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Health & Fitness

Slots Parlor in Tewksbury? – What Does It Mean to Our Schools?

What Would the Effect of a Casino Have on Our Schools?

  • An influx of casino employees and families would likely cause overcrowding in our schools.
  • Class sizes of 15-20 students have a significant positive impact on student achievement. 1
  • A population influx would increase current average class size, which would affect student achievement.
  • With an annual average turnover for Massachusetts casinos projected at 25% and up to 40% for unskilled, entry-level positions, our community will see a significant increase in transient population impacting our community, schools and students. 2

To provide another perspective, one can look at the effects on the Norwich Connecticut area since the casinos went in there.

  • Per Norwich, CT., City Council Candidate, Susan Misenheimer “Education currently costs the taxpayer 67% of the annual city budget. Our school system is heavily impacted by the transient population shifts caused by our proximity to the casinos [Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun]. Student turnover last year in K-8 amounted to the equivalent of six full classes. This directly impacts the NCLB mandates and our low test scores indicate so. Throwing more money at the situation is not going to fix it.” 3
  • Norwich Public Schools, a district with 3,992 students, experienced a 1.3% enrollment decline from 2003 to 2008. Despite the decrease, a dramatic shift in demographics related to casino development created severe problems for the district, according to Schools Superintendent Pamela Aubin. The following are examples of impacts on public schools districts located in the close proximity to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun: 4
    • In Norwich:

- The graduation rate for the class of 2007 was just 33%. The second worst district was Windham with a rate of 81%.

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- The annual 2006-2007 dropout rate for Norwich was 16%. Windham had the second highest rate at 5%.

- The percent pursuing higher education was 38%. The statewide average was 83%.

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    • In Montville:

    - Test scores in Montville have dropped in recent years. In 2006, the percentage of students that tested at or above the goal for eighth grade mathematics was 68%. In 2008, it dropped to just 50%.

    - Reading dropped from 75% to 55%, and writing from 68% to 55%.

      • In New London:

      - Like Montville and Norwich, New London has experienced a significant decline in test scores.

      - Two years ago, 34% of students met the state goal for reading. The figure dropped to just 21% in the latest report. Writing fell from 40% to 26%.

      We just got past our accreditation issues with the high school – do we really want to add these new pressures to our educational structure?

      1 Reducing Class Size, US Dept. of Education, 1999 http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/ReducingClass/Class_size.html
      2 http://www.mass.gov/hed/docs/eohed/ma-gaming-analysis-final.pdf (p.6), (p.91)
      3 http://www.theday.com/article/20111019/NWS17/310199930/-1/zip06
      4 Gambling in Connecticut: Analyzing the Economic and Social Impacts, Spectrum Gaming Group, 2009, (p. 124 average Foxwoods and Mohegan), (p.199), (p.13), (p.14), (p.210, p.215-218), (p.195 Figure 114) & (p.233) http://tinyurl.com/6v4dh45

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