I have yard signs, bumper stickers and flyers for my Select Board candidacy available to anyone who would like one. Send me an email at pokanoketlax@hotmail.com if you would like any campaign materials. Thanks for reading here and adding to the discussion regardless of whether or not you support my run.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
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16 comments:
Hello Mr. Trimble, Can you please give us your views concerning the last question in "The Long and Winding Road" thread. I believe it's post #17. Thank you very much.
That's not a question that Mr.Trimble is comfortable answering. It has been asked before and is a variation on the discussion that FinCom member Greg Lynam wrote recently in the Standard Times. You may well cut to the very bone and yet fixed costs will soon out pace 2 1/2% limits. What then? Cut some more would likely be Mr Trimbles response. Or, its not my responsibility, ask someone on the school committee. I too am interedted in Mr. trimbles response to this question along with some proof that this town is so poor that it cannot support a modest tax increase. I am not holding my breath for an answer.
The schools will get an automatic increase of $1.6 million even without the override. That is roughly a 4.9% increase.
What I have said is that any new spending must be carefully considered in regards to it's impact on the town in the long term. I have not said that no override is ever justified or that the town does not need an override at this time. That said, I have also said that all overrides are not equal. Many of the current override requests hire more people and increase costs at a time when we are unable to sustain current spending. I feel this is adding folly to grief and do not support those overrides.
The fixed cost growth argument is a straw man. Our fixed costs are not all that fixed. Our revenue growth is not 2-1/2%.
The rate of growth of revenue includes new growth revenue and Dartmouth's real revenue growth has exceeded the state average for the past ten years according to Rep. Quinn. A majority of so called fixed costs are due to the number of people that we employ and therefore can be reduced. That does mean reducing the number of people that are employed by the town to deliver our services. There are a number of ways to reduce that number. Contracting out the work is one, privatization of services is another, and more efficient use of manpower (increased productivity) another. In some areas, the number of people required at the point of delivery is relatively fixed, such as school teachers and police officers. That does not mean that there are not ways to reduce that costs associated with our employment of these people as well. Joining the state health insurance program, moving retirees to Medicare in some cases, and changing payroll schedules to bi-weekly, and other measures can reduce the costs.
Regardless of whether the current override questions pass or fail, the town must reduce the rate of growth of expenses. I hope that answers your question.
If elected, I will work with all departments in the town to try to reconcile expense growth to revenue growth. That is really the only way that the town can return to fiscal health.
Thank you for your answer, Mr. Trimble. I understand that you don't want to keep digging while we're in a hole. But that hole isn't the only one we are in. We are also in a service hole. I know you agree with this, at least in part, because you back the police overide and maybe even the library override. Personnally, our poor student-to-teacher ratio and the fact that we have two closed schools in this town is too much of a service hole to ignore. I could back you if I felt you were more committed to closing that gap somewhat. Thanks again.
It is possible to provide excellent services without increasing costs. I posted about our award winning water department for example.
If the only way to provide a quality education was to spend more money, then most parochial schools and many charter schools would be sub standard. Despite the fact that they typically spend less per student, both often show similar or superior results as compared to pubic schools. I am not advocating ignoring problem areas. We just need to address them within our means. What keeps us from doing that?
BillT-you know it is disingenuous to compare the public education system to parochial and private schools. You're better than that, no?
Those private schools can pick and choose any one they want to attend their private facilities. SPED needs? No private schools for them, go to public school. Disruptive kids - out you go back to public schools.
Transportation to and from school? Only the public system is mandated to bus kids to and from-private schools are under no such mandates.
So yes BillT, some private schools do indeed do better than public schools, but to conveniently forget some of the facts behind the performace is not being honest BillT.
As far as costs go, how does over $20,000 per child for a Friends Academy tuition sound to you Bill? Over twice the cost as our Dartmouth system and without all the burdens the public system must bear. And Friends is among the cheaper of the private schools many people already send their kids to. Tabor, St Andrews, Wheeler[all cost more. Ask me how I know Mr Trimble. And for every kid that is able to attend one of these true 'Academies' the Dartmouth system loses thousands of dollars in state education aid.
Tell the whole story Mr Trimble not just the convenient pieces that bolster your position. Someone that seeks a position of leadership owes us at least that.
As far as Charter schools go, the jury is still very much out and performance across the state has been mixed at best. Local charter schools have been doing well but address only a small population of school age children and are not the panacea for the entire district. One of the very aspects of the local charter schools that contribute to their success is their small size. And guess what BillT, your views on re-opening the 2 closed, small schools runs counter to the very thing that helps the charters-small size.
BillT, Driving in to work this morning I noticed by the signs that your campaign is picking up steam. Keep it up. I believe you are the better candidate to bring the different factions in this town together. If I had a nickel for every time I've heard MacLean described as a spoiled little brat, I wouldn't have to worry about my fixed income.
Anonymous, I was not trying to be deceptive or disingenuous in my comment. My point is that spending is not a reliable indicator of results. If that were true, ed reform which requires equal spending for every child in Massachusetts would have equalized results across the state. It hasn't. Do you agree with that or not?
I concede your points that transportation and behaviors are not included in the costs at some of the schools I mentioned. However I don't think that these costs are a significant portion of what is driving our spending up. SPED costs are a significant part of the cost equation and I know that our schools are working to ameliorate those increases.
With all due respect, I'd like to point out that Dartmouth taxpayers who do not send their children to our public schools results in a net gain for the fiscal equation rather than a loss due to state aid. Those taxpayers are still assessed property tax while the town is relieved of the cost of educating that child. The only loss is to the public school system funding due to fewer students. Do you agree?
I do agree that people that send their kids to private schools is a net gain to the town side of the tax equation but not the school side. There are other, less tangible losses however, the loss of those same people and their children also means less participation by the very same people that can and do contribute resources to the school system. Hard to quantify in dollar amounts but I suspect all of our PTO's in Dartmouth would like to have high dollar people contribute to their causes but if their children go to privates there is little chance of seeing any of that charitable money getting into Darmouths coffers. Even less tangible and hard to quantify but valuable none the less is the value in having a student population that is well represented by all members of the community, wealthy and not so wealthy and the poorest among us. To segregate the public school system into everyone but the wealthy serves no good purpose in the long run. That I can't put a number on that value does not degrade its worth in my opinion.
Transportation and SPED costs are huge costs. The transportation end as I'm sure you know BillT , is picked up entirely by the Town side of the equation and if I'm not mistaken runs to over $40,000 per bus per year with I think 26 or 27 busses. (from memory - could be off) Private and parochial schools simply tell parents to get the kids to school and thats the end of their involvment in transportation issues. SPED spending is largely out of the hands of the public school system. A SPED child moves from one locale to another and that new locale must pick up whatever costs are assoicated with that child's needs-same with ESL sudents. Privates never have to worry about any of that. The current override request includes money for a (part time I think) sped coordinator so that more sped programs can be done in house rather than the more costly off site option. Again, none of these costs part of a private schools budget requirements.
Finally, spending is one indicator of results certainly not the only indicator. And if Dartmouth spent above the average of the county or state I'd be inclined to say it was a poor indicator of results but it spends quite a bit below the average and its getting average results although that is changing too.
anonymous, who would you like to see on the SC on April 2nd?
I agree that SPED is a budget buster for many towns and cities. Is there any way that we could get relief from the government if we teamed up with other towns to try to find alternative ways of dealing with SPED. I don't know a whole lot about SPED but I would like to hear what the SC has to say about trying to find new ways to help the situation that schools are facing. It's not just Dartmouth.
to wondering
I would like to see Phil Lenz on the school committee. He has a firm grasp on sped issues from personal experience. I do think it makes sense to 'team up' as you say to address the sped costs. The costs can be so debilitating to a town. One child moving from one town to the neighboring town can make or break a budget. It should not be this way.
I have seen Ms Britto in many meetings and I admit she confounds me. At times she seems less than 'tuned in' to some of theproblems the system faces and at other times she has taken lone, courageous stands in support of the students in the system. Since I have not seen or heard much from the other candidate yet, I'd lean towards keeping Ms Britto in place.
Although Mr. Trimble is more reasonable that the average CFRG member, he insists on placing a higher priority on keeping our already low taxes low than hiring more teachers, which would certainly benefit our children. I disagree with him that we can't afford the extra teachers. If our low taxes go up, we can afford it. It's worth it to me and sensible, especially considering that a good education is more important now than ever. The jobs of today and tomorrow demand better educated people. We should pay to provide that education. That's more noble, in my opinion, than than keeping a few extra dollars in my wallet.
Anonymous,
Have you done any research into the amount of teacher assistants? The original purpose they served was to allow for more students per classroom. Perhaps eliminating some of them and replacing with teachers would be feasible.
uku,
replacing teacinf assistants at this point is not feasible. For one, teachers cost more money and large portions of this town have shown a reluctance to spend more money on education (even BillT and the CFRG disputes the replacement teaching positions put into this override question so you cant win them over from day one) and for another if you do get more teachers to reduce class size you ned the classroom space to put the teachers and their classes in.
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