The Connecticut legislature’s education committee passed two critical Race to the Top bills regarding Connecticut’s system for certifying and evaluating teachers and principals, but let another bill to fix the funding system for charter schools go without a vote.

“The passage out of committee of two bills to fix the way we certify and evaluate teachers and principals is truly an important step forward for Connecticut’s bid in Race to the Top and its bid to close our worst-in-the-nation achievement gap,” said Alex Johnston, ConnCAN Chief Executive Officer. “But we can’t give up on a fair, sustainable funding system for our charter schools if we want to win Race to the Top in the second round.”

Johnston is set to meet with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan tomorrow, Thursday March 25 at 2:30pm, along with other leaders of state education reform advocacy groups. Johnston will bring a message to Secretary Duncan that Connecticut just made major strides and is still fighting reforms to be competitive in Race to the Top. Johnston will be available for media interviews following his meeting with Duncan. Contact Karen Rutzick at 202-406-0456 to arrange an interview.

S.B. 440 was unanimously voted today out of the education committee and will now head to the appropriations committee. It would institute a better data system that defines principal and teacher effectiveness in terms of student achievement growth and links teacher and principal training programs to the classroom effectiveness of their graduates. It also includes language, formerly part of H.B. 5491, which requires school districts to incorporate student achievement growth into their teacher and principal evaluation systems by July 1, 2011.

H.B. 5421 was unanimously passed yesterday out of the education committee and will now head to the full legislature for a vote. It would establish alternative certification pathways for school administrators.

H.B. 5493 was not brought up for a vote in the education committee. It would eliminate the use of the annual state appropriation process to fund charter schools and adopt a “money follows the child” funding mechanism instead, phased in over several years.

Today was the last day for the Connecticut General Assembly’s education committee to pass these bills out of committee. Round 2 of the Race to the Top is due June 1.

In early March, Connecticut was rejected from the first round of the Race to the Top, the federal government’s highly coveted $4 billion competition to reward states that aggressively reform their public schools.

ConnCAN’s campaign, “Our Race to the Top,” is calling for four reforms to help Connecticut win the Race to the Top: measuring effectiveness, superstar principals, world-class standards and money follows the child.

Detailed policy goals and other information are available on www.ourracetothetop.org.