Several items caught my attention during this year's budget debate.
1. A woman stands before a group of parents at a town budget meeting holding cups from Starbucks to say that we should give up three cups of their coffee to support the school budget. This is not what I call a comprehensive approach to the very serious problem of funding education in Ridgefield. Don't you understand this was the height of arrogance, elitism and a cheap shot besides? There are many people in this town who don't go to Starbucks because they can't afford the overpriced, pretentiously named, fattening coffee and those people must also be considered during budget debates. It's not all about you.
2. From the Ridgefield Press April 9, 2009, in a letter to the editor titled: Please Protect crown of the town, RoseMary Frederick, a former leader of the Ridgefield NEA, writes of the organization "We worked collaboratively for the best interests of students and district." Let's not obfuscate the truth. The Raison d'être of the NEA is to represent teacher interests, pure and simple. It's a union. That's their first commandment. Your kids come second.
3. Again, from the Ridgefield Press April 9, 2009, in a letter to the editor titled: Infinite Campus was worthwhile, Sue Fernandez, current president of the RHS PTA, wasted an entire letter to the editor defending the purchase of a $100,000 data system when she should have been arguing for educational excellence. Debating the merits of this IT system is a red herring and besides the point. The real point is making sure we spend money on education first, administrative IT systems second. It is a myth that any IT system will improve your child's education. It only facilitates administrative duties.
I don't care about facilitating administrative duties.
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