Letter: Vote for Williamstown School Budget and Amendment
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To the Editor:
We encourage all voters in Williamstown who care about education to come to the town meeting on May 19 and vote to pass the school budget and the amendment to the budget.
The amendment seeks to add a math interventionist position at Williamstown Elementary School. The proposal came from the WES School Council, the body Massachusetts law designates to identify school priorities and bring them to the community, and was presented to the School Committee in February as part of the district budget process. Before presenting, the Council, consisting of the WES principal, two elected teachers and two elected parents, reviewed historical MCAS data, current school year data, conducted a teacher survey and refined this proposal. The Council named a math interventionist the top academic need.
The School Committee was divided in their vote on adding a math teacher. It recognized that improvement in math education was a critical need but thought including the position might risk rejection of the overall budget, forcing major spending cuts and drastic compromises to educational quality.
This does not mean that we, as citizens, cannot review that decision and, based on the alarming math scores, decide to meet the need identified by the WES School Council, the teacher survey, and concerned parents. The amendment goal is straightforward: to give the town the opportunity to weigh in directly.
Forty percent of WES students are currently testing below grade level in math. Our MCAS math scores have consistently declined since 2019.
Math facts:
- This amendment is estimated to cost approximately 9 cents per day for Williamstown tax payers, based on a median home value.
- This would be a recurring expense. With inflation, next year it may cost 9.34 cents per day.
- WES spends $1,800 below the Massachusetts per-pupil average. The added math teacher still leaves us well below state average.
The math interventionist position, included in WES budget priorities since FY21, is not the cure-all to declining math scores. It would certainly help though in meeting the fundamental educational needs of this generation of children who cannot afford to fall further behind.
Town meeting is the right place for this conversation. Come with an open mind and decide for yourself.
Thomas Bartels and Elizabeth Heekin Bartels
Williamstown, Mass.
Williamstown parents of WES and MGRSD graduates and grandparents of current WES students
Tags: annual town meeting,
