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Senator Don White speaks out about Elderton Reopening

In a recent Leader Times article, Senator Don White speaks out about education spending and the reopening of Elderton High School:

Education spending: The senator called the current public system broken, adding that taxpayers are "paying through the nose" for that system.




"The education funding increase gravy train is going to stop," he said. "The governor has continued to take money from other programs and dump it into an education system that is flawed and we need to take that money back and put it where it belongs."


White also mentioned the Armstrong School District and the battle over Elderton High School, saying that the issue "has done nothing but waste millions in tax dollars."


"We as taxpayers need to pay close attention to the people we are electing into the school director positions and stop electing people who have no fiscal restraints," he said. "I have no power over the people who are elected to the school boards, the voters have given them the power to do what they do."

This is a MUCH different opinion than ASD School Director Sara Yassem claimed that Senator White had on the issue, when she claimed, under oath, that Senator Don White told her to fight for the community schools and not to believe "them" when they say that they're not interested in building a new big school.

We the People

An editorial by Rebecca Fullerton and Jennifer Willyard

So far in 2010, there have been a lot of people complaining about the state of our Towns, Boroughs, School District, Committee’s, Councils, etc.

What people are not saying, is the majority of the time, they have had the opportunity to change the way things are done but failed to do so.

When we become lazy or worse yet, apathetic, or when we expect that others will have the good sense and morality to do the "right thing" that's when things begin to deteriorate. Sometimes these things happen so slowly that we don't at first notice the route events are taking and then suddenly we find ourselves in a hole that we can' t possibly dig ourselves out of, at least not alone.

Everyone needs to get together on the same page and speak up about the wrongs that are being forced upon the majority of our citizens. We all need to do our due diligence and not expect that someone else will take care of it. Haven't you heard the expression "God helps those who help themselves"? It is about time for each and every one of us to begin helping ourselves out of the tremendous mess our school district, towns, county, and country is/are in.

There are complaints aplenty about transparency, shady dealings, illegal activity, hidden agenda’s, takeovers, kickbacks, side deals, etc. But you know what? We have nobody to blame but ourselves. Here is an expression that fits pretty well for our region: “If you do what you always did, you get what you always got”.

There are several times we have opportunities to change the way things are done. One of those times occurs in the month of November most years. If officials are not changing things over a course of years on a council or board, if positive changes are not taking place in our communities, then why are these people continuously put into these positions of power? Why is the public voting for them or maybe even worse, not voting at all?

Sometimes, it’s not a matter of why are people voting for them as much as it is a matter of who is running against them in the polls. Where are you, the people, at a time when your town, borough, county, library, sewage authority, school board needs you?

Everyone has an opinion on the way things are done, but why is nobody stepping forward and volunteering their time and not just their opinion? Where are you, the people, at a time when your town, borough, county, library, sewage authority, school board needs to hear your opinion? Why are you not at the meetings? You have these opinions, why are you not publicly stating them to the people that need to hear them the most? Just like an employee with bad performance, until they are written up, they do not change. Just like a child that is misbehaving, they will push the buck until finally you put a stop to it.

Don't think that your vote doesn't matter. IT DOES! Some of the current offenders currently in office got there 8 votes...yes 8! EVERY VOTE COUNTS! It takes mere minutes out of your day to make a positive impact on your community! Please get out there and make an informed decision by exercising your right to vote or stepping forward and being that person to vote for!

As a great man once said "Our lives begin to end the minute we become silent about things that matter...." Reverend Martin Luther King