Published in the Delaware County Daily Times    02/13/17 As a school superintendent for more than 15 years, I lived in terror of snow/ice, primarily because I regularly had to decide whether or not and when to send nearly 100 school buses into inclement weather. Under Pennsylvania law, the Upper Darby School District has the responsibility of […]

Read more "An Ex-School Superintendent’s Top Ten Ways To Predict Snow and Ice Storms"

Published in the Concerned Center City Citizens Review, October 2016 By Joseph Batory In recent years, Pennsylvania’s Republican majority legislature, with its fiscal head in the sand, has refused to deal with the reality that the State needs more revenue in order to pay for the services it provides —State government continues to run with […]

Read more "Corporations Prioritized Over People in Pennsylvania"

Published in the Delaware County Daily Times   11 30 2016 By Joseph Batory Ceremonies all over the world are being held to recognize the 100th anniversary of The Rotary International Foundation during 2016-2017.  And one of these commemorations is about to occur here in Delaware County.   A gala Million Dollar Journey Celebration Dinner will be […]

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By Joseph Batory I recently traveled through Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, four nations taken over by the Soviet Union following WW II.   The history of this episode of Russian domination and subjugation is a chilling reminder of the intense efforts by a totalitarian state to dehumanize human beings. The messages I received from many […]

Read more "The Soviet/Russia/Putin Model of Excellence"

(Published in the Center City Concerned Citizens Review, September 2016, Philadelphia) By Joseph Batory In the 1942 movie Casablanca, the Police Captain Renault who was fully aware and participating in the gambling that was occurring in Rick’s Café makes this hypocritical comment:  “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” In […]

Read more "Politics & The Supreme Court!!!"

Published by the Delaware County Daily Times   July 7, 2016 By Joseph Batory, Times Guest Columnist In 2010, the Supreme Court handed down a controversial 5-4 decision which has opened the doors for the unprecedented influence of money in elections in the United States. In that Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the Supreme […]

Read more "USA Elections For Sale To Highest Bidders"

By Joseph Batory The Pennsylvania Derby, an annual event at the Parx Casino and Racing complex in Bucks County, awards a $1 million purse. So what could that possible have to do with Pennsylvania Government?           Well, that winning prize is subsidized with State tax dollars. Eric Heyl of the Tribute-Review revealed that last year […]

Read more "The Bizarre Workings of Harrisburg"

  By Joseph Batory (Published in the Center City Concerned Citizens REVIEW      May 2016) Pennsylvania government is broken. 1. Throughout this current fiscal year, Pennsylvania legislative productivity was so low that it took nine months to pass what is a structurally unbalanced budget. During the budget stalemate, State lawmakers received money paid as per diems […]

Read more "Pennsyvania’s Government Dysfunction"

By Joseph Batory, Daily Times Guest Columnist (Reprinted with permission of the Delaware County Daily Times—Published May 5, 2016)  On May 3, 1791, a startling new constitution was adopted by the parliament in Poland.  This document was unique and wonderfully different for Europe, an unprecedented landmark model for freedom. Similar to the newly adopted United […]

Read more "More Than 200 Years Ago…The Polish Constitution of 1791 Established a Clear Call For Freedom!!!"

By Joseph Batory (Reprinted with permission from the Delaware County Daily Times, 9/24/2013) Politicians and media talking heads now have become the “self-anointed” experts on public education improvement. However, their conclusions are often over-simplified and filled with half-truths and inaccuracies. And in most cases teachers and school administrators — those closest to reality — have […]

Read more "Public Education Improvement is not so simple!"