The Public School System Is Broken

To the Editor:

Once again, it’s budget time and God forbid the Board of Finance should attempt to cut money from the Board of Education. Our national public school system is broken, ripe with waste and inefficiency from the NEA all the way down to the local sector. This relentless complaining and notion that somehow reduced funding will affect the quality of our children’s education is insulting. We have spent billions to fight poverty since the sixties to No avail (the poverty level is exactly the same now as it was before). Billions have also been lavished on the public education system, yet the private schools continue to outperform their public counterparts.

Sorry, I made an error. St Rose just built their “addition” and received the Blue Ribbon award — and when the 30-plus-million-dollar high school expansion is completed, they too will achieve “Blue Ribbon: status — really? In case you’re tempted, why are the overwhelming majority of Blue Ribbon finalists and winners in Connecticut parochial schools? What do they spend per pupil? Let the teachers do their jobs unencumbered by layers of administrators and their policies. The results will not be surprising.

Sincerely,

Philip C. Palilla

16 Winding Brook Road, Newtown                             March 23, 2010