The State Board of Education’s Legislation and Bylaws Committee is recommending expanding the number of schools a district can have in the Commissioner’s Network.
The network is a group of 18 low-achieving schools that have been given additional funding to launch certain changes, such as a longer school day or additional reading instruction.
The committee wants the state legislature to allow districts to have six schools in the network. The present limit is four.
The network is one of the centerpieces of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s education reform initiatives. The recommendation to extend the network comes the day after he won reelection.
The committee also wants a change in state law so the department can accept new schools into the network. Existing law bars intervening in any new schools and limits the current 18 schools to four years in the network.
Jacqueline was CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter, and an original member of the CT Mirror staff, joining shortly before our January 2010 launch. Her awards include the best-of-show Theodore A. Driscoll Investigative Award from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists in 2019 for reporting on inadequate inmate health care, first-place for investigative reporting from the New England Newspaper and Press Association in 2020 for reporting on housing segregation, and two first-place awards from the National Education Writers Association in 2012. She was selected for a prestigious, year-long Propublica Local Reporting Network grant in 2019, exploring a range of affordable and low-income housing issues. Before joining CT Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.
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