YOU WANT A RAISE, WHY? CONNECTICUT GETS A D+ ... WHAT'S THAT WORTH?

Connecticut gets poor grade in how it prepares students

Published: 10:43 p.m., Thursday, January 28, 2010

The National Council on Teacher Quality is a nonpartisan research and advocacy group committed to restructuring the teaching profession, led by our vision that every child deserves effective teachers.

Its not like the New Fairfield School District is underfunded.  If so, why did our Superintendent Dr. Castagnola give $50,000 from his budget towards a gold plated Porta Potty by the ball fields ~ even after we voters rejected that $200,000+ project at referendum, yet approved his buget on the first vote? Perhaps misplaced funding priorities is a better description? 

Connecticut just got graded, and the news is not good.

The National Council of Teacher Quality gave the state a D+ for its preparation of teachers in its third annual grading of states.

Connecticut received a C for delivering well-prepared teachers; a B- for expanding the teaching pool; a D+ for identifying effective teachers; an F for retaining effective teachers; and a C for exiting those deemed ineffective.

This is an unacceptably poor grade.

It also represents a significant problem, since most research credits teacher quality as the single biggest school influence in improving a student's academic performance.

"I was not surprised by the report's findings," Lynne Clark, dean of the school of professional studies at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, said Thursday.

"I think Connecticut, pretty well until the early 2000s, had been one of the top 10 states in the nation on teacher preparation, but over time, people have rested on their laurels," she said. "We have not stayed up with the rest of the nation."

WestConn's teaching program places about 120 new teachers in elementary and secondary schools within one hour's distance of Danbury each year.

It speaks well for WestConn that Clark led her school's effort last fall to earn national accreditation from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. It required the university to improve some programs and began a rigorous self-assessment protocol that will continue.

Clark said the state is looking to improve its regulations for teacher-prep programs, but she's not convinced yet they are rigorous enough.

The teacher quality report praised Connecticut's strengths in a few areas: teachers are prepared in the science of reading instruction; its admission process to alternate route programs for teacher certification; the requirement of basic skills testing for admission into undergraduate teacher preparation programs; and the ensurance that middle school teachers are prepared to teach appropriate grade-level content.

The report criticizes Connecticut for awarding tenure virtually automatically, for failing to make evidence of student learning the heart of teacher evaluations, for not ensuring that elementary teachers are well prepared to teach mathematics, and for not ensuring that special education teachers have subject-matter knowledge.

Sandi Jacobs, project director and vice president of the council, said the report does not criticize the quality of teachers; it is examining state policies.

"States are really falling down on the job," Jacobs said. "What's surprising is the amount of influence the state has. If the policies aren't there then the districts can't make the changes, which affects the teachers and the students.

"The states that got higher grades are states that have lower student achievement and are really proactive," she related. "States with a tradition of higher student achievement tend to rest on their laurels."

Jacobs said she was surprised at how far behind Connecticut is in identifying teacher effectiveness and in the data collection needed to determine effectiveness.

"If you can't determine who are good teachers and who shouldn't be in the classroom, you really have a problem,'' Jacobs said.

The state doesn't deny the problems it faces, and that's a good thing because that means it can make the changes necessary to turn around the disturbing realities reflected in the report.

"We had a strong tradition of excellent public schools and an excellent system over the decades, but in the past 10 years we have not done much to keep up with the rest of the country,'' state Department of Education spokesman Thomas Murphy said.

"We still have some of the best schools in America and some of the best students," Murphy said. "We have to do some things to change. This is a matter of retooling our system and helping support our teachers."

The findings in the report are a wakeup call, and to his credit, Murphy admitted it.

Students deserve the best teachers, and teachers deserve the best training.

If you would like to see the report for yourself, go to www.nctq.org.

Contact Eileen FitzGerald

at eileenf@newstimes.com

or at 203-731-3333.

CONNECTICUT BOND RATING HEADING INTO TOILET ....

The Town of New Fairfield must not continue operating with a grant mentality.  The following video should be an eye opener to many.  This year's Grant List has had a 11% reduction in total value which translates into higher taxes.  The budget season is in full swing ... WAKE UP NEW FAIRFIELD!!!

NEW MILFORD BOE REQUEST EQUALS 2.7% TAX INCREASE !!!1

NEW MILFORD, CONNECTICUT

Superintendent’s BOE Request Equals 2.7% Tax Increase

Here’s how it works.

The request is $1,814,810 over last year’s BOE Budget.

As reported by Town Finance Director Ray Jankowski, today’s value of 1 mill is $2,997,190.

$1,814,810 (the recommended increase) divided by $2,997,190 (the value of a mill) equals .6055038

The current mill rate is 22.52

.6055038 divided by 22.52 equals .0268873 or a tax increase of 2.68873%

This calculation assumes that revenues stay flat. Of course, given the state of the economy, it is almost a certainty that revenues will be down.

There’s another way to do this calculation: The current grand list is $2,932,492,514. The total amount to be raised by taxes is $66,042,266. $66,042,266 divided by $2,932,492,514 equals .0225208643. This multiplied by 1000 equals our current mill rate of 22.52

The sum of the Superintendent’s recommended increase ($1,814,810) and the amount to be raised by taxes ($66,042,266) is $67,857,076. This divided by $2,932,492,514 (the current grand list) equals .0231397269. This multiplied by 1000 equals the new mill rate of 23.14. This minus the old mill rate of 22.52 equals a mill rate increase of .62. This divided by the current mill rate of 22.52 equals .027531 or a tax increase of 2.7531% .  Note that the tax increase reached in the first method is slightly different from this result due to the number of places to which I did the arithmetic.

What’s the point of all this? The point is that BOE Members have to look very carefully at the impact of its Budget on New Milford’s taxpayers. I posted this because I don’t know if any of them have asked the question. They should. If they do, I want to make sure they get the have the right answer.

FAMILY EMERGENCY PLANNING

Family Emergency Planning

From fires to medical emergencies, your family should know what to expect, how to act and where to go. The following are a few common sense tips to help keep your family prepared and safe.

Tips

1. A list of emergency phone numbers including family doctors, poison control centers, etc., should be kept in an easily accessible place in your home, such as the front of a refrigerator or a bulletin board. Children should memorize basic emergency numbers, your cell phone and office numbers and the phone number of a family member or friend outside the home who has been designated as an emergency contact. A rally point should be selected outside of your home where everyone should gather in case of a fire or emergency. You should select a person who could pick your children up from school in case a medical emergency or disaster prevents you from doing so. The school should be given this person’s name and photo so that the school will be preauthorized to release your child to this person.

2. Keep an emergency supply of cash in a fireproof safe in your home. A blackout, natural disaster or terrorist attack could prevent you from accessing cash through your bank or an ATM machine. It is also wise, to keep checking, savings and investment accounts in multiple banks, even if the deposits are below the amount insured by the FDIC.

3. Purchase an emergency supply of gasoline and store it in a place that is not connected to your residence, like a supply shed or an unattached garage. If you need to evacuate immediately, it may not be possible to get gas from your local station.

4. Create digital copies of all of your important documents, such as: wills, financial records, insurance policies, passports and deeds. Store the copies on a CD or a USB flash drive somewhere outside of your immediate geographic area, such as with a family member, attorney or in a safe deposit box. In an urgent situation, if the original copies are not accessible or have been destroyed, it would be invaluable to have the ability to email these documents to a financial institution, an insurance company or an embassy.

5. Keep a supply of canned food and fresh water, a gas powered hot plate, flashlights and batteries and an analog radio in your home at all times. These supplies should be kept together in an easily accessible place where they can be gathered and packed quickly. These are basic supplies that you will need in the case of a prolonged blackout or an emergency evacuation.

6. You should keep a cell phone charger that plugs into your car as well as an extra regular cell phone charger in your car at all times. If you are rushing to evacuate, a cell phone charger is probably one thing that you would forget and you do not want to be cut off from this form of communication in the event of an emergency.

Domestic Physical Security Planning, please contact 

Don Aviv at 212-605-0375 or don.aviv@interforinc.com

BECOME A PRECINCT EXECUTIVE .... READ ON ...

Connecticut

If you are interested in becoming a State Coordinator, please contact:

Philip Glass
National Director
philglass@nationalprecinctalliance.org
 

State Coordinator:
Name:	OPEN
Email:
Phone:
State:
County:
Zip Code:

If you are interested in becoming a county coordinator, please contact your State Coordinator.  If a State Coordinator is not listed in your state, please contact:

Philip Glass
National Director
philglass@nationalprecinctalliance.org

If you are interested in being a candidate for a Precinct Chair in your county, and you have not completed the signup form to become a Precinct Executive, please do so by clicking the link below and someone will contact you.

Become A Precinct Executive!
Sign Up Here, We'll Show You How! 
 

If you have already completed the signup form and have not been contacted by a State or County Coordinator within a 48 hour period, please email:

Philip Glass
National Director
philglass@nationalprecinctalliance.org
 

County Coordinators:	Click Here for County List
Precinct Executives:	Click Here for Executive List

COMMON SENSE OR HARD ECONOMIC TIMES ... FORCES US TO "CONNECT THE DOTS"

A Serious Proposal

By BOB HERBERT

The president of the American Federation of Teachers says she will urge her members to accept a form of teacher evaluation that takes student achievement into account and that the union has commissioned an independent effort to streamline disciplinary processes and make it easier to fire teachers who are guilty of misconduct.

In a speech to be delivered Tuesday in Washington, Randi Weingarten plans to call for more frequent and more rigorous evaluations of public schoolteachers, and she says she will assert that standardized test scores and other measures of student performance should be an integral part of the evaluation process. The use of student test scores to measure teacher performance has been anathema to many teachers. Ms. Weingarten is not proposing that they be the only — or even the primary — element in determining teacher quality.

But she told me in an interview over the weekend that she wants to “stop this notion” that her membership is in favor of keeping bad teachers in the classroom. “I will try to convince my members that, of course, we have to look at student test scores and student learning,” she said.

The use of test scores, as Ms. Weingarten sees it, would be part of a new, enhanced process of teacher evaluation that would offer clear professional standards for teachers. It would replace current practices, which in many districts across the country are lax, haphazard and, in the words of Ms. Weingarten and others, often amount to little more than “drive-by” evaluations.

It is not uncommon for teachers to be observed in the classroom just a couple of times a year for only a few minutes each time and then get a satisfactory rating. Under those circumstances, hardly anything is learned about the quality or effectiveness of the teachers. Most teachers are routinely rated as satisfactory, and many are never evaluated at all.

Ms. Weingarten is urging school administrators to observe teachers more closely and more frequently. (The enhanced, clearly articulated professional standards she is calling for are already in use in some districts. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.) Experts trained in best practices and using a variety of objective data, including measures of student achievement, would do the evaluating. Teachers who are struggling would be given an opportunity to improve their performance. If, after remedial efforts, they still did not measure up, they would be fired, whether tenured or not.

As Ms. Weingarten put it, “We would have to say, ‘Look, we helped you. We tried. You’re just not cut out to be a teacher.’ ”

Ms. Weingarten also addresses the fact that it is sometimes scandalously difficult to remove teachers who have engaged in serious misconduct. While emphasizing the need for due process, she bluntly asserts, in a draft of her speech: “We recognize, however, that too often due process can become a glacial process. We intend to change that.”

The union has asked Kenneth Feinberg, the federal government’s so-called pay czar, to develop a more efficient protocol for disciplining — and when necessary, removing — teachers accused of misconduct.

This would be a big deal. Mr. Feinberg is highly respected and widely viewed as independent. He administered the government fund that compensated those who were injured and the families of those who were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks. He also administered a fund set up in the wake of the mass shooting at Virginia Tech in 2007.

He is not the kind of guy to go into the tank for the teachers’ union. (John Ashcroft chose him to lead the 9/11 fund.) It will be very interesting to see whether the union actually goes along if Mr. Feinberg fashions a workable plan to streamline teacher discipline that is viewed favorably by school administrators.

“We look forward,” said Ms. Weingarten, “to working with Mr. Feinberg on this critical undertaking.”

If the union follows through on Ms. Weingarten’s proposals, it would represent a significant, good-faith effort to cooperate more fully with state officials and school administrators in the monumental job of improving public school education. More than 90 percent of American youngsters go through the public schools. The schools were struggling and failing too many youngsters even before the latest economic downturn, which is taking a terrible toll.  My view is that America’s greatest national security crisis is the crisis in its schools. Ms. Weingarten’s ideas for upgrading the teacher evaluation process are good ones and should be embraced and improved upon where possible by those in charge of the nation’s schools. The point is not just to get rid of failing teachers, but to improve the skills and effectiveness of the millions of teachers who show up in the classrooms every day. If the union chooses not to follow through on these proposals, its credibility will take a punishing and well-deserved hit.

OF COURSE ALL THIS IS BEYOND AND FOIA BUT COMPLETELY WITHIN THE BUDGETARY PROCESS!!!

SO, GET INVOLVED!!!

BOARD OF ASSESSMENT APPEALS ... A REMINDER!!!

Simply a reminder: 

 

Those wishing to appeal their new assessments need to file a written appeal to the Board of Assessment Appeals (BOAA) on or before February 20, 2010.  Applications for this appeals process may be obtained from the Assessor's Office at Town Hall. 

 

Those electing to appeal will likely improve their chances of success by engaging an independent appraiser, and taking the time to research and present a compelling argument for adjustment, including comparisons with comparable sales during the revaluation period (10/1/08 - 9/30/09).  

 

In past years those who were unable to attend their scheduled BOAA session due to sickness, inclement weather, etc., could not reschedule since all of the available time slots had been booked -- and thus were unable to have their appeal heard.  Accordingly, it may pay to book an early session to increase the odds of being able to reschedule if a conflict does arise. 

 

Many of those appealing in 2005 were pleasantly pleased with the BOAA process and results so don't hesitate to take this avenue if dissatisfied with your new assessment.  Keep in mind, too, that the tax impact of the new assessment cannot be determined until the Town's new mill rate is set in the spring 2010.  Some fear that the anticipated tax rate increase could eclipse their assessment rate increase so actively consider the appeals route if there is concern about the appropriateness of your new assessment.

 

Valuation and process questions can be directed to Rich Seman, Town Assessor, at 203/312-5625.  

 

REPOSTED BY ROGER C. WISE

Original author: Jim McAlister

NEW FAIRFIELD ENDS FISCAL YEAR WITH A .... SURPRISE!!!

IF DANBURY CAN DO THIS AND PRODUCE A NEW BUDGET WITHOUT AN INCREASE IN TAXES ... THEN YOU GOTTA ASK YOURSELF ... CAN NEW FAIRFIELD (A BEDROOM COMMUNITY) FASHION A SIMILAR BUDGET ... OR ARE WE GOING TO BE SURPRISED WITH TOO MANY CAPITAL PROJECTS AND BONDING?

Danbury ends fiscal year with a surplus

By Dirk Perrefort, Staff Writer

Published: 10:30 p.m., Sunday, January 10, 2010

DANBURY -- Despite the lean times faced by most municipalities, not to mention most households, city officials were able to save some taxpayer dollars last year.

Mayor Mark Boughton said last week that a recent audit of the city's finances showed Danbury ended the fiscal year with a surplus of about $144,000. The city also didn't have to dip into $3 million officials anticipated using from the fund balance, which is essentially the city's savings account.

That may not be the case this year.

Boughton said the city had budgeted during the current fiscal year using about $4 million of the fund balance, and officials may have to use some of that money to balance the books in light of dwindling revenues from state and local sources.

"Like last year, things are extremely tight," David St. Hilaire, the city's finance director, told members of the City Council recently when asked about the city's finances.

Last Wednesday, St. Hilaire told The News-Times that the city to date has received about $700,000 less in state aid than originally anticipated -- and that could only get worse given the deficits faced on the state level and proposed cuts to local aid.

St. Hilaire said income from building permits and other fees have also yet to meet expectations while interest payments are also at "historic lows."

He said, however, that as the spring building season approaches he hopes revenue from permit fees, much like last year, will begin to pick up.

"A push at the end of last year in permits and tax collection helped us end in the black, quite frankly," St. Hilaire told the council.

The finance director said the city has been aggressively pursuing tax collections, as evidenced by the booting program the city put into effect late last year to collect overdue motor vehicle taxes.

Scott Ferguson, the city's tax collector, said during last Tuesday's council meeting that the city has, both directly and indirectly, collected more than $600,000 in back taxes since the program began.

Council minority leader Thomas Saadi said he's happy about the surplus, but the city still has to be careful going into the next round of budget negotiations, which starts in the next few months.

"Hopefully, we can structure a budget that doesn't include tax increases," Saadi said. "Maybe we can use this surplus to offset the difficulties in the next budget and keep the burden off the taxpayers."

Contact Dirk Perrefort

at dperrefort@newstimes.com

or 203-731-3358.

$1 FOR YOU, $2 FOR US ...

www.nhregister.com

A meeting this week between town leaders from across the state and the Department of Public Safety resolved some issues regarding overtime pay for resident state troopers, but Bethany First Selectwoman Derrylyn Gorski said important matters still need to be worked out.

About 60 towns use the resident trooper program to provide public safety coverage.

According to a statement from state Sen. Joseph Crisco, D-Woodbridge, state statutes require that resident trooper pay and benefits be split between towns and the state at a 70 percent to 30 percent rate, respectively.

However, DPS had been billing some towns for 100 percent of benefits accrued during overtime hours, instead of the 70-30 split, Crisco said in his statement.

“Perhaps the most important breakthrough (in the meeting) was convincing (DPS) Commissioner (John) Danaher that there is money in the budget to cover the DPS share of those overtime expenses,” Crisco said in the statement.

Danaher could not immediately reached for comment late Friday.

The other issue is the rate towns are charged for hiring an off-duty officer to cover for a resident trooper or to police a town event.

Gorski said that DPS began contracting work for this position to the state’s centralized overtime coordinator’s office in November, which boosted costs for the towns.

A town is normally charged a maximum of $56 per hour for a resident trooper, but this changed to $82 per hour under the new system. She said this is the same amount as private businesses are charged. Since the town’s taxpayers support the state police, she said the town should be given a lower rate.

Crisco’s statement said Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s office issued a ruling last summer “affirming the 70/30 cost-share arrangement for all hourly pay, whether straight time or overtime.”

“We should not be billed the same as a for-profit business,” Gorski said. “From my perspective, if we hire a trooper to perform the duties of a resident trooper, we would like to be charged the resident trooper rate.”

However, Gorski said the recent meeting helped foster communication between the towns and the DPS. She said she will be meeting in the near future with DPS officials to continue negotiations.

State police Lt. J. Paul Vance said there is an open discussion on overtime pay for resident troopers.

“That’s where we are right now. We’ll discuss it and see if we can come to a conclusion,” he said. “We’re looking to work out any kinks in the system.”

Chris Rhatigan can be reached at chris.rhatigan@gmail.com.

 

S&P/CASE-SHILLER HOME PRICE INDICES

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

New Home Sales Fall Sharply in November 

By Matt Egan

FOXBusiness

 home sales unexpectedly tumbled in November, taking their steepest decline since the darkest days of the recession amid uncertainty over the extension of a federal tax credit.

The Commerce Department said sales of new homes slumped 11.3% to an annualized pace of 355,000 units last month, surprising analysts who had predicted a rise of 6.2%. Further, the government lowered its estimate for October by 30,000 units to 400,000.

Supplies of new homes jumped from 7.2 months’ worth to 7.9 months.

It seems prospective home buyers were spooked by ambiguity over the extension of the federal tax credit for first-time home buyers, which happened after many contracts would have been signed.

November’s performance was a “hangover from the tax-credit-induced binge in the July thru October period," Peter Boockvar, market strategist at Miller Tabak, wrote in a note.

The surprise drop in new home sales was led by the South, which suffered a 21.1% decline. Sales in the West fell 9.2% and dropped 3.3% in the Northeast. On the other hand, new home sales in the Midwest soared 21.4%.

Meanwhile, prices continued to fall on an annual basis, with the median sales price of a new home in November sinking 1.9% to $217,400. However, prices were up 3.8% from October.

“With the artificial lift from the tax credit, it’s become very tough gauging true demand,” Boockvar wrote. He predicted it will become easier to ascertain demand over the summer when the tax credit expires and the Federal Reserve’s buying of mortgage-backed securities is finished.

The weaker-than-expected data underscore how the new and existing home markets have fared differently during the economic recovery. On Tuesday, the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales soared 7.4% in November, more than doubling economists’ forecasts and marking the biggest jump in nearly three years. That report helped buoy the markets and sent shares of home builders sharply higher.

Wall Street had a slightly negative reaction to Wednesday’s report, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average erasing an early gain and shares of Lowe’s (LOW) and Home Depot (HD) down roughly 2% a piece.