The CT Mirror (https://ctmirror.org/author/jrabe/page/2/)
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 in investigative reporting on a series of stories revealing questionable monetary and personnel actions taken by the Board of Regents for Higher Education. In 2016, she was a finalist in the EWA competition for single-topic coverage for her reporting on how schools are funded in Connecticut. 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. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College. She and her husband, son and two dogs live in Hartford.
With the next fiscal year just four months away – and little hope for more funding for state colleges – the Board of Regents for Higher Education today approved a plan that rejects closing a community college campus and instead dramatically downsizes administrative staff. The move to consolidate a dozen community colleges is projected to save $28 million. Continue Reading →
Saying his goal was dignity, compassion and empathy for women behind bars, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proposed a wide-ranging bill to change how women are treated while incarcerated. Continue Reading →
The recent birth of a baby in an inmate’s cell – as well as large budget cuts, a lack of outside oversight, and a history of complaints – have fueled concerns among some legislators and civil rights groups about the quality of medical and mental health care being provided to Connecticut’s inmates, most of whom eventually will be released. Continue Reading →
The confusion surrounding who wins the lottery – or doesn’t – has fueled displeasure and distrust among many Hartford residents concerned that the vast network of magnet schools has created a two-tiered education system where thousands of struggling city students are stuck in underperforming neighborhood schools. Continue Reading →
Frustration over the state’s funding of charter schools boiled over Wednesday when the State Board of Education rejected on principle the state budget’s allocation of the additional $613,500 to three charter schools so they could enroll an additional 57 students. Continue Reading →
Officials of the state’s 12 community colleges must answer a long list of questions from the schools’ accrediting body before their plan to shed hundreds of administrative positions can move forward. Continue Reading →
The University of Connecticut’s governing board next week will consider overhauling student charges in a move that would bring a net increase of $1.3 million into the public university’s coffers. Continue Reading →
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. Continue Reading →
The opening day of the 2018 legislative session combined ceremony, personal moments and a foreshadowing of the session to come. Continue Reading →
The governor’s proposed budget allows a new state tax break to help parents cover some of their children’s private K-12 tuition – an extension of a break created for college-savings accounts that was widened to include the early grades by the federal tax overhaul. Continue Reading →
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. Continue Reading →
Unveiling his final budget proposal two days early, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy challenged legislators Monday to take politically difficult steps to close modest deficits in the current, two-year budget and mitigate larger shortfalls looming after the November elections. Continue Reading →
In pursuit of cost savings, a merger of all the state’s community colleges is being proposed. But some are skeptical those savings can be achieved without impacting students’ education. The Mirror explores the controversy and the experiences of other states that have tried college mergers. Continue Reading →
Cynthia Caro is a social worker in a city where children are severely affected by drug abuse and poverty. Twenty years on the job, she hopes to someday find a magic wand that will enable her to give her kids in foster care all the support she thinks they need and deserve. Now, under a new court order, the Department of Children and Families is moving to hire an additional 120 social workers by the end of May. Ahead of this influx, Caro sat down at her office in New Britain for a Sunday Conversation about what it’s been like being a social worker in Connecticut. Continue Reading →
The state Supreme Court has denied a last-ditch effort by a coalition of parents, teachers and local officials to reconsider the court’s recent decision saying state spending on education meets constitutional standards. Continue Reading →