No Easy Solutions – 3/29/2010

Posted by Bob on March 29, 2010 under Daily Blogs | 4 Comments to Read

Today’s (3/29/2010) article in the Waterbury Republican-American references the efforts by certain members of a internet social networking site to conduct a citizens’ performance evaluation of the Board of Education budget.  The Citizens Audit Committee (“CAC”), comprised of volunteer members of our community, will access available public information and provide a report on ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs to taxpayers.  I wholeheartedly support this effort to streamline operations and increase public participation and transparency in government.

The CAC was suggested by Dr. Armand Fusco, a former superintendent of schools who is currently involved advising groups to perform such processes.  I had the pleasure to meet Dr. Fusco who explained in detail his work with various municipalities and their boards of education throughout Connecticut.  Any process that provides critical analysis that can improve government operations is welcomed by our administration.

It is concerning, however, when the described leader of the Facebook site states that a ten (10%) percent savings can be achieved through this process and prevent cuts for the 2010-2011 fiscal year.  Ten (10%) percent of Naugatuck’s education budget is approximately FIVE MILLION SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND and 00/100THS ($5,600,000.00) DOLLARS.

Any dollars that can be saved by working smarter and reducing waste are beneficial to Naugatuck and its taxpayers.  The reality is, however, that the overwhelming portion of any savings associated with the Board of Education budget will come from two (2), related accounts: personnel and health insurance.  Without raising taxes, Naugatuck simply can not afford to both employ and insure its valued workers at current levels.  Even if, for the sake of argument only, the CAC was able to recommend savings in the millions of dollars before July 1, 2010, it would undoubtedly involve eliminating significant numbers of positions or achieving concessions from various bargaining units.  Eliminating frivolous expenditures for school pictures (the invoice for which was not paid) or tax filing errors by the previous business manager should have been done long ago; but will not result in the millions of dollars necessary to close the gap.

The fear that is clearly apparent in our community is that our educational system will suffer as a result of the drastic state of our economy.  As a parent of public school children, I share these fears.  Providing false hope that all can be resolved by better management only delays facing the inevitable process of making some very difficult choices.  The 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 education budget crisis was very much the result of not managing the dollars allocated.  Not addressing this situation until after the 2009-2010 school year exacerbated this situation.  What we face for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year, however, is very much the same situation facing school districts throughout Connecticut.  In addition to the budget problems being described by the media in towns such as Shelton, West Haven, Wallingford, and Bristol; reports of tough times are being reported even in affluent communities such as Darien and Farmington.

A common response from parents in wealthier communities has often been to raise taxes rather than cut educational services.  This is not the norm during these uncommon economic times.  Families with children are also taxpayers, and many household budgets have been negatively effected by all the economic ills facing our state and nation.

Recommendations from the CAC are encouraged and welcomed, but promoting that savings achieved will result in amounts necessary to avoid making some difficult choices for the upcoming fiscal year is wishful-thinking.  Changes to the Board of Education business office will ensure that financial projections will be accurate.  The math, however, does not improve and is not complex:  significant cuts will need to be made or taxes will need to be raised.  Given the state of our economy, most Naugatuck families simply do not have the resources to pay for increased costs.

To meet our goal of a flat education budget, we need to cut approximately FOUR MILLION and 00/100THS ($4,000,000.00) DOLLARS prior to inclusion of any changes to the health insurance line item.  This figure has already been reduced the amounts associated from approximately thirty three (33) retirements from outstanding educators with over a thousand (1000) years of collective experience.  As a community, we need to have an honest conversation as to how we finalize our budget.  That discussion, however, needs to take place with an accurate perspective of the obstacles we face.

Given the problems associated with the past two (2) budgets, it is understandable that anger is focused on the Board of Education.  While many are unified in their collective opposition to the Board, the reality of the math does not change.  Eventually the discussion will need to focus on what programs will be cut, how class size will be impacted, which buildings will be closed, what concessions can be negotiated and/or how much more individuals are willing to pay.  Board leadership needs to do a much better job at articulating these difficult choices, but we all need to recognize the reality that no painless solution exists.