Robinson Tells Ed Committee 18 New Teachers May Be Required

By John Voket

The Legislative Council will not be formally entertaining any deliberation on the proposed 2011-12 budget until late March, but its Education Committee has already called a meeting to qualify any potential issues of concern or controversy that might affect recommendations being made to the full council.

Similar meetings are expected to occur between town officials and members of the council’s Public Works and Public Safety Committees. But the process was launched January 6 as Education Committee members sat with Superintendent Janet Robinson and school board Chairman William Hart.

In reviewing some of the high points of that meeting with The Bee, committee Chair Kathryn Fetchick said one of the most surprising announcements from Dr Robinson was an indication that as many as 18 new teachers may be required to ensure Newtown meets proposed requirements of Connecticut’s new Secondary School Reform objectives.

The proposal, which is still under consideration and available for public review in draft form, lays out a program that would include implementation of student success plans (SSPs) integrating the best features of individual education plans (IEPs) and “advisor-advisee” programs that have been initiated in thousands of middle and high schools nationwide.

Organizers of the program hope a fully operational SSP system in every Connecticut middle and high school will keep all students engaged and motivated toward achieving the expectations for high school.

Schools would also require a “capstone” project prior to high school graduation requiring many, if not all, of the essential skills acquired over a student’s seven-year history in secondary school.

The plan also calls for districts to support “strong leadership, a well-developed curriculum delivered by well-trained teachers knowledgeable of the various ways in which students learn, complemented with frequent and meaningful classroom-based assessments of student performance.”

The anticipated end result would be improved performance on the CMT and the CAPT tests.

Other aspects of the plan include increasing middle schools’ participation in Secondary School Reform; placing greater emphasis on expanded educational programming in grades six through eight and in postsecondary settings; as well as expanding external partnerships.

Since there are no formal regulations in place yet, Ms Fetchick believes the inclusion of hiring projections in the 2011-12 budget request for up to 18 teachers to ensure Newtown is prepared to implement Secondary School Reform may be premature.

“This announcement was the only real surprise,” Ms Fetchick said. “And it seemed like a lot of teachers considering the state hasn’t even begun to work on implementation, yet.”

The Education Committee chairman also questioned how the district would handle “remediation” for students who fail the year-end test that is being required for graduation for high school seniors as part of the reform objective.

The January 6 meeting also provided the Education Committee a glimpse of guidelines Dr Robinson gave to principals to help them formulate individual budget requests. The superintendent also told the committee that she would be presenting a “status quo” budget that would account for wage increases already negotiated with teachers and administrators.

“There’s no away around that increase, since they were awarded in the contracts,” Ms Fetchick said.

The Ed Committee also learned that the district plans to counter the loss of federal funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act “by applying $250,000 from a jobs bill to counter the $626,000 loss of ARRA funds.”

Dr Robinson also told the council’s education committee that she planned to move forward requesting the implementation of full-day kindergarten, presumably districtwide. The superintendent said, if approved, this initiative would require the addition of teachers and educational assistants.

Ms Fetchick said she took issue with this proposal because the district has not completed its space-needs survey, so it was unclear if there was enough physical space available at each elementary facility to launch a full-day kindergarten program.

“We asked about, and were told, full-day kindergarten will also require curriculum development,” Ms Fetchick said, adding that some cost savings might be realized by eliminating the midday bus run serving half-day kindergarten students now.

The panel was also told that no additional budget funds would be required to ensure Newtown meets all directives provided by the district’s accreditation agency, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).

Ms Fetchick said that by meeting with school officials early, and getting some of the most anticipated issues of concern on the table, it would help to provide a great deal of context for officials and residents to consider as the new school budget is presented.

She said her committee requested that the district try to present information related to meeting its educational goals in relation to its own strategic plan, while tying those goals back to budget requests. And school officials were asked to come up with a clear, simple explanation as to why the district is asking to hire more teachers.

“We’d like to understand how the district will provide a status quo budget when it appears they plan to expand programs without countering by removing programs,” Ms Fetchick said. The Education Committee chairman added that she was somewhat frustrated that given local economic constraints the district appeared ready to address both secondary school reform and a full-day kindergarten in the same year.

An overview of Connecticut Secondary School Reform objectives can be viewed at: www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/pdf/ssreform/ssreformbrochure.pdf and www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/pdf/pressroom/TheConnecticutPlan.pdf