Opposes ‘10-111 Mandate’—

Llodra Tracking, Warning About Rumored State Aid Rollbacks

By John Voket

First Selectman Pat Llodra is watching — and growing more worried by the minute.

In the past week, since addressing a group of regional political, development, and municipal leaders about her opposition to pending unfunded school mandates, Mrs Llodra has made numerous references both privately and publicly about the receding level of state aid she expects will hit Newtown taxpayers and municipal departments hard in the next year.

And she does not necessarily believe next year will be the worst.

“We’re facing, at a state level, a functional deficit that is currently projected to exceed $3.5 billion a year through 2013,” she told The Bee following a Charter Revision hearing December 8. “That’s more than $10 billion in the next three years alone.”

And while she is holding governor-elect Dan Malloy to his reported promise to protect the coming year’s Educational Cost Sharing funding, beyond that single one-year bump, Mrs Llodra believes all bets are off.

“I believe Newtown should expect a 15 percent reduction in state aid across the board this year, including for all educational funding except the ECS money Dan Malloy has already committed to protecting — this year,” the first selectman said.

According to a CT Mirror report, in a speech December 6 to the House Democratic majority, Governor-elect Malloy acknowledged that many fellow Democrats pinned their hopes on a recovery. But they must embrace a tougher reality.

“We’ve got to turn the corner on that, and our aspirations are undoubtedly going to be delayed. Those were two very pointed messages,” Mr Malloy said.

Other than acknowledging he intends to propose a mix of new taxes and spending cuts, Malloy has declined to spell out what he means by structural changes. The details will come in his first budget proposal in February, a month after he takes office as Connecticut’s first Democratic governor in 20 years, and well into Newtown’s budget deliberation process.

In an attempt to help offset what Mrs Llodra believes will be a devastating level of state funding cuts projected to hit local taxpayers hard as they struggle to make good on existing negotiated labor contracts in 2011, she sought to rally regional municipal leaders to call for a freeze on unfunded educational mandates. That call came at the annual Legislative Breakfast hosted by the Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials (HVCEO) on the last day of November.

During that meeting, Mrs Llodra presented her thoughts on the issue, and specifically targeted Senate Bill No. 438, Public Act No. 10-111, which she described as “one of the most costly unfunded state mandates” ready to launch.

Mrs Llodra explained that although the bill requires local school districts to increase high school graduation credits, it also meticulously stipulates how districts are to structure those requirements through curriculum.

And while the legislation stipulates districts have those mandated changes in place by 2018, Newtown would have to begin making changes in the next budget cycle to ensure incoming students in 2014 begin their freshmen year with a curriculum designed to deliver them with the mandated standard at their graduation four years later.

“In Newtown,” she said, “it has been determined that an additional 11 teachers would be required to fulfill the conditions specified in the mandate. Given the average salary and benefits expense per teacher, the cost in today’s dollars would exceed $700,000.”

And that does not include monies necessary to deliver the program, such as for texts and materials, which could boost the local taxpayer cost closer to $1 million annually.

Mrs Llodra said that Newtown taxpayers — especially education supporters and school administrators — must understand that while she supports and applauds the state’s interest in ensuring all students experience high quality instruction in a rigorous curriculum, she is “daunted by the potential cost for these reforms at a time when all towns are struggling with the tax burden required to support current educational and other municipal needs.”

Taking a long view, the first selectman — herself a lifelong educational professional — has high hopes for the future of Connecticut’s economy. She eventually predicts “a return to more stable and predictable revenues.”

But she is convinced that Connecticut’s municipalities will not be able to manage such substantial additional financial burdens as required by this Public Act in the sort run.

“I hope the state sees its responsibility to not further burden towns with unfunded mandates and delays the implementation of this Public Act until such time as the state is more ready and able to provide the necessary resources to accomplish the desired ends,” she said in her statement to HVCEO members.

Mrs Llodra’s stance on opposing the “10-111 mandate” is shared by Newtown Superintendent Janet Robinson, who told The Bee, “If they’re going to mandate these changes, the state is going to have to step up and pay for them.”

Mrs Llodra said she shares the frustration of numerous state leaders and educators regarding Connecticut’s dubious distinction of having the greatest achievement gap in the nation between economically advantaged and disadvantaged students.

“We have to do something about the achievement gap,” she said. “But don’t pass on a mandate without any intention of becoming a partner in funding it.

“The struggle I have is finding a balance between finding resources to fund the right and best thing for our students,” the first selectman said, “without harming other right and best things that apply to many others in Newtown who are competing for these diminishing resources.”