Posted inCT Viewpoints

Higher ed reorganization will help state regain its educational edge

(Sen. Beth Bye is co-chair of the legislature’s Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee. She represents Bloomfield, Burlington, Farmington, West Hartford) For the last two months, as the public and legislators have debated Gov. Malloy’s proposed overhaul of our state university and community college system, I have been meeting with students, residents, business leaders and […]

Posted inEducation

Higher ed reorganization will help state regain its educational edge

(Sen. Beth Bye is co-chair of the legislature’s Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee. She represents Bloomfield, Burlington, Farmington, West Hartford) For the last two months, as the public and legislators have debated Gov. Malloy’s proposed overhaul of our state university and community college system, I have been meeting with students, residents, business leaders and […]

Posted inNews

Investors say state must find new approaches to compete for dollars

Two investors speaking at a forum on green jobs Wednesday said that a wholesale change in approach will be required for tiny Connecticut to attract some of the billions of investors’ dollars available for clean energy projects. Kevin Walsh, managing director of renewable energy for the Stamford-based GE Energy Financial Services, and Old Lyme-based Liddy […]

Posted inNews

Report: Community college graduation rate lags

As legislators and education officials grapple with questions of how to get the best returns on taxpayers’ investment in public colleges and universities, a new report released Wednesday shows the community colleges have one of the worst “success rates” in the nation. “The biggest concern that comes out of this [report] is that Connecticut invests at […]

Posted inNews

Municipal leaders ask delegation to fight cuts in federal aid

WASHINGTON–Municipal leaders from across Connecticut made a plea to the state’s congressional delegation Wednesday: Push back against domestic spending cuts that will hit their cities and towns hard. “Please, do no harm,” Cindy Mangini, an Enfield Town Councilwoman, said of her pitch to the state’s five House and two Senate members. “We’re trying to hang […]

Posted inNews

Delegation remains cautiously bullish on nuclear power

WASHINGTON–Despite the unfolding nuclear crisis in Japan, Connecticut’s congressional delegation expressed continued support for nuclear power, even as they called for more scrutiny of the industry. Lawmakers walked a careful line between raising questions about how to improve the safety of U.S. nuclear reactors and voicing confidence in the long-term viability of an energy source […]

Posted inNews

Performance data a crucial tool in bridging achievement gap

WEST HARTFORD–Braeburn Elementary School’s fifth-grade teachers commandeered the brick conference room off Principal Natalie Simpson’s office the week before winter break. Graded papers full of circles partially colored in and open-ended problems like ’23/3=?’ spilled out of manila folders and littered the table. Shannon Mlodzinski, the statistician of the group, announced the results of the […]

Posted inNews

Blumenthal makes official Senate debut with trademark speech

Freshman Democrat Richard Blumenthal used his first Senate speech to relay the personal stories of Connecticut families who are “still hurting and still struggling” in the weak economy. In his maiden Senate speech on Wednesday, Blumenthal said his major focus in the coming year would be on spurring job growth, ferreting out government waste, and […]