In Lawrence, a once-booming mill town that Boston Magazine labeled the “City of the Damned” five years ago, schools have shown remarkable improvement since the state intervened in 2011. Last of three stories in a special report.
Here’s how Massachusetts helped one troubled school district improve
Posted inEducation
Child advocate finds many lapses preceded death of Hartford youth
A 17-year-old Hartford youth with autism died from starvation, dehydration and child abuse in February, just weeks after the Department of Children and Families closed its case file on him, an investigative report released Tuesday by the state’s child advocate said. The report criticized several state agencies it said had not taken sufficient action, including DCF, the Hartford Public Schools and the juvenile court.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Special session over Medicare Savings plan stars in political theater
Legislative leaders struggled Tuesday to find some way to call themselves into special session just before Christmas to restore funds for a popular social services program — but not to address the majority of a $203 million state budget deficit identified last month.
Posted inMoney
Immigrant youth press CT senators to become ‘dream heroes’
WASHINGTON — Undocumented youth in Connecticut are asking the state’s U.S. senators to reject any federal budget bill that does not contain protections for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals – or DACA program recipients. Both Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy support permanent protection for these youth, but they have not promised to reject a budget bill that would not provide that help.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
You have a national park in the ocean, and it’s in jeopardy
When you think of national parks, you probably think about vast stretches of green spaces where the daily routines of nature play out unaltered by human activities. But America also has “blue parks” to protect very special areas of our ocean, and the newest is off the coast of New England. The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument —the first monument of its kind off the east coast of the U.S.— has canyons deeper than the Grand Canyon and mountains higher than anything east of the Rockies that rise from the deep ocean floor
Posted inEducation, Money
Massachusetts spends less per poor student than we do and gets better results
In both states spending on education has increased greatly over the last 25 years – with one key difference: Massachusetts tied increased state aid to ambitious reforms it credits with spurring remarkable advances in student achievement. Connecticut relied more heavily on local educators to use increased state aid to improve things. Second of three stories in a special report.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Add the gift of dignity to your Christmas shopping list
Being on the outside looking in during this joyous time of year can be disheartening and debilitating. So in the same right spirit, donations are collected to share our abundance with neighbors less fortunate, unable to afford the right gift at the right price. It’s a generous and caring tradition we encourage and rightly applaud every year. However, many parents desperate to buy their children presents, but unable to do so, swallow their pride to accept handouts. Ultimate parental embarrassment often occurs in front of their children when well-intentioned gift-bearing volunteers arrive at their door on charity visits. So what to do?
Add one more gift to your list, the gift of dignity.
Posted inTransportation
Northeast rail plan stymied by lack of funding, concerns in Fairfield County
WASHINGTON — An ambitious — and to some in Connecticut controversial — plan to overhaul the railroad in the Northeast Corridor has come to a full stop, a victim to lack of funding. There also has been pushback to the plan from Fairfield County residents who fear the impact of laying down new high-speed-ready tracks and other development near their neighborhoods.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Two wrong moves that will hurt Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects
As an Ahmadiyya Muslim American, I’m appalled at President Trump’s announcement of moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The first wrong move — President Trump said: “I’ve judged this course of action to be in the best interests of the United States of America and the pursuit of peace between Israel and the Palestinians.” This statement reminds me of Jesus’ warning to beware of wolves in sheeps’ clothing.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The constitutional right to education is long overdue
Public school funding has shrunk over the past decade. School discipline rates reached historic highs. Large achievement gaps persist. And the overall performance of our nation’s students falls well below our international peers. These bleak numbers beg the question: Don’t students have a constitutional right to something better? Many Americans assume that federal law protects the right to education. Why wouldn’t it? All 50 state constitutions provide for education. The same is true in 170 other countries. Yet, the word “education” does not appear in the United States Constitution, and federal courts have rejected the idea that education is important enough that it should be protected anyway.
Posted inEducation
Massachusetts is like Connecticut, but does a better job educating the poor
Massachusetts over the last 20 years has moved to the top of the national rankings for achievement by students from low-income families while Connecticut has lagged. Here’s how they did it. First of three articles in a special report.
Posted inNews
Principle and power in opposition as Congressmen resign
The tension between holding power and standing on principle came into sharp relief last week as the national #MeToo wave of intolerance for sexual harassment swept three members of Congress out of office.
Posted inHousing, News
Fair housing advocates: HUD’s rule suspension hurting Connecticut families
Erin Boggs, executive director of Open Communities Alliance, and Sasha Samberg-Champion, a lawyer with a Washington, D.C., law firm are representing two clients in Connecticut in an attempt to force HUD to implement the Small Area Fair Market Rent regulation. In this Sunday conversation, Boggs and Samberg-Champion explain the rule and its potential effects on low-income families around the state.
Posted inHealth
Pace of U.S. health spending slows in 2016
U.S. health spending rose to $3.3 trillion in 2016, but the pace slowed compared to the previous two years as demand for drugs, hospital care and physician services weakened, according to a federal study released last week.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Trump administration scuttling CO rule on portable generators
Portable generators release more carbon monoxide — which is particularly dangerous because it is odorless and invisible — than most cars. As a result, the devices can kill efficiently and quickly, though accidentally; and a federal rule to protect the public may soon be undone.