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NORWALK, Conn. The Norwalk Daily Voice accepts signed, original letters to the editor. Letters may be e-mailed to letters@dailyvoice.com.
To the Editor, Norwalk leaders: stop the bail outs on the backs of already struggling taxpayers and try a little tough love for a change. Oak Hills, NEON, developers looking for loans and our public school system, which has earned a failing grade, period. School administrators have looked the other way with out of town students attending our schools on taxpayers tab for years. Our students have continually scored below grade on testing, with many schools labeled failing and now apparently those in charge can't do simple math either (to the tune of $4 million)!
This might be laughable if it weren't so sad. The very people in charge of educating our children can't or are not responsible enough to properly handle their own accounting. Accounting, the use of mathematics, described in Webster as the science of magnitude and number taught to every student from K-12. Our school system has been failing our students for years on so many levels and past tax increases have not improved student achievement to date, so one is left to conclude that all those suffocating tax increases have only served to sustain their very generous benefit packages. And to add insult to injury: They complain about payback dates and amounts, don't want any cuts and use the children like a weapon to frighten parents and threaten loss of service, which sounds more like hostage negotiations than a budget process. What a disgrace.
The answer to bad management is not throwing more money into it, not in the real world anyway. This band aid approach seems to be a governmental (political) invention for special groups, organizations or individuals considered to be "TOO BIG or IMPORTANT TO FAIL" WHO SAYS ???
Judging by the properties for sale exhibit in the lobby at City Hall should a taxpayer (struggling with their own health care increases and expenses ) fall short in their accounting, funds and taxes, they lose their property CUT & DRY, NO FLOATING LOANS HERE!! If this action is an appropriate measure to apply to a taxpayer, why then is it not appropriate for these other groups?
Apparently, many of us are living under the mis-conception that taxes were designed to pay for essential city services and carefully managed, not to cover GIANT math errors dis-functional groups, misappropriated funds and the grand dreams of developers.
And since we have grown adults acting like children, whining, throwing tantrums, name calling and blaming Mr. Nobody for their mess, let's go there and keep it first grade simple. Any parent knows if your child doesn't properly handle the $5 you gave them you're not likely to give them 10. A few simple things you should have learned in childhood: 1) if you mess up, expect consequences 2) Be responsible with someone else's property 3) You can't always have your own way 4) Mommy and Daddy can't always fix ALL your problems or give you everything you want. 5) Some wounds are too big for a band aide and may require surgery.
Is there anyone out there willing to be a responsible parent? To make the tough decisions, demand responsibility and accountability and stop being an enabler? If we ever expect our children to grow up to be responsible, self-sufficient individuals, we need to LEAD BY EXAMPLE!!
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