The Public Weighs In
On Education Budget
By Eliza Hallabeck
Before the Board of Education voted on its 2012-13 budget, it heard from several residents at a sch...
Newtown Bridle Lands Association Announces Tentative Calendar
The Newtown Bridle Lands Association (NBLA), at its general board meeting on January 2, announced ...
Friday Night Bingo
At St Rose February 10
The St Rose of Lima Home School Association has been hosting a series Friday Bingo Nights in the church’s...
Building Dept Creates New Inspection Fees
By Andrew Gorosko
The town Building Department announced this week that it has added two new fees to its fee schedule...
Keep Your Landscape Deer-Free
Deer populations in neighborhoods have grown rapidly due to abandoned farms, hunting restrictions, and suburban sprawl. And they a...
Malloy, Lyddy Will Wait And See On New State Minimum Wage Proposal
By John Voket
It appears both Newtown State Representative Chris Lyddy and Governor Dannel Ma...
BOF, Council Codify Financial Practices Ahead Of Bond Agency Sessions
By John Voket
On the eve of Newtown seeking its latest municipal bond rating review, the L...
In Appreciation Of The Library
To the Editor:
The Cyrenius H. Booth Library has provided a rich, enjoyable, educational aspect to our lives in Newtown. It has w...
Hockey & Fundraising: Danbury Whalers & LLS, Feb. 12
DANBURY — The Connecticut chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has teamed up with The Da...
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!