‘Unity & Diversity’ Programs Preview
Unity and Diversity, a cable television program that features leaders and representatives of va...
Kimberly Ann O’Brien Levy
World
’
s Best Mom
Kimberly Ann O’Brien Levy, 43, beloved wife of East Hartford Firefig...
Evergreen Road
Stephen Agnew and Judy Hammel purchased a home at 18 Evergreen Road from James Lynch
Sandi Czaplicke of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerag...
Garner Staffer Is DOC Correction Officer Of The Year
Correction Officer Sherry Richardson of Garner Correctional Institution has received the Correction Officer...
Sign Up For 24th Annual Autumn Escape Bike Trek
EAST HARTFORD — Join the American Lung Association of New England in one of the area’s m...
Activity Day To Raise Funds
For Katrina Mission
MONROE — From 9 am until noon on Saturday, August 2, Beacon Hill Church, 371 Old Zoar Road, will ho...
Attendees can bring their own seating or rent a chair from CityCenter. Picnics are welcome, and food will also be available from many of the surrounding restaur...
‘Ball Game’ Cancellation
The most popular song in baseball, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” now has its own stam...
(I guess bleeding heart liberal was too much for him to even write.)
I really am illogical when I grieve for fallen soldiers before I blame the publication, The...
United Girls’ Choir Taking Root Locally
SHELTON — The United Girls’ Choir has announced plans to establish a new chapter in ...
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!