The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is divided into 67 counties.
Each county government plays a vital role in the lives of its residents.
Learning about your county and its officials will help you make better
use of county government services. Knowing about county government empowers
you to have input into your community and the decisions that impact your
life and home.
Citizen's Guide to Pennsylvania Local Government (2007 edition)
Here is an online version of a booklet
about County Government. This information is generalized for all counties.
The information is about 10 years old. Use it as a template to "update
the facts" and customize it for your county.
What class
is your county? Why is this important?
Make a new county spending chart showing how much money
is spent in each service and what portion of the total budget it represents.
Make a new county revenues chart showing how much money
is collected from each source and what portion of the total revenue
it represents.
Add your county's name and the names of all the officials
mentioned.
Add the contact information for each department/official.
What is the governing body of your county called?
When
is the next meeting of this group? Where will they be meeting?
Write a brief history of your county. In what region
of Pennsylvania is it located?
List the communities in your school district. Is your
school district's area entirely in one county or does it involve more
than one county?
Include some demographics.
What is the county's population?
How many people your age reside in your county?
How does a citizen register to vote?
Pennsylvania faces many challenges.
Identify one important local issue. What government
agencies are involved? What input do residents have in the decisions?
What do you believe should happen?
You have decided to speak out at the county government
meeting regarding the issue. What are the guidelines for speaking to
your county officials at a meeting?
Resources:
NewPA.com - Business, community, or a concerned citizen can find resources to help grow your enterprise or revitalize your neighborhood.
Governor's
Center for Local Government Services | Manual
for County Commissioners
Local Government Information from the office of Community Development
U. S. Census Bureau
Check out your county government's website. Find it using
your favorite search engine. | Evaluate your government's web site
Note: You can order
print copies of An Introduction to County Government from Penn
State College of Agricultural Sciences
or the Penn State Cooperative
Extension office in your county.
"Democracy is the only system that
persists in asking the powers that be
whether they are the powers that
ought to be." Sydney J. Harris
Pennsylvania Projects
/ Internet
Hunts / Nature / Computers
/ Plants
and People / Puzzles & Projects
/ Site map / Home
Posted 8/6/2006 by Cynthia J. O'Hora released to public domain
Aligned with the following Pa
Academic Standards - Reading, Writing Speaking, History, Civics and
Government, Science and Technology
Aligned with the National Standards for Civics and Government
Save a tree - use a Digital Answer Sheet: Open a text document or word processing document. Paste the questions into the blank document. Answer the questions in the word processing document. Save frequently as you work. I do not like losing my work. You will not like it either. Put your name and the date in a header. Bad things happen. Retain a copy of your work on your computer. Submit your assignment via a class electronic drop box or email attachment. You may be working on this project at home, the public library and at school.
Proof your responses. It is funny how speling errors and typeos sneak in to the bets work. Make Your Own Printed answer sheet
Tech Tip: Working in a group or in two different places like the library & home? You do not have to be physically together to work together. Watch Google Docs video TAI - How could you use free, Google Docs to do a project? How would this facilitate group projects? |