Woodstock CT Café

Dear Woodstock community members,

This message is sent to all participants, planners, and invitees to the Woodstock Community Conversation About Education Event of 3/26/11 and Follow Up Meeting tonight.

We hope that you all, the involved citizens of Woodstock, will continue to be engaged in educational issues in Woodstock, and that you will contribute to identifying priorities and action plans to address these needs.

A sincere “thank you” to those who were able to participate in the event on 3/26. We appreciate your time, your thoughtful participation and suggestions, and your candid feedback.

Many people told us that they found the discussion, and the connections they made with other community members, to be highly energizing and valued.

We were totally impressed by the enthusiasm and commitment to Woodstock’s students that was so evident in that forum. We hope this momentum will continue.

All community members are encouraged to attend TONIGHT’s Follow- Up Meeting from 7- 9 pm at the WMS cafeteria. Refreshments served!

At this time we will summarize key findings and suggestions from the 3/26 conversation.

The focus tonight will be on identifying specific next steps and action plans of interest to the community.

You do not need to have attended on 3/26 to be part of tonight’s session.

Materials associated with this meeting that will be posted separately at the Cafe.
1. Final Report and Summary
2. Suggested Resources
3. A compendium of research and resources compiled by resident Jock McClellan called “Resources About American K- 12 Education for Citizens Wanting to Improve It”

A “contacts” database of all of the participants will be provided at the meeting. This list is available so that participants can continue to network, organize and communicate towards improvement of Woodstock’s education.

With the resourcefulness, commitment and ideas of our engaged citizens, Woodstock can continue to improve the quality and relevance of education for our students for their future.

Thank you.
Lindsay Paul on behalf of the planners from:

The Woodstock Association of Teachers
The Woodstock PTO
The Woodstock Education Foundation
The Woodstock Board of Education

From Joe Gresko
May 11
(860) 240-0071

The budget that was recently passed by the House and Senate and signed by the Governor offers many positives for the communities which I represent. Killingly, Putnam and Thompson will all see slight increases in municipal aid as well as full funding of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) grants as the state replaces federal funds that were not available this year.

In addition, the budget also funds many programs that impact children, seniors, persons with disabilities, job training and a multitude of other state services. For these reasons casting a “no” vote was a very difficult choice, but one which I did to fulfill my commitment to represent my constituents to the best of my ability.

During the preceding weeks I have received countless emails, letters, phone calls and face-to-face comments taking issue with specific areas of the proposed budget. Many of these concerns were addressed and changes were made working together with committee chairs, caucus members, staff and outstanding leadership provided by Governor Malloy, Speaker Christopher Donovan, and Majority Leader Brendan Sharkey. Read the rest of this entry »