The CT Mirror (https://ctmirror.org/author/jrabe/)
Jacqueline won two first prizes from the national Education Writers Association for her work in 2012 – one in beat reporting for her overall education coverage, and the other, with Keith Phaneuf, in investigative reporting on a series of stories revealing questionable monetary and personnel actions taken by the Board of Regents for Higher Education. Before coming to The Mirror, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.'s Maryland newspaper chains. She has also worked for Congressional Quarterly and the Toledo Free Press. A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Jacqueline is in the public policy master’s program at Trinity College. E-mail her at jrabe@ctmirror.org.
Leaders at the state Capitol agree that changing how the state distributes public school aid is necessary – but that consensus quickly crumbles when specific changes are floated. Continue Reading →
Filling empty seats with more black and Hispanic students from Hartford, a Superior Court judge ruled Friday, would erode the Connecticut Supreme Court’s landmark Sheff v. O’Neill desegregation decision, issued nearly 21 years ago, which found Hartford students “suffer daily” from the inequities caused by severe racial isolation. Continue Reading →
“The efforts around English learners are one of our most important priorities,” says state education Commissioner Dianna Wentzell said. “… Our English learners need more support than they are currently getting, and we know that because of our data.” The Mirror sat down recently with Wentzell to speak about the state’s approach to providing that support. Continue Reading →
University officials say UConn Health’s fiscal picture is the worst it has been in a long time – and it is going to continue to deteriorate unless major changes are made. Continue Reading →
School districts across the country that have committed to reaping the benefits of dual-language instruction have found ways to make big gains in the face of obstacles, both perceived and real. Continue Reading →
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Tuesday again held up the story of a student who graduated from East Hartford High School 17 years ago to push her case for school choice. Continue Reading →
The administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, which is under a court order to desegregate Hartford schools, is attempting to redefine a segregated school – from one that is more than 75 percent minority to one that is more than 80 percent minority. The change would raise the threshold at which the state is responsible for stepping in to desegregate a school but also might allow more minority students to attend some magnet schools. Continue Reading →
A number of weaknesses in the approach the state and school districts across Connecticut have taken to educating the rapidly increasing number of English learners has produced distressing outcomes on nearly every benchmark – including academic achievement gaps between English learners and their peers that are among the worst in the nation. Second of three stories. Continue Reading →
Our Your School database provides a broad collection of measures parents can use to judge their child’s school – from where money is spent to class sizes to how often students are disciplined. Today’s release contains data of particular value in evaluating schools’ results with one of the state’s lowest-performing populations – English learners. The Mirror is currently publishing a series of stories examining the teaching of English learners in Connecticut. The second story in that series will appear Tuesday. Continue Reading →
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos used the story of Michael, a young man who grew up in East Hartford, to sell President Donald Trump’s education budget before a congressional subcommittee Wednesday. “Michael got a diploma, but not an education,” she said. Continue Reading →
President Donald Trump unveiled a budget Tuesday that slashes federal funding for education by 13.5 percent – cuts that probably would handicap or kill several programs that thousands of Connecticut children participate in each year. He also is proposing a massive increase for school choice, citing Connecticut’s “Open Choice” program as a model. Continue Reading →
Connecticut has largely failed to embrace the one model for English learners that research consistently shows works best by far. It’s being adopted and expanded elsewhere. First of three stories. Continue Reading →
The legislation would make undocumented students eligible to apply for aid from the $165 million pool that the state’s public college systems collectively provide. Continue Reading →
Hartford stands to gain the most with an additional $57 million, followed by Waterbury with $49 million. West Hartford would be the biggest loser, with a proposed cut of $24 million, followed by Milford with a cut of $18 million. Continue Reading →
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has recommended more than $700 million in cuts to municipal aid to help compensate for a $1.5 billion projected decline in state income tax receipts over the next two years. Continue Reading →