Walter Hentschel
A Smile That
Lit The Room
Walter “Mike” Hentschel, of Danbury, died August 25, at Danbury Hospital. Mr Hents...
Well Suited For The Job
To the Editor:
Running for Judge of Probate on the Independent Party of Newtown election slate is Margaret “Peggyâ€	...
School District Returns
More Than $60K To The Town
By John Voket
An unaudited end-of-fiscal-year report from the school district to the town outlines more than...
The Planning Process Is Broken
To the Editor:
It was reported in The Newtown Bee that John Kortze, the Board of Finance chair, is “espousing an â&#x...
Smoking, Sleeping Topic Of Hospital Programs
NEW MILFORD — On Tuesday, September 8, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm, the New Milford Hospital’s Pre...
Alzheimer’s Support Group Meeting
SOUTHBURY — An open and on-going support group for friends and family of people with Alzheimerâ€&...
Newtowner Promoted
At Union Savings
DANBURY — Union Savings Bank (USB) President and CEO John C. Kline has announced the promotion of Newtown resid...
Saint Raphael’s Opens Cutting-Edge Vascular Operating Room
NEW HAVEN — The Hospital of Saint Raphael has inaugurated the most technologi...
9/11 First Responder Benefit Being Planned By Center
For New Media And The Arts
BETHEL — On September 11, 2001, thousands of brave first responders...
Kevin’s Community Center Kicks Off Ticket Sales
For Annual Fall Fundraiser
Kevin’s Community Center, Inc (KCC), a nonprofit medical cli...
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!