The 10/11 budget & out-of-state conferences
Though the Town's budget for travel & entertainment conferences & seminars has been questioned for at least two years, with Anne Giddings on the Council we're finally seeing some movement. Tonight the Council was given some details of this budget item:
I thank Anne for her efforts. And no, it's not the biggest line item. But times are tough. Spending needs to be reduced.
Also two budget proposals were sent to the Council tonight. One was brought forward by Councilman Ruocco, the other by Councilman Ecke. Most of the details have been widely disseminated. There was one exception though that I don't think anyone had noticed until tonight.
Ruocco's budget proposes a transfer of $500,000 from the CRRA fund to a to-be-created OPEB fund. And Ecke's budget proposes a transfer of $729,433 from the CRRA fund to a to-be-created OPEB fund. But it's not only the dollar figure that's different. Ruocco's proposal is intended to include all OPEB beneficiaries, but Ecke's is intended to exclude teachers. And since most of the $22 million OPEB benefit will go to the teachers... I guess Tom is actually quite pro-education... while Mike is anti-education??
Kidding!!! Neither of my Council colleagues are anti-education. And neither are anti-taxpayer either.
But I do think it's a notable difference.
Any other comments on tomorrow's budget vote?
Tim White
38 comments:
Tim, does this mean funding for these conferences will be cancelled?
Where are the trips in the education budget. Buried someplace?
Where are the trips in the education budget?
Well, if you look on page 11 of the Support Services section of the education budget, you'll see the requested amount for 10/11 is $59,350 for travel & conferences.
(Acct includes daily mileage reimbursement for local travel by staff, as well as costs of transportation, meals, hotel and other expenses for conferences.)
I suppose here's 60K the boe could save without having a direct impact on students.
You really ought to get a copy of the Boe budget detail. It's quite interesting. :o
Comments on the budget vote?
Glad it went the way it did. Thank you to all on the council who are trying to deal with this difficult economy and who realize using fund balance accounts is the WRONG way to do things especially when facing an even worse budget year to follow.
Oh, and Mike, if your kid was in a $30,000/year college and you or your spouse lost their jobs, DON'T try telling us that you wouldn't suggest your kid transfer to a college that was closer, less expensive, and maybe didn't involve expensive room & board. Who are you kidding? When difficult times hit, even kids better learn to adjust..unless of course, you're just gonna spoil yours and go broke in the meantime.
people who do NOT have children in the school system just don't care. And ppl who have kids int eh school system don't care about having a 7 million dollar pool in town. It's very very sad, sad that any TC member would put anything abovet education. I bet that slime Schrumm's kids got an A+ education here in cheshire. pig
11:29
Guess what, I have 2 kids in the school system and I care about education.
I care so much that I want the superintendent to cut the waste and concentrate on educating the kids.
Finally, we have a council who is forcing him to do this.
I get sick and tired every year when he continues to present a budget with a substantial increase, even after the enrollment has decreased.
When does it end?
My kids are being educated both in school and at home. Perhaps more parents should spend time with their kids and see what they are learning.Too many parents feel it is solely the schools job to educate.
you can say you care - but you do not. sorry - just a fact. If you are OK with aprox 33 kids stuffed in a classroom meant for 20 kids, you do not care. it IS that simple. There will be 33 kids in a class by 2012. 33. one teacher to 33 kids. this year it will be at least 28.
One teacher for 33 kids in 2012? Does that projection assume that more and more families will move to town in the next 2 years adding another 400 or 500 students so that the student population will increase again to where it once was about 10 years ago?
It would be interesting to see whether or not the teachers union would welcome that if their pay increased by the same ratio. Claiming classroom size will go up from 20 to 33 is an increase of a factor of 1.65. Would teachers be happy if their $90,000 salaries increased by the same proportion to $148,500 per year and all they were required to do was have 33 students instead of 20?
no, it's not more families, it's less teachers - wait until you all see how many will be cut in the next 2 years, I promise you, it will be STAGGERING. there will be a huge increase in class size as well. they have already been figuring out how many kids can fit in the room as per the fire marshall guidelines - - that number is standardly, 35.
8:25 -"no, it's not more families, it's less teachers "
Seems the point in the post may really be that yes, the student population is not increasing but it is decreasing. Along with that the teacher population is decreasing too. Things are going to be in a state of flux.
Stop whining and start figuring it out. The CT economy is in free fall. Unemployment is up with no sign it will head down anytime soon. There are not too many people with school age children lining up to build a house in town who do not already live in town. There are many houses for sale in town with few if any buyers.
These are pretty sad circumstances. Maybe the TC is more hopeful for an early turn-around. If they guessed wrong the cuts are going to continue and at some point they will be real, i.e. no year to year budget increases at all, only decreases. Get ready for it and stop whining.
7:05
You are such a joke!
I guarantee you that there won't be 33 kids in any class in Cheshire.
It is people like you who have no clue that it is a horse and pony show that Florio puts on each year to get parents like you to back him.
I heard the same thing 6 years ago when the zero percent budget happened.
It is time that the superintendent does his job and becomes fiscally responsible.
If you really cared about your children in the system then you should begin questioning Florio.
I don't think you care nor do you understand.
By the way, it is time to play hard ball with the teacher's union.
Cheshire ranks in the top 22% in terms of teachers salaries in the state of CT. If they can't educate our children with the budget they have then they are doing their jobs.
Will they teach differntly if the budget was increased?
8:25
"STAGGERING"??
"HUGE INCREASES IN CLASS SIZES"??
My God, you are gullible.
If it gets to 33 kids in a class, then we must have had a huge influx of families moving into town.
Where are you getting these speculative numbers from?
Just curious. I assume they arre from Florio or one of his cohorts.
at least we know for CERTAIN that the republicans will be voted out of office next election, thats one saving grace :). they dug themselves too deep this time - which I guess could be a good thing!
NO doubt will be 33 kids, I am 100% certain of it. Maybe some of you should stop the name calling, I feel so very sorry for your children. you need to grow up and learn to play in the sandbox nicely. ignorance breeds ignorance
holy cross, hamden hall, cheshire academy, xavier, choate, stpaul, chase collegiate......all take cheshire kids and provide a superiorr education, as well as a sense of community. People might want to start noting the admission test dates now. Cheshire public schools are a farce, teaching kids how to take capt tests, that's it. It's an embarassment
I heard it they're targeting 40 kids per classroom by 2011 and 65 by 2012. I heard this from the tooth fairy so it must be true. Oh the humanity of it all.
1:41
Ha....
How are you so certain there will be 33?
Please let us know?
80 less students next year.
Are you saying on average there will be 33 students?
I agree with 2:43, the tooth fairy must be telling you this.
Enlighten us all on how we will be seeing and average of 33 students per class?
What a shame that some people actually think this. I hope that someone stops with this misinformation. Dr Florio's budget is way out of line for several years. I agree with Mr Adinolfi that a review should be done. We can find hundreds of thousands of dollars that could be used for the Kids.
8 hours later and still haven't heard from 1:41 about how he is so certain that there will be 33 kids to a class.
Didn't think he could answer that one intelligently.
actually, it will be more like 27 kids in a class starting this sept, they are dumping 22 teachers total, a disgrace. how about we get rid of the bottomless money pit of the pool. the person who said 33 kids in a class knows what he is talking about for the most part
(Hi E!) but the numbers are a little off, and I know he can not (and should not) say another word!
actually, it will be more like 27 kids in a class starting this sept, they are dumping 22 teachers total, a disgrace. how about we get rid of the bottomless money pit of the pool. the person who said 33 kids in a class knows what he is talking about for the most part
(Hi E!) but the numbers are a little off, and I know he can not (and should not) say another word!
Okay, now it is 22 teachers. Florio was saying 17. Before we know it you will 40 teachers going.
I highly doubt thre will be even 27 kids to a class..
I am still waiting to hear where this information is coming from. Do you have insider information?
"Okay, now it is 22 teachers. Florio was saying 17. Before we know it you will 40 teachers going.
I highly doubt thre will be even 27 kids to a class..
I am still waiting to hear where this information is coming from. Do you have insider information?"
Don't listen to her, she's full of b.s. I sat behind her at the TC meeting and she was spewing the same b.s. getting parents riled up not to mention hissing at the TC. A real pleasure this one is.
Regarding the statement about 33 students per class and 22 teachers it's gibberish and not true.
If these 'insiders' attended the BOE meeting last night they would know that we're still only looking at reducing 17.25 teaching positions. Of the 8 being selected at the elementary level, class sizes may vary between 21-25 (up from 18-22) students per class at some elementary schools primarily between grades 3-6. The average class will certainly not be anywhere near 33 students. That's silly.
If these 'insiders' are teachers then I think they should discuss how their meeting with the EAC yesterday. As I understand it, the EAC leadership met with teachers yesterday. The consensus, at least what I heard from one teacher in attendance at last night's BOE meeting, was that teachers are angry because they want to help but feel stone-walled because of 'legal issues'.
Now, can these 'insiders' confirm/deny what I heard? Or, perhaps, if there are any teachers on here please share your thoughts on the meeting, if you can.
Thanks,
Tony Perugini
BOE
OH, "ONLY 17"?? PHEW, I feel so much better. How could you be so flip about losing so many of our children's educators?
9:40
I think we could afford to lose a few more.
Perhaps Tony can answer this question best:
Back in 2005, we had 5,176 students enrolled. The projected enrollment for 2011 is 4,850.
With 326 less students then 5 years ago, how many teachers were there then versus now?
Did we drop teachers each year as the enrollment dropped?
It is amazing these parents feel that this is the destruction of our education system.
Perhaps these parents should put the same amount of effort into spending the time with their kids and making sure they are getting all they can out of their schooling.
9:40 - - "It is amazing these parents feel that this is the destruction of our education system."
The parents who so believe have fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book. Sadly they are gullible. This is a lesson not lost on the current superintendent and those who he seems always happy to help, the teachers union membership. between the union, its members and the superintendent there is so much misinformation and politicking going on that all but the most street-wise parents could easily be taken in by the annual garbage we are accosted by concerning education budgets.
The BOE needs to remember it is supposed to represent the town's voters and not the voting members of the local teachers union or any particular superintendent too.
what are these parents "gullible" about exactly? it's all factual. There are teachers being cut, 17 positions, that means larger classes, less activities,music programs being cut. there is no falicy in that, nothing .... it is what it is and people are pissed. why is that so hard to believe?
"OH, "ONLY 17"?? PHEW, I feel so much better. How could you be so flip about losing so many of our children's educators?"
Yes, it's only 17.25 teaching positions. Would you rather see more go? How 30, 40, 50 perhaps 60 by 2012? Are you aware of what issues this BOE is facing over the next 3 years? Have you been following what the BOE and Dr. Florio have been discussing about education funding being eliminated since last December? I laid it all out on this BLOG in great detail...this year is a WALK IN THE PARK compared to what's coming in 2011.
If you really care about what's going on and want to understand the real issues we're facing please contact me, or any other BOE member, and we'll more than happy to go over them with you.
It's sad that the real funding issues waiting around corner are lost in the b.s. politics and emotion being thrown around by various elected officials as well as those that lost the past election. None of these folks are addressing the education funding shortfalls we know are coming. Some would rather play the politics at the expense of education.
For those folks that stood up in standing ovation on Tuesday night...do you even know what you were clapping about? This is not about the Dems vs. Reps, it's not about the BOE vs. TC...we already know we're going to be $3M short in direct education funding starting in 2011. $6M in 2012.
Did you here anyone on the TC address these shortfalls? Did anyone provide any detail on how to solve this? What about the $2.7M we must spend on resolving compliance issues at CHS regarding the Civil Rights Assessment audit? How about the $12M in outstanding maintenance?
I'm not happy about the additional cut the TC made to the education budget but at least they have the courage to address the town's overall finance problems head on. However, it doesn't address 2011 or 2012 and I strongly urge our elected officials not to wait until 2011 to deal with the issues I laid out here. It will be too late then.
Don't get caught up in the hype.
Thanks.
Tony Perugini
BOE
"Perhaps Tony can answer this question best:
Back in 2005, we had 5,176 students enrolled. The projected enrollment for 2011 is 4,850.
With 326 less students then 5 years ago, how many teachers were there then versus now?
Did we drop teachers each year as the enrollment dropped?"
I'll have to look up this information and report back on these numbers.
thank you Tony for that bleak outlook. actually, we are fortunate enough to be able to explore private school, so I am not goign to fret over this any longer. take care
12:41-"what are these parents "gullible" about exactly? it's all factual. There are teachers being cut, 17 positions, that means larger classes, less activities,music programs being cut. there is no falicy in that, nothing .... it is what it is and people are pissed. why is that so hard to believe?..."
More amazement. Saying that it's all factual . . " might sound nice. The statement has a certain ring to it. Interestingly the BOE member who posts here, Tony can't even tell us how many teachers and how many students the town has by years for the past 5 or 10 years without doing some research.
Now, if we have one honest hard working BOE member and that member needs to go research a very, very simple fact that is necessary for actually figuring the budget and we have just done the budget maybe lots of stuff associated with the Ed budget is more blue smoke and mirrors. Facts not required here in Cheshire, just blue smoke and mirrors and 50 or 100 gullible local tax payers chanting year in and year out that not only would they be happy to personally pay some extra taxes but initially they want all of the neighbors to be forced into paying more and more. They want everyone paying more and more year in and year out even though apparently year by year production must be falling. After all, each year brings fewer students then past years did.
Slowly but surely the superintendent and the BOE have created an atmosphere of strange expectations. Certain groups pack meetings demanding more and more wild spending. Other groups are even afraid of showing up, let alone asking for some basic details. Like exactly how many teachers are on the payroll? How many students are at each school, in each class etc?
Not to worry though, the superintendent has just super power point presentations. Sit through enough of them and you have to begin half believing that he gives us such a bargain, all those PP slides for only 60 or so million a year, wow!
Parents need to stop being BOE boosters and start asking the BOE and superintendent the hard questions.
Tony
We truly appreciate all your input here.
It is sad that these people don't see the reality.
All they want is high taxes and to make sure little Johnny and Mary get everything handed to them when they go to school.
Where will we make up the $9 million shortfall over the next 2 years?
They think going up only $40 per person this year will fix everything. It won't, next year that $40 will be $200 then the following year another $400.
Where does it stop??
6:16 you're welcome. It's interesting to read posts by folks like 4:58 and it reminds me of something that happened (or didn't happen) last weekend. I offered to meet anyone interested in the budget at Main Street Cafe last Sat morning.
Now, I'm pretty easy to talk to and I don't mind spending the time educating folks about the budget. Whether we agree on things or not you'll at least get the facts. I had people at the TC meeting tell me they would be there. Guess how many people showed up? ZERO. LOL.
Sorry but I'm not going to memorize the last 10 years of teacher to student data points. Quite frankly, it's not relevant to the issues I listed but I don't mind posting information for those that request it.
I don't know of any BOE member or administration that can recite these off the top of their heads. I do have a simple chart that shows actual teachers/students by school year in budget binder. I'll post the information when I get home from work this evening.
Gotta get back to setting up my smoke and mirrors for our next presentation.
- Tony
tony, had I heard that offer, I'd have been there with bells on. I have been reading and researching trying to put it all together, admitingly not really undertstanding how it all works. It's all very frustrating for me, a mom of 3 very young kids to try to figure out what to do next, move (if the schools are really going to go into the shitter in 2011/12), private schools, etc.....
10:53
Don't do a thing.
I heard this all before back in 2005 and my children still are getting a good education. We were told there will be numerous layoffs and they wouldn't be able to buy new text books and supplies, yet their test scores were still high and the education system was not destroyed.
It is in difficult times where a good superintendent will earn his keep. Use what the town is giving you to make sure the same level of education is given to our children. If this superintendent can't do it, find one that can.
He tends to look to the parents for pity and gets them all riled up. Luckily, there are many like myself who can see through the smoke.
move? where are you going to move to? If anyones noticed, every town is facing budget crunches.
"...It's interesting to read posts by folks like 4:58 and it reminds me of something that happened (or didn't happen) last weekend. ... Sorry but I'm not going to memorize the last 10 years of teacher to student data points. Quite frankly, it's not relevant to the issues I listed but I don't mind posting information for those that request it. ..."
Tony you seem to be missing the big picture here. On the one hand you claim you haven't memorized 10 years worth of important data but no one showed up to speak with you. Many of us parents suffer from various school related issues at lower levels in the schools too. Like when it is almost impossible to meet with a child's teacher or when you can only get a few minutes and when you bring up an issue and it is met with less than adequate responses.
At your level Tony, the info that was asked for shouldn't be hiding but it is. Clearly at this point it is not your fault since you are a newbie on a town board. I looked at the BOE web site, many times, and so far it has not seemed to be available there either.
Out here in the business world you are not going to prosper if you don't have available enough info to know where you are, where you came from and where you are going. Normally customers won't pay more than something is worth and if they buy quantities of something they will research it and if you are the high priced provider they will be the first to tell you by not buying from you.
The game played on town residents by the superintendent and by the BOE makes great use of a single descriptor and I'm sure they have by now indoctrinated you in average class size, be it 5 students or 30 students. Of course that number is much loved by the typical greedy teachers union but for those of us paying the bill it is close to meaningless.
So far Tony you have done a great job for a newbie on a town board. The fact that you haven't memorized some very important facts and they are so simple that had you seen them you'd remember them is all telling. Your superintendent needs to prepare and widely distribute just one or 2 more power point slides with the real basic stuff on it. Number of teachers by year and school, number of non-teaching staff, number of students by year and school, and cumulative cost per diploma issued by year.
Keep up the good work. Remember that the BOE needs to lead. It should not be a booster organization for the superintendent or special town sports interests. Time will tell - - -
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