If you could give each schoolchild in Newtown 20 cents a day to spend on improving his or her education for a year, would it be worth it?

Within the proposed $78,104,410 school budget for 2019-20 — one that, at a 2.7 percent bump, is on par with proposed budgets of like schools in the area — is the new position of Director of Teaching and Learning. This assistant to the assistant superintendent, as described by outgoing assistant superintendent Jean Evans Davila to the Board of Education in January, is a position supported by school principals and Superintendent of Schools Dr Lorrie Rodrigue.

The districtwide position comes with a price tag of approximately $153,000 a year. In adding this administrative position, the hope is that student outcomes will improve and that for primary grades especially, an “educational cohesion” can be created.

Students entering Reed Intermediate School from the town’s four elementary schools would all have received not just the fine educations they now do, but would be more likely to move forward with aligned learning.

A Director of Teaching and Learning would have the “ability to lead and collaborate with a variety of professionals focused on a common goal of curriculum alignment, consistency in instructional methodologies, and student achievement,” as well as skills to communicate with the public, teachers, and parents.

Curriculum committees would be more focused as work groups, according to Ms Davila, as the new Director of Teaching and Learning assumes his or her role.

As state mandates increase and more data must be analyzed, support for administrative duties could be productive to the district — and the students who benefit from what is learned. Being stretched too thin can leave administrators less able to assess and implement data-driven improvements.

Teaching and learning evolve over time. What was a best practice when Newtown was populated with neighborhood schoolhouses is a far cry from what is required to prepare students today to take on the world. The various needs and learning styles of students is better understood now than even 25 years ago.

A “Keeping up with the Joneses” view of increasing administrative positions to match that of other school districts would not warrant additional spending. For the most part, Newtown is keeping up with comparable school districts, but every business strives to have a smooth flow of information that can be utilized in a productive manner. This request suggests that a Director of Teaching and Learning is a means of making the good education provided to Newtown students even better. With care that overlap of duties does not occur, and implemented as a provisional term measured by successes, a Director of Teaching and Learning could prove a useful tool in the educational toolbox.

Approximately 4,179 students will populate the Newtown school system in 2019-20. There is so little of use that 20 cents buys these days — maybe a Director of Teaching and Learning is worth another two dimes a day per child to stay on course in a changing world.