WestConn Offers Holistic Approach To Health
DANBURY — With more than two-thirds of all Americans reporting that they tried at least one form of holi...
The Best Ever Book Sale
To the Editor:
Well, you have done it again! On behalf of the Friends of the C. H. Booth Library, I sincerely thank all the volunteers w...
Auditions For Zindal’s ‘Marigolds’
The Town Players Inc. of Newtown will hold auditions for Paul Zindal’s The Ef...
Credit
Questions
HARTFORD — Concerned about credit card debt or other personal financial issues? Nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Sou...
The Best Ever Book Sale
To the Editor:
Well, you have done it again! On behalf of the Friends of the C. H. Booth Library, I sincerely thank all the volunteers w...
Promise Lives In The Home Of The Queen Of Off-Broadway
By June S. April
WESTPORT — Nearly hidden away in a residential area in Westport is a charmin...
Bartending Course
Newtown Continuing Education is offering a Professional Bartending with SMART certification course September 29 and 30.
Besides mixing drinks,...
Hospital Offers Diabetes Course
WATERBURY — The Be Well Center of Waterbury Hospital is offering a four-week series, “Living Well with D...
The SPE Foundation Scholarship Program – The SPE Foundation is an affiliate of the Society of Plastics Engineers and offers numerous scholarships fo...
Mr And Mrs Brandon D. Lee
Amy Alexandra Buckingham and Brandon David Lee were joined in marriage on June 23 in Waitsfield, Vt. The Rev Jeremy Jacoby, childhood ...
Newtown schools have degraded over the 3+ decades I've lived here as the concentrated social experiment curricula driven by the state and small but loud groups. Yet we continue to dig into our pockets while we witness the downward spiral.
Unfortunately as voter turnout continues to decline the chances of it increasing also decline. The LC and BOF already know that the budget will be approved by virtue of the low turnout so why try to make smart decisions? The so-called referendum is essentially just a rubber stamp. They will continue to increase the budget by 2-5% every year because it's low enough to not cause a pushback under the cover of "inflation" and "maintaining the schools." Sending the budget to vote with 9% turnout is meaningless and a waste of resources on April 23rd.
I have seen Mr. Pisani repeatedly assert in the pages of the Bee that Newtown schools are "testing at a failing 64.9%". I'd be curious if he could elaborate on this statistic, as I have been unable to verify it independently. Which test exactly is our school system failing? How do our schools compare to other towns? How does our score compare to historical measures? It's very hard to draw conclusions from a single data point, so here are a few more data points to think about for context: Newtown is consistently ranked among the top 20 school districts in CT by the US News and World Report and Niche, which consider a range of performance metrics in their rankings; on average, Newtown students perform similar to, if not better than, students in neighboring school districts on standardized math and reading tests; the only data point on the CT Department of Education District Report Card where Newtown "fails" -- that is, falls behind the state average -- is access to art instruction. I'm glad the council member has acknowledged in this letter what taxpayers in high-performing (and high-spending) school districts like Darien, New Canaan, and Westport already know: "School funding does impact student achievement." Please keep that in mind when you vote this week!