Bald Eagles Nesting Again In Fairfield County
By Kendra Bobowick
“I just had a suspicion,” said Newtown resident Larry Fischer, Western ...
Low Bidder Loses Out—
School District Explains Waste Hauling Contract Award
By Eliza Hallabeck
Despite a lower bid from incumbent bidder Automated W...
Newtown High School Class Of 2009 Moves On
By Eliza Hallabeck
The members of the Newtown High School class of 2009 walked into the O’Neill Center at...
Global Warming Is A Fraud
To the Editor:
Would you sign an important document or any document for that matter without reading it first? We all know better, but ...
Browne, Mule, And Blues Will Grace Ives Concert Park
DANBURY — Located within the grounds of Western Connecticut State University, the Ives Concert ...
Elizabeth Montouri Pisacreta
Devoted Wife And Mother
Elizabeth Montouri Pisacreta, 79, of Bridgeport, died, June 25. Born in Sala di Serino, Province of Av...
Local Lyme Task Force Hails Legislation Protecting Physicians
Patient groups across Connecticut and the nation, including members of the Newtown Lyme Disease Ta...
Sobriety Checkpoint Detects Range Of Motoring ViolationsÂ
Although police did not find any intoxicated drivers during a sobriety checkpoint held on the night ...
Learn Boating Safety July 18
Residents are welcome to attend a Boating Safety Awareness Day on Saturday, July 18, from 11 am to 3 pm at the state boat launching...
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!