Woodstock CT Café

October 10, 2006
Dear Woodstock Community:

On April 4, 2006, the Woodstock Board of Education submitted to the Board of Finance a budget totaling $14,566,120, which was required to maintain the level of programs that existed in the 2005-2006 school year. On May 9, 2006, the Woodstock Board of Finance directed the Woodstock Board of Education to reduce its budget by $426,896. The final education budget of $14,139,224 represents an increase of 4.35% ($588,881) over last year’s budget of $13,550,343.

The Board was faced with difficult decisions. We requested the Board of Finance reconsider its allocation to the education budget, and requested Woodstock Academy reduce the tuition rates for our 9-12 students. Neither request was granted. In addition, the Board offered an early retirement incentive to its certified staff.

The following have been eliminated in order to comply with the reductions requested by the Board of Finance:

• Cut Gifted/Talented Program at WMS (eliminating one teaching position),
• Cut Gifted/Talented Program at WES (eliminating one teaching position),
• Reduced total number of certified staff by one Grade 1 Teacher,
• Reduced total number of certified staff by one Grade 5 Teacher,
• Cut Athletic Program Funding (the program exists as pay to participate),
• Did not purchase Educational Testing Software,
• Did not purchase needed equipment, classroom supplies, textbooks, workbooks, and technology supplies.

The reduction in staff listed above has resulted in the following class sizes:

Elementary School
…………..Academic
Grade /Class Size Range

PreK…13-14
K…..10-16
1…..16-19
2…..19-20
Multi 1/2…..20-21
3…..19-22
4…..19-21

Middle School
…….Home…..Academic
…….Room…..Class Size
5…..22-25…..18-25
6…..20-22…..18-24
7…..23-24…..18-29
8…..23-24…..17-29

The system experienced a number of changes that were able to reduce the impact of the reductions on our class sizes. Read the rest of this entry »

“…fiscal policy of Republicans in the last six years has been one of complete fiscal irresponsibility.”

Crunchy Con, (response to comment under the “Virtual Debate”, Admin)
I don’t understand how you can make this statement. “Don’t get me wrong, there are bad republicans, but the vast majority of them embrace traditional values that support education, sustain the environment, and protect the American way of life, which is the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness for all, but not at the expence of others and not in a fiscally irresponsible manner.”

The Bush Administration’s record in the areas you have identified, indicative of the current Republican philosophy, and that of Mike Alberts as well, has been abysmal.

Bush’s No Child Left Behind and the politics that preceded it of Bill Bennett and his cohorts has been an all out assault on the funding of education and an effort to privatize education. Democrats believe in full funding of public education. NCLB and other Republican education boondoggles have completely undermined our educational system.

The Bush Administration record in the area of environmental protection has been awful. Reversals of prior protections, faciliation of the exploitation of our natural resources for the benefit of corporate profit are all the hallmarks of the Republican control of our government of late. Republicans could care less about pollution controls, the effects of our industry upon global warming, and alternate energy development if it negatively impacts the corporate bottom line.

Protection of the American way of life which is the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness for all, besides being a fairly utopian ideal, to which Democrats are constitutionally committed, does not seem to be the objective of the current Republican Administration and is not achieved by the Republican directed attack on habeus corpus, belief in undermining of the Geneva Convention, torture of prisoners of war, invasion of sovereign nations under the guise of world wide evangelization of democracy, wiretapping surveillance of its citizens and its innumerable other violations of individual liberties.

More than 600,000 Iraqis have died by violence since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. USA Today, Oct 11, 2006; Why Vote for Lamont?

Read the rest of this entry »