Berlin Needs an Erin Stewart as Mayor

New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart may be only twenty-six years old, but perhaps our Town leaders could learn a civics lesson from her.  She does not represent teachers or municipal unions, and she does not kowtow to Boards of Education and school administrators; rather, she fights for the wallets and pocketbooks of property owners and taxpayers, whom she was elected to serve.  How refreshing.  She is the Mayor that all municipalities and towns need during these dire fiscal times.

When New Britain's school system pitched a $9.3 million increase in its budget, Erin Stewart did not hesitate to come right out and say that that budget stands no chance, explaining with the wisdom characteristic of the elders of the tribe, "Whatever problems we may face in our schools, the cause of those problems is not a lack of funding."  And so with Berlin.  Whatever problems or needs our schools in Berlin face, we do not need to throw more money at school administrators and teachers, who are virtually all up for raises in the Board of Education's approved budget, which is showing an increase of $1 million this year.

Do you realize that Berlin has twenty-one school administrators earning approximately $3 million annually?  That's an administrative cost per child of $1,000 every year!

And when Erin Stewart rejects the Board of Education's budget, one can expect the Board of Education, in retaliation, to cut the programs that are dear to parents and children, like those pertaining to sports and extracurricular activities, instead of cutting their own requests for higher salaries and more staffs.  Yes, that's the customary ruse that Boards of Education play to taxpayers each year.  They know which buttons to push to send parents in a panic in order to get their raises. 

And, in turn, one can expect Erin Stewart to use her bully pulpit as mayor to expose the Board of Education's selfish, retaliatory ruse of targeting and hurting our school children for its own greedy demands for higher salaries.  She will explain over and over again that throwing more money to educators and school administrators does not raise SAT scores, does not provide children with a superior education, will not get them into Ivy League Colleges, and will not transform them into Rhodes Scholars.

It is unfortunate that Erin Stewart is not Mayor here in Berlin.  Taxpayers need a mayor and a Town Council that is not afraid of the bullying tactics of a Board of Education.