Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Education partnership discusses budget, hires and plans — all in open session

  • Education
  • by Kathleen Megan
  • December 16, 2019
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Kathleen Megan :: CT Mirror

Barbara Dalio speaks during the second meeting of the Partnership for Connecticut. At left is Gov. Ned Lamont, a member of the partnership board, and Erik Clemons, chairman of the board.

New Haven — The Partnership for Connecticut, a public-private venture formed to help struggling Connecticut schools, moved to hire legal counsel and accounting services, heard an update on the search for a chief executive officer, and discussed its budget and mission during its second meeting Monday. And it was all done in a two-and-a-half hour open session.

That’s a contrast to the partnership’s first meeting, which was conducted mostly behind closed doors.

The partnership, which is a venture between the state and hedge fund giant Ray Dalio’s philanthropic group, has been criticized for a lack of transparency because it originally planned to hold all its meetings privately.

“Our hope is that there’s never a question about what money is coming in from where, where it is going, and why and what’s happening because of it,” said Andrew Ferguson, who works for Dalio Philanthropies and is a pro bono senior advisor to the partnership.

However, Ferguson did say a decision hasn’t yet been made about whether anonymous donations will be allowed.

Republican legislators have been particularly critical of the partnership’s lack of transparency, but Sen. Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven and a member of the partnership board, was optimistic after Monday’s meeting, which was held at the Yale School of Management.

“We’re off to a good start,” Fasano said. “I thought it was very open, and the discussion very frank, today.”

Kathleen Megan :: CT Mirror

Andrew Ferguson, who works for Dalio Philanthropies and is a pro bono volunteer senior advisor to the partnership, talks to reporters after the meeting.

The partnership plans to invest between $200 million and $300 million over the next five years in programs to help disadvantaged youth who have become disengaged or dropped out of school. The state and Dalio Philanthropies are each putting in $100 million. The partnership hopes to raise an additional $100 million from private donors.

Ferguson said the fundraising effort will begin in 2020, but he expects it will begin slowly because donors want to see programs operating –“to see the wheels and kick the tires before they invest.”

He said the soonest the partnership could begin investing would probably be this spring or summer.

Dalio has already provided $425,000 to the program but funding for the first year of the five-year program will not become available until February, with $20 million coming from the state and the balance of $20 million from Dalio.

The budget distributed at Monday’s meeting indicates that $324,871 will be spent during the first six months of  2020.

There are 39,000 public high school students who are disengaged or disconnected from school, according to Ferguson. While most of those children are from the state’s struggling cities, 9,000 are from towns with above-average income levels, 78% are low income and 36% are males of color.

If Connecticut could reengage at least half of those 39,000, he said, 2,000 more students would graduate from high school each year, 8,000 more jobs would be created for young adults, and an estimated 4,000 fewer people would be incarcerated.

The board also received an update from Willa Perlman, chief executive officer of LPA Search Partners, on the search for a chief executive officer. Perlman told the board there has been an “extremely robust” outpouring of interest from a national and diverse candidate pool. She said she has reached out to 225 prospective candidates.

“The nation’s watching this initiative,” she told board members. “I would say that a large majority of the candidates I reached out to and spoke to knew about the Partnership for Connecticut before I brought it to their attention.”

While more candidates will be considered, she said there are five people currently in the process of interviewing with the search committee, including one African American woman, one Latino man and three white men.

The partnership hopes to have a short list of candidates for the full board to interview by February and to have a chief executive in place by early March.

The partnership also plans to issue a “request for information” from teachers, employers and advocates to learn more  about programs that already exist in the community and needs that are not being met. From that information, which is expected to be submitted next month, a partnership subcommittee will issue a public report and make recommendations to the board.

In other action, the partnership authorized Board Chair Erik Clemons to formalize a contract with Shipman & Goodwin LLP as outside legal counsel based on hourly fees ranging from $310 to $475 an hour; BlumShapiro for an estimated accounting services annual fee of $128,520; and Insperity for human resources services at about $250 an employee per month.

The six-month budget allows $36,000 for legal services, $67,500 for accounting services, and $750 for human resources.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kathleen Megan Kathleen Megan wrote for more than three decades for the Hartford Courant, covering education in recent years and winning many regional and national awards. She is now covering education and child welfare issues for the Mirror.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
House approves big municipal aid pledge, tax incentive bills
by Keith M. Phaneuf and Mark Pazniokas

The House approved bills Wednesday pledging $100 million-plus in new municipal aid and offering tax incentives to attract data centers.

CT legislature poised to make early budget pledge to help cities and towns
by Keith M. Phaneuf

The state House is expected to approve more than $100 million in new, annual PILOT grants to municipalities.

Report: Twice as many CT high schoolers are in danger of being held back
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

Research released Monday confirms what many parents and educators already suspected — more students than ever are falling behind during the pandemic, a problem especially present among those learning entirely from home in some of the state’s larger districts. The RISE Network tracked about 12,000 students in nine high schools in historically struggling districts to […]

Boston Fed chief predicts strong economic recovery begins in 2nd half of 2021 if vaccine reaches enough people
by Keith M. Phaneuf

A strong economic rebound also depends on states helping those hit hardest by COVID-19, a federal reserve official said.

A pledge to share sales tax receipts with towns still goes unfulfilled. Was it a case of fiscal bait-and-switch?
by Keith M. Phaneuf

Hundreds of millions of dollars have yet to arrive, leaving municipal leaders wary of new proposed aid.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Lamont’s new vaccination priorities are simple and smart
by Richard Davies

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s new age-eligibility vaccine plan is simple, smart and straightforward. The more complicated the rules are, the greater the chance of screw-ups and of well-connected people getting their shots before they should. The governor is doing a good job.

Opinion Gas pipeline will threaten water quality, wildlife and wetlands
by Susan Eastwood

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has granted tentative approval of the 401 water quality certification for the Pomfret to Killingly natural gas pipeline. I urge DEEP to deny the 401 certification, as the proposed pipeline would violate the Connecticut’s water quality standards, and the conditions in the draft certification fail to protect our streams, wetlands, and wildlife.

Opinion Connecticut and the other Connecticut. Which will endure?
by Ezra Kaprov

What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘Connecticut’? Possibly, you think of a 43-year-old Puerto Rican man who arrived here with his family following Hurricane Maria. He works full-time as a machinist at the Sikorsky plant, and he coaches a prizefighter on the side.

Opinion COVID-19 increases urgency for legislature to pass medical aid-in-dying law
by Dr. Gary Blick

The COVID-19 crisis has exposed the profound tragedy of loved ones dying alone, in a hospital or nursing home, without the care and comfort of loved ones surrounding them. This pandemic also demonstrates the fragility of life, the limits of modern medicine to relieve suffering, and has magnified the systemic racial disparities in our healthcare system, resulting in higher hospitalization and death rates for people in communities of color. We must eradicate these disparities, so everyone has equal access to the full range of end-of-life care options.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO