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Gordian Knot,

$700K was spent on new Math textbooks. Principals were given a 1.5% raise - they hadn't had one in four or five years and you can't say that for municipal side employees. My biggest issue was with the WISE contract extension which had 1.5% raises built in. That was done in a less than transparent way and essentially sprung on the new committee. Dont forget that the previous City contracts gave a 6% total raise during their 3 year lifetime and the city side was paying the equivalent of a 10% health care copay while the school contracts were far less generous and they were paying a 20% healthcare copay. About the 50% building capacity stat - if Warwick moves to a 6-8 middle school, the junior highs go to 80+% capacity for several years and we give the 6th graders better instruction (in my opinion) and we open up a lot of space at the elementary level for consolidation of at least one school. Once that's done, you set your sights on the high schools and the Career & Tech Center. A private enterprise would not reduce its assets without first having a long term plan in place - that's what the school committee is asking for here. I'm struck by the seeming acquiescene to the city side of the budget increasing by over 50% over the past 10 years while losing over 3000 residents, while the schools, who have lost 1000 students over the last 10 years and have, among oher things; closed 4 schools; eliminated many positions; led the way in increasing employees healthcare copays; privatized services; and operated with level funding over the past two or three years gets pilloried when they ask for money. (I'm not suggesting at all that they get the full $3.8 million). For the past few years ALL of our increased tax dollars have gone to the city side and not to the schools. Actions speak louder than words. The Mayor brags that he's the only elected official in the city who graduted from a public school (or something like that). I only wish that he (and the City Council) would support them as well as they were supported when he was a student there.

From: Mayor’s budget increases spending by 1.3%

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