Lincoln's Log

Why haul your boat at an expensive marina when you can just use a small island? That’s apparently what this boat owner did on Labor Day to take advantage of the extreme tides and free “dockage” to make some repairs to the bottom of his catamaran. Don’t know what the harbor master or the selfish commission thought of the idea … At least he’s not hogging time at the town dock.

It took a while, but the online service Schooldigger.com has completed its aggregated rankings of the state’s public schools based on the 2009-10 Connecticut standardized test results which were first released in late July.

And the results show Greenwich continuing its decline as compared to other school districts – it fell from No. 40 in the state to No. 46.

Nine of the 11 elementary schools lost ground in the ranking of state public schools. And Riverside School has been overtaken by North Mianus as the highest ranking elementary school in Greenwich. North Mianus is 19, while Riverside slipped from 19 last year to No. 26.

Not all the news was bad. Eastern Middle School rose to No. 6 among middle schools from 10. And Central rose to 38 from 54 last year. But Western fell to 108 from 94.

The high school also had a marginal improvement to 22 from 26.

But the performance of the elementary schools is particularly troubling. If students are under-performing at an entry level, it makes it that much harder of a hill to climb as they matriculate through the system. School officials pointed this out after last week’s school board meeting when some members of that close-knit social club finally spoke out about the deteriorating scores.

I believe these aggregated rankings are the true measure of performance because they compare apples to apples. Each school district in the state has faced the same severe financial challenges. Yet, Greenwich has fallen faster and lower in rankings.

It takes an aggregator like schooldigger a few months to crunch all the data from the state. Once done, however, this data is shared and used by all manner of folks – including prospective homeowners. Over time, the erosion of our schools’ standing will hurt all of us.

I am awaiting other rankings to be compiled and will post them as soon as they are available.

Ned Lamont comes across as a smart businessman and an even-tempered politician whenever he is on TV or on radio in various interviews. That is why his vicious television commercials against Dan Malloy is that much more disappointing.

If you have not seen it, the commercial virtually accuses Malloy of stealing from the public to build his house in Stamford. it asks the question of how someone on a public salary could afford a $2 million house unless he did something untoward.

I wish Ned had spent more money on the issues instead of the ad hominem attacks.

Sunday Aug. 1, 2010

I like my low property taxes as much as anyone else in Greenwich. But it’s clear that a major consequence of our self-imposed penury is the inexorable decline of the local school system.

As the Greenwich Time has been reporting in detail – in several articles since standardized test scores came out in late July – Greenwich ranks low in almost every measure of performance against its peer groups. I am waiting for several online services to report the full rankings of these scores but they may not be available until September because the state is slow to release all the data.

One service is http://www.conncan.org/learn/reportcards. Another is http://www.schooldigger.com/. Keep an eye on this post for updated school rankings.

The first flurry of data which comes out in July is largely irrelevant. They basically show how a particular school system performed against previous years’ scores. Like the SAT, these scores fluctuate year over year and one year’s comparison against another year is not particularly useful. Yet school administrators and school board members will jump on the slight improvements and grab headlines to manage expectations of an uninformed consuming public. I am still stunned at the virtual silence in Greenwich among parent groups and other putative school activists whom one would think would be all over the administration and school board ever since Greenwich rankings began their decline about half a decade ago.

It takes a few days to sort through the data to make some meaningful assessments. The first of these appeared in the Greenwich Time July 20 when reporter Colin Gustafson disclosed how poorly Greenwich did when compared to other districts.

He followed it up with the other article cited previously.

The excuse most heard in Greenwich for the declining standardized test scores is that they are being dragged down by the influx of the poorer and non-English speaking underclass in the western part of town. In whispers and occasionally not so subtle messaging, the gentrified folks will assure themselves that Muffy and Buffy are going to be okay. In Greenwich they will still get the best education that money can buy.

Only problem is that the facts do not support any of that. Take Eastern Middle School for instance. For decades Eastern was ranked the No. 1 middle school in the state. Then around 2005 Eastern began to slip. Last year it ranked No. 10. I am waiting for the new rankings to appear after the state releases the data. Stay tuned.

Old Greenwich school and Riverside School have had similar slips in rankings. The schools are virtually devoid of hispanic immigrants.

I feel lucky that I no longer have any children attending Greenwich public schools. The system is need of a major revamp and perhaps even an education recovery effort like a Marshall Plan. We need to engage volunteers more aggressively since no one is in the mood for raising taxes. There has to be other ideas as well.

Something has to give.

(I will give superintendent Sid Freund the benefit of the doubt for his failing to return calls from the Greenwich Time on the issue of these rankings … it is, after all, summer vacation time … but the system does have a fulltime communications director who is paid in the six figures. Eventually, there will be accountability).

I got my tax bill like everyone else in Greenwich this year- late.

Mine arrived on July 21 for bills due July 1. I had already paid my property tax and did it online. But apparently I missed the fee that came with payment online. It was not so obvious in a bill of thousands of dollars. But with my motor vehicles bills, it stood out.

Nonetheless, you don’t see the $5 fee until the very last page. The online system shows your tax bill for at least two pages without the hidden fee, so you are lulled into thinking there is no charge until the very end. It’s not very consumer friendly and the town should not be doing this.

I had two motor vehicle tax bills – $59.14 and $87.25. A $10 fee for online payment is quite a premium on top of those bills in my opinion. I resorted to a 44-cent stamp.

Normally by this time of July, sailors lament the doldrums afflicting the waters of western Long Island Sound.

But for reasons that are unclear to me, the heat wave has had a silver lining – the winds have been terrific for sailing. It’s been blowing 10-15 knots every afternoon for what seemed like weeks. Witness this sloop on a reach headed back to her mooring at Indian Harbor:

The bankers, hedgies and media mavens may sleep here, but it’s the Townies who run Greenwich.

They left no doubt about that when their overwrought, xenophobic mutterings prompted First Selectman Peter Tesei to snap to attention and order the local constabulary to weed out the outside agitators polluting the purity of our air. If left unchecked Greenwich would soon be a magnet to gangs, illegal immigrants and Communists. This is not San Francisco!

The last Republican first selectman who failed to heed those warnings – Lolly Prince – paid the ultimate price at the polls and lost – heavens! – to a Democrat! We will have none of that.

The result was an orderly – if almost deserted – Island Beach on Saturday. At least that was the view from the water. Here are the photos:

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