Meet The 2004 King & Queen Dogs Of Newtown
By Shannon Hicks
Ballots for The 2004 Newtown Bee King & Queen Dog Contest arrived in the offices of Bee Publishing C...
Newtown Car Wash will participate in this exceptional event, and invites the Newtown community to join it in its efforts. A rain date of September 25 has been s...
Aquifers And Watersheds—
Regional Planning Agency Inventories Water Resources
By Andrew Gorosko
The regional planning agency has created an electro...
Free Training In Human Services
WOODBRIDGE — The Marrakech, Inc Academy for Human Service Training is offering a 12-week training program. This uniq...
Closing Credit Cards The Right Way
ROCKVILLE, MD. — When looking to simplify their financial lives or curb the temptation to spend, many people choo...
My Summer In The ‘80s, Part 4—
Joan Jett & Cyndi Lauper Deliver A Double Dose of Musical Memories
By John Voket
It may not be the oddest...
Dear Free: Unfortunately, this country has more mutt puppies produced each year than we know what to do with. Millions of dogs, including puppies, are put t...
By Kim J. Harmon
Disabled or not, Carolyn Lucey had more than enough determination to get up on that water ski last Saturday on Lake Zoar.
“I know I...
Computer Seminars OfferedÂ
 Danbury SeniorNet is offering a series of two-hour daily computer seminars beginning Tuesday, September 14.
 The seminars cover ...
Annual Picnic Celebrates American, Ukrainian Culture
By Larissa Lytwyn
For the past 28 years, Ukrainians across New York and New England have gathered on the lu...
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!