The Fix It First Proposal was unveiled this week, an alternative to the Board of Education capital improvements plan. Both of the plans now under discussion attempt to address the challenges of overcrowding and deterioration. The Board’s plan prioritizes new classroom spaces with infrastructure and existing classroom improvements to follow, and the Fix It First plan prioritizes infrastructure and existing classroom improvements, and then school construction to follow. We in the Norwalk Federation of Teachers have felt dismay as the district’s plan ran into difficulties when the educational programs were selected, announced and not embraced. Both plans will need adjustment, but we need to move forward. Norwalk students deserve safe, welcoming, healthy environments without the distractions of mold, leaks, crumbling asbestos floor tiles, boilers on the fritz, or oversized classes. We could serve the students more effectively by attention to these issues.

Good public schools are community hubs. Public education is one of the best outcomes of organized civil societies. But when the community itself perceives that they are left out, there is a significant loss that is hard to re- establish.

The Mayor, Council, Board of Education, Superintendent of Schools, and our state delegation have worked effectively in the past to address school issues. They all have the best interests of our students at heart. We are confident that working together, they will arrive at a good solution.

(Senator Bob Duff Press Release)

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