He’s not an official candidate yet, but Republican Tom Foley on Monday rolled out the first television commercial of the 2014 race for governor. With a big wink to the voters and media back in Connecticut, it airs exclusively – and ever-so-briefly — on cable in New York City. To make a point about Connecticut’s […]
Foley tweaks Malloy with TV ad — in NYC
Posted inEducation
UConn plan to limit transfer credits stalls
Storrs — A plan that would have limited the number of credits University of Connecticut students can take at community colleges and other colleges has been put off indefinitely.
Posted inHealth
Teetering at the Obamacare ‘subsidy cliff’
Some Connecticut residents who buy their own health insurance fall into a sort of subsidy “cliff,” earning too much money to qualify for financial assistance as part of the federal health law but not so much that their income compensates for the higher costs of insurance.
Posted inEducation
Community college faculty, lawmakers upset by UConn plan to limit transfer credits
Community college faculty and the leader of the legislature’s Higher Education Committee are upset with a proposal UConn officials plan to vote Monday on that would limit the number of credits students can transfer from community colleges.
Posted inNews
Bridgeport Schools, Mental Health, Achievement Gap, 2013 CT Elections
Friday afternoon: Just like that, Paul Vallas is gone. Even his supporters, education reporter Jacqueline Rabe Thomas wrote, concede that the nationally known Vallas -– who has been acting leader of the Bridgeport school system for two years — has been “a polarizing figure“ in Connecticut. Friday afternoon, Part 2: In another quick move (that actually […]
Posted inNews
Post-election CT budget outlook worsens, even as current finances improve
The state budget shortfall awaiting the winner of next year’s gubernatorial election appeared to worsen Friday, even as the outlook for the current budget improved. The legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Fiscal Analysis and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget agency issued a joint report that lowered expected revenues for the 2015-16 fiscal year by $163 million. […]
Posted inEducation
Vallas to step down as leader of Bridgeport schools
Paul Vallas — who was recruited by the state’s education commissioner to run Bridgeport Public Schools — is stepping down as the district’s superintendent to be the running mate of Illinois Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.
Posted inNews
Nation’s Report Card: CT continues to show largest achievement gap
For years, Connecticut has had the worst achievement gap in the nation between its minority students and their peers in learning to read and do math — and according to the results of a major test given periodically, not much has changed. While Connecticut students overall test very well in math and reading when compared […]
Posted inNews
Small businesses remain wary of Hartford-area economy’s future
Small businesses in the Capital Region are sending mixed signals about the future of the state’s economy, according to a new analysis. But Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told about 300 small business leaders gathered Friday at The Hartford Hilton that the climate for economic growth is gradually improving. Just 35 percent of the firms surveyed […]
Posted inNews
Gay rights in Connecticut: big impact, few cases
Connecticut’s passage of a law banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation has produced just a trickle of cases over the past two decades, not the flood of frivolous complaints predicted by opponents then and cited as a reason now to block a federal law. The state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities has […]
Posted inNews
Blumenthal pressures federal agencies on mental health parity rule
Washington –- Cathy Morelli, a mother from Southington, told a panel of senators Thursday about the nightmares her family lived through when their insurance company repeatedly denied coverage for the treatment of her 13-year-old daughter’s mental illness. She spoke of her daughter’s repeated slashing of her arms and legs and of attempts at suicide. “My […]
Posted inEducation
Vallas running for office in Illinois, future as Bridgeport superintendent unclear
Paul Vallas — who was recruited by the state’s education commissioner to run Bridgeport Public Schools — is running for lieutenant governor in Illinois as the running mate with Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn.
Posted inHealth
Feds finally move on mental health parity
Washington — Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Friday that the Obama administration has finalized regulations that would bar insurers from treating mental illnesses differently from other ailments. Parity has been a longtime issue for mental health advocates, especially since Congress approved a law in 2008 that barred insurance companies from discriminating when it came to the treatment of mental illnesses.
Posted inNews
LIVE STREAM REPLAY: CT Mirror Tour – Measuring Good Teaching in Connecticut
LIVE STREAM OF THURSDAY’S EVENT AT THE QUICK CENTER ON THE CAMPUS OF FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY The state’s new teacher evaluation system has proponents and skeptics alike, but do core relationships still exist to create the most effective learning environment? Watch the replay of administrators, teachers and policy analysts discussing the view from the front of […]
Posted inNews
Senate approves bill that prohibits discrimination against LGBT workers
Washington — The Senate voted by a 2-1 margin Thursday to pass civil-rights legislation that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, but the House Republican majority has no plans to take up a bill that’s been before Congress in various forms for 17 years. Ten Republicans joined all Democrats, including Sens. Richard […]