Robert A. Frahm

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy once enjoyed the support of the state’s large teachers’ unions, but union leaders turned to other leading Democrats Tuesday in an effort to block the governor’s proposals to reform public schools. Top Democrats, including Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., one of the governor’s most important legislative allies, spoke […]

Storrs — Mention the University of Connecticut, and many people immediately think of the university’s championship basketball teams. UConn President Susan Herbst would like them to think of cutting-edge research labs, top-notch professors and talented students, too. “I want to bring our academic brand up to par with our athletic brand,” Herbst said Thursday, moments […]

State Board of Education members angrily criticized lawmakers’ attempts to scale back a major education reform bill, saying Wednesday that the watered-down bill could stall the effort to fix the state’s worst schools. “I’ve watched this process … with real dismay,” board Chairman Allan Taylor said of changes made last week by the legislature’s Education […]

Bridgeport -– It’s already mid-afternoon when the school day begins for 18-year-old Hanifah Kelly, who arrives at Harding High School grateful for a second chance she never thought she’d get. Along with dozens of other students, Kelly checks in at about 3 p.m., logs into a computerized lesson -– today she is working on geometry […]

The state’s newly merged higher education system expects to meet a target of $4.3 million in administrative savings over the next two years — money that could be used to hire more full-time faculty, the system’s top official said Tuesday. The projected savings from a reduction of bureaucracy was a central element in the argument […]

A nationally known educator who led school reform efforts in Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans will try to turn around one of Connecticut’s most troubled public school systems. The Bridgeport Board of Education was expected late Tuesday to name Paul Vallas as acting superintendent while the school district prepares to find a permanent successor to […]

NEW BRITAIN – It is one of the state’s largest suppliers of new schoolteachers, but after Central Connecticut State University sends its graduates into the classroom, it knows little about how they perform. That was among the issues raised Monday as state Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor met CCSU faculty and administrators to zero in on […]

FAIRFIELD – In affluent, high-achieving school districts like this one, the state’s top education official thinks the best strategy might be for the state education department to step aside and do less, not more. State Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor asked Fairfield officials how the state could ease the burden of regulations, annual reports and other […]

MERIDEN – When unionized teachers in Meriden’s public schools needed more time to examine student test data, they voluntarily added extra classroom time to their schedules to make room for regular weekly data review meetings. That simple solution, the result of informal talks between the union president and school superintendent, was cited Monday by the […]

Connecticut’s newly restructured higher education system has the potential to avoid the pitfalls that have stalled reorganization efforts in other states, a leading higher education authority said Wednesday. “I’m hoping this system will be an especially innovative one,” Terry MacTaggart told members of the state’s Board of Regents for Higher Education. The board sought advice […]

When Gov. Dannel P. Malloy tabbed Stefan Pryor, a charter school founder, as the state’s next education commissioner, the appointment raised eyebrows among some in public education circles. Would Pryor, whose career has been shaped both inside and outside the education arena, be able to win over a public school establishment that viewed some charter […]

As local budget problems mounted in recent years, New Britain’s public schools relied heavily on federal funds not only to salvage teaching jobs but to develop an array of acclaimed career and technical programs. But like many other towns and cities, New Britain now is bracing for sharp reductions in federal support. Across the state, […]

At the urging of their “intimidating and vindictive” principal, teachers at a Waterbury elementary school coached students to change incorrect answers on the Connecticut Mastery Test last spring, a state investigation of alleged cheating has found. The investigation also concluded that educators at the Hopeville School violated test security procedures, received unauthorized copies of test […]

After helping rebuild Lower Manhattan after the 9/11 attacks and heading economic development efforts in Newark, N.J., a confident Stefan Pryor came to Connecticut Wednesday to tackle another daunting challenge. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy introduced Pryor as the man to lead the effort to close the state’s worst-in-the-nation public school achievement gap separating the poor […]

One of the founders of an acclaimed Connecticut charter school who later led the redevelopment effort in Lower Manhattan after the attacks of 9/11 will be named Connecticut’s next commissioner of education. Gov. Dannel Malloy is expected to appoint Stefan Pryor, now the deputy mayor of Newark, N.J., to succeed Mark McQuillan, who resigned abruptly […]