Prove demographics don’t
have to be destiny
We can’t remake our public schools without you.
We can’t remake our public schools without you.
ConnCAN needs your support right now to make sure that every child in Connecticut, regardless of race, ethnicity, or class, has access to a great public school.
With new federal data showing continued, middle-of-the-pack performance by Connecticut schools, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy found the middle ground among competing interests for a landmark education law.
For once, teachers were not front and center in the debate.
HARTFORD—In a sweeping education deal with lawmakers and teacher unions here, Gov. Dannel Malloy gave ground on some of his farthest-reaching proposals but contended the compromise was still a historic overhaul of public-school policy in a state that has proved resistant to change.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Monday night that his administration and lawmakers had reached an agreement on "meaningful education reform" — an agreement that he said adds nearly $100 million in new education spending and will help the state regain its competitive edge.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic legislative leaders celebrated what they called an “historic” agreement on a sweeping education reform proposal that believe will help Connecticut erase its largest-in-the-nation achievement gap.
At a 10 p.m. press conference, Malloy told a packed room of reformers and leaders of at least one of the state’s teacher unions that the bill the Senate is expected to take up later this evening is just a beginning.
Say this for Gov. Dannel Malloy, love his policies or hate them, he has largely gotten what he wants in his first year and a half in office. He pushed through the largest tax increase in state history after inheriting a $3 billion-plus disaster of a state budget; he was able to wring desperately needed concessions out of the state employee unions (after first failing); he instituted the “First Five” job-creation program; and won hard-fought approval for the Jackson Labs economic development project..
Earlier this month, the New Haven Board of Education announced the results of the first year of its teacher evaluation system. Folks around Connecticut and the nation are watching as the district becomes a model for evaluating teachers fairly while putting student achievement front and center.
According to Education Week’s “Diplomas Count” report, only 79.2% of Connecticut’s students from the Class of 2008 received a high school diploma. The graduation rate for Connecticut’s African-American students was 63.6%, and the graduation rate for Hispanic students was 54.3%. Less than half (47.5%) of Connecticut’s male Hispanic students graduated from high school in 2008. Less than half. I am working at ConnCAN because I know we can do better.
Back in January, we launched the Get Smart Connecticut campaign, calling on our state leaders to spend smart and staff smart. Late last night, the 2011 legislative session came to an end. No question, it’s been a bumpy road.
Over the past five months, we have talked a lot about ending last-in, first-out layoffs and overhauling our fundamentally unfair school finance system, two issues that saw no legislative solution this year. However, there were a number of other pieces of education-related legislation that passed this session, and we wanted to take a moment and update you on their contents.
In case you missed the proceedings late last night at the Capitol, we wanted to fill you in on the latest developments on S.B. 1160, the teacher evaluation legislation. Thanks in no small part to your advocacy, the amendments we told you about yesterday did not move forward in the Senate. As you may recall, these amendments would have damaged the prospects for rigorous teacher evaluations in Connecticut.
What a difference a day makes. Last night, we talked about a way legislators could improve S.B. 1160 (the teacher evaluation legislation) and call it up for a vote. Now, we’re at risk of moving in the opposite direction with proposals that weaken our state’s only chance to improve teacher evaluations this session.
Senate Bill 1160, which had not been called up for a vote as of last week’s email, is still awaiting action. This bill has the potential to strengthen teacher evaluations in our state, and it’s essential that legislators move quickly to approve this legislation, with some key improvements, before the session ends on Wednesday.
Since we launched the Get Smart Connecticut campaign on January 20th, we have been calling on legislators consistently to end the absurd last-in, first-out policy that removes the newest teachers from the classroom first, regardless of their performance, when there are teacher layoffs. This is an issue all across the state; in fact, according to a Connecticut Education Association survey, nearly three quarters of districts use seniority as the sole or primary factor in layoff decisions.