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 […]

The recession — and its aftermath — haven’t kept Connecticut’s top wage earners from earning more. Those doing well before the recession saw strong wage growth in the past five years, while those at the bottom lost jobs and made minimal wage gains. In salary terms, according to a new report by the policy group […]

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 […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today outlined six broad principles that he says will guide the debate on education reform next year, including “intensive interventions” by the state in troubled school systems and a lighter bureaucratic touch at successful ones. In a letter to legislators and stakeholders, Malloy hinted at a willingness to take up the […]

Soft and cuddly is not his strong suit, but Gov. Dannel P. Malloy stopped by an event to publicize a program that gathers holiday gifts for residents of the state Veterans Home. “It’s a great honor to be with the elves,” Malloy said, glancing at three children who are helping with the drive. “Any day […]

Everyone feels so generous this time of the year. The new Republican state chairman, Jerry Labriola, called on Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today to suspend the sales tax for a week, because the state is projecting a surplus of $101 million. The projected surplus is one-half of one percent of the $20 billion budget, basically […]

The battle over consolidating state government’s watchdog agencies could be headed for a second round in 2012, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s choice to guide the merger offered a preview this week. David L. Guay, acting executive administrator for the new Office of Governmental Accountability, wrote in a draft report to legislators that he faces […]

The state announced today that the unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a point to 8.4 percent in November, the lowest it’s been since June 2009. But behind that simple, oft-quoted statistic is a complicated calculation, based on surveys. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s office issued a cautiously optimistic statement that pronounced the number “encouraging,” yet acknowledged […]

Adam Scianna said that as an undergraduate at the University of Connecticut nine years ago, it was common to see multiple sections for one class, often with 20 to 30 students per section. Now, he works as a teaching assistant for one of the same classes he took as an undergrad — but he teaches […]

The education commissioner has been to nearly a dozen school districts during his inaugural tour, hearing what does and doesn’t work to improve education — and last week was the teachers unions’ turn to pitch their strategy. Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor (right) is greeted by teacher union officials Instead of inviting the new commissioner to […]

Activists sympathetic to Democrats made a pitch at the state Capitol today for the bipartisan redistricting commission to keep Bridgeport in the 4th CD. In other words, stick with the status quo reflected in the Democratic version of the map, not the major changes sought by Republicans. The Democrats have proposed only the adjustments necessary to […]