Letter: 'Meeting Danbury’s Priority Needs' by Roberto Alves

To The Editor:

Our community needs to have a serious discussion about education in Danbury. The bottom line is that our public schools are not properly funded and it’s up to us to accept and take on the challenges we face together, as a community, to make sure that we invest in our children and in the future of our city.

We’re all a product of the education we’ve received, and that’s what makes this issue personal to all of us. My wife Robyn and I are proud products of Danbury Public Schools, and our two kids go to Shelter Rock Elementary. We chose to stay in Danbury because our community has so much to offer from cultural experiences to the arts, and more. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore the areas that clearly need to be improved, and that starts with the way we approach education.

For years, Danbury has ranked 169th, or dead last, among Connecticut municipalities in per-pupil spending. To put this into perspective, Danbury’s population is 87,000 of which 18,502 are children. We spend $12,771 on each student. Norwalk, which is the next city closest in population to Danbury with 91,000 people and 18,270 children, spends $18,473 per student. That’s a $6,000 gap in student investment when comparing Danbury to an equivalent municipality like Norwalk. This funding gap doesn’t just affect overcrowding issues and a lack of resources for students and teachers alike – it affects our local economy and the kinds of businesses both big and small that we can attract, and it affects our property values and our infrastructure.

So, let’s talk about how we’re going to address this problem. Simply put, we need to allocate our precious resources to meet our priority needs while keeping taxes down. Education must be a priority in Danbury.

During the last few budget cycles members of the City Council, myself included, have requested a supplement from the city’s fund balance to reduce the funding gap in education. But the Administration influences many of my colleagues on the council, and these requests die in Council chambers while the money sits untouched in a bank account while our students remain underserved. It’s like having a savings account and refusing to use those dollars while your roof is collapsing.

Recently, Danbury benefitted from a $2.5 million increase of PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) funds from the state that we weren’t expecting. There’s no reason all or a portion of these can’t be allocated to address our city’s most pressing needs, including reducing our education funding gap. Decisions like this which are geared towards efficiently and effectively allocating our existing resources can make a world of difference and have a lasting positive impact on our entire community.

We know that the key to a good education and a prosperous future starts with fair funding. We also know that good schools pave the way for a vibrant local economy, good jobs, and higher property values. We've seen the ripple effects when we don't adequately fund our schools and local infrastructure. If Danbury wants to become a regional economic driver, we have to invest in our city, from our classrooms to our roads, from our bridges to our storm drains. If education isn’t one of our city’s top priorities, then we’re not prioritizing our future.

- City Councilman Roberto Alves, Democratic Candidate for Mayor