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In the News
May 18, 2012
Fairfield County Business Journal

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.

May 8, 2012
Wall Street Journal

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.

May 8, 2012
Hartford Courant

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.

May 8, 2012
CT News Junkie

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.

May 7, 2012
The Hanging Shad

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..

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Get Smart Connecticut Blog Archive

The results are in, and they’re good for kids in New Haven
October 5, 2011 - 10:47am

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...

Session is over. Now what?
June 28, 2011 - 9:01am

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.

So, what else happened this session?
June 9, 2011 - 1:48pm

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.

Update: the final hours of session
June 8, 2011 - 3:38pm

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...

Tell your legislators to reject last night's amendments to Senate Bill 1160!
June 7, 2011 - 2:48pm

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.

Two days left to improve teacher evaluations in CT!
June 6, 2011 - 4:29pm

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...

An amendment, an editorial, and an op ed: End last-in, first-out!
June 3, 2011 - 3:41pm

We weren’t kidding when we told you a few weeks ago that the last few days of the session would be the busiest.

Tell your legislators: Call Senate Bill 1160 for a vote!
May 31, 2011 - 2:32pm

There’s just one week left before the legislature adjourns for the year, but legislators still have a chance to take action on an important bill that could improve the way Connecticut teachers are evaluated: Senate Bill 1160.

Last-in, first-out needs to go
May 26, 2011 - 4:00pm

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...

Why I think we need a more balanced approach to teacher layoffs
May 25, 2011 - 3:18pm

Guest post: Tiffany Haley, Science Teacher at Woodrow Wilson Middle School, Middletown, CT

As a tenured teacher who has taught for ten years, I will probably not be one of the many teachers laid off this year, but I am still very concerned about the “last-in, first-out” teacher layoff policy. Seniority is currently the only or primary factor used in layoff decisions in most Connecticut...

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