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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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ConnCAN statement on ECS Task Force interim recommendations

Another task force, another missed opportunity for reform
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- January 23, 2012
Contact: 
Jessica Bloom, ConnCAN
Tel: 
203-772-4017 x19
Email: 
jessica.bloom@conncan.org

HARTFORD—The state’s Task Force to study the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula has released preliminary recommendations for revising the state’s main contributions to local education spending; final recommendations are due in October. But while Governor Malloy earlier called on the Task Force to “[advance] a bold agenda for school finance reform,” these interim recommendations are a missed opportunity to deliver the bold answer sought by the governor and over half a million public school students seeking equity and fairness in the state’s school funding formula. 

ConnCAN is encouraged by three of the Task Force’s recommendations: 
  • Increasing access to early education, 
  • Funding special needs students fairly, and 
  • Funding performance incentives tied to state priorities for student achievement, accountability, and transparency. 
Nevertheless, the Task Force’s top recommendations – including increasing ECS funding without fixing its fundamental flaws and differentiated treatment for students based on the kind of public school they attend – fail to meet the governor’s call for “bold” proposals and only perpetuate the inequities in Connecticut’s school funding system. 
 
“These consensus recommendations are a swing and a miss,” said Patrick Riccards, ConnCAN’s CEO. “This group was tasked with providing robust solutions to address a problem that has negatively affected far too many communities and far too many children. If these interim recommendations are any indication of the final product, Connecticut may squander this once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix the ECS formula. We need real, significant action, not additional studying and tinkering around the edges.” 
 
Riccards said: “There’s no question that ECS is beyond a few small adjustments and more money. This isn’t about spending more money, it’s about spending our money better. The pages in the report describing the more than 10 ways a student can be funded in this state speak for themselves. In addition, the recommendation that interdistrict magnet schools should get ‘equitable’ funding, yet other schools of choice should get ‘fair and reasonable’ funding, strikes us as digging in even further on inequitable treatment for students in schools of choice. State leaders need to address the very foundation of the system; small tweaks around the edges and more money will not result in improved student outcomes. 
 

 

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