Faced with deficits and stagnant per-student funding from the state, magnet school leaders have increasingly been forced to turn to local districts to fill the shortfall. But it is not a remedy that can continue indefinitely, they warn. They want the state to increase its support for magnet school students by $1,000 each.
K-12
Posted inEducation
Help wanted: CT commissioner with education background
The panel searching for the state’s next education commissioner wants someone who has a long background and an advanced degree in education – qualifications the last commissioner did not have and which one of the state’s teachers’ unions called for during the campaign.
Posted inEducation
Connecticut’s education system ranked
First the good news: A higher rate of 3- and 4-year-olds in Connecticut were enrolled in preschool than in any other state between 2011 and 2013. Now the bad news: Connecticut has the largest achievement gap in math and nearly the worst gap in reading between students from low-income families and their peers.
Posted inEducation
School choice: Future of new magnet schools uncertain
When state legislators placed a moratorium on building new magnet schools outside the capital region five years ago, they wanted to know if these schools were worth the large investment before boosting enrollment further. So they ordered the state education commissioner to assess magnet school performance and submit a plan for their future. That plan is now four years late, magnet schools approved before the moratorium will probably be full by the start of the next school year, research is incomplete on their impact and many legislators are reluctant to open new schools.
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Pryor heading to Rhode Island as secretary of commerce
Outgoing Connecticut Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor has been nominated to lead the Department of Commerce in Rhode Island — a state with the third-highest unemployment rate in the country.
Posted inEducation
Former House Speaker lands job at teachers’ union
Christopher G. Donovan, the former speaker of the state House of Representatives, has been hired by the state’s largest teachers’ union — the second former legislative leader to land a job at the Connecticut Education Association this winter.
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Special Report: Education, Diversity and Change in Fairfield County
Fairfield County, a region marked by sharp disparities in income and in urban and suburban life, faces particular challenges in assuring all its residents a quality education. Today, a special report, “Education, Diversity and Change in Fairfield County,” explores the issue through in-depth policy reporting, interactive maps and charts, photo galleries and opinion pieces written by teachers from the Connecticut Writing Project at Fairfield University.
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Despite robust options, thousands pass on school-choice lottery
Just one in four students in Grades 3 through 7 attending Hartford schools entered the lottery for a seat at a regional magnet or a suburban public school last school year, according to a recent study by Trinity College.
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State lands federal funds to move toward universal preschool
Connecticut has landed federal funding to offer high-quality preschool to hundreds of additional children from low-income families, with an emphasis on those who are homeless or in foster care.
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CT ranked near bottom for policies on charter school accountability
Connecticut is one of the worst states for policies that hold charter schools accountable, according to a national organization that advocates for strong oversight of these publicly funded schools.
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Charter school advocates pack the New Haven Green
Connecticut’s charter school movement showed its political muscle Wednesday by bringing more than 6,000 parents, teachers, community leaders, and students to form a sea of neon green T-shirts across the New Haven Green—while remaining coy about the details of its school-reform agenda.
Posted inEducation
Education commissioner leaving first week of January
Commissioner Stefan Pryor, the leader of the state Department of Education who helped craft controversial legislation during his tenure, will leave office the first week of January. Pryor announced in August his intention to leave the post if Gov. Dannel P. Malloy won re-election.
Posted inEducation
School funding trial delayed indefinitely over emails
The trial that will determine whether the state is spending enough money to provide Connecticut public school children with an adequate education has been put on hold indefinitely. The trial was set back in recent weeks after attorneys discovered 77 email chains from the leader of the coalition suing the state in which she instructed people to delete the emails.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Bridgeport wants truly public schools, not more charters
Hired spokespeople advocating more charter schools do not represent the vast majority of Bridgeport parents and taxpayers, who are more interested in properly funding their public schools.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Bridgeport wants truly public schools, not more charters
Hired spokespeople advocating more charter schools do not represent the vast majority of Bridgeport parents and taxpayers, who are more interested in properly funding their public schools.