From left: Phil Apruzzese and Mary Loftus Levine of the CEA; and Joe Cirasuolo, representing superintendents.
Only two hours after Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed into law a compromise education reform bill to near universal applause, a disagreement erupted at the State Department of Education over how to implement a provision on evaluating teachers.
The dispute was a quick reminder that passing the reforms might be easier than carrying them out, especially on the politically sensitive topic of teacher evaluations.
No shortage of witnesses as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signs the education-reform bill into law.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy smiled and gave a thumbs up to Mary Loftus Levine, the leader of a teachers' union that all but declared war on the governor over education reforms. She smiled back. The brief, silent exchange at a bill-signing ceremony Tuesday spoke volumes about the roller-coaster ride that was education reform.
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"I'm old enough to remember the days before we had the Violence Against Women Act, and women often suffered in silence," said Rosa DeLauro, longtime 3rd District representative.
Washington -- The latest skirmish over what Democrats call "the war against women" has broken out over a domestic violence law.
The Republican-led House will consider a bill Wednesday that would extend the Violence Against Women Act without expanding protections to undocumented immigrants and the gay and transgender community.
Democrats favor a bill that would pull those groups under the law's umbrella.
Washington -- Congress' move to abolish the American Community Survey, a U.S. Census program that reveals how Americans live, work and shop, has provoked an outcry from academics, researchers, local officials and even the business community who rely on the data.
"We live in a democracy and a democracy needs to have the facts in order to distribute government money," said Lynne Hodgson, a sociology professor at Quinnipiac University.
Bridgeport -- More than 150 people crowded into a room in the City Hall Annex Monday night to weigh in on Bridgeport Harbor Station's request to renew its five-year operating permit, which expired earlier this year.
Environmentalists have been trying for years to shut down the coal operations at the station, which is owned by the Newark-based Public Service Electric & Gas. This may be their best chance, said John Calandrelli, program director for the Sierra Club's local chapter.
This story, by Neena Satija, is part of a reporting partnership with WNPR.
Chris Donovan won the 5th CD endorsement with 216 of 336 delegate votes.
Democrats endorsed House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan of Meriden for Connecticut's only open congressional seat Monday night, but former state Rep. Elizabeth Esty of Cheshire and Dan Roberti of Kent qualified for an Aug. 14 primary. Donovan, 58, who has been organized labor's greatest ally in the General Assembly, won 66 percent of the vote.
The state's new brand.
Hartford -- Three years after its tourism budget was reduced to $1, Connecticut is back with a two-year, $27 million marketing campaign to promote tourism and brand the state as "still revolutionary."
Mary Alice Lee, a fellow at Voices for Children, and her colleague Sharon Langer, have alerted the DSS commissioner to glitches in the state's Medicaid delivery.
One-year-olds and 18-year-olds are still wrongly losing Medicaid coverage because of administrative glitches and confusing notices, despite pledges from Department of Social Services officials to address the issues, according to the researchers who identified the problems.
The problem -- blamed in part on staff lost to retirements and antiquated technology -- is one of a slew of issues DSS is coping with, including facing potential federal sanctions over the state's food stamp program.
Chris Murphy accepting the Democratic endorsement with his wife and youngest child.
New Britain -- U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy won an easy first-ballot Democratic convention endorsement for U.S. Senate on Saturday with 76 percent of the vote, but former Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz vowed to force an Aug. 14 primary.
The only question at the anticlimactic convention had been how much of a struggle Bysiewicz would have to win 15 percent of the vote, the threshold to qualify for a primary without having to collect signatures from 2 percent of registered Democrats. She finished with 24 percent.
Vincent Moscardelli, political science professor at UConn, said he'd be "stunned" if this year's Senate race isn't as costly as the last. [Photo from UConn website)
Washington -- Big money is already being spent in the race for retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman's seat, but this is just the beginning of the expected blowout.
Republicans need only four more seats to win the majority in the Senate; Democrats are at a disadvantage because 22 of their seats are up for re-election, compared with 10 Republican seats.
"Democrats have to hold Connecticut if they have any chance of retaining control of the Senate this year, so the stakes both locally and nationally are very high," Moscardelli said.
"It was this governor who said no more tricks, no more gimmicks," House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero, R-Norwalk, said. He is flanked by Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield.
After a spring marked by declining revenue projections and a handful of questionable cost-cutting moves, legislators from both parties conceded Thursday that the state's fiscal outlook emerged from the session as murky as when it entered.
"I worry about the state's finances all the time," the governor told reporters one day after the session closed. But, "I think financially we're still in a pretty good place."
"He brings experience. He's been elected."
Mike Clark on endorsing State Sen. Andrew Roraback for the Republican nomination for the 5th Congressional District race.
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