Our greatest asset in the City of Bridgeport is our young students. These students need – and deserve – the best that the city has to offer. Our students must come first. With this in mind, Bridgeport’s Board of Education has called for a state takeover of the school system. The decision to request the […]
CT Mirror Staff
Posted inNews
To our readers:
The continuing controversy over state union concessions brought a significant increase in comments to our website, which we welcomed. Regrettably, however, too many of those comments were rude, mean-spirited, misleading, and generally disruptive to our goal of promoting civic discourse. To elevate the level of the conversation, we are making changes to our comment policy, […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The deal they couldn’t refuse–but did
As they say, “Everything’s been said and everyone’s said it”: Connecticut’s state workers were nuts to reject the deal offered by Governor Dan Malloy. Indeed, anyone who looked closely at the deal is doubly amazed, because it involved no genuine sacrifice: a two-year wage freeze (no pay cuts or unpaid furlough days) followed by three […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Congressional budget cuts threaten nutrition safety net
As Congress crafts a budget that addresses our nation’s long-term fiscal challenges, Foodshare and our partner agencies – more than 350 food pantries, meal sites, shelters, senior centers and after-school programs — are urging our elected officials to safeguard nutrition assistance and other safety net programs. The number of families struggling to make ends meet […]
Posted inNews
Hohler
Robert Hohler, executive director of the Melville Charitable Trust and a founding member of the Board of The Connecticut News Project, publisher of The Mirror, died on June 2, 2011 while hiking with his family in England. He was a civil rights activist who marched on Selma, Ala., with Martin Luther King, then helped produce […]
Posted inNews
DeJesús
Jeannette DeJesús, now special advisor to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on healthcare reform, was a founding member of the Board of Directors of The Connecticut News Project, publisher of The Connecticut Mirror. DeJesús, who has a degree in social work from New York University and a degree in public administration from Harvard, previously worked as […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Social enterprise: A new model for business innovation
We have been hearing about the need for business innovation from leaders in all sectors, from President Obama in his State of the Union speech to Commissioner Daniel Esty of Connecticut’s new Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency, who spoke before the Hartford Metro Alliance Partners’ Economic Development Council on the first of this […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Victories for at-risk kids despite a tight budget
Conventional wisdom says nobody leaves a legislative session completely happy, certainly not when a gargantuan deficit hangs over the proceedings. But when those of us who advocate for kids in the juvenile justice system left the Capitol, we felt… well, victorious. Many measures to improve the system passed and are expected to be signed into […]
Posted inHealth
Health insurance exchange clears House, heads for Malloy’s desk
State Representatives have voted to establish a quasi-public agency to launch and run a health insurance exchance that will play a key role in expanding coverage under the federal health reform law. The exchange will have a wide range of responsibilities. It will offer a choice of health plans–all or most are expected to be […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Community colleges should help students keep hope alive
The Connecticut Mirror last week reported Higher Education Commissioner Michael Meotti’s belief, seconded by Gov. Dannel Malloy, that Connecticut’s community colleges might need to turn away people who, as Meotti put it, “have no ability to be successful in a college classroom.” Our campuses are crowded, Commissioner Meotti said, and there is little funding expansion. […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Teacher evaluation policies must reflect student needs
While most of the sound and fury during this legislative session has centered on the state’s budget deficit, there are crucial education issues that cry out for attention. For example, Connecticut’s current statutes related to teacher employment and evaluation policies are out of date. They are unfair to students and our best teachers and give […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Appeals court skirts opportunity to address student speech rights
The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed its decision that high school students can be punished for what they write at home. It also has ignored an important opportunity to clarify student free speech rights in the digital age. It was a sad day for democracy in our schools. In 2007, Avery Doninger, […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut can’t afford to lose more children to bullying
When students come to school worried about bullying, they can’t learn. That’s why we strongly support Senate Bill 1138, a comprehensive “safe school climate” bill before the Connecticut General Assembly. One in four Connecticut high school students – and 35 percent of the state’s 9th graders – were bullied or harassed on school property in […]
Posted inNews
GOP voters, you’ve got more time to find a presidential candidate
The House voted unanimously Wednesday to move the presidential primary back a month from the first Tuesday in February to the last Tuesday in April. The bill now goes to the Senate. The legislation is meant to conform with national guideliness issued by the national Republican and Democratic parties to avoid front-loading the primary calendar […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Granite State sets a course to become the new South for employers
Battling public sector unions has proved to be so much fun for Republicans that Democrats in the Northeast want in on the party: Last month Democrats in the Democrat-controlled Massachusetts House adopted a bill limiting public union bargaining rights. In New York, Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo’s budget will force all governmental units statewide to pare […]
