I suppose State Reps Perone and Morris would caution that results from the magical mystery tour with Donovan won’t be known just yet, but from the comments, it doesn’t look good. Here are the relevant grafs from the Advocate (emphasis mine):
Under the budget proposal from Democrats in the state legislature, Norwalk’s ECS grants would increase from $8.7 million to $9.2 million. Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s spending plan would increase Norwalk’s school aid to $11.4 million; a budget proposed by legislative Republicans would increase Norwalk’s grants to $10.5 million.
Donovan said Rell’s proposal is not just for public school education and also includes reimbursement for the car tax and more money for Norwalk Community College.
“Our education money is specifically for education,” he said of the Democratic budget proposal.
Donovan said the tour gave him an idea of the hard work that teachers in Norwalk are doing.
“As we’re fighting to give Norwalk the funds it needs, this reinforces me as I go into that fight to know the people in Norwalk are doing a great job,” he said.
And here are the quotes from The Hour (again emphasis mine):
Donovan defended the Democrats’ budget, which increases health coverage for the uninsured. But asked if his budget is best for Norwalk schools among the three competing proposals, Donovan demurred.
“Our goal is that no town does best but that all towns do well,” he said. “There have been two court cases that say we need to have equality in education (funding).”
Donovan criticized the governor, saying she “double counted” budget items to artificially enlarge her education proposal.
The majority leader also addressed criticism that a graduated tax increase in the Democrats’ proposal hurts middle-class residents in Fairfield County. While the budget cuts taxes for lower-income earners, it raises them on couples making more than $150,000, drawing the ire of Perone and Morris.
Taking into account an increase to the property tax credit, the Democratic proposal amounts to “a tax decrease to everybody (making) up to $190,000,” Donovan said. “We’re still looking at a Democratic tax cut.”
But what did Donovan say about his school district?
House Majority Leader Christopher G. Donovan (D-Meriden), Sen. Tom Gaffey, Deputy Speaker Emil “Buddy†Altobello, and Rep. Cathy Abercrombie announced the State Bond Commission is expected to approve funding for the Rushford Center and H.C. Wilcox Technical High School.“The Meriden legislative delegation is a strong team and we worked hard to secure this funding,†Rep. Donovan said. “State funding helps keep local projects moving forward and important local programs operating.â€
Wilcox Technical High School is expected to receive a $50,000 for alterations and improvements to the facility. Rushford Center has an $800,000 grant on the agenda to finance HVAC upgrades.
Or there’s this one:
The district-wide bond package will be utilized to upgrade the technology infrastructure in Meriden schools as part of an overall plan to keep students competitive in an increasingly technology dependent economy.
Rep. Donovan said, “Aging schools do not have the infrastructure to support the demands of today’s technology. Meriden students will benefit from this investment in our schools.â€
And this is not the school system but the might be a tad familiar to the flooding issues in Norwalk:
House Majority Leader Christopher G. Donovan (D-Meriden) announced the State Bond Commission today approved $13.2 million in grants and loans to improve Meriden’s sewage treatment plant. The funding is part of a $100 million Clean Water Fund package aimed at cleaning water resources around the state.
Rep. Donovan said, “Meriden’s archaic sewage treatment plant is a prime example of the critical need for this funding around the state. Investing in infrastructure may not be headline grabbing news, but is critical to Meriden’s ability to expand and attract more business and residents.â€
Types of projects covered by the Clean Water Fund include:
- Construction and improvements to sewage treatment plants
- Increasing the ability of plants to remove nitrogen from wastewater in order to protect the water quality of Long Island Sound
- Repairs to aging sewage pumping stations and sewers
- Construction of separate storm water systems to eliminate overflows caused by combined sewage and storm water systems.
State Rep Tim O’Brien managed to accomplish this for New Brittain:
The legislation I voted for today would increase New Britain’s state education funding by $7.5 million for the upcoming budget year.
This increased funding is set-up to both support our local schools and help keep property taxes down. Of the funding provided to New Britain in the coming budget year, at least $4.4 million will go to the schools and $3.1 million will be made available for property tax relief. The full budget plan is still taking shape, but, since the Appropriations Committee is expected to at least restore the $1.2 million in property tax relief funding for New Britain that Gov. Rell proposed cutting, there could potentially be more than $4.3 million made for property tax relief in the coming budget year. If we win this increase, it could enough to be equivalent to about about 2 mills less in property taxes.
In addition to this, the Education Committee has approved new special education funding legislation that would increase the amount of money the state provides for kids who need special education services.
Then there’s state senator Tom Gaffey who boasts on his legislative web site:
Throughout his most recent term Senator Gaffey persevered on behalf of his 13th District constituents and public school students statewide. He successfully brought home tens of millions of dollars in state aid for school construction projects in Meriden and throughout his district.
That would be $44 million for Meriden alone. Such modesty from Gaffey. All these small delegations aren’t going to reform the guys holding the purse strings in Hartford. So the two guys that sit on the Education committee make sure their districts get the bacon while cities like Norwalk continue to get bacon bits.
source: Norwalk Advocate, Legislators tour Norwalk school, , May 15 2007
source: The Hour, State Dem. leader defends budget during tour, By PATRICK R. LINSEY, May 15, 2007
