I’d also like to see gas stations reinstate the practice of itemizing the diesel/gas taxes on their signs, pumps, and receipts.
“If Christiana truly is concerned about misuse of taxpayer resources, then he should work diligently to see that charter/cyber-charter funding reform is passed and stop attacking teachers.”
[RWC] Perhaps Mr. Castagna would like to tell his readers exactly how Mr. Christiana is “attacking teachers.”
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