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Community Corner

Room for movement in Groton Education Budget

Everyone knows the subject of educating our children can be a tough subject to broach. I feel if we keep the EMOTION out of the conversation and look at the facts, we can accomplish a fiscally responsible education budget while not affecting our kid’s academics.  Education is 60% of the budget, so it naturally should get most of the scrutiny. Enrollment and class sizes continue to decline, as salaries, benefits and costs continue to rise. We spend $1300 MORE per student than the state average of $13,300 according to the State department of Education. This department also shows that our schools are not average in performance either. They concluded that spending more does not guarantee better schools.

There are process changes and efficiencies that need to be made to the structure of how we implement things. For example, we pay for exams we do not give to some students. Retirements, Health Care and Insurance accounts need to be re-assessed. Contribution rates need to come in-line with similar municipalities, and new hires should not get a pension like most other occupations. I give Dr. Graner credit as he did cut back on some projected increases, but I think he did not go quite far enough. Anyone can justify anything when it comes to education, but REAL leaders can make the hard decisions. As it stands now the budget will have gone up $2.4 million in 2 years, a budget that NEVER goes down. So if we do not get a handle on our spending it will ‘handle’ us.

 

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Scott Aument,  Chairman,  Groton Advocates for Tax Efficiency


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