Pennsylvania
2010 Pennsylvania
Leadership Conference
Polishing the Apple: Improving Public Education
- Moderator:
- Simon Campbell, Stop Teacher Strikes, Inc.
- Panelists:
- Todd Rock, State Representative
- Rick Dreyfuss, Commonwealth Foundation
- Jeff Piccola, State Senator
- Jenny Bradmon, PA Families for Public Cyber Schools
Friday, April 16, 2010
- 2:00 - 3:00 pm
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Moderator:
- Simon Campbell, Stop Teacher Strikes, Inc.
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| Simon Campbell |
Simon Campbell is the founder and president of StopTeacherStrikes, Inc., a grass roots nonprofit organization focused on making Pennsylvania the 38th state in the nation to guarantee public school children the legal right to a strike-free education. In October 2005, Simon’s family alongside the families of 11,000 other students was affected by a 21-day teacher strike in the Pennsbury School District, Bucks County.
Simon was born and raised in the U.K and graduated with a degree in Management Systems from the University of Hull, England. He became a naturalized U.S. Citizen in January 2009 whereupon he immediately decided to run for public office, and was elected to the Pennsbury Board of School Directors in November.
Simon has served on the Board of Directors of Pennsylvanians for Right to Work, and remains active in working to combat the negative impact of coercive unionism. As an independent futures trader by profession, Simon lives with his wife and three daughters in Bucks County. In his own words: "there is nothing special about me. I am just a father who got fed up one day with a teacher strike, and decided to try and do something about it."
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Panelists:
- Hon. Todd Rock, State Representative
(toggle bio) - End automatic legislative pay raises and require that future pay raises be subject to voter approval.
- Reduce homeowner property taxes without taxing food and other necessities.
- Require state lawmakers to contribute to retirement and medical benefits.
- Give the public ten business days to review all new legislation.
- Impose term limits for all State Legislators and reduce the size of the legislature by 25 percent.
- Eliminate the practice of Ghost Voting which allows absent Legislators to cast votes.
- Rick Dreyfuss, Commonwealth Foundation
(click for bio) - Hon. Jeff Piccola, State Senator
(click for bio) - Jenny Bradmon, PA Families for Public Cyber Schools
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| Hon. Todd Rock |
A lifelong citizen of Franklin County who is deeply concerned and strongly committed to restoring representative government, personal integrity and the public's confidence in the Pennsylvania legislature, Representative Todd Rock was elected to serve the people of the 90th district in November 2006.
Following in his family's long tradition of being active in state and local politics and as our Founding Fathers originally intended, Rock firmly believes that holding elected office is a personal sacrifice one willingly makes by leaving his or her profession to serve the public for a finite period of time before returning to private life.
For the 2009-10 legislation session, Todd has been assigned to serve on the heavily sought after Education committee, which plays a major role in policy development and crafting legislation encompassing the entire educational spectrum, including both public and private, K-12 basic education, higher education and the state library system. In addition, Rep. Rock will return for his second consecutive term as a member and Secretary for both the House Game and Fisheries and House Judiciary committees to defend the best interests and Second Amendment liberty of Pennsylvania sportsmen and gun owners.
Dedicated to advancing the traditional values that continue to make Franklin County an ideal location to live, work and raise a family, Rock will work hard to enact the following reforms to make government more efficient, cost-effective and responsive to the people of Pennsylvania:
Representative Rock's diverse professional experience provides him with unique, first-hand insight into the business, farming and education issues that continue to impact the local economy and the citizens of the 90th district. Prior to his election to the State House, Rock was a self-employed, home building business owner and also managed his own dairy farm. Over the last nine years, he has worked as an educator preparing the youth of Franklin County for tomorrow's workforce at both Franklin County Career and Technology Center and Carlisle High School.
Representative Rock resides in Mont Alto with his, wife Nancy, and two daughters, Christina and Jenelle. The 90th district includes the following Franklin County communities: Greencastle, Mercersburg, Mont Alto and Waynesboro boroughs; Antrim, Montgomery, Peters, Warren and Washington townships; and portions of Guilford and Quincy townships.
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| Rick Dreyfuss |
Richard C. Dreyfuss is a senior fellow with the Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives.
Rick, an actuary and business consultant, worked for The Hershey Company (formerly Hershey Foods Corporation) for 21 years, and held numerous positions there, including director of compensation and benefits, prior to his retirement in 2002. Rick also chaired of The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council from 2001-02.
Rick is a pension and health care expert who has written and testified before Congress and the Pennsylvania General Assembly on strategies to effectively manage long-term employee benefit costs.
Rick is a graduate of Connecticut College, with a B.A. in mathematics and economics, and he earned a master's degree in actuarial science from Northeastern University.
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| Hon. Jeff Piccola |
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Senator Jeffrey E. Piccola is a State Legislator in the Pennsylvania Senate. His Senate seat includes the 15th Senatorial District which covers most of Dauphin County (including the city of Harrisburg) and parts of Northern York County. He has served as a State Senator since 1995 when he won a special election. Before coming to the Senate, he served in the State House of Representatives for nearly two decades, also representing the people of Dauphin County in the 104th District.
Senator Piccola is the new Chairman of the Senate Education Committee in which his focus will be on greater efficiency and accountability in our public education system and continuing efforts to empower students and families to have a greater say in their educational choices.
Prior to being appointed Chairman, Senator Piccola actively served on the Senate Education Committee since 1995. He worked closely with former Governor Ridge and his administration in enacting a number of Pennsylvania's education reform initiatives including the Charter School Law and the subsequent approval for operation of cyber charter schools, the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program, tenure and sabbatical reform, professional development for teachers and service on the Governor's Advisory Commission on Academic Standards. He has also been a leader in enacting Pennsylvania's Educational Empowerment Act, which is landmark legislation that focuses on our poorest performing schools including the Harrisburg School District.
In addition to education reform, Senator Piccola’s other legislative accomplishments and priorities include: improving access to health care, revitalizing our cities, improving the state’s business climate, and keeping the cost of government down.
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| Jenny Bradmon |
Jennifer L. Bradmon serves as the Executive Director at Pennsylvania Families for Public Cyber Schools.
Jenny founded PA Families in 2006 to serve as the voice for parents who strongly support what has become the finest virtual school system in the nation. PA Families has served to advocate on behalf of families in Harrisburg regarding public cyber schools. The coalition has helped to dispel the myths and misconceptions regarding this innovative form of education. Jenny served as the coalition president from 2006 until last year before assuming her current role as Executive Director.
Jenny has testified several times before House Education committees regarding legislation affecting public cyber schools.
Jenny graduated from Waynesburg University with a B.A. in English/Communications and a minor in political science. Jenny previously worked at the Capitol in House Legislative Research and has worked on numerous campaigns including state and local races. Jenny resides in Rices Landing, Greene County with her husband, Eugene and her two daughters, Rachel and Rebecca. Jenny is in the seventh year of cyber schooling her children.
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