*All three of this weekend’s shows at the Meadows Music Theatre in Hartford are sold out — that’s DAVE MATTHEWS BAND on Frid...
‘Two Rivers: One Future’ At The Kellogg Environmental Center
DANBURY — Educators are invited to spend several fun-filled sum...
Summer Workshops With Visiting Artist
DANBURY — Wooster Community Art Center (WCAC) is offering two end-of-summer workshops led by prominent artist ...
Rosenthal On Vacation
With First Selectman Herb Rosenthal out of town this week, Selectman Joe Bojnowski has assumed the duties of the town’s chief ...
Joseph W. Belanger
Joseph W. Belanger, 80, of 10 Reynolds Ridge, Bethel, husband of Aldea (Chaloux) Belanger, died at Danbury Hospital on July 31.
He was born ...
Newtown Prepares For A 3-Way Race This Fall
By Steve Bigham
For the first time in eight years, Newtown has a three-way race for first selectman.
After running u...
AIDSRide Raised About $6 Million
To the Editor:
As rider #1783 in the 2001 Tanqueray’s Northeast AIDSRide, I’d like to thank all those t...
KAA President’s Show Open
KENT — Kent Art Association has opened the peak juried show of its 78th season, the Annual Presidentâ€&#x...
‘Country In CT:’ Ohms And Derwitsch At PS Gallery
LITCHFIELD — PS Gallery is presenting an exhibit featuring two artists tha...
Piesner Fills In Some Blanks In His ‘NICE’ Slate
By Steve Bigham
The NICE Party this week announced the candidacies of seven Newtown res...
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!