"the next level of involvement: namely, campaigns for office."

Youza. This is getting serious.

Wow. Talk about a superficial analysis. Mr. Katz writes: "the excuse will go out . . . that laws, mandates, and contracts leave . . . no choice. Adults should understand that there are always choices, the question being who refuses to make the right ones."
Actually, it seems to me that adults should understand that abiding by the law and honoring contracts tend to be the right choices.

Through Mr. Katz's opaque prose only one message is clear, and it was evident at the town meeting -- some people in Tiverton want to have their cake and eat it too. They want good schools and don't want to pay for them. They want town services but don't want to pay for them. They want to challenge the assessments on their property so can can pay less tax, but they have no plan to make up the inevitable short fall. Perhaps their frustration with the financial pressure they are feeling is understandable, but the way in which a narrow majority at the meeting just hacked at the budget with no principle to guide them other than "we don't want to pay" was most irresponsible.

Laws can be challenged and changed. Mandates can be excused. Contracts can be renegotiated. In fact, the town's three big contracts don't have to be renegotiated — just negotiated.

The teachers' contract approved just a few months ago (after a contentious year including deplorable actions on the part of the union) accounts for more than half of the amount cut from the schools.

Incidentally, "Community," I reject your premise of motivation. While I can't speak for the several hundred people with whom I voted on Saturday, at least some of us aren't saying "we don't want to pay" so much as declaring that we're sick of being abused by factions adept at manipulating the system and officials willing to be manipulated by it.

"They want good schools and don't want to pay for them"

Community, this is an empty (some might say "superficial") statement without factual back up. Please advise:

- What is Tiverton's academic performance ranking statewide and nationwide?

- Where does Tiverton's expenditures on schools stand statewide and nationwide?

- Do these rankings correlate to each other?

And remember to add the overlay of the state as a whole: teacher pay in the top 20% and academic performance in the bottom 20%.

Justin:

Your argument is good, but what happens when the teachers simply say they are not interested in renegotiating? I assume it means cutting out programs. The commissioner has only rarely allowed waivers of mandates, and never for anything requied by law.

So, I always wonder, when does a taxpayer know when a school department or municipal government has reached a resonable level of efficiency?

This is what's so frustrating about the result on Saturday. Mr. Katz, who claims to have the information necessary to recommend to the voters that the school budget be cut offered no support for his position at the meeting, and now, in response to my suggestion that he offer more simply says, "we're sick of being abused by factions adept at manipulating the system and officials willing to be manipulated by it."

That's the sort of analysis voters rely on to reject a budget recommended by the School Committee, the Budget Committee, and the Town Council? As I wrote elsewhere, many voters are clearly angry, and the angry ones outnumbered those who were willing to let the considered judgment of those more knowledgeable prevail. But that doesn't mean that what they did was a good thing. I still haven't heard a good argument to support the vote to cut the budget.

Community:

Try this for "a good argument to cut the budget":

"We don't have the money to pay for the budget."

And I suppose I should also include, "and there is ample evidence that public education in RI is anything but effective and efficient compared to other states -- like the one just up the road from Tiverton."

Really, my friend, what planet do you live on?

John:

1. That's helpful. You just made my point.

Under your analysis, why stop at subtracting $627,247 from the budget? Why not go for broke? Look, the fact is, some people just decided they weren't going to give the school committee and budget committee what they recommended, damn the consequences. Maybe it was a good decision, but as far as I can tell no more thought went into it then that.
Not exactly a pleasant process to watch or to participate in. Sometimes mobs get it right, but sometimes they get it wrong.

2. Earth.

Community:

Perhaps you're new to the discussion, or perhaps it's rhetoric, but I've covered many angles of public education. Search Anchor Rising. Search DustintheLight.com. You'll find orderly tables, pretty charts, and extensive discussion of everything from SAT comparisons to the fact that Rhode Island teachers make more than the national average, even as Rhode Island workers earn less.

I presented some such arguments to the school committee before they approved the latest contract, and Chairman Jan Bergandy interrupted my three-minute speech to say extensive discussion wasn't appropriate. Have you asked, or would you ask, the school committee how they arrive at the conclusion that the remuneration that it offers is appropriate? I'm not aware, for instance, of any studies or evidence that cutting salaries and benefits would hinder the town's ability to attract and retain motivated and high quality teachers.