OPEN LETTER TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. [FROM RIDGEFIELD PRESS]

Here's how it works.

An issue is added to the agenda.

There is discussion & public commentary.

Naturally a consultant is contracted.

The issue is tabled.

The consultant reports out.

There is more discussion & public commentary.

But then:

Someone needs to make a motion on the issue.

Someone needs to second that motion.

The matter is then open for more discussion.

The matter is discussed even more.

Then the vote is called.

You vote.

You move on to another matter.

Well, that's not what we have in the current BoE. We have a diddling board that cannot, or will not, make important decisions.

For years -- despite a declining student population, two or three consultants, facts, figures, deadlines & commitments -- you, the Board of Education, failed to make a decision on closing a school. 

For years no one has gotten a handle on Special Education.

For years we were told there were no savings in power, busing & health care. That proved to be wrong.

Currently, despite consultants, discussions and more discussions we see more diddling on start times & now you've employed a familiar tactic: delay and more consultants.

But on a different note, after all the steps described above, plus singing, you, the BoE, finally decided to remove German from the curriculum but then promptly rescinded your vote and reinstated it.

I know everyone on the board is a volunteer. None of this commentary is meant to say that these decisions are easy or should be made in haste. But it is to say that it is the responsibility you signed up for.

Your first responsibility is to the students. Your second is to the community you serve. I realize that's a lot of responsibility, but that's the job. Please do it.

A strong supporter of great education.

Jan Rifkinson
New Road 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

"It’ll be hard, tough — “devastating,” a couple of school officials called it — but the state’s 2.5% cap on municipal spending increases is a limit officials at [the] tri-board meeting said Ridgefield should stay under. [...] That’ll help keep taxes down."

And now the State wants to shift a portion of the teacher's pension cost from the state to the towns. 

That's the way this year's budget process began. It was certainly an important wake up call.

While I appreciate the Board members who spend hours on budgeting, most years the bottom line is aided by pulling a rabbit out of a hat. This year “Revenues exceeded budget by $1,460,000, due largely to collection of back taxes,” [BoF Chairman] Ulmer said." 

But it is my opinion that going forward, we must develop zero based budgets without rabbits because, eventually, they will go the way of the dinosaur & taxes will definitely soar.

[BoE] Ms. Baldwin drew a line with three supervisors. Mr. Hendrikson purportedly put $120,000 in the wrong budget column &  Ms. Manners is “[...] offended every year by the [BoF] who feel that they have to cut us [...]" 

OK. So everyone played their role in this annual drama.

I have long argued that Ridgefield should develop budgets & subsequent mill rates that are not subsidized by transfers from the surplus fund. 

Otherwise there will come a day when we will lose some services we currently enjoy or taxes will rise to a level that will limit the real estate market only to the wealthier amongst us.

New Canaan, Darien & other Fairfield towns have fine school systems but many of you, young families, can't afford to live there which is why you chose Ridgefield. Our real estate prices and taxes remain affordable and we have a fine school system.

Please, let's keep it that way.

Published in the Ridgefield Press

May 4th, 2017

THE BOTTOM LINE: LEADERSHIP MATTERS

It’ll be hard, tough — “devastating,” a couple of school officials called it but...

“From my perspective as a superintendent,” Baldwin said, keeping three elementary supervisors is a “non-negotiable” need.

 

“It’s a totally different environment,” Baldwin said. “The bottom line: Leadership matters.”

I agree 100%, Ms. Baldwin. "Leadership matters."

But just so I understand this: you are saying three administrators supersede improved curriculum? This really makes you sound more like a bureaucrat than a school superintendent whose priority should be focused on learning.

Despite fewer students, the reason we had a 5.5% increase in last year's school budget was -- according to you -- because we had to solve IEP inequities.

Well, this year IEP is still the problem. In fact, it has been a problem for every one of the 19 years I've lived in Ridgefield. Time to come up with something else, I think.

Naturally parents fall for your edu-speak because they want the best for their child. That's totally understandable but does it make sense?

Well, I'm one resident who is willing to spend more of my money on education BUT NOT ON MORE BUREAUCRACY. So I will vote 'no' on this budget especially when other towns in our DRG have requested far less.

For parents who, like me, want more dollars spent in the classroom: here's a thought.

1,262 kids are issued Chromebooks costing $189,300. How about you BUY that $150 Chromebook for your child; not a big deal for a wealthy community, right?

It would be a tiny bit of tax relief for your neighbors or it could mean more dollars for the classroom if you can make it clear to your superintendent that you want your tax dollars spent in the classroom, not for more administrative bureaucracy.

PTA, BoE & all voters, remember "the bottom line, leadership matters".

Published in the Ridgefield Press April 20, 2017

$5 million too radical a one­ year change - Letter to the Editor 5/6/2016

I feel manipulated when it comes to our school financials.

First, ERG equality.

A few years ago, I spoke with Peter Prowda, state Board of Education, the man who developed the ERG system. Mr. Prowda explained ERGs were created so educators could compare pupil test

scores in the same ERG category; not the amounts spent on each student. So the ERG is no reason to approve a 4.99% increase in the Board of Education budget.

Second, more seniors are moving into Ridgefield.

Why? There are many advantages to this town — besides the schools — that make Ridgefield, Ridgefield. After all, Ridgefield was the #1 town in Connecticut for years before the $90,000,000 school

bundle was even considered or passed. So schools are not necessarily the reason for a 4.99% increase either.

Third and fourth: Recent history should have clarified the connection between property values and school budgets. They do not parallel each other. And school expenditures do not guarantee

academic excellence. The #1 town in Connecticut — known for its excellent school system — spends far less per student than we do. Again, no rationale for a 4.99% increase.

We pay pension/health benefits for non­certified Board of Education employees, currently set at $1,051,000. Board of Education wants to add another 19 to its payroll. Why do we need more

people for fewer students? An increase of 4.99% makes even less sense.

I still don’t understand what happened between 2015 and 2016 that requires an additional $5 million. That’s a radical change especially in view of a declining school population.

It feels like expenses are just spinning out of control again. How do we regain control? The only way we can — by voting.

Squeezing taxpayers is only one part of the budget formula, not the entire formula.

A proponent of excellent education,

Jan Rifkinson

5/6/2016 Letters

Copyright © 2016 Hersam Acorn

The Chameleon Language of Edu-speak - Letter to the Editor published in the Ridgefield Press April 14, 2016

Edu-speak is nothing if not a chameleon language that takes on definitions that aim to obfuscate rather than clarify. 

The argument that this BoE budget should be supported because it is Ms. Baldwin's first makes sense only if we are now throwing Deborah Lowe under the bus after praising her repeatedly. It begs credulity.

The Board of Finance volunteers worked hours to arrive at a financial formula that they believe is fair and equitable.

But I believe we are throwing millions at a school system without solving structural issues. 

The bulk of the problems surround the Special Needs community, a current mix of in-house programs, lavish outside contracts, settled lawsuits and exorbitant legal fees under no central authority that I can discern. Why are taxpayers just hearing about this via a doubled increase for 'education'.

I question why our technology is lacking, why we buy student laptops instead of having each child use their own. Why can't students plug in whatever tool they want to use to learn, be it laptop, tablet or phone?

I question why $93k is set aside for text books, not because we need them but because some teachers don't know how to access educational materials via the internet. We plan to pay for these teachers to learn to do that so I also question the $900k set aside for teaching teachers. Shouldn't teachers bear some responsibility here? Are principals doing their jobs? Are we hiring the right teachers? 

I am concerned that state shared education funds may be reduced $900k if the legislature has its way.

Despite the many hours put in by the Board of Finance, I question whether the upcoming budget passes muster. 

Written by a proponent for strong education.

Letter to the Editor - published in the Ridgefield Press on March 21, 2016

At their March 8th meeting, the Selectmen dodged their Charter responsibility by not making a recommendation on the requested 5.72% education budget increase. The Selectmen folded to political pressure from a special interest group representing 20% of our Ridgefield community. 

What ruffles my feathers is that we elect these people to make balanced decisions that affect the entire community. So did they?

Sort-of. By recommending that the mill rate not exceed 3.5%, they were saying that the BoE request was too high.

The question has now moved to the Board of Finance and they should have lots of pointed questions.

I re-read a letter-to-the-editor from 2004. The BoE and it's supporters made the same arguments then: state mandates, special ed, DRG, falling behind and real estate values. 

To begin: real estate values have fallen precipitously since 2004 despite steady increases to the BoE budget year after year -- mostly to support a larger school bureaucracy, more hires, a larger head count. Does this have a familiar ring to it?

About $800,000 of this year's school budget goes to training teachers. Are we hiring the right teachers? I don't understand why the teachers don't contribute to this training.

Nevertheless, over the years, nothing much has changed scholastically in special ed or standard ed. Yet this year the town has cut almost $1,000,000 in the highway department budget and will most likely be expected to cut planned fire fighters. These cuts will affect all of us in order to satisfy an insatiable 20% of the community. Is that a balanced approach?

The town's books are audited annually. Connecticut has an education auditing department. How about using it, Board of Ed? Let's make sure the kids are getting the benefits, not the bureaucracy.

From a strong proponent of great education.

Trickle Down Education - Ridgefield Press, February 25, 2016

Could someone explain to me what has changed in Ridgefield's educational Neverland except the replacement of one superintendent with another?

Specifically, with fewer students to teach, what is the supposed cause for the extraordinary increase now before us after years of reasonable increases? I just want the facts and figures. No educational mumbo jumbo, puleeeze!

Fewer students, possibly one less plant to support but we need more employees? Where's the rationale in that?

Have Ridgefield's children been educationally disadvantaged over the past years? Or is this a political move by our new superintendent, trying to make a statement and a 'name' for herself?

All I know is that beyond a certain point, more money does not equate with a better education -- here or nationally. In my opinion, administrators and teachers have been feathering their nests for far too long in the educational industrial complex. It's more top down economics; the kids get the least benefit.

We need an activist, democratically elected Board of Education, Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance to maintain a fair balance in this town -- as they have demonstrated in the past -- and put a lid on this ridiculous financial flim-flam before it gets out of hand again.

AP > Tablets are coming to a classroom near you

By STEPHANIE REITZ

updated 9/3/2011 12:59:22 PM ET

HARTFORD, Conn. — For incoming freshmen at western Connecticut's suburban Brookfield High School, hefting a backpack weighed down with textbooks is about to give way to tapping out notes and flipping electronic pages on a glossy iPad tablet computer.

A few hours away, every student at Burlington High School near Boston will also start the year with new school-issued iPads, each loaded with electronic textbooks and other online resources in place of traditional bulky texts.
While iPads have rocketed to popularity on many college campuses since Apple Inc. introduced the device in spring 2010, many public secondary schools this fall will move away from textbooks in favor of the lightweight tablet computers.

Apple officials say they know of more than 600 districts that have launched what are called "one-to-one" programs, in which at least one classroom of students is getting iPads for each student to use throughout the school day.

Nearly two-thirds of them have begun since July, according to Apple.

New programs are being announced on a regular basis, too. As recently as Wednesday, Kentucky's education commissioner and the superintendent of schools in Woodford County, Ky., said that Woodford County High will become the state's first public high school to give each of its 1,250 students an iPad.

At Burlington High in suburban Boston, principal Patrick Larkin calls the $500 iPads a better long-term investment than textbooks, though he said the school will still use traditional texts in some courses if suitable electronic programs aren't yet available.

"I don't want to generalize because I don't want to insult people who are working hard to make those resources," Larkin said of textbooks, "but they're pretty much outdated the minute they're printed and certainly by the time they're delivered. The bottom line is that the iPads will give our kids a chance to use much more relevant materials."

The trend has not been limited to wealthy suburban districts. New York City, Chicago and many other urban districts also are buying large numbers of iPads.

The iPads generally cost districts between $500 and $600, depending on what accessories and service plans are purchased.

By comparison, Brookfield High in Connecticut estimates it spends at least that much yearly on every student's textbooks, not including graphing calculators, dictionaries and other accessories they can get on the iPads.

Educators say the sleek, flat tablet computers offer a variety of benefits.

They include interactive programs to demonstrate problem-solving in math, scratchpad features for note-taking and bookmarking, the ability to immediately send quizzes and homework to teachers, and the chance to view videos or tutorials on everything from important historical events to learning foreign languages.

They're especially popular in special education services, for children with autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities, and for those who learn best when something is explained with visual images, not just through talking.

Some advocates also say the interactive nature of learning on an iPad comes naturally to many of today's students, who've grown up with electronic devices as part of their everyday world.

But for all of the excitement surrounding the growth of iPads in public secondary schools, some experts watching the trend warn that the districts need to ensure they can support the wireless infrastructure, repairs and other costs that accompany a switch to such a tech-heavy approach.

And even with the most modern device in hand, students still need the basics of a solid curriculum and skilled teachers.

"There's a saying that the music is not in the piano and, in the same way, the learning is not in the device," said Mark Warschauer, an education and informatics professor at the University of California-Irvine whose specialties include research on the intersection of technology and education.

"I don't want to oversell these things or present the idea that these devices are miraculous, but they have some benefits and that's why so many people outside of schools are using them so much," he said.

One such iPad devotee is 15-year-old Christian Woods, who starts his sophomore year at Burlington, Mass., High School on a special student support team to help about 1,000 other teens adjust to their new tablets.

"I think people will like it. I really don't know anybody in high school that wouldn't want to get an iPad," he said. "We're always using technology at home, then when you're at school it's textbooks, so it's a good way to put all of that together."

Districts are varied in their policies on how they police students' use.

Many have filtering programs to keep students off websites that have not been pre-approved, and some require the students to turn in the iPads during vacation breaks and at the end of the school year. Others hold the reins a little more loosely.

"If we truly consider this a learning device, we don't want to take it away and say, 'Leaning stops in the summertime.' " said Larkin, the Burlington principal.

And the nation's domestic textbook publishing industry, accounting for $5.5 billion in yearly sales to secondary schools, is taking notice of the trend with its own shift in a competitive race toward developing curriculum specifically for iPads.

Propaganda & Baloney > Ridgefield Press 04/23/2011

The parents' education about the mandated $850k reduction in this year's requested 2.9% ($2,255,634) school budget increase was a "somber evening" intoned Ms. Low.

Baloney. A somber evening is when someone dies.

But Ms. Low was trying to send a message: the Board of Finance has done your kids a terrible wrong.

More baloney. Almost 100% of the adjustments that were eventually revealed -- after the voluntary February adjustments -- had zero educational consequences. (Do you wonder, as I do, why those weren't introduced in February?)

Instead of launching into her proposed adjustments, Ms. Low began by regurgitating the usual incomplete charts comparing Ridgefield to other DRG-As.

This was a further attempt to rile parents.

No where was the statistic that Ridgefielders' household income was the lowest of the towns she compared us to. Misleading you say? Maybe. We report. You decide.

Then came what she didn't want to call her "recommendations" -- but merely suggestions -- for those possible adjustments.  

Another message: 'I don't support these savings' ...even though we can afford them without hurting education.

Then some smoke & mirrors. We like to say Ms. Low's administration is the most transparent in recent history but I'm beginning to wonder.

Included in the adjustments was some low hanging fruit like raising RHS parking fees but she's leaving it to the high school to come up with $30k in reductions.

Then there is the expected savings from changing light bulbs but the $1.5 million capital request for that project hasn't yet been approved by the voters.

What happens if voters turn it down? 'Well, we'll find it somewhere else.' (Same for the Selectmen's budget)

A nip here, a tuck there. Death by a thousand cuts she called it but the students didn't feel the pain; only Ms. Low's ego did.

Now What?

Opinion Column posted @ Ridgefield Press OnLine. Click Here

The Speech That Never Was > Town Budget Meeting 03/24/11

My name is Jan Rifkinson. I live at 169 New Road. I am retired. My better half, Carol, still has a full time job; she has not had a raise in several years. We are squarely in what was once known as the middle class.

In my opinion, many of us don't know very much about our budgets and we think about them even less. Yet we vote on them as though we know what we are doing.

When the League of Women voters recently held an Ask Ridgefield a Question, maybe 20-25 people showed up. Very few ever attend Board of Selectmen, Board of Finance or Board of Ed meetings. And Town meetings are relatively vacant even though we are governed by the purest form of democracy. Shame on us.

In our annual budget process, the usual divide is between the Town & the Schools so let's talk about that.

Of course children are important, perhaps the greatest asset in life, but they are not to be measured only by how much we spend on them. Of course our homes may be one of our biggest investments but it no longer represents the best rate of return that it once did. 

Of course families move to Ridgefield because we have fine schools but please accept the fact that Ridgefield was rated the #1 town in CT LONG BEFORE we had an $82 million dollar school budget or full day kindergarten so our current school system is not always the PRIMARY ATTRACTION to Ridgefield.

In fact, I know many people who currently live here, are building here or have moved here, not because of the schools, but because Rigefield is just a wonderful, safe, peaceful, friendly town with a lot of amenities.

Those amenities include a library, a recreation center, a theatre barn, a senior center, 17 athletic fields & various public parks, a symphony orchestra, a grand new Boys & Girls Club, a guild of artists, 2 museums, an 18 hole golf course, a playhouse, lots & lots of open space, free summer activities, an historic past, three pubic swimming pools, a beach, forested walking paths, a classic New England Main Street, a neighborly attitude towards seniors & grants for the less fortunate including meals-on-wheels, a bus service for those who are too old or infirm to drive, the Women's Center, Ann's Place, just to name a few.

Roughly 20% of our total budget supports all those things that help make Ridgefield, Ridgefield for EVERYONE in the community. 80% of our budget supports the schools which also makes Ridgefield, Ridgefield but only serves 1/3 of our residents -- some say it's one fifth.

Because of this disparity in services I think that, like some children, the school budgeting process needs more discipline.

FIRST: DON'T continue to negotiate labor contracts that can't be supported & that will eventually cut into educational values. SECOND: DON'T initiate new programs like full day kindergarten without a long term plan as to how it will be financed without sacrificing other grade levels. THIRD: classes & teachers should not be on the chopping block when there are other cuts to be made first.

I am NOT AGAINST EDUCATION. I am against the notion -- and I am sick & tired of hearing -- that our schools are the ONLY thing that makes Ridgefield attractive. Surely it is ONE of the things but NOT the ONLY thing. As for property values, it should be clear to everyone by now that the school system is not THE ONLY THING that affects our property values. ...The other day I actually heard someone state that having a spray bay at the Recreation Center would enhance our property values. PLEASE find another slogan.

Every year I hear the same lecture: we are only talking about $350 dollars, that's about 2 cups of Starbucks per week. But suppose for a moment, instead of a $350 dollar increase, it was a $3,500 dollar increase. Be honest, would all of you feel the same way about the value of education? I'm not so sure. The point is everyone & everything HAS A LIMIT.

And for a good many people in Ridgefield that limit may be represented by the constant drip, drip, drip of $350 on top of the other increments in clothing, food and fuels and FOR THEM it may be too much. So you should stop thinking about it purely from your point of view.

In the first 10 years of living in Ridgefield my taxes doubled. Carol and I can still afford to live here. But, if they double again. Then we will no longer be able to live here. I'm not sure pricing people like us (or anyone) out of town is ultimately good for Ridgefield. Do you? It's possible you do...

...For in this very auditorium I have heard comments like if you can't afford to live in Ridgefield, you should move. How do you think that sounds? How about if I said -- All you rich, entitled people: please move to Wilton or Darien or New Canaan where they have better school systems & possibly lower property taxes. Take all your demands, entitlements, fabulous & expensive tastes & go elsewhere. It wouldn't be very nice, now would it?

The point is we should all be able to rise above the knee jerk politiking & sky-is-falling rhetoric, look at all our neighbors & say: how can we help the broadest swath of Ridgefielders with our current tax dollars, especially now when -- in Ridgefield -- 6% of us are un-employed and more are under-employed, when the food bank has never been busier, when there have been 22 foreclosures in the past 14 months, when all our social service programs have been cut, when SOME unions opened their current contracts & agreed to givebacks, when we've had layoffs, when the library will probably be forced to close two evenings a week, while household income is down, while town income is flat & the national economy -- except for wall street -- is still in the doldrums.

You don't station people at the polls on voting day and send out email blasts to your memberships stating that TOO MANY seniors are going to the polls or that the "wrong people" are voting in large numbers. What kind of statements are those? What kind of attitude generates those sort of statements? Please take a moment to think about this.

Unlike some on the Board of Education, I'm not Pollyanna nor a Casandra when it comes to the economy. I know things WILL improve but it will be in a few years &, in my opinion, the best way to go forward AS A COMMUNITY is if we start to think INCLUSIVELY rather than EXCLUSIVELY.

No town department -- which, like it or not, includes the schools -- can create a budget in a vacuum. We live in a mini-global economy right here in Ridgefield. Everything we do now has a ripple effect.

Whether or not you are planning on living here permanently, please educate yourselves on some of the broader issues affecting this town & consider the long term consequences that will affect everyone before you make demands or vote yea or nay on ANYTHING in this budget. Thank you.

Labor vs Education > Letter to the Editor, Ridgefield Press, Published 2011/03/17

Parents, PTA, READ, etc -- you are all sheep. Why do you exhibit only Pavlovian reactions to school budgets without considering the consequence?

You use your considerable organizations to pressure taxpayers to pay more, but not for education. Of the approved 2010 budget, 81.12% went to salaries & benefits, NOT to education.

High School: 1 Principal, 4 Assistant Principals, 4 Deans. Really?

What is the school doing with the $59,800 taken in Tiger Hollow gate receipts? This could have been a German class.

Students from 7-12 grades could supply their own netbook to plug into the schools' formidable IT system & save several hundred thousand dollars annually. How many teachers would that represent?

And none of this would cost taxpayers one extra penny.

Believe it or not, I stand with you on educational values. So you tell me, what's wrong with the current picture:

1. Middle school German will be eliminated (Mandarin was already cut)

2. Again, no literacy teacher will be hired

3. Art classes will again be reduced

4. Eight teachers will be cut next year

Clearly, labor is costing your children some education.

The political pressure applied by you parents, PTAs and READ is misplaced. Like a laser beam, you should be focused on labor costs which can be contained. Excellent teachers should be paid more. Bad teachers should find another job.

I believe in the right to negotiate but I believe it is time to change our approach to labor negotiations in order to benefit our children's education.

We are not beholden to the unions. This attitude has been exhibited in the past but times change, the truth emerges and our negotiating principles must change too.

We CAN re-open contracts. I ask you: what do you think is going to happen next year when teacher payroll goes up 3.0%?

Mark my words, education will suffer.

01/31/2011 Letter to the Editor > Ridgefield Press "What, me Worry?"

Carol and I just returned from a little trip to Costa Rica & I came back a changed human. It was a wonderful, laid back  adventure. The natives were courteous, warm & welcoming; the weather delicious. It relaxed me, put things in perspective.

I now consider asking taxpayers for $167k to hose down some six year olds at the recreation center that already loses about $600k annually just another quaint Ridgefield idea. So is building a $20 million dollar library during these economic times.

The Board of Selectmen spending so much energy not approving a full (from part) time salary for Fred, our diligent parking cop, which would have been funded from the Branchville Parking fees while, simultaneously hiding a million dollar mistake in executive sessions.... Eh! Who cares?

And a measly 2.87% school increase on an $80 million dollar school budget. Oh pish.... that's just $2.25 million. What's that? A matter of foregoing eight or nine cups of Starbuck's coffee?

Finally, instead of the BoF asking embarrassing questions, I say give the Board of Ed the entire $89k they requested for a new boiler even though they will be reimbursed $60k by insurance (which they didn't mention). They can use the extra money for something educational.....or not.

That Ridgefield's income is flat and that property owners have lost another 6% of their home value just last year (http://tinyurl.com/5srjg5c) no longer concerns me. I'm calm and confident Ridgefield will rebound in the next 8-10 years.

In the meantime, raising property taxes a few points annually shouldn't cause alarm. We have a wonderful school system -- in the middle of the educational pack -- propping up our property values. And parents of kindergarten aged kids now have more free time to "shop Ridgefield".

I agree with Mr. Jewell. This space should be reserved for friendly letters.

Opinion > Ms. Low Gets a 2% Raise (Ridgefield Press Sep 16, 2010)

During my time working on Sesame Street many years ago, there was a game called “One of these things is not like the others”.  Children were to compare a grouping of several objects and be able to point out the one that didn't belong. For example: Four green vegetables and a yellow banana.

Let's play the same game here:

1. Ms. Low is quoted as saying she is not a big fan of 'Race to the Top' and said “non-educators try to prescribe narrow quick fixes, and I think there was a little bit of that in Race to the Top.”

(I'm told Ms. Low has reduced the number of parent-teacher conferences. So much for feedback and accountability.)

2. Ms. Low instituted full day kindergarten under false budgetary pretenses.

3. From NewsTimes: "The percentage of New Canaan Public School students who achieved goal-level scores in the Connecticut Mastery Test [CMT] and Connecticut Academic Performance Test [CAPT] was significantly greater than the state average in each subject at each grade level, according to test results, which were made public earlier this month. [snip] Ninety-one percent of New Canaan third graders met or exceeded goal, as well as 89.9 percent of fourth-graders, 91.9 percent of fifth-graders and 94.9 percent of sixth-graders, according to data from the Connecticut Department of Education. Each of those four grade levels boasted the higher percentage of students meeting goal than neighboring Darien, Fairfield, Greenwich, Westport and Wilton.”

(Ridgefield didn't even make this list in the DRG. Actually, I think we were seventh in eight districts.)

4. Ms. Low “found” hundreds of thousands of dollars for non-educational expenses that WERE NOT in the budget and then couldn't afford to hire a literacy teacher that WAS in the budget.

(So much for educational priorities.)

5. Ms. Low gets a 2% raise