Today’s Hour reports that Sal Corda and his merry band of bureaucrats are ringing the bells in hopes of gathering up the villagers, pitchforks, torches and all in efforts to save the town from the evils of budget cuts. What? More dire warnings from Dr. Corda? Say it ain’t so, but alas, it is. Today’s effort includes:
“We are a ‘District in Need of Improvement’ under the federal No Child Left Behind legislation because we have not succeeded in closing the achievement gap. We have a strong and ambitious plan to address that, but it cannot be done without administrative support and leadership,” Superintendent of Schools Salvatore Corda told the Common Council. “I will not preside over dismantling an educational infrastructure that has greatly influenced more students performing at higher levels than ever before. We still have far to go.”
So why haven’t we succeeded? Could it be too much attention paid to building an administrative educational infrastructure and not enough, you know, educational instruction? Nah, that would be too easy.
“We spent an enormous amount of time developing this plan, and to execute it we need the staff. (The cap) will hurt us severely,” said Karen Lang, Norwalk’s assistant superintendent. “With lots of jobs being lost, people are going to feel even more overextended than they already are, and it’s going to be very damaging.”
Creators of the plan, including Corda, the assistant superintendent and district instructional specialists, analyzed the results of the 2006 Connecticut Mastery Test and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test — the two tests reported to the federal government under the federal law — to form goals and strategies to improve math and literacy skills and improve partnerships with parents and community groups.
OKay, the plan failed. Got that. Keep the same plan makers. Got that. If jobs are cut, they should be cut where?
“You could not put our district plan into implementation with this amount of money,” Corda said. “I identified four literacy specialists that would have to be cut at the elementary level. How do you continue to focus on the importance of making sure youngsters can read well with this? It creates a monumental challenge.”
Should the board be limited to a 3.8-percent increase, Corda recommended eliminating four teachers in the elementary Academically Talented program and four literacy specialists in the elementary schools. At the middle school level, Corda said the district would likely reduce the guidance secretaries’ work hours per year and eliminate some intramurals and after-school programs. At the high school level, the district would likely cut seven staff positions, the dean of students’ positions, one media specialist and three academic support positions. The athletic program would be reduced by 50 percent, as would extracurricular activities in the high schools.
Ah yes, nothing in the central office would be touched. Got that. Because requiring cuts in the central office would directly impact whom? The makers of the plan that failed. But then that would indicate a measure of accountability, er wait ….
Lynne Moore, principal of West Rocks Middle School, said the budget cuts were “disheartening.”
“If Dr. Corda has to make the kind of cuts which he has outlined, that will have a significant impact on student achievement,” Moore said. “I give 1000 percent in my job; I’m working 12- to 14-hour days, and I know what it takes to bring a school along where you have a very diverse population. Thirty percent of my students are eligible for free and reduced lunch, I have a bilingual program and students with serious educational needs. These cuts will affect them.”
But if the budget is being increased, then how is it a budget cut? Are middle schools teaching some kind of funky math these days? If a work day is 8 hours, and working it would be giving 100%, then giving 1000% would be how many hours a day? 80 hours. Is this in the Connecticut Mastery Math tests? Who would pass based on this question?
Carol Marinaccio, an instructional specialist for grants and one of the district improvement plan’s authors, said cutting staff and programs would impact a school or district being labeled a School or District in Need of Improvement.
“We’re developing programs to move the district forward, to carry out student achievement so students can perform well on testing and compete for jobs, colleges, and be prepared for life,” Marinaccio said. “You need staff at all levels to implement those programs.”
Seems like these bureaucrats already did a great job and delivering a school system in Need of Improvement.
Yet, not a single teacher came out in support of this budget. Where are the teachers on this? Do they feel that the administrators actually support or hinder education? And the Board of Ed continues its collective silence.
Source: The Norwalk Hour: Budget concerns school officials, By ANNA GUSTAFSON, March 9, 2007
