We all know times change and yet we cling sometimes too hard to a truth that we believe to be a truism from our own childhood. When I was a kid, still in short-trousers as I recall, my dad gave me a piece of wisdom I suspect not unlike the one your parental care unit offered to you: "Never pay more than thirty thousand dollars for a house without a basement."
By today's standards and cost indices, I'd have trouble affording a used car, to say nothing of a house. And yet, when was looking at houses some years ago, and cars come to think of it, I was still remembering my father's insight. Maybe that's why so many of us in Norwich are staggering a little bit reacting to sticker shock as very early discussions on the next Board of Education budget suggest it will be one hundred million dollars.
A million of anything is a LOT, and one hundred million is a lot more than a lot so the cries of anguish, anger, and exasperation are not unreasonable or unexpected, but unless/until you have meaningful suggestions and alternatives to offer to those on the Board of Education (and the City Council), it's hard to separate the noise from the signal. And typing comments in ALL CAPS on social media platforms doesn't really help at all.
It takes more energy and effort to be a light than to be a horn (that's why your car horn still works even when your battery is too weak to power your headlights) and despite how smart my dad was, thrifty shopper that I am, I won't be finding even a used car with a basement.at least not today.
The recent re-evaluation of our house, probably like yours, was gob-smacking in its escalation. My evil twin Skippy joked that my wife and I should sell our house for what our new tax assessment says it's worth, assuming we could find a buyer and then didn't mind camping out since we'd then still need to find somewhere to live (again). And no matter how often I look at the paperwork confirming my new assessment, I still don't feel rich. How about you?
Everything costs more than it did when houses cost thirty grand and came with basements to include cars with full-size spare tires. Whether it's galloping or creeping, inflation isn't just for balloons. And we know that, whether we like to admit it or not.
The Board of Education's role in budget creation is more like that of a weather observer than an old-fashioned rain-maker. It's tempting for us to demand "the Board should just say 'no!'" but fixed costs are just that, and while No is how Norwich starts it cannot be how this budget ends.
Almost forty million dollars of the Board's request is for costs associated with Norwich Free Academy and other high schools. What do you suggest we do about that? (Realistically). And since we're thinking, let's spare a thought for special education costs including state mandates which continue to escalate faster than the speed of thought. Unless or until the state of Connecticut funds 100% of the mandates it levies on each of our towns local taxpayers will foot the bill every time. (But where will the state get that money? Look in the mirror.)
It's easy, too easy, to simply complain about the price of education. Wait until we try calculating the cost of ignorance because we chose to refuse to work together to find solutions.
-bill kenny
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