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NORWALK, Conn. — The Norwalk Daily Voice accepts signed, original letters to the editor. Letters may be e-mailed to letters@dailyvoice.com.
To the Editor,
Norwalk leaders: stop the bail outs on the backs of already struggling taxpayers and try a little tough love for a change. Oak Hills, NEON, developers looking for loans and our public school system, which has earned a failing grade, period. School administrators have looked the other way with out of town students attending our schools on taxpayers tab for years. Our students have continually scored below grade on testing, with many schools labeled failing and now apparently those in charge can't do simple math either (to the tune of $4 million)!
This might be laughable if it weren't so sad. The very people in charge of educating our children can't or are not responsible enough to properly handle their own accounting. Accounting, the use of mathematics, described in Webster as the science of magnitude and number taught to every student from K-12. Our school system has been failing our students for years on so many levels and past tax increases have not improved student achievement to date, so one is left to conclude that all those suffocating tax increases have only served to sustain their very generous benefit packages. And to add insult to injury: They complain about payback dates and amounts, don't want any cuts and use the children like a weapon to frighten parents and threaten loss of service, which sounds more like hostage negotiations than a budget process. What a disgrace.
The answer to bad management is not throwing more money into it, not in the real world anyway. This band aid approach seems to be a governmental (political) invention for special groups, organizations or individuals considered to be "TOO BIG or IMPORTANT TO FAIL" – WHO SAYS ???
Judging by the properties for sale exhibit in the lobby at City Hall should a taxpayer (struggling with their own health care increases and expenses ) fall short in their accounting, funds and taxes, they lose their property CUT & DRY, NO FLOATING LOANS HERE!! If this action is an appropriate measure to apply to a taxpayer, why then is it not appropriate for these other groups?
Apparently, many of us are living under the mis-conception that taxes were designed to pay for essential city services and carefully managed, not to cover GIANT math errors dis-functional groups, misappropriated funds and the grand dreams of developers.
And since we have grown adults acting like children, whining, throwing tantrums, name calling and blaming Mr. Nobody for their mess, let's go there and keep it first grade simple. Any parent knows if your child doesn't properly handle the $5 you gave them you're not likely to give them 10. A few simple things you should have learned in childhood: 1) if you mess up, expect consequences 2) Be responsible with someone else's property 3) You can't always have your own way 4) Mommy and Daddy can't always fix ALL your problems or give you everything you want. 5) Some wounds are too big for a band aide and may require surgery.
Is there anyone out there willing to be a responsible parent? To make the tough decisions, demand responsibility and accountability and stop being an enabler? If we ever expect our children to grow up to be responsible, self-sufficient individuals, we need to LEAD BY EXAMPLE!!
Comments (15)
People complain in one breath about property values dropping and crime and in the other complain about paying too much for schools. They just don't understand cause and effect. Look around you. All of the surrounding towns make their schools a bigger priority . All of them are retaining property values better than Norwalk is. None of them have the crime issues Norwalk does. Do we really want to become Bridgeport?
I applaud Ms. Witkowsky as I agree with the content of her letter; however, why is there no mention of the Norwalk Fire Department - another shining example of why our property taxes here in Norwalk are so outrageous. Starting salaries of $60,000-plus, top salaries well into the six-figures, top-notch benefits, several weeks paid vacation per year, retirement at 50 with near (or above) six-figure annual packages and a shiny new $15 million-plus station.
Some of the points in this letter is correct like how the BOE has been screwing up for years and we are just catching on now. Which is crazy. But why should the kids suffer they know nothing about this and should not be put in the middle which they are every year. A big problem is the Teachers union and the tenure. We have the highest paid teachers yets we are marked 45th in the State. Why! I think its time to do some major cleaning. I'll say the same thing I have said in the past why do some gym teachers need to make over $100,000 that makes no sense. I mean really if they looked into some of the schools and graded reviews from parents regarding how their children did plus looked at report cards and those lovely State Exams and grade the Teacher as well as the student. I can tell ya I know a few teachers who do not still need to be in the school system but since they have tenure they are safe. As where newer teachers who want to be there are getting shoved around like garbage. I am sorry I love most of our educators but some them to need to take a pay cut if big businesses can do it in order to save jobs so should we. There should also be a cap on what they make. And the people who are working for the BoE as well as Dr.Marks should be graded as well. Because she would grade mighty low with alot of the parents in the district. How can you not know the names of all schools? What the hell do you do all day?
I'm fine with childless couples not wanting to take part in educating our kids. Just so long as they are fine with our kids not taking part in caring for them in their old age.
@rwellen
You are guilty of jumping to conclusions when you imply that any taxpayer who wants the city to spend $160 million instead of $164 million on schools is a) childless and b) not willing to take part in educating our kids.
I should note that $160 and $164 million are not the exact numbers, but they're pretty close and they reflect the magnitude of the disagreement a lot more accurately than most of the overheated rhetoric typical of these sorts of debates.
You are guilty of spending way too much time on these pages standing as self appointed judge of other people's opinions.
It's a shame that rather than responding to the content of my comment, you opted instead to make a snide personal attack. Does it always offend you so much when people disagree with you? Ultimately this isn't about you or me, it's about what course of action the City should take to best serve taxpayers.
Actually no, it doesn't always offend me when people disagree with me. You are pretty unique in that respect . Perhaps its your tactless manner of patrolling other peoples opinions and jumping in with confrontational terms like "you are guilty" . I don't appear to be the only person you have offended on these pages. I'm sure I won't be the last since its a bit of a full time job for you.
Ironically, the tactless and confrontational remarks were your own original comment, where you implied that those who want the city to spend $160 million instead of $164 million on schools are a) childless and b) not willing to take part in educating our kids. So I guess that makes you the pot addressing the kettle...
Like LWitherspoon, I also do not agree with everything in this letter. However, I applaud Ms. Witkowsky for making some excellent points in a powerful, "in your face," yet eloquent manner. It is refreshing to read a strong counter perspective in response to the "Save Our Schools" mindset which has inundated Norwalk's media recently. I can't help but wonder what would have happened if like-minded residents rallied with placards at city hall along with the SOS protesters. Would the majority, then, dictate its unpopularity and influence the outcome of the "Democratic-sponsored" resolution supporting Norwalk's schools?
Ms. Witkowsky wrote well. Public education costs too much and fails too many. Schools need to quit with the excuses and whining, do a better job or move on.
While I don't agree with everything in this letter, there are a number of good points. Many of the protestors are teachers who are effectively saying "put more money in our pockets or you don't care about kids." Self-interest masquerading as concern for children is really unattractive.
Protesting parents are self-interested too - they want OTHERS to pay for better schools for their children, but at least they don't receive any direct financial benefit from protesting.
The real answer is that the school system has to work harder to do more with less, just like private industry does on a daily basis. Don't come back to the taxpayers for more money until you get control of costs - namely the wages and benefits which are the best in the state of CT, and far exceed those in the private sector.
They're good, but not the best in the state.
The amounts of the shortfalls, about ten million over two years when the city budgets totalled about six hundred million in the same time period are not a lot. Somebody, or several some bodies, messed up badly and nobody will own the mistakes. The children observing all this, and they are watching and listening, are getting the wrong lesson.
Some people here are convinced the union should take the blame, and a salary freeze. Others want to blame the mayor, Chiaramonte, or Dr Marks, but nobody supports the performance or forensic audit that is the only way to know what really happened.
Chiaramonte may be right. We, the city, have cut so much out of school budgets in recent years that we finally got to the point where there was no room to cover unexpected expenses and unavoidable spending exceeded appropriations. The adults involved need to resolve this without all the drama. Ask the average grade school student what he learned this year and the answer may surprise you. The kids know what is going on and are ashamed of the grown-ups who should not have allowed this to happen, much less wasted a couple of months talking about and trying to place blame without the dreaded finger pointing.
For the record, a little self interest in not a bad thing. I suspect we all have our share. You seem to think it is evil when teachers demonstrate to save their jobs and get what was promised in a contract. Are we to believe you are entirely above such behavior ?
Teachers Union President Bruce Mellion's own comment was that the wages and benefits were the best in the state at the time the contract was made. Since then the wealthy folks in Greenwich made a contract with slightly higher wages, but if you adjust for the shorter contract hours then Norwalk teachers still have a better contract than Greenwich, even if most teachers do work more than the contract hours.
I agree with you that a little self interest is not a bad thing. For the record, I never said it was evil for teachers to demonstrate to save their jobs. What I object to is people saying they're demonstrating to benefit children, when in reality they're demonstrating to save their own jobs.
You're wromg go back and look at the numbers. A greenwich teacher make more money in the first 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years than a Norwalk teacher makes. More steps doesn't equal more money it equals less. Check it against other county schools as well and you will seem the same thing.
Not funding the school system is the best way to end up with your house on the wall in city hall. The quickest way to devalue your home is with a poor school system and that hit everyone with or without kids