There Are No Cuts

Until Voters Approve

To the Editor:

I am unable to vote Yes for the proposed budget because:

The Board of Education has clarified that only $700,000 of the $2.5 million cut to the education budget request is currently confirmed.

There has been an assault on education funding for the last ten years while we build a new town hall and spend our money irresponsibly on the town side (often without voter consent). What do we truly value in our community?

The superintendent continues to state that the proposed budget is inadequate, therefore my third grader and my sixth grader will not have the same educational experiences enjoyed by my eighth and tenth grader. My eighth and tenth grader will not have the same educational experiences enjoyed by all past NHS students.

I am very tired of the political games. Why must we beg and beg year after year for town leaders to support education in Newtown?

Last year, the council restored the Board of Finance cuts for the first time ever. Cutting the school budget is not the only option. The council can choose to restore the cuts by using some funds from the town’s savings account (without affecting the tax increase).

The superintendent should not be “coerced” into pushing parents to vote Yes out of fear of more cuts. The voters should not be bullied into voting Yes fearing council retaliation. What happened to taxation with representation?

If we vote Yes and accept the proposed budget, there will be a new baseline for next year’s budget and all future budget years. This will “systematically dismantle” the educational system in Newtown. The superintendent stated in her email to parents that “Hopefully, we, as a community, can come together to see that our future budgets reinstate those items that will improve our moving forward to achieve the mission of our strategic plan.” The town will never accept the double digit future budget increases required to reinstate any service that will be lost from the educational system. The school district will not have the ARRA funds next year and the BOF/LC do not intend on using a dime from the town’s savings account therefore it is highly likely the school budget will be cut by more than $1.6 million next year. I will not vote Yes to enable further degradation of the school system.

The cuts are not cuts until the voters approve the budget that is proposed by the Legislative Council. The voters are the final fiscal authority of Newtown. The council can only propose the budget to the voters.

The council made a choice to not seek the guidance of the voters by not adding advisory questions. They made a choice to only listen to the silent ones and dismiss all others. They made a choice to strip away our right to vote on a responsible school budget, therefore I have no choice but to go the distance by voting No until they restore money to the education budget.

Po Murray

38 Charter Ridge Drive, Sandy Hook                               May 5, 2010