For more than two centuries, Connecticut has been colloquially known as “The Land of Steady Habits.” But our state’s tradition of arbitrarily, illogically, and inequitably funding its public schools is a bad habit Connecticut desperately needs to break. Unfortunately, Gov. Dannel Malloy’s recent budget proposal does not go far enough to address the fundamental flaws […]
Schools/Child Welfare
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Reducing illiteracy will help close Connecticut’s achievement gap
One in four children in our country grows up functionally illiterate, according to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy. Did you know we spend $2 billion nationally every year on students repeating a grade because they face challenges reading? The state of Connecticut currently sees the second largest wealth inequality in the United States. While the state ranks as the fourth richest in the United States, children are still in need. On Feb. 25, Pi Beta Phi will donate 20,000 brand new books to Hartford groups serving low-income families at a book distribution through Pi Beta Phi’s partnership with First Book®.
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Charter schools pose financial risk to municipalities
In December of last year, the Connecticut Department of Education issued a request for proposals for new charter schools – the first time in nearly three years. As the state grapples with a budget disaster and Gov. Dannel Malloy continues to propose changes that would dramatically change the way Connecticut pays for education, the state should refrain from opening any new charter schools and freeze the funding of existing ones.
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The General Assembly needs facts, not falsehoods
A recent story in the CT Mirror described a presentation to reporters a few weeks ago by the Connecticut Education Association (CEA), the largest teachers’ union, in which union leaders attempted to expose the spending practices of charter schools. The problem is that the report the CEA was referencing was deliberately misleading –seeking to villainize charter schools during a tight budget year in which education funding will be a key issue.
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Adequate DCF funding critical to breaking cycle of abuse
There is no higher priority than the well-being of our children. Our future and theirs depend on decisions we make today. That’s why it is essential that Connecticut’s legislative leaders support a key budget item to protect the most vulnerable of our children by affirming the governor’s recommendation to protect the budget of the Department of Children and Families (DCF).
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Six design principles for a new, fair CT school funding formula
Connecticut’s K-12 public school funding system is fundamentally broken. That is the simple and unfortunate truth that boards of education, superintendents, principals, teachers, and education reform advocates have known for years. Lacking a fair funding formula we are shortchanging our communities, and most importantly our children who deserve access to a quality public education.
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Re-invest in college opportunity for Connecticut
Education remains the clearest pathway to better jobs and promising futures in the U.S.A. By 2020, 70 percent of jobs will require post-secondary education; as such, Connecticut must recommit to educational opportunity for all by ensuring that all residents have access to an affordable, quality public higher education.
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Malloy’s budget cuts add to Connecticut education funding crisis
Connecticut’s education system is facing a crisis, and it seems to be growing every day. Over the holidays, Gov. Dannel Malloy announced his proposal to end education aid to certain towns. Last week, he told some mayors and town managers that they are in “substantially better shape” than the state and advocated for a “fairer” distribution of state education funds. While the governor’s office points out that the cuts he proposes are being made to the wealthiest towns, it matters to everyone.
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CEA attack on Achievement First ‘blatantly political’ and false
The Connecticut Education Association’s criticism of Achievement First is a blatantly political attack that willfully misrepresents AF’s leaders, finances and students. As the first person in my family to graduate from college, I know what education has done for my family and me. Like Dacia Toll, the founder of Achievement First (AF), I am passionate about education and I want the same opportunities for all children as my children received.
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Betsy DeVos — A clear and present danger
What I learned from watching three hours of the Senate confirmation hearing for Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education:
1. Betsy DeVos demonstrated a lack of any understanding about student assessment.
2. Betsy DeVos said that permitting guns in schools is a decision that should be left up to individual schools.
3. Betsy DeVos did not commit to preschool for all children.
4….
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CEA report mischaracterizes Trailblazers and Stamford academies’ spending
We write in response to the recent Connecticut Education Association report on charter school management fees, and more specifically about two of the schools mentioned in that report, Trailblazers Academy and Stamford Academy. Throughout that report, there seems to be a misunderstanding of what our schools are, who we serve, what we do, and the costs associated with running our schools.
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Two critical education issues for the Connecticut legislature
From my perspective we have two critical points in the current Connecticut education crisis that must be dealt with first during the General Assembly’s 2017 session: One, the Common Core State Standards — developmentally inappropriate for many of our children, especially those in the elementary years. And Two: Measuring our children using the new state mastery test, which lacks psychometric test validation and reliability.
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Parent voices matter in our democracy today
So much information to process to make informed decisions in a short amount of time: budget cuts everywhere, systems continue to fail our children and families regarding livable paying jobs, institutional racism/ageism/sexism/etc., affordable housing, brown fields destroying our environment, fear of terrorists attacks in a place we all call home, access to affordable quality childcare in all spaces and places…the list goes on and on! Our fight for equity where? How important is it to the collective us? Why are we letting this system dictate our destiny when we never signed up for this?
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Mastery exam task force report due soon — its findings ‘predetermined’
In a few days the Mastery Examination Task Force will be submitting its Final Report and Recommendations to the Connecticut Legislature’s Education Committee which had asked for a study of student assessment practices in our public schools. Having monitored the progress of this task force during its one-and-a-half years of meetings, I contend that their findings were predetermined at or even before the task force began its deliberations.
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Additional cuts to public education will hurt our students
The Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE) and the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) are very concerned about the mid-year cut of $20 million in education aid to municipalities announced by the Office of Policy and Management yesterday. These cuts are schedule to take effect immediately and will result in diminished educational opportunities for the students who attend Connecticut’s public schools.