Posted inCT Viewpoints

Need to save money? Cut Connecticut’s SBAC testing

As the state of Connecticut wrangles with the budget in the coming weeks, one area of the budget the legislature has not yet considered for cuts is the state’s SBAC testing program. The state estimates it will spend $17 million developing and administering standardized tests during the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years. Standardized testing has come under increasing scrutiny across the nation, particularly in its use for high-stakes decisions such as student promotion, in teacher evaluations, and other school personnel decisions.

Posted inHealth

Critics seek hard look at Yale–L+M deal, hospital market power

A group of unions and advocacy organizations are calling for state regulators to take a hard look at the growth in power and market concentration of large health systems in Connecticut – and what that means for patients – when they review Yale New Haven Health System’s proposed acquisition of New London’s Lawrence + Memorial Hospital.