To the Editor:

A small minority of Newtown residents — less than nine % of registered voters — has struck down the school operating budget that was carefully put forward by elected members of the Board of Education and the Board of Finance. As a teacher in a nearby district and a Newtown parent, I am deeply concerned by the myths being propagated to justify this gutting of resources to our schools. Do not believe these myths, they are not true.

Myth #1: Newtown schools are “failing.” Far from it. On average, Newtown students outperform those in neighboring school districts on standardized tests. For instance, 70% of Newtown students scored at or above proficiency on last year’s standardized reading exam, compared to 59% in Brookfield and Bethel and 64% in Southbury. Newtown is consistently ranked among the top 20 school districts in CT by US News and World Report and Niche, which consider a range of metrics in their rankings. The only metric on the CT District Report Card where Newtown falls behind the state average is access to art instruction. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely! But improvement costs money.

Myth #2: School funding does not impact student performance. When you look at the top-performing school districts in the state, a very clear trend emerges: they spend more on their students. The top-spending school districts in CT — including Darien, New Canaan and Westport — invest about 26% more per pupil than Newtown. As a result, their students’ test scores outpace Newtown by nearly 15%. You get what you pay for. Cutting costs and resources puts undue burden on the entire system: Class sizes and case-loads increase; teachers lose planning time to cover non-teaching duties; student access to enrichment programs, social and academic supports, arts instruction and extra-curricular activities gets restricted. These all have immediate impacts on the quality of education a district provides.

Myth #3: Newtown is overfunding its schools. While it’s true that the BOE budget has increased by nearly $40 million over the last 20 years, inflation accounts for more than 90% of that growth, and the rest is largely driven by ever-increasing special education costs. In many critical areas, Newtown has been underfunding its education for years: Salaries have not kept pace with costs of living; healthcare premiums and deductibles have skyrocketed; and stagnant investments in school resources have left teachers feeling burnt out and dissatisfied. This is why we currently have a teacher shortage across the state. If we want to attract and retain high quality staff, we need to invest in our schools.

It may be too late to save this year’s budget, but moving forward, we cannot let these myths become the dominant narrative when it comes to our schools. They deflect from what the budget is really about: providing the absolute best for our students. The public schools in Newtown are a gem. Nobody should take that for granted to save a few hundred dollars.

Anthony Fiore

Newtown