WHEN DOES A CD PAY BENEFITS ... (?)

The Flu in New Fairfield Get the Facts

Source: Citizens News, Section 1, Nov. 25, 2009 PAGE 23

If you have concerns about the flu and specifically H1N1, tune into Channel 17 to see Superintendent Dr. Castagnola, First Selectman John Hodge, Assistant Superintendent Alicia Roy, Director of Health Tim Simpkins and Emergency Management Director Jan Flynn discuss frequently asked questions they have received regarding the flu in New Fairfield and how town officials are responding.

The Flu in New Fairfield is scheduled to air on Channel 17 at 10am, 6pm & 11pm.  The taped discussion will also be made available at the New Fairfield Library on CD.

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What is important about this P.S.A. (Public Service Announcement) is not the 'public interest, convenience, and necessity', nor is it the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, not the Director of Health, or Emergency Management Director ... what's important is the fact that one of these esteemed, highly paid and intelligent individuals have finally realized other important facts about New Fairfield.  The fact is that NOT everyone in our town has Cable Television!  That simple fact is now directing the attention of those residents that read the Citizens News to head to the library, get a library card if you don't already have one, check out the CD that provides the FAQ's on H1N1 Flu.  WOW!  Our tax money finally at work from the Television Studio at the Senior Center.  [Side note: I've been to the Television Studio, but where is the Community Center?]  Now that the technical details and challenges have been solved with our new Television Studio perhaps the town can record the meetings of all of our town government and make them available on CD at the library.  A significant number of residents in New Fairfield DO NOT have Charter Cable rather use a satellite feed, which excludes local channel programs.  After all the Director of and the Television Studio at the Senior Center is paid for with our tax dollars and for those without Charter Cable those dollars are a waste in that no services are provided to almost one third of New Fairfield with over the air broadcasting and satellite television.  Of course there is one more channel of access perhaps for the younger crowd and that is Internet Television with many different channels available.  Let's not forget a simpler method of informing New Fairfield, "Part 15 Devices, as known as low power, Unlicensed Operation".  Many of us have experienced this capability of AM and/or FM radio while driving into Disney World, or perhaps at a National Park with this method of communication.

Unlicensed Operation

The next four sections cover the permitted forms of unlicensed operation in the AM band (535 to 1705 kHz) and FM band (88 to 108 MHz), and explain the penalties which may be assessed against those forms of unlicensed operation which do not fall within the permitted forms of unlicensed operation. 

Part 15 Devices

Unlicensed operation on the AM and FM radio broadcast bands is permitted for some extremely low powered devices covered under Part 15 of the FCC's rules. On FM frequencies, these devices are limited to an effective service range of approximately 200 feet (61 meters). See 47 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Section 15.239, and the July 24, 1991 Public Notice. On the AM broadcast band, these devices are limited to an effective service range of approximately 200 feet (61 meters). See 47 CFR Sections 15.207, 15.209, 15.219, and 15.221. These devices must accept any interference caused by any other operation, which may further limit the effective service range. For more information on Part 15 devices, please see OET Bulletin No. 63 ("Understanding the FCC Regulations for Low-Power, Non-Licensed Transmitters"). Questions not answered by this Bulletin can be directed to the FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology, Customer Service Branch, at the Columbia, Maryland office, phone (301) - 362 - 3000, e-mail LabHelp@fcc.gov. 

ASSUME THE POSITION ...

Click here to listen to new statewide CCM radio spot - Do the Math! CCM launches statewide advocacy campaign to protect municipal aid as State leaders contemplate mid-year cuts CCM Letter to Governor and Legislative Leaders: ensure there are no municipal aid cuts in December special session Local Property Taxes and Connecticut's State Government: What Residents and Businesses Should Know CCM Public Policy Report: The Unfinished Municipal Relief Agenda

Do the math: cuts in state aid to your hometown equals increases in your property taxes

It's Official: Sales Tax Cut Will Not Occur January 1; Rell Unveils Over $80 Million In Cuts For Cities and Towns

by Christopher Keating

It's official.

The state's planned cut in the sales tax will not take effect January 1. Many legislators had predicted that the contingent tax cut would never happen because of the continuing weakness in the economy.

But the blocking of the tax cut did not become official until the state comptroller certified - as required by a recent law - that tax collections had falled more than 1 percent below the projections set by the legislature when they finished crafting the budget in September.

On Tuesday, the Rell administration announced that the deficit would be reduced by $129.5 million - the amount that would have remained in taxpayers' pockets if the tax cut was enacted.

At the same time, with the state facing a deficit of nearly $470 million for the current fiscal year, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell is asking the Democratic-controlled legislature to make cuts in a wide variety of programs - including aid to cities and towns.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which represents most cities and towns, calculated the loss to the towns to be at least $84 million in the current fiscal year. CCM vowed to lobby legislators at the Capitol to block Rell's proposed cuts.

"Cutting more state aid in mid-year wouldn't be a savings,'' said a statement released by longtime CCM spokesman Kevin Maloney. "It would merely shift more of the state budget deficit onto local governments and local property taxpayers.''

CCM continued, "Increasing the state's largest and most unfair tax - the property tax - by cutting municipal aid is bad public policy. Zero cuts in municipal aid must be priority one for state leaders. Do the math: cuts in state aid to your hometown equals increases in your property taxes.''

Rell's budget director, Robert Genuario, acknowledged that the state's 3 percent reduction in aid to municipalities - a cut of $84 million out of $2.8 billion - will present a challenge for cities and towns, but he added that they are only "being asked to be a small part of the solution."

He said that municipalities, non-profit agencies and others affected by the cuts are going to have to think differently about how they operate.  "Everybody's going to have to rethink the way they do business, as the state has been doing for the last year or so, and we are asking everybody to do that and to participate in this process - because state taxpayers simply cannot afford to fund ... the way we used to do business."

The budget cuts are being proposed after a period of relative plenty, Genuario said. During the two-year budget period before this one, he said "there were greater increases in municipal aid than in any biennium over the course of the last decade. So we are starting at a base of municipal aid that is higher ... than it had been at any time prior to this point."

"When the state had a surpluses and increasing revenues, the governor made it  a point to see that municipalities shared in those revenues," Genuario said, adding: "The reverse situation is now in the state, and municipalities will have to be a part of the solution, just as they were a part of the successes."

Tuesday marked the first time that Rell's budget office had publicly released the reality that the proposed sales tax cut of ½ percent will not go into effect on Jan. 1, as called for in the budget approved earlier this year. Throwing out the tax cut amounted to $129.5 million in added revenue, reducing the projected $467 deficit by about 28 percent down to $337 million.

The state comptroller's office has certified in recent weeks that tax revenues have not come within 1 percent of projections, which was required under the budget bill for the cut to take effect, Genuario said.  Both OPM and the legislature's Office of Fiscal Analysis have agreed in recent weeks  that the fiscal trigger for the tax cut has not been met, and so "this should not be a shocker," Genuario said.

Now that the sales tax cut won't take effect in January, it's gone forever - and, to be reinstated, the legislature would have pass a new tax-cut bill, said top OPM deputy Jeffrey Beckham.

"Clearly, we have to act and act now to cut spending - it is the only option left,'' said House Republican leader Larry Cafero, who is considering runnning for governor. "Connecticut's credit rating and fiscal health are at risk if we do not take steps in the next few weeks to reduce state spending in significant ways. We cannot afford the inaction of the last year that led to the fiscal crisis in the first place. We all knew that the Democratic budget the majority party passed in September was not real and out of balance as soon as it became law.

"We are left with fewer options and even less time to start Connecticut back on a path toward fiscal stability,'' Cafero said.

Several hours before Rell unveiled her plan, Republicans received a briefing that was attended by the ranking members of the tax-writing finance committee and other insiders. Some, though, remained mum when asked why so many Republicans were in the state Capitol at the same time on a non-session day.

Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams and Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney both said they need to study the detailed plan further.

"We have just received the governor's proposed deficit mitigation plan,'' they said in a joint statement. "It will now be reviewed by our 24 caucus members. The governor and her administration took about a month to compile this plan. It will take us several days to examine its merits and disadvantages. We look forward to working with the governor regarding the state of Connecticut's budget and economy.''

They continued, "Obviously the effects of the global recession continue to be felt here in Connecticut just as they are being felt across the entire United States. Thirty-five other states are currently attempting to close new deficits in their existing budgets."

Ellen Andrews, the executive director of the Connecticut Health Policy Project, said, "The governor's recommended cuts are unnecessary, and would have a disastrous effect on some well established and much-needed programs, many of which have struggled for years with underfunding. The vast majority of the cuts would affect people who can least afford them - the elderly, disabled, people with HIV/AIDS, and the poor.''

She added, "Once again, I urge the governor and the legislature to consider better options, such as recovering the $50 million in annual overpayments to HUSKY HMOs that were uncovered in the recent Comptroller's audit.

We really can do better."

NEW FAIRFIELD TEACHER MAKE A DEAL ... DOOR TWO MONTY, THAT'S 2!

This contract represents a certain bargaining strategy  - Basically, the teachers at the bottom in our district, receive less-than-competitive salaries.  The teachers at the top do better.  This gets a "yes" from union negotiators, who are typically experienced teachers closer to retirement.  I can't blame them .. .they want to retire comfortably.  Higher salaries for them in their final years translate into better pensions.

 

That said, from the point of view of our system, if you believe that better salaries attract better applicants, you can see where choices to keep younger/new teachers' salaries low might lead to a situation where we cannot attract the best and the brightest.  That is distinctly unfortunate in my opinion and a bad choice when you consider how very much money we spend in our schools. 

 

Almost everyone on this list knows that our standardized test scores have plummented when compared to other districts in our DRG (Demographic Reference Group) - Or, if you don't, you should contact Dr. Ed Siebert, who has detailed data.  It's also posted online under our strategic school profile.  Yes, we may have an anomaly in certain years - sometimes you find a class that does a lot better than most - but the statistics are frightening.  Our school system has really taken a huge downturn in terms of measurable academic achievement. 

 

I don't know about the rest of you, but we decided to move to NF because of the schools and the kids did get great educations here.  Going forward, if I were making the decision today, I woud look at the relative performance of towns like Brookfield, and conclude that NF's schools just cannot compete. 

 

If  education matters to you (or if property values matter to you) you should be much more concerned about failing test scores.  And, to some extent, salary schedules of this sort, only exacerabate the problem. 

Just my opinon. Great teachers make great schools.  We still have many great teachers, but you do want to remain competitive.  From my point of view, this town has focused on everything but academic achievement and that is a shame. 

TOO HIGH A PRICE ... AND WHAT ABOUT THE KIDS? DUH!

November 22, 2009

We watched an interesting YouTube video the other day. It was brought to our attention by state Sen. James Meeks, the Chicago Democrat who is also pastor of Salem Baptist Church on the South Side. We think our readers should check out the video. It'll open your eyes.

Meeks, who chairs the Illinois Senate Education Committee, has been in a war with the Chicago Teachers Union since he had some tough things to say about public education in a Tribune essay and in a speech at Rainbow Push.

The CTU responded with a vow not to give him another dime in campaign money until he apologized. Meeks promptly wrote a check for $4,000, giving back every dime the union had already given him.

No apology.

You have to love this guy. He's genuinely looking out for kids and doesn't back down to pressure.

Back to the video. It shows the top lawyer of the National Education Association, Bob Chanin, speaking at the NEA's annual meeting in July. Chanin was retiring. This was his swan song.

Chanin makes unmistakably clear what the highest priority is for the union. Hint: It's not the education of your kids.

Chanin closed his nearly 25-minute speech by explaining the influence of the NEA:

Despite what some among us would like to believe it is not because of our creative ideas. It is not because of the merit of our positions. It is not because we care about children and it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child. NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power. 

And we have power because there are more than 3.2 million people who are willing to pay us hundreds of millions of dollars in dues each year, because they believe that we are the unions that can most effectively represent them, the unions that can protect their rights and advance their interests as education employees.

Oh, it gets more interesting.

This is not to say that the concern of NEA and its affiliates with closing achievement gaps, reducing dropout rates, improving teacher quality and the like are unimportant or inappropriate. To the contrary. These are the goals that guide the work we do. But they need not and must not be achieved at the expense of due process, employee rights and collective bargaining. That simply is too high a price to pay.

Too high a price to pay for educated children. Chanin got wild applause from thousands of NEA members at the San Diego Convention Centerfor his remarks.

We tried for several days to get NEA officials to explain those remarks. We wanted to ask if the rest of the union leadership believed that kids ranked behind collective bargaining on the teacher priority list. We're still waiting to hear from them.

We know the answer the Chicago Teachers Union gave the Rev. Meeks: Cross us and we'll choke off your money.

Meeks plans to introduce a bill in January that would give the kids at Chicago's lowest-performing schools a choice. It would give kids at 15 high schools and 48 elementary schools a voucher to pay for another school.

He plans to push to remove the cap on the number of charter schools in Illinois. The legislature raised the cap this year. But there should be no cap at all.

Meeks met on Thursday with Sen. Dan Cronin, the Republican leader on the Education Committee, to see if they can work out a bipartisan agenda.

Good for both of them.

The teachers unions in Illinois get angry when we write about them. They argue that they're pushing a reform agenda, too.

If that's the case, they shouldn't be asking Meeks for an apology. They should be asking for an apology from everyone who cheered Chanin.

Too high a price, eh?

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Watch the YouTube video of Chanin's remarks:  His entire speech can be viewed at NEA.org

New Fairfield teachers, administrators accept contracts

By Eileen FitzGerald, Staff Writer

Published: 11:17 p.m., Monday, November 23, 2009

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NEW FAIRFIELD -- Teachers and administrators earned raises and accepted increased medical costs in new three-year contracts meant to be fair to employees and taxpayers.
Both groups of union workers in the town's schools agreed to contracts effective July 2010.
"We set aside most of the language issues. The bottom line was salary and benefits,'' school board chairman Kim Hanson said Monday. "I think it's a good contract. I think it's a responsible contract."

The administrators' contract was settled with union members and school staff, but a meeting with a mediator was needed to settle the teachers contract.

"There was some movement, but not sufficient to an agreement, but once we got into mediation, we settled in one session," finance director Craig McClain said Monday. "We very quickly focused on salary and health insurance for both groups."

The teachers contract covers 240 certified staff.

It provides a 2 percent raise the first year, but staff cannot move up the salary schedule in the first year of the contract. That is the annual step increase that rewards additional education and years of service in the district.

The contract for 2011-12 gives no raise but allows the step increase, which is worth a 2.56 percent increase in pay. The contract for 2012-13 gives no raise but a step increase worth a 3.06 percent increase in pay.

The contract also retains language for additional longevity pay for teachers with 15 and 20 or more years of service.

The range of salaries, based on academic degrees and years of service, up to 13 years, is $42,131 to $84,938.

McClain said the pay raise for teachers will cost $325,000, minus $217,000 of medical benefit givebacks, for a net increase to the 2010-11 school budget of $108,800.


The 11 administrators [eleven administrators for a school system our size is obscene] received a 2.5 percent general wage increase for each of three years. Their range of salaries, based on job title, is $105,834 to $145,891.

Both unions agreed to pay more for insurance.

"The focus of the board was to have the employees share the health premium with an increase of at least one percent a year," McClain said, "and they achieved that."

Contact Eileen FitzGerald
at eileenf@newstimes.com