The grading system is based on more than a dozen measures. However standardized test scores still account for 80 percent of the grade.
Jake Kara
Jake was Data Editor at CT Mirror. He is a former managing editor of The Ridgefield Press, a Hersam Acorn newspaper. He worked for the community newspaper chain as a reporter and editor for five years before joining the Mirror staff. He studied professional writing at Western Connecticut State University and is a graduate student in software engineering at Harvard Extension School.
Posted inEducation
State grades every school district and three-quarters see a drop
The large majority of public schools and school districts in the state earned worse grades this year than last on the state’s annual assessment of school performance, according to data released Friday by the State Department of Education.
Posted inEducation, Money
See how your town fares in the governor’s budget
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget for 2018-19 aims to redistribute education funding more aggressively to the state’s lowest-performing school districts than is currently budgeted. Overall state municipal aid would be cut by about $97 million, or 4 percent.
Posted inMoney, Transportation
CT’s fuel taxes no longer as lofty, but still above nation’s average
Though Connecticut’s gasoline taxes still exceed U.S. average, they no longer are the national outlier they were a decade ago when motorists pumped 52 cents per gallon into the state’s coffers.
Posted inPolitics
Data: Candidates submit end-of-year fundraising figures
Here are the year-end summaries of fundraising by exploratory and candidate campaign committees raising money for state office elections in 2018.
Posted inNews
Data: Connecticut’s many firearms laws
Connecticut has more firearm-related law provisions than almost any other state. In 2017, the state had 89 such provisions, placing it behind only California (106) and Massachusetts (100), according to an inventory maintained by the Boston University School of Public Health.
Posted inJustice
Inmate GEDs drop off after test goes online
Moving high school equivalency tests online put them out of reach for much of Connecticut’s prison population in 2015. The numbers have started to recover– but slowly.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy offers tough medicine for deficit: taxes, spending cuts
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy released an array of options to rebalance the state budget Wednesday that include raising the sales tax rate as high as 6.9 percent, boosting other taxes, cutting municipal aid by $50 million and reducing health care, social services, and other programs.
Posted inJustice
Does peer review cast doubt on traffic-stop analysis?
Researchers earlier this month released their third annual statewide report analyzing traffic-stop data in an effort to find signs of potential racial profiling by police. Understanding the report isn’t a simple thumbs up or thumbs down, judging whether it’s right or wrong. “It’s not as easy as saying it’s valid or it’s not; there’s lots of stuff in there,” said Michael Smith, one of the peer reviewers.
Posted inJustice
Next wave of police departments face racial disparity analysis
Central Connecticut State University researchers released their third annual statewide report Thursday that identified seven Connecticut police departments for further study because of racial or ethnic disparities in their traffic stop patterns. The departments are Berlin, Monroe, Newtown, Norwich, Ridgefield, Darien and State Police Troop B in North Canaan.
Posted inNews
Local coverage: Links to election results around the state
We are rounding up the results of top-of-the-ticket races around the state and linking to local news stories on those races.
Posted inPolitics
Election results reported by municipalities
Here are unofficial election results from municipal races around the state as posted on the secretary of the state’s election reporting system. The system includes all offices on the ballot but its use by municipalities was optional for this election, so the completeness and speed with which the data are entered is entirely up to each town’s election officials. We also have compiled a list of top-race winners and links to local coverage in a separate post.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Hospital lawsuit no longer an obstacle to new CT budget deal
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration clarified its position Thursday on a new taxing arrangement with Connecticut’s hospital industry — removing a key stumbling block to a new state budget in the process.
Posted inJustice
Explore: 30-year crime trends in Connecticut cities and towns
The FBI this week released 2016 crime data that includes municipal-level counts. We’ve combined those figures with data going back to 1985 to illustrate long-term crime trends by municipality.
Posted inEducation
The state of CT’s public schools in charts
The state’s public education system has reached a pivotal time. Click to read more stories in charts The Connecticut Supreme Court is set to hear arguments today in a landmark school-funding case. And with the state facing major projected deficits for the foreseeable future, it might take an order from the high court for much […]