This will continue until Ledyard decides to make a concerted effort to bring some industry in the town to help out with the tax base.

Or this will continue until folks in this town realize that we must pay for a continuation of our excellent school system with tax increases of modest levels. We can't have zero tax increases and maintain the rural/non-industrial nature of our town. The two are mutually exclusive. Excellet schools benefit everyone...families with solid educational opportunities for their children and families without children who want to maintain their property values.

We just had a tax increase a couple of years ago to pay for the schools budget. When are people going to start using common sense, we can't keep paying for teachers and superintendents pay raises, plus the pensions of retired teachers, plus keep sub-par teachers at a higher salary just because they have tenure... Common sense that with a system like this, the budget has no choice but to go up every year. Which means either taxes are raised to pay for it or education is cut. I think the teachers unions need to be done away with and the superintendents job needs to go and combine his position with other towns. And as far as an excellent education, that's laughable. We lived in South Windsor before moving here, and there schools were far superior education wise. The education level in this town does not even compete with close neighboring towns like Stonington, or Groton. So let's not balk at town home owners who are already paying an absorbenant amount in taxes (compared to other towns) that don't think their taxes should be raised again.

Another reason for $5000 vouchers for parents to send their children to schools of their choice. For every voucher there is an additional savings of almost $5000 because of per student costs in Ledyard. Get a couple hundred students to do this and you are talking real money

Myron, vouchers sound good. Right now I think the per student cost is $14,000 per student. Plus given the fact that Ledyard will once again fail the state testing (I believe this will be the 4th year in a row) (and I was told this by one of the principles) we should definitely be given vouchers to send our kids to schools of our choice.

Plus I like the idea of financial incentives to teachers who teach well.

The bulk of the town education budget is teacher salaries and benefits.

I recall reading on Ledyard Patch that the teachers union did not want to give back any raises this year based on their negotiated contracts and that the superintendent warned the taxpayers that the only way to meet the education budget this year would be to cut teaching positions, cut selective education programs and the least paid employees such as teacher aides. So we all knew that this was inevitable.

There is a bigger problem here. This is not just a Ledyard problem. Every town in the state of Connecticut is running out of money for their town budgets.

Less money is coming to the towns and cities from the state of Connecticut. Why?

Connecticut has high unemployment, a depressed real estate market, loss of high paying jobs, higher gas taxes, higher state income taxes, higher state sales taxes and possibly the return of tolls.

John Larson, Jim Himes, Chris Murphy, Joe Courtney and Rosa DeLauro have failed to control spending. House Speaker Chris Donovan , Senator Edith Prague , Senator Martin Looney, House Majority Leader Brendan Sharkey, Betsy Ritter, Kevin Sullivan, George Jepsen , Kevin Lembo , Denise Napier , Denise Merril , Nancy Wyman, Andrew Maynard and Tom Reynolds all have an impact on our state budget.

Write them and tell them what is wrong with Connecticut.

We should not have to lose these services for our school children.

$14,000 PER STUDENT?! So I'm saving Ledyard $56,000 by homeschooling, and it costs us less than a thousand dollars a year to educate all four kids. And we are not eligible to use any of our personal costs for tax deductions. Dang. I need to start a union over here at the house.....

Actually, we're not saving the town money, they're losing money, because for every child that's not enrolled in school, they cannot get funded in state dollars. But they way I see it, if the education was better, less parents would be opting for other schooling options.

The thing that attracts people to Ledyard is the schools. They need to think about what is going to happen to the town when people start leaving Ledyard to find schools that still offer the programs the want.

We do not, as Ledyard residents, pay the pensions of retired teachers. They paid into a retirement system administered by the state. There is no matching funds from the local towns. The teachers took a pay freeze during this contract - how quickly the town forgets. (No I am not a teacher in Ledyard.)
As a parent of two children who attended Ledyard schools, I feel they received an excellent education. So, before we go throwing the teachers under the bus, we need to deal with the issues that helped put so many towns in this exact position. In Ledyard, we have had huge legal fees, little to no industry and therefore, a grand list that is heavily reliant on homeowners.
Scapegoats don't help anyone. Last year, Dr. Graner held public forums and workshops for input. We need to get creative again and vouchers isn't creative.

I'd like to hear more about Ledyard failing state testing? Which tests? What level? From what I remember reading, Ledyard did very well on the CMT/CAPT over the last few years; even outperforming other area schools? My children have received an incredible education so far (Ledyard Center School). I credit the entire school community for this. It saddens me to see programs such as elementary instrumental music being cut. ONE teacher covers all 3 schools and runs a wonderful program despite a crazy schedule and lack of fancy equipment. Parents pay for most of the instruments; the school owned ones are very old. I hope to see more 'out of the box' thinking, so education in Ledyard can maintain (if not improve) the current level of excellence.