Wildman To Speak At WLC Luncheon
STRATFORD — Dianne Wildman, who has had a distinguished career in public affairs, will be the featured speaker at ...
Following Defeat At Polls—
Budget Trimmed By $2.1 Million
By Steve Bigham
The Legislative Council voted Tuesday to trim the proposed 2000-01 town bu...
By Steve Bigham
Heather Morgan gunned down two runners, Cathy Byrne moved up the strikeout ladder, and Lindsey “Nails” Blomberg ran all ...
Congratulations!!!
The Middle School Youth Advisory Board (YAB) has been named National Kids Care Club of the Month for May. A program of Newtown Youth Services...
Rotary Plans To Refurbish
Alexandria Room Kitchen
By Steve Bigham
The Rotary Club of Newtown has plans to raise funds to refurbish the antiquated kitchen in the...
Letter Carriers’ Food Drive Set For Saturday, May 13
By Kaaren Valenta
When Robert Frangione started running the annual letter carriers’...
Second Referendum Vote On Budget Will Require A Petition
By Steve Bigham
A town meeting to vote on the newly revised town budget for 2000-01 will be held Monday...
Water Tower Begins Its Move To Danbury
By Jan Howard
Members of a local historical museum took the first step last week in preserving part of Newtown and railro...
Danbury Hospital Co-Sponsors National Cancer Survivors Day
DANBURY — Danbury Hospital is partnering with the American Cancer Society and Annâ€&...
No Rest On Sunday
For Newtown’s Volunteers
By Andrew Gorosko
Being a volunteer fireman last Sunday seemed a lot more like a full-time job than volun...
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!