Vote Yes On April 23
To the Editor:
I’m writing to urge all Newtown residents to support the Municipal and Board of Education budgets. There’s usually a low turnout for the Budget Referendum vote. That means that a few people can have a huge influence on how our town and school district are funded.
A few people are trying to convince us to vote down the Board of Education Budget this year; they want to spend less on our schools. Yet when asked what they think could be cut, they can't identify anything! That’s because the budget has already been cut as much as possible by the Board of Finance. The remaining cost increases are due to inflation and costs that are not under the Board of Education’s control, including unfunded state mandates, Special Education services, and contractual and benefit increases. Further cuts to the budget would mean that our schools would have larger classes and fewer resources; Newtown’s children would end up with an inferior education.
Don’t let a few people destroy our schools! Make sure you get out to vote on April 23, and vote Yes on both the Town and the Board of Education budgets!
Edward Randall
Newtown
Newtown schools have degraded over the 3+ decades I’ve lived here as the concentrated social experiment curricula driven by the state and small but loud groups. Yet we continue to dig into our pockets while we witness the downward spiral.
Who have you asked that didn’t know where to cut? Its easy. Ideally, you would start with section 100 of the budget but the union prevents that. So I say you turn to page 18, put it on your dart board, and start reducing the head count. It’s all you can do when the union controls the budget.