Where Are The Answers?

To the Editor:

First a word to the Board of Education: Convoluted answers to complex questions is called “Whitewash.”

The Board of Education in their enthusiasm has gone too far. Public education is quality basic education and must not become a poor imitation of private schooling. The quality of the basic education should be in the hands of the superintendent of schools, a person who is educated for the job and is paid to do that job along with quality teachers hired into the system. A fancy and expensive school building does not a smarter pupil make.

The basic Newtown population of school-aged children have wealthy well educated parents. There is probably at least one degreed parent in every child’s home and these parents can afford to provide their children with extra curriculum privileges. What seems to be happening now is that in order to include children from financially distressed families (either permanently or temporary), that the whole school population is afforded these extras at the taxpayers’ expense. Parents that can pay for privileges should do so and a special fund should be set up for those that need help. By doing so, the taxpaying public’s dollars will help those that need help and not those who can and should support the extras of their own families.

Mainstreaming “Special Ed” is an experiment still under trial. The pro and con of which children are helped and which children are injured is still on the scales.

The Board of Education has a very specific job to do and that is to be a liaison between how the taxpaying public wants the school budget spent and how the services of the superintendent of the schools views the school system. The Board of Education is not the chief cook and bottle washer. Every job has its own duties and the volunteer Board of Education must let the superintendent of schools do the job he is educated to do and well paid to do.

Unfortunately Newtown is growing faster than it can absorb the growth and the stress is falling on the longtime residents. In all fairness because the developers and builders are making a good profit from this growth, they should shoulder some of the financial stress by paying a surtax on all homes built with over three bedrooms and over 2,800 square feet. This tax should be used for the education of the additional children brought in because of the housing boom. This would alleviate some of the financial stress placed on longtime property owners and longtime residents. The taxes are now a burden.

The superintendent should make public the figures and the rational on how they come by their costs. On the one hand they say the cost of educating a single child is $8,200 a year, and then hand in a budget of over $49 million. It seems several million dollars are unaccounted for.

Also: What are the teachers paid? Why do so many teachers need assistant teachers? Is this the union’s way of featherbedding? How are pensions figured? Speaking of pensions exactly what is Dr John Reed’s pension? It seems to be the best kept secret in town.

Of course, we all love children and want the best education possible for them; however, wasting money and wanting the best for our town’s children are not a mixer.

Most sincerely,

Lillian Strickler

6 Tamarack Road, Newtown                                         May 14, 2003