West Hartford Superintendent And Board Of Education Exposed To Be Anti-Education

Published March 4, 2009 at 6:37 p.m.

Yes, anti-education - sacrificing school programs and materials at the expense of higher salaries and wages.

Despite a 2.87 percent, $3.5 million, increase in the the 2009-10 fiscal year school budget, bringing spending up to $126.9 million, here are the list of reductions in the West Hartford School System budget as outlined in last night's Board of Education meeting as reported in the Courant today:

* About 23 full-time positions would be cut (it is claimed that few directly affect the classroom).

• Instituting a $25 annual fee for the roughly 2,000 middle and high school students who participate in intramural or extracurricular activities, such as chess club and mock trial.

• Trimming $754,000 from school and department supply budgets, which include funds for textbooks and printing newsletters.

• Laying off eight special education staff members and two teaching assistants to save $276,000. For another $629,000 in savings, three security guards, two maintenance workers, 20 part-time custodians and four central office staffers — including the coordinator of English for Speakers of Other Languages — would have their positions cut.

• A wage freeze for all non-union employees, including top administrators, for a $84,000 savings.

Our highly paid and compensated Education CEO, Dr. Sklarz, cannot seem to manage to a zero budget increase. Instead he has chosen to compensate for his department's even higher spending on salaries and benefits at the expense of the students by making them pay more for sports and programs and eliminating their textbooks and reducing supplies! Shall parents have to buy toilet paper and hand soap next?

Special education instructors and maintenance workers are being cut so that higher wages can be spent on union administration and teacher salary and benefits! Nice to see that Special Education teachers are valued as highly as maintenance staff in our school system.

If non-union employees wages were frozen then how come the teachers union wages and benefits are allowed to grow? Where is the equity in that? Why aren't any of Teacher's Union president, Dave Dippolino's minions being sacrificed at the expense of their new expensive contract? (Oops, we forget that we got such an amazing DEAL on this new teachers contract and we ought to be ever so thankful).

The Courant reports:

Salaries and benefits would total $107.5 million under the plan, which translates to a little more than $4 out of every $5 that the school system spends. School officials consider the 2.3 percent increase in salaries relatively low and attribute it to the new teachers' contract, non-classroom cuts and the proposed wage freeze.

If the spending increase is lowered to zero percent, Sklarz said, "core" programs such as full-day kindergarten and gifted and talented education could be cut. But Sklarz also said that under no scenario would he recommend increasing class sizes.

Dr. Sklarz has now set down the upcoming budget battle over tax increases in terms of saving full-day kindergarten and gifted and talented programs.

Yesiree, it IS business as usual.

Parents will yet again be used as pawns to fight for full-day kindergarten and programs in order to save higher salaries and wages for teachers and administrators at a time when most of those very parents are facing layoffs and reduction of wages in their own jobs while facing the prospect of paying yet higher taxes...Oh the irony.

Students, parents and taxpayers all lose in this scenario thanks to bargaining units who continue to demand more at a time when we can all little afford it.

Additionally, what services on the Town side will we have to eliminate to pay for these higher education costs?

The Courant reports:

The school board will discuss the budget, which does not factor in possible federal stimulus funds, during the next three weeks and will hold a public hearing March 26. The board is expected to adopt a plan April 7, then submit it to the town council for review.

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