Last year ConnCAN launched the “Tip of the Cap” award, which recognizes Connecticut state legislators who fight for great public schools for every Connecticut child. These legislators spoke out for what’s right for Connecticut's students and prioritized public school reform from their posts in the state legislature.

Meet this year's Tip of the Cap recipients:

Senator Toni Harp (D-New Haven)

As Co-Chair of the Appropriations Committee with Representative Walker, Senator Harp held a public hearing on Senate Bill 1195, An Act Concerning School Finance Reform, which was the first comprehensive proposal for overhauling Connecticut’s broken school finance system in years. Holding this hearing, especially during such a challenging budget year, was an act of leadership in itself. She also demonstrated a real commitment to equitable funding for charter schools by increasing the per-pupil charter school allocation by $100 in the Appropriations budget. Sen. Harp has been outspoken on issues of reform in her role on the Executive and Legislative Nominations committee, and asked a number of tough reform-oriented questions to nominees to the State Board of Education. In addition, as a leader on the Achievement Gap Task Force, Sen. Harp keeps Connecticut’s devastating achievement gap and the search for solutions front and center.

Representative Gary Holder-Winfield (D-New Haven)

Representative Holder-Winfield has been a consistent and outspoken advocate for education reform. Despite the fact that he does not serve on the Education Committee, he makes education reform a focus of his legislative efforts every year. As Chair of the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, he makes sure the Caucus is focused on narrowing the inequalities faced by students of color in Connecticut, and he is a strong voice on the Education Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee. Rep. Holder-Winfield has never been afraid to question the status quo and offer suggestions for improving outcomes – in particular, he has been a leader on issues of teacher effectiveness.

Representative Gail Lavielle (R-Wilton)

In her first term in office, Representative Lavielle emerged as a committed leader on teacher evaluation and effectiveness issues, speaking out both in the Education and Appropriations Committees and from the House Floor. Rep. Lavielle worked with her colleagues in the House Republican Caucus to build support for ending last-in, first-out teacher layoffs. Even as a freshman legislator, she consistently asked tough questions to get to the heart of the debate. Rep. Lavielle is an eager student of the issues, always trying to broaden her understanding of a wide range of education policy questions.

Senator Andrew Roraback (R-Goshen)

Senator Roraback rallied his colleagues to support education reform throughout this legislative session, and has maintained his status as a strong leader on these issues in the Senate Republican Caucus. He continuously focused on education this year, leading calls for change from outside of the Education Committee. He co-sponsored an amendment to end last-in, first-out teacher layoffs, and made compelling comments on the Senate floor that demonstrated his unwavering commitment to closing the achievement gap and doing everything we can to make Connecticut competitive by improving educational outcomes for all students.

Representative Toni Walker (D-New Haven)

As the Co-Chair of the Appropriations Committee with Senator Harp, Representative Walker represents the other half of a notable partnership between two policy makers who consistently stand up for change on behalf of Connecticut’s students. Rep. Walker oversaw the groundbreaking hearing on S.B. 1195, asking important questions and moving the debate forward towards a meaningful school finance reform solution for our state. Rep. Walker is relentlessly focused on education as a component of comprehensive improvements to conditions for children in poverty, and she is a strong advocate for her constituents, speaking out as a powerful voice for parents and students from her perch as committee chair. As a representative for a large number of charter school students, she demonstrated a strong commitment to equitable funding through a budget line item increase for charter schools.

See the 2010 Tip of the Cap recipients here

Please note: ConnCAN (The Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now) is a nonpartisan organization that neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate for office.