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Posted on 03/31/2022 11:03:58 AM PDT by lightman
Beth Ann Rosica began writing letters to Governor Tom Wolf in April of 2020, just a couple of weeks after schools and businesses were forcibly closed across Pennsylvania in the early days of the COVID outbreak. She could never imagine those letters would turn into activism that would ultimately lead to one of the single greatest citizen victories in the country.
By the spring of 2021, most Americans knew what COVID was, how it was spread, and who was vulnerable. People were suffering COVID fatigue from the endless and ineffective mandates, but none more so than kids in states like Pennsylvania where most had been relegated to Zoom classroom sessions with their teachers and classmates since the previous spring of 2020.
The long-term effects of those disastrous policy decisions are still not fully understood. Substance abuse, depression, failing grades, and even suicide became the norm. Some estimate child development was stunted by years.
Beth Ann Rosica and fellow parents in her community formed a political action committee called “Back to School PA.” She, along with civic leaders and small business owners successfully campaigned for two state constitutional amendments which Pennsylvania citizens ultimately passed in the Spring of 2021 terminating the governor’s endless “emergency” edicts in favor of a twenty-one-day limit on all future emergencies. Any extended emergency beyond twenty-one days would have to be voted on and adopted by the state legislature. CARTOONS | Al Goodwyn View Cartoon
Chalk up the first win for the people of the Keystone State.
Schools had gotten the message voters were angry and grudgingly allowed students to return to class, but not without continued cleaving to obnoxious and unscientific masking and social distancing both inside and outside which became more complicated and unworkably toxic than staying home in some ways.
When a new school year was to start in the late summer of 2021, Pennsylvania’s acting Secretary of Health Allison Beam declared children must return to school for yet another year behind masks, using “emergency” authority over the state’s schools to justify it.
Schools complied, but Beam’s order was quickly challenged in court. Amazingly, by December of 2021 the highly partisan, Democrat Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down the emergency mask order citing that new, aforementioned constitutional provision passed by citizens earlier in the year. In short, Beth Ann and the people of Pennsylvania won a second time.
Most schools immediately went to a “mask-optional” arrangement as kids returned to class after their holiday break in 2022. But in the left-leaning southeastern region of Pennsylvania, specifically Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs – school boards thumbed their noses at parents and the Supreme Court and continued with forced masking for everyone.
Rosica sprung into action. Using the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s ruling as her justification and repeated attempts to petition her school board to make masking optional, Rosica and a friend began to read up on their school districts’ policies for removing recalcitrant school board members who fail to do their jobs.
Armed with only armchair legal research and her convictions, Rosica petitioned a county judge to take action against her local school board. The judge ruled in Rosica’s favor. He believed she’d made a credible case for which the school board should be made to explain. The judge served the school board notice it had twenty days to give their response to Rosica’s petition for removal of five pro-mask board members.
What happened next is stunning. Nothing. You read right. The board didn’t respond.
Call it arrogance. Call it hubris. Likely all of the above, the West Chester Pennsylvania School Board and their attorneys at law firm Wisler Pearlstine literally ignored the petition and offered no response to the judge after his request for one within a twenty-day window. I’ve been told by legal scholars judges don’t like being ignored.
With that, Rosica once again took to Google to research next steps and learned she had all she needed to ask the judge to take “declaratory action” against the board immediately. Once again, Judge William Mahon agreed with Rosica and this week ordered all five Democrat members of the West Chester Pennsylvania School Board “removed from office” immediately.
A third, decisive knock-out win for Pennsylvania citizens.
Speaking with Rosica in an interview today, I asked her if this stunning development is indicative of a bureaucratic culture that just doesn’t feel they have to answer to those who elect them and if this ruling feels satisfying after two-plus years of abuse.
“Elected officials all across the country from school board members up to our governor do not listen to the people,” said Rosica. “I have no idea what will happen next, but at this moment I’m happy to declare victory and celebrate.”
Parents all across the country should celebrate with Beth Ann Rosica today, too. “Consent of the governed” is still a concept with teeth in a representative republic. One concerned mom with a computer just defeated five school board members and returned the community’s schools to the taxpayers.
Our nation may be on life support, but Beth Ann Rosica proved it still has a pulse.
Catch the Chris Stigall Show podcast daily here.
Pennsylvania Ping!
Please ping me with articles of interest.
FReepmail me to be added to the list.
Nice to see these Marxist dirtbags getting removed from office! They are so bad that not even actual Democrats can tolerate them anymore.
Sprinkled among us are some true patriots getting things done.
Have these Marxist dirtbags left the state or, better still, have they left the United States? Such low lifes should be strongly encouraged to get out.
"Similar petitions are pending against board members in four other Chester County school districts — Downingtown, Great Valley, Tredyffrin/Easttown, and Coatesville,"
My parents lived in Downingtown for close to 40 years. Chester County was a nice, sleepy place back then, but has been ruined by so much growth.
Beth Ann the dragon slayer
Once again, Republicans missed an opportunity.
Finally, public schools were closed down.
And what did Republicans do?
They fought to open them again.
Beth Ann Rosica and fellow parents in her community formed a political action committee called “Back to School PA.” She, along with civic leaders and small business owners successfully campaigned for two state constitutional amendments which Pennsylvania citizens ultimately passed in the Spring of 2021
Have to be a couple of Freepers in West Chester's school district.
Amen to that!
I believe you. I was a keyboard warrior when a fellow FReeper challenged me to step up. I did and stopped a 1% sales tax for my county. All of the work was not done by me, but I started the ball rolling.
ARTH Victory!!!
If you think about it, it almost seems like the Teachers Union is a paper tiger who gets their way by paying off the Gov.
When you actually start fighting them on their home front, they fold, run away or are voted out.
Most people do not know that anyone can petition a court for any reason involving the law. By that same law, a judge cannot dismiss a petition if it is in accordance to (and in the spirit) of the written law (whether local, state or federal). That would be, go figure, against the law! You do not have to be a lawyer and really I believe if basic law 101 was taught properly in the schools there would be a lot less lawyers due to no work! I sued 3 corporations and won all 3 cases with just a petition and serving process. Just paperwork!
BTT
Why would Republicans reverse the left-wing Uniparty agenda?
Letters==stamps==58 cents each stamp
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