Concerned mothers and fathers on budget and WHS study

To the Windsor Town Council, the Windsor Board of Education, and Citizens, Please consider the following recommendations from Concerned Mothers and Fathers for the 2013-2014 Windsor Town Budget and the Windsor Board of Education Budget. The Windsor Town Budget should remain the same-no cuts. The Windsor Board of Education budget should be cut by $900,000.  The Superintendent and Board of Education Members should eliminate Administrative positions both at the Board of Education Office and at School Sites for a savings of $500,000. In addition, the Superintendent and Board of Education Members should cut the $400,000 to support reform initiatives connected with receiving the Alliance Grant from the Connecticut State Department of Education.   Finally and most important, the Excellence and Equity Study at Windsor High School should be stopped immediately. It has come to our attention that the Consultant for the study at Windsor High School, Dr. Marlon James lives in Chicago and is teaching several courses at Loyola University Chicago.  One course is entitled CIEP 523 –School Improvement and Curriculum Reform – Spring 2013. In his course requirements to the college students enrolled in the class he states, “This semester the course will travel to Connecticut to collect data on leadership, learning and teaching by conducting interviews, focus groups, document analysis and examining survey data.  The class will function as a research team by reviewing relevant research, creating research questions, interview questions, reviewing school improvement plans, data collection, data analysis, report writing, and presentation of findings. The executive summary will be a condensed version of key findings and recommendations which will be refined for the final curriculum reform research paper.  These summaries will be made available to the Windsor community and feedback will be sought before finalizing the School reform paper”.  Our group members are extremely concerned that this study is being conducted and analyzed by college students for class credits. We believe there may be ethical concerns and responsibilities by utilizing college students from Chicago to conduct the entire research project with our teachers, students, and citizens.  What is Dr. Marlon James doing?  We are outraged that the first year budget for the study is $109,322 and these taxpayer funds are being used for salaries, travel, lodging, meals, car rentals, and supplies. The Windsor Board of Education at their next meeting must discuss and vote to immediately cease the Excellence and Equity Study at Windsor High School and notify the Connecticut State Department of Education of their actions.  We believe it would be irresponsible to our teachers, students, and citizens to support any budget that included continuation of the Excellence and Equity Study at Windsor High School connected with Dr. Marlon James. (Please see for Course Syllabus http://www.luc.edu/education/courseofferings_ci)   Concerned Mothers and Fathers