By Kim J. Harmon
MONROE – When it comes to high school basketball, the junior varsity team doesn’t have an awful lot to shoot for; there...
Hospital Offers Weight Training
WATERBURY — Waterbury Hospital would like to help you shape up and fight osteoporosis at the same time with â€&...
Conservation Panel Reviews 5/6 School Plan
By Andrew Gorosko
Conservation Commission members are reviewing plans for the public school system’s Grad...
Budget Cuts Slash Alternative Incarceration Program
HARTFORD (AP) — About 650 people will be kept out of alternative incarceration programs this fis...
NEW YORK CITY, New York – Entries for the 125th annual Westminster Kennel Club dog show – scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, February 12 ...
New Laws Increase Minimum Wage, Reduce Taxes In 2001_By Diane Scarponi_Associated Press Writer
The year 2001 brings a higher minimum wage for Connecticut worker...
Free Flu Clinic Set For January 6
The Visiting Nurse Association of Newtown is sponsoring a free flu clinic on Saturday, January 6, from 9 am to noon in the old...
A year ago, many people thought that New Year’s Day might be accompanied by a breakdown in the world’s technological systems, causing po...
Usually there is a period of let down – or reorganization – between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. Not so this year. An impen...
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!