It's Time to Come Together

Here are the highlights of what we learned last Thursday at Superintendent Rabinowitz's budget presentation to the PTA Council:

• She's gotten her budget increase request down from 6.95% to 3.19%.
• If she has to cut more out of the budget, she may have to do something drastic that would affect Wintergreen (i.e. freeze kindergarten enrollment and/or return the 6th grade to the Middle School). This would reduce the budget by approximately $700,000.

Before we all get our knickers in a knot about what Wintergreen and the rest of the district schools do or don't have, let's realize why we need to even consider such a step.

Charter and magnet schools were created, with great financial incentives from the State, as a court ordered remedy of Scheff vs. O'Neill. In 2006.2007, after seeing that the charter and magnet schools weren't doing any better (in terms of academic performance) than the traditional schools, the State passed legislation to take away the financial incentives. Our legislature passed a bill that would reduce the amount of money per pupil in a charter or magnet school, basically saying: "If you want it, you have to pay for it."

My personal feeling is a public school, is a public school, is a public school, and the STATE should pay equally for it. Neither we, nor any town, should not have to sacrifice a viable and necessary school because the state won't help us fund it.

In addition to coming together in Wintergreen's defense, we need to join together as district and demand that the State fund in-school suspension. This is a great idea and we thank our legislators for recognizing that a child will not benefit, and will probably get into more trouble, if they are out of school. However, the cost for the staff needed to attend to and teach these children is a line item that we have never had before. We need to ask our legislators to either repeal the law mandating in-school suspension or offer financial assistance in implementing the program.

Lastly, and this is on the local level, we need to make managable class sizes and teacher to student ratios our number one issue. The fact is, we have a great town and a good school system, so we are steadily growing. A teacher and an aide CAN manage 25 students, but a single teacher and a group of 18 is better for the teacher and the students. Keeping class sizes small is a key factor in keeping students engaged and looked after.

This is the part you need to impress upon our Town Council: If we let our classes get too big and impersonal, well, its a downward spiral: from poor test scores, to poor attitudes, to burnt out teachers, to failing schools, to resident flight, to falling property rates, to economic loss.

Now that I have you throughly depressed and/or upset, ask yourself, "Am I just going to compain, or am I going to do something about it?"

I'm hoping you chose the latter and here's what you can do as an individual or a PTA unit:

1. Speak up at the public hearing on the BOE's budget this Tuesday, February 12 (6:30 pm - finance committee; 7 PM - public hearing)If you can't attend, please send your comments and suggestions to any BOE member and/or Superintendent Rabinowitz (www.hamden.org)

2. Write a letter to the editor of some or all of our local papers:

• Hamden Journal (hamdenjournal@hersamacorn.com)
• Hamden Chronicle (www.hamdenchronicle.com)
• Hamden Daily News (www.hamdendailynews.com)
• Quinnipiac Valley News (QVTimes@comcast.net)
• New Haven Register (adematteo@mail.nhregister.com)

3. Join CT PTA for a Day on the Hill - Wednesday, March 12 (there will be a bus...more details to follow / www.ctpta.org)

4. Contact your local legislators and the Mayor (www.hamden.com)

5. Contact your state legislators and the Governor at www.ct.gov
Or in person this Thursday, February 14th, 8:00am at a breakfast offered by the Hamden Chamber of CommerceNew Haven Country Club, 160 Hartford TurnpikeCall the HCOC to RSVP no later than Tuesday at 288-6431. (admission $25)

Click here to reveiw the full Hamden BOE budget presentation and schedule

This is not an impossible situation; we simply need to stick together as advocates for the educational system and longevity of Hamden to find an equitable solution.

Thanks for you attention.
I look forward to seeing you tomorrow, 7 PM at the BOE meeting.

Sincerely,

Marjorie Clark President, Hamden PTA Council