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In the News

Time to stop whining and make serious education reforms

August 31, 2010
Hartford Courant

By Rick Green

Maybe you saw what New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie did last week after he learned about the bungling behind his administration's failure to win $400 million in the federal Race to the Top competition that rewards states that adopt aggressive education reforms.

Christie fired his education commissioner.

Bravo. At least we know what matters to Gov. Christie, a Republican making waves across the country. That's more than I can say for Connecticut, land of timid leadership.

Hwang to receive education award tomorrow at Fairfield U.

August 30, 2010
Trumbull Times

By Donald Eng

Conn. learns why it lost out on fed funds

August 28, 2010
New Haven Register

By Abbe Smith

In the most recent round of federal Race to the Top awards, Connecticut scored lower than every state it borders.

The state learned last month that it did not make the list of finalists, but didn’t get details about why it missed out on the $175 million it was seeking until final scores and reviewer comments were released this week.

State's teacher evaluation plans too weak, federal reviewers say

August 25, 2010
Connecticut Mirror

By Robert Frahm

The weakness of a plan to link teacher evaluations to student performance was a key factor in Connecticut's failure to qualify for millions of dollars in federal school aid, according to a government report released Wednesday.

The proposed evaluation system lacks detail, won't be ready for years, and fails to include adequate provisions for rewarding successful teachers or removing ineffective ones, said reviewers for the U.S. Department of Education's Race to the Top school reform competition.

The business of education

August 25, 2010
Connecticut Business News Journal

By Melissa Nicefaro

In every Connecticut city and town, public education is by far the largest budget item. Yet the schools’ stewards don’t always treat those dollars as their own

When terms such as “layoffs,” “closures” and “belt-tightening” are tossed around, the education industry may not be the first that comes to mind. That was true until this year, anyway.

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What do public schools mean in your life? Have you witnessed Connecticut’s achievement gap? What is your wish for our public schools? Why are you an education reformer?

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FEATURED STORIES

Laurie McTeague & Marianna Kulak McCall
Wilton & Westport, CT
clairelise's photo

What was your first taste as an advocate?
 
Marianna Kulak McCall: Over the last decade I’ve worked with Save the Children, in Westport, focusing on humanitarian response in disasters. And I’ve seen how education is a lifeline for children. Children living through unimaginable chaos and dev- astation, nonetheless retain their need to learn and develop. And it’s up to the adults to meet that most basic human need. If we create the right learning environment, children thrive.
Laurie McTeague: I went to law school with the intent to focus on public interest work, but took a more traditional path after graduation. Then, in the first days of 2008, I started volunteering for the Obama campaign. Before I knew it, I was the volunteer field organizer for seven towns in Fairfield County! I found it very gratifying to help people understand and communicate about the issues at hand, and to empower them to shape their community and their political world.
 
What are your ties to Connecticut and what do you love about the Nutmeg State?
MKM: I grew up in New Britain, Connecticut in a wonderful community of Polish immigrants. Much of my family still lives here. I have lived in many places, but I’m so glad to have settled back here in Connecticut.
LM: I moved to CT almost 10 years ago and my three children were born here, so our roots are now deep. I love that the relatively small size of CT allows people to step up and take owner- ship of issues that concern them.
 
How has education impacted your own life or those around you?
MKM: As first generation Americans, education gave my brothers and me the opportunity to grow and develop and join our community as productive and engaged citizens.
LM: In the rural New York town where I grew up, obtaining a good education is key in determining the range of economic opportunities and life experiences a person will have. As I watch my own children now, I see how they blossom when their capabilities and their love of learning are nurtured. I know this will open doors for them in the future... while their peers who don’t receive a good education will find those doors closed.
 
Why the focus on education reform?
LM: As the mothers of young children, we know first-hand that EVERY child has the potential to succeed. It is the adults’ job is to provide them the tools and the environment in which they can reach that potential. In CT, we simply are not doing that. That is irresponsible AND unsustainable... none of us can afford to live in a state that is failing to create educated and productive citizens. Also, this is an unprecedented time in history for education reform! The Obama administration’s Race to the Top challenge has done more to advance education reform in the last several months than have other reform efforts over the last decade. As proud Nutmeggers, we think that our state can rise to the occasion and win this race for our children.
 
How did you find out about ConnCAN?
MKM: ConnCAN has built a national reputation in the education debate as a leader in putting children’s needs first. We are very lucky to have their focus and energy directed on this problem in our state.
LM: A friend brought me to ConnCAN to learn and be inspired. I think that’s typical of how ConnCAN has built this movement... reaching out to individuals through individuals to make this a personal mission.
 
Tell us about the video you produced.
MKM: We just couldn’t believe how many residents do not realize that Connecticut has the largest achievement gap in the nation. There are so many things to be proud of in our state, but there is simply no excuse for being dead last in the country with our achievement gap. So we thought it would be illuminating to have the kids talk about the state and give their perspective on living and learning in Connecticut. We hope that by having the children speak, the adults will be moved to action on their behalf.
 
What do you think regular citizens can do about our achievement gap?
MKM: I was talking to someone about the achievement gap the other day, and he said: “I’d like to help educate kids, but I don’t write big checks.” “That’s Ok,” I said, “do you write letters? Can you make phone calls?” He smiled, and I knew we had another education advocate in Connecticut.
LM: The best thing people can do is LEARN and join the conver- sation. When people start telling each other... and their legislators... that our current system is unacceptable and unsustainable, we will reshape expectations and results. In a small state like CT, a limited investment of time and energy can make a big impact.
 
What would Connecticut be like if there was no achievement gap?
MKM: We would have tens of thousands more young adults entering our economy ready to help propel our state and our country into a bright new century.
LM: We would be a shining example to the rest of the country about how it is possible to educate ALL children fairly and effectively.
 

Bill Harris
New Hartford, CT
clairelise's photo

My passion to support education, children, teachers and administrators stems from my family. My father was a secondary school principal and mom was a home economics teacher in NYC for a combined 80 years. I have lived in the greater Hartford area for five years and through sports gotten to know many inner city youth as well as the schools they attend. We have known for sometime that CT’s schools and facilities are in terrible shape and some of the worst energy hogs in the US. (http://nutmeg.easternct.edu/sustainenergy/documents/CTSchoolEnergyEffici...) We also know that CT’s Education Achievement Gap (difference between test scores for high and low-income students) is the largest in the nation. If closing this gap is really a priority, there’s a broad and growing body of research that links achievement to the physical learning environment. Access to windows, indoor environmental quality (temp, humidity, air filtration) and acoustics are all important contributors to successful learning. The industry can provide the needed infrastructure renewal NOW, and use the associated energy savings to cover the costs over the next 10-20 years. No capital bonding required. (http://eetd.lbl.gov/EA/EMP/reports/lbnl-1202e.pdf). We are already spending the money that could be used to improve schools, raise test scores, retain the best teachers, and save energy! We cannot seem to get out of our own way to make it happen. In closing I’d like to share a quote from Matthew E. May in his book “In Pursuit of Elegance” “..we need some way to consistently replace value destroying complexity with value creating simplicity because we need to know how to make room for more of what matters by eliminating what doesn’t.” Bill Harris, VP Education Environments IR wharris@trane.com

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